6:18 PM

Sarojini Naidu - The Nightingale of India


born Feb. 13, 1879, Hyderabad, India
died March 2, 1949, Lucknow

political activist, feminist, poet-writer, and the first Indian woman to be president of the Indian National Congress and to be appointed an Indian state governor.

February 13, 1879 - March 2, 1949), known as Bharatiya Kokila (The Nightingale of India), was a child prodigy, freedom fighter, and poet. Naidu was the first Indian woman to become the President of the Indian National Congress and the first woman to become the governor of Uttar Pradesh. She was active in the Indian Independence Movement, joining Mahatma Gandhi in the Salt March to Dandi, and then leading the Dharasana Satyagraha after the arrests of Gandhi JI, Abbas Tyabji, and Kasturba Gandhi.

Sarojini Naidu was born in Hyderabad, India as the eldest daughter of scientist, philosopher, and educator Aghornath Chattopadhyaya, and Varada Sundari Devi, a poetess. Her father was the founder of the Nizam College, and also the first member of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad with his friend Mulla Abdul Qayyum. He was later dismissed from his position as Principal and even banished in retaliation for his political activities. Sarojini Naidu learned to speak Urdu, Telugu, English, Persian and Bengali. Her favorite poet was P.B. Shelley.

She attained national fame for entering Madras University at the age of twelve. At sixteen, she traveled to England to study first at King's College London and subsequently at Girton College, Cambridge.

At the age of 17, she met Dr. Muthyala Govindarajulu Naidu and fell in love with him. He was from Andhra Pradesh. After finishing her studies at the age of 19, she married him during the time when inter-caste marriages were not allowed. Her marriage was a very happy one. They were married by the Act (1872), in Madras in 1898. They had 4 children: Jayasurya, Padmaja, Randheer, and Leelamani.

Naidu's brother, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, was also a noted Indian activist. During WW I Virendranath was instrumental in founding the Berlin Committee and was one of the leading figures of the Hindu German Conspiracy. He later became committed to Communism, traveling to Soviet Russia where he is believed to have been executed on Stalin's orders in 1937.

After some experience in the suffragist campaign in England, she was drawn to India's Congress movement and to Mahatma Gandhi's Non-cooperation Movement. In 1924 she traveled in eastern Africa and South Africa in the interest of Indians there and the following year became the first Indian woman president of the National Congress—having been preceded eight years earlier by the English feminist Annie Besant. She toured North America, lecturing on the Congress movement, in 1928–29. Back in India her anti-British activity brought her a number of prison sentences (1930, 1932, and 1942–43). She accompanied Gandhi to London for the inconclusive second session of the Round Table Conference for Indian–British cooperation (1931). Upon the outbreak of World War II she supported the Congress Party's policies, first of aloofness, then of avowed hindrance to the Allied cause. In 1947 she became governor of the United Provinces (now Uttar Pradesh), a post she retained until her death.

Sarojini Naidu, “the Nightingale of India,” also led an active literary life and attracted notable Indian intellectuals to her famous salon in Bombay. Sarojini Naidu is also well acclaimed for her contribution to poetry. Her poetry had beautiful words that could also be sung. The Golden Threshold (1905), was followed by The Bird of Time (1912), and in 1914 she was elected a fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. Her collected poems, all of which she wrote in English, have been published under the titles The Sceptered Flute (1928) and The Feather of the Dawn (1961)

Naidu writes:

:Shall hope prevail where clamorous hate is rife,

Shall sweet love prosper or high dreams have place
Amid the tumult of reverberant strife
'Twixt ancient creeds, 'twixt race and ancient race,
That mars the grave, glad purposes of life,
Leaving no refuge save thy succoring face ?

Naidu said, "When there is oppression, the only self-respecting thing is to rise and say this shall cease today, because my right is justice."Naidu adds, "If you are stronger, you have to help the weaker boy or girl both in play and in the work."

Read more Entry>>
9:26 AM

Palanquin Bearers - A poem by Sarojini Naidu

Lightly,O lightly we bear her along,
She sways like a flower in the wind of our song;
She skims like a bird on the foam of a stream,
She floats like a laugh from the lips of a dream.

Gaily, O gaily we glide and we sing,
We bear her along like a pearl on a string.
Softly, O softly we bear her along,
She hangs like a star in the dew of our song;
She springs like a beam on the brow of the tide,

She falls like a tear from the eyes of a bride,
Lightly, O lightly we glide we sing,
We bear her along like a pearl on a string.

------------------------------------------------------------
Sway - move from side to side.
Skim - glide smoothly over something
Foam : mass of small bubbles,froth
Gaily : merrily, happily
Dew : condensed drop of water
Beam : ray of light;broad smile
Brow : forehead,eyebrow(here: top of water/tide)

Read more Entry>>
4:40 AM

Aargau

French Argovie, canton, northern Switzerland. It borders Germany to the north and is bounded by the demicanton of Basel-Laandschaft and by the cantons of Solothurn and Bern to the west, Luzern to the south, and Zug and Zürich to the east. It forms the northeastern section of the great Swiss Plateau between the Alps and the Jura Mountains, taking in the lower course of the Aare River, whence its name. Its valleys alternate with pleasantly wooded hills.

In 1415 the region was taken by the Swiss Confederation from the Habsburgs, whose ancestral seat was near Aarau (q.v.), now the cantonal capital. Bern kept the southwestern portion. In 1798 the Bernese part became Aargau canton of the Helvetic Republic, and the remainder formed the canton of Baden. In 1803 the two halves (and Frick, ceded to the Helvetic Republic by Austria in 1802) were united and admitted to the Swiss Confederation as Aargau canton.

One of the most fertile parts of Switzerland, Aargau includes among its principal economic activities dairying, fruit and cereal growing, and straw plaiting. Industries include electrical engineering, the manufacture of precision instruments, textiles, iron and steel, optical products, and cement. Several nuclear power stations are in operation at Beznau. The picturesque landscape, ancient castles, and rich museums of the canton attract considerable tourist traffic, as do the hot springs at Schinznach Bad and Baden. The population is almost exclusively Germans speaking with a small Protestant majority. Area 542 square miles (1,404 square km). Pop. (1990) 507,508; (1994 est.) 518,945.

Read more Entry>>
4:30 AM

Aare River

Aare River also spelled Aar river, tributary of the Rhine and the longest stream (183 miles [295 km]) entirely within Switzerland; it drains an area of 6,865 square miles (17,779 square km). The river rises in the Aare Glacier of the Bernese Alps in Bern canton, below the Finsteraarhorn and west of the Grimsel Pass, in the south-central part of Switzerland. As the Aare flows north past Meiringen, the river cuts through the scenic Aare Gorge. After turning west, it expands into the glacial Lake Brienz. The river is canalized at Interlaken above its entry into Lake Thun, at the lower end of which the river flows northwest in a deeply entrenched valley and almost encircles the medieval core of the city of Bern. It turns west to Lake Wohlen and then flows north to Aarberg,where it is diverted west by the Hagneck Canal into Lake Biel. Continuing northeastward, the river parallels the foot of the Jura Mountains. Below Brugg, the Reuss and Limmat rivers join the Aare before it enters the Rhine river at Koblenz, Switz.

Read more Entry>>
4:18 AM

Aardwolf - Proteles Cristatus

Aardwolf - Proteles Cristatus
(species Proteles cristatus), African carnivore generally placed in the family Hyaenidae but separated by some authorities as the family Protelidae. The aardwolf, whose name in Afrikaans means “earth wolf,”resembles a small striped hyena. It is yellowish with vertical black stripes and a bushy, black-tipped tail, and it bears a long, coarse mane of erectile hairs along the length of its back.

It has longer front than hind legs, large ears, a pointed muzzle, and weak jaws and teeth. Its length varies from 55 to 80 cm (22 to 32 inches) exclusive of the 20- to 30-centimeter tail, and it weighs from 8 to 12 kg (17 to 26 pounds).

The aardwolf lives on the open, grassy plains of southern and eastern Africa. There are two geographically separate populations, one centered in South Africa and the other extending from central Tanzania northward to southern Egypt. The aardwolf feeds largely on termites, particularly on the species Trinervitermes trinervoides. It is nocturnal, lives in a burrow, and is usually solitary but may forage in small packs. The litter generally consists of three or four young. The aardwolf is harmless and shy; when attacked, as by dogs, it emits a musky-smelling fluid and may fight.

Read more Entry>>
3:23 AM

Aardvark - African Ant Bear


aardvark is also called African Ant Bear (Orycteropus afer), heavily built mammal, ranging south of the Sahara in forest or plain, that constitutes the family Orycteropodidae and the order Tubulidentata. The name aardvark—Afrikaans for “earth pig”—refers to its stout, pig like body, up to 180 centimeters (6 feet) long, including the 60-cm tail. Its coat varies from glossy black and full to sandy yellow and scant. The aardvark has a long snout, rabbit like ears, and short legs. The toes are long and equipped with large, flattened claws; the second and third toes are united by a web of tissue.

One young is born in summer. The aardvark excavates a burrow, in which it rests by day. It ventures out at night to rip open ant and termite nests and rapidly lap up the routed insects, using its sticky 30-centimeter-long tongue. Although not aggressive, the aardvark can fend off such formidable attackers as lions and leopards by parrying with its claws.

Though formerly classified with the true anteaters, sloths, and armadillos in the order Edentata, aardvarks differ fromthem and from all other mammals in having permanent teeth traversed by tubules that radiate from a central pulp cavity; hence, the ordinal name Tubulidentata. The tubulidentate line may be 60 million years old. The relationship of tubulidentates to other orders of mammals remains uncertain.

Read more Entry>>
3:17 AM

Aarau - capital of Aargau canton

Aarau is the capital of Aargau canton, northern Switzerland, at the southern foot of the Jura Mountains, on the right bank of the Aare River, west of Zürich. Founded about 1240 by the counts of Kyburg, it passed to the Habsburgs in 1264 and was taken by the Bernese in 1415. In 1798 it became the capital of the Helvetian Republic. Notable landmarks include several 13th-century towers, the town church (1471), the town hall (1762), and a cantonal library, containing a Bible with marginal notes made by the religious reformer Huldrych Zwingli. To the northeast is the ruined Habsburg, or Habichtsburg (Hawk's Castle), the original home of the Habsburg family. The medieval Lenzburg castle, located east of Aarau, houses a historical museum and a conference center. There is considerable industry in the newer parts; manufactures include electrical goods, bells, precision instruments, shoes, cotton textiles, and chemicals. The population is largely German speaking and nearly 75 percent Protestant. Pop. (1987 est.) 15,750.

Read more Entry>>
3:04 AM

Aalto, Alvar -Finnish architect

born Feb. 3, 1898, Kuortane, Fin., Russian Empire
died May 11, 1976, Helsinki

In full Hugo Alvar Henrik Aalto Finnish architect, city planner, and furniture designer whose international reputation rests on a distinctive blend of modernist refinement, indigenous materials, and personal expression in form and detail. His mature style is epitomized by the Säynätsalo, Fin., town hall group (1950–52).

Early work

Aalto's architectural studies at the Technical Institute of Helsinki in Otaniemi, Fin., were interrupted by the Finnish War of Independence, in which he participated. Following his graduation in 1921, Aalto toured Europe and upon his return began practice in Jyväskylä, in central Finland. In 1927 he moved his office to Turku, where he worked in association with Erik Bryggman until 1933, the year in which he moved to Helsinki. In 1925 he married Aino Marsio, a fellow student, who served as his professional collaborator until her death in 1949. The couple had two children.

The years 1927 and 1928 were significant in Aalto's career. He received commissions for three important buildings that established him as the most advanced architect in Finland and brought him worldwide recognition as well. These were the Turun Sanomat Building (newspaper office) in Turku, the tuberculosis sanatorium at Paimio, and the Municipal Library at Viipuri (now Vyborg, Russia). His plans for the last two were chosen in a competition, a common practice with public buildings in Finland. Both the office building and the sanatorium emphasize functional, straightforward design and are without historical stylistic references. They go beyond the simplified classicism common in Finnish architecture of the 1920s, resembling somewhat the building designed by Walter Gropius for the Bauhaus school of design in Dessau, Ger. (1925–26). Like Gropius, Aalto used smooth white surfaces, ribbon windows, flat roofs, and terraces and balconies.

The third commission, the Viipuri Municipal Library, although exhibiting a similar dependence on European prototypes by Gropius and others, is a significant departure marking Aalto's personal style. Its spatially complex interior is arranged on various levels. For the auditorium portion of the library Aalto devised an undulating acoustic ceiling of wooden strips, a fascinating detail that, together with his use of curved laminated wood furniture of his own design, appealed both to the public and to those professionals who had held reservations about the clinical severity of modern architecture. The warm textures of wood provided a welcome contrast to the general whiteness of the building. It was Aalto's particular success here that identified him with the so-called organic approach, or regional interpretation, of modern design. He continued in this vein, with manipulation of floor levels and use of natural materials, skylights, and irregular forms. By the mid-1930s Aalto was recognized as one of the world's outstanding modern architects; unlike many of his peers, he had an identifiable personal style.

Finnish pavilions for two world's fairs (Paris, 1937; New York City, 1939–40) further enhanced Aalto's reputation as an inventive designer of free architectural forms. In these designs, both chosen in competition, he continued to use wood for structure and for surface effects. Also during this period, in 1938, the Museum of Modern Art in New York City held an exhibition of his work, showing furniture that he had designed and photographs of his buildings.

Aalto's experiments in furniture date from the early 1930s, when he furnished the sanatorium at Paimio. His furniture is noted for its use of laminated wood in ribbon like forms that serve both structural and aesthetic ends. In 1935 the Artek Company was established by Aalto and Maire Gullichsen, the wife of the industrialist and art collector Harry Gullichsen, to manufacture and market his furniture. The informal warmth of Aalto's interiors is best seen in the much-admired country home Villa Mairea, which he built for the Gullichsens near Noormarkku, Fin.


Mature style

The decade of the 1940s was not productive; it was disrupted by war and saddened by his wife's death. In 1952 he married Elissa Mäkiniemi, a trained architect, who became his new collaborator.

Aalto's commissions after 1950, in addition to being greater in number, were more varied and widely dispersed: a high-rise apartment building in Bremen, W.Ger. (1958), a church in Bologna, Italy (1966), an art museum in Iran (1970). His continuing work in Finland, however, remained the measure of his genius. Many of hisprojects involved site planning of building groups. Two such projects were the master plans of colleges at Otaniemi (1949–55) and at Jyväskylä (1952–57). Aalto's experience in planning originated early with such industrial commissions as the Sunila cellulose factory (1936–39, extended 1951–54), which included workers' housing and was a triumph of comprehensive planning.

The single work that epitomizes Aalto's mature style is perhaps the Säynätsalo town hall group. Modest in scale in its forest setting, it nonetheless asserts a quiet force. Its simple forms are in red brick, wood, and copper, all traditional materials of Finland. Viewing it, a person feels the achievement of a perfect building, in that the essence of the time, the place, the people, and their purpose is brought into focus by the awareness of the architect.

Aalto received many honours. He was a member of the Academy of Finland (Suomen Aketemia) and was its president from 1963 to 1968; he was a member of the Congrès Internationaux d'Architecture Moderne from 1928 to 1956. His awards included the Royal Gold Medal for Architecture from the Royal Institute of British Architects (1957) and the Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects (1963).

Assessment

Aalto, whose work exemplifies the best of 20th-century Scandinavian architecture, was one of the first to depart from the stiffly geometric designs common to the early period of the modern movement and to stress informality and personal expression. His style is regarded as both romantic and regional. He used complex forms and varied materials, acknowledged the character of the site, and gave attention to every detail of building. Aalto achieved an international reputation through his more than 200 buildings and projects, ranging from factories to churches,a number of them built outside Finland.

Aalto's preliminary plans were freely sketched, without the use of T-square and triangle, so that the unfettered creative urge for inventive shapes and irregular forms was allowed full play before functional relationships and details were resolved. The absence of theoretical rigidity revealed itself in his final designs, which happily retained the spontaneity and individuality of his early sketches. As a Swiss art historian expressed it, he dared “the leap from the rational-functional to the irrational-organic.” Since Aalto's staff was small (some six to eight architects), all of the work bore the imprint of his personality.

Aalto wrote little to explain his work, but his architecture conveyed a variable, lively temperament, free from dogma and without monotony. His work was said to express the spirit of Finland and its people, primitive yet lyrical. His friendships with such artists as Fernand Léger, Jean Arp, and Constantin Brancusi may have nourished his fondness for curvilinear shapes. While his work was never compulsively innovative, neither was it static. His late designs showed an increased complexity and dynamism that some regarded as incautious. In particular, his work of the late 1960s and early 1970s was marked by splayed, diagonal shapes and clustered, overlapping volumes. Energy and imagination were ever present.

Major Works:

Turun Sanomat Building, Turku, Fin. (1930); Municipal Library at Viipuri, now Vyborg, Russia (1930–35); Sulfate Paper Mill at Toppila, Fin. (1931); Sanatorium at Paimio, Fin. (1933); cellulose factory at Sunila, Kotka, Fin. (1936–39;extended 1951–54); Villa Mairea (Gullichsen House) near Noormarkku, Fin. (1938–39); sawmill at Varkaus, Fin. (1945); Baker House (student dormitory), Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass., U.S. (1947–48); town hall group, Säynätsalo, Fin. (1950–52); House of Culture, Helsinki, Fin. (1955–58); house for Louis Carré, Bazoches, France (1956–58); church at Vuoksenniska, Imatra, Fin. (1956–58); Nordjyllands Kunstmuseum, Ålborg, Den. (1958–72); post and telegraph office, Baghdad, Iraq (1958); Community Center, Wolfsburg, Ger. (1959–62); Community Center, Seinäjoki, Fin. (1962; theater added, 1967); Edgar J. Kaufmann Conference Rooms, Institute of International Education, New York City (1964–65); Mount Angel Abbey Library, near Salem, Ore., U.S. (1967–70); Finlandia Hall, Helsinki (1971, enlarged 1974); Taidemuseo, Jyväskylä, Fin. (1973, later called the Alvar Aalto Museum).

Additional reading

A definitive review of Aalto's work, extremely well illustrated with photographs and plans, is the two-volume work edited by Karl Fleig: Alvar Aalto (1963) and Alvar Aalto 1963–1970 (1971). A brief essay by Farederick Gutheim, Alvar Aalto (1960), contains descriptive and critical comments as well as many photographs. A similar book isGeorge Baird, Alvar Aalto (1970). A substantial chapter on Aalto appears in Sigfried Giedion, Space, Time and Architecture, 5th ed. rev. (1967), and is an excellent critical treatment of Aalto's architecture. No purely biographical work exists.

Read more Entry>>
2:58 AM

Aalst

French Alost, municipality, East Flanders province, north-central Belgium, on the Dender River, 15 miles (24 km) northwest of Brussels. The town hall (begun in the middle of the 12th century), with its 52-bell carillon, is the oldest in Belgium, and its archives include 12th-century manuscripts. Ravaged by fire in 1360, the town hall was subsequently rebuilt and its 13th-century belfry restored in the 15th century. The first printing shop in the Low Countries was established there in 1473 by Thierry Martens (later a professor at the Catholic University of Louvain). The French took Aalst in 1667 during the War of Devolution that gave southern Flanders to France. The Germans occupied the town in both world wars. Industry is dominated by the manufacture of textiles, clothing, and textile machinery. The surrounding region supplies hops for long-established breweries. The unfinished Gothic St. Martin's Church (begun c. 1480) has vault paintings, a picture by Rubens, and a remarkable tabernacle (1605) containing sculptures executed by Hieronymus Duquesnoy the Elder. Pop. (1983 est.) mun., 78,068.

Read more Entry>>
2:52 AM

Aalsmeer

gemeente (commune), Noord-Holland province, western Netherlands, 8 miles (13 km) southwest of Amsterdam, on the Ring Canal and Westeinder Lake, a remnant of Haarlem Lake. The older part of the town is on peaty soil at about sea level, surrounded by polders with loamy soil 9–15feet (3–5 m) below sea level. Once known for its eels, whence its name (aal, “eel”; meer, “lake”), it is the flower-growing center of The Netherlands, with numerous nurseries, the largest flower auction in the world, and a state experimental station for Flori culture. Blooms include carnations, roses, lilacs, freesias, chrysanthemums, and potted plants such as cyclamens and begonias. Many lowers are exported by air, and there is a thriving trade in seeds and nursery plants. Pop. (1984 est.) 20,379.

Read more Entry>>
2:50 AM

Aalen

city, Baden-Württemberg Land (state), southern Germany, on the Kocher River, at the northern foot of the Schwäbische Alb (Swabian Alps), 30 miles (48 km) north of Ulm. It originated around a large Roman fort, much of which remains; nearby are the remains of the Roman limes (frontier wall). It became a free imperial city in 1360 and was severely damaged by fire in 1634. It passed to Württemberg in 1802. The old city hall dates from 1636 and the church of Sankt Nikolaus from 1765. The Limesmuseum of Roman relics was opened in 1964. In 1975 the adjoining city of Wasseralfingen was annexed to Aalen, enlarging it by nearly a third. A communications center, Aalen also has metal, textile, and chemical industries. Pop. (1989 est.) 62,812.

Read more Entry>>
2:34 AM

Aakjær, Jeppe - poet and novelist

born Sept. 10, 1866, Aakjær, Den.
died April 22, 1930, Jenle


poet and novelist, leading exponent of Danish regional literature and of the literature of social consciousness.

Aakjær grew up in the Jutland farming area and so was well aware of the harsh conditions endured by farm labourers in his country. His early novels deal primarily with this theme. As a young man he went to study in Copenhagen, earning his living as a proofreader and later as a journalist. Vredens born, et tyendes saga (1904; “Children of Wrath: A Hired Man's Saga”), which is considered to be his most powerful novel, was a strong plea for the betterment of the farm laborer's lot. The book initiated much public discussion and helped lead the way to some minimal reforms. He was best-known, however, for his poems, especially those collected in Fri felt (1905; “Free Fields”) and Rugens sange (1906; “Songs of the Rye”). A number of modern Danish composers have set Aakjær's poems to music; his “Jens Vejmand” (music by Carl Nielsen) is virtually a modern folk song. Only a few of his poems have been translated into English.

Read more Entry>>
2:28 AM

Aachen

French: Aix-la-Chapelle, Dutch: Aken,

city, North Rhine-Westphalia Land (state), western Germany. Its municipal boundaries coincide on the west with the frontiers of Belgium and The Netherlands. It was the favorite residence of the emperor Charlemagne, and it served as the principal coronation site of Holy Roman emperors and of German kings from the Middle Ages to the Reformation. The Palatine Chapel, a masterpiece of Carolingian architecture, is incorporated within Aachen Cathedral, which was added to UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1978.

Read more Entry>>
2:25 AM

A-Pao-Chi - king of the Khitan nation

died 926, China

Pinyin Abaoji, posthumous dynastic name Liao T'ai Tsu, Pinyin Liao Tai Zuleader of the nomadic Mongol-speaking Khitan tribes who occupied the northwest border of China.

Elected to a three-year term as great khan of the Khitans, A-pao-chi refused to resign at the end of his term but made himself king of the Khitan nation. After the collapse in 907 of T'ang rule in China, A-pao-chi made himself emperor and by 916 had set up a Chinese-style dynasty, with his son as heir apparent. He organized his followers into fighting units known as ordos (similar to what Westerners later called a horde) and then joined 12 ordos into an administrative district.

In 926, in return for aiding the founder of the Later Chin dynasty (936–947) in the Chin ruler's conquest of North China, A-pao-chi was given the northeast corner of Hopeh province, an area inside the Great Wall encompassing the present site of Peking. After the death of A-pao-chi, the Khitans began to take on further Chinese mannerisms, and in 947 they proclaimed the Liao dynasty (947–1125), naming A-pao-chi as their dynastic founder with the posthumous title of T'ai Tsu (Grand Progenitor).

Read more Entry>>
2:21 AM

Mdo-smad - area of central Asia inhabited by Tibetans

A-Mdo is also called Mdo-smad, one of three regions into which the area of central Asia inhabited by Tibetans is traditionally divided. During the 7th to 9th centuries, the central Tibetan kingdom was extended until it reached the Tarim Basin on the north, China on the east, India and Nepal on the south, and Kashmir on the west. The newly added dominions to the east and northeast were called Mdo-Khams. The A-mdo region, constituting the northeastern part of ethnic Tibet, reached from the Huang Ho (river) northeastward to Mchod-rten dkarpo (now in Kansu province, China). It passed under Ch'in g (Manchu) control in 1724 following the suppression of a Mongol revolt and was officially incorporated into the Chinese provincial system as part of Tsinghai province in 1928.

Read more Entry>>
2:14 AM

A-kuei - General and Official of the middle years of the Ch'ing dynasty

born Sept. 7, 1717, China
died Oct. 10, 1797, Peking

Pinyin Agui general and official during the middle years of the Ch'in g dynasty.The scion of a noble family, A-kuei directed Chinese military expeditions that quelled uprisings in the western provinces of Szechwan and Kansu. He also conquered Ili and Chinese Turkestan, areas on China's northwestern frontier that are today part of the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang. In addition, he helped subjugate Myanmar (Burma), making it a Chinese tributary state, and directed the campaign to stabilize China's position on the recently conquered island of Taiwan. He was one of the emperor's most trusted ministers, and he served until his 80th year as a senior member of the government's administrative cabinets, the Grand Council and the Grand Secretariat.

Read more Entry>>
Subscribe to Feed