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Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms

(Encyclopedia)Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms, period of Chinese history between the fall of the T'ang dynasty (a.d. 907) and the establishment of the Sung dynasty (a.d. 960). It is named for the five successive sh...

Ssu-ma Ch'ien

(Encyclopedia)Ssu-ma Ch'ien so͝oˈmä chyĕn [key], 145?–90? b.c., Chinese historian; sometimes called the Father of Chinese History. He succeeded his father, Ssu-ma T'an, as grand historian (an office then deal...

Li Tzu-cheng

(Encyclopedia)Li Tzu-cheng lē dzo͞o-chŭng [key], 1605–45, Chinese rebel leader who contributed to the fall of the Ming dynasty. With the help of scholars he organized a government in S Shanxi prov., proclaimed...

stirrup

(Encyclopedia)stirrup, foot support for the rider of a horse in mounting and while riding. It is a ring with a horizontal bar to receive the foot and is attached by a strap to the saddle. To avoid the danger of hav...

Liu Chih-chi

(Encyclopedia)Liu Chih-chi lyo͞o jûr-jē [key], 661–721, Chinese T'ang dynasty historian. Drawing on experience gained while working on histories of the preceding dynasties, he wrote the first important Chinese...

Manchu

(Encyclopedia)Manchu mănˈcho͞o [key], people who lived in Manchuria for many centuries and who ruled China from 1644 until 1912. These people, related to the Tungus, were descended from the Jurchen, a tribe know...

porcelain

(Encyclopedia)porcelain [Ital. porcellana], white, hard, permanent, nonporous pottery having translucence which is resonant when struck. Porcelain was first made by the Chinese to withstand the great heat generated...

Hsia

(Encyclopedia)Hsia shēä [key], semilegendary first dynasty of China, which ruled, according to traditional dates, from c.2205 b.c. to c.1766 b.c. or, according to some modern scholars, from c.1994 b.c. to c.1523 ...

Sung

(Encyclopedia)Sung so͝ong [key], dynasty of China that ruled 960–1279. It was divided into two periods: Northern Sung (907–1126) with its capital at Kaifeng and Southern Sung (1127–1279) with its capital at ...

Wuxi

(Encyclopedia)Wuxi or Wusih both: wo͞o-shē [key], city (1994 est. pop. 863,100), S Jiangsu prov., China, on the Grand Canal and the north bank of Tai lake. It is a silk-producing center. Foods (especially grains)...