What was the purpose of building the Great Wall?
Basically we say the Great Wall was an efficient defensive system to protecting agriculture and resisting cavalry of the Huns, Mongols and other nomadic tribes from the north of China. At the same time, the Great Wall was also a dividing line for two different cultures at each side of it: Agricultural and Nomadic civilizations. For generations, the Chinese people have lived on their fertile land. Ancient China was ruled by emperors who kept order and maintained harmony and stability, hence China prospered and Chinese culture flourished. The nomadic tribes living in the north of China led a different life style. Their habitat was on the dry plateau and steppe where there was insufficient rainfall to grow crops, they moved from place to place grazing sheep and trading horses for food and clothing. They were very skilled at hunting and fighting. The nomadic tribes, such as the Huns and Mongols, traded horses to their Chinese neighbors for things they could not produce themselves such as g
