Ming

Ming, dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644. The first Ming emperor, Chu Yüan-chang (ruled 1368-98), a former Buddhist monk, joined a rebellion in progress, gained control of it, overthrew the Mongol Yüan dynasty, and unified all of China proper. He set up a strong, centralized government and carried out economic recovery programs. He abolished the office of prime minister, thereby strengthening the autocratic power of the emperor. The emperor Yung Lo (reigned 1402-24) moved (1421) the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, which developed into a magnificent city. The dynasty, which never created a viable taxation policy, always had fiscal problems. Seven great naval expeditions, under the command of the Grand Eunuch Cheng Ho, were sent at considerable cost to SE Asia, India, the Persian Gulf, and E Africa for tribute and trade (1405-33). These voyages ceased in 1433 and never resumed. Christian missionaries penetrated the Chinese hinterlands, and Europeans, such as Matteo Ricci, brought Western ideas to the Ming court. The Ming was generally a period of stability and prosperity. There were notable achievements in literature, philosophy, and the arts. Wang Yang-ming (1472-1529), the great Ming neo-Confucian philosopher, developed an activist approach to moral training and self-cultivation. The huge Yung-lo Encyclopedia (Yung-lo ta-tien), which included all major works in Confucian classics, history, philosophy, and miscellaneous subjects, was compiled in the early 15th cent. Four great novels, The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Water Margin (All Men Are Brothers), Journey to the West, and The Golden Lotus, were written in this period. Drama in the Southern style, painting, and architecture reached great heights. The delicate monochromatic porcelain of the Ming period is often considered the finest achievement of Chinese ceramics. Incompetent emperors, oppressive taxation, and factionalism in government in the later years of the dynasty incited revolts among peasants in the border regions and prepared the way for the Manchu conquest of China (see Ch'ing).

or Wang Yang-ming

(born 1472, Yuyao, Zhejiang province, China—died 1529, Nanen, Jiangxi) Chinese scholar and official whose idealistic interpretation of Neo-Confucianism influenced philosophical thinking in East Asia for centuries. The son of a high government official, he was both a secretary to the Ministry of War and a lecturer on Confucianism by 1505. The next year, he was banished to a post in remote Guizhou, where hardship and solitude led him to focus on philosophy. He concluded that investigation of the principles of things should occur within the mind rather than through actual objects and that knowledge and action are codependent. Named governor of southern Jiangxi in 1516, he suppressed several rebellions and implemented governmental, social, and educational reform. By the time he was appointed war minister (1521), his followers numbered in the hundreds. His philosophy spread across China for 150 years and greatly influenced Japanese thought during that time. From 1584 he was offered sacrifice in the Confucian temple under the h1 Wencheng (“Completion of Culture”).

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(1368–1644) Chinese dynasty that provided an interval of native rule between eras of Mongol and Manchu dominance. The Ming, one of the most stable but autocratic of dynasties, extended Chinese influence farther than did any other native rulers of China. Under the Ming, the capital of China was moved from Nanjing to Beijing, and the Forbidden City was constructed. Naval expeditions led by Zheng He paved the way for trade with Southeast Asia, India, and eastern Africa. During the Ming dynasty, novels were written in the vernacular, while philosophy benefited from the work of Wang Yangming in Neo-Confucianism. Ming monochrome porcelain became famous throughout the world, with imitations created in Vietnam, Japan, and Europe.

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(born April 26, 1917, Guangzhou, China) Chinese-born U.S. architect. He immigrated to the U.S. in 1935 and studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University. After working for the architectural firm of Webb & Knapp, he formed his own partnership in 1955. Early in his career he created the Mesa Laboratory building for the National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, Colo. (1968), which mimics the broken silhouettes of the surrounding peaks. His innovative East Building of the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. (1978), was hailed as one of his finest achievements. Other works include Boston's John Hancock Tower (1973), Beijing's Fragrant Hill Hotel (1982), a controversial glass pyramid for a courtyard at the Louvre Museum, Paris (1989), and the Suzhou Museum (2006) in China. Pei's designs represent an elaboration on the rectangular forms and irregular silhouettes of the International Style but with a uniquely skillful arrangement of geometric shapes and a dramatic use of varied materials, spaces, and surfaces; in his Miho Museum (1997) in Shiga, Japan, for example, he achieved a harmony between the building, much of it underground, and its mountain environment. In 1983 Pei received the Pritzker Architecture Prize.

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Teltow-Fläming is a Kreis (district) in the southwestern part of Brandenburg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the east clockwise) Dahme-Spreewald, Elbe-Elster, the districts Wittenberg in Saxony-Anhalt, the district Potsdam-Mittelmark, and the Bundesland Berlin.

Geography

The district is named after the two main regions. The Teltow is an agricultural belt south of Berlin. The Fläming is a wooded hill chain in the south; the portion located in this district is called the Lower Fläming, while the Higher Fläming is situated in Potsdam-Mittelmark.

History

The district was formed in December 1993 by merging the previous districts Luckenwalde, Jüterbog and Zossen, but also including small parts from other former districts such as Luckau.

Misc

In the time from 1997 to 2001 the district had the biggest increase in the gross economic product of all districts of Germany with a rate of +56.1%.

Fläming-Skate is a 160km long route specially for inline skating, the only such route in Germany.

Curiously, the town of Teltow is not a part of the district Teltow-Fläming, just as the town of Dahme is not a part of the district of Dahme-Spreewald.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms show the eagle of Brandenburg to the left, as the margraves of Brandenburg began to rule the northern and northwestern part of the district in the 13th century. To the right is a staff of an abbot. It symbolizes the clerical state of Magdeburg, to which the southern and middle part of the district belonged. The black-and-white checkered bottom derives from the coat of arms of the family of Torgow, who owned the area around Zossen until 1478. After the creation of the new district a public contest was held to create a coat of arms for the district. Out of ten proposals the parliament of the district selected the one made by the designer Horst Nehls from Merow. The coat of arms were officially granted by ministry of interior of Brandenburg on November 21 1996.

Towns and municipalities

Amt-free towns	Amt-free municipalities	Amt
Baruth Jüterbog Luckenwalde Ludwigsfelde Trebbin Zossen	Am Mellensee Blankenfelde-Mahlow Großbeeren Niederer Fläming Niedergörsdorf Nuthe-Urstromtal Rangsdorf	1. Dahme/Mark Dahme1, 2 Dahmetal Ihlow 1seat of the Amt; 2town

External links

• Official website
• Fläming-Skate