Mexico: La Reforma: …first reforms was the so-called Ley Juárez (November 23, 1855), which abolished fueros (special exemptions) and the use of special military and ecclesiastical courts in civil cases. The minister of finance, Miguel Lerdo de Tejada, sponsored the Ley Lerdo (June 25, 1856), which restricted the right of ecclesiastical and civil…

Benito Juárez: Early career: …1856 the government published the Ley Lerdo (“Lerdo Law,” named for the minister of finance). Although it forced the church to sell its property, it contained no threat of confiscation. By breaking up large landed estates, the government hoped that many Mexicans would be able to acquire property and thus…

Robert Ley was a Nazi politician and head of German labour, who helped supervise the recruitment of slave labour during World War II. The son of a small landowner, Ley studied at the universities of Jena and Bonn, received a Ph.D. in chemistry, and worked for IG Farbenindustrie, before he was

number game: Pioneers and imitators: In England, somewhat belatedly, William Leybourn, a mathematics teacher, textbook writer, and surveyor, in 1694, published his Pleasure with Profit: Consisting of Recreations of Divers Kinds, viz., Numerical, Geometrical, Mechanical, Statical, Astronomical, Horometrical, Cryptographical, Magnetical, Automatical, Chymical, and Historical. The title page further states that the purpose of the…

Caprifoliaceae: Major genera and species: Himalaya honeysuckle (Leycesteria formosa) has long leaves and produces drooping spikes of purple flowers with purple bracts. It is one of six species in its genus, all of which are native to temperate Asia.

Leiden, gemeente (municipality), western Netherlands. It lies at the confluence of the Oude Rijn and Nieuwe Rijn (Old Rhine and New Rhine) rivers, 10 miles (16 km) northeast of The Hague and 5 miles (8 km) inland from the North Sea. First mentioned in 922 as a holding of Utrecht diocese, Leiden

Leyden jar, device for storing static electricity, discovered accidentally and investigated by the Dutch physicist Pieter van Musschenbroek of the University of Leiden in 1746, and independently by the German inventor Ewald Georg von Kleist in 1745. In its earliest form it was a glass vial, partly

Lucas van Leyden was a northern Renaissance painter and one of the greatest engravers of his time. Lucas was first trained by his father, Huygh Jacobszoon; later, he entered the workshop of Cornelis Engelbrechtsz(oon), a painter of Leiden. His paintings, as well as his prints, reveal his unique

hormone: Luteinizing hormone (interstitial-cell-stimulating hormone): …of the interstitial tissue (Leydig cells) of the testes and hence promotes secretion of the male sex hormone, testosterone. It may be associated with FSH in this function. The interrelationship of LH and FSH has made it difficult to establish with certainty that two separate hormones exist, particularly since…

Yiddish literature: Writers in New York: …most important Introspectivist poets were A. Leyeles (pseudonym of Aaron Glanz), Jacob Glatstein (Yankev Glatshteyn), and Y.L. (Yehuda Leyb) Teller. Influenced by current trends in modernism, they rejected the more traditional metre and rhyme of Di Yunge. In their early manifesto, published in their anthology In zikh (1920), Leyeles, Glatstein,…

Asturias, solo piano piece written in the early 1890s by Catalan composer and pianist Isaac Albéniz, using rolled chords that effectively evoke the strumming of a guitar. In fact, the version usually played is a transcription of the original piano piece for guitar. Despite being called

Black Legend, term indicating an unfavourable image of Spain and Spaniards, accusing them of cruelty and intolerance, formerly prevalent in the works of many non-Spanish, and especially Protestant, historians. Primarily associated with criticism of 16th-century Spain and the anti-Protestant

Gustavo Adolfo Bécquer: Bécquer’s prose pieces, Leyendas, are characterized by medieval settings, supernatural characters such as nymphs, and a mysterious, dreamlike atmosphere. Written in a lyrical, richly coloured style, the narratives are based upon the themes of love, death, and the world beyond. His spiritual autobiography, the series of letters Cartas…

Miguel Ángel Asturias: His first major work, Leyendas de Guatemala (1930; “Legends of Guatemala”), describes the life and culture of the Maya before the arrival of the Spanish. It brought him critical acclaim in France as well as at home.

Theodor Körner: …militantly passionate patriotic poetry in Leyer und Schwert (1814; “Lyre and Sword”), which was received enthusiastically and filled his contemporaries with feelings of patriotism.

Bartolomé de Las Casas: The Apologética and the Destrucción: …King Charles signed the so-called New Laws (Leyes Nuevas). According to those laws, the encomienda was not to be considered a hereditary grant; instead, the owners had to set free their Indian serfs after the span of a single generation. To ensure enforcement of the laws, Las Casas was named…

Mehmed bin Süleyman Fuzuli: …of the great Muslim classic Leylâ ve Mecnun. This celebrated allegorical romance depicts the attraction of the Majnūn (the human spirit) for Laylā (divine beauty). Fuzuli is the author of two divans (collections of poems), one in Azerbaijani Turkish and one in Persian. These anthologies contain examples of his most…

Mehmed bin Süleyman Fuzuli: …of the great Muslim classic Leylâ ve Mecnun. This celebrated allegorical romance depicts the attraction of the Majnūn (the human spirit) for Laylā (divine beauty). Fuzuli is the author of two divans (collections of poems), one in Azerbaijani Turkish and one in Persian. These anthologies contain examples of his most…

Mehmed bin Süleyman Fuzuli: …of the great Muslim classic Leylâ ve Mecnun. This celebrated allegorical romance depicts the attraction of the Majnūn (the human spirit) for Laylā (divine beauty). Fuzuli is the author of two divans (collections of poems), one in Azerbaijani Turkish and one in Persian. These anthologies contain examples of his most…

South Ribble: Leyland is the administrative centre, and the borough also includes part of the city of Preston.

cypress: The hybrid or Leyland cypress (Cupressocyparis leylandii) is an ornamental windbreak developed by crossing the Monterey cypress with the yellow cypress (Chamaecyparis nootkatensis).

Donald Gresham Stokes, Baron Stokes: …well as managing director of Leyland Motor Corporation Ltd., one of the partners in the merger, the consolidated company was not a success and was nationalized by the British government in 1975.

Johannes Ewald: …first chapters of his memoirs, Levnet og meninger (written c. 1774–78: “Life and Opinions”), explaining his enthusiasm for the adventurous and fantastic. In 1775 he was transferred to a still more solitary place near Elsinore, where he went through a religious crisis—a struggle between the Pietistic idea of self-denial and…

Jan Lievens was a versatile painter and printmaker whose style derived from both the Dutch and Flemish schools of Baroque art. A contemporary of Rembrandt, he was a pupil of Joris van Schooten (1616–18) and of Rembrandt’s teacher Pieter Lastman in Amsterdam (1618–20). After residing in Leiden for a

Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema: …under the Belgian historical painter Hendrik Leys, assisting the painter in 1859 with frescoes for the Stadhuis (town hall) in Antwerp. During a visit to Italy in 1863, Alma-Tadema became interested in Greek and Roman antiquity and Egyptian archaeology, and afterward he depicted imagery almost exclusively from those sources. Moving…

Judith Leyster was a Dutch painter who was one of the few female artists of the era to have emerged from obscurity. Among her known works are portraits, genre paintings, and still lifes. Leyster was the daughter of a brewer. She began to paint while still quite young, and by age 24 she had become a

Leyte, island, one of the Visayan group in the central Philippines, lying east of Cebu and Bohol across the Camotes Sea. It lies southwest of the island of Samar, with which it is linked by a 7,093-foot (2,162-metre) bridge (completed in 1973) across the narrow San Juanico Strait. The Samar and

Battle of Leyte Gulf, (October 23–26, 1944), decisive air and sea battle of World War II that crippled the Japanese Combined Fleet, permitted U.S. invasion of the Philippines, and reinforced the Allies’ control of the Pacific. By autumn 1944 the Japanese had been dislodged from many key outposts in

Luba: …figures constitute the supernatural world: Leza (Supreme God), mikishi or bavidye (various spirits), and bankambo (ancestors). In the world of the living, the main figures are kitobo or nsengha (priest), the nganga (healer), and the mfwintshi (the witch, the embodiment of evil and the antithesis of the will of the…

Michael Phelps: Eight-Gold-Medal Man (with a Little Help from His Friends): …been for extraordinary performances by Jason Lezak, Phelps’s teammate in two gold medal-winning relay efforts, all the hard work that brought Phelps so close to achieving his Olympic dream might have been for naught.

José Lezama Lima was a Cuban experimental poet, novelist, and essayist whose baroque writing style and eclectic erudition profoundly influenced other Caribbean and Latin American writers. Lezama’s father, a military officer, died in 1919. Lezama was a sickly boy, and while recuperating from various

Édouard Glissant: The Ripening) won him France’s Prix Théophraste Renaudot (1958), an important annual award bestowed upon a novel. In Le Quatrième Siècle (1964; “The Fourth Century”), he retraced the history of slavery in Martinique and the rise of a generation of young West Indians, trained in…

lezginka, folk dance originating among the Lezgian people of the Caucasus. It is a male solo dance (often with a sword) and also a couple dance. The man, imitating the eagle, falls to his knees, leaps up, and dances with concise steps and strong, sharp arm and body movements. When the dance is

Caucasian languages: The Lezgian languages: This language group includes Lezgi (with 240,000 speakers in Dagestan and about 170,000 in Azerbaijan); Tabasaran (about 90,000); Agul (about 12,000); Rutul (about 15,000); Tsakhur (about 11,000); Archi (fewer than 1,000); Kryz (about 6,000); Budukh (about 2,000);

history of Transcaucasia: Russian penetration: …Circassians of Abkhazia and the Lezgians of Dagestan, was more fierce and protracted. During 30 years, from 1815 to 1845, the Russians could do little more than hold these mountain peoples at bay. Some were sustained by patriotic feelings, others by religious fervour. The Circassians of the Western Caucasus were…

Caucasian languages: The Lezgian languages: This language group includes Lezgi (with 240,000 speakers in Dagestan and about 170,000 in Azerbaijan); Tabasaran (about 90,000); Agul (about 12,000); Rutul (about 15,000); Tsakhur (about 11,000); Archi (fewer than 1,000);

lezginka, folk dance originating among the Lezgian people of the Caucasus. It is a male solo dance (often with a sword) and also a couple dance. The man, imitating the eagle, falls to his knees, leaps up, and dances with concise steps and strong, sharp arm and body movements. When the dance is

Giuseppe Peano: …Principles of Integral Calculus”) and Lezioni di analisi infinitesimale, 2 vol. (1893; “Lessons of Infinitesimal Analysis”), are two of the most important works on the development of the general theory of functions since the work of the French mathematician Augustin-Louis Cauchy (1789–1857). In Applicazioni geometriche del calcolo infinitesimale (1887; “Geometrical…

Beirut: Modern Beirut: …unified Christian militia of the Lebanese Forces (LF). In West Beirut, however, the situation drifted to near total anarchy, as the different Muslim militias repeatedly clashed with one another in the streets to settle sectarian or partisan scores. Security collapsed under these circumstances, and many Lebanese and resident foreigners were…

steel: Controlling temperature: …can be achieved in a ladle furnace (LF). This is a small electric-arc furnace with an 8- to 25-megavolt-ampere transformer, three electrodes for arc heating, and the ladle acting as the furnace shell—as shown in A in the figure. Argon or electromagnetic stirring is applied for better heat transfer. Most…

Pakistan: Reinstated constitution: …in a document called the Legal Framework Order (LFO). In addition to extending Musharraf’s term, the LFO expanded the president’s powers and increased the number of members of both houses of the legislature. Parliamentary elections followed in October under the limitations imposed by the LFO, and Musharraf’s adopted political party,…

Pakistan: Military government: He also issued a Legal Framework Order (LFO) that broke up the single unit of West Pakistan and reconstituted the original four provinces of Pakistan—i.e., Punjab, Sind, North-West Frontier Province, and Balochistan. The 1970 election therefore was not only meant to restore parliamentary government to the country, it was…

chemical bonding: Ligand field theory: …two sets of orbitals, the ligand-field splitting energy (LFSE) is the ligand field version of the CFSE in crystal field theory, and from this point on the construction of the lowest-energy electron configuration is much the same as in crystal field theory. However, ligand field theory is less artificial, allows…

breeder reactor: Thermal breeder reactors: …thermal breeder known as the liquid fluoride thorium reactor (LFTR) employs molten fluoride salt to transfer heat to the turbines. Such reactors do not require fuel rods, and interest in developing the technology has grown in the early 21st century.

chaebol: …the largest chaebols are Samsung, LG, Hyundai, and SK Group. In the early 21st century the chaebols produced about two-thirds of South Korea’s exports and attracted the greater part of the country’s foreign capital inflows.

Gay Pride, annual celebration, usually in June in the United States and sometimes at other times in other countries, of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) identity. Gay Pride commemorates the Stonewall riots, which began in the early hours of June 28, 1969, after police raided

lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community (LGBTQ community), in any country, region, city, or other locality, a group of persons who identify as lesbian, gay (in the narrow sense of being a male who is sexually or romantically attracted to other males), bisexual, transgender, or

Gay Pride, annual celebration, usually in June in the United States and sometimes at other times in other countries, of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) identity. Gay Pride commemorates the Stonewall riots, which began in the early hours of June 28, 1969, after police raided

last glacial maximum (LGM), the most recent geologic interval, which spanned 29,000 to 19,000 years ago, in which the geographic extent of ice sheet and glacier coverage on Earth’s surface peaked. Some 8 percent of the planet’s total surface was covered in ice, and sea levels were approximately 125

human eye: Geniculate neurons: In general, the lateral geniculate neuron is characterized by an accentuation of the centre-periphery arrangement, so that the two parts of the receptive field tend to cancel each other out completely when stimulated together, by contrast with the ganglion cell in which one or another would predominate. Thus,…

luteinizing hormone (LH), one of two gonadotropic hormones (i.e., hormones concerned with the regulation of the gonads, or sex glands) that is produced by the pituitary gland. LH is a glycoprotein and operates in conjunction with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH). Following the release of the egg

14th Dalai Lama is the title of the Tibetan Buddhist monk who was the 14th Dalai Lama but the first to become a global figure, largely for his advocacy of Buddhism and of the rights of the people of Tibet. Despite his fame, he dispensed with much of the pomp surrounding his office, describing

Tibet: Tibet under Manchu overlordship: …an antagonist to Sangs-rgyas-rgya-mtsho when Lha-bzang Khan, fourth successor of Güüshi, sought to assert rights as king that had atrophied under his immediate predecessors. The behaviour of the sixth Dalai Lama, Tshangs-dbyangs-rgya-mtsho, who preferred poetry and libertine amusements to religion, gave Lha-bzang his opportunity. In 1705, with the emperor’s approval,…

Lha-mo, in Tibetan Buddhism, the only goddess among the “Eight Terrible Ones,” who are defenders of the faith. See

Apa Sherpa is a Nepali mountaineer and guide who set a record for most ascents of Mount Everest (21) that was later equaled by other Sherpas before being surpassed in 2018. Apa was raised in the small village of Thami (or Thame) in the Khumbu valley of far northern Nepal, just west of Mount

14th Dalai Lama is the title of the Tibetan Buddhist monk who was the 14th Dalai Lama but the first to become a global figure, largely for his advocacy of Buddhism and of the rights of the people of Tibet. Despite his fame, he dispensed with much of the pomp surrounding his office, describing

14th Dalai Lama is the title of the Tibetan Buddhist monk who was the 14th Dalai Lama but the first to become a global figure, largely for his advocacy of Buddhism and of the rights of the people of Tibet. Despite his fame, he dispensed with much of the pomp surrounding his office, describing

Lhasa, capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region, southwestern China. It is located at an elevation of 11,975 feet (3,650 metres) in the Nyainqêntanglha Mountains of southern Tibet near the Lhasa River, a tributary of the Yarlung Zangbo (Tsangpo) River (the name of the Brahmaputra River in Tibet).

Lhasa apso, breed of dog from Tibet, where it is called abso seng kye (“bark lion sentinel dog”) and is used as an indoor guard dog. The Lhasa apso is characteristically hardy, intelligent, and watchful. Longer than it is tall, it stands 10 to 11 inches (25 to 28 cm) and weighs 13 to 15 pounds (6

stela: …is the Lhasa rdo-ring (Long Stone of Lhasa), which stands in front of the main entrance to the Jo-khang temple in Tibet, regarded as the holiest of holy places and the centre of Tibet. On the stela is inscribed the text of a bilingual Tibetan-Chinese peace treaty of 821–822…

Tibet: Drainage and soils: …east and, after joining the Lhasa River south of Lhasa, forms the Brahmaputra.

Samye Debate, in Tibetan Buddhism, a two-year debate (c. 792–794 ce) between Indian and Chinese Buddhist teachers held at Samye, the first Buddhist monastery in Tibet. The debate centred on the question of whether enlightenment (bodhi) is attained gradually through activity or suddenly and without

meteor and meteoroid: Meteorites—meteoroids that survive atmospheric entry: …often referred to as the Late Heavy Bombardment, can be seen in the ancient, heavily cratered terrains of the Moon, Mars, Mercury, and many other bodies.

Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s most powerful particle accelerator. The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) was constructed by the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in the same 27-km (17-mile) tunnel that housed its Large Electron-Positron Collider (LEP). The tunnel is circular and

mining: Horizontal openings: drifts: Known as LHD units, these come in various sizes denoted by the volume or weight of the load that they can carry. The smallest ones have a capacity of less than 1 cubic metre (1 ton), whereas the largest have a 25-ton capacity. In small, narrow vein…

mining: Horizontal openings: drifts: Known as LHD units, these come in various sizes denoted by the volume or weight of the load that they can carry. The smallest ones have a capacity of less than 1 cubic metre (1 ton), whereas the largest have a 25-ton capacity. In small, narrow vein…

Van Gogh Museum: …van Gogh admired, most notably Léon Lhermitte and Jean-François Millet. The museum features a research library that is open to the public and an auditorium for public lectures and films about van Gogh.

Josef Lhévinne was a piano virtuoso in the Romantic tradition, noted for his masterly technique, sonorous tone, and careful musicianship. Lhévinne studied at the Moscow Conservatory, made his debut in 1889 in Moscow, and won the coveted Rubinstein Prize in 1895. From 1902 to 1906 he was professor

Josef Lhévinne: His wife, Rosina Lhévinne, née Bessie (1880–1976), was an eminent pianist and teacher (her pupils included Van Cliburn, David Bar-Illan, John Browning, Mischa Dichter, and Daniel Pollack) and frequently appeared in two-piano recitals with her husband.

human genetic disease: Diseases associated with single-gene non-Mendelian inheritance: …of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON), that result from inherited mutations in the mitochondrial DNA; and diseases that result from mutations in imprinted genes (e.g., Angelman syndrome and Prader-Willi syndrome).

André Lhote was a French painter, sculptor, writer, and educator who was a prominent critic and teacher of modern art. Lhote studied decorative sculpture at the École des Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux from 1898 to 1904. About 1905 he took up painting, and a year later he moved to Paris. Lhote initially

African music: History: …1956 by the French ethnologist Henri Lhote in the Tassili-n-Ajjer plateau of Algeria. Attributed on stylistic grounds to the Saharan period of the Neolithic hunters (c. 6000–4000 bce), this painting is probably one of the oldest extant testimonies to music and dance in Africa. The body adornment and movement style…

Lhotse, mountain massif in the Himalayas on the border of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It consists of three summits, the highest of which—Lhotse I at 27,940 feet (8,516 meters)—is the world’s fourth tallest peak. Lhotse lies just south of Mount Everest, to which it is joined by a

Lhotse, mountain massif in the Himalayas on the border of Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China. It consists of three summits, the highest of which—Lhotse I at 27,940 feet (8,516 meters)—is the world’s fourth tallest peak. Lhotse lies just south of Mount Everest, to which it is joined by a

gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH), a neurohormone consisting of 10 amino acids that is produced in the arcuate nuclei of the hypothalamus. GnRH stimulates the synthesis and secretion of the two gonadotropins—luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH)—by the anterior

prostate cancer: Treatment: …hormone therapy involves drugs called LHRH analogs, or LHRH agonists, that chemically block the production of androgens. Side effects of hormone therapy may include reduced libido, abnormal growth or sensitivity of the breasts, and hot flashes. Orchiectomy, or removal of the testes, cuts off the tumour’s supply of testosterone. This…

prostate cancer: Treatment: …hormone therapy involves drugs called LHRH analogs, or LHRH agonists, that chemically block the production of androgens. Side effects of hormone therapy may include reduced libido, abnormal growth or sensitivity of the breasts, and hot flashes. Orchiectomy, or removal of the testes, cuts off the tumour’s supply of testosterone. This…

Daniel Greysolon, Sieur DuLhut was a French soldier and explorer who was largely responsible for establishing French control over the country north and west of Lake Superior. The city of Duluth, Minn., was named for him. DuLhut became an ensign in the regiment at Lyon in 1657, and about 1665 he

Cornish literature: …1700 the linguist and naturalist Edward Lhuyd visited Cornwall to study the language. His Archæologia Britannica (1707) reproduces Boson’s folk tale “John of Chyannor” in a phonetic script, the only example of a secular prose story in historical Cornish. William Bodinar’s letter (1776), the last surviving text in historical Cornish,…

Lesotho: The Lesotho Highlands Water Project: Of primary importance to the country is the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), a large-scale water-transfer plan involving Lesotho and South Africa. Although similar plans had been discussed since the 1930s, the LHWP first took shape in the late 1980s and…

Cameroon: Cultural life: The powerful masks of the Bali, which represent elephants’ heads, are used in ceremonies for the dead, and the statuettes of the Bamileke are carved in human and animal figures. The Tikar people are famous for beautifully decorated brass pipes, the Ngoutou people for two-faced masks, and the Bamum for…

Li, indigenous people of Hainan Island, off the southern coast of China, and an official minority of China. The official name Li is applied to a number of different local groups, most of whom speak languages distantly related to the Tai language family. Until Chinese linguists created a romanized

li, Chinese bronze, wide-mouthed cooking vessel that was supported by three legs shaped like pointed lobes. These legs were well articulated on the body of the vessel and formed an extension of the interior volume. A coarse pottery, li was made in the Neolithic Period (c. 3000–2000 bc); this shape

lithium (Li), chemical element of Group 1 (Ia) in the periodic table, the alkali metal group, lightest of the solid elements. The metal itself—which is soft, white, and lustrous—and several of its alloys and compounds are produced on an industrial scale. atomic number 3 atomic weight 6.941 melting

li, Confucian concept often rendered as “ritual,” “proper conduct,” or “propriety.” Originally li denoted court rites performed to sustain social and cosmic order. Confucians, however, reinterpreted it to mean formal social roles and institutions that, in their view, the ancients had abstracted

Wenzong was the temple name (miaohao) of the 15th emperor (reigned 827–840) of the Tang dynasty (618–907) of China. He attempted unsuccessfully to free the court from the influence of the palace eunuchs, who had usurped much of the imperial power. His carefully laid plots against the eunuchs all

Li Ao was a Chinese scholar, poet, and official who helped reestablish Confucianism at a time when it was being severely challenged by Buddhism and Daoism. Li helped lay the groundwork for the later Neo-Confucianists of the Song dynasty (960–1279), who systematically reformulated Confucian

Li Bai was a Chinese poet who rivaled Du Fu for the title of China’s greatest poet. Li Bai liked to regard himself as belonging to the imperial family, but he actually belonged to a less exalted family of the same surname. At age 24 he left home for a period of wandering, after which he married and

Ly Nam De was the founder of the first Vietnamese dynasty mentioned in extant historical records and Vietnam’s first great champion of independence. Ly Nam De led a successful revolt against the Chinese governor of Giao-chao province in 542 and captured the capital at Long Bien. Two years later he

Hong Kong literature: Some of the works of Li Bihua (English pen name: Lilian Lee) in the 1980s and 1990s can also be considered historical. The more renowned ones are Bawang bie ji (1985; Farewell My Concubine; film 1993), Qinyong (1989; “A Terra-cotta Warrior”), and Chuandao fangzi (1990; The Last Princess of Manchuria).

Li Bai was a Chinese poet who rivaled Du Fu for the title of China’s greatest poet. Li Bai liked to regard himself as belonging to the imperial family, but he actually belonged to a less exalted family of the same surname. At age 24 he left home for a period of wandering, after which he married and

Li Qingzhao was China’s greatest woman poet, whose work, though it survives only in fragments, continues to be as highly regarded as it was in her own day. Li Qingzhao was born into a literary family and produced well-regarded poetry while still a teenager. In 1101 she married Zhao Mingcheng, a

Li Chunfeng was a Chinese mathematician and astronomer. Li was the son of a widely educated state official. He was given a position in the Imperial Astronomical Bureau in 627, following his critique of the Wuyin calendar, which had been introduced in 619. Later he submitted a report concerning the

Li He was a brilliant Chinese poet who showed great promise until his untimely death at age 26. Literary legend describes Li He as a man of guicai (“devilish talent”) who composed his haunting verses by jotting down single lines on small slips of paper while on horseback, dropping the slips into an

jinbi shanshui: …Li Sixun and his son Li Zhaodao, who was said to have changed his father’s style, even surpassed it, and who spurred an interest in seascapes. This style was also employed by some conservative artists of later centuries such as the Song painters Zhao Boju and Zhao Bosu and the…

Chinese painting: Song (960–1279), Liao (907–1125), and Jin (1115–1234) dynasties: Li Cheng, a follower of Jing Hao who lived a few years into the Song, was a scholar who defined the soft, billowing earthen formations of the northeastern Chinese terrain with “cloudlike” texture, interior layers of graded ink wash bounded by firmly brushed, scallop-edged contours.…

Taizong: The succession: …designation of his eldest son, Li Chengjian, as heir apparent, that son’s unacceptable behaviour eventually resulted in his banishment and death. Taizong was forced to give the succession to his ninth son, Li Zhi (the future Gaozong emperor), who was not his preferred heir.

Liji, one of the Five Classics (Wujing) of Chinese Confucian literature, the original text of which is said to have been compiled by the ancient sage Confucius (551–479 bc). During the 1st century bc the text was extensively reworked by Dai De (Elder Dai) and his cousin Dai Sheng (Younger Dai).

Li Chi was an archaeologist chiefly responsible for establishing the historical authenticity of the semilegendary Shang dynasty of China. The exact dates of the Shang dynasty are uncertain; traditionally, they have been given as from c. 1766 to c. 1122 bce, but more recent archaeological evidence

Chinese architecture: The Song (960–1279), Liao (907–1125), and Jin (1115–1234) dynasties: …Hao and the state architect Li Jie were educated men. The latter is known today chiefly as the compiler of Yingzao fashi (“Building Standards”), which he presented to the throne in 1100. This illustrated work deals in encyclopaedic fashion with all branches of architecture: layout, construction, stonework, carpentry, bracketing, decoration,…