Chinese literature: May Fourth period: Xu Zhimo and the American-educated Wen Yiduo, were creating new forms based on Western models, introducing the beauty of music and colour into their extremely popular lyrical verse.

Wen Zhengming was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, and scholarly figure who was a student of Shen Zhou; these two artists are considered the leading figures of the Wu school of scholar-artists in China. Born to an established family, Wen Zhengming was brought up in a strongly Confucian home, and he

prophecy: The ancient Middle East: …Egyptian text (11th century bce), Wen-Amon (a temple official at Karnak) was sent by the pharaoh to Gebal (Byblos) to procure timber. While Wen-Amon was there, a young noble of that city was seized by his god and in frenzy gave a message to the king of Gebal that the…

Wenzhou, city and port, southeastern Zhejiang sheng (province), southeastern China. It is situated on the south bank of the Ou River, some 19 miles (30 km) from its mouth. The estuary of the Ou River is much obstructed by small islands and mudbanks, but the port is accessible by ships of up to

Wenxiang was an official and statesman in the last years of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12), who took a lead in promoting Western studies, reforming the Chinese government, and introducing Western technology into China. In 1861 Wenxiang was appointed the first principal director of the Zongli

wenrenhua, ideal form of the Chinese scholar-painter who was more interested in personal erudition and expression than in literal representation or an immediately attractive surface beauty. First formulated in the Northern Song period (960–1127)—at which time it was called shidafuhua—by the

Mañjuśrī, in Mahāyāna Buddhism, the bodhisattva (“Buddha-to-be”) personifying supreme wisdom. His name in Sanskrit means “gentle, or sweet, glory”; he is also known as Mãnjughoṣa (“Sweet Voice”) and Vāgīśvara (“Lord of Speech”). In China he is called Wen-shu Shih-li, in Japan Monju, and in Tibet

Wendi was the emperor who reigned from 581–604 and reunified and reorganized China after 300 years of instability, founding the Sui dynasty (581–618). He conquered southern China, which long had been divided into numerous small kingdoms, and he broke the power of the Turks in the northern part of

Wendi was the posthumous name (shi) of the fourth emperor (reigned 180–157 bc) of the Han dynasty (206 bc–ad 220) of China. His reign was marked by good government and the peaceful consolidation of imperial power. A son of Liu Bang (the Gaozu emperor), the founder of the Han dynasty, Liu Heng was

Wenzong was the temple name (miaohao) of the 15th emperor (reigned 827–840) of the Tang dynasty (618–907) of China. He attempted unsuccessfully to free the court from the influence of the palace eunuchs, who had usurped much of the imperial power. His carefully laid plots against the eunuchs all

Wenwang was the father of Ji Fa (the Wuwang emperor), the founder of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 bc) and one of the sage rulers regarded by Confucian historians as a model king. Wen was the ruler of Zhou, one of the semibarbaric states on the western frontier of China, long a battleground between

Chinese languages: Han and Classical Chinese: Han Chinese developed more polysyllabic words and more specific verbal and nominal (noun) categories of words. Most traces of verb formation and verb conjugation began to disappear. An independent Southern tradition (on the Yangtze River), simultaneous with Late Archaic Chinese, developed a special…

Lu Jiuyuan was an idealist neo-Confucian philosopher of the Southern Song and rival of his contemporary, the great neo-Confucian rationalist Zhu Xi. Lu’s thought was revised and refined three centuries later by the Ming dynasty neo-Confucian Wang Yangming. The name of their school is the Learning

Plateau Indian: Language: Sinkaietk, Lake, Wenatchee, Sanpoil, Nespelim, Spokan, Kalispel, Pend d’Oreille, Coeur d’Alene, and Flathead peoples. Some early works incorrectly denote all Salishan groups as “Flathead.”

Wenatchee, city, seat (1899) of Chelan county, central Washington, U.S., in the foothills of the Cascade Range, just below the confluence of the Wenatchee and Columbia rivers, opposite East Wenatchee; the name derives from the Yakima Indian wenachi, meaning “river flowing from a canyon.” It was

Charles IV was a German king and king of Bohemia from 1346 to 1378 and Holy Roman emperor from 1355 to 1378, one of the most learned and diplomatically skillful sovereigns of his time. He gained more through diplomacy than others did by war, and through purchases, marriages, and inheritance he

Wenceslas was a German king and, as Wenceslas IV, king of Bohemia. His weak and tempestuous, though eventful, reign was continually plagued by wars and princely rivalries that he was unable to control, plunging his territories into a state of virtual anarchy until he was stripped of his powers

Wenceslas I was the king of Bohemia from 1230 who brought Austria under his dynasty while using the influence of German colonists and craftsmen to keep Bohemia strong, prosperous, and culturally progressive. Succeeding his father, Přemysl Otakar I, in 1230, Wenceslas prevented Mongol armies from

Wenceslas I ; feast day September 28) was the prince of Bohemia, a martyr, and the patron saint of the Czech Republic. Wencelas was raised a Christian by his grandmother St. Ludmila, but his ambitious mother, Drahomíra (Dragomir), a pagan, had her murdered and acted as regent herself, until

Wenceslas II was the king of Bohemia from 1278 and of Poland from 1300 who ably ruled his Bohemian kingdom and spread his influence not only into Poland but also into Hungary. Succeeding to the throne at the age of seven on the death of his father, Přemysl Otakar II, in 1278, Wenceslas lived at the

Wenceslas III was the last king of the Přemyslid dynasty of Bohemia, king of Hungary from 1301 to 1304, and claimant to the Polish throne; his brief reign in Bohemia was cut short by his assassination, which also prevented him from asserting his right to Poland. Wenceslas renounced his hereditary

Wenceslas was a German king and, as Wenceslas IV, king of Bohemia. His weak and tempestuous, though eventful, reign was continually plagued by wars and princely rivalries that he was unable to control, plunging his territories into a state of virtual anarchy until he was stripped of his powers

Wenceslas I ; feast day September 28) was the prince of Bohemia, a martyr, and the patron saint of the Czech Republic. Wencelas was raised a Christian by his grandmother St. Ludmila, but his ambitious mother, Drahomíra (Dragomir), a pagan, had her murdered and acted as regent herself, until

Wang Yangming was a Chinese scholar-official whose idealistic interpretation of neo-Confucianism influenced philosophical thinking in East Asia for centuries. Though his career in government was rather unstable, his suppression of rebellions brought a century of peace to his region. His

Sichuan earthquake of 2008, massive and enormously devastating earthquake that occurred in the mountainous central region of Sichuan province in southwestern China on May 12, 2008. The epicentre of the magnitude-7.9 quake (measured as magnitude 8.0 by the Chinese) was located near the city of

Sichuan earthquake of 2008, massive and enormously devastating earthquake that occurred in the mountainous central region of Sichuan province in southwestern China on May 12, 2008. The epicentre of the magnitude-7.9 quake (measured as magnitude 8.0 by the Chinese) was located near the city of

Sichuan earthquake of 2008, massive and enormously devastating earthquake that occurred in the mountainous central region of Sichuan province in southwestern China on May 12, 2008. The epicentre of the magnitude-7.9 quake (measured as magnitude 8.0 by the Chinese) was located near the city of

Wend, any member of a group of Slavic tribes that had settled in the area between the Oder River (on the east) and the Elbe and Saale rivers (on the west) by the 5th century ad, in what is now eastern Germany. The Wends occupied the eastern borders of the domain of the Franks and other Germanic

Third Cinema: …and Burkinabé director Gaston Kaboré’s Wend Kuuni (1983; “God’s Gift”), about a mute boy who regains his speech after viewing a tragedy, characterize the second phase. In the third phase, combative films, such as Chilean film director Miguel Littin’s La tierra prometida (1973; The Promised Land), place production in the…

Huron, Iroquoian-speaking North American Indians who were living along the St. Lawrence River when contacted by French explorer Jacques Cartier in 1534. Many aspects of Huron culture were similar to those of other Northeast Indians. Traditionally, the Huron lived in villages of large bark-covered

Wendat Confederacy, among North American Indians, a confederacy of four Iroquois-speaking bands of the Huron nation—the Rock, Bear, Cord, and Deer bands—together with a few smaller communities that joined them at different periods for protection against the Iroquois Confederacy. When first

Heinrich Wendel was a German theatrical designer who pioneered new techniques in stagecraft with the Wuppertal theatre company from 1953 to 1964 and then with the German Opera on the Rhine, Düsseldorf. Wendel trained in Bremen, Berlin, and Hamburg and during World War II worked for theatres in

Glen Powell: Early onscreen career: Films from this period include The Wendell Baker Story (2005) and Jumping Off Bridges and Fast Food Nation (both 2006).

Cēsis, city and district centre, Latvia, situated on the Gauja River at the foot of the Vidzeme (Livonia) highlands, 55 miles (90 km) northeast of the city of Riga. It is an old city, first mentioned in documents in 1206, and its castle dates from 1207. It was once a prosperous town of the

Wim Wenders is a German film director who, along with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and Werner Herzog, was one of the principal members of the New German Cinema of the 1970s. During the late 1960s Wenders studied at the University of Television and Film Munich while working as a film critic. After

Cao Pi was the founder of the short-lived Wei dynasty (ad 220–265/266) during the Sanguo (Three Kingdoms) period of Chinese history. The son of the great general and warlord Cao Cao of the Han dynasty (206 bc–ad 220), Cao Pi succeeded his father as king of Wei upon the latter’s death in 220. At the

Wendi was the posthumous name (shi) of the fourth emperor (reigned 180–157 bc) of the Han dynasty (206 bc–ad 220) of China. His reign was marked by good government and the peaceful consolidation of imperial power. A son of Liu Bang (the Gaozu emperor), the founder of the Han dynasty, Liu Heng was

Yongle was the reign name (nianhao) of the third emperor (1402–24) of China’s Ming dynasty (1368–1644), which he raised to its greatest power. He moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, which was rebuilt with the Forbidden City. Zhu Di’s father, the Hongwu emperor, had rapidly risen from a poor

Wendi was the emperor who reigned from 581–604 and reunified and reorganized China after 300 years of instability, founding the Sui dynasty (581–618). He conquered southern China, which long had been divided into numerous small kingdoms, and he broke the power of the Turks in the northern part of

Wendi, the Chinese god of literature, whose chief heavenly task, assigned by the Jade Emperor (Yudi), is to keep a log of men of letters so that he can mete out rewards and punishments to each according to merit. He also maintains a register of the titles and honours each writer has received. Among

wendigo, a mythological cannibalistic monster in the spiritual tradition of North American Algonquian-speaking tribes. It is associated with winter and described as either a fearsome beast that stalks and eats humans or as a spirit that possesses humans, causing them to turn into cannibals. There

Sorbian languages, closely related West Slavic languages or dialects; their small number of speakers in eastern Germany are the survivors of a more extensive medieval language group. The centre of the Upper Sorbian speech area is Bautzen, near the border with the Czech Republic, while Cottbus, near

stained glass: 20th century: …Schwarz and the stained-glass artist Anton Wendling were able to resume careers interrupted by the Nazi era and to set the course for a whole new generation of stained-glass artists, especially in the Rhineland. Inspired by the example of Thorn Prikker, these artists have continued to explore the unique qualities…

Kerrier: Wendron Moor, 400 to 800 feet (120 to 245 metres) in elevation, an igneous-based granite intrusive in the centre of the plateau, is used for grazing cattle. From the early 18th century the northern border area of Wendron Moor and the adjacent sandstone plateau was…

Albert Wendt is a Samoan novelist and poet who wrote about present-day Samoan life. Perhaps the best-known writer in the South Pacific, Wendt sought to counteract the frequently romanticized, often racist literature about Polynesians written by outsiders. Wendt was born into a Samoan family with

Alexander Wendt is a German-born American political scientist and educator, one of the most-influential theorists of the social-constructivist approach to the study of international relations. Wendt was a graduate of Macalester College (B.A. 1982) and obtained a Ph.D. from the University of

Cheers: …occasional accountant Norm Peterson (George Wendt); and his best friend, salt-of-the-earth mailman Cliff Clavin (John Ratzenberger).

Michelle Williams: …solo turn in Kelly Reichardt’s Wendy and Lucy (2008), in which she evinced the solitary desperation of an impoverished drifter. For her emotionally raw performance in Blue Valentine (2010), which sketched the story of a crumbling marriage, Williams captured an Oscar nomination for best actress.

Wendy Williams: …nationally broadcast daily radio show, The Wendy Williams Experience. Williams was noted for her tough, brash talk and shock-value personal disclosures, including regarding her past drug addiction, plastic surgery, and fertility struggles. Her show attracted an audience of more than 12 million listeners.

Wendy Williams: …new talk show on television, The Wendy Williams Show, for a trial run. On it she interviewed celebrities, gossiped, gave advice, and answered questions concerning sex and relationships. With the same confrontational style that won her millions of fans on the radio, she grilled her guests, unmercifully at times. Williams…

Wendy’s, fast-food company that is the third largest hamburger chain in the United States, behind McDonald’s and Burger King. Dave Thomas founded the first Wendy’s restaurant in Columbus, Ohio, in 1969. One of fast food’s most famous brands and logos, Wendy’s cartoon image of a smiling redheaded

Lu Ji: The Art of Writing), a subtle and important work of literary criticism that defines and demonstrates the principles of composition with rare insight and precision.

Switzerland: Rural communities: …valley in Valais canton and Wengen in the Berner Oberland, have developed into famous resorts. Places such as Bad Ragaz in the Rhine valley and Leukerbad in Valais canton are noted as spas. Valley forks, where the traffic from two valleys combines, were natural sites for settlement. Two of the…

Arsenal: Arsène Wenger became the team’s manager in 1996 and has served longer in that role than anyone else in club history. Arsenal went undefeated in the 38 matches of the 2003–04 season, becoming just the second top-division English club to do so, and it set…

Mississippi University for Women v. Hogan: The Supreme Court’s ruling: …the Supreme Court’s decision in Wengler v. Druggists Mutual Insurance Company (1980), the university needed to show (in the words of Wengler) that the classification served “important governmental objectives and that the discriminatory means employed” are “substantially related to the achievement of those objectives.”

China: The Zhou feudal system: …number of 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…

Vienna, city and Bundesland (federal state), the capital of Austria. Of the country’s nine states, Vienna is the smallest in area but the largest in population. Modern Vienna has undergone several historical incarnations. From 1558 to 1918 it was an imperial city—until 1806 the seat of the Holy

Joseph Boyden: Novels: Boyden’s later fictional works included Wenjack (2016), which was inspired by the true story of an Ojibwa boy who ran away from school and died while undertaking the arduous journey home.

Dai Jin was a Chinese landscape painter of the Ming dynasty. Dai was one of the leaders in the early Ming revival of the Ma-Xia (after Ma Yuan and Xia Gui), or academic, style of landscape painting of the Southern Song (1127–1279), which came to be called the Zhe school (after Zhejiang province, in

linguistics: Dialect atlases: …initiator of this great undertaking, Georg Wenker, composed 40 test sentences that illustrated most of the important ways in which dialects differed and sent them to schoolmasters in over 40,000 places in the German Empire. The sentences were to be translated into the local dialect. Publication of the results was…

Wenlock Series: …from the type district at Wenlock Edge, a prominent escarpment that stretches for about 29 km (18 miles) southwest from the town of Much Wenlock in Shropshire, England. The ridge is formed by fossiliferous limestones (Wenlock Limestone) with a maximum thickness of 29 metres (about 95 feet) but broadly underlain…

Wenlock Series: The Wenlock Limestone is one of the best-studied Silurian formations of the world and is noted for its abounding variety of excellently preserved fossils: brachiopods (lamp shells), corals, trilobites, clams, bryozoans (moss animals), and crinoids (class of echinoderm that includes

Wenlock Series, the second of four main divisions (in ascending order) of the Silurian System, representing those rocks deposited worldwide during the Wenlock Epoch (433.4 million to 427.4 million years ago). Its name is derived from the type district at Wenlock Edge, a prominent escarpment that

Wenlock Series, the second of four main divisions (in ascending order) of the Silurian System, representing those rocks deposited worldwide during the Wenlock Epoch (433.4 million to 427.4 million years ago). Its name is derived from the type district at Wenlock Edge, a prominent escarpment that

Wenlock Series, the second of four main divisions (in ascending order) of the Silurian System, representing those rocks deposited worldwide during the Wenlock Epoch (433.4 million to 427.4 million years ago). Its name is derived from the type district at Wenlock Edge, a prominent escarpment that

Wenlock Series, the second of four main divisions (in ascending order) of the Silurian System, representing those rocks deposited worldwide during the Wenlock Epoch (433.4 million to 427.4 million years ago). Its name is derived from the type district at Wenlock Edge, a prominent escarpment that

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum: …Records cofounder Ahmet Ertegun and Jann Wenner, the publisher of Rolling Stone magazine—the nonprofit Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Foundation was responsible for the creation of the museum and hall of fame, which began inducting honorees in 1986. After considering the bids of other American cities that had been…

Chuuk Islands: …islands of the group are Weno (formerly Moen), Tonoas, Fefan, Uman, Uatschaluk (Udot), and Tol.

wenrenhua, ideal form of the Chinese scholar-painter who was more interested in personal erudition and expression than in literal representation or an immediately attractive surface beauty. First formulated in the Northern Song period (960–1127)—at which time it was called shidafuhua—by the

Wenrohronon, Iroquois-speaking North American Indians whose name means “people of the place of the floating film,” probably after the oil spring at what is now Cuba, N.Y., U.S., where they lived. The oil was a highly regarded medicine for various ailments. Like other Iroquoian tribes, the

Kitami Mountains: …of the range, however, the Wenshiri horst (a block of the Earth’s crust set off by faults) protrudes above the surrounding area and rises to Mount Teshio (5,112 feet [1,558 metres]).

Mañjuśrī, in Mahāyāna Buddhism, the bodhisattva (“Buddha-to-be”) personifying supreme wisdom. His name in Sanskrit means “gentle, or sweet, glory”; he is also known as Mãnjughoṣa (“Sweet Voice”) and Vāgīśvara (“Lord of Speech”). In China he is called Wen-shu Shih-li, in Japan Monju, and in Tibet

Wensleydale, the upper valley (dale) of the River Ure in the Pennine highlands of Richmondshire district, administrative county of North Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, England. Famous for the cheese to which it gave its name, Wensleydale is a centre of cheese production and tourism. Steep

electromagnetism: Development of electromagnetic technology: …1880 by the Swedish engineer Jonas Wenström. Faraday’s 1831 discovery of the principle of the alternating-current (AC) transformer was not put to practical use until the late 1880s when the heated debate over the merits of direct-current and alternating-current systems for power transmission was settled in favour of the latter.

River Wensum, river that rises in the county of Norfolk, England, to the west of the village of Fakenham and then flows southeast for 30 miles (50 km) toward the city of Norwich and the River Yare, of which it is a major tributary. In its upper reaches it flows through rich farming country, and its

F.A.F.C. Went was a Dutch botanist who initiated the study of plant hormones and advanced the study of botany in the Netherlands. Went was educated at the University of Amsterdam (Ph.D., 1886), where he attracted considerable attention with his dissertation on plant vacuoles, which he believed

F.A.F.C. Went was a Dutch botanist who initiated the study of plant hormones and advanced the study of botany in the Netherlands. Went was educated at the University of Amsterdam (Ph.D., 1886), where he attracted considerable attention with his dissertation on plant vacuoles, which he believed

wentletrap, any marine snail of the family Epitoniidae (subclass Prosobranchia of the class Gastropoda), in which the turreted shell—consisting of whorls that form a high, conical spiral—has deeply ribbed sculpturing. Most species are white, less than 5 cm (2 inches) long, and exude a pink or

Longmyndian: …Western Longmyndian consists of the Wentnor Series, purple sandstones, conglomerates, and some greenish siltstones and shales; thicknesses of about 4,800 metres (15,700 feet) of Wentnor rocks have been measured. The Eastern Longmyndian is subdivided into the overlying Minton Series and the underlying Stretton Series. The Minton Series, about 1,200 metres…

sedimentary rock: Grain size: This millimetre, or Udden-Wentworth, scale is a geometric grain-size scale since there is a constant ratio between class limits. Such a scheme is well suited for the description of sediments because it gives equal significance to size ratios, whether they relate to gravel, sand, silt, or clay. The…

Thomas Wentworth, earl of Cleveland was a prominent Royalist during the English Civil Wars. The eldest son of Henry Wentworth (whom he succeeded as 4th Baron Wentworth and Lord le Despenser in infancy), he was created earl of Cleveland in 1626 by Charles I. Adhering to the king’s cause in the

Thomas Wentworth, 1st earl of Strafford was a leading adviser of England’s King Charles I. His attempt to consolidate the sovereign power of the king led to his impeachment and execution by Parliament. Wentworth was the eldest surviving son of Sir William Wentworth, a Yorkshire landowner. Educated

New Hampshire: The English colony: Benning Wentworth held the post of colonial governor from 1741 to 1767, the longest tenure of any royal governor in any of the colonies.

Cecile de Wentworth was an American painter who established a reputation in Europe for her portraits of important personages. Cecile Smith was educated in convent schools. In 1886 she went to Paris, where she studied painting with Alexandre Cabanel and Édouard Detaille. Within the next three years

Frederick Wentworth, fictional character, a young naval officer who is the hero of Jane Austen’s novel Persuasion

United Kingdom: Internal discontent: …crown? In 1576 two brothers, Paul and Peter Wentworth, led the Puritan attack in the Commons, criticizing the queen for her refusal to allow Parliament to debate religious issues. The crisis came to a head in 1586, when Puritans called for legislation to abolish the episcopacy and the Anglican prayer…

Peter Wentworth was a prominent Puritan member of the English Parliament in the reign of Elizabeth I, whom he challenged on questions of religion and the succession. The son of Sir Nicholas Wentworth (d. 1557) of Buckinghamshire, he first entered Parliament in 1571. He took a firm attitude in

Thomas Wentworth, 1st earl of Strafford was a leading adviser of England’s King Charles I. His attempt to consolidate the sovereign power of the king led to his impeachment and execution by Parliament. Wentworth was the eldest surviving son of Sir William Wentworth, a Yorkshire landowner. Educated

W.C. Wentworth was the leading Australian political figure during the first half of the 19th century, whose lifelong work for self-government culminated in the New South Wales constitution of 1855. Wentworth became a public figure in 1813, when his crossing of the Blue Mountains near the coast of

W.C. Wentworth was the leading Australian political figure during the first half of the 19th century, whose lifelong work for self-government culminated in the New South Wales constitution of 1855. Wentworth became a public figure in 1813, when his crossing of the Blue Mountains near the coast of

John Beresford: …of Ireland, the 2nd Earl Fitzwilliam, who advocated conciliating other Irishmen besides the Protestant landowners. Fitzwilliam, however, was quickly superseded by the 2nd Earl (afterward 1st Marquess) Camden, who began a program of Irish repression that had Beresford’s full approval. Beresford was involved in planning the fiscal relations between Great…

Philadelphia Eagles: …the play of breakout quarterback Carson Wentz during the 2017 season. The Eagles won a division title and advanced to the Super Bowl despite Wentz suffering a season-ending injury during the 13th game of the regular season. Backup quarterback Nick Foles then led the Eagles to a surprising upset of…

Wenwang was the father of Ji Fa (the Wuwang emperor), the founder of the Zhou dynasty (1046–256 bc) and one of the sage rulers regarded by Confucian historians as a model king. Wen was the ruler of Zhou, one of the semibarbaric states on the western frontier of China, long a battleground between

encyclopaedia: China: …Duanlin’s enormous and highly regarded Wenxian tongkao (“General Study of the Literary Remains”), which included a good bibliography. Supplements to this work were published in the 17th, 18th, and 20th centuries. Under the order of the second Song emperor, Song Taizong, the statesman Li Fang organized the compilation of the…

Wenxiang was an official and statesman in the last years of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12), who took a lead in promoting Western studies, reforming the Chinese government, and introducing Western technology into China. In 1861 Wenxiang was appointed the first principal director of the Zongli

Nanjing: The early empires: …similarly named anthologies) and of Wenxin Diaolong (“The Literary Mind and the Carving of Dragons”; a classic in literary criticism) by Liu Xie, the evolution of what has come to be known as the Six Dynasties essay style (a blending of poetry and prose), and the invention (reportedly by Shen…

Xie Lingyun: …Six Dynasties poets in the Wenxuan (“Literary Anthology”), the 6th-century canon that defined later Chinese literary tastes.

Chinese literature: May Fourth period: …at Columbia University, entitled “Wenxue gailiang chuyi” (“Tentative Proposal for Literary Reform”) was published in Xinqingnian (New Youth), a radical monthly magazine published in Beijing. In it Hu called for a new national literature written not in the classical language but in the vernacular, the living “national language” (guoyu).…

Chinese literature: May Fourth period: …established the Wenxue Yanjiuhui (“Literary Research Association”), generally referred to as the “realist” or “art-for-life’s-sake” school, which assumed the editorship of the established literary magazine Xiaoshuo yuebao (Short Story Monthly). Perhaps the most important literary magazine of the early 1920s, Xiaoshuo yuebao was used by the Association to promote…

Chinese languages: Han and Classical Chinese: Han Chinese developed more polysyllabic words and more specific verbal and nominal (noun) categories of words. Most traces of verb formation and verb conjugation began to disappear. An independent Southern tradition (on the Yangtze River), simultaneous with Late Archaic Chinese, developed a special…