with a history almost as long and serpentine as the structure. 它的历史几乎与其结构一样悠久曲折。

　　The Great Wall began as multiple walls of rammed earth built by individual feudal states during the Chunqiu period 长城最初是多座泥土夯实的城墙，由春秋战国时期的各个独立封建国家修筑，

　　to protect against nomadic raiders north of China and each other. 以抵制中国北方游牧民和其它国家。

　　When Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified the states in 221 BCE, 公元前221年，秦始皇统一中国时，

　　the Tibetan Plateau and Pacific Ocean became natural barriers, 青藏高原和太平洋成为了国家的天然屏障，

　　but the mountains in the north remained vulnerable to Mongol, Turkish, and Xiongnu invasions. 但北方的山脉对于蒙古、土耳其及匈奴人的入侵来说显得非常薄弱。

　　To defend against them, the Emperor expanded the small walls built by his predecessors, 为了抵御外敌，秦始皇扩建了之前所筑建的小城墙，

　　connecting some and fortifying others. 把它们巩固强化并加以连接。

　　As the structures grew from Lintao in the west to Liaodong in the east, 城墙起于西部临洮，止于东部辽东，

　　they collectively became known as The Long Wall. 合在一起称为长城。

　　To accomplish this task, the Emperor enlisted soldiers and commoners, not always voluntarily. 为了完成这项工程，秦始皇征召了士兵和平民，而他们往往不是出于自愿。

　　Of the hundreds of thousands of builders recorded during the Qin Dynasty, 在秦朝记录的成千上万建造者中，

　　many were forcibly conscripted peasants and others were criminals serving out sentences. 许多人都是被强征而去的农民，另外一些则是服刑犯人。

　　Under the Han Dynasty, the wall grew longer still, reaching 3700 miles, 汉朝时期，长城继续扩建延长至3700英里，

　　and spanning from Dunhuang to the Bohai Sea. 从敦煌延伸到渤海。

　　Forced labor continued under the Han Emperor Han-Wudi,  强制性劳动在汉武帝时期持续着，

　　and the walls reputation grew into a notorious place of suffering. 因而城墙被视作受苦受害之地，从而臭名昭彰。

　　Poems and legends of the time told of laborers buried in nearby mass graves, or even within the wall itself. 那一时期的诗歌与传说描述了劳动者被掩埋于附近的大规模墓地甚至是城墙内。

　　And while no human remains have been found inside, grave pits do 然而城墙内并未发现人类尸骸墓坑，

　　indicate that many workers died from accidents, hunger and exhaustion. 表明那些劳动者大多死于意外、饥饿与疲劳。

　　The wall was formidable but not invincible. 长城令人生畏却非不可战胜。

　　Both Genghis and his son Khublai Khan managed to surmount the wall during the Mongol invasion of the 13th Century. 成吉思汗和他的儿子忽必烈曾于13世纪蒙古侵入之际设法攻克城墙。

　　After the Ming dynasty gained control in 1368, 1368年明朝执政之后，

　　they began to refortify and further consolidate the wall using bricks and stones from local kilns. 他们开始使用当地窑中烧制而成的砖与石头重新强化和加固长城。