text
stringlengths 1
146k
|
|---|
In the 1960s, the first LGBT organization, Tigresa Royal, in the university was established. However, the organization dissipated during the martial law era. The organization was never recognized by the university. In 2013, HUE, a new LGBT organization in the university was formally established. The organization was established by Majann Lazo, student council president of the Faculty of Arts and Letters, and Noelle Capili, a member of Mediatrix, a university-wide organization for art enthusiasts. Like Tigresa Royal, the university also denies HUE's recognition as a university organization. In July 1, 2015, the university ordered numerous organizations to 'take down' all rainbow-themed profile pics of its members in social media after the legalization of same-sex marriage in the United States. |
The order was defied by numerous students of the university, marking the beginning of the UST Rainbow Protest. In July 2016, various student organizations supported the filing of the SOGIE Equality bill in the Senate and the House of Representatives. In March 2018, during the passage of the SOGIE Equality Bill in the Philippine House of Representatives, numerous UST student organizations, including the first intersectional feminist organization in the school, UST Hiraya, backed the bill's passage. In June 21, 2018, statements against the UST LGBT community were circulated in Twitter and Facebook. The statements originally came from the school regent, Fr. |
Boy. The tweet noted that the school 'understands' LGBT rights, but tasked all presidents of all student organizations within the university to take down pro-LGBT statements, especially if those statements involved the words, 'LGBT' and 'Pride month'. The statements garnered massive backlash against the university in social media, with almost 4,000 disapprovals and around 1,100 retweets in less than two days. The order of the school regent was also defied by numerous UST organizations, in continuation of the UST Rainbow Protest. In July 2018, the university and its Roman Catholic priests banned all forms of cross-dressing within its campus. The university also deemed that students who have same-sex relationships shall face “non-readmission, exclusion or expulsion”. |
In August 7, 2018, in defiance against the school administration, the university's Catholic student council launched a collective statement with fellow Catholic student councils from Ateneo de Manila University, De La Salle University, De La Salle–College of Saint Benilde, Miriam College, St. Scholastica's College, Manila and San Beda University, calling on the Senate of the Philippines to enact the pro-LGBT SOGIE Equality Bill into law. The move marked the first ever inter-school Catholic-based LGBT support system in Philippine history. Notable people Alumni Persons affiliated to the university, either as students, faculty members, or administrators, are known as "Thomasians". José Rizal (National Hero of the Philippines), studied Medicine at UST, and continued it at the University of Madrid in Madrid, Spain. |
The University has produced four Presidents of the Philippines, namely Manuel L. Quezon, Sergio Osmeña, José P. Laurel and Diosdado Macapagal. It has also produced three Philippine Vice Presidents and six Chief Justices of the Philippine Supreme Court. Philippine Commonwealth President Manuel L. Quezon and Philippine national hero José Rizal are honored by the University as they are displayed on the pillars of the Arch of the Centuries. The UST Office for Alumni Relations build a twelve-story alumni center on the site of existing UST gymnasium; it is a multi-function building to hold events for the alumni and lodging services for visitors. |
The existing Olympic-sized swimming pool located nearby would be kept and refurbished. The design was chosen from seven winners in a competition among students organized by the College of Architecture. Abelardo Tolentino Jr., an outstanding Thomasian alumni for Architecture, worked on the design to produce the final blueprint. See also Angelicum College University of Santo Tomas - Legazpi References External links University of Santo Tomas – official website Santisimo Rosario Parish – Santisimo Rosario ParishHistorical documentary synopsis of the University of Santo Tomas of Manila from its foundation to our day, Fr. Juan Sanchez y García, Santo Tomas University Press, Manila, 1929El tricentenario de la Universidad de Santo Tomás de Manila. |
Relacion de las fiestas, actos y certámenes celebrados en esta ciudad de Manila durante los dias 16, 17, 18, 19 y 30 de diciembre del aṅo 1911. Lo publica la junta organizadora del tricenternario. El tricentenario de la Universidad de Santo Tomas de Manila (1611-1911)] (), published in Manila, 1912 Category:1611 establishments in the Philippines Category:Pontifical universities Category:Catholic universities and colleges in Manila Category:Educational institutions established in the 1610s Category:Research universities in the Philippines Category:University Athletic Association of the Philippines Category:Dominican educational institutions in the Philippines Category:Spanish colonial infrastructure in the Philippines Category:National Historical Landmarks of the Philippines Category:Education in Sampaloc, Manila Category:Universities and colleges in Manila Category:ASEAN University Network |
In economics, returns to scale describe what happens to long run returns as the scale of production increases, when all input levels including physical capital usage are variable (able to be set by the firm). The concept of returns to scale arises in the context of a firm's production function. It explains the long run linkage of the rate of increase in output (production) relative to associated increases in the inputs (factors of production). In the long run, all factors of production are variable and subject to change in response to a given increase in production scale. While economies of scale show the effect of an increased output level on unit costs, returns to scale focus only on the relation between input and output quantities. |
There are three possible types of returns to scale: increasing returns to scale, constant returns to scale, and diminishing (or decreasing) returns to scale. If output increases by the same proportional change as all inputs change then there are constant returns to scale (CRS). If output increases by less than that proportional change in all inputs, there are decreasing returns to scale (DRS). If output increases by more than the proportional change in all inputs, there are increasing returns to scale (IRS). A firm's production function could exhibit different types of returns to scale in different ranges of output. Typically, there could be increasing returns at relatively low output levels, decreasing returns at relatively high output levels, and constant returns at some range of output levels between those extremes. |
In mainstream microeconomics, the returns to scale faced by a firm are purely technologically imposed and are not influenced by economic decisions or by market conditions (i.e., conclusions about returns to scale are derived from the specific mathematical structure of the production function in isolation). |
Example When the usages of all inputs increase by a factor of 2, new values for output will be: Twice the previous output if there are constant returns to scale (CRS) Less than twice the previous output if there are decreasing returns to scale (DRS) More than twice the previous output if there are increasing returns to scale (IRS) Assuming that the factor costs are constant (that is, that the firm is a perfect competitor in all input markets) and the production function is homothetic, a firm experiencing constant returns will have constant long-run average costs, a firm experiencing decreasing returns will have increasing long-run average costs, and a firm experiencing increasing returns will have decreasing long-run average costs. |
However, this relationship breaks down if the firm does not face perfectly competitive factor markets (i.e., in this context, the price one pays for a good does depend on the amount purchased). For example, if there are increasing returns to scale in some range of output levels, but the firm is so big in one or more input markets that increasing its purchases of an input drives up the input's per-unit cost, then the firm could have diseconomies of scale in that range of output levels. Conversely, if the firm is able to get bulk discounts of an input, then it could have economies of scale in some range of output levels even if it has decreasing returns in production in that output range. |
Formal definitions Formally, a production function is defined to have: Constant returns to scale if (for any constant a greater than 0) (Function F is homogeneous of degree 1) Increasing returns to scale if (for any constant a greater than 1) Decreasing returns to scale if (for any constant a greater than 1) where K and L are factors of production—capital and labor, respectively. In a more general set-up, for a multi-input-multi-output production processes, one may assume technology can be represented via some technology set, call it , which must satisfy some regularity conditions of production theory. In this case, the property of constant returns to scale is equivalent to saying that technology set is a cone, i.e., satisfies the property . |
In turn, if there is a production function that will describe the technology set it will have to be homogeneous of degree 1. Formal example The Cobb–Douglas functional form has constant returns to scale when the sum of the exponents is 1. In that case the function is: where and . Thus Here as input usages all scale by the multiplicative factor a, output also scales by a and so there are constant returns to scale. But if the Cobb–Douglas production function has its general form with and then there are increasing returns if b + c > 1 but decreasing returns if b + c < 1, since which for a > 1 is greater than or less than as b+c is greater or less than one. |
See also Diseconomies of scale and Economies of scale Economies of agglomeration Economies of scope Experience curve effects Ideal firm size Homogeneous function Mohring effect Moore's law References Further reading Susanto Basu (2008). "Returns to scale measurement," The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics, 2nd Edition. Abstract. James M. Buchanan and Yong J. Yoon, ed. (1994) The Return to Increasing Returns. U.Mich. Press. Chapter-preview links. John Eatwell (1987). "Returns to scale," The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 4, pp. 165–66. Färe, R., S. Grosskopf and C.A.K. Lovell (1986), “Scale economies and duality” Zeitschrift für Nationalökonomie 46:2, pp. 175–182. Hanoch, G. (1975) “The elasticity of scale and the shape of average costs,” American Economic Review 65, pp. 492–497. |
Panzar, J.C. and R.D. Willig (1977) “Economies of scale in multi-output production, Quarterly Journal of Economics 91, 481-493. Joaquim Silvestre (1987). "Economies and diseconomies of scale," The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 2, pp. 80–84. Spirros Vassilakis (1987). "Increasing returns to scale," The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of Economics, v. 2, pp. 761–64. Zelenyuk V. (2014) “Scale efficiency and homotheticity: equivalence of primal and dual measures” Journal of Productivity Analysis 42:1, pp 15-24. External links Economies of Scale and Returns to Scale Video Lecture on Returns to Scale in Macroeconomics Category:Production economics |
José Salvador Alvarenga (born ) is a Salvadoran fisherman and author who was found on 30 January 2014, aged 36 or 37, on the Marshall Islands after spending 14 months adrift in a fishing boat in the Pacific Ocean beginning on 17 November 2012. He survived on a diet of raw fish, turtles, small birds, sharks and rainwater. He swam to shore at Tile Islet, a small island that is part of Ebon Atoll, on January 30. Two locals, Emi Libokmeto and Russel Laikidrik, found him naked, clutching a knife and shouting in Spanish. He was treated in a hospital in Majuro before flying to his family home in El Salvador on February 10. |
Alvarenga's story was heavily reported worldwide despite initial criticism from skeptics. He is the first person in recorded history to have survived in a small boat lost at sea for more than a year. Early and personal life Alvarenga was born in Garita Palmera, Ahuachapán, El Salvador, to José Ricardo Orellana and María Julia Alvarenga. Orellana owns a flour mill and store in the town. Alvarenga has a daughter who grew up in Garita Palmera with his parents, and several brothers who live in the United States. He left El Salvador in 2002 for Mexico, where he worked as a fisherman for four years, employed for a time by Villermino Rodríguez. |
At the time of his rescue, he had not been in touch with his family in eight years. Voyage Alvarenga set out from the fishing village of Costa Azul, near Pijijiapan, off the coast of Chiapas, Mexico on 17 November 2012, accompanied by a 23-year-old co-worker whom he knew only as "Ezequiel". Alvarenga, an experienced sailor and fisherman, was intent on a 30-hour shift of deep-sea fishing during which he hoped to catch sharks, marlins, and sailfish, but his usual fishing mate was unable to join him. He arranged instead to bring along the inexperienced Córdoba, with whom he had never worked or even spoken. |
Shortly after embarking, their boat, a seven-meter (23-foot) topless fiberglass skiff equipped with a single outboard motor and a refrigerator-sized icebox for storing fish, was blown off course by a storm that lasted five days, during which the motor and most of the portable electronics were damaged. Though they had caught nearly of fresh fish, the pair were forced to dump it overboard to make the boat maneuverable in the bad weather. Alvarenga managed to call his boss on a two-way radio and ask for help before the radio's battery died. Having neither sails nor oars, no anchor, no running lights, and no other way to contact shore, the boat began to drift across the open ocean. |
Much of the fishing gear was also lost or damaged in the storm, leaving Alvarenga and Córdoba with only a handful of basic supplies and little food. The search party organized by Alvarenga's boss failed to find any trace of the missing men and gave up after two days because visibility was poor. As days became weeks, Alvarenga and Córdoba learned to scavenge their food from whatever sources presented themselves. Alvarenga managed to catch fish, turtles, jellyfish, and seabirds with his bare hands, and the pair occasionally salvaged bits of food and plastic refuse floating in the water. They collected drinking water from rainfall when possible, but more frequently were forced to drink turtle blood or their own urine. |
According to Alvarenga, Córdoba lost all hope around four months into the voyage after becoming sick from the raw food and eventually died by refusing to eat. Alvarenga has said that he contemplated suicide for four days after Córdoba died, but that it was his strong religious faith that ultimately prevented him from doing so. Alvarenga claims that Córdoba made him promise not to eat his corpse when he died. So Alvarenga kept Córdoba's corpse on the boat, and even spoke to it. After six days, Alvarenga realized his own insanity and threw the corpse overboard. Alvarenga also stated that, while at sea, he frequently dreamed about his favorite foods, as well as his parents. |
Alvarenga claimed to have seen numerous transoceanic container ships while drifting alone but was unable to solicit help. He kept track of time by counting the phases of the moon. After counting his 15th lunar cycle, he spotted land: a tiny, desolate islet, which turned out to be a remote corner of the Marshall Islands. On 30 January 2014, he abandoned his boat and swam to shore, where he stumbled upon a beach house owned by a local couple. Alvarenga's journey had lasted 438 days. The length of his voyage has been variously calculated as , the lower figure of which is about the length of a direct path between Mexico and the Marshall Islands. |
Though some newspapers originally claimed that Alvarenga had been at sea for 16 months, he never said so himself. (He did, however, refer to himself as José Iván.) The newspapers eventually corrected their error and shortened his voyage to 13 months. According to Gee Bing, Marshall Islands' acting secretary of foreign affairs, Alvarenga's vital signs were all "good", with the exception of blood pressure, which was unusually low. Bing also said that Alvarenga had swollen ankles and struggled with walking. On 6 February the doctor treating him reported that his health had "gone downhill" since the day before and that he was on an IV drip to treat his dehydration. |
Reactions Family Alvarenga's parents, who had not been in contact with him for years, had feared he was dead long before he went missing, and were overjoyed to discover he was still alive. Alvarenga's father said that he had prayed for his son while he was missing, while his mother said that she dreamed about her son during this time. Alvarenga's daughter, upon hearing that her father had been found, said that after he returned home, the "first thing I'll do is hug him and kiss him." Initial doubts and support The implausibility of someone surviving so long at sea on a small craft led a number of commentators to doubt Alvarenga's story, though investigators were able to confirm some of the basic details. |
The owner of the boat Alvarenga used, César Castillo, said that "it's incredible to survive that long. It's hard to think how anybody could go more than six or seven months without getting scurvy at least." However, in an interview, Claude Piantadosi of Duke University said that fresh meat from birds and turtles contains vitamin C and that eating a lot of it, as Alvarenga claims to have done, "would provide sufficient vitamin C to prevent scurvy." The Guardian found the Chiapas rescue services official, Jaime Marroquín, who was informed that a fishing boat had gone missing in the area on November 17, 2012. |
The official report identified the two fishermen as Cirilo Vargas and Ezequiel Córdova, and stated that both were in their 30s. Marroquín also indicated that according to the boat's owner, Vargas was born in El Salvador. The local authorities originally searched for Vargas and Córdova, but called off the search after two days, citing heavy fog and bad weather. In regard to the discrepancy between the names of the fishermen in the 2012 report and those of Alvarenga and Ezequiel, CBS News reported that "records in Mexico are often filed with such mistakes". Another explanation was provided by Alvarenga's parents, as reported by National Post, when they confirmed that in Mexico their son is known as Cirilo. |
Tom Armbruster, the United States ambassador to the Marshall Islands, acknowledged that it seems implausible for someone to survive at sea for 13 months, but that "it's also hard to imagine how someone might arrive on Ebon out of the blue. Certainly this guy has had an ordeal, and has been at sea for some time." The Guardian's Jo Tuckman argued that the fact that a fishing boat had been reported missing on November 17, 2012 "lin[es] up" with Alvarenga's claim that he went to sea the following month and that this supports the view that "at least some of his story holds up". |
In addition, Erik van Sebille, an oceanographer at the University of New South Wales, said that it was entirely possible that sea currents could carry a boat from Mexico to the Marshall Islands. He also estimated that such a trip would take about 18 months, but said that 13 months was still plausible. Further support for Alvarenga's tale came from a study by researchers from the University of Hawaii that modeled the path a boat might have taken after departing from the Pacific Coast in Mexico based on wind and current conditions and concluded that it would end up "within 120 miles of Ebon", where Alvarenga actually landed. |
In April 2014, Alvarenga's lawyer told a press conference that Alvarenga had passed a polygraph test while being asked about his voyage. Life after rescue After 11 days in a hospital, Alvarenga was deemed healthy enough to return to El Salvador. However, he was diagnosed with anemia, had trouble sleeping and developed a fear of water. In 2015, he gave a series of interviews about his ordeal to the journalist Jonathan Franklin, who published his story as the book 438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea. Shortly after the release of Alvarenga's book, the family of Ezequiel Córdoba sued Alvarenga for $1,000,000, accusing him of cannibalizing their relative in order to survive. |
Alvarenga's lawyer has denied this accusation. See also Dougal Robertson List of people who disappeared mysteriously at sea Jesús Vidaña Maurice and Maralyn Bailey Rose-Noëlle Literature Jonathan Franklin: 438 Days: An Extraordinary True Story of Survival at Sea, New York, 2016. (The story of José Salvador Alvarenga, written down by an investigative journalist) Notes References External links Category:1975 births Category:2010s missing person cases Category:2014 in El Salvador Category:Castaways Category:Fishers Category:Formerly missing people Category:Living people Category:Missing person cases in Mexico Category:People from Ahuachapán Department Category:People lost at sea |
The dinar (, Berber language: Dinar or Menkuc, French Dinar; sign: DA; ISO 4217 code: DZD) is the monetary currency of Algeria and it is subdivided into 100 centimes. Centimes are now obsolete due to their extremely low value. Etymology The name "dinar" is ultimately derived from the Roman denarius. The Arabic word santeem comes from the French "centime", since Algeria was under French occupation from 1830 to 1962 History The dinar was introduced on 1 April 1964, replacing the Algerian new franc at par. By 1980s, French inscriptions saw decline on these banknotes. Argotic counting system The masses rarely use the dinar as such, but the franc (officially the centime; one hundredth of a dinar) and the doro (one twentieth of a dinar). |
In traditional selling places such as the vegetable market or in the case of street vendors, prices are displayed in francs, in more modern shops the prices are displayed in dinars but the franc is used in speech. Coins In 1964, coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 centimes, and 1 dinar were introduced, with the 1, 2 and 5 centimes struck in aluminium, the 10, 20 and 50 centimes in aluminium bronze and the 1 dinar in cupro-nickel. The obverses showed the emblem of Algeria, while the reverses carried the values in Eastern Arabic numerals. |
In later decades, coins were issued sporadically with various commemorative subjects. However, the 1 and 2 centimes were not struck again, whilst the 5, 10 and 20 centimes were last struck in the 1980s. In 1992, a new series of coins was introduced consisting of , , 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dinars. A 200 dinar bi-metallic coin was issued in 2012 to commemorate Algeria's 50th anniversary of independence. The 10, 20, 50, 100, and 200 dinar coins are bimetallic. Coins in general circulation are 5 dinars and higher. Following the massive inflation which accompanied the slow transition to a more capitalist economy during the late 1990s, the centime and fractional dinar coins have dropped out of general circulation, whilst the 1 and 2 dinar coins are rarely used, as prices are rounded to the nearest 5 dinars. |
Nonetheless, prices are typically quoted in centimes in everyday speech; thus a price of 100 dinars is read as ("ten thousand"). Banknotes The first series of dinar banknotes issued in 1964 consisted of banknotes in denominations of 5-, 10-, 50- and 100 dinars. In 1970, 500 dinar banknotes were added, followed by 1000 dinars in 1992. The 100 dinar note is being replaced by coins. 200, 500, and 1000 dinar notes are in circulation. The 1998 dated 500 and 1000 dinar notes have an additional vertical holographic strip on obverse. See also Economy of Algeria References Algerian Bank Regulations of 1996, for specifications of fourth series currency (French). |
External links Category:Economy of Algeria Category:Currencies of Algeria Category:Circulating currencies Category:Currencies introduced in 1964 |
Sun Ce () (175–200), courtesy name Bofu, was a military general and warlord who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. He was the eldest child of Sun Jian, who was killed during the Battle of Xiangyang when Sun Ce was only 16. Sun Ce then broke away from his father's overlord, Yuan Shu, and headed to the Jiangdong region in southern China to establish his own power base there. With the help of several people, such as Zhang Zhao and Zhou Yu, Sun Ce managed to lay down the foundation of the state of Eastern Wu during the Three Kingdoms period. |
In 200, when the warlord Cao Cao was at war with his rival Yuan Shao in the Battle of Guandu, Sun Ce was rumoured to be planning an attack on Xuchang, Cao Cao's base. However, he was assassinated before he could carry out the plan. Sun Ce was posthumously honoured as "Prince Huan of Changsha" (長沙桓王) by his younger brother Sun Quan when the latter became the founding emperor of Eastern Wu. Chen Shou's Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi) describes Sun Ce as a handsome man who was full of laughter. He was also a generous and receptive man who employed people according to their abilities. |
As such, his subjects were willing to risk their lives for him. One detractor named Xu Gong, in a letter to Emperor Xian, compared Sun Ce to Xiang Yu, the warrior-king who overthrew the Qin dynasty. As a result, Sun Ce was also referred to as the "Little Conqueror" in popular culture. Early life and career Born in 175, Sun Ce was the eldest son of Sun Jian, a military general serving under the Eastern Han dynasty. In 190, a year after Emperor Ling died, the warlord Dong Zhuo usurped power, placing in the throne the puppet Emperor Xian. Regional warlords in eastern China then launched a campaign against Dong Zhuo. |
Sun Jian rendered his service to Yuan Shu, one of the leaders of the coalition. The attempt to oust Dong Zhuo soon failed and China slid into a series of massive civil wars. In the next year, Sun Jian was sent by Yuan Shu to attack Liu Biao, governor of Jing Province (荆州; covering present-day Hubei and Hunan), but he was killed in an ambush. Sun Ce brought his father's body to Qu'e (曲阿; in present-day Danyang, Jiangsu) for burial and settled his mother down before heading for Danyang (丹楊; present-day Xuancheng, Anhui), where his maternal uncle Wu Jing was the governor. |
There he raised a small militia a few hundred in strength. This small force was far from sufficient for him to establish his own power so in 194 Sun Ce went to Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu was very impressed with Sun Ce and often lamented that he had no son like him. He also returned Sun Jian's former division of troops to Sun Ce. Initially, Yuan Shu promised to appoint Sun Ce the governor of Jiujiang but eventually gave the governorship to Chen Ji (陳紀). Later, when Yuan Shu was denied a large loan of grains from the governor of Lujiang, he sent Sun Ce to attack the latter, promising to make Sun Ce the governor of Lujiang should he succeed. |
When Sun Ce did, however, Yuan Shu again went back on his words and appointed someone else instead. The disappointed Sun Ce then began to contemplate leaving. Meanwhile, Liu Yao, who was by imperial decree the governor of Yang Province (揚州; covering present-day southern Jiangsu, southern Anhui, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian), occupied Qu'e as the regional seat Shouchun (壽春; present-day Shou County, Anhui) was already occupied by Yuan Shu. He then forced Wu Jing back west across the Yangtze River to Liyang (歷陽; present-day He County, Anhui). However, Yuan Shu claimed to be the rightful governor and sent Wu Jing and Sun Ce's cousin Sun Ben to attack Liu Yao. |
After they were unable to break down Liu Yao's defences for more than a year, Sun Ce requested to lead forces to assist the effort. Conquest of Wu territory Though Yuan Shu knew Sun Ce intended to leave, he believed the latter would not be able to defeat Liu Yao. Thus he deployed the young general off with merely a thousand odd troops and a tiny cavalry force. Along with a few hundred more willing followers, Sun Ce proceeded to Liyang, where he boosted his strength to more than 5,000. He then launched an offensive across the Yangtze River and successfully occupied the strategic position of Niuzhu (牛渚; southwest of present-day Ma'anshan, Anhui) in 195. |
Two of Liu Yao's allies then came south from Pengcheng and Xiapi respectively to aid him. Sun Ce chose to first attack one of them, Ze Rong, who made camp south of Moling. After suffering initial defeat in the hands of the aggressor, Ze Rong fell back in defence and refused to engage in battle. Sun Ce then marched further north and attacked Xue Li (薛禮) in Moling. Although Xue Li soon gave up the city and escaped, Liu Yao's subordinate Fan Neng (樊能) and others had regrouped their forces and launched a renewed attack on Niuzhu. Turning back, Sun Ce defeated Fan Neng and secured Niuzhu. |
He then began a second offensive against Ze Rong. However, he was struck by a stray arrow in the thigh. Returning to Niuzhu, he sent out false words that he was killed in battle. The exulted Ze Rong then sent a force to attack. Sun Ce led the enemies into an ambush and annihilated them. When Ze Rong heard that Sun Ce was still alive, he further reinforced his defences. Sun Ce then temporarily gave up attacking Ze Rong and focused his forces on Qu'e. After all the surrounding areas were taken over by Sun Ce, Liu Yao gave up the city and escaped south to Yuzhang (豫章; present-day Nanchang, Jiangxi), where he died later. |
Hua Xin, administrator of Yuzhang, joined Sun's forces. As Sun Ce implemented strict discipline among his troops, he won the instant support of the local people and gathered many talented men, such as Chen Wu, Zhou Tai, Jiang Qin, Zhang Zhao, Zhang Hong, Qin Song, and Lü Fan. He then pushed his force deeper into Yang Province and conquered Kuaiji along the southern shore of Hangzhou Bay, whose governor Wang Lang surrendered. Sun Ce made Kuaiji his base city and struck out at the wandering bandit army led by Yan Baihu. Yan Baihu sent his younger brother Yan Yu (嚴輿) to offer Sun Ce a position alongside Yan Baihu, but Sun Ce showed no mercy and personally slew the emissary. |
As Yan Yu was known among Yan Baihu's men as a fierce warrior, his death struck fear into their hearts and they were soon defeated. Sun Ce then appointed his relatives and a trusted subject to govern Danyang and Yuzhang, from which he divided a new commandery named Luling (廬陵). His campaign, from the occupation of Niuzhu to the conquest of the entire region southeast of the Long River, took less than a year. He then defeated and received the services of Zu Lang (祖郎), the Chief of Danyang, and Taishi Ci, the leader of the remnants of Liu Yao's forces; he then urged the surrender of Hua Xin, another one of the remnants of Liu Yao's forces. |
Thus, with the exception of the scattered but still numerous army of Yan Baihu, the lands south of the Yangtze were mostly pacified. The barbarians of Shanyue tribe, however, were not easily dealt with. To counter the frequent rebellions of the Shanyue (who would continue to rebel for many years), Sun Ce appointed He Qi to a military rank with orders to subdue the Shanyue. He Qi became a highly successful general later; truly, his appointment by Sun Ce was the first important step to Wu's eventual subjugation of the Shanyue. Later life In 197, Yuan Shu declared himself emperor – an act deemed treasonous against the Han dynasty. |
In a letter to Yuan Shu, Sun Ce denounced the move and broke ties with the former. In an effort to garner support from Sun Ce, the rising warlord Cao Cao then recommended him to be appointed General Who Attacks Rebels (討逆將軍) and enfeoffed as the Marquis of Wu (吳侯). In 199 Yuan Shu died of sickness along with his short-lived Zhong Dynasty. His cousin Yuan Yin (袁胤) feared Cao Cao and gave up Shouchun. Bringing along Yuan Shu's coffin and his former troops, he headed to Wan County (皖縣; present-day Qianshan County, Anhui) to seek refuge under Liu Xun (劉勳). |
As Liu Xun had insufficient food supplies in his realm to support the additional troops, he led a force south to pillage Haihun (海昏; east of present-day Yongxiu County, Jiangxi). Sun Ce was en route to attack Huang Zu in Xiakou (夏口; present-day Hankou District, Wuhan, Hubei) when he received the news. He then turned back and captured the poorly-defended Wan County, taking over all of Yuan Shu's 30,000 former troops. Hearing that his base city had been taken, Liu Xun headed west and sought help from Huang Zu, who sent a 5,000-strong naval force to assist him. Sun Ce pressed forward and defeated Liu Xun, who escaped north to Cao Cao. |
Sun Ce annexed more than 2,000 former troops and 1,000 ships of his enemy and came upon Huang Zu. Despite reinforcements from Liu Biao, Huang Zu was utterly defeated. During the battle, Sun Ce slew Liu Biao's officer, Han Xi (韓希), and completely routed Huang Zu's son, Huang She (黃射). The victorious Sun Ce in 199 looked poised to take over the entire southern China. As he was threatened by rival Yuan Shao in the north and could not divide his attention, Cao Cao attempted to further reinforce the alliance with Sun Ce by marrying the daughter of his relative Cao Ren to Sun Ce's youngest brother Sun Kuang. |
Sun Ce in turn agreed to marry Sun Ben's daughter to Cao Cao's son Cao Zhang. The former administrator of Wu Commandery (around present-day Suzhou, Jiangsu), Xu Gong, had long opposed Sun Ce. Xu Gong wrote to Emperor Xian, recommending the emperor to summon Sun Ce to the capital as he deemed Sun Ce to be a hero comparable to Xiang Yu and too dangerous to be allowed to occupy a territory. However, the letter was intercepted by an official loyal to Sun Ce, who attacked and then had Xu Gong executed. Xu Gong's former servants then kept a low profile and waited for chance to revenge. |
In the year 200, Cao Cao engaged in the decisive Battle of Guandu with Yuan Shao along the shores of the Yellow River, leaving the capital and his base city Xuchang poorly guarded. Sun Ce is said to have then plotted to attack Xuchang under the banner of rescuing Emperor Xian, who was a figurehead under Cao Cao's control. Preparations were underway for the military excursion when Sun Ce ran into three former servants of Xu Gong during a solo hunting trip. One of them managed to plant an arrow into Sun Ce's cheek before Sun Ce's men arrived and slew the assassins. |
Many differing accounts of Sun Ce's death exist (see below). One generally accepted scenario is that he died that same night. Another possible scenario has Sun Ce living for quite some time. The physician told Sun Ce to rest still for a hundred days to allow the wound to heal, but Sun Ce looked into the mirror one day and, seeing his scar, became so enraged that he slammed his table. The large movement caused the wound to break and he died in the same night. Although he was survived by one son, Sun Ce passed his legacy to his younger brother, Sun Quan. |
When Sun Quan declared himself emperor of the state of Eastern Wu in 222, he honoured Sun Ce with the posthumous title "Prince Huan of Changsha" (長沙桓王). Sun Ce was succeeded by a posthumous son, Sun Shao (孫紹), as well as at least two (possibly three) daughters, married to Gu Shao and later Zhu Ji (朱紀), and Lu Xun respectively. Sun Shao bore one son, Sun Feng (孫奉), who was executed by Sun Hao for alleged treason due to his popularity. Dispute over cause of death Sun Sheng (孫盛) in his Exposition on Disparities and Similarities (異同評) discounted the theory that Sun Ce made plans to attack Xuchang. |
He believed that although Sun Ce was a rising power, he was threatened in the west by Huang Zu, who was defeated but not eliminated, in the north by Chen Deng, governor of Guangling Commandery (廣陵; around present-day Yangzhou, Jiangsu), and in the south by indigenous tribes yet to be assimilated. These prevented Sun Ce from striking far out at Xuchang and moving the emperor to southeastern China. He further argued that Sun Ce died on the fifth day in the fourth month of 200, before the Battle of Guandu even took place. Pei Songzhi, who annotated the Records of the Three Kingdoms, rebutted Sun Sheng, arguing that Huang Zu was newly broken and had yet to recollect his forces while the indigenous tribes were scattered and not much of a threat. |
Pei Songzhi believed that the first objective of Sun Ce's planned northward excursion was to attack Chen Deng, which would provide a platform for capturing Xuchang. On the other hand, Cao Cao and Yuan Shao had been engaging in skirmishes and small-scale battles before Sun Ce's death. Thus there was in fact no discrepancy in timing. A historically implausible legend regarding Sun Ce's death involves a popular Taoist priest of his time, Gan Ji (干吉), whom he regarded as a sorcerer. Despite petitions from his subjects and his own mother, Sun Ce ordered Gan Ji's execution. According to In Search of the Supernatural (搜神記) by Gan Bao (干竇), a compilation largely based on legends and hearsay, Sun Ce began to see apparitions of Gan Ji ever since the execution of the latter. |
After he was injured by assassins, Sun Ce was told by the physician to rest still to allow the wound to heal. However, he looked into the mirror one day and saw Gan Ji's face, whereupon he let out a cry and slammed the mirror. His wound broke and he died shortly. This version was adopted and further dramatised in the 14th-century historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, in which Gan Ji's name was taken to be "Yu Ji" (于吉). Family In popular culture Chinese opera In Peking opera, Sun Ce's role is usually that of a hero or tragic hero, while his brother, Sun Quan is usually portrayed as a villain at worst or self-seeking at best. |
Several operas even toy with the idea that Sun Quan had Sun Ce assassinated so that he could take control of the warlord state, though there is no historical evidence to support this view. In the opera Fenghuang Er Qiao, Sun Ce borrows 3,000 troops from Yuan Shu and allies with the Qiao army, which is led by the Two Qiaos. Sun Ce, the protagonist of the opera, eventually gains Da Qiao's hand in marriage through a martial arts contest with the help of Zhou Yu and Xiao Qiao. Film In the Shaw Brothers Studio film The Weird Man, Sun Ce has Yu Ji executed and the sorcerer becomes a vengeful ghost. |
In this film Sun Ce is portrayed as the anti-hero and Yu Ji as the hero due to the controversy between them in the novel. The 1993 Hong Kong film Ninja in Ancient China is also adapted from this story except Yu Ji's apprentices try to avenge him. Comics and anime In the anime Yokoyama Mitsuteru Sangokushi, Sun Ce fights alongside his father against Dong Zhuo and is befriended by Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei, with whom he trains to become a hero. The protagonist of the manga/anime Ikki Tousen, Sonsaku Hakufu, is loosely based on the historical figure Sun Ce ("Sonsaku Hakufu" being the Japanese reading of Sun Ce's name and courtesy name). |
Her guardian, Shuuyu Koukin, bears the same name and personality as Zhou Yu. In the anime Kōtetsu Sangokushi, Sun Ce is portrayed as a once kind-hearted and virtuous hero who was corrupted by the power of the Imperial Seal, causing him to kill its protector. In the Chinese manhua The Ravages of Time, Sun Ce is a cunning, ruthless and manipulative character. Video games Sun Ce is featured as a playable character in Koei's Dynasty Warriors video game series, as well as Warriors Orochi, a crossover between Dynasty Warriors and Samurai Warriors. Sun Ce is also a legendary character in Creative Assembly's Total War: Three Kingdoms, the newest part of the Total War video games series which was released on May 23, 2019. |
Sun Ce is also a playable character in the fighting game Sango Fighter 2. Card games In the collectible card game Magic: The Gathering there is a card named "Sun Ce, Young Conqueror", in the Portal Three Kingdoms set. See also Lists of people of the Three Kingdoms Eastern Wu family trees Notes References Chen, Shou (3rd century). Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi). Luo, Guanzhong (14th century). Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguo Yanyi). Pei, Songzhi (5th century). Annotations to Records of the Three Kingdoms (Sanguozhi zhu). Sima, Guang (1084). Zizhi Tongjian. Category:175 births Category:200 deaths Category:Chinese Confucianists Category:Politicians from Hangzhou Category:Yuan Shu and associates * Category:Han dynasty warlords Category:Deaths by arrow wounds Category:Political office-holders in Zhejiang Category:Sun Quan and immediate family Category:Assassinated Chinese politicians |
The , since 2012 reorganized as JNC (Japan New Chisso), is a Japanese chemical company. It is an important supplier of liquid crystal used for LCDs, but is best known for its role in the 34-year-long pollution of the water supply in Minamata, Japan that led to thousands of deaths and victims of disease. Between 1932 and 1968, Chisso's chemical factory in Minamata released large quantities of industrial wastewater that was contaminated with highly toxic methylmercury. This poison water bioaccumulated in local sea life that was then consumed by the immediate population. As a result of this contamination, 2,265 individuals in the area were inflicted with what is now known as Minamata disease. |
1,784 of those victims died as a result of the poisoning and/or the disease. Those who were afflicted with the disease developed skeletomuscular deformities and lost the ability to perform motor functions such as walking. Many also lost significant amounts of vision, as well as hearing and speech capabilities. Severe cases presented with insanity, paralysis, coma and then death within weeks of the onset of symptoms. As of March 2001, over 10,000 individuals had received financial remuneration from Chisso to compensate them for the harm caused by the chemical release. By 2004, Chisso Corporation had paid $86 million in compensation, and, in the same year, the company was ordered to clean up its contamination. |
However, the incident remains controversial for not only the poisoning itself but also for the tactics that the company used to suppress the negative aftermath. Chisso is a member of the Mizuho keiretsu. History Foundation In 1906, Shitagau Noguchi, an electrical engineering graduate of Tokyo Imperial University, founded the which operated a hydroelectric power station in Ōkuchi, Kagoshima Prefecture. The power station supplied electricity for the gold mines in Ōkuchi but had overcapacity. To make use of the surplus power, in 1908, Noguchi founded the which operated a carbide factory in the coastal town of Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, about 30 km northwest of Ōkuchi. |
In the same year he merged the two companies to form the - usually referred to as Nichitsu. Expansion In 1909, Noguchi purchased the rights to the Frank-Caro process, whereby atmospheric nitrogen was combined with calcium carbide (a key product of the young company) to produce calcium cyanamide, a chemical fertilizer. Nitrogenous fertilizers were key to boosting agricultural production in Japan at the time, due to its lack of arable land and the small-scale nature of its farms, so the company found a ready market for its product. Nichitsu also branched out into other products produced from calcium carbide, beginning production of acetic acid, ammonia, explosives and butanol. |
Production of ammonium sulfate (another chemical fertilizer) started in 1914 at a plant in Kagami, Kumamoto Prefecture, using a nitrogen fixation process - a Japan first. Sales of ammonium sulfate were increasing year-on-year as were market prices. A new plant was opened at the Minamata factory in 1918 where it was able to produce ammonium sulfate for 70 yen per ton and sell it for five and a half times the cost. These massive profits enabled Nichitsu to survive the subsequent drop in prices after the return of foreign competition into the Japanese market after the end of World War I in Europe in September 1918. |
After the war, Noguchi visited Europe and decided Nichitsu should pioneer an alternative synthesis of ammonium sulfate in Japan. In 1924, the Nichitsu plant at Nobeoka began production using the Casale ammonia synthesis which required the use of extremely high temperatures and pressures. Once the process was proved a success, the Minamata plant was converted to the process and began mass production. Nichitsu grew steadily, invested its profits in new technology and expanded production into new areas and slowly became a large conglomerate of many different companies. Nichitsu in Korea In 1924, Shitagau Noguchi decided to expand Nichitsu into Korea. |
In those days, Korea was a colony of Japan. In 1926, he established two companies in Korea as subsidiaries of Nichitsu, mirroring the foundation of the parent company: and . Noguchi wanted to repeat his success in Ōkuchi and Minamata, but on an even greater scale in Korea. The power company constructed hydroelectric power plants one after another along rivers draining into the Yalu River. In 1927, the fertilizer subsidiary built a huge chemical complex in Hungnam. The hydroelectric power plants supplied electricity for the chemical plant, in the same way as the Ōkuchi power plant had done so for the Minamata chemical factory. |
Nichitsu invested Korea more aggressively than any other Japanese company. It and its subsidiaries grew rapidly in Korea, and came to be recognized as an emerging zaibatsu. The difference between Nichitsu's zaibatsu and established zaibatsu like Mitsubishi and Mitsui was that Nichitsu did not have its own bank and insurance company. Nichitsu therefore relied on government-controlled banks. Dissolution and reorganization As Japan lost the Second World War in 1945, Nichitsu and its zaibatsu collapsed and was forced to abandon all properties and interests in Korea. Furthermore, the US-controlled Allied occupation of Japan ordered the dismissal of the company, regarding it as a company that adhered to the militarism government. |
In 1950, the , usually referred to as Shin Nichitsu, was founded as a successor of the old company. Other successor companies include Asahi Kasei and Sekisui Chemical. Minamata disease Nichitsu had started production of acetaldehyde using a mercury catalyst at its Minamata plant in May 1932, and Shin Nichitsu continued production after the war. The plant discharged wastewater from its acetaldehyde plant into Minamata Bay via Hyakken Harbour. The wastewater contained many pollutants and poisonous substances including methylmercury, a highly toxic chemical. This chemical was absorbed by fish and shellfish and bioaccumulated up the food chain. People who unknowingly ate the fish over many years suffered from severe mercury poisoning. |
Hajime Hosokawa, a doctor at a Shin Nichitsu's company hospital, officially reported on May 1, 1956 an "epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system", marking the official discovery of Minamata disease. In 1963, doctors at Kumamoto University concluded that the cause of Minamata disease was mercury emitted by Shin Nihon Chisso Hiryo. In 1965, the company changed its name to . In May 1968, Chisso finally stopped using a mercury catalyst in the production of acetaldehyde. In 1969, patients sued Chisso for compensation. Many lawsuits were filed against Chisso after 1969, and some of them go on even now. |
Chisso president later chairman Yutaka Egashira (Later maternal grandfather of Masako, Empress of Japan) used yakuza in order to threaten and silence patients and their supporters. Patients and their supporters started the "single shareholder" movement by buying one share of Chisso each, which was aimed at accusing the executives of Chisso in its general meeting. A thousand of the single shareholders participating in the movement gathered in front of a hall in Osaka to attend the general meeting called on November 28, 1970, but the company prevented them from entering the hall by asking yakuza to become shareholders and occupy the hall. |
The meeting ended in five minutes with all the bills submitted by the board approved. In addition, Chisso had American photographer and photo-journalist W. Eugene Smith beaten by yakuza goons after Smith published a highly regarded photo-essay showing the caustic injuries and birth defects Chisso had caused the Minamata population. The centerpiece of the work, titled "Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath", depicted the severe deformation of a child in her mother's arms after the child was exposed to the effects of Chisso's contamination of the water supply. In response to Chisso's beating of W. Eugene Smith for dissemination of the photographs, Smith was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal in 1974 for "best published photographic reporting from abroad requiring exceptional courage and enterprise". |
The company's "historical overview" in its current website makes no mention of their role in the mass contamination of Minamata and the dreadful aftermath, although a separate section of the website, accessed from the same list as the overview, is devoted to the subject. This section, however, is absent from the English version of the website. Additionally, their 2004 Annual Report reports an equivalent of about US$50 million (5,820 million yen) in "Minamata Disease Compensation Liabilities". From 2000 to 2003, the company also reported total compensation liabilities of over US$170 million. Their 2000 accounts also show that the Japanese and Kumamoto prefectural governments waived an enormous US$560 million in related liabilities. |
Their FY2004 and FY2005 reports refer to Minamata disease as "Mad Hatter's Disease", a term coined from the mercury poisoning experienced by hat-makers of the last few centuries (cf Mad Hatter). See also LCD Liquid crystal Minamata disease Four big pollution diseases of Japan Minamata, Kumamoto Industrial waste Chemical waste Zaibatsu References External links Chisso Corporation JNC Corporation Masters of Photography W. Eugene Smith: Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath, Minamata, 1972 Category:Chemical companies of Japan Category:Minamata disease |
Arable land (, "able is to be plowed") is any land capable of being ploughed and used to grow crops. Alternatively, for the purposes of agricultural statistics, the term often has a more precise definition: "Arable land is the land under temporary agricultural crops (multiple-cropped areas are counted only once), temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens and land temporarily fallow (less than five years). The abandoned land resulting from shifting cultivation is not included in this category. Data for 'Arable land' are not meant to indicate the amount of land that is potentially cultivable." |
A more concise definition appearing in the Eurostat glossary similarly refers to actual rather than potential uses: "land worked (ploughed or tilled) regularly, generally under a system of crop rotation". Non-arable land can sometimes be converted to arable land through methods such as loosening and tilling (breaking up) of the soil, though in more extreme cases the degree of modification required to make certain types of land arable can be prohibitively expensive. In Britain, arable land has traditionally been contrasted with pasturable land such as heaths, which could be used for sheep-rearing but not as farmland. Arable land area According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, in the year 2013, the world's arable land amounted to 1,407 million hectares, out of a total of 4,924 million hectares of land used for agriculture. |
Arable land (hectares per person) Non-arable land Agricultural land that is not arable according to the FAO definition above includes: Permanent crop – land that produces crops from woody vegetation, e.g. orchardland, vineyards, coffee plantations, rubber plantations, and land producing nut trees; Meadows and pastures – land used as pasture and grazed range, and those natural grasslands and sedge meadows that are used for hay production in some regions. Other non-arable land includes land that is not suitable for any agricultural use. Land that is not arable, in the sense of lacking capability or suitability for cultivation for crop production, has one or more limitations – a lack of sufficient fresh water for irrigation, stoniness, steepness, adverse climate, excessive wetness with impracticality of drainage, and/or excessive salts, among others. |
Although such limitations may preclude cultivation, and some will in some cases preclude any agricultural use, large areas unsuitable for cultivation may still be agriculturally productive. For example, US NRCS statistics indicate that about 59 percent of US non-federal pasture and unforested rangeland is unsuitable for cultivation, yet such land has value for grazing of livestock. In British Columbia, Canada, 41 percent of the provincial Agricultural Land Reserve area is unsuitable for production of cultivated crops, but is suitable for uncultivated production of forage usable by grazing livestock. Similar examples can be found in many rangeland areas elsewhere. Land incapable of being cultivated for production of crops can sometimes be converted to arable land. |
New arable land makes more food, and can reduce starvation. This outcome also makes a country more self-sufficient and politically independent, because food importation is reduced. Making non-arable land arable often involves digging new irrigation canals and new wells, aqueducts, desalination plants, planting trees for shade in the desert, hydroponics, fertilizer, nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides, reverse osmosis water processors, PET film insulation or other insulation against heat and cold, digging ditches and hills for protection against the wind, and installing greenhouses with internal light and heat for protection against the cold outside and to provide light in cloudy areas. Such modifications are often prohibitively expensive. |
An alternative is the seawater greenhouse, which desalinates water through evaporation and condensation using solar energy as the only energy input. This technology is optimized to grow crops on desert land close to the sea. (Note: The use of artifices does not make land arable. Rock still remains rock, and shallow less than 6 feet turnable soil is still not considered toilable. The use of artifice is an open-air none recycled water hydroponics relationship. The below described circumstances are not in perspective, have limited duration, and have a tendency to accumulate trace materials in soil that either there or elsewhere cause deoxygenation. |
The use of vast amounts of fertilizer may have unintended consequences for the environment by devastating rivers, waterways, and river endings through the accumulation of non-degradable toxins and nitrogen-bearing molecules that remove oxygen and cause non-aerobic processes to form.) Examples of infertile non-arable land being turned into fertile arable land include: Aran Islands: These islands off the west coast of Ireland, (not to be confused with the Isle of Arran in Scotland's Firth of Clyde), were unsuitable for arable farming because they were too rocky. The people covered the islands with a shallow layer of seaweed and sand from the ocean. |
Today, crops are grown there, even though the islands are still considered non-arable. Israel: The construction of desalination plants along Israel's coast allowed agriculture in some areas that were formerly desert. The desalination plants, which remove the salt from ocean water, have created a new source of water for farming, drinking, and washing. Slash and burn agriculture uses nutrients in wood ash, but these expire within a few years. Terra preta, fertile tropical soils created by adding charcoal. Examples of fertile arable land being turned into infertile land include: Droughts such as the "Dust Bowl" of the Great Depression in the U.S. turned farmland into desert. |
Rainforest deforestation: The fertile tropical forests are converted into infertile desert land. For example, Madagascar's central highland plateau has become virtually totally barren (about ten percent of the country) as a result of slash-and-burn deforestation, an element of shifting cultivation practiced by many natives. Each year, arable land is lost due to desertification and human-induced erosion. Improper irrigation of farm land can wick the sodium, calcium, and magnesium from the soil and water to the surface. This process steadily concentrates salt in the root zone, decreasing productivity for crops that are not salt-tolerant. See also Soil fertility Land use statistics by country List of environment topics Development easement References External links Surface area of the Earth Article from Technorati on Shrinking Arable Farmland in the world Category:Agricultural land |
Pashto (, ; / , ), sometimes spelled Pukhto or Pakhto, is a language in the Eastern Iranian group of the Indo-European family. It is known in Persian literature as Afghani (, ), and in Hindustani literature as Paṭhānī. Speakers of the language are called Pashtuns or Pukhtuns/Pakhtuns (historically known as ethnic Afghans). Pashto and Dari (Persian) are the two official languages of Afghanistan. Pashto is also the second-largest regional language of Pakistan, mainly spoken in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern districts of Balochistan province in south-west.. Pashto is the primary language of the Pashtun diaspora around the world. |
The total number of Pashto-speakers is at least 40 million, although some estimates place it as high as 60 million. Pashto belongs to the Northeastern Iranian group of the Indo-Iranian branch, but Ethnologue lists it as Southeastern Iranian. Pashto has two main dialect groups, "soft" and "hard", the latter locally known as Pakhto or Paxto. Geographic distribution As a national language of Afghanistan, Pashto is primarily spoken in the east, south, and southwest, but also in some northern and western parts of the country. The exact number of speakers is unavailable, but different estimates show that Pashto is the mother tongue of 45–60% of the total population of Afghanistan. |
In Pakistan, Pashto is spoken by % of its population, mainly in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern districts of Balochistan province. Pashto-speakers are found in other major cities of Pakistan, most notably in Karachi, Sindh. Other communities of Pashto speakers are found in Tajikistan, and northeastern Iran (primarily in South Khorasan Province to the east of Qaen, near the Afghan border). In addition, sizable Pashtun diasporas also exist in Western Asia, especially in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia. The Pashtun diaspora speaks Pashto in countries like the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Qatar, Australia, Japan, Russia, New Zealand, etc. |
Afghanistan Pashto is one of the two official languages of Afghanistan, along with Dari Persian. Since the early 18th century, the monarchs of Afghanistan have been ethnic Pashtuns (except for Habibullāh Kalakāni in 1929). Persian, the literary language of the royal court, was more widely used in government institutions while the Pashtun tribes spoke Pashto as their native tongue. King Amanullah Khan began promoting Pashto during his reign (1926-1929) as a marker of ethnic identity and as a symbol of "official nationalism" leading Afghanistan to independence after the defeat of the British Empire in the Third Anglo-Afghan War in 1919. |
In the 1930s a movement began to take hold to promote Pashto as a language of government, administration, and art with the establishment of a Pashto Society Pashto Anjuman in 1931 and the inauguration of the Kabul University in 1932 as well as the formation of the Pashto Academy Pashto Tolana in 1937. Although officially supporting the use of Pashto, the Afghan elite regarded Persian as a "sophisticated language and a symbol of cultured upbringing". King Zahir Shah (reigned 1933-1973) thus followed suit after his father Nadir Khan had decreed in 1933 that officials were to study and utilize both Persian and Pashto. |
In 1936 a royal decree of Zahir Shah formally granted to Pashto the status of an official language with full rights to usage in all aspects of government and education - despite the fact that the ethnically Pashtun royal family and bureaucrats mostly spoke Persian. Thus Pashto became a national language, a symbol for Pashtun nationalism. The constitutional assembly reaffirmed the status of Pashto as an official language in 1964 when Afghan Persian was officially renamed to Dari. The lyrics of the national anthem of Afghanistan are in Pashto. Pakistan In Pakistan, Pashto is the first language of % of its population (as of 1998), mainly in the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and northern districts of Balochistan province. |
It is also spoken in parts of Mianwali and Attock districts of the Punjab province, areas of Gilgit-Baltistan and in Islamabad, as well as by Pashtuns who live in different cities throughout the country. Modern Pashto-speaking communities are found in the cities of Karachi and Hyderabad in Sindh. Urdu and English are the two official languages of Pakistan. Pashto has no official status at the federal level. On a provincial level, Pashto is the regional language of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and north Balochistan. The primary medium of education in government schools in Pakistan is Urdu, but from 2014 onwards, the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has placed more emphasis on English as the medium of instruction..This has caused growing resentment amongst Pashtuns, who also complain that Pashto is often neglected officially .. . |
History A number of linguists have argued that Pashto is descended from Avestan or a variety very similar to it. However, the position that Pashto, or any other Iranian language, is a direct descendant of Avestan is not agreed upon. What scholars agree on is the fact that Pashto is an Eastern Iranian language sharing characteristics with Eastern Middle Iranian languages such as Khwarezmian, Sogdian and Bactrian. Strabo, who lived between 64 BC and 24 CE, explains that the tribes inhabiting the lands west of the Indus River were part of Ariana. This was around the time when the area inhabited by the Pashtuns was governed by the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom. |
From the 3rd century CE onward, they are mostly referred to by the name Afghan (Abgan). Scholars such as Abdul Hai Habibi and others believe that the earliest modern Pashto work dates back to Amir Kror Suri of the early Ghurid period in the eighth century, and they use the writings found in Pata Khazana. However, this is disputed by several modern experts such as David Neil MacKenzie and Lucia Serena Loi. Pata Khazana is a Pashto manuscript claimed to be written by Mohammad Hotak under the patronage of the Pashtun emperor Hussain Hotak in Kandahar. Pata Khazana claims to contain an anthology of Pashto poets from the early Ghurid period up to the Hotak period in the eighteenth century. |
From the 16th century, Pashto poetry become very popular among the Pashtuns. Some of those who wrote in Pashto are Bayazid Pir Roshan (a major inventor of the Pashto alphabet), Khushal Khan Khattak, Rahman Baba, Nazo Tokhi, and Ahmad Shah Durrani, founder of the modern state of Afghanistan or the Durrani Empire. In modern times, noticing the incursion of Persian and Arabic vocabulary, there is a strong desire to "purify" Pashto by restoring its old vocabulary. Grammar Pashto is a subject–object–verb (SOV) language with split ergativity. Adjectives come before nouns. Nouns and adjectives are inflected for two genders (masc./fem. ), two numbers (sing./plur. |
), and four cases (direct, oblique I, oblique II and vocative). There is also an inflection for the subjunctive mood. The verb system is very intricate with the following tenses: present, simple past, past progressive, present perfect, and past perfect. The sentence construction of Pashto has similarities with some other Indo-Iranian languages such as Prakrit and Bactrian. The possessor precedes the possessed in the genitive construction. The verb generally agrees with the subject in both transitive and intransitive sentences. An exception occurs when a completed action is reported in any of the past tenses (simple past, past progressive, present perfect, or past perfect). |
In such cases, the verb agrees with the subject if it is intransitive, but if it is transitive, it agrees with the object, therefore Pashto shows a partly ergative behaviour. Like Kurdish, but unlike most other Indo-Iranian languages, Pashto uses all three types of adpositions – prepositions, postpositions, and circumpositions. Phonology Vowels Consonants Phonemes that have been borrowed, thus non-native to Pashto, are colour-coded. The phonemes and tend to be replaced by and respectively. The retroflex lateral flap ( or ) is pronounced as retroflex approximant when final. The retroflex fricatives and palatal fricatives represent dialectally different pronunciations of the same sound, not separate phonemes. |
In particular, the retroflex fricatives, which represent the original pronunciation of these sounds, are preserved in the southern/southwestern dialects (especially the prestige dialect of Kandahar), while they are pronounced as palatal fricatives in the west-central dialects. Other dialects merge the original retroflexes with other existing sounds: The southeastern dialects merge them with the postalveolar fricatives , while the northern/northeastern dialects merge them with the velar phonemes in an asymmetric pattern, pronouncing them as (not ). Furthermore, according to Henderson (1983), the west-central voiced palatal fricative actually occurs only in the Wardak Province, and is merged into elsewhere in the region. |
The velars followed by the close back rounded vowel assimilate into the labialized velars . Voiceless stops are all unaspirated, like Spanish, other Romance languages, and Austronesian languages; they have slightly aspirated allophones prevocalically in a stressed syllable. Vocabulary In Pashto, most of the native elements of the lexicon are related to other Eastern Iranian languages. Some words are related to Ancient Greek dialects. However, a remarkably large number of words are unique to Pashto. Post-7th century borrowings came primarily from the Persian language and some Urdu words, with Arabic words being borrowed through those two languages, but sometimes directly. |
Modern speech borrows words from English, French, and German. Here is an exemplary list of Pure Pashto and borrowings: Writing system Pashto employs the Pashto alphabet, a modified form of the Perso-Arabic alphabet or Arabic script. In the 16th century, Bayazid Pir Roshan introduced 13 new letters to the Pashto alphabet. The alphabet was further modified over the years. The Pashto alphabet consists of 45 letters and 4 diacritic marks. The following table gives the letters' isolated forms, along with the Latin equivalents and typical IPA values: Dialects Pashto dialects are divided into two varieties, the "soft" southern variety Paṣ̌tō, and the "hard" northern variety Pax̌tō (Pakhtu). |
Subsets and Splits