The Great Wall of China has been, and continues to be, a historical and symbolic legend throughout China, as well as throughout the West. However, over the past several decades the Wall has begun to deteriorate, shattering much of the value associated with the ancient relic. In the western portions of the Wall, the damage can primarily be blamed on weather and erosion, although, for areas of the eastern part “the Great Wall is suffering, and the primary culprit is man” (nytimes.com, 1). As a result, many portions of the Great Wall are seen on UNESCO-listed world heritage site, in order to preserve a celebrated site and reminder of the dynastic resistance to foreign rule.
Symbolically to the Chinese, the Wall represents nationalism and preservation. However, in recent history the West has decided to trample, literally, on this historic site. The marathon, a primarily Western sport, has created a 26.2 mile foot race atop one of the most celebrated monuments throughout the world. The Great Wall Marathon offers humans the chance to fight the miles, mentally and physically, all the while impeding on the historical purpose, forgetting the political and economical differences and destroying a piece of history. Through the disguise of a marathon, running brings Western ideologies of commercialism and capitalism to the Great Wall of China, impeding on tradition and history. The marathon excuses members of the running community to forget the struggles of the Chinese. Therefore, the purpose of this research paper is to enlighten humans that sport is not an excuse for blatant disregard to historical, political and economic struggles among of a great civilization.
The history of the Great Wall is primarily based upon myth, as both the Qin and Ming dynasties contributed significant sections to this great masterpiece. No, one emperor built the Wall; however, both dynasties constructed the Wall in order to keep foreigners out, this can be seen in the Ming dynasty, “they decided to keep the Mongols out by constructing walls along China’s northern boarder” (MSN Encarta, 1).
The Great Wall of China, represents a piece of history for the East, whereas, running is primarily perceived as a Western sport and activity. Marathons are a part of Greek history, as the first known marathon, was derived as a way to spread the news that the Athenians had been victorious over the Persians and therefore, could establish the first democracy (Perros, 1). Therefore, the marathon is symbolizes the exact contrary reason that the Wall has come to signify.
If running a marathon represents democracy and if China has come to be associated with communism, than couldn’t running a marathon on the Great Wall of China contradict every political ideology of the Chinese government? China has a history of closing its boarders to outsiders for fear of foreign rule and Mao Zedong reinforced these principles by establishing communism. However, China later had to open her boarders to outside economies in order to survive, which lead to outside commercialism and now has become the core of many marathon races. The West appears to thrive on commercialism and capitalist ideas and with the Great Wall Marathon providing numerous sponsors one would presume this race would provide economic advancement for the companies within China and the villages. Incorrect, although, it may provide some prosperity for the surrounding towns due to tourists, all of the sponsors are either American or Danish companies (www.great-wall-marathon.com ).
The marathon is providing an outlet for commercialism and capitalism, all the while using running as the medium. Every racer may not understand the implications that surround this celebrated wall; however, the environmental effects need to be understood before making the 26.2 mile journey. Although, the foot traffic may not instantaneously break down the wall, the number of participants in the marathon is growing and over the course of even a decade, the permanent damage that could be done to the wall is significant. Parts of the Great Wall of China are considered a relic, as declared by UNESCO, so why is there a marathon on there and not in Mesa Verde or the Acropolis? Aren’t these considered just as much a part of Greek and Native American history as the Great Wall is considered Chinese history?
This research paper is intended to inform people of the historical, political and economic significance that the Great Wall instills on its people. To answer, or at least address, the questions of: Are the sponsors purely there to promote their product or are they looking change the past of China? By running a marathon on the Great Wall of China, is the West indirectly promoting democracy to a communist country? Is the 26.2 mile race going to have greater environmental implications than reported? The Great Wall has proven its significance to the Chinese people, as a symbol of nationalism, so how are hundreds to thousands of runners, inadvertently, able to make a mockery of this grand monument?
Timeline Research proposal work on structuring ideas and formatting thesis Monday and Wednesday June 11, 13, 14 begin to put ideas together on Saturday June 16th for peer revising on June 18th finish up with the correction given by my peers for 1 hour on Monday after class and then polish for 1.5 hours Tuesday afternoon with final reading before class on Wednesday. Then I will start my research with backing up the deterioration of the Great wall through facts and creditable sources I will show the reader that there is a possibility of irreversible damage being done to this great land mark. I would like to have the majority of these proofs regarding deterioration finished by 6/27/2007. My second proof is to provided a little more background on the rejection of the American culture and ideals through a brief jog through history I don’t want to dwell to much on this so I will give myself till 6/30/2007 to have this information I already have a two Chinese history texts that I will go through for information regarding basic history of the walls origin and why China rejected foreign trade and ideas in the first, just a few things in their history that made them suspicious of the Western ways. During this time period I will pull information of the great walls website to show the sponsorships who is sponsoring the race to be their, and also how the race has grown over from the beginning of the race up to home many individuals finished the race this year. I think that I will want all of my resources that I use completely together by no later than 7/2/2007 I believe that I will need a little over one full week to write an 3000 word annotated bibliography. That will give me two days on each category of sources that I will need for my final paper.
For my research I have already found a few from the Auraria Library website articles I find through the academic research like Lexis Nexis Academic, Academic Search Premier and Onefile and Skyline the text books that I have and some articles I found through Google searches I understand fully that the must be creditable site otherwise their voice won’t carry any weight towards my paper.
The reason for researching the Great Wall of China Marathon began with the simple fact that I love to run. It is an activity that I got into about four years ago, although; have yet to run in a marathon. However, it is something that I wish to accomplish in the future. A marathon requires an extensive need for training especially at a distance of this magnitude. It takes discipline, as well as, a great work ethic. A lot of people can train very little, or maybe not at all, but are able to go and a run a 5k race. However, it would be nearly impossible for almost everyone, or anyone, to go out and complete 26.2 miles with no training or preparation. I think that is why a marathon is so respected by both the running community, as well as, all other sport participants.
I found the Great Wall Marathon after researching, on the internet, all the different races and thought that this one would be an amazing experience. Imagine running on a 2000 year wall, your sweat among a man made wall which can be seen from space, which is over thirty feet tall in some areas and lies across nearly 3,000 miles in China’s beautiful countryside. The idea of this race made me think about a class that I took in the spring semester of 2007 called “China and the Chinese”. The race made me think of Chinese history and how the relationship between the West and East has been a slippery slope with years of tension and resistance. The troubled relationship and understanding between the East and West appears to have halted in lieu of sports. However, sports could not hold off globalization or politics forever and can be seen through commercialism.
Commercialism then triggered me to remember a friend and co-worker that I run with, and we would discuss running races across America, and how they have become such a commercialized event. The races almost appear to focus more on the product than the actual run. He spoke about the Bolder Boulder and how all these companies try to capitalize on the success of the event, through erecting their elaborate tents and trying to get people to switch from Gatorade to PowerAde. He said it almost appeared that the advertisements were no longer about supporting the race, but rather, it had become a war between competitors and the races had become their battleground.
His opinion of races ignited a fire, so I started to ask my self two questions, the first, being do events such as the Bolder Boulder or the Great Wall of China Marathon, belong in a place like China, where a lot of Western philosophies are being rejected? Second, is bringing in all of the different sponsors, as well as the people, to something as old and sacred as The Great Wall a good idea? Or could the repercussions be greater than its success? Is it what China wants or is it what the West wants? Are they secretly, through this event, introducing the Chinese to ideas that they have rejected for throughout history? The purpose of the Wall appears to be in jeopardy, as hundreds of Westerners pound on the Wall for a selfish reason (against Communism in theory).
Symbolically to the Chinese, the Wall represents nationalism and preservation. However, in recent history the West has decided to trample, literally, on this historic site. The marathon, a primarily Western sport, has created a 26.2 mile foot race atop one of the most celebrated monuments throughout the world. The Great Wall Marathon offers humans the chance to fight the miles, mentally and physically, all the while impeding on the historical purpose, forgetting the political and economical differences and destroying a piece of history. Through the disguise of a marathon, running brings Western ideologies of commercialism and capitalism to the Great Wall of China, impeding on tradition and history. The marathon excuses members of the running community to forget the struggles of the Chinese. Therefore, the purpose of this research paper is to enlighten humans that sport is not an excuse for blatant disregard to historical, political and economic struggles among of a great civilization.
The history of the Great Wall is primarily based upon myth, as both the Qin and Ming dynasties contributed significant sections to this great masterpiece. No, one emperor built the Wall; however, both dynasties constructed the Wall in order to keep foreigners out, this can be seen in the Ming dynasty, “they decided to keep the Mongols out by constructing walls along China’s northern boarder” (MSN Encarta, 1).
The Great Wall of China, represents a piece of history for the East, whereas, running is primarily perceived as a Western sport and activity. Marathons are a part of Greek history, as the first known marathon, was derived as a way to spread the news that the Athenians had been victorious over the Persians and therefore, could establish the first democracy (Perros, 1). Therefore, the marathon is symbolizes the exact contrary reason that the Wall has come to signify.
If running a marathon represents democracy and if China has come to be associated with communism, than couldn’t running a marathon on the Great Wall of China contradict every political ideology of the Chinese government? China has a history of closing its boarders to outsiders for fear of foreign rule and Mao Zedong reinforced these principles by establishing communism. However, China later had to open her boarders to outside economies in order to survive, which lead to outside commercialism and now has become the core of many marathon races. The West appears to thrive on commercialism and capitalist ideas and with the Great Wall Marathon providing numerous sponsors one would presume this race would provide economic advancement for the companies within China and the villages. Incorrect, although, it may provide some prosperity for the surrounding towns due to tourists, all of the sponsors are either American or Danish companies (www.great-wall-marathon.com ).
The marathon is providing an outlet for commercialism and capitalism, all the while using running as the medium. Every racer may not understand the implications that surround this celebrated wall; however, the environmental effects need to be understood before making the 26.2 mile journey. Although, the foot traffic may not instantaneously break down the wall, the number of participants in the marathon is growing and over the course of even a decade, the permanent damage that could be done to the wall is significant. Parts of the Great Wall of China are considered a relic, as declared by UNESCO, so why is there a marathon on there and not in Mesa Verde or the Acropolis? Aren’t these considered just as much a part of Greek and Native American history as the Great Wall is considered Chinese history?
This research paper is intended to inform people of the historical, political and economic significance that the Great Wall instills on its people. To answer, or at least address, the questions of: Are the sponsors purely there to promote their product or are they looking change the past of China? By running a marathon on the Great Wall of China, is the West indirectly promoting democracy to a communist country? Is the 26.2 mile race going to have greater environmental implications than reported? The Great Wall has proven its significance to the Chinese people, as a symbol of nationalism, so how are hundreds to thousands of runners, inadvertently, able to make a mockery of this grand monument?
Timeline Research proposal work on structuring ideas and formatting thesis Monday and Wednesday June 11, 13, 14 begin to put ideas together on Saturday June 16th for peer revising on June 18th finish up with the correction given by my peers for 1 hour on Monday after class and then polish for 1.5 hours Tuesday afternoon with final reading before class on Wednesday. Then I will start my research with backing up the deterioration of the Great wall through facts and creditable sources I will show the reader that there is a possibility of irreversible damage being done to this great land mark. I would like to have the majority of these proofs regarding deterioration finished by 6/27/2007. My second proof is to provided a little more background on the rejection of the American culture and ideals through a brief jog through history I don’t want to dwell to much on this so I will give myself till 6/30/2007 to have this information I already have a two Chinese history texts that I will go through for information regarding basic history of the walls origin and why China rejected foreign trade and ideas in the first, just a few things in their history that made them suspicious of the Western ways. During this time period I will pull information of the great walls website to show the sponsorships who is sponsoring the race to be their, and also how the race has grown over from the beginning of the race up to home many individuals finished the race this year. I think that I will want all of my resources that I use completely together by no later than 7/2/2007 I believe that I will need a little over one full week to write an 3000 word annotated bibliography. That will give me two days on each category of sources that I will need for my final paper.
For my research I have already found a few from the Auraria Library website articles I find through the academic research like Lexis Nexis Academic, Academic Search Premier and Onefile and Skyline the text books that I have and some articles I found through Google searches I understand fully that the must be creditable site otherwise their voice won’t carry any weight towards my paper.
The reason for researching the Great Wall of China Marathon began with the simple fact that I love to run. It is an activity that I got into about four years ago, although; have yet to run in a marathon. However, it is something that I wish to accomplish in the future. A marathon requires an extensive need for training especially at a distance of this magnitude. It takes discipline, as well as, a great work ethic. A lot of people can train very little, or maybe not at all, but are able to go and a run a 5k race. However, it would be nearly impossible for almost everyone, or anyone, to go out and complete 26.2 miles with no training or preparation. I think that is why a marathon is so respected by both the running community, as well as, all other sport participants.
I found the Great Wall Marathon after researching, on the internet, all the different races and thought that this one would be an amazing experience. Imagine running on a 2000 year wall, your sweat among a man made wall which can be seen from space, which is over thirty feet tall in some areas and lies across nearly 3,000 miles in China’s beautiful countryside. The idea of this race made me think about a class that I took in the spring semester of 2007 called “China and the Chinese”. The race made me think of Chinese history and how the relationship between the West and East has been a slippery slope with years of tension and resistance. The troubled relationship and understanding between the East and West appears to have halted in lieu of sports. However, sports could not hold off globalization or politics forever and can be seen through commercialism.
Commercialism then triggered me to remember a friend and co-worker that I run with, and we would discuss running races across America, and how they have become such a commercialized event. The races almost appear to focus more on the product than the actual run. He spoke about the Bolder Boulder and how all these companies try to capitalize on the success of the event, through erecting their elaborate tents and trying to get people to switch from Gatorade to PowerAde. He said it almost appeared that the advertisements were no longer about supporting the race, but rather, it had become a war between competitors and the races had become their battleground.
His opinion of races ignited a fire, so I started to ask my self two questions, the first, being do events such as the Bolder Boulder or the Great Wall of China Marathon, belong in a place like China, where a lot of Western philosophies are being rejected? Second, is bringing in all of the different sponsors, as well as the people, to something as old and sacred as The Great Wall a good idea? Or could the repercussions be greater than its success? Is it what China wants or is it what the West wants? Are they secretly, through this event, introducing the Chinese to ideas that they have rejected for throughout history? The purpose of the Wall appears to be in jeopardy, as hundreds of Westerners pound on the Wall for a selfish reason (against Communism in theory).
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People’s Daily. 02 March 2004. People’s Daily Online. 18 June 2007.
http://english.people.com.cn/200403/02/eng20040302_136341.shtml
The Great Wall Marathon. Adventure Marathon. 18 June 2007
http://www.great-wall-marathon.com/
Rosenthal, Elizabeth. Vandalism and ‘Improvements’ Mar the Great Wall.
12 June 2004. nytimesonline.com. 18 June 2007.
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=travel&res=9406E2D91139F931A25755C0A9659C8B63
Athens Marathon. Apostolos Greek Tours, Inc. 19 June 2007.
http://www.athensmarathon.com/marathon/history.html
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