1.
Parishes of Macau
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The following is a list of the seven parishes of Macau, also known in Portuguese as freguesias. Under Portuguese rule, they were administrative subdivisions of the municipalities, after the 1999 handover to China, they are still officially recognized divisions but for symbolic reasons only. * Not included on Macau SAR total area, Macau New Urban Zone under land reclamation. Civic and Municipal Affairs Bureau Geography of Macau
2.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
3.
Macau
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Macau, also spelled Macao, officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the western side of the Pearl River Delta in East Asia. Macau is bordered by the city of Zhuhai in Mainland China to the north, Hong Kong lies about 64 kilometres to its east across the Delta. With a population of 650,900 living in an area of 30.5 km2, Macau was administered by the Portuguese Empire and its inheritor states from the mid-16th century until late 1999, when it constituted the last remaining European colony in Asia. Portuguese traders first settled in Macau in the 1550s, in 1557, Macau was leased to Portugal from Ming China as a trading port. The Portuguese Empire administered the city under Chinese authority and sovereignty until 1887, sovereignty over Macau was transferred back to China on 20 December 1999. The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau and Macau Basic Law stipulate that Macau operate with a degree of autonomy until at least 2049. Macau participates in international organizations and events that do not require members to national sovereignty. Macau is a city in Southern China, known for its casinos. Its gaming revenue has been the worlds largest since 2006, with the heavily dependent on gaming. According to The World Factbook, Macau has the fourth highest life expectancy in the world, the present Chinese name means Inlet Gates. Macau is otherwise known in Chinese as Haojing or Jinghai, the name Macau is thought to be derived from the A-Ma Temple, a temple built in 1448 dedicated to Mazu, the goddess of seafarers and fishermen. It is said that when the Portuguese sailors landed at the coast just outside the temple and asked the name of the place, the Portuguese then named the peninsula Macau. The history of Macau is traced back to the Qin dynasty, the first recorded Chinese inhabitants of the area were people seeking refuge in Macau from invading Mongols during the Southern Song. Under the Ming dynasty, fishermen migrated to Macau from Guangdong, the Macau native people were Tanka boat people. Macau did not develop as a settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century. In 1513, Jorge Álvares became the first Portuguese to land in China, in 1535, Portuguese traders obtained the rights to anchor ships in Macaus harbours and to carry out trading activities, though not the right to stay onshore. In 1557, the Portuguese established a permanent settlement in Macau, the Portuguese continued to pay an annual tribute up to 1863 in order to stay in Macau. By 1564, Portugal commanded western trade with India, Japan, but their pride was damaged by the indifference with which the Chinese treated them
4.
Time in China
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The time in China follows a single standard time offset of UTC+08,00, despite China spanning five geographical time zones. The official national standard time is called Beijing Time domestically and China Standard Time internationally, daylight saving time has not been observed since 1991. The special administrative regions maintain their own authorities, with standards called Hong Kong Time. These have been equivalent to Beijing time since 1992, in addition, a second time standard is used in Xinjiang, two hours less than the Beijing Time, which is called Ürümqi Time or Xinjiang Time. In 1912, the Republic of China established five standard time zones, namely Kunlun, Sinkiang-Tibet, Kansu-Szechwan, Chungyuan, and Changpai. The unified time zone policy was adopted by the Communist Party of China or the Central People’s Government some time between 27 September 1949 and 6 October 1949, the date is unknown. However, recent research suggests that the policy was most likely adopted on 27 September 1949, daylight saving time was observed from 1986 to 1991. In 1997 and 1999, Hong Kong and Macau were transferred to China from the United Kingdom and Portugal, although the sovereignty of the SARs belongs to China, they retain their own policies regarding time zones for historical reasons. Due to their locations, both are within the UTC+08,00 time zone, which is the same as the national standard — Beijing time. Xinjiang Time, also known as Ürümqi Time, is set due to its location in the westernmost part of the country. The time offset is UTC+06,00, which is two hours behind Beijing, and is shared with neighbouring Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. Currently, timezone usage within Xinjiang is roughly split along the divide, with most ethnic Han following Beijing time. Some local authorities are now using both time standard side by side, the coexistence of two timezones within the same region causes some confusion among the local population, especially when inter-racial communication occur. Some ethnic Han in Xinjiang might not be aware of the existence of the UTC+6 Xinjiang Time because of language barrier, regardless, Beijing Time users in Xinjiang usually schedule their daily activities two hours later than those who live in eastern China. As such, stores and offices in Xinjiang are commonly opening from 10am to 7pm Beijing Time and this is known as the work/rest time in Xinjiang. Hong Kong maintains its own time authority after transfer of sovereignty in 1997, the Hong Kong Time is UTC+08,00 all year round, and daylight saving time has not been used since 1979. Greenwich Mean Time was adopted as the basis in 1904, before that, local time was determined by astronomical observations at Hong Kong Observatory using a 6-inch Lee Equatorial and a 3-inch Transit Circle. Macau maintains its own time authority after transfer of sovereignty in 1999, the Macau Standard Time is the time in Macau
5.
China
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China, officially the Peoples Republic of China, is a unitary sovereign state in East Asia and the worlds most populous country, with a population of over 1.381 billion. The state is governed by the Communist Party of China and its capital is Beijing, the countrys major urban areas include Shanghai, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin and Hong Kong. China is a power and a major regional power within Asia. Chinas landscape is vast and diverse, ranging from forest steppes, the Himalaya, Karakoram, Pamir and Tian Shan mountain ranges separate China from much of South and Central Asia. The Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, the third and sixth longest in the world, respectively, Chinas coastline along the Pacific Ocean is 14,500 kilometers long and is bounded by the Bohai, Yellow, East China and South China seas. China emerged as one of the worlds earliest civilizations in the basin of the Yellow River in the North China Plain. For millennia, Chinas political system was based on hereditary monarchies known as dynasties, in 1912, the Republic of China replaced the last dynasty and ruled the Chinese mainland until 1949, when it was defeated by the communist Peoples Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. The Communist Party established the Peoples Republic of China in Beijing on 1 October 1949, both the ROC and PRC continue to claim to be the legitimate government of all China, though the latter has more recognition in the world and controls more territory. China had the largest economy in the world for much of the last two years, during which it has seen cycles of prosperity and decline. Since the introduction of reforms in 1978, China has become one of the worlds fastest-growing major economies. As of 2016, it is the worlds second-largest economy by nominal GDP, China is also the worlds largest exporter and second-largest importer of goods. China is a nuclear weapons state and has the worlds largest standing army. The PRC is a member of the United Nations, as it replaced the ROC as a permanent member of the U. N. Security Council in 1971. China is also a member of numerous formal and informal multilateral organizations, including the WTO, APEC, BRICS, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, the BCIM, the English name China is first attested in Richard Edens 1555 translation of the 1516 journal of the Portuguese explorer Duarte Barbosa. The demonym, that is, the name for the people, Portuguese China is thought to derive from Persian Chīn, and perhaps ultimately from Sanskrit Cīna. Cīna was first used in early Hindu scripture, including the Mahābhārata, there are, however, other suggestions for the derivation of China. The official name of the state is the Peoples Republic of China. The shorter form is China Zhōngguó, from zhōng and guó and it was then applied to the area around Luoyi during the Eastern Zhou and then to Chinas Central Plain before being used as an occasional synonym for the state under the Qing
6.
Cantonese
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Cantonese, or Standard Cantonese, is a variety of Chinese spoken in the city of Guangzhou in southeastern China. It is the prestige variety of Yue, one of the major subdivisions of Chinese. In mainland China, it is the lingua franca of the province of Guangdong and some neighbouring areas such as Guangxi. In Hong Kong and Macau, Cantonese serves as one of their official languages and it is also spoken amongst overseas Chinese in Southeast Asia and throughout the Western World. When Cantonese and the closely related Yuehai dialects are classified together, Cantonese is viewed as vital part of the cultural identity for its native speakers across large swathes of southeastern China, Hong Kong and Macau. Although Cantonese shares some vocabulary with Mandarin, the two varieties are mutually unintelligible because of differences in pronunciation, grammar and lexicon, sentence structure, in particular the placement of verbs, sometimes differs between the two varieties. This results in the situation in which a Cantonese and a Mandarin text may look similar, in English, the term Cantonese is ambiguous. Cantonese proper is the variety native to the city of Canton and this narrow sense may be specified as Canton language or Guangzhou language in English. However, Cantonese may also refer to the branch of Cantonese that contains Cantonese proper as well as Taishanese and Gaoyang. In this article, Cantonese is used for Cantonese proper, historically, speakers called this variety Canton speech or Guangzhou speech, although this term is now seldom used outside mainland China. In Guangdong province, people call it provincial capital speech or plain speech. In Hong Kong and Macau, as well as among overseas Chinese communities, in mainland China, the term Guangdong speech is also increasingly being used among both native and non-native speakers. Due to its status as a prestige dialect among all the dialects of the Cantonese or Yue branch of Chinese varieties, the official languages of Hong Kong are Chinese and English, as defined in the Hong Kong Basic Law. The Chinese language has different varieties, of which Cantonese is one. Given the traditional predominance of Cantonese within Hong Kong, it is the de facto official spoken form of the Chinese language used in the Hong Kong Government and all courts and it is also used as the medium of instruction in schools, alongside English. A similar situation exists in neighboring Macau, where Chinese is an official language along with Portuguese. As in Hong Kong, Cantonese is the predominant spoken variety of Chinese used in life and is thus the official form of Chinese used in the government. The variant spoken in Hong Kong and Macau is known as Hong Kong Cantonese, Cantonese first developed around the port city of Guangzhou in the Pearl River Delta region of southeastern China
7.
Portuguese language
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Portuguese is a Romance language and the sole official language of Portugal, Brazil, Cape Verde, Guinea-Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, and São Tomé and Príncipe. It also has co-official language status in East Timor, Equatorial Guinea, Portuguese is part of the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several dialects of Vulgar Latin in the medieval Kingdom of Galicia, and has kept some Celtic phonology. Portuguese is also termed the language of Camões, after Luís Vaz de Camões, one of the greatest literary figures in the Portuguese language and author of the Portuguese epic poem, the museum is the first of its kind in the world. In 2015 the museum was destroyed in a fire, but there are plans to reconstruct it, when the Romans arrived in the Iberian Peninsula in 216 BCE, they brought the Latin language with them, from which all Romance languages descend. Between 409 CE and 711 CE, as the Roman Empire collapsed in Western Europe, Portuguese evolved from the medieval language, known today by linguists as Galician-Portuguese, Old Portuguese or Old Galician, of the northwestern medieval Kingdom of Galicia. It is in Latin administrative documents of the 9th century that written Galician-Portuguese words and this phase is known as Proto-Portuguese, which lasted from the 9th century until the 12th-century independence of the County of Portugal from the Kingdom of León, by then reigning over Galicia. In the first part of the Galician-Portuguese period, the language was used for documents. For some time, it was the language of preference for poetry in Christian Hispania. Portugal became an independent kingdom in 1139, under King Afonso I of Portugal, in the second period of Old Portuguese, in the 15th and 16th centuries, with the Portuguese discoveries, the language was taken to many regions of Africa, Asia and the Americas. The language continued to be popular in parts of Asia until the 19th century, some Portuguese-speaking Christian communities in India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Indonesia preserved their language even after they were isolated from Portugal. The end of the Old Portuguese period was marked by the publication of the Cancioneiro Geral by Garcia de Resende, Most literate Portuguese speakers were also literate in Latin, and thus they easily adopted Latin words into their writing—and eventually speech—in Portuguese. Portuguese is the language of the majority of people in Brazil and Portugal, perhaps 75% of the population of Angola speaks Portuguese natively, and 85% are fluent. Just over 40% of the population of Mozambique are native speakers of Portuguese, Portuguese is also spoken natively by 30% of the population in Guinea-Bissau, and a Portuguese-based creole is understood by all. No data is available for Cape Verde, but almost all the population is bilingual, there are also significant Portuguese speaking immigrant communities in many countries including Andorra, Bermuda, Canada, France, Japan, Jersey, Namibia, Paraguay, Macau, Switzerland, Venezuela. In some parts of former Portuguese India, namely Goa and Daman and Diu, in 2014, an estimated 1,500 students were learning Portuguese in Goa. Equatorial Guinea made an application for full membership to the CPLP in June 2010. In 2011, Portuguese became its official language and, in July 2014. Portuguese is a subject in The school curriculum in Uruguay
8.
Macau Peninsula
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Macau Peninsula is the most populous and historic part of Macau. It has an area of 8.5 square kilometres and is connected to Guangdong province, at the northeast. The peninsula, together with the city centre of Zhuhai, sits on an island separated from the continent by distributaries of the Pearl River, the Border Gate was built on the northern isthmus. At the south, the peninsula is connected to Taipa Island by three bridges, the Friendship Bridge, the Macau-Taipa Bridge, and the Sai Van Bridge, the longest axis extends 4 kilometres from the Border Gate to the southwestern edge, Barra. There is a western Inner Harbour, and an eastern Outer Harbour, the 93 metres Guia Hill is the highest point on the peninsula, which is, on an average,50 to 75 metres. Many coastal places are reclaimed from sea, the Historic Centre of Macau, which is entirely in the Macau Peninsula, became a World Heritage Site in 2005
9.
Traditional Chinese characters
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Traditional Chinese characters are Chinese characters in any character set that does not contain newly created characters or character substitutions performed after 1946. They are most commonly the characters in the character sets of Taiwan, of Hong Kong. Currently, a number of overseas Chinese online newspapers allow users to switch between both sets. In contrast, simplified Chinese characters are used in mainland China, Singapore, the debate on traditional and simplified Chinese characters has been a long-running issue among Chinese communities. Although simplified characters are taught and endorsed by the government of Mainland China, Traditional characters are used informally in regions in China primarily in handwriting and also used for inscriptions and religious text. They are often retained in logos or graphics to evoke yesteryear, nonetheless, the vast majority of media and communications in China is dominated by simplified characters. Taiwan has never adopted Simplified Chinese characters since it is ruled by the Republic of China, the use of simplified characters in official documents is even prohibited by the government in Taiwan. Simplified characters are not well understood in general, although some stroke simplifications that have incorporated into Simplified Chinese are in common use in handwriting. For example, while the name of Taiwan is written as 臺灣, similarly, in Hong Kong and Macau, Traditional Chinese has been the legal written form since colonial times. In recent years, because of the influx of mainland Chinese tourists, today, even government websites use simplified Chinese, as they answer to the Beijing government. This has led to concerns by residents to protect their local heritage. In Southeast Asia, the Chinese Filipino community continues to be one of the most conservative regarding simplification, while major public universities are teaching simplified characters, many well-established Chinese schools still use traditional characters. Publications like the Chinese Commercial News, World News, and United Daily News still use traditional characters, on the other hand, the Philippine Chinese Daily uses simplified. Aside from local newspapers, magazines from Hong Kong, such as the Yazhou Zhoukan, are found in some bookstores. In case of film or television subtitles on DVD, the Chinese dub that is used in Philippines is the same as the one used in Taiwan and this is because the DVDs belongs to DVD Region Code 3. Hence, most of the subtitles are in Traditional Characters, overseas Chinese in the United States have long used traditional characters. A major influx of Chinese immigrants to the United States occurred during the half of the 19th century. Therefore, the majority of Chinese language signage in the United States, including street signs, Traditional Chinese characters are called several different names within the Chinese-speaking world
10.
Land reclamation
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Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill, is the process of creating new land from ocean, riverbeds, or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as ground or land fill. In a number of jurisdictions, including parts of the United States. In Alberta, Canada, for example, reclamation is defined by the government as The process of reconverting disturbed land to its former or other productive uses. In Oceania it is referred to as land rehabilitation. Land reclamation can be achieved with a number of different methods, the most simple method involves simply filling the area with large amounts of heavy rock and/or cement, then filling with clay and dirt until the desired height is reached. The process is called infilling and the used to fill the space is generically called infill. Draining of submerged wetlands is often used to land for agricultural use. Deep cement mixing is used typically in situations in which the material displaced by either dredging or draining may be contaminated, the creation of new land was for the need of human activities. Notable examples include, Much of the coastlines of Mumbai, India and it took over 150 years to join the original seven islands of Mumbai. Much of the coastlines of Mainland China, Hong Kong, North Korea and it is estimated that nearly 65% of tidal flats around the Yellow Sea have been reclaimed. Inland lowlands in the Yangtze valley, China, including the areas of important cities like Shanghai, Much of the coastline of Karachi, Pakistan. A part of the Hamad International Airport in Qatar, around 36 square kilometres, the entire island of The Pearl-Qatar situated in West Bay, Qatar. The city-state of Singapore, where land is in supply, is also famous for its efforts on land reclamation. The Palm Islands, The World and hotel Burj al-Arab off Dubai in the United Arab Emirates The Yas Island in Abu Dhabi and it is one of the six divisions of Malé City. The Eko Atlantic in Lagos, Nigeria, mexico City, the chinampas are a famous example. Parts of Panama City urban and street development are based on reclaimed land, aeroparque Jorge Newbery, in Buenos Aires, Argentina One of the earliest large scale projects was the Beemster Polder in the Netherlands, realized in 1612 adding 70 square kilometres of land. In Hong Kong the Praya Reclamation Scheme added 20 to 24 hectares of land in 1890 during the phase of construction
11.
Cotai
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Cotai is a 5.2 square kilometres piece of newly reclaimed land on top of Seac Pai Bay between Taipa and Coloane islands in Macau, that has not yet been assigned to any of the freguesias. The Chinese and Portuguese names are a portmanteau of the two islands, Coloane and Taipa, in 2006, a new hospital was founded in the Cotai area, the MUST Hospital, which is associated with the Macau University of Science and Technology Foundation. Galaxy Entertainment Groups Grand Waldo Hotel was the first casino to commence operations in Cotai, the construction of many other casino and hotel projects is currently underway. The largest and most notable property on Cotai so far is Las Vegas Sands Venetian Macao, melco PBL Holdings opened the City of Dreams directly across the street from the Venetian on June 1,2009. As of February 2016, several new hotel-casinos have opened in Cotai, with more scheduled to open in 2016 including the Wynn Palace. Somewhere close to USD $50 billion has been or is being invested in Cotai, the Parisian Pousada Marina Infante St
12.
Cotai Strip
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Cotai was the result of a major land reclamation project which joined the two islands of Coloane and Taipa, and is part of the Macau governments continuous efforts to expand the regions territory. Galaxy Entertainment Groups Grand Waldo Hotel was the first casino to commence operations in Cotai, the construction of many other casino and hotel projects is currently underway. The largest and most notable property on Cotai so far is Las Vegas Sands Venetian Macao, melco PBL Holdings opened the City of Dreams directly across the street from the Venetian on June 1,2009. Due to the 2008 financial crisis, up to 11,000 construction workers are to lose their jobs as US gaming giant Las Vegas Sands cuts back its development in Macau. Stephen Weaver, Sands president for Asia, said up to 11,000 workers will lose their jobs in Macau after the company halted building projects in the city, developments of site no.5 and no.6 on the strip will be halted. Las Vegas Sands has focused its work on the Marina Bay Sands Resort in Singapore. On 30 November 2009 the Las Vegas Sands corp announced it had secured $1.75 billion to complete its Shangri-La, Traders and Sheraton Hotels, which were abandoned 65% complete in mid-2008. The 636 room Shangri-La Hotel,1,200 room Traders Hotel, in December 2011 the Sheraton will open a further 2,000 rooms in another tower. The Sheraton will have 4,067 rooms, the St Regis Hotel might be completed in a further stage. Sheldon Adelson revealed it would take a year and a half or so to complete the new Cotai resort at plots 5 and 6 on 9 January 2011, no information was released about Cotai plots 3,7 and 8. These are very likely to be cancelled, macaos director of the Lands, Public Works and Transport Bureau, Jaime Carion, said on 5 December 2010, that the Government is now looking at developing non-gaming projects in Cotai. He stressed that the Sands China application procedure for plots 7 and 8 was not fully complete, Galaxy Entertainment who is building Galaxy Macau has also stated that after having very slow construction in 2009, it will try to get its Cotai first phase development open for Q12011. Galaxy Macau was eventually opened on 15 May 2011, as of February 2016, several new hotel-casinos have opened in Cotai, with several more scheduled to open in 2016 including the Wynn Palace and the MGM Cotai. Somewhere close to USD $50 billion has been or is being invested in Cotai, the Macau Theme Park and Resort Ltd, controlled by Angela Leong On Kei, has said that it intends to build a MOP10.4 billion family-oriented amusement resort and hotels in Cotai. According to a statement, the integrated resort project will be developed in three phases and each of them will take about two and a half to three years to complete. SJM Holdings is in talks with Macau Theme Park and Resort Ltd to try to find a way for companies to cooperate on Cotai, chief executive officer, Ambrose So Shu Fai, revealed on 16 December 2010. The new Casino resort is called Wynn Palace with a second phase entitled Wynn Diamond. Wynn announced in mid August 2010 that he will be building a new resort on a 52-acre plot behind the City of Dreams and Las Vegas Sands St Regis, plot 5
13.
Hac Sa Beach
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Hac Sa Beach is a beach in Coloane, Macau, China. It is the largest natural beach in Macau, the name Hac Sa, is a translation from Cantonese, literally means the famous black sand. However, to prevent the beach from disappearing due to erosion, Hac Sa Park List of tourist attractions in Macau
14.
Song dynasty
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The Song dynasty was an era of Chinese history that began in 960 and continued until 1279. It succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, coincided with the Liao and Western Xia dynasties and it was the first government in world history to issue banknotes or true paper money nationally and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy. This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder, as well as the first discernment of true north using a compass, the Song dynasty is divided into two distinct periods, Northern and Southern. During the Northern Song, the Song capital was in the city of Bianjing. The Southern Song refers to the period after the Song lost control of its half to the Jurchen Jin dynasty in the Jin–Song Wars. During this time, the Song court retreated south of the Yangtze, the Southern Song dynasty considerably bolstered its naval strength to defend its waters and land borders and to conduct maritime missions abroad. To repel the Jin, and later the Mongols, the Song developed revolutionary new military technology augmented by the use of gunpowder, in 1234, the Jin dynasty was conquered by the Mongols, who took control of northern China, maintaining uneasy relations with the Southern Song. Möngke Khan, the fourth Great Khan of the Mongol Empire and his younger brother Kublai Khan was proclaimed the new Great Khan, though his claim was only partially recognized by the Mongols in the west. In 1271, Kublai Khan was proclaimed the Emperor of China, after two decades of sporadic warfare, Kublai Khans armies conquered the Song dynasty in 1279. The Mongol invasion led to a reunification under the Yuan dynasty, the population of China doubled in size during the 10th and 11th centuries. The Northern Song census recorded a population of roughly 50 million, much like the Han and this data is found in the Standard Histories. However, it is estimated that the Northern Song had a population of some 100 million people and this dramatic increase of population fomented an economic revolution in pre-modern China. The expansion of the population, growth of cities, and the emergence of a national economy led to the withdrawal of the central government from direct involvement in economic affairs. The lower gentry assumed a role in grassroots administration and local affairs. Appointed officials in county and provincial centers relied upon the gentry for their services, sponsorship. Social life during the Song was vibrant, citizens gathered to view and trade precious artworks, the populace intermingled at public festivals and private clubs, and cities had lively entertainment quarters. The spread of literature and knowledge was enhanced by the expansion of woodblock printing. Technology, science, philosophy, mathematics, and engineering flourished over the course of the Song, although the institution of the civil service examinations had existed since the Sui dynasty, it became much more prominent in the Song period
15.
Sea salt
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Sea salt is salt produced from the evaporation of seawater, rather than by being extracted from sedimentary deposits. It is used in cooking and cosmetics and it is also called bay salt or solar salt. Like mineral salt, production of sea salt has been dated to prehistoric times, some cooks believe it tastes better than salt from mines. However, there is little or no benefit to using sea salt over other forms of sodium chloride salts. Commercially available sea salts on the market vary widely in their chemical composition. Sea salt is mentioned in the Vinaya Pitaka, a Buddhist scripture compiled in the mid-5th century BC, the principle of production is evaporation of the water from the sea brine. In warm and dry climates this may be accomplished entirely by using solar energy, modern sea salt production is almost entirely found in Mediterranean and other warm, dry climates. Such places are today called salt works, instead of the older English word saltern and this was the pattern during the Roman and medieval periods around The Wash, in eastern England. There, the tide brought the brine, the extensive saltings provided the pasture, the fens and moors provided the fuel. The dilute brine of the sea was largely evaporated by the sun, in Roman areas, this was done using ceramic containers known as briquetage. Workers scraped up the salt and mud slurry and washed it with clean sea water to settle impurities out of the now concentrated brine. They poured the brine into shallow pans and set them on fist-sized clay pillars over a fire for final evaporation. Then they scraped out the salt and sold it. In rural areas of Sichuan, China, these traditional salt production methods lasted until industrialization in the 20th century, today, salt labelled sea salt in the US might not have actually come from the sea, as long as it meets the FDAs purity requirements. Some gourmets believe sea salt tastes better and has a better texture than ordinary table salt, in applications that retain sea salts coarser texture, it can provide a different mouth feel, and may change flavor due to its different rate of dissolution. The mineral content also affects the taste, the colors and variety of flavors are due to local clays and algae found in the waters the salt is harvested from. For example, some boutique salts from Korea and France are pinkish gray, black and red salts from Hawaii may even have powdered black lava and baked red clay added in. It may be difficult to distinguish sea salt from other salts, such as pink Himalayan salt, Maras salt from the ancient Inca hot springs, in comparison, table salt is more heavily processed to eliminate minerals and usually contains an additive to prevent clumping
16.
Piracy
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Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship- or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable items or properties. Those who engage in acts of piracy are called pirates, the earliest documented instances of piracy were in the 14th century BC, when the Sea Peoples, a group of ocean raiders, attacked the ships of the Aegean and Mediterranean civilizations. Narrow channels which funnel shipping into predictable routes have long created opportunities for piracy, as well as for privateering and commerce raiding. Historic examples include the waters of Gibraltar, the Strait of Malacca, Madagascar, the Gulf of Aden, a land-based parallel is the ambushing of travelers by bandits and brigands in highways and mountain passes. While the term can include acts committed in the air, on land, or in major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against people traveling on the vessel as the perpetrator. Piracy or pirating is the name of a crime under customary international law. They also use larger vessels, known as ships, to supply the smaller motorboats. The international community is facing challenges in bringing modern pirates to justice. In the 2000s, a number of nations have used their naval forces to protect ships from pirate attacks. The English pirate is derived from the Latin term pirata and that from Greek πειρατής, brigand, in turn from πειράομαι, I attempt, from πεῖρα, attempt, the meaning of the Greek word peiratēs literally is one who attacks. The word is cognate to peril. The term is first attested to c, spelling was not standardised until the eighteenth century, and spellings such as pirrot, pyrate and pyrat were used until this period. It may be reasonable to assume that piracy has existed for as long as the oceans were plied for commerce, the earliest documented instances of piracy are the exploits of the Sea Peoples who threatened the ships sailing in the Aegean and Mediterranean waters in the 14th century BC. In classical antiquity, the Phoenicians, Illyrians and Tyrrhenians were known as pirates, the ancient Greeks condoned piracy as a viable profession, it apparently was widespread and regarded as an entirely honourable way of making a living. References are made to its perfectly normal occurrence many texts including in Homers Iliad and Odyssey, by the era of Classical Greece, piracy was looked upon as a disgrace to have as a profession. In the 3rd century BC, pirate attacks on Olympos brought impoverishment, among some of the most famous ancient pirateering peoples were the Illyrians, a people populating the western Balkan peninsula. Constantly raiding the Adriatic Sea, the Illyrians caused many conflicts with the Roman Republic and it was not until 229 BC when the Romans finally decisively beat the Illyrian fleets that their threat was ended
17.
Cobblestone
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Cobblestone is a natural building material based on cobble-sized stones, and is used for pavement roads, streets, and buildings. In England, it was commonplace since ancient times for flat stones with a narrow edge to be set on edge to provide an even paved surface. This was known as a surface and was common all over Britain. Pitched surfaces predate the use of regularly-sized granite setts by more than a thousand years, such pitched paving is quite distinct from that formed from rounded stones, although both forms are commonly referred to as cobbled surfaces. Most surviving genuinely old cobbled areas are in reality pitched surfaces, a cobbled area is known as a causey, cassay or cassie in Scots. Cobblestones are typically set in sand or similar material, or are bound together with mortar. Paving with cobblestones allows a road to be used all year long. It prevents the build-up of ruts often found in dirt roads and it has the additional advantage of not getting muddy in wet weather or dusty in dry weather. Shod horses are able to get better traction on stone cobbles, pitches or setts than tarmac/asphalt. In England, the custom was to strew the cobbles outside the house of a sick or dying person with straw to dampen the sound, cobblestones set in sand have the environmental advantage of being permeable paving, and of moving rather than cracking with movements in the ground. Cobblestones were largely replaced by quarried granite setts in the nineteenth century, the word cobblestone is often wrongly used to describe such treatment. Setts were relatively even and roughly rectangular stones that were laid in regular patterns, cobblestoned and setted streets gradually gave way to macadam roads, and later to tarmac, and finally to asphalt concrete at the beginning of the 20th century. However, cobblestones are often retained in areas, even for streets with modern vehicular traffic. Many older villages and cities in Europe are still paved with cobblestones or pitched, in recent decades, cobblestones have become a popular material for paving newly pedestrianised streets in Europe. In this case, the nature of the surface is an advantage as pedestrians can hear approaching vehicles. The visual cues of the cobblestones also clarify that the area is more than just a normal street, the use of cobblestones/setts is also considered to be a more upmarket roadway solution, having been described as unique and artistic compared to the normal asphalt road environment. In some places such as Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, as late as the 1990s some busy intersections still showed cobblestones through worn down sections of pavement. In Toronto streets using setts were used by routes and disappeared by the 1980s
18.
Promenade
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An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The original meaning of esplanade was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide fields of fire for the fortress guns. In modern usage the space allows people to walk for recreational purposes, esplanades are often on sea fronts, esplanades became popular in Victorian times when it was fashionable to visit seaside resorts. A promenade, often abbreviated to Prom, was an area where people - couples and families especially - would go to walk for a while in order to be seen, in North America, esplanade has another meaning, being also a median dividing a roadway or boulevard. Sometimes they are just strips of grass, or some may have gardens, some roadway esplanades may be used as parks with a walking/jogging trail and benches. Esplanade and promenade are used interchangeably. The derivation of promenade indicates a place intended for walking, though many modern promenades and esplanades also allow bicycles. Some esplanades also include large boulevards or avenues where cars are permitted, a similar term with the same meaning in the eastern coastal region of Spain is rambla, but more widely referred to as paseo marítimo, paseo or explanada in the Hispanic world. C
19.
Guanyin
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Guanyin or Guan Yin is an East Asian bodhisattva associated with compassion as venerated by Mahayana Buddhists. She is commonly known as the Goddess of Mercy in English, the Chinese name Guanyin is short for Guanshiyin, meaning Perceives the Sounds of the World. She is also referred to as Guanyin Bodhisattva, some Buddhists believe that when one of their adherents departs from this world, they are placed by Guanyin in the heart of a lotus, and then sent to the western Pure Land of Sukhāvatī. Guanyin is often referred to as the most widely beloved Buddhist Divinity with miraculous powers to assist all those who pray to her, as is said in the Lotus Sutra and Karandavyuha Sutra. Several large temples in East Asia are dedicated to Guanyin including Shitennoji, Sensoji, Kiyomizu-dera, furthermore, Guanyin can also be found in some influential Theravada temples such as Gangaramaya and Kelaniya of Sri Lanka. Statues can also be found in the Asian art sections of most museums in the world as a widely depicted subject of Asian art and it is generally accepted among East Asian adherents that Guanyin originated as the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara. In Chinese folk religion, there are mythical accounts about Guanyins origins that are not associated with the Avalokiteśvara described in Buddhist sutras, Guānyīn is a translation from the Sanskrit avalokitasvara or Avalokiteshvara, referring to the Mahāyāna bodhisattva of the same name. Another later name for this bodhisattva is Guānzìzài and it was initially thought that the Chinese mis-transliterated the word Avalokiteśvara as Avalokitasvara which explained why Xuanzang translated it as Guānzìzài instead of Guānyīn. However, the form was indeed Avalokitasvara with the ending svara. This is the equivalent of the Chinese translation Guānyīn. The original form Avalokitasvara already appears in Sanskrit fragments of the fifth century, the original meaning of the name Avalokitasvara fits the Buddhist understanding of the role of a bodhisattva. The reinterpretation presenting him as an īśvara shows an influence of Śaivism, as the term īśvara was usually connected to the Hindu notion of Śiva as a creator god. The Lotus Sutra has been dated to between the 1st century BCE and 1st century CE, in Japanese, Guanyin is pronounced Kannon, occasionally Kanon, or more formally Kanzeon, the spelling Kwannon, based on a premodern pronunciation, is sometimes seen. This rendition was used for a spelling of the well-known camera manufacturer Canon Inc. which was named for Guanyin. When iconography of Kannon depicts her with the Nyoihōju wishing gem she is known as Nyoirin Kannon, in Korean, Guanyin is called Gwan-eum or Gwanse-eum. In Thai, she is called Kuan Im, Phra Mae Kuan Im, in Burmese, the name of Guanyin is Kwan Yin Medaw, literally meaning Mother Kwan Yin. In Vietnamese, the name is Quan Âm or Quán Thế Âm, in Indonesian, the name is Kwan Im or Dewi Kwan Im. She is also called Mak Kwan Im Mother Guanyin, in Malaysian Mandarin, the name is Kwan Im Ma Mother GuanYin, GuanYin Pusa, Guan Shi Yin Pusa
20.
Mazu
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Mazu, also known by several other names and titles, is a Chinese sea goddess, the deified form of the historical Lin Mo or Lin Moniang, a Fujianese shamaness traditionally dated to c. 960 – c. 987. Revered after her death as a patron of seafarers, including fishermen and sailors, her worship spread throughout Chinas coastal regions and she was thought to roam the seas, protecting her believers through miraculous interventions. She is now regarded by her believers as a powerful and benevolent Queen of Heaven, a role in which she is sometimes syncretized with similar figures, such as Guanyin. Mazuism is most popular on Taiwan, her festival is a major event throughout the country, with the largest celebrations around her temples at Dajia. It is a notionally illegal cult in the Peoples Republic of China but is broadly tolerated, linghui Fei, an official title conferred in 1192. Tianfei, fully Huguo Mingzhu Tianfei, a title conferred in 1281. Huguo Bimin Miaoling Zhaoying Hongren Puji Tianfei, a title conferred in 1409. Prayers invoking her as Mazu were thought to be answered more quickly, very little is known of the historical Lin Moniang. She was apparently a shamaness from a fishing village on Meizhou Island, part of Fujians Putian County. Her Meizhou was an uneducated and superstitious place, where out of perhaps a thousand households and she probably did not live there, however, but on the nearby mainland. During this era, Fujian was greatly sinicized by influxes of refugees fleeing invasions of northern China and Mazus cult may represent a hybridization of Chinese, the legends around Lin Moniangs life were broadly established by the 13th century. The late Ming Great Collection of the Three Teachings Origin and Development and Research into the Divine, however, placed her birth much earlier, the early sources speak of her as Miss Lin, her given name Mo or Moniang appeared later. It was said to have been chosen when she did not cry during birth or during the first month afterwards, she remained a quiet and she was said to have been the sixth or seventh daughter of Lin Yuan. He is now remembered as one of the local fisherman. The family was helpful and popular within their village, Late legends intended to justify Mazus presence in Buddhist temples held that her parents had prayed to Guanyin for a son but received yet another daughter. She is now said to have studied religious literature, mastering Confucius by 8. By 13, she had mastered the book of lore he had left her and gained the abilities to see the future, although she only started swimming at the relatively late age of 15, she soon excelled at it. She was said to have stood on the shore in red garments to guide fishing boats home, regardless of harsh or dangerous weather
21.
Taoism
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Taoism, also known as Daoism, is a religious or philosophical tradition of Chinese origin which emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao. The Tao is an idea in most Chinese philosophical schools, in Taoism, however. Taoism differs from Confucianism by not emphasizing rigid rituals and social order, the Tao Te Ching, a compact book containing teachings attributed to Laozi, is widely considered the keystone work of the Taoist tradition, together with the later writings of Zhuangzi. By the Han dynasty, the sources of Taoism had coalesced into a coherent tradition of religious organizations. In earlier ancient China, Taoists were thought of as hermits or recluses who did not participate in political life, Zhuangzi was the best known of these, and it is significant that he lived in the south, where he was part of local Chinese shamanic traditions. Women shamans played an important role in this tradition, which was strong in the southern state of Chu. Early Taoist movements developed their own institution in contrast to shamanism, shamans revealed basic texts of Taoism from early times down to at least the 20th century. Institutional orders of Taoism evolved in various strains that in recent times are conventionally grouped into two main branches, Quanzhen Taoism and Zhengyi Taoism. After Laozi and Zhuangzi, the literature of Taoism grew steadily and was compiled in form of a canon—the Daozang—which was published at the behest of the emperor, throughout Chinese history, Taoism was nominated several times as a state religion. After the 17th century, however, it fell from favor, Chinese alchemy, Chinese astrology, Chan Buddhism, several martial arts, traditional Chinese medicine, feng shui, and many styles of qigong have been intertwined with Taoism throughout history. Beyond China, Taoism also had influence on surrounding societies in Asia, Taoism also has a presence in Hong Kong, Macau, and in Southeast Asia. English speakers continue to debate the preferred romanization of the words Daoism and Taoism, the root Chinese word 道 way, path is romanized tao in the older Wade–Giles system and dào in the modern Pinyin system. In linguistic terminology, English Taoism/Daoism is formed from the Chinese loanword tao/dao 道 way, route, principle and the native suffix -ism. The debate over Taoism vs. Daoism involves sinology, phonemes, loanwords, Daoism is pronounced /ˈdaʊ. ɪzəm/, but English speakers disagree whether Taoism should be /ˈdaʊ. ɪzəm/ or /ˈtaʊ. ɪzəm/. In theory, both Wade–Giles tao and Pinyin dao are articulated identically, as are Taoism and Daoism, an investment book titled The Tao Jones Averages illustrates this /daʊ/ pronunciations widespread familiarity. In speech, Tao and Taoism are often pronounced /ˈtaʊ/ and ˈtaʊ. ɪzəm/, lexicography shows American and British English differences in pronouncing Taoism. Taoist philosophy or Taology, or the mystical aspect — The philosophical doctrines based on the texts of the I Ching, the Tao Te Ching and these texts were linked together as Taoist philosophy during the early Han Dynasty, but notably not before. It is unlikely that Zhuangzi was familiar with the text of the Daodejing, however, the discussed distinction is rejected by the majority of Western and Japanese scholars
22.
Christianity
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Christianity is a Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, who serves as the focal point for the religion. It is the worlds largest religion, with over 2.4 billion followers, or 33% of the global population, Christians believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the savior of humanity whose coming as the Messiah was prophesied in the Old Testament. Christian theology is summarized in creeds such as the Apostles Creed and his incarnation, earthly ministry, crucifixion, and resurrection are often referred to as the gospel, meaning good news. The term gospel also refers to accounts of Jesuss life and teaching, four of which—Matthew, Mark, Luke. Christianity is an Abrahamic religion that began as a Second Temple Judaic sect in the mid-1st century, following the Age of Discovery, Christianity spread to the Americas, Australasia, sub-Saharan Africa, and the rest of the world through missionary work and colonization. Christianity has played a prominent role in the shaping of Western civilization, throughout its history, Christianity has weathered schisms and theological disputes that have resulted in many distinct churches and denominations. Worldwide, the three largest branches of Christianity are the Catholic Church, the Eastern Orthodox Church, and the denominations of Protestantism. There are many important differences of interpretation and opinion of the Bible, concise doctrinal statements or confessions of religious beliefs are known as creeds. They began as baptismal formulae and were expanded during the Christological controversies of the 4th and 5th centuries to become statements of faith. Many evangelical Protestants reject creeds as definitive statements of faith, even agreeing with some or all of the substance of the creeds. The Baptists have been non-creedal in that they have not sought to establish binding authoritative confessions of faith on one another. Also rejecting creeds are groups with roots in the Restoration Movement, such as the Christian Church, the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada, the Apostles Creed is the most widely accepted statement of the articles of Christian faith. It is also used by Presbyterians, Methodists, and Congregationalists and this particular creed was developed between the 2nd and 9th centuries. Its central doctrines are those of the Trinity and God the Creator, each of the doctrines found in this creed can be traced to statements current in the apostolic period. The creed was used as a summary of Christian doctrine for baptismal candidates in the churches of Rome. Most Christians accept the use of creeds, and subscribe to at least one of the mentioned above. The central tenet of Christianity is the belief in Jesus as the Son of God, Christians believe that Jesus, as the Messiah, was anointed by God as savior of humanity, and hold that Jesus coming was the fulfillment of messianic prophecies of the Old Testament. The Christian concept of the Messiah differs significantly from the contemporary Jewish concept, Jesus, having become fully human, suffered the pains and temptations of a mortal man, but did not sin
23.
Relic
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In religion, a relic usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of forms of Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Shamanism. Relic derives from the Latin reliquiae, meaning remains, and a form of the Latin verb relinquere, to leave behind, a reliquary is a shrine that houses one or more religious relics. In ancient Greece, a city or sanctuary might claim to possess, without necessarily displaying, the sanctuary of the Leucippides at Sparta claimed to display the egg of Leda. The bones were not regarded as holding a power derived from the hero, with some exceptions. Miracles and healing were not regularly attributed to them, rather, their presence was meant to serve a tutelary function, the bones of Orestes and Theseus were supposed to have been stolen or removed from their original resting place and reburied. Plutarch says that the Athenians were likewise instructed by the oracle to locate, the body of the legendary Eurystheus was also supposed to protect Athens from enemy attack, and in Thebes, that of the prophet Amphiaraus, whose cult was oracular and healing. As with the relics of Theseus, the bones are sometimes described in sources as gigantic. On the basis of their size, it has been conjectured that such bones were those of prehistoric creatures. The head of the poet-prophet Orpheus was supposed to have transported to Lesbos. The 2nd-century geographer Pausanias reported that the bones of Orpheus were kept in a stone vase displayed on a pillar near Dion, his place of death and these too were regarded as having oracular power, which might be accessed through dreaming in a ritual of incubation. The accidental exposure of the bones brought a disaster upon the town of Libretha, according to the Chronicon Paschale, the bones of the Persian Zoroaster were venerated, but the tradition of Zoroastrianism and its scriptures offer no support of this. In Hinduism, relics are less common than in other religions since the remains of most saints are cremated. The veneration of corporal relics may have originated with the movement or the appearance of Buddhism. In Buddhism, relics of the Buddha and various sages are venerated, after the Buddhas death, his remains were divided into eight portions. Afterward, these relics were enshrined in stupas wherever Buddhism was spread, some relics believed to be original remains of the body of the Buddha still survive, including the much-revered Sacred Relic of the tooth of the Buddha in Sri Lanka. A stupa is a building created specifically for the relics, many Buddhist temples have stupas and historically, the placement of relics in a stupa often became the initial structure around which the whole temple would be based. Today, many also hold the ashes or ringsel of prominent/respected Buddhists who were cremated
24.
26 Martyrs of Japan
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The Twenty-Six Martyrs of Japan were a group of Roman Catholics who were executed by crucifixion on February 5,1597, at Nagasaki. Their martyrdom is especially significant in the history of Roman Catholicism in Japan, christianity was suppressed, and it was during this time that the 26 martyrs were executed. By 1630, Catholicism had been driven underground, two-hundred and fifty years later, when Christian missionaries returned to Japan, they found a community of hidden Catholics that had survived underground. On August 15,1549, St. Francis Xavier, Fr, cosme de Torres, S. J. and Fr. John Fernandez arrived in Kagoshima, Japan, from Spain with hopes of bringing Catholicism to Japan, on September 29, St. Francis Xavier visited Shimazu Takahisa, the daimyo of Kagoshima, asking for permission to build the first Catholic mission in Japan. The daimyo agreed in hopes of creating a relationship with Europe. However, the shogunate was also wary of colonialism, seeing that in the Philippines the Spanish had taken power after converting the population, the government increasingly saw Catholicism as a threat, and started persecuting Catholics. Christianity was banned and those Japanese who refused to abandon their faith were killed, Francis, were executed by crucifixion in Nagasaki on the orders of Hideyoshi Toyotomi. These individuals were raised on crosses and then pierced through with spears, persecution continued sporadically, breaking out again in 1613 and 1630. On September 10,1632, fifty-five Catholics were martyred in Nagasaki in what known as the Great Genna Martyrdom. At this time Catholicism was officially outlawed, the Church remained without clergy and theological teaching disintegrated until the arrival of Western missionaries in the 19th century. While there were many more martyrs, the first 26 missionary and convert martyrs came to be especially revered, the Martyrs of Japan were canonized by the Roman Catholic Church on June 8,1862, by Pope Pius IX, and are listed on the calendar as Sts. Paul Miki and his Companions, commemorated on February 6, since February 5 and they were included in the General Roman Calendar for the first time in 1969. Previously, they were honoured locally, but no special Mass for them was included even in the Missae pro aliquibus locis section of the 1962 Roman Missal, some 21st-century publications based on it do have such a Mass under February 13. The Church of England also celebrates the Japanese martyrs liturgically on February 6, the Anglican Church in Japan, a member of the Anglican Communion, added them to its calendar in 1959 as an annual February 5 commemoration of all the martyrs of Japan. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America added a commemoration on February 5 to their calendar, the Church of the Holy Japanese Martyrs, is a Catholic church dedicated to the 26 Martyrs of Nagasaki. It is decorated with artwork by Japanese artist Luke Hasegawa, the Japanese Martyrs Augustinian Martyrs of Japan Nagasaki Wiki, Detailed Access Information from Nagasaki Station to 26 Martyrs Monument
25.
Nagasaki
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Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. Part of Nagasaki was home to a major Imperial Japanese Navy base during the First Sino-Japanese War, during World War II, the American atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki made Nagasaki the second and, to date, last city in the world to experience a nuclear attack. As of 1 January 2009, the city has an population of 446,007. The total area is 406.35 km², a small fishing village set in a secluded harbor, Nagasaki had little historical significance until contact with Portuguese explorers in 1543. An early visitor was Fernão Mendes Pinto, who came on a Portuguese ship which landed nearby in Tanegashima and his followers who remained behind converted a number of daimyōs. The most notable among them was Ōmura Sumitada, the little harbor village quickly grew into a diverse port city, and Portuguese products imported through Nagasaki were assimilated into popular Japanese culture. The Portuguese also brought them many goods from China. Thus, for a period after 1580, the city of Nagasaki was a Jesuit colony, under their administrative. It was administered by the captain of the Portuguese black ship, the highest representative of the Portuguese Crown and it became a refuge for Christians escaping maltreatment in other regions of Japan. In 1587, however, Toyotomi Hideyoshis campaign to unify the country arrived in Kyūshū, however, the expulsion order went largely unenforced, and the fact remained that most of Nagasakis population remained openly practicing Catholic. In 1596, the Spanish ship San Felipe was wrecked off the coast of Shikoku, in response, Hideyoshi ordered the crucifixions of twenty-six Catholics in Nagasaki on February 5 of that year. Portuguese traders were not ostracized, however, and so the city continued to thrive, in 1602, Augustinian missionaries also arrived in Japan, and when Tokugawa Ieyasu took power in 1603, Catholicism was still tolerated. Many Catholic daimyōs had been allies at the Battle of Sekigahara. Once Osaka Castle had been taken and Toyotomi Hideyoshis offspring killed, though, in addition, the Dutch and English presence allowed trade without religious strings attached. Thus, in 1614, Catholicism was officially banned and all missionaries ordered to leave, most Catholic daimyo apostatized, and forced their subjects to do so, although a few would not renounce the religion and left the country for Macau, Luzon and Japantowns in Southeast Asia. A brutal campaign of persecution followed, with thousands of converts across Kyūshū and other parts of Japan killed, tortured, catholicisms last gasp as an open religion and the last major military action in Japan until the Meiji Restoration was the Shimabara Rebellion of 1637. Consequently, in Tokugawa society the word Shimabara solidified the connection between Christianity and disloyalty, constantly used again and again in Tokugawa propaganda, the Shimabara Rebellion also convinced many policy-makers that foreign influences were more trouble than they were worth, leading to the national isolation policy. The Great Fire of Nagasaki destroyed much of the city in 1663, including the Mazu shrine at the Kofukuji Temple patronized by the Chinese sailors, in 1720 the ban on Dutch books was lifted, causing hundreds of scholars to flood into Nagasaki to study European science and art
26.
Shimabara Rebellion
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The Shimabara Rebellion was an uprising in what is now Nagasaki Prefecture in southwestern Japan lasting from December 17,1637, to April 15,1638, during the Edo period. It largely involved peasants, most of them Catholic Christians and it was one of only a handful of instances of serious unrest during the relatively peaceful period of the Tokugawa shogunates rule. In the wake of the Matsukura clans construction of a new castle at Shimabara, taxes were drastically raised, religious persecution of the local Catholics exacerbated the discontent, which turned into open revolt in 1637. The Tokugawa Shogunate sent a force of over 125,000 troops to suppress the rebels and, after a siege against the rebels at Hara Castle. In the wake of the rebellion, the Catholic rebel leader Amakusa Shirō was beheaded, Japans national seclusion policy was tightened and official persecution of Christianity continued until the 1850s. Following the successful suppression of the rebellion, the daimyō of Shimabara, Matsukura Katsuie, was beheaded for misruling, becoming the only daimyō to be beheaded during the Edo period. In the mid-1630s, the peasants of the Shimabara Peninsula and Amakusa, dissatisfied with overtaxation and suffering from the effects of famine and this was specifically in territory ruled by two lords, Matsukura Katsuie of the Shimabara Domain, and Terasawa Katataka of the Karatsu Domain. Although the rebellion is portrayed by historians as a religious uprising. Those affected also included fishermen, craftsmen and merchants, as the rebellion spread, it was joined by rōnin who once had served families, such as the Amakusa and Shiki, who had once lived in the area, as well as former Arima clan and Konishi retainers. As such, the image of a peasant uprising is also not entirely accurate. Shimabara was once the domain of the Arima clan, which had been Christian, as a result, the Arima were moved out in 1614 and replaced by the Matsukura. He also built a new castle at Shimabara, as a result, he placed a greatly disproportionate tax burden on the people of his new domain and further angered them by strictly persecuting Christianity. The policies were continued by Shigemasas heir, Katsuie, other masterless samurai in the region included former retainers of Katō Tadahiro and Sassa Narimasa, both of whom had once ruled parts of Higo Province. At the same time, others rebelled in the Amakusa Islands, the rebels quickly increased their ranks by forcing all in the areas they took to join in the uprising. A charismatic 16-year-old youth, Amakusa Shirō, was chosen as the rebellions leader. The rebels then crossed the Ariake Sea and briefly besieged Matsukura Katsuies Shimabara Castle, at this point they gathered on the site of Hara Castle, which had been the castle of the Arima clan before their move to the Nobeoka Domain, but was dismantled. The allied armies of the domains, under the command of the Tokugawa shogunate with Itakura Shigemasa as commander-in-chief. The swordsman Miyamoto Musashi was present in the army, in an advisory role to Hosokawa Tadatoshi
27.
Ruins of St. Paul's
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The Ruins of St. Pauls are the ruins of a 17th-century complex in Santo António, Macau, China. It includes what was originally St. Pauls College and the Church of St. Paul also known as Mater Dei, today, the ruins are one of Macaus best known landmarks. They are often, but incorrectly, mentioned as a former cathedral, in 2005, they were officially listed as part of the Historic Centre of Macau, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Fortaleza do Monte overlooks the ruin and this could have been due to Francesco Melzi showing the codex to Carlo Spinola s. j. in Milan or by the architect Giacomo della Porta who designed the façade of the Chiesa del Gesu in Rome. The façade sits on a hill, with 68 stone steps leading up to it. A few of the carvings are of the founders of the Jesuit Order, the conquest of Death by Jesus, and at the very top. Resisting calls for the dangerously leaning structure to be demolished, from 1990 to 1995, the crypt and the foundations were uncovered, revealing the architectural plan of the building. The ruins were restored by the Macanese government into a museum, a steel stairway allows tourists to climb up to the top of the façade from the rear. It is customary to throw coins into the top window of the ruins from the stairs, religion in Macau Media related to Ruins of St. Pauls at Wikimedia Commons
28.
Shangchuan Island
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Shangchuan Island also written is the main island of Chuanshan Archipelago on the southern coast of China. Its name originated from São João and it is part of the Guangdong province, in the South China Sea. Located 14 km from the mainland, it is the largest island in the province, the largest island of the province used to be Hainan Island, which was carved out of Guangdong to form a separate province in 1988. The population of the island is 16,320 and it is known in history for having been the place of death of St. Francis Xavier. Administratively, Chuandao is one of the 16 towns of Taishan county-level city, Shangchuan Island was one of the first bases established by the Portuguese off the China coast, during the 16th century. They abandoned this base after the Chinese government gave consent for a permanent, the Spanish Jesuit missionary St. Francis Xavier died on the island on December 2,1552, as he was waiting for a ship to take him to mainland China. The island has been isolated from the mainland since the last ice age and it is located near Xiachuan Island, which lies west of Shangchuan. The two islands, together with smaller islet, form Chuanshan Archipelago, Shangchuan covers the main Shangshuan Island, and 12 islets. The total area of the town is 156.7 km², Shangshuan Island has an area of 137.3 km². The island has a 217 km long coastline, dalangwan Shadi, a fishing port on the southwestern coast Shangchuan and Xiachuan have been established as a Tourism Open Integrated Experimental Zones. Feisha Beach Resort is a commercial tourist resort located on the eastern shore. Shangchuan Island is linked by ferry to Guanghai, Haiyan and Xiachuan Island, Chuanshan Archipelago Tamão, Lampacau, Shuangyu List of islands of the Peoples Republic of China List of islands in the South China Sea Stuckey, Peter, Bailey, Chris. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society Hong Kong Branch, Satellite view on Google Maps Website about Shangchuan Shangchuan on taishan. com on tsinfo. com. cn Pictures of the island Old map Picture of Shangchuan island. The chapel marks the location of Francis Xaviers death Another picture of the chapel Satellite view of the chapel
29.
Lunar calendar
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A lunar calendar is a calendar based upon cycles of the Moons phases, in contrast to solar calendars based solely upon the solar year. A purely lunar calendar is also distinguished from lunisolar calendars whose lunar months are brought into alignment with the year through some process of intercalation. The details of when months begin varies from calendar to calendar, with using new, full, or crescent moons. Because each lunation is a less than 29 days,12 hours,44 minutes. Such holidays include Ramadan, the Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, and Mongolian New Year, the Nepali New Year, the Mid-Autumn Festival and Chuseok, Loi Krathong, and Diwali. The earliest known lunar calendar was found at Warren Field in Scotland and has dated to c. 8000 BC. Some scholars argue for lunar calendars still further back—Rappenglück in the marks on a c. 17, 000-year-old cave painting at Lascaux and Marshack in the marks on a c. 27, most calendars referred to as lunar calendars are in fact lunisolar calendars. Their months are based on observations of the cycle, with intercalation being used to bring them into general agreement with the solar year. The solar civic calendar of ancient Egypt showed traces of its origin in the lunar calendar. Present-day lunisolar calendars include the Chinese, Hindu, and Thai calendars, synodic months are 29 or 30 days in length, making a lunar year of 12 months about 11 days shorter than a solar year. Some lunar calendars do not use intercalation, such as most Islamic calendars, for those that do, such as the Hebrew calendar, the most common form of intercalation is to add an additional month every second or third year. Some lunisolar calendars are also calibrated by annual natural events which are affected by lunar cycles as well as the solar cycle, an example of this is the lunar calendar of the Banks Islands, which includes three months in which the edible palolo worm mass on the beaches. These events occur at the last quarter of the lunar month, lunar and lunisolar calendars differ as to which day is the first day of the month. In some lunisolar calendars, such as the Chinese calendar, the first day of a month is the day when a new moon occurs in a particular time zone. In others, such as some Hindu calendars, each month begins on the day after the moon or the new moon. Others were based in the past on the first sighting of a lunar crescent, the length of each lunar cycle varies slightly from the average value. In addition, observations are subject to uncertainty and weather conditions, thus to avoid uncertainty about the calendar, there have been attempts to create fixed arithmetical rules to determine the start of each calendar month. The average length of the month is 29.530589 days
30.
Our Lady of Sorrows
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As Mater Dolorosa, it is also a key subject for Marian art in the Catholic Church. The Seven Sorrows of Mary are a popular Roman Catholic devotion, in common religious Catholic imagery, the Blessed Virgin Mary is portrayed in a sorrowful and lacrimating affect, with seven daggers piercing her heart, often bleeding. Devotional prayers that consist of meditation began to elaborate on her Seven Sorrows based on the prophecy of Simeon. Common examples of piety under this title are Servite rosary, or the Chaplet of the Seven Sorrows of Our Lady, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows is liturgically celebrated every 15 of September, while a feast of Friday of Sorrows is observed in some Catholic countries. The Seven Sorrows are events in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary that are a popular devotion and are depicted in art. These Seven Sorrows should not be confused with the five Sorrowful Mysteries of the Rosary, the escape and Flight into Egypt. The Loss of the Child Jesus in the Temple of Jerusalem, the Meeting of Mary and Jesus on the Via Dolorosa. The Crucifixion of Jesus on Mount Calvary, the Piercing of the Side of Jesus, and His Descent from the Cross. The Burial of Jesus by Joseph of Arimathea and it is a common practice for Catholics to say daily one Our Father and seven Hail Marys for each. Earlier, in 1233, seven youths in Tuscany founded the Servite Order, five years later, they took up the sorrows of Mary, standing under the Cross, as the principal devotion of their order. Over the centuries several devotions, and even orders, arose around meditation on Marys Sorrows in particular, the Servites developed the two most common devotions to Our Ladys Sorrows, namely the Rosary of the Seven Sorrows and the Black Scapular of the Seven Dolours of Mary. The Black Scapular is a symbol of the Confraternity of Our Lady of Sorrows, most devotional scapulars have requirements regarding ornamentation or design. The devotion of the Black Scapular requires only that it be made of woollen cloth. It depicts the Virgin Mary at the moment that Simeon the Righteous says, Yea and she stands with her hands upraised in prayer, and seven swords pierce her heart, indicative of the seven sorrows. This is one of the few Orthodox icons of the Theotokos which do not depict the infant Jesus, the refrain Rejoice, much-sorrowing Mother of God, turn our sorrows into joy and soften the hearts of evil men. The Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows grew in popularity in the 12th century, some writings would place its roots in the eleventh century, especially among the Benedictine monks. The first altar to the Mater Dolorosa was set up in 1221 at the Cistercian monastery of Schönau, the formal feast of the Our Lady of Sorrows was originated by a provincial synod of Cologne in 1423. It was designated for the Friday after the third Sunday after Easter and had the title and its object was the sorrow of Mary during the Crucifixion and Death of Christ
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Portuguese cuisine
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Despite being relatively restricted to an Atlantic sustenance, Portuguese cuisine has many Mediterranean influences. Portuguese cuisine is famous for seafood, the influence of Portugals former colonial possessions is also notable, especially in the wide variety of spices used. These spices include piri piri and black pepper, as well as cinnamon, vanilla, olive oil is one of the bases of Portuguese cuisine, which is used both for cooking and flavouring meals. Garlic is widely used, as are herbs, such as bay leaf, a Portuguese breakfast often consists of fresh bread, with butter, ham, cheese or jam, accompanied with coffee, milk, tea or hot chocolate. A small espresso coffee is a popular beverage had during breakfast. Sweet pastries are very popular, as well as breakfast cereal, mixed with milk or yogurt. Lunch, often lasting over an hour, is served between noon and 2 oclock or between 1 and 3 oclock, and dinner is served late, around or after 8 oclock. There are three courses, with lunch and dinner usually including a soup. A common Portuguese soup is caldo verde, which is made with potato, shredded kale, among fish recipes, salted cod dishes are pervasive. The most typical desserts are arroz doce and caramel custard, there is also a wide variety of cheeses, usually made from the milk of sheep, goats or cows. These cheeses can also contain a mixture of different kinds of milk, the most famous are queijo da serra from the region of Serra da Estrela, Queijo São Jorge from the Portuguese island of São Jorge, and Requeijão. A popular pastry is the pastel de nata, a custard tart often sprinkled with cinnamon. Portugal is a nation with a well-developed fishing industry and this is reflected in the amount of fish. The country has Europes highest fish consumption per capita and is among the top four in the world for this indicator, fish is served grilled, boiled, fried or deep-fried, stewed, roasted, or even steamed. Foremost amongst these is bacalhau, which is the type of fish most consumed in Portugal and it is said that there are more than 365 ways to cook cod, one for every day of the year. The simpler fish dishes are often flavoured with olive oil. Portugal has been fishing and trading cod since the 15th century, caldeirada is a stew consisting of a variety of fish and shellfish with potatoes, tomatoes and onions. Sardines used to be preserved in brine for sale in rural areas, later, sardine canneries developed all along the Portuguese coast
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Hong Kong
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Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China, is an autonomous territory on the Pearl River Delta of East Asia. Macau lies across the delta to the west, and the Chinese province of Guangdong borders the territory to the north. With a total area of 1,106 square kilometres. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during World War II until British control resumed in 1945, under the principle of one country, two systems, Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative, in addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of appropriate fields. Hong Kong is one of the worlds most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the worlds most competitive and freest economic entity. As the worlds 8th largest trading entity, its legal tender, Hong Kongs tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by simple taxation with a competitive level of corporate tax and supported by its independent judiciary system. However, while Hong Kong has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world and it has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the worlds longest life expectancy. Over 90% of the population use of well-developed public transportation. Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring areas of Mainland China. Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island, before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour, literally means Little Hong Kong)—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was a point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen. Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time, fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbours fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour, the name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926. Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric. As of 1997, its name is the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the Peoples Republic of China. This is the title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law. Hong Kong has carried many nicknames, the most famous among those is the Pearl of the Orient, which reflected the impressive nightscape of the citys light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour
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Correctional Services Bureau
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The Correctional Services Bureau is the agency responsible for maintaining inmates in Macau, China. The prison is staff are under the administration of the Secretariat for Security. Due to the small population, there is only one prison for adults in Macau, Coloane Prison, also known as Macau Prison was opened in 1990. The facility consists of a series or connected buildings surrounded by a wall with barbed wire. Four watchtowers are found along the prison walls, there is also a juvenile detention facility in Macau, the Youth Correctional Institution, also in Coloane, with sections for boys and girls. Lee Kam Cheong was scheduled to resign as the head on July 31,2016. Macau Prison carries out the penalty of depriving convicts of their freedom. Facilitate a smooth re-integration of inmates into the community, arrange and manage the Prison workshops, so that the goals of reintegration and better facilitation of human resources and materials can be achieved, and guarantee a safe working environment. Be responsible for the management of personnel, assets and equipment, there are two sections under Macau Prison, Male Section and Female Section. Attached to each section are two sub-sections, one is for those are detained in custody and the other is for the convicts, upon approval of the authorized government officials and in exceptional situations, Macau Prison can provide protective custody to certain inmates. In 2004, there were about 921 inmates in the prison, with the 2010 population at 926, a new prison is being built in Ka Ho as the current facility can only hold 1500. The new prison was scheduled to open in 2014
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Coloane A Power Station
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The Coloane A Power Station is a low-speed diesel-fired power station in Coloane, Macau, China. With an installed capacity of 271.4 MW, it is the largest power station in Macau, the power station installed capacity makes up 58% of Macaus total installed capacity. In 2012, it generated 98% of total electricity production in Macau, to ease the access leading to the power station, the Government of Macau approved the new construction of access road in 2009. The road was completed a year later and was inaugurated on 16 September 2010, the new gate is expected to make things more convenient for staffs, suppliers and visitors. The road was constructed for the lay down area for the high voltage cable. CEM Electricity sector in Macau List of power stations in Macau
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Coloane B Power Station
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The Coloane B Power Station is a combined cycle gas-fired power station in Coloane, Macau, China. It is the latest power station in Macau, the power station installed capacity makes up 29% of Macaus total installed capacity. In 2012, it generated 2% of total electricity production in Macau, the power station was formally inaugurated on 8 April 2003 in a ceremony attended by Chief Executive of Macau Edmund Ho. Upon its launch, the power plant added 38% growth to Macaus total installed capacity of electricity, CEM Electricity sector in Macau List of power stations in Macau
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Coloane travel guide from Wikivoyage
Freguesia de São Francisco Xavier
