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  • Qayrawānī, Ibn Abī Zayd al- (Muslim scholar)
    ...of the Arab Islamic culture of the region. In this period the Mālikī school of Islamic law reasserted itself in Ifrīqiyyah and produced one of its most prominent scholars, Ibn Abī Zayd al-Qayrawānī (died 996), whose Risālah is one of the most widely used and discussed expositions of Mālikī law.......
  • Qays (Arab poet)
    ...the historical existence of several poets remains unverified) elaborate traditions of narrative developed, as, for example, with the pre-Islamic cavalier-poet ʿAntarah and the hapless love poet Majnūn Laylā (literally, “He Who Was Driven Crazy by Love for Laylā”). Such was the status of the poet as spokesman for the virtues of the tribal community that ...
  • Qays (people)
    After al-Ḥārith’s death the kingdom split up into four tribes—Asad, Taghlib, Qays, and Kinānah—each led by a Kindah prince. The tribes feuded constantly, and, after about the middle of the 6th century, the Kindah princes were forced by the local tribesmen to withdraw once more to southern Arabia....
  • Qaysī-Yemeni dichotomy (history of Jordan)
    ...tribes or from the southern Arabian Yamanī (Banū Kalb or Qaḥṭānī) groups. Only a few tribes and towns have continued to observe this Qaysī-Yamanī division—a pre-Islamic split that was once an important, although broad, source of social identity as well as a point of social friction and conflict....
  • Qazaly (Kazakstan)
    ...by snow and to a lesser extent by glaciers, and high water lasts from March or April to September. The Syr Darya carries a considerable amount of silt, much of which it deposits in the vicinity of Qazaly, Kazakhstan. The river freezes in its lower reaches from December to March....
  • Qazaqstan Respublikasï
    country of Central Asia. It is bounded on the northwest and north by Russia, on the east by China, and on the south by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the Aral Sea; the Caspian Sea bounds Kazakhstan to the southwest. Kazakhstan is the largest country in Central Asia and the ninth largest in the world. Between its most distant points Kazakhstan measures about 1,820 miles (2,930 kilometres...
  • Qazbegi, Aleksandre (Georgian writer)
    ...That a Human Being?”), which attacks the degenerate gentry, and Tsereteli’s fine autobiographical Chemi tavgadasavali (1894–1909; “The Story of My Life”). Aleksandre Qazbegi was the first commercially successful prose writer in Georgia, his melodramatic fiction drawing on the legends and pagan ethos of the Caucasian highlanders....
  • Qazi, Badruddin Jamaluddin (Indian actor)
    Indian film comedian (b. March 23, 1924?, Indore, Madhya Pradesh, India—d. July 29, 2003, Mumbai [Bombay], India), was generally regarded as the most successful comedian of what fans called the golden age of Hindi cinema. With an unusually mobile face and a much-admired sense of timing, Walker delighted audiences with his gentle comedy in more than 300 films, beginning with Baazi (19...
  • Qazvīn (Iran)
    city, Markazī (Tehrān) ostān (province), north-central Iran, in a wide, fertile plain at the southern foot of the Elburz Mountains. Originally called Shad Shāhpūr, it was founded by the Sāsānian king Shāpūr I about ad 250. It flourished in early...
  • Qazvīn (mountain pass, Iran)
    ...River, formed by the junction of the Qezel Owzan (Qisil Uzun) and Shāhrūd rivers, is the only river to cross the whole width of the chain: its gorge, giving access to the low pass of Qazvīn, offers the best passage through the mountain chain, although by no means an easy one, between the Gīlān region on the shores of the Caspian and the inland plateau to the.....
  • Qazvīn school (Persian painter)
    ...Behzād, who is said to have taught him at Tabrīz. Muẓaffar ʿAlī was a favourite painter of Shah Ṭahmāsp I and became one of the leaders of the school of Qazvīn. He worked on the shah’s great Shāh-nāmeh with other royal miniaturists and on a series of 14 illustrations for the K...
  • QB VII (work by Uris)
    ...at the O.K. Corral (1957). His later works include Mila 18 (1961), a novel about the Jewish uprising against the Nazis in the Warsaw ghetto in 1943; QB VII (1970), dealing with Nazi war crimes; Trinity (1976), a chronicle of a Northern Irish farm family from the 1840s to 1916; The Haj...
  • QBE (computer science)
    ...query resembles natural language except that its syntax is limited and fixed. Instead of using an SQL statement, it is possible to represent queries in tabular form. The technique, referred to as query-by-example (or QBE), displays an empty tabular form and expects the searcher to enter the search specifications into appropriate columns. The program then constructs an SQL-type query from the......
  • QBO (air current)
    layer of winds that encircle the Earth in the lower stratosphere, at altitudes from 20 to 40 kilometres (about 12 to 25 miles), between latitudes 15° N and 15° S. They blow at velocities of 25 to 50 metres per second (about 55 to 110 miles per hour). They are alternately easterly and westerly, reversing about every 13 months. The quasi-biennial oscillation was originally known as the...
  • QCD (physics)
    in physics, the theory that describes the action of the strong force. QCD was constructed in analogy to quantum electrodynamics (QED), the quantum field theory of the electromagnetic force. In QED the electromagnetic interactions of charged particles are described through the emission and subsequent absorption of massless ...
  • QCS (American company)
    one of the largest Internet access subscription service companies in the United States, providing a range of Web services for users. AOL was one of the first companies to establish a strong sense of community among its users through buddy lists and instant messaging services, which transmit billions of messages daily....
  • “QE 2” (ship)
    ...83,673. The Queen Elizabeth was retired in 1968 and sold for conversion to a seagoing university, but it burned and sank in January 1972 during refitting at Hong Kong. Its successor, the Queen Elizabeth 2 (QE2), was launched in 1967 and made its maiden voyage in 1969. The QE2 made its final voyage between New York and England in 2008 after having......
  • Qebtu (Egypt)
    agricultural town, Qinā muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Upper Egypt. It is situated at the large bend of the Nile north of Luxor (al-Uqṣur) and lies along the east bank of the river. Known to the ancient Egyptians as Qebtu, the town was of early dynastic foundation. It was important for nearby gold and quartzite mines in the Eastern Desert, worked during the 1st ...
  • QED (physics)
    quantum field theory of the interactions of charged particles with the electromagnetic field. It describes mathematically not only all interactions of light with matter but also those of charged particles with one another. QED is a relativistic theory in that Albert Einstein’s theory of s...
  • qedesha (temple prostitute)
    one of a class of sacred prostitutes found throughout the ancient Middle East, especially in the worship of the fertility goddess Astarte (Ashtoreth). Prostitutes, who often played an important part in official temple worship, could be either male or female. In Egypt, a goddess named Qedeshu, Lady of Kadesh (Syria), was worshiped in the 19th and 20th dynasties...
  • Qedeshu, Lady of Kadesh (Egyptian deity)
    ...in the worship of the fertility goddess Astarte (Ashtoreth). Prostitutes, who often played an important part in official temple worship, could be either male or female. In Egypt, a goddess named Qedeshu, Lady of Kadesh (Syria), was worshiped in the 19th and 20th dynasties (1292–c. 1075 bc). Her representation is found on private stelae of middle-class workers. She is shown ...
  • Qehilla (American Jewish organization)
    ...pulpit of the Reform temple Emanu-El in New York City. His many speaking engagements on behalf of Zionism, as well as his eloquent sermons, made him a revered figure among American Jews. He founded Qehilla (Community) to unite the disparate elements of New York Jewry; its Bureau of Jewish Education (1910–41) had a profound effect for decades. A growing dissatisfaction with Reform Jewry...
  • Qemal, Ismail (Albanian statesman)
    ...It was strategically important during Roman times and in the 11th–12th-century wars between Normans and Byzantines. Later it was contested by Venetians, Serbs, and Turks. On Nov. 28, 1912, Ismail Qemal proclaimed there the independence of Albania. Vlorë was occupied by the Italians in 1915–20 and again in 1939. During World War II Sazan was used as a German and Italian......
  • Qena (governorate, Egypt)
    muḥāfaẓah (governorate) in Upper Egypt, extending 3–4 miles (5–6 km) on each side of the Nile River between the Arabian and Libyan deserts. Occupying the great bend in the Nile valley, it contains the celebrated ruins of Thebes and the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. Qinā has a dense agricultural population (more than 3,000 persons per square mile...
  • Qena (Egypt)
    town and capital of Qinā muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Upper Egypt, on a canal 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the Nile River at its great bend, opposite Dandarah. The town was called Caene (New Town) by the ancient Greeks to distinguish it from Coptos (now Qifṭ), 14 miles south, whose trade with Arabia, India, and China it eventually acquired. The s...
  • Qeqertarsuaq (town, Greenland)
    ...feet (1,919 metres). There are coal and iron deposits, and until the late 1960s lignite was mined around Qullissat in the northeast. After production stopped, much of the population was relocated. Qeqertarsuaq (Danish: Godhavn), the largest settlement on the island, was established in 1773. Hunting and fishing are the main activities. A research station is located close to the town. The island....
  • Qeqertarsuaq (island, Greenland)
    island in Davis Strait off western Greenland, northwest of Qeqertarsuup (Disko) Bay and southwest of Vaigat Strait. It is 80 miles (130 km) long and 20–75 miles (32–120 km) wide, with a maximum elevation of 6,296 feet (1,919 metres). There are coal and iron deposits, and until the late 1960s lignite was mined around Qullissat in the northeast. After production stop...
  • Qeshm (island, Iran)
    largest island in the Persian Gulf, belonging to Iran. The Arabic name means “long island.” It lies parallel to the Iranian coast, from which it is separated by Clarence Strait. With an area of 460 square miles (1,200 square km), it has an irregular outline and a generally rocky coast except for sandy bays and mud flats fringing the northwest. Ir...
  • Qeshm, Jazīreh-e- (island, Iran)
    largest island in the Persian Gulf, belonging to Iran. The Arabic name means “long island.” It lies parallel to the Iranian coast, from which it is separated by Clarence Strait. With an area of 460 square miles (1,200 square km), it has an irregular outline and a generally rocky coast except for sandy bays and mud flats fringing the northwest. Ir...
  • Qeys Island (island, Iran)
    island in the Persian Gulf, lying about 10 miles (16 km) off mainland Iran. It rises 120 feet (37 metres) above sea level to a plateau and is almost without vegetation except for a few date groves and stunted herbage. Qeys attained importance only in the late 1st millennium ad, when a prince obtained it, built a fleet, and gradually extended his ...
  • Qhandesh (historical region, India)
    ...led to a Bahmanī victory and a short-lived recognition of the chieftainship of Kherla as a Bahmanī protectorate. Aḥmad I then forged an alliance with another northern neighbour, Khandesh, which acted as a buffer between Bahmanī and the kingdoms of Malwa and Gujarat. On the pretext of giving aid to a Hindu chieftain who had revolted against Gujarat, he sent unsuccessf...
  • Qhapaq Wari (Incan noble)
    ...had originally favoured the succession of Huayna Capac (Wayna Qhapaq), the youngest son of his principal wife and sister. Shortly before his death, he changed his mind and named as his successor Capac Huari (Qhapaq Wari), the son of another wife. Capac Huari, however, never became emperor. The claims of his mother and her relatives were suppressed by the supporters of Huayna Capac. This......
  • Qhapaq Yupanki (Incan leader)
    The Inca forces crossed the Quechua territory and attacked the provinces of Vilcas and Soras, southwest of the area controlled by the Chanca. In about 1445, Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui sent his brother Capac Yupanqui (Qhapaq Yupanki) to explore the south coast, marking the first time the Inca reached the ocean. Returning to Cuzco, Capac Yupanqui passed through Chanca territory and captured a few of......
  • Qhapaq Yupanki (emperor of Incas)
    ...small domains throughout the Andes. Under Mayta Capac the Inca began to expand, attacking and looting the villages of neighbouring peoples and probably assessing some sort of tribute. Under Capac Yupanqui, the next emperor, the Inca first extended their influence beyond the Cuzco valley, and under Viracocha Inca, the eighth, they began a program of permanent conquest by establishing......
  • Qi (ancient state [771-221 BC], China)
    one of the largest and most powerful of the many small states into which China was divided between about 771 and 221 bc....
  • Qi (Manchu history)
    the military organization used by the Manchu tribes of Manchuria (now Northeast China) to conquer and control China in the 17th century. The Banner system was developed by the Manchu leader Nurhachi (1559–1626), who in 1601 organized his warriors into four companies of 300 men each. The companies were distinguished by banners of different colours...
  • qi (Chinese philosophy)
    in Chinese philosophy, the ethereal psychophysical energies of which everything is composed. Early Daoist philosophers and alchemists regarded qi as a vital force inhering in the breath and bodily fluids and developed techniques to alter and control the movement of qi within the body; their aim was to achieve physical longevity and spiritual power....
  • Qi Baishi (Chinese painter)
    with Zhang Daqian, one of the last of the great traditional Chinese painters....
  • Qi Chunzhi (Chinese painter)
    with Zhang Daqian, one of the last of the great traditional Chinese painters....
  • Qi Gong (meditation technique)
    The most important NRM to appear in China is the faith in the semimystical powers of Qi Gong (Chinese: “Energy Working”), the classical tradition of spiritual and physical exercise that is often seen as the basis for the martial arts. In the 1980s and ’90s, Qi Gong masters developed followings throughout China by demonstrating their powers. The movement spread to Taiwan, where...
  • Qi Huang (Chinese painter)
    with Zhang Daqian, one of the last of the great traditional Chinese painters....
  • Qi Huangong (ruler of Qi)
    ...began to increase in size, expanding at least sixfold by incorporating many previous “barbarian” areas into its realm. Moreover, under the rule of its semi-legendary prince Duke Huan (Qi Huangong) and his famous adviser Guan Zhong, a uniform tax system was instituted, a central army was created, and state monopolies of salt and iron production were formed. At the same time, a......
  • Qi Jiguang (Chinese general)
    ...of the Wanli emperor (1572–1620), the government was highly stable. The court was dominated by the outstanding grand secretary of Ming history, Zhang Juzheng, and capable generals such as Qi Jiguang restored and maintained effective military defenses....
  • Qi Rushan (Chinese writer)
    playwright and scholar who revived interest in traditional Chinese drama in 20th-century China and in the West....
  • Qian Mountains (mountains, China)
    ...mountain belt, with a southwest-northeast axis, which continues in the Changbai Mountains of the Northeast (Manchuria)–North Korean border area. On the peninsula, the range is known as the Qian Mountains. The backbone of the peninsula consists of a number of parallel mountain ranges formed from ancient granites and shales. These mountains have been weathered into sharp peaks and ridges.....
  • Qian River (river, China)
    At Shilong the river receives the Liu River, its major left- (north-) bank tributary, and is then called the Qian River. This section of the river is the shortest, no more than 75 miles (120 km) long, and the river drops about 50 feet (15 metres) in this distance. The channel grows dramatically, occasionally achieving depths of 280 feet (85 metres). For almost half its length, the Qian flows......
  • Qian Shu (ancient kingdom, China)
    ...960, 10 independent kingdoms emerged in China, mainly in the south: the Wu (902–937), the Nan (Southern) Tang (937–975/976), the Nan Ping (924–963), the Chu (927–951), the Qian (Former) Shu (907–925), the Hou (Later) Shu (934–965), the Min (909–945), the Bei (Northern) Han (951–979), the Nan Han (917–971), and the Wu-Yue......
  • Qian Xuan (Chinese painter)
    ...Zhao Mengfu gave new impetus to the 4th-century style of Wang Xizhi, which then became a standard for Chinese writing and book printing for centuries. In painting, Zhao and his contemporary Qian Xuan helped to complete the development of a distinctively amateur style that ushered in a new phase in the history of Chinese painting. Their work did not continue that of the previous......
  • Qian Zhongshu (Chinese scholar and author)
    Chinese scholar and writer whose erudition and scholarly achievements were practically unrivaled in 20th-century China....
  • Qianfo Dong (caves, Dunhuang, China)
    ...dynasty (ad 618–907). Eighth-century remains have been found in desert oases around Turfan in the Uighur Autonomous Region of Sinkiang, China, and late T’ang fragments have been found in the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas (Ch’ien-fo-tung or Mo-kao-k’u) near the town of Tun-Huang in Kansu Province. It is thought that these weavings are probably not repres...
  • Qiang (people)
    ...southern mountains, near Guizhou and Yunnan provinces. The Hui are concentrated in the Zoigê Marsh grasslands of the northwest and are also scattered in a number of districts in the east. The Qiang are concentrated in the Maoxian-Wenchuan area on both banks of the Min River....
  • Qiangtang (basin, China)
    enormous alpine basin in the northern part of the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwestern China. With an average elevation exceeding 16,500 feet (5,000 metres) above sea level, it lies between the Kunlun Mountains to the north, the Tanggula Mountains to the east, and the Nyainqêntanglha Mountains to...
  • qianhu suo (Chinese military unit)
    ...consisted of a guard unit of 5,600 men known as a wei. Each wei was divided into five qianhu suo of 1,120 men each, which was subdivided into 10 baihu suo of 112 men each. The head of each wei......
  • Qianlong (emperor of Qing dynasty)
    reign name (nianhao) of the fourth emperor of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty (1644–1911/12), whose six-decade reign (1735–96) was one of the longest in Chinese history. He conducted a series of military campaigns that eliminated the Turk and Mongol threats to northeastern China (1755–60), enlarged his empire by creating the...
  • Qianqinggong (palace, Beijing, China)
    ...last hall, the Hall of Preserving Harmony (Baohedian), after which comes the Inner Court (Neiting). The Inner Court was used as the emperor’s personal apartment. It contains three large halls, the Palace of Heavenly Purity (Qianqinggong), the Hall of Union (Jiaotaidian), and the Palace of Earthly Tranquillity (Kunninggong)....
  • Qianxi Stage (geology)
    ...of former ocean floors) and immature basaltic island-arc volcanic rocks to more silicic (silicon-rich) rocks such as andesites. In the North China paraplatform this early episode corresponds to the Qianxi Stage (3.5 to 3 billion years ago), in which mafic-ultramafic rocks with silicic sediments developed concurrently with granitic gneisses that were metamorphosed to a high degree....
  • Qiao Shi (Chinese official)
    If the arrangements for political succession that senior leader Deng Xiaoping (Teng Hsiao-p’ing) had in place in 1994 came unstuck, 70-year-old Qiao Shi (Ch’iao Shih) would have a good shot at the top leadership position in China. Qiao Shi was number three in the Chinese political hierarchy, a member of the powerful Political Bureau Standing Committee, and chairman of the National Pe...
  • qibbutz (Israeli commune)
    Israeli collective settlement, usually agricultural and often also industrial, in which all wealth is held in common. Profits are reinvested in the settlement after members have been provided with food, clothing, and shelter and with social and medical services. Adults have private quarters, but children are generally housed and cared for as a group. Cooking a...
  • qibla (Islam)
    the direction of the sacred shrine of the Kaʿbah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, toward which Muslims turn five times each day when performing the salat (daily ritual prayer). Soon after Muhammad’s emigration (Hijrah, or Hegira) to Medina in 622, he indicated Jerusalem as the ...
  • qiblah (Islam)
    the direction of the sacred shrine of the Kaʿbah in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, toward which Muslims turn five times each day when performing the salat (daily ritual prayer). Soon after Muhammad’s emigration (Hijrah, or Hegira) to Medina in 622, he indicated Jerusalem as the ...
  • Qiblī miṣr (region, Egypt)
    geographic and cultural division of Egypt, generally consisting of the Nile River valley south of the delta and the 30th parallel N. It thus consists of the entire Nile River valley from Cairo south to Lake Nasser (formed by the Aswān High Dam). This division also includes what some scholars term Middle Egypt (from Lisht to Panopolis)....
  • Qiddush (Judaism)
    Jewish benediction and prayer recited over a cup of wine immediately before the meal on the eve of the sabbath or of a festival; the ceremony acknowledges the sanctity of the day that has just begun. Chanting, or recitation, usually performed by the head of the household, may involve several or all members of the family, depending on the custom; each then sips wine from the cup, which was held in ...
  • Qiddushin (Jewish marriage rite)
    ...Many Conservative and Reform congregations have instituted a similar ceremony, called the bat mitzvah, to celebrate the coming-of-age of girls. Marriage (ḥatuna, also qiddushin, “sanctifications”) involves a double ceremony, performed together in modern times but separated in......
  • Qieyun (Chinese dictionary)
    ...from a great many places, the once-standard approach was to compare major representatives of each group for the purpose of reconstructing the language of the important dictionary Qieyun of ad 601 (Sui dynasty), which mainly represents a Southern language type. One difficulty is that the language in a given area represents a mixture of at least two layers: ...
  • Qifț (Egypt)
    agricultural town, Qinā muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Upper Egypt. It is situated at the large bend of the Nile north of Luxor (al-Uqṣur) and lies along the east bank of the river. Known to the ancient Egyptians as Qebtu, the town was of early dynastic foundation. It was important for nearby gold and quartzite mines in the Eastern Desert, worked during the 1st ...
  • qifu (Chinese court dress)
    Qifu, or “dragon robes” (longpao) as they were usually called, were designed for regular court wear by men and women of imperial, noble, and official rank. The qifu was a straight, kimono-sleeved robe with a closely fitted neckband that continued across the breast.....
  • Qijia culture (Chinese history)
    the only Neolithic culture to be uncovered in China that shows northern Eurasian influence. Although most archaeologists date the Qijia in the Late Neolithic Period, it survived into historical times, and remains from as late as the 1st century bce have been found....
  • Qikiktagruk (Alaska, United States)
    city, northwestern Alaska, U.S. Lying 550 miles (885 km) northwest of Anchorage, it is situated at the northwestern end of Baldwin Peninsula, on Kotzebue Sound. The area, which was a trading centre for a number of widely scattered Arctic villages, has long been inhabited by Inupiat Eskimos. The sound was named for the Russian explorer ...
  • Qilian Mountains (mountains, China)
    rugged mountain range on the border of Qinghai and Gansu provinces, west-central China. Glaciers cover an area of about 760 square miles (1,970 square km) and contain some 23 cubic miles (95 cubic km) of ice. This vast ice reservoir is the most important water source for agricultural, industrial, and public use in the Hexi (Gansu) corridor t...
  • Qilian Shan (mountains, China)
    rugged mountain range on the border of Qinghai and Gansu provinces, west-central China. Glaciers cover an area of about 760 square miles (1,970 square km) and contain some 23 cubic miles (95 cubic km) of ice. This vast ice reservoir is the most important water source for agricultural, industrial, and public use in the Hexi (Gansu) corridor t...
  • Qïlïch Arslān I (Seljuq sultan)
    After a six-year interregnum Sulaymān’s second son Qïlïch Arslān, released from captivity after the death of Malik-Shāh, finally was able to repossess İznik in 1092 and then gradually to regain control of his father’s dominions. Four years later western European crusaders, responding to the call of Pope Urban II to liberate the Holy Land, ent...
  • Qïlïch Arslān II (Seljuq sultan)
    ...(Yaghibasan) in Sivas and ʿAyn ad-Dawlah in Malatya-Elbistan—and his son Dhū an-Nūn in Kayseri. After Yağibasan’s death (1164), the Seljuq sultan Qïlïj Arslan II intervened repeatedly in the affairs of the Sivas and Kayseri branches and finally invaded Dānishmend territory; but he was stopped by Dhū an-Nūn’s......
  • Qïlïch Arslān IV (Seljuq sultan)
    ...Kızıl River with the support of local Byzantine lords and the Turkmen borderland chieftains. Backed by Mongol generals and Iranian bureaucrats, his younger brothers Rukn ad-Dīn Qïlïch Arslān IV (1248–65) and ʿAlāʾ ad-Dīn Kay-Qubādh II (1249–57) were installed east of the Kızıl. From this poi...
  • Qïlïj Arslan II (Seljuq sultan)
    ...(Yaghibasan) in Sivas and ʿAyn ad-Dawlah in Malatya-Elbistan—and his son Dhū an-Nūn in Kayseri. After Yağibasan’s death (1164), the Seljuq sultan Qïlïj Arslan II intervened repeatedly in the affairs of the Sivas and Kayseri branches and finally invaded Dānishmend territory; but he was stopped by Dhū an-Nūn’s......
  • qilin (Chinese mythology)
    in Chinese mythology, the unicorn whose rare appearance often coincides with the imminent birth or death of a sage or illustrious ruler. (The name is a combination of the two characters qi “male,” and lin, “female.”) A qilin has a single horn on its forehead, a yellow belly, a multicoloured back, the hooves of a horse, the body of a deer, and the ta...
  • Qimḥi, David (European scholar)
    European scholar of the Hebrew language whose writings on Hebrew lexicography and grammar became standard works in the Middle Ages and whose reputation eclipsed that of both his father, Joseph Kimhi, and his brother, Moses, a grammarian....
  • Qimḥi, Joseph (European grammarian)
    European grammarian, biblical exegete, and poet who, with his sons, Moses and David, made fundamental contributions to establishing Hebrew-language studies....
  • Qimḥi, Moses (European scholar)
    European author of an influential Hebrew grammar, Mahalakh shevile ha-daʿat (“Journey on the Paths of Knowledge”)....
  • qin (musical instrument)
    fretless Chinese board zither with seven strings. Traditionally the body of the qin was of a length that represented the 365 days of the year (3 chi [a chi is a Chinese foot], 6 cun [a cun is a Chinese inch, one-tenth of a ...
  • Qin (feudal state, China)
    ...Ch’un-ch’iu, or Spring and Autumn, period (770–476 bc) of Chinese history. Villages or townships on China’s western frontier that had been newly conquered by such expanding Chinese states as Ch’in and Ch’u were placed directly under the authority of the head of the kingdom, in contrast to more settled areas in which the local aristocratic ...
  • Qin dynasty (China, 221-207 bc)
    (221–207 bc), dynasty that established the first great Chinese empire. The Qin, from which the name China is derived, established the approximate boundaries and basic administrative system that all subsequent Chinese dynasties were to follow for the next 2,000 years....
  • Qin He (river, Shansi-Honan province, China)
    river of north-central China. It rises in the Taiyue Mountains of Shanxi province, China and flows south through the plateau past Qinyuan and near Yangcheng, through the southwest spur of the Taihang Mountains, and onto the plain of northern Henan province. There it swings southeastward to join the Huang He...
  • Qin Hui (Chinese minister)
    minister of the Song dynasty (960–1279) who led a peace party that opposed continued prosecution of a war to regain former Chinese territory in the North. He is remembered as a traitor, however, in Chinese history....
  • Qin Jiushao (Chinese mathematician)
    Chinese mathematician who developed a method of solving simultaneous linear congruences....
  • Qin Kui (Chinese minister)
    minister of the Song dynasty (960–1279) who led a peace party that opposed continued prosecution of a war to regain former Chinese territory in the North. He is remembered as a traitor, however, in Chinese history....
  • Qin Ling (mountains, China)
    mountain range in north China, extending along a west-east axis from southeastern Gansu province into Shaanxi and Henan provinces. Considered to be an eastern extension of the Kunlun Mountains, it constitutes a watershed between the Wei River to the north and Han River...
  • Qin Mountains (mountains, China)
    mountain range in north China, extending along a west-east axis from southeastern Gansu province into Shaanxi and Henan provinces. Considered to be an eastern extension of the Kunlun Mountains, it constitutes a watershed between the Wei River to the north and Han River...
  • qin pipa (musical instrument)
    ...the ruan, the wuxian, and the quxiang. The qinhanzi, or qin pipa—a four-stringed lute having a skin-covered round body, a straight neck, and 12 frets—was developed from a rattle......
  • Qin River (river, Shansi-Honan province, China)
    river of north-central China. It rises in the Taiyue Mountains of Shanxi province, China and flows south through the plateau past Qinyuan and near Yangcheng, through the southwest spur of the Taihang Mountains, and onto the plain of northern Henan province. There it swings southeastward to join the Huang He...
  • Qin tomb (archaeological site, China)
    major Chinese archaeological site near the ancient capital city of Chang’an, Shaanxi sheng (province), China, now near the modern city of Xi’an. It is the burial place of the first sovereign emperor, Shihuangdi of the Qin dynasty (221–207 bce), who unified the em...
  • Qinā (Egypt)
    town and capital of Qinā muḥāfaẓah (governorate), Upper Egypt, on a canal 1 mile (1.6 km) east of the Nile River at its great bend, opposite Dandarah. The town was called Caene (New Town) by the ancient Greeks to distinguish it from Coptos (now Qifṭ), 14 miles south, whose trade with Arabia, India, and China it eventually acquired. The s...
  • Qinā (governorate, Egypt)
    muḥāfaẓah (governorate) in Upper Egypt, extending 3–4 miles (5–6 km) on each side of the Nile River between the Arabian and Libyan deserts. Occupying the great bend in the Nile valley, it contains the celebrated ruins of Thebes and the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings. Qinā has a dense agricultural population (more than 3,000 persons per square mile...
  • Qinan (Chinese painter)
    Chinese artist who was a leading member of a group of scholar-artists later known as the Wu school (after Wu district)....
  • Qinfu (poem by Ji Kang)
    ...seem to have been present. The design of the qin was not more or less uniform until the Eastern Han dynasty (25–220 ad). In his poem Qinfu (“Ode to the Qin”), Ji Kang (224–263) mentions hui several times, which would indicate that ......
  • qing (musical instrument)
    stone or jade chime used as a percussion instrument in ancient Chinese music. Sound was produced by hitting the qing with a mallet. The largest known qing—36 inches long × 24 inches wide × 112 inches high (91 cm long × 61 cm wide × 4 cm high)—was excavated in ...
  • Qing Dezong (emperor of Qing dynasty)
    reign name (nianhao) of the ninth emperor (reigned 1874/75–1908) of the Qing dynasty, during whose reign the empress dowager Cixi (1835–1908) totally dominated the government and thereby prevented the young emperor from modernizing and reforming the deteriorating imperial system....
  • Qing dynasty (Chinese history)
    (1644–1911/12), the last of the imperial dynasties of China. Under the Qing the territory of the empire grew to treble its size under the preceding Ming dynasty, the population grew from some 150 million to 450 million, many of the non-Chinese minorities within the empire were Sinicized, and an integrated national economy was established....
  • Qing Muzong (emperor of Qing dynasty)
    reign name (niaohao) of the eighth emperor (reigned 1861–1874/75) of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12), during whose reign occurred a short revitalization of the beleaguered Qing government, known as the Tongzhi Restoration....
  • Qing Renzong (emperor of Qing dynasty)
    reign name (nianhao) of the fifth emperor of the Qing dynasty (1644–1911/12), during whose reign (1796–1820) a partial attempt was made to restore the flagging state of the empire....
  • Qing Shengzu (emperor of Qing dynasty)
    reign name (nianhao) of the second emperor (reigned 1661–1722) of the Qing (Manchu) dynasty (1644–1911/12). To the Chinese empire he added areas north of the Amur River (Heilong Jiang) and portions of Outer Mongolia, and he extended control over Tibet. He opened four ports to foreign trade and encouraged the introduction of W...
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