The boulders were hoisted up using the lever principle. However, we can find out from pictures or field investigations that the main part of the Great Wall is actually built with bricks, and not many boulders were used. Although it is known as one of the wonders of the world, the construction of the Great Wall is still a little easier than the giant buildings like the pyramids that are made up of large boulders, mainly because not so many boulders were used.
The main body of the Great Wall is bricks or stone strips, so the Great Wall is basically built with fired blue bricks. And when building the Great Wall, unlike building the pyramids, materials were not transported from other places, but were adapted to local conditions and local materials were used. If there are more stone strips in the local area, then use them to build. If there are not many stone strips, then use fired blue bricks to build. Although boulders are rarely used, and stones, blue bricks and other things are generally used, building such a long Great Wall is not as easy as we think, and it is also quite labor-intensive and costly. It is because of this that there is the story of Meng Jiangnu crying at the Great Wall.
Materials
When the Great Wall was being built, materials were usually transported by human relay, with a large number of people lining up from the top of the mountain to the bottom of the mountain, and then carrying the materials up the mountain in baskets. This was a more labor-saving method, and another method was to use animals that could climb mountains, such as donkeys. People put the baskets on the donkey‘s back, put various materials in them, and then drive the donkey up the mountain.
As for the very large stones, they could also use donkeys to carry them up. Moreover, the clever ancients had long learned the principle of leverage, and they could also use this principle of leverage to deliver the boulders to the construction site of the Great Wall. Another way was to use logs. They would use wood to build a slope, and then put the boulders on the logs, and push and pull the boulders up. Although the slope was very worn out, it was a way to save effort. In short, the ancients also had many ways to transport these construction materials.
The construction of the Great Wall began in the Western Zhou Dynasty, but the progress of the project was slow. During the reign of Qin Dada, a lot of manpower and material resources were invested in building the Great Wall. The Great Wall was the most important tool for defending against foreign enemies in ancient times. The productivity and manufacturing industry in ancient times were very low, and there were no advanced tools for people to use. People could only build up the huge stones piece by piece through human or livestock power. It can be said that every huge stone on the Great Wall is covered with the sweat and tears of the working people.
Human Resources
Although we are now complaining that our labor is worthless, and there is almost nothing left after the monthly salary is paid except for the water and electricity bills, even so, the boss still hopes that we can work overtime every day to create more profits for the company. The correct name for such labor should be cheap labor. The labor in ancient times was really worthless. When Ying Zheng built the Great Wall, the government collected labor uniformly. It was their duty to move bricks under the sun. If they did not do a good job or were lazy, they would be whipped by officers and soldiers. Small pieces of stone can be moved by personal strength, but when facing huge stones, several strong men are needed to move them together, relying entirely on the strength of the person’s own shoulders.
In the later period, people began to learn to use external forces to complete this task, such as using the principle of leverage and using wooden sticks to pry stones. Never underestimate the wisdom of the working people, because as early as the eighth century BC, people used the principle of buoyancy to build floating bridges. So it is not surprising that the principle of leverage was used to share people’s hard work at that time. And using such methods can not only reduce people’s pain, but also improve work efficiency.
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