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Yüan Shih-kai, 1859-1916, president of China (1912-16). From 1885 to 1894 he was the Chinese resident in Korea, then under Chinese suzerainty. He supported the dowager empress, Tz'u Hsi, against the reform movement (1898) of Emperor Kuang Hsü, and she rewarded him with the vice regency of Zhili (now Hebei). As governor he suppressed the Boxer Uprising, winning foreign favor, which enabled him to build the strongest military force in China. During the revolution of 1911, he procured a truce in which Emperor Hsüan T'ung (Pu Yi) abdicated on Feb. 12, 1912, and Sun Yat-sen, president of the provisional government, resigned in Yüan's favor as President of a Republic. Opposition to Yüan's dictatorial methods soon developed. In 1914 he dissolved the parliament and on Jan. 1, 1916, he assumed the title of emperor. A rebellion in Yunnan forced him almost immediately to restore the Republic. He died in June.

See biographies by J. Ch'en (2d ed. 1972) and E. P. Young (1976).

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Yüan

Yüan, Mongol dynasty of China that ruled from 1271 to 1368. It was a division of the great empire conquered by the Mongols. Kublai Khan, who adopted the Chinese dynastic name Yüan in 1271, swept down from N China, which the Mongols had ruled since the 1230s, and finally defeated the Sung dynasty in 1279. The Mongols set up a government in some ways modeled on the traditional Chinese administrative system, kept key government positions to themselves, and hired people from Central Asia to serve in the government. The Mongols adopted policies that discriminated against the Chinese, and to prevent rebellion Mongol troops were deployed all over the country. In its early period the Yüan dynasty developed a fine postal system and an extensive network of roads and canals reaching to the distant Mongol domains of Turkistan, Persia, and S Russia. There was continuous overland contact with the West and exchange of products, and in this period gunpowder, the compass, and printing seem to have been introduced to Europe from China. The best known of the European travelers to Yüan China is Marco Polo. Tibetan Buddhism was officially patronized by the Mongol court, but other religions were tolerated. Resentful of alien rule, many talented Chinese withdrew from political life and turned to theater and other forms of artistic activity. As a result the Yüan dynasty was a period of great accomplishments in the theater, arts, fiction, and painting. The Yüan dynasty was overthrown by the messianic religious rebellions that broke out in the 1350s. One of the rebel leaders was Chu Yüan-chang, who founded the Ming dynasty in 1368.

See M. Rossabi, Khubilai Khan (1988); J. W. Dardess, Conquerors and Confucians (1973); E. Endicott-West, Rule in China: Local Administration in the Yüan Dynasty (1989).

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Wang An-shih

Wang An-shih, 1021-86, Chinese Sung dynasty statesman. As a chief councilor (1069-74, 1075-76) he directed sweeping administrative and fiscal reforms that drew strong conservative opposition. His aim was to strengthen the central government, but the poor also benefited from reforms such as the graduated land tax, cheap government credit, and reduction of the forced labor levy. Wang revived government price and commodity controls, local police administration, and the militia system. Followers of Wang competed with conservative bureaucratic opponents for high office after his resignation.

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Ts'ai Yüan-p'ei

Ts'ai Yüan-p'ei, 1867-1940, Chinese educator and intellectual leader. He achieved distinction as a classical scholar but later joined (1904) the anti-Manchu revolutionary movement at Shanghai. Ts'ai studied philosophy in Germany (1907-11). He returned to China during the republican revolution of 1911 and was appointed education minister in the early cabinets of Sun Yat-sen and Yüan Shih-kai. After further study in Germany and France (1912-16), Ts'ai was appointed (1916) chancellor of Beijing Univ. He encouraged a critical reevaluation of Chinese culture and promoted freedom of thought, thereby paving the way for the intellectual revolution (1917-21) known as the May Fourth Movement. After the establishment of the Nanjing government (1928), Ts'ai used his prestige as a Kuomintang party elder to promote civil liberties and oppose political control of the student movement.

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T'ao Yüan-ming

T'ao Yüan-ming or T'ao Ch'ien, 365-427, Chinese poet. After several bitter experiences in government employment, he became a gentleman farmer. His poems, composed in simple diction at a time when ornateness was the fashion, present a mocking self-portrait of an inept and destitute scholar struggling to lead the bucolic life of a peasant; they praise Confucian ideals, explore Taoist and Buddhist concepts, and express contentment in reading, music, and wine.

See studies by J. R. Hightower (1970) and A. R. Davis (2 vol., 1984).

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Stephen Dušan

Stephen Dušan or Dushan, c.1308-1355, king (1331-46) and czar (1346-55) of Serbia, son of Stephen Uros III. He is also known as Stephen Uros IV. He was proclaimed king after rebelling against his father, whom he then imprisoned. He reduced Bulgaria to dependency, gained the support of the prince of Walachia, and, taking advantage of the war between the rival Byzantine emperors, John V and John VI, conquered Macedonia (except Thessaloníki), Thessaly, and Epirus. After raising the archbishop of Serbia to the rank of patriarch, with his seat at Peč, he had himself crowned (1346), at Skopje, "czar and autocrat of the Serbs, Greeks, Bulgarians, and Albanians" by the patriarch of Peč and by the Bulgarian patriarch of Trnovo. He introduced Byzantine titles and ceremony into his court and drew up (1349-54) a law code for his empire. He later was involved in indecisive warfare against Bosnia and Louis I of Hungary, but in 1355, on the news of the fall of Emperor John VI, he decided to march on Constantinople. He died of fever en route. Stephen Dušan was one of the great conquerors in European history. Under his rule Serbia attained its greatest extent and glory. However, his empire lacked unity and fell apart soon after his death.

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Pingchüan

Pingchüan: see Pingquan, China.

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Neustadt an der Weinstrasse

Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, city (1994 pop. 53,782), Rhineland-Palatinate, SW Germany; chartered 1275. It is the center of the Rhenish Palatinate wine trade; manufactures include metal products, paper, and processed foods. The city is also a tourist center. The city is also known as Neustadt an der Haardt.

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Mülheim an der Ruhr

Mülheim an der Ruhr or Mülheim, city (1994 pop. 177,175), North Rhine-Westphalia, W Germany, on the Ruhr River. It is an industrial center of the Ruhr district and a road and rail traffic hub. The city formerly produced mainly coal and steel, but in the mid-20th cent. its products were diversified to include machinery, electrical goods, and chemicals. At the city's noted institute for coal research, the Fischer-Tropsch process for coal liquification and the Ziegler process for the production of polyethylene plastics were discovered. Mülheim was chartered in 1808. There is a 12th-century castle in the city.

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Marburg an der Lahn

Marburg an der Lahn or Marburg, city (1994 pop. 76,582), Hesse, Germany, on the Lahn River. It is chiefly known for its Protestant university, founded in 1527 by Philip of Hesse. Tourism is its largest industry; manufactures include chemicals, pottery, and precision instruments.

Marburg grew in the 12th cent. around a castle; it was chartered in 1227 and, at intervals during the 13th to 17th cent., served as the residence of the landgraves of Hesse. Marburg became part of the Prussian province of Hesse-Nassau in 1866. The castle, which still dominates the picturesque city, was the scene of the famous Marburg Colloquy, held (1529) under the auspices of Philip of Hesse; it failed to bring about agreement between Luther and Melanchthon on the one side and Zwingli on the other. St. Elizabeth of Hungary is buried in the fine Gothic church (13th-14th cent.) dedicated to her; the remains of Field Marshal Hindenburg and of Frederick William I and Frederick II of Prussia were transferred to the church soon after World War II.

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Ma Yüan

Ma Yüan, fl. c.1190-1225, Chinese painter of the Sung dynasty and foremost of the Ma family of painters. He became one of the most important landscape painters of the 12th and 13th cent., the other being Hsia Kuei. He was known for his "one-cornered" compositions, in which dramatic effect was achieved by crisp, forceful brushstrokes, asymmetrical arrangement of elements, and drastic elimination of all but essentials. Attribution of his works is difficult because many later painters followed his style and because toward the end of his life he collaborated with his son Ma Lin, often signing his own name to his son's works. Landscape with Willows (Mus. of Fine Arts, Boston) is generally attributed to Ma Yüan, as are album leaves in the Cleveland Museum of Art and at the Metropolitan Museum in New York.

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Li Yüan-hung

Li Yüan-hung, 1864-1928, president of China (1916-17, 1922-23). A brigade commander under the Ch'ing dynasty, Li was compelled by army rebels to become military governor of Hubei prov. in the republican revolution of 1911. Elected vice president (1912) of the new republican government, Li assumed the presidency (1916) on the death of Yüan Shih-kai but was soon overshadowed by Tuan Ch'i-jui, premier and leader of the Anfu warlord clique. He was restored as president (1922) by the rival Chihli military clique in an unsuccessful attempt to conciliate the Kuomintang party.

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Landsberg an der Warthe

Landsberg an der Warthe: see Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland.

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Hsüan-tsung

Hsüan-tsung, 685-762, Chinese emperor (712-56), 9th of the T'ang dynasty. Under his brilliant early rule the T'ang reached the height of its power. Improved administration and new grain-transport facilities increased the flow of revenue to the central government, and T'ang armies restored Chinese suzerainty over Central Asia. In 751, however, the T'ang armies were defeated by the Arabs at Talas (near modern Fergana, in Uzbekistan) and by the Thai state of Nanchao in the southwest. The revolt of the northeastern regional commander An Lu-shan in 755 forced Hsüan-tsung to abdicate. Peace was restored in 763 with the aid of foreign troops, but Central Asia was lost and control over the provinces of China proper was considerably weaker than that which had been achieved earlier by Hsüan-tsung. In Chinese legend Hsüan-tsung's infatuation with his concubine Yang Kuei-fei is blamed for demoralizing the T'ang court and paving the way for the rebellion of An Lu-shan.

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Hsüan-tsang

Hsüan-tsang, 605?-664, Chinese Buddhist scholar and translator. He early entered monastic life and later traveled in China, teaching and studying. Between 629 and 645 he made a pilgrimage to India in search of authentic scriptures. He studied at Taxila and Nalanda, the most celebrated center of Buddhist learning in India, and also visited Kashmir and the major Buddhist holy places. Pious, learned, and fluent in Sanskrit, he was honored by the Indian rulers whom he met, including the Emperor Harsha. After returning to China he translated the texts he had brought back with him and wrote his memoirs. His disciple K'uei-chi is known as the founder of the Fa-hsiang school of Buddhism, the Chinese branch of Yogacara.

See his Si-yu-ki; Buddhist Records of the Western World (2 vol., tr. 1884, repr. 1969); A. Waley, The Real Tripitaka (1952); T. Loatters, On Yuan Chwang's Travels in India (1961); K. Ch'en, Buddhism in China (1964); R. Bernstein, Ultimate Journey (2001).

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Hsüan T'ung

Hsüan T'ung: see Pu Yi.

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Hsi-an

Hsi-an, China: see Xi'an.

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Frankfurt an der Oder

Frankfurt an der Oder, city (1994 pop. 83,850), Brandenburg, E Germany, a port on the Oder River, at the Polish border. It is an industrial center, agricultural market, and rail junction. Manufactures include textiles, machinery, foodstuffs, shoes, and furniture. Lignite is mined nearby. Frankfurt was chartered in 1253. It joined the Hanseatic League in the 14th cent. and became an important commercial center. Frankfurt was frequently besieged, notably in 1631 (during the Thirty Years War), when it was stormed and sacked by the Swedes under Gustavus II. The university founded there in 1506 was transferred to Breslau (now Wrocław) in 1811. The city was severely damaged in World War II. The suburb of Damm-Vorstadt, now Słubice, on the east bank of the Oder, was placed under Polish administration in 1945. The dramatist and poet Heinrich von Kleist was born (1777) in Frankfurt.

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Erdoğan, Recep Tayyip

Erdoğan, Recep Tayyip, 1954-, Turkish politician. He was educated at Marmara Univ., where he met Necmettin Erbakan, who went on to head the Islamist Welfare party and serve (1996-7) as prime minister. Active in the Welfare party by the mid-1980s, Erdoğan was elected mayor of Istanbul in 1994. In 1998 he was convicted of inciting religious for reading a poem with martial Islamic images, he served four months in prison. In 2001, Erdoğan and others found the Justice and Development party as the successor to the banned (1998) Welfare party. In the 2002 elections the new party won an overwhelming majority in parliament, but Erdoğan was banned from running because of his 1998 conviction. After the constitution was amended, Erdoğan was elected (2003) and became prime minister. He has moved from the strongly Islamist positions he once espoused to more mainstream conservative positions, and his government has pursued reforms required for Turkey to enter the European Union.

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Dušan, Stephen

Dušan, Stephen: see Stephen Dušan.

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Ch'üan-chou

Ch'üan-chou: see Quanzhou, China.

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Bruck an der Mur

Bruck an der Mur, city (1991 pop. 14,046), in Styria prov., E central Austria, at the confluence of the Mur and the Mürz rivers. Manufactures include metal products and paper; Bruck is an important rail junction in the region. It was founded in 1263 by King Ottocar II of Bohemia. There is a 15th-century Gothic church in the city.

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An-ch'ing

An-ch'ing: see Anqing, China.

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An Uaimh

An Uaimh, Republic of Ireland: see Navan.

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An Nhon

An Nhon: see Quy Nhon, Vietnam.

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An Nasiriyah

An Nasiriyah, city (1987 pop. 265,937), provincial capital, SE Iraq, on the Euphrates River. It is the center of a date-growing region. Founded in 1870, the city was captured by the British in 1915. Nearby are the ruins of Ur.

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An Najaf

An Najaf, city (1987 pop. 309,010), S central Iraq, on a lake near the Euphrates River. The city is also called Mashad Ali, after the tomb (in a mosque) of Ali, son-in-law of Muhammad the Prophet. The tomb is an object of pilgrimage by Shiite Muslims and a starting point for the pilgrimage to Mecca. The city was the center of fighting between U.S. forces and Shiite insurgents in 2004.

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An Lu-shan

An Lu-shan, d.757, Chinese general of the T'ang dynasty. Of mixed Sogdian and Turkish birth, he was appointed regional commander on the northeastern frontier. In 755 he led c.200,000 troops in revolt against the T'ang central government. Emperor Hsüan-tsung fled the capital Chang'an for Sichuan, and on the way he was forced by discontented soldiers to execute his concubine Yang Kuei-fei, who was blamed for demoralizing the court and was even rumored to have had a secret affair with An Lu-shan. An Lu-shan was killed by his son in 757. The rebellion lasted until 763, when foreign troops helped restore the T'ang dynasty to power.

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Wang Anshi

or Wang An-shih

(born 1021, Linchuan, Jiangsu province, China—died 1086, Jiangning, Jiangsu) Chinese poet and government reformer of the Song dynasty. His “New Policies” of 1069–76 sparked academic controversy that continued for centuries. He created a fund for agricultural loans to farmers to spare them the exorbitant demands of moneylenders; he also replaced corvée labour with a hired-service system financed by a graduated tax levied on all families. He enabled officials to purchase supplies at the cheapest price in the most convenient market. He established a village militia system (see baojia), reorganized the Hanlin Academy, and restructured the civil service examinations. Wang's reforms were unpopular, and he was forced to resign in 1074. He returned to government in 1075, but with less political power. After the emperor's death an antireform clique came to power and dismantled Wang's reforms by the time of his death shortly afterward. Seealso Fan Zhongyen.

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Stefan Du&shacek;an

or Stefan Uroshacek IV

(born 1308—died Dec. 20, 1355) King of Serbia (1331–46) and emperor of the Serbs and Greeks (1346–55). He deposed his father, Stefan Decansky, in 1331. The greatest ruler of medieval Serbia, he began a war of conquest against Byzantium in 1334, gaining control of Albania and Macedonia by 1346 and Epirus and Thessaly by 1348. Dushacekan reformed the Serbian administration on the Byzantine model and introduced a law code. His rule over former Byzantine lands was threatened by John VI Cantacuzenus, and his empire broke apart soon after his death.

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Xi'an

or Hsi-an conventional Sian

City (pop., 2003 est.: 2,657,900), capital of Shaanxi province, central China. Located on the Wei River, the site served as the capital of several dynasties beginning in the 11th century BC. It became one of the most splendid cities of the ancient world during the Tang dynasty (AD 618–907) and was a thriving commercial centre. Marco Polo visited in the 13th century. It was an entry point in the 1920s for communist ideology from the Soviet Union. In 1936, after Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek had been kidnapped there (see Xi'an Incident), the communists and Nationalists formed a united front against Japanese invaders. It is the site of several educational institutions and numerous temples and pagodas. It became an important tourist destination after the discovery of the nearby tomb of Emperor Shihuangdi, with its army of 6,000 life-size terra-cotta warriors (designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1987).

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Halle (an der Saale)

City (pop., 2002 est.: 243,045), east-central Germany. Lying on the Saale River, Halle's location was the site of settlements that centred around the local salt deposits and flourished circa 1000–400 BC. Halle and its valuable saltworks were granted to the archbishopric of Magdeburg in AD 968. It was a member of the Hanseatic League (1281–1478). The capital of Halle district in East Germany (1952–90), it is an important rail junction and a principal commercial and industrial centre. It was the birthplace of George Frideric Handel and the site of the Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg, founded in 1694.

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An Lushan Rebellion

Rebellion beginning in 755 in China led by An Lushan (703–757), a general of non-Chinese origin. An Lushan rose through the ranks of the Tang-dynasty army in the 740s, becoming a military governor and a favourite of the emperor, Xuanzong. In 755 he turned his troops on the eastern capital city, Luoyang, and after taking it he proclaimed himself emperor. Six months later his forces took Chang'an, the western capital. He was murdered in 757, and the rebellion was put down in 763. The Tang government was much weakened, however, and the second half of the Tang dynasty and the subsequent Five Dynasties period were troubled by chronic warlordism.

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