Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Thomsen, Vilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Thomsen, Vilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm tŏmˈsĕn [key], 1842–1927, Danish philologist. For many years Thomsen was professor of comparative philology at the Univ. of Copenhagen, where he did important work in...

Supung

(Encyclopedia)Supung so͞oˈpo͝ong [key], dam on the Yalu River, on the border between North Korea and Liaoning prov., NE China. One of the largest dams in Asia (525 ft/160 m high and 2,800 ft/853 m long), it was ...

Lattimore, Owen

(Encyclopedia)Lattimore, Owen, 1900–1989, American author and educator, b. Washington, D.C. He was educated (1915–19) at St. Bees School, Cumberland, England, and did graduate research (1928–29) at Harvard. F...

Hua Guofeng

(Encyclopedia)Hua Guofeng or Hua Kuo-feng both: hwä gwôfŭng [key], 1920–2008, Chinese Communist leader. He was relatively unknown until he became minister of public security and deputy premier in 1975. As Mao ...

Hanoi

(Encyclopedia)Hanoi hănˈoi, hənoiˈ [key], city (1997 est. pop. 3,500,800), capital of Vietnam, on the right bank of the Red River. It is the transportation hub of the country, with two airports and rail connect...

Gao Xingjian

(Encyclopedia)Gao Xingjian gouˈ shĭingˈjyänˈ [key], 1940–, Chinese-French novelist and playwright, b. Ganzhou. He earned (1962) a degree in French in Beijing and embarked upon a literary life, which was cut ...

Sung

(Encyclopedia)Sung so͝ong [key], dynasty of China that ruled 960–1279. It was divided into two periods: Northern Sung (907–1126) with its capital at Kaifeng and Southern Sung (1127–1279) with its capital at ...

Confucianism

(Encyclopedia)Confucianism kənfyo͞oˈshənĭzəm [key], moral and religious system of China. Its origins go back to the Analects (see Chinese literature), the sayings attributed to Confucius, and to ancient comme...

Li Shang-yin

(Encyclopedia)Li Shang-yin lēˈ shăngˌ-yĭnˈ [key], 813?–858, Chinese poet. Of his 598 extant works, the best known are untitled love poems that describe in rich, sensuous detail scenes of beautiful courtesan...

Li T'ang

(Encyclopedia)Li T'ang lē täng [key], c.1050–1130, Chinese painter of the Sung dynasty. A leader of the academy founded by the Emperor Hui-tsung, he established a mode of painting that was widely followed in su...

Browse by Subject