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Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong in the 14th century,[1] is a Chinese historical novel based on the events in the turbulent years near the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms era of Chinese history, starting in 169 and ending with the reunification of the land in 280. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW1AHJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw1ahj-battery-27441.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW1AHJ Battery</a>

The story (part historical, part legend, and part myth) chronicles the lives of feudal lords and their retainers, who tried to replace the dwindling Han Dynasty or restore it. While the novel actually follows literally hundreds of characters, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw1s1e-battery-27442.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E Battery</a>

the focus is mainly on the three power blocs that emerged from the remnants of the Han Dynasty, and would eventually form the three states of Cao Wei, Shu Han, and Eastern Wu. The novel deals with the plots, personal and army battles, intrigues, and struggles of these states to achieve dominance for almost 100 years. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw1s1e-b-battery-27443.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/B Battery</a>

This novel also gives readers a sense of how the Chinese view their history in a cyclical lense. The famous opening lines of the novel summarize this view: It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided will surely unite, and anything long united will surely divide (話說天下大勢，分久必合，合久必分).[2] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/L laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw1s1e-l-battery-27444.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/L Battery</a>

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is acclaimed as one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature; it has a total of 800,000 words and nearly a thousand dramatic characters (mostly historical) in 120 chapters.[3] The novel is among the most beloved works of literature in East Asia,[4] and it is arguably the most widely read historical novel in late imperial and modern China.[5] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/P laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw1s1e-p-battery-27445.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/P Battery</a>

Myths from the Three Kingdoms era existed as oral traditions before written compilations. With their focus on the history of Han Chinese, the stories grew in popularity during the reign of the Mongol emperors of the Yuan Dynasty. During the succeeding Ming Dynasty, an interest in plays and novels resulted in further expansions and retelling of the stories. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/R laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw1s1e-r-battery-27446.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/R Battery</a>

The earliest attempt to combine these stories into a written work was Sanguozhi Pinghua (simplified Chinese: 三国志评话; traditional Chinese: 三國誌評話; pinyin: Sānguózhì Pínghuà; literally "Story of Records of Three Kingdoms"),<a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw1s1e-w-battery-27447.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW1S1E/W Battery</a>

published sometime between 1321 and 1323. This version combined themes of legend, magic, and morality to appeal to the peasant class. Elements of reincarnation and karma were woven into this version of the story. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw21fx-b-battery-27448.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/B Battery</a>

Romance of the Three Kingdoms is traditionally attributed to Luo Guanzhong, who lived sometime between 1315 and 1400 (late Yuan to early Ming period). This theory is extensively developed in Andrew Plaks' Four Masterworks of the Ming Novel.[6] It was written in partly vernacular and partly Classical Chinese and was considered the standard text for 300 years. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/L laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw21fx-l-battery-27449.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/L Battery</a>

The author made use of available historical records, including the Records of Three Kingdoms compiled by Chen Shou, which covered events from the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 to the unification of the Three Kingdoms under the Jin Dynasty in 280. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/R laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw21fx-r-battery-27450.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/R Battery</a>

The novel also includes material from Tang Dynasty poetic works, Yuan Dynasty operas and his own personal interpretation of elements such as virtue and legitimacy. The author combined this historical knowledge with a gift for storytelling to create a rich tapestry of personalities, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw21fx-w-battery-27451.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW21FX/W Battery</a>

and initially published it in 24 volumes. It was copied by hand in manuscripts until first printed in 1522[7] as Sanguozhi Tongsu Yanyi.[8] In the 1660s, during the reign of the Kangxi Emperor in the Qing Dynasty, Mao Lun (simplified Chinese: 毛纶; traditional Chinese: 毛綸)[3] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW26EC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw26ec-battery-27452.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW26EC Battery</a>

and his son Mao Zonggang (simplified Chinese: 毛宗岗; traditional Chinese: 毛宗崗) significantly edited the text, fitting it into 120 chapters, and abbreviating the title to Sanguozhi Yanyi.[8] The text was reduced from 900,000 to 750,000 characters; significant editing was done for narrative flow; <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW26FX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw26fx-b-battery-27453.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW26FX/B Battery</a>

use of third party poems was reduced and shifted from conventional verse to finer pieces; and most passages praising Cao Cao's advisers and generals were removed.[9] Scholars have long debated whether the Maos' viewpoint was anti-Qing (identifying Southern Ming remnants with Shu-Han) or pro-Qing.[10] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW28EC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw28ec-battery-27454.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW28EC Battery</a>

This novel reflects Confucian values that were prominent at the time it was written. According to Confucian moral standards, loyalty to one's family, friends, and superiors are important measures for distinguishing good and bad people. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/P laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw28fj-p-battery-27455.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/P Battery</a>

Story

In the final years of the Han Dynasty, incompetent eunuchs deceive the emperor and persecute good officials, and the government becomes extremely corrupt on all levels, leading to widespread deterioration of the empire. During the reign of the penultimate Han sovereign, Emperor Ling, the Yellow Turban Rebellion breaks out under the leadership of Zhang Jue (a.k.a. Zhang Jiao). <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/R laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw28fj-r-battery-27456.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/R Battery</a>

The rebellion is barely suppressed by troops under the command of He Jin, General-in-Chief of the imperial armies. Fearing his growing power, the eunuchs led by Zhang Rang lure He Jin into the palace and murder him. He Jin's stunned guards, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw28fj-w-battery-27457.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW28FJ/W Battery</a>

led by Yuan Shao, respond by charging into the palace to kill all eunuchs for revenge, which turns into indiscriminate slaughter. In the ensuing chaos, the child Emperor Shao and the Prince of Chenliu disappear from the palace. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW29FJ/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw29fj-w-battery-27458.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW29FJ/W Battery</a>

The missing emperor and prince are found later by soldiers of the warlord Dong Zhuo, who proceeds to seize control of the capital city Luoyang under the pretext of protecting the emperor. Dong later deposes Emperor Shao and replaces him with the Prince of Chenliu, who becomes known as Emperor Xian. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW2AFJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw2afj-battery-27459.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW2AFJ Battery</a>

Dong usurps state power and starts a reign of terror in which innocents are persecuted and the common people suffer. Wu Fu and Cao Cao attempt to assassinate Dong Zhuo but both fail. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW2AHJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw2ahj-battery-27460.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW2AHJ Battery</a>

Cao Cao manages to escape and issues an imperial edict in the emperor's name to all regional warlords and governors, calling them to rise up against Dong Zhuo. Under Yuan Shao's leadership, eighteen warlords form a coalition force in a campaign against Dong Zhuo, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw2s1e-battery-27461.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E Battery</a>

but undermined by poor leadership and conflict of interest, they only manage to drive Dong from Luoyang to Chang'an. Dong Zhuo is eventually betrayed and killed by his foster son Lü Bu in a dispute over the beautiful maiden Diaochan. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw2s1e-b-battery-27462.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/B Battery</a>

In the meantime, the empire is already disintegrating into civil war. Sun Jian finds the Imperial Seal and keeps it secretly for himself, further weakening royal authority. Without a strong central government, warlords begin to rise and fight each other for land, plunging China into a state of anarchy. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/L laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw2s1e-l-battery-27463.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/L Battery</a>

In the north, Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan are at war, and in the south, Sun Jian and Liu Biao. Many others, even those without title or land, such as Cao Cao and Liu Bei, are also starting to build up power. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/P laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw2s1e-p-battery-27464.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/P Battery</a>

Cao Cao rescues Emperor Xian from Dong Zhuo's followers and establishes the new imperial court in Xuchang. Cao Cao proceeds to defeat his rivals such as Lü Bu, Yuan Shu and Zhang Xiu before scoring a tactical victory over Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu despite being vastly outnumbered. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/R laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw2s1e-r-battery-27465.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/R Battery</a>

Through his conquests, Cao unites the Central Plains and northern China under his rule, and the lands he controlled would serve as the foundation for the state of Cao Wei in the future. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw2s1e-w-battery-27466.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW2S1E/W Battery</a>

Meanwhile, an ambush had violently concluded Sun Jian's life in a war with Liu Biao, fulfilling Sun's own rash oath to heaven. His eldest son Sun Ce delivers the Imperial Seal as a tribute to the rising royal pretender, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW2S5C CN1 laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw2s5c-cn1-battery-27467.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW2S5C CN1 Battery</a>

Yuan Shu of Huainan, in exchange for reinforcements. Sun secures himself a state in the rich riverlands of Jiangdong, on which the state of Eastern Wu will eventually be founded. Tragically, Sun Ce also dies at the pinnacle of his career from illness under stress of his terrifying encounter with the ghost of Yu Ji, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf112fx-b-battery-27468.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B Battery</a>

a venerable magician whom he had falsely accused and executed in jealousy. However, his younger brother Sun Quan, who succeeds him, proves to be a capable and charismatic ruler. Sun, assisted by skilled advisors Zhou Yu and Zhang Zhao, inspires hidden talents such as Lu Su to join his service, and builds up a strong military force. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf115fg-b-battery-27469.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B Battery</a>

Liu Bei, along with his sworn brothers Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, swear allegiance to the Han Dynasty in the famous Oath of the Peach Garden and pledge to do their best for the country. However, their goals and ambitions are not realized until the later part of the novel. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf116fgbi-battery-27470.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI Battery</a>

Liu is not recognized for his efforts in quelling the Yellow Turban Rebellion and is merely appointed as a junior magistrate. They join Gongsun Zan and participate in the campaign against Dong Zhuo. Liu Bei becomes the governor of Xu Province after Tao Qian passes on the post to him. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf117fj-w-battery-27471.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W Battery</a>

Liu loses the province when Lü Bu seizes control of it with the help of a defector and he joins Cao Cao in defeating Lü at the Battle of Xiapi. While Cao Cao subtly reveals his intention to usurp state power, Liu Bei is officially recognised by Emperor Xian as the Imperial Uncle and seen as a saviour to help the emperor deal with Cao. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf117hg-bi-battery-27472.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI Battery</a>

Liu Bei leaves Cao Cao eventually and seizes Xu Province from Cao's newly appointed governor Che Zhou. In retaliation, Cao attacks Xu Province and defeats Liu, forcing Liu to seek refuge under Yuan Shao for a brief period of time. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf118fj-w-battery-27473.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W Battery</a>

Liu finds a new base in Runan after leaving Yuan but is defeated by Cao Cao's forces once again. He retreats to Jing Province to join Liu Biao and is placed in charge of Xinye. At Xinye, Liu recruits the genius strategist Zhuge Liang personally and builds up his forces. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF119FC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf119fc-battery-27474.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF119FC Battery</a>

Cao Cao declares himself chancellor and leads his troops to attack southern China after uniting the north. He is defeated twice at Xinye by Liu Bei's forces but Liu loses the city as well. Liu leads his men and the civilians of Xinye on an exodus southwards and they arrive at Jiangxia (present-day Yunmeng County, Hubei) where Liu establishes a foothold against Cao Cao. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf119fc-bi-battery-27475.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI Battery</a>

To resist Cao Cao, Liu Bei sends Zhuge Liang to persuade Sun Quan to form an alliance. Zhuge succeeds in his diplomatic mission and remains in Jiangdong as a temporary advisor to Sun Quan. Sun places Zhou Yu in command of the armies of Jiangdong (Eastern Wu) in preparation for an upcoming war with Cao Cao. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf119fj-bi-battery-27476.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI Battery</a>

Zhou feels that Zhuge will become a future threat to Eastern Wu and he tries to kill Zhuge on a few occasions but he fails and decides to co-operate with Zhuge for the time being. Cao Cao is defeated at the Battle of Red Cliffs by the allied forces of Sun Quan and Liu Bei and he is forced to retreat north. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11afj-battery-27477.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ Battery</a>

Sun Quan and Liu Bei begin vying for control of Jing Province after their victory and Liu seizes the province from Cao Cao after following Zhuge Liang's strategy. Sun Quan is unhappy and sends emissaries to ask Liu Bei for Jing Province, but Liu dismisses the envoys each time with different excuses. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11agj-battery-27478.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ Battery</a>

Sun uses some strategies proposed by Zhou Yu to take the land, of which the most famous is the "Beauty Scheme." <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11jfx-b-battery-27480.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B Battery</a>

Sun intends to lure Liu Bei to Jiangdong to marry his sister Lady Sun and hold Liu hostage to exchange his freedom for Jing Province, but the plot fails and the newly-wed couple return home safely. Zhou Yu tries to take Jing Province repeatedly but his plans are foiled three times by Zhuge Liang. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11ahj-battery-27479.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ Battery</a>

<h3>Liu Bei's takeover of Yi Province</h3>

After Zhou Yu's death, relations between Liu Bei and Sun Quan gradually deteriorate but not to the point of open conflict. In accordance with Zhuge Liang's Longzhong Plan, Liu Bei leads his troops into Yi Province in the west and takes over the land from the incompetent noble Liu Zhang. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11m1e-battery-27481.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E Battery</a>

By then, Liu Bei rules a vast area of land from Jing Province to Yi Province in the west, which will serve as the foundation for the future state of Shu Han. He proclaims himself "King of Hanzhong" after his victory over Cao Cao in the Hanzhong Campaign. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11m1e-h-battery-27482.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H Battery</a>

At the same time, Cao has also been granted the title of "King of Wei" by the emperor and Sun Quan became known as the "Duke of Wu". In the east, Sun Quan and Cao Cao's forces clash at the Battle of Ruxukou and Battle of Xiaoyao Ford with victories and defeats for both sides. The situation among the three major powers reaches a stalemate after this until Cao Cao's death. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11mfx-b-battery-27483.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B Battery</a>

Meanwhile, Sun Quan plots to take Jing Province after tiring of Liu Bei's repeated refusals to hand the land over. He makes peace with Cao Cao and becomes a vassal of Cao with the title of "King of Wu". Guan Yu<a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11s1e-battery-27484.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E Battery</a>

, who is in charge of Jing Province, leads his troops to attack Cao Ren in the Battle of Fancheng. Sun Quan sends Lü Meng to lead his troops to seize Jing Province while Guan is away, as part of his secret agreement with Cao Cao. Guan is caught off guard and loses Jing Province before he realizes it. He retreats to Maicheng, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11s1e-b-battery-27485.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B Battery</a>

where he is heavily surrounded by Sun Quan's forces, while his army gradually shrinks in size as many of his troops desert or surrender to the enemy. In desperation, Guan attempts to break out of the siege but fails and is captured in an ambush. He <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11z1e-battery-27486.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E Battery</a>

is executed on Sun Quan's orders after refusing to renounce his loyalty to Liu Bei.

Shortly after Guan Yu's death, Cao Cao dies of a brain tumor and his son Cao Pi usurps the throne, effectively ending the Han Dynasty and Cao renames his new dynasty "Cao Wei". In response, Liu Bei proclaims himself emperor, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11z1e-bi-battery-27487.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI Battery</a>

to carry on the bloodline of the Han Dynasty. While Liu Bei is planning to avenge Guan Yu, his other sworn brother Zhang Fei is assassinated in his sleep by his subordinates, who have defected to Sun Quan. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11zhj-battery-27488.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ Battery</a>

As Liu Bei leads a large army to attack Sun Quan to avenge Guan Yu, Sun attempts to appease Liu by offering him the return of Jing Province. Liu's advisers, including Zhuge Liang, urge him to accept Sun's tokens of peace, but Liu persists in vengeance. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf127hgbi-battery-27489.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI Battery</a>

After initial victories, a series of strategic mistakes due to the impetuosity of Liu leads to the cataclysmic defeat of Shu Han in the Battle of Xiaoting. Lu Xun, the commander of Sun Quan's forces, refrains from pursuing the retreating Shu Han troops after encountering Zhuge Liang's Stone Sentinel Maze. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf137hg-bi-battery-27490.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI Battery</a>

Liu Bei dies in Baidicheng from illness shortly after his defeat. In a moving final conversation between Liu on his deathbed and Zhuge Liang, Liu grants Zhuge the authority to take the throne if his successor Liu Shan proves to be an inept ruler. Zhuge refuses and swears that he will remain faithful to the trust Liu Bei had placed in him. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs111fm-s-battery-27491.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S Battery</a>

<h3>Zhuge Liang's campaigns</h3>

After Liu Bei's death, as advised by Sima Yi, Cao Pi induces several forces, including Sun Quan, turncoat Shu general Meng Da, Meng Huo of the Nanman and the Qiang tribes, to attack Shu Han, in coordination with a Cao Wei army. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS115EC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs115ec-battery-27492.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS115EC Battery</a>

Zhuge Liang manages to send the five armies retreating without any bloodshed. An envoy from Shu Han named Deng Zhi subsequently persuades Sun Quan to renew the former alliance with Shu Han. Zhuge Liang personally leads a southern campaign against the Nanman barbarian king Meng Huo. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS115FG laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs115fg-battery-27493.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS115FG Battery</a>

Meng is defeated and captured seven times, but Zhuge releases him each time and allows him to come back for another battle, in order to win Meng over. The seventh time, Meng refuses to leave and decides to swear allegiance to Shu Han forever. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS117GG laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs117gg-battery-27494.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS117GG Battery</a>

After pacifying the south, Zhuge Liang leads the Shu Han army on five military expeditions to attack Cao Wei in order to restore the Han Dynasty. However, Zhuge's days are numbered as he had been suffering from chronic tuberculosis all along, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS117GGB laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs117ggb-battery-27495.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS117GGB Battery</a>

and his condition worsens under stress from the campaigns. His last significant victory over Cao Wei is probably the defection of Jiang Wei, a promising young general who is well-versed in military strategy. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS118EC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs118ec-battery-27496.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS118EC Battery</a>

Zhuge Liang dies of illness at the Battle of Wuzhang Plains while leading a stalemate battle against his nemesis, the Cao Wei commander Sima Yi. Before his death, Zhuge orders his trusted generals to build a statue of himself and use it to scare away the enemy in order to buy time for the Shu Han army to retreat safely. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS119FJ/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs119fj-b-battery-27497.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS119FJ/B Battery</a>

<h3>End of the Three Kingdoms</h3>

The long years of battle between Shu Han and Cao Wei sees many changes in the ruling Cao family in Cao Wei. The influence of the Caos weakens after the death of Cao Rui and the state power of Cao Wei eventually falls into the hands of the Sima clan, headed by Sima Yi's sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS119GC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs119gc-battery-27498.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS119GC Battery</a>

In Shu Han, Jiang Wei inherits Zhuge Liang's legacy and continues to lead another nine campaigns against Cao Wei for a bitter three decades, but he fails to achieve any significant success. Moreover, the ruler of Shu Han, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS11AFJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs11afj-battery-27499.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS11AFJ Battery</a>

Liu Shan, is incompetent and places faith in treacherous officials, further leading to the decline of the kingdom. Shu Han is eventually conquered by Cao Wei. Jiang Wei attempts to restore Shu Han with the help of Zhong Hui but their plans are exposed and both of them are killed by Sima Zhao's troops. After the fall of Shu Han in 263, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS11AGJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs11agj-battery-27500.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS11AGJ Battery</a>

Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan forces the last Wei ruler, Cao Huan, to abdicate his throne in 265, officially ending the Cao Wei dynasty. Sima Yan, having already been proclaimed the Prince of Jin in the previous year, then formally establishes the Jin Dynasty. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS11AHJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs11ahj-battery-27501.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS11AHJ Battery</a>

In Eastern Wu, there has been internal conflict among the nobles ever since the death of Sun Quan, with Zhuge Ke and Sun Lin making attempts to usurp state power. Although stability is restored temporarily, the last Wu ruler Sun Hao appears to be a tyrant who does not make any efforts to strengthen his kingdom. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS11AVJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs11avj-battery-27502.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS11AVJ Battery</a>

Eastern Wu, the last of the Three Kingdoms, is finally conquered by Jin after a long period of struggle in the year 280, thus marking the end of the near century-long era of civil strife known as the Three Kingdoms period. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS11J7E/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs11j7e-b-battery-27503.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS11J7E/B Battery</a>

<h2>Historical accuracy</h2>

The novel draws from historical sources, including Chen Shou's Records of Three Kingdoms. Other major influences include Liu Yiqing's Shishuo xinyu or A New Account of Tales of the World, published in 430,[11] and the Sanguozhi Pinghua, a chronological collection of eighty fictional sketches starting with the peach garden oath and ending with Zhuge Liang's death.[12] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS11M1E/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs11m1e-w-battery-27504.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS11M1E/W Battery</a>

Some fifty or sixty Yuan and early Ming plays about the Three Kingdoms are known to have existed, and their material is almost entirely fictional, based on thin threads of actual history. The novel is thus a return to greater emphasis on history, compared to these dramas.[13] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs11v9e-battery-27505.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E Battery</a>

The novel also shifted towards better acknowledgement of the Southland's historical importance, while still betraying some prejudice against them.[14] Zhang Xuecheng famously wrote that the novel was 70% fact and 30% fiction.[8] The fictional parts are culled from different sources, including unofficial histories, folk stories, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs11v9e-b-battery-27506.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E/B Battery</a>

the Sanguozhi Pinghua, and also the author's own imagination. Nonetheless, the description of the social conditions and the logic that the characters use is accurate to the Three Kingdoms period, creating "believable" situations and characters, even if they are not historically accurate.[15] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS11X9E/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs11x9e-b-battery-27507.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS11X9E/B Battery</a>

Romance of the Three Kingdoms, like the dramas and folk stories of its day, features Liu Bei and his kingdom as the protagonist; hence the depiction of the people in Shu-Han was glorified. The antagonists, Cao Cao, Sun Quan and their kingdoms, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS123FGB laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs123fgb-battery-27508.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS123FGB Battery</a>

on the other hand, were often denigrated. This suited the political climate in the Ming Dynasty, unlike in the Jin Dynasty, when Cao Wei was considered the legitimate successor to the Han Dynasty. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS125EC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs125ec-battery-27509.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS125EC Battery</a>

Some non-historical scenes in the novel have become well-known and subsequently became a part of traditional Chinese culture. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS128EC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs128ec-battery-27510.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS128EC Battery</a>

Dominant themes of the novel include: the rise and fall of the ideal liege (Liu Bei) finding the ideal minister (Zhuge Liang); the conflict between the ideal liege (Liu Bei) and the consummate villain (Cao Cao); and the cruelties and injustice of feudal or dynastic government.[3] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS129GC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs129gc-battery-27511.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS129GC Battery</a>

Critics have argued that Luo Guanzhong's initial pronouncement "It is a general truism of this world that anything long divided will surely unite, and anything long united will surely divide" epitomizes the main theme of the novel.[16] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS12C7E/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs12c7e-b-battery-27512.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS12C7E/B Battery</a>

Taking this as a locus for study of the classic has been disputed, however. Further, "division" and "unity" for Luo are not of equal importance.[16] Though the work shows the journey from unity to division in the final years of the Han Dynasty, that is only the beginning of the book. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs12l9e-b-battery-27513.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B Battery</a>

"The author expended most of his ink on the focal point of his description—the difficult transition from 'division' to 'unity' and the great achievements that came out of the bitter struggle by various heroes to reunify the Chinese empire."[16] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcs12v9e-b-battery-27514.htm">Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B Battery</a>

Romance of the Three Kingdoms recorded stories of a Buddhist monk called Pujing (普淨), who was a friend of Guan Yu. Pujing made his first appearance during Guan's arduous journey of crossing five passes and slaying six generals, in which he warned Guan of an assassination plot. As the novel was written in the Ming Dynasty, more than 1000 years after the era, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY115FGS laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy115fgs-battery-27515.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY115FGS Battery</a>

these stories showed that Buddhism had long been a significant ingredient of the mainstream culture and may not be historically accurate. Luo Guanzhong preserved these descriptions from earlier versions of the novel to support his portrait of Guan as a faithful man of virtue. Guan was since then respectfully addressed as "Lord Guan" or Guan Gong. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY115FX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy115fx-bi-battery-27516.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY115FX/BI Battery</a>

Romance of the Three Kingdoms has been translated into English by numerous scholars. The first known translation was performed in 1907 by John G. Steele and consisted of a single chapter excerpt that was distributed in China to students learning English at Presbyterian missionary schools. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY115FXBI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy115fxbi-battery-27517.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY115FXBI Battery</a>

[19] Z.Q. Parker published a 1925 translation containing four episodes from the novel including the events of the Battle of Red Cliffs, while Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang published excerpts in 1981 including chapters 43–50.[19] A complete and faithful translation of the novel was published in two volumes in 1925 by Charles Henry Brewitt-Taylor.[19] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY118EC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy118ec-battery-27518.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY118EC Battery</a>

The translation was well-written, but lacked any supplementary materials such as maps or character lists that would aide Western readers; a 1959 reprint was published that included maps and an introduction by Roy Andrew Miller to assist foreign readers.[19] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY118GX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy118gx-bi-battery-27519.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY118GX/BI Battery</a>

In 1976, Moss Roberts published an abridged translation containing one fourth of the novel including maps and more than 40 woodblock illustrations from three Chinese versions of the novel.[19] Roberts's abridgement is reader-friendly, being written for use in colleges and to be read by the general public.[19] After decades of work, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY119FJ/S laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy119fj-s-battery-27520.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY119FJ/S Battery</a>

Roberts published a full translation in 1991 complete with an Afterword, eleven maps, a list of characters, titles, terms, and offices, and almost 100 pages of notes from Mao Zonggang's commentaries and other scholarly sources.[19] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY11AFJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy11afj-battery-27521.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY11AFJ Battery</a>

Roberts's complete translation remains faithful to the original; it is reliable yet still matches the tone and style of the classic text.[19] Yang Ye, a professor in Chinese Literature at the UC Riverside, wrote in Encyclopedia of Literary Translation into English (1998) that Roberts's translation "supersedes Brewitt-Taylor's translation and will no doubt remain the definitive English version for many years to come."[19] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY11AGJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy11agj-battery-27522.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY11AGJ Battery</a>

During the decline of the Han Dynasty, the northern part of China was under the control of Cao Cao, the chancellor to the last Han ruler, Emperor Xian. In 213, Cao Cao was granted the title of "Duke of Wei" and given ten cities as his domain. This area was named "Wei". At that time, the southern part of China was already divided into two areas controlled by two warlords. In 216, Cao Cao was promoted to "King of Wei".<a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY11AHJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy11ahj-battery-27523.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY11AHJ Battery</a>

On March 15, 220, Cao Cao died and his son Cao Pi inherited the title of "King of Wei". Later that year on December 11, Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian to abdicate and took over the throne, founding the Wei Dynasty. However, Liu Bei of Shu Han immediately contested Cao Pi's claim to the Han throne, and Sun Quan of Eastern Wu followed suit in 222. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY11AVJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy11avj-battery-27524.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY11AVJ Battery</a>

Cao Pi ruled for six years until his death in 226. He was succeeded by his son Cao Rui, who died in 239, and was in turn succeeded by Cao Fang. In 249, during Cao Fang's reign, the regent Sima Yi seized state power from his co-regent Cao Shuang in a coup known as the Incident at Gaoping Tombs. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E/S laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy11m1e-s-battery-27525.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E/S Battery</a>

This event marked the collapse of imperial authority in Wei, as Cao Fang's role had been reduced to a puppet ruler while Sima Yi wielded state power firmly in his hands. Sima Yi died in 251 and passed on his authority to his oldest son Sima Shi, who continued ruling as regent. Sima Shi deposed Cao Fang in 254 and replaced him with Cao Mao. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY11S1E laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy11s1e-battery-27526.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY11S1E Battery</a>

After Sima Shi died in the following year, his younger brother Sima Zhao inherited his power and status as regent. In 260, Cao Mao attempted to seize back state power from Sima Zhao in a coup, but was killed by Sima's subordinate Cheng Ji (成濟). <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY11V9E/S laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy11v9e-s-battery-27527.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY11V9E/S Battery</a>

After Cao Mao's death, Cao Huan was enthroned as the fifth ruler of Wei. However, Cao Huan was also a figurehead under Sima Zhao's control much like his predecessor. In 263, Wei armies led by Zhong Hui and Deng Ai conquered Shu. Two years later, Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan forced Cao Huan to abdicate in his favour, replacing Wei with the Jin Dynasty. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy218ec-bi-battery-27528.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/BI Battery</a>

As Gogeryeo consolidated its power, it proceeded to act to conquer the territories on the Korean peninsula which were under Chinese rule.[1] Goguryeo initiated the Goguryeo–Wei Wars in 242, trying to cut off Chinese access to its territories in Korea by attempting to take a Chinese fort. However, the Chinese Wei state responded by invading and defeated Goguryeo. Hwando was detroyed in revenge by the Chinese Wei forces in 244.[2] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/G laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy218ec-g-battery-27529.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/G Battery</a>

Cao Wei (220 CE - 265 CE) was one of the states that competed for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period. With the capital at Luoyang, the state was established by Cao Pi in 220, based upon the foundations that his father Cao Cao laid. Its name came from 213, when Cao Cao's feudal holdings were given the name Wei; <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/L laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy218ec-l-battery-27530.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/L Battery</a>

historians often add the prefix Cao (曹, from Cao Cao's family name) to distinguish it from the other states in Chinese history also known as Wei, such as the earlier Wei state during the Warring States Period, and the later Northern Wei state. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/P laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy218ec-p-battery-27531.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/P Battery</a>

In 220, when Cao Pi deposed the last emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Wei became the name of the new dynasty he founded, which was seized and controlled by the Sima family in 249, until it was overthrown and became part of the Jin Dynasty in 265. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy21s1e-l-battery-27532.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery</a>

Shu Han was one of the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period, after the fall of the Han Dynasty. The state was based on areas around Sichuan, which was then known as Shu. Some historians argue it was the last Han Dynasty because its founding emperor Liu Bei was directly related to the sovereign family of the original Han Dynasty, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/P laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy21s1e-p-battery-27533.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/P Battery</a>

and bore their surname. The other two states were Cao Wei in central and northern China and Eastern Wu in southeastern China. The state is sometimes known as the Kingdom of Shu, though this usage is ambiguous as it was the name of the older Shu state in the area (ca. 1046 BC – 316 BC). <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/SI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcy21s1e-si-battery-27534.htm">Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/SI Battery</a>

Towards the end of the Han Dynasty, Liu Bei, a warlord and distant relative of the Han imperial clan, rallied the support of many capable followers. Following the counsel of his advisor Zhuge Liang and Zhuge's Longzhong Plan, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCCW2S5C CN1 laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpccw2s5c-cn1-battery-27467.htm">Sony VAIO VPCCW2S5C CN1 Battery</a>

Liu Bei conquered parts of Jing Province (covering present-day Hubei and Hunan) in 208 and 209. Between 212 and 215, Liu Bei took over Yi Province (covering the Sichuan Basin) from the warlord Liu Zhang, and wrestled control of Hanzhong from rival warlord Cao Cao in 219. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEA20 laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcea20-battery-12137.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEA20 Battery</a>

From the territories he gained, Liu Bei established a position for himself in China during the final years of the Han Dynasty. However in 219, the alliance between Liu Bei and his ally, Sun Quan, was broken when Sun sent his general Lü Meng to invade Jing Province. Jing Province came under Sun Quan's control after the surprise attack, and Liu Bei's general Guan Yu was captured and executed on Sun's order. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB10 laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb10-battery-12138.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB10 Battery</a>

In 220, after the death of Cao Cao, his son Cao Pi forced the Han Dynasty's last ruler, Emperor Xian to abdicate, taking over the Han throne and starting a new Cao Wei dynasty. The following year, Liu Bei proclaimed himself emperor in Chengdu, with his dynasty known as "Shu Han". <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11fm-bi-battery-12144.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/BI Battery</a>

Although Liu Bei is seen as the founder of Shu Han, he never claimed to be the founder of a new dynasty; rather, he claimed to be continuing the fallen Han Dynasty. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11fm-battery-12143.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM Battery</a>

In 222, Liu Bei launched an attack on Sun Quan to retake Jing Province and avenge Guan Yu, culminating in the Battle of Xiaoting. However, due to grave tactical mistakes, Liu Bei suffered a dramatic defeat with the burning of his line of camps and the decimation of his already numerically inferior army. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/T laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11fm-t-battery-12145.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/T Battery</a>

Liu Bei survived the battle and fled to Baidicheng, where he died a year later due to illness. His son, Liu Shan, succeeded him as emperor of Shu Han. The chancellor Zhuge Liang and general Li Yan were appointed as regents to assist the young Liu Shan. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/WI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11fm-wi-battery-12146.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11FM/WI Battery</a>

Zhuge Liang felt that it was more important for Shu to attack and topple the Wei government and restore legitimacy to the Han Dynasty, hence he made peace with Sun Quan and reaffirmed Shu's alliance with Sun. Sun Quan later declared himself emperor of Eastern Wu in 229, and his status was recognized by Shu. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11fx-battery-12147.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX Battery</a>

Between 228 and 234, Zhuge Liang launched a series of six invasions on Wei but failed each time due to lack of supplies or incompetency of his officers, eventually dying of sickness at the Battle of Wuzhang Plains. Zhuge Liang's protege, Jiang Wei, continued his legacy by leading another nine campaigns against Wei between 247 and 262, but failed to make any significant territorial gains. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11fx-bi-battery-12148.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/BI Battery</a>

In 263, armies led by Wei generals Zhong Hui and Deng Ai attacked Shu and conquered its capital Chengdu. Liu Shan surrendered to Deng Ai outside Chengdu, marking the end of Shu. Jiang Wei attempted to incite conflict between Zhong Hui and Deng Ai, hoping to take advantage of the situation to revive Shu. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/T laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11fx-t-battery-12149.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/T Battery</a>

However, his plan failed and he was killed by Wei troops along with Zhong Hui and Deng Ai. Liu Shan was brought to the Wei capital Luoyang and lived a comfortable and peaceful life as the "Duke of Anle" until the end of his days. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/WI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11fx-wi-battery-12150.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11FX/WI Battery</a>

Shu was not merely a nation of war. During peace time, Shu began many irrigation and road-building projects designed to improve the economy. Many of these public works still exist and are widely used. For example, the Zipingpu Dam is still present near Chengdu, Sichuan. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11gx-battery-12151.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX Battery</a>

These works helped improve the economy of southwestern China and can be credited with beginning the history of economic activity in Sichuan. It also promoted trade with southern China, which was then ruled by Eastern Wu. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11gx-bi-battery-12152.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/BI Battery</a>

It was claimed that many refugees fled west to Sasanian Persia when Shu fell in 263.[1]

Eastern Wu

Eastern Wu, also known as Sun Wu, was one the three states competing for control of China during the Three Kingdoms period after the fall of the Han Dynasty. It was based in the Jiangnan (Yangtze River Delta) region of China. During its existence, its capital was at Jianye (建業; present-day Nanjing, Jiangsu), but at times it was also at Wuchang (武昌; present-day Ezhou, Hubei). <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/T laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11gx-t-battery-12153.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/T Battery</a>

During the final years of the Han Dynasty, the Wu region - in the south of the Yangtze River surrounding present-day Nanjing - was under the control of the warlord Sun Quan. Sun Quan succeeded his brother Sun Ce as the lord over the Wu region paying nominal allegiance to Emperor Xian of Han (who was, at that point, under the control of Cao Cao). <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/WI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb11gx-wi-battery-12154.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB11GX/WI Battery</a>

Unlike his competitors, he did not really have the ambition to be Emperor of China. However, after Cao Pi of Cao Wei and Liu Bei of Shu Han each declared themselves emperor, Sun Quan decided to follow suit in 229, claiming to have founded the Wu Dynasty. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb12fx-battery-12155.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX Battery</a>

Sun Quan's long reign resulted in the stabilizing of the south. Wu and Shu had a military alliance, to defeat Wei in the north. Wu never managed to gain territory north of the Yangtze River, but Wei never managed to take territory south of the river. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb12fx-bi-battery-12156.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BI Battery</a>

Wu was finally conquered by the Jin Dynasty in 280, which marked the reunification of China at the end of the Three Kingdoms period. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BIC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb12fx-bic-battery-12157.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/BIC Battery</a>

Under the rule of Wu, the Yangtze River Delta region, regarded in early history as a barbaric "jungle" developed into one of the commercial, cultural, and political centers of China. Within five centuries, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period, the development of southern China centered around Jiangnan had surpassed that of the north. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/T laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb12fx-t-battery-12158.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB12FX/T Battery</a>

The achievements of Wu marked the beginning of the cultural and political division between northern and southern China that would repeatedly appear in Chinese history well into modernity. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb14fx-battery-12159.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX Battery</a>

The island of Taiwan may have been first reached by the Chinese during the Three Kingdoms period. Contact with the native population and the dispatch of officials to an island named "Yizhou" (夷州) by the Wu navy might have been to Taiwan, but the location of Yizhou is open to dispute; some historians believe it was Taiwan, while others believe it was the Ryukyu Islands. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb14fx-bi-battery-12160.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/BI Battery</a>

Three Kingdoms

The Three Kingdoms period (traditional Chinese: 三國時代; simplified Chinese: 三国时代; pinyin: Sānguó shídài) was a period in Chinese history, part of an era of disunity called the "Six Dynasties" following immediately the loss of de facto power of the Han Dynasty rulers. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/T laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb14fx-t-battery-12161.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/T Battery</a>

In a strict academic sense it refers to the period between the foundation of the state of Wei in 220 and the conquest of the state Wu by the Jin Dynasty in 280.  However, many Chinese historians and laymen extend the starting point of this period back to the Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/WI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb14fx-wi-battery-12162.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB14FX/WI Battery</a>

The Three Kingdoms (traditional Chinese: 三國; simplified Chinese: 三国; pinyin: Sānguó) were Wei (魏), Shu (蜀), and Wu (吳). To further distinguish these states from other historical Chinese states of the same name, historians add a relevant character: Wei is also known as Cao Wei (曹魏), Shu is also known as Shu Han (蜀漢), and Wu is also known as Dong Wu or Eastern Wu (東吳). <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb15fm-battery-12163.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM Battery</a>

The term "Three Kingdoms" itself is something of a mistranslation, since each state was eventually headed not by kings, but by an emperor who claimed legitimate succession from the Han Dynasty. Although the translation "Three Empires" is more contextually accurate,[1] the term "Three Kingdoms" has become standard among sinologists. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb15fm-bi-battery-12164.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/BI Battery</a>

The earlier, "unofficial" part of the period, from 184 to 220, was marked by chaotic infighting between warlords in various parts of China. The middle part of the period, from 220 and 263, was marked by a more militarily stable arrangement between three rival states, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/T laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb15fm-t-battery-12165.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/T Battery</a>

Wei, Shu, and Wu.  The later part of this period was marked by the collapse of the tripartite situation: first the conquest of Shu by Wei (263), then the overthrow of Wei by the Jin Dynasty (265), and the destruction of Wu by Jin (280). <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/WI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb15fm-wi-battery-12166.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB15FM/WI Battery</a>

Although relatively short, this historical period has been greatly romanticised in the cultures of China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. It has been celebrated and popularised in operas, folk stories, novels and in more recent times, films, television, and video games.  <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb15fx-battery-12167.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX Battery</a>

The best known of these is Luo Guanzhong's Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a Ming Dynasty historical novel based on events in the Three Kingdoms period. The authoritative historical record of the era is Chen Shou's Records of Three Kingdoms, along with Pei Songzhi's later annotations of the text. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb15fx-bi-battery-12168.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/BI Battery</a>

The Three Kingdoms period was one of the bloodiest in Chinese history.  A population census during the late Eastern Han Dynasty reported a population of approximately 50 million, while a population census during the early Western Jin Dynasty reported a population of approximately 16 million.[2] However, the Jin Dynasty's census was far less complete than the Han census, so these figures are in question.[citation needed] <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/T laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb15fx-t-battery-12169.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/T Battery</a>

Technology advanced significantly during this period. Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang invented the wooden ox, suggested to be an early form of the wheelbarrow, and improved on the repeating crossbow. Wei mechanical engineer Ma Jun is considered by many to be the equal of his predecessor Zhang Heng. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/WI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb15fx-wi-battery-12170.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB15FX/WI Battery</a>

He invented a hydraulic-powered, mechanical puppet theatre designed for Emperor Ming of Wei, square-pallet chain pumps for irrigation of gardens in Luoyang, and the ingenious design of the South Pointing Chariot, a non-magnetic directional compass operated by differential gears. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb16fx-battery-12171.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX Battery</a>

The power of the Eastern Han Dynasty went into depression and steadily declined after the reign of Emperor He from a variety of political and economic problems. A series of Han emperors ascended the throne while still youths, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb16fx-b-battery-12172.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/B Battery</a>

and de facto imperial power often rested with the emperors' older relatives. As these relatives occasionally were loath to give up their influence, emperors would, upon reaching maturity, be forced to rely on political alliances with senior officials and eunuchs to achieve control of the government. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/G laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb16fx-g-battery-12173.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/G Battery</a>

Political posturing and infighting between imperial relatives and eunuch officials was a constant problem in Chinese government at the time. During the reigns of Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, leading officials' dissatisfaction with the eunuchs' usurpations of power reached a peak, and many began to openly protest against them. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/L laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb16fx-l-battery-12174.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/L Battery</a>

The first and second protests met with failure, and the court eunuchs persuaded the emperor to execute many of the protesting scholars. Some local rulers seized the opportunity to exert despotic control over their lands and citizens, since many feared to speak out in the oppressive political climate. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/P laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb16fx-p-battery-12175.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/P Battery</a>

Emperors Huan and Ling's reigns were recorded as particularly dark periods of Han Dynasty rule. In addition to political oppression and mismanagement, China experienced a number of natural disasters during this period, and local rebellions sprung up throughout the country. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb16fx-w-battery-12176.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB16FX/W Battery</a>

In the second month of 184, Zhang Jiao, leader of the Way of Supreme Peace, a Taoist movement, along with his two brothers Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao, led the movement's followers in a rebellion against the government that was called the Yellow Turban Rebellion. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb17fx-battery-12177.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX Battery</a>

Their movement quickly attracted followers and soon numbered several hundred thousands and received support from many parts of China. They had 36 bases throughout China, with large bases having 10,000 or more followers and minor bases having 6,000 to 7,000, similar to Han armies. Their motto was: <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb17fx-b-battery-12178.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/B Battery</a>

"The firmament[3] has perished, the Yellow Sky[4] will soon rise; in this year of jiazi, let there be prosperity in the world!" <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/G laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb17fx-g-battery-12179.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/G Battery</a>

[5] Emperor Ling dispatched generals Huangfu Song, Lu Zhi, and Zhu Jun to lead the Han armies against the rebels, and decreed that local governments had to supply soldiers to assist in their efforts. It is at this point that the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms begins its narrative. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/L laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb17fx-l-battery-12180.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/L Battery</a>

The Yellow Turbans were ultimately defeated and its surviving followers dispersed throughout China, but due to the turbulent situation throughout the empire, many were able to survive as bandits in mountainous areas, thus continuing their ability to contribute to the turmoil of the era. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/P laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb17fx-p-battery-12181.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/P Battery</a>

With the widespread increase in bandits across the Chinese nation, the Han army had no way to repel each and every raiding party. In 188, Emperor Ling accepted a memorial from Yi Province[6] governor Liu Yan suggesting he grant direct administrative power over feudal provinces and direct command of regional military to local governors, as well promoting them in rank and filling such positions with members of the Liu family or court officials. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb17fx-w-battery-12182.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB17FX/W Battery</a>

This move made provinces (zhou) official administrative units, and although they had power to combat rebellions, the later intra-government chaos allowed these local governors to easily rule independently of the central government. Soon after this move, Liu Yan severed all of his region's ties to the Han imperial court, and several other areas followed suit. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB190X laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb190x-battery-12183.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB190X Battery</a>

<h3>Dong Zhuo in power</h3>

In the same year, Emperor Ling died, and another struggle began between the court eunuchs for control of the imperial family. Court eunuch Jian Shuo planned to kill General-in-Chief He Jin, a relative of the imperial family, and to replace the crown prince Liu Bian with his younger brother Liu Xie, the Prince of Chenliu (in present-day Kaifeng), though his plan was unsuccessful. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB19FX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb19fx-battery-12184.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB19FX Battery</a>

Liu Bian took the Han throne as Emperor Shao, and He Jin plotted with warlord Yuan Shao to assassinate the Ten Attendants, a clique of ten eunuchs led by Zhang Rang who controlled much of the imperial court. He Jin also ordered Dong Zhuo, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB19GX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb19gx-battery-12185.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB19GX Battery</a>

the frontier general in Liang Province, and Ding Yuan, Inspector of Bing Province[7], to bring troops to the capital to reinforce his position of authority. The eunuchs learned of He Jin's plot, and had him assassinated before Dong Zhuo reached the capital Luoyang. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1AFX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1afx-battery-12186.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1AFX Battery</a>

When Yuan Shao's troops reached Luoyang, they stormed the palace complex, killing the Ten Attendants and 2,000 of the eunuchs' supporters. Though this move effectively ended the century-long feud between the eunuchs and the imperial family, it ushered in the era of warlords and martial law that became the Three Kingdoms era. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1AFX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1afx-b-battery-12187.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1AFX/B Battery</a>

This event prompted the invitation of Dong Zhuo to enter Luoyang from the northwest boundary of China. At the time China faced the Qiang tribes in the northwest, and thus Dong Zhuo controlled a large army with elite training. When he brought the army to Luoyang, he was able to easily overpower the existing armies of both sides and took control of the imperial court, ushering in a period of civil war across China. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1AGX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1agx-battery-12188.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1AGX Battery</a>

Dong Zhuo then manipulated the succession so that Liu Xie could take the throne in lieu of Liu Bian. Dong Zhuo, while ambitious, genuinely wished for a more capable emperor. On his way to Luoyang, he encountered a small band of soldiers protecting Liu Bian and Liu Xie fleeing the war zone. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1AGX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1agx-bi-battery-12189.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1AGX/BI Battery</a>

In the encounter Dong Zhuo acted arrogantly and threateningly, causing Liu Bian to be paralyzed with fear; Liu Xie, the future Emperor Xian, responded calmly with authority and commanded Dong Zhuo to protect the royal family with his army to return to the imperial court. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1BGX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1bgx-battery-12190.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1BGX Battery</a>

While Dong Zhuo originally wanted to re-establish the authority of the Han Dynasty and manage all the political conflict properly, his political capability proved to be much worse than his military leadership. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1BGX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1bgx-bi-battery-12191.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1BGX/BI Battery</a>

His behaviour grew more and more violent and authoritarian, executing or sending into exile all that opposed him, and showed less and less respect to the emperor. He ignored all royal etiquette and frequently carried open weapons into the imperial court. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1CGX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1cgx-battery-12192.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1CGX Battery</a>

In 190 a coalition led by Yuan Shao was formed between nearly all the provincial authorities in the eastern provinces of the empire against Dong Zhuo. The mounting pressure from repeated defeat on the southern frontline against Sun Jian's forces drove Emperor Xian and later Dong Zhuo himself west to Chang'an in May 191. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1CGX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1cgx-bi-battery-12193.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1CGX/BI Battery</a>

Dong Zhuo once again demonstrated his political shortcomings by forcing millions of residents of Luoyang to migrate to Chang'an. He then set fire to Luoyang, preventing occupation by his enemies and destroying the biggest city in China at that time. In addition, he ordered his army to slaughter a whole village of civilians. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1DGX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1dgx-battery-12194.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1DGX Battery</a>

The soldiers beheaded the civilians and carried their heads into Chang'an to show off as war trophies, pretending to have had a great victory against his enemies. A year later Dong Zhuo was killed in a coup d'etat by Wang Yun and Lü Bu. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1DGX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1dgx-bi-battery-12195.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1DGX/BI Battery</a>

In 191, there was some talk among the coalition of appointing Liu Yu, an imperial relative, as emperor, and gradually its members began to fall out. Most of the warlords in the coalition, with a few exceptions, sought the increase of personal military power in the time of instability instead of seriously wishing to restore the Han Dynasty's authority. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1EGX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1egx-battery-12196.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1EGX Battery</a>

The Han empire was divided between a number of regional warlords. Yuan Shao occupied the northern area of Ye and extended his power, by taking over his superior Han Fu with trickery and intimidation, north of the Yellow River against Gongsun Zan, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1fgx-bi-battery-12199.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX/BI Battery</a>

who held the northern frontier. Cao Cao, directly to Yuan Shao's south, was engaged in a struggle against Yuan Shu and Liu Biao, who occupied respectively the Huai River basin and middle Yangtze regions. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1EGX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1egx-bi-battery-12197.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1EGX/BI Battery</a>

Further south the young warlord Sun Ce, taking over after the untimely death of Sun Jian, was establishing his rule in the lower Yangtze, albeit as a subordinate of Yuan Shu. In the west, Liu Zhang held Yi Province while Hanzhong and the northwest were controlled by a motley collection of smaller warlords such as Ma Teng of Liang Province, the original post of Dong Zhuo. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1fgx-battery-12198.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1FGX Battery</a>

Dong Zhuo, confident in his success, was slain by his follower Lü Bu and minister Wang Yun. Lü Bu, in turn, was attacked by Dong Zhuo's subordinates: Li Jue, Guo Si, Zhang Ji and Fan Chou. Wang Yun and his whole family were executed. Lü Bu fled to Zhang Yang, a northern warlord, and remained with him for a time before briefly joining Yuan Shao, but it was clear that Lü Bu was far too independent to serve another. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1ggx-battery-12200.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX Battery</a>

In August 195, Emperor Xian fled the tyranny of Li Jue at Chang'an and made a year long hazardous journey east in search of supporters. By 196, when he was received by Cao Cao, most of the smaller contenders for power had either been absorbed by larger ones or destroyed. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1ggx-bi-battery-12201.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1GGX/BI Battery</a>

This was an extremely important move for Cao Cao following the suggestion from his primary advisor, Xun Yu, commenting that by supporting the authentic emperor, Cao Cao would have the formal legal authority to control the other warlords and force them to comply in order to restore the Han Dynasty. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1HGX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1hgx-battery-12202.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1HGX Battery</a>

Cao Cao, whose zone of control was the precursor to the state of Cao Wei, had raised an army in the winter of 189. In several strategic movements and battles, he controlled Yan Province and defeated several factions of the Yellow Turban rebels. This earned him the aid of other local militaries controlled by Zhang Miao and Chen Gong, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1HGX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1hgx-bi-battery-12203.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1HGX/BI Battery</a>

who joined his cause to create his first sizable army. He continued the effort and absorbed approximately 300,000 Yellow Turban rebels into his army as well as a number of clan-based military groups from the eastern side of Qing Province. In 196 he established an imperial court at Xuchang and developed military agricultural colonies (tuntian) to support his army. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1jfx-battery-12204.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX Battery</a>

Although the system imposed a heavy tax on hired civilian farmers (40% to 60% of agricultural production), the farmers were more than pleased to be able to work with relative stability and professional military protection in a time of chaos. This was later said to be his second important policy for success. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1jfx-b-battery-12205.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/B Battery</a>

In 194, Cao Cao went to war with Tao Qian of Xu Province, because Tao's subordinate Zhang Kai had murdered Cao Cao's father Cao Song. Tao Qian received the support of Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan, but even then it seemed as if Cao Cao's superior forces would overrun Xu Province entirely. However, Cao Cao received word that Lü Bu had seized Yan Province in his absence, and accordingly he retreated, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/G laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1jfx-g-battery-12206.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/G Battery</a>

putting a halt to hostilities with Tao Qian for the time being. Tao Qian died in the same year, leaving his province to Liu Bei. A year later, in 195, Cao Cao managed to drive Lü Bu out of Yan Province. Lü Bu fled to Xu Province and was received by Liu Bei, and an uneasy alliance began between the two. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/L laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1jfx-l-battery-12207.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/L Battery</a>

In the south, Sun Ce, then an independent general under the service of Yuan Shu, defeated the warlords of Yang Province, including Liu Yao, Wang Lang, and Yan Baihu. In 197, Yuan Shu, who was at odds with Cao Cao, Yuan Shao, and Liu Bei, felt assured of victory with his subordinate's conquests, and thus declared himself emperor of the Cheng Dynasty. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/P laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1jfx-p-battery-12208.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/P Battery</a>

The move, however, was a strategic blunder, as it drew the ire of many warlords across the land, including Yuan Shu's own subordinate Sun Ce, who had advised Yuan Shu not to make such a move. Cao Cao issued orders to Sun Ce to attack Yuan Shu. Sun Ce complied, but first convinced Cao Cao to form a coalition against Yuan Shu, of which Liu Bei and Lü Bu were members. Attacked on all sides, Yuan Shu was defeated and fled into hiding. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1jfx-w-battery-12209.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1JFX/W Battery</a>

Afterwards, Lü Bu betrayed Liu Bei and seized Xu Province, forming an alliance with Yuan Shu's remnant forces. Liu Bei, together with his followers Zhang Fei and Guan Yu, fled to Cao Cao, who accepted him. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1kgx-battery-12210.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX Battery</a>

Soon, preparations were made for an attack on Lü Bu, and the combined forces of Cao Cao and Liu Bei invaded Xu Province. Lü Bu's men deserted him, Yuan Shu's forces never arrived as reinforcements, and he was bound by his own subordinates Song Xian and Wei Xu and executed on Cao Cao's order. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1kgx-b-battery-12211.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/B Battery</a>

In 200, Dong Cheng, an imperial relative, received a secret edict from Emperor Xian to assassinate Cao Cao. He collaborated with Liu Bei on this effort, but Cao Cao soon found out about the plot and had Dong Cheng and his conspirators executed, with only Liu Bei surviving and fleeing to join Yuan Shao in the north. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1kgx-w-battery-12212.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1KGX/W Battery</a>

After settling the nearby provinces, including a rebellion led by former Yellow Turbans, and internal affairs with the court, Cao Cao turned his attention north to Yuan Shao, who himself had eliminated his northern rival Gongsun Zan that same year. Yuan Shao, himself of higher nobility than Cao Cao, amassed a large army and camped along the northern bank of the Yellow River. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1lfx-battery-12213.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX Battery</a>

In 200, after winning a decisive battle against Liu Biao at Sha County and putting down the rebellions of Xu Gong and others, Sun Ce was struck by an arrow and fatally wounded. On his deathbed, he named his younger brother, Sun Quan, as his heir. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1lfx-bi-battery-12214.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/BI Battery</a>

Following months of planning, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao clashed at the Battle of Guandu. Overcoming Yuan Shao's superior numbers, Cao Cao decisively defeated him by setting fire to his supplies, and in doing so crippled the northern army. Liu Bei fled to join Liu Biao in Jing Province, and many of Yuan Shao's forces were destroyed. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/WI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1lfx-wi-battery-12215.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/WI Battery</a>

In 202, Cao Cao took advantage of Yuan Shao's death and the resulting division among his sons to advance north of the Yellow River. He captured Ye in 204 and occupied the provinces of Ji, Bing, Qing and You. By the end of 207, after a lightning campaign against the Wuhuan barbarians, Cao Cao had achieved undisputed dominance of the North China Plain. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1mfx-battery-12216.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX Battery</a>

In 208, Cao Cao marched south with his army hoping to quickly unify the empire. Liu Biao's son Liu Cong surrendered Jing Province and Cao was able to capture a sizable fleet at Jiangling. Sun Quan, the successor to Sun Ce in the lower Yangtze, continued to resist, however. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1mfx-bi-battery-12217.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX/BI Battery</a>

His advisor Lu Su secured an alliance with Liu Bei, himself a recent refugee from the north, and Zhou Yu was placed in command of Sun Quan's navy, along with a veteran general who served the Sun family, Cheng Pu. Their combined armies of 50,000 met Cao Cao's fleet and 200,000-strong force at Red Cliffs that winter. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1nfx-battery-12218.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX Battery</a>

After an initial skirmish, an attack beginning with a plan to set fire to Cao Cao's fleet was set in motion to lead to the decisive defeat of Cao Cao, forcing him to retreat in disarray back to the north. The allied victory at Red Cliffs ensured the survival of Liu Bei and Sun Quan, and provided the basis for the states of Shu and Wu. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1nfx-b-battery-12219.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/B Battery</a>

After his return to the north, Cao Cao contented himself with absorbing the northwestern regions in 211 and consolidating his power. He progressively increased his titles and power, eventually becoming the King of Wei in 217, a title bestowed upon him by the puppet Emperor Xian that he controlled. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/L laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1nfx-l-battery-12220.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/L Battery</a>

Liu Bei, having defeated the weak Jing Province warlords Han Xuan, Jin Xuan, Zhao Fan, and Liu Du, entered Yi Province and later in 214 displaced Liu Zhang as ruler, leaving Guan Yu in charge of Jing Province. Sun Quan, who had in the intervening years being engaged with defenses against Cao Cao in the southeast at Hefei, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/P laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1nfx-p-battery-12221.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/P Battery</a>

now turned his attention to Jing Province and the middle Yangtze. Tensions between the allies were increasingly visible. In 219, after Liu Bei successfully seized Hanzhong from Cao Cao and as Guan Yu was engaged in the siege of Fancheng, Sun Quan's general Lü Meng seized Jing Province in a surprise invasion. Guan Yu was captured and executed on Sun Quan's order. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1nfx-w-battery-12222.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/W Battery</a>

<h3>Emergence of the Three Kingdoms</h3>

In the first month of 220, Cao Cao died and in the tenth month his son Cao Pi forced Emperor Xian to abdicate, thus ending the Han Dynasty. He named his state Wei and proclaimed himself emperor in Luoyang. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1pfx-battery-12223.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX Battery</a>

In 221, Liu Bei declared himself emperor, in a bid to restore the fallen Han Dynasty. (His state is known in history as "Shu" or "Shu Han") In the same year, Wei bestowed on Sun Quan the title of King of Wu. A year later, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1pfx-b-battery-12224.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX/B Battery</a>

Shu declared war on Wu (this was because Wu had allied with Wei in order to defeat the sworn brother of Liu Bei - Guan Yu - who at that time placed in charge on Jing province, as it was most strategic location in all of the three kingdoms) and met the Wu armies at the Battle of Xiaoting (also known as Battle of Yiling). <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1qgx-battery-12225.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX Battery</a>

At Xiaoting, Liu Bei was disastrously defeated by Sun Quan's commander Lu Xun and forced to retreat back to Shu, where he died soon afterward. After the death of Liu Bei, Shu and Wu resumed friendly relations at the expense of Wei, thus stabilizing the tripartite configuration. In 222, Sun Quan renounced his recognition of Cao Pi's regime and, in 229, he declared himself emperor of Eastern Wu in Wuchang. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1qgx-bi-battery-12226.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX/BI Battery</a>

Dominion of the north completely belonged to Wei, whilst Shu occupied the southwest and Wu the central south and east. The external borders of the states were generally limited to the extent of Chinese civilization. For example, the political control of Shu on its southern frontier was limited by the Tai tribes of present-day Yunnan and Burma, known collectively as the "Nanman" (southern barbarians). <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1rgx-battery-12227.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX Battery</a>

In 223 Liu Shan rose to the throne of Shu following his father's defeat and death. The defeat of Liu Bei at Xiaoting ended the period of hostility between Wu and Shu and both used the opportunity to concentrate on internal problems and the external enemy of Wei. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb1rgx-bi-battery-12228.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX/BI Battery</a>

For Sun Quan, the victory terminated his fears of Shu expansion into Jing Province and he turned to the aborigines of the southeast, whom the Chinese collectively called the "Shanyue". A collection of successes against the rebellious tribesmen culminated in the victory of 224. In that year Zhuge Ke ended a three year siege of Danyang with the surrender of 100,000 Shanyue. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEB20 laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpceb20-battery-12139.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEB20 Battery</a>

Of these, 40,000 were drafted as auxiliaries into the Wu army. Meanwhile Shu was also experiencing troubles with the indigenous tribes of their south. The southwestern Nanman peoples rose in revolt against Shu authority, captured and looted cities in Yi Province. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEC20 laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcec20-battery-12140.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEC20 Battery</a>

Zhuge Liang, recognising the importance of stability in the south, ordered the advance of the Shu armies in three columns against the Nanman. He fought a number of engagements against the chieftain Meng Huo, at the end of which Meng Huo submitted. A tribesman was allowed to reside at the Shu capital Chengdu as an official and the Nanman formed their own battalions within the Shu army. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEE20 laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcee20-battery-12141.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEE20 Battery</a>

At the end of Zhuge Liang's Southern Campaign, the Wu-Shu alliance came to fruition and Shu was free to move against the north. In 227 Zhuge Liang transferred his main Shu armies to Hanzhong, and opened up the battle for the northwest with Wei. The next year, he ordered Zhao Yun to attack from Ji Gorge as a diversion while Zhuge himself led the main force to Mount Qi. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCEF20 laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcef20-battery-12142.htm">Sony VAIO VPCEF20 Battery</a>

The vanguard Ma Su, however, suffered a tactical defeat at Jieting and the Shu army was forced to withdraw. In the next six years Zhuge Liang attempted several more offensives, but supply problems limited the capacity for success. In 234 he led his last great northern offensive, reaching the Battle of Wuzhang Plains south of the Wei River. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf112fx-b-battery-27468.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B Battery</a>

Due to the death of Zhuge Liang (234), however, the Shu army was forced once again to withdraw, but were pursued by Wei. The Shu forces began to withdraw; Sima Yi deduced Zhuge Liang's demise and ordered an attack. Shu struck back almost immediately, causing Sima Yi to second guess and allow Shu to withdraw successfully. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf115fg-b-battery-27469.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B Battery</a>

<h3>Wu and the South</h3>

In the times of Zhuge Liang's northern offensives, the state of Wu had always been on the defensive against invasions from the north. The area around Hefei was the scene of many bitter battles and under constant pressure from Wei after the Battle of Red Cliffs. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf116fgbi-battery-27470.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI Battery</a>

Warfare had grown so intense that many of the residents chose to migrate and resettle south of the Yangtze River. After Zhuge Liang's death, attacks on the southern Huai River region intensified but nonetheless, Wei could not break through the line of the river defenses erected by Wu, which included the Ruxu fortress. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf117fj-w-battery-27471.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W Battery</a>

Sun Quan's long reign is regarded as a time of plenty for his southern state. Migrations from the north and the settlement of the Shanyue increased manpower for agriculture, especially along the lower reaches of the Yangtze and in Kuaiji commandery (present-day Shaoxing). River transport blossomed, with the construction of the Zhedong and Jiangnan canals. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf117hg-bi-battery-27472.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI Battery</a>

Trade with Shu flourished, with a huge influx of Shu cotton and the development of celadon and metal industries. Ocean transport was improved to such an extent that sea journeys were made to Manchuria and the island of Taiwan. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf118fj-w-battery-27473.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W Battery</a>

In the south, Wu merchants reached Linyi (northern Vietnam) and Fu'nan (Cambodia). As the economy prospered, so too did the arts and culture. In the Yangtze delta, the first Buddhist influences reached the south from Luoyang. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF119FC laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf119fc-battery-27474.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF119FC Battery</a>

From the late 230s tensions began to become visible between the imperial Cao clan and the Sima clan. Following the death of Cao Zhen, factionalism was evident between Cao Shuang and the Grand Tutor Sima Yi. In deliberations, Cao Shuang placed his own supporters in important posts and excluded Sima Yi, whom he regarded as a dangerous threat. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf119fc-bi-battery-27475.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI Battery</a>

The power of the Sima clan, one of the great landowning families of the Han Dynasty, was bolstered by Sima Yi's military victories. Additionally, Sima Yi was an extremely capable strategist and politician. In 238 he crushed the rebellion of Gongsun Yuan and brought the Liaodong region directly under central control. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf119fj-bi-battery-27476.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI Battery</a>

Ultimately, he outmaneuvered Cao Shuang in power play. Taking advantage of an excursion by the imperial clansmen to the Gaoping Tombs, Sima Yi undertook a putsch in Luoyang, forcing Cao Shuang's faction from authority. Many protested against the overwhelming power of the Sima family; notable among these were the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. One of the sages, Xi Kang, was executed as part of the purges after Cao Shuang's downfall. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11afj-battery-27477.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ Battery</a>

The decreasing strength of the Cao clan was mirrored by the decline of Shu. After Zhuge Liang's death, his position as chancellor fell to Jiang Wan, Fei Yi and Dong Yun, in that order. But after 258, Shu politics became increasingly controlled by the eunuch faction and corruption rose. Despite the energetic efforts of Jiang Wei, Zhuge Liang's protege, Shu was unable to secure any decisive achievement. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11agj-battery-27478.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ Battery</a>

In 263, Wei launched a three-pronged attack and the Shu army was forced into general retreat from Hanzhong. Jiang Wei hurriedly held a position at Jiange but he was outflanked by the Wei commander Deng Ai, who force-marched his army from Yinping through territory formerly considered impassable. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11ahj-battery-27479.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ Battery</a>

By the winter of the year, the capital Chengdu fell due to the strategic invasion of Wei by Deng Ai who invaded Chengdu personally. The emperor Liu Shan thus surrendered. The state of Shu had come to an end after 43 years. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11jfx-b-battery-27480.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B Battery</a>

Liu Shan was reinstated to the Wei capital of Luoyang and was given the new title of the "Duke of Anle". He was tormented with endless jeers and ridicules, as he had given up the dream up of a benevolent land which was dreamt by Liu Bei. But, little did the people know, that if he had not surrendered, then people would still be suffering, thus neglecting the way of benevolence. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11m1e-battery-27481.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E Battery</a>

Cao Huan succeeded to the throne in 260 after Cao Mao was killed in a failed coup against Sima Zhao. Soon after, Sima Zhao died and his title as Duke of Jin was inherited by his son Sima Yan. Sima Yan immediately began plotting to become emperor but faced stiff opposition. However, due to advice from his advisors, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11m1e-h-battery-27482.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H Battery</a>

Cao Huan decided the best course of action would be to abdicate, unlike his predecessor Cao Mao. Sima Yan seized the throne in 264 after forcing Cao Huan's abdication, effectively overthrowing the Wei Dynasty and establishing the successor Jin Dynasty. This situation was similar to the deposal of Emperor Xian of Han by Cao Pi 40 years earlier. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11mfx-b-battery-27483.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B Battery</a>

Following Sun Quan's death and the ascension of the young Sun Liang to the throne in 252, the state of Wu went into a period of steady decline. Successful Wei suppression of rebellions in the southern Huai River region by Sima Zhao and Sima Shi reduced any opportunity of Wu influence. The fall of Shu signalled a change in Wei politics. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11s1e-battery-27484.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E Battery</a>

After Liu Shan surrendered to Wei, Sima Yan (grandson of Sima Yi), overthrew the Wei emperor and proclaimed his own dynasty of Jin in 264, ending 46 years of Cao dominion in the north. After Jin's rise, emperor Sun Xiu of Wu died, and his ministers gave the throne to Sun Hao. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11s1e-b-battery-27485.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B Battery</a>

Sun Hao was a promising young man, but upon ascension he became a tyrant, killing or exiling all who dared oppose him in the court. In 269 Yang Hu, a Jin commander in the south, started preparing for the invasion of Wu by ordering the construction of a fleet and the training of marines in Sichuan under Wang Jun. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11z1e-battery-27486.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E Battery</a>

Four years later, Lu Kang, the last great general of Wu, died leaving no competent successor. The planned Jin offensive finally came in the winter of 279. Sima Yan launched five simultaneous offensives along the Yangtze River from Jianye (present-day Nanjing) to Jiangling whilst the Sichuan fleet sailed downriver to Jing Province. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11z1e-bi-battery-27487.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI Battery</a>

Under the strain of such an enormous attack, the Wu forces collapsed and Jianye fell in the third month of 280. Sun Hao surrendered and was given a fiefdom on which to live out his days. This marked the end of the Three Kingdoms era, and the beginning of a break in the forthcoming 300 years of chaos. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf11zhj-battery-27488.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ Battery</a>

After the Yellow Turban Rebellion, serious famine followed in the Central Plains of China. Cannibalism was widespread in some parts of China, as it was recorded that "in the spring of 170, some wives ate their husbands in Henei (河内) and some husbands ate their wives in Henan".<a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf127hgbi-battery-27489.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI Battery</a>

After his coming to power, Dong Zhuo gave full swing to his army to plunder and rape women. When the Guandong Coalition was starting the campaign against Dong Zhuo, unexpectedly absurd enough, he ordered that "all the population of Luoyang be forced to move to Chang'an, all the palaces, temples, official residences and homes be burnt, no one should stay within that area of 200 li", <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcf137hg-bi-battery-27490.htm">Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI Battery</a>

(considering the miserable life at that time, it was almost impossible for most people to move to the final destination alive) thus making cries of discontent rise all round and the population there decreased sharply. When Cao Cao was attacking Xu Province, it was said that "hundreds of thousands of men and women were buried alive, even dogs and cocks did not survive. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpc-p111kx-b-battery-27594.htm">Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/B Battery</a>

The Si River was blocked. From then on, these five towns never recover." When Li Jue and his army were advancing towards the Guanzhong area, "there remained hundreds of thousands of people, but Li Jue allowed his army to plunder the cities and the people, thus making the people have nothing but eat each other to death." <a title=" Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/D laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpc-p111kx-d-battery-27595.htm">Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/D Battery</a>

It can be known from the following table that how serious the decrease of population was during that period. From the late Eastern Han to the Western Jin Dynasty, despite its length about 125 years, the peak number of population only equaled 35.3% of the peak number of the entire Eastern Han Dynasty. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/G laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpc-p111kx-g-battery-27596.htm">Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/G Battery</a>

From then on to Sui Dynasty, the population never recovered. It also should be noted that the high militarization of the population was common. For example, the population of Shu was 900,000, but the military were more than 100,000, occupying more than 10% of the population. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/P laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpc-p111kx-p-battery-27597.htm">Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/P Battery</a>

The Records of Three Kingdoms contains population figures for the Three Kingdoms. As with many Chinese historical population figures, these numbers are likely to be less than the actual populations, since census and tax records went hand in hand, and tax evaders were often not on records. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpc-p111kx-w-battery-27598.htm">Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/W Battery</a>

In the late Eastern Han Dynasty, due to natural disasters and social unrest, the economy was badly depressed, leading to the massive waste of farmland. Some local landlords and aristocracy established their own strongholds to defend themselves and developed agriculture, which gradually evolved into a self-sufficient manorial system. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpc-p112kx-b-battery-27599.htm">Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/B Battery</a>

The system of strongholds and manors also had effects on the economical mode of following dynasties. In addition, because of the collapse of the imperial court, those worn copper coins were not melted and reminted and many privately-minted coins appeared. In the Three Kingdoms period, newly-minted coins never made their way into currency. As a consequence, the main currencies at that time were cloth and grains. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/D laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpc-p112kx-d-battery-27600.htm">Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/D Battery</a>

In economic terms the division of the Three Kingdoms reflected a reality that long endured. Even during the Northern Song Dynasty, 700 years after the Three Kingdoms period, it was possible to think of China as being composed of three great regional markets. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/G laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpc-p112kx-g-battery-27601.htm">Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/G Battery</a>

(The status of the northwest was slightly ambivalent, as it had links with the northern region and Sichuan). These geographical divisions are underscored by the fact that the main communication routes between the three main regions were all man-made: the Grand Canal linking north and south, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/P laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpc-p112kx-p-battery-27602.htm">Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/P Battery</a>

the hauling-way through the Three Gorges of the Yangtze River linking southern China with Sichuan and the gallery roads joining Sichuan with the northwest. The break into three separate entities was quite natural and even anticipated by such political foresight as that of Zhuge Liang (see Longzhong Plan). <a title=" Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/W laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpc-p112kx-w-battery-27603.htm">Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/W Battery</a>

<h2>In popular culture</h2>

Numerous people and affairs from the period later became Chinese legends. The most complete and influential example is the historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, written by Luo Guanzhong during the Ming Dynasty. Possibly due to the popularity of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, the Three Kingdoms era is one of the most well known non-modern Chinese eras in terms of iconic characters, <a title=" Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpcp113kx-b-battery-27628.htm">Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/B Battery</a>

deeds and exploits. This is reflected in the way how fictional accounts of the Three Kingdoms, mostly based on the novel, play a significant role in East Asian popular culture. Books, television dramas, films, cartoons, anime, games, and music on the topic are still regularly produced in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, Vietnam and Japan. <a title=" Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/B laptop battery" href="http://www.laptopbattery-pack.co.uk/original-sony-vaio-vpc-p113kx-b-battery-27604.htm">Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/B Battery</a>

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Bureaus and offices for the imperial household

The imperial household was staffed almost entirely by eunuchs and ladies with their own bureaus.[90] Female servants were organized into the Bureau of Palace Attendance, Bureau of Ceremonies, Bureau of Apparel, Bureau of Foodstuffs, Bureau of the Bedchamber, Bureau of Handicrafts, and Office of Staff Surveillance.[90] Sony VAIO VGN-Z25/B Battery Starting in the 1420s, eunuchs began taking over these ladies' positions until only the Bureau of Apparel with its four subsidiary offices remained.[90] Hongwu had his eunuchs organized into the Directorate of Palace Attendants, but as eunuch power at court increased, so did their administrative offices, with eventual twelve directorates, four offices, and eight bureaus.[90] Sony VAIO VGN-Z25TN/B Battery The dynasty had a vast imperial household, staffed with thousands of eunuchs, who were headed by the Directorate of Palace Attendants. The eunuchs were divided into different directorates in charge of staff surveillance, ceremonial rites, food, utensils, documents, stables, seals, apparel, and so on.[91] Sony VAIO VGN-Z26TN/B Battery The offices were in charge of providing fuel, music, paper, and baths.[91] The bureaus were in charge of weapons, silverwork, laundering, headgear, bronzework, textile manufacture, wineries, and gardens.[91] At times, the most influential eunuch in the Directorate of Ceremonial acted as a de facto dictator over the state.[92] Sony VAIO VGN-Z27 Battery Although the imperial household was staffed mostly by eunuchs and palace ladies, there was a civil service office called the Seal Office, which cooperated with eunuch agencies in maintaining imperial seals, tallies, and stamps.[93] There were also civil service offices to oversee the affairs of imperial princes.[94] Sony VAIO VGN-Z27/B Battery

Scholar-officials

After the reign of Hongwu—who from 1373 to 84 staffed his bureaus with officials gathered through recommendations only—the scholar-officials who populated the many ranks of bureaucracy were recruited through a rigorous examination system that was first established by the Sui Dynasty (581–618). Sony VAIO VGN-Z27TN/X Battery Theoretically the system of exams allowed anyone to join the ranks of imperial officials (although frowned upon for merchants to join); in reality the time and funding needed to support the study in preparation for the exam generally limited participants to those already coming from the landholding class. Sony VAIO VGN-Z29N Battery However, the government did exact provincial quotas while drafting officials.[99] This was an effort to curb monopolization of power by landholding gentry who came from the most prosperous regions, where education was the most advanced.[100] Sony VAIO VGN-Z29N/X Battery The expansion of the printing industry since Song times enhanced the spread of knowledge and number of potential exam candidates throughout the provinces.[101] For young schoolchildren there were printedmultiplication tables and primers for elementary vocabulary; for adult examination candidates there were mass-produced, inexpensive volumes of Confucian classics and successful examination answers.[102] Sony VAIO VGN-Z31MN/B Battery As in earlier periods, the focus of the examination was classical Confucian texts,[96] while the bulk of test material centered on theFour Books outlined by Zhu Xi in the 12th century.[103] Ming era examinations were perhaps more difficult to pass since the 1487 requirement of completing the "eight-legged essay", Sony VAIO VGN-Z31VN/X Battery a departure from basing essays off progressing literary trends.[103][104] The exams increased in difficulty as the student progressed from the local level, and appropriate titles were accordingly awarded successful applicants. Officials were classified in nine hierarchic grades, each grade divided into two degrees, Sony VAIO VGN-Z31WN/B Battery with ranging salaries (nominally paid in piculs of rice) according to their rank.[105] While provincial graduates who were appointed to office were immediately assigned to low-ranking posts like the county graduates, Sony VAIO VGN-Z31ZN/X Battery those who passed the palace examination were awarded a jinshi ('presented scholar') degree and assured a high-level position.[106][107] In 276 years of Ming rule and ninety palace examinations, the number of doctoral degrees granted by passing the palace examinations was 24,874.[106] Sony VAIO VGN-Z35 Battery Ebrey states that "there were only two to four thousand of thesejinshi at any given time, on the order of one out of 10,000 adult males."[99] This was in comparison to the 100,000 shengyuan ('government students'), the lowest tier of graduates, by the 16th century.[99] Sony VAIO VGN-Z35/B Battery The maximum tenure in office was nine years, but every three years officials were graded on their performance by senior officials.[108] If they were graded as superior then they were promoted, if graded adequate then they retained their ranks, and if graded inadequate they were demoted one rank. Sony VAIO VGN-Z35TN/B Battery In extreme cases, officials would be dismissed or punished. Only capital officials of grade 4 and above were exempt from the scrutiny of recorded evaluation, although they were expected to confess any of their faults.[80] There were over 4,000 school instructors in county and prefectural schools who were subject to evaluations every nine years. Sony VAIO VGN-Z36GD Battery The Chief Instructor on the prefectural level was classified as equal to a second-grade county graduate.[109] The Supervisorate of Imperial Instruction oversaw the education of the heir apparent to the throne; this office was headed by a Grand Supervisor of Instruction, who was ranked as first class of grade three.[94] Sony VAIO VGN-Z36GD/B Battery

Lesser functionaries

Scholar-officials who entered civil service through examinations acted as executive officials to a much larger body of non-ranked personnel called lesser functionaries. They outnumbered officials by four to one; Charles Hucker estimates that they were perhaps as many as 100,000 throughout the empire. Sony VAIO VGN-Z36GD/J Battery These lesser functionaries performed clerical and technical tasks for government agencies. Yet they should not be confused with lowly lictors, runners, and bearers; lesser functionaries were given periodic merit evaluations like officials and after nine years of service might be accepted into a low civil service rank.[110] Sony VAIO VGN-Z36TD/B Battery The one great advantage of the lesser functionaries over officials was that officials were periodically rotated and assigned to different regional posts and had to rely on the good service and cooperation of the local lesser functionaries.[111] Sony VAIO VGN-Z36TD/J Battery

Eunuchs, princes, and generals

Eunuchs during the Ming Dynasty gained unprecedented power over state affairs. One of the most effective means of control was the secret service stationed in what was called the Eastern Depot at the beginning of the dynasty, later the Western Depot. Sony VAIO VGN-Z37D Battery This secret service was overseen by the Directorate of Ceremonial, hence this state organ's often totalitarian affiliation.[91] Eunuchs had ranks that were equivalent to civil service ranks, only theirs had four grades instead of nine.[112] Sony VAIO VGN-Z37D/B Battery Princes and descendants of the first Ming emperor were given nominal military commands and large land estates without title. These estates were not feudatories, the princes did not serve any administrative function, and it was only during the reign of the first two emperors that they partook in military affairs.[113Sony VAIO VGN-Z37GD Battery ] By contrast, princes in the Han and Jin Dynasties had been installed as local kings. Although princes served no organ of state administration, princes, consorts of imperial princesses, and ennobled relatives did staff the Imperial Clan Court, which took care of the imperial genealogy.[94] Sony VAIO VGN-Z37GD/X Battery Like scholar-officials, military generals were ranked in a hierarchic grading system and were given merit evaluations every five years (as opposed to three years for officials).[114] However, military officers had less prestige than officials. Sony VAIO VGN-Z39D Battery This was due to their hereditary service (instead of solely merit-based) and Confucian values that dictated those who chose the profession of violence (wu) over the cultured pursuits of knowledge (wen).[114][115] Sony VAIO VGN-Z39D/X Battery Although seen as less prestigious, military officers were not excluded from taking civil service examinations and after 1478 the military even held their own examinations to test military skills.[116] Sony VAIO VGN-Z41MD/B Battery In addition to taking over the established bureaucratic structure from the Yuan period, the Ming emperors established the new post of the travelling military inspector. In the early half of the dynasty, men of noble lineage dominated the higher ranks of military office; this trend was reversed during the latter half of the dynasty as men from more humble origins eventually displaced them.[117]Sony VAIO VGN-Z41WD/B Battery As in earlier dynasties, the Ming Dynasty saw a flourishing in the arts, whether it was painting, poetry, music, literature, ordramatic theater. Carved designs in lacquerwares and designs glazed onto porcelain wares displayed intricate scenes similar in complexity to those in painting. Sony VAIO VGN-Z45GD/B Battery These items could be found in the homes of the wealthy, alongside embroidered silks and wares injade, ivory, and cloisonné. The houses of the rich were also furnished with rosewood furniture and feathery latticework. The writing materials in a scholar's private study, including elaborately carved brush holders made of stone or wood, were all designed and arranged ritually to give an aesthetic appeal.[118] Sony VAIO VGN-Z45TD/B Battery Connoisseurship in the late Ming period centered around these items of refined artistic taste, which provided work for art dealers and even underground scammers who made phony imitations of originals and false attributions to works of art.[118] This was noted even by the Jesuit Matteo Ricci while staying in Nanjing, writing that Chinese scam artists were ingenious when it came to making forgeries of artwork and made huge profits.[119] Sony VAIO VGN-Z46GD/B Battery However, there were guides to help the wary new connoisseur; in Liu Tong's (d. 1637) book printed in 1635, he told his readers various ways to spot a fake and authentic pieces of art.[120] He revealed that aXuande era (1426–1435) bronzework could be authenticated if one knew how to judge its sheen; porcelain wares from the Yongle era (1402–1424) could be judged authentic by their thickness.[121] Sony VAIO VGN-Z46GD/U Battery There was a great amount of literary achievement in the Ming Dynasty. Xu Xiake (1587–1641), atravel literature author, published his Travel Diaries in 404,000 written characters, with information on everything from local geography to mineralogy.[122][123] The first reference to the publishing of private newspapers in Beijing was in 1582; Sony VAIO VGN-Z46MD/B Battery by 1638 the Beijing Gazette switched from using woodblock print to movable type printing.[124] The new literary field of the moral guide to business ethics was developed by the late Ming period, for the readership of the merchant class.[125] Although short story fiction was popular as far back as the Tang Dynasty (618–907),[126] Sony VAIO VGN-Z46SD/B Battery and the work of contemporaneous authors such as Xu Guangqi, Xu Xiake, and Song Yingxing were often technical and encyclopedic, the Ming era witnessed the development of the novel. While the gentry elite were educated enough to fully comprehend the language of Classical Chinese, Sony VAIO VGN-Z46TD/B Battery those with rudimentary education—?such as women in educated families, merchants, and shop clerks?—became a large, potential audience for literature and performing arts that employed Vernacular Chinese.[127] Sony VAIO VGN-Z46TD/R Battery The Jin Ping Mei, published in 1610, is considered by some to be the fifth great novel of pre-modern China, in reference to the Four Great Classical Novels. Two of these novels, the Water Margin and Journey to the West were products of the Ming Dynasty. To complement the work of novels, Sony VAIO VGN-Z47GD/X Battery the theater scripts of playwrights were equally imaginative. One of the most famous plays in Chinese history, The Peony Pavilion, was written by the Ming playwright Tang Xianzu (1550–1616), with its first performance at the Pavilion of Prince Teng in 1598. Sony VAIO VGN-Z48GD/X Battery In contrast to Xu Xiake, who focused on technical aspects in his travel literature, the Chinese poet and official Yuan Hongdao(1568–1610) used travel literature to express his desires for individualism as well as autonomy from and frustration with Confucian court politics.[128] Sony VAIO VGN-Z48TD/X Battery Yuan desired to free himself from the ethical compromises which were inseparable from the career of a scholar-official. This anti-official sentiment in Yuan's travel literature and poetry was actually following in the tradition of the Song Dynasty poet and official Su Shi (1037–1101).[129] Sony VAIO VGN-Z51WG/B Battery Yuan Hongdao and his two brothers, Yuan Zongdao (1560–1600) and Yuan Zhongdao (1570–1623), were the founders of the Gong'an School of letters.[130] This highly individualistic school of poetry and prose was criticized by the Confucian establishment for its association with intense sensual lyricism, Sony VAIO VGN-Z51XG/B Battery which was also apparent in Ming vernacular novels such as the Jin Ping Mei.[130] Yet even gentry and scholar-officials were affected by the new popular romantic literature, seeking courtesans as soulmates to reenact the heroic love stories which arranged marriages often could not provide or accommodate.[131] Sony VAIO VGN-Z530N/B BatteryThere were many famous visual artists in the Ming period, including Ni Zan, Shen Zhou, Tang Yin, Wen Zhengming, Qiu Ying, Dong Qichang, and many others. They drew upon the techniques, styles, and complexity in painting achieved by their Song and Yuan predecessors, but added some new techniques and styles. Sony VAIO VGN-Z540EBB Battery Well-known Ming artists could make a living simply by painting, due to the high prices they demanded for their artworks and the great demand by the highly cultured community to collect precious works of art. Sony VAIO VGN-Z540NLB Battery The artist Qiu Ying was once paid 2.8 kg (100 oz) of silver to paint a long handscroll for the occasion of an eightieth birthday celebration for the mother of a wealthy patron. Renowned artists often gathered an entourage of followers, some who were amateurs who painted while pursuing an official career and others who were full-time painters.[132] Sony VAIO VGN-Z540NMB Battery Beyond painters, some potters also became renowned for their artwork, such as He Chaozong in the early 17th century for his style of white porcelain sculpture. The major production centers for porcelain items in the Ming Dynasty were Jingdezhen in Jiangxiprovince and Dehua in Fujian province. Sony VAIO VGN-Z550N/B Battery The Dehua porcelain factories catered to European tastes by creating Chinese export porcelain by the 16th century. In The Ceramic Trade in Asia, Chuimei Ho estimates that about 16% of late Ming era Chinese ceramic exports were sent to Europe while the rest were destined for Japan and South East Asia.[133] Sony VAIO VGN-Z55F Battery

Religion

The dominant religious beliefs during the Ming dynasty were the traditional mixtures of ancestor worship, Daoism and Buddhism. The Chinese believed in a host of deities in what may be termed Chinese folk religion. Sony VAIO VGN-Z55TG/B Battery The late Ming period saw the first arrival of Jesuit missionaries from Europe such as Matteo Ricci and Nicolas Trigault. There were also other denominations including the Dominicans and Franciscans. Sony VAIO VGN-Z56GG/B Battery Ricci worked with the Chinese mathematician, astronomer, and agronomist Xu Guangqi to translate the Greek mathematical workEuclid's Elements into Chinese for the first time in 1607. The Chinese were impressed with European knowledge in astronomy, calendrical science, mathematics, hydraulics, Sony VAIO VGN-Z56GG/E Battery and geography. Most European monks presented themselves more as educated elites than religious figures, in an effort to gain trust and admiration from the Chinese.[134] However, most Chinese were suspicious and even outright critical of Christianity due to Chinese beliefs and practices that did not coincide with the Christian faith.[134] Sony VAIO VGN-Z56GGX Battery The highpoint of this contention was the Nanjing Religious Incident of 1616–22, a temporary triumph of the Confucian traditionalists when Western missionaries and science were rejected in favor of the belief that Western science derived from a superior Chinese model; this was soon rejected in favor of once again staffing the Imperial Astronomical Board with Western missionaries learned in science.[135] Sony VAIO VGN-Z56TG/B Battery Besides Christianity, the Kaifeng Jews had a long history in China; Ricci discovered this when he was contacted by one of them in Beijing and learned of their history in China.[136] Islam in China had existed since the early 7th century during the Tang Dynasty;Sony VAIO VGN-Z56TG/E Battery during the Ming Dynasty there were several prominent figures—including Zheng He—who was Muslim. The Hongwu Emperor also employed Muslim commanders in his army, such as Chang Yuqun, Lan Yu, Ding Dexing, and Mu Ying.[137] Sony VAIO VGN-Z56TG/R Battery

Philosophy

During the Ming Dynasty, the doctrines of the Song Dynasty scholar-official Zhu Xi (1130–1200) and Neo-Confucianism were embraced by the court and the Chinese literati at large. However, total conformity to a single mode of thought was never a reality in the intellectual sphere of society. Sony VAIO VGN-Z570N/B Battery There were some in the Ming who—like Su Shi (1037–1101) of the Song—were rebels at heart and were not abashed to criticize the mainstream dogmatic modes of thought. Leading a new strand of Confucian teaching and philosophy was the scholar-officialWang Yangming (1472–1529), whose critics said that his teachings were contaminated by Chan Buddhism.[138] Sony VAIO VGN-Z57G Battery In analyzing Zhu Xi's concept of "the extension of knowledge" (i.e. gaining understanding through careful and rational investigation of things and events; Chinese: ??, or ????), Wang realized that universal principles were concepts espoused in the minds of all.[139]Breaking from the mold, Sony VAIO VGN-Z57GG/X BatteryWang said that anyone, no matter what socioeconomic status or background, could become as wise as the ancient sages Confucius and Mencius, and that the writings of the latter two were not the source of truth, but merely guides that could have flaws if carefully examined.[140] Sony VAIO VGN-Z57GGX Battery In Wang's mind, a peasant who had many experiences and drew natural truths from these was more wise than an official who had carefully studied the Classics but had not experienced the real world in order to observe what was true.[140] Sony VAIO VGN-Z57TG/X Battery

Conservative reaction

Conservative Confucian officials were wary of Wang's philosophical interpretation of the Confucian classics, the increasing number of his disciples while still in office, and his overall socially rebellious message.[138] Sony VAIO VGN-Z58GG/X Battery To curb his political influence he was often sent out to deal with military affairs and rebellions far away from the capital.[138] Yet his ideas penetrated mainstream Chinese thought, and spurred new interest in Daoism and Buddhism.[138] Sony VAIO VGN-Z58GGX BatteryFurthermore, people began to question the validity of the social hierarchy and the idea that the scholar was above the farmer.[138] Wang Yangming's disciple and salt-mine worker Wang Gen gave lectures to commoners about pursuing education to improve their lives, Sony VAIO VGN-Z590NJB Battery while his follower He Xinyin ??? challenged the elevation and emphasis of the family in Chinese society.[138] His contemporary Li Zhi ?? (1527–1602) even taught that women were the intellectual equals of men and should be given a better education; both Li and He eventually died in prison, Sony VAIO VGN-Z590UAB Battery jailed on charges of spreading "dangerous ideas".[141] Yet these "dangerous ideas" of educating women had long been embraced with mothers giving their children primary education,[142] as well as courtesans who were as literate and similarly trained in calligraphy, painting, and poetry as their male hosts.[143] Sony VAIO VGN-Z591U/B Battery In opposition to the liberal views of Wang Yangming were the conservative officials in the censorate—a governmental institution with the right and responsibility to speak out against malfeasance and abuse of power—and the senior officials of the Donglin Academy, which was reestablished in 1604.[144] Sony VAIO VGN-Z59G Battery These conservatives wanted a revival of orthodox Confucian ethics. Conservatives such as Gu Xiancheng (1550–1612) argued against Wang Yangming's idea of innate moral knowledge, stating that this was simply a legitimization for unscrupulous behavior such as greedy pursuits and personal gain.[144] Sony VAIO VGN-Z620D Battery These two strands of Confucian thought created factionalism amongst ministers of state, who—like the old days of Wang Anshi and Sima Guang in the Song Dynasty—used any opportunity to impeach members of the other faction from court.[144] Sony VAIO VGN-Z620N/B Battery

Urban and rural life

Wang Gen was able to give philosophical lectures to many commoners from different regions because—following the trend already apparent in the Song Dynasty—communities in Ming society were becoming less isolated as the distance between market towns was shrinking. Schools, descent groups, Sony VAIO VGN-Z650N/B Battery religious associations, and other local voluntary organizations were increasing in number and allowing more contact between educated men and local villagers.[145] Jonathan Spence writes that the distinction between what was town and country was blurred in Ming China, since suburban areas with farms were located just outside and in some cases within the walls of a city. Sony VAIO VGN-Z670N/B Battery Not only was the blurring of town and country evident, but also of socioeconomic class in the traditional four occupations (Chinese: ????), since artisans sometimes worked on farms in peak periods and farmers often traveled into the city to find work during times of dearth.[146] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690CTO Battery A variety of occupations could be chosen or inherited from a father's line of work. This would include—but was not limited to—coffinmakers, ironworkers and blacksmiths, tailors, cooks and noodle-makers, retail merchants, tavern, teahouse, or winehouse managers, shoemakers, seal cutters, pawnshop owners, brothel heads, and merchant bankers engaging in a proto-banking system involving notes of exchange.[60][147] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690NAX Battery Virtually every town had a brothel where female and male prostitutes could be had.[148] Male catamites fetched a higher price than female concubines since pederasty with a teenage boy was seen as a mark of elite status, regardless of sodomy being repugnant to sexual norms.[149] Public bathing became much more common than in earlier periods.[150] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PAB Battery Urban shops and retailers sold a variety of goods such as special paper money to burn at ancestral sacrifices, specialized luxury goods, headgear, fine cloth, teas, and others.[147] Smaller communities and townships too poor or scattered to support shops and artisans obtained their goods from periodic market fairs and traveling peddlers. Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PCB Battery A small township also provided a place for simple schooling, news and gossip, matchmaking, religious festivals, traveling theater groups, tax collection, and bases of famine relief distribution.[146] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PDB Battery Farming villagers in the north spent their days harvesting crops like wheat and millet, while farmers south of the Huai Riverengaged in intensive rice cultivation and had lakes and ponds where ducks and fish could be raised. The cultivation of mulberry trees for silkworms and tea bushes could be found mostly south of the Yangzi River; even further south of this sugarcane and citrus were grown as basic crops.[146] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PEB Battery Some people in the mountainous southwest made a living by selling lumber from hard bamboo. Besides cutting down trees to sell wood, the poor also made a living by turning wood into charcoal, burning oyster shells to make lime, fired pots, and wove mats and baskets.[151] In the north traveling by horse and carriage was most common, Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PFB Battery while in the south the myriad of rivers, canals, and lakes provided cheap and easy water transport. Although the south had the characteristic of the wealthy landlord and tenant farmers, there were on average many more owner-cultivators north of the Huai River due to harsher climate, living not far above subsistence level.[152] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690YAD Battery Science and technology Compared to the flourishing of science and technology in the Song Dynasty, the Ming Dynasty perhaps saw fewer advancements in science and technology compared to the pace of discovery in the Western world. In fact, key advances in Chinese science in the late Ming were spurred by contact with Europe. Sony VAIO VGN-Z691Y/B Battery In 1626 Johann Adam Schall von Bell wrote the first Chinese treatise on thetelescope, the Yuanjingshuo (Far Seeing Optic Glass); in 1634 the last Ming emperor Chongzhen acquired the telescope of the lateJohann Schreck (1576–1630).[153] Sony VAIO VGN-Z691Y/X Battery The heliocentric model of the solar system was rejected by the Catholic missionaries in China, but Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei's ideas slowly trickled into China starting with the Polish Jesuit Michael Boym (1612–59) in 1627, Adam Schall von Bell's treatise in 1640, and finally Joseph Edkins, Sony VAIO VGN-Z698Y/X Battery Alex Wylie, and John Fryer in the 19th century.[154]Catholic Jesuits in China would promote Copernican theory at court, yet at the same time embrace the Ptolemaic system in their writing; it was not until 1865 that Catholic missionaries in China sponsored the heliocentric model as their Protestant peers did.[155] Sony VAIO VGN-Z699JAB Battery Although Shen Kuo (1031–95) and Guo Shoujing (1231–316) had laid the basis for trigonometry in China, another important work in Chinese trigonometry would not be published again until 1607 with the efforts of Xu Guangqi and Matteo Ricci.[156]Ironically, some inventions which had their origins in ancient China were reintroduced to China from Europe during the late Ming; for example, the field mill.[157] Sony VAIO VGN-Z70B Battery The Chinese calendar was in need of reform since it inadequately measured the solar year at 365?¼ days, giving an error of 10 min and 14 sec a year or roughly a full day every 128 years.[158] Although the Ming had adopted Guo Shoujing's Shoushi calendar of 1281, which was just as accurate as the Gregorian Calendar, Sony VAIO VGN-Z71JB Battery the Ming Directorate of Astronomy failed to periodically readjust it; this was perhaps due to their lack of expertise since their offices had become hereditary in the Ming and the Statutes of the Ming prohibited private involvement in astronomy.[159] A sixth-generation descendant of Emperor Hongxi, the "Prince" Zhu Zaiyu (1536–611), Sony VAIO VGN-Z73FB Battery submitted a proposal to fix the calendar in 1595, but the ultra-conservative astronomical commission rejected it.[158][159] This was the same Zhu Zaiyu who discovered the system of tuning known as equal temperament, a discovery made simultaneously by Simon Stevin (1548–1620) in Europe.[160] Sony VAIO VGN-Z790DKX Battery In addition to publishing his works on music, he was able to publish his findings on the calendar in 1597.[159] A year earlier, the memorial of Xing Yunlu suggesting a calendar improvement was rejected by the Supervisor of the Astronomical Bureau due to the law banning private practice of astronomy; Xing would later serve with Xu Guangqi in reforming the calendar (Chinese: ????) in 1629 according to Western standards.[159] Sony VAIO VGN-Z790DMR Battery When the Ming founder Hongwu came upon the mechanical devices housed in the Yuan Dynasty's palace at Khanbaliq—?such as fountains with balls dancing on their jets, Sony VAIO VGN-Z820DB Battery self-operating tiger automata, dragon-headed devices that spouted mists of perfume, andmechanical clocks in the tradition of Yi Xing (683–727) and Su Song (1020–101)—he associated all of them with the decadence of Mongol rule and had them destroyed.[161]Sony VAIO VGN-Z790DND Battery This was described in full length by the Divisional Director of the Ministry of Works, Xiao Xun, who also carefully preserved details on the architecture and layout of the Yuan Dynasty palace.[161] Sony VAIO VGN-Z820G/B Battery Later, European Jesuits such as Matteo Ricci and Nicolas Trigault would briefly mention indigenous Chinese clockworks that featured drive wheels.[162]However, both Ricci and Trigault were quick to point out that 16th century European clockworks were far more advanced than the common time keeping devices in China, Sony VAIO VGN-Z890GLX Battery which they listed as water clocks, incense clocks, and "other instruments... with wheels rotated by sand as if by water" (Chinese: ??).[163] Chinese records—?namely the Yuan Shi (Chinese: ??)—describe the 'five-wheeled sand clock', a mechanism pioneered by Zhan Xiyuan (fl. 1360–80) Sony VAIO VGN-Z890GMR Battery which featured the scoop wheel of Su Song's earlier astronomical clock and a stationary dial face over which a pointer circulated, similar to European models of the time.[164] This sand-driven wheel clock was improved upon by Zhou Shuxue (fl. 1530–58) who added a fourth large gear wheel, changed gear ratios, and widened the orifice for collecting sand grains since he criticized the earlier model for clogging up too often.[165] Sony VAIO VGN-Z898H/X Battery The Chinese were intrigued with European technology, but so were visiting Europeans of Chinese technology. In 1584, Abraham Ortelius(1527–1598) featured in his atlas Theatrum Orbis Terrarum the peculiar Chinese innovation of mounting masts and sails onto carriages, just like Chinese ships.[166] Sony VAIO VGN-Z90FS Battery Gonzales de Mendoza also mentioned this a year later—?noting even the designs of them on Chinese silken robes?—while Gerardus Mercator (1512–94) featured them in his atlas, John Milton (1608–74) in one of his famous poems, and Andreas Everardus van Braam Houckgeest (1739–801) in the writings of his travel diary in China.[167] Sony VAIO VGN-Z90NS Battery Bodhisattva Manjusri inBlanc-de-Chine, by He Chaozong, 17th century;Song Yingxing devoted an entire section of his book to the ceramics industry in the making of porcelain items like this.[168] Sony VAIO VGN-Z90PS Battery The encyclopedist Song Yingxing (1587–1666) documented a wide array of technologies, metallurgic and industrial processes in hisTiangong Kaiwu (Chinese: ????) encyclopedia of 1637. Sony VAIO VGN-Z90S Battery This includes mechanical and hydraulic powered devices for agriculture and irrigation,[169] nautical technology such as vessel types and snorkeling gear for pearl divers,[170][171][172] the annual processes ofsericulture and weaving with the loom,[173] metallurgic processes such as the crucible technique and quenching,[174] Sony VAIO VGN-Z90US Battery manufacturing processes such as for roasting iron pyrite in converting sulphide to oxide in sulfur used in gunpowder compositions—?illustrating how ore was piled up with coal briquettes in an earthen furnace with a still-head that sent over sulfur as vapor that would solidify andcrystallize[175]?—and the use of gunpowder weapons such as a naval mine ignited by use of a rip-cord and steel flint wheel.[176] Sony VAIO VGN-Z91DS Battery Focusing on agriculture in his Nongzheng Quanshu, the agronomist Xu Guangqi (1562–1633) took an interest in irrigation, fertilizers, famine relief, economic and textile crops, and empirical observation of the elements that gave insight into early understandings of chemistry.[177] Sony VAIO VGN-Z91JS Battery There were many advances and new designs in gunpowder weapons during the beginning of the dynasty, but by the mid to late Ming the Chinese began to frequently employ European-style artillery and firearms.[178] Sony VAIO VGN-Z91PS Battery The Huolongjing, compiled by Jiao Yu and Liu Ji sometime before the latter's death on May 16, 1375 (with a preface added by Jiao in 1412),[179] featured many types of cutting-edge gunpowder weaponry for the time. Sony VAIO VGN-Z91YS Battery This includes hollow, gunpowder-filled exploding cannonballs,[180] land mines that used a complex trigger mechanism of falling weights, pins, and a steel wheellock to ignite the train of fuses,[181] naval mines,[182] Sony VAIO VGN-Z92DS Battery fin-mounted winged rockets for aerodynamic control,[183] multistage rockets propelled by booster rockets before igniting a swarm of smaller rockets issuing forth from the end of the missile (shaped like a dragon's head),[184] and hand cannons that had up to ten barrels.[185] Sony VAIO VGN-Z92JS Battery Li Shizhen (1518–93)—?one of the most renowned pharmacologists and physicians in Chinese history?—belonged to the late Ming period. In 1587, he completed the first draft of his Bencao Gangmu, which detailed the usage of over 1, Sony VAIO VGN-Z92PS Battery 800 medicinal drugs. Although it purportedly was invented by a Daoist hermit from Mount Emei in the late 10th century, the process of inoculation for smallpox patients was in widespread use in China by the reign of the Longqing Emperor (ruled 1567–72), Sony VAIO VGN-Z92YS Battery long before it was applied anywhere else.[186] In regards to oral hygiene, the ancient Egyptians had a primitive toothbrush of a twig frayed at the end, but the Chinese were the first to invent the modern bristle toothbrush in 1498, although it used stiff pig hair.[187]Sony VAIO VGN-Z93FS Battery

Population

Sinologist historians still debate the actual population figures for each era in the Ming Dynasty. The historian Timothy Brook notes that the Ming government census figures are dubious since fiscal obligations prompted many families to underreport the number of people in their households and many county officials to underreport the number of households in their jurisdiction.[188] Sony VAIO VGN-Z93GS Battery Children were often underreported, especially female children, as shown by skewed population statistics throughout the Ming.[189] Even adult women were underreported;[190] for example, the Daming Prefecture in North Zhili reported a population of 378 167 males and 226 982 females in 1502.[191] Sony VAIO VGN-Z93HS Battery The government attempted to revise the census figures using estimates of the expected average number of people in each household, but this did not solve the widespread problem of tax registration.[192] Some part of the gender imbalance may be attributed to the practice of female infanticide. Sony VAIO VGN-Z93VS Battery The practice is well documented in China, going back over two thousand years, and it was described as "rampant" and "practiced by almost every family" by contemporary authors.[193] However, the dramatically skewed sex ratios, which many counties reported exceeding 2:1 by 1586, can't likely be explained by infanticide alone.[190] Sony A1258274A Battery The Xuande Emperor, (ruled in 1425–35); he stated in 1428 that his populace was dwindling due to palace construction and military adventures, but in fact the population was rising under him, a fact noted by Zhou Chen—?Governor of South Zhili?—in his 1432 report to the throne about widespread itinerant commerce.[194] Sony VGP-BPL10 Battery The number of people counted in the census of 1381 was 59 873 305; however, this number dropped significantly when the government found that some 3 million people were missing from the tax census of 1391.[195] Even though underreporting figures was made a capital crime in 1381, Sony VGP-BPS10 Battery the need for survival pushed many to abandon the tax registration and wander from their region, where Hongwu had attempted to impose rigid immobility on the populace. The government tried to mitigate this by creating their own conservative estimate of 60 545 812 people in 1393.[194] Sony VGP-BPS10/S Battery In his Studies on the Population of China, Ho Ping-ti suggests revising the 1393 census to 65 million people, noting that large areas of North China and frontier areas were not counted in that census.[196] Brook states that the population figures gathered in the official censuses after 1393 ranged between 51 and 62 million, Sony VGP-BPS10A/B Battery while the population was in fact increasing.[194] Even the Hongzhi Emperor (ruled in 1487-505) remarked that the daily increase in subjects coincided with the daily dwindling amount of registered civilians and soldiers.[151] William Atwell states that around 1400 the population of China was perhaps 90 million people, citing Heijdra and Mote.[197] Sony VGP-BPS10B Battery Historians are now turning to local gazetteers of Ming China for clues that would show consistent growth in population.[189] Using the gazetteers, Brook estimates that the overall population under the Chenghua Emperor (ruled in 1464–1487) was roughly 75 million,[192] Sony VGP-BPS10A Battery despite mid-Ming census figures hovering around 62 million.[151] While prefectures across the empire in the mid-Ming period were reporting either a drop in or stagnant population size, local gazetteers reported massive amounts of incoming vagrant workers with not enough good cultivated land for them to till, Sony VGP-BPS11 Battery so that many would become drifters, conmen, or wood-cutters that contributed to deforestation.[198] The Hongzhi and Zhengde emperors lessened the penalties against those who had fled their home region, while theJiajing Emperor (ruled in 1521–67) finally had officials register migrants wherever they had moved or fled in order to bring in more revenues.[191] Sony VGP-BPL11 Battery Even with Jiajing's reforms to document migrant workers and merchants, by the late Ming era the government census still did not accurately reflect the enormous growth in population. Gazetteers across the empire noted this and made their own estimations of the overall population in the Ming, Sony VGP-BPL12 Battery some guessing that the population had doubled, tripled, or even grown fivefold since 1368.[199] Fairbank estimates that the population was perhaps 160 million in the late Ming Dynasty,[200] while Brook estimates 175 million,[199] and Ebrey states perhaps as large as 200 million.[201] Sony VGP-BPS12 Battery However, a great epidemic that entered China through the northwest in 1641 ravaged the densely populated areas along the Grand Canal; a gazetteer in northern Zhejiang noted more than half the population fell ill that year and that 90% of the local populace in one area was dead by 1642.[202] Sony VGP-BPL13 Battery,Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery,Sony VGP-BPS13/B Battery,Sony VGP-BPS13/S Battery,Sony VGP-BPS13/S Battery

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Journey to the West

Journey to the West Journey to the West is one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It was written by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century during the Ming Dynasty. In English-speaking countries, the tale is also often known simply as Monkey. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/D Battery This was one title used for a popular, abridged translation by Arthur Waley. The Waley translation has also been published asAdventures of the Monkey God, Monkey: [A] Folk Novel of China, and The Adventures of Monkey, and in a further abridged version for children, Dear Monkey. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/G Battery The novel is a fictionalised account of the legendary pilgrimage to India of the Buddhist monk Xuanzang, and loosely based its source from the historic text Great Tang Records on the Western Regions and traditional folk tales. The monk travelled to the "Western Regions" during the Tang Dynasty, to obtain sacred texts (s?tras). Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/P Battery The bodhisattva Avalokite?vara (Guanyin), on instruction from the Buddha, gives this task to the monk and his three protectors in the form of disciples — namely Sun Wukong,Zhu Bajie and Sha Wujing — together with a dragon prince who acts as Xuanzang's steed, a white horse. These four characters have agreed to help Xuanzang as an atonement for past sins. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/W Battery Journey to the West has a strong background in Chinese folk religion, Chinese mythology and value systems; the pantheon of Taoistimmortals and Buddhist bodhisattvas is still reflective of some Chinese religious beliefs today. Sony VAIO VPCP115KG Battery Enduringly popular, the tale is at once an adventure story, a spring of spiritual insight, and an extended allegory in which the group of pilgrims journeying toward India represents individuals journeying toward nirvana. Sony VAIO VPCP116KG Battery Journey to the West is thought to have been written and published anonymously by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century.[1] At the time, the trend in writing was to write in classical Chinese, imitating the literature of the Han and Tang periods. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/B Battery Wu, influenced heavily by popular stories and folk tales since his childhood, chose instead to write this novel in vernacular Chinese, the "vulgar" language used in the everyday lives of common people, publishing it anonymously because of the ill repute such works engendered.[1] Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/D Battery The people of Wu's hometown, however, attributed it early on to Wu, and kept records to that effect as early as 1625; thus, Journey to the West was one of the earliest Chinese novels for which the authorship is officially documented.[1] The novel was first published in print in the 1590s. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/G Battery Some scholars still have doubts about the novel's authorship.[2][3] Translator W.J.F. Jenner, for example, points out that although Wu had knowledge of Chinese bureaucracy and politics, the novel itself does not include any political details that "a fairly well-read commoner could not have known."[2] Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/P Battery The question of authorship is further complicated by the preexistence of much of the novel's material in the form of folk tales.[2] In any case, Journey to the West has become the authoritative version of these stories,[2] and Wu's name has become inextricably linked with the book.[3] Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/W Battery Synopsis The novel has 100 chapters. These can be divided into four very unequal parts. The first, which includes chapters 1–7, is really a self-contained introduction to the main story. It deals entirely with the earlier exploits of Sun Wukong, Sony VAIO VPCP118JC Battery a monkey born from a stone nourished by the Five Elements, who learns the art of the Tao, 72 polymorphic transformations, combat, and secrets of immortality, and through guile and force makes a name for himself, Qitian Dasheng (simplified Chinese: ????; traditional Chinese: ????), or "Great Sage Equal to Heaven". Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/B Battery His powers grow to match the forces of all of the Eastern (Taoist) deities, and the prologue culminates in Sun's rebellion against Heaven, during a time when he garnered a post in the celestial bureaucracy. Hubris proves his downfall when the Buddha manages to trap him under a mountain, sealing the mountain with a talisman for five hundred years. Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/P Battery Only following this introductory story is the nominal main character, Xuanzang (Tang Sanzang), introduced. Chapters 8–12 provide his early biography and the background to his great journey. Dismayed that "the land of the South knows only greed, hedonism, promiscuity, and sins", Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/W Battery the Buddha instructs the bodhisattvaAvalokite?vara (Guanyin) to search Tang China for someone to take the Buddhist sutras of "transcendence and persuasion for good will" back to the East. Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/B Battery Part of the story here also relates to how Xuanzang becomes a monk (as well as revealing his past life as a disciple of the Buddha named "Golden Cicada" (???) and comes about being sent on this pilgrimage by Emperor Taizong, who previously escaped death with the help of an official in the Underworld). Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/D Battery The third and longest section of the work is chapters 13–99, an episodic adventure story in which Xuanzang sets out to bring back Buddhist scriptures from Leiyin Temple on Vulture Peak in India, but encounters various evils along the way. Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/G Battery The section is set in the sparsely-populated lands along the Silk Road between China and India, including Xinjiang, Turkestan, and Afghanistan. The geography described in the book is, however, almost entirely fantastic; once Xuanzang departs Chang'an, the Tang capital, and crosses the frontier (somewhere in Gansu province), Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/P Battery he finds himself in a wilderness of deep gorges and tall mountains, inhabited by demons and animal spirits, who regard him as a potential meal (since his flesh was believed to give immortality to whoever ate it), with the occasional hidden monastery or royal city-state amidst the harsh setting. Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/W Battery Episodes consist of 1–4 chapters and usually involve Xuanzang being captured and having his life threatened while his disciples try to find an ingenious (and often violent) way of liberating him. Although some of Xuanzang's predicaments are political and involve ordinary human beings, Sony VAIO VPCP119JC Battery they more frequently consist of run-ins with various demons, many of whom turn out to be earthly manifestations of heavenly beings (whose sins will be negated by eating the flesh of Xuanzang) or animal-spirits with enough Taoist spiritual merit to assume semi-human forms. Sony VAIO VPCP119JC/BI Battery Chapters 13–22 do not follow this structure precisely, as they introduce Xuanzang's disciples, who, inspired or goaded by Guanyin, meet and agree to serve him along the way in order to atone for their sins in their past lives. Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/B Battery The first is Sun Wukong, or Monkey, whose given name loosely means "awakened to emptiness" (see the character's main page for a more complete description), trapped by the Buddha for defying Heaven. He appears right away in chapter 13. The most intelligent and violent of the disciples, Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/B Battery he is constantly reproved for his violence by Xuanzang. Ultimately, he can only be controlled by a magic gold ring that Guanyin has placed around his head, which causes him unbearable headaches when Xuanzang chants the Ring Tightening Mantra. Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/D Battery The second, appearing in chapter 19, is Zhu Bajie, literally "Eight Precepts Pig", sometimes translated as Pigsy or just Pig. He was previously the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy, a commander of Heaven's naval forces, and was banished to the mortal realm for flirting with the moon goddess Chang'e. Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/D Battery A reliable fighter, he is characterised by his insatiable appetites for food and sex, and is constantly looking for a way out of his duties, which causes significant conflict with Sun Wukong. Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/G Battery The third, appearing in chapter 22, is the river ogre Sha Wujing, also translated as Friar Sand or Sandy. He was previously the celestial Curtain Lifting General, and was banished to the mortal realm for dropping (and shattering) a crystal goblet of the Queen Mother of the West. He is a quiet but generally dependable character, who serves as the straight foil to the comic relief of Sun and Zhu. Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/G Battery The fourth is the third son of the Dragon King of the West Sea, who was sentenced to death for setting fire to his father's great pearl. He was saved by Guanyin from execution to stay and wait for his call of duty. He appears first in chapter 15, but has almost no speaking role, as throughout the story he mainly appears as a horse that Xuanzang rides on. Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/P Battery Chapter 22, where Sha Wujing is introduced, also provides a geographical boundary, as the river that the travelers cross brings them into a new "continent". Chapters 23–86 take place in the wilderness, and consist of 24 episodes of varying length, each characterised by a different magical monster or evil magician. Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/W Battery There are impassably wide rivers, flaming mountains, a kingdom with an all-female population, a lair of seductive spider spirits, and many other fantastic scenarios. Throughout the journey, the four brave disciples have to fend off attacks on their master and teacher Xuanzang from various monsters and calamities. Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/W Battery It is strongly suggested that most of these calamities are engineered by fate and/or the Buddha, as, while the monsters who attack are vast in power and many in number, no real harm ever comes to the four travellers. Sony VAIO VPCP11Z9E/B Battery Some of the monsters turn out to be escaped celestial beasts belonging to bodhisattvas or Taoist sages and deities. Towards the end of the book there is a scene where the Buddha literally commands the fulfillment of the last disaster, because Xuanzang is one short of the 81 tribulations he needs to face before attaining Buddhahood. Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S Battery In chapter 87, Xuanzang finally reaches the borderlands of India, and chapters 87–99 present magical adventures in a somewhat more mundane (though still exotic) setting. At length, after a pilgrimage said to have taken fourteen years (the text actually only provides evidence for nine of those years, Sony VAIO VPCS115EC Battery but presumably there was room to add additional episodes) they arrive at the half-real, half-legendary destination of Vulture Peak, where, in a scene simultaneously mystical and comic, Xuanzang receives the scriptures from the living Buddha. Sony VAIO VPCS115FG Battery Chapter 100, the last of all, quickly describes the return journey to the Tang Empire, and the aftermath in which each traveller receives a reward in the form of posts in the bureaucracy of the heavens. Sony VAIO VPCS117GG Battery Sun Wukong and Xuanzang achieve Buddhahood, Sha Wujing becomes an arhat, the dragon horse is made a n?ga, and Zhu Bajie, whose good deeds have always been tempered by his greed, is promoted to an altar cleanser (i.e. eater of excess offerings at altars).Sony VAIO VPCS117GGB Battery Historical context The classic story of the Journey to the West was based on real events. In real life, Xuanzang (born c. 602 - 664) was a monk at Jingtu Temple in late-Sui Dynasty and early-Tang Dynasty Chang'an. Motivated by the poor quality of Chinese translations of Buddhist scripture at the time, Xuanzang left Chang'an in 629, despite the border being closed at the time due to war with the Göktürks. Sony VAIO VPCS118EC Battery Helped by sympathetic Buddhists, he travelled via Gansu and Qinghai to Kumul (Hami), thence following the Tian Shan mountains to Turpan. He then crossed what are today Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, and Afghanistan, into Gandhara, Sony VAIO VPCS119FJ/B Battery reaching India in 630. Xuanzang travelled throughout the Indian subcontinent for the next thirteen years, visiting important Buddhist pilgrimage sites and studying at the ancient university at Nalanda. Sony VAIO VPCS119GC Battery Xuanzang left India in 643 and arrived back in Chang'an in 646 to a warm reception by Emperor Taizong of Tang. He joined Da Ci'en Monastery (Monastery of Great Maternal Grace), where he led the building of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda in order to store the scriptures and icons he had brought back from India. Sony VAIO VPCS11AFJ Battery He recorded his journey in the book Great Tang Records on the Western Regions. With the support of the emperor, he established an institute at Yuhua Gong (Palace of the Lustre of Jade) monastery dedicated to translating into Chinese the scriptures he had brought back. Sony VAIO VPCS11AGJ Battery His translation and commentary work established him as the founder of the Dharma character school of Buddhism. Xuanzang died on March 7, 664. The Xingjiao Monastery was established in 669 to house his ashes. Sony VAIO VPCS11AHJ Battery Popular stories of Xuanzang's journey were in existence long before Journey to the West was written. In these versions, dating as far back as the Southern Song Dynasty, a monkey character was already a primary protagonist. Before the Yuan and early Ming dynasties, elements of the Monkey story were already seen. Sony VAIO VPCS11AVJ Battery

Tripitaka or Xuanzang

The monk Xuanzang (also referred to in the story as Tang Sanzang, meaning "Tang Tripitaka Master", with Tang referring to the Tang Dynasty andSanzang referring to the Tripitaka, Sony VAIO VPCS11J7E/B Battery the main categories of texts in the Buddhist canon which is also used as an honorific for some Buddhist monks) is a Buddhist monk who had renounced his family to become a monk from childhood. He is just called Tripitaka in many English versions of the story.Sony VAIO VPCS11M1E/W Battery He set off for Dahila kingdom (???, an appellation for India in ancient China) to retrieve original Buddhist scriptures for China. Although he is helpless in defending himself, the bodhisattva Avalokite?vara (Guanyin) helps by finding him powerful disciples who aid and protect him on his journey. Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E Battery In return, the disciples will receive enlightenment and forgiveness for their sins once the journey is done. Along the way, they help the local inhabitants by defeating various monsters and demons who try to obtain immortality by eating Xuanzang's flesh. Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E/B Battery Sun Wukong is the name given to this character by his teacher, Subhuti, the latter part of which means "Awakened to Emptiness" (in the Waley translation, Aware-of-Vacuity); he is called Monkey King. He is born on Flower Fruit Mountain from a stone egg that forms from an ancient rock created by the coupling of Heaven and Earth. Sony VAIO VPCS11X9E/B Battery He first distinguishes himself by bravely entering the Water Curtain Cave on the mountain; for this feat, his monkey tribe gives him the title of "Handsome Monkey King". After angering several gods and coming to the attention of the Jade Emperor, he is given a minor position in heaven as the Keeper of Horses (???) so they can keep an eye on him. Sony VAIO VPCS123FGB Battery This job is a very low position, and when he realises that he is put into such a low position and not considered a full-fledged god, he becomes very angry. Upon returning to his mountain, he puts up a flag and declares himself the "Great Sage Equal to Heaven." Then the Jade Emperor dispatches celestial soldiers to arrest Sun Wukong, but no one succeeds. Sony VAIO VPCS125EC Battery The Jade Emperor has no choice but to appoint him to be the guardian of the heavenly peach garden. The peaches in the garden bear fruit every 3,000-years, eating its flesh will bestow immortality, so Sun Wukong eats one and becomes more powerful and matchless.Sony VAIO VPCS128EC Battery Later, after fairies who come to collect peaches for the heavenly peach banquet inform Sun Wukong he is not invited and make fun of him, he starts causing trouble in Heaven and defeats an army of 100,000 celestial troops, led by the Four Heavenly Kings, Erlang Shen, and Nezha. Sony VAIO VPCS129GC Battery Eventually, the Jade Emperor appeals to the Buddha, who detains Wukong under a mountain called Five Elements Mountain. Sun Wukong is kept under the mountain for 500 years, and cannot escape because of a spell that was put on the mountain. He is later set free when Xuanzang comes upon him during his pilgrimage and accepts him as a disciple. Sony VAIO VPCS12C7E/B Battery His primary weapon is the "Ruyi Jingu Bang", which he can shrink down to the size of a needle and keep in his ear, as well as expand it to gigantic proportions. The rod, originally a pillar supporting the undersea palace of the Dragon King of the East Sea, weighs 18,000 pounds, which he pulls out of its support and swings with ease. Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B Battery The Dragon King had told Sun Wukong he could have the staff if he could lift it, but was angry when the monkey was actually able to pull it out and accused him of being a thief; hence Sun Wukong was insulted, so he demanded a suit of armour and refused to leave until he received one. Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B Battery The Dragon King, unwilling to see a monkey making troubles in his favourite place, also gave him a suit of golden armour. These gifts, combined with his devouring of the peaches of immortality, three jars of elixir, and his time being tempered in Laozi's Eight-Trigram Furnace (he was put in there to be burnt to death, Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/P Battery but instead the furnace gave him a steel-hard body and fiery golden eyes that can see very far and see through any disguise, but his eyes are weak to smoke. He is always able to recognise a demon in disguise, even though the rest of the pilgrimage cannot), makes Sun Wukong the strongest member of the pilgrimage by far. Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/PC Battery Besides these abilities, he can also pluck hairs from his body and blow on them to convert them into whatever he wishes (usually clones of himself to gain a numerical advantage in battle). Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/T Battery Although he is a master of the 72 methods of transformation (?????,[4] such as birds, which would give him the ability to fly, he can use his "somersault cloud" enabling him to travel vast distances in a single leap. The monkey, nimble and quick-witted, uses these skills to defeat all but the most powerful of demons on the journey. Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/W Battery Sun's behavior is checked by a band placed around his head by Guanyin, which cannot be removed by Sun Wukong himself until the journey's end. Xuanzang can tighten this band by chanting the "Ring Tightening Mantra" (taught to him by Guanyin) whenever he needs to chastise him. Sony VAIO VPCW111XXP Battery The spell is referred to by Xuanzang's disciples as the "Headache Sutra", which is the Buddhist mantra "o? ma?ipadme h??". Xuanzang speaks this mantra quickly in repetition. Sony VAIO VPCW111XXT Battery Sun Wukong's child-like playfulness is a huge contrast to his cunning mind. This, coupled with his great power, makes him a trickster hero. His antics present a lighter side in what proposes to be a long and dangerous trip into the unknown. Sony VAIO VPCW111XXW Battery

Zhu Bajie

Zhu Bajie (literally "Pig of the Eight Prohibitions") is also known as Zhu Wuneng ("Pig Awakened to Ability"), and given the namePigsy, Monk Pig or just simply Pig in English. Sony VAIO VPCW115XG Battery Once an immortal who was the Marshal of the Heavenly Canopy commanding 100,000 naval soldiers of the Milky Way, he drank too much during a celebration of gods and attempted to flirt with the moon goddess Chang'e, resulting in his banishment into the mortal world. He was supposed to be reborn as a human, Sony VAIO VPCW115XGP Battery but ends up in the womb of a female boar due to an error at the Reincarnation Wheel, which turns him into a half-man half-pig monster. Zhu Bajie was very greedy, and could not survive without eating ravenously. Staying within the Yunzhan Dong ("cloud-pathway cave"), he was commissioned by Guanyin to accompany Xuanzang to India and given the new name Zhu Wuneng. Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/P Battery However, Zhu Bajie's indulgence in women led him to the Gao Family Village, where he posed as a normal being and wedded a maiden. Later, when the villagers discovered that he was a monster, Zhu Bajie hid the girl away, and the girl wailed bitterly every night. Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/T Battery At this point, Xuanzang and Sun Wukong arrived at the Gao Family Village and helped defeat him. Renamed Zhu Bajie by Xuanzang, he consequently joined the pilgrimage to the West. Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/W Battery His weapon of choice is the jiuchidingpa ("nine-tooth iron rake"). He is also capable of 36 transformations (as compared to Sun Wukong's 72), and can travel on clouds, but not as fast as Sun. However, Zhu is noted for his fighting skills in water, which he used to combat Sha Wujing, who later joined them on the journey. He is the second strongest member of the team. Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/P Battery

Sha Wujing

Sh? Wùjìng (literally meaning "Sand Awakened to Purity"), given the name Friar Sand or Sandy in English, was once a celestial Curtain Lifting General, who stood in attendance by the imperial chariot in the Hall of Miraculous Mist. Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/T Battery He was exiled to the mortal world and made to look like a monster because he accidentally smashed a crystal goblet belonging to the Queen Mother of the West during a Peach Banquet. The now-hideous immortal took up residence in the Flowing Sands River, Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/W Battery terrorising surrounding villages and travellers trying to cross the river. However, he was subdued by Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie when Xuanzang's party came across him. They consequently took him in, as part of the pilgrimage to the West. Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ Battery Sha's weapon is the yueyachan ("Crescent-Moon-Shovel" or "Monk's Spade"). He also knows eighteen transformation methods and is highly effective in water combat. He is about as strong as Zhu Bajie, and is much stronger than Sun Wukong in water. However, Zhu can defeat Sha in a test of endurance, and Sun can almost certainly defeat him both on land and in the air. Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ/P Battery Sha is known to be the most obedient, logical, and polite of the three disciples, and always takes care of his master, seldom engaging in the bickering of his fellow disciples. He has no major faults nor any extraordinary characteristics. Perhaps this is why he is sometimes seen as a minor character. Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ/W Battery Sha eventually becomes an arhat at the end of the journey, giving him a higher level of exaltation than Zhu Bajie, who is relegated to cleaning every altar at every Buddhist temple for eternity, but is still lower spiritually than Sun Wukong or Xuanzang, who are granted Buddhahood. Sony VAIO VPCW11AXJ Battery The brief satirical novel Xiyoubu (???, "Supplement to the Journey to the West," c. 1640) follows Sun Wukong as he is trapped in a magical dream world created by the Qing Fish Demon, the embodiment of desire (?, qing). Sun travels back and forth through time,Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/P Battery during which he serves as the adjunct King of Hell and judges the soul of the recently dead traitor Qin Hui during the Song Dynasty, takes on the appearance of a beautiful concubine and causes the downfall of the Qin Dynasty, and even faces P?ramit?, one of his five sons born to the rakshasa Princess Iron Fan,[5] Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/T Battery on the battlefield during the Tang Dynasty.[6] The events of Xiyoubu take place between the end of chapter 61 and the beginning of chapter 62 of Journey to the West.[7] The author, Tong Yue (??), wrote the book because he wanted to create an opponent—in this case desire—that Sun could not defeat with his great strength and martial skill.[8]Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/W Battery Notable English-language translations Waley was born in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England, as Arthur David Schloss, son of the economist David Frederick Schloss. Of Jewish heritage, he changed his surname to his paternal grandmother's maiden name, Waley, Sony VAIO VPCW121AX Battery in 1914, as one of many English who changed German surnames to more English-sounding names during WWI. Educated at Rugby School, he entered King's College, at the University of Cambridge in 1907, where he studied Classics, and was awarded a bachelor's degree in 1910. Sony VAIO VPCW126AG Battery Waley was appointed Assistant Keeper of Oriental Prints and Manuscripts at the British Museum in 1913. During this time he taught himself Chinese and Japanese, partly to help catalogue the paintings in the Museum's collection. He quit in 1929 to devote himself fully to his literary and cultural interests, Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/P Battery though he continued to lecture in the School of Oriental and African Studies, London. In 1918, he met Beryl de Zoete, a dance critic and writer; they lived together until her death in 1962. In 1966, Arthur Waley married Alison Robinson, whom he had first met in 1929. Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/T Battery They lived in Highgate in London, and she became a familiar figure in later years, living beyond the age of 100. Waley lived in Bloomsbury and had a number of friends among the Bloomsbury Group, many of whom he had met as an undergraduate. Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/W Battery He was one of the earliest to recognize Ronald Firbank as an accomplished author, and together with Osbert Sitwell provided an introduction to Firbank's first collected edition. Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/WZ Battery Noted American poet Ezra Pound was instrumental in getting Waley's first translations into print in The Little Review. His view of Waley's early work was mixed, however. As he wrote to Margaret Anderson, the Review's editor, in a letter of 2 July 1917: "Have at last got hold of Waley's translations from Po chu I. Sony VAIO VPCW12AAJ Battery Some of the poems are magnificent. Nearly all the translations marred by his bungling English and defective rhythm... I shall try to buy the best ones, and to get him to remove some of the botched places. Sony VAIO VPCW12AKJ Battery (He is stubborn as a donkey, or a scholar.)" Yet Waley, in his Introduction in his translation of The Way and its Power, explains that he was careful to put meaning above style in translations where meaning would be reasonably considered of more importance to the modern Western reader. Sony VAIO VPCW12AVJ Battery He died in London and is buried in Highgate Cemetery.

Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, described by some as "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history",[2] Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/P Battery was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic Han Chinese. Although the Ming capital Beijing fell in 1644 to a rebellion led by Li Zicheng (who established the Shun Dynasty, soon replaced by theManchu-led Qing Dynasty), regimes loyal to the Ming throne — collectively called the Southern Ming — survived until 1662. Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/T Battery Ming rule saw the construction of a vast navy and a standing army of one million troops.[3] Although private maritime trade and official tribute missions from China had taken place in previous dynasties, the tributary fleet under the Muslimeunuch admiral Zheng He in the 15th century far surpassed all others in size. Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/W Battery There were enormous construction projects, including the restoration of the Grand Canal and the Great Wall and the establishment of the Forbidden City in Beijing during the first quarter of the 15th century. Estimates for the late-Ming population vary from 160 to 200 million.[4] Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/L Battery Emperor Hongwu (ruled in 1368–98) attempted to create a society of self-sufficient rural communities in a rigid, immobile system that would have no need to engage with the commercial life and trade of urban centers. Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/P Battery His rebuilding of China's agricultural base and strengthening of communication routes through the militarized courier system had the unintended effect of creating a vast agricultural surplus that could be sold at burgeoning markets located along courier routes. Rural culture and commerce became influenced by urban trends. Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/T BatteryThe upper echelons of society embodied in the scholarly gentry class were also affected by this new consumption-based culture. In a departure from tradition, merchant families began to produce examination candidates to become scholar-officials and adopted cultural traits and practices typical of the gentry. Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/W Battery Parallel to this trend involving social class and commercial consumption were changes in social and political philosophy, bureaucracy and governmental institutions, and even arts and literature. Sony VAIO VPCW215AG/L Battery By the 16th century, the Ming economy was stimulated by trade with the Portuguese, the Spanish, and the Dutch. China became involved in a new global trade of goods, plants, animals, and food crops known as the Columbian Exchange. Sony VAIO VPCW217JC Battery Trade with European powers and the Japanese brought in massive amounts of silver, which then replaced copper and paper banknotesas the common medium of exchange in China. During the last decades of the Ming, the flow of silver into China diminished greatly, undermining state revenues. Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/L BatteryThis damage to the Ming economy was compounded by the effects on agriculture of the incipient Little Ice Age, natural calamities, crop failure, and sudden epidemics. The ensuing breakdown of authority and people's livelihoods allowed rebel leaders such as Li Zicheng to challenge Ming authority. Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/P Battery The Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368) ruled before the establishment of the Ming Dynasty. Alongside institutionalized ethnic discrimination against Han Chinese that stirred resentment and rebellion, other explanations for the Yuan's demise included overtaxing areas hard-hit by inflation, Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/T Battery and massive flooding of the Yellow River as a result of the abandonment of irrigation projects.[5] Consequently, agriculture and the economy were in shambles and rebellion broke out among the hundreds of thousands of peasants called upon to work on repairing the dykes of the Yellow River.[5] Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/W Battery A number of Han Chinese groups revolted, including the Red Turbans in 1351. The Red Turbans were affiliated with the White Lotus, a Buddhist secret society. Zhu Yuanzhang was a penniless peasant and Buddhist monk who joined the Red Turbans in 1352, Sony VAIO VPCW218JC Battery but soon gained a reputation after marrying the foster daughter of a rebel commander.[6] In 1356, Zhu's rebel force captured the city of Nanjing,[7]which he would later establish as the capital of the Ming Dynasty. Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/L Battery With the Yuan Dynasty crumbling, competing rebel groups began fighting for control of the country and thus the right to establish a new dynasty. In 1363, Zhu Yuanzhang eliminated his arch rival and leader of the rebel Han faction Chen Youliang in the Battle of Lake Poyang, arguably the largest naval battle in history. Known for its ambitious use of fire ships, Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/P Battery Zhu's force of 200,000 Ming sailors were able to defeat a Han rebel force over triple their size, claimed to be 650,000-strong. The victory destroyed the last opposing rebel faction, leaving Zhu Yuanzhang in uncontested control of the bountiful Yangtze River Valley and cementing his power in the south. Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/T Battery After the dynastic head of the Red Turbans suspiciously died in 1367 while a guest of Zhu, there was no one left who was remotely capable of contesting his march to the throne, and he made his imperial ambitions known by sending an army toward the Yuan capital Dadu (present-day Beijing) in 1368.[8] Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/W Battery The last Yuan emperor fled north to Shangdu and Zhu declared the founding of the Ming Dynasty after razing the Yuan palaces in Dadu to the ground;[8] the city was renamed Beiping in the same year.[9] Zhu Yuanzhang took Hongwu, or 'Vastly Martial,' as his reign title. Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/L Battery

Reign of the Hongwu Emperor

Hongwu made an immediate effort to rebuild state infrastructure. He built a 48 km (30 mi) long wall around Nanjing, as well as new palaces and government halls.[8] The History of Ming states that as early as 1364 Zhu Yuanzhang had begun drafting a new Confucian law code, the Da Ming Lü, Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/P Battery which was completed by 1397 and repeated certain clauses found in the old Tang Code of 653.[10] Hongwu organized a military system known as the weisuo, which was similar to the fubing system of the Tang Dynasty (618–907). Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/W Battery In 1380 Hongwu had the Chancellor Hu Weiyong (???) executed upon suspicion of a conspiracy plot to overthrow him; after that Hongwu abolished the Chancellery and assumed this role as chief executive and emperor, a precedent mostly followed throughout the Ming period.[11][12] Sony VAIO VPCW21AAJ Battery With a growing suspicion of his ministers and subjects, Hongwu established the Jinyi Wei, a network of secret policedrawn from his own palace guard. They were partly responsible for the loss of 100,000 lives in several purges over three decades of his rule.[11][13]For details of the many Ming policies laid down by the Hongwu Emperor, see History of the Ming Dynasty and Hongwu Emperor.Sony VAIO VPCW21AKJ Battery In Qinghai, the Salar Muslims voluntarily came under Ming rule, their clan leaders capitulating around 1370. Uyghur troops under Uyghur general Hala Bashi suppressed the Miao Rebellions of the 1370s and settled in Changde, Hunan.[14] Hui Muslim troops also settled in Changde, Sony VAIO VPCW21AVJ Battery Hunan after serving the Ming in campaigns against other aboriginal tribes.[15] In 1381, the Ming Dynasty annexed the areas of the southwest that had once been part of the Kingdom of Dali following the successful effort by Hui Muslim Ming armies to defeatYuan-loyalist Mongol and Hui Muslim troops holding out in Yunnan province. Sony VAIO VPCY115FGS Battery The Hui troops under General Mu Ying, who was appointed Governor of Yunnan, were resettled in the region as part of a colonization effort.[16] By the end of the 14th century, some 200,000 military colonists settled some 2,000,000 mu (350,000 acres) of land in what is now Yunnan and Guizhou. Sony VAIO VPCY115FX/BI Battery Roughly half a million more Chinese settlers came in later periods; these migrations caused a major shift in the ethnic make-up of the region, since formerly more than half of the population were non-Han peoples. Sony VAIO VPCY115FXBI Battery Resentment over such massive changes in population and the resulting government presence and policies sparked moreMiao and Yao revolts in 1464 to 1466, which were crushed by an army of 30,000 Ming troops (including 1,000 Mongols) joining the 160, Sony VAIO VPCY118EC Battery 000 local Guangxi. After the scholar and philosopher Wang Yangming(1472–1529) suppressed another rebellion in the region, he advocated single, unitary administration of Chinese and indigenous ethnic groups in order to bring about sinification of the local peoples.[17] Sony VAIO VPCY118GX/BI Battery

Relations with Tibet

The Mingshi—?the official history of the Ming Dynasty compiled later by the Qing Dynasty in 1739?—states that the Ming established itinerant commanderies overseeing Tibetan administration while also renewing titles of ex-Yuan Dynasty officials from Tibet and conferring new princely titles on leaders of Tibet's Buddhist sects.[20] Sony VAIO VPCY119FJ/S Battery However, Turrell V. Wylie states that censorship in the Mingshiin favor of bolstering the Ming emperor's prestige and reputation at all costs obfuscates the nuanced history of Sino-Tibetan relations during the Ming era.[21] Sony VAIO VPCY11AFJ Battery Modern scholars still debate on whether or not the Ming Dynasty really had sovereignty over Tibet at all, as some believe it was a relationship of loose suzerainty which was largely cut off when the Jiajing Emperor (ruled in 1521–67) persecuted Buddhism in favor ofDaoism at court [21][22][23]Sony VAIO VPCY11AGJ Battery and some scholars argue that the significant religious nature of the relationship of the Ming court with Tibetan lamas is underrepresented in modern scholarship.[24][25] Others underscore the commercial aspect of the relationship, noting the Ming Dynasty's insufficient amount of horses and the need to maintain the tea-horse trade with Tibet.[26][27][28][29][30] Sony VAIO VPCY11AHJ Battery The Ming initiated sporadic armed intervention in Tibet during the 14th century, while at times the Tibetans also used successful armed resistance against Ming forays.[31][32] Patricia Ebrey, Thomas Laird, Wang Jiawei, and Nyima Gyaincain all point out that the Ming Dynasty did not garrison permanent troops in Tibet,[33][34][35] Sony VAIO VPCY11AVJ Battery unlike the former Mongol Yuan Dynasty.[33] The Wanli Emperor (ruled in 1572–1620) made attempts to reestablish Sino-Tibetan relations in the wake of a Mongol-Tibetan alliance initiated in 1578, the latter of which affected the foreign policy of the subsequent Manchu Qing Dynasty (1644–1912) of China in their support for the Dalai Lama of the Yellow Hat sect.[21][36][37][38][39] Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E/S Battery By the late 16th century, the Mongols proved to be successful armed protectors of the Yellow Hat Dalai Lama after their increasing presence in the Amdo region, culminating in Güshi Khan's (1582–1655) conquest of Tibet in 1642.[21][40][41][42] Sony VAIO VPCY11S1E Battery

Reign of the Yongle Emperor

The Hongwu Emperor specified his grandson Zhu Yunwen as his successor, and he assumed the throne as the Jianwen Emperor (1398–1402) after Hongwu's death in 1398. The most powerful of Hongwu's sons, Zhu Di, then the militarily mighty disagreed with this, and soon a political showdown erupted between him and his nephew Jianwen.[43] Sony VAIO VPCY11V9E/S Battery After Jianwen arrested many of Zhu Di's associates, Zhu Di plotted a rebellion, a rebellion that sparked a three-year civil war. Under the pretext of rescuing the young Jianwen from corrupting officials, Zhu Di personally led forces in the revolt; the palace in Nanjing was burned to the ground, Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/BI Battery along with Jianwen himself, his wife, mother, and courtiers. Zhu Di assumed the throne as the Yongle Emperor (1402–1424); his reign is universally viewed by scholars as a "second founding" of the Ming Dynasty since he reversed many of his father's policies.[44]Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/G Battery Yongle demoted Nanjing to a secondary capital and in 1403 announced the new capital of China was to be at his power base in Beijing. Construction of a new city there lasted from 1407 to 1420, employing hundreds of thousands of workers daily.[45] At the center was the political node of the Imperial City, Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/L Battery and at the center of this was the Forbidden City, the palatial residence of the emperor and his family. By 1553, the Outer City was added to the south, which brought the overall size of Beijing to 4 by 4½ miles.[46] Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/P Battery Yongle also used Zheng He's treasure fleet to expand China's tributary trade system farther afield than ever before, used woodblock printing to spread Chinese culture, and used the military(especially cavalry) to expand China's borders north into Manchuria and south into Vietnam. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery

Treasure fleet

Beginning in 1405, the Yongle Emperor entrusted his favored eunuch commander Zheng He (1371–1433) as the admiral for a gigantic new fleet of ships designated for international tributary missions. The Chinese had sent diplomatic missions over land and west since the Han Dynasty (202 BCE – 220 CE) Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/P Battery and had been engaged in private overseas trade leading all the way to East Africa for centuries—?culminating in the Song and Yuan dynasties?—but no government-sponsored tributary mission of this grandeur and size had ever been assembled before. To serviceseven different tributary missions abroad, Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/SI Battery the Nanjing shipyards constructed two thousand vessels from 1403 to 1419, which included the large treasure ships that measured 112?m (370 ft) to 134?m (440 ft) in length and 45?m (150 ft) to 54?m (180 ft) in width.[47] Sony VAIO VPCZ110 Battery

Tumu Crisis and the Ming Mongols

The Oirat Mongol leader Esen Tayisi launched an invasion into Ming China in July 1449. The chief eunuch Wang Zhen encouraged Emperor Zhengtong (ruled in 1435–49) to personally lead a force to face the Mongols after a recent Ming defeat; marching off with 50,000 troops, Sony VAIO VPCZ110GB/BI Battery Zhengtong left the capital and put his half-brother Zhu Qiyu in charge of affairs as temporary regent. On September 8, Esen routed Zhengtong's army, and Zhengtong was captured—an event known as the Tumu Crisis.[48] Sony VAIO VPCZ112GD/S Battery The Mongols held the Zhengtong Emperor for ransom. However, this scheme was foiled once Zhengtong's younger brother assumed the throne as the Jingtai Emperor (ruled in 1449–57); Sony VAIO VPCZ112GX/S Battery the Mongols were also repelled once Jingtai's confidant and defense minister Yu Qian (1398–457) gained control of the Ming armed forces. Holding Zhengtong in captivity was a useless bargaining chip for the Mongols as long as another sat on his throne, so they released him back into Ming China.[48] Sony VAIO VPCZ114GX/S Battery Zhengtong was placed under house arrest in the palace until the coup against Jingtai in 1457 known as the "Wresting the Gate Incident".[49] Zhengtong retook the throne as the Tianshun Emperor (ruled in 1457–64). Sony VAIO VPCZ115 Battery Once Zhengtong regained the throne, his new reign as Tianshun proved to be a troubled one and Mongol forces within the Ming military structure continued to be problematic. On August 7, 1461, the Chinese general Cao Qin and his Ming troops of Mongol descent staged a coup against Tianshun out of fear of being next on his purge-list of those who aided Jingtai's succession.[50] Sony VAIO VPCZ115FC/B Battery Cao's rebel force managed to set fire to the western and eastern gates of the Imperial City (doused by rain during the battle) and killed several leading ministers before his forces were finally cornered and he was forced to commit suicide.[51] Sony VAIO VPCZ115FC/S Battery While the Yongle Emperor had staged five major offensives north of the Great Wall against the Mongols, the constant threat of Mongol incursions prompted the Ming authorities to fortify the Great Wall from the late 15th century to the 16th century; nevertheless, Sony VAIO VPCZ116 Battery John Fairbank notes that "it proved to be a futile military gesture but vividly expressed China's siege mentality."[52] Yet the Great Wall was not meant to be a purely defensive fortification; its towers functioned rather as a series of lit beacons and signalling stations to allow rapid warning to friendly units of advancing enemy troops.[53] Sony VAIO VPCZ116GX/S Battery

Decline and fall of the Ming Dynasty

The financial drain of the Imjin War in Korea against the Japanese was one of the many problems—fiscal or other—facing Ming China during the reign of the Wanli Emperor (ruled in 1572–1620). Sony VAIO VPCZ117 Battery In the beginning of his reign, Wanli surrounded himself with able advisors and made a conscientious effort to handle state affairs. His Grand Secretary Zhang Juzheng (in office from 1572 to 82) built up an effective network of alliances with senior officials. However, there was no one after him skilled enough to maintain the stability of these alliances;[54] Sony VAIO VPCZ117FC/B Battery officials soon banded together in opposing political factions. Over time Wanli grew tired of court affairs and frequent political quarreling amongst his ministers, preferring to stay behind the walls of the Forbidden City and out of his officials' sight.[55] Sony VAIO VPCZ118 Battery Scholar-officials lost prominence in administration as eunuchs became intermediaries between the aloof emperor and his officials; any senior official who wanted to discuss state matters had to persuade powerful eunuchs with a bribe simply to have his demands or message relayed to the emperor.[56] Sony VAIO VPCZ118GC/B Battery

Role of eunuchs

It was said that Hongwu forbade eunuchs to learn how to read or engage in politics. Whether or not these restrictions were carried out with absolute success in his reign, eunuchs during Yongle's reign and after managed huge imperial workshops, commanded armies, and participated in matters of appointment and promotion of officials. Sony VAIO VPCZ118GX/S Battery The eunuchs developed their own bureaucracy that was organized parallel to but was not subject to the civil service bureaucracy.[46] Although there were several dictatorial eunuchs throughout the Ming, such as Wang Zhen, Sony VAIO VPCZ119 Battery Wang Zhi, and Liu Jin, excessive tyrannical eunuch power did not become evident until the 1590s, when the Wanli Emperor increased their rights over the civil bureaucracy and granted them power to collect provincial taxes.[56][57][58] Sony VAIO VPCZ119FJ/S Battery The eunuch Wei Zhongxian (1568–1627) dominated the court of the Tianqi Emperor (ruled in 1620–1627) and had his political rivals tortured to death, mostly the vocal critics from the faction of the Donglin Society. He ordered temples built in his honor throughout the Ming Empire, Sony VAIO VPCZ119GC/X Battery and built personal palaces created with funds allocated for building the previous emperor's tombs. His friends and family gained important positions without qualifications. Wei also published a historical work lambasting and belittling his political opponents.[59] The instability at court came right as natural calamity, Sony VAIO VPCZ119L Battery pestilence, rebellion, and foreign invasion came to a peak. Although the Chongzhen Emperor (ruled in 1627–44) had Wei dismissed from court—which led to Wei's suicide shortly after—the problem with court eunuchs persisted until the dynasty's collapse less than two decades later. Sony VAIO VPCZ119R/B Battery During the last years of Wanli's reign and those of his two successors, an economic crisis developed that was centered around a sudden widespread lack of the empire's chief medium of exchange: silver. Philip IV of Spain (ruled in 1621–65) began cracking down on illegal smuggling of silver from Mexico and Peru across the Pacific towards China, Sony VAIO VPCZ119R/S Battery in favor of shipping American-mined silver directly from Spain to Manila. In 1639, the new Tokugawa regime of Japan shut down most of its foreign trade with European powers, causing a halt of yet another source of silver coming into China. These events occurring at roughly the same time caused a dramatic spike in the value of silver and made paying taxes nearly impossible for most provinces. Sony VAIO VPCZ11AFJ Battery People began hoarding precious silver as there was progressively less of it, forcing the ratio of the value of copper to silver into a steep decline. In the 1630s, a string of one thousand copper coins was worth an ounce of silver; Sony VAIO VPCZ11AGJ Battery by 1640 this was reduced to the value of half an ounce; by 1643 it was worth roughly one-third of an ounce.[60] For peasants this was an economic disaster, since they paid taxes in silver while conducting local trade and selling their crops with copper coins.[61] Sony VAIO VPCZ11AVJ Battery In this early half of the 17th century, famines became common in northern China because of unusual dry and cold weather that shortened the growing season; these were effects of a larger ecological event now known as the Little Ice Age.[62] Sony VAIO VPCZ11CGX/X BatteryFamine, alongside tax increases, widespread military desertions, a declining relief system, and natural disasters such as flooding and inability of the government to properly manage irrigation and flood-control projects caused widespread loss of life and normal civility.[62] Sony VAIO VPCZ11DGX/SJ Battery The central government was starved of resources and could do very little to mitigate the effects of these calamities. Making matters worse, a widespread epidemic spread across China from Zhejiang to Henan, killing a large but unknown number of people.[63] The deadliest earthquake of all time, the Shaanxi earthquake of 1556 that killed approximately 830,000 people, occurred during the Jiajing Emperor's reign.[64] Sony VAIO VPCZ11FHX/XQ Battery

Rise of the Manchu

A Jurchen tribal leader named Nurhaci (ruled in 1616–26), starting with just a small tribe, rapidly gained control over all theManchurian tribes. During the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–1598), Sony VAIO VPCZ11V9R/B Battery he offered to lead his tribes in support of the Ming and Joseonarmy. This offer was declined, but he was granted honorific Ming titles for his gesture. Recognizing the weakness of Ming authority north of their border, he united all of the adjacent northern tribes and consolidated power in the region surrounding his homeland as the Jurchen-led Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) had done previously.[65]Sony VAIO VPCZ11X9E/B Battery In 1610, he broke relations with the Ming court; in 1618 he demanded the Ming pay tribute to him to redress the seven grievanceswhich he documented and sent to the Ming court. This was effectively a declaration of war, as the Ming were not about to pay money to a former tributary. Sony VAIO VPCZ11Z9E/B Battery By 1636, the Nurhaci's son Huang Taiji renamed his dynasty from the "Later Jin" to "Great Qing" at Shenyang, which had fallen to Qing forces in 1621 and was made their capital in 1625.[66][67] Huang Taiji also adopted the Chinese imperial title huangdi, took the reign title Chongde ("Revering Virtue"), Sony VAIO VPCZ125GX/S Battery and changed the ethnic name of his people from Jurchen to Manchu.[67][68] In 1638 the Manchu defeated and conquered Ming China's traditional ally Joseon with an army of 100,000 troops. Shortly after, the Koreans renounced their long-held loyalty to the Ming Dynasty.[68] Sony VAIO VPCZ127FC Battery

Rebellion, invasion, collapse

A peasant soldier named Li Zicheng (1606–45) mutinied with his fellow soldiers in western Shaanxi in the early 1630s after the Ming government failed to ship much-needed supplies there.[62] In 1634 he was captured by a Ming general and released only on the terms that he return to service.[69] Sony VAIO VPCZ128GC Battery The agreement soon broke down when a local magistrate had thirty-six of his fellow rebels executed; Li's troops retaliated by killing the officials and continued to lead a rebellion based in Rongyang, central Henan province by 1635.[70] Sony VAIO VPCZ12M9E/B Battery By the 1640s, an ex-soldier and rival to Li—Zhang Xianzhong (1606–47)?—had created a firm rebel base in Chengdu, Sichuan, while Li's center of power was in Hubei with extended influence over Shaanxi and Henan.[70] Sony VAIO VPCZ13M9E/B Battery In 1640, masses of Chinese peasants who were starving, unable to pay their taxes, and no longer in fear of the frequently defeated Chinese army, began to form into huge bands of rebels. The Chinese military, caught between fruitless efforts to defeat the Manchu raiders from the north and huge peasant revolts in the provinces, essentially fell apart. Sony VAIO VPCZ13V9E/X Battery Unpaid and unfed, the army was defeated by Li Zicheng—?now self-styled as the Prince of Shun?—and deserted the capital without much of a fight.[71] On May 26, 1644, Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng when the city gates were treacherously opened from within.[71] Sony VAIO VPCZ13Z9E/X Battery On May 26, 1644, Beijing fell to a rebel army led by Li Zicheng; during the turmoil, the last Ming emperor hanged himself on a tree in the imperial garden outside the Forbidden City.[71] Sony VAIO VPCZZZHJ Battery Seizing opportunity, the Manchus crossed the Great Wall after the Ming border general Wu Sangui (1612–1678) opened the gates at Shanhai Pass. This occurred shortly after he learned about the fate of the capital and an army of Li Zicheng marching towards him; weighing his options of alliance, he decided to side with the Manchus.[72] Sony VAIO VPZ117 Battery The Manchu army under the Manchu Prince Dorgon (1612–50) and Wu Sangui approached Beijing after the army sent by Li was destroyed at Shanhaiguan; the Prince of Shun's army fled the capital on the fourth of June. Sony VAIO VPZ118 Battery On June 6, the Manchus and Wu entered the capital and proclaimed the young Shunzhi Emperor ruler of China. After being forced out of Xi'an by the Manchus, chased along the Han River to Wuchang, Sony VAIO VPZ119 Battery and finally along the northern border of Jiangxi province, Li Zicheng died there in the summer of 1645, thus ending the Shun Dynasty. One report says his death was a suicide; another states that he was beaten to death by peasants after he was caught stealing their food.[73] Sony VPCM11M1E/B Battery Scattered Ming remnants held out after 1644, including that of Koxinga (Zheng Chenggong) on Taiwan (Formosa). Despite the loss of Beijing and the death of the emperor, Ming power was by no means totally destroyed. Nanjing, Fujian, Guangdong, Shanxi, and Yunnan were all strongholds of Ming resistance. Sony VPCM11M1E/W Battery However, there were several pretenders for the Ming throne, and their forces were divided. Each bastion of resistance was individually defeated by the Qing until 1662, when the last real hopes of a Ming revival died with the Yongli emperor, Zhu Youlang. Despite the Ming defeat, smaller loyalist movements continued until the proclamation of theRepublic of China. Sony VPCM12M1E/L Battery

Province, prefecture, subprefecture, county

the provincial administration system of the Yuan Dynasty, and the thirteen Ming provinces are the precursors of the modern provinces. Throughout the Song Dynasty, the largest political division was the circuit (lu ?).[74] Sony VPCM12M1E/P BatteryHowever, after the Jurchen invasion in 1127, the Song court established four semi-autonomous regional command systems based on territorial and military units, with a detached service secretariat that would become the provincial administrations of the Yuan, Ming, and Qing dynasties.[75] Sony VPCM12M1E/W Battery Copied on the Yuan model, the Ming provincial bureaucracy contained three commissions: one civil, one military, and one for surveillance. Below the level of the province (sheng ?) were prefectures (fu ?) operating under a prefect (zhifu ??), followed by subprefectures (zhou ?) under a subprefect. Sony VPCM13M1E/L Battery The lowest unit was the county (xian ?), overseen by a magistrate. Besides the provinces, there were also two large areas that belonged to no province, but were metropolitan areas (jing ?) attached to Nanjing and Beijing.[76] Sony VPCM13M1E/P Battery Departing from the main central administrative system generally known as the Three Departments and Six Ministries system, which was instituted by various dynasties since late Han (202 BCE – 220 CE), the Ming administration had only one Department, the Secretariat, that controlled the Six Ministries. Sony VPCM13M1E/W Battery Following the execution of the Chancellor Hu Weiyong in 1380, emperor Hongwu abolished the Secretariat, the Censorate, and the Chief Military Commission and personally took charge of the Six Ministries and the regional Five Military Commissions.[77][78] Thus a whole level of administration was cut out and only partially rebuilt by subsequent rulers.[77] Sony VAIO VGN-Z11MN/B Battery The Grand Secretariat, at the beginning a secretarial institution that assisted the emperor with administrative paperwork, was instituted, but without employing grand counselors, or chancellors. The ministries, headed by a minister and run by directors remained under direct control of the emperor until the end of the Ming. Sony VAIO VGN-Z11VN/X Battery The Hongwu Emperor sent his heir apparent to Shaanxi in 1391 to "tour and soothe" (xunfu) the region; in 1421 the Yongle Emperor commissioned 26 officials to travel the empire and uphold similar investigatory and patrimonial duties. By 1430 thesexunfuassignments became institutionalized. Sony VAIO VGN-Z11WN/B Battery Hence, the Censorate was reinstalled and first staffed with investigating censors, later with censors-in-chief. By 1453, the "grand coordinators"—?or "touring pacifiers", as Michael Chang notes?—were granted the title vice censor-in-chief or assistant censor-in-chief and were allowed direct access to the emperor.[79] Sony VAIO VGN-Z11XN/B Battery As in prior dynasties, the provincial administrations were monitored by a travelling inspector from the Censorate. Censors had the power to impeach officials on an irregular basis, unlike the senior officials who were to do so only in triennial evaluations of junior officials.[79][80] Sony VAIO VGN-Z15 Battery Although decentralization of state power within the provinces occurred in the early Ming, the trend of central government officials delegated to the provinces as virtual provincial governors began in the 1420s. Sony VAIO VGN-Z15N Battery By the late Ming Dynasty, there were central government officials delegated to two or more provinces as supreme commanders and viceroys, a system which reined in the power and influence of the military by the civil establishment.[81] Sony VAIO VGN-Z17 Battery

Grand Secretariat and Six Ministries

Governmental institutions in China conformed to a similar pattern for some two thousand years, but each dynasty installed special offices and bureaus, reflecting its own particular interests. Sony VAIO VGN-Z17N Battery The Ming administration had the Grand Secretaries assisting the emperor, with paperwork handled by them under Yongle's reign and finally appointed as top officials of agencies and Grand Preceptor, a top-ranking, non-functional civil service post, under the Hongxi Emperor (ruled in 1424–5).[82] Sony VAIO VGN-Z19 Battery The Grand Secretariat drew its members from theHanlin Academy and were considered part of the imperial authority, not the ministerial one (hence being at odds with both the emperor and ministers at times).[83] Sony VAIO VGN-Z19N Battery The Secretariat was a coordinating agency, whereas the Six Ministries—which were Personnel, Revenue, Rites, War, Justice, and Public Works—were direct administrative organs of the state.[84] Sony VAIO VGN-Z21MN/B Battery The Ministry of Personnel was in charge of appointments, merit ratings, promotions, and demotions of officials, as well as granting of honorific titles.[85] The Ministry of Revenue was in charge of gathering census data, collecting taxes, and handling state revenues, while there were two offices of currency that were subordinate to it.[86] Sony VAIO VGN-Z21VN/X Battery The Ministry of Rites was in charge of state ceremonies, rituals, and sacrifices; it also oversaw registers for Buddhist and Daoist priesthoods and even the reception of envoys from tributary states.[87] Sony VAIO VGN-Z21WN/B Battery The Ministry of War was in charge of the appointments, promotions, and demotions of military officers, the maintenance of military installations, equipment, and weapons, as well as the courier system.[88] Sony VAIO VGN-Z21XN Battery The Ministry of Justice was in charge of judicial and penal processes, but had no supervisory role over the Censorate or the Grand Court of Revision.[89] The Ministry of Works was in charge of government construction projects, Sony VAIO VGN-Z21ZN/X Battery hiring of artisans and laborers for temporary service, manufacturing government equipment, the maintenance of roads and canals, standardization of weights and measures, and the gathering of resources from the countryside.[89] Sony VAIO VGN-Z25 Battery

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Demographics

In the 2001 census [INDEC], Argentina had a population of 36,260,130, and preliminary results from the 2010 census were of 40,091,359 inhabitants.[100][101] Argentina ranks third in South America in total population and 33rd globally. Sony VAIO VGN-Z36GD/J Battery

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Population density is of 15 persons per square kilometer of land area, well below the world average of 50 persons. The population growth rate in 2010 was an estimated 1.03% annually, with a birth rate of 17.7 live births per 1,000 inhabitants and a mortality rate of 7.4 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. Sony VAIO VGN-Z36TD/J Battery

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The net migration rate has ranged from zero to four immigrants per 1,000 inhabitants.[102]

The proportion of people under 15 is 25.6%, somewhat below the world average of 28%, and the proportion of people 65 and older is relatively high at 10.8%. In Latin America this is second only toUruguay and well above the world average, which is currently 7%.Sony VAIO VGN-Z37D/B Battery

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Argentina has one of Latin America's lowest population growth rates, recently about 1% a year, as well as a comparatively low infant mortality rate. Its birth rate of 2.3 children per woman is still nearly twice as high as that in Spain or Italy, compared here as they have similar religious practices and proportions.[103][104] Sony VAIO VGN-Z37GD/X Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z39D Battery

The median age is approximately 30 years and life expectancy at birth is 76.7 years.[102]

Ethnography

As with other areas of new settlement such as Canada, Australia, and the United States, Argentina is considered a country of immigrants.[105] Sony VAIO VGN-Z39D/X Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z41MD/B Battery

Most Argentines are descended from colonial-era settlers, and 19th and 20th century immigrants from Europe.[2]Argentina was second only to the US in the numbers of European immigrants received and, at those times, the national population doubled every two decades. The majority of these European immigrants came from Italy and Spain.[106] Sony VAIO VGN-Z41WD/B Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z45GD/B Battery

86.4% of Argentina's population self-identify as being of European descent. An estimated 8% of the population is Mestizo and 4% of Argentines are ofArab or Asian heritage.[citation needed]

Recent Illegal immigration has mostly been coming from Bolivia and Paraguay, with smaller numbers from Peru, Ecuador andRomania.[107] Sony VAIO VGN-Z45TD/B Battery

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The Argentine government estimates that 750,000 inhabitants lack official documents and has launched a program called Patria Grande ("Greater Homeland")[108] to encourage illegal immigrants to declare their status in return for two-year residence visas——so far over 670,000 applications have been processed under the program.[109] Sony VAIO VGN-Z46GD/U Battery

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Religion

The Constitution guarantees freedom of religion but also requires the government to support Roman Catholicism economically.[110]Until 1994 the President and Vice President had to be Roman Catholic, though there were no such restrictions on other government officials; Sony VAIO VGN-Z46SD/B Battery

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although since 1945 members of other religious groups have held prominent posts. Catholic policy remains influential in government though, and still helps shape a variety of legislation.[111] In a study assessing world-wide levels of religious regulation and persecution, with scores ranging from 0–10 where 0 represented low levels of regulation or persecution, Sony VAIO VGN-Z46TD/R Battery

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Argentina received a score of 1.4 on Government Regulation of Religion, 6.0 on Social Regulation of Religion, 6.9 on Government Favoritism of Religion and 6 on Religious Persecution.[112] Sony VAIO VGN-Z48GD/X Battery

According to the World Christian Database Argentines are: 92.1% Christian, 3.1% agnostic, 1.9% Muslim, 1.3% Jewish, 0.9% atheist, and 0.9% Buddhist and others.[113] Argentine Christians are mostly Roman Catholic with estimates for the number of Catholics varying from 70%[114] to 90% of the population[115] (though perhaps only 20% attend services regularly).[102] Sony VAIO VGN-Z48TD/X Battery

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Evangelical churches have been gaining a foothold since the 1980s with approximately 9% of the total population,[116]Pentecostalchurches and traditional Protestant denominations are present in most communities and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints claims 330,000 followers in Argentina (their seventh-largest congregation in the world).[117] Sony VAIO VGN-Z51XG/B Battery

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Argentina has the largest Jewish population of any country in Latin America.[118] A recent study found that approximately 11% of Argentines are non-religious (which includes those who believe in God but do not follow a religion), 4% are agnostics and 5% areatheist. Overall 24% attended religious services regularly. Sony VAIO VGN-Z540EBB Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z540NLB Battery

Protestants were the only group with a majority of followers who regularly attended services.[116]

Language

The de facto official language of Argentina is Spanish, usually called castellano (Castilian) by Argentines. Sony VAIO VGN-Z540NMB Battery

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Argentina is the largest Spanish-speaking society that universally employs voseo (the use of the pronoun vos instead of tú (you), which occasions the use of alternate verb forms as well). The most prevalent dialect is Rioplatense, whose speakers are primarily located in theRío de la Plata basin. Sony VAIO VGN-Z55F Battery

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Italian and other European immigrants influenced Lunfardo, the slang spoken in the Río de la Plata region, permeating the vernacular vocabulary of other regions as well. A phonetic study conducted by the Laboratory for Sensory Investigations of CONICET and the University of Toronto showed that the accent of the inhabitants of Buenos Aires (known asporteños) is closer to the Neapolitan language, spoken in Southern Italy, than any other spoken language.[119] Sony VAIO VGN-Z56GG/B Battery

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According to Ethnologue there are around 1.5 million Italian speakers (making it the second most spoken language in the country) and 1 million speakers of the North Levantine dialect of Arabic (spoken in Syria, Lebanon and Cyprus).[120] Standard German is spoken by 400,000—500,000 Argentines of German ancestry,[120] making it the fourth most spoken language. Sony VAIO VGN-Z56TG/B Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z56TG/E Battery

Some indigenous communities have retained their original languages. Guaraní is spoken by some in the north east, especially in Corrientes (where it enjoys official status) and Misiones. Quechua is spoken by some in the north west and has a local variant inSantiago del Estero. Sony VAIO VGN-Z56TG/R Battery

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Aymara is spoken by members of the Bolivian immigrant community. In Patagonia there are Welsh-speaking communities with around 25,000 using it as their second-language.[120] Recent immigrants have brought Chinese and Korean (mostly to Buenos Aires). Sony VAIO VGN-Z57G Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z57GG/X Battery

English, Brazilian Portuguese and French are also spoken. English is commonly taught at schools as a second language with Portuguese and French to a lesser extent.[citation needed]

Popular genetics

Studies conducted by researchers from Argentine and French scientific institutions concluded that: Sony VAIO VGN-Z57GGX Battery

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The average genetic admixture of Argentina's population is of 79.9% European, 15.8% Amerindian and 4.3% African. Another study by Argentine, Swedish, Guatemalan, and North American scientific institutions, under the direction of Michael F. Seldin from the University of California concluded that: Sony VAIO VGN-Z58GG/X Battery

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The genetic average of Argentine's population is 78% European, 19.4% Amerindian and 2.5% African.[121]

Urbanization

Argentina is highly urbanized.[122] The ten largest metropolitan areas account for half of the population, and fewer than one in ten live in rural areas. Sony VAIO VGN-Z590UAB Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z591U/B Battery

About 3 million people live in Buenos Aires City and the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area totals around 13 million, making it one of the largest urban areas in the world.[123]

The metropolitan areas of Córdoba and Rosario have around 1.3 million inhabitants each[123] and Mendoza, Tucumán, La Plata, Mar del Plata, Salta and Santa Fe[123][124]have at least half a million people each. Sony VAIO VGN-Z59G Battery

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The population is unequally distributed amongst the provinces: about 60% live in the Pampa region (21% of the total area), including 15 million people in Buenos Aires Province; Córdoba Province Santa Fe Province and the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires have 3 million each. Sony VAIO VGN-Z620N/B Battery

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Seven other provinces have over one million people each: Mendoza, Tucumán, Entre Ríos, Salta, Chaco, Corrientes and Misiones. Tucumán is the most densely populated with 60 inhabitants/km², the only Argentine province more densely populated than the world average, while the southern province of Santa Cruz has around 1 inhabitant/km².Sony VAIO VGN-Z670N/B Battery

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Most European immigrants settled in the cities, and the many small towns founded along the expanding railway system. From the 1930s rural migration into the nation's larger cities accounted for much of their population growth.[17] Argentine cities were originally built in a colonial Spanish grid style and many still retain this general layout, which is known as a damero (checkerboard).Sony VAIO VGN-Z690NAX Battery

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Most of the larger cities also feature boulevards and diagonal avenues inspired by Haussmann's renovation of Paris. The city of La Plata, designed at the end of the 19th century by Pedro Benoit, combines the checkerboard layout with added diagonal avenues at fixed intervals——it was also the first in South America to have electric street lights.[125] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PCB Battery

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Culture

Argentine culture has significant European influences. Buenos Aires, its cultural capital, is largely characterized by both the prevalence of people of European descent, and of conscious imitation of European styles in architecture.[127] Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PEB Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z690PFB Battery

The other big influence is the gauchos and their traditional country lifestyle of self-reliance. Finally, indigenous American traditions (like yerba mate infusions) have been absorbed into the general cultural milieu.

Literature

Argentina has a rich literary history, as well as one of the region's most active publishing industries. Sony VAIO VGN-Z690YAD Battery

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Argentine writers have figured prominently in Latin American literature since becoming a fully united entity in the 1850s. The struggle between the Federalists (who favored a loose confederation of provinces based on rural conservatism) and the Unitarians (pro-liberalism and advocates of a strong central government that would encourage European immigration), set the tone for Argentine literature of the time.[128] Sony VAIO VGN-Z691Y/X Battery

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The ideological divide between gaucho epic Martín Fierro by José Hernández, and Facundo[129] by Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, is a great example. Hernández, a federalist, was opposed to the centralizing, modernizing and Europeanizing tendencies. Sony VAIO VGN-Z699JAB Battery

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Sarmiento wrote in support of immigration as the only way to save Argentina from becoming subject to the rule of a small number of dictatorial caudillo families, arguing such immigrants would make Argentina more modern and open to Western European influences and therefore a more prosperous society.[130] Sony VAIO VGN-Z71JB Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z73FB Battery

Argentine literature of that period was fiercely nationalist. It was followed by the modernist movement, which emerged in France in the late 19th century, and this period in turn was followed by vanguardism, with Ricardo Güiraldes as an important reference. Sony VAIO VGN-Z790DKX Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z790DMR Battery

Jorge Luis Borges, its most acclaimed writer, found new ways of looking at the modern world in metaphor and philosophical debate and his influence has extended to writers all over the globe. Borges is most famous for his works in short stories such as Ficciones and The Aleph. Sony VAIO VGN-Z790DND Battery

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Some of the nation's notable writers, poets and intellectuals include: Juan Bautista Alberdi, Roberto Arlt, Enrique Banchs, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Silvina Bullrich, Eugenio Cambaceres, Julio Cortázar, Esteban Echeverría, Leopoldo Lugones, Eduardo Mallea, Sony VAIO VGN-Z820G/B Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z890GLX Battery

Ezequiel Martínez Estrada, Tomás Eloy Martínez, Victoria Ocampo, Manuel Puig, Ernesto Sabato, Osvaldo Soriano, Alfonsina Storni and María Elena Walsh.

Visual arts

Numerous Argentine architects have enriched their own country's cityscapes and, in recent decades, those around the world. Sony VAIO VGN-Z890GMR Battery

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Juan Antonio Buschiazzo helped popularize Beaux-Arts architecture and Francisco Gianotti combined Art Nouveau with Italianate styles, each adding flair to Argentine cities during the early 20th century. Francisco Salamone and Viktor Sul?i? left an Art Deco legacy, and Alejandro Bustillo created a prolific body of Rationalist architecture. Sony VAIO VGN-Z90FS Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z90NS Battery

Clorindo Testa introduced Brutalist architecturelocally and César Pelli's and Patricio Pouchulu's Futurist creations have graced cities, worldwide. Pelli's 1980s throwbacks to the Art Deco glory of the 1920s, in particular, made him one of the world's most prestigious architects. Sony VAIO VGN-Z90PS Battery

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One of the most influential Argentine figures in fine arts was Xul Solar, whose surrealist work used watercolors as readily as unorthodox painting media; he also "invented" two imaginary languages. The works of Cándido López and Florencio Molina Campos(inNaïve art style), Sony VAIO VGN-Z90US Battery

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Ernesto de la Cárcova and Eduardo Sívori (realism), Fernando Fader (impressionism), Pío Collivadinoand Cesáreo Bernaldo de Quirós (post-impressionist), Emilio Pettoruti (cubist), Antonio Berni (neo-figurative), Gyula Košice(constructivism),Eduardo Mac Entyre (Generative art), Guillermo Kuitca (abstract), and Roberto Aizenberg (Surrealism) are a few of the best-known Argentine painters. Sony VAIO VGN-Z91JS Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z91PS Battery

Others include Benito Quinquela Martín, a quintessential 'port' painter for whom the working class and immigrant-bound La Bocaneighborhood, in particular, was excellently suited. A similar environment inspired Adolfo Bellocq, whose lithographs have been influential since the 1920s. Sony VAIO VGN-Z91YS Battery

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Evocative monuments ny Realist sculptors Erminio Blotta, Lola Mora and Rogelio Yrurtia became the part of the national landscape and today, Lucio Fontana and León Ferrari are acclaimed sculptors and conceptual artists. Ciruelois a world-famous fantasy artist and sculptor, and Marta Minujín is an innovative Conceptual artist. Sony VAIO VGN-Z92PS Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z92YS Battery

Film and theatre

The Argentine film industry creates around 80 full-length motion pictures annually.[127][131] The per capita number of screens is one of the highest in Latin America, and viewing per capita is the highest in the region.[128] Sony VAIO VGN-Z93FS Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-Z93GS Battery

The world's first animated feature filmswere made and released in Argentina, by cartoonist Quirino Cristiani, in 1917 and 1918.[132]Since the 1980s, Argentine films have achieved worldwide recognition, such as The Official Story (Best foreign film oscar in 1986),Sony VAIO VGN-Z93HS Battery

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Man Facing Southeast, A Place in the World, Nine Queens, Son of the Bride, The Motorcycle Diaries, Blessed by Fire, and The Secret in Their Eyes, winner of the 2009Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. A new generation of Argentine directors has caught the attention of critics worldwide.[133] Sony A1258274A Battery

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Argentine composers Luis Enrique Bacalov and Gustavo Santaolalla have been honored with Academy Award for Best Original Score nods. Lalo Schifrin has received numerous Grammys and is best known for the Theme from Mission: Impossible.

Buenos Aires is one of the great capitals of theater.[128] Sony VGP-BPS10 Battery

Sony VGP-BPS10/S Battery

The Teatro Colón is a national landmark for opera and classical performances; its acoustics are considered the best in the world.[127]With its theatre scene of national and international caliber, Corrientes Avenue is synonymous with the art. It is thought of as 'the street that never sleeps' and sometimes referred to as the Broadway of Buenos Aires.[134] Sony VGP-BPS10A/B Battery

Sony VGP-BPS10B Battery

The Teatro General San Martín is one of the most prestigious along Corrientes Avenue and the Teatro Nacional Cervantes functions as the national stage theater of Argentina. The Teatro Argentino de La Plata, El Círculoin Rosario,Independencia in Mendoza and Libertador in Córdoba are also prominent. Sony VGP-BPS10A Battery

Sony VGP-BPS11 Battery

Griselda Gambaro, Copi, Roberto Cossa, Marco Denevi, Carlos Gorostiza, and Alberto Vaccarezzaare a few of the more prominent Argentine playwrights. Julio Bocca, Jorge Donn, José Neglia and Norma Fontenla are some of the great ballet dancers of the modern era. Sony VGP-BPL11 Battery

Sony VGP-BPL12 Battery

Music

Tango, the music and lyrics (often sung in a form of slang called lunfardo), is Argentina's musical symbol. It has influences from the European and African culture.[135][136] The golden age of tango (1930 to mid-1950s) mirrored that of jazz and swing in the United States, Sony VGP-BPS12 Battery

Sony VGP-BPL13 Battery

featuring large orchestral groups too, like the bands of Osvaldo Pugliese, Aníbal Troilo, Francisco Canaro, Julio de Caroand Juan d'Arienzo. Incorporating acoustic music and later, synthesizers into the genre after 1955, bandoneón virtuosoÁstor Piazzolla popularized "new tango" creating a more subtle, Sony VGP-BPS13 Battery

Sony VGP-BPS13/B Battery

intellectual and listener-oriented trend. Today tango enjoys worldwide popularity; ever-evolving, neo-tango is a global phenomenon with renown groups like Tanghetto, Bajofondo and the Gotan Project.

Argentine rock developed as a distinct musical style in the mid-1960s, when Buenos Aires and Rosario became cradles of several garage groups and aspiring musicians. Sony VGP-BPS13/S Battery,Sony VGP-BPS13/S Battery

Today it is widely considered the most prolific and successful form of Rock en Español.[citation needed] Bands such as Soda Stereo or Sumo, and composers like Charly García, Luis Alberto Spinetta, and Fito Páezare referents of national culture. Serú Girán bridged the gap into the 1980s, when Argentine bands became popular across Latin America and elsewhere. Sony VGP-BPS13A/B Battery

Sony VGP-BPS13A/S Battery

Current popular bands include: Babasónicos, Rata Blanca, Horcas, Attaque 77, Bersuit, Los Piojos,Intoxicados, Catupecu Machu, Carajo and Miranda!.

European classical music is well represented in Argentina. Buenos Aires is home to the world-renowned Colón Theater. Sony VGP-BPS13AS Battery

Sony VGP-BPS13B/B Battery

Classical musicians, such as Martha Argerich, Eduardo Alonso-Crespo, Daniel Barenboim, Eduardo Delgado and Alberto Lysy, and classical composers such as Juan José Castro and Alberto Ginastera are internationally acclaimed. Some cities have annual events and important classical music festivals like Semana Musical Llao Llao in San Carlos de Bariloche and the multitudinous Amadeus in Buenos Aires. Sony VGP-BPS13B/Q Battery,Sony VGP-BPS13B/S Battery

Beyond dozens of regional dances, a national Argentine folk style emerged in the 1930s. Perón's Argentina would give rise to nueva canción, as artists began expressing in their music objections to political themes. The style went on to influence the entirety of Latin American music.[137] Sony VGP-BPS13Q Battery

Sony VGP-BPS13S Battery

Today, Chango Spasiuk and Soledad Pastorutti have brought folk back to younger generations. León Gieco's folk-rock bridged the gap between Argentine folklore and Argentine rock, introducing both styles to millions overseas in successive tours. Sony VGP-BPL7 Battery,Sony VGP-BPS7 Battery

Media

The print media industry is highly developed and independent of the government, with more than two hundred newspapers. The major national newspapers are from Buenos Aires, including the centrist Clarín, the best-selling daily in Latin America and the second most widely circulated in the Spanish-speaking world.[138] Sony VGP-BPL8 Battery,Sony VGP-BPL8A Battery

Other nationally circulated papers are La Nación (center-right, published since 1870), Página/12 (left-wing), Ámbito Financiero (business conservative), Olé (sports) andCrónica (populist). The most circulated newsmagazine is Noticias.[139] Sony VGP-BPL8B Battery,Sony VGP-BPS8 Battery

Radio broadcasting in Argentina is predated only by radio in the United States, and began on 27 August 1920, when Richard Wagner's Parsifal was broadcast by a team of medical students led Enrique Susini in Buenos Aires' Teatro Coliseo.[140] There are currently 260 AM broadcasting and 1150 FM broadcasting radio stations in Argentina.[141] Sony VGP-BPS8A Battery,Sony VGP-BPS8B Battery

The Argentine television industry is large and diverse, widely viewed in Latin America, and its productions seen around the world. Argentines enjoy the highest availability of cable and satellite television in Latin America, similar to percentages in North America.[142] Sony VGP-BPL9 Battery,Sony VGP-BPS9 Battery

Argentine comic artists have contributed prominently to national culture, including Alberto Breccia, Dante Quinterno, Oski, Francisco Solano López, Horacio Altuna,Guillermo Mordillo, Roberto Fontanarrosa, whose grotesque characters captured life's absurdities with quick-witted commentary, and Quino, known for the soup-hatingMafalda and her comic strip gang of childhood friends. Sony VGP-BPS9/B Battery,Sony VGP-BPS9/S Battery

Sports

The official national sport of Argentina is pato,[143] played with a six-handle ball on horseback, but the most popular sport is association football.[144] The national football team has won 25 major international titles[145] including two FIFA World Cups, two Olympic gold medals and fourteen Copa Américas.[146] Sony VGP-BPS9A Battery

Sony VGP-BPS9A/B Battery

Over one thousand Argentine players play abroad, the majority of them in European football leagues.[147] There are 331,811 registered football players,[148] with increasing numbers of girls and women, who have organized their own national championships since 1991 and were South American champions in 2006. Sony VGP-BPS9A/S Battery

Sony VGP-BPS9B Battery

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) was formed in 1893 and is the eighth oldest national football association in the world. The AFA today counts 3,377 football clubs,[148] including 20 in the Premier Division. Sony VGP-BPX11 Battery

Since the AFA went professional in 1931, fifteen teams have won national tournament titles, including River Plate with 33 and Boca Juniors with 24.[149] Over the last twenty years, futsal and beach soccer have become increasingly popular. The Argentine beach football team was one of four competitors in the first international championship for the sport, in Miami, in 1993.[150] Sony VGP-BPL18 Battery

Sony VGP-BPS18 Battery

Basketball is the second most popular sport; a number of basketball players play in the U.S. National Basketball Association and European leagues including Manu Ginóbili, Andrés Nocioni, Carlos Delfino, Luis Scola and Fabricio Oberto. The men's national basketball team won Olympic gold in the 2004 Olympics and the bronze medal in 2008. Sony VGP-BPL20 Battery

Sony VGP-BPS20/B Battery

Argentina is currently ranked first by the International Basketball Federation. Argentina has an important rugby union football team, "Los Pumas", with many of its players playing in Europe. Argentina beat host nation France twice in the 2007 Rugby World Cup, placing them third in the competition. Sony VGP-BPS20/S Battery

Sony VGP-BPL21 Battery

The Pumas are currently eighth in theofficial world rankings.[151] Other popular sports include field hockey (particularly amongst women), tennis, auto racing, boxing, volleyball, polo and golf.

The Vamos vamos Argentina chant is a trademark of Argentine fans during sporting events. Sony VGP-BPS21 Battery

Sony VGP-BPS21/S Battery

Cuisine

Besides many of the pasta, sausage and dessert dishes common to continental Europe, Argentines enjoy a wide variety of Indigenous and Criollo creations, which include empanadas (a stuffed pastry), locro (a mixture of corn, beans, meat, bacon, onion, and gourd), humitas and yerba mate, all originally indigenous Amerindian staples, the latter considered Argentina's national beverage.Sony VGP-BPS21A Battery

Sony VGP-BPS21A/B Battery

Other popular items include chorizo (a spicy sausage), facturas (Viennese-style pastry) and Dulce de leche, a sort of milk carameljam.

The Argentine barbecue, asado as well as a parrillada, includes various types of meats, among them chorizo, sweetbread, chitterlings, and morcilla (blood sausage). Sony VGP-BPS21B Battery,Sony VGP-BPL22 Battery

Thin sandwiches, sandwiches de miga, are also popular. Argentines have the highest consumption of red meat in the world.[152]

The Argentine wine industry, long among the largest outside Europe, has benefited from growing investment since 1992; in 2007,Sony VGP-BPS22 Battery

Sony VGP-BPS22/A Battery

60% of foreign investment worldwide inviticulture was destined to Argentina.[153] The country is the fifth most important wine producer in the world,[154] with the annual per capita consumption of wine among the highest. Malbec grape, a discardable varietal in France (country of origin), has found in the Province of Mendoza an ideal environment to successfully develop and turn itself into the world's best Malbec.[153] Sony VGP-BPS22A Battery,Sony VGP-BPL23 Battery

Mendoza accounts for 70% of the country's total wine production. "Wine tourism" is important in Mendoza province, with the impressive landscape of the Cordillera de Los Andes and the highest peak in the Americas, Mount Aconcagua, 6,952 m (22,808 ft) high, providing a very desirable destination for international tourism. Sony VGP-BPS23 Battery

National emblems

Argentina has a number of national symbols, some of which are extensively defined by law.[155]

The National Flag consists of three, equal in width, horizontal stripes, colored light blue, white and light blue, with the Sun of May in the centre of the middle, white stripe. Sony VGP-BPS23/B Battery,Sony VGP-BPS23/D Battery

The flag was designed by Manuel Belgrano in 1812; it was adopted as a national symbol 20 July 1816. The Coat of Arms of Argentina, which represents the union of the provinces, came into use in 1813 as a seal for official documents. Sony VGP-BPS23/G Battery

The Argentine National Anthem, adopted in 1813, was written by Vicente López y Planes with music by Blas Parera. It has been subsequently shortened to only three paragraphs, after omitting the lyrics' attacks against former occupant Spain. Sony VGP-BPS23/P Battery

The Cockade of Argentina was first used during the May Revolution of 1810 and was made official two years later. The Hornero, habitating practically across all the national territory, was unanimously designated as Argentina's national animal in 1927. The ceibois the country's designated national flower and tree,[155]

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while the horseback game of pato is its national sport.[156] Asado is the designated national dish, the Rhodochrosite the national stone, and wine the national liquor.[157]

Education

After independence Argentina built a national public education system in comparison to other nations, placing the country high in the global rankings of literacy. Sony Limited Edition 007 Battery,Sony VAIO VGC-LB15 Battery

Today Argentina has a literacy rate of 97%, and three in eight adults over age 20 have completed secondary school studies or higher.[73]

School attendance is compulsory between the ages of 5 and 17. The Argentine school system consists of an elementary or lower school level lasting six or seven years, and a secondary or high school level lasting between five to six years. Sony VGN-AR Series Battery,Sony VGN-CR Series Battery

In the 1990s, the system was split into different types of high school instruction, called Educacion Secundaria and the Polimodal. Some provinces adopted the Polimodal while others did not. A project in the executive branch to repeal this measure and return to a more traditional secondary level system was approved in 2006.[158] Sony VIAO VGN-G Series Battery,Sony VIAO VGN-G118 Battery

President Domingo Faustino Sarmiento is credited with pushing for and implementing a free and modern education system in Argentina. The 1918 university reform shaped the current tripartite representation of most public universities.

Education is funded by tax payers at all levels except for the majority of graduate studies. Sony VIAO VGN-G118CN/B Battery

Sony VIAO VGN-G118CN/T Battery

There are many private school institutions in the primary, secondary and university levels. Around 11.4 million people were enrolled in formal education of some kind in 2006, including 1.5 million in the nation's 85 universities.[73]

Public education in Argentina is tuition-free from the elementary to the university levels. Sony VIAO VGN-G218 Battery,Sony VGN-TZ121 Battery

Though literacy was nearly universal as early as 1947,[73] the majority of Argentine youth had little access to education beyond the compulsory seven years of grade school during the first half of the 20th century; since then, when the tuition-free system was extended to the secondary and university levels, demand for these facilities has often outstripped budgets (particularly since the 1970s).[159] Sony VGN-TZ13 Battery,Sony VGN-TZ131 Battery

Consequently, public education is now widely found wanting and in decline; this has helped private education flourish, though it has also caused a marked inequity between those who can afford it (usually the middle and upper classes) and the rest of society, as private schools often have no scholarship systems in place. Sony VGN-TZ132N Battery,Sony VGN-TZ132/N Battery

Roughly one in four primary and secondary students and one in six university students attend private institutions.[73][159]

There are thirty-eight public universities across the country,[160] as well as numerous private ones. Sony VGN-TZ17N Battery,Sony VGN-TZ16N Battery

The University of Buenos Aires, Universidad Nacional de Córdoba,Universidad Nacional de La Plata, Universidad Nacional de Rosario, and the National Technological University are among the most important. Public universities faced cutbacks in spending during the 1980s and 1990s, which led to a decline in overall quality. Sony VGN-TZ18N Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-AR47G/E1 Battery

Health care

Health care is provided through a combination of employer and labor union-sponsored plans (Obras Sociales), government insurance plans, public hospitals and clinics and through private health insurance plans. Sony VAIO VGN-AR520E Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-AR53DB Battery

Government efforts to improve public health can be traced to Spanish Viceroy Juan José de Vértiz's first Medical Tribunal of 1780.[162] Following independence, medical schools were established at the University of Buenos Aires (1822) and the National University of Córdoba (1877). Sony VAIO VGN-AR54DB Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-AR550E Battery

The training of doctors and nurses at these and other schools enabled the rapid development of health care cooperatives, which during the presidency of Juan Perón became publicly subsidized Obras Sociales. Today, these number over 300 (of which 200 are related to labor unions) and provide health care for half the population; Sony VAIO VGN-AR55DB Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-AR630E Battery

the national INSSJP (popularly known as PAMI) covers nearly all of the five million senior citizens.[163]

Health care costs amount to almost 10% of GDP and have been growing in pace with the proportion of Argentines over 65 (7% in 1970). Sony VAIO VGN-AR64DB Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-AR65DB Battery

Public and private spending have historically split this about evenly: public funds are mainly spent through Obras, which in turn, refer patients needing hospitalization to private and public clinics; private funds are spent evenly between private insurers' coverage and out-of-pocket expenses.[164][165] Sony VAIO VGN-AR660U Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-AR690U Battery

There are more than 153,000 hospital beds, 121,000 physicians and 37,000 dentists (ratios comparable to developed nations).[166][167] The relatively high access to medical care has historically resulted in mortality patterns and trends similar to developed nations': from 1953 to 2005, Sony VAIO VGN-AR71ZU Battery

Sony VAIO VGN-AR730E/B Battery

deaths from cardiovascular disease increased from 20% to 23% of the total, those from tumors from 14% to 20%, respiratoryproblems from 7% to 14%, digestive maladies (non-infectious) from 7% to 11%, strokes a steady 7%, injuries, 6%, and infectious diseases, 4%. Causes related to senility led to many of the rest. Infant deaths have fallen from 19% of all deaths in 1953 to 3% in 2005.[166][168] Sony VAIO VGN-AR73DB Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-AR74DB Battery

The availability of health care has also reduced infant mortality from 70 per 1000 live births in 1948[169] to 12.1 in 2009[166] and raised life expectancy at birth from 60 years to 76.[169] Though these figures compare favorably with global averages, they fall short of levels in developed nations and in 2006, Argentina ranked fourth in Latin America. Sony VAIO VGN-AR75UDB Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-AR790U/B Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-AR820E Battery,Sony VAIO VGN-AR830E Battery, Sony VAIO VGN-AR83S Battery

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Jeudi 9 février 2012 4 09 /02 /Fév /2012 04:10

The Argentine Republic

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires. It is the eighth-largest country in the world by land area and the largest among Spanish-speaking nations. Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX Battery,Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/BI Battery

Argentina's continental area is between the Andes mountain range in the west and the Atlantic Ocean in the east. It borders Paraguayand Bolivia to the north, Brazil and Uruguay to the northeast, and Chile to the west and south. Argentine claims over Antarctica, as well as overlapping claims made by Chile and the United Kingdom, are suspended by the Antarctic Treaty of 1961. Sony VAIO VPCEB1LFX/WI Battery,Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX Battery

Argentina also claims the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas) and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are administered by the United Kingdom as British Overseas Territories.

A recognised middle power,[12] Argentina is Latin America's third-largest economy,[13] Sony VAIO VPCEB1MFX/BI Battery

Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX Battery

with a "very high" rating on the Human development index.[11] Within Latin America, Argentina has the fifth highest nominal GDP per capita and the highest in purchasing power terms.[14] Analysts[15] have argued that the country has a "foundation for future growth due to its market size, levels of foreign direct investment, Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/B Battery,Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/L Battery

and percentage of high-tech exports as share of total manufactured goods", and it is classed by investors as an emerging economy. Argentina is a founding member of the United Nations, Mercosur, the Union of South American Nations, the Organization of Ibero-American States, theWorld Bank Group and the World Trade Organization, and is one of the G-15 and G-20 major economies. Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/P Battery

Sony VAIO VPCEB1NFX/W Battery

Etymology

Argentina is derived from the poetic Spanish argento ("silver"). The first use of Argentina can be traced to the 1602 poem La Argentina y conquista del Río de la Plata (Argentina and the conquest of the silver river) by Martín del Barco Centenera. Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX Battery,Sony VAIO VPCEB1PFX/B Battery

Although this name for the La Plata Basin was already in common usage by the 18th century, the area was formally called Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776. The autonomous governments that emerged from the 1810 May Revolution replaced "Viceroyalty" with "United Provinces".[7] Sony VAIO VPCEB1QGX Battery

One of the first prominent uses of the demonym "Argentine" was in the 1812 first Argentine National Anthem, which made reference to the ongoing Argentine War of Independence. The first formal use of the name was in the 1826 constitution, which used both the terms "Argentine Republic" and "Argentine Nation".[16] TSony VAIO VPCEB1QGX/BI Battery,Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX Battery

he Constitution was repealed, and the territories were instead known as the "Argentine Confederation". This name was used in the 1853 Constitution, being changed to that of the "Argentine Nation" in 1859, and to the "Argentine Republic" per an 1860 decree, when the country achieved its current organization. Sony VAIO VPCEB1RGX/BI Battery,Sony VAIO VPCEB20 Battery

Nevertheless, the names of the "United Provinces of the Río de la Plata", "Argentine Republic" and "Argentine Confederation" are acknowledged as legitimate names of the country.[1][7]

Early history

The earliest evidence of humans in Argentina dates from 11,000 BC and was found in Patagonia (Piedra Museo, Santa Cruz). Sony VAIO VPCEC20 Battery

Sony VAIO VPCEE20 Battery

These finds were of the Diaguitas, Huarpes, and Sanavirones indigenous peoples, among others. The Inca Empire, under Sapa-Inca Pachacutec, invaded and conquered present-day north-western Argentina in 1480, a feat usually attributed to Túpac Inca Yupanqui. The tribes of Omaguacas, Atacamas, Huarpes and Diaguitas were defeated and integrated into a region calledCollasuyu.Sony VAIO VPCEF20 Battery

Sony VAIO VPCF112FX/B Battery

Others, such as the Sanavirones, Lule-Tonocoté, and Comechingones, resisted the Incas and remained independent from them. The Guaraní developed a culture based on yuca, sweet potato, and yerba mate. The central and southern areas (Pampas and Patagonia) were dominated by nomadic cultures, the most populous among them being the Mapuches.[17] Sony VAIO VPCF115FG/B Battery

Sony VAIO VPCF116FGBI Battery

The Atacaman settlement ofTastil in the north had an estimated population of 2,000 people, the highest populated area in pre-Columbian Argentina.

The most advanced indigenous populations were the Charrúas and Guaraníes, who developed some basic agriculture and the use ofpottery. Sony VAIO VPCF117FJ/W Battery

Sony VAIO VPCF117HG/BI Battery

Most of their population was located in other South American sites, however, and their presence in the territory of modern Argentina was scarce by comparison.[18]

Colonial period

The first European explorer, Juan Díaz de Solís, arrived to the Río de la Plata in 1516. Sony VAIO VPCF118FJ/W Battery,Sony VAIO VPCF119FC Battery

Spain established the Viceroyalty of Peruin 1542, encompassing all its holdings in South America. Their first settlement in modern Argentina was the fort of Sancti Spiritu, established in 1527 next to the Paraná River. Buenos Aires, a permanent colony, was established in 1536 but was destroyed by natives. The city was established again in 1580. Sony VAIO VPCF119FC/BI Battery

Sony VAIO VPCF119FJ/BI Battery

The colonization of modern Argentina came from 3 different directions: from Paraguay, establishing the Governorate of the Río de la Plata, from Peru and from Chile.[19]

The Spanish society in the Americas was organized in a system of castas. The European-born Spanish peninsulars were at the top of the social hierachy, as were the people from other European countries. Sony VAIO VPCF11AFJ Battery

Sony VAIO VPCF11AGJ Battery

The Spanish born in the Americas were known as criollos. Most natives stayed away from the Spanish cities, and the Spaniards brought African slaves as well. The relations of peoples from different castas (in most cases, male Spaniards and female natives) generated the mestizos. Most of them lived in the countryside, and became the Argentine gauchos.[20] Sony VAIO VPCF11AHJ Battery

Sony VAIO VPCF11JFX/B Battery

Buenos Aires became the capital of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata in 1776, with territories from the Viceroyalty of Peru. Buenos Aires and Montevideo resisted two ill-fated British invasions in 1806 and 1807. The resistance was headed both times by the French Santiago de Liniers, who would become viceroy through popular support. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E Battery,Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H Battery

The ideas of the Age of Enlightenment and the example of the Atlantic Revolutionsgenerated criticism to the Absolute monarchy. The overthrow of the Spanish King Ferdinand VIIduring the Peninsular War created great concern in the Americas, so many cities deposed the monarchic authorities and apppointed new ones, working under the new political ideas. Sony VAIO VPCF11MFX/B Battery

Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E Battery

This started the Spanish American wars of independenceacross the continent. Buenos Aires deposed the viceroy Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros in 1810, during the May Revolution.[21]

Independence and civil wars

The May Revolution began the Argentine War of Independence between patriots and royalists. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B Battery

Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E Battery

The Primera Junta, the new government in Buenos Aires, sent military campaigns to Córdoba, Upper Peru and Paraguay, and supported the rebellions at the Banda Oriental. The military campaigns were defeated and colonial Brazil supported the royalists at Montevideo, so Buenos Aires signed an armistice.[22] Sony VAIO VPCF11Z1E/BI Battery,Sony VAIO VPCF11ZHJ Battery

Paraguay stayed Non-interventionist during the remainder of the conflict, Upper Peru defeated further military campaigns, and the Banda Oriental would be captured by William Brown during renewed hostilities. The national organization, either under a centralized governmentlocated in Buenos Aires or as a federation, began the Argentine Civil Wars as well, with the conflicts of Buenos Aires and José Gervasio Artigas.[23] Sony VAIO VPCF127HGBI Battery

Sony VAIO VPCF137HG/BI Battery

The Argentine Declaration of Independence was issued by the Congress of Tucumán in 1816. Martín Miguel de Güemes kept royalists at bay on the North, while José de San Martín made the Crossing of the Andes, securing the independence of Chile. With the Chilean navy at his disposal he then took the fight to the royalist stronghold of Lima. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/B Battery

Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/D Battery

San Martín's military campaigns complemented those of Simón Bolívarin Gran Colombia and led to the independent's victory in the Spanish American wars of independence.[24]

The 1820 Battle of Cepeda, fought between the Centralists and the Federalists, resulted in the end of the centralized national authority and created a power vacuum. Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/G Battery,Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/P Battery,Sony VAIO VPC-P111KX/W Battery

A new constitution was enacted in 1826, during the War with Brazil, and Bernardino Rivadavia was appointed the firstPresident of Argentina. This constitution was soon rejected by the provinces, due to its centralist bias, and Rivadavia resigned shortly after. The new governor Manuel Dorrego was deposed and executed by Juan Lavalle, which exacerbated the civil war. Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/B Battery

Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/D Battery

Juan Manuel de Rosas, who was so far a mere rancher, organized the resistance against Lavalle and restored the deposed authorities. The provinces then reorganized themselves as the Argentine Confederation, a loose confederationof provinces that lacked a common head of state. They would instead delegate some important powers to the governor of Buenos Aires Province, such as debt payment or the management of international relations.[25] Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/G Battery

Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/P Battery

Juan Manuel de Rosas ruled from 1829 to 1832, and from 1835 to 1852. During his first term he convened the Federal pact and defeated the Unitarian League. After 1835 he received the "Sum of public power". He faced several unitarian attacks and a constant state of war, including a French blockade from 1838 to 1840, the War of the Confederation in the north, Sony VAIO VPC-P112KX/W Battery

Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/B Battery

an Anglo-French blockadefrom 1845 to 1850, and the Corrientes province revolt. Rosas remained undefeated during this series of conflicts and prevented further loss of national territory. His refusal to enact a national constitution, pursuant to the Federal pact, led to Entre Ríos governor Justo José de Urquiza to turn against Rosas. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/B Battery,Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/D Battery

He defeated him at the battle of Caseros, forcing him into exile. The San Nicolás Agreement followed, and then the promulgation of the Constitution of Argentina of 1853. Rejecting it, Buenos Aires seceded from the Confederation and became the State of Buenos Aires. The war between both lasted nearly a decade, and ended with the victory of Buenos Aires at the battle of Pavón.[26] Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/D Battery,Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/G Battery

Buenos Aires rejoined the Confederation, and Bartolomé Mitre was elected the first president of the unified country in 1862. Mitre began military campaigns against both the remaining federals in Argentina, the whites from Uruguay, and Paraguay. The War of the Triple Alliance, in alliance with Uruguay and Brazil, left over 300,000 dead and devastated Paraguay.[27] Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/G Battery

Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/P Battery

Unable to influence the election of later presidents, Domingo Faustino Sarmiento andNicolás Avellaneda followed him. Albeit unitarians, they were not from Buenos Aires, and had conflicts with him. Mitre attempted twice to secede Buenos Aires from the country once more, but failed. Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/P Battery

Sony VAIO VPCP113KX/W Battery

Avellaneda proposed the federalization of Buenos Aires, which was resisted in the city, and the national seat of government was temporarily moved to Belgrano (which was not part of Buenos Aires by then). The military conflict ended with the victory of the national army and the federalization of the city.[28] Sony VAIO VPC-P113KX/W Battery

Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/B Battery

Since the colonial times, huge territories were under the control of indigenous peoples. All governments since then attempted in some way to stay in good terms, kill them, or push them to ever farther frontiers. The final conflict was the Conquest of the Desert, waged by Julio Argentino Roca. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/D Battery

Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/G Battery

With this military operation, Argentina seized the control of the Patagonia.[29]

Modern history

The bases of modern Argentina were established by the Generation of '80, a political movement that opposed Mitre and sought to industrialize the country. Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/P Battery

Sony VAIO VPC-P114KX/W Battery

A wave of European immigration led to the strengthening of a cohesive state, the development of modern agriculture and to a near-reinvention of Argentine society and economy. The country emerged as one of the ten richest countries in the world, benefiting from an agricultural export-led economy as well as British and French investment. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC Battery

Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/B Battery

Driven by immigration and decreasing mortality the Argentine population grew fivefold and the economy 15-fold.[30] However, the National Autonomist Party(PAN) could not meet its original goals of industrialization, and the country stayed as a Pre-industrial society.[31]

President Julio Roca was followed by Miguel Ángel Juárez Celman, from the PAN as well. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/D Battery

Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/G Battery

Juárez Celman faced an economic crisis that generated popular discontent, this caused the Revolution of the Park in 1890, led by the Civic Union. With the resignation of Mitre, the Civic Union became the Radical Civic Union (UCR). Although the Coup d'état failed, Celman resigned from the presidency, starting the decline of the PAN. Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/P Battery

Sony VAIO VPCP115JC/W Battery

Conservative élites dominated Argentine politics until 1912, when President Roque Sáenz Peñaenacted universal male suffrage and the secret ballot. This allowed the UCR to win the country's first free elections in 1916. President Hipólito Yrigoyenenacted social and economic reforms and extended assistance to family farmers and small business.[32] Sony VAIO VPCP115KG Battery

Sony VAIO VPCP116KG Battery

Yrigoyen was overthrown by a coup in 1930, however, which led to another decade of Conservative rule. The Concordanceregime strengthened ties with the British Empire and their electoral policy was one of "patriotic fraud". The country was neutralduring World War I and most of World War II, becoming an important source of foodstuffs for the Allied Nations.[30]Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/B Battery

Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/D Battery

In 1946, General Juan Perón was elected president, creating a populist movement referred to as "Peronism". His wife Eva was popular and played a central political role until her death in 1952, mostly through the Eva Perón Foundation and the Female Peronist Party,[33] as women's suffrage was granted in 1947. Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/G Battery,Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/P Battery

During Perón's tenure, wages and working conditions improved appreciably, unionization was fostered, strategic industries and services were nationalized, as well as import substitution industrialization and urban development being prioritized in the agrarian sector.[34] Sony VAIO VPC-P116KX/W Battery

Sony VAIO VPCP118JC Battery

Formerly stable prices and exchange rates were disrupted however: the peso lost around 70% of its value from 1948 to 1950, and inflation reached 50% in 1951.[35]Foreign policy became more isolationist, straining US-Argentine relations. Perón intensified censorship as well as repression: 110 publications were shuttered,[36]and numerous opposition figures were imprisoned and tortured.[37] Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/B Battery,Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/P Battery

Advancing a personality cult, Perón rid himself of many important and capable advisers while promoting patronage. A bombing of Plaza de Mayo was followed some months later by a violent coup which deposed him in 1955. He fled into exile, eventually residing in Spain.

Following an attempt to purge the Peronist influence and the banning of Peronists from political life, elections in 1958 brought Arturo Frondizi to office. Sony VAIO VPCP118JC/W Battery,Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/B Battery

Frondizi enjoyed some support from Perón's followers, and his policies encouraged investment to make the country self-sufficient in energy and industry, helping reverse a chronic trade deficit for Argentina. The military frequently interfered on behalf of conservative, agrarian interests however, and the results were mixed.[30] Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/D Battery,Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/G Battery

Frondizi was forced to resign in 1962. Arturo Illiawas elected in 1963 and enacted expansionist policies but, despite prosperity, his attempts to include Peronists in the political process resulted in the armed forces retaking power in a quiet 1966 coup.

Though repressive, this new regime continued to encourage domestic development and invested record amounts into public works.Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/P Battery

Sony VAIO VPC-P118KX/W Battery

The economy grew strongly and income poverty declined to 7% by 1975. Partly because of their repressiveness, however, political violence began to escalate and Perón, still in exile, skilfully co-opted student and labor protests which eventually resulted in the military regime's call for free elections in 1973, and Perón's return from Spain.[17] Sony VAIO VPCP119JC Battery

Sony VAIO VPCP119JC/BI Battery

Taking office that year, Perón died in July 1974 leaving his third wife Isabel, the Vice President, to succeed him in office. Mrs. Perón had been chosen as a compromise among feuding Peronist factions who could agree on no other running mate; secretly though, she was beholden to Perón's most fascist advisers. Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/B Battery,Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/B Battery

The resulting conflict, between left and right-wing extremists, led to mayhem, financial chaos and a coup d'état in March 1976 which removed her from office.

The self-styled National Reorganization Process intensified measures against armed groups on the far left, Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/D Battery

Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/D Battery

such as People's Revolutionary Army and the Montoneros who had kidnapped and murdered people almost weekly since 1970.[38]Repression was quickly extended to the opposition in general and, during the "Dirty War", thousands of dissidents "disappeared". These abuses were aided and abetted by the CIA in Operation Condor, with many of the military leaders that took part in abuses trained in the School of the Americas.[39] Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/G Battery

Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/G Battery

The new dictatorship brought some stability at first, and built numerous important public works, but frequent wage freezes andderegulation of finance led to a sharp fall in living standards and record foreign debt.[30] Deindustrialization, the peso's collapse, and crushing real interest rates, Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/P Battery

Sony VAIO VPCP11S1E/W Battery

as well as unprecedented corruption, public revulsion over the Dirty War, and finally the 1982 defeat by the British in the Falklands War, discredited the military regime and led to free elections in 1983. Sony VAIO VPC-P11S1E/W Battery

Contemporary era

Raúl Alfonsín's government took steps to account for the disappeared, established civilian control of the armed forces, and consolidated democratic institutions. The members of the three military juntas were prosecuted and sentenced to life terms. Sony VAIO VPCP11Z9E/B Battery,Sony VAIO VPCS111FM/S Battery

The previous regime's foreign debt, however, left the Argentine economy saddled by the conditions imposed on it by both its private creditors and theInternational Monetary Fund, and priority was given to servicing the foreign debt at the expense of public works and domestic credit. Sony VAIO VPCS115EC Battery

Sony VAIO VPCS115FG Battery

Alfonsín's failure to resolve worsening economic problems caused him to lose public confidence. Following a 1989 currency crisis that resulted in a sudden and ruinous 15-fold jump in prices, he left office five months early.[40]

Newly elected President Carlos Menem began pursuing privatizations and, Sony VAIO VPCS117GG Battery,Sony VAIO VPCS117GGB Battery

after a second bout of hyperinflation in 1990, reached out to economist Domingo Cavallo, who imposed a peso-US$ fixed exchange rate in 1991 and adopted far-reaching market-basedpolicies, dismantlingprotectionist barriers and business regulations, while accelerating privatizations. Sony VAIO VPCS118EC Battery

Sony VAIO VPCS119FJ/B Battery

These reforms contributed to significant increases in investment and growth with stable prices through most of the 1990s; but the peso's fixed value could only be maintained by flooding the market with dollars, resulting in a renewed increase in the foreign debt.Sony VAIO VPCS119GC Battery

Sony VAIO VPCS11AFJ Battery

Towards 1998, moreover, a series of international financial crises and overvaluation of the pegged peso caused a gradual slide into economic crisis. The sense of stability and well being which had prevailed during the 1990s eroded quickly, and by the end of his term in 1999, these accumulating problems and reports of corruption had made Menem unpopular.[41] Sony VAIO VPCS11AGJ Battery

Sony VAIO VPCS11AHJ Battery

President Fernando de la Rúa inherited diminished competitiveness in exports, as well as chronic fiscal deficits. The governing coalition developed rifts, and his returning Cavallo to the Economy Ministrywas interpreted as a crisis move by speculators. Sony VAIO VPCS11AVJ Battery

Sony VAIO VPCS11J7E/B Battery

The decision backfired and Cavallo was eventually forced to take measures to halt a wave of capital flight and to stem the imminent debt crisis (culminating in the freezing of bank accounts). A climate of popular discontent ensued, and on 20 December 2001, Argentina dove into its worst institutional and economic crisis since the 1890 Barings financial debacle. Sony VAIO VPCS11M1E/W Battery

Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E Battery

There were violent street protests, which clashed with police and resulted in several fatalities. The increasingly chaotic climate, amid riots accompanied by cries that "they should all go", finally resulted in the resignation of President de la Rúa.[42]

Three presidents followed in quick succession over two weeks, Sony VAIO VPCS11V9E/B Battery,Sony VAIO VPCS11X9E/B Battery

culminating in the appointment of interim President Eduardo Duhaldeby the Legislative Assembly on 2 January 2002. Argentina defaulted on its international debt, and the peso's 11 year-old tie to the U.S. dollar was rescinded, causing a major depreciation of the peso and a spike in inflation. Sony VAIO VPCS123FGB Battery

Sony VAIO VPCS125EC Battery

Duhalde, a Peronist with a centre-left economic position, had to cope with a financial and socio-economic crisis, with unemployment as high as 25% by mid 2002, and the lowest real wages in sixty years. The crisis accentuated the people's mistrust in politicians and institutions. Sony VAIO VPCS128EC Battery,Sony VAIO VPCS129GC Battery

Following a year racked by protest, the economy began to stabilize in late 2002, and restrictions on bank withdrawals were lifted in December.[43]

Benefiting from a devalued exchange rate the government implemented new policies based on re-industrialization, Sony VAIO VPCS12C7E/B Battery

Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B Battery

import substitution and increased exports and began seeing consistent fiscal and trade surpluses. Governor Néstor Kirchner, a left-wing Peronist, was elected president in May 2003. During his administration, Argentina restructured its defaulted debt with a steep discount (about 66%) on most bonds, Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B Battery,Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/P Battery

paid off debts with the International Monetary Fund, renegotiated contracts with utilities and nationalized some previously privatized enterprises. Kirchner and his economists, notably Roberto Lavagna, also pursued a vigorous incomes policy and public works investment.[44] Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/PC Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/T Battery

Argentina has since been enjoying economic growth, though with high inflation. Néstor Kirchner forfeited the 2007 campaign, in favor of his wife Senator Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who became the first woman to be elected President of Argentina. Sony VAIO VPCW111XX/W Battery,Sony VAIO VPCW111XXP Battery

She saw controversial plans for higher agricultural export taxes defeated byVice President Julio Cobos' surprise tie-breaking vote against them in July 2008, following massive agrarian protests and lockouts from March to July. The global financial crisis has since prompted Mrs. Sony VAIO VPCW111XXT Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW111XXW Battery

Kirchner to step up her husband's policy of state intervention in troubled sectors of the economy.[45] On 15 July 2010, Argentina became the first country in Latin America and the second country in the Southern Hemisphere to legalize same-sex marriage.[46][47] Sony VAIO VPCW115XG Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW115XGP Battery

Politics

The Constitution of Argentina mandates a separation of powers into executive, legislative, and judicial branches at both the national and provincial administrations. The political framework is a federal representative democratic republic, in which the President is both head Sony VAIO VPCW115XW/W Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/P Battery

of state and head of government, complemented by a pluriform multi-party system.

The executive power resides in the President and the cabinet. The president and vice president are directly elected for a four-year term, with the chance of a single reelection. Cabinet ministers are appointed by the President and are not subject to legislative ratification. The current President is Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, with Amado Boudou as Vice President. Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/T Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW117XC/W Battery

Legislative power is vested in the bicameral National Congress, comprising a 72-member Senate and a 257-member Chamber of Deputies. Senators serve six-year terms, with one-third standing for re-election every two years. Members of the Chamber of Deputies are elected to four-year terms by a proportional representation system, with half of the members standing for re-election every two years. Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ Battery,Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ/P Battery

A third of the candidates presented by the parties must be women.

The judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. The Supreme Court has seven members appointed by the President in consultation with the Senate. The judges of all the other courts are appointed by the Council of Magistrates of the Nation, Sony VAIO VPCW119XJ/W Battery,Sony VAIO VPCW11AXJ Battery

a secretariat composed of representatives of judges, lawyers, the Congress and the executive.

Though declared the capital in 1853, Buenos Aires did not become the official Capital until the federalization of 1880. The 1994 amendment of the Argentine Constitution included a limited form of devolution to Buenos Aires. Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/P Battery,Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/T Battery

The national government reserved control of the Argentine Federal Police (the federally administered city force), the Port of Buenos Aires, and other faculties, however.[48]

Argentina is divided into twenty-three provinces (provincias; singular provincia) and one Autonomous City. Sony VAIO VPCW11S1E/W Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW121AX Battery

Buenos Aires Province is divided into 134 partidos, while the remaining Provinces are divided into 376 departments (departamentos). Departments and Partidos are further subdivided into municipalities or districts. With the exception of Buenos Aires Province, the nation's provinces have chosen in recent years to enter into treaties with other provinces, Sony VAIO VPCW126AG Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/P Battery

forming four federated regions aimed at fostering economic integration and development: Center Region, Patagonic Region, New Cuyo Region, and the Argentine Greater North Region.

Foreign policy

Argentina is a full member of the Mercosur block together with Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela; Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/T Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/W Battery

and five associate members: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. From 2003 Argentina has emphasized Mercosur, which has some supranational legislative functions, as its first international priority; by contrast, during the 1990s, it relied more heavily on its relationship with the United States. Sony VAIO VPCW127JC/WZ Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW12AAJ Battery

Argentina is a founding signatory and permanent consulting member of the Antarctic Treaty System and the Antarctic Treaty Secretariat is based in Buenos Aires.[49]

Argentina has long claimed sovereignty over the Falkland Islands (Spanish: Islas Malvinas), Sony VAIO VPCW12AKJ Battery

and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, which are administered by the United Kingdom as British Overseas Territories, as well as almost 1,000,000 square kilometres (390,000 sq mi) in Antarctica, between 25°W and 74°W and south of 60°S. The Antarctic claim overlaps claims by Chile and the United Kingdom, Sony VAIO VPCW12AVJ Battery,Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/P Battery

though all claims to Antarctica fall under the provisions of the Antarctic Treaty. Since 1904, ascientific posthas been maintained in Antarctica by mutual agreement. While Argentina has employed threats and force to pursue its claims against Chile in the Beagle channel, against Britain in Antarctica[50] and the Falklands and South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/T Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW12S1E/W Battery

as well as against illegal trawlers, this is the exception rather than the rule in Argentine international relations.

Argentina was the only Latin American country to participate in the 1991 Gulf War under the United Nations mandate, and played an important role in Operation Uphold Democracy, Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/L Battery,Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/P Battery

in Haiti.[51] Argentina has contributed worldwide to peacekeeping operations, including those in El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, the Ecuador-Peru dispute, Western Sahara, Angola, Kuwait, Cyprus, Croatia, Kosovo, Bosnia and Timor Leste. Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/T Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW213AG/W Battery

In recognition of its contributions to international security, U.S. President Bill Clintondesignated Argentina as a major non-NATO ally in January 1998. It was last elected as a member of the UN Security Councilin 2005. The United Nations White Helmets, a bulwark of peacekeeping and humanitarian aid efforts, were first deployed in 1994 following an Argentine initiative.[52] Sony VAIO VPCW215AG/L Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW217JC Battery

Military

The armed forces of Argentina comprise an army, navy and air force, and number about 70,000 active duty personnel, one third fewer than levels before the return to democracy in 1983.[53] Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/L Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/P Battery

The President is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, with the Defense Ministry exercising day-to-day control. There are also two other forces; the Naval Prefecture (which patrols Argentine territorial waters) and the National Gendarmerie (which patrols the border regions); Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/T Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW217JC/W Battery

both arms are controlled by the Interior Ministry but maintain liaison with the Defense Ministry. The minimum age for enlistment in the armed forces is 18 years and there is no obligatory military service. Sony VAIO VPCW218JC Battery

Historically, Argentina's military has been one of the best equipped in the region (for example, developing its own jet fighters as early as the 1950s);[54] but recently it has faced sharper expenditure cutbacks than most other Latin American armed forces. Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/L Battery,Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/P Battery

Real military expenditures declined steadily after 1981 and though there have been recent increases, the defense budget is now around US$3 billion.[55] The armed forces are currently participating in major peacekeeping operations inHaiti and Cyprus. Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/T Battery

Provinces

Argentina is composed of twenty-three provinces (Spanish: provincias, singular provincia) and one autonomous city (Ciudad autónoma de Buenos Aires). The city and the provinces have their own constitutions, but exist under a federal system. Sony VAIO VPCW218JC/W Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/L Battery

The administrative divisions of the Provinces are the departments (Spanish: departamentos, singular departamento), and the municipalities (Spanish: municipios or intendencias), except for Buenos Aires Province, which is divided into partidos. The City of Buenos Aires is divided into communes. Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/P Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW219AJ/W Battery

Geography

The total surface area (excluding the Antarctic claim) is 2,791,810 km2 (1,077,920 sq mi),[7] of which 30,200 km2 (11,700 sq mi) (1.1%) is water. Argentina is about 3,900 km (2,400 mi) long from north to south, and 1,400 km (870 mi) from east to west (maximum values). Sony VAIO VPCW21AAJ Battery

Sony VAIO VPCW21AKJ Battery

There are four major regions: the fertile central plains of the Pampas, source of Argentina's agricultural wealth; the flat to rolling, oil-rich southern plateau of Patagonia including Tierra del Fuego; the subtropical northern flats of the Gran Chaco, and the rugged Andes mountain range along the western border with Chile. Sony VAIO VPCW21AVJ Battery,Sony VAIO VPCY115FGS Battery

The highest point above sea level is in Mendoza province at Cerro Aconcagua (6,962 m (22,841 ft)), also the highest point in theSouthern[56] and Western Hemisphere.[57] The lowest point is Laguna del Carbón in Santa Cruz province, ?105 m (?344 ft) below sea level.[58] This is also the lowest point in South America. Sony VAIO VPCY115FX/BI Battery

Sony VAIO VPCY115FXBI Battery

The geographic center of the country is in south-central La Pampa province. The easternmost continental point is northeast of Bernardo de Irigoyen, Misiones,(26°15?S 53°38?W) the westernmost in the Mariano Moreno Range in Santa Cruz province. Sony VAIO VPCY118EC Battery

Sony VAIO VPCY118GX/BI Battery

(49°33?S 73°35?W) The northernmost point is at the confluence of the Grande de San Juan and Mojinete rivers in Jujuy province,(21°46?S 66°13?W) and the southernmost is Cape San Pío in Tierra del Fuego. (55°03?S 66°31?W)[59] Sony VAIO VPCY119FJ/S Battery

The major rivers are the Paraná (the largest), the Pilcomayo, Paraguay, Bermejo, Colorado, Río Negro, Salado and the Uruguay. The Paraná and the Uruguay join to form the Río de la Plata estuary, before reaching the Atlantic. Sony VAIO VPCY11AFJ Battery

Regionally important rivers are theAtuel and Mendoza in the homonymous province, the Chubut in Patagonia, the Río Grande in Jujuy and the San Francisco River in Salta.

There are several large lakes including Argentino and Viedma in Santa Cruz, Sony VAIO VPCY11AGJ Battery

Nahuel Huapibetween Río Negro and Neuquén, Fagnanoin Tierra del Fuego, and Colhué Huapi and Musters in Chubut. Lake Buenos Aires and O'Higgins/San Martín Lake are shared with Chile. Mar Chiquita, Córdoba, is the largest salt water lake in the country. There are numerous reservoirs created by dams. Argentina features various hot springs, such as Termas de Río Hondo with temperatures between 65 °C (149 °F) and 89 °C (192 °F).[60] Sony VAIO VPCY11AHJ Battery

Sony VAIO VPCY11AVJ Battery

The largest oil spill in fresh water was caused by a Shell Petroleum tanker in the Río de la Plata, off Magdalena, on 15 January 1999, polluting the environment, drinking water, and local wildlife.[61] Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E/S Battery

Sony VAIO VPCY11S1E Battery

The 4,665 km (2,899 mi) long Atlantic coast[62] has been a popular local vacation area for over a century, and varies between areas of sand dunes and cliffs. The continental platform is unusually wide; this shallow area of the Atlantic is called theArgentine Sea. The waters are rich in fisheries and possibly hold important hydrocarbon energy resources. Sony VAIO VPCY11V9E/S Battery

Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/BI Battery

The two major ocean currents affecting the coast are the warm Brazil Current and the cold Falkland Current. Because of the unevenness of the coastal landmass, the two currents alternate in their influence on climate and do not allow temperatures to fall evenly with higher latitude. The southern coast of Tierra del Fuego forms the north shore of the Drake Passage. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/G Battery

Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/L Battery

Climate

The generally temperate climate ranges from subtropical in the north to subpolar in the far south. The north is characterized by very hot, humid summers with mild drier winters, and is subject to periodic droughts. Sony VAIO VPCY218EC/P Battery

Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery

Central Argentina has hot summers with thunderstorms (western Argentina produces some of the world's largest hail), and cool winters. The southern regions have warm summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall, especially in mountainous zones. Higher elevations at all latitudes experience cooler conditions. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/P Battery,Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/SI Battery

The hottest and coldest temperature extremes recorded in South America have occurred in Argentina. A record high temperature of 49.1 °C (120.4 °F), was recorded at Villa María, Córdoba, on 2 January 1920. The lowest temperature recorded was ?39 °C (?38.2 °F) at Valle de los Patos Superior, San Juan, on 17 July 1972.[63] Sony VAIO VPCZ110 Battery,Sony VAIO VPCZ110GB/BI Battery

Major wind currents include the cool Pampero Winds blowing on the flat plains of Patagonia and the Pampas; following the cold front, warm currents blow from the north in middle and late winter, creating mild conditions. The Zonda, a hot dry wind, affects west-central Argentina. Sony VAIO VPCZ112GD/S Battery,Sony VAIO VPCZ112GX/S Battery

Squeezed of all moisture during the 6,000 m (19,685 ft) descent from the Andes, Zonda winds can blow for hours with gusts up to 120 km/h (75 mph), fueling wildfires and causing damage; when the Zonda blows (June–November), snowstorms and blizzard (viento blanco) conditions usually affect higher elevations. Sony VAIO VPCZ114GX/S Battery,Sony VAIO VPCZ115 Battery

The Sudestada ("southeasterlies") could be considered similar to the Nor'easter, though snowfall is rare but not unprecedented. Both are associated with a deep winter low pressure system. The sudestada usually moderates cold temperatures but brings very heavy rains, rough seas and coastal flooding. Sony VAIO VPCZ115FC/B Battery

Sony VAIO VPCZ115FC/S Battery

It is most common in late autumn and winter along the central coast and in the Río de la Plata estuary.

The southern regions, particularly the far south, experience long periods of daylight from November to February (up to nineteen hours) and extended nights from May to August. Sony VAIO VPCZ116 Battery

Sony VAIO VPCZ116GX/S Battery

Biodiversity

Subtropical plants dominate the Gran Chaco in the north, with the Dalbergia genus of trees well represented by Brazilian Rosewoodand the quebracho tree; also predominant are white and black algarrobo trees (prosopis alba and prosopis nigra). Sony VAIO VPCZ117 Battery,Sony VAIO VPCZ117FC/B Battery

Savannah-like areas exist in the drier regions nearer the Andes. Aquatic plants thrive in the wetlands of Argentina. In central Argentina the humid pampas are a true tallgrass prairieecosystem. The original pampa had virtually no trees; some imported species like the American sycamore oreucalyptus are present along roads or in towns and country estates (estancias). Sony VAIO VPCZ118 Battery

Sony VAIO VPCZ118GC/B Battery

The only tree-like plant native to the pampa is the evergreen Ombú. The surface soils of the pampa are a deep black color, primarilymollisols, known commonly as humus. This makes the region one of the most agriculturally productive on Earth; however, this is also responsible for decimating much of the original ecosystem, to make way for commercial agriculture.

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Romance of the Three Kingdoms

Bureaus and offices for the imperial household

Bureaus and offices for the imperial household

Scholar-officials

Lesser functionaries

Eunuchs, princes, and generals

Religion

Philosophy

Conservative reaction

Urban and rural life

Population

Journey to the West

Tripitaka or Xuanzang

Zhu Bajie

Sha Wujing

Ming Dynasty

Reign of the Hongwu Emperor

Relations with Tibet

Reign of the Yongle Emperor

Treasure fleet

Tumu Crisis and the Ming Mongols

Decline and fall of the Ming Dynasty

Role of eunuchs

Rise of the Manchu

Rebellion, invasion, collapse

Province, prefecture, subprefecture, county

Grand Secretariat and Six Ministries

Demographics

The Argentine Republic