The Great Wall of Qi () is the oldest existing Great Wall in China. Construction of the wall started in 441 BC (during the Spring and Autumn period) by the

state of Qi Qi, or Ch'i in Wade–Giles romanization, was a state of the Zhou dynasty-era in ancient China, variously reckoned as a march, duchy, and independent kingdom. Its capital was Linzi, located in present-day Shandong. Qi was founded sh ...

, to defend itself against attacks from the states of Jin and Yue. Construction ended during the

Warring States period The Warring States period () was an era in ancient Chinese history characterized by warfare, as well as bureaucratic and military reforms and consolidation. It followed the Spring and Autumn period and concluded with the Qin wars of conquest ...

and became Qi's defense against enemies states like Ju, Lu, and Chu.Ancient sites from Zhou Dynasty discovered in the Qi Great Wall in Shandong
The wall stretches from Guangli village of today's Changqing District, Jinan, running across the mountain ridges of central Shandong Province to the Yellow Sea in the present-day city of Qingdao. Its total length has been estimated at about 600 kilometers. Most of the wall is still able to be seen.

Dating

Before the discovery of the Tsinghua bamboo strips, several dates had been put forward as the date for the construction of the Great Wall of Qi. The earliest possible date is during the reign of Lord Huan of Qi (r. 685–643 BC) as mentioned in the '' Guanzis "Qing zhong D" (輕重丁) chapter. However, the "Qing zhong" chapters of the ''Guanzi'' were in all likelihood composed no earlier than the Warring States period instead of the 7th century BCE work they purport to be, and thus could not be seen as a reliable historical source for the Spring and Autumn period centuries removed. The next date is 555 BC, which comes from the '' Zuo zhuan'' describing a Jin invasion of Qi that year which involved a Qi fortification, claimed by the ''

Shui Jing Zhu The ''Commentary on the Water Classic'' (), or ''Commentaries on the Water Classic'', commonly known as ''Shui Jing Zhu'', is a work on the Chinese geography in ancient times, describing the traditional understanding of its waterways and ancient ...

'' to be part of the Great Wall of Qi. The ''Zuo zhuan'' itself, however, never used the term "great wall" (長城 ''changcheng'') or referred to other fortifications along Qi's southern border, throwing doubts into this identification. The date 441 BC comes from the ''Xinian'' () collection of the Tsinghua bamboo strips, which were discovered from a Chu tomb in Hebei or Hunan and acquired by the

Tsinghua University Tsinghua University (; abbr. THU) is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is funded by the Ministry of Education. The university is a member of the C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, Projec ...

in 2008. ''Xinian'' was determined to be composed in the state of Chu no later than 370 BC, which puts it in good authority for the events it describes in its last four sections covering the period from 450 to 395 BC. Specifically, ''Xinian'' writes that Qi built the Great Wall "for the first time" after Zhao Huanzi () of Jin allied with the state of Yue to invade Qi. This date accords well with other records of battles happening along the wall in 404 BC, 365 BC, and 350 BC from the '' Bamboo Annals'' and inscriptions on the Piaoqiang bronze bells (𠫑羌鐘; discovered in Luoyang in 1928–1931).

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* {{Shandong topics Great Wall of China Buildings and structures in Shandong Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Shandong Tourist attractions in Qingdao Tourist attractions in Jinan Qi (state)

Dating

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