The Truth of the Great Wall of China
Holly Leung, Group 3: Fiction, Independent Schools Foundation Academy
t was a gloomy dark day as the dragons watched the land of China under them, torn in battle and war. The
land was breaking apart by this terrible war. The dragons could do nothing but watch and pray for the
Chinese people.
“
Those foolish humans,” Dragon Di cried, staring stonily at the map, “They shouldn’t be fighting each
other!”
“
Why would that be, Dragon Di?” said Dragon Jan, “We have always fought each other to understand who
is the best! Right now, as I watch the fight, Jin is the best.”
“
Not everything is about warfare, Dragon Jan,” Dragon Wanli sighed, he was also looking closely at the
map. “Our people are about to be demolished by the ethnic minorities!”
All three dragons were now giving their undivided attention to the crystal map, the map showing the people
of the different areas. Indeed, the dragons could see the flag of the ethnic minorities moving closer and closer to
the land of China.
“
What should we do?” cried Dragon Wanli in despair, “The nation that we have built up will get destroyed!
Our people must come together! We must do something!”
A figure suddenly appeared in front of him, “We can do nothing, Wanli,” the figure’s voice roared in the
dragons’ ears.
“
Master Tai……” All the dragons bowed down in respect as the figure came closer.
“
You may regain position, dragons,” Master Tai said, “Wanli, you can do nothing. This is commandant 21
written by Dragon Shamo. ‘No dragon must ever interfere in the business of mankind. Dragons are only allowed
to watch them fight their own battle. If any dragon breaks this commandant, the dragon’s companions must
judge him.’ You hear that, Wanli?”
Wanli could only nod sadly before retiring into his cloud cradle. He could not bear to watch the people of
his country suffering while the dragons did nothing. As he drifted off to sleep, he heard a voice call out,
“
Dragon Wanli, you aren’t the only one……” A dragon appeared in the midst of his dreams. “I am the
legendary dragon, Heliu. I could not bear to watch the people suffering, and opposed my own Father, Shamo, to
make the people of China’s days better. I sacrificed myself to turn into the Yangtze River. I want you to do the
same.” Then, the dragon faded away.
Wanli woke up with a jolt, and became ambitious all of a sudden. He knew what he wanted to do. He must
follow Dragon Heliu’s words, and let the land become peaceful once more. He came to the place where the
ethnic minorities were heading towards, the only line between them and the Chinese. He knew what he would
do; he would use Heliu’s image to build a wall, to block the ethnic minorities from the Chinese forever. As he
summoned all his power, he could feel the air rushing up his nose, his body felt like it was on fire, and he could
feel his claws clenching tightly together. Then, his power shot off his claws, and every rock on the ground was
lifted up in the air, controlled by Wanli’s enormous claws. He gathered up all his strength and pieced the rocks
together, his snout shooting out fire flames as he did so. It took him every bit of his power to do so. When he
was done, it was a massive creation, one that could stop the ethnic minorities from coming in to China for
centuries to come. Yet, Wanli’s creation must stay hidden for now. He placed a spell on it, a spell that
guarantees that the wall stays invisible until the day when it is actually built by the people of China.
Years later, the Qin emperor started building this great wall, and Wanli’s secret was finally revealed. The
dragons were astonished by what Wanli had done, but as he protected the people of China, the dragons weren’t
very critical, and he was judged that the wall shall be named after him. So the wall was named after Dragon
Wanli, as they say in China, Wan Li Chang Cheng, and in English, the Great Wall of China.
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I
Shortlisted