Did this thing actually work?

like a charm, the middle kingdom was great again by mandate of heaven

>>2983864

Most of the time, yes

Especially when it was actually maintained and manned by competent soldiers.

THE BETTER QUESTION WOULD BE: "WHAT WAS IT?", BECAUSE EVIDENTLY, IT WAS NOT A BORDERWALL.

I INFER THAT IT WAS MOST PROBABLY A KIND OF ROAD MAINLY USED COMMERCIALLY.

>>2984111
Bad meme

>>2983864
Yes, by focusing invading armies into choke-points. It was never intended to block invaders altogether, just force them into disadvantageous positions where they would be destroyed by the defending army.

lol dem rabbit invaders

File: The Great Wall of China 221 BC - AD 1644-55.jpg (661KB, 1661x1200px) Image search: [Google]

661KB, 1661x1200px

>>2983864
On and off.

The first "wall" was basically blocked off passes built by succeeding dynasties. However Chinese dynasties tended to have differing border defense strategies: you had rulers like the Sui who believed in holing the wall, and then you had people like the Han and T'ang who believed in having pet nomads as buffer tribes and going out to the steppes to massacre some confederacy or two from time to time.

Ironically even invading Nomadic founded Dynasties added to the wall, such as the case with the Jurchen Jin.

The unified wall was built in the 16th century by the Ming Dynasty. Largely because of the Mongol invasion. Now that one plain worked in keeping people off.

The Qing abandoned it entirely in favor of conquering the Steppenigs. Although they treated it as a classical ruin.

>>2983864
Definitely worked as a symbol, just as the US wall has already worked even though it hasn't been built yet

>>2984118
I think it's a great meme. Unfortunately it doesn't belong in /his/

>>2984111
>road mainly used commercially

It has stairs every however many hundred meters, that get very narrow. You can't get carts through.
It was obviously not for commerce for this reason alone.

>>2983864
it worked as a tariff border, but military? not really, just like any border walls in history. it offered only an illusion of protection