Seth HenryPasteurChina is well known for its Great Wall, but its history is surrounded by the deaths of many Chinese people. The Great Wall of China began to be built between 221 and 206 BCE by Emperor Qin, but the Qin were overthrown by the Han dynasty: between 206 and 220 CE. The Qin had built about 1,500 to 2,500 miles of Great Wall and the Han dynasty had built about 4,000 miles of wall. The Great Wall of China that people know today was built by the Ming Dynasty 1,500 years later (Doc A). The Great Wall of China required the use of many resources and the deaths of many people built over the course of the project, but do the benefits it generated exceed the costs of its construction and maintenance? The benefits of the Great Wall of ancient China outweigh the costs: it was part of a grand plan to achieve peace with the Xiongnu and allow trade to flourish with China and the Western world so that influence of China expands and that new ideas can enter China. The Wall in ancient China encouraged the trade of ideas and protected traders along the Silk Road. The Great Wall extended along the Silk Road (Doc D). This extension of the wall made the section of the Silk Road unprotected by natural elements safe from the Xiongnu and other threats. The rest of the Silk Road was in the Taklamakan Desert (Doc A), a miserable place to travel if you're not on a commonly traveled path. Imports from the Western world included important ideas such as the Buddhist religion and the idea of ​​an irrigation system (Doc D). Religion is often a rallying point for people, especially if they are under threat. If China had been divided, it would have fallen to the Xiongnu, and united, they were able to save themselves, with the help of the Great Wall. Chin...... middle of paper......l was being built to aid in the protection of the Chinese while the war was going on between the Xiongnu and the Han. The wall was a factor of intimidation that the Han exploited as best they could to keep the Xiongnu away. The Gobi Desert is also a much more forgiving landscape than the Taklamakan Desert. The Gobi Desert has a much colder climate and plants are more common than in the Taklamakan Desert. It is also dangerous to travel in the Taklamakan Desert and merchants traveling the Silk Road did so because of the many oasis towns along the way (Wikipedia Foundation). It is unrealistic for a Xiongnu army to cross the Taklamakan Desert and then be able to be ready to fight Han Dynasty soldiers. The Great Wall of ancient China saved the lives of many people in China and was worth the cost of resources, including human lives, needed to build it..