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Sino-Japanese War, First

(Encyclopedia)Sino-Japanese War, First, 1894–95, conflict between China and Japan for control of Korea in the late 19th cent. The Li-Ito Convention of 1885 provided for mutual troop withdrawals and advance notifi...

Sino-Japanese War, Second

(Encyclopedia)Sino-Japanese War, Second, 1937–45, conflict between Japanese and Chinese forces for control of the Chinese mainland. The war sapped the Nationalist government's strength while allowing the Communis...

Oyama, Iwao

(Encyclopedia)Oyama, Iwao ēwäˈō ōˈyämä [key], 1842–1916, Japanese field marshal. A native of Satsuma and a follower of Okubo Toshimichi, he worked to overthrow the Tokugawa shogunate and restore the emper...

Yosano, Akiko

(Encyclopedia)Yosano, Akiko äˈkēˈkō yōˈsäˈnō [key], 1878–1942, Japanese poet, activist, and critic. Best known for passionately romantic verse, she infused the classic tanka poetic form with new life an...

Li Hung-chang

(Encyclopedia)Li Hung-chang lē ho͞ong-jäng [key], 1823–1901, Chinese statesman and general. His first success was as a commander of forces fighting the Taiping Rebellion. As viceroy of the capital province of ...

Burma Road

(Encyclopedia)Burma Road, in China and Myanmar, extending from the railhead of Lashio, Myanmar, to Kunming, Yunnan prov., China. About 700 mi (1,130 km) long and constructed through rough mountain country, it was a...

Pescadores

(Encyclopedia)Pescadores pĕskədôrˈəz, –rəs [key], Mandarin Penghu or P'eng-hu, group of 64 small islands (2010 pop. 86,967), area c.50 sq mi (130 sq km), in Taiwan Strait, c.25 to 30 mi (40–50 km) off the...

Inverchapel of Loch Eck, Archibald John Kerr Clark Kerr, 1st Baron

(Encyclopedia)Inverchapel of Loch Eck, Archibald John Kerr Clark Kerr, 1st Baron kär, ĭnˌvərchăpˈəl, lŏkh ĕk [key], 1882–1951, British diplomat. He entered the diplomatic service in 1906 and served in nu...

Shimonoseki

(Encyclopedia)Shimonoseki shēˈmōnōsāˌkē [key], city (1990 pop. 262,635), Yamaguchi prefecture, extreme SW Honshu, Japan. An important port and fishing center on Shimonoseki Strait, it is opposite Kitakyushu,...

Ito, Hirobumi

(Encyclopedia)Ito, Hirobumi hērōˈbo͞omē ēˈtō [key], 1841–1909, Japanese statesman, the outstanding figure in the modernization of Japan. As a young Choshu samurai, he was a xenophobe. In 1863 he visited E...