David Spindler is an independent American scholar and an authority on the
Great Wall of China
The Great Wall of China (, literally "ten thousand ''li'' long wall") is a series of fortifications in China. They were built across the historical northern borders of ancient Chinese states and Imperial China as protection against vario ...
. Writing in ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...
'' in 2007,
Peter Hessler called him "a leading expert on the Wall’s history and construction." He has made more than 400 trips to the Wall. Spindler's research focuses on the Ming Dynasty, and specifically how the Wall was used at that time in response to China's northern neighbors, the
Mongol
Mongols are an East Asian ethnic group native to Mongolia, China (Inner Mongolia and other 11 autonomous territories), as well as the republics of Buryatia and Kalmykia in Russia. The Mongols are the principal member of the large family of M ...
s, who had conquered China once and might do again.
He attended
Dartmouth College
Dartmouth College ( ) is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Hanover, New Hampshire, United States. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, Dartmouth is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the America ...
and
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
, studied as a graduate student at
Peking University
Peking University (PKU) is a Public university, public Types of universities and colleges in China#By designated academic emphasis, university in Haidian, Beijing, China. It is affiliated with and funded by the Ministry of Education of the Peop ...
, and spent two years as a consultant at
McKinsey & Company
McKinsey & Company (informally McKinsey or McK) is an American multinational strategy and management consulting firm that offers professional services to corporations, governments, and other organizations. Founded in 1926 by James O. McKinse ...
.
Contributions
In 2010, his research paper
A Twice-Scorned Mongol Woman, the Raid of 1576, and the Building of the Brick Great Wall. was published in the journal ''
Ming Studies'', made available online in 2013.
In a review of recent work in the field, the scholar
Arthur Waldron explained that Spindler resisted explanations that the Ming was "too weak to fight and too proud to talk," and so the rulers relied on walls that failed to protect them. He likewise resisted the symbolic explanation that the wall represented either xenophobia or chauvinism. Spindler held that in fact the Ming strategy was practical and flexible, using walls where they could be effective, such as around the capital. Waldron, however, adds that Spindler does not deal with the various roles that the wall played over the centuries as China changed.
Notes
External links
*
*
David Spindler's Great WallDavid Spindler - The Great Wall
NBC Today video interview on David Spindler
* ttps://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/blog/2009/09/china_wall_scho.html China: Wall Scholar BY Joe RubinFrontline video interview with David Spindler. September 17, 2009
长城小站China's Great Wall: The Forgotten Story
USCI
Inside the Great Wall of China: Facts part 1
Discovery channel video
Inside the Great Wall of China: Facts part 2
Discovery channel video
Inside the Great Wall of China: Facts part 3
Discovery channel video
Inside the Great Wall of China: Facts part 4
Discovery channel video
Inside the Great Wall of China: Facts part 5
Discovery channel video
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spindler, David
History of the Great Wall of China
American sinologists
Dartmouth College alumni
Harvard Law School alumni
Year of birth missing (living people)
Living people