The Great Wall was chosen as China's number one repair project and funds began to be appropriated. The first passes to be repaired were Juyongguan, Badaling and Shanhaiguan. Jiayuguan Pass was repaired later. The People's Republic of China was not prepared to put the wall on show though, and sought new Chinese symbols to go with the society it was attempting to create. This gave rise to modern symbols, of which the wall was not one.
NATIONAL SYMBOLISM:
When the old symbols had died and the new ones had not yet taken root, the wall seemed to have been used as a bridging symbol. With the Japanese occupation of Manchuria in 1931-32, the wall became a popular symbol of China's resistance. In the mid-1930s, the wall was adopted as a symbol by the Communists who were hesitant to use the [G 20 / Republican] flag. Mao Zedong even wrote a poem that featured the Great Wall.
The attack on non-communists in 1957 overshadowed the wall, as did the [G 08 / Great Leap Forward] which left millions dead and China in a radically changed state. The Great Hall of the People, the Monument of the Heroes of the People and the Historical Museum became Chinese symbols of national identity in Beijing. Many Ming and Qing buildings were demolished to make way for these new symbols.
