If The Great Wall Were Super-Imposed Into The USA, What Would It Look Like?
Man, kids are the best.
Just this week my seven year old, Amelia, asked me the following questions:
First set of questions: “Papa, who came first - God or humans? And if God came first, then who made God?”
Second set of questions: “Papa, how big is the Great Wall? And how many inches are in the Earth?”
Ok.
So where does one start with the first set of questions? That’s a pretty big issue to tackle. Did my best.
Re: the first part of the second set of questions, you would think it’s an easy question to answer …. until you find yourself having to explain it to someone who has never seen the Great Wall and/or whose sense of “big” is completely different than your own. But I did a bit better on this one, due to the good work of a recent National Geographic feature on China that I could show her.
Click HERE to see this visual of the Great Wall super-imposed onto a map of the United States that appeared inside that issue (it was a special issue on China called China: Inside the Dragon). You will need to use a current version of Adobe to be able to view this picture when you click on it. The scope of this project was amazing. Can you imagine being the project manager responsible for making this thing happen, meeting budget, finding the right personnel, etc.? Makes my piddly little management worries and stresses seem insignificant.
And little Amelia, you are the best. Thank you for your wonderful honesty and curiosity about the world. It inspires and reminds me to keep learning and asking questions.
Prof. Carr Feb. 23, 2009 addendum:
Two points I should add re the Great Wall.
Myth No. 1 — The Wall worked.
Reality — As with most walls, it was a failure. It did not keep the Mongols out. They just went around it and/or bribed the Walls’ guards to let them through.
Myth No. 2 — You can see it from outer space and/or the moon.
Reality — Nope. Sorry. An urban legend that has developed over the years. In 2003 a Chinese astronaut, the first in space for China as I remember, was forced to admit one could not see it from space. Their Ministry of Education then had to go back and wipe the egg off its face and school textbooks that had been making this claim.
That said, it really is a marvel to look at and walk. Quite an ancient “stimulus package”.
Source for the above addendum on myths and reality: Julia Lovell’s, The Great Wall: China Against the World: 1000 BC - 2000 AD (Grove Press, 2006). A pretty good scholarly book on this subject. The introduction chapter (”Who Made The Great Wall of China?”) and Chapter One (”Why Walls?”) are outstanding. Some of the other chapters are pretty good; others not so good and can be a bit dry. A good book, though, if you really like Chinese history books and the topic of The Great Wall (and the building of walls in general to try to solve social, economic and political problems). Probably not your first pick for a book to read, though, if you don’t have said interests.
10 comments June 17th, 2008