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Anuradhapura

(Encyclopedia)Anuradhapura ənäˈräjə– [key], city (1995 est. pop. 40,000), N central Sri Lanka, on the Aruvi River. Rice plantations and vegetable gardens surround the city, which is famous chiefly for its va...

Chih-i

(Encyclopedia)Chih-i chēˈ-ē [key], 538–97, Chinese Buddhist scholar and founder of the T'ien-t'ai (in Japan, called Tendai, or Lotus) school of Buddhism. Chih-i produced a conceptual framework that integrated ...

Wang Yang-ming

(Encyclopedia)Wang Yang-ming wäng yäng-mĭng [key], 1472–1529, Chinese philosopher. He developed an idealist interpretation of Confucianism that denied the rationalist dualism of the orthodox philosophy of Chu ...

academic freedom

(Encyclopedia)academic freedom, right of scholars to pursue research, to teach, and to publish without control or restraint from the institutions that employ them. It is a civil right that is enjoyed, at least in s...

Mendele mocher sforim

(Encyclopedia)Mendele mocher sforim [Yid.,= Mendele the book peddler] shōˈləm yäˈkôv əbräməˈvĭch [key], 1836–1917, Yiddish novelist. Born in Minsk, and orphaned at 14, he traveled with beggars through ...

Hare Krishnas

(Encyclopedia)Hare Krishnas härˈē krĭshˈnəz [key], communalistic religious movement, officially known as the International Society for Krishna Consciousness. Founded in New York City (1966) by A. C. Bhaktived...

Épinay, Louise Florence Pétronille (de Tardieu d'Esclavelles) La Live d'

(Encyclopedia)Épinay, Louise Florence Pétronille (de Tardieu d'Esclavelles) La Live d' lwēz flôräNsˈ pātrōnēˈyə də tärdyöˈ dāklävĕlˈ lä lēv dāpēnāˈ [key], 1726–83, French woman of letters...

Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen

(Encyclopedia)Declaration of the Rights of Man and Citizen, a fundamental document of French constitutional history, drafted by Emmanuel Sieyès, adopted by the Constituent Assembly on Aug. 26, 1789, and embodied i...

Alembert, Jean le Rond d'

(Encyclopedia)Alembert, Jean le Rond d' zhäN lərôNˈ däläNbĕrˈ [key], 1717–83, French mathematician and philosopher. The illegitimate son of the chevalier Destouches, he was named for the St. Jean le Rond ...

Romilly, Sir Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Romilly, Sir Samuel rŏmˈĭlē [key], 1757–1818, English law reformer. Admitted to the bar in 1783, he soon developed a wide practice in the court of chancery. He was in sympathy with Rousseau's vi...