The Great Wall of China

About three centuries after the time of Confucius, and two centuries before Christ, a great warrior, called Chi-hoang-ti, was emperor of China; and for the purpose of putting a stop to the incursions of the Tartars, Kalmucks, and other tribes from the north, he caused the Great Wall--fifteen hundred miles in length--to be erected along the northern frontier of his dominions. It required ten years to build the wall, which is now mostly in ruins.

In the emperor's haste to complete it, he caused the deaths of tens of thousands of his laborers from overwork; and his name is an object of hatred among the Chinese to the present day.

The wall proved utterly useless as a means of defence, as the conquest of China was effected during the reign of the immediate successors of Chi-hoang-ti. It is interesting to know that the name China (unknown by the inhabitants of the country) comes from the house from which the builder of the Great Wall was descended.

Chi-hoang-ti was a usurper of the throne of China, and murdered all who were of royal blood: he not only took the title of Chi-hoang-ti, or First Emperor, but he used every means to make the title permanent; even issuing an order for all records previous to his time to be destroyed.

He was especially anxious that the writings of Confucius and Mencius should be destroyed; and fearing that some of the learned men might rewrite those works from memory, he caused one hundred of the literati to be executed.