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United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the

(Encyclopedia)United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Office of the (UNHCR), established Dec. 14, 1950, by the General Assembly. It superseded the International Refugee Organization. It seeks permanent solut...

Sotatsu Tawaraya

(Encyclopedia)Sotatsu Tawaraya, fl. early 1600s, Japanese artist. With Koetsu he is credited with founding the decorative Rimpa school of Japanese painting. A painter who revived yamato-e style by augmenting its ly...

Sesshu

(Encyclopedia)Sesshu sĕsˈsho͞oˌ [key], 1420–1506, foremost Japanese master of ink painting (suiboku) and Zen Buddhist priest, also known as Sesshu Toyo. He may have studied under Shubun in Kyoto. He made a tr...

banner system

(Encyclopedia)banner system, Manchu conscription system. Companies of Manchu warriors were grouped (1601) into brigades, each with a distinctive banner. The banner system integrated former tribal units into a burea...

Heilongjiang

(Encyclopedia)Heilongjiang or Heilungkiang both: hāˈlo͝ongˈjyängˈ [key] [Chin.,=black dragon rive...

Jiangxi

(Encyclopedia)Jiangxi kyăngˈsēˈ, jyängˈ– [key], province (2010 pop. 44,567,475), c.66,000 sq mi (170,940 sq km), SE China. Nanchang is the capital. The largely hilly and mountainous surface is drained by ma...

Nestorian Church

(Encyclopedia)Nestorian Church, officially the Assyrian Church of the East, Christian community of Iraq, Iran, and SW India. It represents the ancient church of Persia and is sometimes also called the East Syrian C...

Kedah

(Encyclopedia)Kedah kĕˈdə, kāˈdä [key], state (1991 pop. 1,304,800), 3,660 sq mi (9,479 sq km), central Malay Peninsula, Malaysia, on the Strait of Malacca. It is bordered on the N and NE by Thailand. The cap...

Ming

(Encyclopedia)Ming mĭng [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644. The first Ming emperor, Chu Yüan-chang (ruled 1368–98), a former Buddhist monk, joined a rebellion in progress, gained control of it...

Chuang-tzu

(Encyclopedia)Chuang-tzu or Chuang-tze both: jwäng-dzŭ [key], c.369–c.286 b.c., Chinese Taoist writer. Little is known about his life. He was a native of the state of Meng, on the border of present-day Shandong...