Plot summary.

"Xena: Warrior Princess" is set primarily in a fantasy version of ancient Greece (sometimes alluding to Roman Greece) and was filmed in New Zealand. Some filming locations are confidential, but many scenes were recorded in places such as the Waitākere Ranges Regional Park, part of the Auckland Regional parks often credited at the end of the episodes.  The Ancient Greece depicted in the show is largely derived from historical locations and customs, modifying known places and events – battles, trading routes, towns, and so on – to generate an attractive fictional world. The settlements are presented as a mixture of walled villages and rural hamlets set in a lush green, mountainous landscape. They are often seen under attack from warlords, and travelling between them involves frequent encounters with small bands of outlaws. All of the main towns are named after historic towns of Ancient Greece, and exhibit some of their essential characteristics – Amphipolis (birthplace of Xena), Potidaea (birthplace of ), Athens (birthplace of Joxer), Corinth, Delphi, and Cirra (birthplace of Callisto) which was burnt to the ground by Xena's army.  As the show progressed, however, events took place throughout more modern times and places, from Cleopatra's Alexandria to Julius Caesar's Rome. The mythology of the show transitioned from that of the Olympian Gods to include Judeo-Christian elements. Eastern religions were touched on as well, with little regard to accurate time-and-place concerns. One episode, "The Way", which loosely interpreted elements of Hinduism as major plot points, generated controversy, requiring the producers to add a disclaimer at the head of the episode and a tag explaining the episode's intentions at its end.  Mythological and supernatural locations are presented as equally real, physical places, often accessed through physical portals hidden in the landscape such as lakes and caves. They include the Elysian Fields, Tartarus, the River Styx, Valhalla, Heaven and Hell. The inhabitants of such places – gods, mythological beings and forces – are for the most part manifested as human characters who can move at will between their domains and the real world., the Greek God of War, for instance, is an egotistical man who wears studded black leather, and, Goddess of Love, is a California valley girl who uses typical valley girl slang and dresses in flowing, translucent pink gowns.

Production.

Series format.

"Xena" is a historical fantasy set primarily in ancient Greece, although the setting is flexible in both time and location and occasionally features Egyptian, Indian, Chinese, Central Asian, and Medieval European elements. The flexible fantasy framework of the show accommodates a considerable range of theatrical styles, from high melodrama to slapstick comedy, from whimsical and musical to all-out action and adventure. While the show is typically set in ancient times, its themes are essentially modern and it investigates the ideas of taking responsibility for past misdeeds, the value of human life, personal liberty and sacrifice, and friendship. The show often addresses ethical dilemmas, such as the morality of pacifism; however, the storylines rarely seek to provide unequivocal solutions.  "Xena" freely borrows names and themes from various mythologies around the world, primarily the Greek, anachronistically adapting them to suit the demands of the storyline. Historical figures and events from a number of different historical eras and myths make numerous appearances, and the main characters are often credited with resolving important historical situations. These include an encounter with Homer before he was famous, in which Gabrielle encourages his storytelling aspirations; the fall of Troy; and the capture of Caesar by pirates, with Xena cast as the pirate leader.  Competing religions are treated as compatible and co-existent in a henotheistic world, allowing the Greek Pantheon to live side by side with the Norse Gods, Indian Deities, the "God of Love" and others. Each god, or set of gods, controls a different part of the world, and (in the show) survives only while people believe in it. In seasons four and five, the Greek people gradually transfer their faith from the Greek Gods to the "God of Love" over a period of about 25 years, and as their power fades, the Greek Gods are almost all killed off in a climactic battle.  This quirky mix of timelines and the amalgamation of historical and mythological elements fueled the rise of the show to cult status during the 1990s and early 2000s (decade). It was one of the first shows to tap into its Internet following, allowing fans from all over the world to discuss and suggest things related to the show. The "Xena" fandom is still an active community today.

Casting.

"Xena: Warrior Princess" starred Lucy Lawless as Xena and Renee O'Connor as. The first choice for Xena was the British actress Vanessa Angel, but an illness prevented her from travelling, and the role was offered to four other actresses before the relatively unknown Lawless. Sunny Doench was cast as Gabrielle, but she did not want to leave her boyfriend in the United States, so O'Connor, who had appeared in "Hercules" in another role, was chosen.  The show features a wide assortment of recurring characters, many of them portrayed by New Zealand actors. Ted Raimi became a core member of the cast from the second season as Joxer. Actor Kevin Tod Smith played popular character Ares, God of War, and Alexandra Tydings played his counterpart Aphrodite, Goddess of Love. Marton Csokas portrayed both Borias and Krafstar. Other notables included Karl Urban in a variety of roles such as Cupid and Caesar, Hudson Leick as Xena's nemesis Callisto (Leick also played a body-switched Xena in the episode "Intimate Stranger"), Claire Stansfield as the evil shamaness Alti; and a number of trusted friends – Jennifer Sky as feisty sidekick Amarice, Danielle Cormack as Amazon regent Ephiny, Bruce Campbell as Autolycus King of Thieves, Robert Trebor as dodgy entrepreneur Salmoneus, William Gregory Lee as the warrior-poet Virgil and Tim Omundson as the spiritual healer Eli.

Theme music.

Composer Joseph LoDuca wrote the theme music and incidental music, and co-wrote the lyrics for the songs in "The Bitter Suite." The theme music was developed from the traditional Bulgarian folk song ""Kaval sviri,"" sung by the Bulgarian State Television Female Vocal Choir. The original "Kaval sviri" can be heard where Xena races into battle in the "" episode "Unchained Heart."  The musical score of "Xena: Warrior Princess" was critically well received and garnered seven Emmy nominations for LoDuca, who won the Emmy award for Outstanding Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore) for the Season 5 episode "" in 2000. Most of the series' music was made available on six soundtrack albums. Two of these albums contain the soundtracks from the musical episodes "The Bitter Suite" (Season 3) and "Lyre, Lyre, Hearts on Fire" (Season 5).

Characters.

Main.

The series follows Xena and her traveling companion Gabrielle. Xena is on a quest to redeem herself for her dark past by using her formidable fighting skills to help people. In "Hercules", during her two first episodes, Xena was a villain and a powerful warlord, but in her third appearance she joins Hercules to defeat the warlord Darphus, who had taken her army. During her own series, Xena spends almost every episode on a different mission, always trying to do the right thing, fighting for what she refers to as the "greater good". Xena's trademark weapon is a Chakram, and she also uses a sword. Xena also has to fight her own past; she has never forgiven herself for her crimes, and often has to resist the temptation to return to her evil ways, but she always resists with the help of Gabrielle. Gabrielle is Xena's best friend, soulmate and also her greatest ally. She is introduced in the first episode, first as a big fan of Xena and her history, but soon becomes a notable character in her own right. As the show progresses she undergoes significant changes in costume and style, evolving from a simple farm girl to a talented bard, and eventually to a formidable warrior. She is initiated into a tribe of Amazons, learns to fight with a staff, and is trained by Xena. In the first season, Xena and Gabrielle meet Joxer, a comic man who styles himself "Joxer the Magnificent", and later "Joxer the Mighty." Joxer's goal is to fight for justice, but unfortunately with no physical know-how of his own, he remains the show's main comic relief. Eventually, he becomes a close friend to Xena and Gabrielle.

Others.

In the first season, Xena and Gabrielle meet two of their biggest enemies: Callisto (Hudson Leick), a vengeful warrior woman, and Ares (Kevin Tod Smith), the Greek God of War. Callisto is Xena's arch-enemy and a major antagonist over the course of the series. When Callisto was a child, her home village of Cirra was burned nearly to the ground by Xena, killing her family. She was left traumatized by the attack and eventually went insane, becoming obsessed with exacting revenge on Xena. She displays a bizarre brand of sadistic, gleeful, shrieking cruelty towards Xena and her associates. Hercules himself reappears alongside Iolaus - who becomes interested in Gabrielle - when Xena seeks to free Prometheus from Hera.  Ares - suave, charming, witty, yet ruthless and amoral - often represents, especially in the early seasons, the seductive power of war and the dark side. He repeatedly attempts to lure Xena away from her quest for redemption, and tries to win her over as his Warrior Queen. He offers her huge armies and historic victories, great wealth and great power, and in later seasons his love, offers which she consistently rejects despite sometimes being tempted. Much of his relationship with Xena remains, including whether he is at least partly redeemed by his love for Xena, and to what extent Xena reciprocates his feelings. He says several times that he "has a thing" for Xena, and he pursues her sexually and romantically. This seems to prevent him killing her, even when pitted against her in deadly combat. Likewise, it is suggested that Xena has strong feelings for Ares, but during the series she is never seen to act on them.  Other major antagonists of the show include Caesar and Alti, a Roman official and shamaness respectively. Caesar's first appearance was in the second-season episode "Destiny." He is introduced as a young Roman patrician brimming with arrogance - so much so, that when he is captured by Xena and her pirates he is not afraid. When threatened by Xena he tells her """I know what I'm fated to do with my life.""" He pretends to let Xena seduce him, when in reality she is the one being seduced. This ultimately leads to her capture and crucifixion at his hands, and he orders his men to break her legs - an extremely painful memory which is often revisited during the series. Caesar's betrayal fills her with rage, and is the catalyst for her transition from pirate to warlord.  Alti is an evil shamaness from the Northern Amazon tribes of Siberia, who had been driven out of her tribe because of her hunger for power. She is one of the most influential people encountered by Xena in her dark days, and possesses a wealth of spiritual powers, including travelling to the spiritual realm. Alti is probably best known for her trademark "stare," which brings up pain and suffering from the target's life and unleashes the torment once again (in the form of both pain and physical symptoms). When she "stares" at Xena, Xena often feels the pain of her legs being broken, her back being snapped, and a crippling barrage of attacks from her worst enemies. As Alti grows in power during the series, she can also conjure up pain and suffering from a person's future, and from their future lives. This power backfires early in Season 4, when she shows Xena a vision from her future, of her and Gabrielle being crucified on Mount Amarro. Xena realizes that Gabrielle must still be alive, and this gives her the strength to defeat Alti.  Over the course of the series, viewers were also introduced to family members of both Xena and Gabrielle, but most notably featured their children. Xena gave her first child, a son named Solan, to a group of centaurs after the death of his father, Borias, who was killed in combat against a warrior in Xena's employ. Solan never knew that Xena was his mother, however knowing Xena for a long time. While aiding Xena and Boudica to defend Britannia against Caesar, comes into contact with an evil cult that tricks her into killing one of its priestesses, Meridian. Using her, the dark god impregnates Gabrielle just as Xena rescues her. Over the next few days the child grows inside Gabrielle, and she eventually (and quite dramatically) gives birth to a girl, naming her Hope. Even though she is the seed of an evil deity, Gabrielle tells Xena that she is also a part of her and that there must be some good in her as well. Being the daughter of Dahak, she quickly developed supernatural powers, and kills within hours of being born, proving to Xena that there was no chance of saving her. Hope aged amazingly fast, and, mere months after being drifted down a river by her mother, she appeared to be about 9 years old. Despite Gabrielle's hopes that she would "be good", Hope killed Xena's son Solan before being poisoned by Gabrielle herself.  During the episode "", at the end of season 4, Xena and Gabrielle were crucified by the Romans, as Caesar is betrayed and killed by Brutus. They are later revived by a mystic named Eli with the spiritual aid of Callisto, who by that time had become an angel; Callisto also engineers a plan to have Xena conceive a daughter after the resurrection, and this child is prophesied to bring about the Twilight of the Olympian gods; this girl was named Eve. To escape the gods' persecution, Xena and Gabrielle fake their deaths, but their plan goes awry when Ares buries them in an ice cave where they sleep for 25 years; during that time, Eve is adopted by the Roman nobleman Octavius and grows up to become Livia, the Champion of Rome, and a ruthless persecutor of Eli's followers. After her return, Xena is able to turn Livia to repentance, and Livia takes back the name Eve and becomes the Messenger of Eli. After Eve's cleansing by baptism, Xena is granted the power to kill gods as long as her daughter lives. In a final confrontation, the Twilight comes to pass when Xena kills most of the gods on Olympus to save her daughter, and is herself saved by Ares when he gives up his immortality to heal the badly injured and dying Eve and Gabrielle.

Geography.

The vast majority of locations in the series are fictional. However, a few locations in the plot are centered on real towns of Ancient Greece, including:

Amphipolis.

Xena – the main character of the show – was born in the city of Amphipolis in northern Greece. Xena and her comrade in arms, Gabrielle, made frequent trips there over the course of the series and it was referenced often. Xena described Amphipolis as "full of life", although several times it was full of death: for instance, the city became a breeding ground for demons after Xena and Gabrielle returned from their twenty-five year sleep. Mephistopheles, the King of Hell, had captured the soul of Xena's mother Cyrene and imprisoned her in hell.  In the backstory of the show, ten years ago Xena had set out to become a warrior, to protect Amphipolis from attacks by a warlord called Cortese. This was the journey that turned her into an outstandingly fierce fighter with an evil reputation. When she was inspired to fight for good, she returned to Amphipolis, seeking a reunion with her mother. She met Gabrielle, in Potidaea, on the way.  In a fictionalized conversation between Julius Caesar and Xena in the "Destiny" episode in, Xena tells him Stageira "is the ancient enemy of my home village, Amphipolis."

Potidaea.

was born in Potidaea in Chalkidiki, Greece, which features many times as a rural village, which should have been portrayed as a rural fishing village. Many pivotal episodes are based here (including the series premiere, "Sins of The Past", and "A Family Affair").

Athens.

Joxer was brought up in the city of Athens, capital of Greece, and it is often mentioned in passing. Xena and Gabrielle rarely pass through it, but it was the main setting for the clip show "Athens City Academy of the Performing Bards", and was nearly visited in "One Against an Army" and "Blind Faith".

Cirra.

Callisto is from Cirra in Phocis, central Greece. Xena's army torched the village when Callisto was a child, causing the death of most of her family. Xena and Gabrielle only visit Cirra once, although it is mentioned rather often.

Countries.

In addition to Greece, Xena and Gabrielle visit many countries during their travels including Italy (usually referred to by its capital, Rome), China, (usually called Chin), Japan (known as Jappa, only seen in the finale, and mentioned in passing in "Who's Gurkhan"), Great Britain (known as Brittania), India, Siberia, Egypt (called 'The Land of the Pharaohs'), Sahara, Morocco (in "Who's Gurkhan" and "Legacy") and several Scandinavian countries (called 'Norseland').  To remain in keeping with the ancient world, and to avoid using modern names, the script often removed the last letter of a country's name, changing China to Chin, and Japan to Jappa.

Hercules–Xena Universe franchise media.

There have been numerous "Xena" spin-offs into various media including films, books, comics and video games.

Movies.

"", a direct-to-video animated movie, was released in January 1998. The film features the voices of a number of actors from both "" and "Xena: Warrior Princess" - including Lucy Lawless, Kevin Sorbo, Michael Hurst and Renee O'Connor. The movie plot involves Hercules' mother being kidnapped by Zeus and the release of the Titans. Xena and Gabrielle have supporting roles in the movie.  Since the end of the series rumors have circulated that a feature-length movie was in the works. In 2003 screenwriter Katherine Fugate was approached for the project, and was quoted saying that she expects the start of production to be three to five years away, which suggested a release sometime between 2006 and 2009. Actress Lucy Lawless has been quoted in several interviews saying she would be interested in participating in a "Xena" film as well.  In April 2009, however, Rob Tapert stated firmly there is no hope of a live-action "Xena" feature film, at least not any time soon or starring Lucy Lawless or Renée O'Connor. "It's something that just won't happen...In twenty years or ten years, in some amount of years, like "McGyver", like "Charlie's Angels", it [could] happen like that [with other actresses]."  Following the continued online popularity of the show, a global campaign to directly bombard Universal Pictures with requests for a "Xena" movie was launched in April 2013. Over the space of only a few days, hundreds of thousands of messages were sent showing support for the production of a "Xena" film starring the original cast. After receiving nods of acknowledgement from Universal Studios offices in Australia, Finland and Spain, the efforts of the campaign were rewarded in May 2013 when Lucy Lawless stated on her Twitter account that she had been contacted by a ""chap who wants to re-invigorate the #Xena brand"" while warning fans that ""there's a lot of red tape around #XWP so don't get your knickers in a twist. It may come back in a different form"". Since then, Lucy Lawless has appeared on multiple televised interviews showing her support of a potential revival of the "Xena" franchise, stating that talks are currently underway to resolve legal issues impeding the progress of a potential "Xena" movie project.

Literature.

Many books have been released as tie-ins, including "The Official Guide to the Xenaverse" by Robert Weisbrot. This includes a detailed episode guide for the first two seasons, a look behind the scenes, the story of the origin of the show, biographies of cast and crew, and trivia about the show. After the sixth and final season, "Xena Warrior Princess: Complete Illustrated Companion" was published.  In 1998, "XENA: All I Need to Know I Learned From the Warrior Princess", was published, allegedly written by Gabrielle, Bard of Potidaea and "translated" by Josepha Sherman. In it, Gabrielle writes enthusiastically about many of the lessons that she learned. For example, in a chapter entitled "Anything can be a weapon- Anything!", she instructs the reader on fighting with unconventional weapons; and in another, "Nobody Likes a Winer", she bemoans the perils of alcohol.  There have been a number of novelizations by authors like Martin H. Greenberg, and fiction such as "The Empty Throne", "The Huntress and The Sphinx", "The Thief of Hermes", and "Prophecy of Darkness." The series has also figured in many doctoral theses, including, the thesis by French/American scholar, Dr. Anne Sweet, "Girl Power Interrogated in Xena Warrior Princess and Charmed, Social and Economic Issues at Play in the Politics of Gende"r.

Comics.

There have been a number of. The earliest ones were released by Topps Comics, Dark Horse Comics (written by Ian Edginton and John Wagner). More recently the license has moved to Dynamite Entertainment.

Role-playing game.

West End Games published the "Hercules & Xena Roleplaying Game" in 1998.

Collectible card game.

Wizards of the Coast published the " in May 1998.

VHS releases.

Universal released seasons 1–6 on VHS in 1999–2001.

DVD releases.

Anchor Bay Entertainment released all 6 Seasons of "Xena: Warrior Princess" on DVD in Region 1 between 2003–2005. As of 2010, these releases have now been discontinued.  On January 12, 2010, Universal Studios Home Entertainment announced that they planned on re-releasing "Xena: Warrior Princess" on DVD. They have subsequently re-released all seasons. A complete series set was released on May 17, 2016.  In Region 2 & 4, Universal Pictures released the entire series on DVD. In addition, they released a complete series collection on DVD in Region 2 on October 8, 2007.

Reception.

Influence on the lesbian community.

"Xena" has enjoyed a particular cult status in the lesbian community. Some of the lesbian fan base see Xena and Gabrielle as a couple and have embraced them as role models and lesbian icons. A group called The Marching Xenas has participated in many gay and lesbian pride parades. Xena's popularity was successfully utilized by Subaru when trying to establish a healthy base of lesbian customers: one ad had a car with the license plate "XENA LVR" (Xena lover).  A subject of much interest and debate among viewers is the question of whether Xena and Gabrielle are lovers. The issue is left deliberately ambiguous by the writers. Jokes, innuendo, and other subtle evidence of a romantic relationship between Xena and Gabrielle is referred to as "lesbian subtext" or simply "subtext" by fans. The issue of the true nature of the Xena/Gabrielle relationship caused intense "shipping" debates in "Xena" fandom, which turned especially impassioned due to spillover from real-life debates about same-sex sexuality and gay rights.  Many fans felt that the sexual nature of Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was cemented by an interview given by Lucy Lawless to "Lesbian News" magazine in 2003. Lawless stated that after the series finale, where Gabrielle revives Xena with a mouth-to-mouth water transfer filmed to look like a full kiss, she had come to believe that Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was "definitely gay". "There was always a, 'Well, she might be or she might not be' but when there was that drip of water passing between their lips in the very final scene, that cemented it for me. Now it wasn't just that Xena was bisexual and kinda liked her gal pal and they kind of fooled around sometimes, it was 'Nope, they're married, man'."  The "Xena" fandom also popularized the term Altfic (from "alternative fiction") to refer to same-sex romantic fan fiction.

Costume donation.

In 2006, Lucy Lawless donated her personal Xena costume to the National Museum of American History. In an interview the same year with "Smithsonian" magazine, she was asked the question "Was the Warrior Princess outfit comfortable?" and she responded:

Uber and Uberfic.

Uberfic is a variety of fan fiction in which the characters live in an alternate universe. The characters and events are true to the original canon but usually in a different time period, often as the ancestors, descendants or reincarnations of canon characters. The term originated in "Xena" fandom. Uber was employed several times in the series, beginning with the second-season episode "The Xena Scrolls", in which the descendants of Xena, Gabrielle and Joxer meet up at an archeological dig in 1940 and unwittingly release Ares from his tomb.

Cancelled reboot.

On July 20, 2015, it was reported that NBC was developing a "Xena" reboot series, with Raimi and Tapert returning as executive producers, with the show's debut sometime in 2016. Insiders also requested that Lawless return to the series as Xena, as well as take up a role in the show's production. A day later, Lawless tweeted that the reboot is a rumor. On August 13, 2015, NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt confirmed the reboot is in development. It was announced from "Entertainment Weekly" that Javier Grillo-Marxuach will serve as writer and producer for the reboot.  In a post on Tumblr Grillo-Marxuach made the statement that they will be "fully exploring a relationship that could only be shown subtextually in first-run syndication in the 1990s," which several websites such as "The Guardian" and "Newsweek" have taken it to mean "Xena will be an out and proud lesbian." These articles have resulted in frustration from fans regarding the apparent erasure of Xena's bisexuality, but Grillo-Marxuach has answered "it feels like - from a few sentences - everyone has already made up their mind about what it is I am doing. I would prefer people be surprised by the story." In April 2017, Grillo-Marxuach announced that he had left the project because of "insurmountable creative differences."  On August 21, 2017, NBC announced that it had cancelled its plans for the reboot. NBC Entertainment president Jennifer Salke said, "I'd never say never on that one because it's such a beloved title but the current incarnation of it is dead."

Xena: Warrior Princess is an American fantasy television series filmed on location in New Zealand. The series aired in first-run syndication from September 4, 1995, to June 18, 2001. Critics have praised the series for its strong female protagonist, and it has acquired a strong cult following, attention in fandom,, and academia, and has influenced the direction of other television series.

《齐娜武士公主》(英语:"Xena: Warrior Princess")是一部在新西兰拍摄的风靡美国的奇幻电视剧,于1995年9月4日首轮广播联卖开播,至2001年6月18日全剧播毕。评论家称赞该剧拥有强大的女性主角,它吸引了许多狂热追随者,也获得了学术界的关注,并影响了其他电视剧的发展方向。


Accession and invasion.

After the death of his father, Antiochus II in July 246 BC, Seleucus was proclaimed king by his mother, Laodice in Ephesos, while his father's second wife, Queen Berenice, declared her son Antiochus king in Antioch. Berenice acted decisively at first, seizing control of most of Syria and Cilicia. However before her brother Ptolemy III, the king of Egypt, was able to land and support to her son's claims, she was murdered by partisans of Seleucus II and Queen Laodice.  This dynastic feud began the Third Syrian War. Ptolemy III invaded the Seleucid Empire and landing at Seleucia Pieria, accepted the surrender of Syria and Cilicia and marched victoriously to the Tigris or beyond (although he did not reach as far as Babylon). Ptolemy remained in Syria during the winter of 246-245 BC, while Seleucus sent an expedition by sea to retake the area, only to have it wrecked by storms; not the last time he was to be defeated by bad luck.

Defeat in the Third Syrian war and Anatolia.

Seleucus managed to maintain himself in the interior of Asia Minor and made arrangements to shore up his power there. One of his sisters married Mithridates II of Pontus, another married Ariarathes III of Cappadocia and he married his cousin Laodice II, by whom he had five children including Antiochis, Seleucus III Ceraunus and Antiochus III the Great. Seleucus then appointed his brother Antiochus Hierax as viceroy in Asia Minor and marched against the Ptolemies.  Ptolemy III returned to Egypt in 245 BC, reputedly taking with him 40,000 talents of gold and the statues of Egyptian gods which had been looted centuries before by the Persians. Seleucus crossed into Babylonia and Mesopotamia first, receiving the loyalty of the empire's Eastern regions and then marched into Syria where he recovered Antioch by 244 BC. This was followed by the recapture of the other major cities in the area. By 242 BC the interior of Northern Syria had been regained and Seleucus was even able to launch raids into Ptolemaic controlled Syria around Damascus.  Elsewhere the Seleucid's were less successful. In the Aegean the Ptolemaic armies were able to seize control of Ephesos, as well as Ainos and Maroneia in Thrace, and several cities on the Asian side of the Hellespont.  In 241 BC peace was finally agreed and a treaty signed. Ptolemy recognised Seleucus as king and the Eleutheros river was once again accepted as the boundary between the two empires in Syria. Ptolemy did however retain his conquests in Thrace, Ephesos and, most importantly of all, the vital port of Seleucia Pieria. This city contained the tomb of the Seleucid dynasty's founder, Seleucus I, and controlled much of the trade from Antioch. The Seleucid desire to recover the city would prove to be one of the main causes of the outbreak of the Fourth Syrian war in 219 BC.  In the meantime, Antiochus Hierax, had set himself up as a rival in Asia Minor against Seleucus, supported by their domineering mother Laodice. Seleucus appears to have launched an attack against Antiochus Hierax, but was unable to take Sardis. After two years of stalemate, the brothers met at the Battle of Ancyra around 237 BC. With the support of Mithridates II of Pontus and the Galatians Antiochus Hierax was victorious and Seleucus was barely able to escape with his life. After this Seleucus left the country beyond the Taurus to his brother and the other powers of Anatolia and an uneasy peace between the two prevailed.

Fragmentation in the East.

Seleucus then turned to the problems which had developed in the Eastern provinces of the empire over the last few decades and undertook an expedition to regain Parthia, the results of which came to nothing.  The Parthian satrap Andragoras had taken the opportunity to establish de facto independence and had begun minting his own coins in 245 BC. However, before Seleucus was able to turn his attention eastwards, by 238 BC, Andragoras had been killed by Arsaces I, a chieftain of the nomadic Parni, based in the city of Nissa (modern day Nisa, Turkmenistan). Arsaces had previously attacked Bactria and been driven off by the satrap Diodotus I. Diodotus had also used the opportunity of Seleucid distraction in the West to gain de facto independence and set himself up as an independent ruler.  After the defeat at Ancyra, the Seleucid garrisons of the region were further weakened and this allowed the Parthians under Arsaces the opportunity to seize more territory, including the city of Hekatompylos, which became their new capital around 237 BC. Around this time Diodotus was succeeded by his son Diodotus II who agreed to an alliance with Parthia, which now acted as a useful barrier to any Seleucid invasion to recover the East.  It was after this that Seleucus attempted to recover Parthia, but the sources indicate he was defeated, or perhaps withdrew in the face of Parthian strength. The recovery of the Seleucid position in the East would have to wait until the reign of his son Antiochus III. Following this defeat Diodotus II declared himself king of Bactria, officially severing any remaining links with the Seleucid court in 235 BC.

The death of Antiochus Hierax.

Meanwhile in Asia Minor, Pergamon now rose to greatness under Attalus I. Attalus' ambition to replace Antiochus Hierax as king of Asia Minor led to a major war and several battles during the 230s BC. In short order Attalus defeated the Galatians, Antiochus Hierax and finally an attempt by Seleucus II to reclaim his control of Asia Minor. After being defeated by Attalus in four battles Antiochus Hierax fled to Armenia, whose king gave him refuge. Antiochus Hierax then attempted to invade Mesopotamia. Andromachos, his mother's brother, commanded the Seleucid forces on this occasion and defeated him. Fleeing again, Antiochus finally perished in Thrace where he was killed by robbers in c. 226 BC.  Seleucus by this time had his hands full dealing with rebellion in Antioch instigated by his aunt, Queen Stratonice, who had previously been married to King Demetrius II of Macedon. Upon returning to Syria after Demetrius II took another wife, Stratonice of Macedon proposed that she marry her nephew, or possibly demanded he avenge the insult to her honour by attacking Demetrius. In either case Seleucus refused her suggestions and, infuriated, she raised Antioch in rebellion. Seleucus had to besiege the city, which he eventually recaptured. Stratonice fled to Seleucia, hoping to take refuge with Ptolemy III, but was captured en route and executed.  In the years after the defeat at Ancyra (237 BC), Seleucus focused on rebuilding his domains, expanding Antioch and suppressing rebellions in Babylon. By 227 BC he had stabilised the situation enough to begin contemplating a new offensive against Attalus to retake Asia Minor.

Death and succession.

Before he could launch this invasion Seleucus died unexpectedly in 225 BC as the result of a fall from his horse. He was succeeded firstly by his eldest son Alexander who took the name Seleucus III and later by a younger son Antiochus III the Great in 222 BC.

Seleucus II Callinicus Pogon ( "Selefkos Defteros Kallinikos, o Pogon"; "Kallinikos" means "gloriously triumphant"; "Pogon" means "the Beard"; July/August 265 BC – December 225 BC), was a ruler of the Hellenistic Seleucid Empire, who reigned from 246 BC to 225 BC. Faced with multiple enemies on various fronts, and not always successful militarily, his reign was a time of great turmoil and fragmentation for the Seleucid empire, before its eventual restoration under his second son and eventual successor, Antiochus III.

塞琉古二世(凯旋者) Σέλευκος ο Καλλίνικος 塞琉西王朝的叙利亚国王(前246年—前226年在位)。安条克二世(“神”)之子。安条克二世逝世后,由母亲劳迪丝一世扶持登上王位,并立即杀了托勒密二世之女贝勒尼基和她的儿子,引发与埃及国王托勒密三世的第三次叙利亚战争。


Mongol Empire.

All Great Khans of the Mongol Empire, for example Genghis Khan and Ögedei Khan, were formally elected in a "Kurultai"; khans of subordinate Mongol states, such as the Golden Horde, were elected by a similar regional Kurultai.  During the Kurultai, Mongol Chiefs would all convene in order to choose the next Great Khan. The Kurultai, oftentimes but not always held in the capital of the Mongolian empire, were also a time to assign all critical positions of leadership as well as an opportunity to decide the militaristic direction to be implemented under the new Khan and aforementioned new leadership.  After the new khan has been elected, an elaborate enthronement procedure followed. Johann Schiltberger, a 15th-century German traveler, described the installation of a new Golden Horde khan as follows (quoted in): Russian princes and boyars, who often had to wait in Sarai for the Kurultai to elect a new khan, who would then re-issue their yarlyks (patents), would no doubt often witness this "khan kutermiak" rituals, which became increasingly more frequent and futile during the mid-14th-century time of troubles in the Horde, giving rise to the Russian word "кутерьма" ("kuter'ma"), meaning "running around pointlessly".  Kurultai were imperial and tribal assemblies convened to determine, strategize and analyze military campaigns and assign individuals to leadership positions and titles. Genghis Khan was declared Khan in the Kurultai of 1206 CE. Most of the major military campaigns were first planned out at assemblies such as this and there were minor and less significant Kurultai under the Mongol Empire under political subordinate leaders and generals.  The Kurultai, however, required the presence of the senior members of the tribes participating, who were also military leaders. Thus, the deaths of Ögedei and Möngke in 1241 CE and 1259 CE, respectively, necessitated the withdrawal of Mongol leaders (and troops) from the outskirts of Vienna and Venice (in 1241) and from Syria (in 1259), hamstringing military operations against the Austrians and Mamluks that might otherwise have continued.  Although the Kurultai was a serious political event in the Mongol world, it was also a festival of sorts including great feasting and various traditional games. Many of these traditions have been carried on in the modern-day Mongolian event Naadam, which includes Mongolian wrestling, horse racing and archery competitions.

Modern usage.

Various modern Mongolian and Turkic peoples use it in the political or administrative sense, as a synonym for parliament, congress, conference, council, assembly, convention, gathering. Examples are: the World Qoroltai of the Bashkirs, Qurultay of the Crimean Tatar People, the National Kurultai of Kyrgyzstan, the State Great Khural of Mongolia, the People's Khural of Buryatia, El Kurultai of Altai Republic and Kurultai held today in Hungary (Hungarian: Kurultáj).  In Mongolian, the following forms of the word are still in use today: "khuraldai", "khuraldaan" and "khural". "Ulsin Deed Shuukhiin Khuraldaan" means "session of the National Supreme Court".  Other spellings include: "kurultay", "qurultay", "qurıltai", "qorıltay", and "qoroltay".  The word has several modern usages in the modern Turkish language as well, e.g. "Yükseköğretim Kurulu" "Higher Education Council", "genel kurul toplantısı" "general board meeting". "Kurultay" is also a commonly-used word in modern Turkish meaning "general assembly", such as for organisations, committees etc. "Kurulmak" is also a verb in Turkish meaning "to be established". It is also used for "extraordinary conventions" () of political parties.

Kurultai (Mongolian:, Хуралдай, "Khuraldai"; Turkic: "Kurultay") was a political and military council of ancient Mongol and some Turkic chiefs and khans. The root of the word is "khur-" "gather", from which is formed "khural" meaning "meeting" or "assembly" in Turkic and Mongolian languages. "Khuraldai", "khuruldai" or "khuraldaan" means "gathering" or, more literally, "intergatheration". This root is the same as in the Mongolian word хурим ("khurim"), which means "feast" and originally referred to large festive gatherings on the steppe but is used mainly in the sense of "wedding" in modern times.

忽里勒台大会(),是古代蒙古及突厥民族的一种军政议会,负责推举部落的可汗或其他长官。早年蒙古帝国的所有大汗,例如成吉思汗及窝濶台汗都是由忽里勒台所推选出来的。时至今日,忽里勒台在突厥民族中则用来指现代的议会以及国家的国会。


Discovery.

Sex determination was discovered in the mealworm by the American geneticist Nettie Stevens in 1903.

Chromosomal systems.

XX/XY sex chromosomes.

The XX/XY sex-determination system is the most familiar, as it is found in humans. The XX/XY system is found in most other mammals, as well as some insects. In this system, most females have two of the same kind of sex chromosome (XX), while most males have two distinct sex chromosomes (XY). The X and Y sex chromosomes are different in shape and size from each other, unlike the rest of the chromosomes (autosomes), and are sometimes called allosomes. In some species, such as humans, organisms remain sex indifferent for a time after they're created; in others, however, such as fruit flies, sexual differentiation occurs as soon as the egg is fertilized.

Y-centered sex determination.

Some species (including humans) have a gene SRY on the Y chromosome that determines maleness. Members of SRY-reliant species can have uncommon XY chromosomal combinations such as XXY and still live. Human sex is determined by the presence or absence of a Y chromosome with a functional SRY gene. Once the SRY gene is activated, cells create testosterone and anti-müllerian hormone which typically ensures the development of a single, male reproductive system. In typical XX embryos, cells secrete estrogen, which drives the body toward the female pathway.  In Y-centered sex determination, the SRY gene is the main gene in determining male characteristics, but multiple genes are required to develop testes. In XY mice, lack of the gene DAX1 on the X chromosome results in sterility, but in humans it causes adrenal hypoplasia congenita. However, when an extra DAX1 gene is placed on the X chromosome, the result is a female, despite the existence of SRY. Even when there are normal sex chromosomes in XX females, duplication or expression of SOX9 causes testes to develop. Gradual sex reversal in developed mice can also occur when the gene FOXL2 is removed from females. Even though the gene DMRT1 is used by birds as their sex locus, species who have XY chromosomes also rely upon DMRT1, contained on chromosome 9, for sexual differentiation at some point in their formation.

X-centered sex determination.

Some species, such as fruit flies, use the presence of two X chromosomes to determine femaleness. Species that use the number of Xs to determine sex are nonviable with an extra X chromosome.

Other variants of XX/XY sex determination.

Some fish have variants of the XY sex-determination system, as well as the regular system. For example, while having an XY format, "Xiphophorus nezahualcoyotl" and "X. milleri" also have a second Y chromosome, known as Y', that creates XY' females and YY' males.  At least one monotreme, the platypus, presents a particular sex determination scheme that in some ways resembles that of the ZW sex chromosomes of birds and lacks the SRY gene. The platypus has ten sex chromosomes; males have an XYXYXYXYXY pattern while females have ten X chromosomes. Although it is an XY system, the platypus' sex chromosomes share no homologues with eutherian sex chromosomes. Instead, homologues with eutherian sex chromosomes lie on the platypus chromosome 6, which means that the eutherian sex chromosomes were autosomes at the time that the monotremes diverged from the therian mammals (marsupials and eutherian mammals). However, homologues to the avian DMRT1 gene on platypus sex chromosomes X3 and X5 suggest that it is possible the sex-determining gene for the platypus is the same one that is involved in bird sex-determination. More research must be conducted in order to determine the exact sex determining gene of the platypus.

XX/X0 sex chromosomes.

In this variant of the XY system, females have two copies of the sex chromosome (XX) but males have only one (X0). The "0" denotes the absence of a second sex chromosome. Generally in this method, the sex is determined by amount of genes expressed across the two chromosomes. This system is observed in a number of insects, including the grasshoppers and crickets of order Orthoptera and in cockroaches (order Blattodea). A small number of mammals also lack a Y chromosome. These include the Amami spiny rat ("Tokudaia osimensis") and the Tokunoshima spiny rat ("Tokudaia tokunoshimensis") and "Sorex araneus", a shrew species. Transcaucasian mole voles ("Ellobius lutescens") also have a form of XO determination, in which both sexes lack a second sex chromosome. The mechanism of sex determination is not yet understood.  The nematode "C. elegans" is male with one sex chromosome (X0); with a pair of chromosomes (XX) it is a hermaphrodite. Its main sex gene is XOL, which encodes XOL-1 and also controls the expression of the genes TRA-2 and HER-1. These genes reduce male gene activation and increase it, respectively.

ZW/ZZ sex chromosomes.

The ZW sex-determination system is found in birds, some reptiles, and some insects and other organisms. The ZW sex-determination system is reversed compared to the XY system: females have two different kinds of chromosomes (ZW), and males have two of the same kind of chromosomes (ZZ). In the chicken, this was found to be dependent on the expression of DMRT1. In birds, the genes FET1 and ASW are found on the W chromosome for females, similar to how the Y chromosome contains SRY. However, not all species depend upon the W for their sex. For example, there are moths and butterflies that are ZW, but some have been found female with ZO, as well as female with ZZW. Also, while mammals deactivate one of their extra X chromosomes when female, it appears that in the case of Lepidoptera, the males produce double the normal amount of enzymes, due to having two Z's. Because the use of ZW sex determination is varied, it is still unknown how exactly most species determine their sex. However, reportedly, the silkworm "Bombyx mori" uses a single female-specific piRNA as the primary determiner of sex. Despite the similarities between the ZW and XY systems, these sex chromosomes evolved separately. In the case of the chicken, their Z chromosome is more similar to humans' autosome 9. The chicken's Z chromosome also seems to be related to the X chromosome of the platypus. When a ZW species, such as the Komodo dragon, reproduces parthenogenetically, usually only males are produced. This is due to the fact that the haploid eggs double their chromosomes, resulting in ZZ or WW. The ZZ become males, but the WW are not viable and are not brought to term.

UV sex chromosomes.

In some Bryophyte and some algae species, the gametophyte stage of the life cycle, rather than being hermaphrodite, occurs as separate male or female individuals that produce male and female gametes respectively. When meiosis occurs in the sporophyte generation of the life cycle, the sex chromosomes known as U and V assort in spores that carry either the U chromosome and give rise to female gametophytes, or the V chromosome and give rise to male gametophytes.

Haplodiploidy.

Haplodiploidy is found in insects belonging to Hymenoptera, such as ants and bees. Unfertilized eggs develop into haploid individuals, which are the males. Diploid individuals are generally female but may be sterile males. Males cannot have sons or fathers. If a queen bee mates with one drone, her daughters share 3⁄4 of their genes with each other, not 1⁄2 as in the XY and ZW systems. This may be significant for the development of eusociality, as it increases the significance of kin selection, but it is debated. Most females in the Hymenoptera order can decide the sex of their offspring by holding received sperm in their spermatheca and either releasing it into their oviduct or not. This allows them to create more workers, depending on the status of the colony.

Environmental systems.

Temperature-dependent.

Many other sex-determination systems exist. In some species of reptiles, including alligators, some turtles, and the tuatara, sex is determined by the temperature at which the egg is incubated during a temperature-sensitive period. There are no examples of temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) in birds. Megapodes had formerly been thought to exhibit this phenomenon, but were found to actually have different temperature-dependent embryo mortality rates for each sex. For some species with TSD, sex determination is achieved by exposure to hotter temperatures resulting in the offspring being one sex and cooler temperatures resulting in the other. This type of TSD is called "Pattern I". For others species using TSD, it is exposure to temperatures on both extremes that results in offspring of one sex, and exposure to moderate temperatures that results in offspring of the opposite sex, called "Pattern II" TSD. The specific temperatures required to produce each sex are known as the female-promoting temperature and the male-promoting temperature. When the temperature stays near the threshold during the temperature sensitive period, the sex ratio is varied between the two sexes. Some species' temperature standards are based on when a particular enzyme is created. These species that rely upon temperature for their sex determination do not have the SRY gene, but have other genes such as DAX1, DMRT1, and SOX9 that are expressed or not expressed depending on the temperature. The sex of some species, such as the Nile tilapia, Australian skink lizard, and Australian dragon lizard, is initially determined by chromosomes, but can later be changed by the temperature of incubation.  It is unknown how exactly temperature-dependent sex determination evolved. It could have evolved through certain sexes being more suited to certain areas that fit the temperature requirements. For example, a warmer area could be more suitable for nesting, so more females are produced to increase the amount that nest next season. Environmental sex determination preceded the genetically determined systems of birds and mammals; it is thought that a temperature-dependent amniote was the common ancestor of amniotes with sex chromosomes.

Other systems.

There are other environmental sex determination systems including location-dependent determination systems as seen in the marine worm "Bonellia viridis" – larvae become males if they make physical contact with a female, and females if they end up on the bare sea floor. This is triggered by the presence of a chemical produced by the females, bonellin. Some species, such as some snails, practice sex change: adults start out male, then become female. In tropical clown fish, the dominant individual in a group becomes female while the other ones are male, and bluehead wrasses ("Thalassoma bifasciatum") are the reverse. Some species, however, have no sex-determination system. Hermaphrodite species include the common earthworm and certain species of snails. A few species of fish, reptiles, and insects reproduce by parthenogenesis and are female altogether. There are some reptiles, such as the boa constrictor and Komodo dragon that can reproduce both sexually and asexually, depending on whether a mate is available.  Other unusual systems include those of the swordtail fish; the Chironomus midges; the platypus, which has 10 sex chromosomes but lacks the mammalian sex-determining gene SRY, meaning that the process of sex determination in the platypus remains unknown; the juvenile hermaphroditism of zebrafish, with an unknown trigger; and the platyfish, which has W, X, and Y chromosomes. This allows WY, WX, or XX females and YY or XY males.

Evolution.

Origin of sex chromosomes.

The accepted hypothesis of XY and ZW sex chromosome evolution is that they evolved at the same time, in two different branches. However, there is some evidence to suggest that there could have been transitions between ZW and XY, such as in "Xiphophorus maculatus", which have both ZW and XY systems in the same population, despite the fact that ZW and XY have different gene locations. A recent theoretical model raises the possibility of both transitions between the XY/XX and ZZ/ZW system and environmental sex determination The platypus' genes also back up the possible evolutionary link between XY and ZW, because they have the DMRT1 gene possessed by birds on their X chromosomes. Regardless, XY and ZW follow a similar route. All sex chromosomes started out as an original autosome of an original amniote that relied upon temperature to determine the sex of offspring. After the mammals separated, the branch further split into Lepidosauria and Archosauromorpha. These two groups both evolved the ZW system separately, as evidenced by the existence of different sex chromosomal locations. In mammals, one of the autosome pair, now Y, mutated its SOX3 gene into the SRY gene, causing that chromosome to designate sex. After this mutation, the SRY-containing chromosome inverted and was no longer completely homologous with its partner. The regions of the X and Y chromosomes that are still homologous to one another are known as the pseudoautosomal region. Once it inverted, the Y chromosome became unable to remedy deleterious mutations, and thus degenerated. There is some concern that the Y chromosome will shrink further and stop functioning in ten million years: but the Y chromosome has been strictly conserved after its initial rapid gene loss.  There are some species, such as the medaka fish, that evolved sex chromosomes separately; their Y chromosome never inverted and can still swap genes with the X. These species' sex chromosomes are relatively primitive and unspecialized. Because the Y does not have male-specific genes and can interact with the X, XY and YY females can be formed as well as XX males. Non-inverted Y chromosomes with long histories are found in pythons and emus, each system being more than 120 million years old, suggesting that inversions are not necessarily an eventuality.

A sex-determination system is a biological system that determines the development of sexual characteristics in an organism. Most organisms that create their offspring using sexual reproduction have two sexes. Occasionally, there are hermaphrodites in place of one or both sexes. There are also some species that are only one sex due to parthenogenesis, the act of a female reproducing without fertilization.

性别决定系统(英语:Sex-determination system)决定生物性特征的发展。大部分动物和植物有两个性别,但也有些生物只有一种,或是多于两种,如四膜虫的「性别 (四膜虫)」(Mating type)就有七种类型。在许多情况下,性别由遗传物质决定:雄性和雌性有不同的等位基因甚至不同的基因,说明他们的性形态。在动物及雌雄异株的植物中,这往往伴随着染色体的差异。在其他情况下,性别是由环境因素(如温度)或社会因素。决定系统的一些细节目前还没有完全理解。


Life.

Chaitanya (Bengali: চৈতন্য) means '"consciousness"; Maha means "Great" and Prabhu means "Lord" or "Master". Chaitanya was born as the second son of Jagannath Mishra and his wife Sachi Devi. Jagannath's family lived in the village of Dhakadakshin, Golapganj, Srihatta, Bengal (now Sylhet, Bangladesh). According to "Chaitanya Charitamrita", Chaitanya was born in Nabadwip in Bengal () on the full moon night of 18 February 1486, at the time of a lunar eclipse.  A number of stories also exist telling of Chaitanya's apparent attraction to the chanting and singing of Krishna's names from a very young age, but largely this was perceived as being secondary to his interest in acquiring knowledge and studying Sanskrit. When travelling to Gaya to perform the shraddha ceremony for his departed father, Chaitanya met his guru, the ascetic Ishvara Puri, from whom he received initiation with the Gopala Krishna mantra. This meeting was to mark a significant change in Chaitanya's outlook and upon his return to Bengal the local Vaishnavas, headed by Advaita Acharya, were stunned at his external sudden 'change of heart' (from'scholar' to 'devotee') and soon Chaitanya became the eminent leader of their Vaishnava group within Nadia.  After leaving Bengal and receiving entrance into the sannyasa order by Swami Kesava Bharati, Chaitanya journeyed throughout the length and breadth of India for several years, chanting the divine Names of Krishna constantly. At that time He travelled on foot covering a lot of places like Baranagar, Mahinagar, Atisara and, at last, Chhatrabhog. Chhatrabhog is the place where Goddess Ganga and Lord Shiva met, then one hundred mouths of Ganga were visible from here. From the source of Vrindavana Dasa's "Chaitanya Bhagavata", he bathed at Ambulinga Ghat of Chhatrabhog with intimate companions with great chorus-chanting (kirtan). After staying one night he set for Puri by boat with the help of Local Administrator Ram Chandra Khan. He spent the last 24 years of his life in Puri, Odisha, the great temple city of Jagannath in the Radhakanta Math. The Gajapati king, Prataprudra Dev, regarded Chaitanya as Krishna's avatar and was an enthusiastic patron and devotee of Chaitanya's recitation (sankeertan) gatherings. It was during these years that Chaitanya is believed by his followers to have sunk deep into various Divine-Love (samādhi) and performed pastimes of divine ecstasy (bhakti).  Vrindavan, the land of Radha Rani, the “City of Temples” has more than 5000 temples to showcase the pastimes of Radha and Krishna. The essence of Vrindavan was lost over time until the 16th century, when it was rediscovered by Chaitanya. In the year 1515, Chaitanya visited Vrindavana, with the purpose of locating the lost holy places associated with Lord Sri Krishna's transcendent pastimes. He wandered through the different sacred forests of Vrindavana in a spiritual trance of divine love. It was believed that by His divine spiritual power, he was able to locate all the important places of Krishna's pastimes in and around Vrindavan including the seven main temples or "sapta devalay", which are worshiped by Vaishnavas in the Chaitanya tradition to this day.

Biographies.

There are numerous biographies available from the time giving details of Chaitanya's life, the most prominent ones being the "Chaitanya Charitamrita" of Krishnadasa Kaviraja, the earlier "Chaitanya Bhagavata" of Vrindavana Dasa (both originally written in Bengali but now widely available in English and other languages), and the "Chaitanya Mangala", written by "Lochana Dasa". These works are in Bengali with some Sanskrit verses interspersed. In addition to these, there are other Sanskrit biographies composed by his contemporaries. Chief among them are the works "Caitanya Caritāmṛta Mahākavya" by Kavi Karnapura and "Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Carita Maha-Kavya" by Murari Gupta.

Identity.

According to the hagiographies of 16th-century authors, he exhibited his Universal Form same as had Lord Krishna on number of occasions, notably to Advaita Ācārya and Nityānanda Prabhu.  When Rupa Goswami first met the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, he saw the divinity in him and composed the following verse:  "O most munificent incarnation! You are Krishna Himself appearing as Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed the golden colour of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krishna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You." The evidence for the belief that the Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is an incarnation of Lord Krishna is found in the Srimad Bhagavatam:  Gaudiya Vaishnavas consider Chaitanya to be Lord Krishna himself but appearing in the covered form (channa avatar) who appeared in the Kali-yuga as his own devotee to show the easiest way to achieve Krishna Consciousness.The Gaudiya Vaishnava acharya Bhaktivinoda Thakura had also found out the rare manuscript of Chaitanya Upanisad of the Atharvaveda section, which reveals the identity of Chaitanya. There are various evidences in the Hindu scriptures to show that, Chaitanya Mahaprabhu was non-different from Krishna. Unlike the other avatars of Krishna he did not kill any demon. Mahaprabhu brought light to the chanting of Hare Krishna Mahamantra. According to Chaitanya Bhagavat, which gives a detailed description of Mahaprabhu's life, Mahaprabhu made a prediction that the holy name of Krishna will be sung in every town and village of the world and this is evident in the history. International Society of Krishna Consciousness was started by Srila Prabhupada in the USA, proved the prediction to be correct.

Teachings.

Chaitanya has left one written record in Sanskrit called Siksastakam (though, in Vaishnava Padavali it is said: "Chaitanya himself wrote many songs on the Radha-Krishna theme").  Chaitanya's epistemological, theological and ontological teachings are summarised as ten root principles called dasa mula.

Philosophy and Tradition.

Despite having been initiated in the Madhvacharya tradition and taking sannyasa from Shankara's tradition, Chaitanya's philosophy is sometimes regarded as a tradition of his own within the Vaishnava framework – having some marked differences with the practices and the theology of other followers of Madhvacharya. He took Mantra Upadesa from Isvara Puri and Sanyasa Diksha from Keshava Bharati.  Chaitanya is not known to have written anything himself except for a series of verses known as the "Siksastaka", or "eight verses of instruction", which he had spoken, and were recorded by one of his close colleagues. The eight verses created by Chaitanya are considered to contain the complete philosophy of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in condensed form. Chaitanya requested a select few among his followers (who later came to be known as the Six Gosvamis of Vrindavan) to systematically present the theology of bhakti he had taught to them in their own writings. The six saints and theologians were Rupa Goswami, Sanatana Goswami, Gopala Bhatta Goswami, Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami, Raghunatha Dasa Goswami and Jiva Goswami, a nephew of brothers Rupa and Sanatana. These individuals were responsible for systematising Gaudiya Vaishnava theology.  Narottama Dasa, Srinivasa Acarya and Syamananda Pandit were among the stalwarts of the second generation of Gaudiya Vaishnavism. Having studied under Jiva Goswami, they were instrumental in propagating the teachings of the Goswamis throughout Bengal, Odisha and other regions of Eastern India. Many among their associates, such as Ramacandra Kaviraja and Ganga Narayan Chakravarti, were also eminent teachers in their own right.  In the early 17th century Kalachand Vidyalankar, a disciple of Chaitanya, made his preachings popular in Bengal. He travelled throughout India popularising the gospel of anti-untouchability, social justice and mass education. He probably initiated 'Pankti Bhojon' and Krishna Sankirtan in the eastern part of Bengal. Several schools (sampradaya) have been practising it for hundreds of years. Geetashree Chabi Bandyopadhyay and Radharani Devi are among many who achieved fame by singing kirtan. The Dalits in Bengal, at that time a neglected and underprivileged caste, readily accepted his libertarian outlook and embraced the doctrine of Mahaprabhu. His disciples were known as Kalachandi Sampraday, who inspired the people to eradicate illiteracy and casteism. Many consider Kalachand as the Father of Rationalism in East Bengal (Purba Banga).  The festival of Kheturi, presided over by Jahnava Thakurani, the wife of Nityananda, was the first time the leaders of the various branches of Chaitanya's followers assembled together. Through such festivals, members of the loosely organised tradition became acquainted with other branches along with their respective theological and practical nuances. Around these times, the disciples and descendants of Nityananda and Advaita Acharya, headed by Virabhadra and Krishna respectively, started their family lineages ("vamsa") to maintain the tradition. The "vamsa" descending from Nityananda through his son Virabhadra forms the most prominent branch of the modern Gaudiya tradition, though descendants of Advaita, along with the descendants of many other associates of Chaitanya, maintain their following especially in the rural areas of Bengal. Gopala Guru Goswami, a young associate of Chaitanya and a follower of Vakresvara Pandit, founded another branch based in Odisha. The writings of Gopala, along with those of his disciple Dhyanacandra Goswami, have had a substantial influence on the methods of internal worship in the tradition.  From the very beginning of Chaitanya's "bhakti" movement in Bengal, Haridasa Thakur and others, Muslim or Hindu by birth, were participants. Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the great sage of Dakshineswar, who lived in the 19th century, emphasised the bhakti marga of Chaitanya, whom he referred to as "Gauranga." ("The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna"). This openness received a boost from Bhaktivinoda Thakura's broad-minded vision in the late 19th century and was institutionalised by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati in his Gaudiya Matha in the 20th century. In the 20th century the teachings of Chaitanya were brought to the West by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada (1896-1977), a representative of the Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati branch of Chaitanya's tradition. Prabhupada founded his movement known as The International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) to spread Chaitanya's teachings throughout the world. Saraswata gurus and acharyas, members of the Goswami lineages and several other Hindu sects which revere Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, including devotees from the major Vaishnava holy places in Mathura District, West Bengal and Odisha, also established temples dedicated to Krishna and Chaitanya outside India in the closing decades of the 20th century. In the 21st century, Vaishnava bhakti is now also being studied through the academic medium of Krishnology in a number of academic institutions.

Cultural legacy.

Chaitanya's influence on the cultural legacy in Bengal and Odisha has been significant, with many residents performing daily worship to him as an avatar of Krishna. Some attribute to him a Renaissance in Bengal, different from the more well-known 19th-century Bengal Renaissance. Salimullah Khan (b. 1958), a noted Bangladeshi linguist, maintains, "Sixteenth-century is the time of Chaitanya Dev, and it is the beginning of Modernism in Bengal. The concept of 'humanity' that came into fruition is contemporaneous with that of Europe".  Noted Bengali biographical film on Chaitanya, "Nilachaley Mahaprabhu" (1957), was directed by Kartik Chattopadhyay (1912-1989).

External links.

Shri Krishna Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (IAST: Śrī Kṛṣṇa Caitanya Mahāprabhu), honorific: "Mahāprabhu" ("Great Lord"), (18 February 1486 – 14 June 1533), was an Indian guru considered by his followers to be the Supreme Personality of Godhead and the chief proponent of the Achintya Bheda Abheda ("Inconceivable Difference/One-ness") Vedanta school and the Gaudiya Vaishnavism tradition within Hinduism. He also expounded the Vaishnava school of Bhakti yoga (meaning loving devotion to God), based on "Bhagavata Purana" and "Bhagavad Gita". Of various forms and direct or indirect expansions of Krishna such as Lord Narasimha ("Man-Lion"; Krishna in mood of anger), Mahavishnu and Garbhodaksayi Vishnu respectively, he is believed to be Krishna in the mood of Radha. He popularised the chanting of the 'Hare Krishna mantra' and composed the "Siksastakam" (eight devotional prayers) in Sanskrit. His followers, Gaudiya Vaishnavas, revere him as a Krishna with the mood and complexion of his source of inspiration Radha. His birthday is celebrated as Gaura-purnima.

柴坦尼亚·摩诃巴布(;1486年-2月18日-1534年-6月14日),又译为遮昙若·奎师那·摩诃波罗菩、哉丹尼亚·摩诃波菩等,意译有知黑天胜主,是一名孟加拉印度教精神导师。他被他的信徒认为是大黑天(奎师那)的真身。他被认为是奎师那最为仁慈的表现。


History.

Some classic subjects of time-lapse photography include:  The technique has been used to photograph crowds, traffic, and even television. The effect of photographing a subject that changes imperceptibly slowly, creates a smooth impression of motion. A subject that changes quickly is transformed into an onslaught of activity.  The inception of time-lapse photography occurred in 1872 when Leland Stanford hired Eadweard Muybridge to prove whether or not race horses hooves ever are simultaneously in the air when running. The experiments progressed for 6 years until 1878 when Muybridge set up a series of cameras for every few feet of a track which had tripwires the horses triggered as they ran. The photos taken from the multiple cameras were then compiled into a collection of images that recorded the horses running  The first use of time-lapse photography in a feature film was in Georges Méliès' motion picture "Carrefour De L'Opera" (1897).  F. Percy Smith pioneered the use of time-lapse in nature photography with his 1910 silent film "The Birth of a Flower".  The first use of lapse-time to record the movement of flowers took place in Yosemite in late 1911–1912 by Arthur C. Pillsbury, who built a special camera for this purpose and recorded the movements of flowers through their life cycle. Pillsbury owned the Studio of the Three Arrows in the Valley and applied the technique to solving the problem of ensuring the survival of the rapidly shrinking varieties in the meadows. The United States Cavalry, then in charge of Yosemite, were mowing the meadows to produce fodder for their horses.  Pillsbury showed his first film to Superintendents for the National Parks during a conference held for them in Yosemite from October 14–16, 1912. The result was a unanimous agreement by the Superintendents to cease cutting the meadows and begin preservation. Pillsbury made lapse-time movies for 500 of the 1,500 varieties of wildflowers in Yosemite over the next years.  His films were shown during his lectures, which were scheduled first at garden clubs around California and then at most of the major universities across the country. Pillsbury also showed his films and lectured to town hall forums and the National Geographic Society.  In 1926 he was asked to present both his lapse-time motion pictures and his newly invented microscopic film to President Calvin Coolidge at a dinner given on March 15 in the president's honor at the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC. Pillsbury had been invited to present the films by Secretary of the Interior Herbert Work.  The use of photography in this form to obtain the preservation of natural resources was a first and followed his use of film to make the first recorded nature movie, shown to tourists in Yosemite in the spring of 1909.  Time-lapse photography of biological phenomena was pioneered by Jean Comandon in collaboration with Pathé Frères from 1909, by F. Percy Smith in 1910 and Roman Vishniac from 1915 to 1918. Time-lapse photography was further pioneered in the 1920s via a series of feature films called "Bergfilme" (Mountain films) by Arnold Fanck, including "Das Wolkenphänomen in Maloja" (1924) and "The Holy Mountain" (1926).  From 1929 to 1931, R. R. Rife astonished journalists with early demonstrations of high magnification time-lapse cine-micrography but no filmmaker can be credited for popularizing time-lapse more than Dr. John Ott, whose life-work is documented in the DVD-film "Exploring the Spectrum".  Ott's initial "day-job" career was that of a banker, with time-lapse movie photography, mostly of plants, initially just a hobby. Starting in the 1930s, Ott bought and built more and more time-lapse equipment, eventually building a large greenhouse full of plants, cameras, and even self-built automated electric motion control systems for moving the cameras to follow the growth of plants as they developed. He time-lapsed his entire greenhouse of plants and cameras as they worked – a virtual symphony of time-lapse movement. His work was featured on a late 1950s episode of the request TV show, "You Asked For It".  Ott discovered that the movement of plants could be manipulated by varying the amount of water the plants were given, and varying the color-temperature of the lights in the studio. Some colors caused the plants to flower, and other colors caused the plants to bear fruit. Ott discovered ways to change the sex of plants merely by varying the light source color-temperature. By using these techniques, Ott time-lapse animated plants "dancing" up and down in synch to pre-recorded music tracks. His cinematography of flowers blooming in such classic documentaries as Walt Disney's "Secrets of Life" (1956), pioneered the modern use of time-lapse on film and television. Ott wrote several books on the history of his time-lapse adventures, "My Ivory Cellar" (1958), "Health and Light" (1979), and the film documentary "Exploring the Spectrum" (DVD 2008).  The Oxford Scientific Film Institute in Oxford, United Kingdom specializes in time-lapse and slow-motion systems, and has developed camera systems that can go into (and move through) small places. Their footage has appeared in TV documentaries and movies.  PBS's "NOVA" series aired a full episode on time-lapse (and slow motion) photography and systems in 1981 titled "Moving Still". Highlights of Oxford's work are slow-motion shots of a dog shaking water off himself, with close ups of drops knocking a bee off a flower, as well as time-lapse of the decay of a dead mouse.  The first major usage of time-lapse in a feature film was "Koyaanisqatsi" (1983). The non-narrative film, directed by Godfrey Reggio, contained time-lapse of clouds, crowds, and cities filmed by cinematographer Ron Fricke. Years later, Ron Fricke produced a solo project called "Chronos" shot on IMAX cameras, which is still frequently played on Discovery HD. Fricke used the technique extensively in the documentary "Baraka" (1992) which he photographed on Todd-AO (70 mm) film. Recent films made entirely in time-lapse photography include Nate North's film, "Silicon Valley Time-lapse", which is the first feature-length film shot almost entirely in three-frame high dynamic range, as well as artist Peter Bo Rappmund's three feature-length documentaries, "Psychohydrography" (2010), "Tectonics" (2012), and "Topophilia" (2015).  Countless other films, commercials, TV shows and presentations have included time-lapse.  For example, Peter Greenaway's film "A Zed & Two Noughts" featured a sub-plot involving time-lapse photography of decomposing animals and included a composition called "Time-lapse" written for the film by Michael Nyman. In the late 1990s, Adam Zoghlin's time-lapse cinematography was featured in the CBS television series "Early Edition", depicting the adventures of a character that receives tomorrow's newspaper today. David Attenborough's 1995 series, "The Private Life of Plants", also utilised the technique extensively.

Terminology.

The frame rate of time-lapse movie photography can be varied to virtually any degree, from a rate approaching a normal frame rate (between 24 and 30 frames per second) to only one frame a day, a week, or longer, depending on subject.  The term "time-lapse" can also apply to how long the shutter of the camera is open during the exposure of "each" frame of film (or video), and has also been applied to the use of long-shutter openings used in still photography in some older photography circles. In movies, both kinds of time-lapse can be used together, depending on the sophistication of the camera system being used. A night shot of stars moving as the Earth rotates requires both forms. A long exposure of each frame is necessary to enable the dim light of the stars to register on the film. Lapses in time between frames provide the rapid movement when the film is viewed at normal speed.  As the frame rate of time-lapse approaches normal frame rates, these "mild" forms of time-lapse are sometimes referred to simply as fast motion or (in video) fast forward. This type of borderline time-lapse resembles a VCR in a fast forward ("scan") mode. A man riding a bicycle will display legs pumping furiously while he flashes through city streets at the speed of a racing car. Longer exposure rates for each frame can also produce blurs in the man's leg movements, heightening the illusion of speed.  Two examples of both techniques are the running sequence in Terry Gilliam's "The Adventures of Baron Munchausen" (1989), in which a character outraces a speeding bullet, and Los Angeles animator Mike Jittlov's 1980s short and feature-length films, both titled "The Wizard of Speed and Time". When used in motion pictures and on television, fast motion can serve one of several purposes. One popular usage is for comic effect. A slapstick comic scene might be played in fast motion with accompanying music. (This form of special effect was often used in silent film comedies in the early days of the cinema; see also liquid electricity).  Another use of fast motion is to speed up slow segments of a TV program that would otherwise take up too much of the time allotted a TV show. This allows, for example, a slow scene in a house redecorating show of furniture being moved around (or replaced with other furniture) to be compressed in a smaller allotment of time while still allowing the viewer to see what took place.  The opposite of fast motion is slow motion. Cinematographers refer to fast motion as "undercranking" since it was originally achieved by cranking a handcranked camera slower than normal. "Overcranking" produces slow motion effects.

How time-lapse works.

Film is often projected at 24 frame/s, meaning 24 images appear on the screen every second. Under normal circumstances, a film "camera" will record images at 24 frame/s. Since the projection speed and the recording speed are the same.  Even if the film camera is set to record at a slower speed, it will still be projected at 24 frame/s. Thus the image on screen will appear to move faster.  The change in speed of the onscreen image can be calculated by dividing the projection speed by the camera speed.  So a film recorded at 12 frames per second will appear to move twice as fast. Shooting at camera speeds between 8 and 22 frames per second usually falls into the undercranked fast motion category, with images shot at slower speeds more closely falling into the realm of time-lapse, although these distinctions of terminology have not been entirely established in all movie production circles.  The same principles apply to video and other digital photography techniques. However, until very recently, video cameras have not been capable of recording at variable frame rates.  Time-lapse can be achieved with some normal movie cameras by simply shooting individual frames manually. But greater accuracy in time-increments and consistency in exposure rates of successive frames are better achieved through a device that connects to the camera's shutter system (camera design permitting) called an intervalometer. The intervalometer regulates the motion of the camera according to a specific interval of time between frames. Today, many consumer grade digital cameras, including even some point-and-shoot cameras have hardware or software intervalometers available. Some intervalometers can be connected to motion control systems that move the camera on any number of axes as the time-lapse photography is achieved, creating tilts, pans, tracks, and trucking shots when the movie is played at normal frame rate. Ron Fricke is the primary developer of such systems, which can be seen in his short film "Chronos" (1985) and his feature films "Baraka" (1992, released to video in 2001) and "Samsara" (2011).

Short and long exposure time-lapse.

As mentioned above, in addition to modifying the speed of the camera, it is important to consider the relationship between the frame interval and the exposure time. This relationship controls the amount of motion blur present in each frame and is, in principle, exactly the same as adjusting the shutter angle on a movie camera. This is known as "dragging the shutter".  A film camera normally records images at 24 frames per second (fps). During each second, the film is actually exposed to light for roughly half the time. The rest of the time, it is hidden behind the shutter. Thus exposure time for motion picture film is normally calculated to be second (often rounded to second). Adjusting the shutter angle on a film camera (if its design allows), can add or reduce the amount of motion blur by changing the amount of time that the film frame is actually exposed to light.  In time-lapse photography, the camera records images at a specific slow interval such as one frame every thirty seconds ( fps). The shutter will be open for some portion of that time. In short exposure time-lapse the film is exposed to light for a normal exposure time over an abnormal frame interval. For example, the camera will be set up to expose a frame for second every 30 seconds. Such a setup will create the effect of an extremely tight shutter angle giving the resulting film a stop-motion animation quality.  In long exposure time-lapse, the exposure time will approximate the effects of a normal shutter angle. Normally, this means the exposure time should be half of the frame interval. Thus a 30‐second frame interval should be accompanied by a 15‐second exposure time to simulate a normal shutter. The resulting film will appear smooth.  The exposure time can be calculated based on the desired shutter angle effect and the frame interval with the equation:  Long exposure time-lapse is less common because it is often difficult to properly expose film at such a long period, especially in daylight situations. A film frame that is exposed for 15 seconds will receive 750 times more light than its second counterpart. (Thus it will be more than 9 stops over normal exposure.) A scientific grade neutral density filter can be used to compensate for the over-exposure.

Time-lapse camera movement.

Some of the most stunning time-lapse images are created by moving the camera during the shot. A time-lapse camera can be mounted to a moving car for example to create a notion of extreme speed.  However, to achieve the effect of a simple tracking shot, it is necessary to use motion control to move the camera. A motion control rig can be set to dolly or pan the camera at a glacially slow pace. When the image is projected it could appear that the camera is moving at a normal speed while the world around it is in time lapse. This juxtaposition can greatly heighten the time-lapse illusion.  The speed that the camera must move to create a perceived normal camera motion can be calculated by inverting the time-lapse equation:  Baraka was one of the first films to use this effect to its extreme. Director and cinematographer Ron Fricke designed his own motion control equipment that utilized stepper motors to pan, tilt and dolly the camera.  The short film "A Year Along the Abandoned Road" shows a whole year passing by in Norway's Børfjord at 50,000 times the normal speed in just 12 minutes. The camera was moved, manually, slightly each day, and so the film gives the viewer the impression of seamlessly travelling around the fjord as the year goes along, each day compressed into a few seconds.  A panning time-lapse can be easily and inexpensively achieved by using a widely available equatorial telescope mount with a right ascension motor (*360 degree example using this method). Two axis pans can be achieved as well, with contemporary motorized telescope mounts.  A variation of these are rigs that move the camera during exposures of each frame of film, blurring the entire image. Under controlled conditions, usually with computers carefully making the movements during and between each frame, some exciting blurred artistic and visual effects can be achieved, especially when the camera is mounted on a tracking system that enables its own movement through space.  The most classic example of this is the "slit-scan" opening of the "stargate" sequence toward the end of Stanley Kubrick's "" (1968), created by Douglas Trumbull.

High-dynamic-range (HDR) time-lapse.

Time-lapse can be combined with techniques such as high-dynamic-range imaging. One method to achieve HDR involves bracketing for each frame. Three photographs are taken at separate exposure values (capturing the three in immediate succession) to produce a group of pictures for each frame representing the highlights, mid-tones, and shadows. The bracketed groups are consolidated into individual frames. Those frames are then sequenced into video.

Day-to-night transitions.

Day-to-night transitions are among the most demanding scenes in time-lapse photography and the method used to deal with those transitions is commonly referred to as the "Holy Grail" technique. In a remote area not affected by light pollution the night sky is about ten million times darker than the sky on a sunny day, which is corresponding to 23 exposure values. In the analog age, blending techniques have been used in order to handle this difference: One shot has been taken in daytime and the other one in the night from exact the same camera angle.  True day-to-night transitions however, are a domain of the digital age. Today there are many ways to handle day-to-night transitions, such as automatic exposure and ISO, bulb ramping and several software solutions to operate the camera from a computer or smartphone.

Time-lapse photography is a technique whereby the frequency at which film frames are captured (the frame rate) is much more spread out than the frequency used to view the sequence. When played at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus "lapsing". For example, an image of a scene may be captured at 1 frame per second, but then played back at 30 frames per second; the result is an apparent "30 times" speed increase. In a similar manner, film can also be played at a much lower rate than at which it was captured, slowing down an otherwise fast action, as in slow motion or high-speed photography.

缩时摄影(英语:Time-lapse photography),亦称为间隔摄影、旷时摄影、延时摄影,是一种将画面拍摄频率设定在远低于一般观看连续画面所需频率的摄影技术。


Geology.

The park's rock formations, made famous by Robert Stevens and Harold Williams, include oceanic crust and mantle rock exposed by the obduction process of plate tectonics, as well as sedimentary rock formed during the Ordovician, Precambrian granite and Palaeozoic igneous rocks.  The park is located in the Great Northern Peninsula of Western Newfoundland. This peninsula is referred to as the Humber Zone, a Miogeocline, the Highlands of which contain the largest external basement massif of the Grenville Orogeny in the Appalachian Orogen. This Precambrian basement is known as the Long Range Inlier, Long Range Complex or Basement Gneiss Complex, consisting of quartz-feldspar gneisses and granites that are up to 1550 Ma in age. Mt. Gros Morne and Mt. Big Level lie within this Inlier. The western boundary of this inlier (along Western Brook Pond, St. Pauls Inlet, and south of Portl Creek Pond) consists of Devonian and Ordovician thrust faults, where crystalline rocks thrust over Cambrian-Ordovician carbonate rocks and the Lower Paleozoic Humber Arm Allochthon. The Rocky Harbour mélange is a Lower-Middle Ordovician collection of greywacke, quartzite, dolomite shale, chert, limestone blocks within a black, green, and red scaly shale matrix, which occurs along the shore from West Brook Pond to Humber Arm (Bay of Islands). The south portion of the park, Table Mtn. (Tablelands) and North Arm Mtn., consists of Upper Cambrian and Lower Ordovician ophiolites known as the Bay of Islands Complex, Little Post Complex, and Old Man Cove Formation. Finally, a Pleistocene ice cap flowed radially across the island, developing fjords such as Bonne Bay.

Tablelands.

The Tablelands, found between the towns of Trout River and Woody Point in south west of Gros Morne National Park, look more like a barren desert than traditional Newfoundland. This is due to the ultramafic rock – peridotite – which makes up the Tablelands. It is thought to originate in the Earth's mantle and was forced up from the depths during a plate collision several hundred million years ago. Peridotite lacks some of the usual nutrients required to sustain most plant life and has a toxic quality, hence its barren appearance. Peridotite is also high in iron, which accounts for its brownish colour (rusted colour). Underneath this weathered zone, the rock is really a dark green colour.

Soils.

The many soil associations mapped in the park reflect the wide variety of bedrock. The Silver Mountain soil association, dominant in the northeastern area, is a very stony sandy loam developed on glacial till overlying granite, granitic gneiss and schist. Similar rocks underlie the St. Paul's Inlet association farther west. Sedimentary rocks (including some dolomitic limestone) in the southeastern sector support the North Lake association of stony sandy loam. An association of mostly-shallow loam, the Cox's Cove, occupies a discontinuous band over shale, slate, limestone and sandstone near the coast. The coastal strip north of Bonne Bay is mostly underlain by the peaty Gull's Marsh association and the coarse Sally's Cove association except for an area of clay (Wood's Island association) around Rocky Harbour. The stony infertile soils of the ultramafic tablelands south of Bonne Bay belong to the Serpentine Range association.

Western Brook Pond - Fjord.

Western Brook Pond is a fresh water fjord which was carved out by glaciers during the most recent ice age from 25,000 to about 10,000 years ago. Once the glaciers melted, the land, which had been pushed down by the weight of the ice sheet, rebounded and the outlet to the sea was cut off. The long narrow "pond" then filled in with fresh water. The water in the fjord is extremely pure and is assigned the highest purity rating available for natural bodies of water. Pissing Mare Falls, the highest waterfall in eastern North America and 199th highest in the world, flows into Western Brook Pond. Sedimentary rocks, some of them calcareous, underlie the westernmost shores. Elsewhere, granitic gneiss is dominant.

Nature and wildlife.

The most notable animal in the park is the moose, part of a booming population that was introduced to Newfoundland around 1900. Other common wildlife in the park include an ecotype of caribou ("R.t caribou"), black bears, red foxes, Arctic foxes, snowshoe hares, red squirrels, lynxes, river otters and beavers. Harbour seals are common in St. Pauls inlet, and whales (pilots, minkes, humpbacks, fins) may be in the area especially during the capelin season in early summer. Many bird species can be found in the park, from shorebirds along the ocean to birds of the bogs and interior forests.

World Heritage Site.

In 1987, the park was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site for both its geological history and its exceptional scenery. The geology of the park in particular illustrates the concept of plate tectonics, and has shed important light on geological evolution and its processes.

Trails.

Hiking the trails is a popular activity at Gros Morne. There are about 20 marked day trip trails, exploring coastal and interior areas of the park. One of the more strenuous dayhikes is the 16 km hike over Gros Morne Mountain. This trail is also called the James Callaghan Trail after the former British Prime Minister, who visited in 1976, in recognition of his conservation efforts. A small controversy arose after the Prime Minister did not visit the trail that had been named in his honour.  The interior of the park can also be accessed, notably through the multi-day Long Range Traverse between Western Brook Pond and Gros Morne Mountain.

Arts and culture.

The park is home to many arts festivals, including: Gros Morne Theatre Festival, Writers at Woody Point, Gros Morne Summer Music, and Trails, Tales and Tunes.

In popular culture.

Gros Morne appears as a playable area in the 2014 videogame Assassin's Creed Rogue.

Gros Morne National Park is a world heritage site located on the west coast of Newfoundland. At, it is the second largest national park in Atlantic Canada; it is surpassed by Torngat Mountains National Park, which is.

格罗斯莫恩国家公园(英语:Gros Morne National Park)是加拿大纽芬兰与拉布拉多的一座国家公园,位于纽芬兰岛西岸。公园全境1,805平方公里,是加拿大大西洋省份第二大的国家公园。公园名字来源于公园内的纽芬兰第二高峰——格罗斯莫恩山。格罗斯莫恩(Gros Morne)源自法语,字面意为“非常孤独”,在这里表示“孤独站立的大山”。格罗斯莫恩国家公园是大陆漂移的稀少例证,这里裸露着深海地面以及地幔的岩石。公园于1973年建为国家公园保留地,2005年正式成为国家公园。


Properties.

The beta function is symmetric, meaning that  A key property of the beta function is its relationship to the gamma function; proof is given below in the section on relationship between gamma function and beta function  When and are positive integers, it follows from the definition of the gamma function that:  The beta function satisfies several identities, including  where is a truncated power function and the star denotes convolution.  The lowermost identity above shows in particular. Some of these identities, e.g. the trigonometric formula, can be applied to deriving the volume of an -ball in Cartesian coordinates.  Euler's integral for the beta function may be converted into an integral over the Pochhammer contour as  This Pochhammer contour integral converges for all values of and and so gives the analytic continuation of the beta function.  Just as the gamma function for integers describes factorials, the beta function can define a binomial coefficient after adjusting indices:  Moreover, for integer, can be factored to give a closed form interpolation function for continuous values of :  The beta function was the first known scattering amplitude in string theory, first conjectured by Gabriele Veneziano. It also occurs in the theory of the preferential attachment process, a type of stochastic urn process.

Relationship between gamma function and beta function.

A simple derivation of the relation can be found in Emil Artin's book "The Gamma Function", page 18–19.  To derive the integral representation of the beta function, write the product of two factorials as  Changing variables by and shows that this is  where is the absolute value of the Jacobian determinant of and.  The stated identity may be seen as a particular case of the identity for the integral of a convolution. Taking  one has:

Derivatives.

We have  where is the digamma function.

Integrals.

The Nörlund–Rice integral is a contour integral involving the beta function.

Approximation.

Stirling's approximation gives the asymptotic formula  for large and large. If on the other hand is large and is fixed, then

Incomplete beta function.

The incomplete beta function, a generalization of the beta function, is defined as  For, the incomplete beta function coincides with the complete beta function. The relationship between the two functions is like that between the gamma function and its generalization the incomplete gamma function.  The regularized incomplete beta function (or regularized beta function for short) is defined in terms of the incomplete beta function and the complete beta function:  The regularized incomplete beta function is the cumulative distribution function of the beta distribution, and is related to the cumulative distribution function formula_18 of a random variable following a binomial distribution with probability of single success and number of Bernoulli trials :

Multivariate beta function.

The beta function can be extended to a function with more than two arguments:  This multivariate beta function is used in the definition of the Dirichlet distribution.

Software implementation.

Even if unavailable directly, the complete and incomplete beta function values can be calculated using functions commonly included in spreadsheet or computer algebra systems. In Excel, for example, the complete beta value can be calculated from the codice_1 function: An incomplete beta value can be calculated as: These result follow from the properties listed above.  Similarly, codice_4 (incomplete beta function) in MATLAB and GNU Octave, codice_5 (probability of beta distribution) in R, or codice_6 in Python's SciPy package compute the regularized incomplete beta function—which is, in fact, the cumulative beta distribution—and so, to get the actual incomplete beta function, one must multiply the result of codice_4 by the result returned by the corresponding codice_8 function. In Mathematica, codice_9 and codice_10 give formula_22 and formula_23, respectively.

In mathematics, the beta function, also called the Euler integral of the first kind, is a special function defined by

Β函数,又称为贝塔函数或第一类欧拉积分,是一个特殊函数,由下式定义: