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The Great Wall of Yan in the literature records

On the southwest side of Gojoseon, which had the main range of northeastern China, was Yan. Yan was one of Seven Warring States and they interacted closely with Gojoseon. Archaeologically, it can be seen that the two countries have exchanged since the 5th century BC. However, the document record of both countries exists only after the 4th century BC. The 『Wei Lie(魏略)』 is written as follows: “Yan was a vassal state at the time. But when Zhou was weakened, they called themselves ‘king’ and tried to invade the east. Then Joseon-Hou(朝鮮侯, the title to the king of Gojoseon) called himself ‘king’ and tried to attack the Yan.” Through this, we can guess that Gojoson was comparable to Yan at the time. However, “Yan dispatched Qin Kai(秦開), taking away about 2,000-ri of land located west of the Gojoseon.” On the other hand, 「Xiongnu liezhuan(匈奴列傳)」 in 『Shiji(史記)』 is recorded as follows. “Qin Kai, who was the commander of Yan Dynasty, stormed Donghu(東湖). And they built a great wall from Zao yang(造陽) to Xiang ping(襄平).” In addition, 「Chaoxian liezhuan(朝鮮列傳)」 records that “The prosperous Yan has obeyed Zhen fan(眞番) and Joseon(朝鮮), and has built fortresses and bastions.”

In fact, there is a great wall in northeast China. The wall is within the territory that the Yan took from Donghu and Gojoseon. It is believed to have been built up to manage there. Yan also built great wall in the south to prevent invade of other vassal states such as Cao, Qi and Qin. The former is called the north-south castle, and the latter is called the south-south castle. The former is called the Yanbei Great Wall(燕北長城), and the latter is called the Yannan Great Wall(燕南長城).

The Great Wall of Yan, its direction and structure

In the region which is easy to collect the soil, the soil is made with the fixed thickness and it piled up. In the ridges and rocky areas, it was built with stone. Near the Great Wall, square or rectangular bastions built for the presence or command of the army were deployed. There was also a beacon tower for contact or surveillance. When we say 'Great Wall', people think of a magnificent and huge wall like 'The Great Wall of China'. But the Great Wall of Yan in the Liaoxi area, also known to be well preserved, has been largely undermined - now it has only the base part left.

The Great Wall Line in the Liaodong area is changing

The great wall in the Liaodong area is ambiguous. Looking at various data, great wall starts from Liaoxi and descends from north to south in Liaodong. However, no walls were found in Liaodong that might be considered ‘great wall’. Tan Qixiang(谭其骧) said in his book 『The Historical Atlas of China』(1982) that ‘Great wall passes through Fushun(撫順) in the northern part of Liaoyang(遼陽)’. However, according to the 1995 paper 「Research on Yanbei Great Wall(燕北長城考)」, it passes north of Er longhu Castle in Siping, Jilin Province. This is the record of 『The Three Kingdoms』 which states that ‘Buyeo is located north of great wall’. And since Buyeo was in Changchun, it was estimated that the great wall passed to the north of Er longhu Castle. Of course, no archaeological evidence is presented regarding great wall. Meanwhile, 『The report on the resources of grate walls in Yan, Chin, and Han in Liaoning(遼寧省燕秦漢長城資源調査報告)』(2017) says that the grate wall is in the south.

China said it was a wall built by Yan, but it was not. And they announced that the wall built later was built by Yan. In June 2012, Liao shen wan bao(遼沈晩報) reported extensively that a great wall built during the Yan Dynasty was found in Liaoning Province. When you look at the pictures of the article, the stone walls are actually connected. But somehow, this discovery was not reflected in other research papers or reports.

There is a case that is opposite to the above mentioned. The 1986 report 『The Ancient Great Wall of Liaoning』 said that stone walls built during the Ming Dynasty were found in Benxi and Kuandian areas. But in the recently published 『The report on the resources of grate walls in Yan, Chin, and Han in Liaoning』 says that these are the Great Walls built during the Yan Dynasty. Perhaps they assume that the Ming Dynasty reused the Great Wall built by the Yan Dynasty, but there is no reason to connect them.

Was The Great Wall of Yan really in Liaodong?

As mentioned above, 'The Great Wall of Yan' in Liaodong is not seen in real life. So China connects the traces of old cemeteries with the currency of the Yan Dynasty, or the area where relics from the Yan-Qin period are excavated here and there with the possibility of the Great Wall. However, there are many old graves where various artifacts are buried, and the areas where artifacts are excavated. So when we connect these to the great wall, there are several great wall lines or areas, not one. Therefore, these may exist in this area regardless of great wall. In particular, the old cemeteries with currency may be the result of trade between Zhongyuan(such as the Yan Dynasty) and the Gojoseon group living in the area. That's why It's hard to accept.