Famous historical misconception about The Great Wall

“Man prefers to believe what he prefers to be true.” – Francis Bacon

There is a legend which is most commonly referred to the Great Wall of China saying this is the only building made by men that can be seen from the moon. Even such high-quality scientific publications mention this theory as Caroline Blunden and Mark Elvin's Cultural Atlas (The Chinese Atlas of the World), or The Contemporary Atlas of China (by the well-known Chinese experts) London, 1988, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, p. 63).

How could it be possible to see a building which is on average, 384,393 kilometres from the Earth, which, even in the widest part, is only 9,1 km long and in addition, its colour blends into the environment?

For whatever length, in this case, only the width is counted. Norberto López-Gil, a professor at the University of Murcia, says that the Great Wall of China can be as difficult to seen from 160 kilometres away from it, as hard to see a two centimetre thick cable from a mile away.

Even if the Great Wall of China would sharply reflect the sun's light or be illuminated by high-light spotlights at night, the astronaut would see only the light and not the wall itself.Other experts emphasize that sometimes even the continents of the Earth are difficult to see from the moon.

Only a satellite which is 160 kilometres away from the Earth and has got a very strong telescope can see the Great Wall of China. And if we were able to see the Wall from the Moon, of course, we should see most of the earth's streets and buildings, as most of them are wider than the Wall.

Not to mention the pyramids, bridges and airports. Where is this legend coming from? The XVIII. century, enlightened scientists and writers highly appreciated the Chinese science and art. It is hardly a coincidence that according to Wikipedia, William Stukeley (1687-1765), an English archaeologist, was the first who mentioned this misconception in a letter in 1754.

Writing about the wall of Hadrian of Northern England, he said, "This wall is about eighty miles is only outperformed by the Chinese Wall, which is recognizable from the Moon." (The Family Memoirs of Rev. William Stukeley,) In 1895, Henry Norman (1858-1939), an English journalist and politician, confirmed this in The Peoples and Politics of the Far East (New York, 1895, Charles Scribner's Sons P. 215): "According to the news, the only man-made work on the Earth that can be seen from the Moon."

In this era, people are imagined a lot about the mysterious "canals" that has been discovered in Mars - perhaps they thought long structures could be detected from space? In America, the 1932 edition of the popular series "Ripley's Believe It or Not" And Richard Halliburton (1900-1939), The Second Book of Wonders are strongly involved to spread this misconception.

The misconception was all around in the travel and history books, it was constantly mentioned, and therefore it was not questioned even when science had made it clear that it had no basis. In addition, it is important to mention the patriotic Chinese sensitivity . When Yang Liwei, the first Chinese astronaut returned from space in 2003, confessed that he did not see the Wall from above. However, at the request of the Chinese government, this statement was omitted from official reports.

Bibliografi : Peter Hahner: 100 tortenelmi tevhit.

Peace!
The Two Thomases
Insta: https://www.instagram.com/thetwothomases/

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfHVO2VeXeugUEPyYZkHkJQ