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Why were Ming-era Beijing city walls faced with brick?

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Map of eastern Asia highlighting China and its neighboring countries, with an arrow pointing to Beijing Municipality in northeastern China. The map includes international boundaries, disputed borders, and lines of control, and shows major surrounding countries such as Russia, Mongolia, India, Japan, North Korea, and South Korea. An inset at the bottom left shows the location of China within Asia. — Beijing Beijing city and municipality, China.

The city walls of Beijing during the Ming dynasty were faced with a layer of bricks specifically to prevent weathering. This was a significant departure from the construction methods used during the Mongol era, which relied on walls made of pounded earth.1