title: Panic of 1907

text: The panic was triggered by the failed attempt in October 1907 to corner the market on stock of the United Copper Company. When that bid failed, banks that had lent money to the cornering scheme suffered runs that later spread to affiliated banks and trusts, leading a week later to the downfall of the Knickerbocker Trust Company, New York City's third-largest trust. The collapse of the Knickerbocker spread fear throughout the city's trusts as regional banks withdrew reserves from New York City banks. Panic extended across the nation as vast numbers of people withdrew deposits from their regional banks. It is the 8th-largest decline in U.S. stock market history.


title: Panic of 1907

text: The panic might have deepened if not for the intervention of financier J. P. Morgan, who pledged large sums of his own money and convinced other New York bankers to do the same to shore up the banking system. That highlighted the limitations of the US Independent Treasury system, which managed the nation's money supply but was unable to inject sufficient liquidity back into the market. By November, the financial contagion had largely ended, only to be replaced by a further crisis. That was because of the heavy borrowing of a large brokerage firm that used the stock of Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (TC&I) as collateral. Collapse of TC&I's stock price was averted by an emergency takeover by Morgan's U.S. Steel Corporation, a move approved by the trust-busting President Theodore Roosevelt. The following year, Senator Nelson W. Aldrich, a leading Republican, established and chaired a commission to investigate the crisis and propose future solutions, which led to the creation of the Federal Reserve System.


title: Panic of 1907

text: When United States President Andrew Jackson allowed the charter of the Second Bank of the United States to expire in 1836, the U.S. was without any sort of central bank, and the money supply in New York City fluctuated with the country's annual agricultural cycle. Each autumn money flowed out of the city as harvests were purchased and—in an effort to attract money back—interest rates were raised. Foreign investors then sent their money to New York to take advantage of the higher rates. From the January 1906 Dow Jones Industrial Average high of 103, the market began a modest correction that would continue throughout the year. The April 1906 earthquake that devastated San Francisco contributed to the market instability, prompting an even greater flood of money from New York to San Francisco to aid reconstruction. A further stress on the money supply occurred in late 1906, when the Bank of England raised its interest rates, partly in response to UK insurance companies paying out so much to US policyholders, and more funds remained in London than expected. From their peak in January, stock prices declined 18% by July 1906. By late September, stocks had recovered about half of their losses.


title: Panic of 1907

text: The Hepburn Act, which gave the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) the power to set maximum railroad rates, became law in July 1906. This depreciated the value of railroad securities. Between September 1906 and March 1907, the stock market slid, losing 7.7% of its capitalization. Between March 9 and 26, stocks fell a further 9.8%. (This March collapse is sometimes referred to as a "rich man's panic".) The economy remained volatile through the summer. A number of shocks hit the system: the stock of Union Pacific—among the most common stocks used as collateral—fell 50 points; that June an offering of New York City bonds failed; in July the copper market collapsed; in August the Standard Oil Company was fined $29 million for antitrust violations. In the first nine months of 1907, stocks were lower by 24.4%.


title: Panic of 1907

text: On July 27, "The Commercial & Financial Chronicle" noted that "the market keeps unstable ... no sooner are these signs of new life in evidence than something like a suggestion of a new outflow of gold to Paris sends a tremble all through the list, and the gain in values and hope is gone". Several bank runs occurred outside the US in 1907: in Egypt in April and May; in Japan in May and June; in Hamburg and Chile in early October. The fall season was always a vulnerable time for the banking system—combined with the roiled stock market, even a small shock could have grave repercussions.


title: Panic of 1907

text: The 1907 panic began with a stock manipulation scheme to corner the market in F. Augustus Heinze's United Copper Company. Heinze had made a fortune as a copper magnate in Butte, Montana. In 1906 he moved to New York City, where he formed a close relationship with notorious Wall Street banker Charles W. Morse. Morse had once successfully cornered New York City's ice market, and together with Heinze gained control of many banks—the pair served on the boards of at least six national banks, ten state banks, five trust companies and four insurance firms.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Augustus' brother, Otto, devised the scheme to corner United Copper, believing that the Heinze family already controlled a majority of the company. He also believed that a significant number of the Heinze's shares had been borrowed, and sold short, by speculators betting that the stock price would drop, and that they could thus repurchase the borrowed shares cheaply, pocketing the difference. Otto proposed a short squeeze, in which the Heinzes would aggressively purchase as many remaining shares as possible, and then force the short sellers to pay for their borrowed shares. The aggressive purchasing would drive up the share price, and, being unable to find shares elsewhere, the short sellers would have no option but to turn to the Heinzes, who could then name their price.


title: Panic of 1907

text: To finance the scheme, Otto, Augustus and Charles Morse met with Charles T. Barney, president of the city's third-largest trust, the Knickerbocker Trust Company. Barney had provided financing for previous Morse schemes. Morse, however, cautioned Otto that in order to attempt the squeeze, Otto needed much more money than Barney had, and Barney declined to provide funding. Otto decided to attempt the corner anyway. On Monday, October 14, he began aggressively purchasing shares of United Copper, which rose in one day from $39 to $52 per share. On Tuesday (Oct. 15), he issued the call for short sellers to return the borrowed stock. The share price rose to nearly $60, but the short sellers were able to find plenty of United Copper shares from sources other than the Heinzes. Otto had misread the market, and the share price of United Copper began to collapse.


title: Panic of 1907

text: The stock closed at $30 on Tuesday and fell to $10 by Wednesday (Oct. 16). Otto Heinze was ruined. The stock of United Copper was traded outside the hall of the New York Stock Exchange, literally an outdoor market "on the curb" (this curb market would later become the American Stock Exchange). After the crash, "The Wall Street Journal" reported, "Never has there been such wild scenes on the Curb, so say the oldest veterans of the outside market".


title: Panic of 1907

text: The failure of the corner left Otto unable to meet his obligations and sent his brokerage house, Gross & Kleeberg, into bankruptcy. On Thursday, October 17, the New York Stock Exchange suspended Otto's trading privileges. As a result of United Copper's collapse, the State Savings Bank of Butte Montana (owned by F. Augustus Heinze) announced its insolvency. The Montana bank had held United Copper stock as collateral against some of its lending and had been a correspondent bank for the Mercantile National Bank in New York City, of which F. Augustus Heinze was then president.


title: Panic of 1907

text: F. Augustus Heinze's association with the corner and the insolvent State Savings Bank proved too much for the board of the Mercantile to accept. Although they forced him to resign before lunch time, by then it was too late. As news of the collapse spread, depositors rushed "en masse" to withdraw money from the Mercantile National Bank. The Mercantile had enough capital to withstand a few days of withdrawals, but depositors began to pull cash from the banks of the Heinzes' associate Charles W. Morse. Runs occurred at Morse's National Bank of North America and the New Amsterdam National. Afraid of the impact the tainted reputations of Augustus Heinze and Morse could have on the banking system, the New York Clearing House (a consortium of the city's banks) forced Morse and Heinze to resign all banking interests. By the weekend after the failed corner, there was not yet systemic panic. Funds were withdrawn from Heinze-associated banks, only to be deposited with other banks in the city.


title: Panic of 1907

text: A week later many regional stock exchanges throughout the nation were closing or limiting trading. For example, the Pittsburgh city's stock exchange closed for three months starting on October 23, 1907.


title: Panic of 1907

text: In the early 1900s, trust companies were booming; in the decade before 1907, their assets had grown by 244%. During the same period, national bank assets grew by 97%, while state banks in New York increased by 82%. The leaders of the high-flying trusts were mainly prominent members of New York's financial and social circles. One of the most respected was Charles T. Barney, whose late father-in-law William Collins Whitney was a famous financier. Barney's Knickerbocker Trust Company was the third-largest trust in New York.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Because of past association with Charles W. Morse and F. Augustus Heinze, on Monday, October 21, the board of the Knickerbocker asked that Barney resign (depositors may have first begun to pull deposits from the Knickerbocker on October 18, prompting the concern). That day, the National Bank of Commerce where J.P. Morgan was a dominant factor, announced it would not serve as clearing house for the Knickerbocker. On October 22, the Knickerbocker faced a classic bank run. From the bank's opening, the crowd grew. As "The New York Times" reported, "as fast as a depositor went out of the place ten people and more came asking for their money [and the police] were asked to send some men to keep order". Two van loads of notes were quickly unloaded, yet even this failed to calm the panic stricken depositors. Directors and other officials of the Trust forced their way through the crowd, assuring them that everyone would be paid. In less than three hours, $8 million was withdrawn from the Knickerbocker. Shortly after noon it was forced to suspend operations.


title: Panic of 1907

text: As news spread, other banks and trust companies were reluctant to lend any money. The interest rates on loans to brokers at the stock exchange soared to 70% and, with brokers unable to get money, stock prices fell to a low not seen since December 1900. The panic quickly spread to two other large trusts, Trust Company of America and Lincoln Trust Company. By Thursday, October 24, a chain of failures littered the street: Twelfth Ward Bank, Empire City Savings Bank, Hamilton Bank of New York, First National Bank of Brooklyn, International Trust Company of New York, Williamsburg Trust Company of Brooklyn, Borough Bank of Brooklyn, Jenkins Trust Company of Brooklyn and the Union Trust Company of Providence.


title: Panic of 1907

text: When the chaos began to shake the confidence of New York's banks, the city's most famous banker was out of town. J. P. Morgan, the eponymous president of J.P. Morgan & Co., was attending a church convention in Richmond, Virginia. Morgan was not only the city's wealthiest and most well-connected banker, but he had experience with other similar financial crises—he had helped rescue the U.S. Treasury during the Panic of 1893. As news of the crisis gathered, Morgan returned to Wall Street from his convention late on the night of Saturday, October 19. The following morning, the library of Morgan's brownstone at Madison Avenue and 36th St. had become a revolving door of New York City bank and trust company presidents arriving to share information about (and seek help surviving) the impending crisis.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Morgan and his associates examined the books of the Knickerbocker Trust and decided it was insolvent, so they did not intervene to stop the run. Its failure, however, triggered runs on even healthy trusts, prompting Morgan to take charge of the rescue operation. On the afternoon of Tuesday, October 22, the president of the Trust Company of America asked Morgan for assistance. That evening Morgan conferred with George F. Baker, the president of First National Bank, James Stillman of the National City Bank of New York (the ancestor of Citibank), and the United States Secretary of the Treasury, George B. Cortelyou. Cortelyou said that he was ready to deposit government money in the banks to help shore up their deposits. After an overnight audit of the Trust Company of America showed the institution to be sound, on Wednesday afternoon Morgan declared, "This is the place to stop the trouble, then."


title: Panic of 1907

text: As a run began on the Trust Company of America, Morgan worked with Stillman and Baker to liquidate the company's assets to allow the bank to pay depositors. The bank survived to the close of business, but Morgan knew that additional money would be needed to keep it solvent through the following day. That night he assembled the presidents of the other trust companies and held them in a meeting until midnight, when they agreed to provide loans of $8.25 million to allow the Trust Company of America to stay open the next day. On Thursday morning Cortelyou deposited around $25 million into a number of New York banks. John D. Rockefeller, the wealthiest man in the United States, deposited a further $10 million in Stillman's National City Bank. Rockefeller's massive deposit left the National City Bank with the deepest reserves of any bank in the city. To instill public confidence, Rockefeller phoned Melville Stone, the manager of the Associated Press, and told him that he would pledge half of his wealth to maintain U.S. credit.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Despite the infusion of cash, the banks of New York were reluctant to make the short-term loans they typically provided to facilitate daily stock trades. Prices on the exchange began to crash, owing to the lack of funds to finance purchases. At 1:30 p.m. Thursday, October 24, Ransom Thomas, the president of the New York Stock Exchange, rushed to Morgan's offices to tell him that he would have to close the exchange early. Morgan was emphatic that an early close of the exchange would be catastrophic.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Morgan summoned the presidents of the city's banks to his office. They started to arrive at 2 p.m.; Morgan informed them that as many as 50 stock exchange houses would fail unless $25 million was raised in 10 minutes. By 2:16 p.m., 14 bank presidents had pledged $23.6 million to keep the stock exchange afloat. The money reached the market at 2:30 p.m., in time to finish the day's trading, and by the 3 o'clock market close, $19 million had been loaned out. Disaster was averted. Morgan usually eschewed the press, but as he left his offices that night he made a statement to reporters: "If people will keep their money in the banks, everything will be all right".


title: Panic of 1907

text: Friday, however, saw more panic on the exchange. Morgan again approached the bank presidents, but this time was only able to convince them to pledge $9.7 million. In order for this money to keep the exchange open, Morgan decided the money could not be used for margin sales. The volume of trading on Friday was 2/3 that of Thursday. The markets again narrowly made it to the closing bell.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Morgan, Stillman, Baker and the other city bankers were unable to pool money indefinitely. Even the U.S. Treasury was low on funds. Public confidence needed to be restored, and on Friday evening the bankers formed two committees—one to persuade the clergy to calm their congregations on Sunday, and a second to explain to the press the various aspects of the financial rescue package. Europe's most famous banker, Lord Rothschild, sent word of his "admiration and respect" for Morgan. In an attempt to gather confidence, the Treasury Secretary Cortelyou agreed that if he returned to Washington it would send a signal to Wall Street that the worst had passed.


title: Panic of 1907

text: To ensure a free flow of funds on Monday, the New York Clearing House issued $100 million in loan certificates to be traded between banks to settle balances, allowing them to retain cash reserves for depositors. Reassured both by the clergy and the newspapers, and with bank balance sheets flush with cash, a sense of order returned to New York that Monday.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Unbeknownst to Wall Street, a new crisis was being averted in the background. On Sunday, Morgan's associate, George Perkins, was informed that the City of New York required at least $20 million by November 1 or it would go bankrupt. The city tried to raise money through a standard bond issue, but failed to gather enough financing. On Monday and again on Tuesday, New York Mayor George McClellan approached Morgan for assistance. In an effort to avoid the disastrous signal that a New York City bankruptcy would send, Morgan contracted to purchase $30 million worth of city bonds.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Although calm was largely restored in New York by Saturday, November 2, yet another crisis loomed. One of the exchange's largest brokerage firms, Moore & Schley, was heavily in debt and in danger of collapse. The firm had borrowed heavily, using shares of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and Railroad Company (TC&I) as collateral. With the value of the thinly traded stock under pressure, many banks would likely call the loans of Moore & Schley on Monday and force an "en masse" liquidation of the firm's stock. If that occurred it would send TC&I shares plummeting, devastating Moore and Schley and triggering further panic in the market.


title: Panic of 1907

text: To avert the collapse of Moore & Schley, Morgan called an emergency conference at his library Saturday morning. A proposal was made that the U.S. Steel Corporation, a company Morgan had helped form through the merger of the steel companies of Andrew Carnegie and Elbert Gary, would acquire TC&I. This would effectively save Moore & Schley and avert the crisis. The executives and board of U.S. Steel studied the situation and offered to either loan Moore & Schley $5 million, or buy TC&I for $90 a share. By 7 p.m. an agreement had not been reached and the meeting adjourned.


title: Panic of 1907

text: By then, Morgan was drawn into another situation. There was deep concern that the Trust Company of America and the Lincoln Trust might fail to open on Monday due to continuing runs by depositors. On Saturday evening 40–50 bankers gathered at the library to discuss the crisis, with the clearing-house bank presidents in the East room and the trust company executives in the West room. Morgan and those dealing with the Moore & Schley situation moved to the librarian's office. There Morgan told his counselors that he would agree to help shore up Moore & Schley only if the trust companies would work together to bail out their weakest brethren. The discussion among the bankers continued late into Saturday night but without much progress. Around midnight, J. P. Morgan informed a leader of the trust company presidents that keeping Moore & Schley afloat would require $25 million, and he would not commit those funds unless the problems with the trust companies could also be resolved. The trust company executives understood they would not receive further help from Morgan; they would have to finance any bailout of the two struggling trust companies.


title: Panic of 1907

text: At 3 a.m. about 120 bank and trust company officials assembled to hear a full report on the status of the failing trust companies. While the Trust Company of America was barely solvent, the Lincoln Trust Company was probably $1 million short of what it needed to cover depositor accounts. As discussion ensued, the bankers realized that Morgan had locked them in the library and pocketed the key to force a solution, the sort of strong-arm tactic he had been known to use in the past. Morgan then entered the talks and advised the trust companies that they must provide a loan of $25 million to save the weaker institutions. The trust presidents were still reluctant to act, but Morgan informed them that if they did not it would lead to a complete collapse of the banking system. Through his considerable influence, at about 4:45 a.m. he persuaded the unofficial leader of the trust companies to sign the agreement, and the remainder of the bankers followed. Having received these commitments, Morgan allowed the bankers to go home.


title: Panic of 1907

text: On Sunday afternoon and into the evening, Morgan, Perkins, Baker and Stillman, along with U.S. Steel's Gary and Henry Clay Frick, worked at the library to finalize the deal for U.S. Steel to buy TC&I and by Sunday night had a plan for acquisition. But one obstacle remained: the anti-trust crusading President Theodore Roosevelt, who had made breaking up monopolies a focus of his presidency.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Frick and Gary traveled overnight by train to the White House to implore Roosevelt to set aside the application of the Sherman Antitrust Act and allow—before the market opened—a company that already held a 60% share of the steel market to make a large acquisition. Roosevelt's secretary refused to see them, but Frick and Gary convinced James Rudolph Garfield, the Secretary of the Interior, to bypass the secretary and arrange a meeting with the president. With less than an hour before the Stock Exchange opened, Roosevelt and Secretary of State Elihu Root began to review the proposed takeover and appreciate the crash likely to ensue if the merger was not approved. Roosevelt relented; he later recalled of the meeting, "It was necessary for me to decide on the instant before the Stock Exchange opened, for the situation in New York was such that any hour might be vital. I do not believe that anyone could justly criticize me for saying that I would not feel like objecting to the purchase under those circumstances". When news reached New York, confidence soared. The "Commercial & Financial Chronicle" reported that "the relief furnished by this transaction was instant and far-reaching". The final crisis of the panic had been averted.


title: Panic of 1907

text: The panic of 1907 occurred during a lengthy economic contraction, measured by the National Bureau of Economic Research as occurring between May 1907 and June 1908. The interrelated contraction, bank panic, and falling stock market resulted in significant economic disruption. Industrial production dropped further than after any previous bank run, and 1907 saw the second-highest volume of bankruptcies to that date. Production fell by 11% and imports by 26%, while unemployment rose to 8% from under 3%. Immigration dropped to 750,000 people in 1909, from 1.2 million two years earlier.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Since the end of the Civil War, the United States had experienced panics of varying severity. Economists Charles Calomiris and Gary Gorton rate the worst panics as those leading to widespread bank suspensions: the panics of 1873, 1893, and 1907, and a suspension in 1914. Widespread suspensions were forestalled through coordinated actions during the 1884 and 1890 panics. A bank crisis in 1896, in which there was a perceived need for coordination, is also sometimes classified as a panic.


title: Panic of 1907

text: The frequency of crises and the severity of the 1907 panic added to concern about the outsized role of J.P. Morgan and renewed impetus toward a national debate on reform. In May 1908, Congress passed the Aldrich–Vreeland Act, which established the National Monetary Commission to investigate the panic and to propose legislation to regulate banking.


title: Panic of 1907

text: A significant difference between the European and U.S. banking systems was the absence of a central bank in the United States. European states were able to extend the supply of money during periods of low cash reserves. The belief that the U.S. economy was vulnerable without a central bank was not new. Early in 1907, banker Jacob Schiff of Kuhn, Loeb & Co. warned in a speech to the New York Chamber of Commerce that "unless we have a central bank with adequate control of credit resources, this country is going to undergo the most severe and far reaching money panic in its history".


title: Panic of 1907

text: In 1908: Frank A. Vanderlip led a U.S. business delegation to Japan to meet with Japanese financial leaders including Taka Kawada, Shibusawa Eiichi and his son Shibusawa Masao, also founding members of Mitsui & Co., Takuma Dan & Takamine Mitsui with the goal allying with the Japan to resolve the Panic of 1907 and the unstable U.S. Stock Market.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Aldrich convened a secret conference with a number of the nation's leading financiers at the Jekyll Island Club, off the coast of Georgia, to discuss monetary policy and the banking system in November 1910. Aldrich and A. P. Andrew (Assistant Secretary of the Treasury Department), Paul Warburg (representing Kuhn, Loeb & Co.), Frank A. Vanderlip (James Stillman's successor as president of the National City Bank of New York), Henry P. Davison (senior partner of J. P. Morgan Company), Charles D. Norton (president of the Morgan-dominated First National Bank of New York), and Benjamin Strong (representing J. P. Morgan), produced a design for a "National Reserve Bank".


title: Panic of 1907

text: The final report of the National Monetary Commission was published on January 11, 1911. For nearly two years legislators debated the proposal, and it was not until December 23, 1913, that Congress passed the Federal Reserve Act. President Woodrow Wilson signed the legislation immediately, and the legislation was enacted on the same day, December 23, 1913, creating the Federal Reserve System. Charles Hamlin became the Fed's first chairman, and none other than Morgan's deputy Benjamin Strong became president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, the most important regional bank, with a permanent seat on the Federal Open Market Committee.


title: Panic of 1907

text: Although Morgan was briefly seen as a hero, widespread fears concerning plutocracy and concentrated wealth soon eroded this view. Morgan's bank had survived, but the trust companies that were a growing rival to traditional banks were badly damaged. Some analysts believed that the panic had been engineered to damage confidence in trust companies so that banks would benefit. Others believed Morgan took advantage of the panic to allow his U.S. Steel company to acquire TC&I. Although Morgan lost $21 million in the panic, and the significance of the role he played in staving off worse disaster is undisputed, he also became the focus of intense scrutiny and criticism.


title: Panic of 1907

text: The chair of the House Committee on Banking and Currency, Representative Arsène Pujo (D–La. 7th), convened a special committee to investigate a "money trust", the "de facto" monopoly of Morgan and New York's other most powerful bankers. The committee issued a scathing report on the banking trade and found that the officers of J. P. Morgan & Co. also sat on the boards of directors of 112 corporations with a market capitalization of $22.5 billion (the total capitalization of the New York Stock Exchange was then estimated at $26.5 billion).


title: Panic of 1907

text: Although suffering ill health, J. P. Morgan testified before the Pujo Committee and faced several days of questioning from Samuel Untermyer. Untermyer and Morgan's famous exchange on the fundamentally psychological nature of banking—that it is an industry built on trust—is often quoted in business articles:


title: Panic of 1907

text: Associates of Morgan blamed his continued physical decline on the hearings. He became ill in February and died on March 31, 1913, nine months before the Federal Reserve officially replaced the "money trust" as lender of last resort.


title: Krang

text: Krang (also spelled Kraang) is a fictional supervillain appearing in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"-related media, most frequently in the 1987 animated series and its associated merchandise, such as the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures" comic book and most of the classic "TMNT" video games.


title: Krang

text: Krang's first comics appearance was in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Adventures" vol. 1, #1, published by Archie Comics in August 1988. In the 1987 TV series, Krang was voiced by Pat Fraley. He is still one of the primary antagonists to the Ninja Turtles, appearing as General Krang in the 2012 IDW comic publication. The character made his first live action appearance in the 2016 sequel, "", with his voice provided by Brad Garrett.


title: Krang

text: Krang was created by David Wise, with inspirations from the Utroms, to supply the Shredder with extraterrestrial technology.


title: Krang

text: In the 2012 series, Krang is referred to as Kraang Prime, and is the leader of a rogue hive mind faction of Utroms known as "the Kraang".


title: Krang

text: In "", Krang is referred to as Krang Leader (credited as Krang One), who leads his siblings, Krang Sister (credited as Krang Two) and Krang Brother.


title: Krang

text: In the final season of the 1987 animated series, Krang showed signs of psychic powers when he hypnotized one of Lord Dregg's soldiers into obeying his and Shredder's commands, saying it would only work on weak-willed people.


title: Krang

text: Prior to the start of the 1987 cartoon, Krang was a reptilian creature in command of an army of Rock Soldiers under the leadership of General Traag, and took the completed Technodrome, a powerful mobile battle fortress, and banished Von Drakus, who helped Krang build it, to Earth. When he was banished from Dimension X, Krang was stripped of his body and reduced to a brain-like form.


title: Krang

text: While on Earth, Krang allied himself with the Shredder, who, along with his robotic Foot Soldier army, moved into the Technodrome. In exchange, the Shredder had to design and build a new body for Krang, a human-shaped exo-suit. Shredder lived up to his part of the bargain in the season 1 episode "Shredder was Splintered", in no small part because he was unable to deal with the Turtles and needed Krang's help. In the season 3 episode "Shredderville", the Turtles have a dream of a parallel world in which they never lived, and Shredder had no problem taking over the world; in that world, Shredder abandoned Krang after his conquest was complete, leaving him with no body and a heavily-damaged Technodrome.


title: Krang

text: Krang's ultimate goal is to take over the Earth; it probably only became his objective after he was exiled on the Earth, but this point is never made clear. Every plan Krang conceives is either aimed at that goal, or towards the short-term objective of powering-up the Technodrome. He does not share Shredder's obsession with the Turtles and Splinter; while Shredder sees them as mortal enemies, Krang seems to regard them more like annoyances to be destroyed when they interfere in his plans.


title: Krang

text: Counting from the first meeting between the Turtles and Shredder and Krang, Krang spent seven seasons in the Technodrome, either somewhere on Earth or in Dimension X, scheming to power up his battle fortress and take over the Earth. Eventually the Turtles managed to banish the Technodrome back to Dimension X without Krang and Shredder. At that point they began operating out of an old science building. Krang and Shredder eventually returned to the Technodrome in the season 8 episode Turtle Trek, but the Turtles destroy the engines of the Technodrome, trapping it and its inhabitants in Dimension X and putting an end to Krang's plans.


title: Krang

text: Krang spent the next two years in Dimension X, until he was contacted by Dregg. Dregg arranged for him and Shredder to come back to Earth, to help him fight the Turtles. However, Dregg betrays them, and drains Krang's intelligence. Shredder escapes and restores Krang, but Dregg captures them again. Finally, the Turtles spoil his plan and transport Shredder and Krang back to Dimension X.


title: Krang

text: In the series finale, Divide and Conquer, the Turtles return to the Technodrome to take Krang's android body, which they need to fight Dregg. Krang is nowhere to be seen, but it is assumed that he is still somewhere in Dimension X.


title: Krang

text: In the IDW Comics Krang is both an Utrom and a denizen of Dimension X. He is the heir of Quanin, the former Prime Minister of the Utroms' ruling council who appointed himself Emperor and aggressively expanded the Utrom domain into an empire. However, his megalomanic expansion drive both deprived his home planet of its most essential natural resource, the Ooze, and incited rebellion among the subjugated people of Dimension X, eventually leading to the destruction of Utrominon. Krang, who was as brutal as his father but opposed his uncautious politics, fled with a few survivors of his people through an interdimensional portal to Burnow Island on Earth, where he established a base from which he intended to terraform this world into a new home for his people.


title: Krang

text: In order to augment his troops, Krang, initially disguised as a despotic human warlord, forms a business relationship with Baxter Stockman, head of the genetics research institute Stock Gen, and supplies him with Ooze, which could be used as a natural mutagen on Earth's organisms. It is through Stockman's experiments that the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Splinter evolve into intelligent, humanoid mutants. When the Turtles learn of Krang's genocidal plans thanks to their human friend April O'Neil, a former intern at Stock Gen, they, together with their ally, the Fugitoid (a former Neutrino scientist whose mind is trapped in a robot body and who was forcibly conscripted by Krang to complete his terraforming machine, the Technodrome), and the Foot Clan stop Krang from destroying the Earth, and the Utrom warlord is surrendered to the Neutrinos for trial for his numerous war crimes.


title: Krang

text: While imprisoned on Neutrino, Kraang hires the bounty hunter Hakk-R to eliminate several material witnesses in order to get the trial cancelled, but Hakk-R fails thanks to the efforts of the Turtles. Eventually, Krang is found guilty and sentenced to permanent exile from Dimension X on Earth. However, Leatherhead, one of his former victims and a key witness in the trial, refuses to accept the mild verdict and kills Krang by devouring him. However, as the Fugitoid belatedly realizes, the Utroms possess a natural parasitic physiology, enabling Krang to regenerate himself and take possession of Leatherhead's body.


title: Krang

text: Krang makes a small cameo appearance in the episode "Secret Origins Part 3" of the 2003 series. As the Utroms are all walking to the transmat to go back home one of them complains, "I hate walking on my tentacles," to which another Utrom replies, "Oh, shut up, Krang!". This Krang was voiced by Wayne Grayson.


title: Krang

text: Krang also appears in the 2009 crossover film, "Turtles Forever", in which he, Shredder and the Turtles from the 1987 show end up in the 2003 universe. Although Shredder was able to find his 2003 counterpart, he was unable to find Krang's, even though he exists in this universe (albeit as a regular, non-evil Utrom). Krang is voiced here by Bradford Cameron.


title: Krang

text: An alien species based on both Krang and the Utroms appear in the 2012 Nickelodeon show, named The Kraang. Kraang Prime is the leader of the hive mind and was a normal Utrom scientist until he made the mutagen, which he used to mutate himself into Kraang Prime. He then used his powers to enslave most of the Utroms into becoming hive mind slaves.


title: Krang

text: Given the series introduces the 1987 show as an alternate universe, the original Krang makes an appearance, still voiced by Pat Fraley, being said to be a cousin of Kraang Sub-Prime that wound up exiled to that dimension.


title: Krang

text: In the series "Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" and its Neflix film sequel "", the Krang is an alien species that landed on ancient Earth bringing with them a mutagen known as Empyrean, which created the Yōkai race. During feudal times in Japan, the Krang gifted Oroku Saki, leader of the Foot Clan, with the dark armor Kuroi Yōroi, which allowed Saki to defeat the Foot's enemies, but ended up possessing and transforming him into the evil Shredder and leading the Foot clan into worshiping them. Eventually a group of warriors who created the mystic weapon key and used it to banish them into another realm for a thousand years. During the series finale, Shredder unearths the remains of a Krang inside a buried ship while looking for Empyrean to fulfill his goals. By the time the Foot opens the portal to set them free, only three of them have survived their exile, they then possess the members of the foot clan and turn them into minions and proceed to take over the highest building of the city in order to open a portal big enough for their ship Technodrome to crossover.


title: Krang

text: Unlike the previous versions of the Krang who mostly relied on their intelligence, this version is more powerful and deadly and is capable of fighting without the use of any kind of tech. Their members include the mastermind behind their plan who leads the other two, a female Krang who leads the possessed slaves into battle and has a temper, and a silent one who is in charge of creating the portal and piloting the Technodrome. The female one lost her right eye at the hands of April and was defeated by her, Splinter and Casey Jones and later captured by humans, the silent one was restrained by Donatello when he seized control of Technodrome and presumably destroyed with the ship and the leader was exiled again at the hands of Leonardo.


title: Krang

text: Brad Garrett voices Krang in "", where it was the first official live-action appearance of the character. Fred Armisen was originally going to voice the character, but scheduling conflicts made Armisen unavailable.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: Nirvana in Fire () is a 2015 Chinese historical drama based on Hai Yan's book "Lang Ya Bang (瑯琊榜)". It was directed by Kong Sheng and Li Xue, and stars Hu Ge, Liu Tao and Wang Kai as Mei Changsu, Princess Nihuang and Prince Jing. The series tells the story of Lin Shu, who, under the alias Mei Changsu, enters the capital of Liang to seek justice for a conspiracy that labeled his family as traitors 12 years before. It originally aired two episodes daily on Beijing TV and Dragon TV, Monday through Sunday from 19:30 to 21:00, from September 19 to October 15, 2015.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: The drama was a commercial and critical success, surpassing 100 million streaming views by its second day, and receiving a total number of views on iQiyi of over 3.3 billion by the end of the series. "Nirvana in Fire" was considered a social media phenomenon, generating 3.55 billion posts on Sina Weibo that praised its characters and story-line. As of December 2016, it has a total view of 13 billion views as reported by VLinkage.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: The drama was also one of the recipients of the Outstanding Television Drama Award at the Flying Apsaras Awards, the highest government honor given for outstanding achievement in the television industry. Kong Sheng also won the Outstanding Director Award for his work in "Nirvana in Fire". In 2016, SARFT recognized the series as one of the top 20 most outstanding dramas of the year. It was also nominated for the Magnolia Award for Best Television Series at the 22nd Shanghai Television Festival.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: Its sequel, "", aired from December 2017 to February 2018. In the end of 2020, Daylight Productions announced that a third season is currently in the works.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: In 6th-century China, there was a war between feudal Northern Wei and Southern Liang dynasties. The Liang commander general, Lin Xie, his 19-year-old son, Lin Shu, and the Chiyan Army defeated hostile Wei forces. However, when the Chiyan were weakened from the battle, they were massacred under the Emperor's orders. Unknown to the king, the Chiyan were framed by political rivals, who claimed that they were conspiring a rebellion with the then-crown prince, Prince Qi. As a result, Prince Qi and members of the Lin manor were also unjustly executed. Qi's mother, Consort Chen, and Lin Shu's mother, sister of the king, committed suicide.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: Lin Shu survived but was poisoned by the Poison of the Bitter Flame. To save his life, the master of Langya Hall, Lin Chen, gave him a treatment that ultimately led to Lin Shu's altered appearance and weakened state. For the next twelve years, he establishes the Jiang Zuo Alliance and becomes chief of the pugilist world as Mei Changsu. Lin Shu then returns to the capital during the fight for the throne between Prince Yu and Prince Xian. He uses this opportunity to restore his family's innocence as well as secretly help his best friend and cousin, the unfavored Prince Jing, become Emperor.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: Under the name Su Zhe, Lin Shu becomes a strategist, who supports Prince Yu on the surface. He helps him take down the Crown Prince and his powerful ally, Marquess Xie Yu. Secretly, he assists Prince Jing as he rises in power and favor. While also investigating Xie Yu, Lin Shu discovers new details in the Chiyan conspiracy. He realizes that Xia Jiang, head of the Xuan Jing Bureau, was the instigator who framed Prince Qi and the Chiyan Army so that Prince Qi could not dissolve the Xuan Jing Bureau when he becomes emperor.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: After the Crown Prince falls from grace, Prince Yu and his own strategist, Qin Banruo, become suspicious of Mei Changsu after they see Prince Jing's sudden rise in power. Although he is advised to stop advancing for the throne, Prince Yu forms an alliance with Xia Jiang, who agrees to help him to prevent the Chiyan case from being re-investigated under Prince Jing, for fear that the prince would uncover Xia's lies. Despite their plan to use the capture of Wei Zheng, former Lieutenant of Chiyan Army under Lin Shu, to create bad blood between Prince Jing and his father, the plan backfires, with Xia Jiang arrested and his Bureau seized and searched. Prince Yu's previous crimes are also revealed, causing him to be demoted and put under house arrest. Qin Banruo later persuades him to hold a rebellion while his father is away at the Spring Hunt with Prince Jing and Mei Changsu.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: Despite arriving with a more powerful army compared to the small number of soldiers stationed at the Hunt, Prince Yu fails. He later commits suicide in prison. Meanwhile, Xia Jiang escapes prison during the rebellion attempt and deduces that Mei Changsu is Lin Shu. He attempts to regain the Emperor's trust by uncovering Mei's identity and accusing Prince Jing of conspiring with the strategist as the reason for the prince's quick rise in power. Although the Emperor imprisons Xia Jiang again, he attempts to kill Mei Changsu to prevent further messes, but is stopped by Prince Jing.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: Together, Prince Jing and Mei Changsu plan for the reopening of the Chiyan case. At the Emperor's birthday celebration, the Prince has Grand Princess Liyang, the wife of Xie Yu, bring up the case in front of the emperor with evidence from Xie Yu's confession. Although angered by the sudden accusation of his mistakes, the Emperor is rendered powerless and finally agrees to reopen the case. After investigating, he pronounces Prince Qi, Lin Xie, Lin Shu, and the entire Chiyan army innocent.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: After accomplishing his mission, Mei Changsu hears news of Northern Wei forces taking advantage of the political unrest by invading Da Liang. He resolves to take up arms to drive off the Southern forces (Da Yu), as that is what Lin Shu would have done. Mei takes Lin Chen's medication, which gives himself strength for three months, so he can lead Liang forces to defeat the enemy. He ultimately does not return to the capital. Several years later, Prince Jing becomes the new Emperor. When Commander Meng Zhi requests for Emperor Jing to name the newly merged militia, he names it "Chang Lin" army, in honor of Lin Shu and Mei Chang Su.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: In April 2011, Shandong Television Media Group acquired the film adaption rights for the popular 2007 internet novel written by Hai Yan, "Lang Ya Bang", which has been called the "Chinese version of "The Count of Monte Cristo". Producer Hou Hongliang thought that the original novel conveyed the kind of emotion people are most attracted to, the characters' inner strength and revenge, and therefore decided to adapt the novel for television. The series' overall investment of the costume drama was more than one hundred million yuan, and the director and producer strived for majestic atmosphere with poetic, beautiful images.Director Kong Sheng and Hou Hongliang, who have been friends for 20 years, have worked together in "The Age of Iron", "Chuang Guandong", "All Quiet in Peking", and "The Line" and other television productions. The original author, Hai Yan, said that she had no intention to make "Lang Ya Bang" into a television series, but Shandong producers encouraged her to do so, while also offering her the role as the drama's screenwriter, despite the fact that she had no such experience. The writing of the script lasted from mid-October 2012 to April 2013. Hai Yan stated that the story "will certainly be changed in details, but the framework, the characters and the plot is set to no major changes..., we are most concerned about the preservation of the outcome of Mei Changsu. I think, according to my personal standards, 80% of the script is original." Hou Hongliang said in earlier interviews that the series "highlights justice, patriotism and brotherhood".


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: Although it was not intended for any historical backstory corresponding to a certain dynasty, for the sake of the costumes, props and set designs, "Nirvana in Fire" was set during the Northern and Southern dynasties. Hou Hongliang stated that "characters will be relatively free flowing, in line with ancient individuals that are typically imagined."


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: Notable members of production include Sun Molong and Li Gang as directors of photography, Meng Ke as head composer, Jiang Guangtuo in charge of the dubbing, Liu Jie as the stunt director, Wang Huo, Su Zhiyong and Shao Changyong as the artistic designers, Ru Mei Qi as the fashion designer, Kong Gezi in charge of visual effects, and Liu Lei in charge of sound recordings.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: The original Chinese title of the series means "The List from Langya", a list that gathers the most talented people of the fictional land in the story. The English title "Nirvana in Fire" was chosen to attract foreign viewers and reflects the main character Mei Changsu's suffering and his ultimate liberation "from an endless cycle of personal reincarnations".


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: It was announced in mid-December 2013 that Hu Ge, Victor Huang, Wang Kai and Chen Long would act as Mei Changsu, Prince Yu, Prince Jing and Meng Zhi in the drama. When the cast and crew were formally established, they officially started shooting on February 12, 2014 at Hengdian World Studios. The shooting was separated into three groups, shooting at Hengdian, Xiangshan Global Studios, western Zhejiang grasslands, Wuxi and others. Location shooting was finished in June 2014, and entered post-production.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: "When the Wind Blows (风起时)", sung by Hu Ge, is the main theme song of the drama, with "Faded Beauty (红颜旧)" and "Loyal Blood Forever Runs Red (赤血长殷)" acting as insert songs. The rest of the tracks are instrumental and performed by various artists. "When the Wind Blows" was composed by Meng Ke, with lyrics written by Hai Yan. "Faded Beauty" was composed by Zhao Jialin and written by Yuan Liang. "Loyal Blood Forever Runs Red" was composed by Yu Haihang and written by Qing Yan and Bing Feng.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: "Ask the Sky (问天)" by Alfred Hui (许廷铿) and "Can Bear More (可以背负更多)" by Jinny Ng (吳若希) served as "Nirvana in Fire"s Cantonese opening and ending songs during its TVB broadcast.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: The series garnered critical acclaim, with many positive reviews and discussions surfacing on the internet through Weibo. It topped viewership ratings in fifty cities in China and enjoyed high audience ratings in Taiwan (average: 1.6%, highest: 2.52%). The drama is also immensely popular overseas and has been translated to and dubbed in different languages. On CJ E&M's cable channel "China Television", the drama set a record of 1.8% (0.8% nationally) in the Seoul region.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: "People's Daily" praised the production's attention to historical detail, from clothing to etiquette, and highlighted it as one of the reasons audiences could buy the premise. "Week in China" wrote that "the theme of correcting the wrongs of an emperor and pursuing justice for a faithful few clearly resonates with the viewers – especially given the ongoing debates in modern China about issues like the rule of law." "The Straits Times" called it an "accomplished hybrid of historical and idol drama", saying that the story puzzles the viewers until the veil falls off around episode 50 when "the excitement of discovery wears off".


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: Douban gave the drama 9.3 out of 10 from more than 435,000 user reviews, with the series being dubbed as "China's "Game of Thrones"" due to its popularity. As of February 2021, the rating on Douban has since risen to 9.4 with 530,958 reviews. "Nirvana in Fire" was included in SARFT's 2016 statement "Introduction to Good Dramas", as an example of "natural presentation" of Chinese heritage, with its success as evidence for Chinese culture's "great potential" in costume TV series.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: On the other hand, the reception of the drama in Hong Kong was mixed, local TVB channel, which broadcast the series quite late, in May 2016, registered falling viewership ratings. Some viewers found it "boring" and "slow", while younger generations preferred to watch the episodes online, instead of waiting for the television broadcast, which can also explain the lower viewership ratings. Fans of the show were dissatisfied with the Cantonese dubbing, the changing of the opening and closing songs, as well as the station's decision to cut the series down to 47 episodes in total. Industry experts also theoretized that Hong Kong audience may have been unfamiliar with this style of drama, and the actors were not as well known to them, either.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: Certain scenic spots in China have also been changed to "Langya Ge" (Langya Hall) to attract tourists. Although Anhui, Jiangsu and Shandong province all claim to be where the drama is set, Hai Yan clarified that the setting was fictitious. Due to its popularity in Korea, "Tourbucket" launched a "Lang Ya Bang" tour of the drama's film location. Fans reportedly wore Mei Changsu's signature cloak during the tour. The publications for the web novel was highly anticipated, with the number of pre-orders reaching new highs. At the 2015 Big Data Index of Culture and Entertainment Industry Conference, the character, Mei Changsu, was named the year's "most talked-about television character (online)". The success of the adaption ushered in the original book's sales increase by more than 3,300 percent on Amazon.


title: Nirvana in Fire

text: The series is also available on streaming platform Viki.com, subtitled in English, Spanish, French, Romanian and Hungarian, among other languages.


title: Tomoe

text: , commonly translated as "comma", is a comma-like swirl symbol used in Japanese (roughly equivalent to a heraldic badge or charge in European heraldry). It closely resembles the usual form of a .


title: Tomoe

text: The appears in many designs with various uses. The simplest, most common patterns of the device contain from one to four , and are reminiscent of similar designs that have been found in wide distribution around the world. When circumscribed in a circle, it often appears in a set of three, with this design known as the .


title: Tomoe

text: The character 巴 (Chinese pronunciation "bā") has several meanings, ranging from a Sichuan toponym to a crust formed by dryness, parts of the body such as hands or cheeks, and, as a verb, bearing the sense of "to hope", "expect" or "be anxious over". The Chinese character used to depict, according to Bernhard Karlgren's interpretation of the small seal script graph, a python. The Japanese word itself may be of Mongolic origin, since it bears comparison with Middle Mongol "twisted horse headdress", from the verb (plait, twist), and Ordos Mongolian "t'omok" ('a little bag hung on a horse's head'). In this latter connection Tang ceramic figures of horses show small sacks tethered to the lower neck, perhaps to stop the horse from throwing its head back.


title: Tomoe

text: One view is that the word refers to a picture of a , or drawings on the latter, the in question, in archaic Japanese , being a round leather arm protector, like the bracer or gauntlet tab of European archery. Roy Andrew Miller describes it as "a small hollow sack or bulb of sewn leather with leather tie straps, sometimes embossed with a comma like decorative device () of continental origin". It was worn on the left elbow or wrist of an archer either to prevent chafing from the bowstring (: 弦) twanging back to position on the release of an arrow, or to strike fear into the enemy from the sharp sound caused by the bowstring hitting the wrist guard. The 'tomo picture' () can therefore be interpreted either as a visual pun on the tomo represented, or, otherwise, as taking its name from that object. Several such examples are conserved in Nara at the Shōsōin.


title: Tomoe

text: The origin of the design is uncertain. A pattern resembling the two-comma () has been found in ancient cultures on all inhabited continents. A stylized design on a Yangshao bowl dates back to 2,000 BCE. The motif of two encircling dolphins biting each other's tails has been found on Cretan ceramics dating from the Minoan period (1700-1400 BCE), and the two fish biting each other in circular fashion recurs in both Chinese and Central Mexican ware. It is frequently seen on prehistoric Celtic remains, and one mirror from Balmaclellan is almost identical to the . In China, the double comma form came to be assimilated to the Yin-Yang philosophy of opposing male/female principles, formalized in the design of the late Song Dynasty period. This in turn recurs in the seventh century in Unified Silla (now Korea), where it was known as taegeuk. and replicated in the Japanese and patterns, the former in association with divinatory rites, the latter frequently linked to temple drums with apotropaic functions. According to Jean Herbert in these contexts, the embodied three spirits, the yin-yang dyad being represented by an (rough kami) and a (gentle kami), while the third comma denoted the , or lucky spirit.


title: Tomoe

text: Neil Gordon Munro argued that the basis for the pattern, a motif found also among the Ainu, was the eastern European and western Asian figure of the triskelion, which he believed lay behind the Chinese three-legged crow design, and, in his view, its reflex in the mythical Japanese crow, the (八咫烏).


title: Tomoe

text: As a leather wrist protector appear to have been employed at least as early as the Kofun period, where they are frequently attested on haniwa terracotta figurines depicting archers, and may even have had, aside from their military function, a ritual or fetish value, perhaps related to their phallic shape.


title: Tomoe

text: The tomoe emblem established itself as a common emblem during the Fujiwara ascendency of the late Heian period, around the 10th-11th centuries, and proliferated through to Kamakura times. It is thought that a resemblance between the tomoe and the Emperor Ōjin found in the Nihongi may also account for its rising popularity among samurai, since Ōjin was apotheosized as a god in Hachiman shrines.


title: Tomoe

text: In the Nihongi account, when Ōjin was born, inspection of his body revealed a fleshy growth on his arm similar to a warrior's wrist or elbow pad, and for this reason he was called (誉田: lit.(Lord) Armguard) (OJ: ), an old word for a .


title: Tomoe

text: Fragmentary sources suggest that the First Shō dynasty, who founded the Ryukyu Kingdom, used the symbol if not as their family crest. American historian George H. Kerr claims that King Shō Toku adopted the mitsudomoe as the crest of the royal house after his successful invasion of Kikai Island in 1465. The Second Shō dynasty, who ruled the Ryukyu Kingdom from 1470 to 1879, adopted the mitsudomoe as its family crest. Since it was the royal family crest, its usage was once severely restricted. Okinawans who visited Japan shortly after the kingdom's annexation in 1879 were surprised that mitsudomoe banners were flown everywhere. During the American military occupation of Okinawa Prefecture, the United States Civil Administration of the Ryukyu Islands (USCAR) made a failed attempt to recreate a Ryukyuan national flag with a mitsudomoe, only to find that Okinawans were apathetic towards, or did not recognize, the former royal family's symbol. Today the symbol is still regarded as a symbol for Ryukyu and, to a lesser extent, Okinawa.


title: Tomoe

text: The is closely associated with Shinto shrines, in particular those dedicated to Hachiman, the god of war and archery. Hachiman in Shinto cosmology and ritual, as for example at Hakozaki Shrine, is repeatedly connected with the number three. In Shintoist thinking, this number is taken to represent the three aspects of the four mitama or 'souls' (the other, the being considered far rarer).


title: Tomoe

text: It is also commonly displayed on banners and lanterns used in festivals and rituals related to Amaterasu-ōmikami, who in the Kojiki confronts her brother Susanoo when he usurps her terrain on earth by dressing as an archer, adorned with magatama beads and 'an awesome high arm-guard' ().


title: Tomoe

text: A third element of its symbolic panorama concerns water, an association engendered by its swirling pattern. For this reason, it is said to be located on roofs and gables as a charm against fire.


title: Tomoe

text: Since Hachiman was worshipped as the guardian of warriors, it was adopted as a common design element in by various samurai clans such as the Nagao, Kobayakawa and Utsunomiya. Among aristocrats, the Saionji family used it as its family emblem. The Koyasan Shingon sect of Buddhism uses the mitsudomoe as a visual representation of the cycle of life.


title: Tomoe

text: Tomoe also is a personal name, dating at least back to Tomoe Gozen (巴御前), a famous female warrior celebrated in "The Tale of the Heike" account of the Genpei War. In Kyoto's Jidai Matsuri festival, she appears in the Heian period section of the procession in samurai costume, and parades as a symbol of feminine gallantry.


title: Tomoe

text: The two-fold is almost identical in its design elements to the Chinese symbol known as a taijitu, while the three-fold is very similar to the Korean tricolored taegeuk. Also note that the negative space in between the swirls of a fourfold forms a swastika-like shape, which is fairly prominent in many Indian religions such as Hinduism and Jainism and Buddhism. A similar design can also be found in the some forms of the Celtic spiral triskele as well as with the Basque lauburu and the Sicilian Trinacria.


title: Mornay sauce

text: A Mornay sauce is a béchamel sauce with shredded or grated cheese added. Some variations use different combinations of Gruyère, Emmental cheese, white cheddar or even Parmesan cheese. A Mornay sauce made with cheddar is commonly used to make macaroni and cheese.


title: Mornay sauce

text: The name origin of Mornay sauce is debated. It may be named after Philippe, duc de Mornay (1549–1623), Governor of Saumur and seigneur du Plessis-Marly, writer and diplomat, but a cheese sauce during this time would have to have been based on a velouté sauce because béchamel had not yet been developed.


title: Mornay sauce

text: "Sauce Mornay" does not appear in "Le cuisinier Royal", 10th edition, 1820, perhaps because "sauce Mornay" is not older than the seminal Parisian restaurant Le Grand Véfour, where "sauce Mornay" was introduced.


title: Mornay sauce

text: In the "Tout-Paris" of Charles X, the Mornay name was represented by two stylish men, the marquis de Mornay and his brother, styled comte Charles. They figure in Lady Blessington's memoir of a stay in Paris in 1828–29, "The Idler in France". They might also be considered, when an eponym is sought for "sauce Mornay".


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: Immunoglobulin A (Ig A, also referred to as sIgA in its secretory form) is an antibody that plays a role in the immune function of mucous membranes. The amount of IgA produced in association with mucosal membranes is greater than all other types of antibody combined. In absolute terms, between three and five grams are secreted into the intestinal lumen each day. This represents up to 15% of total immunoglobulins produced throughout the body.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: IgA has two subclasses (IgA1 and IgA2) and can be produced as a monomeric as well as a dimeric form. The IgA dimeric form is the most prevalent and is also called "secretory IgA" (sIgA). sIgA is the main immunoglobulin found in mucous secretions, including tears, saliva, sweat, colostrum and secretions from the genitourinary tract, gastrointestinal tract, prostate and respiratory epithelium. It is also found in small amounts in blood. The secretory component of sIgA protects the immunoglobulin from being degraded by proteolytic enzymes; thus, sIgA can survive in the harsh gastrointestinal tract environment and provide protection against microbes that multiply in body secretions. sIgA can also inhibit inflammatory effects of other immunoglobulins. IgA is a poor activator of the complement system, and opsonizes only weakly.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: IgA exists in two isotypes, IgA1 and IgA2. They are both heavily glycosylated proteins. While IgA1 predominates in serum (~80%), IgA2 percentages are higher in secretions than in serum (~35% in secretions); the ratio of IgA1 and IgA2 secreting cells varies in the different lymphoid tissues of the human body:


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: Both IgA1 and IgA2 have been found in external secretions like colostrum, maternal milk, tears and saliva, where IgA2 is more prominent than in the blood.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: It is also possible to distinguish forms of IgA based upon their location – serum IgA vs. secretory IgA.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: In secretory IgA, the form found in secretions, polymers of 2–4 IgA monomers are linked by two additional chains; as such, the molecular weight of slgA is 385,000D. One of these is the J chain (joining chain), which is a polypeptide of molecular mass 15kD, rich with cysteine and structurally completely different from other immunoglobulin chains. This chain is formed in the IgA-secreting cells.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: The oligomeric forms of IgA in the external (mucosal) secretions also contain a polypeptide of a much larger molecular mass (70 kD) called the secretory component that is produced by epithelial cells. This molecule originates from the poly-Ig receptor (130 kD) that is responsible for the uptake and transcellular transport of oligomeric (but not monomeric) IgA across the epithelial cells and into secretions such as tears, saliva, sweat and gut fluid.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: In the blood, IgA interacts with an Fc receptor called FcαRI (or CD89), which is expressed on immune effector cells, to initiate inflammatory reactions. Ligation of FcαRI by IgA containing immune complexes causes antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC), degranulation of eosinophils and basophils, phagocytosis by monocytes, macrophages, and neutrophils, and triggering of respiratory burst activity by polymorphonuclear leukocytes.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: The high prevalence of IgA in mucosal areas is a result of a cooperation between plasma cells that produce polymeric IgA (pIgA), and mucosal epithelial cells that express polymeric immunoglobulin receptor (pIgR). Polymeric IgA (mainly the secretory dimer) is produced by plasma cells in the lamina propria adjacent to mucosal surfaces. It binds to the pIgR on the basolateral surface of epithelial cells, and is taken up into the cell via endocytosis. The receptor-IgA complex passes through the cellular compartments before being secreted on the luminal surface of the epithelial cells, still attached to the receptor. Proteolysis of the receptor occurs, and the dimeric IgA molecule, along with a portion of the receptor known as the secretory component – known as sIgA, are free to diffuse throughout the lumen. In the gut, IgA can bind to the mucus layer covering the epithelial cells. In this way, a barrier capable of neutralizing threats before they reach the epithelial cells is formed.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: Production of sIgA against specific antigens depends on sampling of M cells and underlying dendritic cells, T cell activation, and B cell class switching in GALT, mesenteric lymph nodes, and isolated lymphoid follicles in the small intestine.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: sIgA primarily acts by blockading epithelial receptors (e.g. by binding their ligands on pathogens), by sterically hindering attachment to epithelial cells, and by immune exclusion. Immune exclusion is a process of agglutinating polyvalent antigens or pathogens by crosslinking them with antibody, trapping them in the mucus layer, and/or clearing them peristaltically. The oligosaccharide chains of the component of IgA can associate with the mucus layer that sits atop epithelial cells. Since sIgA is a poor opsonin and activator of complement, simply binding a pathogen isn't necessarily enough to contain it—specific epitopes may have to be bound to sterically hinder access to the epithelium.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: Clearance of IgA is mediated at least in part by asialoglycoprotein receptors, which recognizes galactose-terminating IgA N-glycans.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: Decreased or absent IgA due to an inherited inability to produce IgA is termed selective IgA deficiency and can produce a clinically significant immunodeficiency.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: Anti-IgA antibodies, sometimes present in individuals with low or absent IgA, can result in serious anaphylactic reactions when transfused with blood products that incidentally contain IgA. However, most persons with suspected IgA anaphylactic reactions had experienced acute generalized reactions that were from causes other than anti-IgA transfusion.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: "Neisseria" species including "Neisseria gonorrhoeae" (which causes gonorrhea), "Streptococcus pneumoniae", and "Haemophilus influenzae" type B all release a protease that destroys IgA. Additionally, "Blastocystis" species have been shown to have several subtypes that generate cysteine and aspartic protease enzymes which degrade human IgA.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: IgA nephropathy is caused by IgA deposits in the kidneys. It is not yet known why IgA deposits occur in this chronic disease. Some theories suggest an abnormality of the immune system results in these deposits.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: Celiac disease involves IgA pathology due to the presence of IgA antiendomysial antibodies. Additional testing has been conducted using IgA trans-glutaminase autoantibodies which has been identified as a specific and sensitive for the detection of celiac disease.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: Henoch–Schönlein purpura (HSP) is a systemic vasculitis caused by deposits of IgA and complement component 3 (C3) in small blood vessels. HSP occurs usually in small children and involves the skin and connective tissues, scrotum, joints, gastrointestinal tract and kidneys. It usually follows an upper respiratory infection and resolves within a couple weeks as the liver clears out the IgA aggregates.


title: Immunoglobulin A

text: Linear IgA bullous dermatosis and IgA pemphigus are two examples of IgA-mediated immunobullous diseases. IgA-mediated immunobullous diseases can often be difficult to treat even with usually effective medications such as rituximab.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: General elections were held in the Kingdom of Denmark on 5 June 2019 to elect all 179 members of the Folketing; 175 in Denmark proper, two in the Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. The elections took place ten days after the European Parliament elections.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: The elections resulted in a victory for the "red bloc", comprising parties that supported the Social Democrats' leader Mette Frederiksen as candidate for Prime Minister. The "red bloc", consisting of the Social Democrats, the Social Liberals, Socialist People's Party, the Red–Green Alliance, the Faroese Social Democratic Party and the Greenlandic Siumut, won 93 of the 179 seats, securing a parliamentary majority. Meanwhile, the incumbent governing coalition, consisting of Venstre, the Liberal Alliance and the Conservative People's Party whilst receiving parliamentary support from the Danish People's Party and Nunatta Qitornai, was reduced to 76 seats (including the Venstre-affiliated Union Party in the Faroe Islands).


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: On 6 June, incumbent Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen of the centre-right liberal Venstre party tendered his resignation, and Frederiksen was tasked with forming a new government. On 25 June, Frederiksen reached an agreement with the red bloc, and on 27 June she was appointed Prime Minister and her government, a single-party Social Democratic government, took office.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: At the 2015 general election, a narrow majority was won by the Danish People's Party, Venstre, Liberal Alliance and the Conservative People's Party, colloquially known as the "blue bloc". They won 90 seats in the Folketing versus 89 seats for the remaining parties, all belonging to the "red bloc". Ten days later, Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the leader of Venstre, became Prime Minister, when Venstre formed a single-party government supported by the remaining parties in the "blue bloc". In November 2016, Rasmussen formed a new government, now a coalition with Liberal Alliance, and the Conservative People's Party.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: Of the 179 members of the Folketing, 175 are elected in Denmark proper, two in Faroe Islands and two in Greenland. In Denmark there are ten multi-member constituencies containing a total of 135 seats directly elected by proportional representation, with seats allocated using a modified version of the Sainte-Laguë method and Hare quota. An additional 40 leveling seats are used to address any imbalance in the distribution of the constituency seats, and are distributed among all parties that cross the 2% election threshold, according to their national vote share.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: Voters could choose between casting a personal vote for a candidate, or voting for a political party. Most parties primarily choose a "side-by-side" option for choosing candidates, where the candidates with the most personal votes are appointed; however the Red–Green Alliance, as well as other parties in a small number of constituencies (storkredser) use a "party list" option, where the prioritized candidates are predetermined, with a candidate only being able to skip to the front of the list if they receive a substantial fraction (Droop quota) of the party's personal votes in the constituency.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: According to the Danish Constitution, the 2019 election was required to be held no later than 17 June 2019, as the previous elections were held on 18 June 2015. The Prime Minister is able to call the election at any date, provided that date is no later than four years from the previous election, and this is cited as a tactical advantage for the sitting government.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: For a new party to become eligible to participate in the election, they must be supported by a number of voters corresponding to 1/175 of all valid votes cast in the previous election. A new party registering to contest the 2019 elections required 20,109 voter declarations to participate.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: All nine parties that held seats in the Folketing contested the elections. Four other parties also gained ballot access: three new parties on the right and the Christian Democrats, who lost representation in the 2005 election. In October 2016, The New Right, a new right-wing party, became eligible to run in the election, and a year later, in October 2017, the Christian Democrats did likewise. The latter had participated in every election from 1971 to 2005.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: In February 2019, the party Klaus Riskær Pedersen, named after its founder, collected the necessary voter declarations and became eligible too, despite, breaking the rules for collection of declarations. Riskær Pedersen found a way to circumvent a 7-day "thinking period" between a voter noting their support for a party and then confirming their signature in the online collection system. Even though the rules did not allow this, they contained no possibility of sanctions. Following this, all political parties in the Folketing agreed to close the loophole and build a new portal for declarations, expected to be available in the end 2020.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: In April 2019, following unrest at Nørrebro caused by demonstrations by anti-Islamist politician Rasmus Paludan, his party Hard Line managed to collect the required signatures. Paludan and his party have been surrounded with controversy, with demonstrations containing activities like throwing the Quran around, burning the Quran and harassing Muslims. In April 2019, Paludan was sentenced for violating a paragraph in the Danish Penal Code colloquially known as the "racism paragraph". He had also circumvented the "thinking period" in the same manner as Riskær Pedersen.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: All parties represented in the Løgting were eligible to contest the elections, although the Centre Party decided not to participate.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: All parties represented in the Parliament of Greenland were eligible to participate in the elections. In the previous elections, Aleqa Hammond won a seat as a Siumut candidate, but was expelled from the party in August 2016 following a case about misuse of funds from the Folketing. In April 2018, she joined Nunatta Qitornai.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: In October 2017, The New Right, a new right-wing political party that became eligible to run in October 2016, listed three demands for a candidate for Prime Minister to receive their support. All three demands were tightenings of the immigration policy.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: On 4 June 2018, the Social Democrats, the largest opposition party, stated that if they were to win the election, they wished to form a single-party government led by their leader Mette Frederiksen, i.e. not as a coalition government with the Social Liberal Party. This was done in order to both pursue traditional centre-left issues, and to have a strict immigration policy. Morten Østergaard, the leader of the Social Liberal Party, responded by saying that if the Social Democrats wanted their support, they would also need to give them concessions. The message was welcomed by the anti-immigration Danish People's Party, which supported the centre-right party Venstre in the election. Their leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl, said that this would ensure that they could get through with their immigration policy, no matter which party won the election.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: On 26 June 2018, The Alternative, which traditionally is regarded as belonging to the "red bloc", stated that they no longer would support Mette Frederiksen as candidate to become Prime Minister. Instead, they would support their own political leader, Uffe Elbæk, as a way to "pull their seats from the equation" after the election. This was done because they did not regard the other parties' ambitions concerning climate change to be sufficient. The move was met with criticism, as Elbæk's chances are very slim, and it could risk keeping Lars Løkke Rasmussen as Prime Minister.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: The election campaign started on 7 May 2019, when Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced that the election would be held on 5 June, which is Constitution Day. At the time of announcement, Mette Frederiksen, leader of the Social Democrats and contender to the office of Prime Minister, was sick and unable to participate in the televised debates between all party leaders held on the same evening. Instead, former minister Nicolai Wammen represented the Social Democrats in the debates. Frederiksen started campaigning on 10 May.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: Shortly before the election was called, Hard Line, a new far-right party which wants to ban Islam, became eligible to participate in the election. In the beginning of the campaign, much attention was given to the party, and especially their leader Rasmus Paludan. Both Løkke Rasmussen and Frederiksen said that they would not base a government on their potential seats, and other party leaders rejected to cooperate with the party, should they gain seats. While Venstre, Liberal Alliance and the Conservatives said that Hard Line should not be considered as part of the "blue bloc" when committee seats are distributed, the Danish People's Party were open to that possibility. On 8 May, when Paludan was guest in a TV-show, he called Mimi Jakobsen, a former politician, a "Nazi pig", shortly after she had said that Paludan's thoughts were "close to Nazi a mindset". Jakobsen threatened to sue, but ultimately decided not to. On 9 May media revealed that Paludan had been given a restraining order due to stalking, with more details following a week later. From 2010 to 2013 he had been stalking a 24-year-old man he met while studying Latin, and in 2015 he was sentenced a fine for offending a police officer who handled the case. Paludan declined to comment, saying it regarded his private life.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: On 13 May the Christian Democrats announced that their leader Stig Grenov would take a leave of absence due to stress, and that deputy chairman Isabella Arendt would become acting chairman. On the first evening of the campaign, Grenov had participated in a televised debate on DR1 and was supposed to participate in another debate at TV 2, but became ill and was replaced by Arendt. She was hailed by her performance in that debate, dubbed the "substitute from heaven". Following the change in chairman, media speculated if the change was a tactical move, as Arendt was perceived to have a broader appeal than Grenov, and as a young woman could improve the party's image, but both Grenov and Arendt denied that tactics played a role in the decision. On 28 May, Grenov announced that he would step down as chairman at the party's October conference, and supported Arendt as new chairman.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: On 16 May, Løkke Rasmussen published a book, in which he was open to a possible coalition government between the Social Democratic Party and Venstre (). He said that he offered to be the "grown up", as a coalition across the political middle would be better than a government depending on the outermost political wings, but stressed that he and Venstre still campaigned for a centre-right government. The announcement was remarkable and regarded as a gamble; Løkke Rasmussen himself called it a "game changer". Prominent figures in Venstre, among those deputy chairman and Minister of Finance Kristian Jensen and Minister for Immigration Inger Støjberg, were deeply critical of the idea, while others supported the idea. Denmark had an SV government between 1978 and 1979, Ministeriet Anker Jørgensen III. That government, which was led by Prime Minister Anker Jørgensen of the Social Democrats, was widely regarded as a fiasco.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: The idea of an SV-government were immediately rejected by Frederiksen, who said that the political differences are too big, and reiterated that the Social Democrats wished to form a single-party government after the election. Among the parties in the sitting government, Søren Pape Poulsen, leader of the Conservative, said that they could not support an SV-government, and Anders Samuelsen, leader of the Liberal Alliance, said that he was worried about the turn that the election campaign had taken, and offered free membership of Liberal Alliance for all members of Venstre. On the other hand, the Social Liberals and the Danish People's Party welcomed the announcement, while the Red–Green Alliance refused to support such a government. Pia Kjærsgaard, speaker of the Folketing and former leader of the Danish People's Party, called for a majority government between Venstre, the Social Democrats, and the Danish People's Party, as an SV-government would be unstable and could give the Social Liberals too much influence on the immigration policy.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: On 4 June, the day before the election, Løkke Rasmussen gave up on his plans to form a centre-right government, saying it was no longer "realistic". He instead made it his first priority to create a government across the political middle, in order to keep the right- and left wing away from power. He did not state which parties should be in such a government. The announcement was met with stark opposition from his coalition partners. Pape Poulsen rejected taking part in such a government, questioning what the political foundation should be while Samuelsen said that Løkke Rasmussen had "let down" the civic-liberal Denmark. Kristian Thulesen Dahl, leader of the Danish People's Party, said that it was paramount to them to take part in such a cooperation, so the Social Liberals and The Alternative did not influence it. He demanded that Løkke Rasmussen choose between the Social Liberals and the Danish People's Party. Frederiksen once again rejected the idea and said that "voters must be confused" as Løkke proposed three different governments during the election campaign. Morten Østergaard, leader of the Social Liberals, said that he would be supporting Frederiksen as Prime Minister, and that he could not support Løkke Rasmussen. The day prior, the Social Liberals' vice chairman, Martin Lidegaard, had said that a government with both Venstre, the Social Democrats and the Social Liberals would be the "dream scenario".


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: Overall the election was a win for the "red bloc" – the parties that supported Mette Frederiksen, leader of the Social Democrats, as Prime Minister. In total, the Social Democrats, the Social Liberals, Socialist People's Party and the Red–Green Alliance won 91 seats. Green party The Alternative chose to go into opposition as a "green bloc".


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: The Social Democrats defended their position as the largest party, and won an additional seat despite a slightly reduced voter share. They were closely followed by Venstre, who saw the largest gains in seats, picking up an extra nine. In the "blue bloc", only Venstre and the Conservative People's Party saw gains, the latter doubling their seats. The Danish People's Party's vote share fell by 12.4 percentage points (pp), well over half of their support. Leader Kristian Thulesen Dahl speculated that the bad result was due to an extraordinary good election in 2015, and that some voters felt they could "gain [their] policy elsewhere". The Liberal Alliance saw their vote share fall by over two-thirds and became the smallest party in the Folketing, only 0.3pp above the 2% election threshold. Their leader Anders Samuelsen was not reelected and he subsequently resigned as leader, succeeded by Alex Vanopslagh.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: Of the new parties, only the New Right won seats, with Hard Line, the Christian Democrats and Klaus Riskær Pedersen failing to cross the national 2% threshold, although the Christian Democrats were within 200 votes of winning a direct seat in the western Jutland constituency. On election night, Klaus Riskær Pedersen announced that he would dissolve his party.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: In the Faroe Islands, Republic (which had finished first in the 2015 elections) dropped to fourth place and lost their seat. The Union Party replaced them as the first party while the Social Democratic Party finished in second place again, retaining their seat.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: In Greenland, the result was a repeat of the 2015 elections, with Inuit Ataqatigiit and Siumut winning the two seats. Siumut regained parliamentary representation after their previous MP, Aleqa Hammond, was expelled from the party in 2016. Hammond later joined Nunatta Qitornai, which finished fourth and failed to win a seat.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: The following is the number of constituency seats for each party with each asterix (*) indicating one of the seats won was a levelling seat.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: On election night, Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen announced that his government would resign the following day. Following consultations with the political parties known as a "Queen's round" (Danish: "Dronningerunde"), Queen Margrethe II tasked Mette Frederiksen with forming a new government. At the Queen's round, the Social Liberals, the Socialist People's Party and the Red–Green Alliance supported the Social Democratic leader. Government negotiations started on 7 June.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: On 19 June, the Social Democrats, the Socialist People's Party and the Red–Green Alliance announced an agreement on global warming, committing to reduce Denmark's emission of CO by 70% in 2030. The Social Liberals decided to stay away from the meeting, as they were dissatisfied that parts were agreed before the negotiations was complete.


title: 2019 Danish general election

text: On 25 June, the four parties announced that they had reached an agreement, allowing Frederiksen to become Prime Minister as leader of a single-party Social Democratic government. Completed 20 days after the general election, the negotiations were the longest since 1988. Frederiksen decided not to formulate a government basis white paper, as is otherwise tradition, saying that it was sufficient with the 18-page "political understanding" she had agreed with her parliamentary support. On 27 June, the new cabinet was announced and took office the same day. The average age of ministers were 41.8 years, and Frederiksen herself became the youngest person to hold the office of Prime Minister.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: Mouna Ragam (; ) is a 1986 Indian Tamil-language romantic drama film written and directed by Mani Ratnam, and produced by G. Venkateswaran. The film stars Mohan and Revathi, with Karthik (guest appearance), V. K. Ramasamy, Ra. Sankaran, Bhaskar, Kanchana, Vani, Kalaiselvi and Sonia in supporting roles. It narrates the life of Divya (Revathi), a free-spirited college girl who is forced into an arranged marriage with Chandrakumar (Mohan) by her father (Sankaran). Divya, secretly mourning her former lover Manohar (Karthik) who was shot dead, did not want to be married. The story follows Divya's inner conflict between holding onto her past and coming to terms with the present and making a life with Chandrakumar.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: The film's development began when Ratnam began writing a short story tiled "Divya" with no cinematic plans until he finished it. Since production on his directorial debut "Pallavi Anu Pallavi" (1983) was delayed, he took a break for a month and developed "Divya" into a film script, which would eventually be renamed "Mouna Ragam". Although Ratnam began work on the script during "Pallavi Anu Pallavi", it languished in development hell and ended up becoming his fifth film. "Mouna Ragam" was the first film produced by Venkateswaran's Sujatha Films, and was shot primarily in Madras, with additional filming taking place in Delhi and Agra. The music was composed by Ilaiyaraaja, with lyrics by Vaali. P. C. Sreeram was the cinematographer, and the art director was Thota Tharani. The film was edited by B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: "Mouna Ragam" was released on 15 August 1986, India's Independence Day. Despite opening to modest audiences, it became a box-office success, with a theatrical run of over 175 days, and Mani Ratnam's breakthrough. The film received critical acclaim; it won the National Film Award for Best Feature Film in Tamil, and Ratnam received the Filmfare and Cinema Express Awards for Best Director in Tamil. "Mouna Ragam" also became a breakthrough in Karthik's career despite his role being a cameo. The film introduced techniques such as soft-focus shots, flare filters and backlighting, which became popular in Tamil cinema. It was remade in Hindi in 1992 as "Kasak", and in Kannada in 1999 as "Chandrodaya".


title: Mouna Ragam

text: Divya is a free-spirited college student from a conservative family in Madras. Her father Chandramouli has arranged for her marriage and tells Divya to come home early from college to meet Chandrakumar, the groom. Unwilling to get married, and hoping Chandrakumar will reject her, she deliberately arrives home late, only to find him patiently waiting for her. She talks arrogantly to Chandrakumar to make him dislike her but, undeterred, he says that he likes her and agrees to the marriage. Divya initially refuses, but when her father has a heart attack her mother begs her to accept the proposal to aid his recovery. Succumbing to the pressure, Divya marries Chandrakumar, but they do not consummate their marriage.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: Chandrakumar takes Divya to his house in Delhi, but she cannot accept him as her husband. When he asks her what she would like as a wedding gift, she says she wants a divorce, which shocks Chandrakumar. Some time later, Divya tells Chandrakumar about when she was in love with Manohar, whom she met as a college student. Manohar and his gang rob a politician's son. Divya reports Manohar to the police, and he is arrested. She later learns that the politician's son had run over a girl with his car, and Manohar stole the money to pay for the girl's medical treatment. Feeling guilty, Divya bails him out.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: Manohar falls in love with Divya, and tries to win her love; although she initially rejects him, she eventually returns his feelings. Manohar is a member of a revolutionary group who plan to hold an illegal rally. Divya does not approve, and asks him not to attend; he agrees if she will marry him. On their wedding day, Manohar is falsely accused of participating in the rally and arrested. He escapes, and runs to the marriage registrar's office where Divya is waiting for him. A policeman accidentally shoots Manohar, and he dies in front of Divya.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: Chandrakumar does not care about Divya's past as he wants to build a future with her. He tells Divya to either sign the divorce papers he has just obtained, or accept the anklets he bought as his wedding gift to her; Divya chooses divorce. They consult a lawyer who tells them that according to the law, since they are newly married they must wait one year to file for divorce. The couple are forced to live together for a year.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: Having told Chandrakumar about her past and the reason why she was unable to accept her marriage, Divya finds herself finally free from her mental baggage and depressed state. She begins to appreciate her situation and make the most of it. Conversely, Chandrakumar is wary of her as he fears what would happen at the end of the year when their divorce would be approved. Troubled, he distances himself from her and rejects her every move. At the same time, he slowly begins falling in love with her while denying his feelings to himself.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: Chandrakumar is attacked by his company's labourers because he had suspended their union leader. Divya brings him to a nearby hospital, where he survives after receiving treatment. After he is discharged from the hospital, Divya takes care of him and realises that she has fallen in love with him. She tries to show it by wearing the anklets which are Chandrakumar's wedding gift to her. But before she could do this, Chandrakumar asks her to return to Madras and books her trip, thinking she was simply being immature as she was trying to surprise him by the sound of her feet.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: After Divya arrives alone at the railway station, she runs into Chandrakumar, who gives her the divorce papers that she had requested, saying they have been approved. Divya breaks down, telling Chandrakumar that she loves him and would wait indefinitely for him to reciprocate, and tears the divorce papers. A pleasantly surprised Chandrakumar catches up with the train which Divya is in, stops it and takes Divya home.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: When the last filming schedule for Mani Ratnam's directorial debut, the Kannada film "Pallavi Anu Pallavi" (1983) was delayed inordinately, he began work on his next script "Divya"—which eventually became "Mouna Ragam", his fifth film. "Divya" was originally a short story about a couple's wedding night that Ratnam did not plan to film, but after writing the story he realised it had cinematic possibilities. Ratnam took a break for a month from "Pallavi Anu Pallavi" due to its delays, and wrote the script for "Divya". For the first time, he was able to write in his native language Tamil, unlike "Pallavi Anu Pallavi" where he wrote the script in English and had it translated into Kannada. The new title "Mouna Ragam" was derived from the song "Naan Paadum Mouna Ragam", from Ratnam's fourth film, "Idaya Kovil" (1985). He considered "Mouna Ragam" the second film after "Pallavi Anu Pallavi" to be made exactly as he wanted, in contrast to "Idaya Kovil" where there was interference.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: Ratnam initially read the script of "Mouna Ragam" when it was titled "Divya" to producer N. G. John, but the latter wanted a political film, which eventually became the Malayalam film "Unaroo" (1984), also directed by Ratnam. He then pitched "Divya" to G. Thyagarajan of Sathya Jyothi Films, but Thyagarajan wanted an action film, and Ratnam made "Pagal Nilavu" (1985) with him. Kovaithambi of Motherland Pictures too rejected "Divya", and Ratnam instead made "Idaya Kovil" with them. The film was eventually picked up by Ratnam's brother, G. Venkateswaran, under his Sujatha Films banner, ending its five-year development hell. It was the company's first film production; until then, it was only distributing and financing films. "Mouna Ragam" was also Ratnam's first collaboration with cinematographer P. C. Sreeram. The film was edited by B. Lenin and V. T. Vijayan, with art direction by Thota Tharani.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: Ratnam cast Mohan as Chandrakumar and Revathi as Divya, after casting both of them in "Idaya Kovil" and "Pagal Nilavu", respectively. He initially had "someone like Anant Nag and Supriya Pathak" in mind when he finished writing "Divya". Between finishing the story and making the film, he decided to include Revathi, whose performance in "Mann Vasanai" (1983) impressed him. Nadhiya claims she was also considered for the role, but declined due to prior commitments. Ratnam decided to cast Kanchana in the minor role of the lawyer since he believed "a certain amount of star quality helps" when the character has little screen time but is crucial to the plot. Prabhu Deva, who became a successful dance choreographer, made his acting debut in the film as a boy playing the flute in the song "Panivizhum Iravu", and John Babu, who also became a dance choreographer, appears as the main dancer in the song.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: According to Ratnam, the only difference between "Divya" and "Mouna Ragam" was the inclusion of Karthik's character Manohar, which was not part of the earlier screenplay. "Divya" did not explore the girl's past; it only dealt with how she settles into an arranged marriage. Ratnam realised that the story needed to satisfy a wider audience, and decided to give them something that would make them accept the character without questioning Divya's actions, then the film could depict the arranged marriage – two strangers suddenly thrown together – and how they adjust. He originally resisted this, but reconsidered because it provided a clear rationale for Divya's resistance to the arranged marriage. Karthik said he was a last-minute addition to the cast, and described his role as a cameo.


title: Mouna Ragam

text: Principal photography began at P. C. Sreeram's house in Alwarpet, Madras. The film's introductory credits feature photographs of Revathi from her childhood through her teenage years; her mother gave Thota Tharani the pictures. Although the film was primarily set indoors in Delhi, Ratnam and Sreeram wanted the indoor scenes to look as lively as those shot outdoors. Since the cast was relatively small, Ratnam did not want it to resemble a play and used backlighting for the interior scenes. Tharani found a house in the residential area of Kilpauk which admitted a great deal of sunlight, making it similar to houses in Delhi. To reduce production costs, food for the film's crew was cooked at Venkateswaran's home.