Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Sui swā [key], dynasty of China that ruled from 581 to 618. This short-lived dynasty reunified China in 589 after 400 years of division and laid the foundation for further consolidation under the T'a...

(Encyclopedia) Zhoushan Archipelago jō-shän [key], NE Zhejiang prov., China, in the East China Sea, at the entrance to Hangzhou Bay. It includes the main island of Zhoushan and about 100 lesser islands; Dinghai on...

(Encyclopedia) soil, surface layer of the earth, composed of fine rock material disintegrated by geological processes; and humus, the organic remains of decomposed vegetation. In agriculture, soil is the medium that...

(Encyclopedia) Boxer Uprising, 1898–1900, antiforeign movement in China, culminating in a desperate uprising against Westerners and Western influence. By the end of the 19th cent. the Western powers and Japan had ...

(Encyclopedia) Mongolia mŏn-gōˈlēə, mŏng– [key], Asian region (c.906,000 sq mi/2,346,540 sq km), bordered roughly by Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China, on the west; the Manchurian provinces of China on...

(Encyclopedia) Ch'ing mănˌcho͞oˈ, mănˈcho͞oˌ [key], the last of the Imperial dynasties of China. Following foreign suppression of the Boxer Uprising, Tz'u Hsi changed course and allowed some moderate educa...

(Encyclopedia) Tonkin, Gulf of, NW arm of the South China Sea, c.300 mi (480 km) long and 150 mi (240 km) wide, between Vietnam and China. The shallow gulf (less than 200 ft/60 m deep) receives the Red River. Haipho...

(Encyclopedia) Hsia shēä [key], semilegendary first dynasty of China, which ruled, according to traditional dates, from c.2205 b.c. to c.1766 b.c. or, according to some modern scholars, from c.1994 b.c. to c.1523 ...

(Encyclopedia) Xi shē jyäng [key], great river of S China, c.1,250 mi (2,010 km) long, rising in E Yunnan prov. and flowing generally E through Guangxi and Guangdong provs. to the South China Sea near Guangzhou; t...

(Encyclopedia) drainage, in agriculture, the removal of excess water from the soil, either by a system of surface ditches, or by underground conduits if required by soil conditions and land contour. Diesel or centri...