History of the Great Wall of China essays

History of the Great Wall of China essays The Great Wall of China is one of the largest building projects ever accomplished. It stretches about 1,500 miles from Bo Hai off the Yellow Sea in the East to the Gansu province in the West. It is so large it can be seen from space. A majority of the wall was built between 500-3000 years ago. The wall served to mark the boundary between the agricultural civilization of China and the civilization of the nomadic tribes of the north and northwest. The Great Wall stands 12 feet wide and 25 feet tall. The length is about 4000 miles long with a series of watchtowers standing 40 feet high and 100-200 yards apart. Along the top runs a 13-foot wide roadway. Behind the wall are intervals of permanent camps for troop guard stations. The effectiveness of the wall depended on the ability of the troops to move quickly to any point while under attack. Since the time the Great Wall has been extended, destroyed, and rebuilt, it still stands and has become one of major tourist attractions in the worl d. The Great Wall was considered to be a great asset to the first emperor, Chin Shih-Huang-Ti, known the founder of the Chin Dynasty. He and other states of north China joined together and extended the separate walls built by earlier states to serve as a defensive barrier against the nomads, especially the Turkish tribes. It took roughly ten years to complete and long hours of hard labor. The cost of the wall in money and lives may have been a factor in the fall of the Chin Dynasty. Construction of the Great Wall began in 400 BC. The first emperor of China, Chin Shih-Huang-Ti, wanted the wall built to protect his people from Mongolian invaders. He ordered just about one million people to work day and night for ten years to build the wall. The emperor Chin Shih Huang-Ti believed that his defensive barrier would prevent invasion of the Mongolian tribes. Even though the Great Wall protected against attack from outside, its building was a cause of disconte...

The Origin and Meaning of the Surname, Long

The Origin and Meaning of the Surname, Long Long is the  86th most popular surname  in the United States with origins in  English,  Irish, and Chinese. The most common alternate surname spellings include Longe, Lang, Delong, and Laing. Learn about the famous Longs, genealogy resources and the three main plausible origins for the common last name below. Possible Surname Origins Long was most commonly a  nickname that was often given to a man who was especially tall and lanky, from the  Old English lang  and  Old French long, meaning  long or tall.The Long surname may also be a  reduced Anglicized form of Gaelic name Ó Longin, meaning descendant of Longn, a personal name probably derived from long, meaning tall.If the family is Chinese, the name may indicate descent from  an official treasurer called Long, who lived during the reign of the model emperor Shun (2257–2205 BC). Notable Longs Nia Long:  American actress who is  best known as her characters on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and Third Watch on TV. She was also in the popular movies Friday and Too Deep.Howie Long:  Former American NFL defensive end. Howie currently works at Fox Sports as a studio analyst.Shelley Long:  Actress popular on the comedy television shows Cheers and Frasier. She has five Emmy nominations and two Golden Globe Awards.Shorty Long: American soul singer, record producer, and musician who was inducted into the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame. Genealogy Resources 100 Most Common U.S. Surnames Their Meanings: Smith, Johnson, Williams, Jones, Brown... Are you one of the millions of Americans sporting one of these top 100 common last names from the 2000 census?Long Family Genealogy Forum: Search this popular genealogy forum for the Long surname to find others who might be researching your ancestors, or post your own Long query.FamilySearch - Long  Genealogy: Find records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Long surname and its variations.Long  Surname Family Mailing Lists: RootsWeb hosts several free mailing lists for researchers of the Long surname.Cousin Connect - Long  Genealogy Queries: Read or post genealogy queries for the surname Long, and sign up for free notification when new Long queries are added.DistantCousin.com - Long  Genealogy Family History: Free databases and genealogy links for the last name Long. Resources and Further Reading Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.Menk, Lars. A Dictionary of German-Jewish Surnames. Avotaynu, 2005.Beider, Alexander. A Dictionary of Jewish Surnames from Galicia. Avotaynu, 2004.Hanks, Patrick, and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.