Name/Title
StereographEntry/Object ID
2023.055.3.0311Description
A black and white stereograph. Image is of a man standing on the Great Wall of China. Above the image "T542 (Star)" is printed, below the image "23842T Most Gigantic Defensive Work in the World - Great Wall of Chin on Rugged Hills Near Nankow Pass." is printed, to the left of the image "Keystone View Company COPYRIGHTED Manufacturers MADE IN U.S.A. Publishers" is printed, to the right of the image "Meadville, Pa., New York, N. Y., Chicago, Ill., London, England." is printed. On the reverse the following is printed:
23842
This is a part of the ancient barrier set up by the Chinese two thousand years ago to keep out "barbarians" from the north. It begins at the seacoast behind us and runs as we see it for more than 1200 miles, up and down mountains, over plains and valleys, in any direction deemed desirable by the extraordinary enginering practice of those days. Originally it was about 1700 miles long. It consists of two parallel walls of substantial brickwork about fifteen feet apart, the intervening space packed with earth and stones. it is impossible to imagine the labor and hardship which must have been endured by countless thousands of laborers in shaping and transporting into the wilderness such enormous quantities of brick and stone as were required for such an undertaking, in laying the walls and filling the space between them, even in carrying up the mountain heights the water needed for mixing mortar. As a recent traveler in the Orient has declared: "There is no nation today sufficiently powerful or walthy to build the Great Wall at this time and period."
As we can see here, the wall has been allowed to fall into decay in many places. The territory to our right is Manchuria, that to our left, China proper, and since the Manchus conquered the latter in the 17th century it has been unnecessary to maintain this part of the wall, as it no longer marks the frontier. In ancient times the soldiers guarding the wall found its crenellated parapet an effective defense, flanked as it was at frequent intervals by massive towers serving as strong points and repositories of supplies for larger detachments of the defenders. But under conditions of modern warfare the Grea Wall, tremendous though it is, would be of no military value whatever.
Copyright by Keystone View CompanyCollection
Photograph Collection