China Great Wall Museum

China Great Wall Museum

The China Great Wall Museum is a patriotic education base.

The China Great Wall Museum is located at the foot of the Badaling section of the Great Wall in Beijing. It is a thematic museum dedicated to the Great Wall, comprehensively reflecting its history and current status, and features an antique-style watchtower complex architecture.

Development History

The China Great Wall Museum is located in Badaling, Yanqing District, Beijing, built against the Great Wall. It officially opened to the public on September 6, 1994, and is a thematic museum that showcases the history and profound cultural essence of the Great Wall.

Jiang Zemin inscribed the name of the museum. The building’s exterior resembles the shape of the Great Wall, majestic and imposing, blending seamlessly with the Wall and complementing each other. The exhibition route inside is uniquely designed, with pathways winding up and down, mimicking the undulations of the Wall. Everywhere you can see “fortified passes,” “mountain passes,” “beacon towers,” and “enemy towers,” giving the impression of being atop the Great Wall stretching from Jiayuguan to Shanhaiguan.

Basic Exhibition

The basic exhibition consists of seven sections: “The Great Wall Through the Dynasties,” “The Ming Dynasty Great Wall,” “Construction and Equipment,” “Battles Along the Great Wall,” “Economic and Cultural Exchange,” “A Treasury of Ethnic Art,” and “Love Our China, Protect Our Great Wall.” It displays the origin and development of the Great Wall, the structure and layout of its architecture, major historical battles that took place inside and outside the Wall, as well as historical sites and cultural landscapes along the Wall. It also illustrates the long history of mutual development and integration among brotherly ethnic groups both within and beyond the Wall, and the care and love shown by people of all ethnicities in China and from around the world toward the Great Wall. The exhibition brings together the finest cultural relics and specimens unearthed along the Great Wall across China, supplemented by detailed historical documents, photographs, and models, providing a comprehensive portrayal of the Great Wall as a symbol of the Chinese nation. Some high-tech display methods are also used to simulate battle scenes on the Wall, enhancing the atmosphere. This sets it apart from similar thematic exhibitions in other museums, adding visual appeal and interest.

Exhibition Hall Distribution

The China Great Wall Museum has a total of nine exhibition halls, covering an exhibition area of 3,200 square meters. The basic exhibition includes eight parts: “The Great Wall Through the Dynasties,” “The Ming Dynasty Great Wall,” “Construction and Armaments,” “Battles Along the Great Wall,” “Economic and Cultural Exchange,” “A Treasury of Ethnic Art,” “Love Our China, Protect Our Great Wall,” and “The Foremost Scenic Spot, A Long Friendship.”

The exhibition brings together the finest cultural relics and specimens unearthed along the Great Wall across China, supplemented by detailed historical documents, photographs, and models, offering a comprehensive display of the Great Wall—as a symbol of the Chinese nation and one of the world’s most important cultural heritages.

Museum Collection

Among the important exhibits is the original World Heritage Certificate issued by UNESCO's World Heritage Committee for the Great Wall of China, as well as photographs of 200 heads of state and government leaders from 120 countries who have visited Badaling over the past 40 years.

These precious exhibits are unique among similar museums in China. The China Great Wall Museum, located near the Badaling Great Wall, offers visitors a more comprehensive understanding and appreciation of this great wonder after touring the Wall itself. The Great Wall is a world miracle and a treasure of China. To love the Great Wall, one must first understand it.

Wenji

Refers to Cai Wenji. According to the "Book of the Later Han · Biography of Dong Si's Wife," Cai Wenji was a native of Chenliu Commandery and the daughter of the famous Eastern Han scholar Cai Yong. “Her given name was Yan, and courtesy name Wenji. She was erudite, eloquent, and highly skilled in music.” She was initially married to Wei Zhongdao of Hedong, but returned home after her husband’s death. At that time, the realm was in chaos, with battles raging everywhere. After Dong Zhuo was executed in Chang’an, her father Cai Yong had been forced by Dong Zhuo to serve as General of the Household and was later imprisoned by Minister over the Masses Wang Yun and executed in prison. Cai Wenji was captured by the Qiang-Hu troops loyal to Dong Zhuo amid the turmoil and was taken to the territory of the Southern Xiongnu’s Left Chanyu, where she lived for twelve years and bore two sons. During the Jian’an era, as Cao Cao’s military power grew stronger and the separatist forces of Lü Bu and Yuan Shao were gradually eliminated, northern China became more unified. Under these historical circumstances, out of sympathy and remembrance for his old friend Cai Yong, and lamenting that he had no descendants, Cao Cao sent envoys with gold and jade to ransom Cai Wenji from the Xiongnu. She was remarried to Chenliu’s Dong Si and tasked with organizing over four hundred writings left by Cai Yong, contributing to the dissemination of Chinese culture. This is the historical story known as “Wenji Returns to Han.” Later, this story was adapted into novels, dramas, and musical compositions, spreading widely. Examples include: Yuan dynasty playwright Jin Zhinan’s drama *Cai Yan Returns to Han*, Ming dynasty playwright Chen Yujiao’s *Wenji Enters the Frontier Pass*, Qing dynasty playwright You Tong’s *Lamenting the Pipa*, relevant chapters in the novel *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*, the Peking opera *Wenji Returns to Han* by Cheng Yanqiu, and Guo Moruo’s five-act historical play *Cai Wenji*.

Qi Jiguang

(November 12, 1528 – January 5, 1588) of Han ethnicity, a famous anti-Wokou general, national hero, military strategist, and martial artist of the Ming Dynasty. His courtesy name was Yuanjing, and his literary names were Nantang and Mengzhu. He was from Dengzhou, Shandong (now Penglai, Shandong). His ancestral home was Weihui, Henan. Some say his ancestral roots were in Dingyuan, Anhui, and he was born in Jining, Shandong. He fought against invading Wokou pirates along the coasts of Fujian, Zhejiang, and Guangdong for over ten years, engaging in more than eighty battles of various scales, eventually eradicating the Wokou threat. As a youth, he loved reading and understood the essentials of the classics and history. In the 23rd year of the Jiajing reign (1544), he inherited his father’s position as an assistant commander of the Dengzhou Guard according to tradition. In the 32nd year, he was appointed as an assistant commander-in-chief, preparing defenses against the Wokou in Shandong. In the 34th year, he was transferred to be an assistant commander-in-chief in Zhejiang. He was soon promoted to colonel and assigned to defend Ningbo, Shaoxing, and Taizhou (present-day Linhai, Zhejiang). In the 36th year, he was dismissed from office following an impeachment, but was reinstated due to his success in defeating Wang Zhi, and reassigned to defend Taizhou, Jinhua, and Yan (present-day northeast Jian’ou, Zhejiang). At that time, Zhejiang was plagued by Wokou raids, but the existing troops were of poor quality. Qi Jiguang recruited peasants and miners to form a new army. He enforced strict discipline, ensured rewards and punishments were honored, and equipped them with advanced warships and weaponry, training them rigorously. He also developed the “Mandarin Duck Formation” tactic—suitable for both attack and defense—based on the southern terrain of lakes and marshes and the Wokou’s fighting methods. The formation consisted of eleven soldiers per unit, equipped with a variety of weapons such as shields, spears, swords, wolf-tooth clubs, and blades. They would adapt formations and tactics based on the enemy and terrain, fighting with flexibility. Most battles were victorious, and his troops earned the reputation of the “Qi Family Army.”

Wang Zhaojun and Chanyu Huhanye

Wang Zhaojun lived with Chanyu Huhanye for two years and with Chanyu Fuzhulei Chanyu Dituomogao for eleven years, totaling thirteen years.

In 33 BCE, Huhanye Chanyu, leader of the Northern Xiongnu, voluntarily came to the Han court, submitted to the Han as a vassal, and requested a marriage alliance to forge a permanent bond. Emperor Yuan of Han summoned all the concubines in the palace, and Wang Zhaojun stepped forward and responded generously to the call. At the farewell banquet, Zhaojun appeared radiant and beautifully adorned, stunning the emperor, who was astonished that such beauty existed in his harem. He wished to keep her but could not go back on his word. He bestowed upon her 28,000 bolts of silk, 16,000 pounds of cotton, as well as gold, jade, and other precious items, personally seeing her off more than ten li outside Chang’an. Surrounded by carts, felt, fine horses, and attendants, Wang Zhaojun, shouldering the heavy responsibility of forging peace between Han and Xiongnu, bid farewell to Chang’an, exited Tong Pass, crossed the Yellow River, passed through Yanmen, and traveled for over a year before arriving in the northern deserts in early summer of the following year. She was warmly welcomed by the Xiongnu people and was conferred the title “Ninghu Yanzhi,” meaning that with a Han woman as “Yanzhi” (the Chanyu’s wife), peace and security would be ensured. Later, Wang Zhaojun gave birth to a son named Yituzhiyashi. After Huhanye’s death, following Xiongnu marriage customs, she married his predecessor’s son, Fuzhulei Chanyu (also called Chanyu Fuzhuluo), and bore two daughters, the elder named Bujuzhi and the younger named Dangyuju.

Jiasheng Feikong Mie Lu An Bian Fa ? Lu Ren ?

The cannon is 170 cm long and weighs 420 kg. The cannon body is inscribed with the manufacturing date: “Cast by the Armory Bureau in the 15th year of the Chongzhen reign (1644).” The cannon’s name is “Jiasheng Feikong Mie Lu An Bian Fa ? Lu Ren ?”

Usage: One dose uses two jin (approx. 1 kg) of medicine—use less rather than more. Strike with five or six wooden mallets. Use one two-jin lead ball or add another jin of lead balls if needed.

Admission Fee

Free

Opening Hours

[Summer] 9:00–17:00

Attraction Location

Badaling Great Wall

Further Reading:

·China's National Third-Class Museum