Lu-chu Islands: see Ryukyu Islands.

Chu-hai: see Zhuhai, China.

Chu Teh: see Zhu De.

Chu Ta or Zhu Da, c.1626-c.1705, Chinese painter and calligrapher, also known as Pa-ta-shan-jen or Bada Shanren. Said to have been a descendant of the imperial Ming family, he was a child prodigy, a poet at 7 and a painter by his teens. Becoming a monk after the fall of the dynasty, in 1678 he apparently suffered a nervous breakdown, was unable to speak for a number of years, and became known for his fits of madness and eccentric behavior. He left the monastary and, despite his afflictions, became a founder of the school of painting known as Ch'ing. Most of his works are small-scale spontaneous studies of nature. His brushstrokes, which seem free and careless at first glance, are filled with vitality and descriptive power. His works may be seen at the British Museum; Freer Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

Chu Shih-chieh, fl. 1280-1303, Chinese mathematician. He contributed to the study of arithmetic and geometric series and to that of finite differences. His two mathematical works, Introduction to Mathematical Studies and Precious Mirror of the Four Elements, were lost for a time in China and were recovered only in the 19th cent.

Chu Hsi, 1130-1200, Chinese philosopher of Neo-Confucianism. While borrowing heavily from Buddhism, his new metaphysics reinvigorated Confucianism. According to Chu Hsi, the normative principle of human nature is pure and good. Expressed in concrete form human nature is less than perfect, but it can be refined through self-cultivation based on study of the classics. His thought was orthodox during the Yüan, Ming, and Ch'ing dynasties. For 600 years students memorized his classical commentaries until the Chinese examination system was abolished in 1905.

or Chu Teh

(born Dec. 1, 1886, Yilong, Sichuan province, China—died July 6, 1976, Beijing) Founder of the Chinese communist force that became the People's Liberation Army. Educated at Yunnan Military Academy, Zhu began his military career in the armies of warlords in southern China. He became a communist in the early 1920s but hid his affiliation to become an officer in the Nationalist army. In 1927 he took part in the communist-led Nanchang Uprising, an event celebrated annually in China as the birth of the People's Liberation Army. When the uprising was defeated, Zhu led his troops south to join Mao Zedong's small guerrilla forces. He became commander in chief of the communist forces, a position he held through World War II and the civil war with the Nationalists, not stepping down until 1954. With Mao, Zhu is credited with elevating guerrilla warfare to a major strategic concept.

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or Chu Hsi

(born Oct. 18, 1130, Yu-hsi, Fukien province, China—died April 23, 1200, China) Chinese philosopher and proponent of Neo-Confucianism. The son of a minor government official, he was educated in the Confucian tradition and entered government service. Interested in history, he revised Sima Guang's famous history so that it would illustrate moral principles in government. In 1189 he began a commentary on the Daxue; he continued working on the Daxue all his life. Philosophically, his thought incorporated the ideas of Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi, Zhou Dunyi (1017–1073), and Zhang Zai, whose works he compiled. His commentaries on the Four Books, notably on the Lunyu (Analects) of Confucius and on Mencius (both 1177), were enormously influential. His philosophy emphasized logic, consistency, observance of classical authority, and the value of inquiry.

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