Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Shop

0-9

Zen ... Zhytomyr

Zen: (from Sanskrit dhyana, "meditation"), important school of Buddhism in Japan that claims to transmit the spirit or essence of Buddhism, which consists in experiencing the enlightenment (bodhi) achieved by Gautama ...
zen'ei ikebana: in Japanese floral art, modern style in which freedom of expression takes precedence over classic rules. Zen'ei ikebana was established in 1930 by a group of art critics and floral ...
Zenger, John Peter: New York printer and journalist whose famous acquittal in a libel suit (1735) established the first important victory for freedom of the press in the English colonies of North America.
Zengzi: Chinese philosopher, disciple of Confucius, believed to be the author of the Daxue ("Great Learning"). In this classic, a part of the Liji ("Collection of Rituals") and one of the ...
zenith: point on the celestial sphere directly above an observer on the Earth. The point 180° opposite the zenith, directly underfoot, is the nadir. Astronomical zenith is defined by gravity; i.e., ...
Zeno: Eastern Roman emperor whose reign (474-491) was troubled by revolts and religious dissension.
Zeno Of Citium: Greek thinker who founded the Stoic school of philosophy, which influenced the development of philosophical and ethical thought in Hellenistic and Roman times.
Zeno Of Elea: (c. 495 BC-c. 430 BC), Greek philosopher and mathematician, whom Aristotle called the inventor of dialectic. He is especially known for his paradoxes that contributed to the development of logical ...
Zeno, Carlo: Venetian admiral whose victory over the Genoese at Chioggia, near Venice, in 1380 was a turning point in the struggle between the two great maritime republics.
Zenobia: queen of the Roman colony of Palmyra, in present-day Syria, from 267 or 268 to 272. She conquered several of Rome's eastern provinces before she was subjugated by the emperor ...
Zenodotus Of Ephesus: Greek grammarian and first superintendent (from c. 284 BC) of the library at Alexandria, noted for editions of Greek poets and especially for producing the first critical edition of Homer.
Zenta, Battle of: (Sept. 11, 1697), decisive military victory of Austrian forces over an Ottoman army at Zenta (now Senta, Yugos.) on the Tisa River during a war (1683-99) between the Ottoman Empire ...
zeolite: any member of a family of hydrated aluminosilicate minerals that contain alkali and alkaline-earth metals. The zeolites are noted for their lability toward ion-exchange and reversible dehydration. They have a ...
zeolitic facies: one of the major divisions of the mineral facies classification of metamorphic rocks, the rocks of which formed at the lowest temperatures and pressures associated with regional metamorphism. It represents ...
zeon: in the Eastern Orthodox church, a part of the Eucharistic liturgy in which the deacon pours a few drops of hot water (known as the zeon, or "living water") into ...
Zephaniah: Israelite prophet, said to be the author of one of the shorter Old Testament prophetical books, who proclaimed the approaching divine judgment. The first verse of the Book of Zephaniah ...
Zephaniah, Book of: the ninth of 12 Old Testament books that bear the names of the Minor Prophets, collected in one book, The Twelve, in the Jewish canon. The book consists of a ...
Zephyrinus, Saint: pope from c. 199 to 217.
zeppelin: rigid airship of a type originally manufactured by Luftschiffsbau-Zeppelin and consisting of a cigar-shaped, trussed, and covered frame supported by internal gas cells. The first Zeppelin airship was designed by ...
Zeppelin, Ferdinand, Graf von: first notable builder of rigid dirigible airships, for which his surname is still a popular generic term.
Zera'im: (Hebrew: "Seeds"), the first of the six major divisions, or orders (sedarim), of the Mishna (codification of Jewish oral laws), which was completed early in the 3rd century AD by ...
Zeravshan Range: mountain range in Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, forming a part of the Gissar-Alay system. It extends for more than 230 miles (370 km) east-west parallel to the Turkistan Range between the ...
Zeravshan River: river rising in the eastern Turkistan Range and flowing 545 miles (877 km) west through Tajikistan and southeastern Uzbekistan to disappear in the desert north of Charjew near the Amu ...
Zermatt: town, Valais canton, southern Switzerland. It lies at the head of the Mattervisp Valley and at the foot of the Matterhorn (14,692 feet [4,478 m]), 23 miles (37 km) southeast ...
Zernike, Frits: Dutch scientist, winner of the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1953 for his invention of the phase-contrast microscope, an instrument that permits the study of internal cell structure without the ...
Zero: fighter aircraft, a single-seat, low-wing monoplane used with great effect by the Japanese during World War II. The Zero was made in two conformations: as a land-based fighter and, with ...
zero-point energy: vibrational energy that molecules retain even at the absolute zero of temperature. Temperature in physics has been found to be a measure of the intensity of random molecular motion, and ...
Zeromski, Stefan: Polish novelist admired for the deep compassion about social problems that he expressed in naturalistic, yet lyrical, novels.
Zerubbabel: governor of Judaea under whom the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem took place. Of Davidic origin, Zerubbabel is thought to have originally been a Babylonian Jew who returned ...
Zetkin, Clara: nee Eissner German feminist, Socialist, and Communist leader, who after World War I played a leading role in the new Communist Party of Germany (Kommunistische Partei Deutschlands; KPD) and the ...
Zeus: in ancient Greek religion, chief deity of the pantheon, a sky and weather god who was identical with the Roman god Jupiter (q.v.). Zeus was regarded as the sender of ...
Zeus, Statue of: at Olympia, Greece, one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The statue was one of two masterpieces by the Greek sculptor Phidias (the other being the statue of Athena ...
Zeuxis: one of the best-known painters of ancient Greece, who seems to have carried a trend toward illusionism to an unprecedented level.
Zewail, Ahmed H.: Egyptian-born chemist who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1999 for developing a rapid laser technique that enabled scientists to study the action of atoms during chemical reactions. The ...
Zeyarid Dynasty: (927-c. 1090), Iranian dynasty that ruled in the Caspian provinces of Gurgan and Mazandaran. The founder of the dynasty was Mardaviz ebn Zeyar (reigned 927-935), who took advantage of a ...
Zhabotinsky, Leonid Ivanovich: Soviet weight lifter who won gold medals in the superheavyweight class at the 1964 and 1968 Olympics and set 17 world records.
zhang: an old Chinese measure of length equal to 10 chi, or 3.58 metres (11 feet 9 inches). The value was agreed upon by China in treaties (1842-44 ...
Zhang Ailing: Chinese writer whose sad, bitter love stories gained her a large devoted audience as well as critical acclaim.
Zhang Daqian: painter and collector who was one of the most internationally renowned Chinese artists of the 20th century.
Zhang Junxiang: leading playwright and motion-picture director in China.
Zhang Tianyi: Chinese writer whose brilliant, socially realistic short stories achieved considerable renown in the 1930s.
Zhang Ziping: Chinese author of popular romantic fiction and a founder of the Creation Society, a literary association devoted to the propagation of romanticism.
Zhao Mengfu: Chinese painter and calligrapher who, though occasionally condemned for having served in the foreign Mongol court (Yuan dynasty, 1206-1368), has been honoured as an early master within the tradition of ...
Zhao Shuli: Chinese novelist and short-story writer.
Zhao Youqin: Chinese astronomer, mathematician, and Daoist who calculated the value of pi, constructed astronomical instruments, conducted experiments with a camera obscura, and compiled an influential astronomical compendium.
Zhao Ziyang: premier of China (1980-87) and general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (1987-89).
Zhdanov, Andrey Aleksandrovich: Soviet government and Communist Party official.
Zhdanovshchina: cultural policy of the Soviet Union during the Cold War period following World War II, calling for stricter government control of art and promoting an extreme anti-Western bias. Originally applied ...
Zhe school: group of conservative, academic Chinese painters who worked primarily in the 15th century, during the Ming dynasty. These painters specialized in large and decorative paintings that perpetuated the styles and ...
Zheleznogorsk: city, Kursk oblast (province), western Russia. It is located 80 miles (130 km) northwest of Kursk city and was founded in 1958 in connection with the development of the KMA ...
Zhelyabov, Andrey Ivanovich: Russian revolutionary and a leading Narodnik.
Zheng Qiao: great historian of the Song period (960-1279). He wrote the Tongzhi ("General Treatises"), a famous institutional history of China from its beginnings down through the Tang dynasty (618-907). In this ...
Zheng Zhenduo: literary historian of Chinese vernacular literature who was instrumental in promoting the "new literature" of 20th-century China.
Zhezqazghan: city, central Kazakstan, on a reservoir of the Kara-Kengir River. The city was created in 1938 in connection with the exploitation of the rich local copper deposits. In 1973 a ...
Zhivkov, Todor: first secretary of the ruling Bulgarian Communist Party's Central Committee (1954-89) and president of Bulgaria (1971-89). His 35 years as Bulgaria's ruler made him the longest-serving leader in any of ...
Zhob: town, Balochistan province, western Pakistan. The town lies on an open plain just east of the Zhob River. Originally called Apozai (the name is still used locally), it was renamed ...
Zhongyong: one of four Confucian texts that, when published together in 1190 by the Neo-Confucian philosopher Zhu Xi, became the famous Sishu ("Four Books"). Zhu chose Zhongyong for its metaphysical interest, ...
Zhou Dunyi: Chinese philosopher considered the most important precursor of Neo-Confucianism, the ethical and metaphysical system that became the officially sponsored mode of thought in China for almost 1,000 years. Ideas he ...
Zhou Enlai: leading figure in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and premier (1949-76) and foreign minister (1949-58) of the People's Republic of China, who played a major role in the Chinese Revolution ...
Zhou Fang: with the older Zhang Xuan, one of the two most famous figure painters of the Tang dynasty (618-907).
Zhou Yang: Chinese literary critic and theorist who introduced Marxist theories of literature to China.
Zhou Zuoren: Chinese essayist, critic, and literary scholar who translated fiction and myths from many languages into vernacular Chinese. He was the most important Chinese essayist of the 1920s and 1930s.
Zhoukoudian: archaeological site near the village of Zhoukoudian, Beijing municipality, China, 26 miles (42 km) southwest of the central city. The site, including some four residential areas, has yielded the largest ...
Zhouli: one of three ancient ritual texts listed among the Nine, Twelve, and Thirteen Classics of Confucianism. Though tradition ascribed the text to the political figure Zhougong (flourished 12th century BC), ...
Zhu Da: Buddhist monk who was, with Shitao, one of the most famous Individualist painters of the early Qing period.
Zhu De: Wade-Giles Chu Teh one of China's greatest military leaders and the founder of the Chinese Communist army.
Zhu Rongji: Chinese politician who was a leading economic reformer in the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). He was premier of China from 1998 to 2003.
Zhu Shijie: Chinese mathematician who stood at the pinnacle of traditional Chinese mathematics. Zhu is also known for having unified the southern and northern Chinese mathematical traditions.
Zhu Xi: Chinese philosopher whose synthesis of Neo-Confucian thought long dominated Chinese intellectual life.
Zhu Yizun: Chinese scholar and poet who helped revive the ci song form during the early Qing dynasty (1644-1911/12).
Zhuang: highly Sinicized ethnic minority of South China, chiefly occupying the Zhuang Autonomous Region of Guangxi (created 1958) and Wenshan in Yunnan province. They numbered some 16 million in the early ...
Zhuangzi: the most significant of China's early interpreters of Daoism, whose work (Zhuangzi) is considered one of the definitive texts of Daoism and is thought to be more comprehensive than the ...
Zhukov, Georgy Konstantinovich: marshal of the Soviet Union, the most important Soviet military commander during World War II.
Zhukovsky, Vasily Andreyevich: Russian poet and translator, one of Aleksandr Pushkin's most important precursors in forming Russian verse style and language.
Zhytomyr: oblast (province), western Ukraine. Its northern half lies in the swampy, forested Pripet Marshes; part of the swamp has been reclaimed. The southern half lies on the Volyn-Podilsk Upland, which ...
Zhytomyr: city and administrative centre of Zhytomyr oblast (province), western Ukraine. It lies along the Teteriv River where it runs between high, rocky banks. Zhytomyr is believed to date from the ...