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27 may refer to: 27 (number), the natural number following 26 and preceding 28 one of the years 27 BC, AD 27, 1927, 2027 Music 27 (band), an American rock band from Boston, Massachusetts 27 Club, musicians who died at the age of 27 27 (opera), a 2014 opera by Ricky Ian Gordon and Royce Vavrek 27 (album), a 2012 album by Ciro y los Persas 27 (Cunter album), 2013 27 (Kim Sung-kyu EP), 2015 "27" (song), a 2002 song by the Scottish band Biffy Clyro "27", a 2008 song by Fall Out Boy from the album Folie à Deux ”27”, a 2017 song by Machine Gun Kelly from the album bloom "Twenty-Seven", a 1997 song by Lagwagon from the album Double Plaidinum Science Cobalt, a transition metal in the periodic table 27 Euterpe, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Other uses 27, a 2011 play by Abi Morgan 27 (artist) or Deuce 7, American street artist The apostrophe shown in the URL as %27; see EIA-608 See also Type 27 (disambiguation) List of highways numbered 27

Twenty-eight or 28 may refer to: 28 (number), the natural number following 27 and preceding 29 one of the years 28 BC, AD 28, 1928, 2028 Science Nickel, an transition metal in the periodic table 28 Bellona, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Other uses 28 (album), a 2005 electronic music album by Aoki Takamasa and Tujiko Noriko 28 (book), a 2007 non-fiction book by Stephanie Nolen 28 (2014 film), a Sri Lankan feature drama 28 (2019 film), an Indian Malayalam-language film Twenty-eight (card game), an Indian trick-taking game for four players Twenty-eight, a nickname for the subspecies (Barnardius zonarius semitorquatus) of the Australian ringneck "Twenty Eight", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Wild, Wonderful Purgatory, 1999 Toyota-28, a boat made by Toyota and Yanmar "28", a song by Agust D from D-2 mixtape

29 may refer to: 29 (number), the natural number following 28 and preceding 30 one of the years 29 BC, AD 29, 1929, 2029 Science Copper, an transition metal in the periodic table 29 Amphitrite, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Music "29" (Loïc Nottet song), a 2019 Loïc Nottet song "29" (Demi Lovato song), a 2022 song by American singer Demi Lovato "Twenty Nine", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Wild, Wonderful Purgatory, 1999 Other uses 29, a variant of Twenty-eight (card game) 29 (album), a 2005 Ryan Adams album

30 may refer to: 30 (number), the natural number following 29 and preceding 31 one of the years 30 BC, AD 30, 1930, 2030 Science Zinc, an transition metal in the periodic table 30 Urania, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Music 30 (Harry Connick Jr. album), 2001 30 (Adele album), 2021 30, a 1997 album by Laurent Garnier 30, a 2004 album by James Yorkston 30, a 2006 album by Jerusalem, also called Tretti 30, a 2014 compilation album by Modern Talking 30, a 2016 album by Trio da Paz "Thirty", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Wild, Wonderful Purgatory, 1999 "30", a 2021 song by Bo Burnham from the special Bo Burnham: Inside "30", a 2021 song by Pop Smoke from the album Faith Other uses "-30-", traditionally used by journalists in North America to indicate the end of a story -30- (film), 1959, also released as Deadline Midnight 30 (Law & Order: Criminal Intent), an episode of the television series Law & Order: Criminal Intent –30– (The Wire), the series finale of the HBO original series The Wire 30 (tennis), a score indicating two points won 30 caliber See also The Thirty (disambiguation) Renault 30, a French car produced between 1975 and 1984 30 Roc, American music producer List of highways numbered 30

Terminus may refer to: Ancient Rome Terminus (god), a Roman deity who protected boundary markers Transport Terminal train station or terminus, a railway station serving as an end destination Bus terminus, a bus station serving as an end destination Lagos Terminus railway station, the main railway station of Lagos, Nigeria Art, entertainment, and media Books Terminus (play), a 2007 play by Marl O'Rowe "Terminus" (poem), written in 1866 by Ralph Waldo Emerson Terminus (comics), a fictional character in the Marvel Universe Terminus (planet), the home of the Foundation in Isaac Asimov's Foundation novels (1942–1993) Terminus, a robot in the eponymous short story from Tales of Pirx the Pilot by Polish science fiction writer Stanisław Lem Film and TV Terminus (1961 film), a film directed by John Schlesinger Terminus (1987 film), a film directed by Pierre-William Glenn Terminus (2007 film), a short film directed by Trevor Cawood Terminus (2015 film), a film directed by Marc Furmie Terminus (Doctor Who), a 1983 serial in the long-running science fiction TV series Doctor Who Terminus, fictional city location in The Signal (2007 film) Terminus, a fictional sanctuary located in a train station, depicted in season 4 of the TV series The Walking Dead Terminus Series, a type of mecha in the anime series Eureka Seven Terminus Systems, part of the world of the Mass Effect media franchise Games Terminus (1986 video game), a space prison escape game by Mastertronic Terminus (2000 video game), a 2000 space-flight role-playing/action game by Vicarious Vision Terminus, a location in Halo 4; also an achievement when the player finds it Terminus is the name of the world in RPG/TBS video game Ash of Gods: Redemption Music Terminus (album) Other uses Glacier terminus, the end, or "snout," of a glacier's ice at any given point in time terminus post quem, terminus ante quem, terminus ad quem, and terminus a quo, terms used to describe the limits of a timeframe during which a historical event may have happened in archaeology Terminus (weevil), a beetle genus in the tribe Pentarthrini Terminus, the unofficial original name of Atlanta, Georgia, United States Terminus (office complex), an office complex in Atlanta Leonard Rose (hacker), a.k.a. "Terminus", convicted hacker "Terminus", a finishing move of professional wrestler Damien Sandow See also Terminal (disambiguation) Terminator (disambiguation) Termini (disambiguation)

Johor Bahru (Malaysian pronunciation: [ˈdʒohor ˈbahru]), colloquially referred to as JB, is the capital city of the state of Johor, Malaysia. It is located at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia, along the north bank of the Straits of Johor, opposite the city-state Singapore. The city has a population of 858,118 people within an area of 391.25 km2. Johor Bahru, which is the second largest GDP contributor among the first and second tier cities in Malaysia, forms the core of Johor Bahru District, the second largest district in Malaysia by population. It also forms a part of Iskandar Malaysia, the nation's largest special economic zone by investment. Johor Bahru serves as one of the two land border connections on the Malaysian side between the countries of Singapore and Malaysia, the other being the Second Link that links Iskandar Puteri to Tuas. It is the busiest international border crossing in the world; its direct land link to Woodlands, Singapore through the causeway is a key economic driver of the border city. Johor Bahru is categorised as Zone A of Iskandar Malaysia and is adjacent to Senai International Airport and the 16th busiest port in the world, Port of Tanjung Pelepas. During the reign of Sultan Abu Bakar, there was further development and modernisation within the city; with the construction of administrative buildings, schools, religious buildings, and railways connecting to Woodlands in Singapore. Along with most of Southeast Asia, Japanese forces occupied Johor Bahru from 1942 to 1945 during the Pacific War. Johor Bahru became the cradle of Malay nationalism after the war and a major political party known as the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) was founded at the Istana Besar of Johor Bahru in 1946. After the formation of Malaysia in 1963, Johor Bahru retained its status as state capital and was granted city status in 1994. Today, it serves as the financial centre and logistics hub of southern Peninsular Malaysia. Etymology The present area of Johor Bahru was originally known as Tanjung Puteri, and was a fishing village of the Malays. Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim then renamed Tanjung Puteri to Iskandar Puteri once he arrived in the area in 1858 after acquiring the territory from Sultan Ali; before it was renamed Johor Bahru by Sultan Abu Bakar following the Temenggong's death. (The suffix "Bah(a)ru" means "new" in Malay, normally written "baru" in standard spelling today but appearing with several variants in place names, such as Kota Bharu and Indonesian Pekanbaru.) The British preferred to spell its name as Johore Bahru or Johore Bharu, but the current accepted western spelling is Johor Bahru, as Johore is only spelt Johor (without the letter "e" at the end of the word) in the Malay language. The city is also spelt as Johor Baru or Johor Baharu.The city was also once known as "Little Swatow (Shantou)" by the Chinese community in Johor Bahru, as most of Johor Bahru's Chinese residents are Teochew people whose ancestry can be traced back to Shantou, China. They arrived in the mid 19th century, during the reign of Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim. The city, however, is generally known in Chinese as Xinshan meaning "New Mountain" (Chinese: 新山; pinyin: Xīnshān) as "mountain" may be used to mean "territory" or "land", and the name "New Mountain" distinguished it from the "Old Mountain" (Jiushan) once used to refer to Kranji and Sembawang in Singapore on the opposite side of the Straits of Johor, where Chinese first cultivated pepper and gambier in plantations before the Chinese moved to new land in Johor Bahru to create new plantations in 1855. History Due to a dispute between the Malays and the Bugis, the Johor-Riau Sultanate was split in 1819 with the mainland portion of the Johor Sultanate coming under the control of Temenggong Daeng Ibrahim while the Riau-Lingga Sultanate came under the control of the Bugis. The Temenggong intended to create a new administration centre for the Johor Sultanate to create a dynasty under the entity of Temenggong. As the Temenggong already had a close relationship with the British and the British intended to have control over trade activities in Singapore, a treaty was signed between Sultan Ali and Temenggong Ibrahim in Singapore on 10 March 1855. According to the treaty, Ali would be crowned as the Sultan of Johor and receive $5,000 (in Spanish dollars) with an allowance of $500 per month. In return, Ali was required to cede the sovereignty of the territory of Johor (except Kesang of Muar which would be the only territory under his control) to Temenggong Ibrahim. When both sides agreed on Temenggong acquiring the territory, he renamed it Iskandar Puteri and began to administer it from Telok Blangah in Singapore. As the area was still an undeveloped jungle, Temenggong encouraged the migration of Chinese and Javanese to clear the land and to develop an agricultural economy in Johor. The Chinese planted the area with black pepper and gambier, while the Javanese dug parit (canals) to drain water from the land, build roads and plant coconuts. During this time, a Chinese businessman, pepper and gambier cultivator, Wong Ah Fook arrived; at the same time, the Kangchu and Javanese labour contract systems were introduced by the Chinese and Javanese communities. After Temenggong's death on 31 January 1862, the town was renamed "Johor Bahru" and his position was succeeded by his son, Abu Bakar, with the administration centre in Telok Blangah being moved to the area in 1889. British administration In the first phase of Abu Bakar's administration, the British only recognised him as a maharaja rather than a sultan. In 1855, the British Colonial Office began to recognise his status as a Sultan after he met Queen Victoria. He managed to regain Kesang territory for Johor after a civil war with the aid of British forces and he boosted the town's infrastructure and agricultural economy. Infrastructure such as the State Mosque and Royal Palace was built with the aid of Wong Ah Fook, who had become a close patron for the Sultan since his migration during the Temenggong reign. As the Johor-British relationship improved, Abu Bakar also set up his administration under a British style and implemented a constitution known as Undang-undang Tubuh Negeri Johor (Johor State Constitution). Although the British had long been advisers for the Sultanate of Johor, the Sultanate never came under direct colonial rule of the British. The direct colonial rule only came into effect when the status of the adviser was elevated to a status similar to that of a Resident in the Federated Malay States (FMS) during the reign of Sultan Ibrahim in 1914.In Johor Bahru, the Malay Peninsula railway extension was finished in 1909, and in 1923 the Johor–Singapore Causeway was completed. Johor Bahru developed at a modest rate between the First and Second World Wars. The secretariat building—Sultan Ibrahim Building—was completed in 1940 as the British colonial government attempted to streamline the state's administration. World War II The continuous development of Johor Bahru was, however, halted when the Japanese under General Tomoyuki Yamashita invaded the town on 31 January 1942. As the Japanese had reached northwest Johor by 15 January, they easily captured major towns of Johor such of Batu Pahat, Yong Peng, Kluang and Ayer Hitam. The British and other Allied forces were forced to retreat towards Johor Bahru; however, following a further series of bombings by the Japanese on 29 January, the British retreated to Singapore and blew up the causeway the following day as a final attempt to stop the Japanese advance in British Malaya. The Japanese then used the Sultan's residence of Bukit Serene Palace located in the town as their main temporary base for their future initial plans to conquer Singapore while waiting to reconnect the causeway. The Japanese chose the palace as their main base because they already knew the British would not dare to attack it as this would harm their close relationship with Johor. In less than a month, the Japanese repaired the causeway and invaded the Singapore island easily. Soon after the war ended in 1946, the town became the main hotspot for Malay nationalism in Malaya. Onn Jaafar, a local Malay politician who later became the Chief Minister of Johor, formed the United Malay National Organisation party on 11 May 1946 when the Malays expressed their widespread disenchantment over the British government's action for granting citizenship laws to non-Malays in the proposed states of the Malayan Union. An agreement over the policy was then reached in the town with Malays agreeing with the dominance of economy by the non-Malays and the Malays' dominance in political matters being agreed upon by non-Malays. Racial conflict between the Malay and non-Malays, especially the Chinese, is being provoked continuously since the Malayan Emergency. Post-independence After the formation of the Federation of Malaysia in 1963, Johor Bahru continued as the state capital and more development was carried out, with the town's expansion and the construction of more new townships and industrial estates. The Indonesian confrontation did not directly affect Johor Bahru as the main Indonesian landing point in Johor was in Labis and Tenang in Segamat District as well Pontian District. There is only one active Indonesian spy organisation in the town, known as Gerakan Ekonomi Melayu Indonesia (GEMI). They frequently engaged with the Indonesian communities living there to contribute information for Indonesian commandos until the bombing of the MacDonald House in Singapore in 1965. By the early 1990s, the town had considerably expanded in size, and was officially granted a city status on 1 January 1994. Johor Bahru City Council was formed and the city's current main square, Dataran Bandaraya Johor Bahru, was constructed to commemorate the event. A central business district was developed in the centre of the city from the mid-1990s in the area around Wong Ah Fook Street. The state and federal government channelled considerable funds for the development of the city—particularly more so after 2006, when the Iskandar Malaysia was formed. However, more than ten years of unbridled building construction in Iskandar, especially of higher-end high-rise apartments and commercial property, has led to a serious glut of such property in the region. Occupancy of high-rise accommodation has been predicted to fall to 50 percent, and commercial property to 65 percent, by the end of 2019 due to continued incoming supply. Governance As the capital city of Johor, the city plays an important role in the economic welfare of the entire state's population. There is one member of parliament (MP) representing the single parliamentary constituency (P.160) in the city. The city also elects two representatives to the state legislature from the state assembly districts of Larkin and Stulang. Local authority and city definition The city is administered by the Johor Bahru City Council. The current mayor is Dato' Haji Mohd Noorazam bin Dato' Haji Osman, which took office since 15 August 2021. Johor Bahru obtained city status on 1 January 1994. The area under the jurisdiction of the Johor Bahru City Council includes Central District, Kangkar Tebrau, Kempas, Larkin, Majidee, Maju Jaya, Mount Austin, Pandan, Pasir Pelangi, Pelangi, Permas Jaya, Rinting, Tampoi, Tasek Utara and Tebrau. This covers an area of 220 square kilometres (85 sq mi). Currently there are 11 council members in the city council, which consists of 3 Amanah members, 3 Bersatu members, 3 DAP members and 2 PKR members. In August 2021, mayor Adib Azhari Daud was arrested and taken into custody for allegedly accepting bribes from contractors while overseeing development of Johor Bahru. The arrest marks the first time an active Johor mayor has been arrested. Courts of law and legal enforcement The city high court complex is located along Dato' Onn Road. The Sessions and Magistrate Courts is located on Ayer Molek Road, while another court for Sharia law is located on Abu Bakar Road. The Johor (state) Police Contingent Headquarters is located on Tebrau Road. Johor Bahru's Southern District police headquarters, which also operates as a police station, is on Meldrum Road in the city centre. The Johor Bahru Southern District traffic police headquarters is a separate entity along Tebrau Road, close to the city centre. Johor Bahru's Northern District police headquarters and Northern District Traffic Police headquarters are co-located in Skudai, about 20 km north of the city centre. There are around eleven police stations and seven police substations (Pondok Polis) in the greater Johor Bahru area. Johor Bahru Prison was located in the city along Ayer Molek Road, but was closed down after 122 years operation in December 2005, its function being transferred to an expanded prison in the town of Kluang about 110 km from Johor Bahru. Other temporary lock-ups or prison cells are available in most police stations in the city, as in other parts of Malaysia. Geography Johor Bahru is located along the Straits of Johor at the southern end of Peninsular Malaysia. Originally, the city area was only 12.12 km2 (4.68 sq mi) in 1933 before it was expanded to over 220 km2 (85 sq mi) in 2000. Climate The city has an equatorial climate with consistent temperatures, a considerable amount of rain, and high humidity throughout the course of the year. An equatorial climate is a tropical rainforest climate more subject to the Intertropical Convergence Zone than the trade winds and with no cyclone. Daily average temperatures range from 26.4 °C (79.5 °F) in January to 27.8 °C (82.0 °F) in April with an average annual rainfall of around 2,350 mm (93 in). The wettest months, with 19 to 25 percent more rain than average, are April, November and December. Although the climate is relatively uniform, it does show some seasonal variation due to the effects of monsoons, with noticeable changes in wind speed and direction, cloud cover and amount of rainfall. There are two monsoon periods each year, the first one between mid-October and January, which is the north-east Monsoon. This period is characterised by heavier rainfall and wind from the north-east. The second one is the south-west Monsoon, which hardly affects the rainfall in Johor Bahru, where winds are from the south and south-west. This occurs between June and September. Demographics Johor Bahru has an official demonym where people are commonly referred to as "Johor Bahruans". The terms "J.B-ites" and "J.B-ians" have also been used to a limited extent. People from Johor are called Johoreans. Ethnicity and religion The Malaysian Census in 2010 reported the population of Johor Bahru as 497,067. The city's population today is a mixture of three main ethnicities - Malays, Chinese and Indians- along with other bumiputras. Malays comprise a plurality of the population at 240,323, followed by Chinese totalling 172,609, Indians totaling 73,319 and others totalling 2,957. Non-Malaysian citizens form a population of 2,585. The Malays in Johor Bahru are strongly related to the neighbouring Riau Malays in Riau Islands, Indonesia with significant populations of Javanese, Bugis and Banjarese among the local Johorean Malay population. The Chinese mainly are from the majority Teochew, Hokkien, Hainanese and Hakka dialect groups (with a minority of Cantonese, Henghua and Foochowese amongst the local Chinese), while the Indian community mainly and predominantly are Tamils, there are also small populations of Telugus, Malayalis and Sikh Punjabis. The Malays are majority Muslims, while the Chinese are predominantly Buddhists/Taoists and the Indians were mostly Hindus despite there is also a small numbers from the two ethnic groups that are Christians and Muslims. A small number of Sikhs, Animists and secularists can also be found in the city. The following is based on Department of Statistics Malaysia 2010 census. Languages The local ethnic Malays speak the Malay language, while the language primarily spoken by the local Chinese is Mandarin Chinese. The Chinese community is represented by several dialect groups: Teochew, Hainanese, Hakka and Hokkien.The Indian community predominantly speaks Tamil (also lingua franca among all Indians), with a minority of Malayalam, Telugu and Punjabi speakers. The English language (or Manglish) is also used considerably, albeit more so among the older generation, who have attended school during the British rule. Economy Johor Bahru is one of the fastest-growing cities in Malaysia after Kuala Lumpur. It is the main commercial centre for Johor and is located in the Indonesia–Malaysia–Singapore Growth Triangle. Tertiary-based industry dominates the economy with many international tourists from the regions visiting the city. It is the centre of financial services, commerce and retail, arts and culture, hospitality, urban tourism, plastic manufacturing, electrical and electronics and food processing. The main shopping districts are located within the city, with a number of large shopping malls located in the suburbs. Johor Bahru is the location of numerous conferences, congress and trade fairs, such as the Eastern Regional Organisation for Planning and Housing and the World Islamic Economic Forum. The city is the first in Malaysia to practise a low-carbon economy. The city has a very close economic relationship with Singapore. There are around 3,000 logistic lorries crossing between Johor Bahru and Singapore every day for delivering goods between the two sides for trading activities. Many residents in Singapore frequently visit the city during the weekends; some of them have also chosen to live in the city. Many of the city's residents work in Singapore. Transportation Land The internal roads linking different parts of the city are mostly federal roads constructed and maintained by Malaysian Public Works Department. There are five major highways linking the Johor Bahru Central Business District to outlying suburbs: Tebrau Highway and Johor Bahru Eastern Dispersal Link Expressway in the northeast, Skudai Highway in the northwest, Iskandar Coastal Highway in the west and Johor Bahru East Coast Highway in the east. Pasir Gudang Highway and the connecting Johor Bahru Parkway cross Tebrau Highway and Skudai Highway, which serve as the middle ring road of the metropolitan area. The Johor Bahru Inner Ring Road, which connects with the Sultan Iskandar customs complex, aids in controlling the traffic in and around the central business district. Access to the national expressway is provided through the North–South Expressway and Senai–Desaru Expressway. The Johor–Singapore Causeway links the city to Woodlands, Singapore with a six-lane road and a railway line terminating at the Southern Integrated Gateway. Bus The main bus terminal of the city is the Larkin Sentral located in Larkin. Other bus terminals include Taman Johor Jaya Bus Terminal and Ulu Tiram Bus Terminal. Larkin Sentral has direct bus services to and from many destinations in West Malaysia, southern Thailand and Singapore, while Taman Johor Jaya and Ulu Tiram Bus Terminals serve local destinations. Major bus operators in the city are Causeway Link, Maju and S&S. It is possible to get around the city by bus, though the frequency of the bus might be an issue. Taxi Two types of taxis operate in the city; the main taxi is either in red and yellow, blue, green or red while the larger, less common type is known as a limousine taxi, which is more comfortable but expensive. Most taxis in the city do not use their meter. Railway The city is served by two railway stations, which are Johor Bahru Sentral railway station and Kempas Baru railway station. Both stations serve train services to Kuala Lumpur and Singapore. In 2015, a new shuttle train service operated by Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM) was launched providing transport to Woodlands in Singapore. Air The city is served by Senai International Airport located at the neighbouring Senai town and connected through Skudai Highway. Four airlines, AirAsia (and its subsidiaries Indonesia AirAsia and Thai AirAsia), Firefly, Malaysia Airlines, Batik Air Malaysia and formerly Xpress Air, provide flights domestically as well as international flights to Jakarta Soekarno–Hatta, Surabaya, Hồ Chí Minh City, and Bangkok Don Mueang. Sea Boat services are available to ports in Batam and Bintan Islands in Indonesia from Stulang Laut Ferry Terminal, located near the suburb of Stulang. Other utilities Healthcare There are three public hospitals, four health clinics and thirteen 1Malaysia clinics in Johor Bahru. Sultanah Aminah Hospital, which is located along Persiaran Road, is the largest public hospital in Johor Bahru as well as in Johor with 989 beds. Another government funded hospital is the Sultan Ismail Specialist Hospital with 700 beds. Another large private health facility is the KPJ Puteri Specialist Hospital with 158 beds. Further healthcare facilities are currently being expanded to improve healthcare services in the city. Education Many government or state schools are available in the city. The secondary schools include English College Johore Bahru, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Engku Aminah, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Sultan Ismail, Sekolah Menengah Infant Jesus Convent, Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (Perempuan) Sultan Ibrahim and Sekolah Menengah Saint Joseph. There are also a number of independent private schools in the city. These include Austin Heights, Excelsior International School, Foon Yew High School and the Sri Ara Schools. The other private universities are Raffles University Iskandar and Wawasan Open University. There are also a number of private college campuses and one polytechnic operating in the city; these are Crescendo International College, KPJ College, Olympia College, Sunway College Johor Bahru, Taylor's College and College of Islamic Studies Johor. Libraries The Johor State Library, also known as the Johor Public Library Corporation headquarters is the main library in the state, located off Yahya Awal Road. Another public library branch is the University Park in Kebudayaan Road, while there are other libraries or private libraries in schools, colleges, and universities. Two village libraries are available in the district of Johor Bahru. Culture and leisure Attractions and recreation spots Cultural attractions There are a number of cultural attractions in Johor Bahru. The Royal Abu Bakar Museum located within the Grand Palace building is the main museum in the city. The Johor Bahru Kwong Siew Heritage located in Wong Ah Fook Street housed the former Cantonese clan house that was donated by Wong Ah Fook. The Foon Yew High School houses many historical documents of the city history with a Chinese cultural heritage. The Johor Bahru Chinese Heritage Museum on Ibrahim Road includes the history of Chinese migration to Johor along with a collection of documents, photos, and other artefacts.The Johor Art Gallery in Petrie Road is a house gallery built in 1910, known as the house for the former third Chief Minister of Johor, Abdullah Jaafar. The house features old architecture and became the centre for the collection of artefacts related to Johor's cultural history since its renovation in 2000. Historical attractions The Grand Palace is one of the historical attractions in the city, and is an example of Victorian-style architecture with a garden. Figure Museum is another historical colonial building since 1886 which ever become the house for the Johor first Menteri Besar Jaafar Muhammad; it is located on the top of Smile Hill (Bukit Senyum). The English College (now Maktab Sultan Abu Bakar) established in 1914 was located close to the Sungai Chat Palace before being moved to its present location at Sungai Chat Road; some of the ruins are visible at the old site. The Sultan Ibrahim Building is another historical building in the city; built in 1936 by British architect Palmer and Turner, it was the centre of the administration of Johor as since the relocation from Telok Blangah in Singapore, the Johor government never had its own building. Before the current railway station was built, there was Johor Bahru railway station (formerly Wooden Railway) which has now been turned into a museum after serving for 100 years since the British colonial era. Sultan Abu Bakar State Mosque, located along Skudai Road, is the main and the oldest mosque in the state. It was built with a combination of Victorian, Moorish and Malay architectures. The Johor Bahru Old Chinese Temple, located on the Trus Road, dedicated to the Five Patron Deities from the five Southern Chinese Clans (Hokkien, Teochew, Hakka, Cantonese & Hainanese) in the city. It was built in 1875 and renovated by the Persekutuan Tiong Hua Johor Bahru (Johor Bahru Tiong Hua Association) in 1994–95 with the addition of a small L-shaped museum in one corner of the square premises. The Wong Ah Fook Mansion, the home of the late Wong Ah Fook, was a former historical attraction. It stood for more than 150 years but was demolished illegally by its owner in 2014 to make way for a commercial housing development without informing the state government. Other historical religious buildings include the Arulmigu Sri Rajakaliamman Hindu Temple, Sri Raja Mariamman Hindu Temple, Gurdwara Sahib and Church of the Immaculate Conception. Leisure and conservation areas The Danga Bay is a 25 kilometres (16 mi) area of recreational waterfront. There are around 15 established golf courses, of which two offer 36-hole facilities; most of these are located within resorts. The city also features several paintball parks which are also used for off-road motorsports activities.The Johor Zoo is one of the oldest zoos in Malaysia; built in 1928 covering 4 hectares (9.9 acres) of land, it was originally called "animal garden" before being handed to the state government for renovation in 1962. The zoo has around 100 species of animals, including wild cats, camels, gorillas, orangutans, and tropical birds. Visitors can participate in activities such as horse riding or using pedalos. The largest park in the city is Independence Park. Other attractions Dataran Bandaraya was built after Johor Bahru was proclaimed as a city. The site features a clock tower, fountain and a large field. The Wong Ah Fook Street is named after Wong Ah Fook. The Tan Hiok Nee Street is named after Tan Hiok Nee, who was the leader of the former Ngee Heng Kongsi, a secret society in Johor Bahru. Together with the Dhoby Street, both are part of a trail known as Old Buildings Road; they feature a mixture of Chinese and Indian heritages, reflected by their forms of ethnic business and architecture. Shopping Shopping malls in Johor Bahru include Komtar JBCC, KSL City, Johor Bahru City Square, R&F Mall, Holiday Plaza, Paradigm Mall Johor Bahru, The Mall Mid Valley Southkey, Toppen Shopping Centre, Plaza Pelangi, Galleria@Kotaraya, AEON Tebrau City, Paragon Market Place, AEON Permas Jaya, Pelangi Leisure Mall, AEON Mall Bandar Dato' Onn, Plaza Sentosa, Stellar Walk and Beletime Danga Bay. The Mawar Handicrafts Centre, a government-funded exhibition and sales centre, is located along the Sungai Chat road and sells various batik and songket clothes. Opposite this is the Johor Area Rehabilitation Organisation (JARO) Handicrafts Centre which sells items such as hand-made cane furniture, soft toys and rattan baskets made by the physically disabled. Entertainment The oldest cinema in the city is the Broadway Theatre which mostly screens Tamil and Hindi movies. There are around other five cinemas available in the city with all of them located inside shopping malls. Sports The city's main association football club is a Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. Its home stadium is Sultan Ibrahim Stadium has a capacity of around 40,000. There is also a futsal centre, known as Sports Prima, which has eight minimum-sized FIFA approved futsal courts; it is the largest indoor sports centre in the city. Radio stations Two radio stations have their offices in the city: Best FM (104.1) and Johor FM (101.9). Crime For several decades running, Johor Bahru is notorious for its relatively high crime rate, compared to other urban areas in Malaysia. In 2014, Johor Bahru South police district recorded one of the highest crime rates in the country with 4,151 cases, behind Petaling Jaya. In 2013, the city also accounted for 70% of crimes committed in the entire state of Johor, with a Johor police spokesman admitting that Johor Bahru remained a crime hotspot within the state. Crime in Johor Bahru has also received substantial media coverage by the Singaporean press, as Singaporeans visiting or transiting through the neighbouring city are often targeted by criminals.Among the more common criminal cases in Johor Bahru are robberies, snatch theft, carjacking, kidnapping and rape. Gang and unarmed robberies accounted for about 76% of the city's criminal cases in 2013 alone. Illegal car cloning is also rampant in the city. In addition, Johor Bahru's reputation for sleaze still exists, with some areas in the city centre turning into red-light districts, despite prostitution being illegal in Malaysia. International relations Several countries have set up their consulates in Johor Bahru, including Indonesia and Singapore, while Japan has closed its consular office since 2014. Twin towns – Sister cities Johor Bahru currently has seven sister cities: In popular culture Movies Punggok Rindukan Bulan (2008) Notable people Christina Jordan (born 1962), Malaysian-born British politician Vivien Yeo (born 1984), Malaysian actress based in Hong Kong Gin Lee (born 1987), Malaysian singer based in Hong Kong Ng Tze Yong (born 2000), national badminton player Ronny Chieng (born 1985), Malaysian comedian and actor based in United States Tunku Abdul Rahman Hassanal Jeffri (born 1993), racing driver and member of the Johor Royal Family Sebastian Francis, (born 1959), fifth bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of Penang and cardinal of the Catholic Church See also Johor Bahru landmarks Johor Bahru Central District Further reading Guinness, Patrick (1992). On the Margin of Capitalism: People and development in Mukim Plentong, Johor, Malaysia. South-East Asian social monographs. Singapore: Oxford University Press. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-19-588556-9. OCLC 231412873. Lim, Patricia Pui Huen (2002). Wong Ah Fook: Immigrant, Builder and Entrepreneur. Singapore: Times Editions. ISBN 978-981-232-369-9. OCLC 52054305. Oakley, Mat; Brown, Joshua Samuel (2009). Singapore: city guide. Footscray, Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet. ISBN 978-1-74104-664-9. OCLC 440970648. Winstedt, Richard Olof; Kim, Khoo Kay (1992). A History of Johore, 1365–1941. M. B. R. A. S. Reprints (6) (Reprint ed.). Kuala Lumpur: Malaysian Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. ISBN 978-983-99614-6-1. OCLC 255968795. John Drysdale (15 December 2008). Singapore Struggle for Success. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. pp. 287–. ISBN 978-981-4677-67-7. Jamie Han (2014). "Communal riots of 1964". National Library Board. Retrieved 5 July 2015. Johor Bahru City Council

Code Lyoko (French pronunciation: ​[kɔd ljɔko]; Stylized as COdE LYOKO in Season 1 and in all caps starting in Seasons 2 to 4) is a French animated series created by Thomas Romain and Tania Palumbo and produced by Antefilms Production (season 1) and MoonScoop Group (seasons 2–4) for France 3 and Canal J, with the participation of Conseil Général de la Charente, Pôle Image Magelis, Région Poitou-Charentes and Wallimage. The series centers on a group of teenagers who travel to the virtual world of Lyoko to battle against a malignant artificial intelligence known as XANA who threatens Earth with powers to access the real world and cause trouble. The scenes in the real world employ traditional animation with hand-painted backgrounds, while the scenes in Lyoko are presented in 3D CGI animation. The series began its first, 97-episode run on September 3, 2003, on France's France 3, and ended on November 10, 2007 and on Cartoon Network in the United States on April 19, 2004. Code Lyoko aired every day on Cartoon Network, and was also in their Miguzi and Master Control programming blocks, at 5:00 or 5:30 P.M. U.S. Eastern Time, sometimes even showing two new back-to-back episodes consecutively, in the cases of season finales. A follow-up series, Code Lyoko: Evolution, began airing at the end of 2012. This "sequel" to the series featured live-action sequences for scenes taking place in the real world instead of its traditional 2D animation but retained the iconic CGI for scenes taking place in Lyoko, now with an updated artstyle. Unlike the original, it was never dubbed into English (With the exception of the show's trailer and episode 5 on Kabillion). The show consisted of 26 episodes with the final episode airing in late 2013, leaving off on a cliffhanger with no second season planned as MoonScoop later filed for bankruptcy in 2014. Plot Jeremy Belpois, an 8th grade prodigy attending boarding school at Kadic Academy, discovers a quantum supercomputer in an abandoned factory near his school. Upon activating it, he discovers a virtual world called Lyoko with an artificially intelligent girl named Aelita trapped inside it. Jeremy learns of XANA, a fully autonomous, malevolent, and highly intelligent multi-agent system, that also dwells within the Supercomputer. Using Lyoko's powers, XANA can possess electronics and objects in the real world like a virus to wreak havoc. XANA's primary objective is to eliminate anyone aware of the Supercomputer's existence so that it will be free to conquer the real world and destroy all humanity. Jeremy works tirelessly to materialize Aelita into the real world and stop attacks caused by XANA. Jeremy is aided by his three friends Odd Della Robbia, Ulrich Stern, and Yumi Ishiyama, who are virtualized into Lyoko to save both worlds from the sinister virtual entity. They achieve this by escorting Aelita to various Towers on Lyoko, which serve as interface terminals between Lyoko and Earth. Once the Tower is deactivated, Jeremy can launch a "Return to the Past" program, which sends the world back in time to undo any damage caused by XANA, while anyone scanned into the Supercomputer retains their memory of the events. In "Code: Earth," Aelita is finally materialized, but the group discovers that XANA had planted a virus inside of her that will kill her if the Supercomputer is turned off. They realize that they cannot destroy XANA, or Aelita will be destroyed along with it. In Season 2, Aelita adjusts to life in the real world, while Jeremy attempts to develop an antivirus program to liberate her from XANA's power. On Lyoko, a fifth sector is discovered and the group explores more of Lyoko's secrets and mysteries. The gang begins to uncover information about a mysterious man named Franz Hopper, who went missing ten years ago. He supposedly created the Supercomputer, Lyoko, and XANA, and is eventually discovered to be Aelita's father. They finally find out that Franz Hopper is indeed alive somewhere, hiding in the uncharted parts of Lyoko to avoid XANA further. All the while, XANA attempts to steal Aelita's memory to gain the Keys to Lyoko and escape into the internet. At the end of the season, the group discovers that Aelita is actually human and does not have a virus, and instead is missing a fragment of herself. In "The Key," XANA tricks them with a fake and succeeds in stealing Aelita's memory and escaping the Supercomputer. Aelita appears to perish as a result but is revived when Franz Hopper restores her completely, along with her missing fragment: the memories of her life on Earth before she was virtualized on Lyoko. Season 3 shows that since succeeding in escaping the confinements of the supercomputer, XANA targets the virtual world itself by destroying each of Lyoko's surface sectors, until only Sector Five is left. Initially reluctant, the Lyoko Warriors decide to invite William Dunbar as the sixth member. However, shortly after being virtualized, he is possessed by XANA. Shortly after, he destroys the Core of Lyoko, destroying the entire virtual world and rendering the group unable to fight XANA, putting the entire real world in danger. After what they thought was their defeat, Jeremy receives a coded message from Franz Hopper that allows him to recreate Lyoko and continue the fight against XANA. In Season 4, Jeremy and Aelita construct a digital submarine, the Skidbladnir, to travel across the Digital Sea to destroy XANA's "Replikas," which are copies of Lyoko's sectors that are linked to XANA-controlled supercomputers on Earth, all created for its goal of world domination. XANA uses William as its general throughout the season to defend the Replikas and target the Lyoko Warriors in any way he can. To prevent suspicion regarding William's disappearance, Jeremy manages to program a specter to take William's place at Kadic, although the clone has low-level intelligence and acts very stupidly. Near the end of the season, XANA decides to draw energy from all of its Replikas to create the Kolossus, a gigantic monster that later destroys the Skidbladnir. Before it is destroyed, Jeremy frees William from XANA's control. After his return, he has a difficult time gaining the trust of the group. While Ulrich defeats the Kolossus, Franz Hopper sacrifices himself to power Jeremy's "anti-XANA program," which destroys XANA forever upon activation. Shortly after, the group, albeit reluctant due to their nostalgia, decides to shut down the Supercomputer. Characters Lyoko Warriors Jeremy Belpois (French: Jérémy Belpois; formerly Jeremie (French: Jérémie) in season 1)Voiced by: Raphaëlle Bruneau (French); Sharon Mann (English) A 12-year-old (later 13-year-old) top-of-the-class student who finds and starts the factory's supercomputer while looking for parts to build a robot. By turning on the Supercomputer, he reawakened Aelita, the virtual world of Lyoko, and the malevolent multi-agent system XANA. His goals are mainly driven by his desire to protect Aelita, whom he has a crush on, and to save her from the Supercomputer and XANA by materializing her on Earth. As part of the group, he specializes in programming new ways to defeat XANA and monitors the group while they are on Lyoko. Because he is not very athletic and is more computer savvy, Jeremy almost never goes to Lyoko, only going there once and vowing to never do it again. His workaholic attitude occasionally puts a strain on his relationships with the other members of the group.Aelita SchaefferVoiced by: Sophie Landresse (French); Sharon Mann (English) Mainly known by her alias Aelita Stones, Aelita is the smartest of the group alongside Jeremy. At the beginning of the series, she was trapped within Lyoko, inside the Supercomputer. She was originally thought to be an AI until it was revealed that she's the daughter of Franz Hopper, the creator of the world of Lyoko. As a little girl, she lost her mother. When a group of suited men came to her home, she and her father fled and virtualized themselves on Lyoko. Between the virtualization and Jeremy's discovery of the Supercomputer, XANA stole an important memory fragment that inhibited her from becoming fully human again. After this fragment is retrieved, she is no longer linked to the Supercomputer. After becoming human, she often has nightmares of her past life. She later enrolls as a boarder at Kadic under the alias Aelita Stones, claiming to be Odd's cousin. She reciprocates Jeremy's feelings for her, but he often strains their relationship by overlooking Aelita and her passions in favor of working on the Supercomputer. Aelita is the only one capable of deactivating towers on Lyoko to stop XANA's attacks. On Lyoko, she has an elf-like appearance, similar to that of "Mr. Pück," a toy elf from her childhood. She has the "power of creation": the ability to create or remove objects, such as rocks or bridges, from the virtual environment. She had no weapons or defense until season 3 of the show when she developed the ability to use "energy fields," pink balls of plasma that can be thrown or used to block enemy fire. In season 4, Jeremy programs light pink angel wings as part of her new virtual attire, allowing her to fly and carry one other person.Odd Della RobbiaVoiced by: Raphaëlle Bruneau (French); Christophe Caballero and Matthew Géczy (English) The comic relief of the group. Odd is credited as having great potential when it comes to school, but rarely uses it, and as a result of this, he gets bad grades due to his lack of studying. He shares a dorm with Ulrich and has a dog named Kiwi, who he hides in a dresser because pets aren't allowed at Kadic. He's considered a ladies' man and has dated many of the girls at his school, but his romances tend to last only a few days. Before he attended Kadic, he lived with his parents and his five sisters. Odd's blond hair has a purple spot and is worn up in a spike. On Lyoko, he is clothed like a cat, with a tail and clawed gloves that shoot "laser arrows." In season 1 he had a precognitive power named "Future Flash", but it was deleted before season 2 and is replaced by his defensive ability to create a purple energy shield by crossing his arms in front of his body, covering half of his body. Another one of Odd's abilities is being able to use his claws to climb on walls like a cat.Ulrich SternVoiced by: Marie-Line Landerwijn (French); Barbara Weber-Scaff (English) A more reserved member of the group, Ulrich has a hard time sharing his feelings. His parents pressure him to achieve well in school, but he has difficulty learning and living up to their expectations. In his off-time, he practices Pencak silat with Yumi, whom he has a crush on. He suffers from vertigo, which makes it hard to participate in activities such as rock climbing. Due to his many activities, Ulrich has a rather muscular build, thus many girls (particularly Sissi) consider him to be extremely handsome. On Lyoko, he wears a yellow and brown outfit inspired by Japanese samurai. His main weapon is a katana, and can dual wield them. His "Supersprint" ability allows him to dash at high speed, and his "Triplicate" power lets him create two clones of himself. He can combine these abilities in a technique called "Triangulate," using his clones to form a triangle around an enemy and ambush it from behind when it is distracted.Yumi IshiyamaVoiced by: Géraldine Frippiat (French); Mirabelle Kirkland (English) A fairly reserved student who lives near and attends Kadic. She is the oldest of the group. She is of Japanese descent and has one younger brother, Hiroki. Because of her parents and culture, she must maintain good grades and observe family values. At home, she generally has to deal with marital issues between her parents. She is a friend of William Dunbar, who transferred to Kadic during season 2. She practices pencak silat with Ulrich, whom she has a crush on, though it's not as obvious as Ulrich's crush on her. She always wears black and has enough basic knowledge of the Supercomputer to operate it in Jeremy and Aelita's absence. On Lyoko, Yumi is dressed in a geisha-inspired outfit with an obi sash. Her main weapon is a Tessen fan, being given an additional one since the second season, and her one-and-only power is telekinesis, allowing her to move objects and levitate her three best friends with her mind alone; it is rarely used as it tires her out pretty quickly. During the fourth season, we see more of this ability being used by Yumi, this time with more ease and control.William DunbarVoiced by: Mathieu Moreau (French); David Gasman (English) An overconfident student who starts attending Kadic Academy after he was expelled from his previous school for vandalism. Yumi befriends him and he soon develops feelings for her. He often fights with Ulrich for Yumi's attention and is sometimes disrespectful of Yumi's boundaries, causing her to become frustrated with his unwanted advances. After proving helpful to the group during several XANA attacks, they vote on whether he should be allowed to join the group, but Yumi votes no and his memory is erased. Eventually, however, the vote becomes unanimous when William's membership is deemed necessary. On his first mission on Lyoko, William is captured and possessed by XANA, who ensnares William as its puppet. From that point on, a clone of William, created by Jeremy, is used to pose as the real William until Jeremy is able to free him. Unfortunately, Jeremy's program is imperfect, causing the William clone to act either unintelligent or unpredictable. Near the end of the series, the clone starts developing several human-like traits, which he eventually uses to help the warriors. Towards the end of the series, William is finally released from XANA's control. On Lyoko, William wears a white outfit and carries a giant sword, which can release shock waves. Under XANA's control, his outfit turns black and he gains a spiked gauntlet on his wrist, which can be used for defense. He has an array of powers including enhanced strength; "Supersmoke," which allows him to transform into a cloud of black smoke and move around at great speed, eventually gaining the ability to fly as well; a second sight allowing him to see across great distances; and levitation. XANA sends William to stop the Lyoko Warriors on the virtual world, and thanks to his natural abilities strengthened even further by the artificial intelligence, he proved to be a formidable opponent. He is finally released in "Down to Earth." Villains XANASometimes known as X.A.N.A., is an evil and powerful computer virus based on a multi-agent system. It is merciless, craves destruction, and serves as the central antagonist of the series. It was originally created by Franz Hopper to destroy Project Carthage: a military communications system that Franz Hopper had previously been involved with. He mentions that his motives were to prevent the French government from obtaining access to Project Carthage. Unfortunately, due to his repeated returns to the past, XANA evolved until it achieved self-awareness, choosing to betray Franz and trap him and his daughter Aelita inside Lyoko. Franz has no choice but to shut down the Supercomputer to stop its rampage. After it was reawakened in the present day, XANA continues to wreak havoc on Earth and displays no mercy towards those who stand in its way. It grows smarter and more powerful with every return in time, and can think of greater plans and goals beyond random destruction.XANA has no actual physical form as a program. Instead, XANA activates Lyoko structures called "Towers" to access the real world with virus extensions of its multi-agent system while remaining inside the Supercomputer, and can only be stopped by deactivating the Towers. On Earth, XANA can manipulate and channel electromagnetic phenomena and hack networks or manifest ghostly spectres from outlets at will to possess objects or living things like a virus to bend to its will (usually marked with its eye symbol as a sign of its control) to wreak havoc or target its enemies. After evolving further, XANA learns to possess humans or manifest polymorphic spectres to follow its orders as pixelized vessels with its spectral or electrical abilities. On Lyoko, it creates deadly monsters to fight enemies and attack virtual targets, and uses programs to alter environments, plant bugs or viruses, manipulate incomplete warriors, or create virtual objects.The only known physical incarnation of XANA appeared in season 1, in the episode titled "Ghost Channel," where after having its disguise as Jeremy being exposed, he transformed into a demonic caricature figure of Jeremy and tried to kill all of the Warriors. XANA's voice was provided by David Gasman in this episode.As XANA continues to increase its power, its ambition also develop throughout the series. It steals the Keys to Lyoko from Aelita to escape from the Supercomputer and access the world network. Upon its escape, XANA becomes more ruthless and aggressive, now trying to destroy Lyoko to make the team powerless against it (succeeded at the end of the third season, but was recreated after) and possessing William to become its weapon. After that, XANA also targets Franz Hopper, the biggest threat and the reason why the group keeps surviving. At the same time, the heroes discover XANA has infected hundreds of other supercomputers in the network to build weapons and technology to conquer the world. Near the end of the series, the group manage to free William and although it succeeded in killing Franz Hopper in the final battle, the team successfully destroyed XANA everywhere in the network with Jeremy's multi-agent program.MonstersXANA can program many types of monsters on Lyoko to fight, guard Towers, or attack important targets. The monsters generally appear to be organic/mechanical creatures based on various animals and insects. XANA's monster types include Kankrelats, Hornets, Bloks, Krabs, Megatanks, Tarantulas, Creepers, and Mantas. These monsters can be destroyed by hitting the Eye of XANA on their bodies. In the Digital Sea, it uses monsters such as Kongers, Sharks, and the Kalamar. It also created the Scyphozoa, which it uses to steal data, drain energy, or brainwash warriors. There is also its ultimate monster, the Kolossus, which appeared in the last three episodes and is fueled by the combined power of its network Replikas. In the videogames, some monsters are exclusive to fight such as Cyberhoppers, Skarabs and Skorpion from Get Ready to Virtualize, Insekts, Volkanoids, Mountain Bug, Insekt Lord, Ice Spider, Desert Driller and Magma Worm in Quest for Infinity and Fall of X.A.N.A., other variants are called "Dark Monsters" which are equipped with different abilities when in combat. Recurring characters Elisabeth "Sissi" DelmasVoiced by: Carole Baillien (French); Christine Flowers and Jodi Forrest (English) The principal's daughter and a Kadic student. She is a mean, spoiled, conceited, but also beautiful and somewhat popular girl who has had a huge crush on Ulrich since before attending Kadic. Sissi and Odd quite often make fun of each other, with Odd making clever comebacks whenever Sissi says something rude or whenever they need her to go away. After Aelita is first materialized, she often does the same. Sissi tends to make fun of and openly insult Yumi in particular, mostly due to Ulrich liking Yumi more than her. Sissi is often followed by Herb and Nicolas, whom she often shows resentment towards, but uses them to her advantage anyway. She was initially part of the gang and knew about Lyoko, but was kicked out after breaking her oath to keep the Supercomputer a secret. Her memories of Lyoko were subsequently erased. She becomes friends with the Lyoko Warriors at the end of the series. Sissi also shows a dislike for her full name, Elisabeth, often making sounds of disgust when it's mentioned.Herb Pichon (French: Hervé Pichon)Voiced by: Bruno Mullenaerts (French); David Gasman (English) An eighth-grader at Kadic and a classmate to the Lyoko Warriors. He is the second-in-command of Sissi's gang, and sometimes even the boss in times of emergency when Sissi proves to be incompetent, as he is the most intelligent member of their group. Herb is also shown to be in love with Sissi, although he doesn't tell her because of her crushes on various boys, most notably Ulrich. He is the second-best student in his class after Jeremy and the two often compete with each other, but Herb is almost always the loser. Herb is also shown to be easily scared off, quick to run away when something troubling happens.Nicolas PoliakoffVoiced by: Carole Baillien (French); Matthew Géczy (English) An eighth-grader at Kadic. He is the third member of Sissi's gang. He usually does not show much intelligence, which is commonly conveyed through his frequent use of pauses and uhs in speech. He usually only does things when Sissi orders him to, and will otherwise not do much on his own. Nicolas also has also been shown to have a crush on Aelita, although he never acts on it. He can play the drums, and was in the Pop Rock Progressives, a band started by Odd. He is generally more tolerant of and less rude toward the Lyoko Warriors than Herb and Sissi are. In some episodes, it is shown that he has at least some degree of intelligence, as he wrote a script for a performance of Romeo and Juliet. Nicolas is also shown to be as easily frightened as Herb is.Jean-Pierre DelmasVoiced by: Bruno Mullenaerts (French); Allan Wenger (English) The principal of Kadic Academy, who is easily controlled by his daughter Sissi. He can be stubborn and incredibly ignorant at times, especially when members of the Lyoko Warriors are trying to convince him of any dangerous activity caused by XANA. His appearance is based on Hayao Miyazaki.Jim Morales (French: Jim Moralès)Voiced by: Frédéric Meaux (French); David Gasman (English) The physical education teacher at Kadic Academy and the chief disciplinarian. He is frequently mentioned to have had an extensive job history, although whenever it comes up, he almost always ends up dismissing it by saying, "I'd rather not talk about it." Jim is often shown to digress from his lectures as he starts to reminisce on stories of his past, usually before being interrupted by someone or cutting himself off. On several occasions, Jim has discovered the existence of Lyoko or XANA and displayed his helpfulness and willingness to keep it a secret, however, his memories are always erased through the use of a "Return to the Past." One of his more notable secrets is that he once starred in a film called Paco, the King of Disco.Suzanne HertzVoiced by: Nathalie Stas (French); Jodi Forrest (English) Usually referred to as Mrs. Hertz, she's a science teacher at Kadic. She is the most shown primary academics teacher in the series and appears to teach most branches of science at Kadic. She is also the only faculty member shown to organize field trips, which happens on several occasions. She has been shown to dislike or be disappointed in Odd and Ulrich, but takes a liking to Jeremy, and later Aelita.Milly Solovieff and Tamiya DiopMilly voiced by: Mirabelle Kirkland; (English) Tamiya voiced by: Julie Basecqz (French); Barbara Weber-Scaff (English) The sole members of the Kadic News crew, who are both are in sixth grade and share a dorm room. Tamiya is of Franco-African descent and seems to be less driven by her emotions, which allows her to think more clearly than Milly when bad things happen to them.Hiroki IshiyamaVoiced by: Guylaine Gibert (French); Barbara Weber-Scaff (English) Yumi's younger brother. He is often shown pestering her about things and purposely being annoying, such as asking her to do his homework or mentioning her feelings for Ulrich. He is frequently shown playing on a handheld gaming device, and is often shown with his friend, Johnny Cleary. Hiroki has, on occasion, assisted Yumi when she needed it, although he usually requires some form of bribe.Takeho and Akiko IshiyamaTakeho voiced by: David Gasman (English) Akiko voiced by: Barbara Weber-Scaff (English) The parents of Yumi and Hiroki. Takeho is shown to be a fairly typical semi-strict busy father and works for a local branch of a Japanese company. Akiko is depicted as a typical non-working housewife and is generally the first one to ask Yumi if something is wrong. When her parents appear in an episode, it usually focuses on Yumi's family issues.It is implied that Takeho and Akiho have a low-key fractious relationship, with semi-frequent arguments that their children sometimes overhear. This seems to contribute to Yumi's reserve, and possibly, her reticence in pursuing a more serious emotional relationship with Ulrich. Supporting characters Waldo Franz SchaefferVoiced by: Mathieu Moreau (French); Paul Bandey (season 2), Alan Wenger (season 4) (English) More commonly known as Franz Hopper (a combination of his middle name and the maiden name of his wife) he is/was the creator of both Lyoko and XANA, and was involved in the creation of Project Carthage. His wife Anthea was kidnapped by men in black suits and he was forced to flee with his young daughter Aelita. The two went to live in a house called the Hermitage, located in a park near Kadic Academy and the abandoned factory. While working as a science teacher at the school, he constructed the Supercomputer in the factory, and programmed XANA. and the virtual world of Lyoko within it. When the men in black suits tracked him down again, he took Aelita to the factory and virtualized her onto Lyoko with him, where he believed they would be safe. However, XANA refused to obey its creator's orders or live in peace alongside Franz and his daughter. Franz was forced to shut the Supercomputer down until it was eventually discovered by Jeremy nearly ten years later. In one of the final episodes of the show, he sacrifices himself to allow Jeremy to finally destroy XANA.Yolanda Perraudin (French: Yolande Perraudin; referred to as Dorothy in Season 1 of the English dub)Voiced by: Alexandra Correa (French); Jodi Forrest (English) The school nurse who often aids the students injuries from any incidents, in "XANA's Kiss" Jim was kissed by a Polymorphic Specter disguise as her and attempted to ask her for a date, much to her confusion.Samantha "Sam" KnightVoiced by: Jodi Forrest (English) One of Odd's ex-girlfriends that only appears in two episodes, she first appears in "Rock Bottom?" where Odd hires her as a DJ to Yumi's party but was short lived after XANA caused a earthquake to sink the school. She appears again in "Final Round" where both Odd and her enter a skating competition.Johnny ClearyVoiced by: Jodi Forrest (English) Hiroki's best friend that introduced in Season 3. It is revealed in "The Pretender" that he has a crush on Yumi, despite their age difference and he asks Ulrich for dating advice (which is embarrassing because Ulrich also loves her).Anthea Hopper-SchaefferVoiced by: Sharon Mann (English) Aelita's pink-haired mother who was kidnapped by a group of Men in Black when they lived at a Mountain Cabin, this traumatized Aelita with nightmares and hallucinations of her imaging the mysterious men as a pack of ravenous wolves while herself resembles her doll Mister Pück. Development Origins Code Lyoko originates from the film short Les enfants font leur cinéma ("The children make their movies"), directed by Thomas Romain and produced by a group of students from Parisian visual arts school Gobelins School of the Image. Romain worked with Tania Palumbo, Stanislas Brunet, and Jerome Cottray to create the film, which was screened at the 2000 Annecy International Animated Film Festival. French animation company Antefilms took interest in the film due to its atmosphere and offered Romain and Palumbo a contract to turn it into a series. This led to the development of the pilot, Garage Kids.Garage Kids was produced in 2001 by Antefilms. The project was created by Palumbo, Romain, and Carlo de Boutiny and developed by Anne de Galard. Its producers were Eric Garnet, Nicolas Atlan, Benoît di Sabatino, and Christophe di Sabatino. Similar to its succeeding show Code Lyoko, Garage Kids was originally envisioned as a 26-episode miniseries detailing the lives of four French boarding school students who discover the secret of the virtual world of Xanadu; created by a research group headed by a character known as the "Professor". The pilot featured both traditional animation and CGI. The Matrix had "enormous influence" on the pilot according to Romain, citing the concept of a machine allowing the characters to dive in a virtual world, an operator who supervises the trip and the correlation between the action in the real world and the virtual world. Anime also served as inspiration, specifically Serial Experiments Lain for its "worrying digital dimension" and Neon Genesis Evangelion for its dangerous entities to fight. While similarities to Tron have been noted, Romain admitted to not having seen the film yet when the series was being developed. When the concept on the virtual world was added, Antefilms suggested animating it with CGI to help make the series unique, promote a video game theme and make the separation between the virtual and real worlds clearer. While incorporating it, Palumbo and Romain wanted to avoid making the series "too playful and superficial" and sought to "get around the censoring done by TV channels that tend to soften youth programs" by writing episodes "with tension, suspense, even tragic scenes. Things that are hard to imagine seeing in a cartoon series for kids." A team of artists were recruited in order to give the backgrounds of the real world a realistic appearance. The factory and boarding schools specifically were modelled after locations in France. The factory was based on a Renault production plant in Boulogne-Billancourt (Île Seguin), which has since been demolished. The school, Kadic Academy, is based on Lycée Lakanal in Sceaux, which Romain had attended. Palumbo and Romain were adamant on keeping the locales based on "the France we knew", as they wanted to avoid what they perceived as "fantastical" or "Americanized" locations other French cartoons used at the time.Scripting for the series officially began in January 2002, with Frédéric Lenoir, Françoise Charpiat, and Laurent Turner being brought on as writers. It was around then that Aelita was added, who at this point was an AI who lived on the virtual world. When choosing a director, the team wanted "a new generation" to be in charge of the series. Jérôme Mouscadet was hired in June 2002 after having dinner with a friend who worked at Antefilms. While Mouscadet had experience with animation from directing short films at a small company, he never directed a series before. One of his first major contributions was to drop the idea of the characters retaining their powers in the real world, which he decided after wanting to further separate the virtual world from the real world. Progress was slow over the summer of 2002, which Mouscadet attributed to the series' head writer "[taking] a lot of vacation". Antefilms reached out to Sophie Decroisette as a replacement, who had recently headed Malo Korrigan and was on a break after giving birth to her first child. Decroisette described this stage of writing as expanding the concept and finding strong motivations for the characters. On Garage Kids' pilot, she said: "I really just saw a teaser that was focusing on images[. T]here were great ideas in the images, notably the transition from one universe to the other, but plot-wise, it was just "they travel from one universe to the other", with no explanation on "how" and "why". They had no real motivation, they were fighting Xana, which was represented as black spheres, something like this, but none of this was clearly defined. Our job, with the other writers, was to try to introduce "scientific accuracy"". The writers struggled the most with finding a motivation for Jeremy. Charpiat suggested during a meeting that he want to bring Aelita onto Earth, which became the basis for the first season. Another concept emerged from Lenoir in the form of a time travel mechanism to explain how XANA could cause massive damage to Earth, with other people witnessing the destruction, and have the heroes fix it without people becoming suspicious. This eventually turned into the supercomputer's "Return to the Past" function. Networks were hesitant to Garage Kids due to its serial nature, as they feared it would alienate potential viewers who missed the first episodes and they wanted to rerun the series without worrying about episode order. This lead the writing team to shift to a more episodic format. Romain ultimately chose to leave the series after this change in 2003 to work on the French-Japanese anime series Ōban Star-Racers. Tania Palumbo remained on the series through its conclusion as creative director. She designed and named the main characters, with Jeremy being named after one of her and Romain's classmates at Gobelins. The series' human character designs were primarily influenced by Japanese animator Kōji Morimoto's style. After the series was sold to France 3 and Canal J, producers felt "Garage Kids" was too unclear for a title and requested it be renamed. Palumbo and production manager Anne de Galard ultimately settled on "Code Lyoko", with Lyoko originating from the Japanese word "ryoko" meaning "travel" to further emphasis the dive into the virtual world. The virtual world was subsequently renamed "Lyoko" as well. Writing The writing process for Code Lyoko usually began with the head writer asking the other writers for story pitches. If they liked an idea, it next had to receive approval from the show's director, producers and broadcasters before it could be turned into a 4-page synopsis. After going through the approval process again, it was then expanded into a script and approved one last time to be sent off for production. Writing an episode typically lasted 2–3 weeks, though some took longer if higher-ups were unhappy with the story or it ran into issues. Sophie Decroisette, head writer of Code Lyoko's first three seasons, described Image Problem as "very difficult to write" after its original writer left the show following the synopsis phase, requiring another writer to step in and finish it. The writing team was also mandated by production to approve 4 scripts per month. Following the success of the first season, the show was able to have more continuous storylines. Decroisette and show director Jérôme Mouscadet wrote the series' backstory during the break between season 1 and 2. Before Romain left the project, the idea of Lyoko being created by a team of researchers had changed to just one: Franz Hopper. However his motivations and identity were never established. Decroisette revealed during production of season 4 that the full backstory would not be told in the show, as she considered it "very complicated... dense and [not] really important to the story."The show's international success in the United States also affected production. Romance elements were ultimately reduced after season 2 to appease American audiences. Aside from this, Decroisette otherwise noted that she "never felt censored" while working on the series, apart from a self-imposed restriction to write stories appropriate for children. Bruno Regeste became head writer for Code Lyoko's final season after Decroisette stepped down while she was pregnant with her second child, though she continued writing scripts and closely monitored episodes involving Replikas. Animation The series' traditional animation was handled overseas by Animation Services Hong Kong Limited. Fantasia Animation and Welkin Animation also worked on the show's first two seasons. Starting around the third season, a team dedicated to Code Lyoko was formed at Hong Kong Limited's studio, who were managed on-site by two members from Antefilms' Paris office. This change stemmed from Mouscadet's desire for a more consistent animation quality, which he described trying to manage it prior to that point as "a little bit like steering an ocean liner with binoculars". The 3D segments were animated in-house by Antefilm's CGI team at their Angoulême office. Episodes Telecast and home media The show was first premiered on France 3 on 3 September 2003 and ended on 10 November 2007 in France. In the U.S., the show was also premiered on 19 April 2004 on Cartoon Network. The second season started on 19 September 2005. The two-part XANA Awakens prequel aired on 2–3 October 2006, and the third season started a day later on 4 October 2006. The fourth and final season began on 18 May 2007. The final episode aired on Cartoon Network was "Cousins Once Removed", and the remaining seven episodes were released online at Cartoon Network Video. When the show aired on Cartoon Network, it was simultaneously both part of its after-school weekday afternoon action animation lighter-toned programming block, Miguzi from 2004 until 2007, and also a standalone show on its primetime timeslot. The show aired on Kabillion from 2007 to 2015. The show also aired in Latin America and Japan on Jetix. In Italy, the show aired on Disney Channel, Rai 2, RaiSat Smash, Rai Gulp and was published on DVD by Delta Pictures under the label 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment. In January 2011, all four seasons of Code Lyoko were released on iTunes in the U.S. and France by MoonScoop Holdings, although as of May 2019, only seasons 1 and 2 are available and other seasons have been removed. In October 2011, all four seasons were released on Amazon Instant Streaming and on DVD in the U.S., however, these DVDs are now out of print.All four seasons were made available on Netflix on 6 August 2012, but were removed for unknown reasons. The show was eventually returned to Netflix on 1 October 2020 after being taken down following MoonScoop's bankruptcy. Since 2015, all of the English-dubbed episodes (including the prequel XANA Awakens) are viewable on YouTube. Since 2019, an upscaled HD version of the series is also available on Amazon Prime Video in the U.S. and the United Kingdom. Reception Emily Ashby of Common Sense Media gave the show 4/5 stars, writing: "Kids will like the battles in Lyoko -- each plays out much like a video game", and added: "Strategy and teamwork are themes throughout the series." In a 2020 retrospective of the show for Comic Book Resources, Noah Dominguez wrote: "Whether you're a returning traveler or are only visiting Lyoko for the first time, Code Lyoko still holds up as a unique, easily-accessible gem of the 2000s".Code Lyoko was voted as the best show by Canal J viewers in France, and has achieved international fame as well; the show has been rated as one of the best shows on Cartoon Network and Kabillion in the U.S., with Cartoon Network having it rated as the #3 best performing show in 2006 and Kabillion having it as #4 in monthly average views in 2010. The show has reached success in Spain as one of Clan TVE's highest-rated shows, on Italy's Rai2 network, and in Finland and the United Kingdom as well. The show also won France's Prix de l'Export 2006 Award for Animation in December 2006. Merchandise Several Code Lyoko products have been released, including DVDs, a series of cine-manga by Tokyopop, a series of four novels by Italian publisher Atlantyca Entertainment, apparel, and other accessories. In 2006, Marvel Toys released a line of Code Lyoko toys and action figures. When the show started to come to an end in 2007, The Game Factory released three video games based on the show: Code Lyoko and Code Lyoko: Fall of X.A.N.A. for the Nintendo DS, and Code Lyoko: Quest for Infinity for the Wii, PSP, and PlayStation 2. The games were met with mixed to positive reviews from critics despite some criticisms of gameplay. There have been other games released through various mediums, one being Facebook.A series of Clan TVE festivals in Spain included live stage shows based on Code Lyoko among other things. A game show known as Code Lyoko Challenge was planned to be released in late 2012, but fell through. Novels A series of four chapter books was released by Atlantyca Entertainment and distributed in Italy and other countries. The novels delve deeper into the unanswered questions of the series. Taking place after the end of the series, XANA has miraculously survived and returns though weakened and initially missing its memories. XANA possesses Eva Skinner, an American girl, and travels to France in order to infiltrate the gang and kill them off. Unaware of their enemy's presence, the group works to find clues about Aelita's past, left by her father Franz Hopper, and confirm whether or not her mother is still alive somewhere. But at the same time, a terrorist group, the Green Phoenix, has become interested in the supercomputer and intend to use both it and the virtual world of Lyoko for evil purposes. It was confirmed that the series will never be released officially in English, nor the final two books released in French. However, sometime later, a fan community came together and sought to not only finish the series but translate it into more languages, including English. They have since completed their work and made it available for free download in September 2014. Fan Projects Since the series gain a pop culture following, there were many fan games to commemorate the shows success and popularity, one of these was a MMORPG that is a combination of sci-fi and fantasy, however this would later to be scrapped. Another game was developed for Facebook to which you play as all five warriors in a Turn-based game as you fight off hordes of monsters and travel to every sector of Lyoko. A fan developer by the name of Alexis Foletto (also known as "Immudelki") has been working on two online games based on the show: "Lyoko Conquers" focuses on William's path of becoming XANA's minion by commanding his monsters in a real-time strategy style. One of his most ambitious projects is "Code lyoko: IFSCL" (Simulated Fictional Interfaces of Code Lyoko), a online Simulation video game where you command and fight monsters in a exact replica of the Supercomputer screen. This would later be expanded with the introduction of a Story Mode in which Jeremy travels himself to the past in order to prevent an catastrophic event created by XANA. See also List of French animated television series List of French television series Code Lyoko: Evolution, a spin-off of Code Lyoko that continues after the events in the show Tron Gridman the Hyper Agent Superhuman Samurai Syber-Squad Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir Digimon Adventure Zixx ReBoot: The Guardian Code Neon Genesis Evangelion Sword Art Online World Trigger Code Lyoko at IMDb

Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary statesman, physician, and political philosopher who served as the first provisional president of the Republic of China and the first leader of the Kuomintang (Nationalist Party of China). He is called the "Father of the Nation" in the present-day Republic of China (Taiwan) and the "Forerunner of the Revolution" in the People's Republic of China for his instrumental role in the overthrow of the Qing dynasty during the 1911 Revolution. Sun is unique among 20th-century Chinese leaders for being widely revered by both the Communist Party in Mainland China and the Nationalist Party in Taiwan.Sun is considered to be one of the greatest and most important leaders of modern China, but his political life was one of constant struggle and frequent exile. After the success of the revolution in 1911, he quickly resigned as president of the newly-founded Republic of China and relinquished the position to Yuan Shikai. He soon went to exile in Japan for safety but returned to found a revolutionary government in Southern China, as a challenge to the warlords who controlled much of the nation. In 1923, he invited representatives of the Communist International to Canton (Guangzhou) to reorganize his party and formed a brittle alliance with the Chinese Communist Party. He did not live to see his party unify the country under his successor, Chiang Kai-shek, in the Northern Expedition. He died in Peking (Beijing) of gallbladder cancer in 1925.Sun's chief legacy is his political philosophy known as the Three Principles of the People: Mínzú (民族主義; Mínzúzhǔyì) or nationalism (independence from foreign domination), Mínquán (民權主義; Mínquánzhǔyì) or "rights of the people" (sometimes translated as "democracy"), and Mínshēng (民生主義; Mínshēngzhǔyì) or people's livelihood (sometimes translated as "communitarianism" or "welfarism"). Names Sun's genealogical name was Sun Deming (Syūn Dāk-mìhng; 孫德明). As a child, his pet name was Tai Tseung (Dai-jeuhng; 帝象). In school, the teacher gave him the name Sun Wen (Cantonese: Syūn Màhn; 孫文), which was used by Sun for most of his life. Sun's courtesy name was Zaizhi (Jai-jī; 載之), and his baptized name was Rixin (Yaht-sān; 日新). While at school in Hong Kong, he got the art name Yat-sen (Chinese: 逸仙; pinyin: Yìxiān). Sun Zhongshan (孫中山; Cantonese: syūn jūng sāan, romanized Chung Shan), the most popular of his Chinese names in China, is derived from his Japanese name Kikori Nakayama (中山樵), the pseudonym given to him by Tōten Miyazaki when he was in hiding in Japan. His birthplace city was renamed Zhongshan in his honour probably shortly after his death in 1925 and uses that name. Zhongshan is one of the few cities named after people in China and has remained as the official name of the city during Communist rule. Early years Birthplace and early life Sun Te-ming was born on 12 November 1866 to Sun Dacheng and Madame Yang. His birthplace was the village of Cuiheng, Xiangshan County (now Zhongshan City), Canton Province (now Guangdong). He had a cultural background of Hakka and Cantonese. His father owned very little land and worked as a tailor in Macau and as a journeyman and a porter. After finishing primary education, he moved to Honolulu in the Kingdom of Hawaii, where he lived a comfortable life of modest wealth supported by his elder brother Sun Mei. Education At the age of 10, in Hawaii, Sun began his schooling. He went to secondary school in Hawaii. and met his childhood friend Lu Haodong. By age 13 in 1878, after receiving a few years of local schooling, Sun went to live with his elder brother, Sun Mei (孫眉) in Honolulu. Sun Mei financed Sun Yat-sen's education and would later be a major contributor for the overthrow of the Manchus (Qing dynasty). During his stay in Honolulu, Sun Yat-sen went to ʻIolani School, where he studied English, British history, mathematics, science, and Christianity. Although he was originally unable to speak English, Sun Yat-sen quickly picked up the language, received a prize for academic achievement from King David Kalākaua, and graduated in 1882. He then attended Oahu College (now known as Punahou School) for one semester. In 1883, he was sent home to China, as his brother was becoming worried that Sun was beginning to embrace Christianity.When he returned to China in 1883 at age 17, Sun met up with his childhood friend Lu Haodong again at Beijidian (北極殿), a temple in Cuiheng. They saw many villagers worshipping the Beiji (literally North Pole) Emperor-God in the temple and were dissatisfied with their ancient folk healing methods. Both of them broke the effigy, incurring the wrath of fellow villagers, and escaped to Hong Kong. After arriving there in November 1883, he studied at the Diocesan Home and Orphanage on Eastern Street (now the Diocesan Boys' School), and from 15 April 1884 to his graduation in 1886, he was at The Government Central School on Gough Street (now Queen's College).In 1886, Sun studied medicine at the Guangzhou Boji Hospital under the Christian missionary John G. Kerr. According to his book "Kidnapped in London", Sun in 1887 heard of the opening of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese (the forerunner of the University of Hong Kong) and immediately decided to benefit from the "advantages it offered." Ultimately, he earned the license of Christian practice as a medical doctor from there in 1892. Notably, of his class of 12 students, Sun was one of only two who graduated. Religious views and Christian baptism In the early 1880s, Sun Mei had sent his brother to ʻIolani School, which was under the supervision of the Church of Hawaii and directed by an Anglican prelate, Alfred Willis, with the language of instruction being English. At the school, the young Sun first came in contact with Christianity. In his work, Schriffin speculated that Christianity was to have a great influence on Sun's future political career.Sun was later baptized in Hong Kong (on 4 May 1884) by Rev. Charles Robert Hager an American missionary of the Congregational Church of the United States (American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions) to his brother's disdain. The minister would also develop a friendship with Sun. Sun attended To Tsai Church (道濟會堂), founded by the London Missionary Society in 1888, while he studied Western medicine in Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese. Sun pictured a revolution as similar to the salvation mission of the Christian church. His conversion to Christianity was related to his revolutionary ideals and push for advancement. Transformation into revolutionary Four Bandits During the Qing-dynasty rebellion around 1888, Sun was in Hong Kong with a group of revolutionary thinkers, nicknamed the Four Bandits, at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese. From Furen Literary Society to Revive China Society In 1891, Sun met revolutionary friends in Hong Kong including Yeung Ku-wan who was the leader and founder of the Furen Literary Society. The group was spreading the idea of overthrowing the Qing. In 1894, Sun wrote an 8,000-character petition to Qing Viceroy Li Hongzhang presenting his ideas for modernizing China. He traveled to Tianjin to personally present the petition to Li but was not granted an audience. After that experience, Sun turned irrevocably toward revolution. He left China for Hawaii and founded the Revive China Society, which was committed to revolutionizing China's prosperity. Members were drawn mainly from Chinese expatriates, especially from the lower social classes. The same month in 1894, the Furen Literary Society was merged with the Hong Kong chapter of the Revive China Society. Thereafter, Sun became the secretary of the newly-merged Revive China Society, which Yeung Ku-wan headed as president. They disguised their activities in Hong Kong under the running of a business under the name "Kuen Hang Club": 90  (乾亨行). Heaven and Earth Society and overseas travels to seek financial support A "Heaven and Earth Society" sect known as Tiandihui had been around for a long time. The group has also been referred to as the "three cooperating organizations", as well as the triads. Sun mainly used the group to leverage his overseas travels to gain further financial and resource support for his revolution. First Sino-Japanese War In 1895, China suffered a serious defeat during the First Sino-Japanese War. There were two types of responses. One group of intellectuals contended that the Manchu Qing government could restore its legitimacy by successfully modernizing. Stressing that overthrowing the Manchu would result in chaos and would lead to China being carved up by imperialists, intellectuals like Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao supported responding with initiatives like the Hundred Days' Reform. In another faction, Sun Yat-sen and others like Zou Rong wanted a revolution to replace the dynastic system with a modern nation-state in the form of a republic. The Hundred Days' reform turned out to be a failure by 1898. First uprising and exile First Guangzhou Uprising In the second year of the establishment of the Revive China Society, on 26 October 1895, the group planned and launched the First Guangzhou uprising against the Qing in Guangzhou. Yeung Ku-wan directed the uprising starting from Hong Kong. However, plans were leaked out, and more than 70 members, including Lu Haodong, were captured by the Qing government. The uprising was a failure. Sun received financial support mostly from his brother, who sold most of his 12,000 acres of ranch and cattle in Hawaii. Additionally, members of his family and relatives of Sun would take refuge at the home of his brother Sun Mei at Kamaole in Kula, Maui. Exile in Japan While in exile in London in 1896, Sun raised money for his revolutionary party and to support uprisings in China. While the events leading up to it are unclear, Sun Yat-sen was detained at the Chinese Legation in London, where the Chinese secret service planned to smuggle him back to China to execute him for his revolutionary actions. He was released after 12 days by the efforts of James Cantlie, The Globe, The Times, and the Foreign Office, which left Sun a hero in the United Kingdom. James Cantlie, Sun's former teacher at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, maintained a lifelong friendship with Sun and later wrote an early biography of him Sun wrote a book in 1897 about his detention, "Kidnapped in London."Sun traveled by way of Canada to Japan to begin his exile there. He arrived in Yokohama on 16 August 1897 and met with the Japanese politician Tōten Miyazaki. Most Japanese who actively worked with Sun were motivated by a pan-Asian opposition to Western imperialism. In Japan, Sun also met and befriended Mariano Ponce, a diplomat of the First Philippine Republic.During the Philippine Revolution and the Philippine–American War, Sun helped Ponce procure weapons that had been salvaged from the Imperial Japanese Army and ship the weapons to the Philippines. By helping the Philippine Republic, Sun hoped that the Filipinos would win their independence so that he could use its islands as a staging point of another revolution. However, as the war ended in July 1902, the United States emerged victorious from a bitter three-year war against the Republic. Therefore, the Filipino dream of independence vanished with Sun's hopes of allying with the Philippines in his revolution in China. From failed uprisings to revolution Huizhou Uprising On 22 October 1900, Sun ordered the launch of the Huizhou Uprising to attack Huizhou and provincial authorities in Guangdong. That came five years after the failed Guangzhou Uprising. This time, Sun appealed to the triads for help. The uprising was another failure. Miyazaki, who participated in the revolt with Sun, wrote an account of the revolutionary effort under the title "33-Year Dream" (三十三年之夢) in 1902. Getting support from Siamese Chinese In 1903, Sun made a secret trip to Bangkok in which he sought funds for his cause in Southeast Asia. His loyal followers published newspapers, providing invaluable support to the dissemination of his revolutionary principles and ideals among Siamese Chinese in Siam. In Bangkok, Sun visited Yaowarat Road, in the city's Chinatown. On that street, Sun gave a speech claiming that Overseas Chinese were "the Mother of the Revolution." He also met the local Chinese merchant Seow Houtseng, who sent financial support to him. Sun's speech on Yaowarat Road was commemorated by the street later being named "Sun Yat Sen Street" or "Soi Sun Yat Sen" (Thai: ซอยซุนยัตเซ็น) in his honour. Getting support from American Chinese According to Lee Yun-ping, chairman of the Chinese historical society, Sun needed a certificate to enter the United States since the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 would have otherwise blocked him.In March 1904, while residing in Kula, Maui, Sun Yat-sen obtained a Certificate of Hawaiian Birth, issued by the Territory of Hawaii, stating that "he was born in the Hawaiian Islands on the 24th day of November, A.D. 1870." He renounced it after it served its purpose to circumvent the Chinese Exclusion Act. Official files of the United States show that Sun had United States nationality, moved to China with his family at age 4, and returned to Hawaii 10 years later.On 6 April 1904, on his first attempt to enter the United States, Sun Yat-sen landed in San Francisco. He was detained and faced with possible deportation. Sun, represented by the law firm of Ralston & Siddons, based in Washington DC, filed an appeal with the Commissioner-General of Immigration on 26 April 1904. On 28 April 1904, the acting secretary of the Department of Commerce and Labor in a four-page decision contained in the case file, set aside the order of deportation and ordered the Commissioner of Immigration in San Francisco to "permit the said Sun Yat-sen to land." Sun was then freed to embark on his fundraising tour in the United States. Unifying forces of Tongmenghui in Tokyo In 1904, Sun Yat-sen came about with the goal "to expel the Tatar barbarians (specifically, the Manchu), to revive Zhonghua, to establish a Republic, and to distribute land equally among the people" (驅除韃虜, 恢復中華, 創立民國, 平均地權). One of Sun's major legacies was the creation of his political philosophy of the Three Principles of the People. These Principles included the principle of nationalism (minzu, 民族), of democracy (minquan, 民權), and of welfare (minsheng, 民生).On 20 August 1905, Sun joined forces with revolutionary Chinese students studying in Tokyo to form the unified group Tongmenghui (United League), which sponsored uprisings in China. By 1906 the number of Tongmenghui members reached 963. Getting support from Malayan Chinese Sun's notability and popularity extended beyond the Greater China region, particularly to Nanyang (Southeast Asia), where a large concentration of overseas Chinese resided in Malaya (Malaysia and Singapore). In Singapore, he met the local Chinese merchants Teo Eng Hock (張永福), Tan Chor Nam (陳楚楠) and Lim Nee Soon (林義順), which mark the commencement of direct support from the Nanyang Chinese. The Singapore chapter of the Tongmenghui was established on 6 April 1906, but some records claim the founding date to be end of 1905. The villa used by Sun was known as Wan Qing Yuan. Singapore then was the headquarters of the Tongmenghui.After founding the Tongmenghui, Sun advocated the establishment of the Chong Shing Yit Pao as the alliance's mouthpiece to promote revolutionary ideas. Later, he initiated the establishment of reading clubs across Singapore and Malaysia to disseminate revolutionary ideas by the lower class through public readings of newspaper stories. The United Chinese Library, founded on 8 August 1910, was one such reading club, first set up at leased property on the second floor of the Wan He Salt Traders in North Boat Quay.The first actual United Chinese Library building was built between 1908 and 1911 below Fort Canning, on 51 Armenian Street, commenced operations in 1912. The library was set up as a part of the 50 reading rooms by the Chinese republicans to serve as an information station and liaison point for the revolutionaries. In 1987, the library was moved to its present site at Cantonment Road. Uprisings On 1 December 1907, Sun led the Zhennanguan Uprising against the Qing at Friendship Pass, which is the border between Guangxi and Vietnam. The uprising failed after seven days of fighting. In 1907, there were a total of four failed uprisings, including Huanggang uprising, Huizhou seven women lake uprising and Qinzhou uprising. In 1908, two more uprisings failed: the Qin-lian Uprising and Hekou Uprising. Anti-Sun factionalism Because of the failures, Sun's leadership was challenged by elements from within the Tongmenghui who wished to remove him as leader. In Tokyo, members from the recently-merged Restoration society raised doubts about Sun's credentials. Tao Chengzhang and Zhang Binglin publicly denounced Sun in an open leaflet, "A declaration of Sun Yat-sen's Criminal Acts by the Revolutionaries in Southeast Asia", which was printed and distributed in reformist newspapers like Nanyang Zonghui Bao. The goal was to target Sun as a leader leading a revolt only for profiteering.The revolutionaries were polarized and split between pro-Sun and anti-Sun camps. Sun publicly fought off comments about how he had something to gain financially from the revolution. However, by 19 July 1910, the Tongmenghui headquarters had to relocate from Singapore to Penang to reduce the anti-Sun activities. It was also in Penang that Sun and his supporters would launch the first Chinese "daily" newspaper, the Kwong Wah Yit Poh, in December 1910. 1911 revolution To sponsor more uprisings, Sun made a personal plea for financial aid at the Penang conference, held on 13 November 1910 in Malaya. The high-powered preparatory meeting of Sun's supporters was subsequently held in Ipoh, Singapore, at the villa of Teh Lay Seng, the chairman of the Tungmenghui, to raise funds for the Huanghuagang Uprising, also known as the Yellow Flower Mound Uprising. The Ipoh leaders were Teh Lay Seng, Wong I Ek, Lee Guan Swee, and Lee Hau Cheong. The leaders launched a major drive for donations across the Malay Peninsula and raised HK$187,000.On 27 April 1911, the revolutionary Huang Xing led the Yellow Flower Mound Uprising against the Qing. The revolt failed and ended in disaster. The bodies of only 72 revolutionaries were identified of the 86 that were found. The revolutionaries are remembered as martyrs.On 10 October 1911, the military Wuchang Uprising took place and was led again by Huang Xing. The uprising expanded to the Xinhai Revolution, also known as the "Chinese Revolution", to overthrow the last emperor, Puyi. Sun had no direct involvement in it, as he was in Denver, Colorado, and had spent much of the year in the United States in search of support from Chinese Americans. That made Huang be in charge of the revolution that ended over 2000 years of imperial rule in China. On 12 October, when Sun learned of the successful rebellion against the Qing emperor from press reports, he returned to China from the United States and was accompanied by his closest foreign advisor, the American "General" Homer Lea, an adventurer whom Sun had met in London when they attempted to arrange British financing for the future Chinese republic. Both sailed for China, arriving there on 21 December 1911. Republic of China with multiple governments Provisional government On 29 December 1911, a meeting of representatives from provinces in Nanking (now Nanjing) elected Sun as the "provisional president" (臨時大總統). 1 January 1912 was set as the first day of the First Year of the Republic. Li Yuanhong was made provisional vice-president, and Huang Xing became the minister of the army. The new Provisional Government of the Republic of China was created along with the Provisional Constitution of the Republic of China. Sun is credited for the funding of the revolutions and for keeping the spirit of revolution alive, even after a series of failed uprisings. His successful merger of minor revolutionary groups to a single larger party provided a better base for all those who shared the same ideals. A number of things were introduced such as the republican calendar system and new fashion like Zhongshan suits. Beiyang government Yuan Shikai, who controlled the Beiyang Army, the army of Northern China, was promised the position of president of the Republic of China if he could get the Qing court to abdicate. On 12 February 1912, Emperor did abdicated the throne. Sun stepped down as president, and Yuan became the new provisional president in Beijing on 10 March 1912. The provisional government did not have any military forces of its own. Its control over elements of the New Army that had mutinied was limited, and significant forces still had not declared against the Qing. Sun Yat-sen sent telegrams to the leaders of all provinces to request them to elect and to establish the National Assembly of the Republic of China in 1912. In May 1912, the legislative assembly moved from Nanking to Peking, with its 120 members divided between members of the Tongmenghui and a republican party that supported Yuan Shikai. Many revolutionary members were already alarmed by Yuan's ambitions and the northern-based Beiyang government. New Nationalist party in 1912, failed Second Revolution and new exile The Tongmenghui member Song Jiaoren quickly tried to control the assembly. He mobilized the old Tongmenghui at the core with the mergers of a number of new small parties to form a new political party, the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party, commonly abbreviated as "KMT") on 25 August 1912 at Huguang Guild Hall, Peking. The 1912–1913 National assembly election was considered a huge success for the KMT, which won 269 of the 596 seats in the lower house and 123 of the 274 seats in the upper house. In retaliation, the KMT leader Song Jiaoren was assassinated, almost certainly by a secret order of Yuan, on 20 March 1913. The Second Revolution took place by Sun and KMT military forces trying to overthrow Yuan's forces of about 80,000 men in an armed conflict in July 1913. The revolt against Yuan was unsuccessful. In August 1913, Sun fled to Japan, where he later enlisted financial aid by the politician and industrialist Fusanosuke Kuhara. Warlords chaos In 1915, Yuan proclaimed the Empire of China with himself as Emperor of China. Sun took part in the National Protection War of the Constitutional Protection Movement and also supported bandit leaders like Bai Lang during the Bai Lang Rebellion, which marked the beginning of the Warlord Era. In 1915, Sun wrote to the Second International, a socialist-based organization in Paris, and asked it to send a team of specialists to help China set up the world's first socialist republic. The same year, Sun received the Indian communist M.N. Roy as a guest. There were then many theories and proposals of what China could be. In the political mess, both Sun Yat-sen and Xu Shichang were announced as president of the Republic of China. Alliance with Communist Party and Northern Expedition Guangzhou militarist government China had become divided among regional military leaders. Sun saw the danger and returned to China in 1916 to advocate Chinese reunification. In 1921, he started a self-proclaimed military government in Guangzhou and was elected Grand Marshal. Between 1912 and 1927, three governments were set up in South China: the Provisional government in Nanjing (1912), the Military government in Guangzhou (1921–1925), and the National government in Guangzhou and later Wuhan (1925–1927). The governments in the south were established to rival the Beiyang government in the north. Yuan Shikai had banned the KMT. The short-lived Chinese Revolutionary Party was a temporary replacement for the KMT. On 10 October 1919, Sun resurrected the KMT with the new name Chung-kuo Kuomintang, or "Nationalist Party of China." First United Front Sun was now convinced that the only hope for a unified China lay in a military conquest from his base in the south, followed by a period of political tutelage, which would culminate in the transition to democracy. To hasten the conquest of China, he began a policy of active co-operation with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Sun and the Soviet Union's Adolph Joffe signed the Sun-Joffe Manifesto in January 1923. Sun received help from the Comintern for his acceptance of communist members into his KMT. The Russian revolutionary and socialist leader Vladimir Lenin praised Sun and his KMT for its ideology and principles Sun and the attempts at social reformation, and he also congratulated Sun for fighting foreign imperialism. Sun also returned the praise by calling Lenin a "great man" and indicated that he wished to follow the same path as Lenin. In 1923, after having been in contact with Lenin and other Moscow communists, Sun sent representatives to study the Red Army, and in turn, the Soviets sent representatives to help reorganize the KMT at Sun's request.With the Soviets' help, Sun was able to develop the military power needed for the Northern Expedition against the military at the north. He established the Whampoa Military Academy near Guangzhou with Chiang Kai-shek as the commandant of the National Revolutionary Army (NRA). Other Whampoa leaders include Wang Jingwei and Hu Hanmin as political instructors. This full collaboration was called the First United Front. Financial concerns In 1924 Sun appointed his brother-in-law T. V. Soong to set up the first Chinese central bank, the Canton Central Bank. To establish national capitalism and a banking system was a major objective for the KMT. However, Sun met opposition by the Canton Merchant Volunteers Corps Uprising against him. Final speeches In February 1923, Sun made a presentation to the Students' Union in Hong Kong University and declared that the corruption of China and the peace, order, and good government of Hong Kong had turned him into a revolutionary. The same year, he delivered a speech in which he proclaimed his Three Principles of the People as the foundation of the country and the Five-Yuan Constitution as the guideline for the political system and bureaucracy. Part of the speech was made into the National Anthem of the Republic of China. On 10 November 1924, Sun traveled north to Tientsin (now Tianjin) and delivered a speech to suggest a gathering for a "national conference" for the Chinese people. He called for the end of warlord rules and the abolition of all unequal treaties with the Western powers. Two days later, he traveled to Beijing to discuss the future of the country despite his deteriorating health and the ongoing civil war of the warlords. Among the people whom he met was the Muslim warlord General Ma Fuxiang, who informed Sun that he would welcome Sun's leadership. On 28 November 1924 Sun traveled to Japan and gave a speech on Pan-Asianism at Kobe, Japan. Illness and death For many years, it was popularly believed that Sun died of liver cancer. On 26 January 1925, Sun underwent an exploratory laparotomy at Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH) to investigate a long-term illness. It was performed by the head of the Department of Surgery, Adrian S. Taylor, who stated that the procedure "revealed extensive involvement of the liver by carcinoma" and that Sun had only about ten days to live. Sun was hospitalized, and his condition was treated with radium. Sun survived the initial ten-day period, and on 18 February, against the advice of doctors, he was transferred to the KMT headquarters and treated with traditional Chinese medicine. That was also unsuccessful, and he died on 12 March, at the age of 58. Contemporary reports in The New York Times, Time, and the Chinese newspaper Qun Qiang Bao all reported the cause of death as liver cancer, based on Taylor's observation. He also left a short political will (總理遺囑), penned by Wang Jingwei, which had a widespread influence in the subsequent development of the Republic of China and Taiwan.His body then was preserved in mineral oil and taken to the Temple of Azure Clouds, a Buddhist shrine in the Western Hills a few miles outside Beijing. A glass-covered steel coffin was sent by the Soviet Union to the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall at Temple of Azure Clouds as a permanent repository for the body but was ultimately declined by the Yat-Sen family as unsuitable. The body was embalmed for preservation by Peking Union Medical College who reportedly guaranteed its preservation for 150 years.In 1926, construction began on a majestic mausoleum at the foot of Purple Mountain in Nanjing, which was completed in the spring of 1929. On 1 June 1929, Sun's remains were moved from Beijing and interred in the Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum. By pure chance, in May 2016, an American pathologist, Rolf F. Barth, was visiting the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Guangzhou when he noticed a faded copy of the original autopsy report on display. The autopsy was performed immediately after Sun's death by James Cash, a pathologist at PUMCH. Based on a tissue sample, Cash concluded that the cause of death was an adenocarcinoma in the gallbladder that had metastasized to the liver. In modern China, liver cancer is far more common than gallbladder cancer. Although the incidence rates for either one in 1925 are not known, if one assumes that they were similar at the time, the original diagnosis by Taylor was a logical conclusion. From the time of Sun's death to the appearance of Barth's report in the Chinese Journal of Cancer in September 2016, Sun's true cause of death was not reported in any English-language publication. Even in Chinese-language sources, it appeared in only one non-medical online report in 2013. Legacy Power struggle After Sun's death, a power struggle between his young protégé Chiang Kai-shek and his old revolutionary comrade Wang Jingwei split the KMT. At stake in the struggle was the right to lay claim to Sun's ambiguous legacy. In 1927, Chiang married Soong Mei-ling, a sister of Sun's widow Soong Ching-ling, and he could now claim to be a brother-in-law of Sun. When the Communists and the Kuomintang split in 1927, which marked the start of the Chinese Civil War, each group claimed to be his true heirs, and the conflict that continued until World War II. Sun's widow, Soong Ching-ling, sided with the Communists during the Chinese Civil War and was critical of Chiang’s regime since Shanghai massacre in 1927. She served from 1949 to 1981 as vice-president (or vice-chairwoman) of the People's Republic of China and as honorary president shortly before her death in 1981. Personality cult A personality cult in the Republic of China was centered on Sun and his successor, Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek The cult was created after Sun Yat-sen died. Chinese Muslim generals and imams participated in the personality cult and the one-party state, with Muslim General Ma Bufang making people bow to Sun's portrait and listen to the national anthem during a Tibetan and Mongol religious ceremony for the Qinghai Lake God. Quotes from the Qur'an and the Hadith were used by Hui Muslims to justify Chiang's rule over China.The Kuomintang's constitution designated Sun as the party president. After his death, the Kuomintang opted to keep that language in its constitution to honor his memory forever. The party has since been headed by a director-general (1927–1975) and a chairman (since 1975), who discharge the functions of the president. Father of the Nation Sun Yat-sen remains unique among 20th-century Chinese leaders for having a high reputation in both Mainland China and Taiwan. In Taiwan, he is seen as the Father of the Republic of China and is known by the posthumous name Father of the Nation, Mr. Sun Zhongshan (Chinese: 國父孫中山先生, and the one-character space is a traditional homage symbol). Forerunner of revolution In Mainland China, Sun is seen as a Chinese nationalist, a proto-socialist, and the first president of a Republican China and is highly regarded as the Forerunner of the Revolution (革命先行者). He is even mentioned by name in the preamble to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China. In recent years, the leadership of the Chinese Communist Party has increasingly invoked Sun, partly as a way of bolstering Chinese nationalism in light of the Chinese economic reform and partly to increase connections with supporters of the Kuomintang on Taiwan, which the People's Republic of China sees as allies against Taiwan independence. Sun's tomb was one of the first stops made by the leaders of both the Kuomintang and the People First Party on their pan-blue visit to Mainland China in 2005. A massive portrait of Sun continues to appear in Tiananmen Square for May Day and National Day. In 1956, Mao Zedong said, "Let us pay tribute to our great revolutionary forerunner, Dr. Sun Yat-sen!... he bequeathed to us much that is useful in the sphere of political thought." New Three Principles of the People Sun's Three Principles of the People has been reinterpreted by the Chinee Communist Party to argue that communism is a necessary conclusion of them and thus provide legitimacy for the government. This reinterpretation of the Three Principles of the People is commonly referred to as the New Three Principles of the People (Chinese: 新三民主義, also translated as Neo-tridemism), a word coined by Mao's 1940 essay On New Democracy in which he argued that the Communist Party is a better enforcer of the Three Principles of the People compared to the bourgeois Kuomintang and that the new three principles are about allying with the communists and the Russians (Soviets) and supporting the peasants and the workers. Proponents of the New Three Principles of the People claim that Sun's book Three Principles of the People acknowledges that the principles of welfare is inherently socialistic and communistic.During the 90th anniversary of the Xinhai Revolution in 2001, former CCP General Secretary Jiang Zemin claimed that Sun supposedly advocated for the "New Three Principles of the People." In 2001, Sun's granddaughter Lily Sun said that the Chinese Communists were distorting Sun's legacy. She again voiced her displeasure in 2002 in a private letter to Jiang about the distortion of history. In 2008 Jiang Zemin was willing to offer US$10 million to sponsor a Xinhai Revolution anniversary celebration event. According to Ming Pao, she did not take the money because then she would not "have the freedom to properly communicate the Revolution." KMT emblem removal case In 1981, Lily Sun took a trip to Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing. The emblem of the KMT had been removed from the top of his sacrificial hall at the time of her visit but was later restored. On another visit in May 2011, she was surprised to find the four-character "General Rules of Meetings" (會議通則), a document that Sun wrote in reference to Robert's Rules of Order had been removed from a stone carving. Founding father of the nation debate In 1940, the Republic of China (ROC) government had bestowed the title of "father of the nation" on Sun. However, after 1949, as a result of the Chiang regime's arrival in Taiwan, his "father of the nation" designation continued only in Taiwan.Sun visited Taiwan briefly on only three occasions (in 1900, 1913, and 1918) or four by counting 1924, when his boat had stopped in Keelung Harbor, but he did not disembark.In November 2004, the Taiwanese Ministry of Education proposed that Sun was not the father of Taiwan. Instead, Sun was a foreigner from Mainland China. Taiwanese Education Minister Tu Cheng-sheng and the Examination Yuan member Lin Yu-ti, both of whom supported the proposal, had their portraits pelted with eggs in protest. At a Sun Yat-sen statue in Kaohsiung, a 70-year-old Taiwanese retired soldier committed suicide on Sun's birthday, 12 November, to protest the ministry's proposal. Views Economic development Sun Yat-sen spent years in Hawaii as a student in the late 1870s and early 1880s and was highly impressed with the economic development that he saw there. He used the Kingdom of Hawaii as a model to develop his vision of a technologically modern, politically independent, actively-anti-imperialist China. Sun, an important pioneer of international development, proposed in the 1920s international institutions of the sort that appeared after World War II. He focused on China, with its vast potential and weak base of mostly local entrepreneurs.His key proposal was socialism. He proposed: The State will take over all the large enterprises; we shall encourage and protect enterprises which may reasonably be entrusted to the people; the nation will possess equality with other nations; every Chinese will be equal to every other Chinese both politically and in his opportunities of economic advancement.He also proposed, "If we use existing foreign capital to build up a future communist society in China, half the work will bring double the results." He also said, "It is my idea to make capitalism create socialism in China."Sun promoted the ideas of the economist Henry George and was influenced by Georgist ideas on land ownership and a land value tax. Culture Sun supported natalism and had eugenic ideals.: 41  He favored premarital health examinations, sterilization of those perceived as unfit, and other programs for socially engineering China's population.: 41–42  In Sun's view, China had only endured Western invasions and colonial rule because of its large population.: 41  Those views led him to oppose the use of birth control.: 41 Pan-Asianism Sun was a proponent of Pan-Asianism. He said that Asia was the "cradle of the world's oldest civilisation" and that "even the ancient civilisations of the West, of Greece and Rome, had their origins on Asiatic soil." He thought that it was only in recent times that Asians "gradually degenerated and become weak." For Sun, "Pan-Asianism is based on the principle of the Rule of Right, and justifies the avenging of wrongs done to others." He advocated overthrowing the Western "Rule of Might" and "seeking a civilisation of peace and equality and the emancipation of all races." Family Sun Yat-sen was born to Sun Dacheng (孫達成) and his wife, Lady Yang (楊氏) on 12 November 1866. At the time, his father was 53, and his mother was 38 years old. He had an older brother, Sun Dezhang (孫德彰), and an older sister, Sun Jinxing (孫金星), who died at the early age of 4. Another older brother, Sun Deyou (孫德祐), died at the age of 6. He also had an older sister, Sun Miaoqian (孫妙茜), and a younger sister, Sun Qiuqi (孫秋綺).At age 20, Sun had an arranged marriage with the fellow villager Lu Muzhen. She bore a son, Sun Fo, and two daughters, Sun Jinyuan (孫金媛) and Sun Jinwan (孫金婉). Sun Fo was the grandfather of Leland Sun, who spent 37 years working in Hollywood as an actor and stuntman. Sun Yat-sen was also the godfather of Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger, an American author and poet who wrote under the name Cordwainer Smith. Sun's first concubine, the Hong Kong-born Chen Cuifen, lived in Taiping, Perak (now in Malaysia) for 17 years. The couple adopted a local girl as their daughter. Cuifen subsequently relocated to China, where she died.During Sun's exile in Japan, he had relationships with two Japanese women: the 15-year-old Haru Asada, whom he took as a concubine up to her death in 1902, and another 15-year-old schoolgirl, Kaoru Otsuki, whom Sun married in 1905 and abandoned the next year while she was pregnant. Otsuki later had their daughter, Fumiko, adopted by the Miyagawa family in Yokohama, who did not discover her parentage until 1951, 26 years after Sun's death. On 25 October 1915 in Japan, Sun married Soong Ching-ling, one of the Soong sisters. Soong Ching-ling's father was the American-educated Methodist minister Charles Soong, who made a fortune in banking and in printing of Bibles. Although Charles had been a personal friend of Sun, he was enraged by Sun announcing his intention to marry Ching-ling because while Sun was a Christian, he kept two wives: Lu Muzhen and Kaoru Otsuki. Soong viewed Sun's actions as running directly against their shared religion. Soong Ching-Ling's sister, Soong Mei-ling, later married Chiang Kai-shek. Cultural references Memorials and structures in Asia In most major Chinese cities, one of the main streets is Zhongshan Lu (中山路) to celebrate Sun's memory. There are also numerous parks, schools, and geographical features named after him. Xiangshan, Sun's hometown in Guangdong, was renamed Zhongshan in his honor, and there is a hall dedicated to his memory at the Temple of Azure Clouds in Beijing. There are also a series of Sun Yat-sen stamps. Other references to Sun include the Sun Yat-sen University in Guangzhou and National Sun Yat-sen University in Kaohsiung. Other structures include Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall subway station, Sun Yat-sen house in Nanjing, Dr Sun Yat-sen Museum in Hong Kong, Chung-Shan Building, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Guangzhou, Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall in Taipei and Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall in Singapore. Zhongshan Memorial Middle School has also been a name used by many schools. Zhongshan Park is also a common name used for a number of places named after him. The first highway in Taiwan is called the Sun Yat-sen expressway. Two ships are also named after him; the Chinese gunboat Chung Shan and the Chinese cruiser Yat Sen. The old Chinatown in Calcutta (now known as Kolkata), India, has the prominentSun Yat-sen Street. In Russia, a village in Mikhaylovsky District of Primorsky Krai was named Sunyatsenskoe in honor of him. There are streets named after him in Astrakhan, Ufa and Aldan. There was a street that was named after Sun in the Russian city of Omsk until 2005, when it was renamed in honor of the recipient of the title Hero of Soviet Union Mikhail Ivanovich Leonov.In George Town, Penang, Malaysia, the Penang Philomatic Union had its premises at 120 Armenian Street in 1910, while Sun spent more than four months in Penang and convened the historic "Penang Conference" to launch the fundraising campaign for the Huanghuagang Uprising and founded the Kwong Wah Yit Poh. The house, which has been preserved as the Sun Yat-sen Museum (formerly called the Sun Yat Sen Penang Base), was visited by President-designate Hu Jintao in 2002. The Penang Philomatic Union subsequently moved to a bungalow at 65 Macalister Road, which has been preserved as the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Centre Penang. As a dedication, the 1966 Chinese Cultural Renaissance was launched on Sun's birthday on 12 November.The Nanyang Wan Qing Yuan in Singapore have since been preserved and renamed as the Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall. A Sun Yat-sen heritage trail was also launched on 20 November 2010 in Penang.Sun's Hawaiian birth certificate, which claimed that he was not born in China but in the United States, was on public display at the American Institute in Taiwan on US Independence Day on 4 July 2011.A street in Medan, Indonesia, is named "Jalan Sun Yat-Sen" in honor of him.A street named "Tôn Dật Tiên" (the Sino-Vietnamese name for Sun Yat-Sen) is located in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The "Trail of Dr. Sun Yat Sen and His Comrades in Ipoh" was established in 2019, based on the book "Road to Revolution: Dr. Sun Yat Sen and His Comrades in Ipoh." Gallery Memorials and structures outside Asia St. John's University, in New York City, has a facility built in 1973, the Sun Yat-Sen Memorial Hall, which built to resemble a traditional Chinese building in honor of Sun. Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, located in Vancouver, is the largest classical Chinese gardens outside Asia. The Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Park is in Chinatown, Honolulu. On the island of Maui, the little Sun Yat-sen Park at Kamaole is near where his older brother had a ranch on the slopes of Haleakala in the Kula region.In Los Angeles, there is a seated statue of him in Central Plaza. In Sacramento, California, there is a bronze statue of Sun in front of the Chinese Benevolent Association of Sacramento. Another statue of Sun, by Joe Rosenthal, can be found at Riverdale Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and there is another statue in Toronto's downtown Chinatown. There is also the Moscow Sun Yat-sen University. In Chinatown, San Francisco is a 12-foot statue of Sun on Saint Mary's Square.In late 2011, the Chinese Youth Society of Melbourne, in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of China, unveiled in a lion dance blessing ceremony a memorial statue of Sun outside the Chinese Museum in the city's Chinatown on the spot that its traditional Chinese New Year lion dance always ends. In 1993, Lily Sun, one of Sun Yat-sen's granddaughters, donated books, photographs, artwork and other memorabilia to the Kapiʻolani Community College library as part of the Sun Yat-sen Asian Collection. During October and November every year the entire collection is shown. In 1997, the Dr Sun Yat-sen Hawaii Foundation was formed online as a virtual library. In 2006, the NASA Mars Exploration Rover Spirit called one of the hills that was explored "Zhongshan."In 2019, a statue of Dr. Sun Yat-sen by Lu Chun-Hsiung and Michael Kang was permanently installed in the northern plaza of Manhattan's Columbus Park. In popular culture Opera Dr. Sun Yat-sen (中山逸仙; ZhōngShān yì xiān) is a 2011 Chinese-language western-style opera in three acts by the New York-based American composer Huang Ruo, who was born in China and is a graduate of Oberlin College's Conservatory as well as the Juilliard School. The libretto was written by Candace Mui-ngam Chong, a recent collaborator with playwright David Henry Hwang. It was performed in Hong Kong in October 2011 and was given its North America premiere on 26 July 2014 at the Santa Fe Opera. Television series and films Sun Yat-sen's life is portrayed in various films, mainly The Soong Sisters and Road to Dawn. A fictionalized assassination attempt on his life was featured in Bodyguards and Assassins. He is also portrayed during his struggle to overthrow the Qing dynasty in Once Upon a Time in China II. The television series Towards the Republic features Ma Shaohua as Sun. In 1911, a film commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Revolution, Winston Chao played Sun. In Space: Above and Beyond, one of the starships of the China Navy is named the Sun Yat-sen. Performances In 2010, the theatrical play Yellow Flower on Slopes (斜路黃花) was created and performed.In 2011, the Mandopop group Zhongsan Road 100 (中山路100號) was known for singing the song "Our Father of the Nation" (我們國父). Works Kidnapped in London (1897) The Outline of National Reconstruction/Chien Kuo Ta Kang (1918) The Fundamentals of National Reconstruction/Jianguo fanglue (1924) The Principle of Nationalism (1953) See also Chiang Kai-shek Chiang Ching-kuo History of the Republic of China Politics of the Republic of China Sun Yat-sen Museum Penang United States Constitution and worldwide influence Zhongshan suit Kuomintang Three Principles of the People Further reading Bergère, Marie-Claire (2000). Sun Yat-sen. Stanford University Press. ISBN 0804740119. online free to borrow Buck, Pearl S., The Man Who Changed China: The Story of Sun Yat-sen (1953) online, popular biography by famous writer Chen, Stephen, and Robert Payne. Sun Yat Sen A Portrait (1946) online Cheng, Chu-yuan ed. Sun Yat-sen's Doctrine In The Modern World (1989) D'Elia, Paschal M. Sun Yat-sen. His Life and Its Meaning, a Critical Biography (1936) Du, Yue. "Sun Yat-sen as Guofu: Competition over Nationalist Party Orthodoxy in the Second Sino-Japanese War." Modern China 45.2 (2019): 201–235. Jansen, Marius B. The Japanese and Sun Yat-sen (1967) online Kayloe, Tjio. The Unfinished Revolution: Sun Yat-Sen and the Struggle for Modern China (2017). excerpt Khoo, Salma Nasution. Sun Yat Sen in Penang (Areca Books, 2008). Lee, Lai To; Lee, Hock Guan, eds. (2011). Sun Yat-Sen, Nanyang and the 1911 Revolution. Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. ISBN 978-9814345460. Linebarger, Paul M.A. Political Doctrines Of Sun Yat-sen (1937) online free Martin, Bernard. Sun Yat-sen's vision for China (1966) Restarick, Henry B., Sun Yat-sen, Liberator of China. (Yale UP, 1931) Schiffrin, Harold Z. "The Enigma of Sun Yat-sen" in Mary Wright, ed., China in Revolution: The First Phase 1900-1913 (1968) pp 443–476. Schiffrin, Harold Z. Sun Yat-sen: Reluctant Revolutionary (1980) Schiffrin, Harold Z. Sun Yat-sen and the origins of the Chinese revolution (1968). Shen, Stephen and Robert Payne. Sun Yat-Sen: A Portrait (1946) online free Soong, Irma Tam. "Sun Yat-sen's Christian Schooling in Hawai'i." The Hawaiian Journal of History, vol. 31 (1997) online Archived 10 October 2019 at the Wayback Machine Wilbur, Clarence Martin. Sun Yat-sen, frustrated patriot (Columbia University Press, 1976), a major scholarly biography online Yu, George T. "The 1911 Revolution: Past, Present, and Future", Asian Survey, 31#10 (1991), pp. 895–904, online historiography "Sun Yat Sen Nanyang memorial hall". Archived from the original on 20 August 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2015. "Doctor Sun Yat Sen memorial hall". Archived from the original on 29 August 2005. Retrieved 1 July 2005. ROC Government Biography (in English and Chinese) Sun Yat-sen in Hong Kong University of Hong Kong Libraries, Digital Initiatives Contemporary views of Sun among overseas Chinese Yokohama Overseas Chinese School established by Sun Yat-sen National Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall Official Website (in English and Chinese) Homer Lea Research Center Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Foundation of Hawaii A virtual library on Sun in Hawaii including sources for six visits Who is Homer Lea? Sun's best friend. He trained Chinese soldiers and prepared the frame work for the 1911 Chinese Revolution. Works by Sun Yat-sen at Project Gutenberg Works by or about Sun Yat-sen at Internet Archive Funeral procession for Sun Yat-sen in Chinatown, Los Angeles at the Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.

Cantonese (traditional Chinese: 廣東話; simplified Chinese: 广东话; Jyutping: Gwong2 dung1 waa2; Cantonese Yale: Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. It is the traditional prestige variety of the Yue Chinese group, which has over 82.4 million native speakers. While the term Cantonese specifically refers to the prestige variety, it is often used to refer to the entire Yue subgroup of Chinese, including related but partially mutually intelligible varieties like Taishanese. Cantonese is viewed as a vital and inseparable part of the cultural identity for its native speakers across large swaths of Southeastern China, Hong Kong and Macau, as well as in overseas communities. In mainland China, it is the lingua franca of the province of Guangdong (being the majority language of the Pearl River Delta) and neighbouring areas such as Guangxi. It is also the dominant and co-official language of Hong Kong and Macau. Cantonese is also widely spoken amongst Overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia (most notably in Vietnam and Malaysia, as well as in Singapore and Cambodia to a lesser extent) and throughout the Western world. Although Cantonese shares much vocabulary with Mandarin and other varieties of Chinese, these Sinitic languages are mutually unintelligible, largely because of phonological differences, but also due to the differences in grammar and vocabulary. Sentence structure, in particular the verb placement, sometimes differs between the two varieties. A notable difference between Cantonese and Mandarin is how the spoken word is written; both can be recorded verbatim, but very few Cantonese speakers are knowledgeable in the full Cantonese written vocabulary, so a non-verbatim formalized written form is adopted, which is more akin to the written Standard Mandarin. However, it is only non-verbatim with respect to vernacular Cantonese as it is possible to read Standard Chinese text verbatim in formal Cantonese, often with only slight changes in lexicon that are optional depending on the reader's choice of register. This results in the situation in which a Cantonese and a Mandarin text may look similar but are pronounced differently. Conversely, written (vernacular) Cantonese is mostly used in informal settings like social media and comic books. Names of Cantonese In English, the term "Cantonese" can be ambiguous. "Cantonese" as used to refer to the language native to the city of Canton, which is the traditional English name of Guangzhou, was popularized by An English and Cantonese Pocket Dictionary (1859), a bestseller by the missionary John Chalmers. Before 1859, this variant was often referred to in English as "the Canton dialect".However, "Cantonese" may also refer to the primary branch of Chinese that contains Cantonese proper as well as Taishanese and Gaoyang; this broader usage may be specified as "Yue speech" (粵語; 粤语; Yuhtyúh). In this article, "Cantonese" is used for Cantonese proper. Historically, speakers called this variety "Canton speech" (廣州話; 广州话; Gwóngjāu wá), although this term is now seldom used outside mainland China. In Guangdong and Guangxi, people also call it "provincial capital speech" (省城話; 省城话; Sáangsèhng wá) or "plain speech" (白話; 白话; Baahkwá). In academic linguistic circles, it is also referred to as "Canton prefecture speech" (廣府話; 广府话; Gwóngfú wá).In Hong Kong and Macau, as well as among overseas Chinese communities, the language is referred to as "Guangdong speech" or "Canton Province Speech" (廣東話; 广东话; Gwóngdūng wá) or simply as "Chinese" (中文; Jūngmán). History During the Southern Song period, Guangzhou became the cultural center of the region. Cantonese emerged as the prestige variety of Yue Chinese when the port city of Guangzhou on the Pearl River Delta became the largest port in China, with a trade network stretching as far as Arabia. Cantonese was also used in the popular Yuè'ōu, Mùyú and Nányīn folksong genres, as well as Cantonese opera. Additionally, a distinct classical literature was developed in Cantonese, with Middle Chinese texts sounding more similar to modern Cantonese than other present-day Chinese varieties, including Mandarin.As Guangzhou became China's key commercial center for foreign trade and exchange in the 1700s, Cantonese became the variety of Chinese interacting most with the Western World. Around this period and continuing into the 1900s, the ancestors of most of the population of Hong Kong and Macau arrived from Guangzhou and surrounding areas after they were ceded to Britain and Portugal, respectively.In Mainland China, Standard Mandarin has been heavily promoted as the medium of instruction in schools and as the official language, especially after the communist takeover in 1949. Meanwhile, Cantonese has remained the official variety of Chinese in Hong Kong and Macau, both during and after the colonial period. Geographic distribution Hong Kong and Macau The official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, as defined in the Hong Kong Basic Law. The Chinese language has many different varieties, of which Cantonese is one. Given the traditional predominance of Cantonese within Hong Kong, it is the de facto official spoken form of the Chinese language used in the Hong Kong Government and all courts and tribunals. It is also used as the medium of instruction in schools, alongside English. A similar situation also exists in neighboring Macau, where Chinese is an official language alongside Portuguese. As in Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant spoken variety of Chinese used in everyday life and is thus the official form of Chinese used in the government. The Cantonese spoken in Hong Kong and Macau is mutually intelligible with the Cantonese spoken in the mainland city of Guangzhou, although there exist some minor differences in accent, pronunciation, and vocabulary. China Cantonese first developed around the port city of Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta region of southeastern China. Due to the city's long standing role as an important cultural center, Cantonese emerged as the prestige dialect of the Yue varieties of Chinese in the Southern Song dynasty and its usage spread around most of what is now the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi.Despite the cession of Macau to Portugal in 1557 and Hong Kong to Britain in 1842, the ethnic Chinese population of the two territories largely originated from the 19th and 20th century immigration from Guangzhou and surrounding areas, making Cantonese the predominant Chinese language in the territories. On the mainland, Cantonese continued to serve as the lingua franca of Guangdong and Guangxi provinces even after Mandarin was made the official language of the government by the Qing dynasty in the early 1900s. Cantonese remained a dominant and influential language in southeastern China until the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949 and its promotion of Standard Mandarin Chinese as the sole official language of the nation throughout the last half of the 20th century, although its influence still remains strong within the region.While the Chinese government encourages the use of Standard Mandarin rather than local varieties of Chinese in broadcasts, Cantonese enjoys a relatively higher standing than other Chinese languages, with its own media and usage in public transportation in Guangdong province. Furthermore, it is also a medium of instruction in select academic curricula, including some university elective courses and Chinese as a foreign language programs. The permitted usage of Cantonese in mainland China is largely a countermeasure against Hong Kong's influence, as the autonomous territory has the right to freedom of the press and speech and its Cantonese-language media have a substantial exposure and following in Guangdong.Nevertheless, the place of local Cantonese language and culture remains contentious, as with other non-Mandarin Chinese languages. A 2010 proposal to switch some programming on Guangzhou television from Cantonese to Mandarin was abandoned following massive public protests, the largest since the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989. As a major economic center of China, there have been concerns that the use of Cantonese in Guangzhou is diminishing in favour of Mandarin, both through the continual influx of Mandarin-speaking migrants from impoverished areas and strict government policies. As a result, Cantonese is being given a more important status by the natives than ever before as a common identity of the local people. This has led to initiatives to revive the language such as its introduction into school curricula and locally produced programs on broadcast media. Southeast Asia Cantonese has historically served as a lingua franca among overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia, who speak a variety of other forms of Chinese including Hokkien, Teochew, and Hakka. Additionally, Cantonese media and popular culture from Hong Kong is popular throughout the region. Vietnam In Vietnam, Cantonese is the dominant language of the main ethnic Chinese community, usually referred to as Hoa, which numbers about one million people and constitutes one of the largest minority groups in the country. Over half of the ethnic Chinese population in Vietnam speaks Cantonese as a native language and the variety also serves as a lingua franca between the different Chinese dialect groups. Many speakers reflect their exposure to Vietnamese with a Vietnamese accent or a tendency to code-switch between Cantonese and Vietnamese. Malaysia In Malaysia, Cantonese is widely spoken amongst the Malaysian Chinese community in the capital city of Kuala Lumpur and the surrounding areas in the Klang Valley (Petaling Jaya, Ampang, Cheras, Selayang, Sungai Buloh, Puchong, Shah Alam, Kajang, Bangi, and Subang Jaya). The language is also widely spoken as well in the town of Sekinchan in the district of Sabak Bernam located in the northern part of Selangor state and also in the state of Perak, especially in the state capital city of Ipoh and its surrounding towns of Gopeng, Batu Gajah, and Kampar of the Kinta Valley region plus the towns of Tapah and Bidor in the southern part of the Perak state, and also widely spoken in the eastern Sabahan town of Sandakan as well as the towns of Kuantan, Raub, Bentong, and Mentakab in Pahang state, and they are also found in other areas like Sarikei, Sarawak, and Mersing, Johor. Although Hokkien is the most natively spoken variety of Chinese and Mandarin is the medium of education at Chinese-language schools, Cantonese is largely influential in the local Chinese media and is used in commerce by Chinese Malaysians.Due to the popularity of Hong Kong popular culture, especially through drama series and popular music, Cantonese is widely understood by the Chinese in all parts of Malaysia, even though a large proportion of the Chinese Malaysian population is non-Cantonese. Television networks in Malaysia regularly broadcast Hong Kong television programmes in their original Cantonese audio and soundtrack. Cantonese radio is also available in the nation and Cantonese is prevalent in locally produced Chinese television.Cantonese spoken in Malaysia and Singapore often exhibits influences from Malay and other Chinese varieties spoken in the country, like Hokkien and Teochew. Singapore Singapore government use Mandarin as the official Chinese variety and has a Speak Mandarin Campaign (SMC) seeking to actively promote using Mandarin at the expense of other Chinese varieties. A little over 15% of Chinese households in Singapore speak Cantonese. Despite the government actively promotes SMC, the Cantonese-speaking Chinese community has been relatively successful in preserving its language from Mandarin compared to other dialect groups.Notably, all nationally produced non-Mandarin Chinese TV and radio programs were stopped after 1979. The prime minister, Lee Kuan Yew, then, also stopped giving speeches in Hokkien to prevent giving conflicting signals to the people. Hong Kong (Cantonese) and Taiwanese dramas are unavailable in their untranslated form on free-to-air television, though drama series in non-Chinese languages are available in their original languages. Cantonese drama series on terrestrial TV channels are instead dubbed in Mandarin and broadcast without the original Cantonese audio and soundtrack. However, originals may be available through other sources like cable television and online videos. Furthermore, an offshoot of SMC is the translation to Hanyu Pinyin of certain terms which originated from southern Chinese varieties. For instance, dim sum is often known as diǎn xīn in Singapore's English-language media, though this is largely a matter of style, and most Singaporeans will still refer to it as dim sum when speaking English.Nevertheless, since the government restriction on media in non-Mandarin varieties was relaxed in the mid-1990s and 2000s, presence of Cantonese in Singapore has grown substantially. Forms of popular culture from Hong Kong, like television series, cinema and pop music have become popular in Singaporean society, and non-dubbed original versions of the media became widely available. Consequently, the number of non-Cantonese Chinese Singaporeans being able to understand or speak Cantonese to some varying extent is growing, with a number of educational institutes offering Cantonese as an elective language course. Cambodia Cantonese is widely used as the inter-communal language among Chinese Cambodians, especially in Phnom Penh and other urban areas. While Teochew speakers form the majority of the Chinese population in Cambodia, Cantonese is often used as a vernacular in commerce and with other Chinese variant groups in the nation. Chinese-language schools in Cambodia are conducted in both Cantonese and Mandarin, but schools may be conducted exclusively in one Chinese variant or the other. Thailand While Thailand is home to the largest overseas Chinese community in the world, the vast majority of ethnic Chinese in the country speak Thai exclusively. Among Chinese-speaking Thai households, Cantonese is the fourth most-spoken Chinese variety after Teochew, Hakka and Hainanese. Nevertheless, within the Thai Chinese commercial sector, it serves as a common language alongside Teochew or Thai. Chinese-language schools in Thailand have also traditionally been conducted in Cantonese. Furthermore, Cantonese serves as the lingua franca with other Chinese communities in the region. Indonesia In Indonesia, Cantonese is locally known as Konghu and is one of the variants spoken by the Chinese Indonesian community, with speakers largely concentrated in major cities like Jakarta, Surabaya and Batam. However, it has a relatively minor presence compared to other Southeast Asian nations, being the fourth most spoken Chinese variety after Hokkien, Hakka and Teochew. North America United States 458,840 Americans spoke Cantonese at home according to a 2005–2009 American Community Survey.Over a period of 150 years, Guangdong has been the place-of-origin for most Chinese emigrants to Western nations; one coastal county, Taishan (or Tóisàn, where the Sìyì or sei yap variety of Yue is spoken), alone may be the origin of the vast majority of Chinese immigrants to the U.S. before 1965. As a result, Yue languages such as Cantonese and the closely related variety of Taishanese have been the major Chinese varieties traditionally spoken in the United States. The Zhongshan variant of Cantonese, which originated from the western Pearl River Delta, is spoken by many Chinese immigrants in Hawaii, and some in San Francisco and the Sacramento River Delta (see Locke, California). It is a Yuehai variety much like Guangzhou Cantonese but has "flatter" tones. Chinese is the second most widely spoken non-English language in the United States when both Cantonese and Mandarin are combined, behind Spanish. Many institutes of higher education have traditionally had Chinese programs based on Cantonese, with some continuing to offer these programs despite the rise of Mandarin. The most popular romanization for learning Cantonese in the United States is Yale Romanization. The majority of Chinese emigrants have traditionally originated from Guangdong and Guangxi, as well as Hong Kong and Macau (beginning in the latter half of the 20th century and before the Handover) and Southeast Asia, with Cantonese as their native language. However, more recent immigrants are arriving from the rest of mainland China and Taiwan and most often speak Standard Mandarin (Putonghua) as their native language, although some may also speak their native local variety, such as Shanghainese, Hokkien, Fuzhounese, Hakka, etc. As a result, Mandarin is becoming more common among the Chinese American community. The increase of Mandarin-speaking communities has resulted in the rise of separate neighborhoods or enclaves segregated by the primary Chinese variety spoken. Socioeconomic statuses are also a factor. For example, in New York City, Cantonese still predominates in the city's older, traditional western portion of Chinatown in Manhattan and in Brooklyn's small new Chinatowns in Bensonhurst and Homecrest. The newly emerged Little Fuzhou eastern portion of Manhattan's Chinatown and Brooklyn's main large Chinatown in and around Sunset Park are mostly populated by Fuzhounese speakers, who often speak Mandarin as well. The Cantonese and Fuzhounese enclaves in New York City are more working class. However, due to the rapid gentrification of Manhattan's Chinatown and with NYC's Cantonese and Fuzhou populations now increasingly shifting to other Chinese enclaves in the Outer Boroughs of NYC, such as Brooklyn and Queens, but mainly in Brooklyn's newer Chinatowns, the Cantonese speaking population in NYC is now increasingly concentrated in Bensonhurst's Little Hong Kong/Guangdong and Homecrest's Little Hong Kong/Guangdong. The Fuzhou population of NYC is becoming increasingly concentrated in Brooklyn's Sunset Park, also known as Little Fuzhou, which is causing the city's growing Cantonese and Fuzhou enclaves to become increasingly distanced and isolated from both each other and other Chinese enclaves in Queens. Flushing's Chinatown, which is now the largest Chinatown in the city, and Elmhurst's smaller Chinatown in Queens are very diverse, with large numbers of Mandarin speakers from different regions of China and Taiwan. The Chinatowns of Queens comprise the primary cultural center for New York City's Chinese population and are more middle class.In Northern California, especially the San Francisco Bay Area, Cantonese has historically and continues to dominate in the Chinatowns of San Francisco and Oakland, as well as the surrounding suburbs and metropolitan area, although since the late 2000s a concentration of Mandarin speakers has formed in Silicon Valley. In contrast, Southern California hosts a much larger Mandarin-speaking population, with Cantonese found in more historical Chinese communities such as that of Chinatown, Los Angeles, and older Chinese ethnoburbs such as San Gabriel, Rosemead, and Temple City. Mandarin predominates in much of the emergent Chinese American enclaves in eastern Los Angeles County and other areas of the metropolitan region. While a number of more-established Taiwanese immigrants have learned Cantonese to foster relations with the traditional Cantonese-speaking Chinese American population, more recent arrivals and the larger number of mainland Chinese immigrants have largely continued to use Mandarin as the exclusive variety of Chinese. This has led to a linguistic discrimination that has also contributed to social conflicts between the two sides, with a growing number of Chinese Americans (including American-born Chinese) of Cantonese background defending the historic Chinese-American culture against the impacts of increasing Mandarin-speaking new arrivals. Canada Cantonese is the most common Chinese variety spoken among Chinese Canadians. According to the Canada 2016 Census, there were 565,275 Canadian residents who reported Cantonese as their native language. Among the self-reported Cantonese speakers, 44% were born in Hong Kong, 27% were born in Guangdong Province in China, and 18% were Canadian-born. Cantonese-speakers can be found in every city with a Chinese community. The majority of Cantonese-speakers in Canada live in the Greater Toronto Area and Metro Vancouver. There are sufficient Cantonese-speakers in Canada that there exist locally produced Cantonese TV and radio programming, such as Fairchild TV. As in the United States, the Chinese Canadian community traces its roots to early immigrants from Guangdong during the latter half of the 19th century. Later Chinese immigrants came from Hong Kong in two waves, first in the late 1960s to mid 1970s, and again in the 1980s to late 1990s on fears arising from the 1989 Tiananmen Square Protests and impending handover to the People's Republic of China. Chinese-speaking immigrants from conflict zones in Southeast Asia, especially Vietnam, arrived as well, beginning in the mid-1970s and were also largely Cantonese-speaking. Western Europe United Kingdom The overwhelming majority of Chinese speakers in the United Kingdom use Cantonese, with about 300,000 British people claiming it as their first language. This is largely due to the presence of British Hong Kongers and the fact that many British Chinese also have origins in the former British colonies in Southeast Asia of Singapore and Malaysia. France Among the Chinese community in France, Cantonese is spoken by immigrants who fled the former French Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) following the conflicts and communist takeovers in the region during the 1970s. While a slight majority of ethnic Chinese from Indochina speak Teochew at home, knowledge of Cantonese is prevalent due to its historic prestige status in the region and is used for commercial and community purposes between the different Chinese variety groups. As in the United States, there is a divide between Cantonese-speakers and those speaking other mainland Chinese varieties. Portugal Cantonese is spoken by ethnic Chinese in Portugal who originate from Macau, the most established Chinese community in the nation with a presence dating back to the 16th century and Portuguese colonialism. Since the late-20th century, however, Mandarin- and Wu-speaking migrants from mainland China have outnumbered those from Macau, although Cantonese is still retained among mainstream Chinese community associations. Australia Cantonese has been the dominant Chinese language of the Chinese Australian community since the first ethnic Chinese settlers arrived in the 1850s. It maintained this status until the mid-2000s, when a heavy increase in immigration from Mandarin-speakers largely from Mainland China led to Mandarin surpassing Cantonese as the dominant Chinese dialect spoken. Cantonese is the third most-spoken language in Australia. In the 2011 census, the Australian Bureau of Statistics listed 336,410 and 263,673 speakers of Mandarin and Cantonese, respectively. By 2016, those numbers became 596,711 and 280,943. Cultural role Spoken Chinese has numerous regional and local varieties, many of which are mutually unintelligible. Most of these are rare outside their native areas, though they may be spoken outside of China. Many varieties also have Literary and colloquial readings of Chinese characters for newer standard reading sounds. Since a 1909 Qing dynasty decree, China has promoted Mandarin for use in education, the media, and official communications. The proclamation of Mandarin as the official national language, however, was not fully accepted by the Cantonese authorities in the early 20th century, who argued for the "regional uniqueness" of their own local language and commercial importance of the region. Unlike other non-Mandarin Chinese varieties, Cantonese persists in a few state television and radio broadcasts today. Nevertheless, there have been recent attempts to minimize the use of Cantonese in China. The most notable has been the 2010 proposal that Guangzhou Television increase its broadcast in Mandarin at the expense of Cantonese programs. This however led to protests in Guangzhou, which eventually dissuaded authorities from going forward with the proposal. Additionally, there are reports of students being punished for speaking other Chinese languages at school, resulting in a reluctance of younger children to communicate in their native languages, including Cantonese. Such actions have further provoked Cantonese speakers to cherish their linguistic identity in contrast to migrants who have generally arrived from poorer areas of China and largely speak Mandarin or other Chinese languages.Due to the linguistic history of Hong Kong and Macau, and the use of Cantonese in many established overseas Chinese communities, the use of Cantonese is quite widespread compared to the presence of its speakers residing in China. Cantonese is the predominant Chinese variety spoken in Hong Kong and Macau. In these areas, public discourse takes place almost exclusively in Cantonese, making it the only variety of Chinese other than Mandarin to be used as an official language in the world. Because of their dominance in Chinese diaspora overseas, standard Cantonese and its dialect Taishanese are among the most common Chinese languages that one may encounter in the West. Increasingly since the 1997 Handover, Cantonese has been used as a symbol of local identity in Hong Kong, largely through the development of democracy in the territory and desinicization practices to emphasise a separate Hong Kong identity.A similar identity issue exists in the United States, where conflicts have arisen among Chinese-speakers due to a large recent influx of Mandarin-speakers. While older Taiwanese immigrants have learned Cantonese to foster integration within the traditional Chinese American populations, more recent arrivals from the Mainland continue to use Mandarin exclusively. This has contributed to a segregation of communities based on linguistic cleavage. In particular, some Chinese Americans (including American-born Chinese) of Cantonese background emphasise their non-Mainland origins (e.g. Hong Kong, Macau, Vietnam, etc.) to assert their identity in the face of new waves of immigration.Along with Mandarin and Hokkien, Cantonese has its own popular music, Cantopop, which is the predominant genre in Hong Kong. Many artists from the Mainland and Taiwan have learned Cantonese to break into the market. Popular native Mandarin-speaking singers, including Faye Wong, Eric Moo, and singers from Taiwan, have been trained in Cantonese to add "Hong Kong-ness" to their performances.Cantonese films date to the early days of Chinese cinema, and the first Cantonese talkie, White Gold Dragon, was made in 1932 by the Tianyi Film Company. Despite a ban on Cantonese films by the Nanjing authority in the 1930s, Cantonese film production continued in Hong Kong which was then under British colonial rule. From the mid-1970s to the 1990s, Cantonese films made in Hong Kong were very popular in the Chinese speaking world. Phonology Initials and finals The de facto standard Cantonese pronunciation is that of Canton (Guangzhou). Hong Kong Cantonese has some minor phonology variations but is almost identical to standard Guangzhou Cantonese. Hong Kong and Macau merge certain phoneme pairs. Although termed as "lazy sound/pronunciation" (懶音) and considered substandard to Guangzhou pronunciation, the phenomenon has been widespread in the territories since the early 20th century. The most notable difference between Hong Kong and Guangzhou pronunciation is substituting liquid nasal /l/ for nasal initial /n/ in many words. An example is manifested in the word for you (你), pronounced as [nei˩˧] in Guangzhou and as [lei˩˧] in Hong Kong. Another key feature of Hong Kong Cantonese is the two syllabic nasals /ŋ̩/ and /m̩/ merging. This can be exemplified in the elimination of the contrast of sounds between 吳 (Ng, a surname) ([ŋ̩˩] in Guangzhou pronunciation) and 唔 (not) ([m̩˩] in Guangzhou pronunciation). Hong Kong Cantonese pronounce both words as the latter.Lastly, the initials /kʷ/ and /kʷʰ/ are merging into /k/ and /kʰ/ when followed by /ɔː/. An example is in the word for country (國), pronounced in standard Guangzhou as [kʷɔk] but as [kɔk] with the merge. Unlike the above two differences, this merge is alongside the standard pronunciation in Hong Kong rather than being replaced. Educated speakers often stick to the standard pronunciation but can exemplify the merged pronunciation in casual speech. In contrast, less educated speakers pronounce the merge more frequently.Less prevalent, but still notable differences found among a number of Hong Kong speakers include: Merging /ŋ/ initial into null initial Merging /ŋ/ and /k/ codas into /n/ and /t/ codas respectively, eliminating contrast between these pairs of finals (except after /e/ and /o/): /aːn/-/aːŋ/, /aːt/-/aːk/, /ɐn/-/ɐŋ/, /ɐt/-/ɐk/, /ɔːn/-/ɔːŋ/ and /ɔːt/-/ɔːk/. Merging the rising tones (陰上 2nd and 陽上 5th).Cantonese vowels tend to be traced further back to Middle Chinese than their Mandarin analogues, such as M. /aɪ/ vs. C. /ɔːi/; M. /i/ vs. C. /ɐi/; M. /ɤ/ vs. C. /ɔː/; M. /ɑʊ/ vs. C. /ou/ etc. For consonants, some differences include M. /ɕ, tɕ, tɕʰ/ vs. C. /h, k, kʰ/; M. /ʐ/ vs. C. /j/; and a greater syllable coda diversity in Cantonese (like syllables ending in -p, -t or -k). Tones Generally speaking, Cantonese is a tonal language with six phonetic tones, two more than the four in Standard Chinese Mandarin. This makes Cantonese in general harder to master due to required ability of users to readily be able to process two additional phonetic tones. People who grew up using Cantonese tones can usually hear the tonal differences with no problem, but adults who were brought up speaking non-tonal languages like English and most Western European languages may not be able to distinguish the tonal differences quick enough to optimally utilise the language. This difficulty also applies to tonal language speakers with fewer tones attempting to master languages with more tones such as Mandarin natives trying to learn spoken Cantonese as adults. Historically, finals that end in a stop consonant were considered as "checked tones" and treated separately by diachronic convention, identifying Cantonese with nine tones (九声六调). However, these are seldom counted as phonemic tones in modern linguistics, which prefer to analyse them as conditioned by the following consonant. Written Cantonese As Cantonese is used primarily in Hong Kong, Macau, and other overseas Chinese communities, it is usually written with traditional Chinese characters. However, it has extra characters as well as characters with different meanings from written vernacular Chinese due to the presence of words that either are not in standard Chinese or correspond with spoken Cantonese. This written Cantonese system often appear in colloquial contexts like entertainment magazines, social media and advertisements. In contrast, formal literature, professional and government documents, television and movie subtitles, and news media continues to be use standard written Chinese. Nevertheless, colloquial characters may be present in formal written communications such as legal testimonies and newspapers when an individual is being quoted, rather than paraphrasing spoken Cantonese into standard written Chinese. Romanization Cantonese romanization systems are based on the accents of Canton and Hong Kong, and have helped define the concept of Standard Cantonese. The major systems are: Jyutping, Yale, the Chinese government's Guangdong Romanization, and Meyer–Wempe. While they do not differ greatly, Jyutping and Yale are the two most used and taught systems today in the West. Additionally, Hong Kong linguist Sidney Lau modified the Yale system for his popular Cantonese-as-a-second-language course and is still in use today. While Hong Kong and Macau governments utilize a romanization system for proper names and geographic locations, they transcript some sounds inconsistently and the systems are not taught in schools. Macau system differs slightly from Hong Kong's in that the spellings are influenced by Portuguese language due to colonial history. For example, while some words in Macau's romanization system are the same as Hong Kong's (e.g. surnames Lam 林, Chan 陳), instances of the letter ⟨u⟩ under Hong Kong's romanization system are often replaced by ⟨o⟩ in Macau romanization system (e.g. Chau vs Chao 周, Leung vs Leong 梁). Both the spellings of Hong Kong and Macau Cantonese romanization systems do not look similar to mainland China's pinyin system. Generally, plain stops are written with voiced consonants (/p/, /t/, /ts/, and /k/ as b, d, z/j, and g respectively), and aspirated stops with unvoiced ones, as in pinyin. Early Western efforts Systematic efforts to develop an alphabetic representation of Cantonese began with Protestant missionaries arriving in China early in the nineteenth century. Romanization was considered both a tool to help new missionaries learn the variety more easily and a quick route for the unlettered to achieve gospel literacy. Earlier Catholic missionaries, mostly Portuguese, had developed romanization schemes for the pronunciation current in the court and capital city of China but made few efforts to romanize other varieties. Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary in China published a "Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect" (1828) with a rather unsystematic romanized pronunciation. Elijah Coleman Bridgman and Samuel Wells Williams in their "Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect" (1841) were the progenitors of a long-lived lineage of related romanizations with minor variations embodied in the works of James Dyer Ball, Ernst Johann Eitel, and Immanuel Gottlieb Genähr (1910). Bridgman and Williams based their system on the phonetic alphabet and diacritics proposed by Sir William Jones for South Asian languages. Their romanization system embodied the phonological system in a local dialect rhyme dictionary, Fenyun cuoyao, which was widely used and easily available at the time and is still available today. Samuel Wells Willams' Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Canton Dialect (Yinghua fenyun cuoyao 1856), is an alphabetic rearrangement, translation and annotation of the Fenyun. To adapt the system to the needs of users at a time when there were only local variants and no standard—although the speech of the western suburbs, Xiguan, of Guangzhou was the prestige variety at the time—Williams suggested that users learn and follow their teacher's pronunciation of his chart of Cantonese syllables. It was apparently Bridgman's innovation to mark the tones with an open circle (upper register tones) or an underlined open circle (lower register tones) at the four corners of the romanized word in analogy with the traditional Chinese system of marking the tone of a character with a circle (lower left for "even", upper left for "rising", upper right for "going", and lower right for "entering" tones). John Chalmers, in his "English and Cantonese pocket-dictionary" (1859) simplified the tone markings using the acute accent to mark "rising" tones and the grave to mark "going" tones and no diacritic for "even" tones and marking upper register tones by italics (or underlining in handwritten work). "Entering" tones could be distinguished by their consonant ending. Nicholas Belfeld Dennys used Chalmers romanization in his primer. This method of marking tones was adopted in the Yale romanization (with low register tones marked with an 'h'). A new romanization was developed in the first decade of the twentieth century which eliminated the diacritics on vowels by distinguishing vowel quality by spelling differences (e.g. a/aa, o/oh). Diacritics were used only for marking tones. The name of Tipson is associated with this new romanization which still embodied the phonology of the Fenyun to some extent. It is the system used in Meyer-Wempe and Cowles' dictionaries and O'Melia's textbook and many other works in the first half of the twentieth century. It was the standard romanization until the Yale system supplanted it. The distinguished linguist Y. R. Chao developed a Cantonese adaptation of his Gwoyeu Romatzyh system. The Barnett-Chao romanization system was first used in Chao's Cantonese Primer, published in 1947 by Harvard University Press (The Cantonese Primer was adapted for Mandarin teaching and published by Harvard University Press in 1948 as Mandarin Primer). The BC system was also used in textbooks published by the Hong Kong government. Cantonese romanization in Hong Kong An influential work on Cantonese, A Chinese Syllabary Pronounced According to the Dialect of Canton, written by Wong Shik Ling, was published in 1941. He derived an IPA-based transcription system, the S. L. Wong system, used by many Chinese dictionaries later published in Hong Kong. Although Wong also derived a romanization scheme, also known as the S. L. Wong system, it is not widely used as his transcription scheme. This system was preceded by the Barnett–Chao system used by the Hong Government Language School. Linguistic Society of Hong Kong (LSHK) advocated Jyutping romanization. The phonetic values of some consonants are closer to the approximate equivalents in IPA than in other systems. Some effort has been undertaken to promote Jyutping, but the success of its proliferation within the region has yet to be examined. Another popular scheme is Cantonese Pinyin, the only romanization system accepted by Hong Kong Education and Manpower Bureau and Hong Kong Examinations and Assessment Authority. Books and studies for teachers and students in primary and secondary schools usually use this scheme, but some teachers and students use S.L. Wong's transcription system. Despite the efforts to standardize Cantonese romanization, those learning the language may feel frustrated that most native Cantonese speakers, regardless of their level of education, are unfamiliar with any romanization system. Because Cantonese is primarily a spoken language and does not carry its own writing system (written Cantonese, despite having some Chinese characters unique to it, primarily follows modern standard Chinese, which is closely tied to Mandarin), it is not taught in schools. As a result, locals do not learn any of these systems. In contrast with Mandarin-speaking areas of China, Cantonese romanization systems are excluded in the education systems of both Hong Kong and the Guangdong province. In practice, Hong Kong follows a loose, unnamed romanization scheme used by the Government of Hong Kong. Google Cantonese input uses Yale, Jyutping or Cantonese Pinyin, Yale being the first standard. Comparison Differences between the three main standards are highlighted in bold. Jyutping and Cantonese Pinyin recognize certain sounds used in a few colloquial words (like /tɛːu˨/ 掉, /lɛːm˧˥/ 舔, and /kɛːp˨/ 夾) but have not been officially recognized in other systems like Yale. Initials Finals Tones Sample Text The following is a sample text in Cantonese of Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights with English. See also Cantonese grammar Cantonese profanity Cantonese slang Languages of China List of English words of Cantonese origin List of varieties of Chinese Protection of the Varieties of Chinese Works cited Further reading Benoni, Lanctot (1867). Chinese and English Phrase Book: With the Chinese Pronunciation Indicated in English. San Francisco: A. Roman & Company. OCLC 41220764. OL 13999723M. Bridgman, Elijah Coleman (1841). A Chinese Chrestomathy in the Canton Dialect. Macao: S. Wells Williams. OCLC 4614795. OL 6542029M. Matthew, W. (1880). The Book of a Thousand Words: Translated, Annotated and Arranged So As to Indicate the Radical Number and Pronunciation (in Mandarin and Cantonese) of Each Character in the Text. Stawell: Thomas Stubbs. OL 13996959M. Morrison, Robert (1828). Vocabulary of the Canton Dialect: Chinese Words and Phrases. Macao: Steyn. hdl:2027/uc1.b4496041. OCLC 17203540. Williams, Samuel Wells (1856). Tonic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in The Canton Dialect. Canton: Chinese Repository. OCLC 6512080. OL 14002589M. Zee, Eric (1991). "Chinese (Hong Kong Cantonese)". Illustrations of the IPA. Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 21 (1): 46–48. doi:10.1017/S0025100300006058. "Multi-function Chinese Character Database" 漢語多功能字庫 (in Chinese). The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Cantonese-English Online Dictionary Hong Kong Government site on the HK Supplementary Character Set (HKSCS) (archived 22 May 2011) Cantonese Tools 粵語/廣東話參考資料 Yue by wordshk – GitHub Pages. GitHub.

31 may refer to: 31 (number) Years 31 BC AD 31 1931 CE ('31) 2031 CE ('31) Music Thirty One (Jana Kramer album), 2015 Thirty One (Jarryd James album), 2015 "Thirty One", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Wild, Wonderful Purgatory, 1999 Science Gallium, a post-transition metal in the periodic table 31 Euphrosyne, an asteroid in the asteroid belt (31) Euphrosyne I, a satellite of 31 Euphrosyne Film and television 31 (film), a 2016 horror film 31 (Kazakhstan), a television channel 31 Digital, an Australian video on demand service Transportation 31st (CTA station), a rapid transit station in Chicago 31 (MBTA bus), a bus route in Boston, Massachusetts 31 (RIPTA), a bus route in Rhode Island Other uses Thirty-one (card game) All pages with titles containing thirty-first All pages with titles containing thirty-one All pages with titles containing 31st All pages with titles containing 31 Channel 31 (disambiguation) Section 31 (disambiguation) List of highways numbered 31

32 may refer to: 32 (number), the natural number following 31 and preceding 33 one of the years 32 BC, AD 32, 1832, 1932, 2032 Science Germanium, an metalloid in the periodic table 32 Pomona, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Music The shortened pseudonym of UK rapper Wretch 32 ThirtyTwo (album), a 2014 album by Reverend and The Makers Songs "32" (song), a 2013 single from the Carpark North album Phoenix "32", a song on Mr. Mister's debut album I Wear the Face "Thirty Two", a 1967 song by Van Morrison from New York Sessions '67 "The Chamber of 32 Doors", a 1974 song by Genesis from The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway "Thirty Two", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Wild, Wonderful Purgatory, 1999 Other uses .32 caliber, a family of firearm cartridges .32 ACP, a handgun cartridge Highway 32 ThirtyTwo, snowboarding brand owned by Sole Technology 32 Gloucester–Ross-on-Wye, a bus route in England All pages with titles containing 32 or 32s All pages with titles beginning with 32 All pages with titles containing thirty-two or thirty-twos All pages with titles beginning with thirty-two All pages with titles containing XXXII or XXXIIs All pages with titles beginning with XXXII Germanium (Ge) element 32 All pages with titles containing 32nd or 32nds All pages with titles beginning with 32nd All pages with titles containing thirty-second or thirty-seconds All pages with titles beginning with thirty-second Type 032 (disambiguation) Channel 32 (disambiguation) Route 32 (disambiguation) List of highways numbered 32

33 may refer to: 33 (number) 33 BC AD 33 1933 2033 Science Arsenic, a metalloid in the periodic table 33 Polyhymnia, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Music 33 (Luis Miguel album) (2003) 33 (Southpacific album) (1998) 33 (Wanessa album) (2016) "33 'GOD'", a 2016 song by Bon Iver "Thirty-Three" (song), a 1995 song by the Smashing Pumpkins "Thirty Three", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Almost Heathen, 2001 "33", a 2002 song by Coheed and Cambria "33", a song by Sinéad O’Connor from her 2007 album Theology "33" a 2020 song by Polo G La 33, a Colombian salsa music band Television El 33, a Catalan television channel "33" (Battlestar Galactica), an episode of Battlestar Galactica Other uses Los 33, the miners involved in the 2010 Copiapó mining accident The 33, a 2015 film based on the Copiapó mining accident Thirty Three (film), a 1965 Soviet comedy film by Georgi Daneliya +33, the international calling code for France 33, a label printed on Rolling Rock beer bottles 33+1⁄3 (disambiguation) Alfa Romeo 33, an Italian automobile Club 33, a set of private clubs in Disney Parks List of highways numbered 33 Treinta y Tres, a city in Uruguay All pages with titles beginning with 33 All pages with titles containing 33 All pages with titles containing thirty-three

34 may refer to: 34 (number), the natural number following 33 and preceding 35 34 BC AD 34 1934 2034 Science Selenium, a nonmetal in the periodic table 34 Circe, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Music 34 (album), a 2015 album by Dre Murray "#34" (song), a 1994 song by Dave Matthews Band "34", a 2006 song by Saves the Day from Sound the Alarm "Thirty Four", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Almost Heathen, 2001 Other uses +34, the international calling code for Spain See also 3/4 (disambiguation) Rule 34 (disambiguation) List of highways numbered 34

35 or XXXV may refer to: 35 (number), the natural number following 34 and preceding 36 35 BC AD 35 1935 2035 Science Bromine, a halogen in the periodic table 35 Leukothea, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Music XXXV (album), a 2002 album by Fairport Convention 35xxxv, a 2015 album by One Ok Rock "35" (song), a 2021 song by New Zealand youth choir Ka Hao "Thirty Five", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Almost Heathen, 2001 III-V, a type of semiconductor material

36 may refer to: 36 (number), the natural number following 35 and preceding 37 36 BC, 1st century BCE AD 36, 1st century 1936, 20th century 2036, 21st century Science Krypton, a noble gas in the periodic table 36 Atalante, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Arts and entertainment 36 (TV series), an American sports documentary show "36", a 2002 song by System of a Down from Steal This Album! 36 Quai des Orfèvres (film), a 2004 French crime film "Thirty Six", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Almost Heathen, 2001

37 may refer to: 37 (number), the natural number following 36 and preceding 3837 BC AD 37 1937 2037 Science Rubidium, an alkali metal in the periodic table 37 Fides, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Other uses 37 (album), by King Never, 2013 37 (film), a 2016 film about the murder of Kitty Genovese 37 (MBTA bus), a bus route in Boston, Massachusetts, US 37 (New Jersey bus), a NJ Transit bus route in New Jersey, US "Thirty Seven", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Almost Heathen, 2001 See also 37th (disambiguation) List of highways numbered 37

38 may refer to: 38 (number), the natural number following 37 and preceding 39 38 BC AD 38 1938 2038 Science Strontium, an alkaline earth metal in the periodic table 38 Leda, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Other uses .38, a caliber of firearms and cartridges .38 Special, a revolver cartridge Thirty-Eight: The Hurricane That Transformed New England, a 2016 book by Stephen Long "Thirty Eight", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Almost Heathen, 2001

39 may refer to: 39 (number), the natural number following 38 and preceding 40 one of the years: 39 BC AD 39 1939 2039 39 (album), a 2000 studio album by Mikuni Shimokawa "'39", a 1975 song by Queen "Thirty Nine", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Almost Heathen, 2001 Thirty-Nine, a 2022 South Korean television series

40 or forty commonly refers to: 40 (number) The years 40 BC and AD 4040 or forty may also refer to: Music 40 (record producer) (born 1983), Canadian hip hop producer (born Noah Shebib) Forty (album), a 2001 live album by Thomas Dolby 40 (Foreigner album), 2017 40 (Stray Cats album), 2019 40 (Sunnyboys album), 2019 40 (Grupo Niche album), 2020 40, an album by Peter Morén 40 (concert video), by the Allman Brothers Band "40" (song), by U2 "40'", a song by Franz Ferdinand from Franz Ferdinand, 2004 "Forty", a song by Karma to Burn from Almost Heathen, 2001 Films This Is 40, a 2012 American film Other uses 40 ounce or forty, a bottle of malt liquor Forty winks or forty, sleep or nap .40 S&W, pistol cartridge .40 Super, wildcat pistol cartridge (, the ASCII character with code 40 See also Tessarakonteres (English: Forty), a very large ancient Egyptian galley Top 40: a radio format; the current, 40 most-popular songs in the music industry

41 may refer to: 41 (number) one of the years 41 BC, AD 41, 1941, 2041 Art and entertainment 41 (film), a 2007 documentary about Nicholas O'Neill, the youngest victim of the Station nightclub fire 41, a 2012 film by Glenn Triggs 41, a 2012 documentary about President George H. W. Bush. "#41" (song), a song by the Dave Matthews Band Survivor 41, the 41st installment of CBS's reality program Survivor "Forty One", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Appalachian Incantation, 2010 People George H. W. Bush, or "Bush 41" (to distinguish him from his son, George W. Bush), 41st president of the United States Nick "41" MacLaren, member of the New Zealand hip hop duo Frontline See also HP-41C, a series of calculators made by Hewlett-Packard FOCAL (Hewlett-Packard) (Forty-one calculator language), the language used to program HP-41 calculators

42 may refer to: 42 (number) The years 42 BC and AD 42 Arts, entertainment, and media 42 (dominoes), a game 42 (film), a 2013 biopic about American baseball player Jackie Robinson 42, a 2021 album by Sech 42, the Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and Everything, from Douglas Adams' series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Named after or in honor of this: "42" (Doctor Who), a 2007 television episode "42" (2001), the final episode of the television series Buzz Lightyear of Star Command "42" (song), a 2008 song by Coldplay 42, the 2012 debut album of Cthulhu Rise 42: The Wildly Improbable Ideas of Douglas Adams, 2023 book by Kevin Jon Davies 42 Entertainment, an alternate reality games company founded in 2003 "42", a song by Mumford & Sons from Delta, 2018 "Forty Two", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Appalachian Incantation, 2010 Other uses 42 (school), a French computer programming school The 42 (Kolkata), a residential skyscraper in India Tower 42 a skyscraper in London, England 42.zip, a zip bomb 42, Jackie Robinson’s jersey number, since retired 42, the atomic number of Molybdenum See also 42V, a former project to convert motor vehicle electrical power to 42 volts

43 may refer to: 43 (number) one of the years 43 BC, AD 43, 1943, 2043 Licor 43, also known as "Cuarenta Y Tres" ("Forty-three" in Spanish) George W. Bush, 43rd president of the United States, nicknamed "Bush 43" to distinguish from his father "Forty Three", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Appalachian Incantation, 2010

44 may refer to: 44 (number) one of the years 44 BC, AD 44, 1944, 2044 Military 44M Tas, a Hungarian medium/heavy tank design of World War II 44M Tas Rohamlöveg, a Hungarian tank destroyer design of World War II, derived from the 44M Tas tank Others "Forty-Four", a blues standard Forty-Fours, a group of islands in the Chatham Archipelago Forty Four, Arkansas, an unincorporated community in Izard County, Arkansas 44 (album), a 2020 quadruple album by Joel Plaskett "44", a song by Bad Gyal featuring Rema from Warm Up "Forty Four", a song by Karma to Burn from Appalachian Incantation .44 caliber, a family of firearms and firearm cartridges .44 Special, a revolver cartridge .44 Magnum, a large revolver cartridge evolved from the .44 special

45 may refer to: 45 (number) one of the years 45 BC, AD 45, 1945, 2045 Film 45 (film), directed by Peter Coster (2009) .45 (film), directed by Gary Lennon (2006) Music 45 (Jaguares album), 2008 45 (Kino album), 1982 "45" (Bon Iver song), 2016 "45" (The Gaslight Anthem song), 2012 "45" (Shinedown song), 2003 "45" (Elvis Costello song), 2002 "Forty Five", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Appalachian Incantation, 2010 45 rpm record or 45, a common form of vinyl single Other uses Donald Trump, the 45th President of the United States, with the nickname "45" 45 (book), written by Bill Drummond .45 caliber, a family of firearm cartridges A nickname for a handgun chambered in .45 caliber, such as the M1911 pistol or Colt Single Action Army .45 ACP, pistol cartridge .45 Colt, revolver cartridge Jacobite rising of 1745 or "The '45", in the United Kingdom Forty-fives, a card game 'The 45%', collective term used by Scottish independence campaigners (after ratio of support in 2014 referendum) Fortyfive, a software development company

46 may refer to: 46 (number) 46, a 1983 album by Kino "Forty Six", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Appalachian Incantation, 2010 One of the years 46 BC, AD 46, 1946, 2046

47, '47 or forty-seven may refer to: 47 (number) 47 BC AD 47 1947 2047 '47 (brand), an American clothing brand '47 (magazine), an American publication 47 (song), a song by Sidhu Moose Wala 47, a song by New Found Glory from the album Not Without a Fight "Forty Seven", a song by Karma to Burn from the album V, 2011 +47, the international calling code for Norway 4seven, a television channel Agent 47, protagonist of the Hitman video game series 47, a young adult novel by Walter Mosley See also List of highways numbered 47 Channel 47 (disambiguation) M47 (disambiguation), including "Model 47" (M47) Forty-seven Ronin (disambiguation) A47 (disambiguation) Capital Steez

48 may refer to: 48 (number) one of the years 48 BC, AD 48, 1948, 2048 '48 (novel) '48 (magazine) "48", a song by Tyler, the Creator from the album Wolf 48, a phone network brand of Three Ireland "Forty Eight", a song by Karma to Burn from the album V, 2011 See also A48 (disambiguation)

49 may refer to: 49 (number) "Forty Nine", a song by Karma to Burn from the album V, 2011 one of the years 49 BC, AD 49, 1949, 2049

50 may refer to: 50 (number) one of the following years 50 BC, AD 50, 1950, 2050 .50 BMG, a heavy machine gun cartridge also used in sniper rifles .50 Action Express, a large pistol cartridge commonly used in the Desert Eagle .50 GI, a wildcat pistol cartridge .50 Beowulf, a powerful rifle cartridge used in the AR-15 platform .50 Alaskan, a wildcat rifle cartridge 50 Cent, an American rapper Labatt 50, a Canadian beer Fifty (film), a 2015 film "The Fifty", a group of fifty airmen murdered by the Gestapo after The Great Escape in World War II 50 (album), a 2016 album by singer Rick Astley Benjamin Yeaten, widely known by his radio call sign "50", a Liberian military and mercenary leader "Fifty", a song by Karma to Burn from the album V, 2011 See also 5O (disambiguation)

51 may refer to: 51 (number) The year 51 BC AD 51 1951 2051 51 (film), a 2011 American horror film directed by Jason Connery "Fifty-One", an episode of the American television drama series Breaking Bad 51 (album), a 2012 mixtape by rapper Kool A.D. "Fifty One", a song by Karma to Burn from the album V, 2011

Bourbaki(s) may refer to : Persons and science Charles-Denis Bourbaki (1816–1897), French general, son of Constantin Denis Bourbaki Colonel Constantin Denis Bourbaki (1787–1827), officer in the Greek War of Independence and serving in the French military Nicolas Bourbaki, the collective pseudonym of a group of French mathematicians Séminaire Nicolas Bourbaki and its follow-ups Séminaire Nicolas Bourbaki (1950–1959) Séminaire Nicolas Bourbaki (1960–1969) Bourbaki–Witt theorem Bourbaki–Alaoglu theorem Jacobson–Bourbaki theorem Nikolaos Bourbakis, computer scientist Other A place in Algeria, now known as Khemisti, near Aïn-Tourcia and the site of ancient city and former bishopric Columnata Bourbaki dangerous bend symbol

Nanyue (Chinese: 南越 or 南粵; pinyin: Nányuè; Jyutping: Naam4 Jyut6; lit. Southern Yue, Vietnamese: Nam Việt)was an ancient kingdom founded by the Chinese general Zhao Tuo, whose family (known in Vietnamese as the Triệu dynasty) continued to rule until 111 BC. Nanyue's geographical expanse covered the modern Chinese subdivisions of Guangdong, Guangxi, Hainan, Hong Kong, Macau, southern Fujian and central to northern Vietnam. Zhao Tuo, then Commander of Nanhai Commandery of the Qin dynasty, established Nanyue in 204 BC after the collapse of the Qin dynasty. At first, it consisted of the commanderies of Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang. Nanyue and its rulers had an adversarial relationship with the Han dynasty, which referred to Nanyue as a vassal state while in practice it was autonomous. Nanyue rulers sometimes paid symbolic obeisance to the Han dynasty but referred to themselves as emperor. In 113 BC, fourth-generation leader Zhao Xing sought to have Nanyue formally included as part of the Han Empire. His prime minister Lü Jia objected vehemently and subsequently killed Zhao Xing, installing his elder brother Zhao Jiande on the throne and forcing a confrontation with the Han dynasty. The next year, Emperor Wu of Han sent 100,000 troops to war against Nanyue. By the year's end, the army had destroyed Nanyue and established Han rule. The dynastic state lasted 93 years and had five generations of monarchs. The existence of Nanyue allowed the Lingnan region to avoid the chaos and hardship surrounding the collapse of the Qin dynasty experienced by the northern, predominantly Han Chinese regions. The kingdom was founded by leaders originally from the Central Plain of China and were all of Han Chinese in origin. They were responsible for bringing Chinese-style bureaucracy and handicraft techniques to inhabitants of southern regions, as well as knowledge of the Chinese language and writing system. Nanyue rulers promoted a policy of "Harmonizing and Gathering the Hundred Yue tribes" (Chinese: 和集百越), and encouraged ethnic Han to immigrate from the Yellow River region to the south. Nanyue rulers were then not against the assimilation of Yue and Han cultures.In Vietnam, the rulers of Nanyue are referred to as the Triệu dynasty. The name "Vietnam" (Việt Nam) is derived and reversed from Nam Việt, the Vietnamese pronunciation of Nanyue. In traditional Vietnamese histogrioraphy, important works such as the Đại Việt sử ký considered Nanyue to be a legitimate state of Vietnam and the official starting point of their history. However, starting in the 18th century, the view that Nanyue was not a legitimate Vietnamese state and Zhao Tuo was a foreign invader started gaining traction. After World War II, this became the mainstream view among Vietnamese historians in North Vietnam and after Vietnam was reunified, it became the official state orthodoxy promoted by the ruling Vietnamese Communist Party. Nanyue was removed from the national history while Zhao Tuo was established as a foreign invader. History A detailed history of Nanyue was written in Records of the Grand Historian by Han dynasty historian Sima Qian. It is mostly contained in section (juan) 113, Chinese: 南越列傳; pinyin: Nányuè Liè Zhuàn; Jyutping: Naam4jyut6 Lit6 Zyun2 (Ordered Annals of Nanyue). A similar record is also found in the Book of Han Volume 95: The Southwest Peoples, Two Yues, and Chaoxian. Founding Qin southward expansion (218 BC) After Qin Shi Huang conquered the six other Chinese kingdoms of Han, Zhao, Wei, Chu, Yan, and Qi, he turned his attention to the Xiongnu tribes of the north and west and the Hundred Yue peoples of what is now southern China. Around 218 BC, the First Emperor dispatched General Tu Sui with an army of 500,000 Qin soldiers to divide into five companies and attack the Hundred Yue tribes of the Lingnan region. The first company gathered at Yuhan (Modern Yugan County in Jiangxi Province) and attacked the Minyue, defeating them and establishing the Minzhong Commandery. The second company fortified at Nanye (in modern Jiangxi Province's Nankang County), and was designed to put defensive pressure on the southern clans. The third company occupied Panyu. The fourth company garrisoned near the Jiuyi Mountains, and the fifth company garrisoned outside Tancheng (in the southwest part of modern Hunan Province's Jingzhou Miao and Dong Autonomous County). The First Emperor assigned official Shi Lu to oversee supply logistics. Shi first led a regiment of soldiers through the Ling Channel (which connected the Xiang River and the Li River), then navigated through the Yangtze River and Pearl River water systems ensure the safety of the Qin supply routes. The Qin attack of the Western Valley (Chinese: 西甌) Yue tribe went smoothly, and Western Valley chieftain Yi-Xu-Song was killed. However, the Western Valley Yue were unwilling to submit to the Qin and fled into the jungle where they selected a new leader to continue resisting the Chinese armies. Later, a night-time counterattack by the Western Valley Yue devastated the Qin troops, and General Tu Sui was killed in the fighting. The Qin suffered heavy losses, and the imperial court selected General Zhao Tuo to assume command of the Chinese army. In 214 BC, the First Emperor dispatched Ren Xiao and Zhao Tuo at the head of reinforcements to once again mount an attack. This time, the Western Valley Yue were completely defeated, and the Lingnan region was brought entirely under Chinese control. In the same year, the Qin court established the Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang Commanderies, and Ren Xiao was made Lieutenant of Nanhai. Nanhai was further divided into Panyu, Longchuan, Boluo, and Jieyang counties (among several others), and Zhao Tuo was made magistrate of Longchuan. The First Emperor died in 210 BC, and his son Zhao Huhai became the Second Emperor of Qin. The following year, soldiers Chen Sheng, Wu Guang, and others seized the opportunity to revolt against the Qin government. Insurrections spread throughout much of China (including those led by Xiang Yu and Liu Bang, who would later face off over the founding of the next dynasty) and the entire Yellow River region devolved into chaos. Soon after the first insurrections, Nanhai Lieutenant Ren Xiao became gravely ill and summoned Zhao Tuo to hear his dying instructions. Ren described the natural advantages of the southern region and described how a kingdom could be founded with the many Chinese settlers in the area to combat the warring groups in the Chinese north. He drafted a decree instating Zhao Tuo as the new Lieutenant of Nanhai, and died soon afterward. After Ren's death, Zhao Tuo, sent orders to his troops in Hengpu Pass (north of modern Nanxiong, Guangdong Province), Yangshan Pass (northern Yangshan County), Huang Stream Pass (modern Yingde region, where the Lian River enters the North River), and other garrisons to fortify themselves against any northern troops. He also executed Qin officials still stationed in Nanhai and replaced them with his own trusted friends. Conquest of Âu Lạc The kingdom of Âu Lạc laid south of Nanyue in the early years of Nanyue's existence, with Âu Lạc located primarily in the Red River delta area, and Nanyue encompassing Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang Commanderies. During the time when Nanyue and Âu Lạc co-existed, Âu Lạc acknowledged Nanyue's suzerainty, especially because of their mutual anti-Han sentiment. Zhao Tuo built up and reinforced his army, fearing an attack by the Han. However, when relations between the Han and Nanyue improved, in 179 BC Zhao Tuo marched southward and successfully annexed Âu Lạc. Proclamation (204 BC) In 206 BC the Qin dynasty ceased to exist, and the Yue peoples of Guilin and Xiang were largely independent once more. In 204 BC, Zhao Tuo founded the Kingdom of Nanyue, with Panyu as capital, and declared himself the Martial King of Nanyue (Chinese: 南越武王, Vietnamese: Nam Việt Vũ Vương). Nanyue under Zhao Tuo Liu Bang, after years of war with his rivals, established the Han dynasty and reunified Central China in 202 BC. The fighting had left many areas of China depopulated and impoverished, and feudal lords continued to rebel while the Xiongnu made frequent incursions into northern Chinese territory. The precarious state of the empire therefore forced the Han court to treat Nanyue initially with utmost circumspection. In 196 BC, Liu Bang, now Emperor Gaozu, sent Lu Jia (陸賈, not to be confused with Lü Jia 呂嘉) to Nanyue in hopes of obtaining Zhao Tuo's allegiance. After arriving, Lu met with Zhao Tuo and is said to have found him dressed in Yue clothing and being greeted after their customs, which enraged him. A long exchange ensued, wherein Lu is said to have admonished Zhao Tuo, pointing out that he was Chinese, not Yue, and should have maintained the dress and decorum of the Chinese and not have forgotten the traditions of his ancestors. Lu lauded the strength of the Han court and warned against a kingdom as small as Nanyue daring to oppose it. He further threatened to kill Zhao's kinsmen in China proper and destroying their ancestral graveyards, as well as coercing the Yue into deposing Zhao himself. Following the threat, Zhao Tuo then decided to receive Emperor Gaozu's seal and submit to Han authority. Trade relations were established at the border between Nanyue and the Han kingdom of Changsha. Although formally a Han subject state, Nanyue seems to have retained a large measure of de facto autonomy. After the death of Liu Bang in 195 BC, the government was put in the hands of his wife, Empress Lü Zhi, who served as Empress Dowager over their son Emperor Hui of Han and then Emperor Hui's sons Liu Gong and Liu Hong. Enraged, Empress Lü sent men to Zhao Tuo's hometown of Zhending (modern Zhengding County in Hebei Province) who killed much of Zhao's extended family and desecrated the ancestral graveyard there. Zhao Tuo believed that Wu Chen, the Prince of Changsha, had made false accusations against him to get Empress Dowager Lü to block the trade between the states and to prepare to conquer the Nanyue to merge into his principality of Changsha. In revenge, he then declared himself the emperor of Nanyue and attacked the principality of Changsha and captured some neighboring towns under Han domain. Lü sent general Zhou Zao to punish Zhao Tuo. However, in the hot and humid climate of the south, an epidemic broke out quickly amongst the soldiers, and the weakened army was unable to cross the mountains, forcing them to withdraw which ended in Nanyue victory, but the military conflict did not stop until the Empress died. Zhao Tuo then annexed the neighboring state of Minyue in the east as subject kingdom. The kingdom of Yelang and Tongshi (通什) also submitted to Nanyue rule. In 179 BC, Liu Heng ascended the throne as Emperor of the Han. He reversed many of the previous policies of Empress Lü and took a conciliatory attitude toward Zhao Tuo and the Kingdom of Nanyue. He ordered officials to revisit Zhending, garrison the town, and make offerings to Zhao Tuo's ancestors regularly. His prime minister Chen Ping suggested sending Lu Jia to Nanyue as they were familiar with each other. Lu arrived once more in Panyu and delivered a letter from the Emperor emphasizing that Empress Lü's policies were what had caused the hostility between Nanyue and the Han court and brought suffering to the border citizens. Zhao Tuo decided to submit to the Han once again, withdrawing his title of "emperor" and reverting to "king", and Nanyue became Han's subject state. However, most of the changes were superficial, and Zhao Tuo continued to be referred to as "emperor" throughout Nanyue. Zhao Mo In 137 BC, Zhao Tuo died, having lived over one hundred years. Because of his great age, his son, the Crown Prince Zhao Shi, had preceded him in death, and therefore Zhao Tuo's grandson Zhao Mo became king of Nanyue. In 135 BC, the king of neighboring Minyue launched an attack on the towns along the two nations' borders. Because Zhao Mo hadn't yet consolidated his rule, he was forced to implore Emperor Wu of Han to send troops to Nanyue's aid against what he called "the rebels of Minyue". The Emperor lauded Zhao Mo for his vassal loyalty and sent Wang Hui, an official governing ethnic minorities, and agricultural official Han Anguo at the head of an army with orders to separate and attack Minyue from two directions, one from Yuzhang Commandery, and the other from Kuaiji Commandery. Before they reached Minyue, however, the Minyue king was assassinated by his younger brother Yu Shan, who promptly surrendered. The Emperor sent court emissary Yan Zhu to the Nanyue capital to give an official report of Minyue's surrender to Zhao Mo, who had Yan return his gratitude to the Emperor along with a promise that Zhao would come visit the Imperial Court in Chang'an, and even sent his son Zhao Yingqi to return with Yan to the Chinese capital. Before the king could ever leave for Chang'an himself, one of his ministers strenuously advised against going for fear that Emperor Wu would find some pretext to prevent him from returning, thus leading to the destruction of Nanyue. King Zhao Mo thereupon feigned illness and never travelled to the Han capital. Immediately following Minyue's surrender to the Han army, Wang Hui had dispatched a man named Tang Meng, local governor of Panyang County, to deliver the news to Zhao Mo. While in Nanyue, Tang Meng was introduced to the Yue custom of eating a sauce made from medlar fruit imported from Shu Commandery. Surprised that such a product was available, he learned that there was a route from Shu (modern Sichuan Province) to Yelang, and then along the Zangke River (the modern Beipan River of Yunnan and Guizhou) which allowed direct access to the Nanyue capital Panyu. Tang Meng thereupon drafted a memorial to Emperor Wu suggesting a gathering of 100,000 elite soldiers at Yelang who would navigate the Zangke River and launch a surprise attack on Nanyue. Emperor Wu agreed with Tang's plan and promoted him to General of Langzhong and had him lead a thousand soldiers with a multitude of provisions and supply carts from Bafu Pass (near modern Hejiang County) into Yelang. Many of the carts carried ceremonial gifts which Yelang presented to the feudal lords of Yelang as bribes to declare allegiance to the Han dynasty, which they did, and Yelang became Qianwei Commandery of the Han Empire.Over a decade later, Zhao Mo fell genuinely ill and died around 122 BC. Zhao Yingqi After hearing of his father's serious illness, Zhao Yingqi received permission from Emperor Wu to return to Nanyue. After Zhao Mo's death, Yingqi assumed the Nanyue throne. Before leaving for Chang'an he had married a young Yue woman and had his eldest son Zhao Jiande. While in Chang'an, he also married a Han Chinese woman, like himself, who was from Handan. Together they had a son Zhao Xing. After assuming the Nanyue kingship, he petitioned the Han Emperor to appoint his Chinese wife (who was from the Jiu 樛 family) as Queen and Zhao Xing as Crown Prince, a move that eventually brought disaster upon Nanyue. Zhao Yingqi was reputed to be a tyrant who killed citizens with flippant abandon. He died of illness around 113 BC. Zhao Xing and Zhao Jiande Zhao Xing succeeded his father as king, and his mother became Queen Dowager. In 113 BC, Emperor Wu of Han sent senior minister Anguo Shaoji to Nanyue summon Zhao Xing and his mother to Chang'an for an audience with the Emperor, as well as two other officials with soldiers to await a response at Guiyang. At the time, Zhao Xing was still young and the Queen Dowager was a recent immigrant to Nanyue, so final authority in matters of state rested in the hands of Prime Minister Lü Jia. Before the Queen Dowager married Zhao Yingqi, it was widely rumored that she had had an affair with Anguo Shaoji, and they were said to have renewed it when he was sent to Nanyue, which caused the Nanyue citizens to lose confidence in her rule. Fearful of losing her position of authority, Queen Dowager Jiu persuaded Zhao Xing and his ministers to fully submit to Han dynasty rule. At the same time, she dispatched a memorial to Emperor Wu requesting that they might join Han China, that they might have an audience with the Emperor every third year, and that the borders between Han China and Nanyue might be dissolved. The Emperor granted her requests and sent Imperial seals to the Prime Minister and other senior officials, symbolizing that the Han court expected to directly control the appointments of senior officials. He also abolished the penal tattooing and nose-removal criminal punishments that were practiced among the Yue and instituted Han legal statutes. Emissaries that had been sent to Nanyue were instructed to remain there to ensure the stability of Han control. Upon receiving their Imperial decrees, King Zhao and the Queen Dowager began planning to leave for Chang'an.Prime Minister Lü Jia was much older than most officials and had served since the reign of Zhao Xing's grandfather Zhao Mo. His family was the preeminent Yue family in Nanyue and was thoroughly intermarried with the Zhao royal family. He vehemently opposed Nanyue's submission to the Han dynasty and criticized Zhao Xing on numerous occasions, though his outcries were ignored. Lü decided to begin planning a coup and feigned illness to avoid meeting the emissaries of the Han court. The emissaries were well aware of Lü's influence in the kingdom – it easily rivalled that of the king – but were never able to remove him. Sima Qian recorded a story that the Queen Dowager and the Zhao Xing invited Lü to a banquet with several Han emissaries where they hoped to find a chance to kill Lü: during the banquet, the Queen Dowager mentioned that Prime Minister Lu was against Nanyue submitting to the Han dynasty, with the hope that the Han emissaries would become enraged and kill Lü. However, Lü's younger brother had surrounded the palace with armed guards, and the Han emissaries, led by Anguo Shaoji, didn't dare attack Lü. Sensing the danger of the moment, Lü excused himself and stood to leave the palace. The Queen Dowager herself became furious and tried to grab a spear with which to kill the Prime Minister personally, but she was stopped by her son, the king. Lü Jia instructed his brother's armed men to surround his compound and stand guard and feigned illness, refusing to meet with King Zhao or any Han emissaries. At the same time, be began seriously plotting the upcoming coup with other officials.When news of the situation reached Emperor Wu, he dispatched a man named Han Qianqiu with 2,000 officials to Nanyue to wrest control from Lü Jia. In 112 BC, the men crossed into Nanyue territory, and Lü Jia finally executed his plan. He and those loyal to him appealed to the citizens that Zhao Xing was but a youth, Queen Dowager Jiu a foreigner who was plotting with the Han emissaries with the intent to turn the country over to Han China, giving over all of Nanyue's treasures to the Han Emperor and selling Yue citizens to the Imperial court as slaves with no thought for the welfare of the Yue people themselves. With the people's support, Lü Jia and his younger brother led a large group of men into the king's palace, killing Zhao Xing, Queen Dowager Jiu, and all the Han emissaries in the capital. After the assassinations of Zhao Xing, the Queen Dowager, and the Han emissaries, Lü Jia ensured that Zhao Jiande, Zhao Yingqi's eldest son by his native Yue wife, took the throne, and quickly sent messengers to spread the news to the feudal rulers and officials of various areas of Nanyue. War and the decline of Nanyue The 2,000 men led by Han Qianqiu began attacking towns along the Han-Nanyue border, and the Yue residents ceased resisting them, instead giving them supplies and safe passage. The group of men advanced quickly through Nanyue territory and were only 40 li from Panyu when they were ambushed by a regiment of Nanyue soldiers and completely annihilated. Lü Jia then took the imperial tokens of the Han emissaries and placed them in a ceremonial wooden box, then attached to it a fake letter of apology and installed it on the border of Han and Nanyue, along with military reinforcements. When Emperor Wu heard of the coup and Prime Minister Lü's actions, he became enraged. After issuing compensation to the families of the slain emissaries, he decreed the immediate mobilization of an army to attack Nanyue. In autumn of 111 BC, Emperor Wu sent an army of 100,000 men divided into five companies to attack Nanyue. The first company was led by General Lu Bode and advanced from Guiyang (modern Lianzhou) down the Huang River (now called the Lian River). The second company was led by Commander Yang Pu and advanced from Yuzhang Commandery (modern Nanchang) through the Hengpu Pass and down the Zhen River. The third and fourth companies were led by Zheng Yan and Tian Jia, both Yue chieftains who had joined the Han dynasty. The third company left from Lingling (modern Yongzhou) and sailed down the Li River, while the fourth company went directly to garrison Cangwu (modern Wuzhou). The fifth company was led by He Yi and was composed mainly of prisoners from Shu and Ba with soldiers from Yelang; they sailed directly down the Zangke River (modern Beipan River). At the same time, Yu Shan, a king of Dong'ou, declared his intention to participate in the Han dynasty's attack on Nanyue and sent 8,000 men to support Yang Pu's company. However, upon reaching Jieyang, they pretended to have encountered severe winds that prevented them from advancing, and secretly sent details of the invasion to Nanyue. By winter of that year, Yang Pu's company had attacked Xunxia and moved on to destroy the northern gates of Panyu (modern Guangzhou), capturing Nanyue's naval fleet and provisions. Seizing the opportunity, they continued south and defeated the first wave of Nanyue defenders before stopping to await the company led by Lu Bode. Lu's forces were mostly convicts freed in exchange for military service and made slow time, so at the planned rendezvous date with Yang Pu only a thousand of Lu's men had arrived. They went ahead with the attack anyway, and Yang's men led the advance into Panyu where Lü Jia and Zhao Jiande had fortified inside the inner walls. Yang Pu set up a camp southeast of the city and, as darkness fell, set the city on fire. Lu Bode encamped the northwest side of the city and sent soldiers up to the walls to encourage the Nanyue soldiers to surrender. As the night passed, more and more Panyu defenders defected to Lu Bode's camp out of desperation, so that as dawn arrived most of the Nanyue soldiers were gone. Lü Jia and Zhao Jiande realized Panyu was lost and fled the city by boat, heading west before the sun rose. Upon interrogating the surrendered soldiers, the Han generals learned of the two Nanyue leaders' escape and sent men after them. Zhao Jiande was caught first, and Lü Jia was captured in what is now northern Vietnam. Based on many temples of Lü Jia (Lữ Gia), his wives and soldiers scattering in Red River Delta of northern Vietnam, the war might last until 98 BC.After the fall of Panyu, Tây Vu Vương (the captain of Tây Vu area of which the center is Cổ Loa) revolted against the First Chinese domination from Western Han dynasty. He was killed by his assistant Hoàng Đồng (黄同).Afterwards, the other commanderies and counties of Nanyue surrendered to the Han dynasty, ending Nanyue's 93-year existence as an autonomous and mostly sovereign kingdom. When news of Nanyue's defeat reached Emperor Wu, he was staying in Zuoyi County in Shanxi Province while travelling to perform imperial inspections, and promptly created the new county of Wenxi, meaning "Hearing of Glad News". After Lü Jia's capture he was executed by the Han soldiers and his head was sent to the emperor. Upon receiving it, he created Huojia County where he was travelling, meaning "Capturing [Lü] Jia". Geography and demographics Borders Nanyue originally comprised the Qin commanderies of Nanhai, Guilin, and Xiang. After 179 BC, Zhao Tuo persuaded Minyue, Yelang, Tongshi, and other areas to submit to Nanyue rule, but they were not strictly under Nanyue control. After the Western Han dynasty defeated Nanyue, its territory was divided into the seven commanderies of Nanhai, Cangwu, Yulin, Hepu, Jiaozhi, Jiuzhen, and Rinan. It was traditionally believed that the Qin conquest of the southern regions included the northern half of Vietnam, and that this area was also under Nanyue control. However, scholars have recently stated that the Qin likely never conquered territory in what is now Vietnam, and that Chinese domination there was first accomplished by the Nanyue themselves. Administrative Divisions Zhao Tuo followed the Commandery-County system of the Qin dynasty when organizing the Kingdom of Nanyue. He left Nanhai Commandery and Guilin Commandery intact, then divided Xiang Commandery into the Jiaozhi and Jiuzhen Commanderies. Nanhai comprised most of modern Guangdong Province, and was divided by the Qin into Panyu, Longchuan, Boluo, and Jieyang Counties, to which Zhao Tuo added Zhenyang and Hankuang. Ethnicities The majority of Nanyue's residents consisted of mainly Yue peoples. The Han Chinese population consisted of descendants of Qin armies sent to conquer the south, as well as girls who worked as army prostitutes, exiled Qin officials, exiled criminals, merchants and so on. The Yue people were divided into numerous branches, tribes, and clans. The Nanyue lived in north, east, and central Guangdong, as well as a small group in east Guangxi. The Xi'ou lived in most of Guangxi and western Guangdong, with most of the population concentrated along the Xun River region and areas south of the Gui River, both part of the Xi River watershed. Descendants of Yi-Xu-Song, the chieftain killed resisting the Qin armies, acted as self-imposed governors of the Xi'ou clans. At the time of Nanyue's defeat by the Han dynasty, there were several hundred thousand Xi'ou people in Guilin Commandery alone. The Luoyue clans lived in what is now western and southern Guangxi, northern Vietnam, the Leizhou Peninsula, Hainan, and southwest Guizhou. Populations were centered in the Zuo and You watersheds in Guangxi, the Red River Delta in northern Vietnam, and the Pan River watershed in Guizhou. The Chinese name "Luo", which denoted a white horse with a black mane, is said to have been applied to them after the Chinese saw their slash-and-burn method of hillside cultivation. Government Administrative system Because the Kingdom of Nanyue was established by Zhao Tuo, a Chinese general of the Qin dynasty, Nanyue's political and bureaucratic systems were, at first, essentially just continuations of those of the Qin Empire itself. Because of Zhao Tuo's submissions to the Han dynasty, Nanyue also adopted many of the changes enacted by the Han, as well. At the same time, Nanyue enjoyed complete autonomy – and de facto sovereignty – for most of its existence, so its rulers did enact several systems that were entirely unique to Nanyue.Nanyue was a monarchy, and its head of state generally held the title of "king" (Chinese: 王), though its first two rulers Zhao Tuo and Zhao Mo were referred to as "Emperor" within Nanyue's borders. The kingdom had its own Calendar era system based (like China's) on Emperors' reign periods. Succession in the monarchy was based on hereditary rule, with the King or Emperor's successor designated as crown prince. The ruler's mother was designated empress dowager, his wife as empress or queen, and his concubines as "Madam" (Chinese: 夫人). The formalities extended to the ruler's family were on the level of that of the Han dynasty Emperor, rather than that of a feudal king.Although Nanyue continued the Commandery-County system of the Qin dynasty, its leaders later enfeoffed their own feudal princes and lords – a mark of its sovereignty – in a manner similar to that of the Western Han. Imperial documents from Nanyue record that princes were enfeoffed at Cangwu, Xixu, as well as local lords at Gaochang and elsewhere. Zhao Guang, a relative of Zhao Tuo, was made King of Cangwu, and his holdings were what is now Wuzhou in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. In what is considered a manifestation of Zhao Tuo's respect for the Hundred Yue, he enfeoffed a Yue chieftain as King of Xixu in order to allow the Yue of that area to enjoy autonomy under a ruler of their own ethnicity. The chieftain's name is unknown, but he was a descendant of Yi-Xu-Song, the chieftain killed while fighting the original Chinese invasion under the Qin dynasty.Nanyue's bureaucracy was, like the famed bureaucracy of the Qin dynasty, divided into central and regional governments. The central government comprised a prime minister who held military and administrative authority, inner scribes who served under the prime minister, overseeing Censors of various rank and position, commanders of the Imperial Guard, senior officials who carried out the King's official administration, as well as all military officers and officials of the Food, Music, Transportation, Agriculture, and other bureaus.Nanyue enacted several other policies that reflected Chinese dominance, such as the household registration system (an early form of census), as well as the promulgation of the use of Chinese characters among the Hundred Yue population and the use of Chinese weights and measures. Military Nanyue's army was largely composed of the several hundred thousand (up to 500,000) Qin Chinese troops that invaded during the Qin dynasty and their descendants. After the kingdom's founding in 204 BC, some Yue citizens also joined the army. Nanyue's military officers were known as General, General of the Left, Xiao ("Colonel"), Wei ("Captain"), etc., essentially identical to the Chinese system. The army had infantry, naval troops, and cavalry. Ethnic policy The Kingdom continued most of the Qin Commanderies' policies and practices dealing with the interactions between the local Yue and the Han immigrants, and Zhao Tuo proactively promoted a policy of assimilating the two cultures into each other. Although the Han were certainly dominant in holding leadership positions, the overwhelming disparity was largest immediately after the Qin conquest. Over time, the Yue gradually began holding more positions of authority in the government. Lü Jia, the last prime minister of the Kingdom, was a Yue citizen, and over 70 of his kinsmen served as officials in various parts of the government. In areas of particular "complexity", as they were called, Yue chieftains were often enfeoffed with great autonomy, such as in Xixu. Under the impetus of Zhao Tuo's leadership, Chinese immigrants were encouraged to adopt the customs of the Yue. Marriages between the Han Chinese and Yue became increasingly common throughout Nanyue's existence, and even occurred in the Zhao royal family. Many marriages between the Zhao royal family (who were Han Chinese) and the Lü family (Yue – they likely adopted Chinese names early in Nanyue's history) were recorded. Zhao Jiande, Nanyue's last king, was the son of previous king Zhao Yingqi and his Yue wife. Despite the dominating influence of the Chinese newcomers on the Hundred Yue, the amount of assimilation gradually increased over time. Language Other than Old Chinese, which was used by Han settlers and government officials, native Nanyue people likely spoke Ancient Yue, a now extinct language. Some scholars suggest that they spoke a language related to the modern Zhuang language. Some suggest that the descendants spoke Austroasiatic languages instead. It is plausible to say that the Yue spoke more than one language. Old Chinese in the region was likely much influenced by Yue speech (and vice versa), and many loanwords in Chinese have been identified by modern scholars. Diplomacy With the Western Han Beginning with its first allegiance to the Han dynasty in 196 BC, Nanyue alternately went through two periods of allegiance to and then opposition with the Han dynasty that continued until Nanyue's destruction at the hands of the Han dynasty in early 111 BC. The first period of Nanyue's subordination to the Han dynasty began in 196 BC when Zhao Tuo met Lü Jia, an emissary from Emperor Gaozu of Han, and received from him a Han imperial seal enthroning Zhao Tuo as King of Nanyue. This period lasted thirteen years until 183 BC, during which time significant trade took place. Nanyue paid tribute in rarities from the south, and the Han court bestowed gifts of iron tools, horses, and cattle upon Nanyue. At the same time, the countries' borders were always heavily guarded.Nanyue's first period of antagonism with the Han dynasty lasted from 183 BC to 179 BC, when trade was suspended and Zhao Tuo severed relations with the Han. During this period, Zhao Tuo openly referred to himself as Emperor and launched an attack against the Changsha Kingdom, a feudal state of the Han dynasty, and Han troops were sent to engage Nanyue. Nanyue's armies successfully halted the southern progress of the advance, winning the respect and then allegiance of the neighboring kingdoms of Minyue and Yelang.Nanyue's second period of submission to the Han dynasty lasted from 179 BC to 112 BC. This period began with Zhao Tuo abandoning his title of "Emperor" and declaring allegiance to the Han Empire, but the submission is mostly superficial as Zhao Tuo was referred to as emperor throughout Nanyue and the kingdom retained its autonomy. Zhao Tuo's four successors did not display the strength he had, and Nanyue dependence on Han China slowly grew, characterized by second king Zhao Mo calling upon Emperor Wu of Han to defend Nanyue from Minyue. Nanyue's final period of antagonism with Han China was the war that proved Nanyue's destruction as a kingdom. At the time of Prime Minister Lü Jia's rebellion, Han China was enjoying a period of growth, economic prosperity, and military success, having consistently defeated the Xiongnu tribes along China's northern and northwestern borders. The weakened state of Nanyue and the strength of China at the time allowed Emperor Wu to unleash a devastating attack on Nanyue, as described above. With Changsha The Changsha Kingdom was, at the time, a feudal kingdom that was part of Han dynasty. Its territory comprised most of modern Hunan Province and part of Jiangxi Province. When Emperor Gaozu of Han enfeoffed Wu Rui as the first King of Changsha, he also gave him the power to govern Nanhai, Xiang, and Guiling Commanderies, which caused strife between Changsha and Nanyue from the start. The Han China-Nanyue border was essentially that of Changsha, and therefore was constantly fortified on both sides. In terms of policies, because the Kingdom of Changsha had no sovereignty whatsoever, any policy of the Han court toward Nanyue was by default also Changsha's policy. With Minyue Minyue was located northeast of Nanyue along China's southeast coast, and comprised much of modern Fujian Province. The Minyue were defeated by the armies of the Qin dynasty in the 3rd century BC and the area was organized under Qin control as the Minzhong Commandery, and Minyue ruler Wuzhu was deposed. Because of Wuzhu's support for Liu Bang after the collapse of the Qin dynasty and the founding of the Han, he was reinstated by the Han court as King of Minyue in 202 BC. The relations between Nanyue and Minyue can be classified into three stages: the first, from 196 BC to 183 BC, was during Zhao Tuo's first submission to the Han dynasty, and the two kingdoms were on relatively equal footing. The second stage was from 183 BC to 135 BC, when Minyue submitted to Nanyue after seeing it defeat the Han dynasty's first attack on Nanyue. The third stage began in 135 BC when King Wang Ying attacked a weakened Nanyue, forcing Zhao Mo to seek aid from Han China. Minyue once again submitted to the Han dynasty, making itself and Nanyue equals once more. With the Yi tribes The southwestern Yi people lived west of Nanyue, and shared borders with Nanyue in Yelang, Wulian, Juding, and other regions. Yelang was the largest state of the Yi people, comprising most of modern Guizhou and Yunnan Provinces, as well as the southern part of Sichuan Province. Some believe the ancient Yi to have been related to the Hundred Yue, with this explaining the close relationship between Yelang and Nanyue. After Nanyue first repelled the Han, nearly all of the Yi tribes declared allegiance to Nanyue, and most of them retained that allegiance until Nanyue's demise in 111 BC. During Emperor Wu of Han's final attack on Nanyue, most of the Yi tribes refused to assist in the invasion. One chieftain called Qie-Lan went so far as to openly oppose the move, later killing the emissary sent by the Han to his territory as well as the provincial governor installed in the Qianwei Commandery. Monarchs Archaeological findings The Nanyue Kingdom Palace Ruins, located in the city of Guangzhou, covers 15,000 square metres. Excavated in 1995, it contains the remains of the ancient Nanyue palace. In 1996, it was listed as protected National Cultural Property by the Chinese government. Crescent-shaped ponds, Chinese gardens and other Qin architecture were discovered in the excavation. In 1983, the ancient tomb of the Nanyue King Wáng Mù (王墓) was discovered in Guangzhou, Guangdong. In 1988, the Museum of the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King was constructed on this site, to display more than 1,000 excavated artefacts including 500 pieces of Chinese bronzes, 240 pieces of Chinese jade and 246 pieces of metal. In 1996, the Chinese government listed this site as a protected National Heritage Site. A bronze seal inscribed "Tư Phố hầu ấn" (Seal for Captain of Tu Pho County) was uncovered at Thanh Hoa in northern Vietnam during the 1930s. Owing to the similarity to seals found at the tomb of the second king of Nam Viet, this bronze seal is recognized as an official seal of the Nam Viet Kingdom. There were artifacts that were found in which belonged to the Dong Son culture of northern Vietnam. The goods were found buried alongside the tomb of the second king of Nam Viet. Status in Vietnamese historiography In Vietnam, the rulers of Nanyue are referred to as the Triệu dynasty, the Vietnamese pronunciation of the surname Chinese: 趙; pinyin: Zhào. While traditional Vietnamese historiography considered the Triệu dynasty to be an orthodox regime, modern Vietnamese scholars generally regard it as a foreign regime that ruled Vietnam. The oldest text compiled by a Vietnamese court, the 13th century Đại Việt sử ký, considered Nanyue to be the official starting point of their history. According to the Đại Việt sử ký, Zhao Tuo established the foundation of Đại Việt. However, later historians in the 18th century started questioning this view. Ngô Thì Sĩ argued that Zhao Tuo was a foreign invader and Nanyue a foreign dynasty that should not be included in Vietnamese history. This view became the mainstream among Vietnamese historians in North Vietnam and later became the state orthodoxy after reunification. Nanyue was removed from the national history while Zhao Tuo was recast as a foreign invader.The name "Vietnam" is derived from Nam Việt (Southern Việt), the Vietnamese pronunciation of Nanyue. However, it has also been suggested that the name "Vietnam" was derived from a combination of Quảng Nam Quốc (the domain of the Nguyen lords, from whom the Nguyễn dynasty descended) and Đại Việt (which the first emperor of the Nguyễn dynasty, Gia Long, conquered). Qing emperor Jiaqing refused Gia Long's request to change his country's name to Nam Việt, and changed the name instead to Việt Nam. Đại Nam thực lục contains the diplomatic correspondence over the naming.Peter Bellwood suggested that ethnic Vietnamese are descended from the ancient Yuè of northern Vietnam and western Guangdong. However, the Austroasiatic predecessor of modern Vietnamese language has been proven to originate in modern-day Bolikhamsai Province and Khammouane Province in Laos as well as parts of Nghệ An Province and Quảng Bình Province in Vietnam, rather than in the region north of the Red River delta. Chamberlain demonstrates with textual evidence that many rebel groups during the Tang dynasty originated from the Cả River and subsequently pushed northward to the Red River, linking this to the linguistic shift. Chamberlain demonstrates, based on the concentration of linguistic diversity of the Vietic, the lack of any trace of Austroasiatic in relevant ancient records, or in the neighbouring Tai languages, as well as the short time depth of Proto-Vietic, that "[t]here is no evidence of Vietic, Proto-Việt-Mường or other Austroasiatic speakers living in and around Jiaozhi in the lower Red River basin prior to the 10th or 11th centuries." However, John Phan (2010), citing Maspero 1912, Wang 1948, & Miyake 2003, points out the existence of an "Early Sino-Vietnamese" layer of loanwords traceable back to Later Han Chinese (25 AD–220 AD), which he claims was spoken in the 2nd century BCE. Ferlus (2009) also demonstrates that Northern Vietic (Việt–Mường) and Central Vietic (Cuoi-Toum) invented from original verbs, rather than borrowed foreign words, lexical items corresponding to innovations like "trident", "oar", "pan to cook sticky rice", & "pestle", characteristic of the Dong Son culture, existing in the 1st millennium BCE in the Red River delta.Evidence gathered by modern Western scholarship indicates that the Dong Son culture were most likely ethnically Hlai people (a Tai people), Austronesians or both. Citing other scholars (Shafer 1970, Blust 1996, Sagart 2004, Sagart 2005, Ostapirat 2013, Kelley 2013, and Chamberlain), Joachim Schliesinger states that the theory that the Vietnamese language was originally based in the area of the Red River in what is now northern Vietnam has been widely rejected by modern Western scholarship, based on historical records and linguistic evidence. The Red River Delta region is now considered to be originally Tai-speaking, ethnic Hlai people in particular. The area is believed to have become Vietnamese-speaking as late as the tenth century, as a result of immigration from the south, i.e., modern central Vietnam.Zhao Tuo wrote that he only considered his native subjects to be "barbarians". Vietnamese historian Ngô Thì Sĩ (1726–1780) refused to consider Zhao Tuo as a Vietnamese leader, saying that he was based in Panyu (Guangzhou), and only ruled the Hong River Delta indirectly. He compared this to the example of the Southern Han dynasty based in Guangzhou.There is evidence that Vietnamese elites of the Red River Delta, during the medieval ages, tried to invent an origin of their own (the legendary Hồng Bàng dynasty) based on ancient Chinese texts, which recorded the movements of Tai-speaking peoples across the region of South China. Culture There was a fusion of Chinese and Vietic cultures in significant ways, as shown by the artifacts unearthed by archaeologists from the tomb of King Zhao Mo in Guangzhou. The Nanyue tomb in Guangzhou is extremely rich. There are quite a number of bronzes that show cultural influences from the Han, Chu, Yue and Ordos regions. Gallery Jade wares unearthed from the Mausoleum of the Nanyue King See also Further reading Taylor, Keith Weller. (1983). The Birth of Vietnam (illustrated, reprint ed.). University of California Press. ISBN 0520074173. Retrieved 7 August 2013. Records of the Grand Historian, vol. 113. Book of Han, vol. 95. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 12, 13, 17, 18, 20. Chinese Text Project – Shiji《史記·南越列傳》

The Qin dynasty ( CHIN; Chinese: 秦朝), or Ch'in dynasty, was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state, it arose as a fief of the Western Zhou and endured for over five centuries until 221 BC, when it evolved into an empire following its complete conquest of other rival states, which lasted only until 206 BC. It was established in 221 BC when Ying Zheng, who became the king of Qin state in 246 BC, declared himself the first emperor (Shi Huangdi). Qin was a minor power for the early centuries of its existence. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the Legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the fourth century BC, during the Warring States period. In the mid and late third century BC, the Qin state carried out a series of swift conquests, destroying the powerless Zhou dynasty and eventually conquering the other six of the Seven Warring States. Its 15 years was the shortest major dynasty in Chinese history, with only two emperors. Despite its short reign, however, the lessons and strategies of the Qin shaped the Han dynasty and became the starting point of the Chinese imperial system that lasted from 221 BC, with interruption, development, and adaptation, until 1912 (with a brief restoration in 1917). The Qin sought to create a state unified by structured centralized political power and a large military supported by a stable economy. The central government moved to undercut aristocrats and landowners to gain direct administrative control over the peasantry, who comprised the overwhelming majority of the population and labour force. This allowed ambitious projects involving three hundred thousand peasants and convicts: projects such as connecting walls along the northern border, eventually developing into the Great Wall of China, and a massive new national road system, as well as the city-sized Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army.The Qin introduced a range of reforms such as standardized currency, weights, measures and a uniform system of writing, which aimed to unify the state and promote commerce. Additionally, its military used the most recent weaponry, transportation and tactics, though the government was heavy-handedly bureaucratic. Han Confucians portrayed the legalistic Qin dynasty as a monolithic tyranny, notably citing a purge known as the burning of books and burying of scholars although some modern scholars dispute the veracity of these accounts. Qin created a system of administering people and land that greatly increased the power of the government to transform environment, and it has been argued that the subsequent impact of this system on East Asia's environments makes Qin's rise an important event in China's environmental history.When the first emperor died in 210 BC, two of his advisors placed an heir on the throne in an attempt to influence and control the administration of the dynasty. These advisors squabbled among themselves, resulting in both of their deaths and that of the second Qin Emperor. Popular revolt broke out and the weakened empire soon fell to a Chu general, Xiang Yu, who was proclaimed Hegemon-King of Western Chu, and Liu Bang, who founded the Han dynasty. History Origins and early development According to the Records of the Grand Historian, in the 9th century BC, Feizi, a supposed descendant of the ancient political advisor Gao Yao, was granted rule over the settlement of Qin (秦邑) in present-day Qingshui County of Shaanxi. During the rule of King Xiao of Zhou, the eighth king of the Zhou dynasty, this area became known as the state of Qin. In 897 BC, under the Gonghe Regency, the area became a dependency allotted for the purpose of raising and breeding horses. One of Feizi's descendants, Duke Zhuang, became favoured by King Ping of Zhou, the 13th king in that line. As a reward, Zhuang's son, Duke Xiang, was sent eastward as the leader of a war expedition, during which he formally established the Qin.The state of Qin first began a military expedition into central China in 672 BC, though it did not engage in any serious incursions due to the threat from neighbouring tribesmen. By the dawn of the fourth century BC, however, the neighbouring tribes had all been either subdued or conquered, and the stage was set for the rise of Qin expansionism. Growth of power Lord Shang Yang, a Qin statesman of the Warring States period, advocated a philosophy of Legalism, introducing a number of militarily advantageous reforms from 361 BC until his death in 338 BC. Yang also helped construct the Qin capital, commencing in the mid-fourth century BC Xianyang. The resulting city greatly resembled the capitals of other Warring States.Notably, Qin Legalism encouraged practical and ruthless warfare. During the Spring and Autumn period, the prevalent philosophy had dictated war as a gentleman's activity; military commanders were instructed to respect what they perceived to be Heaven's laws in battle. For example, when Duke Xiang of the rival state of Song was at war with the state of Chu during the Warring States period, he declined an opportunity to attack the enemy force, commanded by Zhu, while they were crossing a river. After allowing them to cross and marshal their forces, he was decisively defeated in the ensuing battle. When his advisors later admonished him for such excessive courtesy to the enemy, he retorted, "The sage does not crush the feeble, nor give the order for attack until the enemy have formed their ranks."The Qin disregarded this military tradition, taking advantage of their enemy's weaknesses. A nobleman in the state of Wei accused the Qin state of being "avaricious, perverse, eager for profit, and without sincerity. It knows nothing about etiquette, proper relationships, and virtuous conduct, and if there be an opportunity for material gain, it will disregard its relatives as if they were animals." It was this Legalist thought combined with strong leadership from long-lived rulers, openness to employ talented men from other states, and little internal opposition that gave the Qin such a strong political base.Another advantage of the Qin was that they had a large, efficient army and capable generals. They utilised the newest developments in weaponry and transportation as well, which many of their enemies lacked. These latter developments allowed greater mobility over several different terrain types which were most common in many regions of China. Thus, in both ideology and practice, the Qin were militarily superior.Finally, the Qin Empire had a geographical advantage due to its fertility and strategic position, protected by mountains that made the state a natural stronghold. This was the heart of the Guanzhong region, as opposed to the Yangtze River drainage basin, known as Guandong. The warlike nature of the Qin in Guanzhong inspired a Han dynasty adage: "Guanzhong produces generals, while Guandong produces ministers." Its expanded agricultural output helped sustain Qin's large army with food and natural resources; the Wei River canal built in 246 BC was particularly significant in this respect. Conquest of the Warring States During the Warring States period preceding the Qin dynasty, the major states vying for dominance were Yan, Zhao, Qi, Chu, Han, Wei and Qin. The rulers of these states styled themselves as kings, rather than using the titles of lower nobility they had previously held. However, none elevated himself to believe that he had the "Mandate of Heaven", as the Zhou kings had claimed, nor that he had the right to offer sacrifices—they left this to the Zhou rulers.Before their conquest in the fourth and third centuries BC, the Qin suffered several setbacks. Shang Yang was executed in 338 BC by King Huiwen due to a personal grudge harboured from his youth. There was also internal strife over the Qin succession in 307 BC, which decentralised Qin authority somewhat. Qin was defeated by an alliance of the other states in 295 BC, and shortly after suffered another defeat by the state of Zhao, because the majority of their army was then defending against the Qi. The aggressive statesman Fan Sui (范雎), however, soon came to power as prime minister even as the problem of the succession was resolved, and he began an expansionist policy that had originated in Jin and Qi, which prompted the Qin to attempt to conquer the other states.The Qin were swift in their assault on the other states. They first attacked the Han, directly east, and took their capital city of Xinzheng in 230 BC. They then struck northward; the state of Zhao surrendered in 228 BC, and the northernmost state of Yan followed, falling in 226 BC. Next, Qin armies launched assaults to the east, and later the south as well; they took the Wei city of Daliang (now called Kaifeng) in 225 BC and forced the Chu to surrender by 223 BC. Lastly, they deposed the Zhou dynasty's remnants in Luoyang and conquered the Qi, taking the city of Linzi in 221 BC.When the conquests were complete in 221 BC, King Zheng – who had first assumed the throne of the Qin state at age 9 – became the effective ruler of China. The subjugation of the six states was done by King Zheng who had used efficient persuasion and exemplary strategy. He solidified his position as sole ruler with the abdication of his prime minister, Lü Buwei. The states made by the emperor were assigned to officials dedicated to the task rather than place the burden on people from the royal family. He then combined the titles of the earlier Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors into his new name: Shi Huangdi (始皇帝) or "First Emperor". The newly declared emperor ordered all weapons not in the possession of the Qin to be confiscated and melted down. The resulting metal was sufficient to build twelve large ornamental statues at the Qin's newly declared capital, Xianyang. Southward expansion In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang secured his boundaries to the north with a fraction (100,000 men) of his large army, and sent the majority (500,000 men) of his army south to conquer the territory of the southern tribes. Prior to the events leading to Qin dominance over China, they had gained possession of much of Sichuan to the southwest. The Qin army was unfamiliar with the jungle terrain, and it was defeated by the southern tribes' guerrilla warfare tactics with over 100,000 men lost. However, in the defeat Qin was successful in building a canal to the south, which they used heavily for supplying and reinforcing their troops during their second attack to the south. Building on these gains, the Qin armies conquered the coastal lands surrounding Guangzhou, and took the provinces of Fuzhou and Guilin. They may have struck as far south as Hanoi. After these victories in the south, Qin Shi Huang moved over 100,000 prisoners and exiles to colonize the newly conquered area. In terms of extending the boundaries of his empire, the First Emperor was extremely successful in the south. Campaigns against the Xiongnu However, while the empire at times was extended to the north, the Qin could rarely hold on to the land for long. The tribes of these locations, collectively called the Hu by the Qin, were free from Chinese rule during the majority of the dynasty. Prohibited from trading with Qin dynasty peasants, the Xiongnu tribe living in the Ordos region in northwest China often raided them instead, prompting the Qin to retaliate. After a military campaign led by General Meng Tian, the region was conquered in 215 BC and agriculture was established; the peasants, however, were discontented and later revolted. The succeeding Han dynasty also expanded into the Ordos due to overpopulation, but depleted their resources in the process. Indeed, this was true of the dynasty's borders in multiple directions; modern Xinjiang, Tibet, Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, and regions to the southeast were foreign to the Qin, and even areas over which they had military control were culturally distinct. Fall from power Three assassination attempts were made on Qin Shi Huang, leading him to become paranoid and obsessed with immortality. He died in 210 BC, while on a trip to the far eastern reaches of his empire in an attempt to procure an elixir of immortality from Taoist magicians, who claimed the elixir was stuck on an island guarded by a sea monster. The chief eunuch, Zhao Gao, and the prime minister, Li Si, hid the news of his death upon their return until they were able to alter his will to place on the throne the dead emperor's most pliable son, Huhai, who took the name of Qin Er Shi. They believed that they would be able to manipulate him to their own ends, and thus effectively control the empire. Qin Er Shi was, indeed, inept and pliable. He executed many ministers and imperial princes, continued massive building projects (one of his most extravagant projects was lacquering the city walls), enlarged the army, increased taxes, and arrested messengers who brought him bad news. As a result, men from all over China revolted, attacking officials, raising armies, and declaring themselves kings of seized territories.During this time, Li Si and Zhao Gao fell out, and Li Si was executed. Zhao Gao decided to force Qin Er Shi to commit suicide due to Qin Er Shi's incompetence. Upon this, Ziying, a nephew of Qin Er Shi, ascended the throne, and immediately executed Zhao Gao. Ziying, seeing that increasing unrest was growing among the people and that many local officials had declared themselves kings, attempted to cling to his throne by declaring himself one king among all the others. He was undermined by his ineptitude, however, and popular revolt broke out in 209 BC. When Chu rebels under the lieutenant Liu Bang attacked, a state in such turmoil could not hold for long. Ziying was defeated near the Wei River in 207 BC and surrendered shortly after; he was executed by the Chu leader Xiang Yu. The Qin capital was destroyed the next year, and this is considered by historians to be the end of the Qin Empire. Liu Bang then betrayed and defeated Xiang Yu, declaring himself Emperor Gaozu of the new Han dynasty on 28 February 202 BC. Despite the short duration of the Qin dynasty, it was very influential on the structure of future dynasties. Culture and society Domestic life The aristocracy of the Qin were largely similar in their culture and daily life. Regional variations in culture were considered a symbol of the lower classes. This stemmed from the Zhou and was seized upon by the Qin, as such variations were seen as contrary to the unification that the government strove to achieve.Commoners and rural villagers, who made up over 90% of the population, very rarely left the villages or farmsteads where they were born. Forms of employment differed by region, though farming was almost universally common. Professions were hereditary; a father's employment was passed to his eldest son after he died. The Lüshi Chunqiu gave examples of how, when commoners are obsessed with material wealth, instead of the idealism of a man who "makes things serve him", they were "reduced to the service of things".Peasants were rarely figured in literature during the Qin dynasty and afterwards; scholars and others of more elite status preferred the excitement of cities and the lure of politics. One notable exception to this was Shen Nong, the so-called "Divine Father", who taught that households should grow their own food. "If in one's prime he does not plow, someone in the world will grow hungry. If in one's prime she does not weave, someone in the world will be cold." The Qin encouraged this; a ritual was performed once every few years that consisted of important government officials taking turns with the plow on a special field, to create a simulation of government interest and activity within agriculture. Architecture Warring States-era architecture had several definitive aspects. City walls, used for defense, were made longer, and indeed several secondary walls were also sometimes built to separate the different districts. Versatility in federal structures was emphasized, to create a sense of authority and absolute power. Architectural elements such as high towers, pillar gates, terraces, and high buildings amply conveyed this. Philosophy and literature The written language of the Qin was logographic, as that of the Zhou had been. As one of his most influential achievements in life, prime minister Li Si standardized the writing system to be of uniform size and shape across the whole country. This would have a unifying effect on the Chinese culture for thousands of years. He is also credited with creating the "small seal script" (Chinese: 小篆,; pinyin: xiǎozhuàn) style of calligraphy, which serves as a basis for modern Chinese and is still used in cards, posters, and advertising.During the Warring States period, the Hundred Schools of Thought comprised many different philosophies proposed by Chinese scholars. In 221 BC, however, the First Emperor conquered all of the states and governed with a single philosophy, Legalism. At least one school of thought, Mohism, was eradicated, though the reason is not known. Despite the Qin's state ideology and Mohism being similar in certain regards, it is possible that Mohists were sought and killed by the state's armies due to paramilitary activities.Confucius's school of thought, called Confucianism, was also influential during the Warring States period, as well as throughout much of the later Zhou dynasty and early imperial periods. This school of thought had a so-called Confucian canon of literature, known as the "six classics": the Odes, Documents, Ritual, Music, Spring and Autumn Annals, and Changes, which embodied Chinese literature at the time.During the Qin dynasty, Confucianism—along with all other non-Legalist philosophies, such as Daoism—were suppressed by the First Emperor; early Han dynasty emperors did the same. Legalism denounced the feudal system and encouraged severe punishments, particularly when the emperor was disobeyed. Individuals' rights were devalued when they conflicted with the government's or the ruler's wishes, and merchants and scholars were considered unproductive, fit for elimination.One of the more drastic allegations, however the infamous burning of books and burying of scholars incident, does not appear to be true, as it was not mentioned until many years later. The Han dynasty historian, Sima Qian wrote that First Emperor, in an attempt to consolidate power, in 213 BC ordered the burning of all books advocating viewpoints that challenged Legalism or the state, and also stipulated that all scholars who refused to submit their books to be burned would be executed by premature burial. Only texts considered productive were to be preserved, mostly those that discussed pragmatic subjects, such as agriculture, divination, and medicine. However, Sinologists now argue that the "burying of scholars" is not literally true, as the term probably meant simply "put to death". Government and military The Qin government was highly bureaucratic, and was administered by a hierarchy of officials, all serving the First Emperor. The Qin put into practice the teachings of Han Feizi, allowing the First Emperor to control all of his territories, including those recently conquered. All aspects of life were standardized, from measurements and language to more practical details, such as the length of chariot axles.The states made by the emperor were assigned to officials dedicated to the task rather than placing the burden on people from the royal family. Zheng and his advisors also introduced new laws and practices that ended feudalism in China, replacing it with a centralized, bureaucratic government. The form of government created by the first emperor and his advisors was used by later dynasties to structure their own government. Under this system, both the military and government thrived, as talented individuals could be more easily identified in the transformed society. Later Chinese dynasties emulated the Qin government for its efficiency, despite its being condemned by Confucian philosophy. There were incidences of abuse, however, with one example having been recorded in the "Records of Officialdom". A commander named Hu ordered his men to attack peasants in an attempt to increase the number of "bandits" he had killed; his superiors, likely eager to inflate their records as well, allowed this.Qin Shi Huang also improved the strong military, despite the fact that it had already undergone extensive reforms. The military used the most advanced weaponry of the time. It was first used mostly in bronze form, but by the third century BC, kingdoms such as Chu and Qin were using iron and/or steel swords. The demand for this metal resulted in improved bellows. The crossbow had been introduced in the fifth century BC and was more powerful and accurate than the composite bows used earlier. It could also be rendered ineffective by removing two pins, which prevented enemies from capturing a working crossbow.The Qin also used improved methods of transportation and tactics. The state of Zhao had first replaced chariots with cavalry in 307 BC, but the change was swiftly adopted by the other states because cavalry had greater mobility over the terrain of China.The First Emperor developed plans to fortify his northern border, to protect against nomadic invasions. The result was the initial construction of what later became the Great Wall of China, which was built by joining and strengthening the walls made by the feudal lords, which would be expanded and rebuilt multiple times by later dynasties, also in response to threats from the north. Another project built during Qin Shi Huang's rule was the Terracotta army, intended to protect the emperor after his death. The Terracotta Army was inconspicuous due to its underground location, and was not discovered until 1974. Religion The dominant religious belief in China during the reign of the Qin, and, in fact, during much of early imperial China, was focused on the shen (roughly translating to "spirits" or "gods"), yin ("shadows"), and the realm they were said to live in. The Chinese offered animal sacrifices in an attempt to contact this other world, which they believed to be parallel to the earthly one. The dead were said to have simply moved from one world to the other. The rituals mentioned, as well as others, served two purposes: to ensure that the dead journeyed and stayed in the other realm, and to receive blessings from the spirit realm.Religious practices were usually held in local shrines and sacred areas, which contained sacrificial altars. During a sacrifice or other ritual, the senses of all participants and witnesses would be dulled and blurred with smoke, incense, and music. The lead sacrificer would fast and meditate before a sacrifice to further blur his senses and increase the likelihood of perceiving otherworldly phenomena. Other participants were similarly prepared, though not as rigorously. Such blurring of the senses was also a factor in the practice of spirit intermediaries, or mediumship. Practitioners of the art would fall into trances or dance to perform supernatural tasks. These people would often rise to power as a result of their art—Luan Da, a Han dynasty medium, was granted rule over 2,000 households. Noted Han historian Sima Qian was scornful of such practices, dismissing them as foolish trickery.Divination—to predict and/or influence the future—was yet another form of religious practice. An ancient practice that was common during the Qin dynasty was cracking bones or turtle shells to gain knowledge of the future. The forms of divination which sprang up during early imperial China were diverse, though observing natural phenomena was a common method. Comets, eclipses, and droughts were considered omens of things to come. Etymology of China The name 'Qin' is believed to be the etymological ancestor of the modern-day European name of the country, China. The word probably made its way into the Indo-Aryan languages first as 'Cina' or 'Sina' and then into Greek and Latin as 'Sinai' or 'Thinai'. It was then transliterated into English and French as 'China' and 'Chine'. This etymology is dismissed by some scholars, who suggest that 'Sina' in Sanskrit evolved much earlier before the Qin dynasty. 'Jin', a state controlled by the Zhou dynasty in seventh century BC, is another possible origin. Others argued for the state of Jing (荆, another name for Chu), as well as other polities in the early period as the source of the name. Sovereigns Qin Shi Huang was the first Chinese sovereign to proclaim himself "Emperor", after unifying China in 221 BC. That year is therefore generally taken by historians to be the start of the "Qin dynasty" which lasted for fifteen years until 207 when it was cut short by civil wars. Imperial family tree ' Further reading Bodde, Derk (1986). "The State and Empire of Ch'in". In Twitchett, Dennis; Loewe, Michael (eds.). The Cambridge History of China, Volume 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC–AD 220. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24327-8. Lander, Brian (2021). The King's Harvest: A Political Ecology of China from the First Farmers to the First Empire. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300255089. Lewis, Mark Edward (2007). The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. London: Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02477-9. Korolkov, Maxim (2022). The Imperial Network in Ancient China: The Foundation of Sinitic Empire in Southern East Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9780367654283. Media related to Qin Dynasty at Wikimedia Commons

The Qin dynasty ( CHIN; Chinese: 秦朝), or Ch'in dynasty, was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state, it arose as a fief of the Western Zhou and endured for over five centuries until 221 BC, when it evolved into an empire following its complete conquest of other rival states, which lasted only until 206 BC. It was established in 221 BC when Ying Zheng, who became the king of Qin state in 246 BC, declared himself the first emperor (Shi Huangdi). Qin was a minor power for the early centuries of its existence. The strength of the Qin state was greatly increased by the Legalist reforms of Shang Yang in the fourth century BC, during the Warring States period. In the mid and late third century BC, the Qin state carried out a series of swift conquests, destroying the powerless Zhou dynasty and eventually conquering the other six of the Seven Warring States. Its 15 years was the shortest major dynasty in Chinese history, with only two emperors. Despite its short reign, however, the lessons and strategies of the Qin shaped the Han dynasty and became the starting point of the Chinese imperial system that lasted from 221 BC, with interruption, development, and adaptation, until 1912 (with a brief restoration in 1917). The Qin sought to create a state unified by structured centralized political power and a large military supported by a stable economy. The central government moved to undercut aristocrats and landowners to gain direct administrative control over the peasantry, who comprised the overwhelming majority of the population and labour force. This allowed ambitious projects involving three hundred thousand peasants and convicts: projects such as connecting walls along the northern border, eventually developing into the Great Wall of China, and a massive new national road system, as well as the city-sized Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor guarded by the life-sized Terracotta Army.The Qin introduced a range of reforms such as standardized currency, weights, measures and a uniform system of writing, which aimed to unify the state and promote commerce. Additionally, its military used the most recent weaponry, transportation and tactics, though the government was heavy-handedly bureaucratic. Han Confucians portrayed the legalistic Qin dynasty as a monolithic tyranny, notably citing a purge known as the burning of books and burying of scholars although some modern scholars dispute the veracity of these accounts. Qin created a system of administering people and land that greatly increased the power of the government to transform environment, and it has been argued that the subsequent impact of this system on East Asia's environments makes Qin's rise an important event in China's environmental history.When the first emperor died in 210 BC, two of his advisors placed an heir on the throne in an attempt to influence and control the administration of the dynasty. These advisors squabbled among themselves, resulting in both of their deaths and that of the second Qin Emperor. Popular revolt broke out and the weakened empire soon fell to a Chu general, Xiang Yu, who was proclaimed Hegemon-King of Western Chu, and Liu Bang, who founded the Han dynasty. History Origins and early development According to the Records of the Grand Historian, in the 9th century BC, Feizi, a supposed descendant of the ancient political advisor Gao Yao, was granted rule over the settlement of Qin (秦邑) in present-day Qingshui County of Shaanxi. During the rule of King Xiao of Zhou, the eighth king of the Zhou dynasty, this area became known as the state of Qin. In 897 BC, under the Gonghe Regency, the area became a dependency allotted for the purpose of raising and breeding horses. One of Feizi's descendants, Duke Zhuang, became favoured by King Ping of Zhou, the 13th king in that line. As a reward, Zhuang's son, Duke Xiang, was sent eastward as the leader of a war expedition, during which he formally established the Qin.The state of Qin first began a military expedition into central China in 672 BC, though it did not engage in any serious incursions due to the threat from neighbouring tribesmen. By the dawn of the fourth century BC, however, the neighbouring tribes had all been either subdued or conquered, and the stage was set for the rise of Qin expansionism. Growth of power Lord Shang Yang, a Qin statesman of the Warring States period, advocated a philosophy of Legalism, introducing a number of militarily advantageous reforms from 361 BC until his death in 338 BC. Yang also helped construct the Qin capital, commencing in the mid-fourth century BC Xianyang. The resulting city greatly resembled the capitals of other Warring States.Notably, Qin Legalism encouraged practical and ruthless warfare. During the Spring and Autumn period, the prevalent philosophy had dictated war as a gentleman's activity; military commanders were instructed to respect what they perceived to be Heaven's laws in battle. For example, when Duke Xiang of the rival state of Song was at war with the state of Chu during the Warring States period, he declined an opportunity to attack the enemy force, commanded by Zhu, while they were crossing a river. After allowing them to cross and marshal their forces, he was decisively defeated in the ensuing battle. When his advisors later admonished him for such excessive courtesy to the enemy, he retorted, "The sage does not crush the feeble, nor give the order for attack until the enemy have formed their ranks."The Qin disregarded this military tradition, taking advantage of their enemy's weaknesses. A nobleman in the state of Wei accused the Qin state of being "avaricious, perverse, eager for profit, and without sincerity. It knows nothing about etiquette, proper relationships, and virtuous conduct, and if there be an opportunity for material gain, it will disregard its relatives as if they were animals." It was this Legalist thought combined with strong leadership from long-lived rulers, openness to employ talented men from other states, and little internal opposition that gave the Qin such a strong political base.Another advantage of the Qin was that they had a large, efficient army and capable generals. They utilised the newest developments in weaponry and transportation as well, which many of their enemies lacked. These latter developments allowed greater mobility over several different terrain types which were most common in many regions of China. Thus, in both ideology and practice, the Qin were militarily superior.Finally, the Qin Empire had a geographical advantage due to its fertility and strategic position, protected by mountains that made the state a natural stronghold. This was the heart of the Guanzhong region, as opposed to the Yangtze River drainage basin, known as Guandong. The warlike nature of the Qin in Guanzhong inspired a Han dynasty adage: "Guanzhong produces generals, while Guandong produces ministers." Its expanded agricultural output helped sustain Qin's large army with food and natural resources; the Wei River canal built in 246 BC was particularly significant in this respect. Conquest of the Warring States During the Warring States period preceding the Qin dynasty, the major states vying for dominance were Yan, Zhao, Qi, Chu, Han, Wei and Qin. The rulers of these states styled themselves as kings, rather than using the titles of lower nobility they had previously held. However, none elevated himself to believe that he had the "Mandate of Heaven", as the Zhou kings had claimed, nor that he had the right to offer sacrifices—they left this to the Zhou rulers.Before their conquest in the fourth and third centuries BC, the Qin suffered several setbacks. Shang Yang was executed in 338 BC by King Huiwen due to a personal grudge harboured from his youth. There was also internal strife over the Qin succession in 307 BC, which decentralised Qin authority somewhat. Qin was defeated by an alliance of the other states in 295 BC, and shortly after suffered another defeat by the state of Zhao, because the majority of their army was then defending against the Qi. The aggressive statesman Fan Sui (范雎), however, soon came to power as prime minister even as the problem of the succession was resolved, and he began an expansionist policy that had originated in Jin and Qi, which prompted the Qin to attempt to conquer the other states.The Qin were swift in their assault on the other states. They first attacked the Han, directly east, and took their capital city of Xinzheng in 230 BC. They then struck northward; the state of Zhao surrendered in 228 BC, and the northernmost state of Yan followed, falling in 226 BC. Next, Qin armies launched assaults to the east, and later the south as well; they took the Wei city of Daliang (now called Kaifeng) in 225 BC and forced the Chu to surrender by 223 BC. Lastly, they deposed the Zhou dynasty's remnants in Luoyang and conquered the Qi, taking the city of Linzi in 221 BC.When the conquests were complete in 221 BC, King Zheng – who had first assumed the throne of the Qin state at age 9 – became the effective ruler of China. The subjugation of the six states was done by King Zheng who had used efficient persuasion and exemplary strategy. He solidified his position as sole ruler with the abdication of his prime minister, Lü Buwei. The states made by the emperor were assigned to officials dedicated to the task rather than place the burden on people from the royal family. He then combined the titles of the earlier Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors into his new name: Shi Huangdi (始皇帝) or "First Emperor". The newly declared emperor ordered all weapons not in the possession of the Qin to be confiscated and melted down. The resulting metal was sufficient to build twelve large ornamental statues at the Qin's newly declared capital, Xianyang. Southward expansion In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang secured his boundaries to the north with a fraction (100,000 men) of his large army, and sent the majority (500,000 men) of his army south to conquer the territory of the southern tribes. Prior to the events leading to Qin dominance over China, they had gained possession of much of Sichuan to the southwest. The Qin army was unfamiliar with the jungle terrain, and it was defeated by the southern tribes' guerrilla warfare tactics with over 100,000 men lost. However, in the defeat Qin was successful in building a canal to the south, which they used heavily for supplying and reinforcing their troops during their second attack to the south. Building on these gains, the Qin armies conquered the coastal lands surrounding Guangzhou, and took the provinces of Fuzhou and Guilin. They may have struck as far south as Hanoi. After these victories in the south, Qin Shi Huang moved over 100,000 prisoners and exiles to colonize the newly conquered area. In terms of extending the boundaries of his empire, the First Emperor was extremely successful in the south. Campaigns against the Xiongnu However, while the empire at times was extended to the north, the Qin could rarely hold on to the land for long. The tribes of these locations, collectively called the Hu by the Qin, were free from Chinese rule during the majority of the dynasty. Prohibited from trading with Qin dynasty peasants, the Xiongnu tribe living in the Ordos region in northwest China often raided them instead, prompting the Qin to retaliate. After a military campaign led by General Meng Tian, the region was conquered in 215 BC and agriculture was established; the peasants, however, were discontented and later revolted. The succeeding Han dynasty also expanded into the Ordos due to overpopulation, but depleted their resources in the process. Indeed, this was true of the dynasty's borders in multiple directions; modern Xinjiang, Tibet, Manchuria, Inner Mongolia, and regions to the southeast were foreign to the Qin, and even areas over which they had military control were culturally distinct. Fall from power Three assassination attempts were made on Qin Shi Huang, leading him to become paranoid and obsessed with immortality. He died in 210 BC, while on a trip to the far eastern reaches of his empire in an attempt to procure an elixir of immortality from Taoist magicians, who claimed the elixir was stuck on an island guarded by a sea monster. The chief eunuch, Zhao Gao, and the prime minister, Li Si, hid the news of his death upon their return until they were able to alter his will to place on the throne the dead emperor's most pliable son, Huhai, who took the name of Qin Er Shi. They believed that they would be able to manipulate him to their own ends, and thus effectively control the empire. Qin Er Shi was, indeed, inept and pliable. He executed many ministers and imperial princes, continued massive building projects (one of his most extravagant projects was lacquering the city walls), enlarged the army, increased taxes, and arrested messengers who brought him bad news. As a result, men from all over China revolted, attacking officials, raising armies, and declaring themselves kings of seized territories.During this time, Li Si and Zhao Gao fell out, and Li Si was executed. Zhao Gao decided to force Qin Er Shi to commit suicide due to Qin Er Shi's incompetence. Upon this, Ziying, a nephew of Qin Er Shi, ascended the throne, and immediately executed Zhao Gao. Ziying, seeing that increasing unrest was growing among the people and that many local officials had declared themselves kings, attempted to cling to his throne by declaring himself one king among all the others. He was undermined by his ineptitude, however, and popular revolt broke out in 209 BC. When Chu rebels under the lieutenant Liu Bang attacked, a state in such turmoil could not hold for long. Ziying was defeated near the Wei River in 207 BC and surrendered shortly after; he was executed by the Chu leader Xiang Yu. The Qin capital was destroyed the next year, and this is considered by historians to be the end of the Qin Empire. Liu Bang then betrayed and defeated Xiang Yu, declaring himself Emperor Gaozu of the new Han dynasty on 28 February 202 BC. Despite the short duration of the Qin dynasty, it was very influential on the structure of future dynasties. Culture and society Domestic life The aristocracy of the Qin were largely similar in their culture and daily life. Regional variations in culture were considered a symbol of the lower classes. This stemmed from the Zhou and was seized upon by the Qin, as such variations were seen as contrary to the unification that the government strove to achieve.Commoners and rural villagers, who made up over 90% of the population, very rarely left the villages or farmsteads where they were born. Forms of employment differed by region, though farming was almost universally common. Professions were hereditary; a father's employment was passed to his eldest son after he died. The Lüshi Chunqiu gave examples of how, when commoners are obsessed with material wealth, instead of the idealism of a man who "makes things serve him", they were "reduced to the service of things".Peasants were rarely figured in literature during the Qin dynasty and afterwards; scholars and others of more elite status preferred the excitement of cities and the lure of politics. One notable exception to this was Shen Nong, the so-called "Divine Father", who taught that households should grow their own food. "If in one's prime he does not plow, someone in the world will grow hungry. If in one's prime she does not weave, someone in the world will be cold." The Qin encouraged this; a ritual was performed once every few years that consisted of important government officials taking turns with the plow on a special field, to create a simulation of government interest and activity within agriculture. Architecture Warring States-era architecture had several definitive aspects. City walls, used for defense, were made longer, and indeed several secondary walls were also sometimes built to separate the different districts. Versatility in federal structures was emphasized, to create a sense of authority and absolute power. Architectural elements such as high towers, pillar gates, terraces, and high buildings amply conveyed this. Philosophy and literature The written language of the Qin was logographic, as that of the Zhou had been. As one of his most influential achievements in life, prime minister Li Si standardized the writing system to be of uniform size and shape across the whole country. This would have a unifying effect on the Chinese culture for thousands of years. He is also credited with creating the "small seal script" (Chinese: 小篆,; pinyin: xiǎozhuàn) style of calligraphy, which serves as a basis for modern Chinese and is still used in cards, posters, and advertising.During the Warring States period, the Hundred Schools of Thought comprised many different philosophies proposed by Chinese scholars. In 221 BC, however, the First Emperor conquered all of the states and governed with a single philosophy, Legalism. At least one school of thought, Mohism, was eradicated, though the reason is not known. Despite the Qin's state ideology and Mohism being similar in certain regards, it is possible that Mohists were sought and killed by the state's armies due to paramilitary activities.Confucius's school of thought, called Confucianism, was also influential during the Warring States period, as well as throughout much of the later Zhou dynasty and early imperial periods. This school of thought had a so-called Confucian canon of literature, known as the "six classics": the Odes, Documents, Ritual, Music, Spring and Autumn Annals, and Changes, which embodied Chinese literature at the time.During the Qin dynasty, Confucianism—along with all other non-Legalist philosophies, such as Daoism—were suppressed by the First Emperor; early Han dynasty emperors did the same. Legalism denounced the feudal system and encouraged severe punishments, particularly when the emperor was disobeyed. Individuals' rights were devalued when they conflicted with the government's or the ruler's wishes, and merchants and scholars were considered unproductive, fit for elimination.One of the more drastic allegations, however the infamous burning of books and burying of scholars incident, does not appear to be true, as it was not mentioned until many years later. The Han dynasty historian, Sima Qian wrote that First Emperor, in an attempt to consolidate power, in 213 BC ordered the burning of all books advocating viewpoints that challenged Legalism or the state, and also stipulated that all scholars who refused to submit their books to be burned would be executed by premature burial. Only texts considered productive were to be preserved, mostly those that discussed pragmatic subjects, such as agriculture, divination, and medicine. However, Sinologists now argue that the "burying of scholars" is not literally true, as the term probably meant simply "put to death". Government and military The Qin government was highly bureaucratic, and was administered by a hierarchy of officials, all serving the First Emperor. The Qin put into practice the teachings of Han Feizi, allowing the First Emperor to control all of his territories, including those recently conquered. All aspects of life were standardized, from measurements and language to more practical details, such as the length of chariot axles.The states made by the emperor were assigned to officials dedicated to the task rather than placing the burden on people from the royal family. Zheng and his advisors also introduced new laws and practices that ended feudalism in China, replacing it with a centralized, bureaucratic government. The form of government created by the first emperor and his advisors was used by later dynasties to structure their own government. Under this system, both the military and government thrived, as talented individuals could be more easily identified in the transformed society. Later Chinese dynasties emulated the Qin government for its efficiency, despite its being condemned by Confucian philosophy. There were incidences of abuse, however, with one example having been recorded in the "Records of Officialdom". A commander named Hu ordered his men to attack peasants in an attempt to increase the number of "bandits" he had killed; his superiors, likely eager to inflate their records as well, allowed this.Qin Shi Huang also improved the strong military, despite the fact that it had already undergone extensive reforms. The military used the most advanced weaponry of the time. It was first used mostly in bronze form, but by the third century BC, kingdoms such as Chu and Qin were using iron and/or steel swords. The demand for this metal resulted in improved bellows. The crossbow had been introduced in the fifth century BC and was more powerful and accurate than the composite bows used earlier. It could also be rendered ineffective by removing two pins, which prevented enemies from capturing a working crossbow.The Qin also used improved methods of transportation and tactics. The state of Zhao had first replaced chariots with cavalry in 307 BC, but the change was swiftly adopted by the other states because cavalry had greater mobility over the terrain of China.The First Emperor developed plans to fortify his northern border, to protect against nomadic invasions. The result was the initial construction of what later became the Great Wall of China, which was built by joining and strengthening the walls made by the feudal lords, which would be expanded and rebuilt multiple times by later dynasties, also in response to threats from the north. Another project built during Qin Shi Huang's rule was the Terracotta army, intended to protect the emperor after his death. The Terracotta Army was inconspicuous due to its underground location, and was not discovered until 1974. Religion The dominant religious belief in China during the reign of the Qin, and, in fact, during much of early imperial China, was focused on the shen (roughly translating to "spirits" or "gods"), yin ("shadows"), and the realm they were said to live in. The Chinese offered animal sacrifices in an attempt to contact this other world, which they believed to be parallel to the earthly one. The dead were said to have simply moved from one world to the other. The rituals mentioned, as well as others, served two purposes: to ensure that the dead journeyed and stayed in the other realm, and to receive blessings from the spirit realm.Religious practices were usually held in local shrines and sacred areas, which contained sacrificial altars. During a sacrifice or other ritual, the senses of all participants and witnesses would be dulled and blurred with smoke, incense, and music. The lead sacrificer would fast and meditate before a sacrifice to further blur his senses and increase the likelihood of perceiving otherworldly phenomena. Other participants were similarly prepared, though not as rigorously. Such blurring of the senses was also a factor in the practice of spirit intermediaries, or mediumship. Practitioners of the art would fall into trances or dance to perform supernatural tasks. These people would often rise to power as a result of their art—Luan Da, a Han dynasty medium, was granted rule over 2,000 households. Noted Han historian Sima Qian was scornful of such practices, dismissing them as foolish trickery.Divination—to predict and/or influence the future—was yet another form of religious practice. An ancient practice that was common during the Qin dynasty was cracking bones or turtle shells to gain knowledge of the future. The forms of divination which sprang up during early imperial China were diverse, though observing natural phenomena was a common method. Comets, eclipses, and droughts were considered omens of things to come. Etymology of China The name 'Qin' is believed to be the etymological ancestor of the modern-day European name of the country, China. The word probably made its way into the Indo-Aryan languages first as 'Cina' or 'Sina' and then into Greek and Latin as 'Sinai' or 'Thinai'. It was then transliterated into English and French as 'China' and 'Chine'. This etymology is dismissed by some scholars, who suggest that 'Sina' in Sanskrit evolved much earlier before the Qin dynasty. 'Jin', a state controlled by the Zhou dynasty in seventh century BC, is another possible origin. Others argued for the state of Jing (荆, another name for Chu), as well as other polities in the early period as the source of the name. Sovereigns Qin Shi Huang was the first Chinese sovereign to proclaim himself "Emperor", after unifying China in 221 BC. That year is therefore generally taken by historians to be the start of the "Qin dynasty" which lasted for fifteen years until 207 when it was cut short by civil wars. Imperial family tree ' Further reading Bodde, Derk (1986). "The State and Empire of Ch'in". In Twitchett, Dennis; Loewe, Michael (eds.). The Cambridge History of China, Volume 1: The Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC–AD 220. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24327-8. Lander, Brian (2021). The King's Harvest: A Political Ecology of China from the First Farmers to the First Empire. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300255089. Lewis, Mark Edward (2007). The Early Chinese Empires: Qin and Han. London: Belknap Press. ISBN 978-0-674-02477-9. Korolkov, Maxim (2022). The Imperial Network in Ancient China: The Foundation of Sinitic Empire in Southern East Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9780367654283. Media related to Qin Dynasty at Wikimedia Commons

Zhao Tuo (Chinese: 趙佗; pinyin: Zhào Tuó; Cantonese Jyutping: Ziu6 To4; Wade–Giles: Chao4 T‘o2) or Triệu Đà in Vietnamese, was a Qin dynasty Chinese general and first emperor of Nanyue. He participated in the conquest of the Baiyue peoples of Guangdong, Guangxi and Northern Vietnam. After the fall of the Qin, he established the independent kingdom of Nanyue with its capital in Panyu (now Guangzhou) in 204 BCE. Some traditional Vietnamese history scholars considered him an emperor of Vietnam and the founder of the Triệu dynasty, other historians contested that he was a foreign invader. Life Nanyue Zhao Tuo was born around 240 BC in Zhending in the state of Zhao (within modern Hebei). When the state of Zhao was defeated and annexed by Qin (state) in 222 BC, Zhao Tuo joined the Qin, serving as one of their generals in the conquest of the Baiyue. The territory of those conquered Yues was divided into the three provinces of Guilin, Nanhai, and Xiang. Zhao served as magistrate in the province of Nanhai until his military commander, Ren Xiao, fell ill. Before he died, Ren advised Zhao not to get involved in the affairs of the declining Qin, and instead set up his own independent kingdom centered around the geographically remote and isolated city of Panyu (modern Guangzhou). Ren gave Zhao full authority to act as military commander of Nanhai and died shortly afterwards. Zhao immediately closed off the roads at Hengpu, Yangshan, and Huangqi. Using one excuse or another he eliminated the Qin officials and replaced them with his own appointees. By the time the Qin fell in 206 BC, Zhao had also conquered the provinces of Guilin and Xiang. He declared himself King Wu of Nanyue (Southern Yue). Conflict with the Han In June or July 196 BC, Emperor Gaozu of Han dispatched Lu Jia to recognize Zhao Tuo as king of Nanyue. Lu gave Zhao a seal legitimizing him as king of Nanyue in return for his nominal submission to the Han. In 185 BC, Empress Lü's officials outlawed trade of iron and horses with Nanyue. Zhao Tuo retaliated by proclaiming himself Emperor Wu of Nanyue and attacking the neighboring kingdom of Changsha, taking a few border towns. In 181 BC, Zhou Zao was dispatched by Empress Lü to attack Nanyue, but the heat and dampness caused many of his officers and men to fall ill, and he failed to make it across the mountains into enemy territory. Zhao began to menace the neighboring kingdoms of Minyue, Western Ou, and Luo. After securing their submission he began passing out edicts in a similar manner to the Han emperor.In late 180 BC, Emperor Wen of Han made efforts to appease Zhao. Learning that Zhao's parents were buried in Zhending, he set aside a town close by just to take care of their graves. Zhao's cousins were appointed to high offices at the Han court. He also withdrew the army stationed in Changsha on the Han-Nanyue border. In response, Zhao rescinded his claims as emperor while communicating with the Han. However, he continued using the title of emperor within his kingdom. Tribute bearing envoys from Nanyue were sent to the Han and thus the iron trade was resumed. Conquest of Âu Lạc Having mobilized his armies for war with the Han dynasty, Zhao Tuo found the conquest of Âu Lạc both "tempting and feasible".The details of the campaign are not authentically recorded. Zhao Tuo's early setbacks and eventual victory against King An Dương were mentioned in Records of the Outer Territories of the Jiao province (交州外域記) and Records [about the Era] of Jin Taikang (晉太康記). Records of the Grand Historian mentioned neither King An Dương nor Zhao Tuo's military conquest of Âu Lạc; just that after Empress Lü's death (180 BCE), Zhao Tuo used his own troops to menace and used wealth to bribe the Minyue, the Western Ou, and the Luo (Âu Lạc) into submission. The campaign against the Âu Lạc inspired a legend whose theme is the transfer of the turtle claw-triggered crossbow from King An Dương to Zhao Tuo. According to this legend, ownership of the crossbow conferred the political power. As described in one account, Cao Lỗ is quoted as saying:“He who is able to hold this crossbow rules the realm; he who is not able to hold this crossbow will perish.”Unsuccessful on the battlefield against the supernatural crossbow, Zhao Tuo asked for a truce and sent his son Zhong Shi, to submit to King An Dương to serve him. There, he and King An Dương's daughter, Mỵ Châu, fell in love and were married. A vestige of the matrilocal organization demanded that the husband came to live in the residence of his wife's family. As a result, they resided at An Dương's court until Zhong Shi managed to lay his hands upon the magic crossbow that was the source of King An Dương's power. Meanwhile, King An Dương treated Cao Lỗ disrespectfully, and he abandoned him.Zhong Shi had Mỵ Châu show him her father's sacred crossbow, at with point he secretly changed its trigger, thus neutralizing its special powers. He stole the turtle claw, rendering the crossbow useless, then returned to his father, who thereupon launched new attack on Âu Lạc and this time defeated King An Dương. History records that, in his defeat, the King jumped into the ocean to commit suicide. In some versions, he was told by the turtle about his daughter's betrayal and killed his own daughter before killing himself. A legend, however, discloses that a golden turtle emerged from the water and guided him into the watery realm.Zhao Tuo subsequently incorporated the regions into his Nanyue domain, but left the indigenous chiefs in control of the population with the royal court in Cổ Loa. For the first time, the region formed part of a polity headed by a Chinese ruler. He posted two legates to supervise the Âu Lạc lords, one in the Red River Delta, which was named Jiaozhi, and one in the Mã and Cả River, which was named Jiuzhen. Some records suggest that he also invested a king at Cổ Loa who continued to preside over the Âu Lạc lords. The legates established commercial outposts accessible by sea. Death Zhao Tuo died in 137 BC at the age of 103, and was succeeded by his grandson, Zhao Mo. Legacy His memorial is in Tuocheng Town, Longchuan County, Guangdong. A street in Hiệp Phú Ward (District 9) in Ho Chi Minh City was named after him, but the street now has a new name instead. See also Taylor, K.W. (1983), The Birth of the Vietnamese, University of California Press Taylor, K.W. (2013), A History of the Vietnamese, Cambridge University Press Watson, Burton (1993), Records of the Grand Historian by Sima Qian: Han Dynasty II (Revised Edition, Columbia University Press Ulrich, Theobald (2000). "Chinese History". ChinaKnowledge.de – An Encyclopaedia on Chinese History, Literature and Art. Theobald Ulrich. Retrieved 12 August 2019. Watson, Burton (1961). Records Of The Grand Historian Of China. Columbia University Press. Buttinger, Joseph (1958). The Smaller Dragon: A Political History of Vietnam. Praeger Publishers. Leeming, David (2001). A Dictionary of Asian Mythology. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-512052-3. Kiernan, Ben (2019). Việt Nam: a history from earliest time to the present. Oxford University Press. Brindley, Erica (2015). Ancient China and the Yue: Perceptions and Identities on the Southern Frontier, C.400 BCE-50 CE. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-08478-0. Higham, Charles (1996). The Bronze Age of Southeast Asia. Cambridge World Archaeology. ISBN 0-521-56505-7. Kelley, Liam C. (2014), "Constructing Local Narratives: Spirits, Dreams, and Prophecies in the Medieval Red River Delta", in Anderson, James A.; Whitmore, John K. (eds.), China's Encounters on the South and Southwest: Reforging the Fiery Frontier Over Two Millennia, United States: Brills, pp. 78–106, ISBN 978-9-004-28248-3 Jamieson, Neil L (1995). Understanding Vietnam. University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-20157-6. Miksic, John Norman; Yian, Go Geok (2016). Ancient Southeast Asia. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-317-27903-7. Kim, Nam; Lai Van Toi; Trinh Hoang Hiep (2010). "Co Loa: an investigation of Vietnam's ancient capital". Antiquity. 84 (326): 1011–1027. doi:10.1017/S0003598X00067041. S2CID 162065918. Nam C. Kim (2015). The Origins of Ancient Vietnam. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-998089-5.

嶺南, meaning "south of the mountain pass", may refer to: Lingnan, region of China south of the Nan Mountains, roughly corresponding to Jiangxi, Hunan, Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hainan Provinces Yeongnam, region of Korea roughly corresponding to the historical Gyeongsang Province Wakasa Province of Japan, alternatively called Reinan, roughly corresponding to Fukui Prefecture See also All pages with titles containing Lingnan All pages with titles containing Lĩnh Nam All pages with titles containing Reinan All pages with titles containing Yeongnam

南海, meaning "South Sea" in Chinese and Japanese, Korean may refer to: Nanhai (disambiguation), the Chinese pinyin transliteration Nankai (disambiguation), the Japanese transliteration Namhae (disambiguation), the Korean transliteration

The True Story of Ah Q is an episodic novella written by Lu Xun, first published as a serial between December 4, 1921 and February 12, 1922. It was later placed in his first short story collection Call to Arms (吶喊, Nàhǎn) in 1923 and is the longest story in the collection. The piece is generally held to be a masterpiece of modern Chinese literature, since it is considered the first piece of work to fully utilize Vernacular Chinese after the 1919 May 4th Movement in China.It was first published in the Beijing Morning News supplement as a serial. Originally Lu Xun wrote the story under the name "Ba Ren" (巴人, "crude fellow"), and so few people knew who wrote the novella. The first installment was published on December 4, 1921, and additional installments appeared weekly and/or fortnightly. The final installment was published on February 12, 1922. The story had nine chapters. Synopsis The story traces the "adventures" of Ah Q, a man from the rural peasant class with little education and no definite occupation. Ah Q is famous for "spiritual victories", Lu Xun's euphemism for self-talk and self-deception even when faced with extreme defeat or humiliation. Ah Q is a bully to the less fortunate but fearful of those who are above him in rank, strength, or power. He persuades himself mentally that he is spiritually "superior" to his oppressors even as he succumbs to their tyranny and suppression. Lu Xun exposes Ah Q's extreme faults as symptomatic of the Chinese national character of his time. The ending of the piece is equally poignant and satirical. Novella form Both the novella form and the low social station of the protagonist were new in Chinese literature. But the story consisted of nine serial episodic chapters (an old Chinese method for long folklore 章回體形式, which can consist of hundreds of chapters). This is the only novella published by Lu Xun. Metaphor Lu Xun believed that the purpose of literature was to transform the minds of and enlighten fellow Chinese. He followed the concept of "Wén Yǐ Zài Dào" (文以载道, "literature as a vehicle for Tao (moral message)").In Chapter One, the author ironically claims that he could not recall nor verify Ah Q's correct name, thus giving the character symbolic anonymity. "Ah" (阿) in Chinese is a diminutive prefix for names. "Q" is short for "Quei", which would today be romanized in Hanyu Pinyin as "Guì." However, as there are many Chinese characters that are pronounced "Quei", the narrator claims he does not know which character he should use, and therefore shortens it to "Q". The deliberate use of a Latin letter instead of a Chinese character is a reference to the concepts of the May Fourth movement, which advocated adoption of Western ideas.Mao Dun believed that Ah Q represented a "crystallization of Chinese qualities" of his time and that it was not necessarily a satirical work. Zhou Zuoren, the author's brother, in the article "[On] The True Story of Ah Q" (阿Q正传; "Ā Q Zhèngzhuàn") said that the work was, as paraphrased by Paul B. Foster, author of Ah Q Archaeology: Lu Xun, Ah Q, Ah Q Progeny, and the National Character Discourse in Twentieth Century China, "unequivocally satirical" and argued against Mao Dun's point of view. Plot Ah Q is known for deluding himself into believing he is the victor every time he loses a fight. In one scene in Chapter 2, Ah Q is beaten and had his silver taels stolen while he was gambling beside the theater. He slaps himself on the face, and because he is the person doing the slapping, he sees himself as the victor. When Mr. Zhao (趙太爺), an honored landlord of the village, beats Ah Q in a fight, Ah Q considers himself important for having even a tiny association with such a person. Though some villagers suspect Ah Q may have no true association with Mr. Zhao, they do not question the matter closely, and instead give Ah Q more respect for a time. Ah Q is often close-minded about petty things. When he ventures into a new town and sees that a "long bench" is called a "straight bench," he believes their way to be instantly inferior and totally wrong. There is a scene in which Ah Q harasses a nun to make himself feel better. He pinches her and blames his problems on her. Instead of crying out at the injustice of Ah Q's bullying, the crowd nearby laughs. One day, news of the Xinhai Revolution comes into town. Both landlord families, the Zhao and the Qian families, become revolutionaries to keep their power. Other people, calling themselves a "revolutionary army", rob the houses of the landlords and rich men. Ah Q also wants to join them and also call himself a revolutionary. But when the time comes, he misses the opportunity to act, because he slept in one morning and no one woke him up. Finally, Ah Q is arrested as a scapegoat for the looting and sentenced to death by the new governor. When Ah Q is asked to sign a confession, he worries that he cannot write his name. The officers tell him to sign a circle instead. Ah Q is so worried about drawing a perfect circle to save face that he is unaware he would be executed until it is too late. Before his death he tries to entertain the crowds watching his execution, but cannot decide on suitable lines from any Chinese opera. So he decides to sing on his own, but he sang for only one line. Protagonist character traits Gloria Davies, the author of an entry in Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews, Volumes 13–15, said "[t]he protagonist Ah Q became a symbol of all that was backward, despicable and tragic in Chinese society and often served Chinese intellectuals of the 1920s as a kind of negative criterion against which they could measure China's and their own advance into modernity."In 1934 Lu Xun wrote to a periodical stating that, in regards to Ah Q, "My method is to make the reader unable to tell who this character can be apart from himself, so that he cannot back away to become a bystander but rather suspects that this is a portrait of himself as well as everyone [in China]. A road to self-examination may therefore be opened to him." Mao Dun saw Ah Q as a representative of China of his time in the same way Oblomov, the main character of Oblomov, represents Russia.Ah Q is shaped as an image of part-time worker from the poor peasant caste affected by the religions and superstition in feudal society. Living in a semi-feudal semi-colonial society before the Xinhai Revolution, "Ah-Q’s Victories" is the psychological practise of how Ah-Q satisfies himself from real life failures and losses. He escapes from reality, and he bullies the weak and is afraid of the strong. He is unconfident, forgetful and changeable. There is a claim that, in Ah-Q's name, 'Ah' represents prefix for friendly calling someone in Chinese, and 'Q' represents the imagery symbol of the people with queues in Qing dynasty. In other words, Ah-Q represents everyone who lived in the time of Xinhai revolution in China. Blinded by self-interests In the story, there are many scenes that reveal Ah Q's personality. One of the Ah Q's personality traits is that, no matter what happens, Ah Q always makes an excuse to get out of a tight spot. For instance, in Chapter 3 of the book, the author writes that after the fight Ah Q uses his "precious 'ability to forget'", which shows that he does not have enough courage to deal with his emotions and, instead, uses this "ability" just to satisfy himself. Self-absorption A strong character trait of Ah Q is his limited focus on himself and his own outlook. Ah Q does not consider how others view him, engage in perspective-taking or impression management; this is demonstrated in Chapter 4 during the incident with the young mistress, Amah Wu (吳媽), when he abruptly asks her to sleep with him. In result, Ah Q's actions are strange and at times offend others. However, this does not bother Ah Q because he neither notices nor cares because he is strictly focused on his own needs and desires. Chapter summaries Chapter 1: Introduction The narrator of the story states that he wishes to author a biography for the titular character, Ah Q. Ironically, the narrator then mentions that several difficulties of why writing about Ah Q is not easy: the title of this book, the surname of Ah Q, the true personal name of Ah Q and his place of birth. The narrator speculates that Ah Q's surname might have been "Zhao," recounting a story of him being beaten by Mr. Zhao, a rich and famous senior villager, because he claimed that his surname was Zhao and thus is related to the Zhao family. Chapter 2: A Brief Account of Ah Q’s Victories In Chapter 2 the narrator elaborates further on Ah Q's character, place in society and his daily routine. Ah Q's peers view him in a very low regard, due to his insignificant background. With no family, no regular employment and eccentric character, Ah Q is often the laughing stock and victim of bullying by the townsfolk. However, Ah Q has a high opinion of himself and looks down on others regardless of their income or status. The chapter also gives the readers more in-depth imagery on Ah Q's (unfortunate) physical appearance. Specifically, the ringworm scar on his scalp that turns red when he is angry. This scar is a factor in him being ridiculed by the people around him. Ah Q's response differed based on his opponents. He would usually physically or verbally retaliate against the weak, but resorts to denial or self-belittlement against those better than him, and achieves some small emotional satisfaction through his actions. Chapter 3: A Further Account of Ah Q’s Victories Ah Q being slapped in the face by Mr. Zhao making him famous for he has prospered for a long time, as some townsfolk speculate on whether he is truly related to the Zhao family. One day, Ah Q finds Whiskers Wang, another tramp, and sits down next to him with no fear. Due to the lack of two Whiskers (beard), Ah Q feels jealous of Wang and provokes him into a fight. Wang wins and leaves with satisfaction after giving Ah Q a shove to the wall. Later, Ah Q sees Mr. Qian's eldest son, whom Ah Q hates a lot. Ah Q insults him by calling him "Baldhead", and Mr. Qian's son beats him with a walking stick. Ah Q soon forgets everything that has just happened and goes to the alcohol shop. Soon after, when he sees a young nun on the streets, Ah Q claims all the bad luck that has just happened is because of her. Ah Q harasses the nun publicly and she leaves crying and cursing Ah Q. However, the other bystanders in the shop just laugh at her for amusement. Chapter 4: The Tragedies of Love After picking on a nun, Ah Q is victorious and feels as though he is flying right into the Tutelary God's Temple. The words from the nun weigh on his mind: "Ah Q, may you die son-less!" He realizes her insult has some merit and decides that he should take a wife. Ah Q rushes towards Mr. Zhao's maidservant, Amah Wu, and shouts "Sleep with me!" The bailiff finds out about his attack on Mr. Zhao's maidservant and makes Ah Q agree to five terms. Chapter 5: The Problem of Livelihood After the Zhao family fiasco, Ah Q notices unusualness when walking through the streets of Weizhuang. Women have become shy and take refuge indoors while wine shops refused service to him. What worries him is the fact that no household wants to hire him anymore, cutting Ah Q off from any source of income to support his livelihood. Shunned from regular employer's houses, Ah Q finds Young D, a weak beggar of lower status than Ah Q, to have taken Ah Q's odd jobs. To the delight of onlookers, the enraged Ah Q rushes to fight Young D which ends in a tie. Almost starving, Ah Q returns to the streets and comes across the Convent of Quiet Self-improvement, finding a field containing a patch of turnips. Ah Q decides to steal the turnips until a nun notices him and lets loose her black dog on him. Ah Q runs and is able to escape with some turnips. Chapter 6: From Restoration to Decline Ah Q does not come back to Weizhuang until after the Moon Festival. The custom in Weizhuang is "that when there seem[s] to be something unusual about anyone, he should be treated with respect rather than insolence." According to him, he had been a servant for a successful provincial candidate. Later on, everyone wants to get their hands on Ah Q's silk shirts only to find out that he has run out of them and had been a petty thief. Chapter 7: The Revolution & Chapter 8: Barred From the Revolution One day, the news of the Xinhai Revolution comes. The landlord families become the revolutionaries to maintain their power. When Ah Q realizes that everyone fears the revolutionaries, he decides to be one of them and imagines exploiting rich families in town and ruling over the locals. A group of self-claimed revolutionaries rob the houses of the locals and rich families, and Ah Q is never called to join them. When Ah Q approaches the landlord rebels to express that he wants to join the rebels, he is refused from joining the rebellion. Ah Q becomes bitter that he cannot share the robbed goods and the prestige they enjoy. Chapter 9: The Grand Finale After the Zhao family is robbed, Ah Q is dragged into town in the middle of the night, being carried to a yamen where he is pushed into a room. Keeping with his happy-go-lucky nature, the narrator says "although Ah Q was feeling rather uneasy, he was by no means too depressed." In the end, Ah Q is executed with his cries of "Help, help!" never actually being said. Even before his death, he still preserves his self-absorbed and petty personality; he tries and fails to make his execution more impressive by reciting verses from some Chinese operas, but fails to find the right words. Cultural significance Ah Q as a negative symbol of Chineseness Ah Q has a literary metaphor of national character of his time. Ah Q became a recognizable symbol that expanded the intellectual discourse of national character into the popular consciousness. Originally, the name Ah Q represented a negative Chinese national character (国民性, guómín xìng). A negative example, it served as a warning to urge Chinese to change for the "better". After the publication of The True Story of Ah Q, the " Chinese themselves used the term to label those who are complacently ignorant, indolent, unhygienic, backward, slavish, and parochial". However, because this term is used to describe "negative human characteristics as "natural" components of the Chinese national character, they are ironically accepting and reinforcing certain stereotypical images of the Chinese of the time." in modern culture The story of Ah Q weaves together nationalism, modern Chinese literature and modern Chinese history. In modern Chinese language, the term the "Ah Q mentality" (阿Q精神, "Ā Q jīngshén") is used commonly as a term of mockery to describe someone who chooses not to face up to reality and deceives himself into believing he is successful, or has unjustified beliefs of superiority over others. It describes a narcissistic individual who rationalizes every single actual failure he faces as a psychological triumph ("spiritual victory"). A phrase meaning "relax for a bit" or "take it easy" (阿Q一下, Ā Q yí xià) has also surfaced in modern Chinese language due to the character's nonchalant nature. Zhao family The term Zhao Family (赵家人, Zhàojiārén), a derogatory term for China's ruling elite and their families, from the character Mr. Zhao, entered contemporary Chinese language. Originally appeared in a WeChat article, the term subsequently became an internet meme widely used by dissident netizens, with numerous variations such as 赵国 (Zhaos' empire, China) and 精赵 (Zhao's spiritual members, 50 Cent Party). Reception When "Ah Q" was first published, the story became very popular. Many Chinese people wondered if Ah Q was based on a real person, partly because at the time few people knew the true identity of the book's author. Gao Yihan said that some individuals believed that Ah Q was based on their own lives. In the 1920s the most common critical sentiment argued that "Ah Q" was a masterpiece.In 1926 Zheng Zhenduo stated his belief that Lu Xun had finished the story too quickly. In literary terms questioned why Ah Q would die in such a casual manner after the story had already determined that being a revolutionary was already not satisfactory. In response to Zheng, Lu Xun said "So week after week passed, and inevitably the problem arose whether Ah Q would become a revolutionary or not. To my mind, as long as there was no revolution in China, Ah Q would not turn revolutionary; but once there was one, he would. This was the only fate possible for my Ah Q, and I would not say that he has a dual personality. The first year of the Republic has gone, never to return; but the next time there are reforms, I believe there will be revolutionaries like Ah Q. I only wish that, as people say, I had written about a period in the past, but I fear what I saw was not the past but the future — even as much as from twenty to thirty years from now."Gloria Davies, the author of "The Problematic Modernity of Ah Q," said that many Marxist critics criticized "Ah Q" because the betrayal of the Communists after the 1927 Northern Expedition "bore a dangerous resemblance to Ah Q's fate in front of the firing squad." Davies further explained that "[i]t is perhaps also not too far-fetched to suggest that the Marxist dogmatists perceived in "The True Story of Ah Q" a realism with sufficient power to undermine even their own adamant and much-vaunted belief in the imminent arrival of a Communist utopia; for not even the most foolhardy dogmatist could ignore the countless acts of political violence and betrayal taking place around him, borne variously of the ruthlessness, ambition, cynicism, fear and ignorance, in all, the darker side of the human condition that Lu Xun had portrayed so vividly in "The True Story of Ah Q"." Lu Xun's last response regarding "Ah Q" itself was his reply to Zheng. During the debates on revolutionary literature in 1928 and 1929, Lu Xun decided not to comment on the criticisms of the story.A leftist critic, Qian Xingcun, wrote an essay "The Dead Era Of Ah Q" (死去了的阿Q时代, "Sǐqùle de Ā Q Shídài"), published in the March 1, 1928 issue of Sun Monthly (太阳月刊, Tàiyáng Yuèkān), No. 3. It was reprinted in Gémìng Wénxué Lùnzhēng Zīliào Xuǎnbiān (革命文学论争资料选编). In it he argued that Lu Xun had belonged to a preceding historical era, the story was not a masterpiece and did not represent the current era. Davies argued that Qian knew he was unable to challenge Lu Xun on literary merits. Furthermore, Davies argues that "it was all the more important to recognize Lu Xun's works as bearing no relevance to the contemporary situation because they were capable of influencing the reader into misrecognizing social reality." See also New Youth Fuyuhiko Kitagawa Bibliography Davies, Gloria. "The Problematic Modernity of Ah Q." In: Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews. Volume 13, December 1991. p. 57–76. ISSN 0161-9705. Also available at Jstor. Also published in: Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews, Volumes 13–15. Coda Press, 1991. p. 57–76. Foster, Paul B. Ah Q Archaeology: Lu Xun, Ah Q, Ah Q Progeny, And the National Character Discourse in Twentieth Century China. Lexington Books, 2006. ISBN 073911168X, 9780739111680. Foster, Paul B. (2010) Ah Q genealogy: Ah Q, Miss Ah Q, national character and the construction of the Ah Q discourse, Asian Studies Review, 28:3, 243-266, DOI: 10.1080/103782042000291088 Huang, Martin Weizhong. "The Inescapable Predicament: The Narrator and His Discourse in "The True Story of Ah Q"." Modern China, 1990. Volume 16, Issue 4. p. 430-449. Available at Jstor. Huters, Theodore E. "Hu Feng and the Critical Legacy of Lu Xun." (Chapter 6). In: Lee, Leo Ou-Fan (editor and author of introduction). Lu Xun & His Legacy. University of California Press, 1985. p. 129–152. ISBN 0520051580, 9780520051584. Tambling, Jeremy. Madmen and Other Survivors: Reading Lu Xun's Fiction. Hong Kong University Press, August 30, 2007. ISBN 9622098258, 9789622098251. Xing, Xue Yan. "Lu-Xun's"AQ"and Ibuse Masuji's"Ei" ;"AQZheng Zhuen" and"Mr.Tange's Mansion"." Accessed February 28, 2018. http://www.bunkyo.ac.jp/faculty/kyouken/old_web/bull/Bull11/yan.pdf. The Real Story of Ah-Q and Other Tales of China: The Complete Fiction of Lu Xun, trans. Julia Lovell, London: Penguin, 2009. Chinese Literature, Foreign Languages Press, 1981. Selected Stories of Lu Hsun, Published by Foreign Languages Press, Peking, 1960, 1972; Images for chapters 1 and 4 from Chinese Literature Volume 5-6, 1977. "The True Story of Ah Q (Ah Q Zhengzhuan) by Lu Xun, 1923." Reference Guide to Short Fiction. . Retrieved February 28, 2018 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/arts/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/true-story-ah-q-ah-q-zhengzhuan-lu-xun-1923 Further reading Larson, Wendy. From Ah Q to Lei Feng: Freud and Revolutionary Spirit in 20th Century China. Stanford University Press, 2009. ISBN 0804769826, 9780804769822. Stebbins, Hallie (Bucknell University). "A Translation of Lu Xun’s "阿Q正传"." Comparative Humanities Review. Vol. 3, Article 4. 2009. The True Story of Ah Q (English) 阿Q正傳 / The True Story of Ah Q (simplified characters) (in Chinese) The True Story of Ah Q public domain audiobook at LibriVox The Historical Background of The True Story of Ah Q: Lu Xun and Japan Selected Stories, Lu Hsun (1918–1926) at www.coldbacon.com Capturing Chinese The Real Story of Ah Q Edited by Kevin Nadolny (Capturing Chinese Publications, 2010) – includes short summaries to Lu Xun's stories, the Chinese text in simplified characters, pinyin, and definitions for difficult vocabulary. Qian, Xingcun. "Siqule de A Q shidai" (in Chinese) Naver Encyclopedia of Current Affairs and Common Sense (in Korean) http://terms.naver.com/entry.nhn?docId=70044&cid=43667&categoryId=43667 Zhang, Lixin. "Discuss the Image of Ah-Q in ’The True Story of Ah Q’". (in simplified Chinese) http://www.jyqkw.com/show-208-222588-1.html

Hennes & Mauritz AB or H&M Group (abbreviated and stylized as H&M) is a multinational clothing company based in Sweden that focuses on fast-fashion clothing. As of 23 June 2022, H&M Group operated in 75 geographical markets with 4,801 stores under the various company brands, with 107,375 full-time equivalent positions.H&M is the second largest international clothing retailer. H&M was founded by Erling Persson, and the shop's current CEO is Helena Helmersson. History The company was founded by Erling Persson in 1947 when he opened his first shop in Västerås, Sweden. The shop, called Hennes (Swedish for "hers"), exclusively sold women's clothing. Another store opened in Norway in 1964. In 1968, Persson acquired the hunting apparel retailer Mauritz Widforss in Stockholm, which led to the inclusion of a menswear collection in the product range, and the name changed to Hennes & Mauritz.The company was listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange in 1974. Shortly after, in 1976, the first store outside Scandinavia opened in London. H&M continued to expand in Europe and began to retail online in 1998 with the domain hm.com registered in 1997, according to data available via WHOIS. The opening of its first U.S. store on 31 March 2000 on Fifth Avenue in New York City marked the start of its expansion outside of Europe. Home Furnishings In 2008, the company announced in a press release that it would begin selling home furnishings. While initially distributed online, the home furnishing items are now sold at H&M Home stores worldwide. Other brands Concept stores, including COS, Weekday, Monki, and Cheap Monday, were launched following H&M's expansion in Asia. In 2009 and 2010, brand consultancy Interbrand ranked H&M as the twenty-first most-valuable global brand. Its worth was estimated at $12 billion to $16 billion. Under the "H&M with Friends", H&M will partner with Good American, a brand founded by Khloe Kardashian and Emme Grede, to feature their products in H&M's Swedish and German e-commerce shops. Store openings worldwide H&M operated 2,325 stores at the end of 2011. At the end of August 2012, they were operating 304 more stores, bringing the total to 2,629. In September 2013, the retailer opened its 3000th store in Chengdu, China. COVID-19 In October 2020, H&M announced that it was planning to close 5% of its worldwide stores in 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The fashion retailer H&M closed 250 shops throughout the globe and moved the majority of its operations online. The H&M Group's sales growth remained at -34% year-over-year from 2020 week 12 to week 22. Withdrawal from the Russian market (2022) Along with hundreds of other global companies, H&M announced on March 2, 2022, an end to retail operations of its more than 150 stores in Russia as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. H&M cited that it stands "with all the people who are suffering" in Ukraine as well as for "the safety of customers and colleagues" in Russia. Having recently expanded via its Weekday and & Other Stories formats, Russia was H&M's sixth-biggest market at the time, representing 4% of group sales in the fourth quarter of 2021. The company also temporarily closed its Ukraine stores, which remain closed as of 2023. Supplies H&M sources raw materials from different areas around the world. The top three locations that ship its raw materials are China, Bangladesh, and India. Its retail headquarter is located in Sweden, where 21 suppliers and factories manufacture H&M's clothing products and accessories. Designers In November 2004, select stores offered an exclusive collection by fashion designer Karl Lagerfeld. The press reported there were large crowds and that the initial inventories in big cities were sold out within an hour. In November 2006, the company launched a collection by Stella McCartney. Also in November 2006, the company launched a collection by avant-garde Dutch designers Viktor & Rolf. H&M launched a collaboration designed by pop star Madonna in March 2007. In November 2007, several months after collaborating with Madonna, the company launched a collection by Italian designer Roberto Cavalli. Finnish company Marimekko was chosen as a guest designer in spring 2008. H&M partnered with Comme des Garçons, a Japanese fashion label, in the fall of 2008. Products in the collection included accessories, a unisex fragrance, and clothing for adults and children. For spring and summer of 2009, British designer Matthew Williamson created two exclusive ranges for the company – the first being a collection of women's clothes that were released in select stores. For the second collection, Williamson ventured into creating menswear for the first time. It featured swimwear for men and women and was available in all of H&M's stores worldwide. On 14 November 2009, the company released a limited-edition diffusion collection by Jimmy Choo featuring handbags and shoes for men and women, with prices ranging from £30 to £170. The collection also included clothing designed by Choo, such as garments made of suede and leather, and was available in 200 stores worldwide, including London's Oxford Circus store. Sonia Rykiel collaborated with the company by designing a ladies knitwear and lingerie range that was released in select company stores on 5 December 2009. French fashion house Lanvin collaborated with H&M to create a new collection, "Lanvin Hearts H&M," in fall 2010. The collection, designed to make Lanvin clothing more accessible to the average consumer, featured items that were around 100 euros. Usually Lanvin dresses would cost hundreds of euros more. For Spring and Summer 2011, the company worked with fashion blogger Elin Kling, whose collection was only available at select stores. H&M announced a collaboration with Versace in June 2011 that was later released on November 19. Versace also planned a Spring collaboration with the company that would only be available in countries with online sales. Similar to past collaborations, Versace agreed to let H&M use its name for a previously agreed-upon sum, without actually having a role in the design process. H&M announced a collaboration with Marni in November 2011. The campaign launched a few months later in Mah 2012 and was led by director Sofia Coppola. On 4 October 2012, Vogue Japan editor Anna Dello Russo launched an accessories collection with H&M as Paris Fashion Week drew to an end. The collection was stocked in 140 H&M stores worldwide and was also available to purchase online. On 12 June 2012, H&M confirmed that it would launch a collaboration with avant-garde label Maison Martin Margiela for a fall rollout. The Maison Martin Margiela collection for H&M hit stores a few months later on 15 November 2012. Isabel Marant was a collaboration designer for fall 2013 and, for the first time in her career, made a few men's pieces to accompany the women's collection. The collection sold out very quickly in cities across the globe and was heavily anchored in sales online. During the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, H&M announced its first collaboration with an American designer. Alexander Wang was the designer chosen and the collection was released to a select 250 stores around the world on 6 November 2014. Balmain was announced as the next collaboration with H&M through Balmain designer Olivier Rousteing's Instagram page. The collection was released on 5 November 2015. That year's H&M Christmas campaign was made in collaboration with popstar Katy Perry, who also sang the commercial soundtrack "'Every Day Is A Holiday". In November 2016, H&M released a designer line in collaboration with Kenzo. That year the company released an annual holiday movie directed by Wes Anderson as part of the company's Christmas advertising campaign. Titled "Come Together", the short film starred Adrien Brody as a train conductor who saves Christmas after a blizzard delays the train's arrival and causes the few passengers to miss part of the holiday. Swedish singer Zara Larsson designed a "playful, young, empowering and little glamorous" collection with H&M in February 2017. After 20 years, Naomi Campbell came back to collaborate with the company for a global female empowerment commercial spot in fall 2017. She wore clothes that blurred the line between masculine and feminine in the campaign's Tokyo spot-video where she lip-synced "Wham Rap (Enjoy What You Do)" by Wham!. Designers Jeremy Scott and Moschino collaborated with the brand in April 2018. With the idea of reviving the spirit of the swinging sixties, H&M collaborated with designer Richard Allan in July 2019. The Fleur du Soleil collection, part of H&M's collaboration with Lebanese designer Sandra Mansour, was released in August 2020 and marked the first time the company had partnered with an Arab designer. Irish designer Simone Rocha, daughter of designer John Rocha, was announced as a collaborative partner in March 2021. Rocha's designs launched with an H&M campaign film and images shot by Tyler Mitchell. Sustainability and environmental awareness Used garment vouchers Starting in February 2013, H&M began offering patrons a voucher in exchange for used garments. Donated garments were to be processed by I:CO, a retailer that repurposes and recycles used clothing with the goal of creating a zero waste economy. The initiative is similar to an April 2012 clothes-collection voucher program launched by Marks & Spencer in partnership with Oxfam. Endangered forests In April 2014, H&M joined Zara and other apparel companies in changing their supply chain to avoid endangered forests. The company teamed with Canopy, a nonprofit, to remove endangered and ancient forests from their dissolvable pulp supply chain for their viscose and rayon fabrics. The H&M Foundation The H&M Foundation, a nonprofit, was established in 2014 to fund projects that improve humanitarian and environmental issues within the fashion industry. The Persson family, the founders and owners of H&M, originally invested $180 million in the foundation. One of the foundation's projects includes the Green Machine, a recycling technology that would allow clothing to be recycled in a similar way to aluminum can recycling. Since 2013, the family has made contributions to the foundation, donating SEK1.1 billion (US$154 million) to it. According to the OECD, H&M Foundation's financing for 2019 development increased by 7% to US$17 million. In August 2015, the H&M Foundation announced that it will award the Global Change Award, a million-euro annual prize, to advance recycling technology and techniques within the fashion industry. In 2021, H&M Foundation launched a virtual clothing collection named “The Billion Dollar Collection” that featured ten sustainable fashion innovation startups. Brazilian leather halt In September 2019, H&M halted its leather purchases from Brazil in response to the 2019 Amazon rainforest wildfires. The company issued an email statement: "The ban will be active until there are credible assurance systems in place to verify that the leather does not contribute to environmental harm in the Amazon." H&M imports only a small fraction of its leather needs from the country. Sustainability ambassador hiring Actress Maisie Williams joined the brand as a global sustainability ambassador in April 2021. As a global sustainability ambassador, she helped front the company's campaign on using only recycled or sustainably sourced materials by 2030. The first initiative fronted by the actress has led to a collaboration with the video game Animal Crossing, with Williams being transformed into a digital game character to teach the virtues of recycling. Rental clothing In May 2021, H&M announced a temporary rental clothing service that allows men to rent suits for up to 24 hours for job interviews. It began in the UK and was also being tested in the United States. Concept stores Five concept brands In addition to the H&M brand, the company consists of six individual brands with separate concepts. Brands include Afound, Arket, COS, Monki, Weekday, and & Other Stories. COS COS launched its flagship store on London's Regent Street in March 2007 with a catwalk show at the Royal Academy. Its concept is encompassed by minimalist style inspired by architecture, graphics, and design.It specializes in modern clothing pieces for men and women that are less trend-oriented than other similarly priced labels. COS makes clothing that can be worn beyond the season. COS has 197 stores in 34 countries in Europe, Asia, North America, Australia and the Middle East and currently retails online to 19 markets via cos.com. H&M Details 2016 saw the hoarding of a new H&M concept in The Dubai Mall come up, labelled now 'H&M Details'. Labor practices Working conditions Cambodia In August 2011, nearly 300 workers fainted in one week at a Cambodian factory supplying H&M. Fumes from chemicals, poor ventilation, malnutrition, and even "mass hysteria" have all been blamed for making workers ill. The minimum wage in the country is the equivalent of $66 (£42) a month, an amount that is less than half of what is required to meet basic needs, according to human rights groups. Bangladesh The same year, Bangladeshi and international labor groups put forth a detailed safety proposal that entailed the establishment of independent inspections of garment factories. The plan called for inspectors to have the power to close unsafe factories. The proposal entailed a legally binding contract between suppliers, customers, and unions. At a meeting in 2011 in Dhaka, major European and North American retailers, including H&M, rejected the proposal. Further efforts by unions to advance the proposal after numerous and deadly factory fires have been rejected. Burma After Feb. 1, 2021 military coup d'état, many labor groups demanded H&M and other apparel companies divest from Burma because of the concern that there would be labor rights abuses. There have been multiple reports of labor abuses in factories making H&M clothes. A labor news outlet reported that a worker from Saung Oo Shwe Nay factory that makes H&M clothing was physically abused. Myanmar Labour News quoted FGWM, a labor union, with photos on how the worker was abused by her supervisors. There are multiple reports from other workers from the same factory complaining that they were also physically abused and the employers did not take responsibility, according to the union. There are increasing amount of labor abuses occurring in Burma under the military dictatorship. The largest labor group CTUM has been reporting to the International Labor Organization yearly on Burma labor abuses. Supply chain transparency The Guardian wrote that in a conscious action sustainability report for 2012, H&M published a list of factories supplying 95% of its garments. This contributes to the trend of corporations leaning toward ethically transparent supply chains. Slave and child labour On 2 January 2013, The Ecologist reported allegations by Anti-Slavery International that H&M was continuing its association with the Uzbek government in exploiting child and adult forced labor as cotton harvesters in Uzbekistan.In September 2020, amid international allegations over the use of Uyghur forced labor in Xinjiang, H&M published a statement saying that it had stopped buying cotton from growers in Xinjiang, stating that it was "deeply concerned by reports from civil society organizations and media that include accusations of forced labor and discrimination of ethno-religious minorities".In February 2017, The Guardian reported children were employed to make H&M products in Myanmar and were paid 13p (about 15 cents US) an hour – half the full legal minimum wage. Factory building structural collapses Savar building, Bangladesh In April 2013, the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Bangladesh killing over 1,100 people. Fatalities were mostly garment workers. The incident is considered the deadliest non-deliberate structural failure accident and the deadliest garment factory disaster in modern history. The eight-story building complex that was not designed for factory production and had cracks in the structure that the owners ignored. Approximately 2,500 injured people were rescued from the rubble. The company and other retailers signed on to the Accord on Factory and Building Safety in Bangladesh. In June 2016, SumOfUs launched a campaign to pressure H&M to honor the commitment they made and signed to protect Bangladesh's garment workers. SumOfUs alleged that "H&M is drastically behind schedule in fixing the safety hazards its workers have to face every day." Phnom Penh, Cambodia On 19 May 2013, a textile factory that produced apparel for H&M in Phnom Penh, Cambodia collapsed, injuring several people. The incident has raised concerns regarding industrial safety regulations. Living wage On 25 November 2013, H&M's global head of sustainability committed that H&M, as the world's second-largest clothing retailer, would aim to pay all textile workers "living wage" by 2018, stating that governments are responding too slowly to poor working conditions in Bangladesh among other Asian countries where many clothing retailers source a majority if not all of their garments. Wages were increased in Bangladesh from 3,000 takas ($40) to 5,300 takas ($70) a month in late 2013. Fire safety report In September 2015, CleanClothes.org, an NGO involved in garment labor working conditions, reported on a lack of specific fire safety renovations in H&M suppliers' factories. Xinjiang region In 2020, the Australian Strategic Policy Institute accused at least 82 major brands, including H&M, of being connected to forced Uyghur labor in Xinjiang. Controversy Boycotts by China In March 2021, after the EU, UK, US, and Canada's joint sanctions against China over reports of human rights abuses in Xinjiang, H&M's stance on avoiding forced labor in Xinjiang and claim of not going to use cotton produced there was found and criticized by the Communist Youth League of China on its official Weibo page. Their post stated, "Spreading rumors to boycott Xinjiang cotton, while trying to make a profit in China? Wishful thinking!" The viral post spread across mainland Chinese social media, leading to H&M facing significant criticism among Chinese social media users. On 24 March 2021, H&M became the first fashion brand to be targeted in China, with its products removed from Chinese e-commerce platforms such as Pinduoduo, JD.com and Alibaba, its mobile application removed from Chinese app stores, and rideshare platform DiDi blocking customers from requesting H&M stores as their destinations. Two of H&M's brand ambassadors in China, Huang Xuan and Victoria Song, announced they were no longer collaborating with H&M.In August 2022, H&M resumed sales in China. Response Chinese state media outlet China Global Television Network countered the statements against Xinjiang cotton with a video showing automation in cotton-picking and local Uyghurs claiming that the industry brought high earnings. On 26 March 2021, the United States condemned the China-backed boycotts, with its Department of Commerce stating that the United States "has taken strong actions to stop China from profiting off of its human-rights abuses in Xinjiang and to stop imports of products made with forced labor in China."On 31 March, H&M responded with a statement vowing to rebuild trust in China and serve its customers in a "respectful way". H&M reported sales in China had fallen by approximately 23% for the second quarter of 2021 (compared to the same period in the last fiscal year). According to a report, more than half a million are forced to pick cotton in Xinjiang.Greenwashing Claims A proposed class action lawsuit in the US is alleging H&M is greenwashing via the sustainability claims made in its Conscious Choice range. Earlier this year, The Norwegian Consumer Agency (Forbrukertilsynet) said it believed Norrøna is “breaking the law” in marketing clothes as environmentally friendly and issued a warning to H&M GROUP against using the same type of environmental claims. Leaving Russia In March 2022, the H&M Group communicated that they would pause its operations in Russia due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Other controversies Philanthropy Since January 2012 H&M has offered its H&M Design Award, an annual design prize for fashion graduates. The prize is established to support young designers with the beginning of their careers. See also Bonds (clothing) Gap Inc. List of companies of Sweden European Retail Round Table Zara (retailer) Official website "Supplier list". Sustainability Reporting. Retrieved 7 March 2018.

Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. It is located at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the northeast, and the Philippines to the south. The territories controlled by the ROC consist of 168 islands with a combined area of 36,193 square kilometres (13,974 square miles). The main island of Taiwan, also known as Formosa, has an area of 35,808 square kilometres (13,826 square miles), with mountain ranges dominating the eastern two-thirds and plains in the western third, where its highly urbanized population is concentrated. The capital, Taipei, forms along with New Taipei City and Keelung, the largest metropolitan area in Taiwan. With around 23.9 million inhabitants, Taiwan is among the most densely populated countries. Taiwan has been settled for at least 25,000 years. Ancestors of Taiwanese indigenous peoples settled the island around 6,000 years ago. In the 17th century, large-scale Han Chinese immigration to western Taiwan began under a Dutch colony and continued under the Kingdom of Tungning, the first predominantly Han Chinese state in Taiwanese history. The island was annexed in 1683 by the Qing dynasty of China and ceded to the Empire of Japan in 1895. The Republic of China, which had overthrown the Qing in 1911, took control following the surrender of Japan in 1945. Japan would renounce sovereignty over Taiwan in 1952. The immediate resumption of the Chinese Civil War resulted in the loss of the Chinese mainland to Communist forces, who established the People's Republic of China and the flight of the ROC central government to Taiwan in 1949. The effective jurisdiction of the ROC has since been limited to Taiwan, Penghu, and smaller islands. In the early 1960s, Taiwan entered a period of rapid economic growth and industrialization called the "Taiwan Miracle". In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the ROC transitioned from a one-party state under martial law to a multi-party democracy, with democratically elected presidents since 1996. Taiwan's export-oriented industrial economy is the 21st-largest in the world by nominal GDP and the 20th-largest by PPP measures, with a focus on steel, machinery, electronics, and chemicals manufacturing. Taiwan is a developed country. It is ranked highly in terms of civil liberties, healthcare, and human development.The political status of Taiwan is contentious. The ROC no longer represents China as a member of the United Nations after UN members voted in 1971 to recognize the PRC instead. The ROC maintained its claim of being the sole legitimate representative of China and its territory until 1991, when it ceased to regard the CCP as a rebellious group and recognized its jurisdiction over Mainland China. Taiwan is claimed by the PRC, which refuses to establish diplomatic relations with countries that recognise the ROC. Taiwan maintains official diplomatic relations with 12 out of 193 UN member states and the Holy See. Many others maintain unofficial diplomatic ties through representative offices and institutions that function as de facto embassies and consulates. International organizations in which the PRC participates either refuse to grant membership to Taiwan or allow it to participate only on a non-state basis. Domestically, the major political contention is between parties favoring eventual Chinese unification and promoting a pan-Chinese identity, contrasted with those aspiring to formal international recognition and promoting a Taiwanese identity; into the 21st century, both sides have moderated their positions to broaden their appeal. Etymology Name of the island Various names for the island remain in use, each derived from explorers or rulers during a particular historical period. In his Daoyi Zhilüe (1349), Wang Dayuan used "Liuqiu" as a name for the island, or the part of it closest to Penghu. Elsewhere, the name was used for the Ryukyu Islands in general or Okinawa specifically; the name Ryūkyū is the Japanese form of Liúqiú. The name also appears in the Book of Sui (636) and other early works, but scholars cannot agree on whether these references are to the Ryukyus, Taiwan or even Luzon.The name Formosa (福爾摩沙) dates from 1542, when Portuguese sailors noted it on their maps as Ilha Formosa ("beautiful island"). The name Formosa eventually "replaced all others in European literature" and remained in common use among English speakers into the 20th century.In 1603, a Chinese expedition fleet anchored at a place in Taiwan called Dayuan, a variant of "Taiwan". In the early 17th century, the Dutch East India Company established a commercial post at Fort Zeelandia (modern-day Anping) on a coastal sandbar called "Tayouan", after their ethnonym for a nearby Taiwanese aboriginal tribe, possibly Taivoan people. This name was also adopted into the Chinese vernacular as the name of the sandbar and nearby area (Tainan). The modern word "Taiwan" is derived from this usage, which is written in different transliterations (大員，大圓，大灣，臺員，臺圓 or 臺窩灣) in Chinese historical records. The area occupied by modern-day Tainan was the first permanent settlement by both European colonists and Chinese immigrants. The settlement grew to be the island's most important trading center and served as its capital until 1887. Use of the current Chinese name (臺灣 / 台灣) became official as early as 1684 during the Qing dynasty with the establishment of Taiwan Prefecture centered in modern-day Tainan. Through its rapid development the entire Taiwanese mainland eventually became known as "Taiwan". Name of the country The official name of the country in English is the "Republic of China"; it has also been known under various other names. Shortly after the ROC's establishment in 1912, while it was still located on the Chinese mainland, the government used the short form "China" (Zhōngguó, 中國) to refer to itself, derived from zhōng ("central" or "middle") and guó ("state, nation-state"). The term developed under the Zhou dynasty in reference to its royal demesne, and was then applied to the area around Luoyi (present-day Luoyang) during the Eastern Zhou and later to China's Central Plain, before being used as an occasional synonym for the state during the Qing era. The name of the Republic had stemmed from the party manifesto of the Tongmenghui in 1905, which says the four goals of the Chinese revolution was "to expel the Manchu rulers, to revive Chunghwa, to establish a Republic, and to distribute land equally among the people." The convener of the Tongmenghui and Chinese revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen proposed the name Chunghwa Minkuo as the assumed name of the new country when the revolution succeeded. During the 1950s and 1960s, after the ROC government had withdrawn to Taiwan, it was commonly referred to as "Nationalist China" (or "Free China") to differentiate it from "Communist China" (or "Red China"). Over subsequent decades, the Republic of China has become commonly known as "Taiwan", after the main island. In some contexts, including ROC government publications, the name is written as "Republic of China (Taiwan)", "Republic of China/Taiwan", or sometimes "Taiwan (ROC)".The Republic of China participates in most international forums and organizations under the name "Chinese Taipei" as a compromise with the People's Republic of China (PRC). For instance, it is the name under which it has participated in the Olympic Games as well as the APEC. "Taiwan authorities" is sometimes used by the PRC to refer to the government in Taiwan. History Early settlement (to 1683) Taiwan was joined to the Asian mainland in the Late Pleistocene, until sea levels rose about 10,000 years ago. Fragmentary human remains dated 20,000 to 30,000 years ago have been found on the island, as well as later artifacts of a Paleolithic culture. These people were similar to the negritos of the Philippines.Around 6,000 years ago, Taiwan was settled by farmers, most likely from what is now southeast China. They are believed to be the ancestors of today's Taiwanese indigenous peoples, whose languages belong to the Austronesian language family; linguists have proposed Taiwan as the urheimat of the family. Trade links with the Philippines subsisted from the early 2nd millennium BC, including the use of jade from eastern Taiwan in the Philippine jade culture. The raw jade from Taiwan which was further processed in the Philippines was the basis for Taiwanese-Philippine commerce with Southeast Asia.Han Chinese fishermen had settled on the Penghu Islands by 1171, when a group of "Bisheye" bandits, a Taiwanese people related to the Bisaya of the Visayas, landed on Penghu and plundered fields planted by Chinese migrants. The Song dynasty sent soldiers after them and from that time on, Song patrols regularly visited Penghu in the spring and summer. A local official, Wang Dayou, stationed troops there to prevent depredations from the Bisheye. In 1225, the Book of Barbarian Nations anecdotally indicated that Penghu was attached to Jinjiang. In November 1281, the Yuan dynasty under Emperor Shizu officially established the Penghu Patrol and Inspection Agency under the jurisdiction of Tong'an County. In 1349, Wang Dayuan provided the first written account of a visit to Taiwan. Hostile tribes, and a lack of valuable trade products, meant that few outsiders visited until the 16th century. During the 16th century, visits to the coast by fishermen and traders from Fujian, as well as Chinese and Japanese pirates, became more frequent. In the 15th century, the Ming ordered the evacuation of the Penghu Islands as part of their maritime ban. When these restrictions were removed in the late 16th century, legal fishing communities were re-established. The Dutch East India Company (VOC) attempted to establish a trading outpost on the Penghu Islands in 1622, but was driven off by Ming forces. In 1624, the VOC established a stronghold called Fort Zeelandia on the coastal islet of Tayouan. When the Dutch arrived, they found southwestern Taiwan already frequented by a mostly transient Chinese population numbering close to 1,500, with the lowland areas divided among 11 chiefdoms. Some of these fell under Dutch control, including the Kingdom of Middag, while others remained independent. The VOC encouraged farmers to immigrate from Fujian and work the lands under Dutch control. By the 1660s, some 30,000 to 50,000 Chinese were living on the island. Most of the farmers cultivated rice for local consumption and sugar for export. Some immigrants were engaged in commercial deer hunting; skins and parts were exported.In 1626, the Spanish Empire landed on and occupied northern Taiwan as a trading base, first at Keelung and in 1628 building Fort San Domingo at Tamsui. This colony lasted until 1642, when the last Spanish fortress fell to Dutch forces. The Dutch then marched south, subduing hundreds of villages in the western plains.Following the fall of the Ming dynasty in Beijing in 1644, Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) pledged allegiance to the Yongli Emperor and attacked the Qing dynasty along the southeastern coast of China. In 1661, under increasing Qing pressure, he moved his forces from his base in Xiamen to Taiwan, expelling the Dutch the following year. The Dutch allied with the Qing against the Zheng regime and retook the northern fortress at Keelung in 1664. The Dutch held out at Keelung until 1668, when aborigine resistance and the lack of progress in retaking any other parts of the island persuaded the colonial authorities to abandon this stronghold and withdraw from Taiwan.The Zheng regime, known as Kingdom of Tungning, is considered to be loyal to the Ming, while others argue that the regime acted as an independent ruler. However, Zheng Jing's return to China to participate in the Revolt of the Three Feudatories ruined the regime and paved the way for the Qing invasion and occupation of Taiwan in 1683. Qing rule (1683–1895) Following the defeat of Koxinga's grandson by an armada led by Admiral Shi Lang in 1683, the Qing dynasty formally annexed Taiwan in May 1684, making it a prefecture of Fujian province while retaining its administrative seat (now Tainan) under Koxinga as the capital.The Qing government generally tried to restrict migration to Taiwan throughout the duration of its administration because it believed that Taiwan could not sustain too large a population without leading to conflict. After the defeat of the Kingdom of Tungning, most of its population in Taiwan was sent back to the mainland, leaving the official population count at only 50,000: 546 inhabitants in Penghu, 30,229 in Taiwan, 8,108 aborigines, and 10,000 troops. Despite official restrictions, officials in Taiwan solicited settlers from the mainland, causing tens of thousands of annual arrivals from Fujian and Guangdong by 1711. A permit system was officially recorded in 1712 but it likely existed as early as 1684. Restrictions related to the permit system included only allowing those who had property on the mainland, family in Taiwan, and those who were not accompanied by wives or children, to enter Taiwan. Many of the male migrants married local indigenous women. Over the 18th century, restrictions on entering Taiwan were relaxed. In 1732, families were allowed to move to Taiwan, and in 1790, an office to manage cross-strait travel was established. By 1811 there were more than two million Han settlers in Taiwan and profitable sugar and rice production industries that provided exports to the mainland. In 1875, restrictions on entering Taiwan were repealed. Three counties nominally covered the entire western plains, but actual control was restricted to a smaller area. A government permit was required for settlers to go beyond the Dajia River at the mid-point of the western plains. Qing administration expanded across the western plains area over the 18th century, however this was not due to an active colonization policy, but a reflection of continued illegal crossings and settlement. The Taiwanese indigenous peoples were categorized by the Qing administration into acculturated aborigines who had adopted Han culture to some degree and non-acculturated aborigines who had not. The Qing did little to administer or subjugate them. When Taiwan was annexed, there were 46 aboriginal villages under its control, likely inherited from the Kingdom of Tungning. During the early Qianlong period there were 93 acculturated villages and 61 non-acculturated villages that paid taxes. The number of acculturated villages remained unchanged throughout the 18th century. In response to the Zhu Yigui uprising, a settler rebellion in 1722, separation of aboriginals and settlers became official policy via 54 stelae used to mark the frontier boundary. The markings were changed four times over the latter half of the 18th century due to continued settler encroachment. Two aboriginal affairs sub-prefects, one for the north and one for the south, were appointed in 1766.During the 200 years of Qing rule in Taiwan, the plains aborigines rarely rebelled against the government and the mountain aborigines were left to their own devices until the last 20 years of Qing rule. Most of the rebellions, of which there were more than 100 during the Qing period, were caused by Han settlers. More than a hundred rebellions, riots, and instances of civil strife occurred under the Qing administration, including the Lin Shuangwen rebellion (1786–1788). Their frequency was evoked by the common saying "every three years an uprising, every five years a rebellion" (三年一反、五年一亂), primarily in reference to the period between 1820 and 1850.Many officials stationed in Taiwan called for an active colonization policy over the 19th century. In 1788, Taiwan Prefect Yang Tingli supported the efforts of a settler named Wu Sha in his attempt to claim land held by the Kavalan people in modern Yilan County. In 1797, Wu Sha was able to recruit settlers with financial support from the local government but was unable to officially register the land. In the early 1800s, local officials convinced the emperor to officially incorporate the area by playing up the issue of piracy if the land was left alone. In 1814, some settlers attempted to colonize central Taiwan by fabricating rights to lease aboriginal land. They were evicted by government troops two years later. Local officials continued to advocate for the colonization of the area but were ignored. The Qing took on a more active colonization policy after 1874 when Japan invaded aboriginal territory in southern Taiwan and the Qing government was forced to pay an indemnity for them to leave. The administration of Taiwan was expanded with new prefectures, sub-prefectures, and counties. Mountain roads were constructed to make inner Taiwan more accessible. Restrictions on entering Taiwan were ended in 1875 and agencies for recruiting settlers were established on the mainland, but efforts to promote settlement ended soon after. In 1884, Keelung in northern Taiwan was occupied during the Sino-French War but the French forces failed to advance any further inland while their victory at Penghu in 1885 resulted in disease and retreat soon afterward as the war ended. Colonization efforts were renewed under Liu Mingchuan. In 1887, Taiwan's status was upgraded to a province. Taipei became a temporary capital and then the permanent capital in 1893. Liu's efforts to increase revenues on Taiwan's produce were hampered by foreign pressure not to increase levies. A land reform was implemented, increasing revenue which still fell short of expectation. Modern technologies such as electric lighting, a railway, telegraph lines, steamship service, and industrial machinery were introduced under Liu's governance, but several of these projects had mixed results. The telegraph line did not function at all times due to a difficult overland connection and the railway required an overhaul while servicing only small rolling stock with little freight load. A campaign to formally subjugate the aborigines was launched with 17,500 soldiers but ended with the loss of a third of the army after fierce resistance from the Mkgogan and Msbtunux peoples. Liu resigned in 1891 due to criticism of these costly projects.By the end of the Qing period, the western plains were fully developed as farmland with about 2.5 million Chinese settlers. The mountainous areas were still largely autonomous under the control of aborigines. Aboriginal land loss under the Qing occurred at a relatively slow pace due to the absence of state sponsored land deprivation for the majority of Qing rule. Qing rule ended after the First Sino-Japanese War when it ceded Taiwan and the Penghu islands to Japan on 17 April 1895, according to the terms of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. Japanese rule (1895–1945) Following the Qing defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War (1894–1895), Taiwan, its associated islands, and the Penghu archipelago were ceded to the Japan by the Treaty of Shimonoseki, along with other concessions. Inhabitants on Taiwan and Penghu wishing to remain Qing subjects and not to become Japanese had to move to mainland China within a two-year grace period. Very few Formosans saw this as feasible. Estimates say around four to six thousand departed before the expiration of the grace period, and two to three hundred thousand followed during the subsequent disorder. On 25 May 1895, a group of pro-Qing high officials proclaimed the Republic of Formosa to resist impending Japanese rule. Japanese forces entered the capital at Tainan and quelled this resistance on 21 October 1895. About 6,000 inhabitants died in the initial fighting and some 14,000 died in the first year of Japanese rule. Another 12,000 "bandit-rebels" were killed from 1898 to 1902. Several subsequent rebellions against the Japanese (the Beipu uprising of 1907, the Tapani incident of 1915, and the Musha incident of 1930) were all unsuccessful but demonstrated opposition to Japanese colonial rule. The colonial period was instrumental to the industrialization of the island, with its expansion of railways and other transport networks, the building of an extensive sanitation system, the establishment of a formal education system, and an end to the practice of headhunting. During this period, the human and natural resources of Taiwan were used to aid the development of Japan. The production of cash crops such as sugar greatly increased, especially since sugar cane was salable only to a few Japanese sugar mills, and large areas were therefore diverted from the production of rice, which the Formosans could market or consume themselves. By 1939, Taiwan was the seventh-greatest sugar producer in the world.The Han and aboriginal populations were classified as second- and third-class citizens. Many prestigious government and business positions were closed to them, leaving few natives capable of taking on leadership and management roles decades later when Japan relinquished the island. After suppressing Han guerrillas in the first decade of their rule, Japanese authorities engaged in a series of bloody campaigns against the indigenous people residing in mountainous regions, culminating in the Musha Incident of 1930. Intellectuals and laborers who participated in left-wing movements within Taiwan were also arrested and massacred (e.g. Chiang Wei-shui and Masanosuke Watanabe). Around 1935, the Japanese began an island-wide assimilation project to bind the island more firmly to the Japanese Empire. Han culture was to be removed, and Chinese-language newspapers and curriculums were abolished. Taiwanese music and theater were outlawed. A national Shinto religion (國家神道) was promoted in parallel with the suppression of traditional Taiwanese beliefs through the reorganization of their temples and ancestral halls. Starting from 1940, families were also required to adopt Japanese surnames, although only 2% had done so by 1943. By 1938, 309,000 Japanese settlers were residing in Taiwan.Burdened by Japan's upcoming war effort, the island was developed into a naval and air base while its agriculture, industry, and commerce suffered. Initial air attacks and the subsequent invasion of the Philippines were launched from Taiwan. The Imperial Japanese Navy operated heavily from Taiwanese ports, and its think tank "South Strike Group" was based at the Taihoku Imperial University in Taipei. Military bases and industrial centers, such as Kaohsiung and Keelung, became targets of heavy Allied bombings, which also destroyed many of the factories, dams, and transport facilities built by the Japanese. In October 1944, the Formosa Air Battle was fought between American carriers and Japanese forces in Taiwan. During the course of Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II, over 200,000 of Taiwanese served in the Japanese military, with over 30,000 casualties. In addition, over 2,000 women, euphemistically called "comfort women", were forced into sexual slavery for Imperial Japanese troops.After Japan's surrender in WWII, most of Taiwan's approximately 300,000 Japanese residents were expelled and sent to Japan. Republic of China (1945–present) While Taiwan was still under Japanese rule, the Republic of China was founded on the mainland on 1 January 1912, following the Xinhai Revolution, which began with the Wuchang uprising on 10 October 1911, replacing the Qing dynasty and ending over two thousand years of imperial rule in China. From its founding until 1949 it was based in mainland China. Central authority waxed and waned in response to warlordism (1915–28), Japanese invasion (1937–45), and the Chinese Civil War (1927–50), with central authority strongest during the Nanjing decade (1927–37), when most of China came under the control of the Kuomintang (KMT) under an authoritarian one-party state.In the 1943 Cairo Declaration, US, UK, and ROC representatives specified territories such as Formosa and the Pescadores to be restored by Japan to the Republic of China. Its terms were later referred to in the 1945 Potsdam Declaration, whose provisions Japan agreed to carry out in its instrument of surrender. In September 1945 following Japan's surrender in WWII, ROC forces, assisted by small American teams, prepared an amphibious lift into Taiwan to accept the surrender of the Japanese military forces there, under General Order No. 1, and take over the administration of Taiwan. On 25 October, General Rikichi Andō, governor-general of Taiwan and commander-in-chief of all Japanese forces on the island, signed the receipt and handed it over to ROC General Chen Yi to complete the official turnover. Chen proclaimed that day to be "Taiwan Retrocession Day", but the Allies, having entrusted Taiwan and the Penghu Islands to Chinese administration and military occupation, nonetheless considered them to be under Japanese sovereignty until 1952 when the Treaty of San Francisco took effect. Due to disagreements over which government (PRC or ROC) to invite, China did not attend the eventual signing of the Treaty of San Francisco, whereby Japan renounced all titles and claims to Formosa and the Pescadores without specifying to whom they were surrendered. In 1952, Japan and the ROC signed the Treaty of Taipei, recognizing that all treaties concluded before 9 December 1941 between China and Japan have become null and void. Interpretations of these documents and their legal implications give rise to the debate over the sovereignty status of Taiwan. While initially enthusiastic about the return of Chinese administration and the Three Principles of the People, Formosans grew increasingly dissatisfied about being excluded from higher positions, the postponement of local elections even after the enactment of a constitution on the mainland, the smuggling of valuables off the island, the expropriation of businesses into government operated monopolies, and the hyperinflation of 1945–1949. The shooting of a civilian on 28 February 1947 triggered island-wide unrest, which was suppressed by Chen with military force in what is now called the February 28 Incident. Mainstream estimates of the number killed range from 18,000 to 30,000. Many native leaders were killed, as well as students and some mainlanders. Chen was later relieved and replaced by Wei Tao-ming, who made an effort to undo previous mismanagement by re-appointing a good proportion of islanders and re-privatizing businesses. After the end of World War II, the Chinese Civil War resumed between the Chinese Nationalists (Kuomintang), led by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), led by CCP Chairman Mao Zedong. Throughout the months of 1949, a series of Chinese Communist offensives led to the capture of its capital Nanjing on 23 April and the subsequent defeat of the Nationalist army on the mainland, and the Communists founded the People's Republic of China on 1 October.On 7 December 1949, after the loss of four capitals, Chiang evacuated his Nationalist government to Taiwan and made Taipei the temporary capital of the ROC (also called the "wartime capital" by Chiang Kai-shek). Some 2 million people, consisting mainly of soldiers, members of the ruling Kuomintang and intellectual and business elites, were evacuated from mainland China to Taiwan at that time, adding to the earlier population of approximately six million. These people came to be known in Taiwan as "waisheng ren" (外省人), residents who came to the island in the 1940s and 50s after Japan's surrender, as well as their descendants. In addition, the ROC government took to Taipei many national treasures and much of China's gold and foreign currency reserves. Most of the 3.57 million ounces of gold brought to Taiwan was used to pay soldiers' salaries. 800,000 ounces of the remaining gold was used to issue the New Taiwan dollar, part of a price stabilization program to slow the inflation in Taiwan.After losing control of mainland China in 1949, the ROC retained control of Taiwan and Penghu (Taiwan, ROC), parts of Fujian (Fujian, ROC)—specifically Kinmen, Wuqiu (now part of Kinmen) and the Matsu Islands and two major islands in the South China Sea (within the Dongsha/Pratas and Nansha/Spratly island groups). These territories have remained under ROC governance until the present day. The ROC also briefly retained control of the entirety of Hainan (an island province), parts of Zhejiang (Chekiang)—specifically the Dachen Islands and Yijiangshan Islands—and portions of Tibet, Qinghai, Sinkiang and Yunnan. The Communists captured Hainan in 1950, captured the Dachen Islands and Yijiangshan Islands during the First Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1955 and defeated the ROC revolts in Northwest China in 1958. ROC forces in Yunnan province entered Burma and Thailand in the 1950s and were defeated by Communists in 1961. Ever since losing control of mainland China, the Kuomintang continued to claim sovereignty over 'all of China', which it defined to include mainland China (including Tibet), Taiwan (including Penghu), Outer Mongolia, and other minor territories. Martial law era (1949–1987) Martial law, declared on Taiwan in May 1949, continued to be in effect after the central government relocated to Taiwan. Provisions of martial law were also used to suppress political opposition. In total, it lasted for 38 years, finally being repealed in 1987. During the White Terror, as the period is known, 140,000 people were imprisoned or executed for being perceived as anti-KMT or pro-Communist. Many citizens were arrested, tortured, imprisoned or executed for their real or perceived link to the Chinese Communist Party. Since these people were mainly from the intellectual and social elite, an entire generation of political and social leaders was destroyed. Combat between both sides of the Chinese Civil War continued through the 1950s. Following the eruption of the Korean war, US President Harry S. Truman decided to intervene in the context of the Cold War and dispatched the United States Seventh Fleet into the Taiwan Strait to prevent hostilities between the ROC on Taiwan and the PRC on the mainland. The United States also passed legislations such as the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty and the Formosa Resolution of 1955, thereby granting substantial foreign aid to the KMT regime between 1951 and 1965. The US foreign aid fully stabilized prices in Taiwan by 1952. The KMT government instituted many laws and land reforms that it had never effectively enacted on mainland China. Economic development was encouraged by American aid and programs such as the Joint Commission on Rural Reconstruction, which turned the agricultural sector into the basis for later growth. Under the combined stimulus of the land reform and the agricultural development programs, agricultural production increased at an average annual rate of 4 percent from 1952 to 1959, which was greater than the population growth, 3.6 percent. The government also implemented a policy of import substitution industrialization, attempting to produce imported goods domestically. The policy promoted the development of textile, food, and other labor-intensive industries in the 1950s and continued into the next decade.As the Chinese Civil War continued without truce, the government built up military fortifications throughout Taiwan. Within this effort, veterans built the now famous Central Cross-Island Highway through the Taroko Gorge in the 1950s. During the Second Taiwan Strait Crisis in 1958, Taiwan's landscape saw Nike Hercules missiles added, with the formation of missile batteries throughout the island. The two sides would continue to engage in sporadic military clashes with seldom publicized details well into the 1960s on the China coastal islands with an unknown number of night raids. During the 1960s and 1970s, the ROC maintained an authoritarian, single-party government under the Kuomintang's Dang Guo system while its economy became industrialized and technology-oriented. This rapid economic growth, known as the Taiwan Miracle, occurred following a strategy of prioritizing agriculture, light industries, and heavy industries, in that order. Export-oriented industrialization was achieved by tax rebate for exports, removal of import restriction, moving from multiple exchange rate to single exchange rate system, and depreciation of the New Taiwan dollar. Infrastructure projects such as the Sun Yat-sen Freeway, Taoyuan International Airport, Taichung Harbor, and Jinshan Nuclear Power Plant were launched, while the rise of steel, petrochemical, and shipbuilding industries in southern Taiwan saw the transformation of Kaohsiung into a special municipality on par with Taipei. In the 1970s, Taiwan became the second fastest growing economy in Asia, after Japan. Real growth in GDP averaged over 10 percent during the decade. In 1978, the combination of tax incentives and a cheap, well-trained labor force attracted investments of over $1.9 billion from overseas Chinese, the United States, and Japan, especially in the manufacturing of electrical and electronic products. By 1980, foreign trade reached $39 billion per year and generated a surplus of $46.5 million, while the income ratio of the highest to the lowest 20 percent of wage earners dropped from 15:1 to 4:1 between 1952 and 1978, less than even that of the United States. Along with Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea, Taiwan became known as one of the Four Asian Tigers. Because of the Cold War, most Western nations and the United Nations regarded the ROC as the sole legitimate government of China until the 1970s. Eventually, especially after the expulsion in the United Nations, most nations switched diplomatic recognition to the PRC. Until the 1970s, the ROC government was regarded by Western critics as undemocratic for upholding martial law, severely repressing any political opposition, and controlling the media. The KMT did not allow the creation of new parties and those that existed did not seriously compete with the KMT. Thus, competitive democratic elections did not exist.From the late 1970s to the 1990s, Taiwan underwent political and social reforms that transformed it from an authoritarian state to a democracy. Chiang Ching-kuo, Chiang Kai-shek's son, served as premier since 1972 and rose to the presidency in 1978. He sought to move more authority to "bensheng ren" (residents of Taiwan before Japan's surrender in World War II and their descendants) instead of continuing to promote "waisheng ren" (residents who came to the island in the 1940s and 50s after Japan's surrender, and their descendants) as his father had. Pro-democracy activists Tangwai, literally "outside the party", emerged as the opposition. In 1979, a protest known as the Kaohsiung Incident took place in Kaohsiung to celebrate Human Rights Day. Although the protest was rapidly crushed by the authorities, it is today considered as the main event that united Taiwan's opposition.In 1984, Chiang Ching-kuo selected Lee Teng-hui, a Taiwan-born, US-educated technocrat, to be his vice-president. After the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) was (illegally) founded as the first opposition party in Taiwan to counter the KMT in 1986, Chiang announced that he would allow the formation of new parties and intended to lift martial law. On 15 July 1987, Chiang lifted martial law on the main island of Taiwan (martial law was lifted on Kinmen and Matsu in 1992). Transition to democracy After the death of Chiang Ching-kuo in 1988, Lee Teng-hui succeeded him and became the first president of the ROC born in Taiwan. Lee gained control of the KMT and was elected for a full six-year term by the National Assembly in 1990 while a student movement called for democratic reforms. One of the demands of the movement was the dissolution of the National Assembly, which was, in 1990, still composed of members who had been elected in 1947 and had held their seats without re-election for more than four decades, and whose constituencies were mostly located in mainland China. In response to the students' protest, Lee promised to hold a National Affairs Conference on constitutional reform and institutional democratization. The Constitution Court also handed down an interpretation of the constitution, saying that the sitting congress members who had not been re-elected should cease exercising their powers by the end of 1991. This interpretation helped pave the way for re-elections of the congress, including the National Assembly and the Legislative Yuan. In 1991, the National Assembly resolved to abolish the Temporary Provisions against the Communist Rebellion and introduced the Additional Articles of the Constitution. Seats of the congress were re-allocated to be elected in the Taiwan Area. The nominal representation of mainland China in the congress was ultimately brought to an end in 1992. As reforms continued in the 1990s, an increasing number of positions became elected. In 1996, Lee Teng-hui was re-elected in the first direct presidential election.Under Lee, the Constitution of the ROC was transformed from a "constitution of five powers" into one that outlined a tripartite division of powers. Government of Taiwan Province was streamlined and provincial-level elections were suspended. Taiwan underwent a process of localization in which Taiwanese culture and history were promoted over a pan-China viewpoint, in contrast to earlier KMT policies. The assimilationist language policy in places for the decades prior was replaced with support for multiculturalism and official respect for aboriginal languages and other minorities. During the White Terror, the discussion of any political outcome other than an ROC-led unification was taboo. As democratization continued, the controversial issue of Taiwan's political status gradually resurfaced. During Lee's administration, both he and his party were involved in corruption controversies that came to be known as "black gold" politics. The corruption scandals and the KMT's split have been considered factors that contributed to the party's loss in the 2000 presidential election.Chen Shui-bian of the DPP was elected as the first non-KMT president in 2000. However, Chen lacked legistlative majority. The opposition KMT developed the Pan-Blue Coalition with other parties, mustering a slim majority over the ruling DPP-led Pan-Green Coalition in the Legislative Yuan. Polarized politics emerged in Taiwan with the Pan-Blue preference for eventual Chinese unification, while the Pan-Green prefers Taiwanese independence. Chen announced in his inauguration speech that he would not declare independence as long as the PRC had no intention to use military force. After a recession in 2001, Chen's reference to the existence of "One Country on Each Side" of the Taiwan Strait undercut cross-Strait relations in 2002. He pushed for the first national referendum on cross-Strait relations before he was re-elected by a narrow margin of 0.22 percent in 2004, and called for an end to the National Unification Council in 2006. State-run companies began changing their names, dropping "China" references and including "Taiwan" in their official titles. The ruling DPP also passed a resolution calling for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country" and a separate identity from China. In 2008, referendums were held on the same day as the presidential election asking whether Taiwan should join the UN. This act by Chen alienated moderate constituents who supported the status quo, as well as those with cross-strait economic ties. It also created tension with the mainland and led to disagreements with the United States. Chen's administration was also dogged by public concerns over reduced economic growth, legislative gridlock due to a pan-blue, opposition-controlled Legislative Yuan, and corruption investigations involving the First Family as well as government officials, eventually resulting in an approval rating of just over 20% near the end of his second term. In the 2008 legislative elections, the KMT's majority in the Legislative Yuan increased. Its nominee Ma Ying-jeou went on to win the presidency, campaigning on a platform of increased economic growth and better ties with the PRC under a policy of "mutual non-denial". Under Ma, Taiwan and China opened up direct flights and cargo shipments. The PRC government even made the atypical decision to not demand that Taiwan be barred from the annual World Health Assembly. Ma also made an official apology for the White Terror; a foundation to compensate the victims had been established by law in 1998 and over 20,000 people had been compensated when it ceased operations in 2014. However, closer economic ties with China raised concerns about its political consequences. In 2014, a group of university students successfully occupied the Legislative Yuan and prevented the ratification of the Cross-Strait Service Trade Agreement in what became known as the Sunflower Student Movement. The movement gave rise to youth-based third parties such as the New Power Party, and is viewed to have contributed to the DPP's victories in the 2016 presidential and legislative elections, the latter of which resulted in the first DPP legislative majority in Taiwanese history.In 2016, Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP became the president. She called on the international community to defend democracy in the face of renewed threats from China and called on the latter to democratize and renounce the use of military force against Taiwan. In 2020, Tsai was re-elected and the ruling DPP maintained their majority in the simultaneous legislative election. In 2020, the Economist Intelligence Unit's Democracy Index ranked Taiwan as having the 11th highest democracy score, the highest in Asia, while the same Index in 2022 gave it the second highest score in the Asia and Australasia region. Freedom House has ranked Taiwan the second freest place in Asia while CIVICUS in 2021 rated Taiwan along with New Zealand as the only "open" countries in the Asia-Pacific. Geography The land controlled by the ROC consists of 168 islands with a combined area of 36,193 square kilometres (13,974 sq mi). The main island, known historically as Formosa, makes up 99 percent of this area, measuring 35,808 square kilometres (13,826 sq mi) and lying some 180 kilometres (112 mi) across the Taiwan Strait from the southeastern coast of mainland China. The East China Sea lies to its north, the Philippine Sea to its east, the Luzon Strait directly to its south and the South China Sea to its southwest. Smaller islands include the Penghu Islands in the Taiwan Strait, the Kinmen, Matsu and Wuqiu islands near the Chinese coast, and some of the South China Sea islands. The main island is a tilted fault block, characterized by the contrast between the eastern two-thirds, consisting mostly of five rugged mountain ranges parallel to the east coast, and the flat to gently rolling plains of the western third, where the majority of Taiwan's population reside. There are several peaks over 3,500 metres, the highest being Yu Shan at 3,952 m (12,966 ft), making Taiwan the world's fourth-highest island. The tectonic boundary that formed these ranges is still active, and the island experiences many earthquakes, a few of them highly destructive. There are also many active submarine volcanoes in the Taiwan Strait. Taiwan contains four terrestrial ecoregions: Jian Nan subtropical evergreen forests, South China Sea Islands, South Taiwan monsoon rain forests, and Taiwan subtropical evergreen forests. The eastern mountains are heavily forested and home to a diverse range of wildlife, while land use in the western and northern lowlands is intensive. The country had a 2019 Forest Landscape Integrity Index mean score of 6.38/10, ranking it 76th globally out of 172 countries. Climate Taiwan lies on the Tropic of Cancer, and its general climate is marine tropical. The northern and central regions are subtropical, whereas the south is tropical and the mountainous regions are temperate. The average rainfall is 2,600 millimetres (100 inches) per year for the island proper; the rainy season is concurrent with the onset of the summer East Asian Monsoon in May and June. The entire island experiences hot, humid weather from June through September. Typhoons are most common in July, August and September. During the winter (November to March), the northeast experiences steady rain, while the central and southern parts of the island are mostly sunny. Due to climate change, the average temperature in Taiwan has risen 1.4 °C (2.5 °F) in the last 100 years, which is twice the worldwide temperature rise. The goal of the Taiwanese government is to cut carbon emissions by 20 percent in 2030 compared to 2005 levels, and by 50 percent in 2050 compared to 2005 levels. Carbon emissions increased by 0.92 percent between 2005 and 2016. Geology The island of Taiwan lies in a complex tectonic area between the Yangtze Plate to the west and north, the Okinawa Plate on the north-east, and the Philippine Mobile Belt on the east and south. The upper part of the crust on the island is primarily made up of a series of terranes, mostly old island arcs which have been forced together by the collision of the forerunners of the Eurasian Plate and the Philippine Sea Plate. These have been further uplifted as a result of the detachment of a portion of the Eurasian Plate as it was subducted beneath remnants of the Philippine Sea Plate, a process which left the crust under Taiwan more buoyant.The east and south of Taiwan are a complex system of belts formed by, and part of the zone of, active collision between the North Luzon Trough portion of the Luzon Volcanic Arc and South China, where accreted portions of the Luzon Arc and Luzon forearc form the eastern Coastal Range and parallel inland Longitudinal Valley of Taiwan, respectively.The major seismic faults in Taiwan correspond to the various suture zones between the various terranes. These have produced major quakes throughout the history of the island. On 21 September 1999, a 7.3 quake known as the "921 earthquake" killed more than 2,400 people. The seismic hazard map for Taiwan by the USGS shows 9/10 of the island at the highest rating (most hazardous). Political and legal status The political and legal statuses of Taiwan are contentious issues. The People's Republic of China (PRC) claims that Taiwan is Chinese territory and that the PRC replaced the ROC government in 1949, becoming the sole legal government of China. The ROC, however, has its own currency, widely accepted passport, postage stamps, internet TLD, armed forces and constitution with an independently elected president. It has not formally renounced its claim to the mainland, but ROC government publications have increasingly downplayed this historical claim.Though it was a founding member of United Nations, the ROC now has neither official membership nor observer status in the organization. Relations with the PRC The Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) of Taiwan is responsible for relations with the PRC, while the Taiwan Affairs Office (TAO) of the PRC is responsible for relations with Taiwan. Exchanges are conducted through private organizations both founded in 1991: the Straits Exchange Foundation (SEF) of Taiwan and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) of the PRC. The PRC's One-China principle states that Taiwan and mainland China are both part of China, and that the PRC is the only legitimate government of China. It seeks to prevent or reduce any formal recognition of the ROC as an independent sovereign state, meaning that Taiwan participates in many international forums as a non-state member under names such as "Chinese Taipei". The PRC suggested the "one country, two systems" employed in Hong Kong as a model for peaceful unification with Taiwan. While it aims for "peaceful reunification," the PRC does not rule out the use of force. The political environment is complicated by the potential for military conflict should events outlined in the PRC's Anti-Secession Law occur, such as Taiwan declaring de jure independence. There is a substantial military presence on the Fujian coast as well as PRC sorties into Taiwan's air defense identification zone (ADIZ). In November 1992, the ARATS and SEF held a meeting which would later become known as the 1992 Consensus. The SEF announced that both sides agreed that there was only one China, but disagreed on the definition of China (i.e. the ROC vs. PRC), while the ARATS announced that the two agreed on the One China Principle, but did not mention differences regarding its definition made in the SEF statement. The discrepancy between the two statements was criticized by the DPP and former president Lee Teng-hui in Taiwan. Ma Ying-jeou of the KMT fully endorsed the 1992 Consensus. After Ma became elected president in 2008, talks between the ROC and PRC resumed. Tsai Ing-wen of the DPP won the 2016 Taiwanese presidential election, while she received a frosty reception from the PRC. In 2019, Tsai emphasized that the ROC has never accepted the 1992 Consensus. She stated that there is no need to talk about the 1992 Consensus anymore, because this term has already been defined by Beijing as "one country, two systems." Foreign relations Before 1928, the foreign policy of Republican China was complicated by a lack of internal unity—competing centers of power all claimed legitimacy. This situation changed after the defeat of the Peiyang Government by the Kuomintang (KMT), which led to widespread diplomatic recognition of the Republic of China.After the KMT's retreat to Taiwan, most countries, notably the countries in the Western Bloc, continued to maintain relations with the ROC, but recognition gradually eroded and many countries switched recognition to the People's Republic of China in the 1970s. On 25 October 1971, UN Resolution 2758 was adopted by 76 votes to 35 with 17 abstentions, recognizing the PRC, founded in 1949 on the mainland, as China's sole representative in the United Nations; countries in support included France, India, the UK, and the USSR, and countries in opposition included Japan and the United States. The PRC refuses to have diplomatic relations with any nation that has diplomatic relations with the ROC, and requires all nations with which it has diplomatic relations to make a statement on its claims to Taiwan. As a result, only 12 UN member states and the Holy See maintain official diplomatic relations with the Republic of China. The ROC maintains unofficial relations with other countries via de facto embassies and consulates mostly called Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Offices (TECRO), with branch offices called "Taipei Economic and Cultural Offices" (TECO). Both TECRO and TECO are "unofficial commercial entities" of the ROC in charge of maintaining diplomatic relations, providing consular services (i.e. visa applications), and serving the national interests of the ROC in other countries.From 1954 to 1979, the United States was a partner with Taiwan in a mutual defense treaty. The United States remains one of the main supporters of Taiwan and, through the Taiwan Relations Act passed in 1979, has continued selling arms and providing military training to the Armed Forces. This situation continues to be an issue for the People's Republic of China, which considers US involvement disruptive to the stability of the region. The official position of the United States is that the PRC is expected to "use no force or threat[en] to use force against Taiwan" and the ROC is to "exercise prudence in managing all aspects of Cross-Strait relations." Both are to refrain from performing actions or espousing statements "that would unilaterally alter Taiwan's status".Taiwan, since 2016 under the Tsai administration's New Southbound Policy, has pursued closer economic relations with South and Southeast Asian countries, increasing cooperation on investments and people-to-people exchanges despite the region's general lack of official diplomatic ties with Taipei. The policy has led to Taiwan receiving an increased number of migrants and students from the region. However, a few scandals of Southeast Asians, particularly Indonesians, experiencing exploitation in scholarship programs and in some labor industries have emerged as setbacks for the policy as well as for Indonesia-Taiwan relations. Participation in international events and organizations The ROC was a founding member of the United Nations, and held the seat of China on the Security Council and other UN bodies until 1971, when it was expelled by Resolution 2758 and replaced in all UN organs with the PRC. Since 1993, the ROC has petitioned the UN for entry, but its applications have not made it past committee stage. Due to the One China policy, most UN member states, including the United States, do not wish to discuss the issue of the ROC's political status for fear of souring diplomatic ties with the PRC.The ROC government shifted its focus to organizations affiliated with the UN, as well as organizations outside the UN system. The government sought to participate in the World Health Organization (WHO) since 1997, their efforts were rejected until 2009, when they participated as an observer under the name "Chinese Taipei" after reaching an agreement with Beijing. In 2017, Taiwan again began to be excluded from the WHO even in an observer capacity. This exclusion caused a number of scandals during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Nagoya Resolution in 1979 approved by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) provided a compromise for the ROC to use the name "Chinese Taipei" in international events where the PRC is also a party, such as the Olympic Games. Under the IOC charter, ROC flags cannot be flown at any official Olympic venue or gathering. The ROC also participates in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (since 1991) and the World Trade Organization (since 2002) under the names "Chinese Taipei" and "Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu", respectively. It was a founding member of the Asian Development Bank, but since China's ascension in 1986 has participated under the name "Taipei, China". The ROC is able to participate as "China" in organizations in which the PRC does not participate, such as the World Organization of the Scout Movement. Due to its limited international recognition, the Republic of China has been a member of the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (UNPO) since the foundation of the organization in 1991, represented by a government-funded organization, the Taiwan Foundation for Democracy (TFD), under the name "Taiwan". Domestic opinion Broadly speaking, domestic public opinion has preferred maintaining the status quo, though pro-independence sentiment has steadily risen since 1994. In June 2021, an annual poll run by the National Chengchi University found that 28.2 percent of respondents supported the status quo and postponing a decision, 27.5 percent supported maintaining the status quo indefinitely, 25.8 percent supported the status quo with a move toward independence, 5.9 percent supported the status quo with a move toward unification, 5.7 percent gave no response, 5.6 percent supported independence as soon as possible, and 1.5 percent supported unification as soon as possible. A referendum question in 2018 asked if Taiwan's athletes should compete under "Taiwan" in the 2020 Summer Olympics but did not pass; the New York Times attributed the failure to a campaign cautioning that a name change might lead to Taiwan being banned "under Chinese pressure".The KMT, the largest Pan-Blue party, supports the status quo for the indefinite future with a stated ultimate goal of unification. However, it does not support unification in the short term with the PRC as such a prospect would be unacceptable to most of its members and the public. Ma Ying-jeou, chairman of the KMT and former president of the ROC, has set out democracy, economic development to a level near that of Taiwan, and equitable wealth distribution as the conditions that the PRC must fulfill for unification to occur. Ma stated that the cross-Strait relations are neither between two Chinas nor two states. It is a special relationship. Further, he stated that the sovereignty issues between the two cannot be resolved at present.The Democratic Progressive Party, the largest Pan-Green party, officially seeks independence, but in practice also supports the status quo because neither independence nor unification seems likely in the short or even medium term. In 2017, Taiwanese premier William Lai of the Democratic Progressive Party said that he was a "political worker who advocates Taiwan independence", but that as Taiwan was already an independent country called the Republic of China, it had no need to declare independence. Government and politics Government The government of the Republic of China was founded on the 1947 Constitution of the ROC and its Three Principles of the People, which states that the ROC "shall be a democratic republic of the people, to be governed by the people and for the people". It underwent significant revisions in the 1990s, known collectively as the Additional Articles. The government is divided into five branches (Yuan): the Executive Yuan (cabinet), the Legislative Yuan (Congress or Parliament), the Judicial Yuan, the Control Yuan (audit agency), and the Examination Yuan (civil service examination agency). The head of state and commander-in-chief of the armed forces is the president, who is elected by popular vote for a maximum of 2 four-year terms on the same ticket as the vice-president. The president appoints the members of the Executive Yuan as their cabinet, including a premier, who is officially the President of the Executive Yuan; members are responsible for policy and administration.The main legislative body is the unicameral Legislative Yuan with 113 seats. Seventy-three are elected by popular vote from single-member constituencies; thirty-four are elected based on the proportion of nationwide votes received by participating political parties in a separate party list ballot; and six are elected from two three-member aboriginal constituencies. Members serve four-year terms. Originally the unicameral National Assembly, as a standing constitutional convention and electoral college, held some parliamentary functions, but the National Assembly was abolished in 2005 with the power of constitutional amendments handed over to the Legislative Yuan and all eligible voters of the Republic via referendums. The premier is selected by the president without the need for approval from the legislature, and neither the president nor the premier wields veto power. Thus, there is little incentive for the president and the legislature to negotiate on legislation if they are of opposing parties. After the election of the pan-Green's Chen Shui-bian as president in 2000, legislation repeatedly stalled because of deadlock with the Legislative Yuan, which was controlled by a pan-Blue majority. Historically, the ROC has been dominated by strongman single party politics. This legacy has resulted in executive powers currently being concentrated in the office of the president rather than the premier, even though the constitution does not explicitly state the extent of the president's executive power.The Judicial Yuan is the highest judicial organ. It interprets the constitution and other laws and decrees, judges administrative suits, and disciplines public functionaries. The president and vice-president of the Judicial Yuan and additional thirteen justices form the Council of Grand Justices. They are nominated and appointed by the president, with the consent of the Legislative Yuan. The highest court, the Supreme Court, consists of a number of civil and criminal divisions, each of which is formed by a presiding judge and four associate judges, all appointed for life. In 1993, a separate constitutional court was established to resolve constitutional disputes, regulate the activities of political parties and accelerate the democratization process. There is no trial by jury but the right to a fair public trial is protected by law and respected in practice; many cases are presided over by multiple judges.The Control Yuan is a watchdog agency that monitors (controls) the actions of the executive. It can be considered a standing commission for administrative inquiry and can be compared to the Court of Auditors of the European Union or the Government Accountability Office of the United States. It is also responsible for the National Human Rights Commission. The Examination Yuan is in charge of validating the qualification of civil servants. It is based on the old imperial examination system used in dynastic China. It can be compared to the European Personnel Selection Office of the European Union or the Office of Personnel Management of the United States. It was downsized in 2019, and there have been calls for its abolition. Constitution The constitution was drafted in by the KMT while the ROC still governed the Chinese mainland, went into effect on 25 December 1947. The ROC remained under martial law from 1948 until 1987 and much of the constitution was not in effect. Political reforms beginning in the late 1970s resulted in the end of martial law in 1987, and Taiwan transformed into a multiparty democracy in the early 1990s. The constitutional basis for this transition to democracy was gradually laid in the Additional Articles of the Constitution of the Republic of China. In addition, these articles localized the Constitution by suspending portions of the Constitution designed for the governance of mainland China and replacing them with articles adapted for the governance of and guaranteeing the political rights of residents of the Taiwan Area, as defined in the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.National boundaries were not explicitly prescribed by the 1947 Constitution, and the Constitutional Court declined to define these boundaries in a 1993 interpretation, viewing the question as a political question to be resolved by the Executive and Legislative Yuans. The 1947 Constitution included articles regarding representatives from former Qing dynasty territories including Tibet and Mongolia (though it did not specify whether this excluded Outer Mongolia). The ROC recognized Mongolia as an independent country in 1946 after signing the 1945 Sino-Soviet Treaty of Friendship and Alliance, but after retreating to Taiwan in 1949 it reneged on its agreement in order to preserve its claim over mainland China. The Additional Articles of the 1990s did not alter national boundaries, but suspended articles regarding Mongolian and Tibetan representatives. The ROC began to accept the Mongolian passport and removed clauses referring to Outer Mongolia from the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area in 2002. In 2012 the Mainland Affairs Council issued a statement clarifying that Outer Mongolia was not part of the ROC's national territory in 1947, and that the termination of the Sino-Soviet Treaty had not altered national territory according to the Constitution. The Mongolian and Tibetan Affairs Commission in the Executive Yuan was abolished in 2017. Major camps Taiwan's political scene is divided into two major camps in terms of cross-Strait relations, i.e. how Taiwan should relate to China or the PRC. The Pan-Green Coalition (e.g. the Democratic Progressive Party) leans pro-independence, and the Pan-Blue Coalition (e.g. the Kuomintang) leans pro-unification. Moderates in both camps regard the Republic of China as a sovereign independent state, but the Pan-Green Coalition regard the ROC as synonymous with Taiwan, while moderates in the Pan-Blue Coalition view it as synonymous with China. These positions formed against the backdrop of the PRC's Anti-Secession Law, which threatens the use of "non-peaceful means" to respond to formal Taiwanese independence. The ROC government has understood this to mean a military invasion of Taiwan. The Pan-Green Coalition is mainly led by the pro-independence Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), Taiwan Statebuilding Party (TSP) and Green Party (GPT). They oppose the idea that Taiwan is part of China, and seek wide diplomatic recognition and an eventual declaration of formal Taiwan independence. In September 2007, the then ruling DPP approved a resolution asserting separate identity from China and called for the enactment of a new constitution for a "normal country". It called also for general use of "Taiwan" as the country's name, without abolishing its formal name, the "Republic of China". The name "Taiwan" has been used increasingly often after the emergence of the Taiwanese independence movement. Some members of the coalition, such as former President Chen Shui-bian, argue that it is unnecessary to proclaim independence because "Taiwan is already an independent, sovereign country" and the Republic of China is the same as Taiwan. Despite being a member of KMT prior to and during his presidency, Lee Teng-hui also held a similar view and was a supporter of the Taiwanization movement. TSP and GPT have adopted a line that aggressive route more than the DPP, in order to win over pro-independence voters who are dissatisfied with the DPP's conservative stance. The Pan-Blue Coalition, composed of the pro-unification Kuomintang (KMT), People First Party (PFP) and New Party generally support the spirit of the 1992 Consensus, where the KMT claimed that there is one China, but that the ROC and PRC have different interpretations of what "China" means. They favor eventual unification with China. Regarding independence, the mainstream Pan-Blue position is to maintain the status quo, while refusing immediate unification. President Ma Ying-jeou stated that there will be no unification nor declaration of independence during his presidency. Some Pan-Blue members seek to improve relationships with PRC, with a focus on improving economic ties. National identity Roughly 84 percent of Taiwan's population are descendants of Han Chinese immigrants from Qing China between 1683 and 1895. Another significant fraction descends from Han Chinese who immigrated from mainland China in the late 1940s and early 1950s. The shared cultural origin combined with several hundred years of geographical separation, some hundred years of political separation and foreign influences, as well as hostility between the rival ROC and PRC have resulted in national identity being a contentious issue with political overtones. Since democratic reforms and the lifting of martial law, a distinct Taiwanese identity (as opposed to Taiwanese identity as a subset of a Chinese identity) is often at the heart of political debates. Its acceptance makes the island distinct from mainland China, and therefore may be seen as a step towards forming a consensus for de jure Taiwan independence. The Pan-Green camp supports a predominantly Taiwanese identity (although "Chinese" may be viewed as cultural heritage), while the Pan-Blue camp supports a predominantly Chinese identity (with "Taiwanese" as a regional/diasporic Chinese identity). The KMT has downplayed this stance in the recent years and now supports a Taiwanese identity as part of a Chinese identity.In annual polls conducted by National Chengchi University, Taiwanese identification has increased substantially since the early 1990s, while Chinese identification has fallen to a low level, and identification as both has also seen a reduction. In 1992, 17.6 percent of respondents identified as Taiwanese, 25.5 percent as Chinese, 46.4 percent as both, and 10.5 percent non-response. In June 2021, 63.3 percent identified as Taiwanese, 2.6 percent as Chinese, 31.4 percent as both, and 2.7 percent non-response. A survey conducted in Taiwan by Global Views Survey Research Center in July 2009 showed that 82.8 percent of respondents consider the ROC and the PRC as two separate countries with each developing on its own but 80.2 percent think they are members of the Chinese. Administrative divisions According to the 1947 constitution, the territory of the ROC is according to its "existing national boundaries". The ROC is, de jure constitutionally, divided into provinces, special municipalities (which are further divided into districts for local administration), and the province-level Tibet Area. Each province is subdivided into cities and counties, which are further divided into townships and county-administered cities, each having elected mayors and city councilors who share duties with the county. Some divisions are indigenous divisions which have different degrees of autonomy to standard ones. In addition, districts, cities and townships are further divided into villages and neighborhoods. The provinces have been "streamlined" and are no longer functional. Similarly, banners in both Mongolia and mainland China (Inner Mongolia) also existed, but they were abolished in 2006 and the ROC reaffirmed its recognition of Mongolia in 2002, as stipulated in the 1946 constitution.With provinces non-functional, Taiwan is, in practice, divided into 22 subnational divisions, each with a self-governing body led by an elected leader and a legislative body with elected members. Duties of local governments include social services, education, urban planning, public construction, water management, environmental protection, transport, public safety, and more. When the ROC retreated to Taiwan in 1949, its claimed territory consisted of 35 provinces, 12 special municipalities, 1 special administrative region and 2 autonomous regions. However, since its retreat, the ROC has controlled only Taiwan Province and some islands of Fujian Province. The ROC also controls the Pratas Islands and Taiping Island in the Spratly Islands, which are part of the disputed South China Sea Islands. They were placed under Kaohsiung administration after the retreat to Taiwan. Military The Republic of China Army takes its roots in the National Revolutionary Army, which was established by Sun Yat-sen in 1925 in Guangdong with a goal of reunifying China under the Kuomintang. When the People's Liberation Army won the Chinese Civil War, much of the National Revolutionary Army retreated to Taiwan along with the government. It was later reformed into the Republic of China Army. Units which surrendered and remained in mainland China were either disbanded or incorporated into the People's Liberation Army. From 1949 to the 1970s, the primary mission of the Taiwanese military was to "retake mainland China" through Project National Glory. As this mission has transitioned away from attack because the relative strength of the PRC has massively increased, the ROC military has begun to shift emphasis from the traditionally dominant Army to the air force and navy. Control of the armed forces has also passed into the hands of the civilian government.The ROC began a series of force reduction plans since 1990s, Jingshi An (translated to streamlining program) was one of the programs to scale down its military from a level of 450,000 in 1997 to 380,000 in 2001. As of 2021, the total strength of the Armed Forces is capped at 215,000 with 90 percent manning ratio for volunteer military. Conscription remains universal for qualified males reaching age eighteen, but as a part of the reduction effort many are given the opportunity to fulfill their draft requirement through alternative service and are redirected to government agencies or arms related industries. Taiwan cut compulsory military service to four months in 2013 but will extend military service to one year in 2024. The military's reservists is around 2.5 million including first-wave reservists numbered at 300,000 as of 2022. Taiwan's defense spending as a percentage of its GDP fell below three percent in 1999 and had been trending downwards over the first two decades of the twenty-first century. The ROC government spent approximately two percent of GDP on defense and failed to raise the spending as high as proposed three percent of GDP. In 2022, Taiwan proposed 2.4 percent of projected GDP in defense spending for the following year, continued to remain below three percent. The ROC and the United States signed the Sino-American Mutual Defense Treaty in 1954, and established the United States Taiwan Defense Command. About 30,000 US troops were stationed in Taiwan, until the United States established diplomatic relations with the PRC in 1979. A significant amount of military hardware has been bought from the United States, and continues to be legally guaranteed by the Taiwan Relations Act. In the past, France and the Netherlands have also sold military weapons and hardware to the ROC, but they almost entirely stopped in the 1990s under pressure of the PRC.There is no guarantee in the Taiwan Relations Act or any other treaty that the United States will defend Taiwan, even in the event of invasion. On several occasions in 2021 and 2022, U.S. President Joe Biden stated that the United States will intervene if the PRC attempts to invade Taiwan. However, when asked about the answer, the White House officials insisted that US policy on Taiwan has not changed. The joint declaration on security between the US and Japan signed in 1996 may imply that Japan would be involved in any response. However, Japan has refused to stipulate whether the "area surrounding Japan" mentioned in the pact includes Taiwan, and the precise purpose of the pact is unclear. The Australia, New Zealand, United States Security Treaty (ANZUS Treaty) may mean that other US allies, such as Australia, could theoretically be involved. While this would risk damaging economic ties with China, a conflict over Taiwan could lead to an economic blockade of China by a greater coalition. Economy The quick industrialization and rapid growth of Taiwan during the latter half of the 20th century has been called the "Taiwan Miracle". Taiwan is one of the "Four Asian Tigers" alongside Hong Kong, South Korea and Singapore. As of October 2022, Taiwan is the 21st largest economy in the world by nominal GDP.Since 2001, agriculture constituted less than 2 percent of GDP, down from 32 percent in 1951. Unlike its neighbors, South Korea and Japan, the Taiwanese economy is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, rather than the large business groups. Traditional labor-intensive industries are steadily being moved offshore and with more capital and technology-intensive industries replacing them. High-technology science parks have sprung up in Taiwan. Today Taiwan has a dynamic, capitalist, export-driven economy with gradually decreasing state involvement in investment and foreign trade. In keeping with this trend, some large government-owned banks and industrial firms are being privatized. Exports have provided the primary impetus for industrialization. The trade surplus is substantial, and Taiwan remained one of the world's largest forex reserve holders. Taiwan's total trade in 2022 reached US$907 billion, according to Taiwan's Ministry of Finance. Both exports and imports for the year reached record levels, totaling US$479.52 billion and US$427.60 billion, respectively. China, United States and Japan are Taiwan's top 3 largest trading partners, accounting for over 40 percent of Taiwan's total trade.Since the beginning of the 1990s, the economic ties between Taiwan and China have been extensive. In 2002, China's share surpassed the United States to become Taiwan's largest export market for the first time. China is also the most important target of Taiwan's outward foreign direct investment. From 1991 to 2022, more than US$200 billion have been invested in China by Taiwanese companies. China hosts around 4,200 Taiwanese enterprises and over 240,000 Taiwanese work in China. Although the economy of Taiwan benefits from this situation, some have expressed the view that the island has become increasingly dependent on the mainland Chinese economy. A 2008 white paper by the Department of Industrial Technology states that "Taiwan should seek to maintain stable relation with China while continuing to protect national security, and avoiding excessive 'Sinicization' of Taiwanese economy." Others argue that close economic ties between Taiwan and mainland China would make any military intervention by the PLA against Taiwan very costly, and therefore less probable. High-tech manufacturing Since the 1980s, a number of Taiwan-based technology firms have expanded their reach around the world. Computex, a trade fair held annually in Taipei, has rapidly expanded and become an important showcase for the ICT industry globally. Taiwan is a key player in the supply chain for advanced chips. Taiwan's rise in the key semiconductor industry was largely attributed to Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. (TSMC) and United Microelectronic Corporation (UMC). TSMC was founded 21 February 1987 and as of December 2021 its market capitalization equated to roughly 90% of Taiwan's GDP. The company is the 9th largest in the world by market capitalization as well as the world's biggest semiconductor manufacturing company, surpassing Intel and Samsung. Its major customers include Qualcomm, Nvidia, Broadcom, Intel, AMD, Apple Inc., Ampere, Microsoft, MediaTek and Sony. In 2018, the company's N7+ node became the first commercial node to be made with EUV lithography, as well its N7 node being the first sub-10 nm node to enter volume production. TSMC was the first Taiwanese company to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange, under the trade name "TSM", in October 1997. As of Q4 2022, TSMC is responsible for 60% of the total semiconductor market making it the biggest foundry.UMC, another major company in Taiwan's high-tech exports and global semiconductors, does not however, compete with TSMC on advance semiconductor processes. Instead it competes with the American GlobalFoundries, and others, for less advanced semiconductor processes and for silicon wafers. Its major customers include, MediaTek, Texas Instruments, and Realtek. As of Q4 2022, UMC is the 3rd biggest foundry by market share, behind Samsung, controlling 6% of the total semiconductor market.Other well-known international technology companies headquartered in Taiwan include personal computer manufacturers Acer Inc. and Asus, as well as electronics manufacturing giant Foxconn. Foxconn is a major smart-device manufacturer, headquartered in New Taipei City. It is also listed in the Taiwan Stock Exchange under the trade name "Hon Hai". Most of its factories are located in East Asia, with a majority of 12 factories located in China. Its major customers include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Huawei. Transport The Ministry of Transportation and Communications of the Republic of China is the cabinet-level governing body of the transport network in Taiwan. Civilian transport in Taiwan is characterized by extensive use of scooters. In March 2019, 13.86 million were registered, twice that of cars.Both highways and railways are concentrated near the coasts, where the majority of the population resides, with 1,619 km (1,006 mi) of motorway. Railways in Taiwan are primarily used for passenger services, with Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) operating a circular route around the island and Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) running high speed services on the west coast. Urban transit systems include Taipei Metro, Kaohsiung Metro, Taoyuan Metro, New Taipei Metro, and Taichung Metro. Major airports include Taiwan Taoyuan, Kaohsiung, Taipei Songshan and Taichung. There are currently seven airlines in Taiwan, with the largest two being China Airlines and EVA Air. There are seven international seaports: Keelung, Taipei, Suao, Taichung, Kaohsiung, Anping, and Hualien. The Port of Kaohsiung handled the largest volume of cargo in Taiwan, with about 440 million shipping tonnes, which accounted for 58.6% of Taiwan's total throughput in 2021. The shipping tonnage followed by Taichung (18.6%), Taipei (12%) and Keelung (8.7%). Education Taiwan's higher education system was established by Japan during the colonial period. However, after the Republic of China took over in 1945, the system was promptly replaced by the same system as in mainland China which mixed features of the Chinese and American educational systems.Taiwan is well known for adhering to the Confucian paradigm of valuing education as a means to improve one's socioeconomic position in society. Heavy investment and a cultural valuing of education has catapulted the resource-poor nation consistently to the top of global education rankings. Taiwan is one of the top-performing countries in reading literacy, mathematics and sciences. In 2015, Taiwanese students achieved one of the world's best results in mathematics, science and literacy, as tested by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), with the average student scoring 519, compared with the OECD average of 493, placing it seventh in the world.The Taiwanese education system has been praised for various reasons, including its comparatively high test results and its major role in promoting Taiwan's economic development while creating one of the world's most highly educated workforces. Taiwan has also been praised for its high university entrance rate where the university acceptance rate has increased from around 20 percent before the 1980s to 49 percent in 1996 and over 95 percent since 2008, among the highest in Asia. The nation's high university entrance rate has created a highly skilled workforce making Taiwan one of the most highly educated countries in the world with 68.5 percent of Taiwanese high school students going on to attend university. Taiwan has a high percentage of its citizens holding a tertiary education degree where 45 percent of Taiwanese aged 25–64 hold a bachelor's degree or higher compared with the average of 33 percent among member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).On the other hand, the education system has been criticized for placing excessive pressure on students while eschewing creativity and producing an excess supply of overeducated university graduates. Many graduates consequently face unemployment or underemployment due to a lack of graduate-level jobs. Taiwan's universities have also been under criticism for not being able to fully meet the requirements and demands of Taiwan's 21st-century fast-moving labor market, citing a skills mismatch among a large number of self-assessed, overeducated graduates who do not fit the demands of the modern Taiwanese labor market. The Taiwanese government has been criticized for failing to adequately address this discrepancy in labor supply and demand.As the Taiwanese economy is largely science and technology based, the labor market demands people who have achieved some form of higher education, particularly related to science and engineering to gain a competitive edge when searching for employment. Although current Taiwanese law mandates only nine years of schooling, 95 percent of junior high graduates go on to attend a senior vocational high school, university, junior college, trade school, or other higher education institution.Since Made in China 2025 was announced in 2015, aggressive campaigns to recruit Taiwanese chip industry talent to support its mandates resulted in the loss of more than 3,000 chip engineers to mainland China, and raised concerns of a "brain drain" in Taiwan.Many Taiwanese students attend cram schools, or buxiban, to improve skills and knowledge on problem solving against exams of subjects like mathematics, nature science, history and many others. Courses are available for most popular subjects and include lectures, reviews, private tutorial sessions, and recitations.As of 2020, the literacy rate in Taiwan was 99.03 percent. Demographics Taiwan has a population of about 23.4 million, most of whom are on the island of Taiwan. The remainder live on the outlying islands of Penghu (101,758), Kinmen (127,723), and Matsu (12,506). Largest cities and counties The figures below are the March 2019 estimates for the twenty most populous administrative divisions; a different ranking exists when considering the total metropolitan area populations (in such rankings the Taipei-Keelung metro area is by far the largest agglomeration). The figures reflect the number of household registrations in each city, which may differ from the number of actual residents. Ethnic groups The ROC government reports that 95 percent of the population is Han. There are also 2.4 percent indigenous Austronesian peoples and 2.6 percent new immigrants primarily from China and Southeast Asia.The overwhelming majority of Han are descendants of Hoklo and Hakka who arrived in large numbers in the 17th to 18th century. A minority are waishengren, descendants of Chinese nationalists who fled to Taiwan at the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949. The Hoklo people, whose ancestors migrated from the coastal southern Fujian region, compose approximately 70 percent of Taiwan's population. The Hakka comprise about 15 percent of the total population, and descend from Han migrants from eastern Guangdong. Genetic studies also indicate that the Hoklo and Hakka people that make up majority of the Taiwanese population, are a mixture between Austronesians and Han people.The indigenous Taiwanese aborigines number about 584,000, and the government recognises 16 groups. The Ami, Atayal, Bunun, Kanakanavu, Kavalan, Paiwan, Puyuma, Rukai, Saisiyat, Saaroa, Sakizaya, Sediq, Thao, Truku and Tsou live mostly in the eastern half of the island, while the Yami inhabit Orchid Island. Languages Mandarin is the primary language used in business and education, and is spoken by the vast majority of the population. Traditional Chinese is used as the writing system. The Republic of China does not have any legally designated official language, but Mandarin plays the role of the de facto official language.Around 70% of Taiwan's population belong to the Hoklo ethnic group and are speakers of Taiwanese Hokkien as native language. The Hakka group, comprising some 14–18 percent of the population, speak Hakka. Although Mandarin is the language of instruction in schools and dominates television and radio, non-Mandarin Chinese varieties have undergone a revival in public life in Taiwan, particularly since restrictions on their use were lifted in the 1990s.Formosan languages are spoken primarily by the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. They do not belong to the Chinese or Sino-Tibetan language family, but to the Austronesian language family, and are written in the Latin alphabet. Their use among aboriginal minority groups has been in decline as usage of Mandarin has risen. Of the 14 extant languages, five are considered moribund. Classical Chinese Since the May Fourth Movement, written vernacular Chinese had replaced Classical Chinese and emerged as the mainstream written Chinese in the Republic of China. But Classical Chinese continued to be widely used in the Government of the Republic of China. Most government documents in the Republic of China were written in Classical Chinese until reforms in the 1970s, in a reform movement spearheaded by President Yen Chia-kan to shift the written style to a more integrated vernacular Chinese and Classical Chinese style (文白合一行文). On 1 January 2005, the Executive Yuan also changed its long-standing convention on the direction of writing in official documents from vertical to horizontal. Today, in Taiwan, standalone Classical Chinese is occasionally used in formal or ceremonial occasions, such as religious or cultural rites. The National Anthem of the Republic of China (中華民國國歌), for example, is in Classical Chinese. Taoist texts are still preserved in Classical Chinese from the time they were composed. Buddhist texts, or sutras, are still preserved in Classical Chinese from the time they were composed or translated from Sanskrit sources. In practice there is a socially accepted continuum between vernacular Chinese and Classical Chinese. Most official government, legal, and judiciary documents, as well as courts rulings use a combined vernacular Chinese and Classical Chinese style. For example, most official notices and formal letters are written with a number of stock Classical Chinese expressions (e.g., salutation, closing). Personal letters, on the other hand, are mostly written in the vernacular, but with some Classical phrases, depending on the subject matter, the writer's level of education, etc. As many legal documents are still written in Classical Chinese, which is not easily understood by the general public, a group of Taiwanese have launched the Legal Vernacular Movement, hoping to bring more vernacular Chinese into the legal writings of the Republic of China.Taiwan is officially multilingual. A national language in Taiwan is legally defined as "a natural language used by an original people group of Taiwan and the Taiwan Sign Language". As of 2019, policies on national languages are in early stages of implementation, with Hakka and indigenous languages designated as such. Religion The Constitution of the Republic of China protects people's freedom of religion and the practices of belief. The government respects freedom of religion, and Taiwan scores highly on the International IDEA's Global State of Democracy Indices for religious freedom.In 2005, the census reported that the five largest religions were: Buddhism, Taoism, Yiguandao, Protestantism, and Roman Catholicism. According to Pew Research, the religious composition of Taiwan in 2020 is estimated to be 43.8 percent Folk religions, 21.2 percent Buddhist, 15.5 Others (including Taoism), 13.7 percent Unaffiliated, 5.8 percent Christian and 1% Muslim. Taiwanese aborigines comprise a notable subgroup among professing Christians: "... over 64 per cent identify as Christian ... Church buildings are the most obvious markers of Aboriginal villages, distinguishing them from Taiwanese or Hakka villages". There has been a small Muslim community of Hui people in Taiwan since the 17th century.Confucianism is a philosophy that deals with secular moral ethics, and serves as the foundation of both Chinese and Taiwanese culture. The majority of Taiwanese people usually combine the secular moral teachings of Confucianism with whatever religions they are affiliated with. As of 2019, there were 15,175 religious buildings in Taiwan, approximately one place of worship per 1,572 residents. 12,279 temples were dedicated to Taoism and Buddhism. There were 9,684 Taoist Temples and 2,317 Buddhist Temples. In Taiwan's 36,000 square kilometers of land, there are more than 33,000 places for religious (believers) to worship and gather. On average, there is one temple or church (church) or religious building for every square kilometer. The high density of place of worship is rare in the world, and it is the area with the highest density of religious buildings in the Chinese-speaking world. Taiwan is also the most religious region in the Chinese-speaking world. Even for Christianity, there are 2,845 Churches.A significant percentage of the population of Taiwan is non-religious. Taiwan's lack of state-sanctioned discrimination, and generally high regard for freedom of religion or belief earned it a joint #1 ranking in the 2018 Freedom of Thought Report, alongside the Netherlands and Belgium. On the other hand, there have been instances of the Indonesian migrant worker community in Taiwan (estimated to total 258,084 people) experiencing religious restrictions by local employers or the government. LGBT rights On 24 May 2017, the Constitutional Court ruled that then-current marriage laws had been violating the Constitution by denying Taiwanese same-sex couples the right to marry. The Court ruled that if the Legislative Yuan did not pass adequate amendments to Taiwanese marriage laws within two years, same-sex marriages would automatically become lawful in Taiwan. In a referendum question in 2018, however, voters expressed overwhelming opposition to same-sex marriage and supported the removal of content about homosexuality from primary school textbooks. According to the New York Times, the aforementioned referendum questions were subject to a "well-funded and highly organized campaign led by conservative Christians and other groups" involving the use of "misinformation, the bulk of which was spread online." Nevertheless, the vote against same-sex marriage does not affect the court ruling, and on 17 May 2019, Taiwan's parliament approved a bill legalizing same-sex marriage, making it the first country in Asia to do so.Taiwan has an annual pride event, Taiwan Pride. It currently holds the record for the largest LGBT gathering in East-Asia, rivaling Tel Aviv Pride in Israel. The event draws more than 200,000 people to demonstrate for equal rights for LGBT people. The event is organized by the Taiwan LGBT Pride Community, and is held on the last Sunday of October. Health The current healthcare system in Taiwan, known as National Health Insurance (NHI, Chinese: 全民健康保險), was instituted in 1995. NHI is a single-payer compulsory social insurance plan that centralizes the disbursement of healthcare funds. The system promises equal access to healthcare for all citizens, and the population coverage had reached 99 percent by the end of 2004. NHI is mainly financed through premiums, which are based on the payroll tax, and is supplemented with out-of-pocket co-payments and direct government funding. Low-income families, veterans, centenarians, children under three years old, and catastrophic diseases are exempt from co-payments. Co-pays are reduced for disabled and low income households maintain 100 percent premium coverage by the NHI. Early in the program, the payment system was predominantly fee-for-service. Most health providers operate in the private sector and form a competitive market on the health delivery side. However, many healthcare providers took advantage of the system by offering unnecessary services to a larger number of patients and then billing the government. In the face of increasing loss and the need for cost containment, NHI changed the payment system from fee-for-service to a global budget, a kind of prospective payment system, in 2002. The implementation of universal healthcare created fewer health disparities for lower-income citizens in Taiwan. According to a recently published survey, out of 3,360 patients surveyed at a randomly chosen hospital, 75.1 percent of the patients said they are "very satisfied" with the hospital service; 20.5 percent said they are "okay" with the service. Only 4.4 percent of the patients said they are either "not satisfied" or "very not satisfied" with the service or care provided.The Taiwanese disease control authority is the Taiwan Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and during the SARS outbreak in March 2003 there were 347 confirmed cases. During the outbreak the CDC and local governments set up monitoring stations throughout public transportation, recreational sites and other public areas. With full containment in July 2003, there has not been a case of SARS since. Owing to the lessons from SARS, a National Health Command Center was established in 2004, which includes the Central Epidemic Command Center (CECC). The CECC has since played a central role in Taiwan's approach to epidemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2019, the infant mortality rate was 4.2 deaths per 1,000 live births, with 20 physicians and 71 hospital beds per 10,000 people. Life expectancy at birth in 2020 is 77.5 years and 83.9 years for males and females, respectively. Culture The cultures of Taiwan are a hybrid blend from various sources, incorporating elements of the majority traditional Chinese culture, aboriginal cultures, Japanese cultural influence, traditional Confucianist beliefs, and increasingly, Western values. During the martial law period in which the Republic of China was officially anti-communist, the Kuomintang promoted an official traditional Chinese culture over Taiwan in order to emphasize that the Republic of China represents the true orthodoxy to Chinese Culture (and therefore the "real and legitimate China") as opposed to Communist China. The government launched what's known as the Chinese Cultural Renaissance movement in Taiwan in opposition to the cultural destructions caused by the Chinese Communist Party during the Cultural Revolution. The General Assembly of Chinese Culture (中華文化總會) was established as a movement promotion council to help promote Chinese Culture in Taiwan and overseas. It was Kuomintang's first structured plan for cultural development on Taiwan. Chiang himself was the head of the General Assembly of Chinese Culture. Subsequent President of the Republic of China also became the head of this General Assembly. The Chinese Cultural Renaissance movement in Taiwan had led to some aspects of Chinese Culture being better preserved there than in mainland China. An example of this preservation is the continued use of Traditional Chinese. The influence of Confucianism can be found in the behavior of Taiwanese people, known for their friendliness and politeness.The lifting of martial law ushered a period of democratization whereby Freedom of Speech and Expression led to a flourishing Taiwanese literature and mass media in Taiwan. Reflecting the continuing controversy surrounding the political status of Taiwan, politics continues to play a role in the conception and development of a Taiwanese cultural identity, especially in its relationship to Chinese culture. In recent years, the concept of Taiwanese multiculturalism has been proposed as a relatively apolitical alternative view, which has allowed for the inclusion of mainlanders and other minority groups into the continuing re-definition of Taiwanese culture as collectively held systems of meaning and customary patterns of thought and behavior shared by the people of Taiwan. Identity politics, along with the over one hundred years of political separation from mainland China, has led to distinct traditions in many areas, including cuisine and music. Arts Acclaimed classical musicians include violinist Cho-Liang Lin, pianist Ching-Yun Hu, and the Lincoln Center Chamber Music Society artist director Wu Han. Other musicians include Teresa Teng, Jay Chou and groups such as Mayday and heavy metal band Chthonic, led by singer Freddy Lim, which has been referred to as the "Black Sabbath of Asia".Taiwanese films have won various international awards at film festivals around the world. Ang Lee, a Taiwanese director, has directed critically acclaimed films such as: Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon; Eat Drink Man Woman; Sense and Sensibility; Brokeback Mountain; Life of Pi; and Lust, Caution. Other famous Taiwanese directors include Tsai Ming-liang, Edward Yang, and Hou Hsiao-hsien. Taiwan has hosted the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards since 1962. Taiwan hosts the National Palace Museum, which houses more than 650,000 pieces of Chinese bronze, jade, calligraphy, painting, and porcelain and is considered one of the greatest collections of Chinese art and objects in the world. Cuisine Taiwanese culinary history is murky and is intricately tied to patterns of migration and colonization. Local and international Taiwanese cuisine, including its history, is a politically contentious topic. Famous Taiwanese dishes include Taiwanese beef noodle soup, Gua bao, Zongzi, Khong bah png, Taiwanese fried chicken, oyster vermicelli, Sanbeiji, and Aiyu jelly.The Michelin Guide began reviewing restaurants in Taipei in 2018 and Taichung in 2020. In 2014 The Guardian called Taiwanese night markets the "best street food markets in the world".Bubble tea, created in Taiwan in the 1980s, has now become a global phenomenon with its popularity spreading across the globe. Popular culture Karaoke, drawn from contemporary Japanese culture, is extremely popular in Taiwan, where it is known as KTV. KTV businesses operate in a hotel-like style, renting out small rooms and ballrooms according to the number of guests in a group. Many KTV establishments partner with restaurants and buffets to form all-encompassing and elaborate evening affairs for families, friends, or businessmen. Tour busses that travel around Taiwan have several TVs, primarily for singing karaoke. Taiwan has a high density of 24-hour convenience stores, which, in addition to the usual services, provide services on behalf of financial institutions or government agencies, such as collection of parking fees, utility bills, traffic violation fines, and credit card payments. They also provide a service for mailing packages. Chains such as FamilyMart provide clothing laundry services, and it is possible to purchase or receive tickets for TRA and THSR tickets at convenience stores, specifically 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Hi-Life and OK. Sports Baseball is commonly considered as Taiwan's national sport and is a popular spectator sport. Taiwan's competitiveness in international baseball was demonstrated when the men's team won top three medals across all levels of baseball in 2022, including the U-12, U-15, U-18, U-23, and Baseball5 competitions, the only team to do so in baseball history. Taiwan's men's baseball team and women's baseball team are world No.4 and world No.3 in the WBSC Rankings as of March 2023, respectively. Taiwan's Baseball5 team reached world No.1 in August 2023. Professional baseball in Taiwan started with the founding of the Chinese Professional Baseball League (CPBL) in 1989. As of 2021, the CPBL has five teams, with average attendance around 4,000 per game. Some elite players signed with overseas professional teams in the Major League Baseball (MLB) or the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB). There have been sixteen Taiwanese MLB players as of the 2022 MLB Season, including former pitchers Chien-Ming Wang and Wei-Yin Chen. As for variations of baseball, Taiwan also has a strong women's softball team. The Chinese Taipei women's national softball team is currently ranked no.3 in the world based on the WBSC Rankings. The team recently won bronze medal at the 2022 World Games.Besides baseball, basketball is Taiwan's other major sport. The P. League+ and T1 League are two Taiwan's professional basketball leagues. A semi-professional Super Basketball League (SBL) has also been in play since 2003. Other team sports including volleyball and football are practiced and sports leagues are run by Taiwanese sports governing bodies. Taiwan is also a major competitor in korfball.Taiwan participates in international sporting organizations and events under the name of "Chinese Taipei" due to its political status. Taiwan has hosted several multi-sport events in the past, including the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung and the 2009 Summer Deaflympics and 2017 Summer Universiade in Taipei. Taipei and New Taipei City will hold the 2025 Summer World Masters Games. Other major sporting events held by Taiwan on an annual basis include: Taipei Marathon (Marathon) New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon (Marathon) Taipei Open (Badminton) U-12 Baseball World Cup (Baseball) William Jones Cup (Basketball) Tour de Taiwan (Road Bicycle Racing)Taekwondo was introduced to Taiwan in 1966 for military training and has become a mature and successful combat sport in Taiwan. The first two Olympic gold medals won by Taiwanese athletes belong to the sport. In the 2004 Olympics, Chen Shih-hsin and Chu Mu-yen won gold medals in the women's flyweight event and the men's flyweight event, respectively. Subsequent taekwondo competitors have strengthened Taiwan's taekwondo culture. There are many outstanding Taiwanese players at other individual sports, such as badminton, tennis, table tennis, and golf. Taiwan's strength in badminton is demonstrated by Tai Tzu-ying, who spent most weeks as world No. 1 women's singles player in BWF World Ranking, and her compatriots in the BWF World Tour. Taiwan also has a long history of strong international presence in table tennis. Five-time Olympian Chuang Chih-yuan made the most appearances at the Olympic Games among Taiwanese athletes. Yani Tseng is the youngest golf player ever, male or female, to win five major championships and was ranked number 1 in the Women's World Golf Rankings for 109 consecutive weeks from 2011 to 2013. In tennis, Hsieh Su-wei is the country's most successful female tennis player. She reached a career-high singles ranking of world No. 23 in 2013 and world No. 1 in the doubles rankings in 2014. Calendar The standard Gregorian calendar is used for most purposes in Taiwan. The year is often denoted by the Minguo era system which starts in 1912, the year the ROC was founded. 2023 is year 112 Minguo (民國112年). The East Asian date format is used in Chinese.Prior to standardization in 1929, the Chinese calendar was officially used. It is a Lunisolar calendar system which remains in use today for traditional festivals such as the Lunar New Year, the Lantern Festival, and the Dragon Boat Festival. See also Index of Taiwan-related articles Outline of Taiwan Words in native languages Works cited Further reading Overviews and data Taiwan. The World Factbook. Central Intelligence Agency. Taiwan from UCB Libraries GovPubs Taiwan country profile – BBC News Background Note: Taiwan – US Department of State Taiwan's 400 years of history New Taiwan, Ilha Formosa Key Development Forecasts for Taiwan from International Futures Chinese Taipei OECD Wikimedia Atlas of Taiwan Government agencies Office of the Government Office of the President Executive Yuan Judicial Yuan Control Yuan Examination Yuan Ministry of Foreign Affairs Republic of China (Taiwan) Embassies and Missions Abroad Taiwan, The Heart of Asia Archived 23 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Tourism Bureau, Republic of China (Taiwan)

Radical 118 or radical bamboo (竹部) meaning "bamboo" is one of the 29 Kangxi radicals (214 radicals in total) composed of 6 strokes. The radical character usually appears at the top of characters and transforms into ⺮. In the Kangxi Dictionary, there are 953 characters (out of 49,030) to be found under this radical. 竹 is also the 135th indexing component in the Table of Indexing Chinese Character Components predominantly adopted by Simplified Chinese dictionaries published in mainland China, with ⺮ being its associated indexing component. Evolution Derived characters Literature Fazzioli, Edoardo (1987). Chinese calligraphy : from pictograph to ideogram : the history of 214 essential Chinese/Japanese characters. calligraphy by Rebecca Hon Ko. New York: Abbeville Press. ISBN 0-89659-774-1. Lunde, Ken (Jan 5, 2009). "Appendix J: Japanese Character Sets" (PDF). CJKV Information Processing: Chinese, Japanese, Korean & Vietnamese Computing (Second ed.). Sebastopol, Calif.: O'Reilly Media. ISBN 978-0-596-51447-1. Unihan Database - U+7AF9

Queen's Road East is a street in Wan Chai, in the north of Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong, connecting Admiralty in the west to Happy Valley in the east. Queen's Road East is one of the four sections of Queen's Road, and historically included Queensway. Location Queen's Road East forks to the south from Queensway near Justice Drive, where Queensway turns into Hennessy Road. It runs along the old northern shoreline of Hong Kong Island. It ends in the east at Wong Nai Chung Road in Happy Valley. History The settlement of Wan Chai began in pre-British times as a small Chinese community around the present Hung Shing Temple on Queen's Road East. The temple was probably built in 1847 and may have existed previously as a shrine. Originally built next to the shoreline, facing the sea, it is now surrounded by clusters of residential and commercial buildings, as the consequence of successive land reclamation.Queen's Road East was first developed into a European commercial and residential centre after the arrival of the British in 1841. It had become a mainly Chinese residential, labouring and shop-keeping community by the 1860s.The eastern part of the road was cut through Morrison Hill, which formerly separated Wanchai from Happy Valley. This section was known as 'Gap Road'. That name was still in use around 1930, even though the high land to the north of the 'gap' was levelled in the 1920s and the materials used to reclaim land from the harbour, under the Praya East Reclamation Scheme.Although associated with Queen's Road Central and Queen's Road West, the name 'Queen's Road East' has been in use since at least the 1870s. Features The following list follows a west-east order. (N) indicates the northern side of the street, while (S) indicates the southern side. > intersection with Queensway and junction with Justice Drive (正義道) (N) Sincere Insurance Building (Chinese: 先施保險大廈) (Nos. 6–10). First building on the northern side of the street. (S) > junction with Monmouth Path (S) Three Pacific Place (No. 1) (N) Tesbury Centre (金鐘匯中心) (Nos. 24–32) (S) > junction with Wing Fung Street, part of the Starstreet Precinct shopping and dining area (N) > junction with Anton Street (S) > junction with Wing Lok Lane (N) > junction with Landale Street (N) > junction with Li Chit Street (S) > junction with St. Francis Street (N) > junction with Gresson Street (N) > junction with Lun Fat Street > intersection with Ship Street (N) > junction with Tai Wong Street West (S) Hung Shing Temple (Nos. 129–131). Grade I historic building. (N) > junction with Tai Wong Street East (N) > junction with Swatow Street (N) > junction with Amoy Street (S) Hopewell Centre (No. 183) (N) Nos. 186–190 Queen's Road East. Tong-laus built in the 1930s. Grade III historic buildings. (N) > junction with Lee Tung Street (N) QRE Plaza (No. 202) (N) > junction with Spring Garden Lane (N) GARDENEast (No. 222), a 28-storeys serviced apartments building (S) Wu Chung House (No. 213) (N) > junction with McGregor Street (S) Old Wan Chai Post Office (No. 221), a declared monument (S) > junction with Wan Chai Gap Road (N) > junction with Tai Yuen Street (N) Hotel Indigo Hong Kong Island (No. 246) (N) MLC Tower (No. 248) (S) Queen's Cube (No. 239), a 29-storeys apartment building. Completed in 2010. (S) > junction with Stone Nullah Lane (N) > junction with Wan Chai Road (N) Old Wan Chai Market (No. 264). Grade III historic building. (S) > junction with Kennedy Street (N) Hong Kong Jockey Club Garden (香港賽馬會花園) (N) Ruttonjee Hospital (No. 266). Merged with Tang Shiu Kin Hospital in 1998. The Hong Kong Tuberculosis, Chest and Heart Disease Association building is a Grade III historic building. (S) > junction with Kennedy Road (S) Wah Yan College (No. 281). Located on Mount Parish. (S) Portals No. 79, 80 and 81 of the former air raid precaution (ARP) tunnels, which were built under Mount Parish some time before the Battle of Hong Kong in 1941. (N) Wan Chai Park (灣仔公園) (N) > junction with Wood Road (S) > junction with Stubbs Road (S) Khalsa Diwan Sikh Temple (No. 371). Grade II historic building. (N) Queen Elizabeth Stadium (opposite Cosmopolitan Hotel) (S) Dorsett Wanchai Hong Kong Hotel (formerly Cosmopolitan Hotel) (Nos. 387–397). Located at the eastern end of the street. The building was formerly the location of the Hong Kong Branch of the Xinhua News Agency. > intersection with Wong Nai Chung Road opposite the northwestern part of Happy Valley Racecourse, and junction with Morrison Hill Road Intersecting streets and lanes North side Most streets and lanes having a northern junction with Queen's Road East connect with Johnston Road, located northward. The exceptions are Anton Street, McGregor Street and Wood Road. Since Queen's Road East runs mostly along the original shoreline of Hong Kong Island, these streets have been built on early land reclamation. The streets and lanes connecting with the north side of Queen's Road East are from west to east: Anton Street (晏頓街). Named after Charles Edward Anton. A short street connecting Queen's Road East to Queensway. Landale Street (蘭杜街) Li Chit Street (李節街). Part of the street was removed to give way to the Li Chit Garden apartment tower. Gresson Street. The Open Market in Gresson Street is part of the Wan Chai Heritage Trail. Lun Fat Street (聯發街) Ship Street (also south side) Tai Wong Street West (大王西街). Connects with Queen's Road East across the street from Hung Shing Temple. It derives its name from the temple, as "Tai Wong" is an alternate name for Hung Shing. Tai Wong Street East (大王東街). Connects with Queen's Road East across the street from Hung Shing Temple. Swatow Street. Named after Shantou. Amoy Street. Named after Xiamen. Lee Tung Street aka. Wedding Card Street Spring Garden Lane McGregor Street (麥加力歌街). Connects Queen's Road East with Cross Street. Tai Yuen Street (太原街) aka. "Toy Street", after the toy shops of the street. The Open Market in Tai Yuen Street and Cross Street is part of the Wan Chai Heritage Trail. Wan Chai Road Wood Road is located further east, past Wan Chai Park, and connects Queen's Road East to Wan Chai Road South side The only street crossing with Queen's Road East, i.e. having both north and south junctions with the Road, is Ship Street. The streets and lanes connecting with the south side of Queen's Road East are from west to east: Monmouth Path (萬茂里) Wing Fung Street, part of the Starstreet Precinct shopping and dining area. Wing Lok Lane (永樂里), a short street connecting Queen's Road East to Sun Street St. Francis Street Ship Street (also north side) Wan Chai Gap Road (灣仔峽道) Stone Nullah Lane Kennedy Street (堅彌地街) Kennedy Road Stubbs Road In popular culture The 1991 song, also titled "Queen's Road East" (皇后大道東), by Taiwanese singer Lo Ta-yu and Hong Kong singer-composer Ram Chiang makes references to the handover of Hong Kong to China.

Mashi Wentong (Chinese: 馬氏文通; pinyin: Mǎshì Wéntōng, English: Ma's Grammar) is the first grammar of the Chinese language written by a Chinese scholar, Ma Jianzhong, who published it in 1898. Although the "germination of modern linguistics in China" is attributed to this book, Mashi Wentong was criticized by critics such as Chen Chengze and Li Jinxi as imitating Western grammar and imposing the Western grammatical tradition on Chinese.

Tsim Sha Tsui, often abbreviated as TST, is an urban area in southern Kowloon, Hong Kong. The area is administratively part of the Yau Tsim Mong District. Tsim Sha Tsui East is a piece of land reclaimed from the Hung Hom Bay now east of Tsim Sha Tsui. The area is bounded north by Austin Road and in the east by Hong Chong Road and Cheong Wan Road. Geographically, Tsim Sha Tsui is a cape on the tip of the Kowloon Peninsula pointing towards Victoria Harbour, opposite Central. Several villages had been established in this location before Kowloon was ceded to the British Empire in 1860. The name Tsim Sha Tsui in Cantonese means sharp sandspit. It was also known as Heung Po Tau (香埗頭), i.e. a port for exporting incense tree. Tsim Sha Tsui is a major tourist hub in Hong Kong, with many high-end shops, bars, pubs and restaurants that cater to tourists. Many of Hong Kong's museums are located in the area. Etymology The name Tsim Sha Tsui (Chinese: 尖沙咀) means 'sharp sandspit' in Cantonese. The traditional and archaic form of Tsim Sha Tsui in Chinese has the same pronunciation but is written differently (尖沙嘴). Geography Before any land reclamation, Tsim Sha Tsui consisted of two parallel capes with a bay in between in the south. The west cape, Kowloon Point, the proper Tsim Sha Tsui, coincided with the small hill where the Former Marine Police Headquarters is sited, while the east cape was the hill that is today known as Blackhead Point. The bay between the capes extended as far north as the present-day Mody Road. Today, Canton Road marks the western edge of Tsim Sha Tsui, and Chatham Road the eastern edge. The area is hilly, although many hills were levelled for reclamation. History Historical maps in Ming or Qing dynasty named the channel between Tsim Sha Tsui and Central as Chung Mun (Pinyin: Zhong Men, 中門, lit. the middle gate) as it is located in the middle of the two other channels, Kap Shui Mun in the west and Lei Yue Mun in the east, in the harbour. Before Kowloon was ceded to Britain in 1860, many villages were present in the area. Incense trees (Aquilaria sinensis) from the New Territories were gathered at some quays in Tsim Sha Tsui and transferred to Shek Pai Wan in southern Hong Kong Island to be exported to the rest of the world. It was thus known as Heung Po Tau, the fragrant quay. Shortly after the land was ceded to Britain, construction began on the first section of Tsim Sha Tsui's major thoroughfare, Nathan Road. In 1888, the Star Ferry offered regular transport between Central and Tsim Sha Tsui, and the area has flourished ever since. Until the 20th century, Tsim Sha Tsui was a leafy suburb dominated by the people and facilities of the British military. Whitfield Barracks, converted into Kowloon Park in 1970, ran to the west of Nathan Road, and Kowloon Naval Yard occupied the waterfront to the west of the army encampment. In the early 20th century, Chinese people were allowed to live in the area to attract more people to trade in the colony. Garden houses were replaced with crowded residential blocks. Wharves and godowns were built along the west shore. Major developers like Hormusjee Naorojee Mody and Catchick Paul Chater actively participated in the development of Tsim Sha Tsui. The Kowloon–Canton Railway (British Section) commenced service on 1 October 1910. Kowloon station in Tsim Sha Tsui was approved to be constructed on reclaimed land in 1912. It was built on the new southern reclamation from 1913 to 1915. The rails extended along the western reclamation parallel to Chatham Road, with old Hung Hom station near the Gun Club Hill Barracks at the junction of Chatham Road and Austin Road. Another major road, Salisbury Road, was completed in approximately the same period. The landmark Peninsula Hotel was built on the reclamation in 1928, opposite to the station. The Kowloon station was relocated to a new Hung Hom station in 1978. The whole station and rails were demolished except the landmark Clock Tower. Hong Kong Space Museum and later the Hong Kong Cultural Centre were erected on the site. The rails were replaced with New World Centre and other gardens in Tsim Sha Tsui East. In 2016 the Tsim Sha Tsui Waterfront Revitalisation Plan was shelved due to public controversy. Industry Tsim Sha Tsui remains tertiary sector from colonial days to present. In early colonial days, transport, tourism and trading are main business of the area. As port and rail facilities moved out of the area, the major industry falls on the later two. Tsim Sha Tsui, like Central, contains several centres of finance. After Kai Tak Airport closed, the height restrictions on buildings has dropped and now larger taller skyscrapers, parallel to those of Central, have been constructed. Recreation and tourist attractions Hotels Tourist hospitality is a major industry in Tsim Sha Tsui. The area has the highest concentration of hotels in Hong Kong. Some of the hotels include The Peninsula, Rosewood Hong Kong, Kowloon Shangri-La, InterContinental Hong Kong, The Mira Hong Kong, Baden-Powell International House, Hotel Icon, and the Hotel Panorama. The Hyatt Regency Hong Kong was closed on 1 January 2006 and the iSQUARE shopping mall was built at its former location; it re-opened in October 2009 on Hanoi Road of Tsim Sha Tsui within the new The Masterpiece skyscraper. Other hotels in virtually every price range and level of luxury can be found throughout the area; Chungking Mansions is known for providing cheap lodging for backpackers. Restaurants Tsim Sha Tsui is one of many places to find exotic restaurants in Hong Kong. Hillwood Road at the north of Observatory Hill concentrates on restaurants of different national dishes. Knutsford Terrace on the other side of the hill is a terrace of pubs. Kimberley Street is famous for the Korean cuisine restaurants and grocery stores, especially after the advent of Korean Wave (韓流) in Hong Kong, giving the street the nickname of Koreatown (小韓國). From there, a string of Korean restaurants are located on Austin Avenue which circles Observatory Hill. Located on Nathan Road, the Chungking Mansions is a major tourist attraction in Tsim Sha Tsui. Georgetown Parade is well known for its dog nose biscuits. These recognisable buildings were featured in the film Chungking Express, and are full of inexpensive guest houses, Indian restaurants, and money changers. Shopping Tsim Sha Tsui is one of the main shopping areas in Hong Kong. Shopping malls in the area include: 1881 Heritage, located within the renovated Former Marine Police Headquarters China Hong Kong City, which also houses office buildings, a hotel and a ferry terminal Cke, in the Chungking Mansions building Harbour City iSQUARE, opened in 2009 K11 Art Mall, opened in 2009 K11 MUSEA, opened in 2019 Miramar Shopping Centre New World Centre Sogo, opened in 2005. It is now located below the Sheraton Hotel at No. 20 Nathan Road. It used to be located underground, below Salisbury Road. In March 2023, the Tsim Sha Tsui location of Sogo was closed to be relocated to Kai Tak. Silvercord, at the junction of Canton Road and Haiphong Road The ONE, built on the site of the former Tung Ying Building at No. 100 Nathan Road, at the corner with Granville RoadThe Park Lane Shopper's Boulevard is located along a section of Nathan Road. The flagship stores of several luxury brands are located in the Tsim Sha Tsui section of Canton Road. Parks The largest park in Tsim Sha Tsui is Kowloon Park, a popular destination complete with swimming pools, aviary, children's playground, kung fu corner, sculpture garden and the Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre. Other parks and public open spaces include Signal Hill Garden at Blackhead Point, the Urban Council Centenary Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui East, Salisbury Garden, Middle Road Children's Playground and the Tsim Sha Tsui Promenade, which includes the Avenue of Stars, along the Victoria Harbour waterfront. Museums and performance venues Half of the major museums in Hong Kong are situated in Tsim Sha Tsui. The Hong Kong Space Museum, Hong Kong Museum of Art and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre are located at the southern waterfront. Hong Kong Museum of History and Hong Kong Science Museum are situated in Tsim Sha Tsui East. The Hong Kong Heritage Discovery Centre and the Health Education Exhibition and Resource Centre, located within Kowloon Park, are housed in preserved and restored blocks of the former Whitfield Camp. Tourist attractions Tsim Sha Tsui was once the terminus of the Kowloon–Canton Railway (KCR). After the British Section of the railway was opened for traffic on 1 October 1910, the construction of the railway station in Tsim Sha Tsui started in 1913. Construction on the railway station and its clock tower were completed in 1915. The main building of the Tsim Sha Tsui station was demolished in 1978. The station was relocated to Hung Hom to make way for the Hong Kong Space Museum and the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. But the Clock Tower of the station was not demolished and was kept in place. It is all that remains standing of the station. The clock tower is forty-four metres high, surmounted by a seven-metre-high (23 ft) lightning rod. It is now surrounded by the public piazza of the Cultural Centre and has become a landmark of Hong Kong. Six pillars of the railway were relocated to the Urban Council Centenary Garden in TST East. The Avenue of Stars starts at the "New World Centre" shopping centre near the Cultural Centre. There is also the attraction of shopping at a clothing store frequented by famous people from all over the world, at Sam's Tailor. The Tsim Sha Tsui waterfront is another popular destination for locals and tourists alike. It is especially popular for photographers, as it offers an unobstructed view of the Central area of Hong Kong across Victoria Harbour. The Star Ferry terminal is another popular attraction for tourists, and the Avenue of Stars is also popular with photographers. East Tsim Sha Tsui East Tsim Sha Tsui or Tsim Sha Tsui East (尖沙咀東 or simply 尖東) is an area east of Chatham Road South reclaimed from Hung Hom Bay in the 1970s. The Tsim Sha Tsui East Promenade links the area with the Hong Kong Cultural Centre near the Clock Tower. In 2004, the East Rail line returned to Tsim Sha Tsui with the extension of the line from Hung Hom to the new East Tsim Sha Tsui station, which serves as an interchange station with Tsim Sha Tsui station on the Tsuen Wan line. Unlike other East Rail line stations, it was built underground near Blackhead Point. An extensive tunnel system was constructed for pedestrians to access the most popular destinations in Tsim Sha Tsui, and to change trains between the two lines. East Tsim Sha Tsui is the last district in Hong Kong to use a grid plan system before the Hong Kong government adopted its high land price policy, meaning that development in East Tsim Sha Tsui is less centralised than in newer districts. It is characterised by a large number of mid-rise buildings including hotels, offices and shopping centres. Pedestrian plazas are located in between the buildings.In 2005, there were 15 office buildings and 5 hotels in Tsim Sha Tsui East: Office buildings: New Mandarin Plaza, Chinachem Golden Plaza, South Seas Center, Harbor Crystal Center, East Ocean Center, Energy Plaza, Hilton Towers, Inter-Continental Plaza, Auto Plaza, Mirror Tower, Houston Center, Wing On Plaza, Tsim Sha Tsui Centre and Empire Center. Hotels: The Royal Garden Hotel, Regal Kowloon Hotel, Kowloon Shangri-La, Grand Stanford Harbor View Hotel and Hotel Nikko Hong Kong. Streets Streets in Tsim Sha Tsui include: Public transport Trains Tsim Sha Tsui is served by the MTR Tsim Sha Tsui station, on the Tsuen Wan line. Another station, East Tsim Sha Tsui station, opened in late 2004 as a southern extension of the East Rail line from Hung Hom station. On 16 August 2009, the Kowloon Southern Link of the West Rail line, from Nam Cheong station to East Tsim Sha Tsui station was opened. Simultaneously, the segment between East Tsim Sha Tsui station and Hung Hom station was transferred from the East Rail line to the West Rail line, so Hung Hom station is now the interchange station between the East Rail line and the West Rail line. East Tsim Sha Tsui station is connected to Tsim Sha Tsui Station and a number of locations in the area though an extensive pedestrian subway network. On 27 June 2021, the Tuen Ma line replaced the West Rail line. Ferries The Star Ferry connects Tsim Sha Tsui to Central and Wan Chai. Various hydrofoil services out of the Hong Kong China Ferry Terminal on Canton Road link Tsim Sha Tsui to Macau, Guangzhou, and several other places in the Pearl River Delta. They depart from China Hong Kong City, located near Harbour City. Buses Since Tsim Sha Tsui is in the heart of Kowloon Peninsula, the area is served by an extensive network of bus routes to many parts of Hong Kong. There are major bus terminals beside the Star Ferry terminal and atop East Tsim Sha Tsui underground station on Chatham Road. Education Tsim Sha Tsui is in Primary One Admission (POA) School Net 31. Within the school net are multiple aided schools (operated independently but funded with government money) and Jordan Road Government Primary School. Other places in the area Fok Tak Temple (dated back to 1900) Former Kowloon British School Former Marine Police Headquarters (now incorporated into a shopping centre) Hong Kong Observatory Ocean Terminal Tsim Sha Tsui Ferry Pier (Star Ferry) Gallery See also List of areas of Hong Kong Mong Kok Causeway Bay Pictures of Tsim Sha Tsui

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). It is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada and is considered the premier professional basketball league in the world.The league was founded in New York City on June 6, 1946, as the Basketball Association of America (BAA). It changed its name to the National Basketball Association on August 3, 1949, after merging with the competing National Basketball League (NBL). In 1976, the NBA and the American Basketball Association (ABA) merged, adding four franchises to the NBA. The NBA's regular season runs from October to April, with each team playing 82 games. The league's playoff tournament extends into June. As of 2020, NBA players are the world's best paid athletes by average annual salary per player.The NBA is an active member of USA Basketball (USAB), which is recognized by the FIBA (International Basketball Federation) as the national governing body for basketball in the United States. The league's several international as well as individual team offices are directed out of its head offices in Midtown Manhattan, while its NBA Entertainment and NBA TV studios are directed out of offices located in Secaucus, New Jersey. In North America, the NBA is the third wealthiest professional sport league after the National Football League (NFL) and Major League Baseball (MLB) by revenue, and among the top four in the world.The Boston Celtics and the Los Angeles Lakers are tied for the most NBA championships with 17 each. The reigning league champions are the Denver Nuggets, who defeated the Miami Heat in the 2023 NBA Finals. History Creation and BAA–NBL merger (1946–1956) The Basketball Association of America was founded in 1946 by owners of the major ice hockey arenas in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States and Canada. On November 1, 1946, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, the Toronto Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers at Maple Leaf Gardens, in a game the NBA now refers to as the first game played in NBA history. The first basket was made by Ossie Schectman of the Knickerbockers. Although there had been earlier attempts at professional basketball leagues, including the American Basketball League (ABL) and the NBL, the BAA was the first league to attempt to play primarily in large arenas in major cities. During its early years, the quality of play in the BAA was not significantly better than in competing leagues or among leading independent clubs such as the Harlem Globetrotters. For instance, the 1948 ABL finalist Baltimore Bullets moved to the BAA and won that league's 1948 title, and the 1948 NBL champion Minneapolis Lakers won the 1949 BAA title. Prior to the 1948–49 season, however, NBL teams from Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Minneapolis, and Rochester jumped to the BAA, which established the BAA as the league of choice for collegians looking to turn professional.On August 3, 1949, the remaining NBL teams–Syracuse, Anderson, Tri-Cities, Sheboygan, Denver, and Waterloo–merged into the BAA. In deference to the merger and to avoid possible legal complications, the league name was changed to the present National Basketball Association, even though the merged league retained the BAA's governing body, including Maurice Podoloff as president. To this day, the NBA claims the BAA's history as its own. It now reckons the arrival of the NBL teams as an expansion, not a merger, and does not recognize NBL records and statistics.The new league had seventeen franchises located in a mix of large and small cities, as well as large arenas and smaller gymnasiums and armories. In 1950, the NBA consolidated to eleven franchises, a process that continued until 1954–55, when the league reached its smallest size of eight franchises: the New York Knicks, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia Warriors, Minneapolis Lakers, Rochester Royals, Fort Wayne Pistons, Milwaukee Hawks, and Syracuse Nationals, all of which remain in the league today, although the latter six all did eventually relocate. The process of contraction saw the league's smaller-city franchises move to larger cities. The Hawks had shifted from the Tri-Cities to Milwaukee in 1951, and later shifted to St. Louis in 1955. The Rochester Royals moved from Rochester, New York, to Cincinnati in 1957 and the Pistons moved from Fort Wayne, Indiana, to Detroit in 1957. Japanese-American Wataru Misaka broke the NBA color barrier in the 1947–48 season when he played for the New York Knicks. He remained the only non-white player in league history prior to the first African-American, Harold Hunter, signing with the Washington Capitols in 1950. Hunter was cut from the team during training camp, but several African-American players did play in the league later that year, including Chuck Cooper with the Celtics, Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton with the Knicks, and Earl Lloyd with the Washington Capitols. During this period, the Minneapolis Lakers, led by center George Mikan, won five NBA Championships and established themselves as the league's first dynasty. To encourage shooting and discourage stalling, the league introduced the 24-second shot clock in 1954. If a team does not attempt to score a field goal (or the ball fails to make contact with the rim) within 24 seconds of obtaining the ball, play is stopped and the ball given to its opponent. Celtics' dominance, league expansion and competition (1956–1979) In 1957, rookie center Bill Russell joined the Boston Celtics, which already featured guard Bob Cousy and coach Red Auerbach, and went on to lead the franchise to eleven NBA titles in thirteen seasons. Center Wilt Chamberlain entered the league with the Warriors in 1959 and became a dominant individual star of the 1960s, setting new single-game records in scoring (100) and rebounding (55). Russell's rivalry with Chamberlain became one of the greatest rivalries in the history of American team sports. The 1960s were dominated by the Celtics. Led by Russell, Cousy, and Auerbach, Boston won eight straight championships in the NBA from 1959 to 1966. This championship streak is the longest in NBA history. They did not win the title in 1966–67, but regained it in the 1967–68 season and repeated in 1969. The domination totaled nine of the ten championship banners of the 1960s.Through this period, the NBA continued to evolve with the shift of the Minneapolis Lakers to Los Angeles, the Philadelphia Warriors to San Francisco, the Syracuse Nationals to Philadelphia to become the Philadelphia 76ers, and the St. Louis Hawks moving to Atlanta, as well as the addition of its first expansion franchises. The Chicago Packers (now Washington Wizards) became the ninth NBA team in 1961. From 1966 to 1968, the league expanded from 9 to 14 teams, introducing the Chicago Bulls, Seattle SuperSonics (now Oklahoma City Thunder), San Diego Rockets (who moved to Houston four years later), Milwaukee Bucks, and Phoenix Suns. In 1967, the league faced a new external threat with the formation of the American Basketball Association (ABA). The leagues engaged in a bidding war. The NBA landed the most important college star of the era, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then known as Lew Alcindor). However, the NBA's leading scorer, Rick Barry, jumped to the ABA, as did four veteran referees—Norm Drucker, Earl Strom, John Vanak, and Joe Gushue.In 1969, Alan Siegel, who oversaw the design of Jerry Dior's Major League Baseball logo a year prior, created the modern NBA logo inspired by the MLB's. It incorporates the silhouette of Jerry West, based on a photo by Wen Roberts. The NBA would not confirm that a particular player was used because, according to Siegel, "They want to institutionalize it rather than individualize it. It's become such a ubiquitous, classic symbol and focal point of their identity and their licensing program that they don't necessarily want to identify it with one player." The iconic logo debuted in 1971 (with a small change to the typeface on the NBA wordmark in 2017) and would remain a fixture of the NBA brand.The ABA succeeded in signing a number of major stars in the 1970s, including Julius Erving of the Virginia Squires, in part because it allowed teams to sign college undergraduates. The NBA expanded rapidly during this period. From 1966 to 1974, the NBA grew from nine franchises to 18. In 1970, the Portland Trail Blazers, Cleveland Cavaliers, and Buffalo Braves (now the Los Angeles Clippers) all made their debuts expanding the league to 17. The New Orleans Jazz (now in Utah) came aboard in 1974 bringing the total to 18. Following the 1976 season, the leagues reached a settlement that provided for the addition of four ABA franchises to the NBA, raising the number of franchises in the league at that time to 22. The franchises added were the San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, Indiana Pacers, and New York Nets (now the Brooklyn Nets). Some of the biggest stars of this era were Abdul-Jabbar, Barry, Dave Cowens, Erving, Elvin Hayes, Walt Frazier, Moses Malone, Artis Gilmore, George Gervin, Dan Issel, and Pete Maravich. The end of the decade, however, saw declining TV ratings, low attendance and drug-related player issues – both perceived and real – that threatened to derail the league. Surging popularity (1979–1998) The league added the ABA's three-point field goal beginning in 1979. That same year, rookies Larry Bird and Magic Johnson joined the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers respectively, initiating a period of significant growth of fan interest in the NBA. The two had faced each other in the 1979 NCAA Division I Basketball Championship Game, and they later played against each other in three NBA Finals (1984, 1985, and 1987). In the 10 seasons of the 1980s, Johnson led the Lakers to five titles while Bird led the Celtics to three titles. Also in the early 1980s, the NBA added one more expansion franchise, the Dallas Mavericks, bringing the total to 23 teams. Later on, Larry Bird won the first three three-point shooting contests. On February 1, 1984 David Stern became commissioner of the NBA. Stern has been recognized as playing a major role in the growth of the league during his career. Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984 with the Chicago Bulls, spurring more interest in the league. In 1988 and 1989, four cities got their wishes as the Charlotte Hornets, Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, and Minnesota Timberwolves made their NBA debuts, bringing the total to 27 teams. The Detroit Pistons won the back-to-back NBA Championships in 1989 and 1990, led by coach Chuck Daly and guard Isiah Thomas. Jordan and Scottie Pippen led the Bulls to two three-peats in eight years during the 1991–1998 seasons. Hakeem Olajuwon won back-to-back titles with the Houston Rockets in 1994 and 1995.The 1992 Olympic basketball Dream Team, the first to use current NBA stars, featured Michael Jordan as the anchor, along with Bird, Johnson, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing, Scottie Pippen, Clyde Drexler, Karl Malone, John Stockton, Chris Mullin, Charles Barkley, and star NCAA amateur Christian Laettner. The team was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, while 11 of the 12 players (along with three out of four coaches) have been inducted as individuals in their own right. In 1995, the NBA expanded to Canada with the addition of the Vancouver Grizzlies and the Toronto Raptors. In 1996, the NBA created a women's league, the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Lakers' and Spurs' dynasties (1998–2014) In 1998, the NBA owners began a lockout that suspended all league business until a new labor agreement could be reached, which led to the season being shortened in half. The San Antonio Spurs won the championship at the end of the 1998–99 season, becoming the first former ABA team to win the NBA championship.After the breakup of the Chicago Bulls championship roster in the summer of 1998, the Western Conference dominated much of the next two decades. The Los Angeles Lakers, coached by Phil Jackson, and the San Antonio Spurs, coached by Gregg Popovich, combined to make 13 Finals in 16 seasons, with 10 titles. Tim Duncan and David Robinson won the 1999 championship with the Spurs, and Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant started the 2000s with three consecutive championships for the Lakers. The Spurs reclaimed the title in 2003 against the Nets. In 2004, the Lakers returned to the Finals, only to lose in five games to the Detroit Pistons. The league's image was marred by a violent incident between players and fans in a November 2004 game between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons. In response, players were suspended for a total of 146 games with $11 million total lost in salary, and the league tightened security and limited the sale of alcohol. On May 19, 2005, Commissioner Stern testified before the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Government Reform about the NBA's actions to combat the use of steroids and other performance-enhancing drugs. The NBA started its drug-testing program in 1983 and substantially improved it in 1999. In the 1999–2000 season, all players were randomly tested during training camp, and all rookies were additionally tested three more times during the regular season. Of the nearly 4,200 tests for steroids and performance-enhancing drugs conducted over six seasons, only three players were confirmed positive for NBA's drug program, all were immediately suspended, and as of the time of the testimony, none were playing in the NBA.After the Spurs won the championship again in 2005, the 2006 Finals featured two franchises making their inaugural Finals appearances. The Miami Heat, led by their star shooting guard, Dwyane Wade, and Shaquille O'Neal, who had been traded from the Lakers during summer 2004, won the series over the Dallas Mavericks. The Lakers/Spurs dominance continued in 2007 with a four-game sweep by the Spurs over the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers. The 2008 Finals saw a rematch of the league's highest profile rivalry, the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers, with the Celtics winning their 17th championship. The Lakers won back-to-back championships in 2009 and 2010, against the Orlando Magic and the Celtics. The 2010 NBA All-Star Game was held at Cowboys Stadium in front of the largest crowd ever, 108,713.A referee lockout began on September 1, 2009, when the contract between the NBA and its referees expired. The first preseason games were played on October 1, 2009, and replacement referees from the WNBA and NBA Development League were used, the first time replacement referees had been used since the beginning of the 1995–96 season. The NBA and the regular referees reached a deal on October 23, 2009.At the start of the 2010–11 season, free agents LeBron James and Chris Bosh signed with the Miami Heat, joining Dwyane Wade to form the "Big Three". The Heat dominated the league, reaching the Finals for four straight years. In 2011, they faced a re-match with the Dallas Mavericks but lost to the Dirk Nowitzki-led team. They won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013 against the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Spurs, and lost in a re-match with the Spurs in the 2014 Finals. The 2011–12 season began with another lockout, the league's fourth. After the first few weeks of the season were canceled, the players and owners ratified a new collective bargaining agreement on December 8, 2011, setting up a shortened 66-game season. On February 1, 2014, commissioner David Stern retired after 30 years in the position, and was succeeded by his deputy, Adam Silver. Recent years (2014–present) After four seasons with the Miami Heat, LeBron James returned to the Cleveland Cavaliers for the 2014–15 season. He led the team to their second Finals appearance with the help of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love. The Golden State Warriors defeated the Cavaliers in six games, led by the "Splash Brothers" Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Cavaliers and the Warriors faced each other in the Finals a record four consecutive times. In the 2015–16 season, the Warriors finished the season 73–9, the best season record in NBA history. However, the Cavaliers overcame a 3–1 deficit in the Finals to win their first championship that season. In the 2016–17 season, the Warriors benefited from the recruitment of free agent Kevin Durant. The Warriors won the 2017 and 2018 Finals against the Cavaliers. After the departure of James in free agency in 2018, the Cavaliers' streak of playoff and Finals appearances ended. The Warriors returned for a fifth consecutive Finals appearance in 2019 but lost to the Toronto Raptors, who won their first championship after acquiring Kawhi Leonard in a trade.The 2019–20 season was suspended indefinitely on March 11, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus. On June 4, 2020, the NBA Board of Governors voted to resume the season in a 22-team format with 8 seeding games per team and a regular playoffs format, with all games played in a "bubble" in Walt Disney World without any fans present.This era also saw the continuous near year-over-year decline in NBA viewership. Between 2012 and 2019, the league lost 40 to 45 percent of its viewership. While some of it can be attributed to "cable-cutting", other professional leagues, like the NFL and MLB have retained stable viewership demographics. The opening game of the 2020 Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Miami Heat brought in only 7.41 million viewers to ABC, according to The Hollywood Reporter. That is reportedly the lowest viewership seen for the Finals since at least 1994, when total viewers began to be regularly recorded and is a 45 percent decline from game one between the Golden State Warriors and Toronto Raptors, which had 13.51 million viewers a year earlier. Some attribute this decline to the political stances the league and its players are taking, while others consider load management, the uneven talent distribution between the conferences and the cord-cutting of younger viewers as the main reason for the decline. International influence Following pioneers like Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Dražen Petrović (Croatia) who joined the NBA in the late 1980s, an increasing number of international players have moved directly from playing elsewhere in the world to starring in the NBA. Since 2006, the NBA has faced EuroLeague teams in exhibition matches in the NBA Europe Live Tour, and since 2009, in the EuroLeague American Tour. The 2013–14 season opened with a record 92 international players on the opening night rosters, representing 39 countries and comprising over 20 percent of the league. The NBA defines "international" players as those born outside the 50 United States and Washington, D.C. This means that: Players born in U.S. territories such as Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, most notably USVI native Tim Duncan, are counted as "international" even though they are U.S. citizens by birth, and may even have represented the U.S. in international competition (like Duncan). U.S.-born players are not counted as "international" even if they were born with citizenship in another country and represent that country internationally, such as Joakim Noah, and Kosta Koufos.The beginning of the 2017–18 season saw a record 108 international players representing 42 countries marking 4 consecutive years of at least 100 international players and each team having at least one international player. In 2018, the Phoenix Suns hired Serbian coach Igor Kokoškov as their new head coach, replacing Canadian interim coach Jay Triano, making Kokoškov the first European coach to become a head coach for a team in the NBA. Other developments In 2001, an affiliated minor league, the National Basketball Development League, now called the NBA G League, was created.Two years after the Hornets' move to New Orleans, the NBA returned to North Carolina, as the Charlotte Bobcats were formed as an expansion team in 2004. The Hornets temporarily moved to Oklahoma City in 2005 for two seasons because of damage caused by Hurricane Katrina. The team returned to New Orleans in 2007. A new official game ball was introduced on June 28, 2006, for the 2006–07 season, marking the first change to the ball in over 35 years and only the second ball in 60 seasons. Manufactured by Spalding, the new ball featured a new design and new synthetic material that Spalding claimed offered a better grip, feel, and consistency than the original ball. However, many players were vocal in their disdain for the new ball, saying that it was too sticky when dry, and too slippery when wet. Commissioner Stern announced on December 11, 2006, that beginning January 1, 2007, the NBA would return to the traditional leather basketball in use prior to the 2006–07 season. The change was influenced by frequent player complaints and confirmed hand injuries (cuts) caused by the microfiber ball. The Players' Association had filed a suit on behalf of the players against the NBA over the new ball. As of the 2017–18 season, the NBA team jerseys are manufactured by Nike, replacing the previous supplier, Adidas. All teams will wear jerseys with the Nike logo except the Charlotte Hornets, whose jerseys will instead have the Jumpman logo associated with longtime Nike endorser Michael Jordan, who owns the Hornets.The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) began an investigation on July 19, 2007, over allegations that veteran NBA referee Tim Donaghy bet on basketball games he officiated over the past two seasons and that he made calls affecting the point spread in those games. On August 15, 2007, Donaghy pleaded guilty to two federal charges related to the investigation. Donaghy claimed in 2008 that certain referees were friendly with players and "company men" for the NBA, and he alleged that referees influenced the outcome of certain playoff and finals games in 2002 and 2005. NBA commissioner David Stern denied the allegations and said Donaghy was a convicted felon and a "singing, cooperating witness". Donaghy served 15 months in prison and was released in November 2009. According to an independent study by Ronald Beech of Game 6 of the 2002 Western Conference Finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings, although the refs increased the Lakers' chances of winning through foul calls during the game, there was no collusion to fix the game. On alleged "star treatment" during Game 6 by the referees toward certain players, Beech claimed, "there does seem to be issues with different standards and allowances for different players."The NBA Board of Governors approved the request of the Seattle SuperSonics to move to Oklahoma City on April 18, 2008. The team, however, could not move until it had settled a lawsuit filed by the city of Seattle, which was intended to keep the SuperSonics in Seattle for the remaining two seasons of the team's lease at KeyArena. Following a court case, the city of Seattle settled with the ownership group of the SuperSonics on July 2, 2008, allowing the team to move to Oklahoma City immediately in exchange for terminating the final two seasons of the team's lease at KeyArena. The Oklahoma City Thunder began playing in the 2008–09 season. The first outdoor game in the modern era of the league was played at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden on October 11, 2008, between the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets.The first official NBA league games on European ground took place in 2011. In two matchups, the New Jersey Nets faced the Toronto Raptors at the O2 Arena in London in front of over 20,000 fans. After the 2012–13 season, the New Orleans Hornets were renamed the Pelicans. During the 2013–14 season, Stern retired as commissioner after 30 years, and deputy commissioner Adam Silver ascended to the position of commissioner. During that season's playoffs, the Bobcats officially reclaimed the Hornets name, and by agreement with the league and the Pelicans, also received sole ownership of all history, records, and statistics from the Pelicans' time in Charlotte. As a result, the Hornets are now officially considered to have been founded in 1988, suspended operations in 2002, and resumed in 2004 as the Bobcats, while the Pelicans are officially treated as a 2002 expansion team. (This is somewhat similar to the relationship between the Cleveland Browns and Baltimore Ravens in the NFL.) Donald Sterling, who was then-owner of the Los Angeles Clippers, received a lifetime ban from the NBA on April 29, 2014, after racist remarks he made became public. Sterling was also fined US$2.5 million, the maximum allowed under the NBA Constitution.Becky Hammon was hired by the San Antonio Spurs on August 5, 2014, as an assistant coach, becoming the second female coach in NBA history but the first full-time coach. This also makes her the first full-time female coach in any of the four major professional sports in North America.The NBA announced on April 15, 2016, that it would allow all 30 of its teams to sell corporate sponsor advertisement patches on official game uniforms, beginning with the 2017–18 season. The sponsorship advertisement patches would appear on the left front of jerseys, opposite Nike's logo, marking the first time a manufacturer's logo would appear on NBA jerseys, and would measure approximately 2.5 by 2.5 inches. The NBA would become the first major North American professional sports league to allow corporate sponsorship logos on official team uniforms, and the last to have a uniform manufacturer logo appear on its team uniforms. The first team to announce a jersey sponsorship was the Philadelphia 76ers, who agreed to a deal with StubHub.On July 6, 2017, the NBA unveiled an updated rendition of its logo; it was largely identical to the previous design, except with revised typography and a "richer" color scheme. The league began to phase in the updated logo across its properties during the 2017 NBA Summer League.The NBA also officially released new Nike uniforms for all 30 teams beginning with the 2017–18 season. The league eliminated "home" and "away" uniform designations. Instead, each team would have four or six uniforms: the "Association" edition, which is the team's white uniform, the "Icon" edition, which is the team's color uniform, and the "Statement" and "City" uniforms, which most teams use as an alternate uniform. In 2018, the NBA also released the "Earned" uniform. Teams The NBA originated in 1946 with 11 teams, and through a sequence of team expansions, reductions and relocations currently consists of 30 teams. The United States is home to 29 teams; another is in Canada. The current league organization divides 30 teams into two conferences of three divisions with five teams each. The current divisional alignment was introduced in the 2004–05 season. Reflecting the population distribution of the United States and Canada as a whole, most teams are in the eastern half of the country: 13 teams are in the Eastern Time Zone, nine in the Central, three in the Mountain, and five in the Pacific. Regular season Following the summer break, teams begin training camps in late September. Training camps allow the coaching staff to evaluate players (especially rookies), scout the team's strengths and weaknesses, prepare the players for the rigorous regular season and determine the 12-man active roster (and a 3-man inactive list) with which they will begin the regular season. Teams have the ability to assign players with less than two years of experience to the NBA G League. After training camp, a series of preseason exhibition games are held. Preseason matches are sometimes held in non-NBA cities, both in the United States and overseas. The NBA regular season begins in the last week of October. During the regular season, each team plays 82 games, 41 each home and away. A team faces opponents in its own division four times a year (16 games). Each team plays six of the teams from the other two divisions in its conference four times (24 games), and the remaining four teams three times (12 games). Finally, each team plays all the teams in the other conference twice apiece (30 games). This asymmetrical structure means the strength of schedule will vary between teams (but not as significantly as the NFL or MLB). Over five seasons, each team will have played 80 games against their division (20 games against each opponent, 10 at home, 10 on the road), 180 games against the rest of their conference (18 games against each opponent, 9 at home, 9 on the road), and 150 games against the other conference (10 games against each team, 5 at home, 5 on the road). Starting the 2023–24 season, the regular season will include an in-season tournament, in which all games in the tournament (except for the final) will count towards the regular season.The NBA is also the only league that regularly schedules games on Christmas Day. The league has been playing games regularly on the holiday since 1947, though the first Christmas Day games were not televised until 1983–84. Games played on this day have featured some of the best teams and players. Christmas is also notable for NBA on television, as the holiday is when the first NBA games air on network television each season. Games played on this day have been some of the highest-rated games during a particular season. In February, the regular season pauses to celebrate the annual NBA All-Star Game. Fans vote throughout the United States, Canada, and on the Internet, and the top vote-getters in each conference are named captains. Fan votes determine the rest of the allstar starters. Coaches vote to choose the remaining 14 All-Stars. Then, the top vote-getters in each conference draft their own team from a player pool of allstars. The top vote-getter in the league earns first pick and so forth. The player with the best performance during the game is rewarded with a Game MVP award. Other attractions of the All-Star break include the Rising Stars Challenge (originally Rookie Challenge), where the top rookies and second-year players in the NBA play in a 5-on-5 basketball game, with the current format pitting U.S. players against those from the rest of the world; the Skills Challenge, where players compete to finish an obstacle course consisting of shooting, passing, and dribbling in the fastest time; the Three Point Contest, where players compete to score the highest number of three-point field goals in a given time; and the NBA Slam Dunk Contest, where players compete to dunk the ball in the most entertaining way according to the judges. These other attractions have varying names which include the names of the various sponsors who have paid for naming rights. Shortly after the All-Star break is the trade deadline, which is set to fall on the 16th Thursday of the season (usually in February) at 3 pm Eastern Time. After this date, teams are not allowed to exchange players with each other for the remainder of the season, although they may still sign and release players. Major trades are often completed right before the trading deadline, making that day a hectic time for general managers. Around the middle of April, the regular season ends. It is during this time that voting begins for individual awards, as well as the selection of the honorary, league-wide, postseason teams. The Sixth Man of the Year Award is given to the best player coming off the bench (must have more games coming off the bench than actual games started). The Rookie of the Year Award is awarded to the most outstanding first-year player. The Most Improved Player Award is awarded to the player who is deemed to have shown the most improvement from the previous season. The Defensive Player of the Year Award is awarded to the league's best defender. The Coach of the Year Award is awarded to the coach that has made the most positive difference to a team. The Most Valuable Player Award is given to the player deemed the most valuable for (his team) that season. Additionally, Sporting News awards an unofficial (but widely recognized) Executive of the Year Award to the general manager who is adjudged to have performed the best job for the benefit of his franchise. The postseason teams are the All-NBA Team, the All-Defensive Team, and the All-Rookie Team; each consists of five players. There are three All-NBA teams, consisting of the top players at each position, with first-team status being the most desirable. There are two All-Defensive teams, consisting of the top defenders at each position. There are also two All-Rookie teams, consisting of the top first-year players regardless of position. Playoffs The NBA playoffs begin in April after the conclusion of the regular season with the top eight teams in each conference, regardless of divisional alignment, competing for the league's championship title, the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. Seeds are awarded in strict order of regular season record (with a tiebreaker system used as needed). Having a higher seed offers several advantages. Since the first seed begins the playoffs playing against the eighth seed, the second seed plays the seventh seed, the third seed plays the sixth seed, and the fourth seed plays the fifth seed, having a higher seed means a team faces a weaker team in the first round. The team in each series with the better record has home-court advantage, including the First Round. Before the league changed its playoff determination format for the 2006–07 season, this meant that, for example, if the team that received the sixth seed had a better record than the team with the third seed (by virtue of a divisional championship), the sixth seed would have home-court advantage, even though the other team had a higher seed. Therefore, the team with the best regular season record in the league is guaranteed home-court advantage in every series it plays. For example, in 2006, the Denver Nuggets won 44 games and captured the Northwest Division and the third seed. Their opponent was the sixth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers, who won 47 games and finished second in the Pacific Division. Although Denver won its much weaker division, the Clippers had a home-court advantage and won the series in 5. The playoffs follow a tournament format. Each team plays an opponent in a best-of-seven series, with the first team to win four games advancing into the next round, while the other team is eliminated from the playoffs. In the next round, the successful team plays against another advancing team of the same conference. All but one team in each conference are eliminated from the playoffs. Since the NBA does not re-seed teams, the playoff bracket in each conference uses a traditional design, with the winner of the series matching the first- and eighth-seeded teams playing the winner of the series matching the fourth- and fifth-seeded teams, and the winner of the series matching the second- and seventh-seeded teams playing the winner of the series matching the third- and sixth-seeded teams. In every round, the best-of-7 series follows a 2–2–1–1–1 home-court pattern, meaning that one team will have home court in games 1, 2, 5, and 7, while the other plays at home in games 3, 4, and 6. From 1985 to 2013, the NBA Finals followed a 2–3–2 pattern, meaning that one team had home court in games 1, 2, 6, and 7, while the other played at home in games 3, 4, and 5.The final playoff round, a best-of-seven series between the victors of both conferences, is known as the NBA Finals and is held annually in June (sometimes, the series will start in late May). The winner of the NBA Finals receives the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy. Each player and major contributor—including coaches and the general manager—on the winning team receive a championship ring. In addition, the league awards the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award to the best performing player of the series. The league began using its current format, with the top eight teams in each conference advancing regardless of divisional alignment, in the 2015–16 season. Previously, the top three seeds went to the division winners. Championships The Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics are tied for the most championships with each having 17 NBA Finals wins. The Golden State Warriors and Chicago Bulls have the third- and fourth-most, respectively, with seven and six titles. Current teams that have no NBA Finals appearances: Charlotte Hornets (formerly Charlotte Bobcats) Los Angeles Clippers (formerly Buffalo Braves, San Diego Clippers) Memphis Grizzlies (formerly Vancouver Grizzlies) Minnesota Timberwolves New Orleans Pelicans (formerly New Orleans Hornets, New Orleans/Oklahoma City Hornets) Media coverage As one of the major sports leagues in North America, the NBA has a long history of partnerships with television networks in the United States. The NBA signed a contract with DuMont Television Network in its eighth season, the 1953–54 season, marking the first year the NBA had a national television broadcaster. Similar to the National Football League, the lack of television stations led to NBC taking over the rights from the 1954–55 season until April 7, 1962–NBC's first tenure with the NBA. Currently in the U.S., the NBA has a contract with ESPN (and ABC) and TNT through the 2024–25 season. Games that are not broadcast nationally are usually aired over regional sports networks specific to the area where the teams are located. International competitions The National Basketball Association has sporadically participated in international club competitions. From 1987 to 1999 an NBA team played against championship club teams from Asia, Europe and South America in the McDonald's Championship. This tournament was won by the NBA invitee every year it was held. Ticket prices and viewership demographics In 2022, an average ticket cost $77.75. Depending on the market and stage of the season—preseason, regular season, postseason—a ticket can range from $10 to $70,000.In 2020, ticket prices for the NBA All Star Game became more expensive than ever before, averaging around $2,600, and even more on the secondary market. Viewership demographics According to Nielsen's survey, in 2013 the NBA had the youngest audience, with 45 percent of its viewers under 35. As of 2022, the league remains the least likely to be watched by women, who make up only 30% of the viewership. As of 2014, 45 percent of its viewers were black, while 40 percent of viewers were white, making it the only top North American sport that does not have a white majority audience.As of 2017, the NBA's popularity further declined among White Americans, who during the 2016–17 season, made up only 34% of the viewership. At the same time, the black viewership increased to 47 percent, while Hispanic (of any race) stood at 11% and Asian viewership stood at 8%. According to the same poll, the NBA was favored more strongly by Democrats than Republicans.Outside the U.S., the NBA's biggest international market is in China, where an estimated 800 million viewers watched the 2017–18 season. NBA China is worth approximately $4 billion. Controversies and criticism The NBA has been involved in a number of controversies over the years and has received a significant amount of criticism. Notable people Presidents and commissioners Maurice Podoloff, President from 1946 to 1963 Walter Kennedy, President from 1963 to 1967 and Commissioner from 1967 to 1975 Larry O'Brien, Commissioner from 1975 to 1984 David Stern, Commissioner from 1984 to 2014 Adam Silver, Commissioner from 2014 to present Players NBA 75th Anniversary Team Lists of National Basketball Association players List of foreign NBA players, a list that is exclusively for players who are not from the United States Foreign players International influence Following pioneers like Vlade Divac (Serbia) and Dražen Petrović (Croatia) who joined the NBA in the late 1980s, an increasing number of international players have moved directly from playing elsewhere in the world to starring in the NBA. Below is a short list of foreign players who have won NBA awards or have been otherwise recognized for their contributions to basketball, either currently or formerly active in the league: Dražen Petrović, Croatia – 2002 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, four-time Euroscar winner, two-time Mr. Europa winner, MVP of the 1986 FIBA World Championship and EuroBasket 1989, two-time Olympic silver medalist, World champion, European champion, 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. Vlade Divac, Serbia – 2019 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, two-time Olympic silver medalist, 2001 NBA All-Star, two-time World champion, three-time European champion, 1989 Mr. Europa winner, 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. Šarūnas Marčiulionis, Lithuania – 2014 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. First player from the Soviet Union and one of the first Europeans to sign a contract with an NBA club and to play solidly in the league, helping to lead the way for the internationalization of the league in the late 1990s. Toni Kukoč, Croatia – 2021 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, three-time NBA champion with Chicago Bulls (1996, 1997, 1998), 1996 Sixth Man Award winner, named in 2008 as one of the 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. Arvydas Sabonis, Lithuania – 2011 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, five-time Euroscar winner, two-time Mr. Europa winner, Olympic gold medalist in 1988 with the Soviet Union and bronze medalist in 1992 and 1996 with Lithuania, 1996 NBA All-Rookie First Team, 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors. Peja Stojaković, Serbia – NBA champion with Dallas Mavericks (2011), MVP of the EuroBasket 2001, member of the all-tournament team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, 2001 Euroscar winner, two-time Mr. Europa winner, two-time NBA Three-Point Shootout champion, three-time NBA All-Star. Dirk Nowitzki, Germany – NBA champion with Dallas Mavericks (2011), MVP of the 2002 FIBA World Championship and EuroBasket 2005, member of the all-tournament team in the 2002 FIBA World Championship, six-time Euroscar winner, 2005 Mr. Europa, two-time FIBA Europe Player of the Year, 2007 NBA MVP, 2011 Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award, 2006 NBA Three-Point Shootout champion and 14-time NBA All-Star. Hedo Türkoğlu, Turkey – 2008 Most Improved Player Award winner, member of the all-tournament team in the 2010 FIBA World Championship. Pau Gasol, Spain – two-time NBA champion with Los Angeles Lakers (2009 and 2010), six-time NBA All-Star, 2002 NBA Rookie of the Year, two-time Mr. Europa, 2006 FIBA World Championship MVP, four-time Euroscar, two-time FIBA Europe Player of the Year, MVP of the EuroBasket 2009 and EuroBasket 2015, winner of the NBA Citizenship Award in 2012. Andrei Kirilenko, Russia – 2004 NBA All-Star, MVP of the EuroBasket 2007, 2007 FIBA Europe Player of the Year. Tony Parker, France – four-time NBA champion with the San Antonio Spurs, 2007 NBA Finals MVP, six-time NBA All-Star and 2007 Euroscar winner. Manu Ginóbili, Argentina – four-time NBA champion with San Antonio Spurs, 2008 Sixth Man Award winner, two-time NBA All-Star, 50 Greatest EuroLeague Contributors, Olympic gold medalist in 2004 with Argentina. Yao Ming, China – 2016 inductee into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, first overall pick in the 2002 NBA draft and eight-time NBA All-Star. Leandro Barbosa, Brazil – NBA champion with Golden State Warriors (2015), 2007 Sixth Man Award winner. Andrea Bargnani, Italy – first overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft by the Toronto Raptors. Giannis Antetokounmpo, Greece – NBA champion with the Milwaukee Bucks (2021), 2021 NBA Finals MVP, two-time NBA MVP, 2017 Most Improved Player, five-time NBA All-Star. Nikola Jokić, Serbia – NBA champion with the Denver Nuggets (2023), 2023 NBA Finals MVP, two-time NBA MVP, three-time NBA All-Star, 2016 NBA All-Rookie First Team, Olympic silver medalist. Luka Dončić, Slovenia – 2019 NBA Rookie of the Year, three-time NBA All-Star, European championOn some occasions, young players, most but not all from the English-speaking world, have attended U.S. colleges before playing in the NBA. Notable examples are: Nigerian Hakeem Olajuwon – first overall pick in the 1984 NBA draft, two-time champion, 12-time NBA All-Star, 1994 NBA MVP, two-time NBA Finals MVP, two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year (only player to receive the MVP Award, Defensive Player of the Year Award, and Finals MVP award in the same season,) and Hall of Famer. Congolese Dikembe Mutombo – fourth overall pick in the 1991 NBA draft, four-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year, eight-time NBA All-Star and Hall of Famer. Dutchman Rik Smits – second overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft, 1998 NBA All-Star, played 12 years for the Indiana Pacers. German Detlef Schrempf – two-time NBA Sixth Man Award winner, three-time NBA All-Star. Canadians Steve Nash (two-time NBA MVP, eight-time NBA All-Star, Hall of Famer) and Andrew Wiggins (first overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft, 2015 NBA Rookie of the Year) Australians Luc Longley (three-time champion with the Chicago Bulls), Andrew Bogut (first overall pick in the 2005 NBA draft, 2015 NBA champion with Golden State Warriors) and Ben Simmons (first overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft, 2018 NBA Rookie of the Year, three-time NBA All-Star). Sudanese-born Englishman Luol Deng – 2007 NBA Sportsmanship Award winner, two-time NBA All-Star. Cameroonians Joel Embiid (2023 NBA MVP, four-time NBA All-Star, 2017 NBA All-Rookie First Team) and Pascal Siakam (2019 NBA champion with Toronto Raptors, 2019 Most Improved Player, two-time NBA All-Star) Coaches List of current National Basketball Association head coaches List of National Basketball Association head coaches List of National Basketball Association player-coaches List of NBA championship head coaches List of foreign NBA coaches Top 10 Coaches in NBA History List of female NBA coaches NBA Cares The league has a global social responsibility program, NBA Cares, that is responsible for the league's stated mission of addressing important social issues worldwide. See also List of NBA champions List of National Basketball Association awards List of National Basketball Association seasons National Basketball Association Cheerleading National Basketball Association rivalries NBA Salary Cap List of NBA Playoffs Series NBA Summer League Criticisms and controversies Music Nielsen ratings List of NBA franchise post-season droughts List of NBA franchise post-season streaks NBA Store Further reading Rosen, Charley (2009). The First Tip-Off: The Incredible Story of the Birth of the NBA. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 978-0-07-148785-6. Editors of Sports Illustrated (2007). Sports Illustrated: The Basketball Book. Sports Illustrated. ISBN 978-1-933821-19-1. Havlicek, John (2003). NBA's Greatest 1st edition. DK. ISBN 0-7894-9977-0. Peterson, Robert W. (2002). Cages to Jump Shots: Pro Basketball's Early Years. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-8772-0. Official website

Feng Youlan (Chinese: 馮友蘭; Wade–Giles: Feng Yu-lan; 4 December 1895 – 26 November 1990) was a Chinese philosopher, historian, and writer who was instrumental for reintroducing the study of Chinese philosophy in the modern era. The name he published under in English was 'Fung Yu-lan,' for which see, for example, the Bodde translation of A History of Chinese Philosophy. This earlier spelling also occurs in philosophical discussions, see for example the work of Wing-tsit Chan. Early life, education and career Feng Youlan was born on 4 December 1895 in Tanghe County, Nanyang, Henan, China, to a middle-class family. His younger sister was Feng Yuanjun, who would become a famous Chinese writer. He studied philosophy in the China Public School in Shanghai, between 1912 and 1915, a preparatory school for college, then studied in Chunghua University, Wuhan (later merged into Central China Normal University) and Peking University between 1915 and 1918, where he was able to study Western philosophy and logic as well as Chinese philosophy. Upon his graduation in 1918, he traveled to the United States in 1919, where he studied at Columbia University on the Boxer Indemnity Scholarship Program. There he met, among many philosophers who were to influence his thought and career, John Dewey, the pragmatist, who became his teacher. Feng gained his PhD from Columbia in 1923. His PhD thesis was titled "A Comparative Study of Life Ideals". He went on to teach at Chinese universities including Jinan University, Yenching University, and Tsinghua University in Beijing. From 1934 to 1938 (and again from 1946 to 1949) he was Chair of the Department of Philosophy at Tsinghua. It was while at Tsinghua that Feng published what was to be his best-known and most influential work, his History of Chinese Philosophy (1934, in two volumes). In it he presented and examined the history of Chinese philosophy from a viewpoint which was very much influenced by the Western philosophical fashions prevalent at the time, which resulted in what Peter J. King of Oxford describes as a distinctly positivist tinge to most of the philosophers he described. Nevertheless, the book became the standard work in its field, and had a huge effect in reigniting an interest in Chinese thought. In 1935 Feng, on his way to a conference in Prague, stopped briefly in the Soviet Union and was impressed with the radical social changes and cultural ferment. His speeches extolling the utopian possibilities of communism, although also describing the mistakes he saw, drew attention from Chiang Kai-sheks's police. Feng was arrested and spent a short time in jail, but soon became a firm supporter of the government and its resistance to Japan. During the Sino-Japanese War he published works which supported the New Life Movement for revitalizing Confucian values.In 1939, Feng brought out his Xin Lixue (New Rational Philosophy, or Neo-Lixue). Lixue was a philosophical position of an important group of twelfth-century neo-Confucianists (including Cheng Yi and Zhu Xi); Feng's book took certain metaphysical notions from their thought and from taoism (such as li and tao), analyzed and developed them in ways that owed much to the Western philosophical tradition, and produced a rationalistic neo-Confucian metaphysics. He also developed, in the same way, an account of the nature of morality and of the structure of human moral development. War and upheaval When the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, the students and staff of Beijing's Tsinghua and Peking Universities, together with Tianjin's Nankai University, fled their campuses. They went first to Hengshan, where they set up the Changsha Temporary University, and then to Kunming, where they set up Southwest Associated University. When, in 1946 the three Universities returned to Beijing, Feng instead went to the U.S. again, this time to take up a post as visiting professor at the University of Pennsylvania. He spent the year 1948–1949 as a visiting professor at the University of Hawaii. He served as President of Tsinghua University from December 1948 to May 1949 because of Zhang Dongsun's refusal (it was known as National Tsinghua University until January 1949).While he was at Pennsylvania, news from China made it clear that the communists were on their way to seizing power. Feng's friends tried to persuade him to stay, but he was determined to return; his political views were broadly socialist, and he thus felt optimistic about China's future under its new government. Once back home, Feng began to study Marxist–Leninist thought, but he soon found that the political situation fell short of his hopes; by the mid-1950s his philosophical approach was being attacked by the authorities. He was forced to repudiate much of his earlier work, and to rewrite the rest – including his History – in order to fit in with the ideas of the Cultural revolution. Despite all this, Feng refused to leave China, and after enduring much hardship he finally saw a relaxation of censorship, and was able to write with a certain degree of freedom. He died on 26 November 1990 in Beijing. Bibliography Monographs and collections of essays 1934: A History of Chinese Philosophy 1983: translated by Derk Bodde (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press) ISBN 0-691-02021-3 1948: A Short History of Chinese Philosophy (Collier-Macmillan) — reprinted 1997: Free Press ISBN 0-684-83634-3 1939: Xin Li-xue (New Rational Philosophy) (Changsha: Commercial Press) Selected Philosophical Writings of Fung Yu-lan (Beijing: Foreign Language Press) ISBN 7-119-01063-8 Xin yuan ren (A New Treatise on the Nature of Man) (Chongqing: Commercial Press) 1946: Xin zhi yan (A New Understanding of Words) (Shanghai: Commercial Press) 1997: A New Treatise on the Methodology of Metaphysics (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press) ISBN 7-119-01947-3 1947: The Spirit of Chinese Philosophy transl. E.R. Hughes (London: Kegan Paul) 1970: (Greenwood Press) ISBN 0-8371-2816-1 1961: Xin yuan dao (A New Treatise on the Nature of Tao) (Hong Kong: Zhong-guo zhe-xue jan jiu hui) 1986: A New History of Chinese Philosophy (Beijing: Renmin Press) As translator 1933: Chuang-tzu: A New Selected Translation with an Exposition of the Philosophy of Kuo Hsiang (Shanghai) 1991: A Taoist Classic: Chuang-Tzu (Beijing: Foreign Languages Press) ISBN 7-119-00104-3 Secondary 2004: Peter J. King One Hundred Philosophers (Hove: Apple) ISBN 1-84092-462-4 2001: Francis Soo "Contemporary Chinese Philosophy", in Brian Carr & Indira Mahalingam [edd] Companion Encyclopedia of Asian Philosophy (London: Routledge) ISBN 0-415-24038-7 'Philosophy of Contemporary China' — on-line text provided by The Radical Academy; NB both web sites apparently malware 15 July 2016 Xiaofei Tu, "Fung Yu-lan, 1895-1990" Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy

Peking University (Chinese: 北京大学; PKU), also known as Beijing University, is a national public research university in Beijing, China. The university is affiliated with and sponsored by the Ministry of Education of China. It is a member of C9 League, Double First Class University Plan, former Project 985, and former Project 211. Established as the Imperial University of Peking in 1898 by a royal charter from the Guangxu Emperor, it is the second oldest university in China after Tianjin University (established in 1895). On May 3, 1912, the government of the Republic of China ordered the Imperial University of Peking to be renamed Peking University. Peking University merged with Yenching University after the nationwide restructuring of schools and departments in 1952. On April 3, 2000, Peking University merged Beijing Medical University, making it the Peking University Health Science Center.Peking University has six faculties, namely Humanities, Social Sciences, Economics and Management, Science, Information Technology and Engineering, as well as Health Science. It consists of 55 schools and departments, 60 research entities, and ten affiliated hospitals. By 2017, Peking University's staff include 76 academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, 19 members of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and 25 members of the World Academy of Sciences. History Establishment Following China's defeat in the Sino-Japanese War, intellectuals - including Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao, and Yan Fu - called for reforms to the country's education system. In June 1896, Minister Li Duanfen proposed to create a university in the capital. On 11 June 1898, the Guangxu Emperor, as part of the Hundred Days' Reform, authorised the creation of the Imperial University of Peking (simplified Chinese: 京师大学堂; traditional Chinese: 京師大學堂; pinyin: Jīngshī Dàxuétáng; lit. 'Capital Grand Study Hall'). The Imperial University was formally established on 3 July 1898 when the emperor approved the royal charter written by Liang. Minister Sun Jianai was charged with the implementation. IUP served as the country's foremost institute for higher learning, but also as its highest educational authority. William Alexander Parsons Martin was appointed as the first president. Most of the reforms were abolished when the conservative Empress Dowager Cixi seized power on 21 September. The university survived with altered objectives and reduced scope. It opened on 31 December with 160 students, instead of the planned 500. In 1900, the university was paralyzed by the Boxer Rebellion, later in the year, the "Eight-Power Allied Forces" (八国联军) entered Beijing and the university's operation was continually suspended. In 1902, "Jingshi Tongwenguan", a school established by the Qing court in 1862 for foreign language learning was incorporated into the Imperial University of Peking. In 1904, the university sent 47 students to study abroad, which marked the first time for Chinese higher education institution to send students to foreign countries. Following the Xinhai Revolution, the Imperial University of Peking was renamed "Government University of Peking" in 1912 and then "National University of Peking" in 1919 (simplified Chinese: 国立北京大学; traditional Chinese: 國立北京大學; pinyin: Guólì Běijīng Dàxué). Early Republic of China period (1916–1927) The noted scholar Cai Yuanpei was appointed president on January 4, 1917, and helped transform Peking University into the country's largest institution of higher learning, with 14 departments and an enrollment of more than 2,000 students. President Cai, inspired by the German model of academic freedom, introduced faculty governance and democratic management to the university. Cai recruited an intellectually diverse faculty that included some of the most prominent figures in the progressive New Culture Movement, including Hu Shih, Liu Bannong, Ma Yinchu, Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Lu Xun and Liang Shuming. Meanwhile, leading conservatives Gu Hongming and Huang Kan also taught at the university. A firm supporter for freedom of thought, Cai advocated for educational independence and resigned several times protesting the government's policy and interference. On May 1, 1919, some students of Peking University learned that the Treaty of Versailles would allow Japan to receive Germany's colonising rights in Shandong province. An assembly at Peking University that included these students and representatives from other universities in Beijing was quickly organised. On May 4, students from thirteen universities marched to Tiananmen to protest the terms of Treaty of Versailles, demanded the Beiyang government to refuse to sign the treaty. Demonstrators also demanded the immediate resignation of three officials: Cao Rulin, Minister of the Ministry of Transportation, Zhang Zongxiang, China's Ambassador to Japan and Lu Zongyu, Minister of Currency, who they believed were in cooperation with Japanese. The protest ended up with some protesters being beaten and arrested, and Cao Rulin's house burned by protesters. Following the protest on May 4, students, workers and merchants from nearly all China's major cities went on strike and boycotted Japanese goods in China. The Beiyang government eventually agreed to release the arrested students and fired the three officials under intense public pressure, China's representatives in Paris refused to sign the Treaty of Versailles.These protests, now known as the May Fourth Movement, has been widely regarded as one of the most important turning points in modern China's history. In its broader sense, the May Fourth Movement led to the establishment of radical Chinese intellectuals who went on to mobilize peasants and workers into the Communist party and gain the organizational strength that would solidify the success of the Communist Revolution. Following the May Fourth Movement, Chen Duxiu and Li Dazhao cofounded the Chinese Communist Party, and Chen served as its first general secretary. Both Chen and Li served as faculty for Peking. Li served as a head librarian, and Chen served as Peking University's dean. In 1920, Peking University became the first Chinese university to accept female students. World War II (1927–1949) After the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 and the resulting expansion of Japanese territorial control in east China, Peking University was relocated to the southwestern city of Changsha and formed the Changsha Temporary University along with nearby schools Tsinghua University and Nankai University. In 1938, the three schools moved again, this time further southwest to Kunming, and formed the National Southwestern Associated University. In 1946, after the Japanese surrender in World War II, Peking University moved back to Beijing. At that time, the university comprised six schools (Arts, Science, Law, Medicine, Engineering, and Agriculture), and a research institute for humanities. The total student enrollment grew up to 3,000. People's Republic of China (1949–1999) In 1949, after the People's Republic of China was established, Peking University lost its "national" appellation to reflect the fact that all universities under the new socialist state would be public. In 1952, Mao Zedong's government re-grouped the country's higher education institutions with individual institutions tending to specialize in a certain field of study after the Soviet model. As a result, some arts and science faculties of Tsinghua University and former Yenching University were merged into Peking University. At the same time, however, the university lost its Law, Medicine, Engineering and Agriculture schools. These schools and faculties were either merged into other universities or to found new colleges. During the re-grouping, Yenching University was closed up. Peking University moved from downtown Beijing to the former Yenching campus. The first disturbances of the Cultural Revolution began at the neighbouring campuses of Peking University and Tsinghua University in 1966. Education and many research activities largely ceased between 1966 and 1970, and continued to be heavily perturbed until 1976 when Zhou Enlai and Mao Zedong died in January and September respectively, and the Gang of Four was toppled in October, bringing the Cultural Revolution to its gradual end by 1977-1978. During the Criticize Lin, Criticize Confucius campaign of 1973 to 1976, critique groups formed at Peking University and Tsinghua University disseminated commentaries under the pseudonym of "Liang Xiao." The pseudonym sounds like a person's name but is a homophone for "two schools."On May 4, 1998, at the 100th anniversary of Peking University, Communist Party General Secretary Jiang Zemin announced that the government would initiate a national project to promote China's higher education by funding selected universities to achieve world-class level. The project was later named “985” based on the date of its announcement. 21st century (2000–present) In 2000, Beijing Medical University was merged back into Peking University and became the Peking University Health Science Campus. Beijing Medical University, which used to be Medical School of Peking University, was separated from Peking University in 1952. Peking University now has eight affiliated hospitals and 12 teaching hospitals. In 2001, Peking University established the Yuanpei Program. It was formalized in 2007 as the Yuanpei College, named in honor of the highly respected former university president Cai Yuanpei. The college hosts an elite undergraduate liberal arts program that allows students to freely choose specialisations. In the same year, Peking University set up a satellite campus for graduate students in Shenzhen. The university's second business school, Peking University HSBC Business School was launched on the Shenzhen campus in 2004. In 2014, Peking University established the Yenching Academy, a fully funded global fellowship program designed "to cultivate leaders who will advocate for global progress and cultural understanding." In October 2015, Peking University alumni Professor Tu Youyou was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for her discovery of artemisinin. Having saved millions of lives, artemisinin has made significant contributions to global health in regard to the fight against malaria.In May 2016, the Peking University Department of Psychology was renamed as Peking University School of Psychological and Cognitive Sciences. On July 5, Peking University and Moscow State University signed the Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the Comprehensive University Alliance between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation, proposing the establishment of the China-Russia Comprehensive University Alliance. On August 29, Peking University signed a memorandum with the Shenzhen Municipal People's Government to jointly open Peking University Shenzhen Campus. On September 20, Peking University Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences was officially inaugurated. On February 20, 2017, the university officially signed a contract with the British Open University to establish the Oxford Campus of Peking University HSBC Business School, Peking University Oxford Center and Shenzhen Oxford Innovation Center. In March, the National Engineering Laboratory for Big Data Analysis and Application Technology was unveiled. In September, Peking University was selected as a national "double first-class" university. On December 13, Peking University School of Advanced Agricultural Sciences was established. On May 4, 2018, Peking University held its 120th anniversary meeting at the Khoo Teck Puat Gymnasium. On October 24, Peking University led the formation of the medical “Double First-Class” (i.e. world-class universities and first-class disciplines) Construction Alliance, which is the first unofficial non-profit medical higher education and medical discipline construction collaboration organization. In February 2019, Peking University and the University of Hong Kong signed a cooperation agreement to cooperate in the dual bachelor's degree program in law; in the same month, Peking University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong signed a cooperation agreement to jointly organize undergraduate double-degree programs of Linguistics and Chinese Language and Literature. In December, it joined the “Belt and Road” Think Tank Cooperation Alliance as a governing unit. In May 2019, Peking University and Beijing Geely University signed an agreement. Peking University will build a new campus on the original site of Geely Institute in Changping. On June 29, 2020, the Sino-Russian Mathematics Center was established. The Sino-Russian Mathematics Center is led by Peking University and Moscow State University, and jointly constructed by relevant domestic units and other Russian universities and research institutes such as St. Petersburg University, relying on the “Double First-class” construction alliance in mathematics.On April 2, 2021, Peking University Nanchang Innovation Research Institute was inaugurated.On July 15, 2021, Peking University School of Integrated Circuits was inaugurated.In July 2021, the College of Future Technology at Peking University was officially inaugurated. On September 6, 2021, the new Changping campus of Peking University was officially opened, welcoming the first batch of teachers and students. The new campus in Changping is the first real large-scale new campus built by Peking University in recent years, and is also a major strategic deployment of the school for the future. On September 30, Peking University Lanyuan Centre was officially launched. The first dean of Lanyuan Centre is Ke Yang, Professor of Peking University School of Clinical Oncology and a foreign academician of the American Academy of Medical Sciences. In October, Peking University officially announced the establishment of Peking University School of Computer Science, which means the computer major of Peking University was officially upgraded from a department to a school. Yang Fuqing, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, served as the honorary president. In November, the School of Artificial Intelligence of Peking University was established. In 2021, “Peking University Campus Nature Reserve” was selected for the “Biodiversity 100+ Global Typical Cases” at the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15) as the first case of campus nature reserve in China. In June 2022, the International University Sports Federation (FISU) released the first series of “Healthy Campus” list. Peking University, as the only Chinese university that has obtained platinum certification from the International University Sports Federation, participated in 4 projects and became the only representative from China among 130 projects worldwide. Campus The campus of Peking University was originally located northeast of the Forbidden City in the center of Beijing, and was later moved to the former campus of Yenching University in 1952. The main campus is in northwest Beijing, in Haidian district, near the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace; the area is traditionally where many of Beijing's most renowned gardens and palaces were built. The university campus is on the former site of Qing dynasty imperial gardens and it retains much traditional Chinese-style landscaping, including traditional houses, gardens, pagodas, and many notable historical buildings and structures. The landscape in campus gives a presentation of western styles combined with traditional Chinese aesthetic standards. American architect and art historian Talbot Hamlin designed some of the university's buildings constructed during the 1919 to 1922 period. There are several gates that lead into campus — East, West and South gates, with the West Gate being the most well known for the painted murals on its ceiling. Weiming Lake is in the north of the campus and is surrounded by walking paths and small gardens. The university hosts many museums, such as the Museum of University History and the Arthur M. Sackler Museum of Art and Archaeology. Notable items in these museums include funerary objects that were excavated in Beijing and date back thousands of years from the graves of royals of the Warring States period. There are ritual pottery vessels as well as elaborate pieces of jewelry on display. There are also human bones set up in the traditional burial style of that period.Beyond its main campus, Peking University Health Science Center (PKUHSC) is on Xueyuan Road where the country's most distinguished colleges are, and is a fitting site for academics and research. During the Third Front construction, Peking University opened a branch in Hanzhong, Shaanxi province.: 179 In 2001, Peking University's Shenzhen campus, the Shenzhen Graduate School, opened its doors. The campus is located in the northwest part of Shenzhen City. Academics Peking University consists of 30 schools and 12 departments, with 125 majors for undergraduates, 2 majors for the second Bachelor's degree, 282 programs for Master's degree candidates and 258 programs for doctoral candidates. In addition to basic research, the university also conducts applied research.At present, Peking University has 216 research institutions and research centres, including 2 national engineering research centers, 81 key national disciplines, and 12 national key laboratories. With 8 million holdings, the university library is the largest of its kind in Asia.Peking University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Emory University jointly administer the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering. Peking University has become a center for teaching and research, consisting of diverse branches of learning such as pure and applied sciences, social sciences and humanities, and sciences of management and education. Over the past century, some Peking University alumni have become presidents of other major Chinese universities, including former Tsinghua President Luo Jialun, Renmin University President Yuan Baohua, Zhejiang University President Qian Sanqiang, Fudan University President Zhang Zhirang, Nankai University President Teng Weizao, Chinese University of Science and Technology President Guan Weiyan and many others. Rankings and reputation General rankings Several rankings have placed Peking University among the top universities in mainland China. In 2015, the Chinese University Alumni Association in partnership with China Education Center considered it first among all Chinese universities.Typically, Peking University is consistently ranked among the top universities in the Asia-Pacific and the world according to major international university rankings. The joint THE-QS World University Rankings 2005 & 2006 ranked Peking University 1st in the Asia & Oceania region and 14th in the world in 2006. In 2014, the U.S. News & World Report ranked Peking University 39th in the world, 2nd in the Asia-Pacific and 1st in China. Peking had topped the newly launched Times Higher Education BRICS & Emerging Economies since its inception in 2014.The 2023 QS Rankings ranked Peking University 12th in the world and first in Asia. As of 2022, the Times Higher Education World University Rankings ranked Peking University 16th in the world and 1st in China & the Asia-Pacific, with its teaching and research performance indicators placed at 4th and 9th in the world respectively. Peking University was also ranked 15th in the world and 1st in the Asia-Pacific in The Three University Missions Ranking. The Academic Ranking of World Universities, also known as the "Shanghai Ranking", placed Peking University 29th in the world, 3rd in Asia, and 2nd in China. The U.S. News & World Report ranked Peking University 39th in the world, 4th in Asia and 2nd in China.In the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2017, an annual ranking of university graduates' employability, Peking University was ranked 11th in the world and 2nd in Asia. In 2019, the QS World University Rankings ranked the university as one of the world's top 20 universities for academic reputation where, it ranked 16 globally, and top 10 in the world and first in the Asia-Pacific for employer reputation. Since 2017, Peking has been placed among the world's top 20 most reputable universities by the Times Higher Education World Reputation Rankings, where it ranked 13 globally in 2022. Research Performance and Subjects Rankings The 2020 CWTS Leiden Ranking ranked Peking University at 8th in the world based on their publications for the time period 2015–2018. For the high quality of research in natural science and life science, Peking University ranked 10th among the leading institutions, and 6th among the leading universities globally in the Nature Index 2022 Annual Tables by Nature Research. In 2020, it ranked 13th among the universities around the world by SCImago Institutions Rankings.As of 2021, it was ranked 8th globally in "Education", 12th in "Engineering and Technology", 15th in "Physical Science", 17th in "Computer Science", 18th in "Social Science", 19th in "Life Science", 21st in "Arts and Humanities", 22nd in "Business and Economics", 22nd in "Clinical, pre-clinical and Health" and 45th in "Psychology" by the Times Higher Education Rankings by Subjects. Schools and Institutes Peking University Library On October 24, 2018, Peking University Library, the largest library among Asian universities, held the opening ceremony of the 120th anniversary at the Yingjie Overseas Exchange Center. Culture Peking University has participated in many joint art-research projects, such as the Center for the Art of East Asia (CAEA) with the University of Chicago, and Department of Digital Art and Design with UNESCO.Peking University partners with Stanford University for its Asian cultural studies programs such as the Stanford Program in Beijing and the Stanford-Peking University Summer Program, which encourages Stanford students interested in exploring Chinese language, history, culture, and society to study on campus at Peking University. National School of Development (NSD) The National School of Development (formerly China Center for Economic Research) is ranked amongst the top five most influential think tanks in China.In 1998, Justin Yifu Lin et al. jointly founded the Beijing International MBA at Peking University (BiMBA), which is ranked among the top six MBA programs by Quacquarelli Symonds in its TopMBA Archived 2015-07-08 at the Wayback Machine ranking of the best MBA programs in Asia Pacific for the year 2014–2015. BiMBA has also been ranked as the second most valuable full-time MBA in China by Forbes (after CEIBS) and among Asia's best business schools by Bloomberg Business. Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School is a satellite campus of Peking University located in Shenzhen, Guangdong. It was founded in September, 2001 in collaboration with the Shenzhen Municipal Government and is located in University Town of Shenzhen along with satellite campuses of Tsinghua University and Harbin Institute of Technology. Dr. Wen Hai, a renowned economist in China and the vice-president of Peking University is the present chancellor of PKU Shenzhen. The school houses seven research departments as well as the Peking University HSBC Business School and Peking University School of Transnational Law.On August 29, 2016, Peking University signed a strategic agreement with the Shenzhen Municipal Government to further develop its Shenzhen Graduate School, the university plans build a brand new campus near the existed graduate school and open undergraduate programs. International students Every year, there are approximately 7,000 international students studying at Peking University. The dormitories for international students at the main campus are located at Shaoyuan Garden (勺园) and Zhongguanyuan Global Village (中关新园). Its international students are made up of students from most countries in the world including most of Western Europe, North America, and South America, Asia, Australia and many countries in Africa.In 2005, Peking University and Cornell University signed an agreement formally establishing the China and Asia-Pacific Studies major at Cornell, which requires students to spend a semester studying at Peking University while working at internships. In 2006, PKU launched a joint undergraduate program with Yale University in which students will spend a semester overseas, living and studying together with the host institute's students. PKU's School of International Studies also launched joint degree programs with London School of Economics, Paris School of International Affairs, Waseda University, Seoul National University, and the University of Tokyo. PKU also has a longstanding relationship with Stanford University which operates a joint research center and base for Stanford students and scholars at the Stanford Center at Peking University, located in the Lee Jung Sen Building. The Peking University HSBC Business School has joint degree programs with University of Hong Kong and Chinese University of Hong Kong.The university has maintained a partnership with the Freie Universität Berlin since 1981 and the Higher School of Economics since 2015, and in 2019, became a partner of Washington University in St. Louis through the McDonnell International Scholars Academy. Global Excellence Strategy On the 121st founding anniversary, Peking University unveiled the "Global Excellence Strategy", an international blueprint aiming to enhance Peking University's global presence during the "Fourth Industrial Revolution". The "Global Excellence Strategy" aims to strengthen international cooperation, overcome development barriers, gather global resources, and stimulate collegial relationships. The Global Excellence Strategy is based upon the English word "CLOUDS", representing the "cloud era" of the "Fourth Industrial Revolution". Each letter stands for a corresponding word, namely creativity, leadership, openness, uniqueness, diversity and shaping. Notable people Notable alumni Notable alumni include the current chairman of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and the third-ranking member of the CCP Politburo Standing Committee Zhao Leji. Other alumni in politics include former premier of China Li Keqiang, former vice premier of China Hu Chunhua, current minister of Education, Chen Baosheng; current minister of Natural resources, Wang Guanghua; current Governor of the Central Bank of China, Yi Gang, former Interpol-president, Meng Hongwei, and former minister of commerce and Communist Party Secretary of Chongqing, Bo Xilai.Notable alumni in the sciences include Nobel laureate Tu Youyou, who for her work in discovering artemisinin and dihydroartemisinin used to treat malaria, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine jointly with William C. Campbell and Satoshi Ōmura; nuclear physicists and contributors to Chinese nuclear weapons program Qian Sanqiang and Deng Jiaxian, and "father of the Chinese hydrogen bomb" physicist Yu Min, nuclear physicist Zhu Guangya, particle physicist and discoverer of the partial conservation of the axial current, Zhou Guangzhao; mathematician and MacArthur Fellow Yitang Zhang, neurosurgeon Wang Zhongcheng, pulmonologist and recipient of the Medal of the Republic, Zhong Nanshan, and chief economist of the World Bank, Justin Yifu Lin.Notable alumni in the humanities and arts include author Lu Xun, philosopher and essayist Hu Shih, polymath Lin Yutang, philosopher Liang Shuming, Qing-dynasty educator Gu Hongming, anthropologist Fei Xiaotong, translator Li Bulou, computer scientist Wang Xuan, and author Jin Yong. Notable international alumni include emeritus professor and linguist Michael Halliday, author Julia Ebner, and philosopher Professor Li Chenyang.Notable alumni in business include co-founder and CEO of Baidu, billionaire Robin Li, and cryptocurrency entrepreneur Justin Sun. Other notable alumni include chess grandmaster, four-time Women's World Chess Champion, and Rhodes Scholar Hou Yifan. Notable academics and staff Peking University has benefited from the services of notable academics and staff. These include founder of the People's Republic of China Mao Zedong (who worked as a library staff at the university), educator, politician, and revolutionary Cai Yuanpei (served as Chancellor of Peking University), and others. See also 7072 Beijingdaxue – asteroid named after Peking University Affiliated High School of Peking University Beijing International MBA Beijing Medical University China Family Panel Studies History of Beijing Beijing Guozijian Project IMUSE and references Further reading Lin, Xiaoqing Diana (2005). Peking University: Chinese Scholarship and Intellectuals, 1898-1937. State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-8391-6. Official English Website Official website (in Chinese) Peking University Alumni Association

National Tsing Hua University (NTHU; Chinese: 國立清華大學; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Chheng-hôa Tāi-ha̍k) is a public research university in Hsinchu City, Taiwan. National Tsing Hua University was first founded in Beijing. After the Chinese Civil War, the then-president of the university, Mei Yiqi, and other major academics fled to Taiwan with the retreating Nationalist government. In 1956, they reinstalled National Tsing Hua University in Hsinchu, Taiwan, which has since remained independent and distinct from Tsinghua University in Beijing. The university is part of a leading research and innovation cluster in Taiwan, along with nearby National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, National Space Organization, National Health Research Institutes, Industrial Technology Research Institute, National Synchrotron Radiation Research Center, National Center for High-Performance Computing, Taiwan Semiconductor Research Institute, and Industrial Technology Research Institute. The research cluster and its neighboring Hsinchu Science Park together play a key role in global semiconductor industry. Today, there are 12 colleges or schools, 26 departments and 31 graduate institutes affiliated to NTHU. The college of Nuclear Science of NTHU is the sole educational and research institution focusing on the peaceful applications of nuclear power in Taiwan.NTHU has educated a wide range of notable alumni, including Nobel Prize laureates Chen Ning Yang, Tsung-Dao Lee, and Yuan Tseh Lee. Overview In 1955, the President of Tsinghua University in Beijing, Mei Yi-chi left and re-established the National Tsing Hua Institute of Nuclear Technology in Hsinchu city, and later based on the foundation of the original institute, National Tsing Hua University was founded in Taiwan. The two Tsinghua universities both claim to be successors of the original Tsinghua University. As a result of this dispute, the universities claimed to be the rightful recipient of the funds from the Boxer Rebellion indemnity that was used to start Tsinghua University. This indemnity was transferred to the university in Taiwan after the Nationalist government (Kuomintang) retreated to Taiwan. Today, both Tsinghua universities have deep mutual cooperation, including an establishment of Tsinghua Strait Research Institute, dual degree program, MOOC program, and academic exchange program. History After American Secretary of State John Hay suggested that US$30 million Boxer Rebellion indemnity money paid to the United States was excessive, in 1909, President Roosevelt and the U.S. Congress agreed to reduce the Qing Dynasty's indemnity payments by US$10.8 million, on the condition that the funding be used as scholarships for Chinese students to study in the United States. Using this fund, Tsinghua College (清華學堂, Qīnghuá Xuétáng) was established in Beijing, China, on 22 April 1911 on the site of a former royal garden belonging to a prince. It was initially a preparatory school for students sent by the government to study in the United States. The faculty members for the sciences were recruited by the YMCA from the United States and its graduates transferred directly to American schools as juniors upon graduation. In 1925, the school established its College Department and started its research institute on Chinese Study. In 1928, the authority officially changed its name to National Tsing Hua University (NTHU). During the Second World War in 1937, Tsinghua University, Peking University, and Nankai University merged to form Changsha Temporary University in Changsha, and later National Southwestern Associated University in Kunming. After the war, Tsinghua moved back to Beijing and resumed its operation there. During the Sino-Japanese War, the library lost 200,000 volumes, out of a total of 350,000.In 1956, National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) was reinstalled on its current campus in Hsinchu, Taiwan. Since its reinstallation, NTHU has developed from an institute focusing on Nuclear Science and Technology to that of a comprehensive research university offering degrees programs ranging from baccalaureate to doctorate in science, technology, engineering, humanities and social sciences, as well as management. NTHU has been consistently ranked as one of the premier universities in Taiwan and is widely recognized as the best incubator for future leaders in industries as well as academics. Such stellar records are particularly exemplified by the outstanding achievements of alumni, including two Nobel laureates in physics (Dr. Chen-Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee), one Nobel laureate in chemistry (Dr. Yuan-Tseh Lee) and one Wolf Prize winner in mathematics (Dr. Shiing-Shen Chern). In recent decades, the National Tsing Hua University in Taiwan has had increasingly close ties with the Tsinghua University in People's Republic of China (China). Of all universities on Taiwan, the NTHU has arguably one of the strongest cooperations with universities in mainland China in academic research, projects, and with the creation of programs such as the "Center for Contemporary China". Tradition Meichu Tournament The Mei-Chu Tournament, held in March annually, is a sport competition between National Tsing Hua University and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. Since its establishment in 1969, the tournament, also known as the Mei-Chu Games, has become a tradition, and is considered one of the most important activities between these two prestigious universities in Taiwan. The history of the Meichu Games goes back to the 1960s. After the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949, National Tsing Hua University and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University were both relocated in Hsinchu, Taiwan and became neighbors. The geographic and academic closeness prompted many intellectual and social exchanges between two universities. In 1966, an informal tournament was held. The arrangement of the formal event, however, was not institutionalized until 1968, when Chian Feng, an executive officer of NTHU student activity center, received the permission from the university authority to plan sport events for NTHU and NCTU students modeling after the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. While both side agreed on the plan to hold such an annual event, there was a disagreement on the naming of the Games. At last, Zhang Zhi-yi solved this problem by proposing the conventional coin tossing. "If the head-side is up, the game would be called Mei-Chu; otherwise, the game would be called Chu-Mei." As the head-side of the coin went up, the tournament was thereby named Meichu to commemorate the two founding presidents of NTHU and NCTU, Mei Yi-chi and Ling Chu-Ming. Campus life Student clubs There are more than one hundred student clubs serving diverse interests. Club activities range from community services, music and sports, cinema and theater, dancing and martial arts, religion and philosophy as well as scientific and academic interests. Housing There are eighteen dormitories on campus accommodating about 5000 students. Freshman, sophomore and most of the graduate students are allowed to lodge at dorms without drawing lots. The majority of NTHU faculty members are also living on campus. Scholarships, fellowships, and financial aid Scholarships and fellowships are awarded on a meritorious basis. Annually more than six hundred undergraduates and one hundred graduate students receive such supports. In addition, around four thousand graduate students are supported with teaching or research assistantships from academic units. For students with financial difficulties, the university provides student loans and emergency funds. Health care and counseling services A University Clinic, affiliated with Hsinchu Mackay Memorial Hospital, is located on campus where first aid and general medical services are provided. The NTHU offers counseling service to students, faculty and staff members at the University Counseling Center. The clinic and the center not only provide services when needed and organize and present educational programs for all students. Academics College of Science Interdisciplinary program of Sciences Department of Physics Department of Mathematics Department of Chemistry Institute of Statistics Institute of Astronomy Institute of Computational and Modeling Science College of Engineering Interdisciplinary Program of Engineering Department of Chemical Engineering Department of Materials Science and Engineering Department of Power Mechanical Engineering Department of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management Institute of Nano Engineering and MicroSystems Institute of Biomedical Engineering International Graduate Program Graduate Molecular Engineering Program Graduate Program of Advanced Energy IEEM Professional Master's Program Dual Master Program for Global Operation Management College of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Interdisciplinary Program of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Department of Electrical Engineering Department of Computer science Institute of Electronics Engineering Institute of Communications Engineering Institute of Photonics Technologies Institute of Information Systems and Applications Institute of Information Security College of Life Sciences and Medicine School of Medicine Interdisciplinary Program of Life Science Department of Life Science Department of Medical Science Institute of System Neuroscience Institute of Biotechnology Institute of Molecular Medicine Institute of Molecular and Cellular Biology Institute of Bioinformatics and Structural Biology College of Humanities and Social Sciences Interdisciplinary Program of Humanities and Social Sciences Department of Chinese Literature Department of Foreign Languages and Literature Institute of Anthropology Institute of History Institute of Philosophy Institute of Sociology Institute of Linguistics Institute of Taiwan Literature Institute of Sinophone Studies Graduate Program on Taiwan Studies International Master's Program in Inter-Asia Cultural Studies College of Nuclear Science Interdisciplinary Program of Nuclear Science Department of Engineering and System Science Department of Biomedical Engineering and Environmental Sciences Institute of Nuclear Engineering and Science Institute of Analytical and Environmental Sciences College of Technology Management Interdisciplinary Program of Management and Technology Department of Economics Department of Quantitative Finance Institute of Technology Management Institute of Law for Science and Technology Institute of Service Science EMBA IMBA College of Education Interdisciplinary Program of Education Department of Education and Learning Technology Department of Kinesiology Department of Early Childhood Education Department of Special Education Department of English Instruction Department of Educational Psychology and Counseling Department of Environmental and Cultural Resources Institute of Human Resource Development Institute of Taiwan Languages and Language Teaching Institute of Learning Sciences and Technologies Institute of Mathematics and Science Education College of Arts Interdisciplinary Program of Technology and Art Department of Music Department of Arts and Design Institute of Art and Technology College of Semiconductor Research Taipei School of Economics and Political Science M.A. Program in Asian Political Economy M.A. Program in Global Political Economy and Asia Tsing Hua College Tsing Hua Interdisciplinary Program Tsing Hua College International bachelor's degree Program Residential College Center for General Education Center for Teacher Education Center for Language Education Research Center for Technology and Art Regional Innovation Center Arts Center Military Instructors' Office Physical Education Office Research Centers Research & Development Office Computer & Communication Research Center National Center for Theoretical Sciences IC Design Tech. Center Center for Science Technology and Society Center for Nanotechology, Materials Science, and Microsystems Center for Photonics Research NTHU/ITRI Joint Research Center Center for Contemporary China Center for Energy and Environmental Research Brain Research Center Laboratory Animal Room Instrument Center Nuclear Science and Technology Development Center Electronic Business Center Quality Research Center Advanced Packaging Research Center Bioinformatics Center International programs NTHU participates in the Bioinformatics Program of the Taiwan International Graduate Program of Academia Sinica, Taiwan's most preeminent academic research institution. Presidents Mei Yi-chi: 1956–1962 Chen Ke-Chung: 1962–1969 Yen Chen-hsing: 1969–1970 Shu Shien-Siu: 1970–1975 Chang Ming-che: 1975–1981 Mao Gao-wen: 1981–1987 Liu Chao-shiuan: 1987–1993 R. C. T. Lee: 1993–1994 Shen Chun-shan: 1994–1997 Chen Hsin-hsiung: 1997–1998 Chung Laung Liu: February 1998 – February 2002 Frank Shu: February 2002 – February 2006 Wen-Tsuen Chen: February 2006 – February 2010 Lih-Juann Chen: February 2010 – February 2014 HoCheng Hong: February 2014 – February 2022 W. John Kao: February 2022 – present Rankings NTHU is generally considered to be one of the best universities in Taiwan. In 2021, Times Higher Education ranked National Tsing Hua University 351-400th in the world. The 2021 QS World University Rankings ranked National Tsing Hua University 168th overall. In 2021, U.S. News & World Report ranked National Tsing Hua University 363rd in the world. In 2020, Academic Ranking of World Universities ranked National Tsing Hua University 401-500th. The 2020 QS World University Rankings by Subject ranked the university: 84th in Engineering & Technology, 266th in Arts & Humanities, 401-500th in Life Sciences & Medicine, 101st in Natural Sciences, and 249th in Social Sciences & ManagementIn 2014, the representative of Japan in Taiwan listed NTHU as one of the seven well-known Taiwanese universities. Notable alumni and faculty Humanities and Social Sciences Liang Qichao: well-known scholar, thinker, statesman, known as "the proud professor of speech" Wang Guowei: Guoxue Master, known as "the founder of modern Chinese academic," "New History of Kaishanzushi" Chen Yinke: linguist, historian Zhao Yuanren: linguist Zhu Ziqing: prose writer Xia Nai: archaeologist Feng Youlan: philosopher and historian of Chinese philosophy David Zweig: social scientist, academic, and author Physical Science & Engineering Ta-You Wu: physicist, the former president of Academia Sinica, the Republic of China (Taiwan) Hua Luogeng: mathematician and educator Yu-Fen Zhao: CAS academician, Tsinghua University, Beijing, Xiamen University, a professor of chemistry Shiing-Shen Chern: mathematician, Academician of Academia Sinica Chen Ning Yang: winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Academia Sinica academician Tsung-Dao Lee: winner of the Nobel Prize in Physics, Academia Sinica academician Yuan Tseh Lee: winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, Academician of Academia Sinica, the former president of Academia Sinica, the Republic of China H. T. Kung: Harvard University Professor of Computer Science, National Academy of Engineering USA Typhoon Lee: Academia Sinica, director of the Institute of Earth Sciences, Academia Sinica academicians Way Kuo: President of City University of Hong Kong, former Bell Labs expert, Academician of Academia Sinica, Wei Shyy: President, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, China Wen-Tsuen Chen: former president of NTHU, Taiwan Nancy Tang Chang: co-founder of the U.S. biotech company Tanox, chairman, president Fa-Yueh Wu: mathematician and physicist, Professor of Northeastern University See also List of universities in Taiwan Hsinchu Science Park National Experimental High School: A "Kindergarten through High School", established to provide special education opportunity to staff and faculty of NTHU and other Greater Science Park Area personnel. Academia Sinica Tsinghua Big Five Alliance Tsinghua University Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) Official Website

Bunka (文化, culture) was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, "year name") after Kyōwa and before Bunsei. The period spanned the years from January 1804 to April 1818. The reigning emperors were Kōkaku-tennō (光格天皇) and Ninkō-Tennō (仁孝天皇). Change of era February 11, 1804 (Bunka gannen (文化元年)): The new era name of Bunka ( meaning "Culture" or "Civilization") was created to mark the start of a new 60-year cycle of the Heavenly Stem and Earthly Branch system of the Chinese calendar which was on New Year's Day, the new moon day of 2 November 1804. The previous era ended and a new one commenced in Kyōwa 4. Events of the Bunka era 1804 (Bunka 1): Daigaku-no-kami Hayashi Jussai (1768–1841) explained the shogunate foreign policy to Emperor Kōkaku in Kyoto. June 1805 (Bunka 2): Genpaku Sugita (1733–1817) is granted an audience with Shōgun Ienari to explain differences between traditional medical knowledge and Western medical knowledge. September 25, 1810 (Bunka 7, 27th day of the 8thmonth): Earthquake in northern Honshū (Latitude: 39.900/Longitude: 139.900), 6.6 magnitude on the Surface wave magnitude scale....Click link for NOAA/Japan: Significant Earthquake Database December 7, 1812 (Bunka 9, 4th day of the 11th month): Earthquake in Honshū (Latitude: 35.400/Longitude: 139.600), 6.6 magnitude. 1817 (Bunka 14): Emperor Kōkaku travelled in procession to Sento Imperial Palace, a palace of an abdicated emperor. The Sento Palace at that time was called Sakura Machi Palace. It had been built by the Tokugawa Shogunate for former-Emperor Go-Mizunoo. Cullen, Louis M. (2003). A History of Japan, 1582–1941: Internal and External Worlds. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521821551; ISBN 9780521529181; OCLC 50694793 Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301 Sugita Genpaku. (1930). Dawn of Western Science in Japan (蘭學事始, Rangaku kotohajime). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. OCLC 9424185 National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection National Archives of Japan: Sakuramachiden Gyokozu, scroll depicting Emperor Kōkaku in formal procession, 1817 (Bunka 14).

Bunmei (文明, "civilization") was a Japanese era name (年号, nengō, "year name") after Ōnin and before Chōkyō. This period spanned from April 1469 through July 1487. The reigning emperor was Go-Tsuchimikado-tennō (後土御門天皇). Change of era 1469 Bunmei gannen (文明元年): The era name was changed to mark an event or a number of events. The old era ended and a new one commenced in Ōnin 3. Events of the Bunmei era 1468 (Bunmei 2, 7th month): Ichijō Kanera (1402–1481) was relieved of his duties as kampaku. January 18, 1471 (Bunmei 2, 27th day of the 12th month ): The former Emperor Go-Hanazono died at age 52. April 16, 1473 (Bunmei 5, on the 19th day of the 3rd month): Yamana Sōzen died at age 70. 1478 (Bunmei 10): Ichijō Kanera published Bunmei ittō-ki (On the Unity of Knowledge and Culture) which deals with political ethics and six points about the duties of a prince. February 21, 1482 (Bunmei 14, 4th day of the 2nd month): Construction of Ashikaga Yoshimasa's Silver Pavilion commenced. Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric and Käthe Roth. (2005). Japan Encyclopedia. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-01753-5; OCLC 48943301 Keene, Donald. (2003). Yoshimasa and the Silver Pavilion: The Creation of the Soul of Japan. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-13056-1; OCLC 52268947 Titsingh, Isaac. (1834). Nihon Ōdai Ichiran; ou, Annales des empereurs du Japon. Paris: Royal Asiatic Society, Oriental Translation Fund of Great Britain and Ireland. OCLC 5850691 National Diet Library, "The Japanese Calendar" -- historical overview plus illustrative images from library's collection

Shing-Tung Yau (; Chinese: 丘成桐; pinyin: Qiū Chéngtóng; born April 4, 1949) is a Chinese-American mathematician and the William Caspar Graustein Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University. In April 2022, Yau announced retirement from Harvard to become Chair Professor of mathematics at Tsinghua University.Yau was born in Shantou, China, moved to Hong Kong at a young age, and to the United States in 1969. He was awarded the Fields Medal in 1982, in recognition of his contributions to partial differential equations, the Calabi conjecture, the positive energy theorem, and the Monge–Ampère equation. Yau is considered one of the major contributors to the development of modern differential geometry and geometric analysis. The impact of Yau's work can be seen in the mathematical and physical fields of differential geometry, partial differential equations, convex geometry, algebraic geometry, enumerative geometry, mirror symmetry, general relativity, and string theory, while his work has also touched upon applied mathematics, engineering, and numerical analysis. Biography Yau was born in Shantou, China in 1949 to Hakka parents. Yau's ancestral hometown is Jiaoling county, China. His mother, Yeuk Lam Leung, was from Meixian District; his father, Chen Ying Chiu, was a Chinese scholar of philosophy, history, literature, and economics.[YN19] He was the fifth of eight children, with Hakka ancestry.During the Communist takeover of mainland China, when he was only a few months old, his family moved to Hong Kong where he was forced to learn to speak the Cantonese language as well as speak the Chinese dialect of Hakka. He was not able to revisit until 1979, at the invitation of Hua Luogeng, when mainland China entered the reform and opening era.[YN19]. They had financial troubles from having lost all of their possessions, and his father and second-oldest sister died when he was thirteen. Yau began to read and appreciate his father's books, and became more devoted to schoolwork. After graduating from Pui Ching Middle School, he studied mathematics at the Chinese University of Hong Kong from 1966 to 1969, without receiving a degree due to graduating early. He left his textbooks with his younger brother, Stephen Shing-Toung Yau, who then decided to major in mathematics as well. Yau left for the Ph.D. program in mathematics at University of California, Berkeley in the fall of 1969. Over the winter break, he read the first issues of the Journal of Differential Geometry, and was deeply inspired by John Milnor's papers on geometric group theory.[YN19] Subsequently he formulated a generalization of Preissman's theorem, and developed his ideas further with Blaine Lawson over the next semester. Using this work, he received his Ph.D. the following year, in 1971, under the supervision of Shiing-Shen Chern.He spent a year as a member of the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton before joining Stony Brook University in 1972 as an assistant professor. In 1974, he became an associate professor at Stanford University. In 1976 he took a visiting faculty position with UCLA and married physicist Yu-Yun Kuo, who he knew from his time as a graduate student at Berkeley. From 1984 to 1987 he worked at University of California, San Diego. Since 1987, he has been at Harvard University. In April 2022, Yau announced a forthcoming move from Harvard to Tsinghua University.In 1978, Yau became "stateless" after the British Consulate revoked his Hong Kong residency due to his United States permanent residency status. Regarding his status when receiving his Fields Medal in 1982, Yau stated "I am proud to say that when I was awarded the Fields Medal in mathematics, I held no passport of any country and should certainly be considered Chinese." Yau remained "stateless" until 1990, when he obtained United States citizenship.With science journalist Steve Nadis, Yau has written a non-technical account of Calabi-Yau manifolds and string theory,[YN10] a history of Harvard's mathematics department,[NY13] and an autobiography.[YN19] Academic activities Yau has made major contributions to the development of modern differential geometry and geometric analysis. As said by William Thurston in 1981: We have rarely had the opportunity to witness the spectacle of the work of one mathematician affecting, in a short span of years, the direction of whole areas of research. In the field of geometry, one of the most remarkable instances of such an occurrence during the last decade is given by the contributions of Shing-Tung Yau. His most widely celebrated results include the resolution (with Shiu-Yuen Cheng) of the boundary-value problem for the Monge-Ampère equation, the positive mass theorem in the mathematical analysis of general relativity (achieved with Richard Schoen), the resolution of the Calabi conjecture, the topological theory of minimal surfaces (with William Meeks), the Donaldson-Uhlenbeck-Yau theorem (done with Karen Uhlenbeck), and the Cheng−Yau and Li−Yau gradient estimates for partial differential equations (found with Shiu-Yuen Cheng and Peter Li). Many of Yau's results (in addition to those of others) were written into textbooks co-authored with Schoen.[SY94][SY97]In addition to his research, Yau is the founder and director of several mathematical institutes, mostly in China. John Coates has commented that "no other mathematician of our times has come close" to Yau's success at fundraising for mathematical activities in China and Hong Kong. During a sabbatical year at National Tsinghua University in Taiwan, Yau was asked by Charles Kao to start a mathematical institute at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. After a few years of fundraising efforts, Yau established the multi-disciplinary Institute of Mathematical Sciences in 1993, with his frequent co-author Shiu-Yuen Cheng as associate director. In 1995, Yau assisted Yongxiang Lu with raising money from Ronnie Chan and Gerald Chan's Morningside Group for the new Morningside Center of Mathematics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Yau has also been involved with the Center of Mathematical Sciences at Zhejiang University, at Tsinghua University, at National Taiwan University, and in Sanya. More recently, in 2014, Yau raised money to establish the Center of Mathematical Sciences and Applications (of which he is the director), the Center for Green Buildings and Cities, and the Center for Immunological Research, all at Harvard University.Modeled on an earlier physics conference organized by Tsung-Dao Lee and Chen-Ning Yang, Yau proposed the International Congress of Chinese Mathematicians, which is now held every three years. The first congress was held at the Morningside Center from December 12 to 18, 1998. He co-organizes the annual "Journal of Differential Geometry" and "Current Developments in Mathematics" conferences. Yau is an editor-in-chief of the Journal of Differential Geometry, Asian Journal of Mathematics, and Advances in Theoretical and Mathematical Physics. As of 2021, he has advised over seventy Ph.D. students.In Hong Kong, with the support of Ronnie Chan, Yau set up the Hang Lung Award for high school students. He has also organized and participated in meetings for high school and college students, such as the panel discussions Why Math? Ask Masters! in Hangzhou, July 2004, and The Wonder of Mathematics in Hong Kong, December 2004. Yau also co-initiated a series of books on popular mathematics, "Mathematics and Mathematical People". In 2002 and 2003, Grigori Perelman posted preprints to the arXiv claiming to prove the Thurston geometrization conjecture and, as a special case, the renowned Poincaré conjecture. Although his work contained many new ideas and results, his proofs lacked detail on a number of technical arguments. Over the next few years, several mathematicians devoted their time to fill in details and provide expositions of Perelman's work to the mathematical community. A well-known August 2006 article in the New Yorker written by Sylvia Nasar and David Gruber about the situation brought some professional disputes involving Yau to public attention. Alexander Givental alleged that Bong Lian, Kefeng Liu, and Yau illegitimately took credit from him for resolving a well-known conjecture in the field of mirror symmetry. Although it is undisputed that Lian−Liu−Yau's article appeared after Givental's, they claim that his work contained gaps that were only filled in following work in their own publication; Givental claims that his original work was complete. Nasar and Gruber quote an anonymous mathematician as agreeing with Givental. In the 1980s, Yau's colleague Yum-Tong Siu accused Yau's Ph.D. student Gang Tian of plagiarizing some of his work. At the time, Yau defended Tian against Siu's accusations.[YN19] In the 2000s, Yau began to amplify Siu's allegations, saying that he found Tian's dual position at Princeton University and Peking University to be highly unethical due to his high salary from Peking University compared to other professors and students who made more active contributions to the university.[YN19] Science Magazine covered the broader phenomena of such positions in China, with Tian and Yau as central figures. Nasar and Gruber say that, having allegedly not done any notable work since the middle of the 1980s, Yau tried to regain prominence by claiming that Xi-Ping Zhu and Yau's former student Huai-Dong Cao had solved the Thurston and Poincaré conjectures, only partially based on some of Perelman's ideas. Nasar and Gruber quoted Yau as agreeing with the acting director of one of Yau's mathematical centers, who at a press conference assigned Cao and Zhu thirty percent of the credit for resolving the conjectures, with Perelman receiving only twenty-five (with the rest going to Richard Hamilton). A few months later, a segment of NPR's All Things Considered covering the situation reviewed an audio recording of the press conference and found no such statement made by either Yau or the acting director.Yau claimed that Nasar and Gruber's article was defamatory and contained several falsehoods, and that they did not give him the opportunity to represent his own side of the disputes. He considered filing a lawsuit against the magazine, claiming professional damage, but says he decided that it wasn't sufficiently clear what such an action would achieve.[YN19] He established a public relations website, with letters responding to the New Yorker article from several mathematicians, including himself and two others quoted in the article.In his autobiography, Yau said that his statements in 2006 such as that Cao and Zhu gave "the first complete and detailed account of the proof of the Poincaré conjecture" should have been phrased more carefully. Although he does believe Cao and Zhu's work to be the first and most rigorously detailed account of Perelman's work, he says he should have clarified that they had "not surpassed Perelman's work in any way."[YN19] He has also maintained the view that (as of 2019) the final parts of Perelman's proof should be better understood by the mathematical community, with the corresponding possibility that there remain some unnoticed errors. Technical contributions to mathematics Yau has made a number of major research contributions, centered on differential geometry and its appearance in other fields of mathematics and science. In addition to his research, Yau has compiled influential sets of open problems in differential geometry, including both well-known old conjectures with new proposals and problems. Two of Yau's most widely cited problem lists from the 1980s have been updated with notes on progress as of 2014. Particularly well-known are a conjecture on existence of minimal hypersurfaces and on the spectral geometry of minimal hypersurfaces. Calabi conjecture In 1978, by studying the complex Monge–Ampère equation, Yau resolved the Calabi conjecture, which had been posed by Eugenio Calabi in 1954.[Y78a] As a special case, this showed that Kähler-Einstein metrics exist on any closed Kähler manifold whose first Chern class is nonpositive. Yau's method adapted earlier work of Calabi, Jürgen Moser, and Aleksei Pogorelov, developed for quasilinear elliptic partial differential equations and the real Monge–Ampère equation, to the setting of the complex Monge–Ampère equation. In differential geometry, Yau's theorem is significant in proving the general existence of closed manifolds of special holonomy; any simply-connected closed Kähler manifold which is Ricci flat must have its holonomy group contained in the special unitary group, according to the Ambrose–Singer theorem. Examples of compact Riemannian manifolds with other special holonomy groups have been found by Dominic Joyce and Peter Kronheimer, although no proposals for general existence results, analogous to Calabi's conjecture, have been successfully identified in the case of the other groups. In algebraic geometry, the existence of canonical metrics as proposed by Calabi allows one to give equally canonical representatives of characteristic classes by differential forms. Due to Yau's initial efforts at disproving the Calabi conjecture by showing that it would lead to contradictions in such contexts, he was able to draw striking corollaries to the conjecture itself.[Y77] In particular, the Calabi conjecture implies the Miyaoka–Yau inequality on Chern numbers of surfaces, in addition to homotopical characterizations of the complex structures of the complex projective plane and of quotients of the two-dimensional complex unit ball. A special case of the Calabi conjecture asserts that a Kähler metric of zero Ricci curvature must exist on any Kähler manifold whose first Chern class is zero. In string theory, it was discovered in 1985 by Philip Candelas, Gary Horowitz, Andrew Strominger, and Edward Witten that these Calabi–Yau manifolds, due to their special holonomy, are the appropriate configuration spaces for superstrings. For this reason, Yau's resolution of the Calabi conjecture is considered to be of fundamental importance in modern string theory.The understanding of the Calabi conjecture in the noncompact setting is less definitive. Gang Tian and Yau extended Yau's analysis of the complex Monge−Ampère equation to the noncompact setting, where the use of cutoff functions and corresponding integral estimates necessitated the conditional assumption of certain controlled geometry near infinity.[TY90] This reduces the problem to the question of existence of Kähler metrics with such asymptotic properties; they obtained such metrics for certain smooth quasi-projective complex varieties. They later extended their work to allow orbifold singularities.[TY91] With Brian Greene, Alfred Shapere, and Cumrun Vafa, Yau introduced an ansatz for a Kähler metric on the set of regular points of certain surjective holomorphic maps, with Ricci curvature approximately zero.[G+90] They were able to apply the Tian−Yau existence theorem to construct a Kähler metric which is exactly Ricci-flat. The Greene−Shapere−Vafa−Yau ansatz and its natural generalization, now known as a semi-flat metric, has become important in several analyses of problems in Kähler geometry. Scalar curvature and general relativity The positive energy theorem, obtained by Yau in collaboration with his former doctoral student Richard Schoen, can be described in physical terms: In Einstein's theory of general relativity, the gravitational energy of an isolated physical system is nonnegative. However, it is a precise theorem of differential geometry and geometric analysis, in which physical systems are modeled by Riemannian manifolds with nonnegativity of a certain generalized scalar curvature. As such, Schoen and Yau's approach originated in their study of Riemannian manifolds of positive scalar curvature, which is of interest in and of itself. The starting point of Schoen and Yau's analysis is their identification of a simple but novel way of inserting the Gauss–Codazzi equations into the second variation formula for the area of a stable minimal hypersurface of a three-dimensional Riemannian manifold. The Gauss–Bonnet theorem then highly constrains the possible topology of such a surface when the ambient manifold has positive scalar curvature.[SY79a]Schoen and Yau exploited this observation by finding novel constructions of stable minimal hypersurfaces with various controlled properties.[SY79a] Some of their existence results were developed simultaneously with similar results of Jonathan Sacks and Karen Uhlenbeck, using different techniques. Their fundamental result is on the existence of minimal immersions with prescribed topological behavior. As a consequence of their calculation with the Gauss–Bonnet theorem, they were able to conclude that certain topologically distinguished three-dimensional manifolds cannot have any Riemannian metric of nonnegative scalar curvature.Schoen and Yau then adapted their work to the setting of certain Riemannian asymptotically flat initial data sets in general relativity. They proved that negativity of the mass would allow one to invoke the Plateau problem to construct stable minimal surfaces which are geodesically complete. A noncompact analogue of their calculation with the Gauss–Bonnet theorem then provides a logical contradiction to the negativity of mass. As such, they were able to prove the positive mass theorem in the special case of their Riemannian initial data sets.[SY79c]Schoen and Yau extended this to the full Lorentzian formulation of the positive mass theorem by studying a partial differential equation proposed by Pong-Soo Jang. They proved that solutions to the Jang equation exist away from the apparent horizons of black holes, at which solutions can diverge to infinity.[SY81] By relating the geometry of a Lorentzian initial data set to the geometry of the graph of such a solution to the Jang equation, interpreting the latter as a Riemannian initial data set, Schoen and Yau proved the full positive energy theorem. Furthermore, by reverse-engineering their analysis of the Jang equation, they were able to establish that any sufficient concentration of energy in general relativity must be accompanied by an apparent horizon.[SY83]Due to the use of the Gauss–Bonnet theorem, these results were originally restricted to the case of three-dimensional Riemannian manifolds and four-dimensional Lorentzian manifolds. Schoen and Yau established an induction on dimension by constructing Riemannian metrics of positive scalar curvature on minimal hypersurfaces of Riemannian manifolds which have positive scalar curvature.[SY79b] Such minimal hypersurfaces, which were constructed by means of geometric measure theory by Frederick Almgren and Herbert Federer, are generally not smooth in large dimensions, so these methods only directly apply up for Riemannian manifolds of dimension less than eight. Without any dimensional restriction, Schoen and Yau proved the positive mass theorem in the class of locally conformally flat manifolds.[SY88] In 2017, Schoen and Yau published a preprint claiming to resolve these difficulties, thereby proving the induction without dimensional restriction and verifying the Riemannian positive mass theorem in arbitrary dimension. Gerhard Huisken and Yau made a further study of the asymptotic region of Riemannian manifolds with strictly positive mass. Huisken had earlier initiated the study of volume-preserving mean curvature flow of hypersurfaces of Euclidean space. Huisken and Yau adapted his work to the Riemannian setting, proving a long-time existence and convergence theorem for the flow. As a corollary, they established a new geometric feature of positive-mass manifolds, which is that their asymptotic regions are foliated by surfaces of constant mean curvature.[HY96] Omori−Yau maximum principle Traditionally, the maximum principle technique is only applied directly on compact spaces, as maxima are then guaranteed to exist. In 1967, Hideki Omori found a novel maximum principle which applies on noncompact Riemannian manifolds whose sectional curvatures are bounded below. It is trivial that approximate maxima exist; Omori additionally proved the existence of approximate maxima where the values of the gradient and second derivatives are suitably controlled. Yau partially extended Omori's result to require only a lower bound on Ricci curvature; the result is known as the Omori−Yau maximum principle.[Y75b] Such generality is useful due to the appearance of Ricci curvature in the Bochner formula, where a lower bound is also typically used in algebraic manipulations. In addition to giving a very simple proof of the principle itself, Shiu-Yuen Cheng and Yau were able to show that the Ricci curvature assumption in the Omori−Yau maximum principle can be replaced by the assumption of the existence of cutoff functions with certain controllable geometry.[CY75]Yau was able to directly apply the Omori−Yau principle to generalize the classical Schwarz−Pick lemma of complex analysis. Lars Ahlfors, among others, had previously generalized the lemma to the setting of Riemann surfaces. With his methods, Yau was able to consider the setting of a mapping from a complete Kähler manifold (with a lower bound on Ricci curvature) to a Hermitian manifold with holomorphic bisectional curvature bounded above by a negative number.[Y78b]Cheng and Yau extensively used their variant of the Omori−Yau principle to find Kähler−Einstein metrics on noncompact Kähler manifolds, under an ansatz developed by Charles Fefferman. The estimates involved in the method of continuity were not as difficult as in Yau's earlier work on the Calabi conjecture, due to the fact that Cheng and Yau only considered Kähler−Einstein metrics with negative scalar curvature. The more subtle question, where Fefferman's earlier work became important, is to do with geodesic completeness. In particular, Cheng and Yau were able to find complete Kähler-Einstein metrics of negative scalar curvature on any bounded, smooth, and strictly pseudoconvex subset of complex Euclidean space.[CY80] These can be thought of as complex geometric analogues of the Poincaré ball model of hyperbolic space. Differential Harnack inequalities Yau's original application of the Omori−Yau maximum principle was to establish gradient estimates for a number of second-order elliptic partial differential equations.[Y75b] Given a function on a complete and smooth Riemannian manifold which satisfies various conditions relating the Laplacian to the function and gradient values, Yau applied the maximum principle to various complicated composite expressions to control the size of the gradient. Although the algebraic manipulations involved are complex, the conceptual form of Yau's proof is strikingly simple.Yau's novel gradient estimates have come to be called "differential Harnack inequalities" since they can be integrated along arbitrary paths in to recover inequalities which are of the form of the classical Harnack inequalities, directly comparing the values of a solution to a differential equation at two different input points. By making use of Calabi's study of the distance function on a Riemannian manifold, Yau and Shiu-Yuen Cheng gave a powerful localization of Yau's gradient estimates, using the same methods to simplify the proof of the Omori−Yau maximum principle.[CY75] Such estimates are widely quoted in the particular case of harmonic functions on a Riemannian manifold, although Yau and Cheng−Yau's original results cover more general scenarios.In 1986, Yau and Peter Li made use of the same methods to study parabolic partial differential equations on Riemannian manifolds.[LY86] Richard Hamilton generalized their results in certain geometric settings to matrix inequalities. Analogues of the Li−Yau and Hamilton−Li−Yau inequalities are of great importance in the theory of Ricci flow, where Hamilton proved a matrix differential Harnack inequality for the curvature operator of certain Ricci flows, and Grigori Perelman proved a differential Harnack inequality for the solutions of a backwards heat equation coupled with a Ricci flow.Cheng and Yau were able to use their differential Harnack estimates to show that, under certain geometric conditions, closed submanifolds of complete Riemannian or pseudo-Riemannian spaces are themselves complete. For instance, they showed that if M is a spacelike hypersurface of Minkowski space which is topologically closed and has constant mean curvature, then the induced Riemannian metric on M is complete.[CY76a] Analogously, they showed that if M is an affine hypersphere of affine space which is topologically closed, then the induced affine metric on M is complete.[CY86] Such results are achieved by deriving a differential Harnack inequality for the (squared) distance function to a given point and integrating along intrinsically defined paths. Donaldson−Uhlenbeck−Yau theorem In 1985, Simon Donaldson showed that, over a nonsingular projective variety of complex dimension two, a holomorphic vector bundle admits a hermitian Yang–Mills connection if and only if the bundle is stable. A result of Yau and Karen Uhlenbeck generalized Donaldson's result to allow a compact Kähler manifold of any dimension.[UY86] The Uhlenbeck–Yau method relied upon elliptic partial differential equations while Donaldson's used parabolic partial differential equations, roughly in parallel to Eells and Sampson's epochal work on harmonic maps. The results of Donaldson and Uhlenbeck–Yau have since been extended by other authors. Uhlenbeck and Yau's article is important in giving a clear reason that stability of the holomorphic vector bundle can be related to the analytic methods used in constructing a hermitian Yang–Mills connection. The essential mechanism is that if an approximating sequence of hermitian connections fails to converge to the required Yang–Mills connection, then they can be rescaled to converge to a subsheaf which can be verified to be destabilizing by Chern–Weil theory.Like the Calabi–Yau theorem, the Donaldson–Uhlenbeck–Yau theorem is of interest in theoretical physics. In the interest of an appropriately general formulation of supersymmetry, Andrew Strominger included the hermitian Yang–Mills condition as part of his Strominger system, a proposal for the extension of the Calabi−Yau condition to non-Kähler manifolds. Ji-Xiang Fu and Yau introduced an ansatz for the solution of Strominger's system on certain three-dimensional complex manifolds, reducing the problem to a complex Monge−Ampère equation, which they solved.[FY08]Yau's solution of the Calabi conjecture had given a reasonably complete answer to the question of how Kähler metrics on compact complex manifolds of nonpositive first Chern class can be deformed into Kähler–Einstein metrics.[Y78a] Akito Futaki showed that the existence of holomorphic vector fields can act as an obstruction to the direct extension of these results to the case when the complex manifold has positive first Chern class. A proposal of Calabi's suggested that Kähler–Einstein metrics exist on any compact Kähler manifolds with positive first Chern class which admit no holomorphic vector fields.[Y82b] During the 1980s, Yau and others came to understand that this criterion could not be sufficient. Inspired by the Donaldson−Uhlenbeck−Yau theorem, Yau proposed that the existence of Kähler–Einstein metrics must be linked to stability of the complex manifold in the sense of geometric invariant theory, with the idea of studying holomorphic vector fields along projective embeddings, rather than holomorphic vector fields on the manifold itself.[Y93][Y14a] Subsequent research of Gang Tian and Simon Donaldson refined this conjecture, which became known as the Yau–Tian–Donaldson conjecture relating Kähler–Einstein metrics and K-stability. In 2019, Xiuxiong Chen, Donaldson, and Song Sun were awarded the Oswald Veblen prize for resolution of the conjecture. Geometric variational problems In 1982, Li and Yau resolved the Willmore conjecture in the non-embedded case.[LY82] More precisely, they established that, given any smooth immersion of a closed surface in the 3-sphere which fails to be an embedding, the Willmore energy is bounded below by 8π. This is complemented by a 2012 result of Fernando Marques and André Neves, which says that in the alternative case of a smooth embedding of the 2-dimensional torus S1 × S1, the Willmore energy is bounded below by 2π2. Together, these results comprise the full Willmore conjecture, as originally formulated by Thomas Willmore in 1965. Although their assumptions and conclusions are quite similar, the methods of Li−Yau and Marques−Neves are distinct. Nonetheless, they both rely on structurally similar minimax schemes. Marques and Neves made novel use of the Almgren–Pitts min-max theory of the area functional from geometric measure theory; Li and Yau's approach depended on their new "conformal invariant", which is a min-max quantity based on the Dirichlet energy. The main work of their article is devoted to relating their conformal invariant to other geometric quantities. William Meeks and Yau produced some foundational results on minimal surfaces in three-dimensional manifolds, revisiting points left open by older work of Jesse Douglas and Charles Morrey.[MY82] Following these foundations, Meeks, Leon Simon, and Yau gave a number of fundamental results on surfaces in three-dimensional Riemannian manifolds which minimize area within their homology class.[MSY82] They were able to give a number of striking applications. For example, they showed that if M is an orientable 3-manifold such that every smooth embedding of a 2-sphere can be extended to a smooth embedding of the unit ball, then the same is true of any covering space of M. Interestingly, Meeks-Simon-Yau's paper and Hamilton's foundational paper on Ricci flow, published in the same year, have a result in common, obtained by very distinct methods: any simply-connected compact 3-dimensional Riemannian manifold with positive Ricci curvature is diffeomorphic to the 3-sphere. Geometric rigidity theorems In the geometry of submanifolds, both the extrinsic and intrinsic geometries are significant. These are reflected by the intrinsic Riemannian metric and the second fundamental form. Many geometers have considered the phenomena which arise from restricting these data to some form of constancy. This includes as special cases the problems of minimal surfaces, constant mean curvature, and submanifolds whose metric has constant scalar curvature. The archetypical example of such questions is Bernstein's problem, as completely settled in famous work of James Simons, Enrico Bombieri, Ennio De Giorgi, and Enrico Giusti in the 1960s. Their work asserts that a minimal hypersurface which is a graph over Euclidean space must be a plane in low dimensions, with counterexamples in high dimensions. The key point of the proof of planarity is the non-existence of conical and non-planar stable minimal hypersurfaces of Euclidean spaces of low dimension; this was given a simple proof by Richard Schoen, Leon Simon, and Yau.[SSY75] Their technique of combining the Simons inequality with the formula for second variation of area has subsequently been used many times in the literature. Given the "threshold" dimension phenomena in the standard Bernstein problem, it is a somewhat surprising fact, due to Shiu-Yuen Cheng and Yau, that there is no dimensional restriction in the Lorentzian analogue: any spacelike hypersurface of multidimensional Minkowski space which is a graph over Euclidean space and has zero mean curvature must be a plane.[CY76a] Their proof makes use of the maximum principle techniques which they had previously used to prove differential Harnack estimates.[CY75] Later they made use of similar techniques to give a new proof of the classification of complete parabolic or elliptic affine hyperspheres in affine geometry.[CY86] In one of his earliest papers, Yau considered the extension of the constant mean curvature condition to higher codimension, where the condition can be interpreted either as the mean curvature being parallel as a section of the normal bundle, or as the constancy of the length of the mean curvature. Under the former interpretation, he fully characterized the case of two-dimensional surfaces in Riemannian space forms, and found partial results under the (weaker) second interpretation.[Y74] Some of his results were independently found by Bang-Yen Chen. Extending Philip Hartman and Louis Nirenberg's earlier work on intrinsically flat hypersurfaces of Euclidean space, Cheng and Yau considered hypersurfaces of space forms which have constant scalar curvature. The key tool in their analysis was an extension of Hermann Weyl's differential identity used in the solution of the Weyl isometric embedding problem.[CY77b]Outside of the setting of submanifold rigidity problems, Yau was able to adapt Jürgen Moser's method of proving Caccioppoli inequalities, thereby proving new rigidity results for functions on complete Riemannian manifolds. A particularly famous result of his says that a subharmonic function cannot be both positive and Lp integrable unless it is constant.[Y76] Similarly, on a complete Kähler manifold, a holomorphic function cannot be Lp integrable unless it is constant.[Y76] Minkowski problem and Monge–Ampère equation The Minkowski problem of classical differential geometry can be viewed as the problem of prescribing Gaussian curvature. In the 1950s, Louis Nirenberg and Aleksei Pogorelov resolved the problem for two-dimensional surfaces, making use of recent progress on the Monge–Ampère equation for two-dimensional domains. By the 1970s, higher-dimensional understanding of the Monge–Ampère equation was still lacking. In 1976, Shiu-Yuen Cheng and Yau resolved the Minkowski problem in general dimensions via the method of continuity, making use of fully geometric estimates instead of the theory of the Monge–Ampère equation.[CY76b]As a consequence of their resolution of the Minkowski problem, Cheng and Yau were able to make progress on the understanding of the Monge–Ampère equation.[CY77a] The key observation is that the Legendre transform of a solution of the Monge–Ampère equation has its graph's Gaussian curvature prescribed by a simple formula depending on the "right-hand side" of the Monge–Ampère equation. As a consequence, they were able to prove the general solvability of the Dirichlet problem for the Monge–Ampère equation, which at the time had been a major open question except for two-dimensional domains.Cheng and Yau's papers followed some ideas presented in 1971 by Pogorelov, although his publicly available works (at the time of Cheng and Yau's work) had lacked some significant detail. Pogorelov also published a more detailed version of his original ideas, and the resolutions of the problems are commonly attributed to both Cheng–Yau and Pogorelov. The approaches of Cheng−Yau and Pogorelov are no longer commonly seen in the literature on the Monge–Ampère equation, as other authors, notably Luis Caffarelli, Nirenberg, and Joel Spruck, have developed direct techniques which yield more powerful results, and which do not require the auxiliary use of the Minkowski problem.Affine spheres are naturally described by solutions of certain Monge–Ampère equations, so that their full understanding is significantly more complicated than that of Euclidean spheres, the latter not being based on partial differential equations. In the parabolic case, affine spheres were completely classified as paraboloids by successive work of Konrad Jörgens, Eugenio Calabi, and Pogorelov. The elliptic affine spheres were identified as ellipsoids by Calabi. The hyperbolic affine spheres exhibit more complicated phenomena. Cheng and Yau proved that they are asymptotic to convex cones, and conversely that every (uniformly) convex cone corresponds in such a way to some hyperbolic affine sphere.[CY86] They were also able to provide new proofs of the previous classifications of Calabi and Jörgens–Calabi–Pogorelov. Mirror symmetry A Calabi–Yau manifold is a compact Kähler manifold which is Ricci-flat; as a special case of Yau's verification of the Calabi conjecture, such manifolds are known to exist.[Y78a] Mirror symmetry, which is a proposal developed by theoretical physicists dating from the late 1980s, postulates that Calabi−Yau manifolds of complex dimension three can be grouped into pairs which share certain characteristics, such as Euler and Hodge numbers. Based on this conjectural picture, the physicists Philip Candelas, Xenia de la Ossa, Paul Green, and Linda Parkes proposed a formula of enumerative geometry which encodes the number of rational curves of any fixed degree in a general quintic hypersurface of four-dimensional complex projective space. Bong Lian, Kefeng Liu, and Yau gave a rigorous proof that this formula holds.[LLY97] A year earlier, Alexander Givental had published a proof of the mirror formulas; according to Lian, Liu, and Yau, the details of his proof were only successfully filled in following their own publication. The proofs of Givental and Lian–Liu–Yau have some overlap but are distinct approaches to the problem, and each have since been given textbook expositions.The works of Givental and of Lian−Liu−Yau confirm a prediction made by the more fundamental mirror symmetry conjecture of how three-dimensional Calabi−Yau manifolds can be paired off. However, their works do not logically depend on the conjecture itself, and so have no immediate bearing on its validity. With Andrew Strominger and Eric Zaslow, Yau proposed a geometric picture of how mirror symmetry might be systematically understood and proved to be true.[SYZ96] Their idea is that a Calabi−Yau manifold with complex dimension three should be foliated by special Lagrangian tori, which are certain types of three-dimensional minimal submanifolds of the six-dimensional Riemannian manifold underlying the Calabi−Yau structure. Mirror manifolds would then be characterized, in terms of this conjectural structure, by having dual foliations. The Strominger−Yau−Zaslow (SYZ) proposal has been modified and developed in various ways since 1996. The conceptual picture that it provides has had a significant influence in the study of mirror symmetry, and research on its various aspects is currently an active field. It can be contrasted with the alternative homological mirror symmetry proposal by Maxim Kontsevich. The viewpoint of the SYZ conjecture is on geometric phenomena in Calabi–Yau spaces, while Kontsevich's conjecture abstracts the problem to deal with purely algebraic structures and category theory. Comparison geometry In one of Yau's earliest papers, written with Blaine Lawson, a number of fundamental results were found on the topology of closed Riemannian manifolds with nonpositive curvature.[LY72] Their flat torus theorem characterizes the existence of a flat and totally geodesic immersed torus in terms of the algebra of the fundamental group. The splitting theorem says that the splitting of the fundamental group as a maximally noncommutative direct product implies the isometric splitting of the manifold itself. Similar results were obtained at the same time by Detlef Gromoll and Joseph Wolf. Their results have been extended to the broader context of isometric group actions on metric spaces of nonpositive curvature.Jeff Cheeger and Yau studied the heat kernel on a Riemannian manifold. They established the special case of Riemannian metrics for which geodesic spheres have constant mean curvature, which they proved to be characterized by radial symmetry of the heat kernel.[CY81] Specializing to rotationally symmetric metrics, they used the exponential map to transplant the heat kernel to a geodesic ball on a general Riemannian manifold. Under the assumption that the symmetric "model" space under-estimates the Ricci curvature of the manifold itself, they carried out a direct calculation showing that the resulting function is a subsolution of the heat equation. As a consequence, they obtained a lower estimate of the heat kernel on a general Riemannian manifold in terms of lower bounds on its Ricci curvature. In the special case of nonnegative Ricci curvature, Peter Li and Yau were able to use their gradient estimates to amplify and improve the Cheeger−Yau estimate.[LY86]A well-known result of Yau's, obtained independently by Calabi, shows that any noncompact Riemannian manifold of nonnegative Ricci curvature must have volume growth of at least a linear rate.[Y76] A second proof, using the Bishop–Gromov inequality instead of function theory, was later found by Cheeger, Mikhael Gromov, and Michael Taylor. Spectral geometry Given a smooth compact Riemannian manifold, with or without boundary, spectral geometry studies the eigenvalues of the Laplace–Beltrami operator, which in the case that the manifold has a boundary is coupled with a choice of boundary condition, usually Dirichlet or Neumann conditions. Paul Yang and Yau showed that in the case of a closed two-dimensional manifold, the first eigenvalue is bounded above by an explicit formula depending only on the genus and volume of the manifold.[YY80] Earlier, Yau had modified Jeff Cheeger's analysis of the Cheeger constant so as to be able to estimate the first eigenvalue from below in terms of geometric data.[Y75a]In the 1910s, Hermann Weyl showed that, in the case of Dirichlet boundary conditions on a smooth and bounded open subset of the plane, the eigenvalues have an asymptotic behavior which is dictated entirely by the area contained in the region. His result is known as Weyl's law. In 1960, George Pólya conjectured that the Weyl law actually gives control of each individual eigenvalue, and not only of their asymptotic distribution. Li and Yau proved a weakened version of Pólya's conjecture, obtaining control of the averages of the eigenvalues by the expression in the Weyl law.[LY83]In 1980, Li and Yau identified a number of new inequalities for Laplace–Beltrami eigenvalues, all based on the maximum principle and the differential Harnack estimates as pioneered five years earlier by Yau and Cheng−Yau.[LY80] Their result on lower bounds based on geometric data is particularly well-known, and was the first of its kind to not require any conditional assumptions. Around the same time, a similar inequality was obtained by isoperimetric methods by Mikhael Gromov, although his result is weaker than Li and Yau's. In collaboration with Isadore Singer, Bun Wong, and Shing-Toung Yau, Yau used the Li–Yau methodology to establish a gradient estimate for the quotient of the first two eigenfunctions.[S+85] Analogously to Yau's integration of gradient estimates to find Harnack inequalities, they were able to integrate their gradient estimate to obtain control of the fundamental gap, which is the difference between the first two eigenvalues. The work of Singer–Wong–Yau–Yau initiated a series of works by various authors in which new estimates on the fundamental gap were found and improved.In 1982, Yau identified fourteen problems of interest in spectral geometry, including the above Pólya conjecture.[Y82b] A particular conjecture of Yau's, on the control of the size of level sets of eigenfunctions by the value of the corresponding eigenvalue, was resolved by Alexander Logunov and Eugenia Malinnikova, who were awarded the 2017 Clay Research Award in part for their work. Discrete and computational geometry Xianfeng Gu and Yau considered the numerical computation of conformal maps between two-dimensional manifolds (presented as discretized meshes), and in particular the computation of uniformizing maps as predicted by the uniformization theorem. In the case of genus-zero surfaces, a map is conformal if and only if it is harmonic, and so Gu and Yau are able to compute conformal maps by direct minimization of a discretized Dirichlet energy.[GY02] In the case of higher genus, the uniformizing maps are computed from their gradients, as determined from the Hodge theory of closed and harmonic 1-forms.[GY02] The main work is thus to identify numerically effective discretizations of the classical theory. Their approach is sufficiently flexible to deal with general surfaces with boundary.[GY03] With Tony Chan, Paul Thompson, and Yalin Wang, Gu and Yau applied their work to the problem of matching two brain surfaces, which is an important issue in medical imaging. In the most-relevant genus-zero case, conformal maps are only well-defined up to the action of the Möbius group. By further optimizing a Dirichlet-type energy which measures the mismatch of brain landmarks such as the central sulcus, they obtained mappings which are well-defined by such neurological features.[G+04]In the field of graph theory, Fan Chung and Yau extensively developed analogues of notions and results from Riemannian geometry. These results on differential Harnack inequalities, Sobolev inequalities, and heat kernel analysis, found partly in collaboration with Ronald Graham and Alexander Grigor'yan, were later written into textbook form as the last few chapters of her well-known book "Spectral Graph Theory". Later, they introduced a Green's function as defined for graphs, amounting to a pseudo-inverse of the graph Laplacian.[CY00] Their work is naturally applicable to the study of hitting times for random walks and related topics.In the interest of finding general graph-theoretic contexts for their results, Chung and Yau introduced a notion of Ricci-flatness of a graph. A more flexible notion of Ricci curvature, dealing with Markov chains on metric spaces, was later introduced by Yann Ollivier. Yong Lin, Linyuan Lu, and Yau developed some of the basic theory of Ollivier's definition in the special context of graph theory, considering for instance the Ricci curvature of Erdös–Rényi random graphs.[LLY11] Lin and Yau also considered the curvature–dimension inequalities introduced earlier by Dominique Bakry and Michel Émery, relating it and Ollivier's curvature to Chung–Yau's notion of Ricci-flatness.[LY10] They were further able to prove general lower bounds on Bakry–Émery and Ollivier's curvatures in the case of locally finite graphs. Honors and awards Yau has received honorary professorships from many Chinese universities, including Hunan Normal University, Peking University, Nankai University, and Tsinghua University. He has honorary degrees from many international universities, including Harvard University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, and University of Waterloo. He is a foreign member of the National Academies of Sciences of China, India, and Russia. His awards include: 1975–1976, Sloan Fellow. 1981, Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry. 1981, John J. Carty Award for the Advancement of Science, United States National Academy of Sciences. 1982, Fields Medal, for "his contributions to partial differential equations, to the Calabi conjecture in algebraic geometry, to the positive mass conjecture of general relativity theory, and to real and complex Monge–Ampère equations." 1982, elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences 1982, Guggenheim Fellowship. 1984–1985, MacArthur Fellow. 1991, Humboldt Research Award, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany. 1993, elected to the United States National Academy of Sciences 1994, Crafoord Prize. 1997, United States National Medal of Science. 2003, China International Scientific and Technological Cooperation Award, for "his outstanding contribution to PRC in aspects of making progress in sciences and technology, training researchers." 2010, Wolf Prize in Mathematics, for "his work in geometric analysis and mathematical physics". 2018, Marcel Grossmann Awards, "for the proof of the positivity of total mass in the theory of general relativity and perfecting as well the concept of quasi-local mass, for his proof of the Calabi conjecture, for his continuous inspiring role in the study of black holes physics." 2023, Shaw Prize in Mathematical Sciences. Major publications Research articles. Yau is the author of over five hundred articles. The following, among the most cited, are surveyed above: Survey articles and publications of collected works. Textbooks and technical monographs. Popular books. Center of Mathematical Sciences at Zhejiang University: commentary by various mathematicians on Yau Discover Magazine Interview, June 2010 issue Interview (11 pages long in Traditional Chinese) Yau's autobiographical account (mostly English, some Chinese) O'Connor, John J.; Robertson, Edmund F., "Shing-Tung Yau", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews Shing-Tung Yau at the Mathematics Genealogy Project Plugging A Math Gap UC Irvine courting Yau with a $2.5 million professorship International Conference Celebrating Shing Tung Yau's Birthday 8/27/2008-9/1/2008 Harvard University

Zhang Ziyi ([ʈʂáŋ tsɹ̩̀.ǐ]; Chinese: 章子怡; born 9 February 1979) is a Chinese actress and model. She is regarded as one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. Her first major role was in The Road Home (1999). She later gained international recognition for her role in Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), which was nominated for 10 Academy Awards. Zhang has also appeared in Rush Hour 2 (2001), Hero (2002), and House of Flying Daggers (2004). Her most critically acclaimed works are Memoirs of a Geisha (2005), which earned her nominations for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role; and The Grandmaster (2013), for which she won 12 different Best Actress awards to become the most awarded Chinese actress for a single film.From 2004 to 2010, Zhang ranked in the Top 5 of Forbes China Celebrity 100 list every year. In 2008, she was awarded with the Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema award at the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival. In 2013, she received the French Cultural Order at the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Zhang most recently appeared in the films The Cloverfield Paradox (2018) and Godzilla: King of the Monsters (2019). Early life Zhang was born and raised in Beijing, China on 9 February 1979. Her father, Zhang Yuanxiao, was an accountant and later economist, and her mother, Li Zhousheng, a kindergarten teacher. She has an older brother with whom she is very close. Zhang began studying dance when she was 8 years old; subsequently, she joined the Beijing Dance Academy at her parents' suggestion at the age of 11. While at this boarding school, she noticed how mean the other girls were to each other while competing for status amongst the teachers. Zhang disliked the attitudes of her peers and teachers so much that, on one occasion, she ran away from the school. At the age of 15, Zhang won the national youth dance championship and also appeared in a handful of TV commercials and began appearing in television commercials in Hong Kong.In 1996, Zhang entered the Central Academy of Drama in Beijing at the age of 17. Career 1996–2000: Early career Zhang made her acting debut in the television film Touching Starlight at the age of 16.In 1998, while she was studying in Central Academy of Drama, Zhang was offered her first role by director Zhang Yimou in his film The Road Home, which won the Silver Bear prize at the 2000 Berlin International Film Festival. Zhang plays a country girl in love with the town's young teacher. She won the Best Actress Award at the 2000 Hundred Flowers Awards for her performance.Due to her success, Zhang was considered one of the Four Dan Actresses of China. 2000–06: Wuxia epics and international breakthrough Zhang rose to international fame in 2000 with her role as Yu Jiaolong in Ang Lee's re-visioned martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The movie's success in the US and Europe helped her break into Hollywood. Zhang plays a young Manchu noblewoman who has secretly learned martial arts and runs off to become a wandering swordswoman rather than commit to an arranged marriage. This role won her the Most Promising Actress award at the Chicago Film Critics Association Awards and Best Supporting Actress awards from the Independent Spirit Awards, as well as Toronto Film Critics Association Awards.Zhang then appeared in her first American film, Rush Hour 2 (2001) opposite Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. On playing her first villain role, Zhang expressed that "the opportunity to sort of try and analyze the psyche of the character and get to know and pull out emotions I’ve never had to utilize before...was very exciting." In 2002, Zhang co-starred in Hero alongside Jet Li, Maggie Cheung and Tony Leung, directed by her early mentor Zhang Yimou. The film was a huge success in the English-speaking world and was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe award in the category of Best Foreign Language Film. She then signed on to film an avant-garde drama film Purple Butterfly (2003), which competed in the 2003 Cannes Film Festival.Zhang went back to the martial arts genre in House of Flying Daggers (2004), again by Zhang Yimou, where she starred along Takeshi Kaneshiro and Andy Lau. She plays the blind dancing girl Mei, who despite the lack of eyesight, is a skilled fighter. In preparation for the part, Zhang spent two months living with an actual blind girl. Her performance earned her a Best Actress nomination at the BAFTA Awards. She also featured on the House of Flying Daggers soundtrack with her own musical rendition of the ancient Chinese poem Jia Rén Qu (佳人曲, The Beauty Song).Zhang next starred in Wong Kar-wai's romantic drama film 2046 (2004), which featured many top Chinese actors and actresses. Critics praise Zhang for her "expressive" body language that was combined with her "reserved and complex emotions" in performance as a struggling prostitute. Zhang won Best Actress awards at the Hong Kong Film Critics' Award and Hong Kong Film Academy Award.In 2005, Zhang featured in the critically acclaimed film Jasmine Women, adapted from Su Tong's novel titled Women's Lives. She won Best Actress at the Golden Rooster Awards for her performance. Next came Princess Raccoon (2005), directed by Japan's Seijun Suzuki, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. For her role, Zhang took two weeks of singing and dancing lessons in Japan.Zhang played the lead role of Sayuri in the American film adaptation based on the international bestseller Memoirs of a Geisha. Controversy arose in China about having a Chinese woman portray a prominent Japanese geisha in a film set during the height of Japanese imperialist aggression against China in World War II. Nonetheless, the film was a box office hit in the West. For the role, Zhang was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role.On 27 June 2005, Zhang accepted an invitation to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), placing her among the ranks of those who are able to vote on the Academy Awards. In May 2006, Zhang was chosen as a jury member of Feature Films at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.Zhang returned to China in 2006 for the Chinese wuxia film The Banquet, directed by Feng Xiaogang. The film is a loose adaptation of William Shakespeare's Hamlet. 2007–12: Hollywood and China In 2007, Zhang performed the voice of Karai in the American animated film TMNT (2007). In the same year, Zhang starred alongside Liu Ye and Ge You in the first-ever opening short for the Chinese academy awards (Golden Rooster Awards) where director Dayyan Eng got top stars to spoof the action-movie genre in a humorous send-up on national TV in China.In Forever Enthralled (2008), which tells the story of legendary Peking opera actor Mei Lanfang, Zhang appears in the second act as Mei's lover Meng Xiaodong. The Hollywood Reporter praised her performance as "confident and passion", giving the romance a sparkle.Her next American film was The Horsemen (2009), where she starred opposite Dennis Quaid. Back in China, she played the titular character in romantic comedy Sophie's Revenge (2009); a comic book artist seeking to punish her unfaithful boyfriend. She then starred alongside Aaron Kwok in the AIDS-themed film Love for Life (2011).In 2012, Zhang starred next to Cecilia Cheung and Jang Dong-gun in the Chinese-Korean co-production Dangerous Liaisons, an adaptation of the French novel Les Liaisons dangereuses, narrating Shanghai of the 1930s. Zhang was reportedly paid 20 million RMB (approximately $3.5 million) for the role. The same year, she was cast in the coming-of-age film Forever Young directed and written by Li Fangfang. The film premiered in January 2018. 2013–17: Return to stardom In 2013, Zhang received the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for her significant contributions to the film industry.Zhang reunited with Wong Kar-wai and Tony Leung for The Grandmaster (2013), which also marks her return to the martial arts genre after 7 years since The Banquet (2006). The film was China's submission to the Academy Awards for Best Foreign-Language Picture. Critics praise Zhang's portrayal of Gong'Er as the "best performance she's ever delivered in the history of her career." which led to her winning several "Best Actress" trophies across Asia. The same year, she reprised her role as Sophie in My Lucky Star, a sequel to Sophie's Revenge. Described as Zhang's "breakthrough comedy role", the film topped Chinese box office on the week of its release.In 2014, Zhang starred in John Woo's romantic epic The Crossing, based on the true story of the Taiping steamer collision and follows six characters and their intertwining love stories in Taiwan and Shanghai during the 1930s. Zhang plays a poor illiterate woman waiting for her soldier lover in 1930's Shanghai.In 2015, Zhang produced her third film Oh My God, which stars Zhang Yixing and Li Xiaolu. She made a cameo appearance in the film. Zhang next starred in romance anthology film Run for Love and crime epic The Wasted Times. 2018–present: Hollywood epics, directorial debut and small-screen debut In 2016, Zhang was cast in J. J. Abrams's science fiction thriller The Cloverfield Paradox, which premiered in 2018.In 2017, Zhang was cast in the monster film Godzilla: King of the Monsters, playing a prominent character.In 2018, Zhang was cast in her first television series, Rebel Princess.In 2019, Zhang starred in the adventure drama film The Climbers.In 2021, Zhang made her directorial debut with a short titled “Shi” (Poem), one of the four stand-alone short tales of the film My Country, My Parents. She won the best new director award at the 2022 Media Honors for the film. Ambassadorship and representation Spokesperson for "Care for Children" Global Ambassador for China's Special Olympics Image Ambassador for first Beijing International Film Festival Ambassador for the ScreenSingapore 2011 film festival Friendship Ambassador for the Chinese Film Days in the Romania Image Ambassador for the Macao Film Festival Global Ambassador for the Children of China Pediatrics Foundation (CCPF) Ambassador for Clé de Peau Beauté Endorsements Zhang was the first Chinese woman to be appointed as an Emporio Armani ambassador, which she served from 2009 to 2010. She also served as regional ambassadors for Mercedes-Benz, Garnier, Precious Platinum; and global ambassadors for Maybelline, Visa, TAG Heuer, Omega SA and Clé de Peau Beauté. Zhang was featured on the "BoF 500" list. Since 2019, she became the global ambassador for Chopard. Defamation cases In 2012, an overseas Chinese website Boxun falsely reported that Zhang Ziyi was paid $100 million to sleep with top Chinese officials. Zhang sued Boxun in a US court for defamation. In December 2013, Boxun settled the case after agreeing to pay an undisclosed amount to Zhang and issue a front-page apology. Zhang also won court cases in Hong Kong against Next Media over similar false reports in Apple Daily and Next Magazine. Personal life In the July 2006 issue of Interview magazine, Zhang spoke of her movies' contents and being careful about the roles she takes on, especially in Hollywood: Yes. Otherwise I could have done a lot of Hollywood movies. After Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon I got a lot of offers, but I turned them down because they were all victim roles—poor girls sold to America to be a wife or whatever. I know I have the ability to go deeper, to take on more original roles than that. That's why I really appreciated Geisha, because it allowed us to show the world what kind of actors we are and what kind of characters we can play—not just action, kick-ass parts. Zhang obtained Hong Kong residency in 2007 through the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme for her contribution to the local film industry. She is an admirer and collector of the works of the Chinese contemporary artist Shen Jingdong. Politically, she is a member of the Chinese Communist Party-controlled China Zhi Gong Party.Zhang was engaged to Israeli American venture capitalist Aviv Nevo until the couple separated in 2010. Zhang married Chinese rock musician Wang Feng in May 2015. They have two children: a daughter (born December 2015) and a son (born January 2020). Filmography Film Television series Reality show Music video Discography Awards and nominations Other honors In 2005, Zhang was listed in TIME's World's 100 Most Influential People. They called her "China's Gift to Hollywood".In 2008, she was awarded with the "Outstanding Contribution to Chinese Cinema" at the 11th Shanghai International Film Festival.In 2010, she was named "Actress of the Decade" by CineAsia. She previously won "Star of Tomorrow prize" back in 1999.In 2013, Zhang received the Order of Arts and Letter at the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres Awards. Forbes China Celebrity 100 Zhang Ziyi at IMDb

Ma Jianzhong (Chinese: 馬建忠; pinyin: Mǎ Jiànzhōng; Wade–Giles: Ma Chien-chung; 1845 – 1900), courtesy name Meishu (Chinese: 眉叔; pinyin: Méishū), also known as Ma Kié-Tchong in French, was a Chinese official and scholar in the late Qing dynasty. Ma was born in Dantu (丹徒), Jiangsu province to a prominent Chinese Catholic family. After studies at a French Catholic school in Shanghai, Ma went to France in 1876 to study international law. He became the first Chinese to obtain a baccalauréat and in 1879 he obtained a diploma in law (licence de droit) from École Libre des Sciences Politiques (known today as Sciences Po) in Paris. Following his return to China in 1880, Ma became a member of Li Hongzhang's secretariat, where Ma's knowledge of international law became a useful asset. Among other things, Ma helped to carry out Qing policy in Korea in 1880–82 and he took part in the arrest of Taewŏn'gun. In 1884, he also became involved in the China Merchants' Steam Navigation Company, where he worked closely with Tong King-sing. Ma is the author of Mashi Wentong (馬氏文通 "Basic principles for writing clearly and coherently by Mister Ma"), the first textbook of Chinese grammar written by a Chinese (there were already several grammars written by Westerners), published in 1898. Today most scholars believe that Ma's older brother Ma Xiangbo, a famous educator and co-founder of Fudan University, also contributed to the work.Ma had been requested by Li Hongzhang, for whom he had previously worked for since 1880s to assist after the Eight-Nation Alliance stormed Beijing as part of the Boxer Rebellion and died on August 4, 1900, in Shanghai. Ma, Jianzhong (1998). Strengthen the Country and Enrich the People : The Reform Writings of Ma Jianzhong (1845-1900). Richmond: Curzon. ISBN 070070468X.. Footnotes About Ma's study in France (in Chinese) A Journal to the East (東行錄), Ma's record on Korea (in Chinese) Alain Peyraube, "Some Reflections on the of the Mashi Wentong"

52 may refer to: 52 (number) one of the years 52 BC, AD 52, 1952, 2052 52-hertz whale an individual male whale, also known as the loneliest whale, calling at the unusual 52 hertz range 52 (comics), a 2006–07 American weekly comic book series

53 may refer to: 53 (number) one of the years 53 BC, AD 53, 1953, 2053 FiftyThree, an American privately held technology company that specializes in tools for mobile creation and visual thinking 53rd Regiment Alabama Cavalry 53rd Regiment of Foot (disambiguation) 53rd Division (disambiguation) 53 (Jacky Terrasson album), 2019 "Fifty Three", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Arch Stanton, 2014 Fifth Third Bank

54 may refer to: 54 (number) one of the years 54 BC, AD 54, 1954, 2054 54 (novel), a 2002 novel by Wu Ming Studio 54, a New York City nightclub from 1977 until 1981 Fifty-Four (film), a 1998 American drama film about the club 54 (album), a 2010 album by Metropole Orkest "Fifty Four", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Arch Stanton, 2014 54th Division (disambiguation) 54th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation) 54th Infantry (disambiguation)

55 may refer to: 55 (number) 55 BC AD 55 1955 2055 Science Caesium, by the element's atomic number Astronomy Messier object M55, a magnitude 7.0 globular cluster in the constellation Sagittarius The New General Catalogue object NGC 55, a magnitude 7.9 barred spiral galaxy in the constellation Sculptor Transportation The highest speed limit allowed in the United States between 1974 and 1986 per the National Maximum Speed Law Highway 55, several roads Route 55 (disambiguation), bus and tram routes Film 55 Days at Peking a film starring Charlton Heston and David Niven Other uses Gazeta 55, an Albanian newspaper Agitation and Propaganda against the State, also known as Constitution law 55, a law during Communist Albania. +55, the code for international direct dial phone calls to Brazil 5:5, law enforcement code for handcuffs 55 (album), by the Knocks "55", a 2022 song by Raymix "55 (Hamsa oua Hamsine)", an instrumental by the Master Musicians of Joujouka from Brian Jones Presents the Pipes of Pan at Joujouka "Fifty Five", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Arch Stanton, 2014 See also 55th Regiment of Foot (disambiguation) Channel 55 (disambiguation) Type 55 (disambiguation) Class 55 (disambiguation)

56 may refer to: 56 (number) One of the years 56 BC, AD 56, 1856, 1956, 2056 56.com, a Chinese online video platform Fiftysix, Arkansas, an unincorporated community in the United States Fifty-Six, Arkansas, a city in the United States "Fifty Six", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Arch Stanton, 2014 Cityrider 56, a bus route in Tyne and Wear, UK

57 may refer to: 57 (number) one of the years 57 BC, AD 57, 1857, 1957, 2057 "57" (song), a song by Biffy Clyro "Fifty Seven", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Arch Stanton, 2014 "57" (album), a studio album by Klaus Major Heuser Band in 2014 "57 Live" (album), a live double-album by Klaus Major Heuser Band in 2015 Heinz 57 (varieties), a former advertising slogan Maybach 57, a car American Base Hospital No. 57 Swift Current 57's, baseball team in the Western Canadian Baseball League FN Five-Seven, a semi-automatic pistol

58 may refer to: 58 (number) one of the years 58 BC, AD 58, 1958, 2058 58 (band), an American rock band 58 (golf), a round of 58 in golf "Fifty Eight", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Arch Stanton, 2014

59 may refer to: 59 (number) one of the years 59 BC, AD 59, 1959, 2059 59 (album), by Puffy AmiYumi 59 (golf), a round of 59 in golf "Fifty Nine", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Arch Stanton, 2014 59 Skipton–Harrogate, a bus route in England

60 may refer to: 60 (number) one of the years 60 BC, AD 60, 1960, 2060 Neodymium, the 60th element <, the ASCII character with code 60 Base 60 (sexagesimal, sexagenary) "Sixty", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Mountain Czar, 2016

61 may refer to: 61 (number) one of the years 61 BC, AD 61, 1961, 2061 In some countries, a slang name for the Cyrillic letter Ы 61*, a 2001 American sports drama film "Sixty One", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Mountain Czar, 2016 See also List of highways numbered 61

62 may refer to: 62 (number) one of the years 62 BC, AD 62, 1962, 2062 Maybach 62, a car M62 motorway in the UK "Sixty Two", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Mountain Czar, 2016

63 may refer to: 63 (number) one of the years 63 BC, AD 63, 1963, 2063 +63, telephone country code in the Philippines Flight 63 (disambiguation) 63 (Las Vegas), a shopping mall 63 (album), by Tree63 63 (mixtape), by Kool A.D. "Sixty Three", a song by Karma to Burn from the album Mountain Czar, 2016

64 or sixty-four or variation, may refer to: 64 (number) Dates one of the years 64 BC, AD 64, 1864, 1964, 2064, etc. June 4th (6/4) the date of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre April 6th (6/4) April 6 AD (6/4) June 4 AD (6/4) Places Highway 64, see list of highways numbered 64 Interstate 64, a national route in the United States +64, country code dialing code of New Zealand; see Telephone numbers in New Zealand 64 Angelina (asteroid 64), a main-belt asteroid Other uses Nintendo 64, the third home console by Nintendo, released in 1996 Commodore 64 64-bit computing "64" (song), a 2011 song by hip hop band Odd Future Sixty Four (album), a 2004 album recorded in 1964 by Donovan Sixty-four (ship), a type of sailing warship A /64 Classless Inter-Domain Routing block All pages with titles beginning with 64 All pages with titles containing 64 All pages with titles containing sixty-four

65 may refer to: 65 (number) 65 (film), a 2023 American science fiction thriller film One of the years 65 BC, AD 65, 1965, 2065 The atomic number of terbium, a chemical element A type of dish in Indian cuisine, such as Chicken 65, Gobi 65, or Paneer 65

66 may refer to: 66 (number) One of the years 66 BC, AD 66, 1966, 2066 "66" (song), a song by Lil Yachty featuring Trippie Redd 66, a song by The Afghan Whigs, from the album 1965 Sixty-Six (card game), a German card game Sixty Six (film), a 2006 film Sixty-Six, a novel by film director Barry Levinson See also Order 66 (disambiguation) Phillips 66, an American multinational energy company U.S. Route 66, a historic U.S. highway WNBC (AM), on frequency 660 AM, was commonly referred historically as "66 WNBC"

67 may refer to: 67 (number) one of the years 67 BC, AD 67, 1967, 2067 67, a 1992 song by Love Battery from the album Between the Eyes 67 (rap group), a drill music group from London See also 67th Regiment (disambiguation) 67th Division (disambiguation) 67 Squadron (disambiguation) 67th Academy Awards

68 may refer to: 68 (number) one of the years 68 BC, AD 68, 1968, 2068 68 Publishers, a Czech-Canadian publishing firm '68 (band), an American rock band '68 (comic book) a comic book series from Image Comics See also List of highways numbered 68

69 may refer to: 69 (number) A year, primarily 69 BC, AD 69, 1969, or 2069 69 (sex position) Arts and media Music 69, a 1988 album by A.R. Kane "'69", a song by Deep Purple from Abandon Major 6 add 9, a jazz chord "Summer of '69", a song by Bryan Adams 6ix9ine, also known as Tekashi69, American rapper Day69, album by 6ix9ine "69", a song by T-Pain from his 2007 album Epiphany Other media 69, a novel by Ryu Murakami 69, a 2004 film based on the Murakami novel Other uses Lake 69, a small lake in the region of Áncash, Peru 69, the Last Call Return feature code in the US and Canada List of highways numbered 69 Texas State Highway 112, formerly designated as State Highway 69 ♋️, the symbol for the astrological sign Cancer British Rail Class 69, a class of locomotive converted from the ageing British Rail Class 56. See also "34+35", a 2020 song by Ariana Grande

70 may refer to: 70 (number) One of the years 70 BC, AD 70, 1970, 2070 Seventy (Latter Day Saints), an office in the Melchizedek priesthood of several denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement Seventy (LDS Church), in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

71 may refer to: 71 (number) one of the years 71 BC, AD 71, 1971, 2071 '71 (film), 2014 British film set in Belfast in 1971 71: Into the Fire, 2010 South Korean film Various highways; see List of highways numbered 71 The atomic number of lutetium, a lanthanide The number of the French department Saône-et-Loire Nickname for the city of Wrocław See also All pages with titles containing 71

Internet Explorer (formerly Microsoft Internet Explorer and Windows Internet Explorer, commonly abbreviated as IE or MSIE) is a deprecated (or discontinued for most modern Windows editions) series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft that were used in the Windows line of operating systems. While IE has been discontinued on most Windows editions, it remains supported on certain editions of Windows, such as Windows 10 LTSB/LTSC. Starting in 1995, it was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year. Later versions were available as free downloads or in-service packs and included in the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) service releases of Windows 95 and later versions of Windows. Microsoft spent over US$100 million per year on Internet Explorer in the late 1990s, with over 1,000 people involved in the project by 1999. New feature development for the browser was discontinued in 2016 and ended support on June 15, 2022, in favor of its successor, Microsoft Edge. Internet Explorer was once the most widely used web browser, attaining a peak of 95% usage share by 2003. and declined over time to about 0.3%. This came after Microsoft used bundling to win the first browser war against Netscape, which was the dominant browser in the 1990s. Its usage share has since declined with the launches of Firefox (2004) and Google Chrome (2008) and with the growing popularity of mobile operating systems such as Android and iOS that do not support Internet Explorer. Microsoft Edge, IE's successor, first overtook Internet Explorer in terms of market share in November 2019. Versions of Internet Explorer for other operating systems have also been produced, including an Xbox 360 version called Internet Explorer for Xbox and for platforms Microsoft no longer supports: Internet Explorer for Mac and Internet Explorer for UNIX (Solaris and HP-UX), and an embedded OEM version called Pocket Internet Explorer, later rebranded Internet Explorer Mobile, made for Windows CE, Windows Phone, and, previously, based on Internet Explorer 7, for Windows Phone 7. The browser has been scrutinized throughout its development for its use of third-party technology (such as the source code of Spyglass Mosaic, used without royalty in early versions) and security and privacy vulnerabilities, and the United States and the European Union have alleged that the integration of Internet Explorer with Windows has been to the detriment of fair browser competition. Internet Explorer 7 is still supported on Windows Embedded Compact 2013. Internet Explorer (11) lives on to at least 2029 as IE Mode, a feature of Microsoft Edge, enabling Edge to display web pages using Internet Explorer 11's Trident layout engine and other core components. Through IE Mode, the underlying technology of Internet Explorer 11 partially exists on versions of Windows that do not support IE11 as a proper application, including Windows 11, Windows Server Insider Build 22463 and Windows Server Insider Build 25110. History Internet Explorer 1 The Internet Explorer project was started in the summer of 1994 by Thomas Reardon, who, according to former project lead Ben Slivka, used source code from Spyglass, Inc. Mosaic, which was an early commercial web browser with formal ties to the pioneering National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) Mosaic browser. In late 1994, Microsoft licensed Spyglass Mosaic for a quarterly fee plus a percentage of Microsoft's non-Windows revenues for the software. Although bearing a name like NCSA Mosaic, Spyglass Mosaic had used the NCSA Mosaic source code sparingly.The first version, dubbed Microsoft Internet Explorer, was installed as part of the Internet Jumpstart Kit in the Microsoft Plus! pack for Windows 95. The Internet Explorer team began with about six people in early development. Internet Explorer 1.5 was released several months later for Windows NT and added support for basic table rendering. By including it free of charge with their operating system, they did not have to pay royalties to Spyglass Inc, resulting in a lawsuit and a US$8 million settlement on January 22, 1997.Microsoft was sued by SyNet Inc. in 1996, for trademark infringement, claiming it owned the rights to the name "Internet Explorer." It ended with Microsoft paying $5 million to settle the lawsuit. Internet Explorer 2 Internet Explorer 2 is the second major version of Internet Explorer, released on November 22, 1995, for Windows 95 and Windows NT, and on April 23, 1996, for Apple Macintosh and Windows 3.1. Internet Explorer 3 Internet Explorer 3 is the third major version of Internet Explorer, released on August 13, 1996, for Microsoft Windows and on January 8, 1997, for Apple Mac OS. Internet Explorer 4 Internet Explorer 4 is the fourth major version of Internet Explorer, released in September 1997 for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS, Solaris, and HP-UX. It was the first version of Internet Explorer to use the Trident web engine. Internet Explorer 5 Internet Explorer 5 is the fifth major version of Internet Explorer, released on March 18, 1999, for Windows 3.1, Windows NT 3, Windows 95, Windows NT 4.0 SP3, Windows 98, Mac OS X (up to v5.2.3), Classic Mac OS (up to v5.1.7), Solaris and HP-UX (up to 5.01 SP1). Internet Explorer 6 Internet Explorer 6 is the sixth major version of Internet Explorer, released on August 24, 2001, for Windows NT 4.0 SP6a, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows ME and as the default web browser for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003. Internet Explorer 7 Internet Explorer 7 is the seventh major version of Internet Explorer, released on October 18, 2006, for Windows XP SP2, Windows Server 2003 SP1 and as the default web browser for Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Embedded POSReady 2009. IE7 introduces tabbed browsing. Internet Explorer 8 Internet Explorer 8 is the eighth major version of Internet Explorer, released on March 19, 2009, for Windows XP, Windows Server 2003, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008 and as the default web browser for Windows 7 (later default was Internet Explorer 11) and Windows Server 2008 R2. Internet Explorer 9 Internet Explorer 9 is the ninth major version of Internet Explorer, released on March 14, 2011, for Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Vista Service Pack 2 and Windows Server 2008 SP2 with the Platform Update. Internet Explorer 10 Internet Explorer 10 is the tenth major version of Internet Explorer, released on October 26, 2012, and is the default web browser for Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012. It became available for Windows 7 SP1 and Windows Server 2008 R2 SP1 in February 2013. Internet Explorer 11 Internet Explorer 11 is featured in Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2 and Windows RT 8.1, which was released on October 17, 2013. It includes an incomplete mechanism for syncing tabs. It is a major update to its developer tools, enhanced scaling for high DPI screens, HTML5 prerender and prefetch, hardware-accelerated JPEG decoding, closed captioning, HTML5 full screen, and is the first Internet Explorer to support WebGL and Google's protocol SPDY (starting at v3). This version of IE has features dedicated to Windows 8.1, including cryptography (WebCrypto), adaptive bitrate streaming (Media Source Extensions) and Encrypted Media Extensions.Internet Explorer 11 was made available for Windows 7 users to download on November 7, 2013, with Automatic Updates in the following weeks.Internet Explorer 11's user agent string now identifies the agent as "Trident" (the underlying browser engine) instead of "MSIE." It also announces compatibility with Gecko (the browser engine of Firefox). Microsoft claimed that Internet Explorer 11, running the WebKit SunSpider JavaScript Benchmark, was the fastest browser as of October 15, 2013.Internet Explorer 11 was made available for Windows Server 2012 and Windows Embedded 8 Standard, the only still supported edition of Windows 8 in April 2019. End of life Microsoft Edge was officially unveiled on January 21, 2015 as "Project Spartan." On April 29, 2015, Microsoft announced that Microsoft Edge would replace Internet Explorer as the default browser in Windows 10. However, Internet Explorer remained the default web browser on the Windows 10 Long Term Servicing Channel (LTSC) and on Windows Server until 2021, primarily for enterprise purposes.Internet Explorer is still installed in Windows 10 to maintain compatibility with older websites and intranet sites that require ActiveX and other legacy web technologies. The browser's MSHTML rendering engine also remains for compatibility reasons. Additionally, Microsoft Edge shipped with the "Internet Explorer mode" feature, which enables support for legacy internet applications. This is possible through use of the Trident MSHTML engine, the rendering code of Internet Explorer. Microsoft has committed to supporting Internet Explorer mode at least through 2029, with a one-year notice before it is discontinued.With the release of Microsoft Edge, the development of new features for Internet Explorer ceased. Internet Explorer 11 was the final release, and Microsoft began the process of deprecating Internet Explorer. During this process, it will still be maintained as part of Microsoft's support policies.Since January 12, 2016, only the latest version of Internet Explorer available for each version of Windows has been supported. At the time, nearly half of Internet Explorer users were using an unsupported version.In February 2019, Microsoft Chief of Security Chris Jackson recommended that users stop using Internet Explorer as their default browser.Various websites have dropped support for Internet Explorer. On June 1, 2020, the Internet Archive removed Internet Explorer from its list of supported browsers, due to the browser's dated nature. Since November 30, 2020, the web version of Microsoft Teams can no longer be accessed using Internet Explorer 11, followed by the remaining Microsoft 365 applications since August 17, 2021. WordPress also dropped support for the browser in July 2021.Microsoft disabled the normal means of launching Internet Explorer in Windows 11, but it is still possible for users to launch the browser from the Control Panel's browser toolbar settings or via PowerShell.On June 15, 2022, Internet Explorer 11 support ended for the Windows 10 Semi-Annual Channel (SAC). Users on these versions of Windows 10 were redirected to Microsoft Edge starting on February 14, 2023, and visual references to the browser (such as icons on the taskbar) would have been removed on June 13, 2023. However, on May 19, 2023 various organizations disapproved, leading Microsoft to withdraw the change. Other versions of Windows that were still supported at the time were unaffected. Specifically, Windows 7 ESU, Windows 8.x, Windows RT; Windows Server 2008/R2 ESU, Windows Server 2012/R2 and later; and Windows 10 LTSB/LTSC continued to receive updates until their respective end of life dates.On other versions of Windows, Internet Explorer will still be supported until their own end of support dates. IE7 will be supported until October 10, 2023 alongside the end of support for Windows Embedded Compact 2013, while IE9 will be supported until January 9, 2024 alongside the end of ESU support for Azure customers on Windows Server 2008. Barring additional changes to the support policy, Internet Explorer 11 will be supported until January 13, 2032, concurrent with the end of support for Windows 10 IoT Enterprise LTSC 2021. Features Internet Explorer has been designed to view a broad range of web pages and provide certain features within the operating system, including Microsoft Update. During the height of the browser wars, Internet Explorer superseded Netscape only when it caught up technologically to support the progressive features of the time. Standards support Internet Explorer, using the MSHTML (Trident) browser engine: Supports HTML 4.01, parts of HTML5, CSS Level 1, Level 2, and Level 3, XML 1.0, and DOM Level 1, with minor implementation gaps. Fully supports XSLT 1.0 as well as an obsolete Microsoft dialect of XSLT often referred to as WD-xsl, which was loosely based on the December 1998 W3C Working Draft of XSL. Support for XSLT 2.0 lies in the future: semi-official Microsoft bloggers have indicated that development is underway, but no dates have been announced. Almost full conformance to CSS 2.1 has been added in the Internet Explorer 8 release. The MSHTML browser engine in Internet Explorer 9 in 2011, scored highest in the official W3C conformance test suite for CSS 2.1 of all major browsers. Supports XHTML in Internet Explorer 9 (MSHTML Trident version 5.0). Prior versions can render XHTML documents authored with HTML compatibility principles and served with a text/html MIME-type. Supports a subset of SVG in Internet Explorer 9 (MSHTML Trident version 5.0), excluding SMIL, SVG fonts and filters.Internet Explorer uses DOCTYPE sniffing to choose between standards mode and a "quirks mode" in which it deliberately mimics nonstandard behaviors of old versions of MSIE for HTML and CSS rendering on screen (Internet Explorer always uses standards mode for printing). It also provides its own dialect of ECMAScript called JScript. Internet Explorer was criticized by Tim Berners-Lee for its limited support for SVG, which is promoted by W3C. Non-standard extensions Internet Explorer has introduced an array of proprietary extensions to many of the standards, including HTML, CSS, and the DOM. This has resulted in several web pages that appear broken in standards-compliant web browsers and has introduced the need for a "quirks mode" to allow for rendering improper elements meant for Internet Explorer in these other browsers. Internet Explorer has introduced several extensions to the DOM that have been adopted by other browsers. These include the inner HTML property, which provides access to the HTML string within an element, which was part of IE 5 and was standardized as part of HTML 5 roughly 15 years later after all other browsers implemented it for compatibility, the XMLHttpRequest object, which allows the sending of HTTP request and receiving of HTTP response, and may be used to perform AJAX, and the designMode attribute of the content Document object, which enables rich text editing of HTML documents. Some of these functionalities were not possible until the introduction of the W3C DOM methods. Its Ruby character extension to HTML is also accepted as a module in W3C XHTML 1.1, though it is not found in all versions of W3C HTML. Microsoft submitted several other features of IE for consideration by the W3C for standardization. These include the 'behavior' CSS property, which connects the HTML elements with JScript behaviors (known as HTML Components, HTC), HTML+TIME profile, which adds timing and media synchronization support to HTML documents (similar to the W3C XHTML+SMIL), and the VML vector graphics file format. However, all were rejected, at least in their original forms; VML was subsequently combined with PGML (proposed by Adobe and Sun), resulting in the W3C-approved SVG format, one of the few vector image formats being used on the web, which IE did not support until version 9.Other non-standard behaviors include: support for vertical text, but in a syntax different from W3C CSS3 candidate recommendation, support for a variety of image effects and page transitions, which are not found in W3C CSS, support for obfuscated script code, in particular JScript.Encode, as well as support for embedding EOT fonts in web pages. Favicon Support for favicons was first added in Internet Explorer 5. Internet Explorer supports favicons in PNG, static GIF and native Windows icon formats. In Windows Vista and later, Internet Explorer can display native Windows icons that have embedded PNG files. Usability and accessibility Internet Explorer makes use of the accessibility framework provided in Windows. Internet Explorer is also a user interface for FTP, with operations similar to Windows Explorer. Internet Explorer 5 and 6 had a side bar for web searches, enabling jumps through pages from results listed in the side bar. Pop-up blocking and tabbed browsing were added respectively in Internet Explorer 6 and Internet Explorer 7. Tabbed browsing can also be added to older versions by installing MSN Search Toolbar or Yahoo Toolbar. Cache Internet Explorer caches visited content in the Temporary Internet Files folder to allow quicker access (or offline access) to previously visited pages. The content is indexed in a database file, known as Index.dat. Multiple Index.dat files exist which index different content—visited content, web feeds, visited URLs, cookies, etc.Prior to IE7, clearing the cache used to clear the index but the files themselves were not reliably removed, posing a potential security and privacy risk. In IE7 and later, when the cache is cleared, the cache files are more reliably removed, and the index.dat file is overwritten with null bytes. Caching has been improved in IE9. Group Policy Internet Explorer is fully configurable using Group Policy. Administrators of Windows Server domains (for domain-joined computers) or the local computer can apply and enforce a variety of settings on computers that affect the user interface (such as disabling menu items and individual configuration options), as well as underlying security features such as downloading of files, zone configuration, per-site settings, ActiveX control behavior and others. Policy settings can be configured for each user and for each machine. Internet Explorer also supports Integrated Windows Authentication. Architecture Internet Explorer uses a componentized architecture built on the Component Object Model (COM) technology. It consists of several major components, each of which is contained in a separate dynamic-link library (DLL) and exposes a set of COM programming interfaces hosted by the Internet Explorer main executable, iexplore.exe: WinInet.dll is the protocol handler for HTTP, HTTPS, and FTP. It handles all network communication over these protocols. URLMon.dll is responsible for MIME-type handling and download of web content, and provides a thread-safe wrapper around WinInet.dll and other protocol implementations. MSHTML.dll houses the MSHTML (Trident) browser engine introduced in Internet Explorer 4, which is responsible for displaying the pages on-screen and handling the Document Object Model (DOM) of the web pages. MSHTML.dll parses the HTML/CSS file and creates the internal DOM tree representation of it. It also exposes a set of APIs for runtime inspection and modification of the DOM tree. The DOM tree is further processed by a browser engine which then renders the internal representation on screen. IEFrame.dll contains the user interface and window of IE in Internet Explorer 7 and above. ShDocVw.dll provides the navigation, local caching and history functionalities for the browser. BrowseUI.dll is responsible for rendering the browser user interface such as menus and toolbars.Internet Explorer does not include any native scripting functionality. Rather, MSHTML.dll exposes an API that permits a programmer to develop a scripting environment to be plugged-in and to access the DOM tree. Internet Explorer 8 includes the bindings for the Active Scripting engine, which is a part of Microsoft Windows and allows any language implemented as an Active Scripting module to be used for client-side scripting. By default, only the JScript and VBScript modules are provided; third party implementations like ScreamingMonkey (for ECMAScript 4 support) can also be used. Microsoft also makes available the Microsoft Silverlight runtime that allows CLI languages, including DLR-based dynamic languages like IronPython and IronRuby, to be used for client-side scripting. Internet Explorer 8 introduced some major architectural changes, called loosely coupled IE (LCIE). LCIE separates the main window process (frame process) from the processes hosting the different web applications in different tabs (tab processes). A frame process can create multiple tab processes, each of which can be of a different integrity level, each tab process can host multiple web sites. The processes use asynchronous inter-process communication to synchronize themselves. Generally, there will be a single frame process for all web sites. In Windows Vista with protected mode turned on, however, opening privileged content (such as local HTML pages) will create a new tab process as it will not be constrained by protected mode. Extensibility Internet Explorer exposes a set of Component Object Model (COM) interfaces that allows add-ons to extend the functionality of the browser. Extensibility is divided into two types: Browser extensibility and content extensibility. Browser extensibility involves adding context menu entries, toolbars, menu items or Browser Helper Objects (BHO). BHOs are used to extend the feature set of the browser, whereas the other extensibility options are used to expose that feature in the user interface. Content extensibility adds support for non-native content formats. It allows Internet Explorer to handle new file formats and new protocols, e.g. WebM or SPDY. In addition, web pages can integrate widgets known as ActiveX controls which run on Windows only but have vast potentials to extend the content capabilities; Adobe Flash Player and Microsoft Silverlight are examples. Add-ons can be installed either locally, or directly by a web site. Since malicious add-ons can compromise the security of a system, Internet Explorer implements several safeguards. Internet Explorer 6 with Service Pack 2 and later feature an Add-on Manager for enabling or disabling individual add-ons, complemented by a "No Add-Ons" mode. Starting with Windows Vista, Internet Explorer and its BHOs run with restricted privileges and are isolated from the rest of the system. Internet Explorer 9 introduced a new component – Add-on Performance Advisor. Add-on Performance Advisor shows a notification when one or more of installed add-ons exceed a pre-set performance threshold. The notification appears in the Notification Bar when the user launches the browser. Windows 8 and Windows RT introduce a Metro-style version of Internet Explorer that is entirely sandboxed and does not run add-ons at all. In addition, Windows RT cannot download or install ActiveX controls at all; although existing ones bundled with Windows RT still run in the traditional version of Internet Explorer.Internet Explorer itself can be hosted by other applications via a set of COM interfaces. This can be used to embed the browser functionality inside a computer program or create Internet Explorer shells. Security Internet Explorer uses a zone-based security framework that groups sites based on certain conditions, including whether it is an Internet- or intranet-based site as well as a user-editable whitelist. Security restrictions are applied per zone; all the sites in a zone are subject to the restrictions. Internet Explorer 6 SP2 onwards uses the Attachment Execution Service of Microsoft Windows to mark executable files downloaded from the Internet as being potentially unsafe. Accessing files marked as such will prompt the user to make an explicit trust decision to execute the file, as executables originating from the Internet can be potentially unsafe. This helps in preventing the accidental installation of malware. Internet Explorer 7 introduced the phishing filter, which restricts access to phishing sites unless the user overrides the decision. With version 8, it also blocks access to sites known to host malware. Downloads are also checked to see if they are known to be malware-infected. In Windows Vista, Internet Explorer by default runs in what is called Protected Mode, where the privileges of the browser itself are severely restricted—it cannot make any system-wide changes. One can optionally turn this mode off, but this is not recommended. This also effectively restricts the privileges of any add-ons. As a result, even if the browser or any add-on is compromised, the damage the security breach can cause is limited. Patches and updates to the browser are released periodically and made available through the Windows Update service, as well as through Automatic Updates. Although security patches continue to be released for a range of platforms, most feature additions and security infrastructure improvements are only made available on operating systems that are in Microsoft's mainstream support phase. On December 16, 2008, Trend Micro recommended users switch to rival browsers until an emergency patch was released to fix a potential security risk which "could allow outside users to take control of a person's computer and steal their passwords.” Microsoft representatives countered this recommendation, claiming that "0.02% of internet sites" were affected by the flaw. A fix for the issue was released the following day with the Security Update for Internet Explorer KB960714, on Microsoft Windows Update.In 2010, Germany's Federal Office for Information Security, known by its German initials, BSI, advised "temporary use of alternative browsers" because of a "critical security hole" in Microsoft's software that could allow hackers to remotely plant and run malicious code on Windows PCs.In 2011, a report by Accuvant, funded by Google, rated the security (based on sandboxing) of Internet Explorer worse than Google Chrome but better than Mozilla Firefox.A 2017 browser security white paper comparing Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, and Internet Explorer 11 by X41 D-Sec in 2017 came to similar conclusions, also based on sandboxing and support of legacy web technologies. Security vulnerabilities Internet Explorer has been subjected to many security vulnerabilities and concerns such that the volume of criticism for IE is unusually high. Much of the spyware, adware, and computer viruses across the Internet are made possible by exploitable bugs and flaws in the security architecture of Internet Explorer, sometimes requiring nothing more than viewing of a malicious web page to install themselves. This is known as a "drive-by install.” There are also attempts to trick the user into installing malicious software by misrepresenting the software's true purpose in the description section of an ActiveX security alert. A number of security flaws affecting IE originated not in the browser itself, but in ActiveX-based add-ons used by it. Because the add-ons have the same privilege as IE, the flaws can be as critical as browser flaws. This has led to the ActiveX-based architecture being criticized for being fault-prone. By 2005, some experts maintained that the dangers of ActiveX had been overstated and there were safeguards in place. In 2006, new techniques using automated testing found more than a hundred vulnerabilities in standard Microsoft ActiveX components. Security features introduced in Internet Explorer 7 mitigated some of these vulnerabilities. In 2008, Internet Explorer had a number of published security vulnerabilities. According to research done by security research firm Secunia, Microsoft did not respond as quickly as its competitors in fixing security holes and making patches available. The firm also reported 366 vulnerabilities in ActiveX controls, an increase from the previous year. According to an October 2010 report in The Register, researcher Chris Evans had detected a known security vulnerability which, then dating back to 2008, had not been fixed for at least six hundred days. Microsoft says that it had known about this vulnerability, but it was of exceptionally low severity as the victim web site must be configured in a peculiar way for this attack to be feasible at all.In December 2010, researchers were able to bypass the "Protected Mode" feature in Internet Explorer. Vulnerability exploited in attacks on U.S. firms In an advisory on January 14, 2010, Microsoft said that attackers targeting Google and other U.S. companies used software that exploits a security hole, which had already been patched, in Internet Explorer. The vulnerability affected Internet Explorer 6 from on Windows XP and Server 2003, IE6 SP1 on Windows 2000 SP4, IE7 on Windows Vista, XP, Server 2008, and Server 2003, IE8 on Windows 7, Vista, XP, Server 2003, and Server 2008 (R2).The German government warned users against using Internet Explorer and recommended switching to an alternative web browser, due to the major security hole described above that was exploited in Internet Explorer. The Australian and French Government issued a similar warning a few days later. Major vulnerability across versions On April 26, 2014, Microsoft issued a security advisory relating to CVE-2014-1776 (use-after-free vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 through 11), a vulnerability that could allow "remote code execution" in Internet Explorer versions 6 to 11. On April 28, 2014, the United States Department of Homeland Security's United States Computer Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) released an advisory stating that the vulnerability could result in "the complete compromise" of an affected system. US-CERT recommended reviewing Microsoft's suggestions to mitigate an attack or using an alternate browser until the bug is fixed. The UK National Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-UK) published an advisory announcing similar concerns and for users to take the additional step of ensuring their antivirus software is up to date. Symantec, a cyber security firm, confirmed that "the vulnerability crashes Internet Explorer on Windows XP." The vulnerability was resolved on May 1, 2014, with a security update. Market adoption and usage share The adoption rate of Internet Explorer seems to be closely related to that of Microsoft Windows, as it is the default web browser that comes with Windows. Since the integration of Internet Explorer 2.0 with Windows 95 OSR 1 in 1996, and especially after version 4.0's release in 1997, the adoption was greatly accelerated: from below 20% in 1996, to about 40% in 1998, and over 80% in 2000. This made Microsoft the winner in the infamous 'first browser war' against Netscape. Netscape Navigator was the dominant browser during 1995 and until 1997, but rapidly lost share to IE starting in 1998, and eventually slipped behind in 1999. The integration of IE with Windows led to a lawsuit by AOL, Netscape's owner, accusing Microsoft of unfair competition. The infamous case was eventually won by AOL but by then it was too late, as Internet Explorer had already become the dominant browser. Internet Explorer peaked during 2002 and 2003, with about 95% share. Its first notable competitor after beating Netscape was Firefox from Mozilla, which itself was an offshoot from Netscape. Firefox 1.0 had surpassed Internet Explorer 5 in early 2005, with Firefox 1.0 at 8 percent market share.Approximate usage over time based on various usage share counters averaged for the year overall, or for the fourth quarter, or for the last month in the year depending on availability of reference.According to StatCounter, Internet Explorer's market share fell below 50% in September 2010. In May 2012, Google Chrome overtook Internet Explorer as the most used browser worldwide, according to StatCounter. Industry adoption Browser Helper Objects are also used by many search engines companies and third parties for creating add-ons that access their services, such as search engine toolbars. Because of the use of COM, it is possible to embed web-browsing functionality in third-party applications. Hence, there are several Internet Explorer shells, and several content-centric applications like RealPlayer also use Internet Explorer's web browsing module for viewing web pages within the applications. Removal While a major upgrade of Internet Explorer can be uninstalled in a traditional way if the user has saved the original application files for installation, the matter of uninstalling the version of the browser that has shipped with an operating system remains a controversial one. The idea of removing a stock install of Internet Explorer from a Windows system was proposed during the United States v. Microsoft Corp. case. One of Microsoft's arguments during the trial was that removing Internet Explorer from Windows may result in system instability. Indeed, programs that depend on libraries installed by IE, including Windows help and support system, fail to function without IE. Before Windows Vista, it was not possible to run Windows Update without IE because the service used ActiveX technology, which no other web browser supports. Impersonation by malware The popularity of Internet Explorer led to the appearance of malware abusing its name. On January 28, 2011, a fake Internet Explorer browser calling itself "Internet Explorer – Emergency Mode" appeared. It closely resembled the real Internet Explorer but had fewer buttons and no search bar. If a user attempted to launch any other browser such as Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Opera, Safari, or the real Internet Explorer, this browser would be loaded instead. It also displayed a fake error message, claiming that the computer was infected with malware and Internet Explorer had entered "Emergency Mode.” It blocked access to legitimate sites such as Google if the user tried to access them. See also Bing Bar History of the web browser List of web browsers Month of bugs Web 2.0 Windows Filtering Platform Winsock Further reading Official website Internet Explorer Architecture

MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg, with support from other digital scientists in other countries. Originally defined as the third audio format of the MPEG-1 standard, it was retained and further extended — defining additional bit-rates and support for more audio channels — as the third audio format of the subsequent MPEG-2 standard. A third version, known as MPEG-2.5 — extended to better support lower bit rates — is commonly implemented, but is not a recognized standard. MP3 (or mp3) as a file format commonly designates files containing an elementary stream of MPEG-1 Audio or MPEG-2 Audio encoded data, without other complexities of the MP3 standard. With regard to audio compression (the aspect of the standard most apparent to end-users, and for which it is best known), MP3 uses lossy data-compression to encode data using inexact approximations and the partial discarding of data. This allows a large reduction in file sizes when compared to uncompressed audio. The combination of small size and acceptable fidelity led to a boom in the distribution of music over the Internet in the mid- to late-1990s, with MP3 serving as an enabling technology at a time when bandwidth and storage were still at a premium. The MP3 format soon became associated with controversies surrounding copyright infringement, music piracy, and the file ripping/sharing services MP3.com and Napster, among others. With the advent of portable media players, a product category also including smartphones, MP3 support remains near-universal. MP3 compression works by reducing (or approximating) the accuracy of certain components of sound that are considered (by psychoacoustic analysis) to be beyond the hearing capabilities of most humans. This method is commonly referred to as perceptual coding or as psychoacoustic modeling. The remaining audio information is then recorded in a space-efficient manner, using MDCT and FFT algorithms. Compared to CD-quality digital audio, MP3 compression can commonly achieve a 75 to 95% reduction in size. For example, an MP3 encoded at a constant bitrate of 128 kbit/s would result in a file approximately 9% of the size of the original CD audio. In the early 2000s, compact disc players increasingly adopted support for playback of MP3 files on data CDs. The Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG) designed MP3 as part of its MPEG-1, and later MPEG-2, standards. MPEG-1 Audio (MPEG-1 Part 3), which included MPEG-1 Audio Layer I, II and III, was approved as a committee draft for an ISO/IEC standard in 1991, finalised in 1992, and published in 1993 as ISO/IEC 11172-3:1993. An MPEG-2 Audio (MPEG-2 Part 3) extension with lower sample- and bit-rates was published in 1995 as ISO/IEC 13818-3:1995. It requires only minimal modifications to existing MPEG-1 decoders (recognition of the MPEG-2 bit in the header and addition of the new lower sample and bit rates). History Background The MP3 lossy audio-data compression algorithm takes advantage of a perceptual limitation of human hearing called auditory masking. In 1894, the American physicist Alfred M. Mayer reported that a tone could be rendered inaudible by another tone of lower frequency. In 1959, Richard Ehmer described a complete set of auditory curves regarding this phenomenon. Between 1967 and 1974, Eberhard Zwicker did work in the areas of tuning and masking of critical frequency-bands, which in turn built on the fundamental research in the area from Harvey Fletcher and his collaborators at Bell Labs.Perceptual coding was first used for speech coding compression with linear predictive coding (LPC), which has origins in the work of Fumitada Itakura (Nagoya University) and Shuzo Saito (Nippon Telegraph and Telephone) in 1966. In 1978, Bishnu S. Atal and Manfred R. Schroeder at Bell Labs proposed an LPC speech codec, called adaptive predictive coding, that used a psychoacoustic coding-algorithm exploiting the masking properties of the human ear. Further optimisation by Schroeder and Atal with J.L. Hall was later reported in a 1979 paper. That same year, a psychoacoustic masking codec was also proposed by M. A. Krasner, who published and produced hardware for speech (not usable as music bit-compression), but the publication of his results in a relatively obscure Lincoln Laboratory Technical Report did not immediately influence the mainstream of psychoacoustic codec-development. The discrete cosine transform (DCT), a type of transform coding for lossy compression, proposed by Nasir Ahmed in 1972, was developed by Ahmed with T. Natarajan and K. R. Rao in 1973; they published their results in 1974. This led to the development of the modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT), proposed by J. P. Princen, A. W. Johnson and A. B. Bradley in 1987, following earlier work by Princen and Bradley in 1986. The MDCT later became a core part of the MP3 algorithm.Ernst Terhardt and other collaborators constructed an algorithm describing auditory masking with high accuracy in 1982. This work added to a variety of reports from authors dating back to Fletcher, and to the work that initially determined critical ratios and critical bandwidths. In 1985, Atal and Schroeder presented code-excited linear prediction (CELP), an LPC-based perceptual speech-coding algorithm with auditory masking that achieved a significant data compression ratio for its time. IEEE's refereed Journal on Selected Areas in Communications reported on a wide variety of (mostly perceptual) audio compression algorithms in 1988. The "Voice Coding for Communications" edition published in February 1988 reported on a wide range of established, working audio bit compression technologies, some of them using auditory masking as part of their fundamental design, and several showing real-time hardware implementations. Development The genesis of the MP3 technology is fully described in a paper from Professor Hans Musmann, who chaired the ISO MPEG Audio group for several years. In December 1988, MPEG called for an audio coding standard. In June 1989, 14 audio coding algorithms were submitted. Because of certain similarities between these coding proposals, they were clustered into four development groups. The first group was ASPEC, by Fraunhofer Gesellschaft, AT&T, France Telecom, Deutsche and Thomson-Brandt. The second group was MUSICAM, by Matsushita, CCETT, ITT and Philips. The third group was ATAC (ATRAC Coding), by Fujitsu, JVC, NEC and Sony. And the fourth group was SB-ADPCM, by NTT and BTRL.The immediate predecessors of MP3 were "Optimum Coding in the Frequency Domain" (OCF), and Perceptual Transform Coding (PXFM). These two codecs, along with block-switching contributions from Thomson-Brandt, were merged into a codec called ASPEC, which was submitted to MPEG, and which won the quality competition, but that was mistakenly rejected as too complex to implement. The first practical implementation of an audio perceptual coder (OCF) in hardware (Krasner's hardware was too cumbersome and slow for practical use), was an implementation of a psychoacoustic transform coder based on Motorola 56000 DSP chips. Another predecessor of the MP3 format and technology is to be found in the perceptual codec MUSICAM based on an integer arithmetics 32 sub-bands filterbank, driven by a psychoacoustic model. It was primarily designed for Digital Audio Broadcasting (digital radio) and digital TV, and its basic principles were disclosed to the scientific community by CCETT (France) and IRT (Germany) in Atlanta during an IEEE-ICASSP conference in 1991, after having worked on MUSICAM with Matsushita and Philips since 1989.This codec incorporated into a broadcasting system using COFDM modulation was demonstrated on air and in the field with Radio Canada and CRC Canada during the NAB show (Las Vegas) in 1991. The implementation of the audio part of this broadcasting system was based on a two-chips encoder (one for the subband transform, one for the psychoacoustic model designed by the team of G. Stoll (IRT Germany), later known as psychoacoustic model I) and a real time decoder using one Motorola 56001 DSP chip running an integer arithmetics software designed by Y.F. Dehery's team (CCETT, France). The simplicity of the corresponding decoder together with the high audio quality of this codec using for the first time a 48 kHz sampling frequency, a 20 bits/sample input format (the highest available sampling standard in 1991, compatible with the AES/EBU professional digital input studio standard) were the main reasons to later adopt the characteristics of MUSICAM as the basic features for an advanced digital music compression codec. During the development of the MUSICAM encoding software, Stoll and Dehery's team made thorough use of a set of high-quality audio assessment material selected by a group of audio professionals from the European Broadcasting Union, and later used as a reference for the assessment of music compression codecs. The subband coding technique was found to be efficient, not only for the perceptual coding of the high-quality sound materials but especially for the encoding of critical percussive sound materials (drums, triangle,...), due to the specific temporal masking effect of the MUSICAM sub-band filterbank (this advantage being a specific feature of short transform coding techniques). As a doctoral student at Germany's University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Karlheinz Brandenburg began working on digital music compression in the early 1980s, focusing on how people perceive music. He completed his doctoral work in 1989. MP3 is directly descended from OCF and PXFM, representing the outcome of the collaboration of Brandenburg — working as a postdoctoral researcher at AT&T-Bell Labs with James D. Johnston ("JJ") of AT&T-Bell Labs — with the Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, Erlangen (where he worked with Bernhard Grill and four other researchers – "The Original Six"), with relatively minor contributions from the MP2 branch of psychoacoustic sub-band coders. In 1990, Brandenburg became an assistant professor at Erlangen-Nuremberg. While there, he continued to work on music compression with scientists at the Fraunhofer Society's Heinrich Herz Institute. In 1993, he joined the staff of Fraunhofer HHI. The song "Tom's Diner" by Suzanne Vega was the first song used by Karlheinz Brandenburg to develop the MP3 format. Brandenburg adopted the song for testing purposes, listening to it again and again each time he refined the scheme, making sure it did not adversely affect the subtlety of Vega's voice. Accordingly, he dubbed Vega the "Mother of MP3". Standardization In 1991, there were two available proposals that were assessed for an MPEG audio standard: MUSICAM (Masking pattern adapted Universal Subband Integrated Coding And Multiplexing) and ASPEC (Adaptive Spectral Perceptual Entropy Coding). The MUSICAM technique, proposed by Philips (Netherlands), CCETT (France), the Institute for Broadcast Technology (Germany), and Matsushita (Japan), was chosen due to its simplicity and error robustness, as well as for its high level of computational efficiency. The MUSICAM format, based on sub-band coding, became the basis for the MPEG Audio compression format, incorporating, for example, its frame structure, header format, sample rates, etc. While much of MUSICAM technology and ideas were incorporated into the definition of MPEG Audio Layer I and Layer II, the filter bank alone and the data structure based on 1152 samples framing (file format and byte oriented stream) of MUSICAM remained in the Layer III (MP3) format, as part of the computationally inefficient hybrid filter bank. Under the chairmanship of Professor Musmann of the Leibniz University Hannover, the editing of the standard was delegated to Leon van de Kerkhof (Netherlands), Gerhard Stoll (Germany), and Yves-François Dehery (France), who worked on Layer I and Layer II. ASPEC was the joint proposal of AT&T Bell Laboratories, Thomson Consumer Electronics, Fraunhofer Society and CNET. It provided the highest coding efficiency. A working group consisting of van de Kerkhof, Stoll, Leonardo Chiariglione (CSELT VP for Media), Yves-François Dehery, Karlheinz Brandenburg (Germany) and James D. Johnston (United States) took ideas from ASPEC, integrated the filter bank from Layer II, added some of their own ideas such as the joint stereo coding of MUSICAM and created the MP3 format, which was designed to achieve the same quality at 128 kbit/s as MP2 at 192 kbit/s. The algorithms for MPEG-1 Audio Layer I, II and III were approved in 1991 and finalized in 1992 as part of MPEG-1, the first standard suite by MPEG, which resulted in the international standard ISO/IEC 11172-3 (a.k.a. MPEG-1 Audio or MPEG-1 Part 3), published in 1993. Files or data streams conforming to this standard must handle sample rates of 48k, 44100 and 32k and continue to be supported by current MP3 players and decoders. Thus the first generation of MP3 defined 14 × 3 = 42 interpretations of MP3 frame data structures and size layouts. Compression efficiency of encoders is typically defined by the bit rate, because compression ratio depends on the bit depth and sampling rate of the input signal. Nevertheless, compression ratios are often published. They may use the compact disc (CD) parameters as references (44.1 kHz, 2 channels at 16 bits per channel or 2×16 bit), or sometimes the Digital Audio Tape (DAT) SP parameters (48 kHz, 2×16 bit). Compression ratios with this latter reference are higher, which demonstrates the problem with use of the term compression ratio for lossy encoders. Karlheinz Brandenburg used a CD recording of Suzanne Vega's song "Tom's Diner" to assess and refine the MP3 compression algorithm. This song was chosen because of its nearly monophonic nature and wide spectral content, making it easier to hear imperfections in the compression format during playbacks. This particular track has an interesting property in that the two channels are almost, but not completely, the same, leading to a case where Binaural Masking Level Depression causes spatial unmasking of noise artifacts unless the encoder properly recognizes the situation and applies corrections similar to those detailed in the MPEG-2 AAC psychoacoustic model. Some more critical audio excerpts (glockenspiel, triangle, accordion, etc.) were taken from the EBU V3/SQAM reference compact disc and have been used by professional sound engineers to assess the subjective quality of the MPEG Audio formats. Going public A reference simulation software implementation, written in the C language and later known as ISO 11172-5, was developed (in 1991–1996) by the members of the ISO MPEG Audio committee in order to produce bit compliant MPEG Audio files (Layer 1, Layer 2, Layer 3). It was approved as a committee draft of ISO/IEC technical report in March 1994 and printed as document CD 11172-5 in April 1994. It was approved as a draft technical report (DTR/DIS) in November 1994, finalized in 1996 and published as international standard ISO/IEC TR 11172-5:1998 in 1998. The reference software in C language was later published as a freely available ISO standard. Working in non-real time on a number of operating systems, it was able to demonstrate the first real time hardware decoding (DSP based) of compressed audio. Some other real time implementations of MPEG Audio encoders and decoders were available for the purpose of digital broadcasting (radio DAB, television DVB) towards consumer receivers and set top boxes. On 7 July 1994, the Fraunhofer Society released the first software MP3 encoder, called l3enc. The filename extension .mp3 was chosen by the Fraunhofer team on 14 July 1995 (previously, the files had been named .bit). With the first real-time software MP3 player WinPlay3 (released 9 September 1995) many people were able to encode and play back MP3 files on their PCs. Because of the relatively small hard drives of the era (≈500–1000 MB) lossy compression was essential to store multiple albums' worth of music on a home computer as full recordings (as opposed to MIDI notation, or tracker files which combined notation with short recordings of instruments playing single notes). Fraunhofer example implementation A hacker named SoloH discovered the source code of the "dist10" MPEG reference implementation shortly after the release on the servers of the University of Erlangen. He developed a higher-quality version and spread it on the internet. This code started the widespread CD ripping and digital music distribution as MP3 over the internet. Further versions Further work on MPEG audio was finalized in 1994 as part of the second suite of MPEG standards, MPEG-2, more formally known as international standard ISO/IEC 13818-3 (a.k.a. MPEG-2 Part 3 or backwards compatible MPEG-2 Audio or MPEG-2 Audio BC), originally published in 1995. MPEG-2 Part 3 (ISO/IEC 13818-3) defined 42 additional bit rates and sample rates for MPEG-1 Audio Layer I, II and III. The new sampling rates are exactly half that of those originally defined in MPEG-1 Audio. This reduction in sampling rate serves to cut the available frequency fidelity in half while likewise cutting the bitrate by 50%. MPEG-2 Part 3 also enhanced MPEG-1's audio by allowing the coding of audio programs with more than two channels, up to 5.1 multichannel. An MP3 coded with MPEG-2 results in half of the bandwidth reproduction of MPEG-1 appropriate for piano and singing. A third generation of "MP3" style data streams (files) extended the MPEG-2 ideas and implementation, but was named MPEG-2.5 audio, since MPEG-3 already had a different meaning. This extension was developed at Fraunhofer IIS, the registered patent holders of MP3, by reducing the frame sync field in the MP3 header from 12 to 11 bits. As in the transition from MPEG-1 to MPEG-2, MPEG-2.5 adds additional sampling rates exactly half of those available using MPEG-2. It thus widens the scope of MP3 to include human speech and other applications yet requires only 25% of the bandwidth (frequency reproduction) possible using MPEG-1 sampling rates. While not an ISO recognized standard, MPEG-2.5 is widely supported by both inexpensive Chinese and brand-name digital audio players as well as computer software based MP3 encoders (LAME), decoders (FFmpeg) and players (MPC) adding 3 × 8 = 24 additional MP3 frame types. Each generation of MP3 thus supports 3 sampling rates exactly half that of the previous generation for a total of 9 varieties of MP3 format files. The sample rate comparison table between MPEG-1, 2 and 2.5 is given later in the article. MPEG-2.5 is supported by LAME (since 2000), Media Player Classic (MPC), iTunes, and FFmpeg. MPEG-2.5 was not developed by MPEG (see above) and was never approved as an international standard. MPEG-2.5 is thus an unofficial or proprietary extension to the MP3 format. It is nonetheless ubiquitous and especially advantageous for low-bit-rate human speech applications. LAME is the most advanced MP3 encoder. LAME includes a VBR variable bit rate encoding which uses a quality parameter rather than a bit rate goal. Later versions (2008+) support an n.nnn quality goal which automatically selects MPEG-2 or MPEG-2.5 sampling rates as appropriate for human speech recordings which need only 5512 Hz bandwidth resolution. Internet distribution In the second half of the 1990s, MP3 files began to spread on the Internet, often via underground pirated song networks. The first known experiment in Internet distribution was organized in the early 1990s by the Internet Underground Music Archive, better known by the acronym IUMA. After some experiments using uncompressed audio files, this archive started to deliver on the native worldwide low-speed Internet some compressed MPEG Audio files using the MP2 (Layer II) format and later on used MP3 files when the standard was fully completed. The popularity of MP3s began to rise rapidly with the advent of Nullsoft's audio player Winamp, released in 1997. In 1998, the first portable solid state digital audio player MPMan, developed by SaeHan Information Systems, which is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea, was released and the Rio PMP300 was sold afterwards in 1998, despite legal suppression efforts by the RIAA.In November 1997, the website mp3.com was offering thousands of MP3s created by independent artists for free. The small size of MP3 files enabled widespread peer-to-peer file sharing of music ripped from CDs, which would have previously been nearly impossible. The first large peer-to-peer filesharing network, Napster, was launched in 1999. The ease of creating and sharing MP3s resulted in widespread copyright infringement. Major record companies argued that this free sharing of music reduced sales, and called it "music piracy". They reacted by pursuing lawsuits against Napster, which was eventually shut down and later sold, and against individual users who engaged in file sharing.Unauthorized MP3 file sharing continues on next-generation peer-to-peer networks. Some authorized services, such as Beatport, Bleep, Juno Records, eMusic, Zune Marketplace, Walmart.com, Rhapsody, the recording industry approved re-incarnation of Napster, and Amazon.com sell unrestricted music in the MP3 format. Design File structure An MP3 file is made up of MP3 frames, which consist of a header and a data block. This sequence of frames is called an elementary stream. Due to the "bit reservoir", frames are not independent items and cannot usually be extracted on arbitrary frame boundaries. The MP3 Data blocks contain the (compressed) audio information in terms of frequencies and amplitudes. The diagram shows that the MP3 Header consists of a sync word, which is used to identify the beginning of a valid frame. This is followed by a bit indicating that this is the MPEG standard and two bits that indicate that layer 3 is used; hence MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 or MP3. After this, the values will differ, depending on the MP3 file. ISO/IEC 11172-3 defines the range of values for each section of the header along with the specification of the header. Most MP3 files today contain ID3 metadata, which precedes or follows the MP3 frames, as noted in the diagram. The data stream can contain an optional checksum. Joint stereo is done only on a frame-to-frame basis. Encoding and decoding The MP3 encoding algorithm is generally split into four parts. Part 1 divides the audio signal into smaller pieces, called frames, and a modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) filter is then performed on the output. Part 2 passes the sample into a 1024-point fast Fourier transform (FFT), then the psychoacoustic model is applied and another MDCT filter is performed on the output. Part 3 quantifies and encodes each sample, known as noise allocation, which adjusts itself in order to meet the bit rate and sound masking requirements. Part 4 formats the bitstream, called an audio frame, which is made up of 4 parts, the header, error check, audio data, and ancillary data.The MPEG-1 standard does not include a precise specification for an MP3 encoder, but does provide example psychoacoustic models, rate loop, and the like in the non-normative part of the original standard. MPEG-2 doubles the number of sampling rates which are supported and MPEG-2.5 adds 3 more. When this was written, the suggested implementations were quite dated. Implementers of the standard were supposed to devise their own algorithms suitable for removing parts of the information from the audio input. As a result, many different MP3 encoders became available, each producing files of differing quality. Comparisons were widely available, so it was easy for a prospective user of an encoder to research the best choice. Some encoders that were proficient at encoding at higher bit rates (such as LAME) were not necessarily as good at lower bit rates. Over time, LAME evolved on the SourceForge website until it became the de facto CBR MP3 encoder. Later an ABR mode was added. Work progressed on true variable bit rate using a quality goal between 0 and 10. Eventually numbers (such as -V 9.600) could generate excellent quality low bit rate voice encoding at only 41 kbit/s using the MPEG-2.5 extensions. MP3 uses an overlapping MDCT structure. Each MPEG-1 MP3 frame is 1152 samples, divided into two granules of 576 samples. These samples, initially in the time domain, are transformed in one block to 576 frequency-domain samples by MDCT. MP3 also allows the use of shorter blocks in a granule, down to a size of 192 samples; this feature is used when a transient is detected. Doing so limits the temporal spread of quantization noise accompanying the transient (see psychoacoustics). Frequency resolution is limited by the small long block window size, which decreases coding efficiency. Time resolution can be too low for highly transient signals and may cause smearing of percussive sounds.Due to the tree structure of the filter bank, pre-echo problems are made worse, as the combined impulse response of the two filter banks does not, and cannot, provide an optimum solution in time/frequency resolution. Additionally, the combining of the two filter banks' outputs creates aliasing problems that must be handled partially by the "aliasing compensation" stage; however, that creates excess energy to be coded in the frequency domain, thereby decreasing coding efficiency.Decoding, on the other hand, is carefully defined in the standard. Most decoders are "bitstream compliant", which means that the decompressed output that they produce from a given MP3 file will be the same, within a specified degree of rounding tolerance, as the output specified mathematically in the ISO/IEC high standard document (ISO/IEC 11172-3). Therefore, comparison of decoders is usually based on how computationally efficient they are (i.e., how much memory or CPU time they use in the decoding process). Over time this concern has become less of an issue as CPU clock rates transitioned from MHz to GHz. Encoder/decoder overall delay is not defined, which means there is no official provision for gapless playback. However, some encoders such as LAME can attach additional metadata that will allow players that can handle it to deliver seamless playback. Quality When performing lossy audio encoding, such as creating an MP3 data stream, there is a trade-off between the amount of data generated and the sound quality of the results. The person generating an MP3 selects a bit rate, which specifies how many kilobits per second of audio is desired. The higher the bit rate, the larger the MP3 data stream will be, and, generally, the closer it will sound to the original recording. With too low a bit rate, compression artifacts (i.e., sounds that were not present in the original recording) may be audible in the reproduction. Some audio is hard to compress because of its randomness and sharp attacks. When this type of audio is compressed, artifacts such as ringing or pre-echo are usually heard. A sample of applause or a triangle instrument with a relatively low bit rate provide good examples of compression artifacts. Most subjective testings of perceptual codecs tend to avoid using these types of sound materials, however, the artifacts generated by percussive sounds are barely perceptible due to the specific temporal masking feature of the 32 sub-band filterbank of Layer II on which the format is based. Besides the bit rate of an encoded piece of audio, the quality of MP3 encoded sound also depends on the quality of the encoder algorithm as well as the complexity of the signal being encoded. As the MP3 standard allows quite a bit of freedom with encoding algorithms, different encoders do feature quite different quality, even with identical bit rates. As an example, in a public listening test featuring two early MP3 encoders set at about 128 kbit/s, one scored 3.66 on a 1–5 scale, while the other scored only 2.22. Quality is dependent on the choice of encoder and encoding parameters.This observation caused a revolution in audio encoding. Early on bitrate was the prime and only consideration. At the time MP3 files were of the very simplest type: they used the same bit rate for the entire file: this process is known as Constant Bit Rate (CBR) encoding. Using a constant bit rate makes encoding simpler and less CPU intensive. However, it is also possible to optimize size of the file by creating files where the bit rate changes throughout the file. These are known as Variable Bit Rate. The bit reservoir and VBR encoding were actually part of the original MPEG-1 standard. The concept behind them is that, in any piece of audio, some sections are easier to compress, such as silence or music containing only a few tones, while others will be more difficult to compress. So, the overall quality of the file may be increased by using a lower bit rate for the less complex passages and a higher one for the more complex parts. With some advanced MP3 encoders, it is possible to specify a given quality, and the encoder will adjust the bit rate accordingly. Users that desire a particular "quality setting" that is transparent to their ears can use this value when encoding all of their music, and generally speaking not need to worry about performing personal listening tests on each piece of music to determine the correct bit rate. Perceived quality can be influenced by listening environment (ambient noise), listener attention, and listener training and in most cases by listener audio equipment (such as sound cards, speakers and headphones). Furthermore, sufficient quality may be achieved by a lesser quality setting for lectures and human speech applications and reduces encoding time and complexity. A test given to new students by Stanford University Music Professor Jonathan Berger showed that student preference for MP3-quality music has risen each year. Berger said the students seem to prefer the 'sizzle' sounds that MP3s bring to music.An in-depth study of MP3 audio quality, sound artist and composer Ryan Maguire's project "The Ghost in the MP3" isolates the sounds lost during MP3 compression. In 2015, he released the track "moDernisT" (an anagram of "Tom's Diner"), composed exclusively from the sounds deleted during MP3 compression of the song "Tom's Diner", the track originally used in the formulation of the MP3 standard. A detailed account of the techniques used to isolate the sounds deleted during MP3 compression, along with the conceptual motivation for the project, was published in the 2014 Proceedings of the International Computer Music Conference. Bit rate Bitrate is the product of the sample rate and number of bits per sample used to encode the music. CD audio is 44100 samples per second. The number of bits per sample also depends on the number of audio channels. CD is stereo and 16 bits per channel. So, multiplying 44100 by 32 gives 1411200—the bitrate of uncompressed CD digital audio. MP3 was designed to encode this 1411 kbit/s data at 320 kbit/s or less. As less complex passages are detected by MP3 algorithms then lower bitrates may be employed. When using MPEG-2 instead of MPEG-1, MP3 supports only lower sampling rates (16000, 22050 or 24000 samples per second) and offers choices of bitrate as low as 8 kbit/s but no higher than 160 kbit/s. By lowering the sampling rate, MPEG-2 layer III removes all frequencies above half the new sampling rate that may have been present in the source audio. As shown in these two tables, 14 selected bit rates are allowed in MPEG-1 Audio Layer III standard: 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 160, 192, 224, 256 and 320 kbit/s, along with the 3 highest available sampling frequencies of 32, 44.1 and 48 kHz. MPEG-2 Audio Layer III also allows 14 somewhat different (and mostly lower) bit rates of 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56, 64, 80, 96, 112, 128, 144, 160 kbit/s with sampling frequencies of 16, 22.05 and 24 kHz which are exactly half that of MPEG-1. MPEG-2.5 Audio Layer III frames are limited to only 8 bit rates of 8, 16, 24, 32, 40, 48, 56 and 64 kbit/s with 3 even lower sampling frequencies of 8, 11.025, and 12 kHz. On earlier systems that only support the MPEG-1 Audio Layer III standard, MP3 files with a bit rate below 32 kbit/s might be played back sped-up and pitched-up. Earlier systems also lack fast forwarding and rewinding playback controls on MP3.MPEG-1 frames contain the most detail in 320 kbit/s mode, the highest allowable bit rate setting, with silence and simple tones still requiring 32 kbit/s. MPEG-2 frames can capture up to 12 kHz sound reproductions needed up to 160 kbit/s. MP3 files made with MPEG-2 don't have 20 kHz bandwidth because of the Nyquist–Shannon sampling theorem. Frequency reproduction is always strictly less than half of the sampling frequency, and imperfect filters require a larger margin for error (noise level versus sharpness of filter), so an 8 kHz sampling rate limits the maximum frequency to 4 kHz, while a 48 kHz sampling rate limits an MP3 to a maximum 24 kHz sound reproduction. MPEG-2 uses half and MPEG-2.5 only a quarter of MPEG-1 sample rates. For the general field of human speech reproduction, a bandwidth of 5512 Hz is sufficient to produce excellent results (for voice) using the sampling rate of 11025 and VBR encoding from 44100 (standard) WAV file. English speakers average 41–42 kbit/s with -V 9.6 setting but this may vary with amount of silence recorded or the rate of delivery (wpm). Resampling to 12000 (6K bandwidth) is selected by the LAME parameter -V 9.4. Likewise -V 9.2 selects 16000 sample rate and a resultant 8K lowpass filtering. For more information see Nyquist – Shannon. Older versions of LAME and FFmpeg only support integer arguments for the variable bit rate quality selection parameter. The n.nnn quality parameter (-V) is documented at lame.sourceforge.net but is only supported in LAME with the new style VBR variable bit rate quality selector—not average bit rate (ABR). A sample rate of 44.1 kHz is commonly used for music reproduction, because this is also used for CD audio, the main source used for creating MP3 files. A great variety of bit rates are used on the Internet. A bit rate of 128 kbit/s is commonly used, at a compression ratio of 11:1, offering adequate audio quality in a relatively small space. As Internet bandwidth availability and hard drive sizes have increased, higher bit rates up to 320 kbit/s are widespread. Uncompressed audio as stored on an audio-CD has a bit rate of 1,411.2 kbit/s, (16 bit/sample × 44100 samples/second × 2 channels / 1000 bits/kilobit), so the bitrates 128, 160 and 192 kbit/s represent compression ratios of approximately 11:1, 9:1 and 7:1 respectively. Non-standard bit rates up to 640 kbit/s can be achieved with the LAME encoder and the freeformat option, although few MP3 players can play those files. According to the ISO standard, decoders are only required to be able to decode streams up to 320 kbit/s. Early MPEG Layer III encoders used what is now called Constant Bit Rate (CBR). The software was only able to use a uniform bitrate on all frames in an MP3 file. Later more sophisticated MP3 encoders were able to use the bit reservoir to target an average bit rate selecting the encoding rate for each frame based on the complexity of the sound in that portion of the recording. A more sophisticated MP3 encoder can produce variable bitrate audio. MPEG audio may use bitrate switching on a per-frame basis, but only layer III decoders must support it. VBR is used when the goal is to achieve a fixed level of quality. The final file size of a VBR encoding is less predictable than with constant bitrate. Average bitrate is a type of VBR implemented as a compromise between the two: the bitrate is allowed to vary for more consistent quality, but is controlled to remain near an average value chosen by the user, for predictable file sizes. Although an MP3 decoder must support VBR to be standards compliant, historically some decoders have bugs with VBR decoding, particularly before VBR encoders became widespread. The most evolved LAME MP3 encoder supports the generation of VBR, ABR, and even the older CBR MP3 formats. Layer III audio can also use a "bit reservoir", a partially full frame's ability to hold part of the next frame's audio data, allowing temporary changes in effective bitrate, even in a constant bitrate stream. Internal handling of the bit reservoir increases encoding delay. There is no scale factor band 21 (sfb21) for frequencies above approx 16 kHz, forcing the encoder to choose between less accurate representation in band 21 or less efficient storage in all bands below band 21, the latter resulting in wasted bitrate in VBR encoding. Ancillary data The ancillary data field can be used to store user defined data. The ancillary data is optional and the number of bits available is not explicitly given. The ancillary data is located after the Huffman code bits and ranges to where the next frame's main_data_begin points to. Encoder mp3PRO used ancillary data to encode extra information which could improve audio quality when decoded with its own algorithm. Metadata A "tag" in an audio file is a section of the file that contains metadata such as the title, artist, album, track number or other information about the file's contents. The MP3 standards do not define tag formats for MP3 files, nor is there a standard container format that would support metadata and obviate the need for tags. However, several de facto standards for tag formats exist. As of 2010, the most widespread are ID3v1 and ID3v2, and the more recently introduced APEv2. These tags are normally embedded at the beginning or end of MP3 files, separate from the actual MP3 frame data. MP3 decoders either extract information from the tags, or just treat them as ignorable, non-MP3 junk data. Playing and editing software often contains tag editing functionality, but there are also tag editor applications dedicated to the purpose. Aside from metadata pertaining to the audio content, tags may also be used for DRM. ReplayGain is a standard for measuring and storing the loudness of an MP3 file (audio normalization) in its metadata tag, enabling a ReplayGain-compliant player to automatically adjust the overall playback volume for each file. MP3Gain may be used to reversibly modify files based on ReplayGain measurements so that adjusted playback can be achieved on players without ReplayGain capability. Licensing, ownership, and legislation The basic MP3 decoding and encoding technology is patent-free in the European Union, all patents having expired there by 2012 at the latest. In the United States, the technology became substantially patent-free on 16 April 2017 (see below). MP3 patents expired in the US between 2007 and 2017. In the past, many organizations have claimed ownership of patents related to MP3 decoding or encoding. These claims led to a number of legal threats and actions from a variety of sources. As a result, uncertainty about which patents must have been licensed in order to create MP3 products without committing patent infringement in countries that allow software patents was a common feature of the early stages of adoption of the technology. The initial near-complete MPEG-1 standard (parts 1, 2 and 3) was publicly available on 6 December 1991 as ISO CD 11172. In most countries, patents cannot be filed after prior art has been made public, and patents expire 20 years after the initial filing date, which can be up to 12 months later for filings in other countries. As a result, patents required to implement MP3 expired in most countries by December 2012, 21 years after the publication of ISO CD 11172. An exception is the United States, where patents in force but filed prior to 8 June 1995 expire after the later of 17 years from the issue date or 20 years from the priority date. A lengthy patent prosecution process may result in a patent issuing much later than normally expected (see submarine patents). The various MP3-related patents expired on dates ranging from 2007 to 2017 in the United States. Patents for anything disclosed in ISO CD 11172 filed a year or more after its publication are questionable. If only the known MP3 patents filed by December 1992 are considered, then MP3 decoding has been patent-free in the US since 22 September 2015, when U.S. Patent 5,812,672, which had a PCT filing in October 1992, expired. If the longest-running patent mentioned in the aforementioned references is taken as a measure, then the MP3 technology became patent-free in the United States on 16 April 2017, when U.S. Patent 6,009,399, held and administered by Technicolor, expired. As a result, many free and open-source software projects, such as the Fedora operating system, have decided to start shipping MP3 support by default, and users will no longer have to resort to installing unofficial packages maintained by third party software repositories for MP3 playback or encoding.Technicolor (formerly called Thomson Consumer Electronics) claimed to control MP3 licensing of the Layer 3 patents in many countries, including the United States, Japan, Canada and EU countries. Technicolor had been actively enforcing these patents. MP3 license revenues from Technicolor's administration generated about €100 million for the Fraunhofer Society in 2005. In September 1998, the Fraunhofer Institute sent a letter to several developers of MP3 software stating that a license was required to "distribute and/or sell decoders and/or encoders". The letter claimed that unlicensed products "infringe the patent rights of Fraunhofer and Thomson. To make, sell or distribute products using the [MPEG Layer-3] standard and thus our patents, you need to obtain a license under these patents from us." This led to the situation where the LAME MP3 encoder project could not offer its users official binaries that could run on their computer. The project's position was that as source code, LAME was simply a description of how an MP3 encoder could be implemented. Unofficially, compiled binaries were available from other sources. Sisvel S.p.A., a Luxembourg-based company, administers licenses for patents applying to MPEG Audio. They, along with its United States subsidiary Audio MPEG, Inc. previously sued Thomson for patent infringement on MP3 technology, but those disputes were resolved in November 2005 with Sisvel granting Thomson a license to their patents. Motorola followed soon after, and signed with Sisvel to license MP3-related patents in December 2005. Except for three patents, the US patents administered by Sisvel had all expired in 2015. The three exceptions are: U.S. Patent 5,878,080, expired February 2017; U.S. Patent 5,850,456, expired February 2017; and U.S. Patent 5,960,037, expired 9 April 2017. As of around the first quarter of 2023, Sisvel's licensing program has become legacy.In September 2006, German officials seized MP3 players from SanDisk's booth at the IFA show in Berlin after an Italian patents firm won an injunction on behalf of Sisvel against SanDisk in a dispute over licensing rights. The injunction was later reversed by a Berlin judge, but that reversal was in turn blocked the same day by another judge from the same court, "bringing the Patent Wild West to Germany" in the words of one commentator. In February 2007, Texas MP3 Technologies sued Apple, Samsung Electronics and Sandisk in eastern Texas federal court, claiming infringement of a portable MP3 player patent that Texas MP3 said it had been assigned. Apple, Samsung, and Sandisk all settled the claims against them in January 2009.Alcatel-Lucent has asserted several MP3 coding and compression patents, allegedly inherited from AT&T-Bell Labs, in litigation of its own. In November 2006, before the companies' merger, Alcatel sued Microsoft for allegedly infringing seven patents. On 23 February 2007, a San Diego jury awarded Alcatel-Lucent US $1.52 billion in damages for infringement of two of them. The court subsequently revoked the award, however, finding that one patent had not been infringed and that the other was not owned by Alcatel-Lucent; it was co-owned by AT&T and Fraunhofer, who had licensed it to Microsoft, the judge ruled. That defense judgment was upheld on appeal in 2008. See Alcatel-Lucent v. Microsoft for more information. Alternative technologies Other lossy formats exist. Among these, Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is the most widely used, and was designed to be the successor to MP3. There also exist other lossy formats such as mp3PRO and MP2. They are members of the same technological family as MP3 and depend on roughly similar psychoacoustic models and MDCT algorithms. Whereas MP3 uses a hybrid coding approach that is part MDCT and part FFT, AAC is purely MDCT, significantly improving compression efficiency. Many of the basic patents underlying these formats are held by Fraunhofer Society, Alcatel-Lucent, Thomson Consumer Electronics, Bell, Dolby, LG Electronics, NEC, NTT Docomo, Panasonic, Sony Corporation, ETRI, JVC Kenwood, Philips, Microsoft, and NTT.When the digital audio player market was taking off, MP3 was widely adopted as the standard hence the popular name "MP3 player". Sony was an exception and used their own ATRAC codec taken from their MiniDisc format, which Sony claimed was better. Following criticism and lower than expected Walkman sales, in 2004 Sony for the first time introduced native MP3 support to its Walkman players.There are also open compression formats like Opus and Vorbis that are available free of charge and without any known patent restrictions. Some of the newer audio compression formats, such as AAC, WMA Pro, Vorbis, and Opus, are free of some limitations inherent to the MP3 format that cannot be overcome by any MP3 encoder.Besides lossy compression methods, lossless formats are a significant alternative to MP3 because they provide unaltered audio content, though with an increased file size compared to lossy compression. Lossless formats include FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec), Apple Lossless and many others. See also Further reading Geert Lovink (9 November 2014). "Reflections on the MP3 Format: Interview with Jonathan Sterne". Computational Culture (4). ISSN 2047-2390. MP3 at Curlie MP3-history.com, The Story of MP3: How MP3 was invented, by Fraunhofer IIS MP3 News Archive Archived 3 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine, Over 1000 articles from 1999 to 2011 focused on MP3 and digital audio MPEG.chiariglione.org, MPEG Official Web site

WMA may refer to: Organizations Western Marble Arch, a synagogue in London William Morris Agency, literary and entertainment agents, now known as WME Entertainment World Masters Athletics, a sport governing body World Medical Association, an international confederation of free professional Medical Associations World Marketing Alliance, former name of the World Financial Group Warsash Maritime Academy, in Hampshire, UK Wilbraham & Monson Academy, a prep school in Massachusetts Science and technology Weighted moving average, in statistics Windows Media Audio, a digital audio file format created by Microsoft Wireless Messaging API, in Java ME MIDP Music "W.M.A." (Pearl Jam song) World Music Awards World Metal Alliance, a music organization Western Music Association, in country music Other uses Washington metropolitan area, Washington, D.C., and its surrounding area Western martial arts, the study of historical manuscripts to teach students the martial arts of Europe Wildlife Management Area, for the conservation of wildlife and for recreational activities involving wildlife Ways and means advances, a credit policy used by Reserve Bank of India War Measures Act, an emergency measure formerly in Canadian Parliamentary law See also WMAS (disambiguation)

Ma Ying-jeou (Chinese: 馬英九; born 13 July 1950) is a Taiwanese politician who served as president of the Republic of China from 2008 to 2016. Previously, he served as justice minister from 1993 to 1996 and mayor of Taipei from 1998 to 2006. He served as chairman of the Kuomintang (KMT) from 2005 to 2007 and from 2009 to 2014. Ma studied in the National Taiwan University, where he earned his LL.B. degree in 1972. He served in the military between 1972 and 1974, afterwards pursuing advanced education in the United States. He returned to Taiwan in 1981, where he started working for President Chiang Ching-kuo, first working at the presidential office. He was later appointed as the chair of the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission, then being appointed as Minister of Justice in 1993 until being relieved of his post in 1996. In 1998, he ran against incumbent Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) in Taipei mayoral elections, defeating Chen. Ma was elected as the KMT chairman in 2005, until he resigned in 2007, when he announced his candidacy for the presidential elections of 2008. He was elected president, winning 58.45% of the popular vote and defeating DPP nominee Frank Hsieh. He was sworn into office as president on 20 May 2008, and was again sworn in as the Chairman of the Kuomintang on 17 October 2009. Ma's term as president saw warmer relations with Mainland China, including the signing of the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement in 2010. He was re-elected in presidential elections 2012 with 51.6% of the vote, defeating DPP nominee Tsai Ing-wen. He resigned as chairman of Kuomintang on 3 December 2014 after poor performance by the party in local elections. In November 2015, Ma met with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Singapore, the first time PRC and Republic of China leaders met. Early life Ma and his parents originate from Xiangtan, Hunan in the Republic of China (now Hunan, People's Republic of China), and their ancestral home was in Fufeng, Shaanxi Province. His ancestors had migrated from Shaanxi to Jiangxi and then finally to Hunan. Researchers had purportedly visited the old residence of Ma's father, Ma Ho-ling (1920–2005), in Kaiyun Town, Hengshan County, Hunan, where they discovered a genealogy book stating that Ma descended from Three Kingdoms era general Ma Chao. His mother was Chin Hou-hsiu (1922–2013). Ma was raised Catholic. He was born in Kwong Wah Hospital in Yau Ma Tei in Kowloon, part of then-British Hong Kong, on 13 July 1950. His parents were in Hong Kong on the way from Hunan Province of Communist China to Nationalist-held Taiwan after the Chinese Civil War. In a family of five children, Ma was the fourth child and the only son. His family left Hong Kong for Taiwan in 1952. Ma earned his LL.B. degree from National Taiwan University in 1972. He served his compulsory military duty in the ROC Marine Corps and Navy from 1972 to 1974, obtaining the rank of lieutenant. He then pursued advanced studies in the United States, first earning an LL.M. degree from New York University Law School in 1976 and then an S.J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1981. An edited version of his thesis on the Senkaku Islands dispute was published in 1984.After receiving his master's, Ma worked as an associate for a Wall Street law firm in New York City and as a legal consultant for a major bank in Massachusetts in the U.S. before completing his doctorate. Ma also spent time doing research at the University of Maryland School of Law and published some academic papers, so he has always felt a sense of gratitude toward the university. In 1981, Ma returned to Taiwan and started working for President Chiang Ching-kuo. Controversy over birthplace On 11 December 2008, Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) legislator Chai Trong-rong called a press conference and produced a document that alleges Ma's birthplace to be contrary to what is officially reported. On this document, the birth certificate for one of Ma's daughters, Ma fills out "Shengchin" [sic] as his own birthplace, contradictory to his officially reported birthplace of "Hong Kong". Chai also noted that First Lady Christine Chow's birthplace was listed as "Nanking, China", though she is listed as also being born in Hong Kong. Chai claimed that since Ma was born after 1949 and in Shenzhen, he is legally a citizen of the People's Republic of China. Presidential Spokesperson Wang Yu-chi (王郁琦) responded to Chai's charges by reaffirming that all information from the President's Office regarding the President's birth is accurate. Wang also informed that Ma, on his 11 December visit to Hong Kong, was able to obtain records of his birth at Kowloon's Kwong-Wah Hospital and Ma also keeps the original of his birth certificate issued by the Registrar General of Hong Kong, thereby confirming once again his birth in the former British colony instead of mainland China. Copies of Ma's birth certificate have also been previously shown to the public. Wang also dispelled rumors that Ma had received affirmative action in his applications to Jianguo High School and the National Taiwan University with an "overseas Chinese" status. Rise in politics In the 1980s Ma Ying-jeou started working for President Chiang Ching-kuo as Deputy Director of the First Bureau of the Presidential Office and the President's English interpreter. Ma was later promoted to the chair of the Research, Development and Evaluation Commission under the Executive Yuan at the age of 38, becoming the youngest cabinet member in the ROC government.Ma was deputy secretary-general of the KMT from 1984 to 1988, also serving for a period as deputy of the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), a cabinet-level body in charge of Cross-Strait relations. President Lee Teng-hui appointed him as Justice Minister in 1993. Ma was relieved of his post in 1996. His supporters claim that firing was caused by his efforts at fighting corruption among politicians and the police. He remained a supporter of the Kuomintang, rather than supporting the New Party formed by KMT supporters who campaigned on an anti-corruption platform. Ma returned to academia and most people at the time believed his political career to have effectively ended. Mayoralty In 1998, the KMT fielded Ma to challenge the then-incumbent Taipei mayor Chen Shui-bian of the opposition Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), who was seeking re-election. Despite Chen's public approval rating of around 70%, he was defeated. In the 2000 presidential election, Ma remained loyal to the KMT and supported its candidate, Lien Chan, over James Soong, who had bolted from the party and was running as an independent. The competition between Lien and Soong split the Pan-Blue vote and allowed his former rival Chen to win the presidential election with less than 50% of the popular vote. The election result, combined with other factors, incited a great deal of anger against Ma when he tried to dissuade discontented Lien and Soong supporters from protesting by appealing to them in his dual capacities as Taipei City mayor and a high-ranking KMT member.Ma was able to repair the political damage and, in December 2002, became the leading figure in the KMT by easily winning reelection as mayor of Taipei with the support of 64% of Taipei voters while DPP challenger Lee Ying-yuan received 36%. His solid victory, especially in light of opposition from both President Chen and former President and KMT chairman Lee Teng-hui, led many to speculate about his chances as the KMT candidate for the 2004 presidential elections, although nothing came of it.Ma again dissuaded angry Pan-Blue supporters from protesting, following the very close re-election victory of President Chen in 2004 after the 3–19 shooting incident. Ma chose not to join in calls to challenge or contest the election. Ma also avoided associating himself with claims that the assassination was staged. Ma suffered some political damage as a result of the SARS epidemic in early 2003 and was criticized for not mobilizing the Taipei city government quickly enough and for keeping Chiu Shu-ti, the public health director, who was previously criticized for her lack of concern for the outbreak. Flooding in metropolitan Taipei in 2004 also led to public questioning of his leadership and caused Ma's approval rating to slide.During his time as Taipei's mayor, Ma had many conflicts with the central government over matters such as health insurance rates and control of the water supply during the drought. Ma also was implicated in a scandal of Taipei Bank stock releases in 2003. However, the case was dismissed after an investigation by the Taipei prosecutor. He was strongly criticized by the DPP for not allowing the ROC national flag to be flown along with a PRC flag during Asian Women's Football Championship held in Taipei. Ma responded that he was merely following Olympic protocol, which only officially recognizes the Chinese Taipei Olympic Flag and forbids ROC national flags from being shown in an Olympic Game Stadium. His initiatives in administering the city of Taipei include changing the transliterations of street names and the line and stations of the Taipei Metro to Hanyu Pinyin, as opposed to Tongyong Pinyin. Ma has expressed mild support for Chinese unification and opposition to the Taiwan independence movement. He opposed the 2004 Taiwanese cross-Strait relations referendum, which had been widely criticized by the U.S. and PRC. Nevertheless, his opposition to the Anti-Secession Law of the People's Republic of China, while other leaders of his party remained silent on the issue, led to him being banned from visiting Hong Kong to make a public speaking tour in 2005. He also criticized the PRC for the Tiananmen crackdown.Ma's cross-political following has led some to note him as a rare example of relative civility in the notoriously rough and tumble world of Taiwanese politics. Ma has generally avoided being accused of using the vitriolic and sometimes offensive rhetoric common in Taiwanese political debate. His academic background and bearing have helped cultivate the image of Ma as an honest, dispassionate technocrat. Despite this reputation, and his wooden speaking style and shy demeanor, Ma is also considered a charismatic figure and is popular among women and youth. On the other hand, Ma's critics claim that Ma, overeager to appear unbiased and/or neutral, is overly indecisive and lacks bold vision. Ma is often accused of avoiding being out in front on some of the more vigorous or controversial criticisms of President Chen or opposing parties, or involving himself in intra-party disputes. Among these critics, Ma has been referred to as a "non-stick pan" or "Teflon-man." Recently, there has also been some criticism of his stumping for election candidates suspected of and later indicted for corruption charges. Many in the Pan-Green Coalition expressed opinions that Ma misled voters by lending his clean charismatic image to unscrupulous candidates in his own party. In recent years, Ma has increasingly employed Taiwanese (Hoklo) in public speaking, perhaps to avoid backlash for his parents' mainland China origins, and he has called himself a "child of Bangka (Wanhua)", identifying himself with the historic district of Taipei where he grew up. Others claim that Ma's mainland Chinese ancestry will further alienate members of the KMT who are "light-blue" vs. the pro-unification "deep-blue". Mayoral controversies While often nicknamed as the "Teflon pot" for his extreme preservation of his personal image, Ma was nonetheless caught in some political controversies. A series of mishaps during his tenure as the mayor of Taipei, including the administration problems that enlarged the extent of the Typhoon Nari (納莉風災), the shutdown of Hoping Hospital (和平封院事件), the Phosgene Incident (捷運光氣事件), the Scalping Incident (捷運扯頭皮事件) and the Human Ball Scandal (邱小妹人球事件) (in which a severely beaten four-year-old girl was bounced from hospital to hospital without treatment, until she died of her injuries), impaired Ma's reputation. However, Ma maneuvered through these incidents relatively unscathed. One of Ma's most satisfactory mayoral constructions was the Maokong Gondola. However, the frequent breakdown of the gondola earned the residents' distrust of the new transportation system. One poll showed only 14% of the Taipei City residents were satisfied with it, and it even led to protests. The Taiwan Environmental Information Center (台灣環境資訊協會) states that the choice to use a gondola lift intended for temperate zones in a tropical zone shows the failure of the Taipei City government led by Ma. Corruption allegations On 14 November 2006, Ma was questioned by prosecutors over his alleged misuse of a special expenses account as Taipei mayor. This occurred after Chen Shui-Bian was being investigated for corruption, and many KMT supporters believed that this prosecution was politically motivated.At the same time, rumors surfaced that former party chairman Lien Chen would run in the presidential election of 2008. The incident may have affected the clean image of Ma and his political future. The next day, Ma admitted one of his aides forged receipts to claim Ma's expenses as Taipei mayor, and apologized for the latest political scandal. However, Ma argued that he, like most other government officials, regarded the special expense account as supplemental salary for personal expenses undertaken in the course of official duties and that his use of this account was legal. On 13 February 2007, Ma was indicted by the Taiwan High Prosecutors Office on charges of allegedly embezzling approximately NT$11 million (US$339,000), regarding the issue of "special expenses" while he was mayor of Taipei. The prosecutor's office said that Ma had allegedly used government funds for personal use, such as paying for one of his daughter's living expenses while studying abroad and paying for his household utilities. Before that, Ma had admitted personal usage and claims that the special funds were simply a part of his salary but had used all funds for public use or public benefit (charity donations).Shortly after the indictment, he submitted his resignation as chairman of the Kuomintang in accordance with party rules which prohibit an indicted person from serving as KMT chairman The resignation was initially rejected but then accepted by the party's Central Standing Committee before amending a clause that barred members from running for office if charged with a crime. Shortly after the resignation, however, Ma announced his presidential candidacy. On 14 August 2007, the Taipei District Court found Ma not guilty of corruption. Ma's defense is that he viewed "Special Expenses" as essentially "Special Allowance", originally designed to compensate for mayor's "social spending" without actually raising salary. On 28 December 2007, the Taiwan High Court found Ma again not guilty of graft charges. On 24 April 2008, the Supreme Court cleared Ma of corruption charges, delivering a final ruling in this matter before his inauguration on 20 May 2008. The island's highest court said Ma had neither collected illegal income nor tried to break the law. Ma's secretary, however, was found guilty and faced a year in prison for his own failures in administrative duties. KMT chairmanship Ma's prestige increased after the loss by Lien Chan in the 2004 Taiwanese presidential election, as he is widely seen as the successor of Lien Chan. His handling of the post-election demonstrations of the Pan-Blue Coalition, in which he at one point sent riot police to control the demonstrations of his pan-blue party supporters, was generally seen as impartial. In 2005, Ma and Wang Jin-pyng were candidates in the first competitive election for KMT chairmanship. On 5 April 2005, in an exclusive interview with CTV talk show host Sisy Chen, Ma said he wished to lead the opposition Kuomintang with Wang, if he were elected its chairman, as their support bases are complementary. On 16 July 2005, Ma defeated Wang by a 72% to 28% margin, a margin larger than anticipated by either camp or news sources, despite Wang receiving a last-minute endorsement by the People First Party (PFP) chairman James Soong, who had retained significant following within the KMT. Some, particularly the supporters of Wang Jin-pyng, accuse Ma of unfairly implying that Wang is involved in "black gold" and criticized Ma's aides for being rude to Wang during the campaign. After the election, Ma had stated repeatedly that he wishes Wang to remain as first-ranked deputy chairman. Wang, however, has so far rebuffed the gesture, instead stating that he wishes to serve as a "permanent volunteer." Wang has, indeed, accepted a party post that is incompatible with vice chairmanship, effectively ending the possibility that he would be vice chairman, although after meeting with Wang, Ma had stated that he would "leave the position open" for Wang. Ma has also repeatedly stated that he had no plans to resign from the Taipei mayorship, even after he formally took over the chairmanship from incumbent Lien Chan during the 17th Party Congress of the KMT in August 2005.Led by Ma Ying-jeou, the Kuomintang made a resounding win in the three-in-one election held on 3 December 2005. The KMT gained six more seats in the mayoral/magistratical race, from eight seats in the last election, to a total of fourteen seats. Before the election, Ma swore that he would quit the chairmanship if his party could not win over half of the seats, which was a first for a KMT chairman. It was a decisive win for Ma Ying-jeou as well, since he took over the party chairmanship only 110 days before. In the election, the KMT won back the counties of Taipei and Yilan, and the city of Chiayi, which had been the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP)'s strongholds for over twenty years. It was the first time in many years that the KMT regained popularity as far south as Cho-Shui River (Zhuo-Shui River). Presidency 2008 presidential campaign On the same day he resigned as chairman of the KMT, Ma also announced his intention to run in the 2008 presidential election. He was the official nominee of the Kuomintang for the 2008 presidential election. Ma visited India and Singapore in June 2007 to increase bilateral exchanges as well as to gain legitimacy and experience for his 2008 presidential bid. Ma's vice-presidential running mate was former premier Vincent Siew, Lien Chan's running mate in the 2000 presidential election.During a campaigning event in an aboriginal community, Ma made a controversial remark. Responding to a question from an aboriginal woman, Ma said, "If you come into the city, you are a Taipei citizen... Aborigines should adjust their mentality – if you come into the city you have to play by its rules." This statement was thought to be extremely inappropriate. U.S. green card issue Democratic Progressive Party candidate Frank Hsieh questioned Ma for his possession of a US Permanent Resident Card. Ma denied having one and publicly expressed that no members of his family had one. However, the fact that Ma and his wife had applied for green cards and that his sisters and his elder daughter Lesley Weichung Ma are United States citizens caused controversy, as the DPP continued to question Ma's loyalty to the country. In response to the DPP attack on the US citizenship of his sisters and daughter, Ma commented that having a US passport or green card did not necessarily mean that someone was not loyal to Taiwan.A week before the presidential election, incumbent President Chen Shui-bian vowed to quit if Ma could provide legal documents of the invalidation of his green card. The DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh also said that he was willing to withdraw from the race if Ma could prove, using official documents, that his green card was invalidated twenty years ago. Ma responded the next day to the president that he should work on improving Taiwan's economy instead of caring about the election so much; earlier, Ma also provided copies of US non-immigrant visas issued to him during the 1980s and 1990s, claiming the card was invalid, as such visas are not issued to green card holders. Environmental criticism Ma has been criticized by many environmental groups. His mayoral construction of the Maokong Gondola was criticized by the Taiwan Environmental Information Center. The construction of the Taipei Arena also drew negative reactions from these groups. The Society of Wilderness (SOW; 荒野保護協會) pointed out that of the three hundred and eighty-four trees that were moved for the construction, more than a hundred had already died. The city government said that the ages of the trees are unknown; therefore, they are not protected by law. The SOW then responded that, according to pictures taken by the United States Air Force in 1947 and 1948, these trees were present already during the Japanese rule era.During his presidential campaign, Ma participated in one of the debates that discussed many topics, including environmental protection. The Taiwan Academy of Ecology evaluated the policies of both candidates Hsieh and Ma, and the secretary of its workstation in Taipei said that both candidates failed their expectations, but they had more hope for Hsieh than Ma because Ma's environmental concepts lack considerations of reality. In February 2008, several environmental groups created a list of commitments for the two candidates to sign. DPP candidate Frank Hsieh agreed to all the items on the list and signed it in March. Ma did not and emailed the group instead. The Taiwan Environmental Protection Union (TEPU) criticized Ma for ignoring important issues and not having the guts to sign the commitments.After Ma was elected president on 22 March 2008, the Green Party Taiwan expressed its fear that president-elect Ma would focus too much on improving the economy and would ignore many critical environmental issues. The head of the Environmental Quality Protection Foundation also emphasized the importance of environmental protection as one of the factors of economic development. Inauguration Ma officially won on 22 March 2008 with 58% of the vote, ending eight years of DPP rule and becoming officially recognized as the sixth president of the Republic of China. Ma won with 7,659,014 votes against Hsieh's 5,444,949 votes. Ma's overwhelming victory in the presidential election gave him political mandate to make changes in Taiwan.Ma took office on 20 May 2008. The inaugural ceremony took place in the Taipei Arena in Taipei. A state dinner took place in Kaohsiung the same day. Ma was named among the 2008 Time 100 in its "Leaders & Revolutionaries" section. He is described by Time as "one of those rare politicians who have an opportunity to shape the destiny not only of their own nation but also of an entire region".On 12 August 2008, Ma embarked on his first foreign trip as president. Ma's visit centered upon improving relations with Taiwan's Latin American allies. He attended the inaugurations of both Leonel Fernández of the Dominican Republic and Fernando Lugo of Paraguay. Ma also made a stop at Panama and met with President Martin Torrijos. There was an emphasis that there would be no new aid packages during the visits; if any new economic aid were to be announced, they would be announced from Taiwan and not from abroad. The trip included U.S. stop-overs in Los Angeles, Austin, and San Francisco. Ma's trip across the Pacific was via commercial flight and only chartered a smaller jet from the United States; he was accompanied by an 81-member delegation. Cross-strait relations Ma, in his inaugural address, laid out his promise in dealing with cross-strait relations that there would be "no reunification, no independence, and no war" (不統, 不獨, 不武) during his tenure as president. Critics argue that Ma, rather than follow his campaign promise, has been following his father's will instead, where Ma Ho-ling clearly states his final words were "Repress independence supporters; Lead (Taiwan) to unification." During an interview in England in 2006, Ma affirmed that his goal was to lead Taiwan to "eventual unification".An article published in the 11 August 2008 edition of Time Magazine said that in less than three months' time, "relations between Taiwan and PRC have arguably seen the most rapid advancement in the six-decade standoff between the two governments. Ma launched direct weekend charter flights between PRC and Taiwan for the first time, opened Taiwan to mainland Chinese tourists, eased restrictions on Taiwan investment in mainland China and approved measures that will allow mainland Chinese investors to buy Taiwan stocks." He has also loosened bans on "Chinese brides," leading to social unrest over Chinese women who marry old veterans but file for divorce after they obtain citizenship.During the Second Chen-Chiang summit visit by Chen Yunlin on 3 November 2008, chairman of the Beijing-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARAT), the opposition Pan-Green Coalition criticized the visit as "taking steps toward eventual reunification" and damaging Taiwan's sovereignty. Opposition to the visit by the chairman of the ARAT also sparked massive peaceful rallies and protests organised by the opposition DPP party on 25 October 2008. Preliminary estimates place the number of protesters at around 500,000. Protesters accused Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou "of making too many concessions and moving too fast in relaxing restrictions on trade and investment with China." Government's polls have suggested that Chen Yunlin's visit and the government's policy of normalising cross-strait relations have support of 50% to 60% of the Taiwanese population.Chen's visit was the highest level visit from mainland China to Taiwan that had taken place since the Chinese Civil War in 1949. Chen was expected to meet with his Taipei-based counterpart, Chiang Pin-kung beginning on 4 November 2008. The two sides signed four agreements on 5 November, detailing the loosening of restrictions with regards to air, marine, and postal links as well as better regulations on food safety. The Ma government refused to disclose the treaties only until days before they went into effect.During Chen's visit in Taipei, he was met with a series of strong protests directed at himself and Ma Ying-jeou, some of which were violent, with Molotov cocktails being thrown by the protesters at riot police. A series of arrests were made after the protests, with a secret letter being sent from the police to a member of the media. Local police reported that 149 of its officers were injured during the opposition protests. Chen referred to Ma simply as "Mr. Ma," not as "President". However, this is consistent with the previous convention in 2008, when KMT ex-politician Lien Chan met Hu Jintao in Peru. Lien did not call the PRC leader Hu Jintao "President," but instead used his title "General Secretary" as the leader of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and the top position in PRC government.After the chaos during and after Chen's visit, college students and professors launched a peaceful sitout, known as the Wild Strawberry student movement (Chinese: 野草莓運動), demanding a more reasonable assembly law and a stop to police violence. A few days into the sitout, the prime minister Liu Chao-shiuan accidentally spoke of his opinion during an interview on air that he did not think the movement would last more than three days, angering students, professors, and the general public. In the end, the sitout lasted one month. Then, it moved into an organizational direction. However, the polls in two of Taiwan's biggest newspapers after the visit still reported that about 70% of the Taiwanese public considered Chen's visit to have a positive effect on Taiwan's development, while 22% of the respondents thought the effect would be negative, with the remaining 8% not expressing an opinion. The opposition Pan-Green caucus have continuously alleged this result being a form of media manipulation by the KMT. However, other major polls in Taiwanese newspapers and news websites have shown similar results regardless of political alignment. On 7 November 2015, Ma met and shook hands with the Chinese Communist Party General Secretary Xi Jinping in Singapore within their capacity as Leader of Taiwan and Leader of Mainland China respectively. The meeting marked the first ever meeting between leaders of both sides since the end of Chinese Civil War in 1949. Both leaders addressed each other using the honorific Xiansheng (Chinese: 先生, "Mister"). Economic issues One of Ma's promises as presidential candidate was called the "633 Plan", which promised economic growth rate of 6%, unemployment rate of less than 3%, and per capita income of more than US$30,000. At the time, the high unemployment rate (~4.06% in July) and consumer price index three months after Ma's inauguration were unprecedented, having not been seen in 28 years.The economic downturn caused about 2,000 companies in Taiwan to go bankrupt in the six months following Ma's inauguration, according to a governmental commercial office in Taipei. The Taiwan Stock Exchange also fell to two-year lows in September 2008.On 11 September 2008, Ma's cabinet unveiled a $5.6-billion USD ($180-billion TWD) economic stimulus package. Among the items of the package were infrastructure projects, economic incentives to small businesses, and other tax cuts. Stock transaction taxes were also halved for the next six months. Taiwan's economy was projected to grow 4.3% in 2008, down from 5.7 in 2007, according to Fitch Ratings.Although an economic stimulus plan was introduced, Taiwan stocks still closed lower on 11 September 2008. The Financial Times describes Taiwan's economic downturn as results from "downward pressure driven by global factors". Analysts also point out that, "during its first 100 days in office, the government has made a series of bold steps to deregulate economic Cross-Strait ties. But as these policies coincided with the global downturn and foreign investors had already bought Taiwan stocks heavily before the election, betting on the reforms, the island's market has seen a sell-off worse than the regional average." Taiwan's government reported that the economy contracted 8.36 percent during the last three months of 2008. Taiwan's economy rebounded by growing 10% in 2010. A free trade agreement with China was signed in 2010 called the Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement (ECFA), which was accompanied by a debate and a protest. Direct links policy On 15 December 2008, Taiwan and the Chinese mainland resumed direct sea, air, and mail links, ending an almost six-decade-long ban between the two sides on such trips. Previous flights between the two regions required a connection in Hong Kong. As many as 108 flights per week as well as 60 cargo flights per month were scheduled, evenly divided between Taiwanese and mainland Chinese airlines.Shipping companies, due to shorter voyages and time savings, are able to save up to US$120 million (TWD $4 billion) each year. Previously, shipping companies from both sides of the strait were required to reroute their ships into third-country waters. The two sides also agreed that neither the ROC nor the PRC flag will be displayed when a ship enters port.In July 2009, Ma rejected the proposal to open the airspace of the Taiwan Strait to accommodate higher passenger traffic, citing that the Taiwan Strait airspace is important to Taiwanese security. Bid for KMT leadership Ma Ying-jeou registered as the sole candidate for the election of the KMT chairman on 25 June 2009 and won the next day with 93.87% of the vote. Ma inaugurated as the chairman of the Kuomintang on 12 September 2009. This would allow Ma to be able to meet with People's Republic of China (PRC) paramount leader Hu Jintao (at the time the CCP general secretary) and other PRC delegates, as he would be able to represent the KMT as the leader of a Chinese political party, rather than as head-of-state of a political entity unrecognized by the PRC. Ma, however, ruled out meeting his PRC counterpart Hu Jintao in a 14 July 2009 interview with Taiwan's Commercial Times newspaper. In the interview, Ma states, "A meeting in the capacity of a party chairman will not solve the problem because other people would still insist that I meet him as the president." Typhoon Morakot Typhoon Morakot, the worst typhoon to strike Taiwan in fifty years, hit Taiwan on 8 August 2009. In the storm's aftermath, President Ma was criticized for his handling of the disaster by both sides of Taiwan's political spectrum. Many news outlets likened Typhoon Morakot to being Ma's "Hurricane Katrina." Editorials and political commentators accused Ma of, among other charges, poor leadership and poor crisis management. Many critics believe that hundreds of lives could have been spared, had the Ma administration been aware of the typhoon's seriousness. Taiwan's political commentators were most critical of Ma's refusal to declare a state of emergency and fully mobilize the military. Instead, Ma Ying-jeou blamed the local governments, which were under the control of the DPP in Southern Taiwan, for not having the villagers evacuated earlier. Ma's approval ratings sank from 52% (in May) to 29% in a United Daily News poll. In an August 2009 CNN online poll, 82% of respondents wanted Ma to resign. An editorial piece lambasted Ma, saying, "[Ma] has been distant and arrogant, and he has only made [victims] more angry instead of comforting them...He has not shown decisiveness required in a leader when facing a sudden disaster."Following pressure from the opposition, Ma took steps to publicly apologize for his government's failure to respond swiftly with rescue and recovery efforts. Ma cancelled 2009's Double Ten Day national celebrations and his state visit to the Solomon Islands for the Third Taiwan-South Pacific summit. A probe was launched to investigate why government response was slow and inadequate, and vice foreign minister Andrew Hsia tendered his resignation to Ma's premier, Liu Chao-shiuan. Defense minister Chen Chao-min also resigned before Liu himself stepped down.Another controversy arose in the disaster's aftermath involved a document leaked from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that instructed the ROC embassies and representative offices to turn down aid from foreign nations. Vice Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia made an explanation, saying that it was meant to say "presently" foreign aids were not needed, but nevertheless took the blame and offered to resign. However, critics were convinced that Hsia's resignation was only to cover-up the fact that Ma gave the order to turn down foreign aid. 2012 presidential campaign Ma was eligible for a second term as president and ran for re-election. In June 2011, when incumbent Vice President Vincent Siew announced he will retire and not seek a second term, Premier Wu Den-yih was chosen to replace Siew on the KMT's 2012 ticket. Ma was re-elected President with 51.6% of the vote against Democratic Progressive Party chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen. Post-presidency On 1 June 2016, it was announced that Ma planned to visit Hong Kong on 15 June to attend the 2016 Award for Editorial Excellence dinner at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre and would deliver a speech on Cross-Strait relations and East Asia. The Tsai Ing-wen administration blocked Ma from traveling to Hong Kong, and he gave prepared remarks via teleconference instead.In August 2016, Soochow University confirmed that Ma had rejoined the faculty as a lecturer. On 26 September 2016, Ma gave his first lecture which was about the history of Taiwan. Yet, as a chair professor of law, Ma was protested by students at Soochow University to ask for his resignation since he has repeatedly controversial legal opinions.On 11 October 2016, Ma's office announced that he had accepted an invitation to attend and become one of the speakers at the World Chinese Economic Summit in Malacca, Malaysia which would take place on 16–17 November 2016.In October 2017, a court ruled in Ma's favor in a defamation case he had brought against Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) of the Democratic Progressive Party in 2011, after Liang had claimed on TV that Ma had received NT$300 million in illegal political donations during a meeting with Chen Ying-chu (陳盈助). The court ordered Liang to pay NT$1.2 million (US$39,643).In 2023, Ma became the first ROC leader to visit mainland China since the civil war of 1949, with a trip slated for 27 March to 7 April, pledging peace between the two countries. Ma's party, the Kuomintang has sat in opposition since the 2016 elections. The trip comes amidst rising tension between mainland China and Taiwan. Family Ma's father is Ma Ho-ling, his mother is Chin Hou-hsiu (秦厚修) and his wife is Christine Chow Ma. Apart from that, he has two daughters, Ma Wei-chung (馬唯中) and Kelly Ma (馬元中). Ma is an alleged descendant of Ma Chao (馬超). Researchers purportedly visited the old residence of Ma's father, in Kaiyun Town, Hengshan County, Hunan, where they discovered a genealogy book stating that Ma descended from Ma Chao.Ma is married to Christine Chow, and the couple has two daughters. Lesley (Ma Wei-chung, 馬唯中) was born in 1981 in New York City while Ma was attending Harvard. She completed her undergraduate studies in life sciences at Harvard University and then her graduate studies at New York University. Ma's younger daughter is Ma Si-Rui, who was born in Taiwan and completed her masters at London School of Economics and is currently pursuing her doctorate at Nanyang Technological University.Ma and his wife sponsor children of low-income families in El Salvador through World Vision. On an official trip to Central America in June 2009, Mrs. Ma was able to meet with one of her sponsored children, an 11-year-old boy in San Salvador.Ma is the uncle of Gene Yu, an American, former US Army Special Forces captain and the author of the Yellow Green Beret: Stories of an Asian-American Stumbling Around U.S. Army Special Forces series of books. Yu was instrumental in negotiating, locating and working to free Taiwanese citizen Chang An-wei from Abu Sayyaf militants with Filipino special forces and private security contractors in 2013.Ma speaks Hunanese, Mandarin and English. Political positions View on independence In February 2006, while visiting Europe, Ma said that although he and the KMT favor eventual unification, the KMT respects the opinions of Taiwanese people and independence is a choice for the people of Taiwan. This caused widespread criticism within the party and from the PRC. In a December 2005 Newsweek International interview, when asked about unification, Ma stated that "for our party, the eventual goal is reunification, but we don't have a timetable." Perhaps to deflect heavy criticism from the Pan-Green Coalition, the KMT later published an advertisement in the Liberty Times recognizing that independence is an option for the Taiwanese people. Wang Jin-pyng praised Ma for the policy shift, since Wang himself made a similar statement during the 2004 election, but James Soong said he was "shocked" and Lien Chan said he was never consulted. This event actually won some welcome voices from Southern Taiwan, where voters customarily favor the Pan-Green Coalition. One top KMT official said "we might as well let the measles out now so that we will be immune to it when election year comes close, because reunification or independence can be a hot topic by then". Ma clarified later that the current KMT policy of retaining the status quo has not changed and has reiterated this position several times; further, he has also reiterated his party's support of the one-China policy. Ma has defined the status quo as the "Five No's." During a visit to the United States in March 2006, he proposed a "proactive" approach to cross-strait relations which he called the "Five Do's." On 17 March 2008, Ma threatened to boycott the Beijing Olympics if elected, should the 2008 unrest in Tibet spiral out of control. After he was elected president, he refused to let the Dalai Lama visit Taiwan, citing the timing as inappropriate. He later approved a visit by the Dalai Lama to lead prayers for Typhoon Morakot victims in August 2009. In April 2009, President Ma became the first ROC president to pay homage in person to the Yellow Emperor who is believed to have founded China as a nation more than 5,000 years ago. Accompanied by all his government leaders, the president sang the ROC's national anthem as the starter. Ma's spokesman said the president wanted to pay his respects to the Yellow Emperor on National Tomb-Sweeping Day in person to stress the importance of the Chinese ancestor-worshipping tradition. However, others saw the precedent-making ceremonies at the Martyrs' Shrine as meant to be a show by President Ma of his unprofessed commitment to maintain a close relationship between Taiwan and mainland China. View on human rights and democracy In June 2009, the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in Beijing, a leader of the Chinese democracy movement and then student leader Wang Dan visited Taiwan, as in previous years, to meet with Ma about human rights and democracy in China. However, Ma postponed the appointment three times and eventually cancelled the appointment with Wang. In a press meeting with DPP Chairwoman Tsai Ing-wen, Wang Dan spoke of how it has become more difficult to see "President Ma" in comparison to "Mayor Ma of Taipei City." Wang stated that he understood the importance of the cross strait relationship to Taiwan's economy but also stated that a confident government should have nothing to be afraid of. View on cross-strait relations After his success in the presidential election, Ma Ying-jeou said he had no immediate plans to visit mainland China and would work to fulfill his campaign pledge to improve relations with mainland China, starting direct charter flights, allowing mainland Chinese tourists to visit Taiwan and lifting the ROC's legislative restrictions on the financial sector to invest in mainland China.Since then, Ma Ying-jeou has emphasized the "1992 Consensus" as the existing basis for constructive dialogue and exchange between mainland China and Taiwan. On 12 April 2008, then Vice-President-elect Vincent Siew formally met with CCP General Secretary Hu Jintao at the Boao Forum in Hainan. On 2 September 2008, Ma declared that the relations between Taiwan and mainland China were a "special relationship not between two nations", but one that can be handled invoking the "1992 consensus" between the two sides. While the governing authorities on mainland China and Taiwan cannot recognise each other as a legitimate government due to legal and constitutional reasons, Ma seeks that they would refrain from denying the other side being the de facto governing authority of one area of the state. On 18 October 2008, Ma said he hoped that a cross-strait peace accord could be reached during his term in office.Ma has received criticism from the DPP, the opposition party, for allegedly praising the PRC on human rights, especially during the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square Protests. Departing from his usual critical view of the Communists' handling of the 1989 protests, Ma made a statement about the PRC's recent improvements in human rights. That same day, he also asked the PRC government to face its history directly and honestly.Within a week of his remarks on Tiananmen, Ma voiced support for the acceptance of simplified Chinese for written text and the continued use of traditional Chinese for printed text. Ma had to clarify his remarks regarding simplified characters at a 15-minute speech before the sixth International Conference on Internet Chinese Education on 19 June 2009. Ma reiterated his policy of urging the Chinese to learn the traditional system; his previous call was for the ability of Taiwan's population to recognize simplified characters and not for simplified characters to supplant the traditional system in Taiwan. In a 2004 speech hosted by Microsoft Taiwan, he had proposed for traditional Chinese characters (繁體字; literally: complicated characters) to be instead called 'orthodox characters' (正體字) (then the translation 'traditional Chinese characters' would be more appropriate as well).In 2009, Ma spoke at a leadership conference in Taipei and called for peace with Beijing and for Taiwan's greater participation in international affairs. He said: "The Chinese civil war of the 1940s must never happen again. Peace never comes easily, because over 1,000 missiles deployed by Beijing are still aimed at Taiwan." In 2014, Ma received the Eisenhower Medallion from People to People International for his efforts in the East China Sea Peace Initiative, set up to mediate territorial disputes.Between 18 March to 10 April 2014, the Sunflower Student Movement, initiated by a coalition of students and civic groups in the Legislative Yuan and later also the Executive Yuan, was a student-mainly mass movement to protest Ma's trade in services policy with mainland China. On 26 September 2014, a student protester hurled the book Formosa Betrayed at Ma and hit the president, who was not hurt by the incident. The Presidential Office condemned the act of violence. Honours Dominican Republic: Grand Cross with Gold Breast Star of the Order of Merit of Duarte, Sánchez and Mella Marshall Islands: Traditional Paramount Leader Medal (2014) Saint Kitts and Nevis: Collar of the Order of St Christopher and Nevis (2011) SMOM: Collar pro Merito Melitensi (2015) See also Politics of the Republic of China Elections in the Republic of China Political status of Taiwan Ma Ying-jeou Official Website (Traditional Chinese) Corpus of Political Speeches Free access to political speeches by Ma Ying-jeou and other Chinese politicians, developed by Hong Kong Baptist University Library

The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) was founded in 1884 and is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong. In 1960, it was granted a royal charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (英皇御准香港賽馬會). The institution reverted to its original name in 1996 due to the handover of Hong Kong in 1997. Membership of the club is by nomination and election. It is a non-profit organisation providing horse racing, sporting and betting entertainment in Hong Kong. It holds a government-granted monopoly in providing pari-mutuel betting on horse racing, the Mark Six lottery, and fixed odds betting on overseas football events. The organisation is the largest taxpayer in Hong Kong, as well as the largest community benefactor and one of the city's major employers. The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust donated a record HK$3.6 billion in 2014 to support the different needs of the society and contribute to the betterment of Hong Kong. The club also proactively identifies, funds and develops projects which anticipate and address social issues and pressing needs in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong Jockey Club also provides dining, social, sport and recreation facilities to its approximately 23,000 members. Its Charities Trust is also one of the world's top ten charity donors. History Founded in 1884 as an amateur body to promote horse racing, it was an exclusive club whose membership was drawn from the upper class with strict rules of membership, with women and people of unsuitable background being banned. This led to the club having no Chinese members until the 20th century.The club evolved into a professional institution from 1971. The club organised the annual races which took place around Chinese New Year and was initially financed by commissions on bets which were placed through private clubs. Queen Elizabeth II accorded the club with a royal charter in 1960, and it became The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (英皇御准香港賽馬會) until 1996. In July 2005, the decision was made to stage equestrian competitions of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Hong Kong. The club's racing centre at Sha Tin was used as the foundation for the Olympic and Paralympic venues, with additional competition and training venues being incorporated into existing sports facilities at the Hong Kong Sports Institute, the Jockey Club Beas River Country Club and the adjacent golf course. In January 2023, after Regina Ip proposed increasing taxes on the Jockey Club's football betting revenue, the Jockey Club said that the move would "destroy" its business model and jeopardize public interest. In February 2023, after Financial Secretary Paul Chan increased football betting taxes, Chan said "They can have their reactions, and we will do what we have to do." Racing activities The HKJC conducts nearly 700 horse races per year at its two race tracks at Sha Tin (沙田) and Happy Valley (快活谷). During the 2001/02 racing season, the HKJC licensed 1,144 horse owners, 24 trainers and 35 jockeys and had 1,435 horses in training. In 2002–2003, the betting turnover was HK$71 billion. After paying dividends of 58 billion and betting duty of 9.5 billion, its betting commission revenue was HK$3.9 billion. It contributes 11.7% of Hong Kong's tax revenue. Surpluses from its operation are allocated to The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust. Following the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong, the popularity of horse racing declined substantially, possibly due to economic conditions in the region. On 16 March 2007, the HKJC appointed William (Bill) Nader, formerly with the New York Racing Association, as its executive director of racing from April 2007. On 9 September 2007, Sha Tin Racecourse opened after its summer break with record 1-day crowd of about 60,000. Chief Secretary Henry Tang struck the ceremonial gong. The Hong Kong Jockey Club collected US$106 million in bets (highest since 2001). Children of horse owners were admitted amid protest of local anti-gambling groups. Sunny Power, booted by Howard Cheng, got the trophy in the 1,200-metre dash.In January 2008, Eclipse and Sovereign Award winning jockey Emma-Jayne Wilson became the first North American female rider to be granted a license to compete in Hong Kong.The reform and other changes mentioned above, the HKJC revenue has steadily increased back to previous levels and above. The total racing revenue for the Racing Season 2011/2012 reached HK$86.1 billion, up 43.4% since the 2006 reform. Betting and the law The HKJC has a legal monopoly over betting on horse racing and football. In 1974, it opened 6 off-course branches where the members of the public could wager on horse race meets at the club's Happy Valley racecourse. There are now in excess of 100 betting branches throughout the territory which accepts bets on racing and football, as well as buy Mark Six lottery tickets.The HKJC was instrumental in persuading the Hong Kong government to pass the Gambling (Amendment) Bill 2002 to combat unauthorised cross-border gambling and the related promotional activities in Hong Kong, making it a criminal offence for any person in Hong Kong to bet with an unauthorised bookmaker, even when the bets are received outside Hong Kong. The offence applies to all visitors as well as to residents of Hong Kong. It was also instrumental in persuading other members of the Asian Racing Federation to sign the Good Neighbour policy on 1 September 2003. 2006 Horse racing reforms In 2006, after years of declining turnover, the Hong Kong Legislative Council passed the Betting Ordinance (Amendment) 2006. This amendment granted the Hong Kong Jockey Club more autonomy in how it ran its own operations. Single-race bets Pool Name – Dividend Qualification Win (獨贏) – 1st in a race. Place (位置) – 1st, 2nd or 3rd in a race with 7 or more declared starters or 1st, 2nd in a race with 4, 5, 6 declared starters. Quinella (連贏) – 1st and 2nd in either order in the race. Quinella Place (位置Q) – Any two of the first three placed horses in any finishing order in the race. Trio (單T) – 1st, 2nd and 3rd in any order in the race. Forecast (二重彩) – 1st and 2nd in correct order in the race. Tierce (三重彩) – 1st, 2nd and 3rd in correct order in the race. First Four (四連環) – 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in any order in the race. (Merged pool with Quartet) Quartet (四重彩) – 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th in correct order in the race. (Merged pool with First Four)As of September 2006, all Win, Place, Quinella, and Quinella Place bets (including All Up bets) of a value of at least 10,000 Hong Kong Dollars are eligible for a 10% rebate if the bet or betline loses. Multiple-race bets Pool Name – Dividend Qualification – Consolation [if any] Double (孖寶) – 1st in two nominated races – 1st in 1st leg and 2nd in 2nd leg pays a consolation. Treble (三寶) – 1st in three nominated races – 1st in first two legs and 2nd in third leg pays a consolation. Double Trio (孖T) – 1st, 2nd and 3rd in any order in both legs. Triple Trio (三T) – 1st, 2nd and 3rd in any order in three legs – 1st, 2nd and 3rd in the first two Triple Trio legs but not the final leg pays a consolation. Six Up (六環彩) – 1st or 2nd in each of the legs nominated to comprise the Six Up – 1st in each leg pays a bonus. Fixed-odds bets Jockey Challenge (騎師王) – best performing jockey in a race meeting. Social membership Membership in this club is very strict, limited to the moneyed social elite. In the past, this club was reserved for only "old money" families; but currently there are increasing numbers of "newly rich" members. Similar to other elite clubs, HKJC membership applicants often must wait for years if not decades to be accepted. What makes it especially difficult to join is that this club does not allow memberships to be bought and sold in the secondary market. For joining racing membership, one has to be proposed by a voting member and seconded by another voting member, with the support of three other members. For joining full membership, one has to be proposed by a voting member. Note that if a interested person is not yet a racing member, applications to be racing member and full member must be made at the same time if one is intended to be full member. As of 30 June 2022, the joining fee for racing membership is HK$150,000 whereas that for full membership is HK$850,000. Monthly fee is HK$850 and HK$2,550 respectively. In September 2021, the club terminated several memberships, including those of Martin Lee, Jimmy Lai, and Albert Ho. Charities In the 1950s, as Hong Kong struggled with post-war reconstruction and a massive immigration, there was a need for more charitable structures. HKJC enhanced its charitable role in 1955 by formally devoting its annual surplus to charity and community projects. In 1959, the Hong Kong Jockey Club (Charities) Ltd, was formed to administer donations. This company became The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust in 1993. The Hong Kong Jockey Club is committed to contributing to the community's long-term sustainability and supporting the different needs of society. In 2014, the club's Charities Trust donated a record HK$3.6 billion to 168 charitable and community projects. The Charities and Community Division proactively identifies and generates projects that anticipate future community and social needs in ten main areas of contributions: Arts, Culture & Heritage; Education & Training; Elderly Services; Emergency & Poverty Relief; Environmental Protection; Family Services; Medical & Health; Rehabilitation Services; Sports & Recreation; and Youth Development. As the club celebrates its 130th Anniversary in 2015, it focuses its efforts to contributing to the community's long-term sustainable needs covering three overarching themes: 1)Helping build Hong Kong into an age-friendly city; 2) Channelling youth energy into social innovation and 3) Supporting sports projects that can create lifelong positive values and hopes. The Hong Kong Jockey Club supports many social and education institutions. The Jockey Club Government Secondary School in Kowloon Tong and the Jockey Club Ti-I College in Sha Tin was funded by the then Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club. In July 2011, the Hong Kong Jockey Club approved funding of HK$249 million for the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Innovation Tower. The tower was therefore renamed Jockey Club Innovation Tower. Lease The Happy Valley Racecourse occupies a 92,000 m^2 plot of land on Inland Lot 8847, under a government-subsidized Private Recreational Lease. The lease began in 1884 and currently is set to expire on 23 June 2034.Hong Kong Free Press in September 2021 claimed that the Jockey Club has broken its earlier promise to return the land at the Happy Valley Racecourse in exchange for land in Shatin. Club chairmen CEO The role of Chief Executive Officer was first known as the General Manager. Major-General Bernard Penfold was appointed as the club's first General Manager in 1972. Major-General Robert Bernard Penfold, CB, LVO (1972–1979) General Sir Arthur John Archer KCB, OBE (1979–1986) Major-General Guy Hansard Watkins, CB, OBE (1986–1996) Lawrence Wong Chee-kong (1996–2007) Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, GBS, JP (2007–present) See also Macau Jockey Club Gambling in Hong Kong Hong Kong Jockey Club College Official website Satellite view of Shatin race track Satellite view of Happy Valley race track

The Three Gorges Dam (simplified Chinese: 三峡大坝; traditional Chinese: 三峽大壩; pinyin: Sānxiá Dàbà) is a hydroelectric gravity dam that spans the Yangtze River near the Sandouping, in Yiling District, Yichang, Hubei province, central China, downstream of the Three Gorges. The world's largest power station in terms of installed capacity (22,500 MW), the Three Gorges Dam generates 95±20 TWh of electricity per year on average, depending on the amount of precipitation in the river basin. After the extensive monsoon rainfalls of 2020, the dam's annual production reached nearly 112 TWh, breaking the previous world record of ~103 TWh set by Itaipu Dam in 2016.The dam's body was completed in 2006; the power plant was completed and fully operational by 2012, when the last of the main water turbines in the underground plant began production. Each of the main water turbines has a capacity of 700 MW. Combining the capacity of the dam's 32 main turbines with the two smaller generators (50 MW each) that provide power to the plant itself, the total electric generating capacity of the Three Gorges Dam is 22,500 MW. The last major component of the project, the ship lift, was completed in 2015.In addition to generating electricity, the dam was designed to increase the Yangtze River's shipping capacity. By providing flood storage space, the dam reduces the potential for flooding downstream, which historically plagued the Yangtze Plain. In 1931, floods on the river caused the deaths of up to 4 million people. As a result, China regards the project as a monumental social and economical success, with the design of state-of-the-art large turbines and a move toward limiting greenhouse gas emissions. But the dam has led to some ecological changes, including an increased risk of landslides, which have made it controversial domestically and abroad. History Sun Yat-sen envisioned a large dam across the Yangtze River in The International Development of China (1919). He wrote that a dam capable of generating 30 million horsepower (22 GW) was possible downstream of the Three Gorges. In 1932, the Nationalist government, led by Chiang Kai-shek, began preliminary work on plans in the Three Gorges. In 1939, during the Second Sino-Japanese War, Japanese military forces occupied Yichang and surveyed the area. In 1944, the United States Bureau of Reclamation's head design engineer, John L. Savage, surveyed the area and drew up a dam proposal for a "Yangtze River Project". Some 54 Chinese engineers went to the US for training. The original plans called for the dam to employ a unique method for moving ships: the ships would enter locks at the dam's lower and upper ends and then cranes would move them from each lock to the next. Groups of craft would be lifted together for efficiency. It is not known whether this solution was considered for its water-saving performance or because the engineers thought the difference in height between the river above and below the dam too great for alternative methods. No construction work was performed because of the Nationalists' worsening situation in the Chinese Civil War.: 204 After the 1949 Communist Revolution, Mao Zedong supported the project, but began the Gezhouba Dam project nearby first, and economic problems including the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution slowed progress. After the 1954 Yangtze River Floods, in 1956, Mao wrote "Swimming", a poem about his fascination with a dam on the Yangtze River. In 1958, after the Hundred Flowers Campaign, some engineers who spoke out against the project were imprisoned.During China's emphasis on the Four Modernizations during its early period of Reform and Opening Up, The Communist Party revived plans for the dam and proposed to start construction in 1986.: 204  It emphasized the need to develop hydroelectric power.: 204 The Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference became a center of opposition to the proposed dam.: 204  It convened panels of experts who recommended delaying the project.: 204 The National People's Congress approved the dam in 1992: of 2,633 delegates, 1,767 voted in favour, 177 voted against, 664 abstained, and 25 members did not vote, giving the legislation an unusually low 67.75% approval rate. Construction started on December 14, 1994. The dam was expected to be fully operational in 2009, but additional projects, such as the underground power plant with six additional generators, delayed full operation until 2012. The ship lift was completed in 2015. The dam raised the water level in the reservoir to 172.5 m (566 ft) above sea level by 2008 and to the designed maximum level of 175 m (574 ft) by 2010. Composition and dimensions Made of concrete and steel, the dam is 2,335 m (2,554 yd; 1.451 mi) long and 185 m (607 ft) above sea level at its top. The project used 27.2 million m3 (35.6 million cu yd) of concrete (mainly for the dam wall), used 463,000 tonnes of steel (enough to build 63 Eiffel Towers), and moved about 102.6 million m3 (134.2 million cu yd) of earth. The concrete dam wall is 181 m (594 ft) high above the rock basis. When the water level is at its maximum of 175 m (574 ft) above sea level, 110 m (361 ft) higher than the river level downstream, the dam reservoir is on average about 660 km (410 mi) in length and 1.12 km (3,675 ft) in width. It contains 39.3 km3 (31,900,000 acre⋅ft) of water and has a total surface area of 1,045 km2 (403 sq mi). On completion, the reservoir flooded a total area of 632 km2 (156,000 acres) of land, compared to the 1,350 km2 (330,000 acres) of reservoir created by the Itaipu Dam. Economics The Chinese government estimated that the Three Gorges Dam project would cost 180 billion yuan (US$22.5 billion). By the end of 2008, spending had reached 148.365 billion yuan, of which 64.613 billion yuan was spent on construction, 68.557 billion yuan on relocating affected residents, and 15.195 billion yuan on financing. It was estimated in 2009 that the cost of construction would be fully recouped when the dam had generated 1,000 terawatt-hours (3,600 PJ) of electricity, yielding 250 billion yuan; total cost recovery was thus expected to be completed ten years after the dam became fully operational. In fact, the entire cost of the Three Gorges Dam was recovered by December 20, 2013.Funding sources include the Three Gorges Dam Construction Fund, profits from the Gezhouba Dam, loans from the China Development Bank, loans from domestic and foreign commercial banks, corporate bonds, and revenue from both before and after the dam had become fully operational. Additional charges were assessed as follows: every province receiving power from the Three Gorges Dam had to pay an extra ¥7.00 per MWh, and the other provinces had to pay an additional charge of ¥4.00 per MWh. No surcharge was imposed on the Tibet Autonomous Region. Power generation and distribution Generating capacity Power generation is managed by China Yangtze Power, a listed subsidiary of China Three Gorges Corporation (CTGC), a Central Enterprise administered by SASAC. The Three Gorges Dam is the world's largest capacity hydroelectric power station, with 34 generators: 32 main generators, each with a capacity of 700 MW, and two plant power generators, each with capacity of 50 MW, for a total of 22,500 MW. Among the 32 main generators, 14 are installed on the dam's north side, 12 on the south side, and the remaining six in the underground power plant in the mountain south of the dam. Annual electricity generation in 2018 was 101.6 TWh, which is 20 times more than the Hoover Dam. Generators The main generators each weigh approximately 6,000 tonnes and are designed to produce more than 700 MW of power each. The designed hydraulic head of the generators is 80.6 metres (264 ft). The flow rate varies between 600–950 cubic metres per second (21,000–34,000 cu ft/s) depending on the head available; the greater the head, the less water needed to reach full power. Three Gorges uses Francis turbines with a diameter of 9.7/10.4 m (VGS design/Alstom's design) and a rotation speed of 75 revolutions per minute. This means that in order to generate power at 50 Hz, the generator rotors have 80 poles. Rated power is 778 MVA, with a maximum of 840 MVA and a power factor of 0.9. The generator produces electrical power at 20 kV. The electricity generated is then stepped up to 500 kV for transmission at 50 Hz. The generator's stator, the biggest of its kind, is 3.1/3 m in height; the outer diameter of the stator is 21.4/20.9 m, the inner diameter is 18.5/18.8 m, and the bearing load is 5,050/5,500 tonnes. Average efficiency is over 94%, with a maximum efficiency of 96.5% reached. The generators were manufactured by two joint ventures: Alstom, ABB, Kvaerner, and the Chinese company Harbin Motor; and Voith, General Electric, Siemens (abbreviated as VGS), and the Chinese company Oriental Motor. The technology transfer agreement was signed together with the contract. Most of the generators are water-cooled. Some of the newer ones are air-cooled, making them simpler in design and easier to manufacture and maintain. Generator installation progress The first north-side main generator (No. 2) started up on July 10, 2003. The north side became completely operational on September 7, 2005, with the implementation of generator No. 9. Full power (9,800 MW) was eventually achieved on October 18, 2006, after the water level reached 156 meters.On the south side, main generator No. 22 started up on June 11, 2007, and No. 15 became operational on October 30, 2008. The sixth (No. 17) began operation on December 18, 2007, raising capacity to 14.1 GW, exceeding that of Itaipu dam (14.0 GW) to become the world's largest hydro power plant by capacity.When the last main generator (No. 27) finished its final test on May 23, 2012, the six underground main generators were all operational, raising the capacity to 22.5 GW. After nine years of construction, installation and testing, the power plant was fully operational by July 2012. Output milestones By August 16, 2011, the plant had generated 500 TWh of electricity. In July 2008 it generated 10.3 TWh of electricity, its first month over 10 TWh. On June 30, 2009, after the river flow rate increased to over 24,000 m3/s, all 28 generators were switched on, producing only 16,100 MW because the head available during flood season is insufficient. During an August 2009 flood, the plant first reached its maximum output for a short period.During the November to May dry season, power output is limited by the river's flow rate, as seen in the diagrams on the right. When there is enough flow, power output is limited by plant generating capacity. The maximum power-output curves were calculated based on the average flow rate at the dam site, assuming the water level is 175 m and the plant gross efficiency is 90.15%. The actual power output in 2008 was obtained based on the monthly electricity sent to the grid.The Three Gorges Dam reached its design-maximum reservoir water level of 175 m (574 ft) for the first time on October 26, 2010, in which the intended annual power-generation capacity of 84.7 TWh was realized. It has a combined generating capacity of 22.5 gigawatts and a designed annual generation capacity of 88.2 billion kilowatt hours. In 2012, the dam's 32 generating units generated a record 98.1 TWh of electricity, which accounts for 14% of China's total hydro generation. Between 2012 (first year with all 32 generating units operating) and 2021, the dam generated an average of 97.22 TWh of electricity per year, higher than Itaipu dam's average of 89.22 TWh of electricity per year during the same period. Due to the extensive 2020 monsoon season rainfall, the annual production reached ~112 TWh that year, which broke the previous world record of annual production by Itaipu Dam equal to ~103 TWh. Distribution The State Grid Corporation and China Southern Power Grid paid a flat rate of ¥250 per MWh (US$35.7) until July 2, 2008. Since then, the price has varied by province, from ¥228.7 to ¥401.8 per MWh. Higher-paying customers, such as Shanghai, receive priority. Nine provinces and two cities consume power from the dam.Power distribution and transmission infrastructure cost about 34.387 billion yuan. Construction was completed in December 2007, one year ahead of schedule.Power is distributed over multiple 500 kV transmission lines. Three direct current (DC) lines to the East China Grid carry 7,200 MW: Three Gorges – Shanghai (3,000 MW), HVDC Three Gorges – Changzhou (3,000 MW), and HVDC Gezhouba – Shanghai (1,200 MW). The alternating current (AC) lines to the Central China Grid have a total capacity of 12,000 MW. The DC transmission line HVDC Three Gorges – Guangdong to the South China Grid has a capacity of 3,000 MW.The dam was expected to provide 10% of China's power. However, electricity demand has increased more quickly than previously projected. Even fully operational, on average, it supports only about 1.7% of electricity demand in China in the year of 2011, when the Chinese electricity demand reached 4,692.8 TWh. Environmental impact Emissions According to the National Development and Reform Commission, 366 grams of coal would produce 1 kWh of electricity during 2006. From 2003 to 2007, power production equaled that of 84 million tonnes of standard coal. Erosion and sedimentation Two hazards are uniquely identified with the dam: that sedimentation projections are not agreed upon, and that the dam sits on a seismic fault. At current levels, 80% of the land in the area is eroding, depositing about 40 million tons of sediment into the Yangtze annually. Because the flow is slower above the dam, much of this sediment settles there instead of flowing downstream, and there is less sediment downstream. The absence of silt downstream has three effects: Some hydrologists expect downstream riverbanks to become more vulnerable to flooding. Shanghai, more than 1,600 km (990 mi) away, rests on a massive sedimentary plain. The "arriving silt – so long as it does arrive – strengthens the bed on which Shanghai is built ... the less the tonnage of arriving sediment the more vulnerable is this biggest of Chinese cities to inundation". Benthic sediment buildup causes biological damage and reduces aquatic biodiversity. Landslides Erosion in the reservoir, induced by rising water, causes frequent major landslides that have led to noticeable disturbance in the reservoir surface, including two incidents in May 2009 when somewhere between 20,000 and 50,000 cubic metres (26,000 and 65,000 cu yd) of material plunged into the flooded Wuxia Gorge of the Wu River. In the first four months of 2010, there were 97 significant landslides. Waste management The dam catalyzed improved upstream wastewater treatment around Chongqing and its suburban areas. According to the Ministry of Environmental Protection, as of April 2007, more than 50 new plants could treat 1.84 million tonnes per day, 65% of the total need. About 32 landfills were added, which could handle 7,664.5 tonnes of solid waste every day. Over one billion tons of wastewater are released annually into the river, which was more likely to be swept away before the reservoir was created. This has left the water stagnant, polluted and murky. Forest cover In 1997, the Three Gorges area had 10% forestation, down from 20% in the 1950s.Research by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization suggested that the Asia-Pacific region would gain about 6,000 km2 (2,300 sq mi) of forest by 2008. That is a significant change from the 13,000 km2 (5,000 sq mi) net loss of forest each year in the 1990s. This is largely due to China's large reforestation effort. This accelerated after the 1998 Yangtze River floods convinced the government that it should restore tree cover, especially in the Yangtze's basin upstream of the Three Gorges Dam. Wildlife Concerns about the dam's impact on wildlife predate the National People's Congress's approval in 1992. This region has long been known for its rich biodiversity. It is home to 6,388 plant species, which belong to 238 families and 1,508 genera. Of these species, 57 are endangered. These rare species are also used as ingredients in traditional Chinese medicines. The proportion of forested area in the region surrounding the Three Gorges Dam dropped from 20% in 1950 to less than 10% as of 2002, adversely affecting all plant species there. The region also provides habitats to hundreds of freshwater and terrestrial animal species. Freshwater fish are especially affected by dams due to changes in the water temperature and flow regime. Many other fish are injured in the hydroelectric plants' turbine blades. This is particularly detrimental to the region's ecosystem because the Yangtze River basin is home to 361 different fish species and accounts for 27% of China's endangered freshwater fish species. Other aquatic species have been endangered by the dam, particularly the baiji, or Chinese river dolphin, now extinct. In fact, Chinese Government scholars even claim that the Three Gorges Dam directly caused the extinction of the baiji.Of the 3,000 to 4,000 remaining critically endangered Siberian crane, many spend the winter in wetlands that the Three Gorges Dam will destroy. Populations of the Yangtze sturgeon are guaranteed to be "negatively affected" by the dam. In 2022 the Chinese paddlefish was declared extinct, with the last confirmed sighting in 2003. Terrestrial impact In 2005, NASA scientists calculated that the shift of water mass stored by the dams would increase the total length of the Earth's day by 0.06 microseconds and make the Earth slightly more round in the middle and flat on the poles. A study published in 2022 in the journal Open Geosciences suggests that the change of reservoir water level affects the gravity field in western Sichuan, which in turn affects the seismicity in that area. Floods, agriculture, industry An important function of the dam is to control flooding, which is a major problem for the seasonal river of the Yangtze. Millions of people live downstream of the dam, with many large, important cities like Wuhan, Nanjing, and Shanghai located adjacent to the river. Large areas of farmland and China's most important industrial area are situated beside the river. The reservoir's flood storage capacity is 22 km3 (5.3 cu mi; 18 million acre⋅ft). This capacity will reduce the frequency of major downstream flooding from once every 10 years to once every 100 years. The dam is expected to minimize the effect of even a "super" flood. The river flooded in 1954 over an area of 193,000 km2 (74,500 sq mi), killing 33,169 people and forcing almost 18.9 million people to move. The flood waters covered Wuhan, a city of eight million people, for over three months, and the Jingguang Railway was out of service for more than 100 days. The 1954 flood carried 50 cubic kilometres (12 cu mi) of water. The dam could only divert the water above Chenglingji, leaving 30 to 40 km3 (7.2 to 9.6 cu mi) to be diverted. The dam cannot protect against some of the large tributaries downstream, including the Xiang, Zishui, Yuanshui, Lishui, Hanshui, and Gan.In 1998, a flood in the same area caused billions of dollars worth of damage, when 2,039 km2 (787 sq mi) of farmland were flooded. The flood affected more than 2.3 million people, killing 1,526. In early August 2009, the largest flood in five years passed through the dam site. During this flood, the dam limited the water flow to less than 40,000 m3/s (1.4 million cu ft/s) per second, raising the upstream water level from 145.13 m (476.1 ft) on August 1, to 152.88 m (501.6 ft) on August 8. A full 4.27 km3 (1.02 cu mi) of flood water was captured and the river flow was cut by as much as 15,000 m3 (530,000 cu ft) per second.The dam discharges its reservoir during the dry season every year, between December and March. This increases the flow rate of the river downstream, providing fresh water for agricultural and industrial usage, and improving shipping conditions. The water level upstream drops from 175 to 145 m (574 to 476 ft), in preparation for the rainy season. The water also powers the Gezhouba Dam downstream. Since the filling of the reservoir in 2003, the Three Gorges Dam has supplied an extra 11 km3 (2.6 cu mi) of fresh water to downstream cities and farms over the course of the dry season. During the South China floods in July 2010, inflows at the Three Gorges Dam reached a peak of 70,000 m3/s (2.5 million cu ft/s), exceeding the peak inflow of the 1998 Yangtze River floods. The dam's reservoir rose nearly 3 m (9.8 ft) in 24 hours and reduced the outflow to 40,000 m3/s (1.4 million cu ft/s) in discharges downstream, preventing any significant impact on the middle and lower river. Navigating the dam Locks The installation of ship locks is intended to increase river shipping from ten million to 100 million tonnes annually; as a result transportation costs will be cut between 30 and 37%. Shipping will become safer, since the gorges are notoriously dangerous to navigate.There are two series of ship locks installed near the dam (30°50′12″N 111°1′10″E). Each of them is made up of five stages, with transit time at around four hours. Maximum vessel size is 10,000 tons. The locks are 280 m long, 35 m wide, and 5 m deep (918 × 114 × 16.4 ft). That is 30 m (98 ft) longer than those on the St Lawrence Seaway, but half as deep. Before the dam was constructed, the maximum freight capacity at the Three Gorges site was 18.0 million tonnes per year. From 2004 to 2007, a total of 198 million tonnes of freight passed through the locks. The freight capacity of the river increased six times and the cost of shipping was reduced by 25%. Originally, the total capacity of the ship locks was expected to reach 100 million tonnes per year. In 2022, their cargo turnover reached 159.65 million tons, with an annual increase of 6% over the past few years.These locks are staircase locks, whereby inner lock gate pairs serve as both the upper gate and lower gate. The gates are the vulnerable hinged type, which, if damaged, could temporarily render the entire flight unusable. As there are separate sets of locks for upstream and downstream traffic, this system is more water efficient than bi-directional staircase locks. Ship lift In addition to the canal locks, there is a ship lift, a kind of elevator for vessels. The ship lift can lift ships of up to 3,000 tons. The vertical distance traveled is 113 m (371 ft), and the size of the ship lift's basin is 120 m × 18 m × 3.5 m (394 ft × 59 ft × 11 ft). The ship lift takes 30 to 40 minutes to transit, as opposed to the three to four hours for stepping through the locks. One complicating factor is that the water level can vary dramatically. The ship lift must work even if water levels vary by 12 m (39 ft) on the lower side, and 30 m (98 ft) on the upper side. The ship lift's design uses a helical gear system, to climb or descend a toothed rack.The ship lift was not yet complete when the rest of the project was officially opened on May 20, 2006. In November 2007, it was reported in the local media that construction of the ship lift started in October 2007.In February 2012, Xinhua reported that the four towers that are to support the ship lift had almost been completed.The report said the towers had reached 189 m (620 ft) of the anticipated 195 m (640 ft), the towers would be completed by June 2012 and the entire shiplift in 2015. As of May 2014, the ship lift was expected to be completed by July 2015. It was tested in December 2015 and announced complete in January 2016. Lahmeyer, the German firm that designed the ship lift, said it will take a vessel less than an hour to transit the lift. An article in Steel Construction says the actual time of the lift will be 21 minutes. It says that the expected dimensions of the 3,000 t (3 million kg) passenger vessels the ship lift's basin was designed to carry will be 84.5 by 17.2 by 2.65 metres (277.2 ft × 56.4 ft × 8.7 ft). The moving mass (including counterweights) is 34,000 tonnes. The trials of elevator finished in July 2016, the first cargo ship was lifted on July 15; the lift time comprised 8 minutes. Shanghai Daily reported that the first operational use of the lift was on September 18, 2016, when limited "operational testing" of the lift began. Portage railways Plans also exist for the construction of short portage railways bypassing the dam area altogether. Two short rail lines, one on each side of the river, are to be constructed. The 88-kilometre-long (55 mi) northern portage railway (北岸翻坝铁路) will run from the Taipingxi port facility (太平溪港) on the northern side of the Yangtze, just upstream from the dam, via Yichang East Railway Station to the Baiyang Tianjiahe port facility in Baiyang Town (白洋镇), below Yichang. The 95-kilometre-long (59 mi) southern portage railway (南岸翻坝铁路) will run from Maoping (upstream of the dam) via Yichang South Railway Station to Zhicheng (on the Jiaozuo–Liuzhou Railway).In late 2012, preliminary work started along both future railway routes. Displacement of residents During planning, it was estimated that 13 cities, 140 towns and 1,350 villages would be partially or completely flooded by the reservoir, amounting to roughly 1.5% of Hubei's 60.3 million people and Chongqing Municipality's 31.44 million people. These people were moved to new homes by the Chinese government, which considered the displacement justified by the flood protection provided for the communities downstream of the dam.Between 2002 and 2005, Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky documented the impact of the project on the surrounding areas, including the town of Wanzhou. Other photographers who recorded the change include Chengdu-based Muge, Paris-based Zeng Nian (originally from Jiangsu), and Israeli Nadav Kander. Living conditions deteriorated for many, and hundreds of thousands of people could not find work. The older generation was particularly affected, but younger generations benefited from the educational and career opportunities afforded by moving to large cities with new, modern companies and schools.Some 2007 reports claimed that Chongqing Municipality would encourage four million more people to move away from the dam to Chongqing's main urban area by 2020. The municipal government asserted that the relocation was driven by urbanization, rather than a direct result of the dam project, and that the people involved included other areas of the municipality.By June 2008, China had moved 1.24 million residents as far as Gaoyang in Hubei Province, and the moves concluded the following month. Other effects Cultural and history The area which would fill with water behind the dam included locations with significant cultural history.: 206  The State Council authorized a ¥505 million archaeology salvage effort.: 206  Over the course of several years, archaeologists excavated 723 sites and conducted surface archaeology recovery missions at an additional 346 sites.: 206  Archaeologists recovered 200,000 artifacts of which 13,000 were considered as particularly historically or culturally notable.: 206  As part of this effort, the old Chongqing City Museum was replaced by the Chongqing China Sanxia Museum to house many of the recovered artifacts.: 206 Recovered structures that were too large for museums were moved upland to reconstruction districts (fu jian qu), which are outdoor museum parks. Recovered structures placed in such parks include temples, pavilions, houses, and bridges, among others.: 206 Some sites could not be moved because of their location, size, or design, such as the hanging coffins site high in the Shen Nong Gorge, part of the cliffs. National security The United States Department of Defense reported that in Taiwan, "proponents of strikes against the mainland apparently hope that merely presenting credible threats to China's urban population or high-value targets, such as the Three Gorges Dam, will deter Chinese military coercion". Destroying the Three Gorges Dam has been a tactic discussed and debated in Taiwan since the early 1990s, when the dam was still in the planning phase.The notion that the military in Taiwan would seek to destroy the dam provoked an angry response from the mainland Chinese media. People's Liberation Army General Liu Yuan was quoted in the China Youth Daily saying that the People's Republic of China would be "seriously on guard against threats from Taiwan independence terrorists".The Three Gorges Dam is a steel-concrete gravity dam. The water is held back by the innate mass of the individual dam sections. As a result, damage to an individual section should not affect other parts of the dam. Zhang Boting, deputy secretary-general of China Society for Hydropower Engineering, suggested that concrete gravity dams are resistant to nuclear strikes. Former Taiwanese Ministry of Defense advisor Sung Chao-wen, called the notion of using cruise missiles to destroy the Three Gorges Dam "ridiculous", saying missiles would deliver minimal damage to the reinforced concrete, and any attack attempts would have to go through multiple layers of ground and air defenses.Debate among Chinese scholars and analysts about the basic principles of China's no first use policy of nuclear weapons includes whether to include narrow exceptions, such as acts that produce catastrophic consequences equivalent to that of a nuclear attack, including attacks intended to destroy the Three Gorges Dam. Structural integrity Immediately after the reservoir was first filled, around 80 hairline cracks were observed in the dam's structure. Still, an experts group gave the project overall a good-quality rating. The 163,000 concrete units all passed quality testing, with normal deformation within design limits. Upstream dams In order to maximize the utility of the Three Gorges Dam and cut down on sedimentation from the Jinsha River, the upper course of the Yangtze River, authorities are building a series of dams on the Jinsha, including the now completed Wudongde, Baihetan, Xiluodu, and Xiangjiaba dams. The total capacity of those four dams is 38,500 MW, almost double the capacity of the Three Gorges.Baihetan is under construction and should be fully operational by July 2022. Wudongde was opened in June 2021. Another eight dams are in the midstream of the Jinsha and eight more upstream of it. Baiheliang Underwater Museum South–North Water Transfer Project Energy policy of China List of largest power stations List of largest hydroelectric power stations List of power stations in China List of dams and reservoirs in China Three Gorges Museum Liang Weiyan, one of the leading engineers who designed the water turbines for the dam

RDF may refer to: Science and technology Computing Resource Description Framework, a W3C metadata standard used for graphing RDF Schema, its language Physics Radial distribution function, describes how density varies as a function of distance from a reference particle Radio direction finding, techniques used when searching for radio sources Random dopant fluctuation Reduced dimensions form, a canonical mechanism for solving two-state trajectories Relative directivity factor, a figure of merit for directional receiving antennas Other technologies Real degree of fermentation, attenuation of alcoholic beverages Refuse-derived fuel Art, entertainment, and media Radical Dance Faction, a band from the United Kingdom RDF Media, a television production company Robotech Defense Force, a character group in the US anime television series Robotech Rapid Deployment Force: Global Conflict, a video game Military Reserve Defence Forces, the combined military reserve force of Ireland Rwandan Defence Forces Rapid Deployment Force (United States) Other organizations Reichsbund Deutsche Familie, Kampfbund für erbtüchtigen Kinderreichtum, a German Nazi organisation Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science, UK Other uses Reality distortion field, a term coined to describe Steve Jobs' charisma

X Japan (Japanese: エックス・ジャパン, Hepburn: Ekkusu Japan) is a Japanese rock band from Chiba, formed in 1982 by drummer and pianist Yoshiki and lead vocalist Toshi. Starting as a predominantly power/speed metal band with heavy symphonic elements, they later gravitated towards a progressive sound with an emphasis on ballads. Besides being one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent label, the group is widely credited as one of the pioneers of visual kei, a movement among Japanese musicians comparable to Western glam. Originally named X (エックス, Ekkusu), they released their debut album Vanishing Vision (1988) on Yoshiki's own Extasy Records one year after finalizing their line-up including bassist Taiji, lead guitarist Hide and rhythm guitarist Pata. They achieved breakthrough success in 1989 with the release of their second and major debut album Blue Blood. Following 1991's Jealousy, Taiji left the band in early 1992. He was replaced by Heath and the group changed their name to X Japan before producing the mini album Art of Life (1993), which is composed solely of the 29-minute title track. In 1995 the group dropped most of its original visual kei aesthetics in favor of a more casual look and released Dahlia (1996), which like their two previous albums debuted at number one. X Japan performed their last concert at the Tokyo Dome on December 31, 1997, making it the last of five consecutive sold-out New Year's Eve concerts the group held at the stadium. After ten years, X Japan reunited in 2007 and recorded the new song "I.V.". Over the next two years they performed several concerts, including their first overseas show in Hong Kong, and formally added Sugizo as lead guitarist in place of Hide, who died in 1998, before holding a North American tour in 2010. In 2011, the band went on their first world tour throughout Europe, South America and Asia. Shortly after reuniting, work began on their sixth studio album. During its ten years of production, several release dates were announced, but it remains unreleased despite Yoshiki's claim of its completion in September 2018. X Japan has released five studio albums, six live albums, and 21 singles. In 2003, HMV Japan ranked the band at number 40 on their list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts. In 2007, Rolling Stone Japan ranked Blue Blood number 15 on its list of the 100 Greatest Japanese Rock Albums of All Time. In 2017, Loudwire named X Japan the Best Metal Band from Japan. It has been reported that X Japan has sold over 30 million records. History 1977–1992: X Because of our hardcore outfit and make-up, critics didn't take the music seriously and dismissed us by saying, "They aren't playing music" or "It's some kind of show or costume party." But as the audience grew and shows started selling out everywhere we went, I realized what I had been doing was right. In 1977, Yoshiki and Toshi formed a band called Dynamite in their hometown of Tateyama, Chiba, when they were just 11 years old. Dynamite changed its name to Noise in 1978, while they were still in high school. At this time, Toshi played guitar and they had a singer named Kurata. In 1982, Noise disbanded and Yoshiki and Toshi formed a new band, they named it X while they tried to think of another name, but the name stuck. X began to actively perform in the Tokyo area in 1985 with a frequently changing lineup. They originally attempted to pitch in with Japan's underground punk movement, but the band did not fit in with it as they were considered too commercial and flamboyant. Their first single, "I'll Kill You" was released on Dada Records in June and the band contributed "Break the Darkness" to the sampler Heavy Metal Force III in November, which also featured a song by Saver Tiger. In November 1985 bassist Taiji (ex:Dementia) joined X, though he left the group shortly thereafter.To ensure a continuous outlet for the band's music, Yoshiki founded the independent label Extasy Records in April 1986, and released their second single "Orgasm". Taiji would officially rejoin the band in November of that same year. The songs "Stab Me in the Back" and "No Connexion", for the February 1987 Victor Records sampler Skull Thrash Zone Volume I, were recorded with Pata (ex:Judy) as a support guitar player. Soon after these recordings Hide (ex:Saver Tiger) joined as a guitarist. After Pata once again provided support, this time at a live show, he officially joined completing the group's first well-known lineup. In August 1987 they performed at the Rock Monster event at Kyoto Sports Valley and gave out their first home video, Xclamation. On December 26, 1987, the band participated in an audition held by CBS/Sony which led to a recording contract in August of the following year. In the meantime the band released its first album, Vanishing Vision through Extasy Records on April 14, 1988, and toured extensively in support of the record. The album's first press of 10,000 copies sold out in a week, topping the Oricon indies chart and reaching number 19 on the main Oricon Albums Chart, making them the first independent band to appear on the main chart. The Vanishing Tour Vol.2 took the band to 20 locations for 24 shows from June to July, while the Burn Out Tour had 12 performances throughout October. In November, X participated in music magazine Rockin'f's Street Fighting Men concert at Differ Ariake Arena. That year the members also made a brief cameo appearance in the American film Tokyo Pop, starring Carrie Hamilton and Diamond Yukai.X's sold out Blue Blood Tour started on March 13, with two of the concerts selling out in advance, including the March 16 show at Shibuya Public Hall, which was later released on home video as Blue Blood Tour Bakuhatsu Sunzen Gig. The album Blue Blood was released on April 21, 1989, and debuted at number six on the Oricon chart. The single "Kurenai" reached number five and the band went on the Rose & Blood Tour, which was temporarily suspended when Yoshiki collapsed after a November 22 concert. This success earned the band the "Grand Prix New Artist of the Year" award at the 4th annual Japan Gold Disc Awards in 1990. On November 24, 1990, X flew to Los Angeles to begin recording their follow-up album, Jealousy. When members arrived back in Japan in June, 500 members of the Japan Self-Defence Forces were at the airport to control the crowd. The album was released on July 1, 1991, and debuted at number one, selling over 600,000 copies. It was later certified million by the RIAJ. In August the band performed their first concert at Japan's largest indoor concert venue, the Tokyo Dome. Footage from most of the band's shows in that stadium would later be released on CD and home video. The show was part of the Violence in Jealousy Tour, which lasted to the end of the year and once again saw Yoshiki collapse after the October 24 Yokohama Arena gig. December 8 saw the X with Orchestra concert at NHK Hall, where, as the name suggests, the band performed backed by an orchestra.1992 began with three sold-out concerts at the Tokyo Dome, titled Tokyo Dome 3 Days: On the Verge of Destruction, on January 5–7. On January 31, it was announced that bass player Taiji had left the group. The official reason given for his departure was due to musical differences. However, in his autobiography, Taiji claims he was asked to leave because he confronted Yoshiki due to the substantial income gap between Yoshiki and each of the other members. When asked about Taiji's departure in 2016, Yoshiki said "he crossed the line of our band's rules" and "To this day I still don't know if the decision was right or wrong, but we didn't have a choice." On August 24, 1992, the band held a press conference in New York at Rockefeller Center. There, Heath (ex: Media Youth) was announced as their new bass player. Around this time, the band's success in Japan made an international breakthrough appear likely, leading to them leaving Sony for an American record contract with Atlantic Records and the renaming of the band from X to X Japan, in order to distinguish from the American punk group X. (An American album release would never happen.) Their first show with Heath was at the October 1992 Extasy Summit at Osaka-jō Hall. 1993–1997: X Japan Art of Life was released on August 25, 1993, by Atlantic Records, and consists solely of the 29-minute, heavily orchestrated title track. It debuted at number one, however the band only performed two concerts that year, as each member began solo careers. Aptly titled X Japan Returns, the concerts were held at the Tokyo Dome on December 30 and 31, marking the beginning of a New Year's Eve tradition that would last until the group's disbandment. The solo careers continued into the following year, with X Japan only performing four shows. The first two were the last two days of The Great Music Experience, and the others were December 30–31 at the Tokyo Dome, titled Aoi Yoru (青い夜, Blue Night) and Shiroi Yoru (白い夜, White Night) respectively.1995 was also quiet, until November 19 when the band began the tour for their next album, Dahlia Tour 1995–1996. Around this time, the group dropped most of its original visual kei aesthetics in favor of a more casual look. While it wasn't released until November 4, 1996, singles from the album had been released as early as a few months after Art of Life. Though this caused Dahlia to contain relatively little new material, the album reached number one on the charts. The tour was originally scheduled to end on March 31, 1996, however, it was cut short when Yoshiki herniated cervical vertebrae after the March 13 show. They did however perform their tradition of two Tokyo Dome concerts on December 30–31, titled Resurrection Night (復活の夜, Fukkatsu no Yoru) and Reckless Night (無謀な夜, Mubōna Yoru).On September 22, 1997, Yoshiki, Hide, Pata and Heath held a press conference where they announced that X Japan would disband. Vocalist Toshi decided to leave the band, claiming that the glamorous, success-oriented life of a rock star failed to satisfy him emotionally, as opposed to a simpler life and career. He stated that he had made the decision back in April 1996, though it was not publicly disclosed. However, around twelve years later, he confirmed what was long-reported in the media; that he was "brainwashed" via violence and abuse and conned out of money, leading to bankruptcy. X Japan performed their farewell show, titled The Last Live: Last Night, at the Tokyo Dome on December 31, 1997, making it the last of five consecutive New Year's Eves the group performed at the stadium. Although later that same day they played "Forever Love" at that year's Kōhaku Uta Gassen, marking their true last performance. 1998–2007: Post X Japan While reissues, compilations and live footage continued to be released, the members of X Japan pursued solo careers and other projects. Hide, who released his first solo album Hide Your Face in 1994, continued his solo career with a sound distinctively different from X Japan's music, leaning more towards alternative rock, until his death on May 2, 1998. Just two months later, the debut album 3.2.1. from his American-based band Zilch, which included Ray McVeigh (The Professionals), Paul Raven (Killing Joke) and Joey Castillo (Queens of the Stone Age), was released. His third solo album Ja, Zoo, formally including his live band Spread Beaver, was released in November 1998 and became his most successful, having reached number one and sold over a million copies. Prior to his death, Hide and Yoshiki talked about restarting X Japan with a new vocalist in the year 2000.Toshi's solo career, which began in 1992, has been extensive, with him having released over 30 albums and performed numerous acoustic shows for smaller audiences. According to his website, his Utatabi Traveling Concert tour included over 3,000 concerts between 1999 and 2003. After both having released solo albums in the early 90s, Pata and Heath teamed up with Spread Beaver percussionist/programmer I.N.A., who worked on several of X Japan's releases, to provide a track for the 1998 Hide tribute album Tribute Spirits. The three would reunite again in 2000 to form Dope HEADz, which released two albums before ceasing activity. Heath then continued his solo career and Pata formed the instrumental rock group Ra:IN, which later added Spread Beaver keyboardist DIE.Before the band's breakup, Yoshiki had already independently collaborated with Queen drummer Roger Taylor on the single "Foreign Sand" and provided the Japanese contribution to the international Kiss tribute album Kiss My Ass: Classic Kiss Regrooved, an orchestral arrangement of the song "Black Diamond". A compilation with orchestral treatments of X Japan songs, titled Eternal Melody was also released. It was performed by the London Philharmonic Orchestra and among others featured The Beatles producer George Martin as an arranger.Since 1998 Yoshiki has engaged in numerous activities, such as briefly being a member of the pop band Globe, producing singles for the Korean rock band TRAX and numerous others, as well as working on his solo project Violet UK, which has yet to publish a major release. He has also contributed music to the movie Catacombs and produced the soundtrack of Repo! The Genetic Opera. On May 25, 2007, the formation of the supergroup S.K.I.N. was announced, which besides Yoshiki consists of pop/rock artists Gackt and Miyavi, as well as Luna Sea guitarist Sugizo. The band gave its first and only performance at the Anime Expo convention in Long Beach, California, on June 29, 2007. 2007–2008: Reunion According to a report by the newspaper Sponichi, Toshi visited Yoshiki in Los Angeles in November 2006 to work on the song "Without You" as a tribute to Hide. On March 21, 2007, Toshi announced on his website that he and Yoshiki had recently resumed working together, stating that a "new project" would commence soon. Rumors of an X Japan reunion subsequently began, and in June Yoshiki was reported as having expressed interest in a tour (beginning in Los Angeles), "Without You" being released as a single, and that he was in talks with Heath and Pata regarding their participation.The band made its first public appearance on October 22, 2007, on the rooftop of the shopping center Aqua City in Odaiba, Tokyo, to film a music video for the newly recorded song "I.V.". The song was used as the theme of the American horror movie Saw IV. It was written by Yoshiki and recorded with all X Japan members of the pre-breakup lineup, as it utilizes previously unreleased guitar tracks by Hide. "I.V." was released through iTunes on January 23, 2008, topping the store's charts on that day. On January 20, 2008, two Tokyo Dome concert dates were announced for March 28 and March 30. Due to popular demand, they added another concert for the 29th. These three shows were entitled X Japan Resume Attack 2008 I.V. – Towards Destruction, with each individual concert titled Night of Destruction, Night of Madness and Night of Creation, respectively, and featured three guest guitarists filling in for the late Hide – Wes Borland, Richard Fortus and Sugizo. The March 28 concert was aired live on the pay-per-view channel WOWOW. During the song "Art of Life" a hologram of Hide (taken from footage of the "Art of Life" performance at the Tokyo Dome in 1993) played alongside the band. Because of technical difficulties, possibly due to the hologram, the first concert was delayed for over two hours and later came to an abrupt end when drummer Yoshiki collapsed eight songs into the performance. The subsequent shows were without such difficulties and during a press conference, plans for a concert in Paris on July 5, 2008, were announced, with an intended audience of 20,000 people. In addition to the Paris date, plans for concerts at the Madison Square Garden in New York City on September 13, and at the Taipei World Trade Center in Taipei on August 2 were also announced. 2008–2010: Delays, Sugizo joins and first overseas performances The Hide memorial summit took place on May 3 and 4, 2008, at Ajinomoto Stadium, with X Japan performing the second day, as a tribute to the musician who was also a former X guitarist. Numerous other popular acts such as T.M.Revolution, Oblivion Dust and Versailles also performed, with Phantasmagoria and Luna Sea even reuniting for one day. Organizers planned for an estimated 100,000 fans to attend the two shows. On June 8, it was reported that all of X Japan's previously scheduled shows would be postponed until further notice, due to a recurrence of Yoshiki's disc herniation. The Paris and Taipei concerts were rescheduled, Paris for November 22, 2009. On September 15, 2008, Yoshiki held a press conference in Tokyo, where he announced a new, unnamed X Japan song was in the works. Concerts at Saitama Super Arena on Christmas and New Year's Eve 2008 were also announced. After the conference Yoshiki went on a promotional tour across Asia. On November 7, the French ticketing website Avos announced that the planned ticket sale for the show in Paris would be canceled. Later that day, X Japan released a press statement through their French language website apologizing for the second postponement and announced that the planned Christmas shows would likely suffer a similar fate. On December 31, X Japan performed their New Year's Eve countdown performance at the Akasaka Blitz. On January 15, 2009, the band arrived in Hong Kong for their January 16 and 17 shows. On May 1, it was announced that Sugizo officially joined X Japan as lead guitarist. Since the band still considers the deceased Hide a member, Sugizo became the sixth member of X Japan. Their first show with him as a full member was held the next day at the Tokyo Dome, where they played "Jade" for the first time. The Taiwan concert that was postponed for a second time in January, was finally held on May 30, 2009. On January 9, 2010, the band made its first public U.S. appearance by shooting four new music videos in Hollywood. The four videos were for "Rusty Nail", "Endless Rain", "I.V.", and their new song "Jade". In February, Yoshiki confirmed that X Japan would be performing at Lollapalooza in August. Later that month, he announced at a press event that the band would be relocating to Los Angeles, California, with a concert being planned for a "simple" venue in the city area to mark the band's first official North American show. It was also announced that a sixth album was in the works and was expected to be released in the fall.In March 2010, Yoshiki filed a lawsuit against Nexstar Corporation, for 375 million yen in damages. The band's contract with the company included the use of recordings, the initial deal was for 600 million yen in advance royalties and contract money, which the band claims not to have received. Between 2008 and 2009, the company also sponsored several concerts around Asia and Japan, not having paid performance fees and merchandise sales to X Japan. In all, the total unpaid amount was more than 900 million yen. The lawsuit sought only 375 million yen for the revenue earned from the concerts, with an additional claim of 600 million yen in case the trial proceeded. Yoshiki's side eventually won the lawsuit in 2014, where the Tokyo District Court ordered Nexstar to pay 660 million yen in damages. On July 1, the band appeared at Club Nokia in Los Angeles where they performed an acoustic setlist, and recorded a music video for the new song, "Born to Be Free". On July 4, the two founding members Toshi and Yoshiki, appeared in Paris at the Japan Expo 2010 where they performed some songs. During the following month, X Japan and Yoshiki were featured in numerous newspapers and websites such as ABC News, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Sun-Times. X Japan performed at Lollapalooza 2010 in Grant Park, Chicago on August 8. In the following days, Yoshiki did a Q&A article with the Phoenix New Times and was interviewed by ABC News.On August 14 and 15, 2010, the band performed a two-day show at Nissan Stadium, the largest stadium in Japan. Some media reported an estimated attendance of 140,000 for the two concerts. Ex-bassist Taiji joined them on stage both nights as a guest for the song "X"; he would die the following year. Soon after, formerly deceased guitarist Hide's management company, Headwax Organization, filed a lawsuit against Yoshiki and X Japan's management, Japan Music Agency, for using images of the former member without a formal agreement in place. The claim states that in 2000 the two companies signed an agreement allowing Yoshiki and X Japan to use visual images of Hide during concerts. However, images were used at these Nissan Stadium shows, when apparently the contract already expired.From September 25 to October 10, X Japan performed their first ever North American tour with dates in Los Angeles, Oakland, Seattle, Chicago, Vancouver, Toronto and New York City. On December 17, Yoshiki announced that a new X Japan song, "Scarlet Love Song", was composed for the animated movie adaptation of the Buddha manga. 2011–2014: World tour and Madison Square Garden It was announced on January 27, 2011, that X Japan signed a 3-year agreement with EMI in November 2010. The label will handle the American distribution of their single "Jade", which was to be released on March 15, and their untitled album, which was set for release in late summer. In promotion of the new album, it was also stated they would be touring extensively around the world throughout 2011. X Japan performed on March 6 at Asia Girls Explosion, a fashion event and music concert that Yoshiki created with Jay FR. It was announced they would perform in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, and Peru later in the year.Due to the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami that occurred in Japan on March 11, the band decided to postpone the release of "Jade" until June 28. Yoshiki also decided to auction off one of his used signature Kawai crystal grand pianos, of which all proceeds were sent to help provide aid to the victims of the earthquake and tsunami."Scarlet Love Song" was released in Japan on June 8, and on June 28 their first worldwide single, "Jade", was released, both on iTunes. That same day they performed in London, the first concert of the European leg of their ongoing world tour, which was followed by Paris on July 1, Utrecht on July 2 and Berlin on July 4. X Japan also performed at the 2011 Summer Sonic festival that was held on August 13 and 14, in Tokyo and Osaka. Their world tour's South American leg took them to; Santiago on September 9, São Paulo on September 11, Buenos Aires on September 14, Lima on September 16 and Mexico City on September 18. The Asian leg of the tour brought stops in Seoul on October 28, Shanghai on October 30, Hong Kong on November 4, Taipei on November 6 and Bangkok on November 8. The Beijing show, originally scheduled for November 2, was cancelled by the promoters on October 25 due to "technical and production issues".After more than two years of inactivity, X Japan announced the remastered compilation album The World ~X Japan Hatsu no Zensekai Best~ for release on June 17, 2014. Prior to its physical release, a digital version titled X Japan World Best became available in 111 countries via iTunes on May 21. They performed at Yokohama Arena on September 30 and October 1, and at Madison Square Garden on October 11. At both concerts, the cover of the song "Beneath The Skin" was played, originally written by Sugizo for S.K.I.N., the group formed by Yoshiki in 2007. They participated in Music Station Super Live 2014 on New Year's Eve, marking their first television appearance in seventeen years, the last being on Kōhaku Uta Gassen in 1997. 2015–present: Unreleased sixth studio album, We Are X, and Japan tour In June 2015, Yoshiki announced X Japan's sixth and first studio album in 20 years would be released on March 11, 2016. The band has announced that the sixth album would contain between 13 and 14 tracks, including some short pieces. It was also announced that they would perform at the Wembley Arena in London on the following day, where We Are X, a documentary film about the band, would be premiered. The band performed on June 28 at Makuhari Messe as part of the second night of Luna Sea's Lunatic Fest. The first single from the album, "Born to Be Free", was released on November 6, 2015. X Japan's first domestic tour of Japan in 20 years began with three consecutive dates at Yokohama Arena on December 2, continued with Osaka-jō Hall on December 7, Marine Messe Fukuoka on December 9, Hiroshima Green Arena on December 11, and finished on December 14 at the Nippon Gaishi Hall. They also performed on Kōhaku Uta Gassen for the first time in 18 years. On January 15, 2016, Pata was rushed to the intensive care unit of a Tokyo hospital. He was diagnosed with a life-threatening condition, which included a severe blood clot, but was in stable condition. On February 3, X Japan announced the postponement of their album release and March 12 concert at the Wembley Arena for a whole year; the concert subsequently taking place on March 4, 2017. In June, Yoshiki stated that Pata was discharged from the hospital in March, but had to go back for surgery in August. Pata announced he was discharged on August 10. X Japan headlined all three nights of the Visual Japan Summit on October 14–16, 2016 at Makuhari Messe. The We Are X soundtrack album was released on March 3, 2017. The soundtrack reached No. 4 in its first week in the Oricon Albums Chart, No. 27 in the UK Albums Chart, and No. 1 in the UK Rock & Metal Albums Chart. On March 3, 2017, an album signing took place at HMV in Oxford Street, London. All the physical copies of the We Are X soundtrack available at the signing were sold in the event. According to store staff, this was the first time there was a sell-out of all physical copies at such a signing. A new song, "La Venus" was used as the ending theme song for We Are X and was one of 91 songs in contention for nomination for the Academy Award for Best Original Song for the 89th Academy Awards. In April 2017, Yoshiki announced that the sixth album's songs were ready and only mixing and mastering remained, and the release was expected "in the next few months". When Yoshiki performed on BBC Radio 4's Front Row on October 20, 2017, it was announced the sixth album would be released in Spring 2018.On May 9, 2017, Yoshiki's management announced that the drummer would undergo urgent surgery on May 16, where an artificial disc would be inserted between his vertebrae. Due to his health conditions, it was reported that concerts would need to be either rescheduled or cancelled. On June 9, X Japan announced at a press conference that the concerts would not be postponed but instead performed as an acoustic tour, with Yoshiki at the piano, as it is uncertain whether he would be able to play the drums in the future. In November it was announced that X Japan will perform at the year-end Kōhaku Uta Gassen, as part of the White Team. The band performed a medley of "Endless Rain" and "Kurenai", and during the performance Yoshiki played drums again for the first time since his neck surgery.The January 2018 issue of Neo magazine named X Japan the "Best Musical Act" in their annual awards, with We Are X named the "Best Asian Movie". In February 2018, the band's performance at Wembley in 2017 was named the "Best Event" at Wembley Arena in the 2017 SSE Live Awards. In March 2018, We Are X was named the "Best Music Film" in the Space Shower Music Awards. On April 10 and 11 the band performed at Zepp Divercity in Tokyo for a limited audience, and the concert was broadcast live across Asia in selected theaters. Richard Fortus, Wes Borland, and Miya appeared as guest musicians. All three also joined X Japan for their first performance at the Coachella festival on April 14. At the second weekend of the festival, Marilyn Manson joined the band on stage and performed "Sweet Dreams" with Yoshiki on piano. When interviewed for KLOS's Jonesy's Jukebox, Yoshiki said the album would be released in either summer or fall 2018.In July, it was also announced that X Japan would perform at the TV Asahi Dream Festival on September 15. On Christmas Day 2018, X Japan were named 43rd in that year's Oricon Favorite Artists poll. In an interview with JRock News on February 13, 2019, Yoshiki said, "X Japan's album is actually completed. It took over 10 years to record, I'm looking for the perfect timing to release it."On July 28, X Japan released the single "Angel". It was the first new song released by the band in eight years.In July 2023, following Elon Musk's move to rebrand Twitter as "X", it was reported that the Japanese branch of the company, currently called "Twitter Japan", would be rebranded as "X Japan". This lead to Yoshiki commenting on Twitter that: "I think it's already trademarked." As a result of the band having the trademark for "X Japan", it is reported that "Twitter Japan" would instead be rebranded "X Nippon" instead. Yoshiki said in an interview with Consequence that he respected Musk and he felt fans should decide the name of the platform. Musical style X Japan's music developed in the wake of American and British glam and heavy metal music, and was characterized by driving speed/power metal compositions with symphonic elements (e.g. "Kurenai", "Silent Jealousy") and emotional ballads (e.g. "Endless Rain", "Forever Love"). Many of the group's songs make use of orchestrated passages, particularly on longer tracks such as the ten and a half minute "Tears", "Crucify My Love", and the twenty-nine-minute "Art of Life".The majority of the band's lyrics are in Japanese, the band's native language, however many instances show the lyrics alternating from Japanese to English and back. Examples of this include the spoken-word background vocals during the bridge of "Rusty Nail", and multiple lines (including the entire pre-chorus) of the song "Week End". The first recorded version of "Kurenai" from Vanishing Vision contains lyrics entirely in English. The majority of the band's catalog of music was written by Yoshiki with relatively little composition from the other members. Hide contributed several songs, including the single "Scars", while Pata's only claim is "White Wind from Mr. Martin ~Pata's Nap~". Toshi's contributions are limited to lyrics for a few songs. Taiji contributed music to a couple of songs, notably "Voiceless Screaming" from the album Jealousy, for which, when performed live, he played the acoustic guitar, and "Desperate Angel". Heath's only writing credit is the instrumental song "Wriggle" on the 1996 album Dahlia, which he wrote with Pata. Only one song is credited as a full band collaboration, "Easy Fight Rambling" on the 1989 album Blue Blood. Of songs from the band's lesser-known former members, only the track "Time Trip Loving" from the single "Orgasm", composed by Jun with Toshi writing the lyrics, was officially released. In 2010 it was reported that Sugizo had written some songs, though no further information has been given since. That year, Yoshiki claimed that their new material was "pretty much the same thing, maybe a little edgier." However, in 2014 he specifically stated it will not be the same as before, adding that it will be very heavy, melodic, and "more contemporary".Yoshiki's songwriting process begins with writing the score for each song by hand before playing it with the band. His composing style tends to make use of chords in sequences of eights or more with riff-based motifs or call-and-response style phrasing. He has maintained this style for the majority of his career as a composer. Having played classical piano since he was four years old, Yoshiki claims to be as influenced by classical music as he is by rock. While also serving as the main songwriter, Yoshiki has production credit on much of X Japan's later material. During live performances, the band relies on its members (with drummer and pianist Yoshiki and guitarist and violinist Sugizo switching between their instruments) and prerecorded tracks for orchestrated strings, spoken word passages, and more recently, some of Hide's guitar parts. Appearance and image When we played heavy music... I went the complete opposite and did something feminine. When we played ballads, I had spiky hair. X Japan's appearance was inspired by glam rock, Kiss, David Bowie, as well as traditional Japanese kabuki theatre, where it was customary for male actors to play female roles and dress like women. Visual kei artists still often employ feminine looks and garbs for their stage. According to Josephine Yun, "like its music, X's look was individualistic. Square-shouldered Toshi donned leather and metal, looking like a character out of the anime Gundam. Taiji dolled up in perfect, pretty glam. Pata's sleepy, backseat demeanor and whiskey bottle became his trademark, as Hide forever goaded the audience. And Yoshiki was a paradox all his own, bewitchingly effeminate one moment — and a full-force, wrist-breaking (literally) hurricane in concert the next." Will Hodgkinson of The Times described X Japan as having, "the grandiosity of Queen, the heavy-metal hysteria of Iron Maiden and the symphonic sophistication of classical music, all tied up with a healthy dose of melodrama."Their early image was characterized by heavy make-up, dark eyeliner and eyeshadow, face-painting and high-standing hair, which one critic described as "skyscraper hair". Yoshiki's highly androgynous looks, dressed in lace and pearls, were referred to as "decadent". The band also used accessories reminiscent of glam-goth (metal jewelry, crosses). Their stage reflected the band's duality in nature: the forceful, "masculine" heavy metal songs were balanced out by Toshi's high-pitched tenor voice and Yoshiki's soft piano playing, where he would often wear long female dresses, and act effeminate.By the release of their 1995 studio album Dahlia, the band toned its stage appearance down, cutting their hair and wearing more rock-inspired outfits. In a 2010 interview, Yoshiki stated that the abandoning of stronger make-up and outrageous outfits was a natural progression in their style, however, they still do use make-up on stage, "sometimes heavy, sometimes less", and that he still considers the band visual kei. Legacy and influence X Japan is considered one of the founders of visual kei, a movement among Japanese musicians comparable to Western glam, with the name itself believed to have been derived from their slogan "Psychedelic Violence Crime of Visual Shock". In 2011, Yoshiki briefly described their early years and the movement's development, saying "when we started the band, the problem was we didn't belong anywhere. Because we were playing very heavy music, we were wearing tons of make-up and crazy outfits. So we couldn't belong anywhere", "[We did our own thing and] that eventually became visual kei." He added "But visual kei is more like a spirit, it's not a music style or, you know... I think it is a freedom about describing myself, a freedom to express myself, that's what I believe visual kei is." Upon former guitarist Hide's death in 1998, less than a year after the band broke up, Billboard's Steve McClure declared it "the end of an era", explaining "X was the first generation of visual kei bands[...] For the next generation of bands, it's like: That's it. The torch has been passed to us."Many bands and artists, most related to visual kei, count them as an influence or look up to them, including Miyavi, Dir en grey, Syu and Fumiya of Galneryus, The Gazette, D, Sadie vocalist Mao, Tōru Kawauchi from 12012, Maya of LM.C, Flow, Yuuki from Unsraw, DJ Ozma, Kei of Dio – Distraught Overlord, aie from Deadman, Screw's Jin, Mari of Mary's Blood, and DaizyStripper. The members of Versailles named X and Luna Sea as influences, with singer Kamijo saying "I think there isn't anyone in the Japanese music business who hasn't been influenced by them." Likewise, Leda of Galneryus and Deluhi claims he was not even interested in music until a friend played him X Japan and Luna Sea, and also declared X Japan's music his "Bible". Established musicians Dancho (Nogod), Miya (Mucc), Yuu (Merry), Akane (ex-The Scanty) and Daisuke (Jupiter) occasionally perform in a X Japan cover band called X Suginami. American musician Marty Friedman called X Japan the biggest band in visual kei and "by far the most versatile musically," and cited them as the reason he got into Japanese rock music. Kai from Esprit D'Air named X Japan as one of his top ten rock and metal bands from Japan and also covered their song "Kurenai".In We Are X, Gene Simmons claims that if the X Japan members were "born in America or England and sang in English, they might be the biggest band in the world." Due to band's various misfortunes with the suicide of band members, Toshi's brainwashing and lack of overseas success, X Japan has been described in The Times as: "The world's unluckiest band", in an article published on Friday the 13th October, 2017. When asked in an interview if the band was unlucky, Yoshiki answered: "Kinda? I mean, you know, with so much crazy drama that has happened over the years. But at the same time, we have amazing fans around the world so I can't say 'the world's unluckiest band', but what I can say is 'the world's luckiest band'. Thanks to our fans."The group was popular among rebellious youths, who were attracted to, as Asiaweek put it, "the tone of alienation and frustration for which X was revered." Their music was described by Asiaweek as having "an angry sound that rejected the cookie-cutter principles of Japanese society." In 1998, Radio and TV host Bryan Burton-Lewis explained "In Japan, the image that we have of the X audience is rural kids going through a rebellion phase. They put their life into being X fans: they dress like it, they breathe it." In the documentary Global Metal, Yoshiki stated that the music industry and media hated the band and would not even interview them, "but eventually we sold 20 million albums, so they had no choice".X Japan has also been named one of the first Japanese acts to achieve mainstream success while on an independent record label. In 1990, they won the "Grand Prix New Artist of the Year" award at the 4th annual Japan Gold Disc Awards. HMV Japan ranked the band number 40 on a 2003 list of the 100 most important Japanese pop acts, and in 2010 they came in third in a poll by Oricon on which Japanese bands people want around for future generations. In 2011, Consequence of Sound named X Japan one of their Top 15 Cult Acts. In April 2012, X Japan won the Revolver Golden Gods Award for "Best International Artist". They were awarded "Most Devoted Fans" in the 2012 Loudwire Music Awards on January 17, 2013, and won the poll again two years later on February 3, 2015. Later that year, they also won the website's Best Live Band Tournament in August, beating out Pearl Jam in the final round. LA Weekly ranked X Japan tenth on an October 2014 list of the 10 Best Prog Metal Bands. In March 2017, Loudwire named X Japan the Best Metal Band from Japan writing that "their high-octane power metal and exhilarating live show make them the pinnacle of heavy music in the 'Land of the Rising Sun'."However, X Japan has also made a mark outside of the music industry. In 1999, at the request of the Japanese government, Yoshiki composed and performed a classical song for Japan's Emperor Akihito at a celebration in honor of the tenth anniversary of his enthronement. Japan's former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi is a well-known fan of the band. His political party, the Liberal Democratic Party, even used X Japan's song "Forever Love" in several commercials in 2001. It was also reported that Koizumi was influential in getting the Hide Museum opened in Yokosuka in 2000.Yoshiki stated he loved "the punkish elements" of the albums Iron Maiden and Killers by Iron Maiden. He also cited Sex Pistols, the Clash, GBH, and Chaos UK as favorite bands. Members Current members Yoshiki – drums, piano, keyboards (1982–1997, 2007–present) Toshi – lead vocals (1982–1997, 2007–present) Pata – guitar, backing vocals (1987–1997, 2007–present) Heath – bass guitar, backing vocals (1992–1997, 2007–present) Sugizo – guitar, violin, backing vocals (2009–present) as a touring musician (2008–2009) Former members Yuji "Terry" Izumisawa (泉沢裕二, Izumisawa Yūji) – guitar (1982–1985, died 2002) Tomoyuki "Tomo" Ogata (オガタトモユキ, Ogata Tomoyuki) – guitar (1984–1985) Atsushi Tokuo (德應 淳, Tokuo Atsushi) – bass guitar (1984–1985) Kenichi "Eddie Van" Koide (小出健一, Koide Kenichi) – guitar (1985) Yoshifumi "Hally" Yoshida (吉田良文, Yoshida Yoshifumi) – guitar (1985) Kazuaki "Zen/Xenon" Mita (三田一光, Mita Kazuaki) – guitar (1985–1986) Hisashi "Jun/Shu" Takai (高井寿, Takai Hisashi) – guitar (1985, 1986) Hikaru Utaka (宇高光, Utaka Hikaru) – bass guitar (1985–1986) Masanori "Kerry" Takahashi (高橋雅則, Takahashi Masanori) – guitar (1986) Satoru Inoue (井上悟, Inoue Satoru) – guitar (1986) Isao Hori (堀功, Hori Isao) – guitar (1987) Taiji – bass guitar, backing vocals (1985, 1986–1992, died 2011) Hide – guitar, backing vocals (1987–1997, died 1998) Although Hide and Taiji are deceased, the band still considers them members and introduces them at every concert, with the group going as far as to play audio/video clips of their voice/guitar for some songs. Timeline Discography Studio albumsVanishing Vision (1988) Blue Blood (1989) Jealousy (1991) Art of Life (1993) Dahlia (1996) Untitled sixth album (TBA) Tours and performances Kōhaku Uta Gassen X Japan performed 7 times on Kōhaku Uta Gassen, a prestigious year-end television show on NHK network. Concerts Tokyo Dome concerts (18)August 23, 1991 January 5, 6, 7, 1992 December 30, 31, 1993 December 30, 31, 1994 December 30, 31, 1995 December 30, 31, 1996 December 31, 1997 March 28, 29, 30, 2008 May 2, 3, 2009 Awards Video games X Japan Virtual Shock 001 (1995, Sega Saturn) See also List of J-pop concerts held outside Asia Further reading Uchuu o Kakeru Tomo e: Densetsu no Bando X no Sei to Shi (宇宙を翔ける友へ: 伝説のバンド X の生と死) by Taiji, Tokuma Shoten, 2000, ISBN 978-4-19-861174-3 Hide Days, by Takarajimasha, 2003, ISBN 4-7966-2746-4 Yoshiki (YOSHIKI/佳樹), by Narumi Kamotsu, Kadokawa Shoten, 2009, ISBN 978-4-04-883687-6 Brainwash ~Comeback from 12 Years of Hell~ (洗脳 ～地獄の12年からの生還～, Sennō ~Jigoku no 12-nen Kara no Seikan~), by Toshi, Kodansha, 2014, ISBN 4-0621-8657-8 Official website Official YouTube

Taipei (臺北市 ), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of Taiwan. Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about 25 km (16 mi) southwest of the northern port city of Keelung. Most of the city rests on the Taipei Basin, an ancient lakebed. The basin is bounded by the relatively narrow valleys of the Keelung and Xindian rivers, which join to form the Tamsui River along the city's western border.The municipality of Taipei is home to an estimated population of 2,494,813 (March 2023), forming the core part of the Taipei–Keelung metropolitan area, also known as "Greater Taipei", which includes the nearby cities of New Taipei and Keelung with a population of 7,047,559, the 40th most-populous urban area in the world—roughly one-third of Taiwanese citizens live in the metro areas. The name "Taipei" can refer either to the whole metropolitan area or just the municipality alone. Taipei has been the political center of the island since 1887, when it first became the seat of Taiwan Province by the Qing dynasty until 1895 and again from 1945 to 1956 by the ROC government, with an interregnum from 1895 to 1945 as the seat of the Government-General of Taiwan during the Japanese rule. The city has been the national seat of the ROC central government since 1949, it became the nation's special municipality (then known as Yuan-controlled municipality) on 1 July 1967 from provincial city status. Taipei is the economic, political, educational and cultural center of Taiwan and one of the world's major global cities. Considered to be a global city and rated as an Alpha − City by GaWC, Taipei is part of a major high-tech industrial area. Railways, highways, airports and bus lines connect Taipei with all parts of the island. The city is served by two airports – Songshan and Taoyuan. The municipality is home to architectural and cultural landmarks, including Taipei 101 (formerly the tallest building in the world), Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, Dalongdong Baoan Temple, Hsing Tian Kong, Lungshan Temple of Manka, National Palace Museum, Presidential Office Building, Taipei Guest House and Zhinan Temple. Shopping districts including Ximending and Zhongshan metro station as well as several night markets dispersed throughout the city. Natural features include Maokong, Yangmingshan and hot springs. In English-language news reports, the name Taipei often serves as a synecdoche referring to central government of Taiwan. Due to the ambiguous political status of Taiwan internationally, the term Chinese Taipei is also frequently used as a synonym for the entire country, as when Taiwan's governmental representatives participate in international organizations or Taiwan's athletes compete in international sporting events, including the Olympics. Names The spellings Taipei and Tʻai-pei derive from the Wade–Giles romanization Tʻai²-pei³ which means the North of Taiwan in Chinese. The name could be also romanized as Táiběi according to Hanyu Pinyin and Tongyong Pinyin.The city has also been known as Tai-pak (derived from Taiwanese Hokkien) and Taipeh.During the Japanese rule, Taipei was known as Taihoku, which is the pronounciation of the Chinese characters (Kanji) for Taipei in Japanese. History Prior to the significant influx of Han Chinese colonists, the region of Taipei Basin was mainly inhabited by the plains aborigines called Ketagalan. The number of Han colonists gradually increased in the early 18th century under Qing Dynasty rule after the government began permitting development in the area. In 1875, the northern part of the island was incorporated into the new Taipeh Prefecture. It was formerly established as Taipeh-fu and was the temporary capital of the island in 1887 when it was declared a province (Fukien-Taiwan Province). Taipeh was formally made the provincial capital in 1894. The romanized transcription of Taipeh was changed to Taihoku in 1895 when the Empire of Japan annexed Taiwan, based on the Japanese reading of the two characters. The writing in Chinese characters remained unaltered. Under Japanese rule, the city was administered under Taihoku Prefecture. Taiwan's Japanese rulers embarked on an extensive program of advanced urban planning that featured extensive railroad links. A number of Taipei landmarks and cultural institutions date from this period.Following the surrender of Japan to the Allies during 1945, effective control of Taiwan was handed to the Republic of China (ROC). After facing defeat from Communist forces, the ruling Kuomintang relocated the ROC government to Taiwan and declared Taipei the provisional capital of the ROC in December 1949. Taiwan's Kuomintang rulers regarded the city as the capital of Taiwan Province and their control as mandated by General Order No. 1. In 1990, Taipei provided the backdrop for the Wild Lily student rallies that moved Taiwanese society from one-party rule to multi-party democracy by 1996. The city has ever since served as the seat of Taiwan's democratically elected national government. Early settlers–Qing dynasty The region known as the Taipei Basin was home to Ketagalan tribes before the eighteenth century. Han Chinese colonists from Dabu County, Yongding County, Anxi and Tong'an of Southern Fujian began to settle in the Taipei Basin in 1709.In the late 19th century, the Taipei area, where the major Han Chinese settlements in northern Taiwan and one of the designated overseas trade ports, Tamsui, were located, gained economic importance due to the booming overseas trade, especially that of tea export. In 1875, the northern part of Taiwan was separated from Taiwan Prefecture and incorporated into the new Taipeh Prefecture as a new administrative entity of the Qing dynasty. Having been established adjoining the flourishing townships of Bangka, Dalongdong, and Twatutia, the new prefectural capital was known as Chengnei (Chinese: 城內; pinyin: chéngnèi; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: siâⁿ-lāi), "the inner city", and government buildings were erected there. From 1875 until the beginning of Japanese rule in 1895, Taipei was part of Tamsui County of Taipeh Prefecture and the prefectural capital.In 1885, as work commenced to govern the island as a province, Taipeh was thus temporarily designated as a provincial capital. The city officially became the capital in 1894. Nowadays, all that remains from the historical period is the north gate. The west gate and city walls were demolished by the Japanese while the south gate, little south gate, and east gate were extensively modified by the Kuomintang and have lost much of their original character. Empire of Japan As settlement for losing the First Sino-Japanese War, China ceded the island of Taiwan to the Empire of Japan in 1895 as part of the Treaty of Shimonoseki. After the Japanese takeover, Taipei, romanized into English as Taihoku following the Japanese language pronunciation, was retained as the capital. It subsequently emerged as the political center of the Japanese Colonial Government. During that time the city acquired the characteristics of an administrative center, including many new public buildings and housing for civil servants. Much of the architecture of Taipei dates from the period of Japanese rule, including the Presidential Office Building which was the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan. During Japanese rule, Taihoku was incorporated in 1920 as part of Taihoku Prefecture. It included Bangka, Twatutia, and Jōnai (城內) among other small settlements. The eastern village of Matsuyama (松山庄, modern-day Songshan District, Taipei) was annexed into Taihoku City in 1938. Taihoku and surrounding areas were bombed by Allied forces on several occasions. The largest of these Allied air raids, the Taihoku Air Raid, took place on 31 May 1945. Post-WW2 under ROC Upon the Japanese defeat following the nuclear bomb destruction of Hiroshima and its consequent surrender in August 1945, the Kuomintang (Chinese Nationalist Party) assumed control of Taiwan. Subsequently, Taipei was established as a provincial city and a temporary Office of the Taiwan Province Administrative Governor was established in it. In 1947 the Kuomintang (KMT) government under Chiang Kai-shek declared island-wide martial law in Taiwan as a result of the 28 February Incident, which began with incidents in Taipei but led to an island-wide crackdown on the local population by forces loyal to Chiang. Two years later, on 7 December 1949, Chiang and the Kuomintang forces were forced to flee mainland China by the after defeat by Communist revolutionaries. The KMT-led national government that fled to Taiwan declared Taipei to be the provisional capital of a continuing Republic of China.Taipei expanded greatly in the decades after 1949, and as approved on 30 December 1966, by the Executive Yuan, Taipei was declared a special municipality on 1 July 1967. In the following year, Taipei City expanded again by annexing Shilin, Beitou, Neihu, Nangang, Jingmei, and Muzha. At that time, the city's total area increased fourfold by absorbing several outlying towns and villages and the population increased to 1.56 million people.The city's population, which had reached one million in the early 1960s, also expanded rapidly after 1967, exceeding two million by the mid-1970s. Although growth within the city itself gradually slowed thereafter — its population had become relatively stable by the mid-1990s – Taipei remained one of the world's most densely populated urban areas, and the population continued to increase in the region surrounding the city, notably along the corridor between Taipei and Keelung.In 1990, Taipei's 16 districts were consolidated into the current 12 districts. Mass democracy rallies that year in the plaza around Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall led to an island-wide transition to multi-party democracy, where legislators are chosen via regularly scheduled popular elections, during the presidency of Lee Teng-Hui. Geography Taipei City is located in the Taipei Basin in northern Taiwan. It is bordered by the Xindian River on the south and the Tamsui River on the west. The generally low-lying terrain of the central areas on the western side of the municipality slopes upward to the south and east and especially to the north, where it reaches the 1,120 m (3,670 ft)-tall Qixing Mountain, the highest (dormant) volcano in Taiwan in Yangmingshan National Park. The northern districts of Shilin and Beitou extend north of the Keelung River and are bordered by Yangmingshan National Park. The Taipei city limits cover an area of 271.7997 km2 (104.9425 sq mi), ranking sixteenth of twenty-five among all counties and cities in Taiwan. Two peaks, Qixing Mountain and Mt. Datun, rise to the northeast of the city. Qixing Mountain is located on the Tatun Volcano Group; its 1,120 m (3,670 ft)-high main peak renders it the tallest mountain at the rim of the Taipei Basin; 1,092 m (3,583 ft)-high Mt. Datun is a close runner up. These former volcanoes make up the western section of Yangmingshan National Park, extending from Mt. Datun northward to Mt. Caigongkeng (菜公坑山). Located on a broad saddle between two mountains, the area also contains the marshy Datun Pond. To the southeast of the city lie the Songshan Hills and the Qingshui Ravine, which form a barrier of lush woods. Climate Taipei has a humid subtropical climate (Köppen: Cfa). Summers are long-lasting, very hot and humid, and accompanied by occasional heavy rainstorms and typhoons; while winters are short, generally warm and generally very foggy due to the northeasterly winds from the vast Siberian High being intensified by the pooling of this cooler air in the Taipei Basin. As in the rest of Northern Taiwan, daytime temperatures of Taipei can often peak above 26 °C (79 °F) during a warm winter day, while they can dip below that same level during afternoon showers and thunderstorms in the summer. Occasional cold fronts during the winter months can drop the daily temperature by 3 to 5 °C (5.4 to 9.0 °F), though temperatures rarely drop below 10 °C (50 °F). Extreme temperatures ranged from −0.2 °C (31.6 °F) on 13 February 1901 to 39.7 °C (103.5 °F) on 24 July 2020, while snow has never been recorded in the city besides on mountains located within the city limit such as Yangmingshan. Due to Taiwan's location in the Pacific Ocean, it is affected by the Pacific typhoon season, which occurs between June and October. Air quality In comparison to other Asian cities, Taipei has "excellent" capabilities for managing air quality in the city. Its rainy climate, location near the coast, and strong environmental regulations have prevented air pollution from becoming a substantial health issue, at least compared to cities in southeast Asia and industrial China. However, smog is extremely common and there is poor visibility throughout the city after rainless days. Motor vehicle engine exhaust, particularly from motor scooters, is a source of air pollution in Taipei. There are higher levels of fine particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in the mornings because of less air movement; sunlight reduces some pollution. Cityscape Demographics While Taipei City is home to 2,524,393 people (2022), the greater metropolitan area has a population of 7,047,559 people. Even though the population of the city has been decreasing in recent years, the population of adjacent New Taipei has been increasing. The population loss, while rapid in its early years, was slowed by lower density development and campaigns designed to increase the birthrate in the city in the 2010s. As a result, the population rose 2010-2015.Due to Taipei's geography and location in the Taipei Basin as well as differing times of settlement and differing degrees of economic development of its districts, Taipei's population is not evenly distributed. The districts of Daan, Songshan, and Datong are the most densely populated. These districts, along with adjacent communities such as Yonghe and Zhonghe, contain some of the most densely populated neighborhoods in the world.In 2008, the crude birth rate stood at 7.88%, while the mortality rate stood at 5.94%. A decreasing and rapidly aging population is an important issue for the city. By the end of 2009, one in ten people in Taipei was over 65 years of age. Residents who had obtained a college education or higher accounted for 43.48% of the population, and the literacy rate stood at 99.18%.Like the rest of Taiwan, Taipei is composed of four major ethnic subgroups: Hoklos, Waishengren, Hakkas, and aborigines. Although Hoklos and Waishengren form the majority of the population of the city, in recent decades many Hakkas have moved into the city. The aboriginal population in the city stands at 16,713 at the end of 2018 (<1%), concentrated mostly in the suburban districts. Foreigners (mainly from Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan) numbered 71,858 at the end of 2022. Economy As Taiwan's business, financial, and technology hub, Taipei has been at the center of rapid economic development in the country and has now become one of the global cities in technology and electronics. This development is part of the so-called Taiwan Miracle which has seen dramatic growth in the city following foreign direct investment in the 1960s. Taiwan is now a creditor economy, holding one of the world's largest foreign exchange reserves of over US$403 billion as of December 2012.Despite the Asian financial crisis, the economy continues to expand at about 5% per year, with virtually full employment and low inflation. The city's GDP stand at US$327 billion in 2014. As of 2013, the nominal GDP per capita in Taipei city is 5th highest in East Asia, behind Tokyo, Singapore, Osaka, and Hong Kong, but ahead of Seoul, as well as London and Paris, according to The Economist. GDP per capita based on Purchasing Power Parity (PPP) in Taipei in 2015 was US$44,173, behind that of Singapore (US$90,151 in 2016 from the IMF) and Hong Kong (US$58,322 in 2016 from the IMF; also based on PPP). The Financial Times ranked Taipei highly in economic potential (2nd, behind Tokyo) and business friendliness (4th) in 2015. The city is home to 30 billionaires, the 16th most in the world, ahead of many global cities such as Los Angeles and Sydney. Business Insider also ranks Taipei the 5th most high-tech city globally, the highest in Asia, in 2017. While the IESE Cities in Motion Index 2017 ranks Taipei as the smartest technology city globally.Taipei's main development fields include the information and communications technology (hardware and software), biotechnology, general merchandizing (wholesale/retail), financial services, and MICE industries. Most of the country's major firms are based there including Acer Computers, Asus, CTBC Bank, Fubon Financial Holding, Tatung Company, D-Link, and others. 5 Global Fortune 500 companies are headquartered in Taipei. The city also attracts many multi-national corporations, international financial institutions, foreign consulates, and business organizations to set up base there. Thus, Taipei has nearly 3,500 registered foreign businesses and attracts over 50% of the total foreign investment in Taiwan. Foreign companies with offices or regional headquarters in Taipei include Google, Microsoft, IBM, Intel, HSBC, Citibank, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, JP Morgan, PwC, and many others. Most financial and foreign firms like to reside in the central business district of Taipei, the Xinyi Special District. With Citi, JP Morgan, DBS Bank, Cathay Life Insurance, Shin Kong Commercial Bank, Hua Nan Bank, and soon Fubon Financial and Nan Shan Life Insurance all establishing skyscrapers in the area. Meanwhile, technology and electronics companies are often co-located in the Neihu Technology Park or the Nankang Software Park. The startup and innovation scene in Taipei is also very vibrant. In 2018 alone, Microsoft announced plans to invest US$34 million to create an artificial intelligence R&D center in Taipei, while Google announced it will hire 300 people and train 5,000 more in artificial intelligence for machines. Taipei is Google's biggest engineering site in Asia. IBM also announced in 2018 that it will develop a cloud research lab and expand its R&D center in Taipei with eyes on artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, and cloud computing. According to the 2016 Global Entrepreneurship Development Index, Taipei's entrepreneurial spirit ranks 6th worldwide and 1st in Asia. Taipei has more than 400 startups and numerous incubation centers, accelerators, venture capitals, and angel investors. The city's startup ecosystem is valued at US$580 million by Startup Genome in 2018.Tourism is a small but significant component of the local economy with international visitors totaling almost 3 million in 2008. Taipei has many top tourist attractions and contributes a significant amount to the US$6.8 billion tourism industry in Taiwan. Culture Tourism Tourism is a major part of Taipei's economy. In 2013, over 6.3 million overseas visitors visited Taipei, making the city the 15th most visited globally. The influx of visitors contributed US$10.8 billion to the city's economy in 2013, the 9th highest in the world and the most of any city in the Chinese-speaking world. Commemorative sites and museums The Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall is a monument and tourist attraction that was erected in memory of Chiang Kai-shek, former President of Taiwan. The structure stands at the east end of Memorial Hall Square, site of the National Concert Hall and National Theater and their adjacent parks as well as the memorial. The landmarks of Liberty Square stand within sight of Taiwan's Presidential Office Building in Taipei's Zhongzheng District. The National Taiwan Museum sits nearby in what is now 228 Peace Memorial Park and has worn its present name since 1999. The museum is Taiwan's oldest, founded on 24 October 1908 by Taiwan's Japanese colonial government (1895–1945) as the Taiwan Governor's Museum. It was launched with a collection of 10,000 items to celebrate the opening of the island's North-South Railway. In 1915 a new museum building opened its doors in what is now 228 Peace Memorial Park. This structure and the adjacent governor's office (now Presidential Office Building), served as the two most recognizable public buildings in Taiwan during its period of Japanese rule. The National Palace Museum is a vast art gallery and museum built around a permanent collection centered on ancient Chinese artifacts. It should not be confused with the Palace Museum in Beijing (which it is named after); both institutions trace their origins to the same institution. The collections were divided in the 1940s as a result of the Chinese Civil War. The National Palace Museum in Taipei now boasts a truly international collection while housing one of the world's largest collections of artifacts from ancient China.The Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines stands just 200 m (660 ft) across the road from the National Palace Museum. The museum offers displays of art and historical items by Taiwanese aborigines along with a range of multimedia displays. The Taipei Fine Arts Museum was established in 1983 as the first museum in Taiwan dedicated to modern art. The museum is housed in a building designed for the purpose that takes inspiration from Japanese designs. Most art in the collection is by Taiwanese artists since 1940. Over 3,000 art works are organized into 13 groups. The National Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall near Taipei 101 in Xinyi District is named in honor of a founding father of the Republic of China, Sun Yat-sen. The hall, completed on 16 May 1972, originally featured exhibits that depicted revolutionary events in the Republican period of China. Today it functions as multi-purpose social, educational, concert and cultural center for Taiwan's citizens. In 2001 a new museum opened as Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei. The museum is housed in a building that formerly housed Taipei City government offices. Taipei 101 Taipei 101 is a 101-floor landmark skyscraper that claimed the title of world's tallest building when it opened in 2004, a title it held for six years before the Burj Khalifa in Dubai was completed. Designed by C.Y. Lee & Partners and constructed by KTRT Joint Venture, Taipei 101 measures 509.2 m (1,671 ft) from ground to top, making it the first skyscraper in the world to break the half-kilometer mark in height. Built to withstand typhoon winds and earthquake tremors, its design incorporates many engineering innovations and has won numerous international awards. Today, the Taipei 101 remains one of the tallest skyscrapers in the world and holds LEED's certification as the world's largest "green" building. Its shopping mall and its indoor and outdoor observatories draws visitors from all over the world. Taipei 101's New Year's Eve fireworks display is a regular feature of international broadcasts. Performing arts The National Theater and Concert Hall stand at Taipei's Liberty Square and host events by foreign and domestic performers. Other leading concert venues include Zhongshan Hall at Ximending and the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall near Taipei 101. A new venue, the Taipei Performing Arts Center, is under construction and slated to open in 2015. The venue will stand near the Shilin Night Market and will house three theaters for events with multi-week runs. The architectural design, by Rem Koolhaas and OMA, was determined in 2009 in an international competition. The same design process is also in place for a new Taipei Center for Popular Music and Taipei City Museum. Shopping and recreation Taipei is known for its many night markets, the most famous of which is the Shilin Night Market in the Shilin District. The surrounding streets by Shilin Night Market are extremely crowded during the evening, usually opening late afternoon and operating well past midnight. Most night markets feature individual stalls selling a mixture of food, clothing, and consumer goods. Ximending has been a famous area for shopping and entertainment since the 1930s. Historic structures include a concert hall, a historic cinema, and the Red House Theater. Modern structures house karaoke businesses, art film cinemas, wide-release movie cinemas, electronic stores, and a wide variety of restaurants and fashion clothing stores. The pedestrian area is especially popular with teens and has been called the "Harajuku" of Taipei.The newly developed Xinyi District is popular with tourists and locals alike for its many entertainment and shopping venues, as well as being the home of Taipei 101, a prime tourist attraction. Malls in the area include the sprawling Shin Kong Mitsukoshi complex, Breeze Center, Bellavita, Taipei 101 mall, Eslite Bookstore's flagship store (which includes a boutique mall), The Living Mall, ATT shopping mall, and the Vieshow Cinemas (formerly known as Warner Village). The Xinyi district also serves as the center of Taipei's active nightlife, with several popular lounge bars and nightclubs concentrated in a relatively small area around the Neo19, ATT 4 FUN and Taipei 101 buildings. Lounge bars such as Barcode and nightclubs such as Spark and Myst are among the most-visited places here. The thriving shopping area around Taipei Main Station includes the Taipei Underground Market and the original Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store at Shin Kong Life Tower. Other popular shopping destinations include the Zhongshan Metro Mall, Dihua Street and the Guang Hua Digital Plaza. The Miramar Entertainment Park is known for its large Ferris wheel and IMAX theater. Taipei maintains an extensive system of parks, green spaces, and nature preserves. Parks and forestry areas of note in and around the city include Yangmingshan National Park, Taipei Zoo and Da-an Forest Park. Located 10 km (6.2 mi) north of the city center, Yangmingshan National Park is famous for its cherry blossoms, hot springs, and sulfur deposits. It is the home of famous writer Lin Yutang, the summer residence of Chiang Kai-shek, residences of foreign diplomats, the Chinese Culture University, the meeting place of the now defunct National Assembly of the Republic of China, and the Kuomintang Party Archives. The Taipei Zoo was founded in 1914 and covers an area of 165 hectares for animal sanctuary. Bitan is known for boating and water sports. Tamsui is a popular sea-side resort town. Ocean beaches are accessible in several directions from Taipei. Temples Taipei has a variety of temples dedicating to Deities from Chinese folk religion, Taoism and Chinese Buddhism. The Bangka Lungshan Temple (艋舺龍山寺), built in 1738 and located in the Wanhua District, demonstrates an example of architecture with southern Chinese influences commonly seen on older buildings in Taiwan. Qingshui Temple (艋舺清水巖) built in 1787 and Qingshan Temple (艋舺青山宮) together with Lungshan Temple are the three most prominent landmark temples in Bangka or Wanhua District. There are other famous temples include Baoan Temple (大龍峒保安宮) located in historic Dalongdong, a national historical site, and Xia Hai City God Temple (大稻埕霞海城隍廟), located in the old Dadaocheng community, constructed with architecture similar to temples in southern Fujian. The Taipei Confucius Temple (臺北孔子廟) traces its history back to 1879 during the Qing Dynasty and also incorporates southern Fujian-style architecture. Ciyou Temple (松山慈祐宮) in Songshan District, Guandu Temple (關渡宮) in Beitou District, Hsing Tian Kong (行天宮) in Zhongshan District and Zhinan Temple (指南宮) in Wenshan District are also popular temples for locals and tourists. Xinsheng South Road is known as the "Road to Heaven" due to its high concentration of temples, churches, and other houses of worship.The Shandao Temple (善導寺) built in 1929 and located in Zhongzheng District, is the largest Buddhist temple in Taipei. Fo Guang Shan has a modern temple known as Fo Guang Shan Taipei Vihara (佛光山臺北道場) in Xinyi District, while Dharma Drum Mountain owns the Degui Academy (德貴學苑), an education center in Zhongzheng District and the Nung Chan Monastery (農禪寺) in Beitou District. Linji Huguo Chan Temple (臨濟護國禪寺) in Zhongshan District was commenced in 1900 and completed in 1911, it is one of the very few Japanese style Buddhist Temples that was well-preserved in Taiwan. Besides large temples, small outdoor shrines to local deities are very common and are commonly found next to roads as well as in parks and neighborhoods. Many homes and businesses may also set up small shrines of candles, figurines, and offerings. Some restaurants, for example, may set up a small shrine to the Kitchen God for success in a restaurant business. Festivals and events Many yearly festivals are held in Taipei. In recent years some festivals, such as the Double Ten Day fireworks and concerts, are increasingly hosted on a rotating basis by a number of cities around Taiwan. When New Year's Eve arrives on the solar calendar, thousands of people converge on Taipei's Xinyi District for parades, outdoor concerts by popular artists, street shows, round-the clock nightlife. The high point is the countdown to midnight, when Taipei 101 assumes the role of the world's largest fireworks platform.The Taipei Lantern Festival concludes the Lunar New Year holiday. The timing of the city's lantern exhibit coincides with the national festival in Pingxi, when thousands of fire lanterns are released into the sky. The city's lantern exhibit rotates among different downtown locales from year to year, including Liberty Square, Taipei 101, and Zhongshan Hall in Ximending. On Double Ten Day, patriotic celebrations are held in front of the Presidential Office Building. Other annual festivals include Ancestors Day (Tomb-Sweeping Day), the Dragon Boat Festival, the Zhong Yuan Festival, and the Mid-Autumn Festival (Mooncake Festival). Qing Shan King Sacrificial Ceremony (青山王祭) is a century-old grand festival that is held annually in Wanhua District. Taipei regularly hosts its share of international events. The city recently hosted the 2009 Summer Deaflympics. This event was followed by the Taipei International Flora Exposition, a garden festival hosted from November 2010 to April 2011. The Floral Expo was the first of its kind to take place in Taiwan and only the seventh hosted in Asia; the expo admitted 110,000 visitors on 27 February 2011. Taipei in films Note: The list below is not a complete list, they are examples of more notable movies filmed in the city. Government Taipei City is a special municipality which is directly under the Executive Yuan (Central Government). The mayor of Taipei City was an appointed position since Taipei's conversion to a centrally administered municipality in 1967 until the first public election was held in 1994. The position has a four-year term and is elected by direct popular vote. The first elected mayor was Chen Shui-bian of the Democratic Progressive Party. Ma Ying-jeou took office in 1998 for two terms, before handing it over to Hau Lung-pin who won the 2006 mayoral election on 9 December 2006. Both Chen Shui-bian and Ma Ying-Jeou went on to become President of the Republic of China. The incumbent mayor, Chiang Wan-an of Kuomintang, took office on 25 December 2022. Based on the outcomes of previous elections in the past decade, the vote of the overall constituency of Taipei City shows a slight inclination towards the pro-KMT camp (the Pan-Blue Coalition); however, the pro-DPP camp (the Pan-Green Coalition) also has considerable support.Ketagalan Boulevard, where the Presidential Office Building and other government structures are situated, is often the site of mass gatherings such as inauguration and national holiday parades, receptions for visiting dignitaries, political demonstrations, and public festivals. Garbage recycling Taipei City is also famous for its effort in garbage recycling, which has become such a good international precedent that other countries have sent teams to study the recycling system. After the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) established a program in 1998 combining the efforts of communities, a financial resource named the Recycling Fund was made available to recycling companies and waste collectors. The EPA also introduced garbage recycling trucks, in effort to raise community recycling awareness, that broadcast classical music (specifically Beethoven's "Für Elise" and Tekla Bądarzewska-Baranowska's "A Maiden's Prayer") to announce its arrival to the community. Manufacturers, vendors and importers of recyclable waste pay fees to the Fund, which uses the money to set firm prices for recyclables and subsidize local recycling efforts. Between 1998 and 2008, the recycling rate increased from 6 percent to 32 percent. This improvement enabled the government of Taipei to demonstrate its recycling system to the world at the Shanghai World Expo 2010. Administrative divisions Taipei City is divided up into 12 administrative districts (區; qū). Each district is further divided up into urban villages (里), which are further sub-divided up into neighborhoods (鄰). Xinyi District is the seat of the municipality where the Taipei City Government headquarters is located. City planning The city is characterized by straight roads and public buildings of grand Western architectural styles. The city is built on a square grid configuration; however, these blocks are huge by international standards with 500 m (1,640.42 ft) sides. The area in between these blocks is infilled with lanes and alleys, which provide access to quieter residential or mixed-use development. Other than a citywide 30 km/h (19 mph) speed limit, there is little uniform planning within this "hidden" area; therefore, lanes (perpendicular to streets) and alleys (parallel with streets, or, conceptually, perpendicular to lanes) spill out from the main controlled-access highways. These minor roads are not always perpendicular and sometimes cut through the block diagonally. Although development began in the western districts of the city (still considered the cultural heart of Taipei) due to trade, the eastern districts have become the focus of recent development projects. Many of the western districts have become targets of urban renewal initiatives. Transportation Public transport accounts for a substantial portion of different modes of transport in Taiwan, with Taipei residents having the highest utilization rate at 34.1%. Private transport consists of motor scooters, private cars, taxi cabs, and bicycles. Motor-scooters often weave between cars and occasionally through oncoming traffic. Respect for traffic laws, once scant, has improved with deployment of traffic cameras and increasing numbers of police roadblocks checking riders for alcohol consumption and other offenses. Taipei Main Station serves as the comprehensive hub for the subway, bus, conventional rail, and high-speed rail. A contactless smartcard, known as EasyCard, can be used for all modes of public transit as well as several retail outlets. It contains credits that are deducted each time a ride is taken. The EasyCard is read via MIFARE panels on buses and in MRT stations, and it does not need to be removed from one's wallet or purse. Metro Taipei's public transport system, the Taipei Metro (commonly referred to as the MRT), incorporates a metro and light rail system based on advanced VAL and Bombardier technology. There are currently six metro lines that are organized and labeled in three ways: by color, line number and depot station name. In addition to the rapid transit system itself, the Taipei Metro also includes several public facilities such as the Maokong Gondola, underground shopping malls, parks, and public squares. Modifications to existing railway lines to integrate them into the metro system are underway. In 2017 a rapid transit line was opened to connect Taipei with Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and Zhongli District. The new line is part of the new Taoyuan Metro system. On 31 January 2020, Hitachi Rail Corporation officially commissioned Phase 1 of the Circular line which took place at Shisizhang station. The Circular line is a 15.4 km driverless rail system. The Circular line offered free rides beginning in February 2020 for passengers to test the route. Rail Beginning in 1983, surface rail lines in the city were moved underground as part of the Taipei Railway Underground Project. The Taiwan High Speed Rail system opened in 2007. The bullet trains connect Taipei with the west coast cities of New Taipei, Taoyuan, Hsinchu, Taichung, Chiayi, and Tainan before terminating at Zuoying (Kaohsiung) at speeds that cut travel times by 60% or more from what they normally are on a bus or conventional train. The Taiwan Railways Administration also runs passenger and freight services throughout the entire island. Bus An extensive city bus system serves metropolitan areas not covered by the metro, with exclusive bus lanes to facilitate transportation. Riders of the city metro system are able to use the EasyCard for discounted fares on buses, and vice versa. A unique feature of the Taipei bus system is the joint venture of private transportation companies that operate the system's routes while sharing the fare system. This route is in sharp contrast to bus systems in the U.S. which are mostly public entities. Several major intercity bus terminals are located throughout the city, including the Taipei Bus Station and Taipei City Hall Bus Station. Airports Most scheduled international flights are served by Taoyuan International Airport in nearby Taoyuan City. Taipei Songshan Airport, at the heart of the city in the Songshan District, serves domestic flights and scheduled flights to Haneda Airport in Tokyo, Gimpo International Airport in Seoul, and about 15 destinations in the People's Republic of China. Songshan Airport is accessible by the Taipei Metro Neihu Line; Taoyuan International Airport is accessible by the Taoyuan Airport MRT. Ticketing In 1994, following the rapid development of Taipei, a white paper for transport policies expressed the strong objective of creating a transport system for the people of Taipei to accommodate the burgeoning city's needs. In 1999, they chose Mitac consortium, which Thales-Transportation Systems is part of. Thales was then selected again in 2005 to deploy an upgrade of Taipei's public transport network with an end-to-end and fully contactless automatic fare collection solution that integrates 116 metro stations, 5,000 buses and 92 car parks. Education Taipei is home to the campuses of 24 universities and Academia Sinica, Taiwan's national academy which supports the Taiwan International Graduate Program: National Taiwan University (NTU or Tai-Da) was established in 1928 during the period of Japanese colonial rule. NTU has produced many political and social leaders in Taiwan. Both pan-blue and pan-green movements in Taiwan are rooted on the NTU campus. The university has six campuses in the greater Taipei region (including New Taipei) and two additional campuses in Nantou County. The university governs farms, forests, and hospitals for educational and research purposes. The main campus is in Taipei's Da-An district, where most department buildings and all the administrative buildings are located. The College of Law and the College of Medicine are located near the Presidential Office Building. The National Taiwan University Hospital is a leading international center of medical research.National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU or Shi-Da) likewise traces its origins to the Japanese colonial period. Founded as Taihoku College in 1922 and organized as a teacher training institution by the Kuomintang in 1946, NTNU has since developed into a comprehensive international university. The university boasts especially strong programs in the humanities and international education. Worldwide it is perhaps best known as home of the Mandarin Training Center, a program that offers Mandarin language training each year to over a thousand students from scores of countries throughout the world. The main campus, in Taipei's Daan district near MRT Guting Station, is known for its historic architecture. The Shida market area surrounding this campus takes its name from the school's acronym. Sports Taiwan's Chinese Professional Baseball League has a professional baseball team, Wei Chuan Dragons, based in Taipei.Taipei also has two professional basketball teams, the TaiwanBeer HeroBears of the T1 League and the Taipei Fubon Braves of the P. League+. Major sporting events Below is a selected list of recent sporting events hosted by the city: 2004 FIFA Futsal World Championship 2006 Women's Baseball World Cup 2007 Baseball World Cup 2009 Asian Judo Championships 2009 Summer Deaflympics 2013 Badminton Asia Championships 2015 WBSC Premier12 2016 IIHF Women's Challenge Cup of Asia Division I 2017 Summer Universiade 2019 Asian Men's Club Volleyball Championship 2022 U-23 Baseball World Cup (co-hosted with Taichung and Yunlin) 2023 Asian Men's Volleyball Challenge Cup 2023 IKF World Korfball Championship 2023 U-18 Baseball World Cup (Co-hosted with Taichung) 2024 World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2025 Summer World Masters Games (co-host with New Taipei City) Taipei Marathon (annual): The marathon is one of the two World Athletics Label Road Races in Taiwan, being categorized as an Elite Label Road Race. The other race is the New Taipei City Wan Jin Shi Marathon, categorized as a Gold Label Road Race.The Taipei Arena is located at the site of the former Taipei Municipal Baseball Stadium (demolished in 2000), with a capacity of over 15,000. It was opened on 1 December 2005 and has since held more art and cultural activities (such as live concerts) than sporting events, which it was originally designed for. The Chinese Taipei Ice Hockey League plays out of the auxiliary arena. Taipei Dome and Tianmu Baseball Stadium are the major baseball venues in Taipei. The Taipei Dome, which has the capacity to house 40,071 seats, is estimated to finish construction by the end of 2023.Taipei Municipal Stadium is a multipurpose stadium that hosts football and track and field events, as well as concerts, both live and prerecorded. Originally built in 1956, it was demolished and reconstructed in 2009. Youth baseball In 2010, a Taipei baseball team—Chung-Ching Junior Little League—won the Junior League World Series. The achievement came after winning the Asia-Pacific Region, then defeating the Mexico Region and Latin America Region champions to become the International champion, and finally defeating the U.S. champion (Southwest Region), Rose Capital East LL (Tyler, Texas), 9–1. Taiwan's Little League World Series international team has won 17 championships, the most wins in the league. Media As the capital, Taipei City is the headquarters for many television and radio stations in Taiwan and the center of some of the country's largest newspapers. Television Television stations located in Taipei include the CTS Education and Culture, CTS Recreation, CTV MyLife, CTV News Channel, China Television, Chinese Television System, Chung T'ien Television, Dimo TV, Eastern Television, Era Television, FTV News, Follow Me TV, Formosa TV, Gala Television, Public Television Service, SET Metro, SET News, SET Taiwan, Sanlih E-Television, Shuang Xing, TTV Family, TTV Finance, TTV World, TVBS, TVBS-G, TVBS-NEWS, Taiwan Broadcasting System, Videoland Television Network and Taiwan Television. Newspapers Newspapers include Apple Daily, Central Daily News, The China Post, China Times, DigiTimes, Kinmen Daily News, Liberty Times, Mandarin Daily News, Matsu Daily, Min Sheng Bao, Sharp Daily, Taipei Times, Taiwan Daily, Taiwan News, Taiwan Times and United Daily News. International relations Taipei is a member of the Asian Network of Major Cities 21. Twin towns and sister cities Taipei is twinned with: United States Outside United States Partner cities Anchorage, AK, United States (1997) Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan (2006) Wellington, New Zealand (2015) Friendship cities Perth, Western Australia, Australia (1999) Gyeonggi-do, South Korea (2000) Orange County, CA, United States (2000) George Town, Penang, Malaysia (2009) Helsinki, Finland (2012) In popular culture Taipei's name is used in a professional wrestling match named the "Taipei Deathmatch" in which the wrestlers' fists are taped and dipped into glue and in broken and crushed glass, allowing shards to stick to their fists. This match can be won by pinfall, submission or escape. Writer Tao Lin's 2013 novel is titled Taipei and takes place in both New York City and Taipei, where the protagonist Paul's parents were born and live. In the novel, the character named Paul gets married and then visits Taipei with his new wife. They take MDMA and LSD and film a mock documentary on "Taiwan's first McDonald's." The novel was made into a movie titled High Resolution, starring Justin Chon and Ellie Bamber. Gallery See also Taipei-Keelung Metropolitan Area List of districts of Taipei by area List of districts of Taipei by population List of districts of Taipei by population density List of schools in Taipei Taipei Community Services Center (offers support services to the international community) Words in native languages Other Further reading Li, Jie; Xingjian Liu; Jianzheng Liu; Weifeng Li (June 2016). "City profile: Taipei". Cities. 55: 1–8. doi:10.1016/j.cities.2016.03.007. Official website Taipei City Council Geographic data related to Taipei at OpenStreetMap

Masashi Tashiro (田代 まさし, Tashiro Masashi, real name pronounced the same, but written as 田代 政) (born August 31, 1956) is a Japanese former television performer and a founding member of the band Rats & Star. Tashiro was a tenor singer for Rats & Star and later made a name for himself as a TV entertainer in Japan. He also directed a movie after his band broke up. His arrest for filming up women's skirts in September 2000 marked the beginning of Tashiro's troubles with the law. Early life Masashi Tashiro was born on August 31, 1956, in Saga Prefecture. His father, the manager of a cabaret chain, ran off with another woman. His parents subsequently divorced and he was raised by his mother alone. In 1961, when Tashiro was six years old, he and his mother moved to Tokyo and he enrolled in a missionary kindergarten. In 1963, he enrolled in Toyama Elementary School in Shinjuku. At the age of thirteen, while a student at Okubo Junior High School, his mother remarried and he chose to enroll in a higher grade at a private high school and live with his father so as not to be financially dependent on his mother's new husband. In 1972, after graduating from Nakase Junior High School in March of that year, he entered Shibaura Institute of Technology Senior High School to study mechanical engineering. At Shibaura he met Masayuki Suzuki. They later formed the band Chanels. Tashiro and Suzuki were considered juvenile delinquents at the time. He was allegedly involved in fights, motorcycle gang problems, partying at a disco, and going girl-hunting every day during his time in high school. He was arrested by the police for assault. He met his present wife at the end of his junior year in high school (however, he and his wife are now separated due to his various scandals and arrests). In March 1975, he graduated from Shibaura Institute of Technology Senior High School. It was around this time that he started driving. His first car was a Sunny. His subsequent cars were a Gloria, a Camaro, a Ford, a Prelude, and a Mercedes-Benz. It had become an obsession of his. After graduating from Shibaura Institute of Technology Senior High School in March 1975, Masayuki Suzuki formed the Japanese doo-wop band The Chanels with Tashiro, Nobuyoshi Kuwano and others that same year. Tashiro sang baritone, Suzuki was the lead singer, and Kuwano was the trumpet player. In June 1975, Tashiro ran away from home after getting into a big fight with his father. He was later taken in by Chanels member Hiroyuki Kuboki and worked as a clerk at the same gas station. He lived in the company dormitory for two years. He then became a truck driver after being hired by the president of a trucking company that was a customer of Tashiro's gas station in 1978. Although he had already formed the band, he reportedly continued to work as a truck driver because he thought that "the entertainment world is scary". Entertainment career The Chanels and Rats and Star The Chanels were formed in 1975, and began performing as an amateur band in 1976. They came in first place on a Japanese television program called Ginza Now (ギンザNOW) and won a prize in a music contest sponsored by Yamaha. Tashiro made his debut as a member of the group in 1980 and they came to be widely known for adopting a rhythm and blues style. The four main singers, including Tashiro, wore blackface using shoe polish and they became famous and popular. Their first single, "Runaway" sold more than 1 million copies. Their May 1981's single "Hurricane" was covered by Puffy AmiYumi in 2001. In 1983, the group changed their name to Rats & Star because of the similarly named French fashion brand Chanel. The band practically dissolved in 1986 because the leader Suzuki launched a solo single, "The Summer Disappeared Over the Glass" (ガラス越しに消えた夏, Garasu goshi ni kieta natsu). Tashiro, appeared on TV music shows like The Best Ten (ザ・ベストテン) and worked as a lyricist for singer and actress Kyōko Koizumi, gaining enough popularity in Japan that he released an LP, The Legend of Niijima (新島の伝説, Niijima no densetsu) as a solo artist. In March 1996, Rats & Star's members got together for six months and covered Eiichi Ohtaki's song "If I Could Meet You in a Dream" (夢で逢えたら, Yume de Aetara) in April of that year. The song was a big hit and they appeared on NHK's Kōhaku Uta Gassen on New Year's Eve that year. Comedian After Rats & Star broke up, Tashiro's comedic talent was discovered by Ken Shimura, a member of the comedic group The Drifters, and he became a television comedian. Here he gained the nicknames "King of pun" (ダジャレの帝王, Dajare no Teiō) and "Genius of props" (小道具の天才, Kodōgu no Tensai). On July 10, 1988, he opened a tarento shop, called "Marcy's" (マーシーズ) after his nickname, in Takeshita Street, Shibuya, Tokyo. Tashiro appeared in many television commercials, hosted many television programs, wrote an autobiography and a book on puns, directed a movie and starred as the main character in the Famicom/MSX2 action game Tashiro Masashi no Princess ga Ippai, released in Japan on October 27, 1989. The video game was not successful at the time it was published. However, after his later scandals and arrests, it started to fetch very high prices on Internet auctions like Yahoo!. Tashiro also appeared as a film actor in Shizuka Ijuin's film Crêpe in October 1993. He co-starred with actress Kaho Minami. Controversies Voyeurism On September 24, 2000, Tashiro was sent to the prosecutor's office for filming up a woman's skirt with a camcorder in Tōkyū Tōyoko Line Toritsu-Daigaku Station in Meguro, Tokyo. When asked why he had done it at a news conference on October 4 of the same year, he claimed that he had been producing a comedy film called Mini ni tako ga dekiru (ミニにタコができる), a pun on the similar Japanese pronunciations for "mini" (ミニ, miniskirt) and "mimi" (耳, ear) and the two meanings of "tako" (callus and octopus) based on the Japanese saying "mimi ni tako ga dekiru" (耳にタコができる, literally "I have a callus in my ear [from hearing something so often]"). The "mini ni tako" remark became infamous in the Japanese news media.In December 2000, Tashiro was fined 50,000 yen (about US$430) for the voyeurism. He was barred from working in the entertainment industry temporarily by his entertainment agency, MTM Productions, and his comment was "I wish miniskirts were obliterated from the Earth." While he was barred, Tashiro did volunteer work such as carrying the wash and serving meals in a nursing home 3 days a week. On June 28, 2001, he announced his return to the entertainment world by saying, "Please take care of Masashi Tashiro again." (もう1度だけ田代まさしを、よろしくお願い致します)In July 2001, Tashiro appeared as a guest on television programs such as Downtown DX, Guruguru Ninety-Nine (ぐるぐるナインティナイン) and Mecha-Mecha Iketeru!. He also returned as part of the regular cast in "Shimura Ken no Bakatono-sama" (志村けんのバカ殿様). To become a regular in another program, "Hamada Company Dangan! Heroes" (HAMADA COMPANY 弾丸!ヒーローズ), he was challenged to travel from Tokyo to Okinawa without being discovered by anyone. He lost the contest when he was found out in Kyoto and 100 pictures of him were taken, but the public liked his stunt and his popularity soared back. On July 6, 2015, Tashiro was sent to the prosecutor's office for filming up a woman's skirt with his mobile phone in Tōkyū Den-en-toshi Line Futako-Tamagawa Station in Setagaya, Tokyo.Tashiro once hosted a combative sport program, Fuji Television's SRS, with actress Norika Fujiwara. It was later found out that he was warned many times by the staff, who became irritated with his habit of sneaking into the ladies' bathroom (possibly with camera equipment) and not emerging again for hours afterwards. Additionally, it was revealed that Fujiwara and other female television stars changed their clothes in the ladies' toilet during the time Tashiro was hiding inside. The staff associated with the show were suspicious that Tashiro did set up a small, transmitting camera in the toilet room. Drug use First trial On December 9, 2001, Tashiro was arrested for peeping through the bathroom window of a man's house near his home in Kita-senzoku, Ōta, Tokyo by Den-en-chōfu police. According to the police, the 32-year-old man spotted Tashiro and ran after him for 300 meters wearing only a bath towel around his waist, eventually catching him and delivering him to the station. An eyewitness reported that Tashiro put on a cap like a ski cap, spoke loudly "Forgive me" (許してくれ, yurushitekure) and "It was a misunderstanding" (勘違いだ, kanchigai da) when he was caught, and that there was a camcorder in the vicinity of the scene recording. He was released on bail without punishment.However, Tashiro was arrested for possession and use of amphetamine on December 12, 2001. Seven police detectives carried out a home search in Tashiro's house as a corroborative investigation into the peeping incident and discovered a bag containing 0.4 ~ 0.9g of speed. Tashiro stated that, "I bought it", but how he used it was unknown because a syringe used to inject drugs was not discovered in the home search. He was detained as a suspect at the police station after his arrest until February 1 of the next year. As a result, he was dismissed by MTM Production on the same day because of the repeated scandals. On December 28, 2001, Tashiro was prosecuted for violation of the Stimulant Drugs Control Law. He testified that, "I used drugs to get rid of stress and tension before appearing on a TV program" for the investigation by the Tokyo District Prosecution Office. He also said, "I lived confined to the house and I began to worry. From about this April, I used it once every few days". According to an indictment, he warmed amphetamine over a fire and absorbed it in his home's video room. His first trial for drug use and other crimes was in Tokyo District Court on February 1, 2002. Judgement was given on the case in the same court on February 8, 2002, where he was found guilty. He was given a three years suspended sentence of two years imprisonment.In spring 2002, Tashiro returned to the entertainment world as director of V-Cinema series such as The Way of the Whales (鯨道, kujira-michi). In 2003 he made a recorded guest appearance in TBS's Sunday Japon (サンデージャポン, sandē japon) on New Year's Eve. This is his last public appearance in a television program to date. Second trial After 10 p.m. on September 20, 2004, Tashiro was arrested for violation of the Firearms and Swords Control Law in a street in Nakano because he had a butterfly knife with a blade 8 centimeters long. He shared his car on the street with a female acquaintance then and the police questioned them. After the investigation, it was learned that he had about 2g of amphetamines and about 4g of marijuana in a rucksack. As a result, he was arrested on the evening of the next day because a woman with him said "This rucksack is his" and he admitted it. After this incident, former Rats & Star member Masayuki Suzuki apologized for Tashiro's crimes in his place. Tashiro stated that the pressure of stardom contributed to his addiction to drugs. Following this arrest, Tashiro was harshly criticized by many of his former co-workers, who said: We want him to get out from the entertainment world because what he did was despicable The damned fool! I'd like to slap him! I don't want to be associated with such a man. Tashiro was virtually retired from the entertainment world and was treated like he never existed. From here on, the media would refer to him as the "former entertainer", and all the recordings and pictures taken when he was a Chanels/Rats & Star member were almost never broadcast anymore, and if they were, Tashiro's voice would be lowered to a hush or removed entirely, and no part of his body would be shown. Newspapers and magazines tacitly agreed not to talk about him at all. In an episode of a comedic duo Bakusho Mondai, host Hikari Ota accidentally said his full name. In The God of Entertainment (エンタの神様, enta no kami-sama), Sayaka Aoki, while displaying only part of his name, said "I put a camera in the chest drawer", which caused a general laugh. On the other hand, the part of Ken Shimura's commemorative speech held for the DVD release of one of his programs where he said "Have you disappeared like Takafumi Horie when you were knocked-out? I wanted to release this five years ago" was not broadcast. Tashiro was arrested for possession of amphetamines on September 21, 2004. On February 7, 2005, he was sentenced to 3 years and 6 months imprisonment. On June 26, 2008, he was released from prison. Cocaine incident On September 16, 2010, Tashiro was arrested along with a 50-year-old woman in a parking lot at Red Brick Park in Yokohama for possession of cocaine. According to police he was in possession of two bags of cocaine, and admitted "It is for my own use". Tashiro said he bought cocaine from a DJ. The Yokohama District Public Prosecutors' Office indicted him on October 6, 2010.This incident outraged and disappointed his former co-workers and friends again, and many of them made comments publicly regarding this incident. His bandmate Masayuki Suzuki expressed his disappointment and frustration, stating "I have no idea what to say about this affair. I just wanted him to remember the very hard time not only his family and those around him but also that he himself has had. He really is a bonehead."Torata Nanbu, leader of Tokyo Shock Boys, one of the people who had been supporting Tashiro for the sake of his comeback, said "My heart is aching very much. I don't mean to beat him up, but he makes me feel empty inside. I wonder if the drug might be more fascinating for him than the feeling of returning to the entertainment industry," and concluded, "I cannot take any more. Regrettably, this is the end. It is no longer possible for him to restore his reputation." Tashiro had been scheduled to appear on a radio program named Tashiro Nakamura Nanbu Akua-Chan, broadcast by Rainbowtown FM, aimed at supporting his comeback, but the program was cancelled. Tashiro was released on parole on July 20, 2014. Thereafter, he began his stay at DARC Jeanne (DARC stands for Drug Addiction Rehabilitation Center. Ironically, with Masashi Tashiro being known for his puns, the name of this rehab center is also a pun on Jeanne D'Arc). He appeared at a press conference on March 18, 2015, announcing the opening of the Asagaya Loft A. 2019 arrest Tashiro was arrested again on November 6, 2019, on suspicion of drug use. Car accident There was a rumor that Tashiro would be coming back to the public screens in spring 2004. However, he once again found himself in legal trouble for causing a car accident on the Ōme road in Suginami. According to news reports, at about 1 am on June 16, 2004, he crashed into an 18-year-old vocational school student on a motorcycle after making an illegal U-turn. The victim had his left thigh broken and suffered an injury that would take 2 years to heal completely. "Person of the Year" incident In 2001, users of internet forum 2channel voted en-masse Tashiro as Time Magazine's Person of the Year. This act was soon dubbed the "Tashiro Festival" (Tashiro Matsuri, 田代祭) by 2ch users. 2channel programmers developed many scripts such as "Tashiro Cannon" (Tashiro-hō, 田代砲), "Mega particle Tashiro Cannon" (Mega-ryūshi Tashiro-hō, メガ粒子田代砲), "25 repeated blows Tashiro Cannon" (Nijū-go renda Tashiro-hō, 25連打田代砲) "Super Tashiro Cannon" (Chō Tashiro-hō, 超田代砲) to be able to vote repeatedly. "Super Tashiro cannon" was so powerful that it crashed Time's server. Afterwards, "Satellite Cannon -Tashiro-" was developed, but it was not deployed. Due to the votes of 2channel users, he got to the No. 1 position temporarily on December 21, 2001. However, Time's staff realized that something was unusual, and Tashiro was removed as a candidate. Past main programs Television Monomane Ōza Ketteisen (ものまね王座決定戦, The Mimic Champion Contest) (Fuji Television) Star Dokkiri Daisakusen (スターどっきり大作戦, Star candid great Strategy) (Fuji Television) Yūyake Nyan-Nyan (夕やけニャンニャン, Sunset Nyan Nyan) (Fuji Television) Shūkan Stamina Tengoku (週刊スタミナ天国, Weekly Stamina Heaven) (Fuji Television) Takeshi, Itsumi no Heisei Kyōiku Iinkai (たけし・逸見の平成教育委員会, Takeshi and Itsumi's Heisei Board of Education) (Fuji Television) Naruhodo! The World (なるほど!ザ・ワールド, Indeed! The World) (Fuji Television) Ken Shimura's idiotic feudal lord (志村けんのバカ殿様, Shimura Ken no baka tonosama) (Fuji Television) TV Crews Tonari no Papaya (TVクルーズ となりのパパイヤ, TV Crew next-door Papaya) (Fuji Television) Tokoro-san no Tadamono Dewa nai! (所さんのただものではない!, Mr. Tokoro's You are not ordinary!) (Fuji Television) Quiz Derby (クイズダービー) (TBS) Tokusō TV Gaburincho (特捜TVガブリンチョ, Special Investigation TV Chomp) (TV Asahi) Downtown DX (ダウンタウンDX) (NTV) Super J Channel ANN (スーパーJチャンネル ANN) (Friday, TV Asahi) Soreyuke! Marcy (それゆけ!マーシー, Let's go! Marcy, A program sponsored by a business enterprise) (MBS) Guruguru Ninety-Nine (ぐるぐるナインティナイン, guruguru naintinain) It's so cool! (めちゃ2イケてるッ!, mecha-mecha iketeruu!) Radio Tashiro Masashi no Super Gang (田代まさしのスーパーギャング, Masashi Tashiro's Super Gang) (Thurdsday, TBS Radio) – October 1986 ~ March 1987 Tashiro Masashi no Say! Young (田代まさしのセイ!ヤング, Masashi Tashiro's Say! Young) (QR) Tashiro Masashi no All Night Nippon (田代まさしのオールナイトニッポン, Masashi Tashiro's All Night Nippon) (LF) Films Ultraman Gaia: The Battle in Hyperspace (1999) Musical works See Rats & Star for works as Chanels and Rats & Star. Nījima no Densetsu (新島の伝説, The legend of Nījima) (August 27, 1986) Paradis Latin no Yoru wa Fukete (パラディラタンの夜は更けて, Late in the night of Paradis Latin) (September 21, 1987, as "Shinnosuke & Marcy") Unjarage (ウンジャラゲ) (November 2, 1988, as Ken Shimura & Masashi Tashiro and Daijōbudā family) Nettaiya (熱帯夜, Sultry night) (July 1, 1994, as Marcy & Izumi) Bāsama to Jīsama no Serenade (婆様と爺様のセレナーデ, Serenade for an old man and woman) (December 17, 1993, as Ken & Marcy) Ai ga Natsukashii (愛が懐かしい, Nostalgia for love) (March 8, 1995, as Masashi Tashiro & Kuniko Asagi) Ultra Tengu (ウルトラ☆テング, The ultra long-nosed goblin)(August 14, 2010, as Marcy & Frontier Create) Books Tashiro Masashi no Dōtoku Yomihon (田代まさしの道徳読本, , Masashi Tashiro's moral handbook) (May 1988, Kōdansha) – ISBN 4-06-103101-5 Marcy no Chōhōsoku (マーシーの超法則, , Marcy's super law) (April 1994, Magazine house) – ISBN 4-8387-0534-4 Cinema de Aishite -Eiga no Kazu hodo, Koishitai- (シネマで愛して―映画の数ほど、恋したい, , Love me in the cinema―I want to be in love almost as same as the number of films) (October 1993, Japan literary arts company) – ISBN 4-537-02384-8 Jibaku -The Judgement Day- (自爆―THE JUDGEMENT DAY, , Self-destruction or suicidal bombing) (July 2002 K2 publishing sale) – ISBN 4-434-02252-0 See also Ken Shimura Takeshi Kitano Akiko Wada Kazuhide Uekusa Sosuke Sumitani Voyeurism Members of Rats and Star era Masayuki Suzuki Nobuyoshi Kuwano Official website (in Japanese) Masashi Tashiro's official blog (in Japanese)

Li Yundi (simplified Chinese: 李云迪; traditional Chinese: 李雲迪; pinyin: Lǐ Yúndí; born 7 October 1982), also known mononymously as Yundi (stylized as YUNDI), is a Chinese pianist. He is best known for being the youngest pianist, at the age of eighteen, to win first prize at the International Chopin Piano Competition in 2000. In 2015, he also served as the competition’s youngest-ever juror. Early life and education Li was born in Chongqing, China. Both his father, Li Chuan, and his mother, Zhang Xiaolu, worked for the Chongqing Iron and Steel Company. Despite coming from a family without professional musicians, he began having formal music education at a very young age. At age three, he was so enchanted by an accordion performance at a shopping mall that he refused to leave. His parents then bought him an accordion. Studying with Tan Jianmin, a local music teacher, he mastered the instrument so quickly that he won the top prize at the Chongqing Children's Accordion Competition in March 1987.Li began studying piano with Wu Yong at the age of seven. Two years later, Mr Wu introduced him to Dan Zhaoyi, one of China's most renowned piano educators, with whom he would study for nine years. In 1994, when Mr Dan Zhaoyi accepted a job offer from Shenzhen Arts School, Li followed him there to continue his study with him until his triumph at the 2000 International Chopin Piano Competition. Later, he studied under Arie Vardi at the Hochschule für Musik, Theater und Medien Hannover in Hannover, Germany, from 2001 to 2006. Competitions Li has received top awards at various competitions. He won the Children's Piano Competition in Beijing in 1994. In 1995, he was awarded first place at the Stravinsky International Youth Competition. In 1996, he won the Third Class Award in the tenth Hong Kong - Asia Piano Open Competition, the most competitive competition in Asia for international pianists. In 1998, he won the 1998 Missouri Southern International Piano Competition (Junior Division). The next year, he took Third Prize at the International Franz Liszt Piano Competition of Utrecht, as well as being a major winner in the China International Piano Competition. He also won first place at the Gina Bachauer Young Artists International Piano Competition.In October 2000, selected by the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China to represent the country, Li participated in the XIV International Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Li was the first competitor to be awarded the First Prize (the gold medal) in 15 years since Stanislav Bunin won it in 1985. At 18 years of age, Li was the youngest and the first Chinese winner in the competition's history. Li was also given a Special Prize for the "Best Performance of a Polonaise" by the Chopin Society. Career Li made his Carnegie Hall debut to great acclaim in June 2003, performing in a concert celebrating the 150th Anniversary of Steinway & Sons. Bernard Holland of the New York Times wrote about Li’s performance: “Yundi Li, a young but seasoned competition gladiator, played Chopin and Liszt with a promising mix of elegance and impetuosity.” His United States concert debut took place the next month, when he played Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 with the Philadelphia Orchestra. He was also honoured at a special reception at the home of the Chinese Ambassador to the United States, where he performed for various officials of the US State Department. In 2001, Li became the first Chinese pianist signed by Deutsche Grammophon and had his first album “Yundi Li: Chopin” released on its label. The CD was first released in Japan and warmly welcomed. The Gramophone magazine reviewed this album: “ … his unequivocal triumph is faithfully mirrored on his DG début album in performance after performance. Everything is naturally and enviably proportioned (a rare but necessary attribute in the everelusive Chopin)‚ everything fuelled alike by a style and poise way beyond his teenage years…”Li's second recording of Liszt on Deutsche Grammophon, for which he exclusively recorded until November 2008, was released in August 2003 and was named "Best CD of the Year" by The New York Times. This album also won the German Echo Album solo award, the Netherlands Edison Award, the Chinese Gold Record Award. Of this recording Harris Goldsmith of Musical America wrote:" (this recording) includes perhaps the finest account of the B-minor Sonata I have ever heard—is, if anything, light years ahead in patrician elegance: exquisite artistry from one of the greatest talents to surface in years—nay, decades." His third recording Chopin: Scherzi/Impromptus, comprising Chopin's four Scherzi and three Impromptus, was released in late 2004. Anthony Tommasini of the New York Times praised this recording for Li's "white-hot virtuosity" and "uncanny clarity". Deutsche Grammophon released his recording of Beethoven Sonatas in late 2012. This recording was chosen as one of Classic FM's "Album of the Year 2013" besides attaining Platinum status in China. He has also given a recital in the renowned Musikverein in Vienna, performing works by Mozart, Scarlatti, Schumann, and Liszt. In April 2004 Li completed his North American debut recital tour which included sold-out performances in Boston, Vancouver, San Francisco and New York. Li made his New York recital debut at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on April 24, 2004, performing Chopin Scherzos and Liszt Sonata. Reviewing this recital, Allan Kozinn of the New York Times wrote:" Mr. Li deals in a more poetic, deeply considered pianism, delivered without extraneous gestures and body language. One thing Mr. Li showed was that thoughtful interpretation can be every bit as virtuosic and exciting as the showier variety."Li obtained Hong Kong residency in November 2006, among the first group of successful applicants under the Quality Migrant Admission SchemeIn 2007, Li became the first Chinese pianist to record live with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and Seiji Ozawa. This Deutsche Grammophon release Prokofiev Piano Concerto No. 2 and Ravel Piano Concerto in G Major garnered rave reviews and was a best seller. It was named Editor’s Choice by Gramophone magazine and praised by The New York Times as one of the best classical CDs of the year.Li is the subject of a 2008 feature-length documentary, "The Young Romantic: A Portrait of Yundi", directed by Barbara Willis Sweete. This documentary "captures the poetic intensity of this young virtuoso as he works with the great Maestro Seiji Ozawa to prepare for his debut with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra..." Also in 2008, he appeared as a Pennington Great Performers series artist with the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra. In January 2010, Li signed an exclusive recording contract with EMI Classics with plans to record the complete works for solo piano by Frédéric Chopin.Li performed a solo recital at the Royal Festival Hall in London on March 16, 2010. He played a repertoire of Chopin pieces in a sold-out concert. Signing with UMG In May 2012, Li officially signed with Universal Music Group and cooperated with Deutsche Grammophon once again. He then released recordings of Beethoven Piano Sonatas, Beethoven Emperor Concerto and Schumann Fantasie, The Art of Yundi, Chopin Prelude, and Chopin Ballades, Berceuse and Mazurkas.Li launched his "Piano Dream" national tour in his hometown Chongqing on August 19, 2013, and brought his music to 30 cities in the next 80 days. Most of those cities were second or third tier. In response to questions from the media and the public, Li remarked that it was not degrading for him to perform in second & third tier cities and he didn't mind the less ideal conditions of some concert halls; he simply wanted to provide more people with an opportunity to appreciate the beauty of classical music.In July 2015 and as featured guest soloist, Li embarked on a nine-concert tour with the National Youth Orchestra of the United States led by celebrated conductor Charles Dutoit. Comprising mainly the orchestra’s debut performances in Asia, the tour started at Purchase College’s Performing Arts Center and ended in Hong Kong. Carnegie Hall was the second stop. The other six concerts were given in Mainland China.Li performed Chopin's Piano Concerto No. 1 in Seoul, Korea with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra on 30 October 2015. He took a wrong turn and found the wrong tutti. Lately, Li performed the piece again, accompanied with orchestra, with great success. The performance and the applause from audience was generous and supportive. It was reported that Li did not leave the stage until the end. The Sydney concertmaster Andrew Haveron commented on the unauthorised recording of the concert online, "It is a shame that this is the only bit of the concert available to hear – I cannot imagine that this is a legal recording. It has clearly been made available through schadenfreude alone." Li later provided an apology through his Weibo account for the mistakes he made, and thanked the support from the orchestra and conductor.In May 2017, Li attended the opening ceremony of the Yundi Art Museum, located in the Chongqing Huangjueping Piano Museum. It displays several pianos from different stages of Li's career, including his first piano, as well as a collection of his awards, albums and photographs, and a high-tech experience pavilion.From August 29 to September 5 in 2017, Li led the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra on a five-city concert tour in China, performing Chopin Concertos Nos. 1&2 as both the pianist and the conductor. It was Li's first time to pick up the baton. This tour was the first of a series of events commemorating the 100th anniversary of Poland's regained independence.In November 2017, Li gave a tour playing Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 23 in A major, K 488 with Staatskapelle Dresden in Germany and China. On November 3, Li performed in a live concert at Beijing National Aquatics Center celebrating the 2017 League of Legends World Championship.2018 saw Li's successful debut in Australia and New Zealand. In a series of sold-out concerts, Li performed with local orchestras Chopin's Piano Concertos Nos. 1&2 both as a soloist and a conductor. Signing with Warner Classics In December 2019, Li signed with Warner Classics. He soon released a new album on its label, Chopin’s Piano Concertos Nos. 1 & 2, in January 2020. In this recording, he not only played the piano, but also conducted the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra from the piano bench. This album was chosen by Donald Vroon of the American Record Guide as one of the "Best of 2020". The International Piano Magazine reviewed this recording:" This is aristocratic Chopin, unfailing in its clarity, elegance and unforced eloquence. Nothing is over-played, everything is expressed. Yundi Li ranks among the finest, his reading of the F minor Concerto’s central love song hauntingly inward looking. The Warsaw Philharmonic offer stout support, and sound and balance are exemplary." 2023 Australia Coming Back Tour: Yundi Li Plays Mozart Sonatas Project 1 In August 2023, Li has announced his upcoming tour, 2023 Australia Coming Back Tour: Yundi Li Plays Mozart Sonatas Project 1. The announced dates include Adelaide Town Hall on 28 October, 2023, Queensland Performing Arts Centre on 1 November, 2023, Sydney Opera House on 4 November 2023. Philanthropy "Charity is just like music which comes from deep inside my heart. I can express my love for society and my country through my fingers, just like Chopin did." Li told reporters at a press conference before giving a charity piano recital in Beijing on January 11, 2011, for the individuals and companies that had contributed to the efforts of the Red Cross Society of China in 2010. During the recital, Li was honored as the Music Ambassador of the Chinese Red Cross Foundation.In 2001, Li donated a portion of the sales revenue of his first CD “Yundi Li: Chopin” to United Nations Children's Fund, aiming to benefit children living in China’s economically disadvantaged areas.Soon after the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake, Li performed in a fundraising concert in Beijing, along with several other famous musicians of Sichuan origin. Funds raised at the concert were donated to helping rebuild schools in Wenchuan County and providing mental healing services for children affected by the earthquake. On November 29, 2008, right before the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, Li headlined a charity concert held in the Bird’s Nest Stadium to support people disabled by the earthquake.Joining forces with I DO Fund of China Charity Federation in 2016, Li helped build the first music classroom and library for Puma Jiangtang Elementary School, the school with the highest altitude (5373 meters) in Tibet. The music classroom was named after Li. At the opening ceremony on September 1, also the first day of the new school year, Li taught the Tibetan children to play the piano hoping to help them open the door to music exploration. Arrest for alleged prostitution On 21 October 2021, after a tip-off by public informants referred to as the Chaoyang masses, Li was detained by Beijing police for allegedly hiring a prostitute. Under Chinese law, Li can be detained for up to 15 days and fined up to 5000 yuan ($782) for illegally soliciting a sex worker. The Chinese Musicians' Association subsequently declared that it would revoke Li's membership. Jerome A. Cohen, a New York University law professor specializing in the Chinese law, called the "lack of transparency" about his case "concerning", noting that prostitution is a "time-honored Communist Party claim against political opponents". According to The Guardian, there has thus far been no evidence that indicates the detention is politically motivated.On 16 March 2022, the US Department of Justice released a document that includes a detail suggesting "the derogatory information regarding the Pianist may have been manufactured". Multiple news sources reported that "the Pianist" is an apparent reference to Li Yundi. Awards and honors In 2005, Li won “Best New Classical Artist” of XM Satellite Radio's First Annual XM Nation Music Awards.In May 2010, in recognition of his contribution to Polish culture, the Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage presented Li with a Silver Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis.In October 2019, Li was awarded a Gold Medal for Merit to Culture - Gloria Artis by the Polish government.In 2022, Li was selected as the Honorary Board of Summa Cum Laude Festival. Discography Yundi Li on Facebook Yundi Li on Instagram Yundi Li on Twitter Li on Weibo Yundi Li at Deutsche Grammophon Yundi Li at Warner Classics Official website

C++ (, pronounced "C plus plus" and sometimes abbreviated as CPP) is a high-level, general-purpose programming language created by Danish computer scientist Bjarne Stroustrup. First released in 1985 as an extension of the C programming language, it has since expanded significantly over time; as of 1997 C++ has object-oriented, generic, and functional features, in addition to facilities for low-level memory manipulation. It is almost always implemented as a compiled language, and many vendors provide C++ compilers, including the Free Software Foundation, LLVM, Microsoft, Intel, Embarcadero, Oracle, and IBM.C++ was designed with systems programming and embedded, resource-constrained software and large systems in mind, with performance, efficiency, and flexibility of use as its design highlights. C++ has also been found useful in many other contexts, with key strengths being software infrastructure and resource-constrained applications, including desktop applications, video games, servers (e.g. e-commerce, web search, or databases), and performance-critical applications (e.g. telephone switches or space probes).C++ is standardized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), with the latest standard version ratified and published by ISO in December 2020 as ISO/IEC 14882:2020 (informally known as C++20). The C++ programming language was initially standardized in 1998 as ISO/IEC 14882:1998, which was then amended by the C++03, C++11, C++14, and C++17 standards. The current C++20 standard supersedes these with new features and an enlarged standard library. Before the initial standardization in 1998, C++ was developed by Stroustrup at Bell Labs since 1979 as an extension of the C language; he wanted an efficient and flexible language similar to C that also provided high-level features for program organization. Since 2012, C++ has been on a three-year release schedule with C++23 as the next planned standard. History In 1979, Bjarne Stroustrup, a Danish computer scientist, began work on "C with Classes", the predecessor to C++. The motivation for creating a new language originated from Stroustrup's experience in programming for his PhD thesis. Stroustrup found that Simula had features that were very helpful for large software development, but the language was too slow for practical use, while BCPL was fast but too low-level to be suitable for large software development. When Stroustrup started working in AT&T Bell Labs, he had the problem of analyzing the UNIX kernel with respect to distributed computing. Remembering his PhD experience, Stroustrup set out to enhance the C language with Simula-like features. C was chosen because it was general-purpose, fast, portable and widely used. As well as C and Simula's influences, other languages also influenced this new language, including ALGOL 68, Ada, CLU and ML. Initially, Stroustrup's "C with Classes" added features to the C compiler, Cpre, including classes, derived classes, strong typing, inlining and default arguments. In 1982, Stroustrup started to develop a successor to C with Classes, which he named "C++" (++ being the increment operator in C) after going through several other names. New features were added, including virtual functions, function name and operator overloading, references, constants, type-safe free-store memory allocation (new/delete), improved type checking, and BCPL style single-line comments with two forward slashes (//). Furthermore, Stroustrup developed a new, standalone compiler for C++, Cfront. In 1984, Stroustrup implemented the first stream input/output library. The idea of providing an output operator rather than a named output function was suggested by Doug McIlroy (who had previously suggested Unix pipes). In 1985, the first edition of The C++ Programming Language was released, which became the definitive reference for the language, as there was not yet an official standard. The first commercial implementation of C++ was released in October of the same year.In 1989, C++ 2.0 was released, followed by the updated second edition of The C++ Programming Language in 1991. New features in 2.0 included multiple inheritance, abstract classes, static member functions, const member functions, and protected members. In 1990, The Annotated C++ Reference Manual was published. This work became the basis for the future standard. Later feature additions included templates, exceptions, namespaces, new casts, and a Boolean type. In 1998, C++98 was released, standardizing the language, and a minor update (C++03) was released in 2003. After C++98, C++ evolved relatively slowly until, in 2011, the C++11 standard was released, adding numerous new features, enlarging the standard library further, and providing more facilities to C++ programmers. After a minor C++14 update released in December 2014, various new additions were introduced in C++17. After becoming finalized in February 2020, a draft of the C++20 standard was approved on 4 September 2020 and officially published on 15 December 2020.On January 3, 2018, Stroustrup was announced as the 2018 winner of the Charles Stark Draper Prize for Engineering, "for conceptualizing and developing the C++ programming language". As of December 2022 C++ ranked third on the TIOBE index, surpassing Java for the first time in the history of the index. It ranks 3rd, after Python and C. Etymology According to Stroustrup, "the name signifies the evolutionary nature of the changes from C". This name is credited to Rick Mascitti (mid-1983) and was first used in December 1983. When Mascitti was questioned informally in 1992 about the naming, he indicated that it was given in a tongue-in-cheek spirit. The name comes from C's ++ operator (which increments the value of a variable) and a common naming convention of using "+" to indicate an enhanced computer program. During C++'s development period, the language had been referred to as "new C" and "C with Classes" before acquiring its final name. Philosophy Throughout C++'s life, its development and evolution has been guided by a set of principles: It must be driven by actual problems and its features should be immediately useful in real world programs. Every feature should be implementable (with a reasonably obvious way to do so). Programmers should be free to pick their own programming style, and that style should be fully supported by C++. Allowing a useful feature is more important than preventing every possible misuse of C++. It should provide facilities for organising programs into separate, well-defined parts, and provide facilities for combining separately developed parts. No implicit violations of the type system (but allow explicit violations; that is, those explicitly requested by the programmer). User-created types need to have the same support and performance as built-in types. Unused features should not negatively impact created executables (e.g. in lower performance). There should be no language beneath C++ (except assembly language). C++ should work alongside other existing programming languages, rather than fostering its own separate and incompatible programming environment. If the programmer's intent is unknown, allow the programmer to specify it by providing manual control. Standardization C++ is standardized by an ISO working group known as JTC1/SC22/WG21. So far, it has published six revisions of the C++ standard and is currently working on the next revision, C++23. In 1998, the ISO working group standardized C++ for the first time as ISO/IEC 14882:1998, which is informally known as C++98. In 2003, it published a new version of the C++ standard called ISO/IEC 14882:2003, which fixed problems identified in C++98. The next major revision of the standard was informally referred to as "C++0x", but it was not released until 2011. C++11 (14882:2011) included many additions to both the core language and the standard library.In 2014, C++14 (also known as C++1y) was released as a small extension to C++11, featuring mainly bug fixes and small improvements. The Draft International Standard ballot procedures completed in mid-August 2014.After C++14, a major revision C++17, informally known as C++1z, was completed by the ISO C++ committee in mid July 2017 and was approved and published in December 2017.As part of the standardization process, ISO also publishes technical reports and specifications: ISO/IEC TR 18015:2006 on the use of C++ in embedded systems and on performance implications of C++ language and library features, ISO/IEC TR 19768:2007 (also known as the C++ Technical Report 1) on library extensions mostly integrated into C++11, ISO/IEC TR 29124:2010 on special mathematical functions, integrated into C++17 ISO/IEC TR 24733:2011 on decimal floating-point arithmetic, ISO/IEC TS 18822:2015 on the standard filesystem library, integrated into C++17 ISO/IEC TS 19570:2015 on parallel versions of the standard library algorithms, integrated into C++17 ISO/IEC TS 19841:2015 on software transactional memory, ISO/IEC TS 19568:2015 on a new set of library extensions, some of which are already integrated into C++17, ISO/IEC TS 19217:2015 on the C++ concepts, integrated into C++20 ISO/IEC TS 19571:2016 on the library extensions for concurrency, some of which are already integrated into C++20 ISO/IEC TS 19568:2017 on a new set of general-purpose library extensions ISO/IEC TS 21425:2017 on the library extensions for ranges, integrated into C++20 ISO/IEC TS 22277:2017 on coroutines, integrated into C++20 ISO/IEC TS 19216:2018 on the networking library ISO/IEC TS 21544:2018 on modules, integrated into C++20 ISO/IEC TS 19570:2018 on a new set of library extensions for parallelism ISO/IEC TS 23619:2021 on new extensions for reflectionMore technical specifications are in development and pending approval, including new set of concurrency extensions. Language The C++ language has two main components: a direct mapping of hardware features provided primarily by the C subset, and zero-overhead abstractions based on those mappings. Stroustrup describes C++ as "a light-weight abstraction programming language [designed] for building and using efficient and elegant abstractions"; and "offering both hardware access and abstraction is the basis of C++. Doing it efficiently is what distinguishes it from other languages."C++ inherits most of C's syntax. The following is Bjarne Stroustrup's version of the Hello world program that uses the C++ Standard Library stream facility to write a message to standard output: Object storage As in C, C++ supports four types of memory management: static storage duration objects, thread storage duration objects, automatic storage duration objects, and dynamic storage duration objects. Static storage duration objects Static storage duration objects are created before main() is entered (see exceptions below) and destroyed in reverse order of creation after main() exits. The exact order of creation is not specified by the standard (though there are some rules defined below) to allow implementations some freedom in how to organize their implementation. More formally, objects of this type have a lifespan that "shall last for the duration of the program".Static storage duration objects are initialized in two phases. First, "static initialization" is performed, and only after all static initialization is performed, "dynamic initialization" is performed. In static initialization, all objects are first initialized with zeros; after that, all objects that have a constant initialization phase are initialized with the constant expression (i.e. variables initialized with a literal or constexpr). Though it is not specified in the standard, the static initialization phase can be completed at compile time and saved in the data partition of the executable. Dynamic initialization involves all object initialization done via a constructor or function call (unless the function is marked with constexpr, in C++11). The dynamic initialization order is defined as the order of declaration within the compilation unit (i.e. the same file). No guarantees are provided about the order of initialization between compilation units. Thread storage duration objects Variables of this type are very similar to static storage duration objects. The main difference is the creation time is just prior to thread creation and destruction is done after the thread has been joined. Automatic storage duration objects The most common variable types in C++ are local variables inside a function or block, and temporary variables. The common feature about automatic variables is that they have a lifetime that is limited to the scope of the variable. They are created and potentially initialized at the point of declaration (see below for details) and destroyed in the reverse order of creation when the scope is left. This is implemented by allocation on the stack. Local variables are created as the point of execution passes the declaration point. If the variable has a constructor or initializer this is used to define the initial state of the object. Local variables are destroyed when the local block or function that they are declared in is closed. C++ destructors for local variables are called at the end of the object lifetime, allowing a discipline for automatic resource management termed RAII, which is widely used in C++. Member variables are created when the parent object is created. Array members are initialized from 0 to the last member of the array in order. Member variables are destroyed when the parent object is destroyed in the reverse order of creation. i.e. If the parent is an "automatic object" then it will be destroyed when it goes out of scope which triggers the destruction of all its members. Temporary variables are created as the result of expression evaluation and are destroyed when the statement containing the expression has been fully evaluated (usually at the ; at the end of a statement). Dynamic storage duration objects These objects have a dynamic lifespan and can be created directly with a call to new and destroyed explicitly with a call to delete. C++ also supports malloc and free, from C, but these are not compatible with new and delete. Use of new returns an address to the allocated memory. The C++ Core Guidelines advise against using new directly for creating dynamic objects in favor of smart pointers through make_unique<T> for single ownership and make_shared<T> for reference-counted multiple ownership, which were introduced in C++11. Templates C++ templates enable generic programming. C++ supports function, class, alias, and variable templates. Templates may be parameterized by types, compile-time constants, and other templates. Templates are implemented by instantiation at compile-time. To instantiate a template, compilers substitute specific arguments for a template's parameters to generate a concrete function or class instance. Some substitutions are not possible; these are eliminated by an overload resolution policy described by the phrase "Substitution failure is not an error" (SFINAE). Templates are a powerful tool that can be used for generic programming, template metaprogramming, and code optimization, but this power implies a cost. Template use may increase object code size, because each template instantiation produces a copy of the template code: one for each set of template arguments, however, this is the same or smaller amount of code that would be generated if the code were written by hand. This is in contrast to run-time generics seen in other languages (e.g., Java) where at compile-time the type is erased and a single template body is preserved. Templates are different from macros: while both of these compile-time language features enable conditional compilation, templates are not restricted to lexical substitution. Templates are aware of the semantics and type system of their companion language, as well as all compile-time type definitions, and can perform high-level operations including programmatic flow control based on evaluation of strictly type-checked parameters. Macros are capable of conditional control over compilation based on predetermined criteria, but cannot instantiate new types, recurse, or perform type evaluation and in effect are limited to pre-compilation text-substitution and text-inclusion/exclusion. In other words, macros can control compilation flow based on pre-defined symbols but cannot, unlike templates, independently instantiate new symbols. Templates are a tool for static polymorphism (see below) and generic programming. In addition, templates are a compile-time mechanism in C++ that is Turing-complete, meaning that any computation expressible by a computer program can be computed, in some form, by a template metaprogram prior to runtime. In summary, a template is a compile-time parameterized function or class written without knowledge of the specific arguments used to instantiate it. After instantiation, the resulting code is equivalent to code written specifically for the passed arguments. In this manner, templates provide a way to decouple generic, broadly applicable aspects of functions and classes (encoded in templates) from specific aspects (encoded in template parameters) without sacrificing performance due to abstraction. Objects C++ introduces object-oriented programming (OOP) features to C. It offers classes, which provide the four features commonly present in OOP (and some non-OOP) languages: abstraction, encapsulation, inheritance, and polymorphism. One distinguishing feature of C++ classes compared to classes in other programming languages is support for deterministic destructors, which in turn provide support for the Resource Acquisition is Initialization (RAII) concept. Encapsulation Encapsulation is the hiding of information to ensure that data structures and operators are used as intended and to make the usage model more obvious to the developer. C++ provides the ability to define classes and functions as its primary encapsulation mechanisms. Within a class, members can be declared as either public, protected, or private to explicitly enforce encapsulation. A public member of the class is accessible to any function. A private member is accessible only to functions that are members of that class and to functions and classes explicitly granted access permission by the class ("friends"). A protected member is accessible to members of classes that inherit from the class in addition to the class itself and any friends. The object-oriented principle ensures the encapsulation of all and only the functions that access the internal representation of a type. C++ supports this principle via member functions and friend functions, but it does not enforce it. Programmers can declare parts or all of the representation of a type to be public, and they are allowed to make public entities not part of the representation of a type. Therefore, C++ supports not just object-oriented programming, but other decomposition paradigms such as modular programming. It is generally considered good practice to make all data private or protected, and to make public only those functions that are part of a minimal interface for users of the class. This can hide the details of data implementation, allowing the designer to later fundamentally change the implementation without changing the interface in any way. Inheritance Inheritance allows one data type to acquire properties of other data types. Inheritance from a base class may be declared as public, protected, or private. This access specifier determines whether unrelated and derived classes can access the inherited public and protected members of the base class. Only public inheritance corresponds to what is usually meant by "inheritance". The other two forms are much less frequently used. If the access specifier is omitted, a "class" inherits privately, while a "struct" inherits publicly. Base classes may be declared as virtual; this is called virtual inheritance. Virtual inheritance ensures that only one instance of a base class exists in the inheritance graph, avoiding some of the ambiguity problems of multiple inheritance. Multiple inheritance is a C++ feature allowing a class to be derived from more than one base class; this allows for more elaborate inheritance relationships. For example, a "Flying Cat" class can inherit from both "Cat" and "Flying Mammal". Some other languages, such as C# or Java, accomplish something similar (although more limited) by allowing inheritance of multiple interfaces while restricting the number of base classes to one (interfaces, unlike classes, provide only declarations of member functions, no implementation or member data). An interface as in C# and Java can be defined in C++ as a class containing only pure virtual functions, often known as an abstract base class or "ABC". The member functions of such an abstract base class are normally explicitly defined in the derived class, not inherited implicitly. C++ virtual inheritance exhibits an ambiguity resolution feature called dominance. Operators and operator overloading C++ provides more than 35 operators, covering basic arithmetic, bit manipulation, indirection, comparisons, logical operations and others. Almost all operators can be overloaded for user-defined types, with a few notable exceptions such as member access (. and .*) as well as the conditional operator. The rich set of overloadable operators is central to making user-defined types in C++ seem like built-in types. Overloadable operators are also an essential part of many advanced C++ programming techniques, such as smart pointers. Overloading an operator does not change the precedence of calculations involving the operator, nor does it change the number of operands that the operator uses (any operand may however be ignored by the operator, though it will be evaluated prior to execution). Overloaded "&&" and "||" operators lose their short-circuit evaluation property. Polymorphism Polymorphism enables one common interface for many implementations, and for objects to act differently under different circumstances. C++ supports several kinds of static (resolved at compile-time) and dynamic (resolved at run-time) polymorphisms, supported by the language features described above. Compile-time polymorphism does not allow for certain run-time decisions, while runtime polymorphism typically incurs a performance penalty. Static polymorphism Function overloading allows programs to declare multiple functions having the same name but with different arguments (i.e. ad hoc polymorphism). The functions are distinguished by the number or types of their formal parameters. Thus, the same function name can refer to different functions depending on the context in which it is used. The type returned by the function is not used to distinguish overloaded functions and differing return types would result in a compile-time error message. When declaring a function, a programmer can specify for one or more parameters a default value. Doing so allows the parameters with defaults to optionally be omitted when the function is called, in which case the default arguments will be used. When a function is called with fewer arguments than there are declared parameters, explicit arguments are matched to parameters in left-to-right order, with any unmatched parameters at the end of the parameter list being assigned their default arguments. In many cases, specifying default arguments in a single function declaration is preferable to providing overloaded function definitions with different numbers of parameters. Templates in C++ provide a sophisticated mechanism for writing generic, polymorphic code (i.e. parametric polymorphism). In particular, through the curiously recurring template pattern, it is possible to implement a form of static polymorphism that closely mimics the syntax for overriding virtual functions. Because C++ templates are type-aware and Turing-complete, they can also be used to let the compiler resolve recursive conditionals and generate substantial programs through template metaprogramming. Contrary to some opinion, template code will not generate a bulk code after compilation with the proper compiler settings. Dynamic polymorphism Inheritance Variable pointers and references to a base class type in C++ can also refer to objects of any derived classes of that type. This allows arrays and other kinds of containers to hold pointers to objects of differing types (references cannot be directly held in containers). This enables dynamic (run-time) polymorphism, where the referred objects can behave differently, depending on their (actual, derived) types. C++ also provides the dynamic_cast operator, which allows code to safely attempt conversion of an object, via a base reference/pointer, to a more derived type: downcasting. The attempt is necessary as often one does not know which derived type is referenced. (Upcasting, conversion to a more general type, can always be checked/performed at compile-time via static_cast, as ancestral classes are specified in the derived class's interface, visible to all callers.) dynamic_cast relies on run-time type information (RTTI), metadata in the program that enables differentiating types and their relationships. If a dynamic_cast to a pointer fails, the result is the nullptr constant, whereas if the destination is a reference (which cannot be null), the cast throws an exception. Objects known to be of a certain derived type can be cast to that with static_cast, bypassing RTTI and the safe runtime type-checking of dynamic_cast, so this should be used only if the programmer is very confident the cast is, and will always be, valid. Virtual member functions Ordinarily, when a function in a derived class overrides a function in a base class, the function to call is determined by the type of the object. A given function is overridden when there exists no difference in the number or type of parameters between two or more definitions of that function. Hence, at compile time, it may not be possible to determine the type of the object and therefore the correct function to call, given only a base class pointer; the decision is therefore put off until runtime. This is called dynamic dispatch. Virtual member functions or methods allow the most specific implementation of the function to be called, according to the actual run-time type of the object. In C++ implementations, this is commonly done using virtual function tables. If the object type is known, this may be bypassed by prepending a fully qualified class name before the function call, but in general calls to virtual functions are resolved at run time. In addition to standard member functions, operator overloads and destructors can be virtual. An inexact rule based on practical experience states that if any function in the class is virtual, the destructor should be as well. As the type of an object at its creation is known at compile time, constructors, and by extension copy constructors, cannot be virtual. Nonetheless, a situation may arise where a copy of an object needs to be created when a pointer to a derived object is passed as a pointer to a base object. In such a case, a common solution is to create a clone() (or similar) virtual function that creates and returns a copy of the derived class when called. A member function can also be made "pure virtual" by appending it with = 0 after the closing parenthesis and before the semicolon. A class containing a pure virtual function is called an abstract class. Objects cannot be created from an abstract class; they can only be derived from. Any derived class inherits the virtual function as pure and must provide a non-pure definition of it (and all other pure virtual functions) before objects of the derived class can be created. A program that attempts to create an object of a class with a pure virtual member function or inherited pure virtual member function is ill-formed. Lambda expressions C++ provides support for anonymous functions, also known as lambda expressions, with the following form: Since C++20, the keyword template is optional for template parameters of lambda expressions: If the lambda takes no parameters, and no return type or other specifiers are used, thecan be omitted, that is, The return type of a lambda expression can be automatically inferred, if possible, e.g.: The [capture] list supports the definition of closures. Such lambda expressions are defined in the standard as syntactic sugar for an unnamed function object. Exception handling Exception handling is used to communicate the existence of a runtime problem or error from where it was detected to where the issue can be handled. It permits this to be done in a uniform manner and separately from the main code, while detecting all errors. Should an error occur, an exception is thrown (raised), which is then caught by the nearest suitable exception handler. The exception causes the current scope to be exited, and also each outer scope (propagation) until a suitable handler is found, calling in turn the destructors of any objects in these exited scopes. At the same time, an exception is presented as an object carrying the data about the detected problem.Some C++ style guides, such as Google's, LLVM's, and Qt's forbid the usage of exceptions. The exception-causing code is placed inside a try block. The exceptions are handled in separate catch blocks (the handlers); each try block can have multiple exception handlers, as it is visible in the example below. It is also possible to raise exceptions purposefully, using the throw keyword; these exceptions are handled in the usual way. In some cases, exceptions cannot be used due to technical reasons. One such example is a critical component of an embedded system, where every operation must be guaranteed to complete within a specified amount of time. This cannot be determined with exceptions as no tools exist to determine the maximum time required for an exception to be handled.Unlike signal handling, in which the handling function is called from the point of failure, exception handling exits the current scope before the catch block is entered, which may be located in the current function or any of the previous function calls currently on the stack. Enumerated types Standard library The C++ standard consists of two parts: the core language and the standard library. C++ programmers expect the latter on every major implementation of C++; it includes aggregate types (vectors, lists, maps, sets, queues, stacks, arrays, tuples), algorithms (find, for_each, binary_search, random_shuffle, etc.), input/output facilities (iostream, for reading from and writing to the console and files), filesystem library, localisation support, smart pointers for automatic memory management, regular expression support, multi-threading library, atomics support (allowing a variable to be read or written to by at most one thread at a time without any external synchronisation), time utilities (measurement, getting current time, etc.), a system for converting error reporting that does not use C++ exceptions into C++ exceptions, a random number generator and a slightly modified version of the C standard library (to make it comply with the C++ type system). A large part of the C++ library is based on the Standard Template Library (STL). Useful tools provided by the STL include containers as the collections of objects (such as vectors and lists), iterators that provide array-like access to containers, and algorithms that perform operations such as searching and sorting. Furthermore, (multi)maps (associative arrays) and (multi)sets are provided, all of which export compatible interfaces. Therefore, using templates it is possible to write generic algorithms that work with any container or on any sequence defined by iterators. As in C, the features of the library are accessed by using the #include directive to include a standard header. The C++ Standard Library provides 105 standard headers, of which 27 are deprecated. The standard incorporates the STL that was originally designed by Alexander Stepanov, who experimented with generic algorithms and containers for many years. When he started with C++, he finally found a language where it was possible to create generic algorithms (e.g., STL sort) that perform even better than, for example, the C standard library qsort, thanks to C++ features like using inlining and compile-time binding instead of function pointers. The standard does not refer to it as "STL", as it is merely a part of the standard library, but the term is still widely used to distinguish it from the rest of the standard library (input/output streams, internationalization, diagnostics, the C library subset, etc.).Most C++ compilers, and all major ones, provide a standards-conforming implementation of the C++ standard library. C++ Core Guidelines The C++ Core Guidelines are an initiative led by Bjarne Stroustrup, the inventor of C++, and Herb Sutter, the convener and chair of the C++ ISO Working Group, to help programmers write 'Modern C++' by using best practices for the language standards C++11 and newer, and to help developers of compilers and static checking tools to create rules for catching bad programming practices. The main aim is to efficiently and consistently write type and resource safe C++. The Core Guidelines were announced in the opening keynote at CPPCon 2015. The Guidelines are accompanied by the Guideline Support Library (GSL), a header only library of types and functions to implement the Core Guidelines and static checker tools for enforcing Guideline rules. Compatibility To give compiler vendors greater freedom, the C++ standards committee decided not to dictate the implementation of name mangling, exception handling, and other implementation-specific features. The downside of this decision is that object code produced by different compilers is expected to be incompatible. There were, however, attempts to standardize compilers for particular machines or operating systems (for example C++ ABI), though they seem to be largely abandoned now. With C C++ is often considered to be a superset of C but this is not strictly true. Most C code can easily be made to compile correctly in C++ but there are a few differences that cause some valid C code to be invalid or behave differently in C++. For example, C allows implicit conversion from void* to other pointer types but C++ does not (for type safety reasons). Also, C++ defines many new keywords, such as new and class, which may be used as identifiers (for example, variable names) in a C program. Some incompatibilities have been removed by the 1999 revision of the C standard (C99), which now supports C++ features such as line comments (//) and declarations mixed with code. On the other hand, C99 introduced a number of new features that C++ did not support that were incompatible or redundant in C++, such as variable-length arrays, native complex-number types (however, the std::complex class in the C++ standard library provides similar functionality, although not code-compatible), designated initializers, compound literals, and the restrict keyword. Some of the C99-introduced features were included in the subsequent version of the C++ standard, C++11 (out of those which were not redundant). However, the C++11 standard introduces new incompatibilities, such as disallowing assignment of a string literal to a character pointer, which remains valid C. To intermix C and C++ code, any function declaration or definition that is to be called from/used both in C and C++ must be declared with C linkage by placing it within an extern "C" {/*...*/} block. Such a function may not rely on features depending on name mangling (i.e., function overloading). Criticism Despite its widespread adoption, some notable programmers have criticized the C++ language, including Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman, Joshua Bloch, Ken Thompson and Donald Knuth. One of the most often criticised points of C++ is its perceived complexity as a language, with the criticism that a large number of non-orthogonal features in practice necessitates restricting code to a subset of C++, thus eschewing the readability benefits of common style and idioms. As expressed by Joshua Bloch: I think C++ was pushed well beyond its complexity threshold, and yet there are a lot of people programming it. But what you do is you force people to subset it. So almost every shop that I know of that uses C++ says, "Yes, we're using C++ but we're not doing multiple-implementation inheritance and we're not using operator overloading." There are just a bunch of features that you're not going to use because the complexity of the resulting code is too high. And I don't think it's good when you have to start doing that. You lose this programmer portability where everyone can read everyone else's code, which I think is such a good thing. Donald Knuth (1993, commenting on pre-standardized C++), who said of Edsger Dijkstra that "to think of programming in C++" "would make him physically ill": The problem that I have with them today is that... C++ is too complicated. At the moment, it's impossible for me to write portable code that I believe would work on lots of different systems, unless I avoid all exotic features. Whenever the C++ language designers had two competing ideas as to how they should solve some problem, they said "OK, we'll do them both". So the language is too baroque for my taste. Ken Thompson, who was a colleague of Stroustrup at Bell Labs, gives his assessment: It certainly has its good points. But by and large I think it's a bad language. It does a lot of things half well and it's just a garbage heap of ideas that are mutually exclusive. Everybody I know, whether it's personal or corporate, selects a subset and these subsets are different. So it's not a good language to transport an algorithm—to say, "I wrote it; here, take it." It's way too big, way too complex. And it's obviously built by a committee. Stroustrup campaigned for years and years and years, way beyond any sort of technical contributions he made to the language, to get it adopted and used. And he sort of ran all the standards committees with a whip and a chair. And he said "no" to no one. He put every feature in that language that ever existed. It wasn't cleanly designed—it was just the union of everything that came along. And I think it suffered drastically from that. However Brian Kernighan, also a colleague at Bell Labs, disputes this assessment: C++ has been enormously influential. ... Lots of people say C++ is too big and too complicated etc. etc. but in fact it is a very powerful language and pretty much everything that is in there is there for a really sound reason: it is not somebody doing random invention, it is actually people trying to solve real world problems. Now a lot of the programs that we take for granted today, that we just use, are C++ programs. Stroustrup himself comments that C++ semantics are much cleaner than its syntax: "within C++, there is a much smaller and cleaner language struggling to get out".Other complaints may include a lack of reflection or garbage collection, long compilation times, perceived feature creep, and verbose error messages, particularly from template metaprogramming. See also Comparison of programming languages List of C++ compilers Outline of C++ Category:C++ libraries Footnotes Further reading JTC1/SC22/WG21 – the ISO/IEC C++ Standard Working Group Standard C++ Foundation – a non-profit organization that promotes the use and understanding of standard C++. Bjarne Stroustrup is a director of the organization.

All's Well, Ends Well or abbreviated as AWEW (Chinese: 家有囍事) is a 1992 Hong Kong comedy film directed by Clifton Ko. The film stars Leslie Cheung, Stephen Chow, Raymond Wong, Maggie Cheung, Sandra Ng, and Teresa Mo. All's Well, Ends Well was a Lunar New Year film, where a film's release was timed to coincide with the larger movie audience at that time of year. The movie is also one of Stephen Chow's trademark 'mo lei tau' films of little sense but much good-natured humour, and is still considered to be a cult classic by most Hong Kong audiences. The film was followed by seven sequels: All's Well, Ends Well Too (1993) All's Well, Ends Well 1997 (1997) All's Well, Ends Well 2009 (2009) All's Well, Ends Well 2010 (2010) All's Well, Ends Well 2011 (2011) All's Well, Ends Well 2012 (2012) All's Well, Ends Well 2020 (2020) Plot details All's Well, Ends Well is a comic romance of three hapless brothers, who eventually learn through their amorous exploits and misadventures that love is only won through gradual nurturing, and quickly lost through the quick, dishonest, selfish ways which they have always taken for granted. Moon (Raymond Wong) is eldest brother and head of the family. The film begins with the celebration of his 7th anniversary wedding with Leng, which celebration he deserts, preferring instead the company of his mistress (Sheila Chan). He turns up at home with her later, forcing his wife (whom he calls 'hag') to leave the house in dismay. Although she is very devoted to her husband and tolerates him for all his misbehaviours, her tolerance stops short of accepting his mistress openly in the family home. So (Leslie Cheung) is an effeminate floral arranger and lecturer at an art school, who is good at cooking and enjoys women's hobbies. His second cousin Mo-seung comes to his house on that same evening, and entirely devours an elaborate gourmet banquet which So had intended as a gift for Leng on her otherwise disastrous wedding anniversary. From that day on, So and Mo-seung are constantly at loggerheads over trivial issues, insulting each other with vulgar metaphors during a mahjong game session, apparently irreconcilable. Foon is a local radio DJ who flirts shamelessly while on air and is well-known among his legion of female fans for his impressive kissing technique. Holli-yuk (Maggie Cheung) calls him on air one day and arranges a date with him. She is an avid Hollywood movie lover who enjoys re-enacting particular love-scenes from movies. She is convinced that Foon shares her romantic outlook and they soon become lovers. Foon, however, is a notorious playboy not eager to settle down. Predictably, Holli-yuk catches him in an act of infidelity. After a freak accident leaves Foon suffering from a mildly debilitating mental illness, Holli-yuk offers to become a nurse for him. Taking advantage of her role as his nurturer, she gleefully devises methods to punish him for his callous behaviour. The brothers' dilemmas are later resolved in similarly titled sequel films. Each story concludes on a cheeky and high-spirited note. Cast and roles Stephen Chow as Seung Foon, a womanizer DJ who enjoys flirting while on broadcast Maggie Cheung as Holli-yuk, an art film-lover who dreams of finding her dream guy Leslie Cheung as Seung So, Foon's effeminate elder brother who is a floral arranger Teresa Mo as Leung Mo-seung, So's second cousin and nemesis turned lover Raymond Wong as Seung Moon, Foon's eldest brother who is unfaithful Sandra Ng as Leng, Wife of Moon who was divorced and then remarried Sheila Chan as Sheila, Moon's mistress who was once a beauty pageant winner Lee Heung-kam as Mama Seung, the brothers' mother Kwan Hoi-san as Papa Seung, the brothers' father Clifton Ko as an annoyed karaoke patron Vincent Kok as a Japanese businessman Loletta Lee as one of Foon's girlfriends James Wong Wong Kwong-leung as Brother Kwong Andrew Yuen as Kai-ming Cheri Ho as Dolleen Chow Chi-fai as a doctor All's Well, Ends Well at IMDb All's Well, Ends Well at the Hong Kong Movie DataBase All's Well Ends Well 1992 at Hong Kong Cinemagic All's Well, Ends Well 1992 at chinesemov.com

Ming Pao (Chinese: 明報) is a Chinese-language newspaper published by Media Chinese International in Hong Kong. In the 1990s, Ming Pao established four overseas branches in North America; each provides independent reporting on local news and collects local advertisements. Currently, of the overseas editions, only the two Canadian editions remain: Ming Pao Toronto and Ming Pao Vancouver. In a 2019 survey from the Chinese University of Hong Kong sampling 1079 local households, Ming Pao was listed as the second most credible paid newspaper in Hong Kong. History Launch, early days Ming Pao was first published on 20 May 1959, and was founded by the famous Chinese Wuxia novelist Louis Cha, known better by his pseudonym Jin Yong (金庸), and his friend, Shen Pao Sing (沈寶新). Daisy Li Yuet-Wah won an International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists for her work with the paper in 1994.Before British Hong Kong's handover to the People's Republic of China by the United Kingdom in 1997, Ming Pao was considered hostile to the Chinese authority. When China reunited with Hong Kong, the controversial editors of Ming Pao turned favorable towards the Chinese government. Merger with Malaysia Sinchew and Nanyang Groups In October 1995, the publisher of Ming Pao, Ming Pao Enterprise was taken over by Tiong Hiew King (Chinese: 張曉卿). On 29 January 2007, Tiong released a proposal to merge the three media groups – Sin Chew Media Corporation Berhad (Malaysia), Nanyang Press Holdings Berhad (Malaysia) and Ming Pao Enterprise Corporation Limited (Hong Kong). The merged group, named Media Chinese International Limited was dual-listed on the main boards of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong and the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad in April 2008. All of the existing groups retain their existing publications and independent operations. The website of Ming Pao was set up in 1995, one of the earliest newspaper websites in Hong Kong.Since April 2008, Ming Pao is published by Ming Pao Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Media Chinese International Limited. International development Ming Pao set up a Toronto office in Canada in May 1993 to publish the Ming Pao Eastern Edition (Chinese: 明報(加東版)), then set up a Vancouver office in October the same year for the Ming Pao Western Edition (Chinese: 明報(加西版)). In April 1997, the group set up a New York office and started publishing the Ming Pao US East Coast Edition (Chinese: 明報(美東版)). The journal launched in the San Francisco Bay Area in April 2004 with a print run of 25,000, the sixth Chinese newspapers to be distributed in the region. In 2007, the office also published the New York Free Newspaper (Chinese: 紐約免費報). Ming Pao New York and Ming Pao San Francisco ceased operations on 31 January and 14 February 2009, respectively. The closing of NY operations was a symbol of the weakening of ethnic newspapers of the region. The group merged the resources of Ming Pao New York and the New York Free Newspaper to create Ming Pao Daily Free News (New York) (Chinese: 明報(紐約)免費報), serving the Chinese community along the US East Coast. Controversies Chinese Communist Party Influence A 2001 report on Chinese media censorship by the Jamestown Foundation cited Ming Pao as one of four major overseas Chinese newspapers directly or indirectly controlled by Beijing. “The dominant Chinese media vehicle in America is the newspaper," wrote the report's lead author Mei Duzhe. "Four major Chinese newspapers are found in the U.S.—World Journal, Sing Tao Daily, Ming Pao Daily News, and The China Press. Of these four, three are either directly or indirectly controlled by the government of Mainland China, while the fourth (run out of Taiwan) has recently begun bowing to pressure from the Beijing government.” The report also noted that the CCP started purchasing important Hong Kong news media companies, including Ming Pao, through third parties, in preparation for the Hong Kong hand-over to the People's Republic of China in 1997. “Employees at Ming Pao's New York office have told sources that their 'true boss' is none other than the Chinese Consulate [in New York], and that they are obligated to do whatever the Consulate asks," it said. A 2006 study of Ming Pao editorials noted a tendency toward self-censorship concerning criticism toward Beijing. According to a 2013 report by Center for International Media Assistance, "The Long Shadow of Chinese Censorship: How the Communist Party's Media Restrictions Affect News Outlets Around the World,": "Before and after the 1997 [Hong Kong] transition, a number of influential newspapers run as family businesses were bought by tycoons with business interests in China and close ties to mainland officials, such as Ming Pao Daily, Sing Tao Daily, and Sing Pao," said the report. "Soon, a number of observable patterns emerged at these and other outlets signaling growing pressure within the media industry to reduce criticism of the central government…" Assault on former chief editor Kevin Lau Kevin Lau, who had been chief editor of the journal until January 2014, was attacked in the morning of 26 February 2014 in Sai Wan Ho, Hong Kong. He was seriously injured in a targeted knife attack. It was widely speculated that the attack may have been driven by political motivation, and related to its role in investigation by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) into the offshore assets of China's leaders, including relatives of Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping, former Premier Wen Jiabao, and several members of the National People's Congress Journalists and press of the world saw the attack as an attack on press freedom. Thousands of people, led by leading journalists, attended a rally to denounce violence and intimidation of the media.During the court hearings of the two suspects, one declared that he was looking to get a $100,000 reward with this attack. Appointment of Chong Tien Siong In 2014, the appointment of new chief editor Chong Tien Siong sparked controversy and internal revolt, due to Siong's close ties to Beijing, and was seen as a major threat to the Chinese-language newspaper's editorial independence. Censorship on Tiananmen Massacre Ming Pao was subject to controversy in 2015 after editor-in-chief Chong Tien-siong ordered that a story detailing the Tiananmen massacre be replaced with a story about Chinese Internet giant Alibaba as a "role model for young, would-be entrepreneurs". Chum Shun-kin said the story that was pulled contained details about the history of the massacre, including eyewitness accounts of the killing of civilians and information from diplomatic cables from Canada. The pulling of the Tiananmen story has been criticised by some, including Civic Party lawmaker Claudia Mo who said that Chong appears to "want to shield Beijing from embarrassment, instead of acting in the interests of the public and protecting their right to information".Hong Kong Journalists Association spokeswoman Shum Yee-lan called on Chong to "communicate" with his own staff. Termination of chief editor Keung Kwok-yuen The journal's executive chief editor, Keung Kwok-yuen (Chinese: 姜國元), was abruptly terminated on 20 April 2016, the same day that a report based on the Panama Papers was published on its front page. Management said that the paper's turnover had been falling in since last year and the Keung had been laid off with immediate effect due to difficult operating conditions. The timing of Keung's removal led to speculation that the Panama Papers report, which connected a number of influential individuals in the territory to tax havens abroad, may have been considered sensitive, thus being the real reason for the dismissal.Keung had written several weeks earlier about the suppression of Ten Years, a dystopian film about Hong Kong in the year 2025 that was banned in mainland China. Staff and the union publicly denounced editor-in-chief Chong Tien Siong's decision to "punish editorial staff who have different opinions", and questioned the cost reduction pretext as an excuse. Journalists at Ming Pao manifested the concern felt by the media at large, several of them protested by filed blank space reports in an edition the Sunday following the dismissal. Editorials for 2019 anti-extradition bill protests On 13–14 June 2019, Ming Pao published editorials to define the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests as a riot (Chinese: 暴動), blaming the violence of the protesters. However, on 14 June, the instant news section of mingpao.com, the web portal of the publisher, published a statement to declare that the editorial represents the newspaper, but not the frontier staff of the publisher. The translator of the editorial refused to translate the article to English as well as any editorials in the future in protest.On 17 June 2019, Ming Pao published an open letter written by some of its employees criticizing the June 13 editorial for being biased towards the establishment and damaging the reputation of the newspaper. See also Newspapers of Hong Kong Media of Hong Kong Official website

武術 or 武术 means martial arts in East Asian languages, and may refer to: Bujutsu, meaning Japanese martial arts Musul, meaning Korean martial arts Võ thuật, meaning Vietnamese martial arts Wushu (term), meaning Chinese martial arts Wushu (sport), an exhibition and a full-contact sport derived from traditional Chinese martial arts See also Wushu (disambiguation)

72 may refer to: 72 (number) One of the years 72 BC, AD 72, 1972, 2072 "72", by James from the album Hey Ma See also List of highways numbered 72 All pages with titles containing 72

73 may refer to: 73 (number) one of the years 73 BC, AD 73, 1973, 2073 73 (magazine), a United States-based amateur radio magazine 73 Best regards, a popular Morse code abbreviation No. 73, a British 1980s children's TV show Nickname for the Boeing 737 airplane 73 Bristol Temple Meads–Bradley Stoke North, a bus route in England See also List of highways numbered 73 All pages with titles containing 73

74 may refer to: 74 (number) one of the years 74 BC, AD 74, 1974, 2074 The 74, an American nonprofit news website Seventy-four (ship), a type of two-decked sailing ship See also List of highways numbered 74 All pages with titles containing 74

75 may refer to: 75 (number) one of the years 75 BC, AD 75, 1875 CE, 1975 CE, 2075 CE 75 (album), an album by Joe Zawinul M75 (disambiguation), including "Model 75" Highway 75, see List of highways numbered 75 Alfa Romeo 75, a car produced by Alfa Romeo All pages with titles beginning with 75 All pages with titles containing 75 All pages with titles containing seventy-five 1975 (disambiguation) 1875 (disambiguation) Canon de 75 modèle 1897 (the 75, or, French 75)

76 or Seventy-Six may refer to: Common uses 76 (number) One of the years 76 BC, AD 76, 1776, 1876, 1976, 2076 Places Seventy Six, Kentucky Seventy-Six, Missouri Seventy-Six Township, Iowa (disambiguation), several places Arts, entertainment, and media Seventy-Six (novel), an 1823 American novel by John Neal 76 (album), the debut album of Dutch trance producer and DJ Armin van Buuren '76 (comics), a 2007 comic book limited series by Image Comics '76 (film), a 2016 film starring Ramsey Nouah and Rita Dominic Brands and enterprises 76 (gas station), gas station chain in the United States See also All pages with titles containing 76 List of highways numbered 76

77 may refer to: 77 (number) one of the years 77 BC, AD 77, 1977, 2077 Music 77 (band), a Spanish hard rock band 77 (Matt Kennon album) Talking Heads: 77, debut album by Talking Heads 77 (Nude Beach album), an album by the band Nude Beach "77", a song by Peso Pluma from the album Génesis See also '77 (disambiguation) 7/7, the 7 July 2005 London bombings All pages with titles containing 77 List of highways numbered 77

78 may refer to: 78 (number) one of the years 78 BC, AD 78, 1978, 2078 78 RPM phonograph (gramophone) record The 78, a proposed urban development in Chicago, Illinois, US See also '78 (disambiguation) All pages with titles containing 78 List of highways numbered 78

79 may refer to: 79 (number) one of the years 79 BC, AD 79, 1979, 2079 79 A.D., a 1962 historical epic film Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79, a catastrophic volcanic eruption in Italy See also All pages with titles containing 79 List of highways numbered 79

80 may refer to: 80 (number) one of the years 80 BC, AD 80, 1980, 2080 B. B. King & Friends: 80, an album released in 2005 80 (Tolis Voskopoulos album), released in 1980 Audi 80, a precursor of the Audi A4 automobile Boeing 80, a late-1920s Boeing aircraft "80", a song by Green Day from their 1991 album Kerplunk! See also All pages with titles containing 80 List of highways numbered 80

81 may refer to: 81 (number) one of the years 81 BC, AD 81, 1981, 2081 Nickname for the Hells Angels Motorcycle Club. "H" is the eighth letter of the alphabet, and "A" is the first. See also All pages with titles containing 81 List of highways numbered 81

82 may refer to: 82 (number) One of the years 82 BC, AD 82, 1982, 2082 82 (album), A studio album by Kenyan electronic music band Just a Band Messier 82 A Starburst Galaxy See also All pages with titles containing 82 Lead, chemical element with atomic number 82 List of highways numbered 82

The Chinese Loess Plateau, or simply the Loess Plateau, is a plateau in north-central China formed of loess, a clastic silt-like sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. It is located southeast of the Gobi Desert and is surrounded by the Yellow River. It includes parts of the Chinese provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi and Shanxi. The depositional setting of the Chinese Loess Plateau was shaped by the tectonic movement in the Neogene period, after which strong southeast winds caused by the East Asian Monsoon transported sediment to the plateau during the Quaternary period. The three main morphological types in the Loess Plateau are loess platforms, ridges and hills, formed by the deposition and erosion of loess. Most of the loess comes from the Gobi Desert and other nearby deserts. The sediments were transported to the Loess Plateau during interglacial periods by southeasterly prevailing winds and winter monsoon winds. After the deposition of sediments on the plateau, they were gradually compacted to form loess under the arid climate.The Loess Plateau is one of the largest and thickest loess plateaus in the world. Because of the strong winds, erosion is also powerful across the plateau. Therefore, erosional features, including wind escarpments, loess vertical joints and gullies are present. In the past few decades, the environment and climate has changed, including the rainfall pattern, vegetation cover, and the natural hazards. These changes may relate to human development in the plateau; Chinese environmental officials are trying to find sustainable ways to manage the region. Geology Geomorphology There are three main types of morphology in the Loess Plateau. They are loess platform, loess ridges, and loess hills. Loess tableland is flat and with many loess strata. It is mostly located at south Loess Plateau. Loess ridges are formed by erosion and are located at the central Loess Plateau. Loess Hills are conical dunes and are located at the north Loess Plateau. The geomorphology of the Loess Plateau is formed by the erosion and deposition of loess.In the Loess Plateau, the geomorphology usually changes from rocky mountains to Alluvial plain at piedmont to river valley belt. This pattern keeps repeating from the Northwest to the Southeast of the Loess Plateau.The height of the rocky mountains is much higher than the loess deposit. The height and morphology of the mountains are different in different locations.One of the highest mountains in the Loess Plateau is called Mahan Mountain. The elevation of this mountain is around 3670 m, which is 1300 m higher than the loess line. It is a flat-topped mountain and has paleo-peneplain remnants on the mountain top.Some of the mountain slopes, especially the windward slope (north slope), were forested in the past.The alluvial plain at piedmont is composed of Alluvial fans which can be found in this area, and which are located at the foot of the rocky mountains.The size of this belt depends on the amount of runoff and weathering materials from the rocky mountains.Old alluvial fans are covered with eolian loess. Further from the rocky mountains, loess tableland and loess “Ping” can be found and even links with the next belt, which is the river valley belt.The River valley belt includes flood plains, river terraces and river beds. The terraces with higher height are mostly covered with thick loess. It will change to another form of landscape, which is loess ridge, by strong erosion. If the erosion is weak, the higher terraces will change to loess tableland. These flat river basins, which include valley flat and lower terraces, are important for construction and agricultural activities. Erosional features Wind escarpment and bedrock ridges Mu Us Desert is located in the northwest of the Loess Plateau. Wind escarpment in the Loess Plateau marks a boundary between Mu Us Desert and the Loess Plateau. It also represents a transition from loess accumulation to wind erosion in the Loess Plateau. Many linear bedrock ridges are formed behind the wind escarpment, which are parallel to the wind direction. In the northern Loess Plateau, the bedrock ridges are pointing towards the northeast. However, the direction of the ridges slowly rotates to the North in the central Loess Plateau. At North Loess Plateau, the ridges are oriented 118° ±14° while they are oriented 179° ± 11° at central Loess Plateau. This indicates the role of wind erosion.The monsoon wind direction in Quaternary is consistent with modern climatology. To observe near-surface wind vectors, they compared the wind in Quaternary and modern wind. The results show that the wind direction in winter and spring-storm events are the same as the orientation of the bedrock ridges. Therefore, modern windstorms also contribute to shaping the eolian geomorphology.The Yellow River has provided sediments supply continuously which has been reworked by wind. Also, the wind erosion becomes stronger when it reaches the Loess Plateau wind escarpment. Because of the streamline compression of the wind escarpment, the wind speed is increased.As a result, the Loess Plateau is not only a site of loess deposition but also a source of dust because of strong wind erosion. Wind erosion is very severe during the glacial period. During the glacial period, there is very little vegetation, so it favors wind erosion. Vertical loess joints Loess vertical joints distribution depends on the loess structure, water moisture, strata and microtopography. There are vertical development features and lateral development features. Vertical development features Vertically, joints can be found in different loess strata, including late, middle and early Pleistocene loess layers. It is one of the most significant structures of the Loess Plateau. The development and size of the vertical loess joints depend on the vegetation coverage and slope. Steep slope and poor vegetation coverage favor the development of the joints. Many vertical loess joints can be easily found on the vertical cliffs of tableland. The joints and the loess-paleosol interface are orientated perpendicularly. Also, in a dry loess layer, vertical loess joints are the wet part of it. Therefore, it is very difficult to notice the loess vertical joints in deep strata. The water from rainfall and irrigation will infiltrate into the loess strata through the vertical joint surface and pore concentration zone. The joint systems in the loess strata are of different sizes, properties, periods, and origins. Loess Vertical Joints distribute all over the loess plateau. The joints in landslides can be categorized by their different features. The original joints are formed on the major scarp, minor scarp, original vertical cliffs and flanks. They are no displacement and closed.Unloading vertical joints and weathering vertical joints are at the top and edge of the slope or landslides and mostly in open shape and with little displacement.Sliding joints are in the body of landslides. Usually they are step-shaped and with large displacement.Collapsible joints are formed when there is asymmetrical settlement during rainfall or irrigation. They are located far from the edge of tableland and with apparent displacement. Lateral development features The lateral development of the vertical loess joints can be divided into four stages. In the development stage original vertical joints, unloading joints and weathering joints can be found. In this range, the joints are mainly weathering joints and unloading joints. Nothing fill in the joint surfaces.In the micro-development stage the distribution of the loess joints is sparser. The joints are filling with fine sand. This indicates the infiltration of water and accumulation of the sediments in the water.In the underdevelopment stage a few or nearly zero joints are found.And lastly in the undeveloped stage no vertical joint is found. The loess is very dry. The average moisture content is 16.22%. Gullies Gully erosion acts as an important source for sediments. If an area has gully erosion, it means that the area has serious land degradation. In the Loess Plateau, the contribution of gully erosion on total sediment production in the hilly areas is about 60% to 90%. It is serious in the Loess Plateau. To know the contribution of gully erosion, we can measure the gully volume changes. There are three types of gullies in the Loess Plateau, including floor gullies, hill slope gullies and valley bank gullies. Geological development In conclusion, the geomorphic outline of the Loess Plateau was shaped by the tectonic movement since Neogene. After that, because of the East Asia Monsoon in Quaternary, the loess and different erosional features started to form. However, because of human activities, many areas in the Loess Plateau turned into erosional environments. Loess deposits Formation of loess Loess does not necessarily mean the same as silt. Loess is yellow eolian sediments that were transported by wind from an arid or semi-arid region during the Quaternary period. Around 6% of the land in the world is covered with loess. Loess record the past climate and environment.Chinese Loess Plateau is one of the largest sinks of loess in the world. When the sediments are transported to the Loess Plateau, they are silt materials. After they deposit in arid areas and under strong chemical weathering and the process of carbonation, loess is formed. Two types of loess are defined by their formation process. Typical loess is loess that is deposited during late Pleistocene and Holocene. It is formed under arid or semi-arid conditions.Secondary loess is loess that is compacted by upper loess and does not experience the weathering and carbonation process. Also, it is formed by the transformation of fluvial and lake loess in semi-arid areas. Distribution of loess Both the thickness and the size of loess decrease from northwest to southeast. The figure shows the topography of the Chinese Loess Plateau. The loess near the Liu-p’an Mts is the thickest which is around 200 m to 300 m while the loess near the Yellow River is around 100 m thick. This is related to the sorting by wind. When the monsoon wind and dust storm are blown from the northwest, it carries the loess of different sizes. When it arrives at the Loess Plateau, the energy of the wind starts to decrease, so it drops the largest and heaviest loess first. It continues to move towards the southeast of the Loess Plateau, the energy of the wind keeps decreasing. Therefore, the finest loess materials are deposited at the southeast end of the Plateau. That is why the coarsest loess is at the northwest of the Loess Plateau while the finest is at the southeast.Some studies found that the loess that formed during Middle Pleistocene is expansive and thick. Therefore, the main period for the formation of the Loess Plateau is Middle Pleistocene. Most of the loess in the west of Liupan Mountain is yellow. However, the loess in the east has many different colors, such as deep reddish-orange, brownish-gold. The color differences indicate that Liupan Mountain was formed before the loess deposition and it caused the different properties of the loess in different sides of the mountain. Sedimentation of loess Most of the loess is deposited and well preserved at "Yuans", which are very flat. Some studies found that the apparent sedimentation rate, which determines the changes of the rate of deposition, has similar changes as the grain size changes. When the grain size increases, the apparent sedimentation rate also increases. There are two reasons.There are other factors that control the grain size changes. Besides the variations in the wind intensity, the grain size may also affect by the aridity of the source areas. This changes the transporting distance of the sediments. During interglacial periods, the Loess Plateau retreated northwesterly while it moves towards the southeast during glacial periods. Therefore, the distance between the source areas and the Loess Plateau changes a lot. The grain size will increase in some northwest areas during glacial periods, even though the wind intensity does not change.This may also be associated with the transporting winds. During glacial periods, the Siberian High is enhanced, and the winter monsoon become drier and stronger. Therefore, the amount and grain size of the sediments will increase. Mineralogy of loess More than 90% of the loess is calcite, feldspar, mica and quartz. Among that, around 50% is quartz. The 10% left are orthoclase, viitaniemiite, sudoite, clinochlore and nimite.From the mineralogical, isotopic, and chemical results, it is easy to find the provenance of the loess. Provenance of loess deposits The source of loess in the Chinese Loess Plateau is the Gobi Desert and the desert nearby, including the Tengger Desert, Badain Jaran Desert, Ulan Buh Desert, Mu Us Desert and Hobq Desert. However, the main source is the Gobi Desert. This is proven because their minerals, isotopes and chemicals are similar. Both of the places have quartz as the main mineral of the loess. The value of 87Sr/86Sr is extremely high and both of them have high Eu/Yb and Eu/Eu ratios, which are trace elements. These data prove that the loess is from the Gobi Desert. The Gobi Desert is located at the north of the plateau. Although the distance between the Gobi Desert and the Chinese Loess Plateau is quite far, it is possible that the loess can travel such a great distance. There are a few reasons why the source of loess is from the Gobi Desert and the sand deserts.Prevailing wind: The prevailing wind of the sand deserts and Gobi Desert are from the northwest. Since the Gobi Desert and the sand deserts are located northwest of the Chinese Loess Plateau, the prevailing wind builds a linkage for all these places. The loess can travel to the plateau through the prevailing wind.No mountain in between: In the transport pathway of the dust, there is no high mountain in between. In the situation where high mountains block the dust when the dust is transporting, the dust may deposit at the windward slope of the mountain.Monsoon is also important to determine the source of loess because monsoon will affect the wind direction. There are winter monsoonal winds flowing from Mongolia because of the high-pressure cell in Siberian-Mongolia. This plays an important role in transporting dust and loess to the Loess Plateau.Dust storm: This is the most important factor. During Spring, many strong dust storms happen in the Loess Plateau which usually last for more than two days. With a longer dust storm event, the loess can travel a longer distance. The dust storm is blown from northwest to the Loess Plateau. Origin of the loess Although the source of loess materials is from the Gobi Desert and the sand deserts, they are not produced by those deserts. The three mountains, including the Gobi Altay Mountains, the Hangayn Mountains and the Qilian Mountains are responsible for making loess materials for the desert and plateau.High elevation: According to the environmental lapse rate, the air temperature will decrease by 6 °C per 1000 m. Therefore, the higher the mountain, the more extreme climate. All three mountains are higher than 2500 m, ranging from 2500 m to 5500 m. The mountain top may have a temperature around 0 °C or even below 0 °C. This favors the frost weathering process and freeze-thaw cycles which lead to physical weathering of the rocks at the mountain top. This process changes the rocks into small sized grains.High relief and gradient: When the melting water and river water from the mountain water flows down from the mountain top, it creates a large amount of potential energy because of the slope gradient and high relief. When the water flows through the valleys and unstable rocky slopes, many clastic materials are washed away by the water. The removed materials are transported by the water and deposited in mountain foot and lowland basins. This may even form alluvial fans. There is a huge alluvial fan at the mountain foot of the Gobi Altay Mts. Therefore, the sediments and sands of the desert are from the mountain. After that, the wind will transport the sediments to the Loess Plateau and sort the sediments.Tectonic activities: When there are tectonic activities in High Asia, energy is released. This causes the denudation of the rock and downcutting of rivers of the mountains. Loess materials are formed from the mountains during tectonic activities. Besides, the sediments are also produced by the eolian abrasion process in the deserts and the Yellow River. However, these are not the major sources of loess. Therefore, the loess in the Chinese Loess Plateau is mainly produced by the three mountain ranges and deposited in the deserts. Through monsoon wind and dust storms, the loess is transported to the Loess Plateau. Climate and environment Climate and environmental changes The population of the Loess Plateau has been increasing since the 1600s. In 2000, the population has increased to 104 million. The rapid population growth has brought some environmental problems to Loess Plateau. For instance, deforestation. People clear the forest to get more land for agriculture activities and use the wood for fuel and building materials. This is the reason why the forest cover has decreased dramatically. There are more and more abnormal and extreme natural hazards in the Loess Plateau. This may be related to the climate and environmental changes. Natural hazards Different natural hazards connected with the Loess Plateau include dust storms, floods and droughts, locust swarms and landslides.The number of dust storm events is increasing and they have become stronger. The materials can be carried by the dust storm for a very long distance. It affects Korea, Japan, and even the European Alps. The impacts of dust storms can be very huge. Dust storms can bury gigantic farmlands and affect the human respiratory system. They will also cause the death of livestock and humans.The frequency of floods and droughts is closely related. This is because the increase in drought indicates that the weather has become more extreme. The number of floods will also increase. The frequency of floods and droughts is increasing abnormally.The Loess Plateau becomes more vulnerable to locust swarms because the climate becomes cooler and more humid. They will destroy the farmland and reduce crop yield. From 1965 to 1979, more than 1000 landslides that happened in the Loess Plateau were triggered by earthquake shocks and monsoonal summer rainfall. Sustainable development Soil erosion in the Loess Plateau is affected by many factors, including vegetation cover, precipitation, strength of winds, climate etc. However, human activities contribute the most to soil erosion in the Loess Plateau in recent years. The population in the Chinese Loess Plateau has tripled from 1949 to 2000. It has reached 104 million people in 2000. More than 70% of slope land is used for agricultural activities. The farming activities on the steep slopes exposed the loess materials on the slope. When there is heavy rainfall and storms, the loess are easily washed away, which cause serious soil erosion. Most of the grassland is overgrazed and facing land degradation problem. Also, mining and construction also contribute in causing soil erosion. Therefore, the Chinese government realized that it is critical to promote sustainable farming and soil conservation strategies in the Loess Plateau. The institute of soil and water conservation promoted a principle for conservational eco-agricultural construction. There are four main strategies: Restore vegetation, including grass and shrubs. Build essential grain cropland, such as terracing. Plant more cash crops and trees. Animal husbandry.The conservation and sustainable construction is divided into three stages: