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Taiping Rebellion

(Encyclopedia)Taiping Rebellion, 1850–64, revolt against the Ch'ing (Manchu) dynasty of China. It was led by Hung Hsiu-ch'üan, a visionary from Guangdong who evolved a political creed and messianic religious ide...

acrostic

(Encyclopedia)acrostic əkrŏˈstĭk [key], arrangement of words or lines in which a series of initial, final, or other corresponding letters, when taken together, stand in a set order ...

palmitin

(Encyclopedia)palmitin pălˈmətĭn [key], fat that is the triglyceride of palmitic acid, CH3(CH2)14CO2H, i.e., the tripalmitate ester of glycerol. It is a white crystalline solid at ordinary temperatures, insolub...

Ch'ing

(Encyclopedia)Ch'ing mănˌcho͞oˈ, mănˈcho͞oˌ [key], the last of the Imperial dynasties of China. Following foreign suppression of the Boxer Uprising, Tz'u Hsi changed course and allowed some moderate educa...

formula, in chemistry

(Encyclopedia)formula, in chemistry, an expression showing the chemical composition of a compound. Formulas of compounds are used in writing the equations (see chemical equations) that represent chemical reactions....

Liu Shaoqi

(Encyclopedia)Liu Shaoqi or Liu Shao-ch'i both: lyo͞o shou-chē [key], 1898?–1969, Chinese Communist political leader. Liu joined (1920) a Comintern organization in Shanghai, where he studied Russian. While in M...

acetaldehyde

(Encyclopedia)acetaldehyde ĕthˈənălˌ [key], CH3CHO, colorless liquid aldehyde, sometimes simply called aldehyde. It melts at −123℃, boils at 20.8℃, and is soluble in water and ethanol. It is formed by th...

Triad Society

(Encyclopedia)Triad Society, name given to a number of Chinese antidynastic secret societies by 19th-century Western observers. Most of these groups claimed descent from the Heaven and Earth Society (Taendi hui) or...

Nian Rebellion

(Encyclopedia)Nian Rebellion or Nien Rebellion both: nēˈĕn [key], uprising that occurred against the Ch'ing dynasty of China. Bands [Chinese,=nien] of antigovernment rebels in the south part of the North China P...

alkyne

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Alkynes alkyne ălˈkīn [key], any of a group of aliphatic hydrocarbons whose molecules contain one or more carbon-carbon triple bonds (see chemical bond). Alkynes with one triple bond have t...