Cultural Exchange: Symbol #1

The first symbol that Maggie selected to represent China is the famous Great Wall of China, known around the world.

This wall in Northern China extends for over 6,000 kilometers. Maggie eloquently described the Chinese perception of the Great Wall in this way: "It rises and falls like a magical dragon keeping the spiritual lifeline of our nation."

This spiritual lifeline that Maggie spoke of refers to the long history of the construction of this wall that spanned numerous ancient dynasties, taking just about 1000 years to build! In 770 BC, Emperor Qin ordered the linking of walls of principalities in order to create one, extremely long wall. He had intended to create the wall in order to defend their agricultural civilization of fields and cities from the nomadic civilizations outside. Later, during the Han Dynasty, the wall guarded the trade of the Silk Road, and during the Ming Dynasty, the Great Wall went under a large-scale transformation. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese people throughout the nation's history have sacrificed blood and sweat for this great world masterpiece. At first, the wall was built for defense. Then, to Emperor Qian Long (of the Qing Dynasty)'s surprise, the Great Wall had become an opportunity for the ethnic groups on the inside and the outside of the wall to become one "cozy and warm family". Now, the Great Wall of China stands as a symbol of pride and beauty, encouraging the current Chinese generations, as well as tourists from other countries, to remember the many hardships and turmoil that the ancestors of the Chinese have had to suffer in the past, and to respect their unmatchable, unconquerable courage and perseverance that have helped bring the Chinese nation to its current grandeur and strength.

Maggie used this quote to describe the emotions she experienced as she stood upon the Great Wall: "The sky is high and the fleecy clouds are bright. We watch the southbound wild geese out of sight."



"The Great Wall is encouraging the Chinese nation to march on forever", says Maggie.

Here are some excerpts from my e-mailed response to Maggie:

"Yes, I definitely would like to visit the Great Wall in my lifetime...I think it would be very interesting to stand on a wall that people from over four dynasties have worked so hard on."

"Looking at the pictures, I thought that the wall looks like a dragon, because it goes up and down, and side to side. Do Chinese people view it this way? The wall definitely holds a very strong and powerful image in my mind, from looking at those pictures, and also the wall seems to possess an attractive force that brings many people, including Chinese people and tourists, to it. Amidst the vast mountains and valleys, the wall seems to invite people, like a symbol of harmony and coming together."