China: The struggle for central authority: During Yizong’s reign (859–873) there was a resurgence of the eunuchs’ power and a constant fratricidal strife between eunuchs and officials at court. From the 830s onward the first signs of unrest and banditry had appeared in the Huai valley and Henan, and trouble spread to…

Plain of Esdraelon, lowland in northern Israel, dividing the hilly areas of Galilee in the north and Samaria (in the Israeli-occupied West Bank) in the south. Esdraelon is the Greek derivation of the Hebrew Yizreʿel, meaning “God will sow” or “May God make fruitful,” an allusion to the fertility of

Paavo Haavikko: In Yksityisiä asioita (1960; “Private Matters”), he castigates the prevailing mentality during the civil war (1918) in Finland. His collected short stories, Lasi Claudius Civiliksen salaliittolaisten pöydällä (1964; “The Glass on the Table of the Claudii Civilii Conspirators”), constitute an important social document with stylistic links…

ylang-ylang, (Cananga odorata), South Asian tree of the custard apple family (Annonaceae), known for its intensely fragrant flowers. . It is the source of a penetrating but evanescent perfume. Ylang-ylang in Tagalog (a Philippine language) means “flower of flowers.” The slim smooth-barked evergreen

Magnoliales: Chemicals: Ylang-ylang, or cananga, oil is derived by simple distillation from the petals of fully opened flowers. Although the tree blossoms throughout the year, the flowers picked in May or June yield the highest amounts of cananga oil. Long known to the peoples of East Asia,…

ylang-ylang: Ylang-ylang vine (Artabotrys odoratissimus), also in the family Annonaceae, produces masses of small greenish white flowers in spring and clustered, long-stalked, yellow, plumlike, two-seeded fruits in fall. It is a source of commercial perfume. A 2- to 3.5-metre (about 6.5- to 11.5-foot) woody climber, it…

Finnish literature: The 1960s and beyond: Rosa Liksom (pseudonym of Anni Ylävaara) is a master of short prose who offers snapshots, usually rather grim ones, of the lives of social outsiders and eccentrics—a loner in Lapland or a drug addict in Helsinki—in language attuned to each environment. Whether her works use…

Finland: Media and publishing: The state-run Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yleisradio Oy [YLE]; established 1926) operates a number of nationwide television networks—both public service and commercial—along with several digital channels and offers programming in Swedish. YLE also owns Radio Finland, which broadcasts in Finnish, Swedish, English, and Russian. Jointly owned by Finland,…

Georg Wittig: …of organic phosphorus compounds called ylides that mediate a particular type of reaction that became known as the Wittig reaction. This reaction proved of great value in the synthesis of complex organic compounds such as vitamins A and D2, prostaglandins, and steroids.

Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association (YM–YWHA), Jewish community organization in various countries that provides a wide range of cultural, educational, recreational, and social activities for all age groups in Jewish communities. The goals of the YM–YWHA are to prepare the young for

Myanmar: The emergence of nationalism: In 1906 they founded the Young Men’s Buddhist Association (YMBA) and through it began establishing a number of schools supported by private donations and government grants-in-aid (the YMBA was not antigovernment). Three years later the British, attempting to pacify the Indian National Congress (a broadly based and increasingly nationalist political…

YMCA, nonsectarian, nonpolitical Christian lay movement that aims to develop high standards of Christian character through group activities and citizenship training. It originated in London in 1844, when 12 young men, led by George Williams, an employee in, and subsequently the head of, a drapery

Aurgelmir, in Norse mythology, the first being, a giant who was created from the drops of water that formed when the ice of Niflheim met the heat of Muspelheim. Aurgelmir was the father of all the giants; a male and a female grew under his arm, and his legs produced a six-headed son. A cow,

Celtic literature: The rise of modern prose: The first Welsh printed book, Yn y lhyvyr hwnn (1547; “In This Book”), consisted of extracts from the Scriptures and the prayer book: from this time modern Welsh prose began to assume definite form.

Germanic religion and mythology: Scandinavian literary sources: …section of this book, the “Ynglinga saga,” is of particular interest, for in it, Snorri described the descent of the kings of Norway from the royal house of Sweden, the Ynglingar, who, in their turn, were said to descend from gods. Snorri used such written sources as were available; he…

Per, Count Brahe, the Younger was a nobleman, soldier, and statesman who served as a member of the regency councils ruling Sweden during the minorities of the monarchs Christina and Charles XI. A member of an illustrious Swedish family, Per the Younger was the grandson of Per Brahe the Elder—a

Freyr, in Norse mythology, the ruler of peace and fertility, rain, and sunshine and the son of the sea god Njörd. Although originally one of the Vanir tribe, he was included with the Aesir. Gerd, daughter of the giant Gymir, was his wife. Worshiped especially in Sweden, he was also well-known in

Freyr, in Norse mythology, the ruler of peace and fertility, rain, and sunshine and the son of the sea god Njörd. Although originally one of the Vanir tribe, he was included with the Aesir. Gerd, daughter of the giant Gymir, was his wife. Worshiped especially in Sweden, he was also well-known in

Caldey Island, island in Carmarthen Bay of the Bristol Channel, Pembrokeshire (Sir Benfro) county, southwestern Wales. It lies 2.3 miles (3.7 km) south of the port of Tenby. The island is 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and 1 mile (1.6 km) across at its widest. Since at least the 6th century, when it was

Chaim Grade: …book was the poetry collection Yo (1936; “Yes”): it includes poems of spiritual struggle and the destruction of Jewish life and conveys Grade’s premonition of the Holocaust, a concern that informed much of his work from this period; many of his poems were later recited by Jews in the Vilna…

Japanese music: Tunings and notation: …under the two scales called yo and in. The hira-joshi tuning appears in such famous early works as Rokudan (Six Dans) ascribed to Yatsuhashi Kengyō, the “founder” of the modern koto styles. In all, there are some 13 standard tunings for the koto and many variants. Like all the other…

statute labour: In Japan the yō system of imposing compulsory labour on the farmers was incorporated in the tax system in the 7th century. The Egyptians used the corvée for centuries to obtain labour to remove the mud left at the bottom of the canals by the rising of the…

Yo La Tengo, American alternative rock band whose sound consistently evolved over the course of more than a dozen albums, making the group a long-standing critical favourite despite its limited commercial success. The longest-running lineup consisted of singer-guitarist Ira Kaplan (b. January 7,

Rodolfo Gonzales: …however, for the epic poem I Am Joaquín (Yo Soy Joaquín), which was published in both English and Spanish in 1967. Its narrator discusses Mexican and Mexican American history and outlines the struggles that Chicanos have endured in their quest for a cultural identity and equal rights.

Korea: The southern zone: …of Korean Independence, headed by Woon-Hyung Lyuh (Yŏ Un-hyŏng), who was closely associated with the leftists. On September 6 the delegates attending a “national assembly” that was called by the committee proclaimed the People’s Republic of Korea. But the U.S. military government, under Lieut. Gen. John R. Hodge, the commanding…

Al Benson: Critic and historian Nelson George called Al Benson, who worked at several Chicago radio stations beginning in the mid-1940s, one of the most influential black deejays of all time. While many of his African-American peers were indistinguishable from white deejays over the airwaves, Benson, who…

Augusto Roa Bastos: …novel Yo, el supremo (1974; I, the Supreme, in bilingual edition), is based on the life of Francia and covers more than a hundred years of Paraguayan history.

yo-yo, a toy that falls and rises back to the hand by the unwinding and rewinding of a string attached to an axle that connects two disks of equal size and weight. The disks can be made of plastic, wood, or metal. As a person drops the yo-yo, the string that is wound around the axle releases. When

outlaw music: New generations of outlaw musicians: lang, Lyle Lovett, and Dwight Yoakam, all of whom owed their success to the outlaw movement. In the 21st century a new crop of rebellious country artists emerged who were variously branded “neo-traditionalists” or “neo-outlaws,” including Miranda Lambert, Luke Combs, Brandi Carlile, Jason Isbell,

Before the Dawn, historical novel by Shimazaki Tōson, published serially as Yoake mae in the journal Chūō koron (“Central Review”) from 1929 to 1935 and printed in book form in 1935. It details the effects of Westernization on a rural Japanese community in the second half of the 19th century.

Joseph Yoakum was an American self-taught artist and world traveler known for his colourful striated landscape drawings that blended imagination with his life experiences. Yoakum was born one of 10 children and had little formal education. His mother was of African, French American, and Native

Joseph Yoakum was an American self-taught artist and world traveler known for his colourful striated landscape drawings that blended imagination with his life experiences. Yoakum was born one of 10 children and had little formal education. His mother was of African, French American, and Native

Tezcatlipoca, god of the Great Bear constellation and of the night sky, one of the major deities of the Aztec pantheon. Tezcatlipoca’s cult was brought to central Mexico by the Toltecs, Nahua-speaking warriors from the north, about the end of the 10th century ad. Numerous myths relate how

Rila Monastery: …was founded by the hermit John of Rila (Yoan of Rila, in Bulgarian Ivan Rilski), who is the traditional patron saint of Bulgaria. Rila grew rapidly in power and influence from the 13th to the 14th century. After a devastating fire, it was rebuilt and fortified (c. 1334–35) in its…

Yobe, state, northeastern Nigeria. It borders the Republic of Niger to the north and the Nigerian states of Borno to the east, Gombe to the southwest, Bauchi to the west, and Jigawa to the northwest. Yobe state was created in 1991 from the western half of Borno state. Yobe’s terrain consists of

Jean-Christophe Yoccoz: …Mandelbrot sets was named “Yoccoz puzzles.”

Jean-Christophe Yoccoz was a French mathematician who was awarded the Fields Medal in 1994 for his work in dynamical systems. Yoccoz was educated at the École Normale Supérieure, Paris, and the École Polytechnique, Palaiseau (Ph.D., 1985). He then became a professor at the University of Paris at

yodel, type of singing in which high falsetto and low chest notes are rapidly alternated; its production is helped by the enunciation of open and closed vowels on the low and high notes of wide intervals. Yodeling is also used as a means of communicating over moderate distances by the inhabitants

Yodo River, river, central western Honshu, Japan. The Yodo is the sole outlet of Lake Biwa, the country’s largest freshwater lake, from which it issues in a southwesterly direction to Osaka Bay, connecting the Kyōto Basin with the Ōsaka Plain. It was a major means of transportation and

Yodo River, river, central western Honshu, Japan. The Yodo is the sole outlet of Lake Biwa, the country’s largest freshwater lake, from which it issues in a southwesterly direction to Osaka Bay, connecting the Kyōto Basin with the Ōsaka Plain. It was a major means of transportation and

azalea: Major species: molle), the Yodogawa azalea (R. yedoense), and the torch azalea (R. kaempferi).

Al Jolson was a popular American singer and blackface comedian of the musical stage and motion pictures, from before World War I to 1940. His unique singing style and personal magnetism established an immediate rapport with audiences. Taken to the United States when he was seven years old, Jolson

Jacques Rogge: In 2007 he added the Youth Olympics to the Olympic calendar; the inaugural event was held in Singapore in 2010.

Yoga, one of the six systems (darshans) of Indian philosophy. Its influence has been widespread among many other schools of Indian thought. Its basic text is the Yoga-sutras by Patanjali (c. 2nd century bce or 5th century ce). The practical aspects of Yoga play a more important part than does its

Indian philosophy: Relation to Samkhya: The Yoga-sutras of Patanjali (2nd century bce) are the earliest extant textbook on Yoga. Scholars now generally agree that the author of the Yoga-sutras is not the grammarian Patanjali. In any case, the Yoga-sutras stand in close relation to the Samkhya system, so much so that…

Buddhism: Origins: >Yoga-tantra, and Anuttarayoga-tantra) that are compared with the fourfold phases of courtship (the exchange of glances, a pleasing or encouraging smile, the holding of hands, and consummation in the sexual act). The first stage involves external ritual acts, and the second combines these outward acts…

Yogachara, an influential idealistic school of Mahayana Buddhism. Yogachara attacked both the complete realism of Theravada Buddhism and the provisional practical realism of the Madhyamika school of Mahayana Buddhism. The name of the school is derived from the title of an important 4th- or

rangaku, (Japanese: “Dutch learning”), concerted effort by Japanese scholars during the late Tokugawa period (late 18th–19th century) to learn the Dutch language so as to be able to learn Western technology; the term later became synonymous with Western scientific learning in general. With the

Self-Realization Fellowship: …in the United States by Paramahansa Yogananda (1893–1952), a teacher of yoga, who was one of the first Indian spiritual teachers to reside permanently in the West. His lecturing and teaching led to the chartering of the fellowship in 1935, with headquarters in Los Angeles; there are now centres worldwide,…

Saptamatrika: …that they number eight, including Yogeshvari, created out of the flame from Shiva’s mouth.

yogurt, semifluid fermented milk food having a smooth texture and mildly sour flavour because of its lactic acid content. Yogurt may be made from the milk of cows, sheep, goats, or water buffalo. Cow’s milk is used in the United States and north-central Europe; sheep’s and goat’s milk are preferred

yogurt, semifluid fermented milk food having a smooth texture and mildly sour flavour because of its lactic acid content. Yogurt may be made from the milk of cows, sheep, goats, or water buffalo. Cow’s milk is used in the United States and north-central Europe; sheep’s and goat’s milk are preferred

Buddhism: Kings and yogis: The great Buddha myth is a combination of the ideals of universal kingship and universal religious preeminence. This is clearly expressed in the myth of the prophetic utterance of future greatness by the sage Asita, who examined auspicious signs on the infant Gautama and…

Yogi Adityanath is a Hindu monk and Indian political leader. He is a prominent member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and is the only politician to have served two full consecutive terms as chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, a key electoral state. He is also the mahant, or head priest, of the

Yogi Bear, American cartoon character, a walking, talking bear in a necktie and porkpie hat who roamed fictional Jellystone National Park. His accoutrements and personality were based on the character of Ed Norton in Jackie Gleason’s television series The Honeymooners, and his byword was “Smarter

Buddhism: Kings and yogis: The great Buddha myth is a combination of the ideals of universal kingship and universal religious preeminence. This is clearly expressed in the myth of the prophetic utterance of future greatness by the sage Asita, who examined auspicious signs on the infant Gautama and…

yogurt, semifluid fermented milk food having a smooth texture and mildly sour flavour because of its lactic acid content. Yogurt may be made from the milk of cows, sheep, goats, or water buffalo. Cow’s milk is used in the United States and north-central Europe; sheep’s and goat’s milk are preferred

Yogyakarta, kotamadya (municipality) and capital, Yogyakarta daerah istimewa (special district), Java, Indonesia. It lies 18 miles (29 km) inland from the southern Java coast and near Mount Merapi (9,551 feet [2,911 metres]). In the 7th century the locality formed part of the Buddhist kingdom of

Yogyakarta, daerah istimewa (special district), south-central Java, Indonesia. It is bounded to the west, north, and east by Central Java (Jawa Tengah) propinsi (or provinsi; province) and fronts the Indian Ocean to the south. The district includes the city of Yogyakarta. Most of the western half

Ibuse Masuji: …office, and Yōhai taichō (1950; A Far-Worshiping Commander), an antimilitary satire, were especially well received. Ibuse received the Order of Culture for the novel Kuroi ame (1966; Black Rain), which deals with the terrible effects of the bombing of Hiroshima during World War II.

Yohannes IV was the emperor of Ethiopia (1872–89). Like his predecessor, Tewodros II (reigned 1855–68), Yohannes IV was a strong, progressive ruler, but he spent most of his time repelling military threats from Egypt, Italy, and the Mahdists of the Sudan. Superior weaponry allowed Yohannes, a

aphrodisiac: …of the yohimbé tree (Corynanthe yohimbe) found in central Africa, where it has been used for centuries to increase sexual powers. Although it has been promoted as an aphrodisiac, most investigators feel that any clinical change in sexual powers after its use is probably due to suggestion, because stimulatory…

aphrodisiac: These are, principally, cantharides and yohimbine, both of which stimulate sexual arousal by irritating the urinary tract when excreted. Cantharides, or cantharidin, consists of the broken dried remains of the blister beetle (q.v.) Lytta vesicatoria. It has been a traditional sexual stimulant fed to male livestock to facilitate breeding. In…

Yohkoh, Japanese satellite that provided continuous monitoring of the Sun from 1991 to 2001. Originally designated Solar-A, Yohkoh (“Sunlight”) was launched on Aug. 30, 1991, from the Kagoshima Space Center by Japan’s Institute of Space and Astronautical Sciences. It had an international payload of

Yoho National Park, national park in southeastern British Columbia, Canada. The park occupies 507 square miles (1,313 square km) of the western and central slopes of the Rocky Mountains and is adjacent to two other national parks—Banff to the east and Kootenay to the south. Known for the Burgess

Buyei, an official minority group inhabiting large parts of Guizhou province in south-central China. They call themselves Jui or Yoi. There are also some 50,000 Buyei living in Vietnam, where they are an official nationality. They had no written script of their own until 1956, when the Chinese

Yoido Full Gospel Church, South Korean Pentecostal megachurch long famed for its status as the most-attended church in the world. It has been reported that Yoido’s main campus in Seoul—and several satellite locations throughout the city—have 150,000–200,000 attendees at the numerous Sunday

Kurosawa Akira: First films: It was Yoidore tenshi (1948; Drunken Angel), however, that made Kurosawa’s name famous. This story of a consumptive gangster and a drunken doctor living in the postwar desolation of downtown Tokyo is a melodrama intermingling desperation and hope, violence, and melancholy. The gangster was portrayed by a new actor, Mifune…

Yojimbo, Japanese action film, released in 1961, that was cowritten and directed by Kurosawa Akira. It was inspired by Dashiell Hammett’s detective novels, including Red Harvest (1929) and The Glass Key (1931), and was patterned after American westerns, especially the lone-hero films of John Ford,

Lake Yojoa, lake in northwestern Honduras. The nation’s largest inland lake, Yojoa has an area of 110 square miles (285 square km). It is volcanic in origin and nestles at an elevation of 2,133 feet (650 m) amid forested mountains. The region is a popular tourist resort, with fishing and duck

yoke, wooden bar or frame used to join draft animals at the heads or necks so that they pull together. In the early Middle East and in Greece and Rome, oxen and onagers were yoked across the horns or necks. Control of a team of yoked beasts was difficult. Furthermore, ancient yokes pressed against

Frederick Philip Grove: …novels, Our Daily Bread (1928), The Yoke of Life (1930), and Fruits of the Earth (1933), were most successful. Though somewhat stiff in style and clumsy in construction, they live by virtue of the honesty of Grove’s vision. Grove also wrote two books of essays on prairie life and an…

pneumatic device: Major types of pneumatic devices: A yoke riveter has an air-operated clamp or vise that holds the work in place; the yoke absorbs the hammering action and thus reduces operator fatigue. Hoists operated by compressed air are employed in operations requiring accurate control of lifting or lowering speeds. In most cases,…

Japanese performing arts: 7th to 16th centuries: …and legends is the 15th-century Yōkihi by Komparu Zenchiku, based on the 9th-century narrative poem Chang hen ge (“The Song of Everlasting Sorrow”) by Bai Juyi. The original describes Emperor Xuanzong’s love for his concubine Yang Guifei (Yōkihi in Japanese). The Noh play emphasizes the Buddhist sentiment of the evanescence…

Yokkaichi, city, Mie ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies facing Ise Bay, southwest of Nagoya. The city developed around a castle built in 1470. By the Tokugawa period (1603–1867), it had become an important trade centre, with markets open on the fourth day of each month (yokka means “fourth

The Sound and the Fury: Structure: …section are set in fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, in April 1928.

As I Lay Dying: …Faulkner set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha county, Miss., U.S. The story unfolds by means of fragmented and intercut narration by each of the characters. These include Addie Bundren, to whom the title refers; her husband, Anse; their sons, Cash, Darl, and Vardaman, and daughter, Dewey Dell; and Addie’s illegitimate son,…

Yoko Ono: Plastic Ono Band and other projects with John Lennon: …on a music career with Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band (1970), a collection of mostly improvisational rock songs to which she contributed ululating vocals influenced by Kabuki and the operas of Austrian composer Alban Berg. That and later solo efforts, including Fly (1971) and Approximately Infinite Universe (1973), were acclaimed by

Yoko Ono was a skilled, boundary-breaking artist, musician, and filmmaker long before she married musician John Lennon. Classically trained in piano and voice as a child, Ono became the first woman admitted to the philosophy program at Gakushūin University in Tokyo, and she later studied writing

Yokohama, city and port, capital of Kanagawa ken (prefecture), east-central Honshu, Japan. The second most populous city in the country, it is a major component of the Tokyo-Yokohama metropolitan area, the largest urban agglomeration in Japan. A brief treatment of Yokohama follows. For full

Central League: …Tōyō Carp, Tokyo Yakult Swallows, Yokohama BayStars, and Yomiuri (Tokyo) Giants. The regular playing season culminates in the Japan Series, a seven-game series between the respective champion teams of the Pacific and Central leagues.

Tokyo-Yokohama Metropolitan Area: Building styles: …building in Japan: the 70-story Landmark Tower, completed in 1993.

history of publishing: Continental Europe and other countries: In 1870 the Yokohama Mainichi, the first daily in Japan, was started; it was also one of the first to use lead type. Two years later the Tokyo Nichi-Nichi appeared as one of the first truly modern Japanese newspapers, although it regarded itself as virtually an official gazette.…

Japanese art: Wood-block prints: …type of print known as Yokohama-e, named after the Japanese port city with a large resident foreign population, offered glimpses of the customs and appearances of the recently arrived visitors. Brutal, grotesque, and dark-humoured visions by such artists as Kawanabe Gyōsai and Tsukioka Yoshitoshi suggested that assimilation with the West…

Yokomitsu Riichi was a Japanese writer who, with Kawabata Yasunari, was one of the mainstays of the New Sensationalist school (Shinkankaku-ha) of Japanese writers, influenced by the avant-garde trends in European literature of the 1920s. Yokomitsu began writing while still at Waseda University,

Yokomitsu Riichi was a Japanese writer who, with Kawabata Yasunari, was one of the mainstays of the New Sensationalist school (Shinkankaku-ha) of Japanese writers, influenced by the avant-garde trends in European literature of the 1920s. Yokomitsu began writing while still at Waseda University,

graphic design: Postwar graphic design in Japan: …photographs—provided a rich vocabulary for Yokoo Tadanori, whose work beginning in the 1960s inspired a new generation of Japanese designers. In his early posters and magazine covers he utilized a variety of contemporary techniques; for example, he used crisp line drawings to contain photomechanical screens of colour. He worked in…

Yokosuka, seaport, Kanagawa ken (prefecture), Honshu, Japan. It lies on the western shore of Tokyo Bay, about 15 miles (24 km) south of Yokohama. Its site on the Miura Peninsula was occupied by a small fishing village until a shipyard was established there in 1865. By 1884 it had become a major

Yokoyama Taikan was a Japanese painter who, with his friend Hishida Shunsō, contributed to the revitalization of traditional Japanese painting in the modern era. Yokoyama studied Japanese painting with Hashimoto Gahō at the Tokyo Art School and became a favourite of its principal, Okakura Kakuzō

sumo: …leads to the designation of Yokozuna, or “grand champion.” The list of men awarded this title commences with Akashi Shiganosuke, victor in 1632. Specially selected youths are brought up into the profession and fed a special protein diet, which creates immense, bulky bodies. Exceptionally agile men weighing 300 pounds or…

Lenox, town (township), Berkshire county, western Massachusetts, U.S. It lies in the Berkshire Hills, just south of Pittsfield. Settled about 1750 and originally called Yokuntown, it was set off from Richmond in 1767 and was probably named for Charles Lennox, 3rd duke of Richmond and a defender of

Yokuts, North American Indians speaking a Penutian language and who historically inhabited the San Joaquin Valley and the western foothills of the Sierra Nevada south of the Fresno River in what is now California, U.S. The Yokuts were traditionally divided into tribelets, perhaps as many as 50,

Yokuts Valley, winter sports area in Placer county, northeastern California, U.S. It lies just northwest of Lake Tahoe. Yokuts Valley, the focus of a state recreation area, was the site of the 1960 Winter Olympic Games. It has ice-skating and rock-climbing facilities, ski lifts, and trails and

Penutian languages: …languages), Yakonan (two extinct languages), Yokutsan (three languages), and Maiduan (four languages)—plus Klamath-Modoc, Cayuse (extinct), Molale (extinct), Coos, Takelma (extinct), Kalapuya, Chinook (not to be confused with Chinook Jargon, a

Japanese music: Noh music: …consists of vocal music (yōkyoku) with an instrumental ensemble known collectively as the hayashi. The singing is done by the actors or by a unison chorus (jiutai). The four instruments of the hayashi are a flute (nō-kan), a taiko stick drum (described earlier), a small hourglass drum (ko-tsuzumi) held…

The Gambia: Ethnic groups: The Diola (Jola) are the people longest resident in the country; they are now located mostly in western Gambia. The largest group is the Malinke, comprising about one-third of the population. The Wolof, who are the dominant group in Senegal, also predominate in Banjul. The Fulani…

Yola, town, capital of Adamawa state, and seat of the traditional Adamawa emirate, eastern Nigeria. The town is served by the port of Jimeta (5.5 miles [9 km] north-northwest) on the Benue River, about 500 miles (800 km) above its confluence with the Niger, and by an airfield. Yola also has road

Vincente Minnelli: Films of the later 1940s: Meet Me in St. Louis, The Clock, and The Pirate: …the paintings of Salvador Dalí, Yolanda and the Thief (1945) is generally considered one of Minnelli’s lesser musicals. Astaire played an American con man visiting the mythical Latin American country of Patria, with an eye to fleecing a convent-raised heiress (Bremer) by posing as the guardian angel to whom she…

Isabella II was the queen of the Latin kingdom of Jerusalem (1212–28) and consort of the Holy Roman emperor Frederick II. The daughter of John of Brienne and Mary (Marie) of Montferrat, Isabella inherited the throne on her mother’s death in 1212, but her father ruled as regent and guardian and even

Charles VII: Early life.: …of Naples, and his wife, Yolande of Aragon. Charles went to live in Anjou, where Yolande, energetic and accustomed to rule, established her influence over him. In 1416, he became captain general of Paris and began to participate in the royal council, where Louis of Anjou played a prominent role.