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Tonkin, Gulf of

(Encyclopedia)Tonkin, Gulf of, NW arm of the South China Sea, c.300 mi (480 km) long and 150 mi (240 km) wide, between Vietnam and China. The shallow gulf (less than 200 ft/60 m deep) receives the Red River. Haipho...

Hsia

(Encyclopedia)Hsia shēä [key], semilegendary first dynasty of China, which ruled, according to traditional dates, from c.2205 b.c. to c.1766 b.c. or, according to some modern scholars, from c.1994 b.c. to c.1523 ...

Xi

(Encyclopedia)Xi shē jyäng [key], great river of S China, c.1,250 mi (2,010 km) long, rising in E Yunnan prov. and flowing generally E through Guangxi and Guangdong provs. to the South China Sea near Guangzhou; t...

Natuna Islands

(Encyclopedia)Natuna Islands, island group (2010 pop. 69,300), 769 sq mi (1,993 sq km), Riau prov., Indonesia, in the South China Sea between the Malay Peninsula (W) and Borneo (E). The more than 250 islands are pa...

Tsin

(Encyclopedia)Tsin or Chin both: jhĭn [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 265 to 420, after the period of the Three Kingdoms. It was divided into two phases: the Western Tsin (265–317) and the Eastern Tsin (...

Ricci, Matteo

(Encyclopedia)Ricci, Matteo mät-tāˈō rētˈchē [key], 1552–1610, Italian missionary to China. He entered the Society of Jesus, and in Rome he studied under Clavius. Ricci was sent to the Indies (1578), and h...

delta

(Encyclopedia)delta [from triangular shape of the Nile delta, like the Greek letter delta], a deposit of clay, silt, and sand formed at the mouth of a river where the stream loses velocity and drops part of its sed...

grease

(Encyclopedia)grease, mixture of lubricant and thickener. It is used to reduce friction between surfaces from which oils would leak away or cause damage by dripping, or where lubrication must be assured for extende...

Nicaragua Canal

(Encyclopedia)Nicaragua Canal, proposed waterway between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. One often considered route would be 172.8 mi (278 km) long and would generally follow the San Juan River, then go throug...

Japanese art

(Encyclopedia)Japanese art, works of art created in the islands that make up the nation of Japan. In the mid-19th cent. a few print designers attained distinction, but no masters appeared to equal their p...