varnish tree, any of various trees whose milky juice is used to make a varnish or lacquer. The term is applied particularly to an Asian tree (Toxicodendron vernicifluum), related to poison ivy, that is highly irritating to the skin. On being tapped, the tree exudes a thick, milky emulsion that was

Chinese lacquerwork, decorative work produced in China by the application of many coats of lacquer to a core material such as wood, bamboo, or cloth. The Chinese had discovered as early as the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046) that the juice of the lac tree (Rhus vernicifera), a naturally occurring

Chinese languages, principal language group of eastern Asia, belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese exists in a number of varieties that are popularly called dialects but that are usually classified as separate languages by scholars. More people speak a variety of Chinese as a

ground cherry: Chinese lantern (P. alkekengi) is grown as an ornamental.

abutilon: Chinese lantern, also known as flowering maple (Abutilon ×hybridum), is planted outdoors in warm regions and grown in greenhouses elsewhere. It is a fast-growing shrub with attractive hanging flowers. Another species, sometimes known as redvein flowering maple (A. pictum), is a handsome variegated-leaf shrub reaching…

Chinese law, the body of laws in China and the institutions designed to administer them. The term encompasses both the legal history of China prior to the foundation of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and the law of that country today. According to conventional wisdom in the West, there was

lilac: Major species: The Chinese, or Rouen, lilac (S. chinensis) is a thickly branched hybrid, a cross of the Persian and common lilacs.

Kanō Eitoku: …original Eitoku paintings extant are “Chinese Lions,” on a six-paneled folding screen in the Imperial Household Collection; “Landscapes and Flowers,” on 16 sliding panels in the Tenkyū-in, Kyōto; and “24 Paragons of Filial Piety and of Hermits,” on the walls of the Nanzen Temple, Kyōto.

Chinese literature, the body of works written in Chinese, including lyric poetry, historical and didactic writing, drama, and various forms of fiction. Chinese literature is one of the major literary heritages of the world, with an uninterrupted history of more than 3,000 years, dating back at

fluke: …or Oriental, liver fluke (Opisthorchis sinensis, or Clonorchis sinensis). F. hepatica causes the highly destructive “liver rot” in sheep and other domestic animals. Man may become infested with this fluke by eating uncooked vegetables.

Magnoliales: Magnoliaceae: …is Magnolia × soulangeana (saucer magnolia), a spreading deciduous shrub with leaves that measure up to 15–20 cm (6–8 inches) long. Its flowers appear in early spring before the leaves, and this flowering continues after the leaves have developed. The flowers are typically white at their tips, with dark…

Peranakan: …as Bahasa Melayu Tionghoa (Chinese Malay). The Peranakan Chinese community was firmly established in the Indonesian archipelago by the mid-19th century and had become self-contained with a decline in intermarriage. New immigrants were rapidly assimilated into the Peranakan community because there was no mass immigration.

mantid: …last species is the familiar Chinese mantid, which is native to many parts of eastern Asia and is the largest mantid in North America, ranging from 7 to 10 cm in length.

traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), system of medicine at least 23 centuries old that aims to prevent or heal disease by maintaining or restoring yinyang balance. China has one of the world’s oldest medical systems. Acupuncture and Chinese herbal remedies date back at least 2,200 years, although

Pilea: …on glossy dark green leaves; Chinese money plant (P. peperomioides), with long petioles (leaf stalks) attached to the centre of the undersides of the round leaves; and friendship plant, or panamiga (P. involucrata), with quilted bronzy leaves.

Chinese music, the art form of organized vocal and instrumental sounds that developed in China. It is one of the oldest and most highly developed of all known musical systems. Chinese music history must be approached with a certain sense of awe. Indeed, any survey evokes the music of a varied,

brown mustard, (Brassica juncea), herbaceous plant of the family Brassicaceae grown primarily for its pungent seeds, which are a source of the condiment known as mustard, and as a leafy vegetable. Stronger in flavour than white mustard (Sinapsis alba), brown mustard seeds are characteristic of many

Chinese literature: Literary use of myths: …clear evidence that an organic mythology ever existed; if it did, all traces have been lost. Attempts by scholars, Eastern and Western alike, to reconstruct the mythology of antiquity have consequently not advanced beyond probable theses. Shang dynasty material is limited. Zhou dynasty (c. 1046–256 bce) sources are more plentiful,…

Chinese New Year, annual 15-day festival in China and Chinese communities around the world that begins with the new moon that occurs sometime between January 21 and February 20 according to Western calendars. Festivities last until the following full moon. The holiday is sometimes called the Lunar

Leiothrix: argentauris), and the red-billed leiothrix (L. lutea), which is known to cage-bird fanciers as the Pekin, or Chinese, robin (or nightingale). Both range from the Himalayas to Indochina; L. lutea has been introduced into Hawaii, where it is commonly called hill robin. The silver-ear has yellow, gray, red,…

numerals and numeral systems: Multiplicative grouping systems: …of notation is the Chinese numeral system, three variants of which are shown here. The modern national and mercantile systems are positional systems, as described below, and use a circle for zero.

saturniid moth: Major species: assama for muga silk; the Chinese oak silkworm, A. pernyi, for shantung silk; and the Indian moth, A. paphia and Japanese oak silk moth (A. yamamai) for tussah silk.

Gao Ming: …and playwright whose sole surviving opera, Pipaji (The Lute), became the model for drama of the Ming dynasty.

chondrostean: Size range: The Chinese paddlefish (Psephurus gladius), on the other hand, may reach 3 metres (9.8 feet) in length and weigh as much as 300 kg (661.4 pounds). A number of sturgeon species are larger still. The beluga (Huso huso) is the largest freshwater fish in the world;…

Chinese painting, one of the major art forms produced in China over the centuries. The other arts of China are treated in separate articles. These include Chinese calligraphy, which in China is closely associated with painting; interior design; tapestry; floral decoration; Chinese pottery;

Shenyang: History: …has been known as the Chinese Pale, an area settled chiefly by Han Chinese immigrants from what are now the provinces of Hebei and Shandong. During the Xi (Western) Han period, a county called Houcheng was set up in the area of what is now Shenyang. The rest of Manchuria…

Sarykol Range, mountain range on the border of the Gorno-Badakhshan autonomous oblast (province) of Tajikistan and the People’s Republic of China. Lying in the eastern Pamirs parallel to the Kashgar (or Mustagh-Ata) Range to the east, it extends for 215 mi (350 km) from the valley of the Markansu

pangolin: …as Phataginus tetradactyla) and the Chinese pangolin (M. pentadactyla), are almost entirely arboreal; others, such as the giant ground pangolin (M. gigantea, also classified as Smutsia gigantea) of Africa, are terrestrial. All are nocturnal and able to swim a little. Terrestrial forms live in burrows. Pangolins feed mainly on termites…

Chinese parasol tree, (Firmiana simplex), tree of the hibiscus, or mallow, family (Malvaceae; order Malvales), native to Asia. It grows to a height of 12 metres (40 feet). It has alternate, deciduous leaves up to 30 cm (12 inches) across and small greenish white flowers that are borne in clusters.

coriander, (Coriandrum sativum), feathery annual plant of the parsley family (Apiaceae), parts of which are used as both an herb and a spice. Native to the Mediterranean and Middle East regions, the plant is widely cultivated in many places worldwide for its culinary uses. Its dry fruits and seeds,

peony: The fragrant Chinese peony (P. lactiflora) and the European common peony (P. officinalis) have given rise to most of the familiar garden peonies. P. lactiflora has provided hundreds of cultivated varieties, including the Japanese types, with one or two rows of petals surrounding a cluster of partially…

China: Establishment of the People’s Republic: …1949 Organic Law for the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, and at its first session the conference adopted a Common Program that formally sanctioned the organization of state power under the coalition. Following the communist victory, a widespread urge to return to normality helped the new leadership restore the economy.…

Battle of the Chosin Reservoir: Crossing into North Korea: …after considerable debate, ordered the Chinese People’s Volunteers Force (CPVF), under the command of General Peng Dehuai, to move against the Eighth Army, whose lead elements had advanced beyond P’yŏngyang and were marching along two separate routes toward the border with China at the Yalu River.

Chinese performing arts, the dance and the theatre arts of China, tied from the earliest records to religious beliefs and customs. These date to 1000 bce, and they describe magnificently costumed male and female shamans who sang and danced to musical accompaniment, drawing the heavenly spirits down

Chinese philosophy, the thought of Chinese culture, from earliest times to the present. The keynote in Chinese philosophy is humanism: man and his society have occupied, if not monopolized, the attention of Chinese philosophers throughout the ages. Ethical and political discussions have

fenghuang, in Chinese mythology, an immortal bird whose rare appearance is said to be an omen foretelling harmony at the ascent to the throne of a new emperor. Like the qilin (a unicorn-like creature), the fenghuang is often considered to signify both male and female elements, a yin-yang harmony;

Pinyin romanization, system of romanization for the Chinese written language based on the pronunciation of the Beijing dialect of Mandarin Chinese. The gradual acceptance of Pinyin as the official transcription used in the People’s Republic of China signaled a commitment to promote the use of the

Chinese Pidgin English, a modified form of English used as a trade language between the British and the Chinese, first in Canton, China, and later in other Chinese trade centres (e.g., Shanghai). Although some scholars speculate that Chinese Pidgin English may be based on an earlier Portuguese

Pistacia: The Chinese pistachio (P. chinensis) is a tall ornamental tree with scarlet fruits and colourful autumn foliage. The mastic tree (P. lentiscus) and the turpentine tree, or terebinth (P. terebinthus), produce sweet-smelling gums used in medicine. Mastic also is used in liqueurs and varnishes. Commercial pistachio…

plum-yew: The Chinese plum-yew (C. fortunei) grows to 12 metres (40 feet) in the wild and up to 6 metres (20 feet) under cultivation.

graph theory: Two well-known examples are the Chinese postman problem (the shortest path that visits each edge at least once), which was solved in the 1960s, and the traveling salesman problem (the shortest path that begins and ends at the same vertex and visits each edge exactly once), which continues to attract…

Chinese pottery, objects made of clay and hardened by heat: earthenware, stoneware, and porcelain, particularly those made in China. Nowhere in the world has pottery assumed such importance as in China, and the influence of Chinese porcelain on later European pottery has been profound. The earliest

baseball: Baseball in Asia and the Pacific: …has two professional leagues, the Chinese Professional Baseball League, a four-team league that started in 1990, and the Taiwan Major League, a four-team league that began operations in 1997. Australia has an eight-team professional league, the International Baseball Association Australia, which started in 1989.

Chinese languages: …of the Chinese languages into Proto-Sinitic (Proto-Chinese; until 500 bc), Archaic (Old) Chinese (8th to 3rd century bc), Ancient (Middle) Chinese (through ad 907), and Modern Chinese (from c. the 10th century to modern times). The Proto-Sinitic period is the period of the most ancient inscriptions and poetry; most loanwords…

People’s Liberation Army, Unified organization of China’s land, sea, and air forces. It is one of the largest military forces in the world. The People’s Liberation Army traces its roots to the 1927 Nanchang Uprising of the communists against the Nationalists. Initially called the Red Army, it grew

red panda: …Bhutan, and Nepal, and the Chinese red panda (A. fulgens styani), which lives in China’s Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. Although these mammals are classified traditionally within a single species, some scientists claim that DNA and morphological differences between the two are striking enough to reclassify them as two distinct species…

purgatory: Purgatory in world religions: In medieval Chinese Buddhism, the classical Buddhist understanding of rebirth and transfer of merit merged with traditional practices and beliefs concerning the veneration of ancestors and the placation of potentially troublesome ghosts. The Chinese Buddhist afterworld is perceived as an imperial bureaucracy in which the deceased is…

Chinese remainder theorem, ancient theorem that gives the conditions necessary for multiple equations to have a simultaneous integer solution. The theorem has its origin in the work of the 3rd-century-ad Chinese mathematician Sun Zi, although the complete theorem was first given in 1247 by Qin

May Fourth Movement: As part of this New Culture Movement, they attacked traditional Confucian ideas and exalted Western ideas, particularly science and democracy. Their inquiry into liberalism, pragmatism, nationalism, anarchism, and socialism provided a basis from which to criticize traditional Chinese ethics, philosophy, religion, and social and political

China: The development of the republic (1912–20): During the first half of the 20th century, the old order in China gradually disintegrated, and turbulent preparations were made for a new society. Foreign political philosophies undermined the traditional governmental system, nationalism became the strongest activating force, and civil wars and Japanese…

carboxylic acid: Amino acids: …is commonly known as “Chinese restaurant syndrome,” because MSG has been a widely used ingredient in the cuisine of many Chinese restaurants.

Chinese Revolution, (1911–12), nationalist democratic revolt that overthrew the Qing (or Manchu) dynasty in 1912 and created a republic. Ever since their conquest of China in the 17th century, most of the Manchu had lived in comparative idleness, supposedly a standing army of occupation but in

National Museum of China, museum in Beijing, located on the east side of Tiananmen Square. The museum was created in 2003 by the merger of the National Museum of Chinese History and the Museum of the Chinese Revolution. It is the largest museum in China and one of the largest museums in the world.

Nationalist Party, political party that governed all or part of mainland China from 1928 to 1949 and subsequently ruled Taiwan under Chiang Kai-shek and his successors for most of the time since then. Originally a revolutionary league working for the overthrow of the Chinese monarchy, the

rhubarb: Related species: …of two species known as Chinese rhubarb (Rheum officinale and R. palmatum) have been used medicinally in China and Tibet since ancient times, primarily as a cathartic. Their purgative properties and yellow colour are derived from anthracene glycosides; they also contain high levels of calcium oxalate, which give a characteristic…

Chinese Rites Controversy, a 17th–18th-century argument originating in China among Roman Catholic missionaries about whether the ceremonies honouring Confucius and family ancestors were so tainted with superstition as to be incompatible with Christian belief. The Jesuits believed that they probably

dolphin: Paleontology and classification: The Chinese river dolphin, or baiji (Lipotes vexillifer), remains in this group, but most sources consider it to be extinct. Assorted Referencesmajor referencemigration pattern

Leiothrix: argentauris), and the red-billed leiothrix (L. lutea), which is known to cage-bird fanciers as the Pekin, or Chinese, robin (or nightingale). Both range from the Himalayas to Indochina; L. lutea has been introduced into Hawaii, where it is commonly called hill robin. The silver-ear has yellow, gray, red,…

Chinese room argument, thought experiment by the American philosopher John Searle, first presented in his journal article “Minds, Brains, and Programs” (1980), designed to show that the central claim of what Searle called strong artificial intelligence (AI)—that human thought or intelligence can be

Anna Karina: …Werner Fassbinder’s Chinesisches Roulette (1976; Chinese Roulette), it is for her work with Godard that she is most remembered. In 1973 she tried her hand at screenwriting and directing; the result, Vivre ensemble (Living Together), met with limited success. That same year she appeared in what is regarded as her…

rug and carpet: Materials and technique: Some Chinese carpets have fewer than 20 knots per square inch (3 per square centimetre); certain Indian ones, more than 2,400. The highest density can be achieved with the Persian knot.

Japanese pagoda tree, (Styphnolobium japonicum), tree of the pea family (Fabaceae). Despite its name, the Japanese pagoda tree is native to China and was introduced to Japan, where it is commonly found on the grounds of Buddhist temples. The plant is important in traditional medicine, and its

ombres chinoises, (French: “Chinese shadows”), European version of the Chinese shadow-puppet show, introduced in Europe in the mid-18th century by returning travelers. Soon adopted by French and English showmen, the form gained prominence in the shows of the French puppeteer Dominique Séraphin, who

Chinese Shar-Pei, breed of dog noted for its loose skin and wrinkles. Once considered to be among the rarest dog breeds, the Shar-Pei has enjoyed great popularity since the late 20th century, and its numbers have grown significantly. Of medium size, the dog stands 18 to 20 inches (about 46 to 51

silkworm moth, (Bombyx mori), lepidopteran whose caterpillar has been used in silk production (sericulture) for thousands of years. Although native to China, the silkworm has been introduced throughout the world and has undergone complete domestication, with the species no longer being found in the

aviculture: …pheasant (Chrysolophus pictus) and the Chinese silver pheasant (a subspecies of Lophura nycthemera), are maintained primarily in aviaries and zoos, where they are abundant.

Frederick Bee: …organization of Chinese Americans, the Chinese Six Companies, likely in part because they feared the potential repercussions that might have resulted for them from nativist reaction had they accepted. Bee, however—having recently experienced business failures and mindful of the limited opportunities available in the then struggling economy—took on the job…

Rutaceae: …Japanese skimmia (Skimmia japonica) and Chinese skimmia (S. reevesiana), which have attractive white flowers and red berries. Orange jessamine (Murraya paniculata) is native to Southeast Asia and is widely grown in the tropics as an ornamental. Perhaps the most unusual is the gas plant (Dictamnus albus), a poisonous perennial herb…

Dipsacales: Adoxaceae: dentatum), and Chinese snowball (V. macrocephalum).

Jiang Kanghu: The Chinese Socialist Party developed in 1912 in Shanghai from a study society he had started, and under his leadership the party quickly established 250 branches in other Chinese cities, with a membership of perhaps 20,000. However, in 1913 Pres. Yuan Shikai suppressed the party, and…

Jiangxi Soviet, (1931–34), independent government established by the communist leader Mao Zedong and his comrade Zhu De in Jiangxi province in southeastern China. It was from this small state within a state that Mao gained the experience in guerrilla warfare and peasant organization that he later

sturgeon: Conservation status: The Chinese sturgeon is thought to be the species most at risk, because its population declined nearly 98 percent between 1973 and 2010. The species decline has been associated with water pollution in the Yangtze and dam construction that has blocked access to or changed the…

trumpet creeper: The Chinese trumpet creeper (C. grandiflora) of eastern Asia is a poor climber but produces spectacular bunches of brilliant scarlet flowers.

poplar: Unrelated species: …consists of two species, the Chinese tulip tree (L. chinense), native to China and Vietnam, and the American tulip tree (L. tulipifera), found throughout eastern North America.

Xinjiang, autonomous region of China, occupying the northwestern corner of the country. It is bordered by the Chinese provinces of Qinghai and Gansu to the east, the Tibet Autonomous Region to the south, Afghanistan and the disputed territory of Kashmir to the southwest, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan

rug and carpet: Chinese Turkistan: Parts of the Uygur Autonomous Region of Xinjiang are often described as eastern Turkistan, as many of the people are descended from Turkic tribes, and Islam has been a powerful force among them since the 8th century. Some of the earliest surviving pile…

Max Frisch: …included Die chinesische Mauer (1947; The Chinese Wall) and the bleak Als der Krieg zu Ende war (1949; When the War Was Over). Reality and dream are used to depict the terrorist fantasies of a responsible government prosecutor in Graf Öderland (1951; Count Oederland), while Don Juan oder die Liebe…

water chestnut: The Chinese water chestnut (Eleocharis dulcis) is a member of the sedge family (Cyperaceae). It is widely cultivated in Asia for its edible corms, which remain crisp even after being cooked. It is a characteristic ingredient in many Chinese dishes.

Chinese water deer, (Hydropotes inermis), very small Asian deer of the family Cervidae (order Artiodactyla), native to fertile river bottoms in Korea and the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) valley in China. It is the only species of deer in which males lack antlers; instead, they are armed with long,

wax gourd, (Benincasa hispida), fleshy vine of the gourd family (Cucurbitaceae), grown for its edible fruits. The wax gourd is native to tropical Asia, where it is commonly used in soups, curries, and stir-fries and is sometimes made into a beverage. Like other gourds, the fruit has a long shelf

Chinese wax, white or yellowish-white crystalline wax resembling spermaceti but harder, more friable, and with a higher melting point. It is deposited on the branches of certain trees by the scale insect Ceroplastes ceriferus, common in China and India, or a related scale insect, Ericerus pe-la, of

homopteran: Glandular secretions: …producers are males of the Chinese wax scale Ericerus pe-la that secrete large amounts of pure white wax useful in making candles. The Indian wax scale Ceroplastes ceriferus secretes a wax that is used for medicinal purposes.

drawing: Inks: Chinese white is easier to apply with a pointed brush because of its thickness; other pigments, among them indigo and green copper sulfate, are rarely found in drawings. For them, too, the brush is a better tool than the pen. The systematically produced watercolours of…

wisteria: …the southeastern United States; and Chinese wisteria (W. sinensis), native to China.

Chinese writing, basically logographic writing system, one of the world’s great writing systems. Like Semitic writing in the West, Chinese script was fundamental to the writing systems in the East. Until relatively recently, Chinese writing was more widely in use than alphabetic writing systems,

yam: Major species: Chinese yam (D. polystachya), also known as cinnamon vine, is widely cultivated in East Asia.

Chinese yew, (Taxus celebica), a large, ornamental evergreen shrub or tree of the yew family (Taxaceae), widespread in China at elevations up to 900 metres (3,000 feet). The tree is up to 14 m (46 ft) tall and wide and bushy when cultivated. The leaves are up to 4 centimetres (1 12 inches)

Chinese zodiac, annual classification system in Chinese culture following the Chinese lunar calendar yingyang li (literally, “heaven-earth”) in which each year in a 12-year cycle is assigned an animal and each animal is associated with a personality that typifies the year and those born during that

Hong Kong: The Chinese-British joint declaration signed on December 19, 1984, paved the way for the entire territory to be returned to China, which occurred July 1, 1997.

Max Frisch: …included Die chinesische Mauer (1947; The Chinese Wall) and the bleak Als der Krieg zu Ende war (1949; When the War Was Over). Reality and dream are used to depict the terrorist fantasies of a responsible government prosecutor in Graf Öderland (1951; Count Oederland), while Don Juan oder die Liebe…

Anna Karina: …Werner Fassbinder’s Chinesisches Roulette (1976; Chinese Roulette), it is for her work with Godard that she is most remembered. In 1973 she tried her hand at screenwriting and directing; the result, Vivre ensemble (Living Together), met with limited success. That same year she appeared in what is regarded as her…

Jing Hao was an important landscape painter and essayist of the Five Dynasties (907–960) period. Jing spent much of his life in retirement as a farmer in the Taihang Mountains of Shanxi province. In his art, Jing followed the court painters of the Tang dynasty (618–907) in emphasizing the singular

Jing River, river in north-central China, the largest tributary of the Wei River. It rises in the Liupan Mountains of the Hui Autonomous Region of Ningxia and flows about 280 miles (450 km) through Gansu province to central Shaanxi where it empties into the

Chung Ling Soo: …1900, he modeled himself after Ching Ling Foo, an authentic Chinese conjurer who had recently made a successful American tour. Accused by Ching in 1904 of being an imposter, Chung admitted to the masquerade, but his public admired him even more for his clever impersonation. Campbell was still playing Chung…

history of film: Taiwan: …shao nien na cha (1993; Rebels of the Neon God), Aiqing wansui (1994; Vive l’amour), and Ni nei pien chi tien (2001; What Time Is It There?).

special economic zone (SEZ), any of several localities in which foreign and domestic trade and investment are conducted without the authorization of the Chinese central government in Beijing. Special economic zones are intended to function as zones of rapid economic growth by using tax and business

Jingzhou, city and river port, southern Hubei sheng (province), south-central China. It is located on the north bank of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) near Lake Chang. The city was established in 1994 by combining what was then the city of Shashi with Jiangling county and the former Jingzhou

jingxi, popular Chinese theatrical form that developed in the mid-19th century. It incorporated elements of huidiao from Anhui, dandiao from Hubei, and kunqu, the traditional opera that had predominated since the 16th century. Sung in Mandarin, the dialect of Beijing and of the traditional elite,

Genghis Khan was a Mongolian warrior-ruler, one of the most famous conquerors of history, who consolidated tribes into a unified Mongolia and then extended his empire across Asia to the Adriatic Sea. Genghis Khan was a warrior and ruler of genius who, starting from obscure and insignificant