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The Great Wall of China The Chinese worked on the Great Wall for over 1700 years. In turn, each emperor who came to power added pieces of the wall to protect their dynasties. But the wall was not a solid wall. It was a line of disconnected barricades. **[|First Emperor Qin]** wanted a much better barricade to protect his people from the Mongol invaders to the north. He wanted a strong wall 30 feet wide and 50 feet high.  First Emperor Qin used peasants, captured enemies, criminals, scholars, and anyone else who irritated him, and put them all to work building the Great Wall. Laborers were not paid for their work. It was slave labor. About 3000 people worked on the wall during the Qin Dynasty. Rocks fell on people. Walls caved in. Workers died of exhaustion and disease. Laborers were fed only enough food to keep them alive. There is an old Chinese saying, "Each stone in the wall represents a life lost in the wall's construction. This project continued long after First Emperor Qin’s death. Building the wall was a project that continued for many hundreds of years until the wall was over 3700 miles long. Most emperors used the same system that Qin used, forced labor.  Today, the Great Wall still stands. It can be seen from space, it’s that big! [|(The Great Wall of China, mrdonn.org, 2011)]   

Here is some traditional Chinese clothing for men and women!

Check out some Chinese dance in this video! media type="youtube" key="B_4VpF5Z7xY" height="315" width="420" align="center"

media type="youtube" key="JMdRwHpRseU" height="315" width="420" > > > > > Inventions

The ancient Chinese invented many things we use today, including paper, silk, matches, wheelbarrows, gunpowder, the decimal system, the waterwheel, the sundial, astronomy, porcelain china, lacquer paint, pottery wheel, fireworks, paper money, compass, tangrams, seismograph, medicines, dominoes, jump rope, kites, tea ceremony, folding umbrella, ink, calligraphy, animal harness, playing cards, printing, abacus, wallpaper, the crossbow, ice cream, and ... well, you get the idea. The ancient Chinese were //very// inventive! (Ancient Chinese Inventions, mrdonn.org, 2011)

Check out this Wordle (click on the picture to make it larger) to see many of the inventions that the Chinese have created!

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(List of Chinese Inventions, thelists.org, 2011)

References <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">China Hard Landing Fears – The Reality and The Preposterous. (2011, September 30). //<span style="background-color: #efefef; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Crackerjack Finance //. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://crackerjackfinance.com/2011/09/china-hard-landing-fears-%E2%80%93-the-reality-and-the-preposterous/ <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">(<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Food ) Chinese cuisine. (2011, December 8).// Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia //. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_cuisine#Eight_Culinary_Traditions_of_China <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Chinese Dress. (n.d.). //<span style="background-color: #efefef; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Chinese Dress //. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from @http://www.chinese.dress.tripod.com <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">(<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Language ) Chinese language. (2011, December 8). // Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia //. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from @http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_language <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">(<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Economy/Jobs ) Economy of the People's Republic of China. (2011, December 8).// Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia //. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_the_People's_Republic_of_China#Industry_and_manufacturing <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">(<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Education ) Education in the People's Republic of China. (2011, December 5).// Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia //. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China#Higher_education <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">(<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Family Structure ) Family values. (2011, November 11).// Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia //. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Family_values#Chinese_culture_and_Confucianism <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Jacket/Set. (n.d.). //<span style="background-color: #efefef; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Bitableu //. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from @http://www.bitableu.com/index.php?cPath=29 <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">List of Chinese Inventions. (n.d.). // The Lists //. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from @http://www.thelists.org/list-of-chinese-inventions.html <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">(<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Music ) Music of China. (2011, December 8).// Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia //. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_of_China#Traditional_music <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">(<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">7 Public Holidays ) Public holidays in the People's Republic of China. (2011, November 25). // Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia //. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from @http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_holidays_in_the_People%27s_Republic_of_China <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">(<span style="color: #008080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">Beliefs/Religion ) Religion in China. (2011, December 4). // Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia //. Retrieved December 9, 2011, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religion_in_China#Cultural_background <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 110%;">China for Kids. (n.d.). //<span style="background-color: #efefef; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px;">Ancient China for Kids //. Retrieved December 11, 2011, from http://china.mrdonn.org/index.html