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So how were the defenses of the Great Wall of China staffed for two millennia? There's some description at [1]. At peak, it took a million soldiers to defend t

So how were the defenses of the Great Wall of China staffed for two millennia? There's some description at [1]. At peak, it took a million soldiers to defend the wall. That's huge. China today has a military only about twice that size, and a far bigger population than in the days when the Wall mattered. Staffing the wall was using up a huge amount of manpower. That article, by an American, says the soldiers spent most of their time farming near the wall. So they were what the original posting calls "military settlers". How was that huge army kept from taking over the country? [1] https://www.china-mike.com/china-tourist-attractions/great-wall-china/defending-the-wall/ https://www.china-mike.com/china-tourist-attractions/great-w...

johngladtj 2y ago
It wasn't. Do nasties fell when that army decided to open the gates
jcranmer 2y ago
Simply put, the Great Wall of China (as we know it today) didn't exist for two millennia. What many people now see as the Great Wall of China was built by the Ming dynasty in the late 1400s and lasted at most 200 years before the Ming dynasty fell (they were still constructing it when the Ming dynasty fell, and the subsequent Qing dynasty declined to continue building it). Before then, the walled fortifications were generally more sporadic, more temporary, and definitely more lightly manned. It would have required much fewer men to defend it--probably looking at say 20k for the Qin or Han era walls--and the Chinese state was, well, a state during much of this time period (by Weber's definition, that it has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force), unlike most of Medieval Europe. Even then, the Chinese state failed several times over the course of two millennia, and a few of those times were quite literally people manning faraway places going "why are we doing this?" and sacking the capital.

johngladtj 2y ago

It wasn't. Do nasties fell when that army decided to open the gates

jcranmer 2y ago

Simply put, the Great Wall of China (as we know it today) didn't exist for two millennia. What many people now see as the Great Wall of China was built by the Ming dynasty in the late 1400s and lasted at most 200 years before the Ming dynasty fell (they were still constructing it when the Ming dynasty fell, and the subsequent Qing dynasty declined to continue building it). Before then, the walled fortifications were generally more sporadic, more temporary, and definitely more lightly manned. It would have required much fewer men to defend it--probably looking at say 20k for the Qin or Han era walls--and the Chinese state was, well, a state during much of this time period (by Weber's definition, that it has a monopoly on the legitimate use of force), unlike most of Medieval Europe. Even then, the Chinese state failed several times over the course of two millennia, and a few of those times were quite literally people manning faraway places going "why are we doing this?" and sacking the capital.