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Ming

(Encyclopedia)Ming mĭng [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644. The first Ming emperor, Chu Yüan-chang (ruled 1368–98), a former Buddhist monk, joined a rebellion in progress, gained control of it...

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 ...

T'ao Yüan-ming

(Encyclopedia)T'ao Yüan-ming or T'ao Ch'ien, 365–427, Chinese poet. After several bitter experiences in government employment, he became a gentleman farmer. His poems, composed in simple diction at a time when o...

Li Tzu-cheng

(Encyclopedia)Li Tzu-cheng lē dzo͞o-chŭng [key], 1605–45, Chinese rebel leader who contributed to the fall of the Ming dynasty. With the help of scholars he organized a government in S Shanxi prov., proclaimed...

Shen Chou

(Encyclopedia)Shen Chou shĕn jō [key], 1427–1509, Chinese painter of the Ming dynasty. He and Wen Cheng-Ming (1470–1559) were the two most important painters of the Wu school, a group of leading literati arti...

Yung-lo

(Encyclopedia)Yung-lo yo͞ong-lô [key], 1359–1424, reign title of the 3d emperor (1403–24) of the Chinese Ming dynasty, whose personal name was Chu Ti. He rose to power in N China after being delegated by his ...

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...

T'ao Ch'ien

(Encyclopedia)T'ao Ch'ien: see T'ao Yüan-ming. ...

Nurhaci

(Encyclopedia)Nurhaci or Nurhachi no͞orˈhächē [key], 1559–1626, Manchu national founder. He consolidated the Manchu tribes under his control and founded the administration that later ruled China as the Ch'ing...

Great Wall of China

(Encyclopedia)Great Wall of China, series of fortifications, c.3,890 mi (6,260 km) long (not including trenches and natural defensive barriers), winding across N China from Gansu prov. to Liaoning prov. The wall, r...

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