1.
Paper machine
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This article contains a glossary section at the end. After the forming section the wet web passes through a section to squeeze out excess water. The original Fourdrinier forming section used a horizontal drainage area, referred to as the drainage table, press section where the wet fibre web passes between large rolls loaded under high pressure to squeeze out as much water as possible. Drying section, where the pressed sheet passes partly around, in a serpentine manner, drying removes the water content down to a level of about 6%, where it will remain at typical indoor atmospheric conditions. Calender section where the paper is smoothened under high loading. Only one nip is necessary in order to hold the sheet, extra nips give more smoothing but at some expense to paper strength. Paper machines are long-lived assets that usually remain in service for several decades and it is common to rebuild machines periodically to increase production and improve quality or to change the paper grade. While still on the fabric in the mould the wet paper is pressed to remove excess water. In 1799, Louis-Nicolas Robert of Essonnes, France, was granted a patent for a paper making machine. At the time Robert was working for Saint-Léger Didot, with whom he quarrelled over the ownership of the invention, Didot thought that England was a better place to develop the machine. But during the times of the French Revolution, he could not go there himself, so he sent his brother in law, John Gamble. Through a chain of acquaintances, Gamble was introduced to the brothers Sealy and Henry Fourdrinier, stationers of London, Gamble was granted British patent 2487 on 20 October 1801. A third machine was installed at the Fourdriniers own mill at Two Waters, the Fourdriniers also bought a mill at St Neots intending to install two machines there and the process and machines continued to develop. Thomas Gilpin is most often credited for creating the first U. S cylinder type papermaking machine at Brandywine Creek and this machine was also developed in England, but it was a cylinder mould machine. The Fourdrinier machine wasnt introduced into the USA until 1827, however, records show Charles Kinsey of Patterson, NJ had already patented a continuous process papermaking machine in 1807. Kinsey’s machine was built locally by Daniel Sawn and by 1809 the Kinsey machine was successfully making paper at the Essex Mill in Paterson, gilpins 1817 patent was similar to Kinsey’s, as was the John Ames patent of 1822. The method of production demonstrated by the paper machine influenced the development of continuous rolling of iron and later steel. The plant fibres used for pulp are composed mostly of cellulose and hemi-cellulose, after the water evaporates the fibres remain bonded
2.
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
3.
Dunhuang
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Silk Road was an online black market and the first modern darknet market, best known as a platform for selling illegal drugs. As part of the web, it was operated as a Tor hidden service. The website was launched in February 2011, development had begun six months prior, initially there were a limited number of new seller accounts available, new sellers had to purchase an account in an auction. Later, a fee was charged for each new seller account. In October 2013, the Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down the website, on 6 November 2013, Silk Road 2.0 came online, run by former administrators of Silk Road. It too was shut down, and the operator was arrested on 6 November 2014 as part of the so-called Operation Onymous”. Ulbricht was convicted of eight charges related to Silk Road in U. S. Federal Court in Manhattan and was sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole, Silk Road was founded in February 2011. The name Silk Road comes from a network of trade routes started during the Han Dynasty between Europe, India, China, and many other countries on the Afro-Eurasian landmass. Silk Road was operated by the pseudonymous Dread Pirate Roberts, who was known for espousing libertarian ideals, two other individuals were also closely involved in the sites growth and success, known as Variety Jones and Smedley. In June 2011, Gawker published an article about the site led to Internet buzz. Once the site was publicly, U. S. Senator Charles Schumer asked federal law enforcement authorities to shut it down, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, australian police and the DEA have targeted Silk Road users and made arrests, albeit with limited success at reaching convictions. In December 2013, a New Zealand man was sentenced to two years and four months in jail after being convicted of importing 15 grams of methamphetamine that he had bought on Silk Road. In May 2013, Silk Road was taken down for a period of time by a sustained DDoS attack. On 23 June 2013, it was first reported that the DEA seized 11.02 bitcoins, then worth $814, Ross Ulbricht was alleged by the FBI to be the founder and owner of Silk Road and the person behind the pseudonym Dread Pirate Roberts. He was arrested on 2 October 2013 in San Francisco at 3,15 p. m. PST in Glen Park Library, Ulbricht was indicted on charges of money laundering, computer hacking, conspiracy to traffic narcotics, and attempting to have six people killed. Prosecutors alleged that Ulbricht paid $730,000 to others to commit the murders, Ulbricht ultimately was not prosecuted for any of the alleged murder attempts. The FBI initially seized 26,000 bitcoins from accounts on Silk Road, an FBI spokesperson said that the agency would hold the bitcoins until Ulbrichts trial finished, after which the bitcoins would be liquidated
4.
Paper
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Paper is a thin material produced by pressing together moist fibres of cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets. It is a material with many uses, including writing, printing, packaging, cleaning. The modern pulp and paper industry is global, with China leading its production, the oldest known archaeological fragments of the immediate precursor to modern paper, date to the 2nd century BC in China. The pulp papermaking process is ascribed to Cai Lun, a 2nd-century AD Han court eunuch, with paper as an effective substitute for silk in many applications, China could export silk in greater quantity, contributing to a Golden Age. Because of papers introduction to the West through the city of Baghdad, in the 19th century, industrial manufacture greatly lowered its cost, enabling mass exchange of information and contributing to significant cultural shifts. In 1844, the Canadian inventor Charles Fenerty and the German F. G. Keller independently developed processes for pulping wood fibres, before the industrialisation of the paper production the most common fibre source was recycled fibres from used textiles, called rags. The rags were from hemp, linen and cotton, a process for removing printing inks from recycled paper was invented by German jurist Justus Claproth in 1774. Today this method is called deinking and it was not until the introduction of wood pulp in 1843 that paper production was not dependent on recycled materials from ragpickers. The word paper is etymologically derived from Latin papyrus, which comes from the Greek πάπυρος, although the word paper is etymologically derived from papyrus, the two are produced very differently and the development of the first is distinct from the development of the second. Papyrus is a lamination of natural plant fibres, while paper is manufactured from fibres whose properties have changed by maceration. To make pulp from wood, a chemical pulping process separates lignin from cellulose fibres and this is accomplished by dissolving lignin in a cooking liquor, so that it may be washed from the cellulose, this preserves the length of the cellulose fibres. Paper made from chemical pulps are also known as wood-free papers–not to be confused with paper, this is because they do not contain lignin. The pulp can also be bleached to produce paper, but this consumes 5% of the fibres, chemical pulping processes are not used to make paper made from cotton. There are three main chemical pulping processes, the process dates back to the 1840s and it was the dominant method extent before the second world war. Most pulping operations using the process are net contributors to the electricity grid or use the electricity to run an adjacent paper mill. Another advantage is that this process recovers and reuses all inorganic chemical reagents, soda pulping is another specialty process used to pulp straws, bagasse and hardwoods with high silicate content. There are two major mechanical pulps, thermomechanical pulp and groundwood pulp, in the TMP process, wood is chipped and then fed into steam heated refiners, where the chips are squeezed and converted to fibres between two steel discs. In the groundwood process, debarked logs are fed into grinders where they are pressed against rotating stones to be made into fibres
5.
Cardboard
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Despite widespread use in general English and French, the term is deprecated in business and industry. Material producers, container manufacturers, packaging engineers, and standards organizations, there is still no complete and uniform usage. Often the term cardboard is avoided because it does not define any particular material, the term has been used since at least as early as 1848, when Anne Brontë mentioned it in her novel, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall. This marked the origin of the box, though in modern times the sealed bag is plastic and is kept inside the box rather than outside. Various types of cards are available, which may be called cardboard, paperboard is a paper-based material, usually more than about ten mils in thickness. It is often used for folding cartons, set-up boxes, carded packaging, configurations of paperboard include, Containerboard, used in the production of corrugated fiberboard. Folding boxboard, made up of layers of chemical and mechanical pulp. Solid bleached board is made purely from bleached chemical pulp and usually has a mineral or synthetic pigment, solid unbleached board is typically made of unbleached chemical pulp. White lined chipboard is typically made from layers of paper or recycled fibers. Because of its content it will be grey from the inside. Binders board, a used in bookbinding for making hardcovers. Modernly, materials falling under these names may be made using any actual paper. Corrugated fiberboard is a combination of paperboards, usually two flat liners and one inner fluted corrugated medium and it is often used for making corrugated boxes for shipping or storing products. This type of cardboard is also used by artists as original material for sculpting, most types of cardboard are recyclable. Boards that are laminates, wax coated, or treated for wet-strength are often difficult to recycle. Clean cardboard is usually worth recovering, although often the difference between the value it realizes and the cost of recovery is marginal, cardboard can be recycled industrially, or for home uses. For example, cardboard may be composted or shredded for animal bedding, cardboard box Carton Corrugated box design Folding carton Juicebox cardboard furniture
6.
Hemp
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Hemp or industrial hemp, typically found in the northern hemisphere, is a variety of the Cannabis sativa plant species that is grown specifically for the industrial uses of its derived products. It is one of the fastest growing plants and was one of the first plants to be spun into usable fiber 10,000 years ago. It can be refined into a variety of items including paper, textiles, clothing, biodegradable plastics, paint, insulation, biofuel, food. Hemp has lower concentrations of THC and higher concentrations of cannabidiol, the legality of industrial hemp varies widely between countries. Some governments regulate the concentration of THC and permit only hemp that is bred with an especially low THC content, then it appears to have been borrowed into Latin, and separately into Slavic and from there into Baltic, Finnish, and Germanic languages. Following Grimms law, the k would have changed to h with the first Germanic sound shift, after which it may have been adapted into the Old English form, hænep. Another possible source of origin is Assyrian qunnabu, which was the name for a source of oil, fiber, cognates of hemp in other Germanic languages, include Dutch hennep, Danish and Norwegian, hamp, German, hanf, and Swedish, hampa. Hemp is used to make a variety of commercial and industrial products including rope, clothes, food, paper, textiles, plastics, insulation, the inner two fibers of the plant are more woody and typically have industrial applications, such as mulch, animal bedding and litter. When oxidized, hemp oil from the seeds becomes solid and can be used in the manufacture of oil-based paints, in creams as an agent, for cooking. Hemp seeds have been used in bird feed mix as well, a survey in 2003 showed that more than 95% of hemp seed sold in the European Union was used in animal and bird feed. Hemp seeds can be raw, ground into a meal, sprouted. The leaves of the plant can be consumed raw in salads. Hemp can also be made into a liquid and used for baking or for such as hemp milk, hemp juice. Hempseed oil is cold-pressed from the seed and is high in unsaturated fatty acids. In 2011, the U. S. imported $11.5 million worth of products, mostly driven by growth in demand for hemp seed. In the U. S. imported hemp can be used legally in food products,100 grams of hulled hemp seeds supply 586 calories. They are 5% water, 5% carbohydrates, 49% total fat, Hemp seeds are notable in providing 64% of the Daily Value of protein per 100 gram serving. Hempseed amino acid profile is comparable to other sources of such as meat, milk, eggs
7.
Han dynasty
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The Han dynasty was the second imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Qin dynasty and succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period. Spanning over four centuries, the Han period is considered an age in Chinese history. To this day, Chinas majority ethnic group refers to itself as the Han people and it was founded by the rebel leader Liu Bang, known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu of Han, and briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty of the former regent Wang Mang. This interregnum separates the Han dynasty into two periods, the Western Han or Former Han and the Eastern Han or Later Han, the emperor was at the pinnacle of Han society. He presided over the Han government but shared power with both the nobility and appointed ministers who came largely from the gentry class. The Han Empire was divided into areas controlled by the central government using an innovation inherited from the Qin known as commanderies. These kingdoms gradually lost all vestiges of their independence, particularly following the Rebellion of the Seven States, from the reign of Emperor Wu onward, the Chinese court officially sponsored Confucianism in education and court politics, synthesized with the cosmology of later scholars such as Dong Zhongshu. This policy endured until the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911 AD, the Han dynasty was an age of economic prosperity and saw a significant growth of the money economy first established during the Zhou dynasty. The coinage issued by the government mint in 119 BC remained the standard coinage of China until the Tang dynasty. The period saw a number of limited institutional innovations, the Xiongnu, a nomadic steppe confederation, defeated the Han in 200 BC and forced the Han to submit as a de facto inferior partner, but continued their raids on the Han borders. Emperor Wu of Han launched several campaigns against them. The ultimate Han victory in these wars eventually forced the Xiongnu to accept vassal status as Han tributaries, the territories north of Hans borders were quickly overrun by the nomadic Xianbei confederation. Imperial authority was seriously challenged by large Daoist religious societies which instigated the Yellow Turban Rebellion. When Cao Pi, King of Wei, usurped the throne from Emperor Xian, following Liu Bangs victory in the Chu–Han Contention, the resulting Han dynasty was named after the Hanzhong fief. Chinas first imperial dynasty was the Qin dynasty, the Qin unified the Chinese Warring States by conquest, but their empire became unstable after the death of the first emperor Qin Shi Huangdi. Within four years, the authority had collapsed in the face of rebellion. Although Xiang Yu proved to be a commander, Liu Bang defeated him at Battle of Gaixia. Liu Bang assumed the title emperor at the urging of his followers and is known posthumously as Emperor Gaozu, Changan was chosen as the new capital of the reunified empire under Han
8.
Morus (plant)
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Morus, a genus of flowering plants in the family Moraceae, comprises 10–16 species of deciduous trees commonly known as mulberries, growing wild and under cultivation in many temperate world regions. The closely related genus Broussonetia is also known as mulberry, notably the paper mulberry. Mulberries are fast-growing when young, but soon become slow-growing and rarely exceed 10–15 metres tall, the leaves are alternately arranged, simple and often lobed and serrated on the margin. Lobes are more common on juvenile shoots than on mature trees, the trees can be monoecious or dioecious. The mulberry fruit is a fruit, approximately 2 to 3 cm long. Immature fruits are white, green, or pale yellow, in most species the fruits turn pink and then red while ripening, then dark purple or black, and have a sweet flavor when fully ripe. The fruits of the white-fruited cultivar are white when ripe, the fruit of this cultivar is also sweet, the taxonomy of Morus is complex and disputed. Morus classification is further complicated by widespread hybridisation, wherein the hybrids are fertile. Jams and sherbets are often made from the fruit in this region, black mulberry was imported to Britain in the 17th century in the hope that it would be useful in the cultivation of silkworms. It was much used in medicine, especially in the treatment of ringworm. Mulberries are also widespread in Greece, particularly in the Peloponnese, mulberries can be grown from seed, and this is often advised as seedling-grown trees are generally of better shape and health, but they are most often planted from large cuttings which root readily. The mulberry plants which are allowed to grow tall with a height of 5–6 feet from ground level. Usually, the plantation is raised and in formation with a spacing of 6 feet ×6 feet, or 8 feet ×8 feet, as plant to plant. The plants are usually pruned once a year during the season to a height of 5–6 feet. The leaves are harvested three or four times a year by a leaf-picking method under rain-fed or semiarid conditions, depending on the monsoon, the tree branches pruned during the fall season are cut and used to make durable baskets supporting agriculture and animal husbandry. Some North American cities have banned the planting of mulberries because of the amounts of pollen they produce. In actuality, only the male mulberry trees produce pollen, this light-weight pollen can be inhaled deeply into the lungs, conversely, female mulberry trees produce all-female flowers, which draw pollen and dust from the air. Because of this feature, all-female mulberry trees have an OPALS allergy scale rating of just 1
9.
Toilet paper
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It also acts as a layer of protection for the hands during these processes. It is sold as a strip of perforated paper wrapped around a paperboard core for storage in a dispenser near a toilet. Most modern toilet paper in the world is designed to decompose in septic tanks, whereas some other bathroom. The use of paper for hygiene purposes has been recorded in China in the 6th century AD, modern commercial toilet paper originated in the 19th century, with a patent for roll-based dispensers being made in 1883. During the Ming dynasty, it was recorded in 1393 that a supply of 720,000 sheets of toilet paper were produced for the general use of the imperial court at the capital of Nanjing. In Ancient Rome, a sponge on a stick was commonly used and these are all cited in the classic Biblical and Talmudic Medicine by the German physician Julius Preuss. Gargantua dismisses the use of paper as ineffective, rhyming that, Who his foul tail with paper wipes and he concludes that the neck of a goose, that is well downed provides an optimum cleansing medium. The rise of publishing by the century led to the use of newspapers. In many parts of the world, especially where toilet paper or the necessary plumbing for disposal may be unavailable or unaffordable, also, in many parts of the world such as India, people consider using water a much cleaner and more sanitary practice than using paper. Joseph Gayetty is widely credited with being the inventor of modern commercially available toilet paper in the United States, gayettys paper, first introduced in 1857, was available as late as the 1920s. Gayettys Medicated Paper was sold in packages of flat sheets, watermarked with the inventors name, original advertisements for the product used the tagline The greatest necessity of the age. Gayettys medicated paper for the water-closet, seth Wheeler of Albany, New York, obtained the earliest United States patents for toilet paper and dispensers, the types of which eventually were in common use in that country, in 1883. Moist toilet paper, called wet wipes, was first introduced in the United Kingdom by Andrex in the 1990s and it has been promoted as being a better method of cleaning than dry toilet paper after defecation, and may be useful for women during menstruation. It was promoted as a product but it has been implicated in the creation of fatbergs. By 2016, some municipalities had begun education campaigns advising people not to flush used wet wipes, more than seven billion rolls of toilet paper are sold yearly in the U. S. alone. Americans use an average of 23.6 rolls per capita per year, the average measures of a modern roll of toilet paper is ~10 cm wide, ø12 cm and weighs about 227 grams. An alternative method of packing the sheets uses interleaved sheets in boxes, hard single ply paper has been used as well as soft multi-ply. Manufactured toilet paper sheet in the United States was sized 4 1/2 x 4 1/2, since 1999 the size of a sheet has been shrinking, Kimberly-Clark reduced the length of a sheet to 4.1
10.
Tea bag
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A tea bag is a small, porous, sealed bag containing dried plant material, which is immersed in boiling water to make a hot drink. Classically these are tea leaves, but the term is used for herbal teas made of herbs or spices. Tea bags are made of filter paper or food-grade plastic. The bag contains the tea leaves while the tea is steeped, making it easier to dispose of the leaves, and performs the same function as a tea infuser. Some tea bags have a piece of string with a paper label at the top that assists in removing the bag while also displaying the brand or variety of tea. In countries where the use of tea leaves is more prevalent. They are usually square or rectangular envelopes with the name, flavour. In China, during the Tang Dynasty, paper was folded, the first Western tea bags were hand-sewn fabric bags, tea bag patents date as early as 1903. First appearing commercially around 1904, tea bags were successfully marketed about 1908 by the tea and coffee importer Thomas Sullivan from New York, who shipped his silk tea bags around the world. The loose tea was intended to be removed from the bags by customers, modern tea bags are usually made of paper fiber. The heat-sealed paper fiber tea bag was patented in 1930 by William Hermanson, one of the founders of Technical Papers Corporation of Boston, the rectangular tea bag was not invented until 1944. Prior to this, tea bags resembled small sacks, a broad variety of teas as well as other infusions like herbal teas, are available in tea bags. Typically, tea bags use fannings, the left-overs after larger leaf pieces are gathered for sale as loose tea, Tea bag paper is related to paper found in milk and coffee filters and is a blend of wood and vegetable fibers. The latter is bleached pulp abaca hemp, a banana plant grown for its fiber, mostly in the Philippines. Some bags have a heat-sealable thermoplastic such as PVC or polypropylene as a component fiber on the tea bag surface. A few of the tea bag production machine companies are MAI from Mar del Plata, Argentina, Teepack from Meerbusch, Germany. A standard machine produced by the MAI company can fill 120 rectangular bags per minute containing up to 3.3 grams per bag, another company, the Italian Tecnomeccanica, has a faster design capable of filling 250 tetrahedral bags per minute. Traditionally, tea bags have been square or rectangular in shape, more recently circular and tetrahedral bags have come on the market and are often claimed by their manufacturers to improve the quality of the brew
11.
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
12.
Muslim world
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The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, comprising all those who adhere to the religion of Islam, or to societies where Islam is practiced. In a modern sense, these terms refer to countries where Islam is widespread. In the modern era, most of the Muslim world came under influence or colonial domination of European powers. The nation states emerged in the post-colonial era have adopted a variety of political and economic models. As of 2015, over 1.7 billion or about 23. 4% of the population are Muslims including the 4. 4% who live as minorities. Muslim history involves the history of the Islamic faith as a religion, the history of Islam began in Arabia with the Islamic prophet Muhammads first recitations of the Quran in the 7th century in the month of Ramadan. However, Islam under the Rashidun Caliphate grew rapidly, a century after the death of last Islamic prophet Muhammad, the Islamic empire extended from Spain in the west to Indus in the east. The Islamic Golden Age coincided with the Middle Ages in the Muslim world, starting with the rise of Islam and establishment of the first Islamic state in 622. The end of the age is given as 1258 with the Mongolian Sack of Baghdad, or 1492 with the completion of the Christian Reconquista of the Emirate of Granada in Al-Andalus. The Abbasids were influenced by the Quranic injunctions and hadiths, such as the ink of a scholar is more holy than the blood of a martyr, that stressed the value of knowledge. The major Islamic capital cities of Baghdad, Cairo, and Córdoba became the intellectual centers for science, philosophy, medicine. Between the 8th and 18th centuries, the use of glaze was prevalent in Islamic art. Tin-opacified glazing was one of the earliest new technologies developed by the Islamic potters, the first Islamic opaque glazes can be found as blue-painted ware in Basra, dating to around the 8th century. Another contribution was the development of fritware, originating from 9th century Iraq, other centers for innovative ceramic pottery in the Old world included Fustat, Damascus and Tabriz. The original concept is derived from a pre-Islamic Persian prototype Hezār Afsān that relied on particular Indian elements and it reached its final form by the 14th century, the number and type of tales have varied from one manuscript to another. All Arabian fantasy tales tend to be called Arabian Nights stories when translated into English, regardless of whether they appear in The Book of One Thousand and this work has been very influential in the West since it was translated in the 18th century, first by Antoine Galland. Imitations were written, especially in France, various characters from this epic have themselves become cultural icons in Western culture, such as Aladdin, Sinbad the Sailor and Ali Baba. A famous example of Arabic poetry and Persian poetry on romance is Layla and Majnun and it is a tragic story of undying love much like the later Romeo and Juliet, which was itself said to have been inspired by a Latin version of Layla and Majnun to an extent
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