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Falun Gong

(Encyclopedia)Falun Gong dä-fä [key], movement promoting physical and spiritual well-being that became widespread China in the 1990s. Founded in 1992 by Li Hongzhi (1951?–), a former Changchun grain clerk, it c...

Gupta

(Encyclopedia)Gupta go͝opˈtə [key], Indian dynasty, a.d. c.320–c.550, whose empire at its height encompassed much of N India. Ancient Indian culture reached a high point during this period. Gupta paintings ado...

common law

(Encyclopedia)common law, system of law that prevails in England and in countries colonized by England. The name is derived from the medieval theory that the law administered by the king's courts represented the co...

Moses

(Encyclopedia)Moses mōˈzĭs [key], Hebrew lawgiver, probably b. Egypt. The prototype of the prophets, he led his people in the 13th cent. b.c. out of bondage in Egypt to the edge of Canaan. The narrative in the B...

check

(Encyclopedia)check or cheque, bill of exchange (see draft) drawn upon a bank or trust company or broker connected with a clearinghouse (see clearing). Upon presentation of a check, the bank or other drawee pays ca...

Epicurus

(Encyclopedia)Epicurus ĕpĭkyo͝orˈəs [key], 341–270 b.c., Greek philosopher, b. Samos; son of an Athenian colonist. He claimed to be self-taught, although tradition states that he was schooled in the systems ...

Germanic laws

(Encyclopedia)Germanic laws, customary law codes of the Germans before their contact with the Romans. They are unknown to us except through casual references of ancient authors and inferences from the codes compile...

Salic law, rule of succession

(Encyclopedia)Salic law sāˈlĭk [key], rule of succession in certain royal and noble families of Europe, forbidding females and those descended in the female line to succeed to the titles or offices in the family...

Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of

(Encyclopedia)Clarendon, Edward Hyde, 1st earl of klârˈəndən [key], 1609–74, English statesman and historian. Elected (1640) to the Short and Long parliaments, he was at first associated with the opposition t...

duel

(Encyclopedia)duel, prearranged armed fight with deadly weapons, usually swords or pistols, between two persons concerned with a point of honor. The duel may have originated in the wager of battle, an early mode of...