Original subtitles

More than 2,000 years ago the emperors of China

began constructing great defensive walls to protect

their northern frontiers.

(dramatic music)

Even today the remains of these ancient ramparts

and towers scar the borderlands.

(dramatic music)

Hundreds of thousands of men literally pounded

this mighty edifice out of the earth.

(dramatic music)

Finally, in the 16th century they built the greatest

fortifications ever created by human hand,

a stone colossus that became the national icon of China,

(dramatic music)

the Great Wall.

(dramatic music)

What made the Middle Kingdom build this giant

walled frontier?

No one truly knows all the facets of the walls

that snake across thousands of kilometers of North China.

What have these walls to say about the world

they were built to protect?

Armies of tourists pay their respects to the stone

ramparts north of Beijing that have given the world

our image of the Great Wall.

But, what is its true story?

The final years of the 18th century are the Golden

Afternoon of the Chinese Empire.

It's an ancient culture with unique rites and rules,

cut off from the rest of the world.

But, the cocoon the Middle Kingdom has spun for itself

has become fragile.

For several months there has been a British trade delegation

in China, time enough for 12 year old Thomas,

travelling with the delegation, to learn Chinese.

Thomas my son, there you are.

Come and help us, please.

As an unofficial interpreter he supplies

valuable services to the ambassadors.

Finally, the court officials informed the foreigners

that the Emperor is ready to receive them

in his summer residence, seven days ride

from the capitol, Beijing.

He said that, this trunk cannot go to--

On this occasion the delegation

will finally be able to present an outstanding example

of British craftsmanship to the Emperor of China,

the carriages they brought to China

all the way from England.

But, when they offer to make the ruler a gift

of these splendid vehicles the mandarins' reaction

is astonishment and disapproval.

(speakign foreign language)

The officals assure them that his sublime majesty

would never sit in such a palanquin for no one ever

must sit higher that the emperor and the coachmen

not only sits higher, but with his back to his passenger.

We'll see about that, come on gentlemen.

The Englishmen will, of course, travel

to the emperor in their coach.

(hoof beats)

The English trade delegation representing King George

is led by Lord MaCartney aided by Sir George Staunton.

Their mission is to open the Chinese market to the products

of the British Empire.

A great procession accompanies the English visitors

from the Forbidden City to the Summer Palace.

Sir George's son, Thomas improves his knowledge

of Chinese with the help of the translator accompanying

the delegation.

The official Chinese interpretor is less than useful

as he speaks no English, only Latin.

Three days out of Beijing the Mandarins and officers

take the delegation over the Gubeikou pass.

(dramatic music)

MaCartney and his collegues are treated to a sight

that few Europeans have ever beheld,

(dramatic music)

the Great Wall.

Nothing will keep the Englishmen in their coaches,

they scramble over the wall overwhelmed by their admiration

for the architects and builders of this structure.

But, Lord MaCartney notices that his Chinese escorts

remain completely unmoved.

He later wrote,

"The Mandarins appeared rather uneasy

"and impatient at the length of our stay upon the wall.

"They were astonished at our curiosity, though few of them

"had ever visited it at all."

Lord MaCartney was otherwise less than

impressed by Chinese cultural achievements,

but overwhelmed by this most stupendous work

of human hands.

He continued,

"This wall was built above 200 years before

"the Christian era.

"China must have been not only a very powerful empire

"but a very wise and virtuous nation to establish at once

"what was then thought a perpetual security for them

"against future invasion."

The accounts of these first European tourists

have influenced our image of the Great Wall ever since.

But, these British visitors had no idea that the stone

colossus they were admiring was only about 200 years old.

This huge structure had been built in the 16th century

to stand guard over the heart of the Middle Kingdom

after the Gubeikou pass had been the gateway

for an invasion that shook the empire to its core.

(dramatic music)

The story begins in Beijing.

This is where the emperor of the Ming Dynasty lives

in the Forbidden City.

This is the center of the world.

From here the emperor rules over All Under Heaven.

In splendid audiences the Son of Heaven demonstrates

his power.

Hundreds gather in front of the Hall of Perfect Harmony

to pay homage to their ruler.

Like everything else that happens at court, this ceremony

follows a strict ritual.

"A state without ritual is a plow without a blade" they say.

And, like the Pole Star in the heavens the emperor stands

at the center of the earth.

He is the head and the center point of the Middle Kingdom.

(dramatic music)

And, hardly any other ruler of the Ming Dynasty

embodies this principle more than Emperor Jiajing

who had sat on the Dragon Throne since 1522.

(hoof beats)

At that time China regarded all foreign peoples

as barbarians.

(speaking foreign language)

(horses neigh)

Dipolomatic contacts and trade relations with other

peoples are considered entirely unnecessary.

The Middle Kingdom is sufficient unto itself.

Even the right to pay tribute to the emperor is an honor

that only the emperor himself can grant.

A delegation of Mongolian nomads appear before

the officials of the Middle Kingdom.

They have a message for Emperor Jiajing.

Not for the last time the Mongols ask the emperor for

permission to pay a tribute.

They bring valuable gifts in the hope that the emperor

will present a gift in return.

Only when this ritual is completed can trading begin.

The delegation has come from Hohhot,

headquarters of the Mongol Prince Altan Khan.

Hohhot is just 400 kilometers from the Forbidden City.

(dramatic music)

Altan Khan lives in palace he's had built on Chinese lines.

He's a great admirer of Chinese culture and he's broken

with the tradition of his forefathers in another way.

He's the first Mongol leader since Genghis Khan

to build a permanent, fortified city.

But, his people still live in yurts, the traditional round

tents of the nomads of the steppe.

They live entirely from their livestock, wandering over

the steppe.

They pitch their yurts wherever they find grazing land

for their herds.

For the weakest of the nomads, the children and the elderly,

the long winters are a struggle for survival.

Many don't make it through.

The Chinese to the south know all about their suffering.

Chinese sources report, "In spring they often beg

"our patrols to buy their cattle, one ox for a picul

"or so of rice or beans. Some would bring hides or

"horse hair hoping to stave off starvation

"for one more day."

For the nomads there's no way out, only trade with their

Chinese neighbors, who possess limitless rice and grain,

could bring an end to their hardship.

But, in the imperial palace behind the walls

of the Forbidden City no one is interested in the

barbarians' troubles.

Here, in the center of the world, the ruler's priority

is to carry out the prescribed rituals that will guarantee

order in the universe.

(tranquil music)

(speaking foreign language)

Even having to consider Altan Khan's request for trade

relations is an affront to the emperor.

The idea of trading on equal terms with the Mongols

is completely unimaginable.

The emperor had already demanded that the character

representing barbarians had to be written as small

as possible on all official documents.

A price is put on Altan Khan's head and future Mongolian

ambassadors will be executed.

(ominous music)

But, the Chinese peasants in the border region

know exactly what their emperor's policy will mean for them.

Now, the nomads will take with force what the emperor

has denied them.

(ominous music)

The peasants don't have long to wait.

(hoof beats)

Mongol horsemen stream across the empire's

northern borders.

The wheel of history which has revolved around violence

and plunder for more than one thousand five hundred years

is turning again.

(ominous music)

Those the Mongols spare will starve in the ravaged fields.

(speaking foreign language)

In the forbidden city there were two schools of thought.

They had different views as to how to put an end

to the raids.

One side argued for trade relations the other wanted

a military reponse, but a military response carried

the risk of defeat.

Since they couldn't agree on trade or on war

they made a compromise.

Thus was the decision explained that the

emperor finally announced.

"Barbarians prefer aggression, we are more suited

"to defense."

(speaking foreign language)

On the command of the emperor General Wang Wan Da,

leader of the border troops reports to the Forbidden City

to recieve his orders.

(speaking foreign language)

General Wang Wan Da is appointed Supreme Commander

of the capitol's defense forces.

His mission is to reinforce the garrisons of Datong

and Shen Fu and to secure the capitol with a long wall.

Wang Wan Da's fortifications to the northwest of Beijing

formed part of a much larger defense system:

the nine border garrisons.

Strung out like beads on a chain they run from the

easternmost to the westernmost point of the Chinese Empire.

The last outpost in the west is the fort of Jiuquan.

Jiuquan means Pass to the Beatiful Valley.

Only the 5,500 meter peak of Mount Chuyen

stands higher than the powerful fortress.

According to legend the master builder of the fort

calculated the construction materials so precisely

that when they finished just one brick was left over.

It's still there on the side of a tower.

Close by the first tower of the Ming Wall rises up,

a lonely outpost on the edge of the steppe.

(dramatic music)

In the south the wall abruptly ends on the cliffs

of the river Beida.

On the other side of Jiuquan Fort the wall

continues eastwards.

Over the centuries wind and weather have torn gaps

in the wall.

For here it's not made of stone but of rammed earth,

a material used for buildings and walls in China

since time immemorial.

Sections of the wall run parallel to an older set

of earth defenses built around the year 1000.

When General Wang Wan Da's task is completed

the northwest of China is completely sealed off.

The capitol, Beijing is protected by it's own ring of walls.

The Ordos, the northern region enclosed by a huge curve

of the Yellow River.

It has always been the gateway for the nomads into China.

Here too the wind and weather have done their worst.

The wall and its towers can still be made out

on the crags above the river.

The garrison forts were the outposts of this defensive

outer wall.

(goat bleeting)

Today their use is strictly non-military.

Their six meter thick earth walls provide shelter

to the farmer's herds.

(goats bleeting)

But, nearly 500 years ago they faced their greatest

military test.

(ominous music)

March 1549, Shen Fu, the Chinese are fighting off

another Mongol raid.

(ominous music)

General Wang Wan Da defends the city.

(ominous music)

The earth shakes as Altan Khan's army passes the fortress.

(horse neighs)

(ominous music)

Show down at the Great Wall.

(yelling in foreign language)

The Chinese general signals an attack.

(yelling)

Wang Wan Da's tactics have blocked the Mongol retreat.

Though battered, the wall is not beaten.

(horse neighs)

The Mogul horsemen have suffered severe losses.

What future now for Altan Khan?

From the middle of his retreating hordes he sends

a message to the Chinese defenders.

(thud)

Is it an admission of defeat?

Did this raid cost too much?

But, Altan Khan's message contains a naked threat.

If trade is not allowed, his men will be in the streets

of Beijing.

(speaking foreign language)

The Ming dynasty's Great Wall still has the reputation

of being impenetrable.

Enormous sums were invested and millions of people

were recruited to build it.

The soldiers manning it were excellently trained,

excellently equipped.

And yet, the Mongols didn't give up.

Somewhere on such a long frontier there had to be

a place where they could break through.

That place would be the Gubeikou Pass, north of Beijing.

(speaking foreign language)

(ominous music)

The Chinese don't expect an attack

at the Gubeikou Pass.

It's a forgotten corner of the mountains defended by

a handful of troops.

The gigantic fortifications so admired by Lord MaCartney

have not yet been built.

(yelling)

(hoof beats)

(horses neigh)

The attack of the Mongolian Enforcers is a complete

surprise, it's almost too easy.

The route to Beijing lies open.

(hoof beats and horses neigh)

(ominous music)

And, Altan Khan keeps his promise.

It's just 80 kilometers to Beijing.

Officially, Beijing is defended by a force of 140,000 men.

But, less than half of these are actually under arms.

General Wang's victory at the gates of the fort

has made the Chinese complacent.

(yelling)

At the sight of the advancing Mongol hordes

the defenders run.

(yelling)

Altan Khan's men tear through the suburbs of Beijing

plundering and burning.

For three days they advance.

(ominous music)

At last, even the emperor deep inside the Forbidden City

can no longer ignore them.

From within the walls of his ordered universe

Emperor Jiajing watches chaos overtake the outside world.

There's nothing he can do.

(ominous music)

On September 30, 1550 Altan Khan draws up his troops

before the Anding Gate, the place where the Chinese

traditionally hold their victory parades.

(ominous music)

He has reached his goal, the very heart of the empire.

(ominous music)

A prisoner of war is sent with a message to the emperor.

Will it be a demand for his abdication?

An ultimatum for the hand over of the city?

Does Altan want control of the whole empire?

(chains rattle)

The contents of the messge cause confusion in the palace.

(speaking foreign language)

Altan Khan once again requests the emperor's permission

to set up trading posts on the northern borders.

(speaking foreign language)

But, the sublime ruler has no intention of agreeing

to the request of a barbarian.

To regain control of an extremely delicate situation

the emperor summons his high officials.

They decide to take refuge in courtly protocol.

The court will inform Altan Khan that they have

a number of reasons to doubt that his message is genuine.

Number one, it is not in the script of the barbarians.

Number two, the message did not reach the emperor

by the appropriate means.

The sublime ruler therefore demands that Altan Khan

withdraw his forces at once and that he make

another formal request for trading relations

via the garrison at Shen Fu.

(speaking foreign language)

The court's tactics worked.

Altan Khan withdrew from Beijing.

His decision still puzzles historians today.

(speaking foreign language)

There is one possible, very interesting explanation

for this, that Altan Khan really didn't want to

conquer China.

He really did only want to establish trade relations.

Now, 400 years before Genghis Khan had had

a quite different goal.

He wanted to take over all the land south of

the Yellow River.

He wanted to control the Middle Kingdom

and he succeeded.

Mere months after Altan Khan's attack

the Chinese open up trading posts at some of the

northern forts.

Recently, the remains of a trading station were found

at Yulin Garrison.

Archeologists uncovered the foundations of a gate

here in this wall through which the merchants

could pass in and out.

But, the new freedom of movement didn't last long,

by the next year the markets were closed down.

(dramatic music)

And, that was when construction began on the greatest

defensive structure China and the world had ever seen.

(dramatic music)

Between 1550 and 1644 the Stone Dragon came to life.

China's Great Wall was completed.

And, the wall became a monument to the closed world view

of the Ming Empire.

It enclosed their own universe and excluded everything

that was foreign.

To the north of Beijing it curves majestically through

the mountain ranges.

It follows the natural line of the mountain peaks

reaching breathtaking heights before plunging

into the deepest ravines.

At it's eastern end in Shanhaiguan it strides straight

into the Yellow Sea.

From this head of the dragon to the first earthen tower in

the west the Ming Wall is more than 6,000 kilometers long.

(dramatic music)

The sometimes bizarre route taken by this wall

has led many experts to believe that more than just

defensive considerations went into its planning.

For generations the Chinese have believed in the practice

of Feng Shu, the teachings of wind and water.

(dramatic music)

Feng Shu experts were probably consulted and obeyed

before the building of the wall began to make sure

that the forces of nature would work in its favor.

But, when it came to the construction itself

spiritual aspects took second place.

It was all about quality, efficiency, and speed.

An army commander was in charge of each building detail.

He was responsible for seeing that they keep to

the time table, if necessary with the use of force.

Most of the workers were recruited from the army

or were pressed into service as civilians.

The speed and harshness with which the plans were executed

put a terrible strain on both men and the supply

of materials.

(dramatic music)

(yelling and thuds)

No one knows how many victims the wall claimed.

We're told that a three kilometer section of wall

was completed in 600 days, by just 3,000 men.

The older walls of compressed earth could use materials

that lay at hand, but the materials for the Ming Wall

of the 16th century had to be manufactured.

This meant an extensive network of quarries, kilns,

and the supply routes to connect them.

Countless brickworks were created for the greatest

building site of the empire.

The costs of this gigantic project became a heavier

and heavier burden on the state.

Bearers carried the bricks from the kilns to

the construction sites in the mountains.

Some travelled 80 kilometers.

Beasts of burden joined humans in carrying bricks

to the construction sites.

Entire herds worked only on the building of the wall.

Even goats did their bit, the animals got so used to

the work that once unloaded they would turn around

and go straight back down the valley for their next load.

It took just a hundred years to buld the greatest

defensive fortifications the world had ever known.

But, the Great Wall is not a single wall at all.

It's actually a system of several defensive lines.

Watchtowers are strung out along the main wall.

When the enemy is spotted they light an alarm beacon.

In the meantime, the 50 to 100 men in each tower

hurry along the top of the wall to the point of the attack.

Meanwhile, reinforcements arrive from the garrison

towers which hold up to 10,000 battle ready soldiers.

At least that's the theory.

The reality was rather different.

For months on end the border guards were banished

to the frozen mountain regions exposed to the cruel weather,

cut off from the rest of the world, serving out their time

in the towers, or roughing it in their sparse accommodation.

Building the wall had brought the Ming Dynasty

to the edge of ruin.

(fire crackles)

And discipline among the soldiers was poor,

whether mercenaries or draftees they would go months

without pay.

They waited in vain for the promised waterproof clothing.

There was no real supply chain.

(fire crackles)

And yet, taxes were constantly being increased

throughout the empire.

(hoof beats and yelling)

Money regularly disappeared long before it got

to the frontiers, into the pockets of corrupt officers

and officials.

The completion of the wall brought with it the financial

and spiritual bankruptcy of the Ming Dynasty.

(yelling)

In 1644, a rebel army led by a peasant,

Li Zicheng, plundered and pillaged it's way towards Beijing.

(yelling)

And, there's a second threat to the creaking dynasty

in Bejing.

On the steppes a powerful enemy is gathering

a hundred years after Altan Khan:

the Manchu.

(ominous music)

At the eastern end of the wall at the Dragon's Head

an army of Manchu horsemen has gathered.

Close by is the fortress of Shenhaiguan.

Calligraphy decorating the east tower announces

its proud name, The First Pass Under Heaven.

This fortress protects the plain between the mountains

and the Dragon's Head at the edge of the Yellow Sea.

In 1644, The First Pass Under Heaven is the scene

of a fateful decision that will shake the Middle Kingdom

to its core.

(footsteps)

The commander of Shehaiguan is General Woo,

one of the last Army commanders still loyal

to the Ming Dynasty.

The advanced guard of the Manchu are camped in plain sight,

but they make no attempt to take the fortress.

They're waiting.

By May 1644, the situation in the empire is hopeless.

Li Zicheng, the rebel leader, has taken control

of the Forbidden City.

The emperor is dead.

(speaking foreign language)

But, General Woo has refused to go over to the rebels.

It may still be possible to throw them out of Beijing

and save the dynasty.

(thuds and grunts)

Then, General Woo recieves news from Beijing.

It's about the rebel leader, Li Zicheng.

(speaking foreign language)

Li Zicheng has taken General Woo's father hostage.

He demands that the general swear allegiance to him

as the new ruler of the Forbidden City

or his father will die.

Then, the ambassador hands General Woo a letter,

supposedly from his father.

The old man begs the General to obey the new ruler

at once and so save his life.

His obligations to his own father must override his loyalty

to the Ming Dynasty.

And, a gift from Li Zicheng should make his decision easier.

How would the general decide?

Did he have a choice at all?

(speaking foreign language)

(dramatic music)

On May the 27th, 1644 at dawn General Woo opens

the gates of his fortress to the invading Manchu armies,

rather the Manchu ruling the empire than a peasant

on the Dragon Throne.

(hoof beats and yelling)

The Manchu expelled the rebels from the Forbidden City

and they take power for themselves.

They found a new dynasty that will rule

the Middle Kingdom until the year 1911.

They call themselves the Qing, the Pure Ones.

150 years after the gates of China were opened

to his ancestors a Qing emperor recieves a British

trade delegation for the first time.

(dramatic music)

Lord MaCartney had refused to kowtow, the traditional

gesture of humility before the emperor.

In Chinese etiquette this is an insult.

(dramatic music)

But, that wasn't the only reason MaCartney failed

to establish trade links with China.

"We do not have the slightest need of your country's

"manufactures," is the judgement of the Son of Heaven.

For the emperor the British envoys are no more

than barbarians from a distant, unknown corner of the world,

foreigners who begged to be given the honor of

paying him tribute.

The British envoy's mission is a complete disaster.

MaCartney had admired the Great Wall of stone,

but he had stumbled on another invisible wall,

a wall that had surrounded the Middle Kingdom

for 2,000 years.

Nearly 50 years later Thomas Staunton, who had accompanied

the mission as a boy would make an impassioned speech

in parliment calling for war against China

to enforce England's right to trade.

These barbarians brought down the Chinese Empire

without scaling any walls.

They came across the sea,

from Europe.

China's walls, visible and invisible, crumbled over time.

(dramatic music)

The Great Wall could not protect the Middle Kingdom

from its enemies,

some overcame it with force, other found the gates

were opened for them.

Yet, it remains a symbol of national power.

(dramatic music)

North of Beijing where the Stone Dragon winds majestically

over mountains and across ravines this architectural

masterpiece will still leave you speechless.

The myths of the Great Wall in people's minds

will always be more powerful than the truth

of its checkered history.

(dramatic music)