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Zeng Guofan

Zeng Guofan

Marquess Zēng Guófán, (t.:曾國藩; s.:曾国藩; Wade-Giles: Tseng Kuo-fan, Courtesy Bóhán 伯函, Pseudonym: Díshēng 滌生; Posthumous name: Wenzheng 文正) (November 21, 1811 – March 12, 1872) was an eminent Han Chinese official of the Manchu Qing Dynasty. He served as Jin Shi under the Daoguang Emperor. He later raised the Xiang army to fight effectively against the Taiping Rebellion. He was known for his military skill and sometimes for his ruthlessness.

Early life

Born a native of Xiangxiang, Hunan (湘乡) in 1811, Zeng Guofan was the grandson of Zeng Yiping, a prosperous farmer with social and political ambitions. He passed the prefectural examination in 1833, only a year after his father Zeng Linshu. He passed the provincial examination a year later, and by 1838, at age 27, he had successfully passed the metropolitan examinations, a prestigious achievement in China. He had earned the Jinshi degree, somewhat similar to a doctorate, which led to his appointment to the Hanlin Academy, a body of outstanding literary scholars in the country, whom performed literary tasks for the imperial court. Zeng served in Beijing for more than 13 years, and remained devoted to the interpretation of the Confucian Classics.

Entry into imperial politics

In 1843 he was appointed chief literary examiner in the province of Sichuan, and six years later was made Junior Vice-President of the Board of Rites. When holding the office of Military Examiner (1851) he was compelled by the death of his mother to retire to his native district for the regulation mourning. At this time the Taiping rebels were overrunning Hunan in their conquering career, and had possessed themselves of the cities and strongholds on both shores of the Yangtze River. By a special decree Zeng was ordered to assist the governor of the province in raising a volunteer force, and on his own initiative he built a fleet of war junks, with which he attacked the rebels. In his first engagement he was defeated, but his lieutenants were more successful. They recovered the capital, Changsha, and destroyed the rebel fleet. Following up these victories of his subordinates, Zeng recaptured Wuchang and Hanyang, near Hankow, and was rewarded for his success by being appointed vice-president of the board of war.

Fame and military campaigns

In 1853 other triumphs led to his being made a baturu (a Manchu order for rewarding military prowess), and to his being decorated with a yellow riding-jacket. Meanwhile, in his absence, the rebels retook Wuchang and burnt the protecting fleet. The tide quickly turned, however, and Zeng succeeded in clearing the country round the Poyang lake, and subsequently in ridding the province of Jiangsu of the enemy. His father died in 1857, and after a brief mourning he was ordered to take supreme command in Zhejiang, and to co-operate with the governor of Fujian in the defence of that province. Subsequently the rebels were driven westwards, and Zeng would have started in pursuit had he not been called on to clear the province of Anhui of rebel bands. In 1860 he was appointed Viceroy of Liangjiang (Jiangxi, Anhui, and Jiangsu: 两江总督) and Imperial war commissioner. At this time, and for some time previously, he had been fortunate in having the active support of Zuo Zongtang, who at a later period recovered Kashgar for the emperor, and of Li Hongzhang. Like all true leaders of men, he knew how to reward good service, and when occasion offered he appointed the former to the governorship of Zhejiang and the latter to that of Jiangsu. In 1862 he was appointed assistant grand secretary of state. At this time the Imperial forces, assisted by the " Ever-victorious Army," had checked the progress of the rebellion, and Zeng was able to carry out a scheme which he had long formulated of besieging Nanjing, the rebel headquarters. While Gordon, with the help of Li Hongzhang, was clearing the cities on the lower waters of the Yangtze River, Zeng drew closer his besieging lines around the doomed city. In July 1864 the city fell into his hands, and he was rewarded with the rank and title of Marquess, First Class (一等候) and the right to wear the double-eyed peacock's feather. After the suppression of the Taiping Rebellion, the Nian Rebellion (捻軍起義), closely related to the former movement, broke out in Shantung, and Zeng was sent to quell it. Success did not, however, always attend him on this campaign, and by Imperial order he was relieved of his command by Li Hongzhang, who in the same way succeeded him in the viceroyalty of Zhili, where, after the massacre of Tianjin (1870), Zeng failed to carry out the wishes of his Imperial master. After this rebuff he retired to his viceroyalty at Nanjing, where he died in 1872. Zeng was a voluminous writer. His papers addressed to the throne and his literary disquisitions are held in high esteem by the scholars of China, who treasure as a memorial of a great and un-corrupt statesman the edition of his collected works in 156 books, which was edited by Li Hongzhang in 1876.

Opinion & Legacy

Zeng Guofan's opinion in history is two-fold. He is either criticized as a traitor of the Chinese people, or seen as a hero in preserving order and stability. Some have blamed Zeng for all the civilian losses and damages done from the Taiping Rebellion, others criticize him for being too friendly with certain foreign ideas. Since the Cultural Revolution, the criticism of Zeng gradually began to disappear. Chinese author Tang Haoming published in 1992 his three-book trilogy Zeng Guofan, a novelization of Zeng's life during and after the Taiping Rebellion. This trilogy characterized Zeng as a common person, but had adopted a much more positive view of Zeng. Both Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek have praised Zeng's ability in military and political affairs. Especially in recent years, Zeng Guofan's life and his works have been the topic of many new publications. Zeng's leadership and military skills had been used by many as a new field of thought aiding in business or bureaucratic dealings.

External links

- [http://www.asiawind.com/pub/forum/fhakka/mhonarc/msg00537.html Supressor of the Taiping Rebellion: Hakka Zeng Guofan]
- [http://www.shuku.net/dblx/html/52/1057-2-0.html Tang Haoming's Three-Book Trilogy of Zeng Guofan's life 《曾国藩》 (Chinese)] Zeng Guofan Zeng Guofan Category:Military leaders of the Taiping Rebellion Category:Chinese generals Category:Qing Dynasty ja:曽国藩 zh-cn:曾国藩

Chinese nobility

Wang (King) and Huangdi (Emperor)

- The King or Wang (Chinese: 王 wáng) was the title of the Chinese head of state until the Qin dynasty. The title "Wang" should not be confused with the common surname, which has no royal implications.
- The Emperor or Huangdi (皇帝, pinyin: huáng dì) was the title of the Chinese head of state of China from the Qin dynasty in 221 BC until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911. The characters huang (皇 huáng "godking") and di (帝 "sage king") originally referred to the Three Huang and five Di, the ancient rulers in Chinese mythology. The first emperor of Qin (Qin Shi Huang) combined the two characters to form the title "Huangdi". Since the Han dynasty, Huangdi began to be abbreviated to huang or di. Although formally The Son of Heaven, the power of the emperor varied between different emperors and different dynasties, with some emperors being absolute rulers and others being figureheads with actual power in the hands of court factions, eunuchs, the bureaucracy or noble families. In addition, royal or official titles from one dynasty generally were not carried over to the next dynasty. The title of emperor was transmitted from father to son. Usually the first-born son of the queen inherited the office, but this rule was not universal and disputed succession was the cause of a number of civil wars. Unlike the Emperor of Japan, traditional Chinese political theory allowed for a change in dynasty, and an emperor could be replaced by a rebel leader. This was because a successful rebel leader was believed to enjoy the mandate of heaven, while the deposed or defeated emperor had lost favour with the gods, and his mandate was over, a fact made apparent to all by his defeat. It was generally not possible for a female to succeed to the throne, so that in history of China there has only been one reigning Empress, the Empress Wu of the Tang dynasty, although there are numerous cases in which a woman was the actual power behind the imperial throne (see éminence grise).

Princehood and Peerage

Fengjian and Zongfa of the Zhou Dynasty

The social system of the Zhou Dynasty is sometimes referred to as the Chinese proto-feudalism and was the combination of Fengjian (Honours and Awards) and Zongfa (Clan Law). Male aristocracies were classified into, in descending order of rank:
- the nobles - Zhuhou (諸侯 pinyin zhū hóu),
- the gentry - Qing (卿 qīng),
- the gentlemen - Daifu (大夫 dài fū)
- the yeomen - Shi (士 shì)
- the commoners - Shumin (庶民 shù mín). Fengjian (Honours and Awards) divided the noble class further into (originally) five ranks. The sizes of troops and domains a male noble would command would be determined by his rank of peerage:
- duke or prince (gong, ch. 公(爵) gōng),
- marquis or marquess (hou, ch. 侯(爵) hóu),
- count or earl (bo, ch. 伯(爵) bó),
- viscount (zi, ch. 子(爵) zǐ),
- baron (nan, ch. 男(爵) pinyin nán). While before the Han Dynasty a peer with a place name in his title actually governed that place, it had only been nominally true since. Any male member of the nobility or gentry could be called a gongzi (公子 gōng zǐ) (or wangzi (王子 wáng zǐ) if he is a son of a king). Zongfa (Clan Law), which applied to all social classes, governed the primogeniture of rank and succession of other siblings. The eldest son of the consort would inherit the title and retained the same rank within the system. Other sons from the consort, concubines and mistresses would be given titles one rank lower than their father. As time went by, all terms had lost their original meanings nonetheless. Qing, Daifu and Shi became synonyms of court officials. Physicians were often called Daifu during the Late Imperial China. Referring to a male or self-reference of a male as Gongzi eventually became a way to raise one's mianzi (refer to Face (social custom)), and would indeed be considered flattery today.

Female Nobility

Titles of female members of the aristocracies varied in different dynasties and eras, each having unique classifications for the spouses of the emperor. Any female member excluding a spouse of an emperor can be called a princess or gongzhu (公主 gōng zhǔ), and incorporated her associated place into her title if she had one.

History

Before the Qin dynasty, Wang (king) was the title for the ruler of whole China. Under him were the Zhuhou or nobles, who were the local warlords. They had the duty to support the Zhou king during an emergency. In the Spring and Autumn Period, the Zhou kings had lost most of their powers, and the most powerful Zhuhou became the de facto ruler of China. Finally, in the Warring States Period, most Zhuhou declared themselves Wang or kings, and regarded themselves as equal to the Zhou king. After Zheng, king of the state of Qin, later known as Qin Shi Huang, defeated all the Wang and unified China, he took a new title Huangdi (emperor). The founder of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bang, continued to use the title Huangdi. In order to please his wartime allies, he gave each of them a piece of land as their own "kingdom" (Wangguo) and which entitled each of them to be designated Wang. Since then, Wang became merely the highest hereditary title, which roughly corresponded to the title of prince, and, as such, was commonly given to relatives of the emperor. The title Gong also reverted purely to a peerage title, ranking below Wang. Those who bore such titles were entirely under the auspices of the emperor, and had no ruling power of their own. The two characters combined to form the rank, Wanggong, grew to become synonymous with all higher court officials. During the Tang dynasty, nobles lost most of their power to the mandarins when imperial examination replaced the nine-rank system. Subsequent dynasties expanded the hereditary titles further. It should be noted, however, that not all titles of peerage are hereditary, and the right to continue the heredity passsage of a very high title was seen as a very high honour; at the end of the Qing dynasty, there were five grades of princes. These titles were usually awarded to the relatives of the Emperor:
- qinwang (親王, prince of the blood or prince of the first rank)
- junwang (郡王, prince of a commandery or prince of the second rank)
- beile (貝勒, 'lord' in Manchu)
- beizi (貝子)
- shizi (世子, the heir apparent to princes) as well as:
- guogong (國公 state duke - two sub-grades)
- efu or fuma (阿附/駙馬 originally the spouse of a princess of the blood) and nine grades of the peerage awarded for valour, achievement, and distinction:
- mingong (民公 'commoner'(i.e. non-royal) duke)
- hou (侯 marquess or marquis)
- bo (伯 count)
- zi (子 viscount)
- nan (男 baron)
- qingche duwei (roughly equivalent to the rank of Grand Cross of an Order (decoration))
- qi duwei (roughly equivalent to the rank of Commander of an Order (decoration))
- yunqiwei (roughly equivalent to the rank of Officer of an Order (decoration))
- enqiwei (roughly equivalent to the rank of Knight of an Order (decoration)) A few Chinese families enjoyed hereditary titles in the full sense, the chief among them being the Holy Duke of Yen (the descendant of Confucius). The Imperial Clansmen consisted of those who trace their descent direct from the founder of the Qing dynasty, and were distinguished by the privilege of wearing a yellow girdle; collateral relatives of the imperial house wore a red girdle. Twelve degrees of nobility (in a descending scale as one generation succeeds another) were conferred on the descendants of every emperor; in the thirteenth generation the descendants of emperors were merged in the general population, save that they retain the yellow girdle. The heads of eight houses, the Iron-capped (or helmeted) princes, maintained their titles in perpetuity by rule of primogeniture in virtue of having helped the Manchu conquest of China. All titles of nobility were officially abolished when China became a republic in 1912. The last emperor was allowed to keep his title but was treated as a foreign monarch until 1924.

Other Historical Chinese Titles

Protector General (都護; Duhu) – See e.g. Ban Chao.

Styles for Foreign Monarchs

Traditional Chinese political theory held that "all lands under Heaven belong to the emperor" (普天之下，莫非王土). Thus, a foreign monarch would also be referred to as Wang, implying that one was inferior in rank and thus subject to the Chinese Emperor. This practice persisted until the latter half of the 19th Century, when China was overwhelmed by European powers. In modern Chinese, a king is referred to as Wang, while an emperor would be referred to as Huangdi. Therefore Victoria of the United Kingdom was styled Nü-Wang (Queen) of Great Britain and Ireland, and Nü-Huang (Empress) of India. ---- This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, which is in the public domain.
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Simplified Chinese

Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiǎntǐzì; also called 简化字/簡化字, jiǎnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. The other set is Traditional Chinese characters. Simplified Chinese characters are the Chinese characters officially simplified by the government of the People's Republic of China in an attempt to promote literacy. This character set is used for most Chinese-language printing in Mainland China and Singapore whereas traditional characters are used in Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities. Simplified characters are gradually gaining popularity among many overseas Chinese communities as more mainland Chinese are emigrating from their homeland.

Origins and history

Mainland China

Although associated with the People's Republic of China (PRC), character simplification predates 1949. Cursive written text almost always includes character simplification. Simplified forms used in print have always existed (they date back to as early as the Qin dynasty (221 - 206 BC), though early attempts at simplification actually resulted in more characters being added to the lexicon). In the 1930s and 1940s, discussions on character simplification took place within the Kuomintang government, and a large number of Chinese intellectuals and writers have long maintained that character simplification would help boost literacy in China. In many world languages, literacy has been promoted as a justification for spelling reforms. The People's Republic of China issued its first round of official character simplifications in two documents, the first in 1956 and the second in 1964. In the 1950s and 1960s, while confusion about simplified characters was still rampant, an elusive set of transitional characters (which basically mixed simplified parts with yet-to-be simplified parts of characters together) appeared briefly, then disappeared. Within the PRC, character simplification became associated with the leftists of the Cultural Revolution, culminating in a second round of character simplifications (known as erjian 二简, or "Second round simplified characters", which were promulgated in 1977. It was poorly received, and in 1986 the authorities retracted the second round completely, at the same time making six revisions to the first round of simplified characters (including the restoration of three characters that had been simplified in the First Round: 叠, 覆, 像). Although no longer recognized officially, second round characters do occasionally occur in handwritten signs, as many people learned second round simplified characters in school. Simplification initiatives have been aimed at eradicating the ideographic system and establishing Hanyu Pinyin as the official written system of the PRC, but the reform never gained quite as much popularity as the leftists had hoped. After the retraction of the second round of simplification, the PRC has stated that it wishes to keep Chinese orthography stable and does not appear to plan any further reforms in the future nor restore any characters that have already been simplified. People unfamiliar with how the PRC deals with simplified versus traditional characters erroneously claim that the PRC permits only simplified characters and has "banned" traditional characters. Although the PRC does view Traditional characters in domestic published material in the same way as errors or misprints, the Law of the People's Republic of China on National Language and Common Characters explains that traditional characters are not banned altogether on mainland China; instead, their usage is relegated to certain aspects and purposes. In Mainland China, traditional characters are used mainly for ceremonies, cultural purposes (e.g. calligraphy), decoration, and commercial purposes such as shopfront displays and advertisements, though the latter is technically discouraged. The PRC also tends to print material intended for Taiwanese, people in Hong Kong and Macao, and overseas Chinese in traditional characters. For example, the PRC prints versions of the People's Daily in traditional characters and both the People's Daily and Xinhua websites have versions in traditional characters using Big5 encoding. Other examples include milk from a mainland company which is for distribution in Hong Kong, for example, has traditional characters printed on it instead of simplified. Also, as part of the one country, two systems model, the PRC has not attempted to convert Hong Kong or Macau into using simplified characters.

Singapore and Malaysia

Singapore underwent three successive rounds of character simplification, eventually arriving at the same set of simplified characters as Mainland China. The first round, consisting of 498 Simplified characters from 502 Traditional characters, was promulgated by the Ministry of Education in 1969. The second round, consisting of 2287 Simplified characters, was promulgated in 1974. The second set contained 49 differences from the Mainland China system; those were removed in the final round in 1976. Singapore has also followed Mainland China in the six revisions to its set of Simplified characters in 1986. Malaysia promulgated a set of Simplified characters in 1981, which were also completely identical to the simplified characters used in Mainland China.

Method of simplification

Simplified Chinese characters were developed in one of 5 or so ways, here we list : #By reducing the number of brush strokes of a character, either by logical revision or by importing ancient, simpler variants or obscure forms. (e.g. 葉 maps to 叶; 萬 maps to 万)¹ #Combining several complicated characters into one, simpler character (a process known as "Character Conflation"). (e.g. 隻, a measure word for certain animals) and 衹 (variant form of "only") conflate to 只, a previously existing character. Note that the traditional character 只 merely replaces these two lesser used characters in Simplified. #Giving a new meaning to a traditional character with small number of strokes. [E.g. 丰(beauty) becomes used as 豐 (richly) and 余 (I) becomes used as 餘 (remain)]. This is especially common when the character with fewer strokes is very rare or is no longer used. Note that in the case of the simplification of 餘 into 余, confusion may be raised when classical Chinese texts are printed in simplified characters, as 余 is used as the first-person pronoun in classical Chinese. For example, a phrase like 獨餘余一人(only I am left alone) will become 独余余一人 when simplified. ¹In rare instances, simplified characters actually became one or two strokes more complex than their traditional counterparts due to logical revision. An example of this is 搾 mapping to the previously existing variant form 榨. Note that the "hand" radical on the left (扌), with three strokes, is replaced with the "tree" radical (木), with four strokes. However, one of the primary goals of the character simplification is to reduce the number of strokes if possible. Historically, characters which represented an object often appeared instead as a character for an abstract idea, while the original meaning was re-formed by making the idea even more concrete. An example of this is 然 which originally had the meaning "to burn", but its meaning changed to the prepositional "thus" while "to burn" gained the additional semantic unit of 火—燃.

Distribution and use

Mainland China and Singapore generally use simplified characters. They appear very sparingly in printed text produced in Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities, although they are becoming more prevalent as China opens to the world. Conversely, the Mainland is seeing an increase in the use of traditional forms, where they are found aesthetically appealing and often used on signs and in logos. For persons learning Chinese as a foreign language, instruction varies greatly: most universities on the west coast of the United States teach the Traditional character set, most likely due to the large population of Chinese-Americans who continue to use the Traditional forms. (The largest Mandarin Chinese Program in North America, at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, switched to Simplified at least a decade ago, even though the majority of ethnic Chinese at that time were Traditional users.) In places where a particular set is not locally entrenched—for example, Europe, and some of the east coast of the US—instruction is swinging towards Simplified, as the economic importance of the Mainland increases, and also because of the availability of cheap high-quality textbooks printed in Mainland China. For overseas Chinese going to Chinese school, which character set is used depends very much on which school one attends. Not surprisingly, parents will generally enroll their children in schools that teach the script they themselves use. Descendants of Hong Kong people and people who emigrated before the simplification will therefore generally be taught Traditional (and in Cantonese), whereas children whose parents are of more recent Mainland origin will probably be taught Simplified. In all areas, most handwritten text will include informal character simplifications, and some characters (such as the "Tai" in Taiwan: traditional 臺 simplified 台) have informal simplified forms that appear more commonly than the official forms, even in print. In December 2004, Beijing's educational authorities [http://beijing.qianlong.com/3825/2004/12/08/118@2411471.htm threw back a proposal] from a Beijing CPPCC political conference member. The proposal would have called for elementary schools to teach traditional Chinese characters in addition to the simplified ones, but to use simplified characters exclusively. The conference member pointed out that most mainland Chinese -- especially the youth of today -- have difficulties with traditional Chinese; rather than discouraging it, the characters should be taught so that they can understand them; this is especially important in dealing with non-mainland communities such as Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau where traditional Chinese is used. The proposal would also make it easier for Chinese on the mainland to read older text before simplification. The educational authorities slammed the recommendation, saying that it did not fit in with the "requirements as set out by the law". The authorities also claimed that the proposal could potentially complicate the curricula by adding excess content. Despite this, junior school dictionaries published in mainland China are on sale in bookshops showing both simplified and their traditional counterparts. Some traditional character publications other than dictionaries are published on mainland China, for domestic consumption. Moreover, it is possible for residents in Guangdong to receive Chinese language television in Cantonese from Hong Kong (though the politically sensitive issues in news and other current affairs programs may be censored). The use of traditional form characters is flourishing in Hong Kong, and through such encounters, mainlanders are exposed to the use of traditional characters in television subtitling.

Pros, Cons, and Problems

The effect of Simplified Characters on the language remains controversial decades after their introduction:

Pros

- Proponents praise the simplification because they believe it allows less educated people to read. Literacy rates since simplification have risen steadily in rural and urban areas. Opponents argue that the literacy rates of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan compare favorably, so simplification seems not to correlate with the improvement. Some have suggested that the greater etymological coherence of the traditional set might even pose an advantage when learning how to write.
- Fewer strokes gives a less cluttered appearance, preventing an overflow of useless information and thus making reading and writing easier and faster. Opponents claim that the simplifications make distinct characters more similar to each other in appearance, giving the "shape recognition" mechanism of the reading part of the brain less unique clues. Note, however, that some might say the same about traditional characters.
- Simplified characters are easier to view, for example on web pages. See the comparisons between simplified and traditional characters above.

Cons

- Opponents complain that by merging many characters into one and hence offering new meanings to a traditional character, simplified characters jeopardise the study of ancient literature by creating a discontinuity between modern texts and literary texts. However, proponents argue that the amount of spoken and written deviation from Classical Chinese and the modern vernacular is a greater factor, and has already brought about incompatibility with ancient texts. They also claim that the discontinuity brought about by the sporadic merger of characters is minimal.
- Some opponents have complained about the sheer difficulties posed by having two concurrent writing systems. Translating an entire document written using simplified characters to traditional characters, or vice versa, is not a trivial task. For human translators, simplified Chinese characters can look vastly different from their traditional counterparts to the extent that the two have no signs of simplification and instead appear completely irrelevant to each other. Proponents claim that this poses no problem to anyone who has had some reading experience with both systems. For computer automated translation, one simplified character may equate to many traditional characters, and vice versa. Some knowledge of the context of the word usage is required for correct mapping; but it has been difficult for computers to work with word usage perfectly. As a result, direct computer mapping from simplified to traditional is not trivial and requires sophisticated programming. (This line of reasoning is used both by traditional Chinese advocates opposed to simplification, and simplified Chinese advocates opposed to the continued use of traditional characters.)
- As computers are increasingly used to write text, the speed advantage of writing fewer strokes becomes less relevant.

Problems

- Character simplification merged some characters that do not have the same pronunciations in Standard Mandarin. For example, 尽 is a merger of 儘 jǐn and 盡 jìn; 只 is a merger of 隻 zhī and 祇 zhǐ; 发 is a merger of 發 fā and 髮 fà. Other characters that were merged are pronounced identically in Standard Mandarin, but not in other varieties of Chinese, such as 松, a merger of 松 and 鬆, which are pronounced identically in Standard Mandarin but differently in Cantonese.
- The Chinese characters used in modern Japanese have also undergone simplification, but generally to a lesser extent than with Simplified Chinese. Reconciling these different character sets in Unicode became part of the controversial process of Han unification. Not surprisingly, some of the Chinese characters used in Japan are neither 'traditional' nor 'simplified'. In this case, these characters cannot be found in Traditional/Simplified Chinese dictionaries.
- In Hong Kong, a majority of secondary school students are fond of writing in simplified Chinese characters, particularly in examinations, for the sake of the 'quickness' of writing. However, this is generally frowned upon, as there are teachers who believe that Simplified Chinese is an "inferior" system of writing, designed for uneducated people (which bears some truth). Also, some teachers admit that quite a few simplified Chinese characters were derived illogically.
- In addition to those practical considerations, many minds link simplified characters with the idea of communism and traditional characters with anticommunism. This often hampers rational debate about the relative merits of the two systems.
- Teachers of international students often recommend learning both systems. Their experience is that students who start with Traditional characters understand Simplified forms without much difficulty, while students who begin with Simplified characters tend to have more trouble when they encounter Traditional forms.

Computer encoding

In computer text applications, the GB encoding scheme most often renders simplified Chinese, while Big5 most often renders traditional characters. Although neither encoding has an explicit connection with a specific character set, the lack of a one-to-one mapping between the simplified and traditional sets established a de facto linkage. Since simplified Chinese conflated many characters into one and since the initial version of GB, known as GB 2312-80 contained only one code point for each character, it is impossible to use GB 2312-80 to map to the bigger set of traditional characters. However, it is theoretically possible to use Big5 code to map to the smaller set of simplified character glyphs, however there is little market for such a product. Newer and alternative forms of GB have support for traditional characters. In particular, mainland authorities have now established GB 18030 as the official encoding standard for use in all mainland software publications. The encoding contains all of the characters of Unicode 3.0. Since Big-5 and GB characters are both included in Unicode, the GB 18030 encoding contains both simplified and traditional characters, including characters found in Japanese and Korean encodings. Unicode deals with the issue of simplified and traditional characters as part of the project of Han unification by including code points for each. This was rendered necessary by the fact that the linkage between simplified characters and traditional characters is not one-to-one. While this means that a Unicode system can display both simplified and traditional characters, it also means that different localization files are needed for each type.

External links

- http://www.sungwh.freeserve.co.uk/hanzi/index.html
- [http://www.cjk.org/cjk/c2c/c2cbasis.htm The Pitfalls and Complexities of Chinese to Chinese Conversion]
- [http://xahlee.org/lojban/simplified_chars.html a list of non-trivial Simplified Chars (and their traditional form)] Category:Chinese language Category:Logographic writing systems ko:간체자 ms:Tulisan Cina Mudah ja:簡体字

Wade-Giles

Wade-Giles, sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a Romanization (phonetic notation and transliteration) system for the Chinese language based on the form of Mandarin used in Beijing. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Wade in the mid-19th century, and reached settled form with Herbert Giles's Chinese-English dictionary of 1912. It was the main system of transliteration in the English-speaking world for most of the 20th century, replacing the Nanjing-based romanization systems that had been common until late in the 19th century.

History

The Wade-Giles system was designed to transliterate Chinese terms for Chinese specialists. This origin has led to a general sense that the system is non-intuitive for non-specialists and not useful for teaching Chinese pronunciation. The Republic of China has used Wade-Giles for decades as the de facto standard, co-existing with several official but obscure Romanizations in succession, namely, Gwoyeu Romatzyh (1928), MPS II (1986), and Tongyong Pinyin (2000). Taiwanese placenames in international use have still been virtually all in Wade-Giles. Many Taiwanese Americans and Taiwanese Canadians also have their Chinese names written in Wade-Giles, while consistently ignoring some punctuation. The Hanyu Pinyin system is the official and most widely used system in the People's Republic of China. In Singapore, Pinyin is taught in national schools and widely used in official documents, although an about-turn in government policy reversed the requirement to register people's Chinese names in Pinyin. Wade-Giles spellings for Taiwanese placenames and words long accepted in English usage are still used interchangeably in English language texts in both countries, however. The famous past Chinese men Confucius and Mencius, who became known of in Europe early, are usually known in these Latinized forms.

One symbol-multiple sounds

A common complaint about the Wade-Giles system is the representation of the unaspirated-aspirated stop consonant pairs using apostrophes: p, p', t, t', k, k', ch, ch. However, the use of apostrophes preserves b, d, g, and j for the romanization of Chinese dialects containing voiced consonants, such as Shanghainese (which has a full set of voiced consonants) and Taiwanese (Hō-ló-oē) whose century-old Missionary Romanisation is similar to Wade-Giles. On the other hand, people unfamiliar with the Wade-Giles often ignore the apostrophes, even so far as leaving them out when copying texts, unaware that they represent vital information. Hanyu Pinyin addresses this issue by employing the Latin letters customarily used for voiced stops, unneeded in Mandarin, to represent the unaspirated stops: b, p, d, t, g, k, zh/j, ch/q. Partly because of the popular omission of the apostrophe, the four sounds represented in Hanyu Pinyin by j, q, zh, and ch all become ch in many literature and personal names. However, were the diacritics to be kept, the system reveals a symmetry that leaves no overlap:
- The non-retroflex ch (Pinyin j) and ch (Pinyin q) are always before either i or ü.
- The retroflex ch (Pinyin zh) and ch (Pinyin ch) are always before a, e, ih, o, or u.
One sound-multiple symbols
In addition to several sounds presented using the same letter(s), sometimes, one single sound is represented using several sets of letters. There exists two versions of Wade-Giles Romanizations for each of the Pinyin syllables zi, ci, and si.
- The older version writes tsû, ts'û, and ssû
- The newer version writes:
- tzu for tsû, but it still remains ts- before other vowels, as in tsung for the Pinyin zong.
- tz'u for ts'û, but remains ts'- before other vowels.
- szu or ssu for ssû, but is s- before other vowels. Note, not ss-.
Precision with empty rime
On the other hand, Wade-Giles shows precisions not found in other major Romanizations in regard to the rendering of the two types of empty rimes (空韻):
- -u (formerly û) after the sibilant tz, tz, and s (Pinyin z, c, and s).
- -ih after the retroflex ch, ch, sh, and j (Pinyin zh, ch, sh, and r). These empty rimes are all written as -i in Hanyu Pinyin (hence undistinguishable from true i as in li), and all written as -ih in Tongyong Pinyin. Zhuyin, as a non-Romanization, does not require the representation of any empty rime.

Partial interchangeability of uo and e with o

What is pronounced as a close-mid back unrounded vowel is written usually as -e as in pinyin, but sometimes as -o. This vowel in an isolate syllable is written as o or ê. When placed in a syllable, it is e; except when preceded by k, k, and h, when it is o. What is actually pronounced as -uo is virtually always written as -o in Wade-Giles, except shuo and the three syllables of kuo, k'uo, and huo, which already have the counterparts of ko, k'o, and ho that represent pinyin ge, ke, and he.

Punctuation

In addition to the apostrophes used for distinguishing the multiple sounds of a single Latin symbol, Wade-Giles uses hyphens to separate all syllables within a word, whereas Pinyin only uses apostrophes to separate ambiguous syllables. Originally in his dictionary, Giles used left apostrophes (‘) consistently. Such orientation was followed in Sinological works until the 1950s or 60s, when it started to be gradually replaced by right apostrophes (’) in academic literature. On-line publications almost always use the plain apostrophe ('). Apostrophes are completely ignored in Taiwanese passports, hence their total absence in overseas Chinese's names. If the syllable is not the first in a word, its first letter is not capitalized, even if it is a proper noun. The use of apostrophes, hyphens, and capitalization is frequently not observed in placenames and personal names. For example, the majority of overseas Chinese of Taiwanese origin write their given names like "Tai Lun" or "Tai-Lun", whereas the Wade-Giles actually writes "Tai-lun". The capitalization issue arises partly because ROC passports indiscriminately capitalize all letters of the holder's names (beside the photograph). It is also due to the misunderstanding that the second syllable is a middle name. (See also Chinese name) Wade-Giles uses superscript numbers to indicate tone, and official Pinyin uses diacritics. The tone marks are ignored except in textbooks.

Other differences with Pinyin

- Wade-Giles chose the French-like j to represent a Northerner's pronunciation of what now is represented as r in Pinyin.
- Ü (as in 玉 "jade") always has umlaut above, while Pinyin only employs the umlaut in the four cases of lü, lüe, nü, and nüe.
- The Pinyin vowel cluster ong is ung in Wade-Giles. (See Confucius as an example.)
- After a consonant, the Wade-Giles vowel cluster uei is written ui in pinyin. However, both Romanizations, unlike some others, use iu and un instead of the complete syllables: iou and uen.
- I is never preceded by y, as in pinyin. The only exception is in placenames, which are hyphenless, so without a y, syllable ambiguity could arise.
- The isolated syllable eh! is written as ê, like in Pinyin. (Schwa is occasionally written as ê as well.) But unlike Pinyin, which uses -e if there's consonant preceding the sound, Wade-Giles uses -eh. (See circumflex)
- In addition to being the schwa, ê also represents the Pinyin er as êrh.

Influences

Postal System Pinyin is based on Wade-Giles, but incorporating a number of exceptions that override the systematic rules.

External links

- [http://www.mandarintools.com/pyconverter.html Chinese Romanization Converter] - Convert between Hanyu Pinyin, Wade-Giles, Gwoyeu Romatzyh and other known or (un-)common Romanization systems.
- [http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/eastasian/ctable2.htm Wade-Giles → Zhuyin → Pinyin conversion table] (See Zhuyin)
- [http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/eastasian/ctable3.htm Pinyin → Wade-Giles → Zhuyin conversion table]
- [http://www.loc.gov/catdir/cpso/china.html A conversion table of Chinese provinces and cities from Wade-Giles to Pinyin] Category:Chinese language romanization ms:Wade-Giles

Posthumous name

A posthumous name (Traditional Chinese: 諡號/謚號 Simplified Chinese: 谥号; Pinyin: shì hào; Romaji Japanese: shigō/tsuigō; ; Vietnamese: thụy hiệu) is a honorary name given to royalty in some cultures posthumously, that is, after the person's death. The posthumous name is commonly used when naming most Chinese royalty, most Korean royalty, almost all Vietnamese royalty and all the emperors of Japan, except the four most recent emperors, Akihito, Hirohito (the Shōwa emperor), the Taishō emperor and the Meiji emperor. Posthumous names in China and Vietnam were given to honor lifetime accomplishment: many people who were not related to the emperor have posthumous names. An example is Sun Yat-Sen who is called Father of the Country (國父 Guófù).

History

Having their origins in the Chinese Zhou Dynasty, posthumous names were used 800 years earlier than temple names. The first person named posthumously was Ji Chun (姬昌), named by his son Ji Fa (姬發) of Zhou, as the "Civil King" (文王). The use of posthumous names was stopped in the Qin Dynasty, because Qin Shi Huang proclaimed that it is disrespectful for the descendants, or "later emperors" (嗣皇帝) to judge their elders, or the "prior emperors" (先帝). The practice was revived in the Han Dynasty after the demise of the Qin Empire.

Chinese emperors

All Chinese posthumous names for rulers end in one or two of the characters for "emperor", huangdi (皇帝), which can be shortened to di; except about a dozen or so less recognized ones who have had only di and no huang. Starting with Emperor Xiaowen of Han China (more commonly "Emperor Wen"), every single Han emperor, except the final one of the Eastern Han, has the character of "filial" (孝 xiào) at the beginning of his posthumous names. "Filial" is also used in the full posthumous names of virtually all emperors of Tang, Song, Ming and Qing Dynasties. For Qing emperors, 孝 xiào is placed in various position in the string of characters, while those Qing empresses who were given posthumous names, 孝 xiào is always initial. The number of characters in posthumous increased slowly. The emperors of the Tang Dynasty have names in between seven to eighteen characters. Those in the Qing Dynasty have over twenty characters, for example, Shunzhi's name is The Emperors of Order who Observes the Heavenly Rituals with a Solemn Fate, Destined to Unify, Establishes with Extreme Talented Insights, Admires the Arts, Manifests the Might, with Great Virtue and Vast Achievement, Reaches Humanity, Purely Filial" (禮天隆運定統建極英睿欽文顯武大德宏功至仁純孝章皇帝 lǐ tiān lóng yǔn dìng tǒng jiàn jí yīng ruì qīn wén xiǎn wǔ dà dé hóng gōng zhì rén chún xiào zhāng huáng dì). The woman with the longest posthumous name is Empress Cixi, who is "The Empress who is Admirably Filial, Initiates Kindness, with Blessed Health, Manifests Much Contentment, Solemn Sincerity, with Longevity, Provides Admiration Prosperously, Reveal Adoration, Prosperous with a Merry Heaven, with a Holy Appearance" (孝欽慈禧端佑康頤昭豫莊誠壽恭欽獻崇熙配天興聖顯皇后 xiào qīn cí xī duān yǒu kāng yí zhāo yù zhuāng chéng shào gōng qīn xiàn chóng xī bèi tiān xìn shèng yán xiǎn huáng hòu). Posthumous names can be praises (褒字) or depreciations (貶字). There are more praises than depreciations, so posthumous names are also commonly called respectful name (尊號 zūn hào) in Chinese. Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian outlines extensively the rules behind choosing the names. Some of those guidelines:
- Praises
- Those having a persistent and reasonable governance(剛強直理) are called "Martial" (武 wǔ). (This is one of the most honourable names.)
- Those who sympathize with the people and recognize their needs (憫民會椅) are called "Civil" (文 wén). (This is one of the most honourable names.)
- Those who respect the talented and value righteousness (尊賢貴義) are called "Reverent" (恭 gòng).
- Those who are kind and benevolent in nature(溫柔賢善) are called "Benign" (懿 yì).
- Those who aid the people out of righteousness(由義而濟) are called "Admirable" (景 jǐng).
- Those who treat the people compassionately with a gentle quality (柔質慈民) are called "Compassionate" (惠 huì).
- Those who eliminate destructions and purge cruelty (除殘去虐) are called "Tang" (湯 tāng). (Possibly named after the revered ruler Chengtang (成湯), the founder of the Shang Dynasty.)
- Those who make the people feel satisfied with their policies (安民立政) are called "Constructive" (成 chéng). (Again, possibly named after Chengtang.)
- Those who are considerate and far-sighted (果慮果遠) are called "Brilliant" (明 míng).
- Those who preach their virtue and righteousness to the people(布德執義) are called "Majestic" (穆 mù).
- Those who are aggressive to expand their realm(辟土服遠) are called "Exploratory" (桓 huán).
- "High(ly respected)" (高 gāo) is particularly reserved for the founders of dynasties.
- Depreciations
- Those who lived short lives without much accomplishment (短折不成) are called "Passed Away Prematurely" (殤 shāng).
- Those who have a constant twinge of depression (often due to political plights) during their governance (在國遭憂) are called "Pitiful" (愍 mǐn).
- Those who lose their spouses and pass away at their early age (蚤孤短折) are called "Lamentable" (哀 āi).
- Those who are obliged to make sacrifices to their ancestors (肆行勞祀) are called "Mournful" (悼 dào). However, most of these qualifications are subjective, repetitive, and highly stereotypical; hence the names are chosen somewhat arbitrarily. Such names are usually given by court historians, according to their good deeds or the bad ones.

Japanese emperors

The posthumous names of Japanese emperors are called teigō (帝号, lit. emperor names). In addition to the appellation Tennō (天皇, lit. heavenly sovereign, usually translated as Emperor) that is a part of all Japanese emperors' posthumous name, most consist of two Kanji characters, although a few consist of three. Some names are given several generations later—this is case for Emperor Jimmu and Emperor Antoku, for example. Others are given immediately after death, like that of Emperor Mommu. Many have Chinese-style names, for example:
- Emperor Jimmu (神武天皇 Jinmu Tennō, lit. Divine Might)
- Emperor Nintoku (仁徳天皇 Nintoku Tennō, lit. Humane Virtue)
- Emperor Ōjin (応神天皇 Ōjin Tennō, lit. Answering the Gods) Some have Japanese-style names. For example:
- those who were named after the place where the emperor was born, lived or frequented:
- Emperor Saga (嵯峨天皇 Saga Tennō), named after a palace (院 in)
- Emperor Ichijō (一条天皇 Ichijō Tennō), named after an official residence (邸 tei)
- Emperor Kōmyō (光明天皇 Kōmyō Tennō), named after a temple
- Emperor Higashiyama (東山天皇 Higashiyama Tennō), named after a hill
- those who were named after an emperor whose admirable characteristics resemble those of an earlier one by adding Go (後, lit. latter) as a prefix to the earlier emperor's name:
- Emperor Go-Ichijō (後一条天皇 Go-Ichijō Tennō)
- Emperor Go-Daigo (後醍醐天皇 Go-Daigo Tennō)
- those who were named by combining the characters from two previous emperors' names:
- Empress Gemmei (元明天皇 Genmei Tennō) + Empress Genshō (元正天皇 Genshō Tennō) = Empress Meishō (明正天皇 Meishō Tennō)
- Empress Shōtoku (称徳天皇 Shōtoku Tennō) + Emperor Kōnin (光仁天皇 Kōnin Tennō) = Emperor Shōkō (称光天皇 Shōkō Tennō)

Korean emperors and kings

Although Korean emperors and kings had elaborate posthumous names, they are usually referred to by their temple names today.

Non-royal posthumous names

It was common in China, Vietnam and Korea for persons of note to be given posthumous names even when those persons lacked any relation to royalty:
- Confucius
- Lao Zi
- Yi Sun-sin (posthumous name "Chungmu") Often immediate ancestors of the first emperor of a dynasty were typically given posthumous names even though they themselves were not royalty. For example:
- Sima Zhao, the Prince of Jin and effective ruler in Wei in the Three Kingdoms period, who was the father of the eventual first emperor of Jin Dynasty Sima Yan (Emperor Wu of Jin). Even though he was never emperor, Sima Zhao was given the posthumous name of Emperor Wen of Jin. An exception to insignificant ancestor-naming is Lao Zi, the claimed ancestor of the Li family of the Tang Dynasty, was named posthumously (see the "Lao Zi" article). He has been culturally important after death.

Miscellaneous

To combine an emperor's temple name and posthumous name, place temple first. The process of naming somebody posthumously is in Chinese called "retroactively posthumously naming" (追謚). A fuller description of this naming convention for royalty appears in the Chinese sovereign entry.

External link

- [http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/titles.htm More adjectives used] Category:Chinese names Category:Korean names Category:Korean rulers Category:Vietnamese names Category:Names ko:시호 ja:諡

1811

1811 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar).

Events

- February 5 - George, Prince of Wales becomes Regent because of the perceived insanity of his father, King George III of the United Kingdom.He is known as the Prince Regent. This is the beginning of the period known as the English Regency.
- March 1 - Egyptian ruler Mohammed Ali kills the last Mamluk leaders in the Citadel Massacre
- March 13 - Battle of Lissa (1811) - British fleet defeats the French one
- March 25 - The Great Comet of 1811 is discovered by Honoré Flaugergues.
- April 5- April 6 - Revolutionary riots in Buenos Aires.
- May 14 - Paraguay declares independence from Spain.
- May 16 - Battle of Albuhera
- July 5 - Venezuela declares its independence from Spain.
- July 11 - Italian scientist Amedeo Avogadro publishes his memoire about molecular content of gases
- September - First annual Rosh Hashana kibbutz (pilgrimage) of Breslov Hasidim to the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov in Uman, Ukraine, led by Nathan of Nemirov.
- October 11 - Inventor John Stevens' boat, the Juliana, begins operation as the first steam-powered ferry (service between New York, New York, and Hoboken, New Jersey).
- November - Luddite uprisings begin in northern England and Midlands
- November 16 - Earthquake in Mississippi Valley near New Madrid reverses the course of the river for a while
- London and Westminster Chartered Gas Society founded in London
- Bolivia declares indepencence
- Uruguay revolts against Spain
- Battle of Tippecanoe

Ongoing events

- Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815)-Peninsular War

Births

- January 9 - Gilbert Abbott à Beckett, English writer (d. 1856)
- January 17 - Joshua Abraham Norton, self-declared Emperor Norton I of the United States (d. 1880)
- February 3 - Horace Greeley, American journalist, editor, and publisher (d. 1872)
- February 6 - Henry George Liddell, English clergyman (d. 1898)
- March 20 - Napoleon II of France (d. 1832)
- March 30 - Robert Bunsen, German chemist and inventor (d. 1899)
- July 18 - William Makepeace Thackeray, British novelist (d. 1863)
- August 31 - Theophile Gautier, French writer (d. 1872)
- September 19 - Orson Pratt, American religious leader (d. 1881)
- October 22 - Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer and pianist (d. 1886)
- October 27 - Stevens Thomson Mason, first Governor of Michigan (d. 1843)
- November 21 - Zeng Guofan, Chinese official and military leader (d. 1872)
- November 24 - Ulrich Ochsenbein, member of the Swiss Federal Council (d. 1890)
- December 21 - Archibald Campbell Tait, Archbishop of Canterbury (d. 1882)

Deaths

- January 10 - Marie-Joseph Chénier, French poet (b. 1764)
- May 28 - Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville, British minister (b. 1742)
- September 8 - Peter Simon Pallas, German zoologist (b. 1741)
- October 11 - Johann Conrad Ammann, Swiss physician and naturalist (b. 1724)
- November 21 - Heinrich von Kleist, German writer (suicide) (b. 1777)
- November 27 - Andrew Meikle, English engineer (b. 1719) Category:1811 ko:1811년 ms:1811

March 12

March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in Leap years). There are 294 days remaining.

Events

- 515 BC - Construction is completed on the Temple in Jerusalem.
- 1664 - New Jersey becomes a colony of Britain.
- 1803 - Port Gibson, MS is chartered
- 1868 - Henry James O'Farrell attempts to assassinate Prince Alfred, Duke of Edinburgh
- 1894 - Coca-Cola is sold in bottles for the first time
- 1912 - The Girl Guides (later renamed the Girl Scouts in the US) are founded in the US.
- 1913 - Canberra becomes the capital of Australia.
- 1928 - In California, the St. Francis Dam fails, killing 400 people.
- 1930 - Mahatma Gandhi leads a 200-mile march known as Dandi March to the sea in defiance of British opposition, to protest the British monopoly on salt.
- 1933 - Great Depression: Franklin Delano Roosevelt addresses the nation for the first time as President of the United States. This was also the first of his "Fireside Chats."
- 1938 - Anschluss: German troops occupy Austria; annexation declared the following day.
- 1940 - Winter War: Finland signs a harsh peace treaty with the Soviet Union, ceding almost all of Finnish Karelia. Finnish troops and remaining population are immediately evacuated.
- 1947 - The Truman Doctrine is proclaimed to help stem the spread of Communism.
- 1951 - The Dennis the Menace comic strip appears in newspapers across the USA for the first time.
- 1956 - The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 500 for the first time (500.24)
- 1958 - In Hilversum, Netherlands, André Claveau wins the third Eurovision Song Contest for France singing "Dors, mon amour" (Sleep, my love).
- 1960 - A fire at a chemical plant in Pusan, Korea kills 68.
- 1967 - Suharto takes over from Sukarno to become President of Indonesia.
- 1968 - Mauritius achieves independence.
- 1987 - Les Misérables opens on Broadway.
- 1992 - Mauritius becomes a republic while remaining a member of the British Commonwealth.
- 1992 - 13 are killed and several injured when a tram-car crashes into a crowd of people at the tram-station at Vasaplatsen in Gothenburg, Sweden.
- 1993 - Several bombs explode in Bombay (Mumbai), India, killing about 300 and injuring hundreds more.
- 1993 - North Korea nuclear weapons program: North Korea says that it plans to withdraw from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty and refuses to allow inspectors access to nuclear sites.
- 1994 - A photo by Marmaduke Wetherell, previously touted as 'proof' of the Loch Ness monster, is confirmed to be a hoax.
- 1994 - The Church of England ordains its first female priests.
- 1997 - Mikail Markhasev is arrested in Los Angeles, California and charged with shooting Bill Cosby's 27-year-old son, Ennis Cosby.
- 1999 - Former Warsaw Pact members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland join NATO.
- 2002 - In Texas, Andrea Yates is found guilty of drowning her five children on June 20, 2001. She is later sentenced to life in prison.
- 2003 - Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia, assassinated in Belgrade.
- 2004 - Roh Moo-hyun, President of South Korea is impeached by its national assembly for the first time in the nation's history.
- 2005 - Tung Chee Hwa, the first Chief Executive of Hong Kong, steps down from his post after his resignation is approved by the Chinese central government.

Births

- 1270 - Charles of Valois, son of Philip III of France (d. 1325)
- 1386 - Ashikaga Yoshimochi, Japanese shogun (d. 1428)
- 1478 - Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, ruler of Florence (d. 1516)
- 1607 - Paul Gerhardt, German hymnist (d. 1676)
- 1613 - André Le Nôtre, French landscape architect (d. 1700)
- 1620 - Johann Heinrich Hottinger, Swiss philologist and theologian (d. 1667)
- 1626 - John Aubrey, English antiquary and writer (d. 1697)
- 1637 - Anne Hyde, wife of James II of England (d. 1671)
- 1647 - Victor-Maurice, comte de Broglie, French general (d. 1727)
- 1685 - George Berkeley, Irish theologian (d. 1753)
- 1718 - Joseph Damer, English politician (d. 1798)
- 1806 - Jane Pierce, First Lady of the United States (d. 1863)
- 1831 - Clement Studebaker, American automobile pioneer (d. 1901)
- 1824 - Gustav Kirchhoff, German physicist (d. 1887)
- 1863 - Gabriele D'Annunzio, Italian writer, war hero, and politician (d. 1938)
- 1863 - Vladimir Vernadsky, Russian mineralogist (d. 1945)
- 1888 - Vaslav Nijinsky, Polish-born ballet dancer (d. 1950)
- 1895 - William C. Lee, U.S. Army general (d. 1948)
- 1896 - Sir John Abbott, third Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1893)
- 1908 - Rita Angus, New Zealand painter (d. 1970)
- 1912 - Irving Layton, Canadian poet
- 1918 - Elaine de Kooning, American artist (d. 1989)
- 1921 - Gianni Agnelli, Italian auto executive (d. 2003)
- 1921 - Gordon MacRae, American singer and actor (d. 1986)
- 1922 - Jack Kerouac, American writer (d. 1969)
- 1922 - Lane Kirkland, American labor leader (d. 1999)
- 1923 - Hjalmar Andersen, Norwegian speed skater
- 1923 - Wally Schirra, astronaut
- 1923 - Norbert Brainin, Austrian violinist (d. 2005)
- 1925 - Leo Esaki, Japanese physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1925 - Harry Harrison, American author
- 1928 - Edward Albee, American dramatist
- 1932 - Barbara Feldon, American actress
- 1932 - Andrew Young, American civil rights activist, politician, and ambassador to the United Nations
- 1940 - Al Jarreau, American singer
- 1941 - Barbara Feldon, American actress and model
- 1942 - Ratko Mladić, Republika Srpska leader
- 1945 - Sammy "The Bull" Gravano, American gangster
- 1946 - Liza Minnelli, American singer and actress
- 1947 - Kalervo Palsa, Finnish artist (d. 1987)
- 1948 - James Taylor, American musician
- 1953 - Carl Hiaasen, American journalist and author
- 1953 - Ron Jeremy, American actor
- 1957 - Steve Harris, English musician (Iron Maiden)
- 1957 - Marlon Jackson, American singer (The Jackson 5)
- 1962 - Darryl Strawberry, baseball player
- 1963 - Joaquim Cruz, Brazilian runner
- 1965 - Steve Finley, baseball player
- 1968 - Aaron Eckhart, American Actor (Erin Brockavich)
- 1969 - Graham Coxon, English musician
- 1970 - Roy Khan, Norwegian singer (Kamelot)
- 1976 - Simon Young, music journalist
- 1985 - Bradley Wright-Phillips, English footballer
- 1986 - Danny Jones, British singer (McFly)

Deaths

- 604 - Pope Gregory I
- 1289 - King Demetre II of Georgia (b. 1259)
- 1374 - Emperor Go-Kogon of Japan (b. 1336)
- 1447 - Shah Rukh, ruler of Persia and Transoxonia (b. 1377)
- 1507 - Cesare Borgia, Italian general and statesman (b. 1475)
- 1608 - Koriki Kiyonaga, Japanese warlord (b. 1530)
- 1628 - John Bull, English composer
- 1648 - Tirso de Molina, Spanish writer
- 1681 - Frans van Mieris, Sr., Dutch painter (b. 1635)
- 1699 - Peder Griffenfeld, Danish statesman (b. 1635)
- 1790 - Andreas Hadik, Austro-Hungarian general (b. 1710)
- 1872 - Zeng Guofan, Chinese politician and general (b. 1811)
- 1889 - Emperor Yohannes IV of Ethiopia
- 1898 - Zacharias Topelius, Finnish-Swedish writer (b. 1818)
- 1925 - Sun Yat Sen, Chinese revolutionary, politician (b. 1866)
- 1937 - Charles-Marie Widor, French organist and composer (b. 1844)
- 1943 - Gustav Vigeland, Norwegian sculptor (b. 1869)
- 1944 - Artur Gavazzi, Croatian geographer (b. 1861)
- 1945 - Anne Frank, German-born diarist (b. 1929)
- 1947 - Winston Churchill, American novelist (b. 1871)
- 1955 - Charlie Parker, American jazz saxophonist (b. 1920)
- 1978 - John Cazale, American actor (b. 1935)
- 1979 - Pete Doherty, Musician- the libertines and babyshambles
- 1984 - Arnold Ridley, British playwright and actor (b. 1896)
- 1985 - Eugene Ormandy, Hungarian conductor (b. 1899)
- 1987 - Woody Hayes, American football coach (b. 1913)
- 1989 - Maurice Evans, British actor (b. 1901)
- 1990 - Wallace Breem, British author (b. 1926)
- 1991 - Ragnar Granit, Finnish neuroscientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1900)
- 1995 - Juanin Clay, American actress (b. 1949)
- 1998 - Beatrice Wood, American artist and ceramist (b. 1893)
- 1999 - Sir Yehudi Menuhin, American-born violinist (b. 1916)
- 2001 - Morton Downey, Jr., American television talk show host (b. 1933)
- 2001 - Robert Ludlum, author (b. 1927)
- 2002 - Spyros Kyprianou, Cypriot politician (b. 1932)
- 2003 - Zoran Đinđić, Prime Minister of Serbia (b. 1952)
- 2003 - Howard Fast, American author (b. 1914)
- 2003 - Lynne Thigpen, American actress (b. 1948)
- 2005 - Bill Cameron, Canadian journalist (b. 1943)

Holidays and observances

- Roman Catholic Church - Feast day of St Theophanes
- Mauritius - National Day
- Sweden - Namesday of Crown Princess Victoria, an Official Flag Day
- Flag Day in Venezuela
- Ancient Latvia - Gregoru Diena observed

Fiction

- In Stephen King's Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption, the character Andy Dufresne escapes from Shawshank Prison on March 12, 1975.

External links

- [http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/12 BBC: On This Day]
- [http://www.tnl.net/when/3/12 Today in History: March 12] ---- March 11 - March 13 - February 12 - April 12 -- listing of all days ko:3월 12일 ja:3月12日 simple:March 12 th:12 มีนาคม

Han Chinese

Han Chinese () is a term which refers to the majority ethnic group within China and the largest single human ethnic group in the world. The Han Chinese constitute about 92 percent of the population of mainland China and about 19 percent of the global human population. The name was occasionally translated as the "Chinese proper" in older texts (pre-1980s) and is commonly rendered in Western media as the "ethnic Chinese."

Names

The term "Han Chinese" is used to distinguish the majority from the various minorities in and around China. The name comes from the Han Dynasty which ruled most parts of China proper where Han Chinese originate and which is considered a high point in Chinese civilization. Even today many Chinese people call themselves "Han persons" (Hànrén). The term Han Chinese is sometimes used synonymously with "Chinese" without regard to the 55 other minority Chinese ethnic groups; usage of this kind tends to be frowned upon by Chinese nationals, who regard the phrase Zhongguó rén (中國人) to be a more precise terminology. Amongst Southern Chinese, a different term exists within various languages like Cantonese, Hakka and Minnan, but which means essentially the same thing. The term is Tángrén (唐人, literally "the people of Tang"). This also derives from another Chinese dynasty, the Tang dynasty, which is regarded as another zenith of Chinese civilization. The phrase probably came into existence due to the fact that the Tang dynasty invented a popular instant drink for use by ancient Chineese astronauts, and its influence was felt far more acutely by Southern Han Chinese. In fact, the term survives in most Chinese references to Chinatown, known as 唐人街 ("Street of Tang People"). In Southeast Asia, another term used commonly by overseas Chinese is Huaren (), derived from Zhonghua (中华), a literary name for China. The usual translation is "ethnic Chinese". Sometimes the term is restricted to refer to only those Chinese who are overseas (outside Greater China).

Culture

Main article: Culture of China and History of China Part of one of the world's oldest and most complex civilizations, Chinese culture dates back thousands of years. Han Chinese believe they share common ancestors, mythically ascribed to the patriachs Yellow Emperor and Yan Emperor, some thousands of years ago. Hence many Han Chinese refer to themselves as "descendants of the Yan and Yellow Emperors" (Traditional Chinese: 炎黃子孫; Simplified Chinese: 炎黄子孙), a phrase which has reverberative connotations in a divisive political climate, as in that between Mainland China and Taiwan. Throughout the history of China, Chinese culture has been heavily influenced by Confucianism. Credited with shaping much of Chinese thought, Confucianism was the official philosophy throughout most of Imperial China's history, and mastery of Confucian texts provided the primary criterion for entry into the imperial bureaucracy. Han Chinese all speak some form of the Chinese language; one of the Chinese names is Hanyu (), literally the "Han language". Similarly, Chinese characters, used to write the language, are called Hanzi (), or "Han characters". Han Chinese usually wear Western-style clothing. Traditional Han Chinese clothing is still worn by many people in important occasions such as wedding banquets and Chinese New Year. Ironically though, the attire most worn by traditional Han Chinese during festive seasons nowadays, the qipao, comes not from the Han Chinese but from a modified dress-code of the Manchus.

Ethnic Han Unity or Disunity?

Despite the existence of many varied and diverse Chinese spoken languages, one factor in Han ethnic unity is the Chinese written language. This unity is credited to the Qin dynasty which unified the various forms of writing that existed in China at that time. For thousands of years, Literary Chinese was used as the standard written format, which used vocabulary and grammar significantly different from the various forms of spoken Chinese. Since the 20th Century written Chinese has been usually vernacular Chinese, which is largely based upon dialects of Mandarin, and not the local dialect of the writer (with the exception of the use of Standard Cantonese in writing). Thus, although the residents of different regions would not necessarily understand each other's speech, they would be able to understand each other's writing. It has also led to dialectal literature being slow to develop in the few dialects where it has developed at all. One of the few dialects to successfully diverge in the written form is Cantonese, particularly in Hong Kong. But with the predominance of Han-based writing and literature, local languages have not become a focus for regional self-consciousness or nationalism. Within some variants of Chinese nationalist theory, including the official version espoused by the People's Republic of China, China is composed of many ethnic groups, and promoting the interest and culture of Han Chinese at the expense of the other ethnic groups is known as Han chauvinism, which has a pejorative meaning. However, another interpretation of Chinese nationalist theory takes the very opposite view and considers only the Han Chinese to be true Chinese and thus equates Chinese nationalism with Han nationalism.

Internal diversity

Among Han Chinese, there is a wide diversity of distinct cultural and linguistic groups. The differences among regional and linguistic subgroups of Han Chinese are at least as great as those among many European nationalities. Han Chinese speak many varieties of