Nicaragua: Drainage: …reservoir of drinking water, and Lake Jiloá, which is slightly alkaline and is a favourite bathing resort. Lake Masaya is prized for its swimming and fishing facilities; the sulfurous waters of Lake Nejapa have medicinal properties ascribed to them; and Lake Tiscapa is located in the capital city.

Chi-lung, city (shih, or shi), northern Taiwan. Situated on the East China Sea, it is the principal port of Taipei special municipality, 16 miles (26 km) to the southwest. The city first became known as Chi-lung—which is said to have been a corruption of Ketangalan, the name of a tribe of

Jim, fictional character, an unschooled but honourable runaway slave in Huckleberry Finn (1884) by Mark Twain. Some critics charge Twain with having created a two-dimensional racist caricature, while others find Jim a complex, compassionate character. The relationship between Jim and Huck forms the

children’s literature: War and beyond: , Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver, 1963) has more than a touch of Oz; and both Kästner and Krüss have made agreeable additions to the realm of fantasy.

Corbett National Park, natural area in southern Uttarakhand state, northern India. It was established as Hailey National Park in 1936 and was first renamed Ramganga in the mid-1950s, before the name was changed to Corbett later that decade in memory of Jim Corbett, a well-known British sportsman

Jim Crow law: Jim Crow was the name of a minstrel routine (actually Jump Jim Crow) performed beginning in 1828 by its author, Thomas Dartmouth (“Daddy”) Rice, and by many imitators, including actor Joseph Jefferson. The term came to be a derogatory epithet for African Americans and a…

Jim Crow law, in U.S. history, any of the laws that enforced racial segregation in the South between the end of Reconstruction in 1877 and the beginning of the civil rights movement in the 1950s. Jim Crow was the name of a minstrel routine (actually Jump Jim Crow) performed beginning in 1828 by its

Jim Davis is an American cartoonist who is best known as the creator of the comic strip Garfield. The strip’s titular character, a sardonic, lazy, lasagna-loving, Monday-hating, orange tabby cat, became a worldwide sensation after being introduced in 1978. Garfield went on to be one of the most

ballad: Crime: The murders of “Jim Fisk,” Johnny of “Frankie and Johnny,” and many other ballad victims are prompted by sexual jealousy. One particular variety of crime ballad, the “last goodnight”, represents itself falsely to be the contrite speech of a criminal as he mounts the scaffold to be executed.…

children’s literature: War and beyond: , Jim Button and Luke the Engine Driver, 1963) has more than a touch of Oz; and both Kästner and Krüss have made agreeable additions to the realm of fantasy.

Television in the United States: The new cultural landscape: Such CBS hits as The Jim Nabors Hour (CBS, 1969–71), Mayberry R.F.D., and Hee-Haw were all in the top 30 the year they were canceled by the network. The Beverly Hillbillies and Green Acres were also eliminated at the end of the 1970–71 season, and not a single rural…

James River, river rising in Wells county, central North Dakota, U.S., and flowing in a generally south-southeasterly direction across South Dakota, to join the Missouri River about 5 miles (8 km) below Yankton after a course of 710 miles (1,140 km). Major cities along the river are Jamestown,

Bangkok: Cultural life: Jim Thompson’s Thai House, named for a U.S. entrepreneur and devotee of Thai culture, is composed of several traditional Thai mansions; it contains the country’s largest collection of 17th-century Thai religious paintings. There are also collections of Dvaravati and Khmer sculpture, in addition to examples…

Jim Thorpe, borough (town), seat of Carbon county, eastern Pennsylvania, U.S., on the Lehigh River, in a valley of the Pocono Mountains, 22 miles (35 km) northwest of Allentown. It was created in 1954 with the merger of the boroughs of Mauch Chunk (“Bear Mountain;” inc. 1850) and East Mauch Chunk

Michael Curtiz: Last films of Michael Curtiz: …World War II love story; Jim Thorpe—All-American, which provided Burt Lancaster with one of his best roles as the great Native American athlete Jim Thorpe; and I’ll See You in My Dreams, a biography of songwriter Gus Kahn (played by Danny Thomas). The Story of Will Rogers followed in 1952.

Jim Thorpe, of mixed Native American and European ancestry, was born in 1888 in what was then Oklahoma Territory. An excellent track-and-field athlete, he attended Pennsylvania’s Carlisle Indian School, where he distinguished himself by kicking four field goals in a victory over Harvard and, the

Simon Wheeler: …of Calaveras County” and “Jim Wolfe and the Tom-cats,” both short stories by Mark Twain.

Chattahoochee River: The Jim Woodruff Dam at the river’s confluence with the Flint forms Lake Seminole. The name Chattahoochee is believed to be that of an early Indian village and probably means “cornmeal,” or “pounded rock.” The stream inspired Sidney Lanier’s poem “The Song of the Chattahoochee.”

Jima, town, southwestern Ethiopia, 220 miles (353 km) by road southwest of Addis Ababa. It lies at an elevation of 5,740 feet (1,750 metres) in a forested region known for its coffee plantations. Jima serves as the commercial centre for the region, handling coffee and other products. An

Jimaní, city, southwestern Dominican Republic. It is situated in a hilly region between the western shore of Lake Enriquillo and the border with Haiti. The city is a trade centre for the coffee, fruits, and timber produced in the region. Jimaní is accessible by secondary highway from communities in

Osa Peninsula: …peninsula is the port of Jiménez, on the Gulf of Dulce. No major highways or railways lead onto Osa. The peninsula contains a complex of national parks and refuges. Corcovado National Park, the largest and most important of these, protects one of the most significant stands of virgin rainforest in…

Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros was a prelate, religious reformer, and twice regent of Spain (1506, 1516–17). In 1507 he became both a cardinal and the grand inquisitor of Spain, and during his public life he sought the forced conversion of the Spanish Moors and promoted Crusades to conquer North

Francisco Jiménez de Cisneros was a prelate, religious reformer, and twice regent of Spain (1506, 1516–17). In 1507 he became both a cardinal and the grand inquisitor of Spain, and during his public life he sought the forced conversion of the Spanish Moors and promoted Crusades to conquer North

Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada was a Spanish conquistador who led the expedition that won the region of New Granada (Colombia) for Spain. Trained as a lawyer in Granada, Quesada sailed to the New World in 1535 to serve as the chief magistrate for the colony of Santa Marta, on the northern coast of

Battle of Las Navas de Tolosa: …of the archbishop of Toledo, Rodrigo Jiménez de Rada, who proceeded to stir up religious indignation at the Muslim victory over Christians. A proclamation of a Crusade was obtained from Pope Innocent III, which elicited further support from several French bishops, and, in the spring of 1212, contingents of French…

Spanish literature: The novel: José Jiménez Lozano investigates Inquisitorial repression, recondite religious issues, and esoteric historical themes drawn from a variety of cultures in such novels as Historia de un otoño (1971; “History of Autumn”) and El sambenito (1972; “The Saffron Tunic”). He received the Cervantes Prize in 2002,…

Popol Vuh: …of the 18th century by Francisco Ximénez (Jiménez), parish priest of Chichicastenango in highland Guatemala. He both copied the original K’iche’ text (now lost) and translated it into Spanish. His work is now in the Newberry Library, Chicago.

Juan Ramón Jiménez was a Spanish poet awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1956. After studying briefly at the University of Salamanca, Jiménez went to Madrid (1900) at the invitation of the poet Rubén Darío. His first two volumes of poetry, Almas de violeta (“Souls of Violet”) and Ninfeas

Marcos Pérez Jiménez was a professional soldier and president (1952–58) of Venezuela whose regime was marked by extravagance, corruption, police oppression, and mounting unemployment. A graduate of the Venezuelan Military Academy, Pérez Jiménez began his political career in 1944, participating in

Jimeta, town, Adamawa state, eastern Nigeria. It lies on the south bank of the Benue River, and on the highway between Zing and Girei. Merged with Yola in 1935 by the Fulani administration, Jimeta regained independent town status with its own council in 1955. With the construction of a spur road to

10 Influential Rock Bands: The Jimi Hendrix Experience: Jimi Hendrix, through an unabashed, unapologetic fusion of British avant-garde rock with American techniques in blues, jazz, rock, and soul, redefined the electric guitar. Formed in 1966, the Jimi Hendrix Experience featured Hendrix on guitar and lead vocals, Noel Redding on…

Jima, town, southwestern Ethiopia, 220 miles (353 km) by road southwest of Addis Ababa. It lies at an elevation of 5,740 feet (1,750 metres) in a forested region known for its coffee plantations. Jima serves as the commercial centre for the region, handling coffee and other products. An

Jimmu, legendary first emperor of Japan and founder of the imperial dynasty. Japanese chronicles record Jimmu’s expedition eastward from Hyuga in 607 bc along Japan’s Inland Sea, subduing tribes as he went and ending in Yamato, where he established his centre of power. Although modern historians do

Jimmu, legendary first emperor of Japan and founder of the imperial dynasty. Japanese chronicles record Jimmu’s expedition eastward from Hyuga in 607 bc along Japan’s Inland Sea, subduing tribes as he went and ending in Yamato, where he established his centre of power. Although modern historians do

Plains: Jimmy Carter National Historic Site, established in 1987, preserves his home, boyhood farm, high school, and the depot that served as his 1976 presidential campaign headquarters. Pop. (2010) 776; (2020) 573.

Jimmy Choo: …left Vogue, launched the company Jimmy Choo Ltd. Later that year the duo opened their first boutique on London’s Motcomb Street, famous for its high-end fashion boutiques. In 1998 they opened their first stores in the United States, and Jimmy Choo soon became a household name. Their shoes were featured…

comic strip: The autobiographical graphic novel: Chris Ware’s ironically titled Jimmy Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth (2000), a long, drawn-out, formally innovative, eerily desperate autobiographical mosaic, is designed in a haunting rhythm of differently sized and related panel clusters, with Proustian memorial parentheses. It presents a bleak vision of childhood suffering, the pain of…

Television in the United States: The late shows: …launched its own late-night comedy, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, which began airing after Nightline in 2003. The Fox network, which commenced operation in 1986, also tried a late-night talk show, The Late Show (Fox, 1987), which briefly starred Joan Rivers and then introduced Arsenio Hall, TV’s first African American late-night talk…

Michael Curtiz: The breakthrough years: Much better was Jimmy the Gent, the first of several successful collaborations with James Cagney, this time in the role of a charismatic con man who is taught a lesson by Davis. The Key found Powell as a captain in the Black and Tans occupying Ireland during the…

Abby Morton Diaz: Children (1875), Christmas Morning (1880), Jimmyjohns (1881), Polly Cologne (1881), and Bybury to Beacon Street (1887).

jimsonweed, (Datura stramonium), annual herbaceous plant of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). Possibly native to Central America, the plant is considered an invasive species throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. It was used by Algonquin Indians in eastern North America, among other

Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1, oil painting created in 1932 by pioneering American artist Georgia O’Keeffe. The painting, which hung for several years in the private dining room at the White House, set a record price for a work by a female artist in 2014 when it was purchased for $44.4 million by

Gulley Jimson, fictional character, the talented but disreputable artist protagonist and narrator of Joyce Cary’s novel The Horse’s Mouth (1944), the third volume in a trilogy about

jimsonweed, (Datura stramonium), annual herbaceous plant of the nightshade family (Solanaceae). Possibly native to Central America, the plant is considered an invasive species throughout much of the Northern Hemisphere. It was used by Algonquin Indians in eastern North America, among other

Japan: Decline of Kamakura society: …senior line centered on the Jimyō Temple in Kyōto and the junior line centered on the Daikaku Temple on the western edge of the city. In the last half of the century, each side sought to win the support of the bakufu. In 1317 Kamakura proposed a compromise that would…

China: The Zhou feudal system: …years, passed to Wengong of Jin (reigned 636–628 bce), the ruler of the mountainous state north of the Huang He. Under Wengong and his capable successors, the overlordship was institutionalized until it took the place of the Zhou monarchy. Interstate meetings were held at first during emergencies caused by challenges…

Shanxi, sheng (province) of northern China. Roughly rectangular in shape, Shanxi is bounded by the provinces of Hebei to the east, Henan to the south and southeast, and Shaanxi to the west and by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region to the north. The name Shanxi (“West of the Mountains”—i.e., west

Jin dynasty, Chinese dynasty that comprises two distinct phases—the Xi (Western) Jin, ruling China from ad 265 to 316/317, and the Dong (Eastern) Jin, which ruled China from ad 317 to 420. The Dong Jin is considered one of the Six Dynasties. In ad 265 a Sima prince, Sima Yan, deposed the last of

Jin dynasty, (1115–1234), dynasty that ruled an empire formed by the Tungus Juchen (or Jurchen) tribes of Manchuria. The empire covered much of Inner Asia and all of present-day North China. Originally subjects of the Liao, an Inner Asian dynasty created in the 10th century by the Khitan tribes,

Kangxi: Administration of the empire: In 1677 Kangxi appointed Jin Fu superintendent of riparian works; in 1683 Jin finished embanking and dredging to stabilize the flow of the river. At the same time, the Grand Canal, the important arterial waterway that connected the Huang He with the lower Yangtze River (Chang Jiang), was repaired…

Zhang Yimou: …ling shi san chai (2011; The Flowers of War), he told the story of an American mortician (played by Christian Bale) who shelters a group of convent students and prostitutes during the Nanjing Massacre. Gui lai (2014; Coming Home) featured Gong as a woman whose marriage is destroyed when her…

Jin Mao Tower, mixed-use skyscraper in Shanghai, China. Designed by the American architectural firm of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, of Chicago, Illinois, it has 88 stories and reaches a height of 1,380 feet (420.5 metres). At the time of its official opening in January 1999, it was one of the

Fujian: Transportation: The headwaters of the Jin River, a tributary of the Futun River, are navigable for small boats up to the foot of the Wuyi Mountains, despite the river’s rocky channel and many rapids; boats bring downstream the tea grown on the slopes of the mountains. Below Jianning, larger boats…

Wudi was the founder and first emperor (265–290) of the Xi (Western) Jin dynasty (265–316/317), which briefly reunited China during the turbulent period following the dissolution of the Han dynasty (206 bc–ad 220). Sima Yan was the scion of the great Sima clan to which the famous Han historian Sima

Hong Kong literature: In 1955 Jin Yong (Zha Liangyong) started to serialize Shu jian en chou lu (The Book and the Sword) in Xinwanbao (“New Evening Post”), which he followed with 13 additional serialized novels in his own newspaper, Ming Pao. Another significant wuxia novel writer is Liang Yusheng (Chen…

Ha Jin is a Chinese American writer who uses plain, unadorned English prose to explore the tension between the individual and the family, the modern and the traditional, and personal feelings and duty. He won a National Book Award for his novel Waiting (1999). Jin had only a brief, incomplete

Woman, Life, Freedom, protest slogan that affirms that the rights of women are at the centre of life and liberty. The slogan is best known in English-language media for its use within the context of Iran. In September 2022 protesters in Iran and abroad adopted the slogan after Jina Mahsa Amini died

Ha Jin is a Chinese American writer who uses plain, unadorned English prose to explore the tension between the individual and the family, the modern and the traditional, and personal feelings and duty. He won a National Book Award for his novel Waiting (1999). Jin had only a brief, incomplete

Tirthankara, in Jainism, a saviour who has succeeded in crossing over life’s stream of rebirths and has made a path for others to follow. Mahavira (6th century bce) was the last Tirthankara to appear. According to tradition, his predecessor, Parshvanatha, lived about 250 years earlier; the other

Riyadh: Cultural life: Al-Jinādiriyyah, a national heritage and culture festival, is a major event held annually near Riyadh. One of the largest cultural festivals of its kind in the Arab world, Al-Jinādiriyyah hosts Arab, Muslim, and international celebrities participating in panel discussions, intellectual forums, and poetry sessions. In…

Jinan, city and capital, Shandong sheng (province), China. It lies in the northern foothills of the Mount Tai massif, on the high ground just south of the Huang He (Yellow River), which provides the major route along the north side of the Shandong Hills. Pop. (2002 est.) city, 2,345,969; (2007

Arabic literature: The novel: …in the Bustānī family’s journal, Al-Jinān, and this publication mode established a pattern that was to be followed by writers of Arabic fiction for many subsequent decades. Premodern history also came to be frequently invoked in the Arabic novel. This trend found a notable exponent in Jurjī Zaydān, who used…

Jainism: Early medieval developments (500–1100): The monk Jinasena, for example, wrote Sanskrit philosophical treatises and poetry with the support of the Rashtrakuta king Amoghavarsha I. An author in Kannada and Sanskrit, Amoghavarsha apparently renounced his throne and became a disciple of Jinasena in the early 9th century.

jinbi shanshui, style of Chinese landscape painting during the Sui (581–618) and Tang (618–907) dynasties. In this style, a rich decorative effect was achieved by the application of two mineral colours, azurite blue and malachite green, together with gold, to a fine line drawing. Among the early

Shanxi: Cultural life: Jin Memorial Hall (Jinci), some 15 miles (25 km) southwest of Taiyuan, is Shanxi’s best-known temple complex. It was originally built in the 5th century ce, and during subsequent periods it served as a monastery and as the centre for several religious cults. Another major attraction is the…

Jind, city, central Haryana state, northwestern India. It is located about 70 miles (110 km) northwest of Delhi. Jind is said to have been founded by the Pandavas of the Mahabharata epic, who built a temple around which the town of Jaintapuri (Jind) grew. It was formerly one of the princely

Czechoslovak history: The Luxembourg dynasty: Its leader, Jindřich of Lípa, virtually ruled over Bohemia until his death in 1329. Meanwhile, John found satisfaction in tournaments and military expeditions. He succeeded in attaching to Bohemia some adjacent territories; the extension of suzerainty over the Silesian principalities was his most significant achievement. He was…

Jindyworobak movement, brief nationalistic Australian literary movement of the 1930s to mid-1940s that sought to promote native ideas and traditions, especially in literature. The movement was swelled by several circumstances: the economic depression focused attention on comparable hardships of an

Guangdong: Population composition: The Jing were transferred to Guangxi in 1965, when the multinational Dongxing (now Fangcheng) autonomous county in extreme southwestern Guangdong changed its provincial jurisdiction. The so-called Boat People—the Tan (Dan) or Tanka (Danjia in the Cantonese language)—are not officially designated as a national minority. Whereas some…

yangsheng: …by three “treasures,” or principles: jing (“essence”), qi (“vital breath”), and shen (“spirit”). Jing is associated with reproductive energy. Qi is a complex concept referring to air or vapour, breath, and the primordial matter-energy constituting everything in the universe; in the practice of yangsheng it retains these connotations while also…

Liu Yang: …two other crew members, commander Jing Haipeng and operator Liu Wang, aboard Shenzhou 9, which accomplished China’s first crewed space docking when it docked with the space module Tiangong 1. Liu Yang was in charge of medical experiments during the mission.

Jing Hao was an important landscape painter and essayist of the Five Dynasties (907–960) period. Jing spent much of his life in retirement as a farmer in the Taihang Mountains of Shanxi province. In his art, Jing followed the court painters of the Tang dynasty (618–907) in emphasizing the singular

Jing River, river in north-central China, the largest tributary of the Wei River. It rises in the Liupan Mountains of the Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia and flows about 280 miles (450 km) through Gansu province to central Shaanxi where it empties into the

Jing River, river in north-central China, the largest tributary of the Wei River. It rises in the Liupan Mountains of the Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia and flows about 280 miles (450 km) through Gansu province to central Shaanxi where it empties into the

Grand Canal, series of waterways in eastern and northern China that link Hangzhou in Zhejiang province with Beijing. Some 1,800 km (1,100 miles) in length, it is the world’s longest constructed waterway, though, strictly speaking, not all of it is a canal. It was built to enable successive Chinese

Nzinga was the queen of the Mbundu kingdoms of Ndongo and Matamba during the 17th century in what is now Angola in sub-Saharan Africa. Nzinga was a skillful politician, variously allying with local groups—particularly the Imbangala—and European powers to maintain and improve her position as queen

Janjaweed, Arab militia active in Sudan, particularly in the Darfur region. The militia’s name is thought by many to be derived from the Arabic jinnī (spirit) and jawad (horse), although its etymological origins are not completely clear. The Janjaweed has its origins in the long-running civil war

Jingdezhen, city, northeastern Jiangxi sheng (province), southeastern China. Situated on the south bank of the Chang River, it was originally a market town called Changnanzhen and received its present name in 1004, the first year of the Jingde era during the Song dynasty (960–1279). Throughout the

Guangxu was the reign name (nianhao) of the ninth emperor (reigned 1874/75–1908) of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12), during whose reign the empress dowager Cixi (1835–1908) totally dominated the government and thereby prevented the young emperor from modernizing and reforming the deteriorating

Jingdi was the posthumous name (shi) of the fifth emperor of the Han dynasty, during whose reign (157–141 bc) an attempt was made to limit the power of the great feudal princes, who had been enfeoffed in separate kingdoms during the tolerant rule of Jingdi’s father, the Wendi emperor (reigned

Mao Zedong: The communists and the Nationalists: …to a base in the Jinggang Mountains, on the border between Jiangxi and Hunan provinces, and embarked on a new type of revolutionary warfare in the countryside in which the Red Army (military arm of the CCP), rather than the unarmed masses, would play the central role. But it was…

Genghis Khan was a Mongolian warrior-ruler, one of the most famous conquerors of history, who consolidated tribes into a unified Mongolia and then extended his empire across Asia to the Adriatic Sea. Genghis Khan was a warrior and ruler of genius who, starting from obscure and insignificant

Jinghong, city, southern Yunnan sheng (province), southwestern China. It is situated in a rich basin on the west bank of the Mekong (Lancang) River, near the borders of Myanmar (Burma) and Laos. A military-civilian administration of Cheli Region was set up there during the Yuan dynasty (1206–1368).

Sino-Tibetan languages: Tibeto-Burman languages: Lahu, Lisu, Kachin (Jingpo), Kuki-Chin, the obsolete Xixia (Tangut), and other languages. The Tibetan writing system (which dates from the 7th century) and the Burmese (dating from the 11th century) are derived from the Indo-Aryan (Indic) tradition. The Xixia system (developed in the 11th–13th century in northwestern…

jinghu, Chinese two-stringed fiddle that is the principal melodic instrument in jingxi (Peking opera) ensembles. The smallest (and therefore highest-pitched) of the Chinese spike fiddles (huqin), the jinghu is about 50 cm (20 inches) in length. Its body is a bamboo tube, covered at the playing end

Japan: The ritsuryō system: …the Office of Deities (Jingikan), a parallel bureaucracy for the worship of the deities. Prospective bureaucrats were required to study at a central college and to pass prescribed examinations; during their term of office their performance was subjected to scrutiny once a year, and their rank and position were…

special economic zone (SEZ), any of several localities in which foreign and domestic trade and investment are conducted without the authorization of the Chinese central government in Beijing. Special economic zones are intended to function as zones of rapid economic growth by using tax and business

In January 1127 Juchen steppe nomads captured the Chinese capital of Kaifeng and with it the Song emperor. What came to be known as the Jingkang Incident was a major event in Chinese political history, but it was also a turning point in military technology, being one of the earliest occasions on

jingle shell, any of several marine invertebrates of the class Bivalvia belonging to the family Anomiidae. In most species of these oysterlike bivalves, one shell valve (i.e., half) is closely appressed to a rock surface and has a large hole in its wall through which a calcified byssus (tuft of

jingling Johnny, musical instrument consisting of a pole ornamented with a canopy (pavillon), a crescent, and other shapes hung with bells and metal jingling objects, and often surmounted by horsetails. It possibly originated as the staff of a Central Asian shaman, and it was part of the Turkish

Taoism: Syncretism: …Loyalty and Filial Obedience” (Jingmingzhongxiaodao). This sect preached the Confucian cardinal virtues as being essential for salvation, and consequently won a considerable following in conservative intellectual and official circles. Another highly popular syncretistic movement of Taoist origin was that of the Three Religions (sanjiao). Its composite moral teachings are…

Jingū was a semilegendary empress-regent of Japan who is said to have established Japanese hegemony over Korea. According to the traditional records of ancient Japan, Jingū was the wife of Chūai, the 14th sovereign (reigned 192–200), and the regent for her son Ōjin. Aided by a pair of divine jewels

jingoism, an attitude of belligerent nationalism, or a blind adherence to the rightness or virtue of one’s own nation, society, or group, simply because it is one’s own. The term is the approximate equivalent of chauvinism (in one of its meanings), originally a French word (chauvinisme) denoting

East Asian mathematics: The elaboration of Chinese methods: …mathematical book written in Japan, Jingoki (“Inalterable Treatise”), published in 1627 by Yoshida Mitsuyoshi, seems to be the first book that played an important role in the emerging Japanese tradition. Inspired by the Chinese text “Systematic Treatise on Mathematics,” whose importance is stressed above, it described in Japanese the use…

Yamaga Sokō was a military strategist and Confucian philosopher who set forth the first systematic exposition of the missions and obligations of the samurai (warrior) class and who made major contributions to Japanese military science. Yamaga’s thought became the central core of what later came to

Sino-Tibetan languages: Tibeto-Burman languages: Lahu, Lisu, Kachin (Jingpo), Kuki-Chin, the obsolete Xixia (Tangut), and other languages. The Tibetan writing system (which dates from the 7th century) and the Burmese (dating from the 11th century) are derived from the Indo-Aryan (Indic) tradition. The Xixia system (developed in the 11th–13th century in northwestern…

Sino-Tibetan languages: Tibeto-Burman languages: Lahu, Lisu, Kachin (Jingpo), Kuki-Chin, the obsolete Xixia (Tangut), and other languages. The Tibetan writing system (which dates from the 7th century) and the Burmese (dating from the 11th century) are derived from the Indo-Aryan (Indic) tradition. The Xixia system (developed in the 11th–13th century in northwestern…

Beijing: Recreation: Jingshan (Prospect Hill) Park, also known as Meishan (Coal Hill) Park, is a man-made hill, more than a mile (1.6 km) in circumference, located north of the Forbidden City. The hill, offering a spectacular panorama of Beijing from its summit, has five ridges, with a…

China: Literature of China: …the compilation (1329–33) of the Jingshi dadian, a repository of 800 juan (chapters) of official documents and laws; the text is now lost. Private historiography, especially works on the events of the Song, fared rather poorly under the Yuan because of the adverse political and intellectual climate. The most-distinguished contribution…

Jingtai was the reign name (nianhao) of the seventh emperor of the Ming dynasty. He ascended to the throne after his brother, the Zhengtong emperor, was captured while leading the imperial forces against the Oryat (western Mongol) leader Esen Taiji in 1449. When Esen tried to take advantage of his