Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Berbers, aboriginal Caucasoid peoples of N Africa, called Imazighen in the Tamazight language. They inhabit the lands lying between the Sahara and the Mediterranean Sea and between Egypt and the Atlan...

(Encyclopedia) Wang Ch'ung-hui wäng cho͞ong-hwē [key], 1881–1958, Chinese jurist. He was educated in China, Japan, Europe, and the United States. He was greatly influenced by Sun Yat-sen. Wang became (1912) the...

(Encyclopedia) Pinyin pĭnˈyĭnˈ [key] [Chin. Hanyu pinyin = Chinese phonetic alphabet], system of romanization of Chinese written characters, approved in 1958 by the government of the People's Republic of Chi...

(Encyclopedia) coolie labor, term applied to unskilled laborers from Asia, especially from India and China. With the discontinuance of slavery, the use of Chinese and Indian contract labor in British and French colo...

(Encyclopedia)  Text1 of the Constitution of the United States Preamble Article I Article II Article III Article IV Article V Article VI Article VII Amendment I Amendment II Am...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 CE5 China, Mandarin Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo [central glorious people's united country; i.e., people's republic], officially People's Repu...

(Encyclopedia) Cholon chōlônˈ, Fr. shôlôNˈ [key], district and former city, since 1932 part of Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; on the right bank of the Saigon River, a tributary of the Dong Nai. Cholon is the Chine...

(Encyclopedia) Yellow Emperor, Mandarin Huangdi, legendary Chinese ruler and culture hero; tradition holds that he reigned from 2697 b.c. to 2597 b.c. He is one of the mythical prehistoric emperors who supposedly cr...

(Encyclopedia) Chalukya chäˈlo͝okyə [key], several S Indian dynasties that ruled in the Deccan. They claimed descent from Pulakesin I (reigned 543–566), who established himself at Badami (in N Karnataka). The ...

(Encyclopedia) Kuraish ko͞orīshˈ [key], ancient Bedouin tribe near Mecca to which Muhammad belonged. At one time camel drivers and caravan guides, they became, after acquiring custody of the Kaaba (5th cent.), on...