fl. 138-114 B.C. Chinese official who journeyed to central Asia, establishing the first contact between China and other civilizations. Prior to Chang Ch'ien, the Chinese had known only of barbarians beyond their frontiers. It was to...

Chang Chih-tung (1837-1909) was a Chinese official and reformer. A brilliant Confucian scholar, he was convinced of the peerless quality of China's traditional culture. However, to preserve it, he introduced Western-type industry, educatio...

(2001 pop. 47 million). One of the most fertile and wealthiest provinces in China, Zhejiang lies on China's southeastern coast just south of the Chang (Yangtze) river delta and China's largest city, Shanghai. It is bordered o...

The Chinese Buddhist monk Chih-i (538-597) founded one of the most popular schools of Chinese Buddhism, the T'ien-t'ai. Chih-i, also known as Chih-k'ai, was born Ch'en Wang-tao in South China in 538. He grew up in a chaotic period, during ...

Chou En-lai (1898-1976) was a Chinese Communist leader and premier of the People's Republic of China. From the 1920s on Chou was among the top leaders of the Chinese Communist party. Chou En-lai was born in Huaian, Kiangsu Province, into a...

(b. 1928), Chinese premier. Following the end of Li Peng's term as premier of the Chinese Communist Party in 1998, Zhu Rongji was named premier. Zhu was born on 20 October 1928 in Changsha, Hunan Province. While an electrical engine...

Chu Hsi (1130-1200) was one of the greatest Chinese scholars and philosophers. The system of Neo-Confucianism of which Chu Hsi is regarded as the spokesman represents a summary of doctrines of his predecessors as well as original ideas of ...

The Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu (ca. 369-ca. 286 BC), also known as Chuang Chou, was the most brilliant of the early Taoists and the greatest prose writer of his time. Not much is known of the life of Chuang Tzu. The Shih Chi (Historica...

ZHUHONG (1535–1615), also known as Master Yunqi; an important Buddhist leader in the late Ming dynasty (1368–1644). A reformer of monastic Buddhism, a synthesizer of various Buddhist traditions, and a successful promoter of l...

Brainchild of Broadway impresario Florenz Ziegfeld and his first wife, European singer Anna Held, The Ziegfeld Follies dominated the American theatrical revue scene from 1907 until the late 1920s and early 1930s when the popularity of vaud...

Ziehen, Theodor(1862–1950) Theodor Ziehen, the German psychologist and philosopher, was born in Frankfurt am Main and served as professor of psychiatry at the universities of Jena, Utrecht, Halle, and Berlin. He lived as a private sc...

Republic of Zimbabwe CAPITAL: Harare FLAG: The flag has seven equal horizontal stripes of green, yellow, red, black, red, yellow, and green. At the hoist is a white triangle, which contains a representation in yellow of the bird of Zimbabw...

Zinc Oxide Overview Zinc oxide (ZINC OX-side) is a white to gray to yellowish powder with no odor but a bitter taste. It occurs in nature as the mineral zincite. Zinc oxide is perhaps best known as an ingredient in cosmetics, personal care ...

A member of the struggle for Tunisian independence, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali (born 1936) held many posts in the new government, rising to the position of prime minister in 1987. On November 7, 1987, he removed the aging and infirm President...

A zipper is a slide fastener with two edges of teeth attached to a fabric tape. The teeth lock into a snug fit when they are drawn together by a slide. When the slide is pulled back, the teeth separate. The zipper was invented by Whitcomb ...

Zirconium is the second element in Group 4 of the periodic table, one of the transition metals. It has an atomic number of 40, an atomic mass of 91.22, and a chemical symbol of Zr. Zirconium usually occurs as a hard, grayish white metal, ...

(1997 pop. 2.0 million). Izmir (Smyrna), the third-largest city of Turkey and an important commercial center, is located on the Aegean coast of Anatolia, in the gulf of Izmir. Reputedly the birthplace of Homer, Izmir was an important city ...

Zénobe Gramme was a true enigma, and it is remarkable that he was able to accomplish what he did. Born on April 4, 1826, in Jehay-Bedegnée, Belgium, Gramme was the son of an educated family of modest means. With the family's ...

ZOLLA, ELÉMIRE. Elémire Zolla (1926–2002), an Anglo-Italian polymath, writer, historian of ideas, metaphysical thinker, and spiritual seeker, has a unique place in twentieth-century religious, comparative, and cultural...

ZONGMI (780–841), more fully, Guifeng Zongmi; Chinese Buddhist Chan and Huayan scholar, traditionally reckoned as the fifth "patriarch" both in the Heze line of Southern Chan and in the Huayan tradition. Zongmi was bor...

As far back as the historical record goes, there is evidence of people keeping wild animals in cages. During the Middle Ages in Europe, rare and exotic animals, and occasionally even foreign natives, were displayed in traveling caravans ca...

Zoology is a branch of biology that involves the study of animals. Zoology is a very broad field; zoologists study subjects ranging from single-celled organisms to the behavior of groups of animals. Some zoologists study the biology of a p...

The zoot suit was a style of clothing popularized by young male African Americans, Filipino Americans, and Mexican Americans during the 1930s and 1940s. A zoot suit consisted of very baggy high-waisted pants, pegged around the ankles, worn...

ZOPFAN, the Zone of Peace, Freedom, and Neutrality, originated in a 1970 proposal by Malaysia for neutralizing Southeast Asia. The idea for such a zone has been attributed to Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra al-Haj (1903–1990), who was then...

Zorn's lemma, the well-ordering principle and the axiom of choice are three equivalent propositions. It has been said that from appearances, the axiom of choice has to be true, the well-ordering principle has to be false and Zorn's lemma i...