Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bo Xilai

(Encyclopedia)Bo Xilai, 1949–, Chinese political leader. The son of Bo Yibo, a Communist revolutionary leader, he joined the Communist party in 1980. Bo studied history at Peking Univ. and earned (1982) a master'...

Hong Kong

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Hong Kong hŏng kŏng [key], Mandarin Xianggang, special administrative region of China, formerly a British crown colony (2015 est. pop. 7,246,000), land area 422 sq mi (1,092 sq km), adjacent ...

Mongolia, region, Asia

(Encyclopedia)Mongolia mŏn-gōˈlēə, mŏng– [key], Asian region (c.906,000 sq mi/2,346,540 sq km), bordered roughly by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on the west; the Manchurian provinces of China on...

Nerchinsk

(Encyclopedia)Nerchinsk nyĕrˈchĭnsk [key], city, SE Siberian Russia. Founded in 1654, the city was a Russian outpost in E Asia from the 17th to the 19th cent. A Russo-Chinese border treaty signed at Nerchinsk in...

Liaobei

(Encyclopedia)Liaobei or Liaopei both: lēouˈbāˈ [key], former province (c.47,000 sq mi/121,700 sq km), NE China. The capital was Liaoyuan. It was one of nine provinces created in Manchuria in 1945 by the Chines...

Matabei

(Encyclopedia)Matabei (Iwasa Matabei) ēwäˈsä mätäbāˈ [key], 1578–1650, Japanese artist, specializing in genre scenes of historical events and illustrations of classical Chinese and Japanese literature, as...

Schwarz, Berthold

(Encyclopedia)Schwarz, Berthold bĕrˈtôlt shvärts [key], fl. 14th cent., German Franciscan monk and alchemist. It was formerly widely believed, especially in Germany, that he invented gunpowder and was the first...

Crerar, John

(Encyclopedia)Crerar, John krēˈrər [key], 1827–89, American capitalist and philanthropist, b. New York City. Crerar was a manufacturer in Chicago, and gave liberally to many causes. He is remembered chiefly fo...

Chu Shih-chieh

(Encyclopedia)Chu Shih-chieh jo͞o shŭ-jĕ [key], fl. 1280–1303, Chinese mathematician. He contributed to the study of arithmetic and geometric series and to that of finite differences. His two mathematical work...

Hejiang

(Encyclopedia)Hejiang or Hokiang both: hô-jyäng [key], former province, c.52,300 sq mi (135,500 sq km), NE China. The capital was Jiamusi (Kiamusze). Created in 1945, largely out of the former province of Jilin, ...