Beijing: Public and commercial buildings: …People’s Cultural Park is the Working People’s Cultural Palace (formerly the Temple of the Imperial Ancestors), where the tablets of the emperors were displayed. The temple, like the Imperial Palaces in style, was built in three stonework tiers, each with double eaves. On either side are two rows of verandas…

Japan: The establishment of the system: …Imperial and Court Officials (Kinchū Narabi ni Kuge Shohatto) were promulgated as the legal basis for bakufu control of the daimyo and the imperial court. In 1616 Ieyasu died, the succession already having been established.

George Balanchine: The European years: …War I years at the Imperial School of Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre. The theatre closed for some months in 1917, and, until the Imperial School reopened in 1918 as the Soviet State School of Ballet, he had to support himself with unskilled jobs or by playing piano in a…

State Bank of India (SBI), state-owned commercial bank and financial services company, nationalized by the Indian government in 1955. SBI maintains thousands of branches throughout India and offices in dozens of countries throughout the world. The bank’s headquarters are in Mumbai. The oldest

Elvis Costello: Branching out to other genres: …such as Trust (1981) and Imperial Bedroom (1982) won critical acclaim. However, the early 1980s were also a time of creative inconsistency, as Costello experimented with the country genre in Almost Blue (1981) and released Goodbye Cruel World (1984); both albums had only limited critical and commercial success. Costello had…

Bret Easton Ellis: Later novels: Imperial Bedrooms (2010) is a sequel to Less Than Zero, taking place decades later as the characters face middle age and deal with the consequences of the hedonism of their youth.

Chinese music: Courtly music: …said to have written “The Imperial Birthday Music,” in which the dancers moved into a formation representing the characters meaning “Long Live the Emperor” in the best modern marching-band tradition. Music inside the palace includes a concert version of “The Battle Line Smashing Song” with only four dancers, “A…

Imperial Brands PLC, one of the world’s largest international tobacco companies and the leading British manufacturer of tobacco products, including Player, Kool, and Embassy cigarettes; snuff; several brands of cigars; rolling papers; and tubes. Imperial has also produced and distributed a number

Frederick Lugard: …next enterprise was under the imperial British East Africa Company, one of the chartered companies that preceded imperial annexation in Africa. Leaving Mombasa in August 1890, he led a caravan for five months along an almost untrodden route of 800 miles (1,300 km) to the advanced kingdom of Buganda. Here…

Imperial Chemical Industries PLC (ICI), major British corporation that was founded in 1926 as Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd. to amalgamate four major British chemical companies: Brunner, Mond & Co. Ltd., Nobel Industries Ltd., United Alkali Company Ltd., and British Dyestuffs Corporation Ltd.

imperial city, any of the cities and towns of the Holy Roman Empire that were subject only to the authority of the emperor, or German king, on whose demesne (personal estate) the earliest of them originated. The term freie Reichsstadt, or Free Imperial City, was sometimes used interchangeably with

Beijing: City layout: …the inner city was the Imperial City, also in the form of a square, which had red plastered walls 6.5 miles (10.5 km) in length. The only remaining portions of that wall are on either side of the Tiananmen (Tian’anmen; “Gate of Heavenly Peace”), the southern, and main, entrance to…

Imperial College London, institution of higher learning in London. It is one of the leading research colleges or universities in England. Its main campus is located in South Kensington (in Westminster), and its medical school is linked with several London teaching hospitals. Its three- to five-year

Imperial College London, institution of higher learning in London. It is one of the leading research colleges or universities in England. Its main campus is located in South Kensington (in Westminster), and its medical school is linked with several London teaching hospitals. Its three- to five-year

Imperial Brands PLC, one of the world’s largest international tobacco companies and the leading British manufacturer of tobacco products, including Player, Kool, and Embassy cigarettes; snuff; several brands of cigars; rolling papers; and tubes. Imperial has also produced and distributed a number

World War II: Japanese policy, 1939–41: On July 2, 1941, the Imperial Conference decided to press the Japanese advance southward even at the risk of war with Great Britain and the United States; and this policy was pursued even when Matsuoka was relieved of office a fortnight later. On July 26, in pursuance of a new…

Imperial Conferences, Periodic meetings held between 1907 and 1937 by the dominions within the British Empire and later the Commonwealth. Convened to discuss mutual defense and economic issues, they passed nonbinding resolutions. However, the Statute of Westminster implemented decisions made at the

José Sarria: …of San Francisco (now the International Court System), an association of charitable organizations that raises money primarily for gay causes. With nearly 70 chapters in the United States, Canada, and Mexico, it is one of the largest LGBTQ organizations in the world.

Lord’s Cricket Ground: …cricket’s world governing body, the International Cricket Council (ICC), until 2005, when the headquarters moved to Dubai, and Lord’s continues to be the headquarters of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). Some of the greatest moments in cricketing history have taken place at Lord’s, including the presentation of the…

Imperial Crown, crown created in the 10th century for coronations of the Holy Roman emperors. Although made for Otto the Great (912–973), it was named for Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman emperor. The crown is made of eight round-topped plaques of gold hinged together and kept rigid by an interior

military, naval, and air academies: …strategy and policy at the Imperial Defence College.

Diet, the national legislature of Japan. Under the Meiji Constitution of 1889, the Imperial Diet was established on the basis of two houses with coequal powers. The upper house, the House of Peers (Kizokuin), was almost wholly appointive. Initially, its membership was slightly less than 300, but it

imperial preference: …producers last”—was negotiated at the Imperial Economic Conference in Ottawa in 1932 and took the form of a series of bilateral agreements intended to extend for five years (lacking a formal renewal, they expired after 1937).

Abdülmecid I: …and the Hatt-ı Hümayun (Imperial Edict) in 1856, heralding the new era of Tanzimat (“Reorganization”).

Baldwin IV: … (Kroon-Vlaanderen), the German fiefs as Imperial Flanders (Rijks-Vlaanderen). Baldwin’s son—afterward Baldwin V—rebelled in 1028 against his father at the instigation of his wife, Adela, daughter of Robert II of France; two years later peace was sworn at Oudenaarde, and the old count continued to reign until his death.

Yamagata Aritomo: Early career: …power, he proposed forming an Imperial Force (Goshimpei). In early 1871, when a force of about 10,000 men drawn from the feudal armies was organized, Yamagata was promoted to vice minister of military affairs. This Imperial Force was later renamed the Imperial Guard (Konoe), and Yamagata became its commander.

Forbidden City: 2-hectare) Imperial Garden, the organic design of which seems to depart from the rigid symmetry of the rest of the compound. The garden was designed as a place of relaxation for the emperor, with a fanciful arrangement of trees, fish ponds, flower beds, and sculpture. In…

Pacific War: Japan’s strategy in the Pacific and Southeast Asia: Even when Imperial General Headquarters was established under the nominal command of Emperor Hirohito (the constitutional supreme commander), the separate command system was rigidly followed.

Thorstein Veblen: Later works and career: In Imperial Germany and the Industrial Revolution (1915), he suggested that Germany had an advantage over democratic states such as the United Kingdom and France because its autocracy was better able to channel the gains of modern technology toward the service of the state. He conceded…

Imperial Brands PLC, one of the world’s largest international tobacco companies and the leading British manufacturer of tobacco products, including Player, Kool, and Embassy cigarettes; snuff; several brands of cigars; rolling papers; and tubes. Imperial has also produced and distributed a number

Yamagata Aritomo: Early career: …Force was later renamed the Imperial Guard (Konoe), and Yamagata became its commander.

road: China’s Imperial Highway: China had a road system that paralleled the Persian Royal Road and the Roman road network in time and purpose. Its major development began under Emperor Shihuangdi about 220 bce. Many of the roads were wide, surfaced with stone, and lined with trees;…

Frank Lloyd Wright: Europe and Japan: The Imperial Hotel (1915–22, dismantled 1967) in Tokyo was one of Wright’s most significant works in its lavish comfort, splendid spaces, and unprecedented construction. Because of its revolutionary, floating cantilever construction, it was one of the only large buildings that safely withstood the devastating earthquake that…

Shintō: Early clan religion and ceremonies: …an ancestor of the present Imperial Household as its head had probably been established. The constituent unit of society at that time was the uji (clan or family), and the head of each uji was in charge of worshiping the clan’s ujigami—its particular tutelary or guardian deity. The prayer for…

China: Political institutions: They created an Imperial Household Department to forestall eunuchs from usurping power—a situation that had plagued the Ming ruling house—and they staffed this agency with bond servants. The Imperial Household Department became a power outside the control of the regular bureaucracy. It managed the large estates that had…

Akihito: …Japanese lawmakers to alter the Imperial Household Law of 1947, which specifies the line of imperial succession. The law did not include a process for abdication or outline who would succeed Akihito as emperor in the event of his retirement.

jadeite, gem-quality silicate mineral in the pyroxene family that is one of the two forms of jade (q.v.). The more prized of the two types of jade, jadeite (imperial jade) is usually found as transparent-to-opaque, compact, cryptocrystalline lenses, veins, or nodules. It may be distinguished from

Battle of Wake Island: …defenders fought elements of the Imperial Japanese Navy, which ultimately seized the island but at great cost.

map: The rise of national surveys: Japan established an Imperial Land Survey in 1888, and by 1925 topographic coverage of the home islands, at a scale of 1:50,000, was complete.

library: Other national collections: The National Library of India (formerly the Imperial Library) in Calcutta was founded in 1903. It is the largest library in India and holds a fine collection of rare books and manuscripts. In some countries, such as Iceland and Israel, the national library is combined with…

mammoth: The North American imperial mammoth (M. imperator) attained a shoulder height of 4 metres (14 feet). At the other extreme were certain dwarfed forms whose ancestors became isolated on various islands. Many mammoths had a woolly, yellowish brown undercoat about 2.5 cm (1 inch) thick beneath a coarser…

millennialism: The nature of millennialism: …those based on a hierarchical imperial vision of a coming kingdom that will be overseen by a just, if authoritarian, ruler who will conquer the forces of chaos and (2) those linked by a popular vision of holy anarchy, in which man’s domination of his fellow man will cease. Many…

Lahore: Other historic landmarks include the Bādshāhī (Imperial) Mosque, built by Aurangzeb and still one of the largest mosques in the world; the 14-foot- (4.3-metre-) long Zamzama, or Zam-Zammah, a cannon that is immortalized (along with other details of the city) in Rudyard Kipling’s novel Kim (1901); Ranjit Singh’s buildings and…

regal moth: The imperial moth (Eacles imperialis) has yellow wings and body with purple to brown markings. The green body of the larva has a sparse covering of long white hairs, yellow horns, and a brown head. Striped Anisota larvae (e.g., the green-striped mapleworm, A. rubicunda; the pink-striped…

Charter Oath, in Japanese history, statement of principle promulgated on April 6, 1868, by the emperor Meiji after the overthrow of the Tokugawa shogunate and the restoration of direct participation in government by the imperial family. The Charter Oath opened the way for the modernization of the

Tokyo: …moats and broad gardens, the Imperial Palace, the home of the emperor of Japan, lies at the heart of the city. East of and adjacent to the Imperial Palace is the colourful Marunouchi district, the financial hub and a major centre of Japanese business activity. South of the palace is…

Palace Museum, in Beijing, museum housed in the main buildings of the former Imperial Palaces (see also Forbidden City). It exhibits valuable objects from Chinese history. The palace consists of many separate halls and courtyards. The outer buildings of the palace became a museum in 1914, although

Peking duck: …specific breed of duck, the Imperial Peking, that is force-fed and housed in a small cage so that inactivity will ensure tender meat. The neck and head are left intact as the bird is killed (at about six weeks old) and dressed, and, after the entrails are removed, the lower…

Jean Theodore Delacour: …from northern Vietnam, named them imperial pheasants, and later succeeded in breeding them in captivity. Many other new species and subspecies of birds and mammals were discovered and named by him.

imperial preference, historically, a commercial arrangement in which preferential rates (i.e., rates below the general level of an established tariff) were granted to one another by constituent units of an empire. Imperial preference could also include other sorts of preference, such as favourable

Higashikuni Naruhiko was a Japanese imperial prince and army commander who was Japan’s first prime minister after the country’s surrender in World War II (August 17–October 6, 1945). He was the only member of the imperial family ever to head a cabinet. The son of an imperial prince, Higashikuni

education: Establishment of nationalistic education systems: Together with these reforms, the Imperial Rescript on Education (Kyōiku Chokugo) of 1890 played a major role in providing a structure for national morality. By reemphasizing the traditional Confucian and Shintō values and redefining the courses in shūshin, it was to place morality and education on a foundation of imperial…

Yamagata Aritomo: Early career: …emperor to promulgate the “Imperial Rescript to Soldiers and Sailors”—in essence a recapitulation of Yamagata’s “Admonition to the Military”—which was to become the spiritual guidepost of the imperial army until Japan’s surrender at the end of World War II. In anticipation of the Sino-Japanese War, he reorganized the army…

coronation of British monarchs: Procession from Westminster Abbey: The monarch now wears the Imperial State Robe (also called the Robe of Estate) of purple velvet and the Imperial State Crown. He or she also holds the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross and the Sovereign’s Orb. Once again the sovereign is transported via the Gold State Coach in another state…

Liberal-Democratic Party of Japan: History: …their members joined the government-sponsored Imperial Rule Assistance Association (Taisei Yokusankai).

Russia: The Petrine state: …organization to a “European” professional army (as it developed in the course of the so-called military revolution of the 17th century) had been initiated during the reigns of Tsars Michael and Alexis. But it was Peter who gave it the full-fledged “modern” form it retained until the middle of the…

Mariinsky Ballet, prominent Russian ballet company, part of the Mariinsky Theatre of Opera and Ballet in St. Petersburg. Its traditions, deriving from its predecessor, the Imperial Russian Ballet, are based on the work of such leading 19th-century choreographers as Jules Perrot, Arthur Saint-Léon,

Charles McLean Andrews: …own history belongs to the “imperial school,” which places the emphasis on the American colonies as dependent parts of the British system so that the centre of the colonial story belongs in Great Britain. This interpretation runs through his widely accepted books and those of historians he trained.

George Balanchine: The European years: …War I years at the Imperial School of Ballet at the Mariinsky Theatre. The theatre closed for some months in 1917, and, until the Imperial School reopened in 1918 as the Soviet State School of Ballet, he had to support himself with unskilled jobs or by playing piano in a…

knight bachelor: The Imperial Society of Knights Bachelor, founded in 1908, has since attempted to obtain a uniform registration of every knight created. In 1926 a badge for knights bachelor depicting a sheathed sword between two spurs was approved and adopted, and in 1965 the ancient church of…

shooting: Russia: In 1897 the Imperial Society of Reglemented Hunting published rules for rifle-shooting competitions, and in the next year held two tournaments with more than 200 shooters in the second. In 1899 the recently formed Southern Russian Shooting Society offered gold and silver award badges in two categories to…

Spanish Riding School of Vienna, school of classical horsemanship in Vienna, probably founded in the late 16th century. It is the only remaining institution where haute école (“high school”) riding and training methods are exclusively practiced, much as they were in the 18th century. The school is

coronation of British monarchs: Procession from Westminster Abbey: The monarch now wears the Imperial State Robe (also called the Robe of Estate) of purple velvet and the Imperial State Crown. He or she also holds the Sovereign’s Sceptre with Cross and the Sovereign’s Orb. Once again the sovereign is transported via the Gold State Coach in another state…

Imperial Brands PLC, one of the world’s largest international tobacco companies and the leading British manufacturer of tobacco products, including Player, Kool, and Embassy cigarettes; snuff; several brands of cigars; rolling papers; and tubes. Imperial has also produced and distributed a number

Imperial Brands PLC, one of the world’s largest international tobacco companies and the leading British manufacturer of tobacco products, including Player, Kool, and Embassy cigarettes; snuff; several brands of cigars; rolling papers; and tubes. Imperial has also produced and distributed a number

Gempei War: …famous sword, one of the Imperial Treasures of Japan supposedly brought from heaven by the first Japanese emperor. The battle became legendary through accounts such as the Gempei seisui-ki (“Record of the Rise and Fall of the Minamoto and Taira”).

Imperial units, units of measurement of the British Imperial System, the traditional system of weights and measures used officially in Great Britain from 1824 until the adoption of the metric system beginning in 1965. The United States Customary System of weights and measures is derived from the

education: Establishment of nationalistic education systems: The first was the Imperial University Order of 1886, which rendered the university a servant of the state for the training of high officials and elites in various fields. Later that year orders concerning the elementary school, the middle school, and the normal school were issued, forming the structural…

Imperial Valley, intensively irrigated part of the Colorado Desert, mainly in Imperial county, southern California. The valley extends southward for 50 miles (80 km) from the southern end of the Salton Sea (a saline lake) into Mexico. Part of a trough stretching from the Coachella Valley to the

Beijing: Public and commercial buildings: The Imperial Vault of Heaven, first erected in 1530 and rebuilt in 1752, is a smaller structure some 65 feet (20 metres) high and about 50 feet (15 metres) in diameter. The circular building has no crossbeam, and the dome is supported by complicated span work.…

volute: Prized by collectors is the imperial volute (Aulica imperialis) of the Philippines; it is 25 cm (10 inches) long, with a spine-tipped body whorl finely checked with brown, and an outer lip that is wide and golden-lined.

Sir Robert Borden: …David Lloyd George created the Imperial War Cabinet (IWC) in 1917 that Borden was given a chance to express Canada’s point of view. At the meetings of the IWC in London and its subsequent sessions in Paris during the negotiation of the Treaty of Versailles, Borden supported the Fourteen Points…

Imperial War Museum, in the United Kingdom, national museum serving as a memorial and record of the wartime efforts and sacrifices of the people of Great Britain and the Commonwealth. Upon its opening in 1920, its focus was on World War I, but its remit has since been extended to include World War

Araki Sadao: …and a leader of the Kōdō-ha (Imperial Way) faction, an ultranationalistic group of the 1930s. He strongly advocated the importance of character building through rigid mental and physical discipline, whereas the dominant Tōseiha (Control) faction emphasized the importance of modernization along with self-discipline.

Beijing: Museums and libraries: … and archives from the renowned Imperial Wenyuange library collection of the Qing dynasty that has existed for more than 500 years and that, in turn, included books and manuscripts from the library of the Southern Song dynasty, established some 700 years ago. Also in its holdings are other collections from…

Beijing: Museums and libraries: … and archives from the renowned Imperial Wenyuange library collection of the Qing dynasty that has existed for more than 500 years and that, in turn, included books and manuscripts from the library of the Southern Song dynasty, established some 700 years ago. Also in its holdings are other collections from…

education: The conservative reaction: …the Kyōgaku Seishi, or the Imperial Will on the Great Principles of Education, was drafted by Motoda Nagazane, a lecturer attached to the Imperial House in 1870. It stressed the strengthening of traditional morality and virtue to provide a firm base for the emperor. Thereafter, the government began to base…

pileated woodpecker: …woodpecker (Campephilus principalis) and the imperial woodpecker (C. imperialis) were larger. However, the last official sightings of those birds took place in 1944 and 1956, respectively. Pileated woodpeckers inhabit midlatitude coniferous and deciduous forests and wetland areas in the eastern U.S., the Pacific coastal states, and across the breadth of…

Spanish literature: The 15th century: Francisco Imperial, a Genoese who settled in Sevilla and a leader among new poets, drew on Dante, attempting to transplant the Italian hendecasyllable (11-syllable line) to Spanish poetry.

election: Party-list proportional representation: …the greatest-remainder formula, called the Imperiali formula, whereby the electoral quota was established by dividing the total popular vote by the number of seats plus two. This modification increased the legislative representation of small parties but led to a greater distortion of the proportional ideal.

imperialism, state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas. Because it always involves the use of power, whether military or economic or some subtler form, imperialism has

Western colonialism: Economic imperialism: In his seminal study, Imperialism, a Study (first published in 1902), he pointed to the role of such drives as patriotism, philanthropy, and the spirit of adventure in advancing the imperialist cause. As he saw it, however, the critical question was why the energy of these active agents takes…

Vladimir Lenin: Challenges of the Revolution of 1905 and World War I: In his Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism (1917), he set out to explain, first, the real causes of the war; second, why Socialists had abandoned internationalism for patriotism and supported the war; and third, why revolution alone could bring about a just, democratic peace.

Little Anthony and the Imperials, American rhythm-and-blues vocal group whose career straddled the eras of doo-wop and soul music. The Imperials were formed in New York City in 1958 as a new incarnation of a short-lived group called the Chesters. The vocal combo’s original members were Jerome

Alberto Lista: Among his best-known works are El imperio de la estupidez (1798; “The Empire of Stupidity”), a critical work in the manner of Alexander Pope’s Dunciad; Ensayos literarios y críticos (1844; “Literary and Critical Essays”); and Lecciones de literatura española (1836; “Lessons in Spanish Literature”), lectures given at the University of…

ancient Rome: The Flavian emperors: …en bloc with the famous Lex de Imperio Vespasiani (“Law Regulating Vespasian’s authority”), and the Assembly ratified the Senate’s action. This apparently was the first time that such a law was passed; a fragmentary copy of it is preserved on the Capitol in Rome.

Michael Imperioli is an American actor, writer, and musician who is best known for playing Christopher Moltisanti on the HBO gangster drama The Sopranos (1999–2007). While his subsequent roles were diverse, he played a detective on a number of police procedurals. Imperioli is one of two sons born

imperium, (Latin: “command,” “empire”), the supreme executive power in the Roman state, involving both military and judicial authority. It was exercised first by the kings of Rome; under the republic (c. 509 bc–27 bc) it was held by the chief magistrates (consuls, dictators, praetors, military

Middle Ages: …or ecclesiastical hierarchy, and the imperium, or secular leaders. In theory, these two groups complemented each other, attending to people’s spiritual and temporal needs, respectively. Supreme authority was wielded by the pope in the first of these areas and by the emperor in the second. In practice, the two institutions…

ancient Rome: The establishment of the principate under Augustus: …power he had received, the imperium proconsulare majus. Instead, he paraded the tribunician power as the expression of his supreme position in the state.

humor: Situational humor: …the comic devices of imitation, impersonation, and disguise. The impersonator is perceived as himself and somebody else at the same time. If the result is slightly degrading—but only in that case—the spectator will laugh. The comedian impersonating a public personality, two pairs of trousers serving as the legs of the…

information system: Computer crime and abuse: …followed by identity theft, an impersonation of the user to gain access to the user’s resources.

impetigo, inflammatory skin infection that begins as a superficial blister or pustule that then ruptures and gives rise to a weeping spot on which the fluid dries to form a distinct honey-coloured crust. Impetigo is the most common skin infection among children, typically affecting children between

economic openness: …economy, also known as the Impex rate. This measure is presently used by most political economists in empirically analyzing the impact and consequences of trading on the social and economic situation of a country.

monal, any of several Asian pheasant species. See

Imphal, city, capital of Manipur state, northeastern India. It lies in the central part of the state in the Manipur River valley at an elevation of 2,500 feet (760 metres). Imphal was the seat of the kings of Manipur before the region fell under British rule. In 1944 it was the site of a

World War II: The Burmese frontier and China, November 1943–summer 1944: …Japanese were able to approach Imphāl and to surround Kohīma, but the British forces protecting these towns were reinforced with several Indian divisions that were taken from the now-secure Arakan front. With air support, Slim’s reinforced forces now defended Imphāl against multiple Japanese thrusts and outflanking movements until, in mid-May…

Shaka: Reorganization of the army: …regiments (known collectively as the impi) were divided into four groups. The strongest, termed the “chest,” closed with the enemy to pin him down while two “horns” raced out to encircle and attack the foe from behind. A reserve, known as the “loins,” was seated nearby, with its back to…

Andrea del Castagno was one of the most influential 15th-century Italian Renaissance painters, best known for the emotional power and naturalistic treatment of figures in his work. Little is known of Castagno’s early life, and it is also difficult to ascertain the stages of his artistic development

tribological ceramics: Essential properties: In impingement wear, particles impact and erode the surface. This is the major wear mechanism encountered in mineral handling, for example. Rubbing wear, on the other hand, occurs when two materials under load slide against each other. This wear occurs in such devices as rotating shafts,…