Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Koxinga

(Encyclopedia)Koxinga kŏksĭngˈgə [key], Mandarin Kuo-hsing-yeh [lord of the imperial surname], 1624–62, Chinese general, whose original name was Chêng Ch'êng-kung. From 1646 to 1660 he led many unsuccessful...

Kuan Han-ch'ing

(Encyclopedia)Kuan Han-ch'ing kwänˈ hän-chĭngˈ [key], c.1240–c.1320, Chinese playwright of the Yüan dynasty. He resided mainly in the capital Ta-tu (Beijing), where he acquired a reputation as a libertine. ...

Waley, Arthur

(Encyclopedia)Waley, Arthur, 1889–1966, English orientalist, b. London as Arthur David Schloss, educated at Cambridge. He was and still is considered one of the world's great Asian scholars. His most important wo...

Wright, James

(Encyclopedia)Wright, James, 1927–80, American poet, b. Ohio. He studied at Kenyon College and the Univ. of Washington. Wright was the master of an elegant, beautifully controlled style. His early poems contained...

Yalu

(Encyclopedia)Yalu yäˈlo͞oˈ [key], Korean Amnok, river, c.500 mi (800 km) long, rising in the Changbai Mts. in Jilin prov., NE China, and flowing SW to the Bay of Korea at Dandong; forms part of the China–Nor...

Bhamo

(Encyclopedia)Bhamo bäˈmō, bəmōˈ [key], town (1981 est. pop. 14,000), NE Myanmar, on the upper Ayeyarwady River. Located c.900 mi (1,450 km) from the sea, it is the head of navigation on the Ayeyarwady. Bhamo...

Yen Li-pen

(Encyclopedia)Yen Li-pen yŭn lē-bŭn [key], d. 673, Chinese painter, foremost master of the T'ang dynasty. He became the most celebrated court painter of the 7th cent. and held several high public offices. Althou...

satin

(Encyclopedia)satin, lustrous silk in which the filling is so arranged as to bind the warp as seldom as possible and so spaced that practically nothing shows but the warp. Satin was first woven by the ancient silk ...

Shih-T'ao

(Encyclopedia)Shih-T'ao shûr-tou [key], 1641–c.1670, Chinese painter of the late Ming–early Ch'ing period, one of the major figures in 17th-century painting. A descendant of the imperial Ming family, he escape...

abacus, in mathematics

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Chinese abacus: Numbers are represented by moving beads to the central crossbar. abacus ăbˈəkəs, əbăkˈ– [key], in mathematics, simple device for performing arithmetic calculations. Th...