all used metaphorically).
SUICIDE BOMBING, invention of:
Use of explosives carried to a target on the body of the attacker or in a vehicle operated by him or her. Especially fearsome attack because the attacker cannot be bargained with since he or she is determined to die. Similar to the Japanese kamikaze attacks of World War II. Thought to have been invented in the early 1980s by the Tamil Tiger separatists in Sri Lanka. See JIHAD; PEARL HARBOR; SRI LANKA; SEPTEMBER 11, 2001.
The official language of the Philippines, but also one of scores of local and regional dialects.
One of the bloodiest conflicts in world history. A continuing theme in modern Chinese history is the central government’s fear of separatist movements leading to catastrophic violence. Perhaps 20 million or more Chinese died in a long civil war, contemporaneous with the American Civil War, in which fewer than 1 million Americans were killed. It was led by a Chinese national who thought he was Jesus’ younger brother. See also CHINA; TAIWAN; TIANANMEN SQUARE; TIBET; UIGHUR.
Caution on description. Island off the southeastern coast of China. Slightly smaller than Maryland and Delaware combined. Officially a province of China, but this fact is disputed by Taiwanese government. Continuing tension with China and the rest of the world on how to describe its status (it does not have a permanent representative to the United Nations, for example). Chinese invasion, a theoretical possibility, recedes with time and U.S. protection. Dynamic economy and thriving community in the United States. Useful to specify Taiwanese or Taiwanese American, as opposed to Chinese or Chinese American. After 1949 Communist victory in China, 2 million Nationalists fled to Taiwan, partially displacing native Taiwanese and creating Republic of China. Many present-day residents of Taiwan are from rural Fujian province across the strait from Taiwan. There have also been at least three native-born generations since 1949. Capital: Taipei. Population: 23.1 million (2012 estimate). Proportion of population younger than 15: 16 percent. Languages: Mandarin Chinese (official), Taiwanese (Min), Hakka dialects. Faith: Mixture of Buddhism, Confucianism, and Taoism (93 percent), Christianity (5 percent) and others. Ethnic groups: “Native” Taiwanese (including Hakka) 85 percent (note: most native Taiwanese Chinese, descended, as noted above, of migrants from Fujian), “mainland” Chinese (14 percent) and others. Literacy: 96 percent. (Source: World Factbook.)
Pronounced “dow,” Chinese for “the way.” It is a philosophy and guide to life that, much like Confucianism, has shaped China for more than two millennia. Also implies skill, harmony and the true nature of reality, as in “The Tao of Archery.” In many ways, more metaphysical than Confucianism but, like it, involving no organized worship of a deity. Attributed to Lao Tzu, a contemporary of Confucius, in the sixth century. His “Tao-te Ching,” or “The Book of the Way,” is a central text. See also CONFUCIANISM; MARTIAL ARTS; SHINTOISM.
See ISLAMIST; JIHAD; MOSQUE “AT” GROUND ZERO; SEPTEMBER 11, 2001; SRI LANKA; SUICIDE BOMBING; and related entries.
Known as Siam until 1939, it was the setting of the 1951 musical “The King and I.” A 2000 film remake of the original 1944 novel “Anna and the King of Siam” was banned out of respect for the royal family. Thailand is one of the few countries in the region never to have been colonized by a European power. The first Thais believed to have come to the United States were Chang and Eng Bunker, born joined at the hip and with fused livers. A circus attraction, they were known as “The Siamese Twins.” Immigration to the United States was sparse until the 1970s and the end of the Indochinese wars. Thailand was an ally of the United States and South Vietnam. A thriving sex industry, a residue of the Vietnam War, remains an international controversy. Continuing political instability in Thailand followed a military coup in 2006. A “red shirt” faction formed, made up of supporters of the ousted prime minister. A “yellow s