Chinesename | 浙江省 |
---|---|
Pinyin | Zhèjiāng Shěng |
Englishname | Zhejiang Province |
Name | Zhejiang |
Localtranscription1 | Wu Romanization: Tsek Kaon Sang |
Abbreviation | 浙 |
Abbrevpinyin | Zhè, Wu: Tsek |
Isoabbrev | 33 |
Map | China Zhejiang.svg |
Originofname | Old name of Qiantang River |
Administrationtype | Province |
Capital | Hangzhou |
Largestcity | Hangzhou |
Secretary | Zhao Hongzhu |
Governor | Xia Baolong |
Area km2 | 101800 |
Arearank | 25th |
Latitude | 27° 09' to 31° 11' N |
Longitude | 118° 02' to 122° 57' E |
Popyear | 2010 |
Pop | 54,426,891 |
Poprank | 10th |
Popdensity km2 | 495 |
Popdensityrank | 8th |
Gdpyear | 2010 |
Gdp | 2.72 trillion ($US402 billion) |
Gdprank | 4th |
Gdppercapita | 44,335 ($US6,490) |
Gdppercapitarank | 4th |
Hdiyear | 2008 |
Hdi | 0.841 |
Hdirank | 5th |
Hdicat | high |
Nationalities | Han: 99.2% She: 0.4% |
Dialects | Wu |
Prefectures | 11 |
Counties | 90 |
Townships | 1570 |
Website | http://www.zj.gov.cn }} |
Zhejiang borders Jiangsu province and Shanghai municipality to the north, Anhui province to the northwest, Jiangxi province to the west, and Fujian province to the south; to the east is the East China Sea, beyond which lie the Ryukyu Islands of Japan.
Throughout the Qin Dynasty (221 to 206 BC) and Han Dynasty (206 BC to 220 AD), Zhejiang was under the control of the unified Chinese state, though it was a frontier area at best, and southern Zhejiang was not under anything more than nominal control, it being still inhabited by Yue with their own political and social structures. Near the end of the Han Dynasty Zhejiang was home to minor warlords Yan Baihu and Wang Lang, who fell in turn to Sun Ce and Sun Quan, who eventually established the Kingdom of Wu (222–280), one of the Three Kingdoms.
From the fourth century onwards, China began to be invaded from the north by nomadic peoples, who conquered areas of North China and established the Sixteen Kingdoms and the Northern Dynasties. As a result, massive numbers of refugees arrived from the north and poured into South China, which hosted the refugee Eastern Jin Dynasty and Southern Dynasties; this accelerated the sinicization of South China, including Zhejiang.
The Sui Dynasty reestablished unity and built the Grand Canal of China, which linked Hangzhou to the North China Plain, providing Zhejiang with a vital link to the centers of Chinese civilization. The Tang Dynasty (618–907) presided over a golden age of China. Zhejiang was, at this time, part of the Jiangnandong Circuit, and there began to appear references to its prosperity. Later on, as the Tang Dynasty disintegrated, Zhejiang constituted most of the territory of the regional kingdom of Wuyue.
The Northern Song Dynasty re-established unity in around 960. Under the Song Dynasty, the prosperity of South China began to overtake North China. After the north was lost to the Jurchens in 1127, Zhejiang had its heyday: the modern provincial capital, Hangzhou, was the capital of the Han Chinese Southern Song Dynasty which held on to South China. Renowned for its prosperity and beauty, it may have been the largest city in the world at the time. Ever since then all the way to the present day, north Zhejiang has, together with neighbouring south Jiangsu, been synonymous with luxury and opulence in Chinese culture. Mongol conquest and the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty in 1279 ended Hangzhou's political clout, though Hangzhou continued to prosper; Marco Polo visited the city, which he called "Kinsay", and called the "finest and noblest city" in the world".
The Zhejiang province, particularly the Longquan district, became renowned during the Southern Song and Yuan dynasty for its production of a particular celadon (greenware) ceramic. The Southern Song Longquan celadon is characterized by a thick unctuous glaze of a particular bluish-green tint over an otherwise undecorated light-grey porcellaneous body that is delicately potted. Yuan Longquan celadons feature a thinner, greener glaze on increasingly larger vessels with decoration and shapes derived from Middle Eastern ceramic and metalwares. These were produced in large quantities for the Chinese export trade to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and in the Ming, Europe. Ming wares are mainly noted for a decrease in quality and it is in this period that the Longquan kilns declined, to be eventually replaced in popularity and ceramic production by the kilns of Jingdezhen, in neighboring Jiangxi province.
The Ming Dynasty which drove out the Mongols in 1368 were the first to establish Zhejiang Province, and the borders of the province have since changed little. With the invasion of Western capitalism, Zhejiang became the most important bridge between Shanghai, the national economic center, and wealthy Southern China. Following the Doolittle Raid during World War II, most of the B-25 American crews that came down in China eventually made it to safety with the help of Chinese civilians and soldiers. The Chinese people who helped them, however, paid dearly for sheltering the Americans. The Imperial Japanese Army began the Zhejiang-Jiangxi Campaign to intimidate the Chinese from helping downed American airmen. The Japanese killed an estimated 250,000 civilians while searching for Doolittle’s men.
After the People's Republic of China took control of Mainland China in 1949, the Republic of China government based in Taiwan continued to control the Dachen Islands off the coast of Zhejiang until 1955, even establishing a rival Zhejiang provincial government there, creating a situation similar to Fujian province today. During the Cultural Revolution (1966–76), Zhejiang was in chaos and disunity, and its economy was stagnant, especially during its high tide (1966–69). These problems were intensified by an agricultural policy favoring grain production at the expense of industrial and cash crops. Mao’s self-reliance policy, and the reduction in maritime trade cut off the lifelines of the port cities of Ningbo and Wenzhou. While Mao invested heavily in railroads in interior China, no major railroads were built to improve the poor transportation conditions in South Zhejiang.
Zhejiang has been less favored by the central government due to the lack of natural resources, a location vulnerable to potential flooding from the sea, and an economic base at the national average. Zhejiang, however, has long been an epicenter of capitalist development in China, and has been leading the nation in marketisation and the development of private enterprises. Northeast Zhejiang, as part of the Yangtze Delta, is flat, more developed, and industry oriented, where the earliest civilization in Zhejiang was found. South Zhejiang is mountainous and ill-suited for farming, and has traditionally been poor and underdeveloped. The economic reforms of Deng Xiaoping, however, have brought change to that region unparalleled across the rest of China. Driven by hard work, an entrepreneuring spirit, low labour costs, and an eye for the world market, south Zhejiang (especially cities such as Wenzhou and Yiwu) has become a major center of export. This, together with the traditional prosperity of north Zhejiang, has allowed Zhejiang to leapfrog over several other provinces and become one of the richer provinces of China.
Although against the traditional Confucian ideas, intellectuals in Zhejiang, such as Shi Ye of the Yongjia School, had been promoting commercial activities. Over the years, Zhejiang has developed a tradition of active commercial activities and entrepreneurship.
Valleys and plains are found along the coastline and rivers. The north of the province lies just south of the Yangtze Delta, and consists of plains around the cities of Hangzhou, Jiaxing, and Huzhou, where the Grand Canal of China enters from the northern border to end at Hangzhou. Another relatively flat area is found along the Qujiang River around the cities of Quzhou and Jinhua. Major rivers include the Qiangtang and Oujiang Rivers. Most rivers carve out valleys in the highlands, with plenty of rapids and other features associated with such topography. Well-known lakes include the West Lake of Hangzhou and the South Lake of Jiaxing.
There are over three thousand islands along the ragged coastline of Zhejiang. The largest, Zhoushan Island, is Mainland China's third largest island, after Hainan and Chongming. There are also many bays with Hangzhou Bay being the largest.
Zhejiang has a humid subtropical climate with four distinct seasons. Spring starts in March and is rainy with changeable weather. Summer, from June to September is long, hot and humid. Fall is generally dry, warm and sunny. Winters are short but cold except in the far south. Average annual temperature is around 15 to 19°C, average January temperature is around 2 to 8°C, and average July temperature is around 27 to 30°C. Annual precipitation is about 1000 to 1900 mm. There is plenty of rainfall in early summer, and by late summer Zhejiang is directly threatened by typhoons forming in the Pacific.
! Map | ! # | ! Name | ! Hanzi | ! Hanyu Pinyin | ! Administrative Seat |
Colspan=5 align=center | |||||
1 | Hangzhou | 杭州市 | Hángzhōu Shì | Gongshu District | |
2 | Ningbo | 宁波市 | Níngbō Shì | Haishu District | |
3 | Huzhou | 湖州市 | Húzhōu Shì | Wuxing District | |
4 | Jiaxing | 嘉兴市 | Jiāxīng Shì | Nanhu District | |
5 | Jinhua | 金华市 | Jīnhuá Shì | Wucheng District | |
6 | 丽水市 | Líshuǐ Shì | Liandu District | ||
7 | Quzhou | 衢州市 | Qúzhōu Shì | Kecheng District | |
8 | Shaoxing | 绍兴市 | Shàoxīng Shì | Yuecheng District | |
9 | 台州市 | Tāizhōu Shì | Jiaojiang District | ||
10 | Wenzhou | 温州市 | Wēnzhōu Shì | Lucheng District | |
11 | Zhoushan | 舟山市 | Zhōushān Shì | Dinghai District |
The eleven prefecture-level divisions of Zhejiang are subdivided into 90 county-level divisions (32 districts, 22 county-level cities, 35 counties, and one autonomous county). Those are in turn divided into 1570 township-level divisions (761 towns, 505 townships, 14 ethnic townships, and 290 subdistricts).
See List of administrative divisions of Zhejiang for a complete list of county-level divisions.
The Governor of Zhejiang is the highest ranking official in the People's Government of Zhejiang. However, in the province's dual party-government governing system, the Governor has less power than the Zhejiang Communist Party of China Provincial Committee Secretary, colloquially termed the "Zhejiang CPC Party Chief". Zhejiang was home to Chiang Kai-shek and many high ranking officials in the Nationalist Party, who fled to Taiwan in 1949 after losing the Civil War. Zhejiang has since become the forefront of China’s tense relations with Taiwan.
Ningbo, Wenzhou, Taizhou and Zhoushan are important commercial ports. The Hangzhou Bay Bridge between Haiyan County and Cixi, is the longest sea-crossing bridge in the world.
Zhejiang's manufacturing is centered upon electromechanical industries, textiles, chemical industries, food, and construction materials. In recent years Zhejiang has followed its own development model, dubbed the "Zhejiang model", which is based on prioritizing and encouraging entrepreneurship, an emphasis on small businesses responsive to the whims of the market, large public investments into infrastructure, and the production of low cost goods in bulk for both domestic consumption and export. As a result, Zhejiang has made itself one of the richest provinces, and the "Zhejiang spirit" has become something of a legend within China. However, some economists are now worrying that this model is not sustainable, in that it is inefficient and places unreasonable demands on raw materials and public utilities, and also a dead end, in that the myriad small businesses of Zhejiang producing cheap goods in bulk are unable to move to more sophisticated or technologically-oriented industries. The economic heart of Zhejiang is moving from Hangzhou-surrounded North Zhejiang southeastward to more complex combinations of several strong municipalities. The per capita disposable income of urbanites in Zhejiang reached 24,611 yuan (US$3,603) in 2009, an annual real growth of 8.3%. The per capita pure income of rural residents stood at 10,007 yuan (US$1,465), a real growth of 8.1% year-on-year. Its nominal GDP for 2010 was 2.72 trillion yuan (US$402 billion) with a per capita of 44,335 yuan (US$6,490). In 2009, Zhejiang's primary, secondary, and tertiary industries were worth 116.2 billion yuan (US$17 billion), 1.1843 trillion yuan (US$173.4 billion), and 982.7 billion yuan (US$143.9 billion) respectively.
Zhejiang is the first province of China which has no counties in the poverty-county list of the central government. Zhejiang has become one of the most marketised and richest provinces in China. Compared to many other Chinese provinces, the development in different regions in Zhejiang is more balanced. While the countyside still lags behind, in 2006, the per capita disposable incomes for eleven major cities in Zhejiang were all ranked among the top 30 in Chinese cities.
Major cities:
Throughout history there has been numerous lingua franca in the area to allow for better communication. The dialects spoken in Hangzhou, Shaoxing and Ningbo have taken on this role historically. Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, Mandarin, which is not mutually intelligible with any local dialects, has been promoted as the standard language of communication in all of China. As a result, most of the population now have a good grasp on speaking and comprehending Mandarin and can code-switch when necessary, while the majority of the population educated since 1978 can speak Mandarin flawlessly. Urban areas tend to be more fluent in Mandarin than rural areas. Nevertheless, a Zhejiang accent is detectable in almost everyone from the area communicating in Mandarin, and the home dialect of any native resident remains an important part of the everyday lives and cultural identity of most Zhejiang residents.
Category:Provinces of the People's Republic of China Category:Yangtze River Delta
ace:Zhejiang ar:جيجيانغ zh-min-nan:Chiat-kang-séng be:Чжэцзян bo:ཀྲེ་ཅང་ཞིང་ཆེན། bg:Джъдзян ca:Zhejiang cs:Če-ťiang cy:Zhejiang da:Zhejiang de:Zhejiang et:Zhejiang el:Ζεγιάγκ es:Zhejiang eo:Ĝeĝjango eu:Zhejiang fa:چجیانگ fr:Zhejiang ga:Zhejiang gv:Zhejiang gan:浙江 hak:Tset-kông-sén ka:ჯეძიანი ko:저장 성 hi:झेज़ियांग id:Zhejiang it:Zhejiang he:ג'ג'יאנג pam:Zhejiang sw:Zhejiang lt:Džedziangas hu:Csöcsiang mr:च-च्यांग ms:Zhejiang nl:Zhejiang ja:浙江省 no:Zhejiang nn:Zhejiang pnb:زیزیانگ pl:Zhejiang pt:Zhejiang ro:Zhejiang ru:Чжэцзян sah:Чжэцзян simple:Zhejiang sk:Če-ťiang sr:Џеђанг fi:Zhejiang sv:Zhejiang tl:Zhejiang th:มณฑลเจ้อเจียง tr:Zhejiang uk:Чжецзян ug:جېجياڭ ئۆلكىسى vi:Chiết Giang war:Zhejiang wuu:浙江省 zh-yue:浙江 zh:浙江省This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Character name | Captain America |
---|---|
Converted | y |
Alter ego | Steven "Steve" Rogers |
Publisher | Marvel Comics |
Debut | Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) |
Creators | Joe SimonJack Kirby |
Alliances | Illuminati"Secret Avengers" (Civil War)AvengersInvadersAll-Winners SquadSecret DefendersS.H.I.E.L.D.Project: RebirthU.S. ArmyRedeemersNew AvengersSecret Avengers |
Aliases | Nomad, The Captain, Brett Hendrick, Roger Stevens, Weapon I |
Partners | Bucky (James Barnes)FalconNomad (Monroe)Bucky (Rick Jones)Free SpiritJack FlagBucky (Rikki)Demolition ManSharon Carter |
Supports | |
Powers | Physical attributes enhanced to peak of human potentialExpert martial artist and hand-to-hand combatantAll-terrain acrobaticsMaster tactician and field commanderVibranium-steel alloy shield |
Cat | super |
Subcat | Marvel Comics |
Hero | y |
Sortkey | Captain America }} |
An intentionally patriotic creation who was often depicted fighting the Axis powers of World War II, Captain America was Timely Comics' most popular character during the wartime period. After the war ended, the character's popularity waned and he disappeared by the 1950s aside from an ill-fated revival in 1953. Captain America was reintroduced during the Silver Age of comics when he was revived from suspended animation by the superhero team the Avengers in The Avengers #4 (March 1964). Since then, Captain America has often led the team, as well as starring in his own series.
Steve Rogers was purportedly assassinated in Captain America vol. 5, #25 (March 2007), although he was later revealed to be alive. The comic-book series Captain America continued to be published, with Rogers' former sidekick, James "Bucky" Barnes, having taken up the mantle, and keeping it at the insistence of Rogers, who upon his return began operating as an intelligence agent in the Secret Avengers title, and in the limited series Steve Rogers: Super Soldier.
Captain America was the first Marvel Comics character adapted into another medium with the release of the 1944 movie serial Captain America. Since then, the character has been featured in several other films and television series, including Captain America: The First Avenger, released on July 22, 2011. Captain America was ranked 6th on IGN's Top 100 Comic Book Heroes in 2011.
Simon recalled in his autobiography that Timely Comics publisher Martin Goodman gave him the go-ahead from and directed that a Captain America solo comic book series be published as soon as possible. Needing to fill a full comic with primarily one character's stories, Simon did not believe that his regular creative partner, artist Jack Kirby, could handle the workload alone:
Al Liederman would ink that first issue, which was lettered by Simon and Kirby's regular letterer, Howard Ferguson.
Simon said Captain America was a consciously political creation; he and Kirby were morally repulsed by the actions of Nazi Germany in the years leading up to the United States' involvement in World War II and felt war was inevitable: "The opponents to the war were all quite well organized. We wanted to have our say too."
Captain America Comics #1 — cover-dated March 1941 and on sale in December 1940, a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor, but a full year into World War II — showed the protagonist punching Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in the jaw — sold nearly one million copies. While most readers responded favorably to the comic, some took objection. Simon noted, "When the first issue came out we got a lot of... threatening letters and hate mail. Some people really opposed what Cap stood for." Though preceded as a "patriotically themed superhero" by MLJ's The Shield, Captain America immediately became the most prominent and enduring of that wave of superheroes introduced in American comic books prior to and during World War II. With his sidekick Bucky, Captain America faced Nazis, Japanese, and other threats to wartime America and the Allies. Stanley Lieber, now better known by his pen name Stan Lee, contributed to the character in issue #3 in the filler text story "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge," which introduced the character's use of his shield as a returning throwing weapon. Captain America soon became Timely's most popular character and even had a fan-club called the "Sentinels of Liberty."
Circulation figures remained close to a million copies per month after the debut issue, which outstripped even the circulation of news magazines like Time during the period. After the Simon and Kirby team moved to DC in late 1941, having produced Captain America Comics through issue #10 (January 1942), Al Avison and Syd Shores became regular pencillers of the celebrated title, with one generally inking over the other. The character was also featured in All Winners Comics #1-19 (Summer 1941 – Fall 1946), Marvel Mystery Comics #80-84 and #86-92, USA Comics #6-17 (Dec. 1942 – Fall 1945), and All Select Comics #1-10 (Fall 1943 – Summer 1946).
In the post-war era, with the popularity of superheroes fading, Captain America led Timely's first superhero team, the All-Winners Squad, in its two published adventures, in All Winners Comics #19 and #21 (Fall–Winter 1946; there was no issue #20). After Bucky was shot and wounded in a 1948 Captain America story, he was succeeded by Captain America's girlfriend, Betsy Ross, who became the superheroine Golden Girl. Captain America Comics ended with issue #75 (Feb. 1950), by which time the series had been titled Captain America's Weird Tales for two issues, with the finale being a horror/suspense anthology issue with no superheroes.
Atlas Comics attempted to revive its superhero titles when it reintroduced Captain America, along with the original Human Torch and the Sub-Mariner, in Young Men #24 (Dec. 1953). Billed as "Captain America, Commie Smasher!" Captain America appeared during the next year in Young Men #24-28 and Men's Adventures #27-28, as well as in issues #76-78 of an eponymous title. Atlas' attempted superhero revival was a commercial failure, and the character's title was canceled with Captain America #78 (Sept. 1954).
Captain America was then formally reintroduced in The Avengers #4 (March 1964), which explained that in the final days of WWII, he had fallen from an experimental drone plane into the North Atlantic Ocean and spent decades frozen in a block of ice in a state of suspended animation. He quickly became leader of that superhero team. Following the success of other Marvel characters introduced during the 1960s, Captain America was recast as a hero "haunted by past memories, and trying to adapt to 1960s society."
After then guest-starring in the feature "Iron Man" in Tales of Suspense #58 (Oct. 1964), Captain America gained his own solo feature in that "split book," beginning the following issue. Kirby, Captain America's co-creator, was illustrating his hero's solo adventures again for the first time since 1941. Issue #63 (March 1965), which retold Captain America's origin, through issue #71 (Nov. 1965) was a period feature set during World War II and co-starred Captain America's Golden Age sidekick, Bucky.
In the 1970s, the post-war versions of Captain America were retconned into separate, successive characters who briefly took up the mantle of Captain America after Steve Rogers went into suspended animation near the end of World War II. The hero found a new generation of readers as leader of the all-star superhero team the Avengers, and in a new solo feature beginning in Tales of Suspense #59 (Nov. 1964), a "split book" shared with the feature "Iron Man". Kirby drew all but two of the stories in Tales of Suspense, which became Captain America with #100 (April 1968); Gil Kane and John Romita, Sr., each filled in once. Several stories were finished by penciller-inker George Tuska over Kirby layouts, with one finished by Romita Sr. and another by penciller Dick Ayers and inker John Tartaglione. Kirby's regular inkers on the series were Frank Giacoia (as "Frank Ray") and Joe Sinnott, though Don Heck and Golden Age Captain America artist Syd Shores inked one story each. The new title Captain America continued to feature artwork by Kirby, as well as a short run by Jim Steranko, and work by many of the industry's top artists and writers. It was called Captain America and the Falcon from #134-222 (although the Falcon's name was not on the cover for issues #193, 200, and 216).
This series — considered Captain America volume one by comics researchers and historians, following the 1940s Captain America Comics and its 1950s numbering continuation — ended with #454 (Aug. 1996).
As part of the aftermath of Marvel Comics' company-crossover storyline "Civil War", Steve Rogers was ostensibly killed in Captain America vol. 5, #25 (March 2007). Series writer Ed Brubaker remarked, "What I found is that all the really hard-core left-wing fans want Cap to be standing out on and giving speeches on the street corner against the George W. Bush administration, and all the really right-wing fans all want him to be over in the streets of Baghdad, punching out Saddam Hussein." The character's co-creator, Joe Simon, remarked, "It's a hell of a time for him to go. We really need him now." Artist Alex Ross designed a slightly revised Captain America costume that former sidekick Bucky Barnes began to wear as the new Captain America in vol. 5, #34 (March 2008)
The storyline of Rogers' return began in issue #600. Rogers, who was not dead but caroming through time, returned to the present day in the six-issue miniseries Captain America: Reborn (Sept. 2009 – March 2010).
After Rogers' return, Barnes, at Rogers' insistence, continued as Captain America, beginning in the one-shot comic Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield? (Feb. 2010). While Bucky Barnes continued adventuring in the pages of Captain America, Steve Rogers received his own miniseries (Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier) as well as taking on the leadership position in a new Secret Avengers ongoing series.
Spinoff series included Captain America Sentinel of Liberty (Sept. 1998 – Aug. 1999) and Captain America and the Falcon (May 2004 – June 2005). The 1940s Captain America appeared alongside the 1940s Human Torch and Sub-Mariner in the 12-issue miniseries Avengers/Invaders. The 2007 mini-series Captain America: The Chosen, written by David Morrell and penciled by Mitchell Breitweiser, depicts a dying Steve Rogers' final minutes, at S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, as his spirit guides James Newman, a young American marine fighting in Afghanistan. The Chosen is not part of the main Marvel Universe continuity.
That night, Operation: Rebirth is implemented and Rogers receives injections and oral doses of the Super-Soldier Serum. He is then exposed to a controlled burst of "Vita-Rays" that activate and stabilize the chemicals in his system. Although the process is arduous physically, it successfully alters his physiology almost instantly from its relatively frail form to the maximum of human efficiency, greatly enhancing his musculature, reflexes, agility, stamina and intelligence. Erskine declares Rogers to be the first of a new breed of man, a "nearly perfect human being."
The process he underwent has varied from account to account. In the original 1941 story, he was injected with the formula. When the origin was retold in Tales of Suspense #63, the Comics Code Authority and its prohibitions on demonstrations of drug use were in force, and the injection was replaced with drinking a formula. In Captain America #109, the Vita-Rays were first introduced, although a dialogue comment preserved continuity by mentioning that he had also drunk the formula beforehand. The retelling of the story in Captain America #255, however, stated that all three were used in combination. In addition, the limited series, The Adventures of Captain America reveals that Rogers also underwent rigorous physical training in combat prior to his enhancement.
After the physical transformation, Nazi spy Heinz Kruger reveals himself and shoots Erskine. Because the scientist had committed crucial portions of the Super-Soldier formula to memory, duplicating it perfectly would be unlikely. The spy dies, killed either while running away to escape Rogers or because Rogers threw him into live machinery. In the 1941 origin story and the Tales of Suspense #63 version, he dies when running into the machinery but is not killed by Rogers; in the Captain America #109 and #255 revision, however, Rogers causes the spy's death by punching him into the machinery.
The United States government, making the most of its one super-soldier and to hide all information about Operation: Rebirth and its failure, re-imagines him as a superhero who serves as both a counter-intelligence agent and a propaganda symbol to counter Nazi Germany's head of terrorist operations, the Red Skull. To that end, Rogers is given a uniform modeled after the American flag (based on Rogers' own sketches) a bulletproof shield, a personal side arm, and the codename Captain America. He is also given a cover identity as a clumsy infantry private at Camp Lehigh in Virginia. Barely out of his teens himself, Rogers makes friends with the camp's teenage mascot, James Buchanan "Bucky" Barnes.
Barnes accidentally learns of Rogers' dual identity and offers to keep the secret if he can become Captain America's sidekick. Rogers agrees and trains Barnes. Rogers meets President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who presents him with a new shield, forged from an alloy of steel and vibranium, fused by an unknown catalyst. The alloy is indestructible, yet the shield is light enough to use as a discus-like weapon that can be angled to return to him. It proves so effective that Captain America forgoes the sidearm. Throughout World War II, Captain America and Bucky fight the Nazi menace both on their own and as members of the superhero team the Invaders (as seen in the 1970s comic of the same name). Captain America also battles a number of criminal menaces on American soil, including a wide variety of costumed villains: the Wax Man, the Hangman, the Fang, and the White Death, the superhero team the Avengers discovers Steve Rogers' body in the North Atlantic, the Captain's uniform under his soldier's fatigues and still carrying his shield. After he revives, they piece together that Rogers had been preserved in a block of ice since 1945, surviving in such a state only because of his enhancements from Operation: Rebirth. The block had begun to melt after the Sub-Mariner, enraged that an Arctic Inuit tribe is worshiping the frozen figure, throws it into the ocean. Rogers accepts membership in the Avengers, and although long out of his time, his considerable combat experience makes him a valuable asset to the team. He quickly assumes leadership, and has typically returned to that position throughout the team's history.
Captain America is plagued by guilt for having been unable to prevent Bucky's death—a feeling that does not ease for some time. Although he takes the young Rick Jones (who closely resembles Bucky) under his tutelage, he refuses for some time to allow Jones to take up the Bucky identity, not wishing to be responsible for another youth's death. Insisting that his hero finally move on from that loss, Jones eventually convinces Rogers to let him don the Bucky costume, but this partnership lasts only a short time; a disguised Red Skull, impersonating Rogers with the help of the Cosmic Cube, drives Jones away.
Rogers also reunites with his old war comrade Nick Fury, who is similarly well-preserved due to the "Infinity Formula." As a result, Rogers regularly undertakes missions for the security agency S.H.I.E.L.D. for which Fury is public director. Through Fury, Rogers befriends Sharon Carter, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, with whom he eventually begins a romantic relationship.
Rogers later meets and trains Sam Wilson, who becomes the superhero the Falcon, the first African-American superhero in mainstream comic books. The characters established an enduring friendship and adventuring partnership, sharing the series title for some time as Captain America and the Falcon. The two later encounter the revived but still insane 1950s Captain America. Although Rogers and the Falcon defeat the faux Rogers and Jack Monroe, Rogers becomes deeply disturbed that he could have suffered his counterpart's fate.
The series also dealt with the Marvel Universe's version of the Watergate scandal, making Rogers so uncertain about his role that he abandons his Captain America identity in favor of one called Nomad, emphasizing the word's meaning as "man without a country". During this time, several men unsuccessfully assume the Captain America identity. Rogers eventually re-assumes it after coming to consider that the identity could be a symbol of American ideals and not its government; it's a personal conviction epitomized when he later confronted a corrupt Army officer attempting to manipulate him by appealing to his loyalty, "I'm loyal to nothing, General... except the [American] Dream." Jack Monroe, cured of his mental instability, later takes up the Nomad alias. During this period, Rogers also temporarily gains super strength. Immediately after witnessing Number One's suicide, he is summoned to the future to participate in the Destiny War between Kang the Conqueror and Immortus (it is revealed over the course of the story that Rogers was selected from this time frame as, had he been taken from any other time period, his strong personality- shaken at this point by the events he had just witnessed- would have dominated the team and deprived them of the flexibility required to succeed in their mission, although his presence alone still brought cohesion to the group). He also learns of the apparent death of Sharon Carter.
DeMatteis revealed the true face and full origin of the Red Skull in Captain America #298-300, and had Captain America take on Jack Monroe, Nomad, as a partner for a time. It is also around this time that the heroes gathered by the Beyonder elect Rogers as leader during their stay on Battleworld in the 1984 miniseries Secret Wars
Also during the 1980s, Mark Gruenwald wrote 137 issues of the book for 10 consecutive years from 1985 to 1995, the most issues by any single author in the character's history. Gruenwald created several new foes, including Crossbones and the Serpent Society. Other Gruenwald characters included new love interest Diamondback., Super Patriot (who would go on to become a replacement Captain America in a two-year story arc and became USAgent at that arc's conclusion), and some short-lived new partners that included Demolition Man.
Gruenwald explores numerous political and social themes as well, such as extreme idealism when Captain America fights the anti-nationalist terrorist Flag-Smasher; and vigilantism when he hunts the murderous Scourge of the Underworld. Homophobia was also dealt with as Steve Rogers runs into a childhood friend named Arnold Roth who is gay.
Rogers receives a large back-pay reimbursement dating back to his disappearance at the end of World War II, and a government commission orders him to work directly for the U.S. government. Already troubled by the corruption he had encountered with the Nuke incident in New York City, Rogers chooses instead to resign his identity, and then takes the alias of "the Captain". A replacement Captain America, John Walker, struggles to emulate Rogers' ideals until pressure from hidden enemies helps to drive Walker insane. Rogers returns to the Captain America identity while a recovered Walker becomes the U.S. Agent.
Sometime afterward, Rogers avoids the explosion of a methamphetamine lab, but the drug triggers a chemical reaction in the Super-Soldier serum in his system. To combat the reaction, Rogers has the serum removed from his body, and trains constantly to maintain his physical condition.
A retcon later establishes that the serum was not a drug per se, which would have metabolized out of his system, but in fact a virus-like organism that effected a biochemical and genetic change. This additionally explained how arch-nemesis Red Skull, who at the time inhabited a body cloned from Rogers' cells, also has the formula in his body.
Because of his altered biochemistry, Rogers' body begins to deteriorate, and for a time he must wear a powered exoskeleton and is eventually placed again in suspended animation. During this time, he is given a transfusion of blood from the Red Skull, which cures his condition and stabilizes the Super-Soldier virus in his system. Captain America returns both to crime fighting and the Avengers.
Following Gruenwald's departure on the book, Mark Waid took over and resurrected Sharon Carter as Cap's love interest. The book was then relaunched under Rob Liefeld as Cap became part of the Heroes Reborn universe for 13 issues before another relaunch restored Waid to the title in an arc that saw Cap lose his shield for a time using an energy based shield as a temporary replacement. Following Waid's run, Dan Jurgens took over and introduced new foe Protocide, a failed recipient of the Super Soldier serum prior to the experiment that successfully created Rogers.
Following the events of Avengers Disassembled, again under the employ of S.H.I.E.L.D., Rogers discovers that Bucky is alive, having been saved and deployed by Soviet espionage interests as the Winter Soldier. Rogers also resumes his on-again, off-again relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Sharon Carter, who, after his death, believes she is pregnant with Steve Rogers' child.
In the 2006-2007 "Civil War" crossover, Captain America opposes mandatory federal registration of all super-powered beings, which he sees as an erosion of civil liberties for the superhero community, and leads the Anti-Registration faction and resistance movement. He becomes a fugitive and opposes the heroes of the Pro-Registration group, including his former friend Iron Man. He adopts the alias "Brett Hendrick", a mall security guard, to avoid government detection. As the War continues, Cap enlists the assistance of several figures with whom he would not choose to ally himself under normal circumstances, such as the Punisher and the Kingpin.
Captain America battles Iron Man during the climactic battle and has victory within his grasp when a group of civilians attempt to restrain him. Rogers realizes that he is endangering the very people he has sworn to protect. He then surrenders to the authorities and orders the Anti-Registration forces to stand down. As Rogers is led away in handcuffs, the Punisher retrieves Captain America's discarded mask.
The Death of Captain America story arc follows his surrender. Steve Rogers is indicted on multiple criminal charges; as he is brought to a federal courthouse, a sniper shoots him in the back. In the chaos that ensues, he is wounded three more times in the stomach and chest by Sharon Carter. Rogers is taken to a hospital, where by all evidence he dies. The assassination, orchestrated by the Red Skull, involves Crossbones as the sniper and Dr. Faustus posing as a S.H.I.E.L.D. psychiatrist, who gives Carter a hypnotic suggestion to shoot Rogers at a crucial moment.
The superhero community is shaken by the assassination. The Punisher temporarily adopts a costume similar to that of Captain America, while Winter Soldier and Wolverine seek to avenge Rogers' death. The Winter Soldier steals Captain America's shield, and the Punisher provides him with the mask from Steve Rogers' uniform. Captain America is publicly laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery, under a monument built in his honor. The body in Arlington is a fake: Tony Stark, accompanied by Hank Pym and Janet Van Dyne, returns Rogers' body to the Arctic where Rogers had been found years before. Namor attends the small private ceremony and vows no one will disturb the site.
Stark receives a letter containing Rogers' final requests: Stark should "save" Bucky, and that, despite his demise, the world still needs Captain America. Bucky accepts Stark's offer to take on the mantle of Captain America in exchange for a promise of autonomy from Stark. Bucky kept Rogers' trademark shield, but donned a new costume and began carrying a pistol and a knife.
Captain America: Reborn #1 revealed that Rogers did not die; instead, the villainous Red Skull had Sharon Carter use a gun that transported him to a fixed position in space and time. Since then, Captain America had been phasing in and out of space and time, appearing at events in his lifetime and fighting battles. The Red Skull brings Rogers back to the present, where he takes control of Rogers' mind and body. Rogers eventually regains control, and with help from his allies, defeats the Red Skull.
In the one-shot comic Captain America: Who Will Wield the Shield?, taking place after the conclusion to Reborn, Rogers formally hands Bucky his Captain America shield and asks his former sidekick to continue as Captain America. Later, the American President grants Rogers a full pardon for his actions in Civil War.
Marvel stated in May 2011 that Rogers, following the death of Bucky Barnes in the Fear Itself miniseries, would resume his Captain America identity in a sixth volume of Captain America, by writer Ed Brubaker and artist Steve McNiven.
The formula enhances all of his metabolic functions and prevents the build-up of fatigue poisons in his muscles, giving him endurance far in excess of an ordinary human being. This accounts for many of his extraordinary feats, including bench pressing 1200 pounds (545 kg) and running a mile (1.6 km) in approximately 73 seconds. Furthermore, his enhancements are the reason why he was able to survive being frozen in suspended animation for decades. Rogers cannot become intoxicated by alcohol, drugs, or impurities in the air and is immune to terrestrial diseases. He is also highly resistant to hypnosis or gases that could limit his focus. The secrets of creating a super-soldier were lost with the death of its creator, Dr. Abraham Erskine. However, in the ensuing decades there have been numerous secret attempts to recreate Erskine's treatment, only to have predominantly all end in failure. Even worse, the attempts have instead often created psychopathic supervillains of which Captain America's 1950s imitator and Nuke are the most notorious examples.
Rogers' battle experience and training make him an expert tactician and an excellent field commander, with his teammates frequently deferring to his orders in battle. Rogers' reflexes and senses are also extraordinarily keen. He has blended judo, western boxing, kickboxing, and gymnastics into his own unique fighting style and is a master of multiple martial arts. Years of practice with his indestructible shield make him able to aim and throw it with almost unerring accuracy. His skill with his shield is such that he can attack multiple targets in succession with a single throw or even cause a boomerang-like return from a throw to attack an enemy from behind. In canon, he is regarded by other skilled fighters as one of the best hand-to-hand combatants in the Marvel Universe. Although the super-soldier serum is an important part of his strength, Rogers has shown himself still sufficiently capable against stronger opponents, even when the serum has been deactivated reverting him to his pre-Captain America physique.
Rogers has vast U.S. military knowledge and is often shown to be familiar with ongoing, classified Defense Department operations. He is an expert in combat strategy, survival, acrobatics, military strategy, piloting, and demolitions. Despite his high profile as one of the world's most popular and recognizable superheroes, Rogers also has a broad understanding of the espionage community, largely through his ongoing relationship with S.H.I.E.L.D. He occasionally makes forays into relatively mundane career fields, including commercial arts, comic book artistry, education (high school history), and law enforcement.
Captain America often uses his shield as an offensive throwing weapon. The first instance of Captain America's trademark ricocheting shield-toss occurs in Stan Lee's first comics writing, the two-page text story "Captain America Foils the Traitor's Revenge" in Captain America Comics #3 (May 1941).
The legacy of the shield among other comics characters includes the time-traveling mutant superhero Cable telling Captain America that his shield still exists in one of the possible futures; Cable carries it into battle and brandishes it as a symbol.
When without his trademark shield, Captain America sometimes uses other shields made from less durable metals such as steel, or even a photonic energy shield designed to mimic a vibranium matrix. Rogers, having relinquished his regular shield to Barnes, carried a variant of the energy shield which can be used with either arm, and used to either block attacks or as an improvised offensive weapon able to cut through metal with relative ease. Much like his vibranium shield, the energy shield can also be thrown, including ricocheting off multiple surfaces and returning to his hand.
Captain America's uniform is made of a fire-retardant material, and he wears a lightweight, bulletproof "duralumin" scale armor beneath his uniform for added protection. Originally, Rogers' mask was a separate piece of material, but an early engagement had it dislodged, thus almost exposing his identity. To prevent a recurrence of the situation, Rogers modified the mask with connecting material to his uniform, an added benefit of which was extending his armor to cover his previously exposed neck. As a member of the Avengers, Rogers has an Avengers priority card, which serves as a communications device.
Captain America has also used a custom specialized motorcycle, modified by the S.H.I.E.L.D. weapons laboratory, as well as a custom-built battle van, constructed by the Wakanda Design Group with the ability to change its color for disguise purposes (red, white and blue), and fitted to store and conceal the custom motorcycle in its rear section with a frame that allows Rogers to launch from the vehicle riding it.
! Title !! Material collected !! ISBN | ||
Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Captain America Comics, Vol. 1 | Captain America Comics #1-4 | |
Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Captain America Comics, Vol. 2 | Captain America Comics #5-8 | |
Marvel Masterworks Golden Age Captain America Comics, Vol. 3 | Captain America Comics #9-12 | |
Marvel Masterworks Atlas Era Heroes, Vol. 1 | Includes Captain America stories from Astonishing #3-6, Young Men #24-28 | |
Marvel Masterworks Atlas Era Heroes, Vol. 2 | Includes Captain America stories from Men's Adventures #27-28, Captain America Comics #76-78 | |
Essential Captain America, Vol. 1 | Tales of Suspense #59-99; Captain America #100-102 | |
Essential Captain America, Vol. 2 | Captain America #103-126 | |
Essential Captain America, Vol. 3 | Captain America #127-156 | |
Essential Captain America, Vol. 4 | Captain America #157-186 | |
Essential Captain America, Vol. 5 | Captain America #187-205, Annual #3, Marvel Treasury Special: Captain America's Bicentennial Battles | |
Essential Captain America, Vol. 6 | Captain America #206-230, Annual #4; Incredible Hulk #232 | |
Captain America and the Falcon: Secret Empire | Captain America #169-176 | |
Captain America and the Falcon: Nomad | Captain America #177-186 | |
Captain America and the Falcon: Madbomb | Captain America #193-200 | |
Captain America: Bicentennial Battles | Captain America #201-205; Bicentennial Battles #1 | |
Captain America and the Falcon: The Swine | Captain America #206-214, Annual #3-4 | |
Captain America: War and Remembrance | Captain America #247-255 | |
Captain America: Deathlok Lives | Captain America #286-288 | |
Captain America: Scourge of the Underworld | Captain America #318-320, back-up stories from #358-362; USAgent #1-4; | |
Captain America: The Captain | Captain America #332-350; Iron Man #228 | |
Captain America: The Bloodstone Hunt | Captain America #357-364 | |
Captain America: Streets of Poison | Captain America #372-378 | |
Avengers: Galactic Storm, Book 1 | Captain America #398-399, Avengers West Coast #80-81, Quasar #32-33, Wonder Man #7-8, Avengers #345-346, Iron Man #278 and Thor #445 | |
Avengers: Galactic Storm, Book 2 | Iron Man #279, Thor #446, Captain America #400-401, Avengers West Coast #82, Quasar #34-35, Wonder Man #9, Avengers #347, What If? #55-56 | |
Captain America: Man and Wolf | Captain America #402-408 | |
Captain America: Fighting Chance: Denial | Captain America #425-430 | |
Captain America: Fighting Chance: Acceptance | Captain America #431-437 | |
Captain America: Operation Rebirth | Captain America #444-448 | |
Captain America: Man Without a Country | Captain America #450-453 | |
Heroes Reborn: Captain America | Captain America vol. 2, #1-12 | |
Captain America: To Serve and Protect | Captain America vol. 3, #1-7 | |
Captain America: American Nightmare | Captain America vol. 3, #8-13, Annual 1998 | |
Captain America: Red Glare | Captain America vol. 3, #14-19, Captain America Spotlight | |
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty | Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #1-12 | |
Captain America: The New Deal | Captain America vol. 4, #1-6 | |
Captain America: The Extremists | Captain America vol. 4, #7-11 | |
Captain America: Ice | Captain America vol. 4, #12-16 | |
Captain America: Cap Lives | Captain America vol. 4, #17-20; Tales of Suspense #66 | |
Captain America: Homeland | Captain America vol. 4, #21-28 | |
Captain America and the Falcon: Two Americas | Captain America and the Falcon #1-4 | |
Avengers Disassembled: Captain America | Captain America vol. 4, #29-32; Captain America and the Falcon #5-7 | |
Captain America and the Falcon: Brothers and Keepers | Captain America and the Falcon #8-14 | |
Captain America: Winter Soldier, Book One | Captain America vol. 5, #1-7 | |
Captain America: Winter Soldier, Book Two | Captain America vol. 5, #8-9, #11-14 | |
Captain America: Red Menace, Book One | Captain America vol. 5, #15-17; Captain America 65th Anniversary Special | |
Captain America: Red Menace, Book Two | Captain America vol. 5, #18-21 | |
Captain America: Civil War | Captain America vol. 5, #22-24; Winter Soldier: Winter Kills | |
The Death of Captain America, Vol. 1: The Death of the Dream | Captain America vol. 5, #25-30 | |
The Death of Captain America, Vol. 2: The Burden of Dreams | Captain America vol. 5, #31-36 | |
The Death of Captain America, Vol. 3: The Man Who Bought America | Captain America vol. 5, #37-42 | |
Captain America: The Man with No Face | Captain America vol. 5, #43-48 | |
Captain America: Road to Reborn (HC) | Captain America #600-601; vol. 5, #49-50 | |
Captain America: Reborn (HC) | Captain America: Reborn #1-6 | |
Captain America: Two Americas | Captain America #602-605; Who Will Wield the Shield? | |
Captain America: No Escape | Captain America #606-610 | |
Steve Rogers: Super Soldier | Steve Rogers: Super-Soldier #1-4 | |
''Captain America: The Trial of Captain America | Captain America #611-615 and #615.1, and material from CAPTAIN AMERICA 70TH ANNIVERSARY MAGAZINE | |
''Captain America: Prisoner of War | Captain America #616-619 | |
Miscellaneous | ||
Captain America: The Legacy of Captain America | Captain America Comics (1941) #1; What If? (1977) #4; Captain America #155, #333; Captain America vol. 5, #34; material from Captain America (1968) #178-183 | SC: |
Captain America Vs. The Red Skull | Captain America Comics (1941) #1; Tales Of Suspense #79-81; and Captain America #143, #226-227, #261-263 and #370; and material from Captain America Annual #13 and Captain America: Red, White & Blue #1'' | SC: |
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ar:كابتن أمريكا br:Captain America ca:Capità Amèrica de:Captain America el:Κάπταιν Αμέρικα es:Capitán América eu:Captain America fr:Captain America gl:Captain America ko:캡틴 아메리카 it:Capitan America he:קפטן אמריקה ka:კაპიტანი ამერიკა lv:Kapteinis Amerika lt:Kapitonas Amerika hu:Amerika Kapitány nl:Captain America ja:キャプテン・アメリカ no:Captain America pl:Kapitan Ameryka pt:Capitão América ru:Капитан Америка simple:Captain America sk:Captain America fi:Kapteeni Amerikka sv:Captain America tl:Captain America th:กัปตันอเมริกา tr:Kaptan Amerika vi:Captain America zh:美國隊長This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
Name | Zahi Hawassزاهي حواس |
---|---|
Order | 1st Minister of Antiquities |
Term start1 | 31 January 2011 |
Term end1 | 3 March 2011 |
President1 | Hosni Mubarak |
Primeminister1 | Ahmed Shafik |
Predecessor1 | Newly created post |
Order | 1st Minister of Antiquities |
Term start2 | 5 April 2011 |
Term end2 | 17 July 2011 |
Primeminister2 | Essam Sharaf |
Order | 1st Minister of Antiquities |
Term start3 | 20 July 2011 |
Term end3 | Present |
Primeminister3 | Essam Sharaf |
Birth date | May 28, 1947 |
Birth place | Damietta, Kingdom of Egypt |
Nationality | |
Alma mater | University of PennsylvaniaUniversity of CairoAlexandria University |
Profession | Egyptologist |
Religion | Islam |
Website | |
Footnotes | }} |
Hawass has received widespread publicity internationally, and was the subject of a reality television series in the United States, Chasing Mummies. His views and links to business ventures and the Mubarak regime have engendered controversy. He was sentenced to a prison term, which was later lifted, in connection with the awarding of a gift shop contract at the Egyptian Museum.
After 1988 Hawass taught Egyptian archaeology, history and culture, mostly at the American University in Cairo and the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1993 he left his position as Chief Inspector of the Giza Pyramid Plateau. According to Hawass, he resigned; others claim, however, that he was fired because a valuable ancient "statue" under the custody of Hawass was stolen from Giza. He was reinstated as Chief Inspector in early 1994. In 1998 he was appointed as director of the Giza Plateau. In 2002 he was appointed Secretary General of the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities.
When U.S. President Barack Obama was in Cairo in June 2009 Hawass gave him personal tours of the sites of ancient Egypt. At the end of 2009 he was promoted personally by President Hosni Mubarak to the post of Vice Minister of Culture.
In the midst of the 2011 Egyptian protests, Hawass arrived at the Egyptian Museum on January 29, 2011 to find that a number of cases had been broken into and a number of antiquities damaged. Police later secured the museum.
In a blog on his website it was reported that Hawass "will continue excavating, writing books, and representing his country." In a statement, Hawass said that archeological sites in Egypt were being safeguarded and that looted objects had been returned. Regarding the Egyptian Museum looting, he said that "the museum was dark and the nine robbers did not recognise the value of what was in the vitrines. They opened thirteen cases, threw the seventy objects on the ground and broke them, including one Tutankhamun case, from which they broke the statue of the king on a panther. However, the broken objects can all be restored, and we will begin the restoration process this week." Hawass rejected comparisons with the looting of antiquities in Iraq and Afghanistan.
On February 13 Hawass said that 18 artifacts, including statues of King Tutankhamun, were stolen from the Egyptian Museum in January. Among them were 11 wooden shabti statuettes from Yuya, a gilded wooden statue of Tutankhamun carried by a goddess and a statue of Nefertiti.
Egyptian state television reported that Hawass called upon Egyptians not to believe the “lies and fabrications” of the Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya satellite television channels. Hawass later said “They should give us the opportunity to change things, and if nothing happens they can march again. But you can’t bring in a new president now, in this time. We need Mubarak to stay and make the transition.”
On March 3, 2011 he resigned after posting a list on his personal website of dozens of sites across Egypt that were looted in the 2011 protests. On March 30, 2011 he posted a tweet stating that he was once again the Minister of Antiquities ("I am very happy to be the Minister of Antiquities once again!"). He was reappointed by Prime Minister Essam Sharaf at that time, but resigned on July 17, 2011, after Sharaf informed him he would not be continuing in the position.
Hawass is a regular columnist for Egypt Today magazine and the online historical community, Heritage Key. He has narrated several videos on Egyptology, including a series on Tutankhamun.
Hawass also worked alongside Egyptologist Otto Schaden during the opening of Tomb KV63 in February 2006 — the first intact tomb to be found in the Valley of the Kings since 1922.
In June 2007 Hawass announced that he and a team of experts may have identified the mummy of Hatshepsut in KV60, a small tomb in the Valley of the Kings. The opening of the sealed tomb was described in 2006 as "one of the most important events in the Valley of the Kings for almost a hundred years."
Hawass helped create and host the documentary Egypt's Ten Greatest Discoveries.
The Wall Street Journal commented that the looting of antiquities during the 2011 civil unrest in Egypt made Hawass' quest to return Egyptian antiquities to Egypt "misguided or at least poorly timed." According to Hawass "Tutankhamun was not black, and the portrayal of ancient Egyptian civilization as black has no element of truth to it."
In an interview on Egyptian television in April 2009 Hawass stated that "although Jews are few in number, they control the entire world" and commented on the "control they have" of the American economy and the media. He later clarified that he was using rhetoric to explain political fragmentation among the Arabs and that he does not believe in a "Jewish conspiracy to control the world".
Criticism of Hawass increased following the protests in Egypt in 2011. The New York Times reported in a front page story in July 2011 that he receives an honorarium each year "of as much as $200,000" from National Geographic to be an explorer-in-residence, "even as he controls access to the ancient sites it often features in its reports."
The Times also reported that he has relationships, which he says he does not profit from, with two American companies that do business in Egypt.
On April 17, 2011, Hawass was sentenced to jail for one year for refusing to obey a court ruling relating to a contract for the gift shop at the Egyptian Museum to a company with links to Hawass. The ruling was appealed and the sentence was suspended pending appeal. On April 18, 2011, the National Council of Egypt’s Administrative Court issued a decree stopping the court ruling, specifying that he would not serve any jail time, and would remain in his position as Minister of Antiquities.
The 2011 Egyptian protests resulted in increased criticism of Hawass. Demonstrators have called for his resignation, and the upheaval has increased attention on his relationship with the Mubarak family and the way in which he has increased his public profile in recent years.
Critics say the Hawass clothing commercializes Egyptian history and there were accusations, which proved incorrect, that models had sat on or scuffed ancient artifacts during a photo shoot for advertisements. Hawass already sells a line of hats similar to the ones he wears, which mimic the ones worn by Harrison Ford in the Indiana Jones movies.
Category:Egyptian archaeologists Category:Egyptian Egyptologists Category:Arab archaeologists Category:Art and cultural repatriation Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Alexandria University alumni Category:Cairo University alumni Category:University of Pennsylvania alumni Category:Orden de las Artes y las Letras de España recipients Category:People of the 2011 Egyptian revolution Category:Government ministers of Egypt
ar:زاهي حواس be:Захі Хавас be-x-old:Захі Хавас bg:Захи Хауас cs:Zahi Hawass da:Zahi Hawass de:Zahi Hawass es:Zahi Hawass eu:Zahi Hawass fa:زاهی حواس fr:Zahi Hawass it:Zahi Hawass he:זאהי חוואס ka:ზაჰი ჰავასი lb:Zahi Hawass hu:Záhi Havássz arz:زاهى حواس ms:Zahi Hawass nl:Zahi Hawass ja:ザヒ・ハワス pl:Zahi Hawass pt:Zahi Hawass ru:Хавасс, Захи scn:Zahi Hawass sr:Захи Хавас fi:Zahi Hawass tr:Zahi Hawass zh:札希·哈瓦斯This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
occupation | Asian explorer |
---|---|
title | Admiral of the Ocean Sea |
birth date | 1371 |
birth place | Yunnan, China |
death date | 1433 |
other names | |
religion | Islam |
signature | }} |
Zheng He (1371–1433, 鄭和 / 郑和; pinyin: Zhèng Hé), also known as Ma Sanbao (馬三寶 / 马三宝) and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin (Persian: حاجی محمود شمس) was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from 1405 to 1433.
Zheng, born as Ma He (馬和 / 马和), was the second son of a Muslim family which also had four daughters, from Kunyang, present day Jinning, just south of Kunming near the southwest corner of Lake Dian in Yunnan.
He was the great great great grandson of Sayyid Ajjal Shams al-Din Omar, a Persian who served in the administration of the Mongolian Empire and was appointed governor of Yunnan during the early Yuan Dynasty. Both his grandfather and great-grandfather carried the title of Hajji, which indicates they had made the pilgrimage to Mecca. His great-grandfather was named Bayan and may have been a member of a Mongol garrison in Yunnan.) meaning 'Three Jewels.' The young eunuch eventually became a trusted adviser of the Prince of Yan, and assisted the prince in his insurrection against his nephew the Jianwen Emperor. For his valor in this war, the eunuch received the name Zheng He from his master. Once Zhu Di deposed Jianwen and became crowned as Yongle Emperor (r. 1403-1424), Zheng He continued serving in his court as a Eunuch Grand Director (太監, taijian). It was during the Yongle era that Zheng He, with the rank of Chief Envoy (正使, zheng shi) carried his first six overseas missions.
In 1425 Yongle's successor the Hongxi Emperor appointed Zheng He to be Defender of Nanjing. In 1428 the Xuande Emperor ordered him to complete the construction of the magnificent Buddhist nine-storied Da Baoen Temple in Nanjing, and in 1430 appointed him to lead the seventh and final expedition to the "Western Ocean". It is commonly believed that Zheng He died during the treasure fleet's last voyage, on the returning trip after the fleet reached Hormuz in 1433.
Zheng He was placed as the admiral in control of the huge fleet and armed forces that undertook these expeditions. Wang Jinghong was appointed his second in command. Zheng He's first voyage, which departed July 11, 1405, from Suzhou, consisted of a fleet of 317 ships (other sources say 200 ships) holding almost 28,000 crewmen (each ship housing up to 500 men).
Zheng He's fleets visited Arabia, Brunei, East Africa, India, Malay Archipelago and Thailand, dispensing and receiving goods along the way. Zheng He presented gifts of gold, silver, porcelain and silk; in return, China received such novelties as ostriches, zebras, camels, ivory and giraffes.
It is important to note that while the scale of Zheng He's fleet was unprecedented (compared to previous voyages from China to the east Indian Ocean), the routes were not. Sea-based trade links had existed between China and the Arabian peninsula since the Han Dynasty (there being trade with the Roman Empire at that time.) During the Three Kingdoms, the king of Wu sent a diplomatic mission along the coast of Asia, reaching as far as the Eastern Roman Empire. During the Song Dynasty, there was large scale maritime trade from China reaching as far as the Arabian peninsula and East Africa. In short, Zheng He's fleet was following long-established, well-mapped routes.
Zheng He generally sought to attain his goals through diplomacy, and his large army awed most would-be enemies into submission. But a contemporary reported that Zheng He "walked like a tiger" and did not shrink from violence when he considered it necessary to impress foreign peoples with China's military might. He ruthlessly suppressed pirates who had long plagued Chinese and southeast Asian waters. For example, he would defeat Chen Zuyi, one of the most feared and respected pirate captains, and return him back to China for execution. He also waged a land war against the Kingdom of Kotte in Ceylon, and he made displays of military force when local officials threatened his fleet in Arabia and East Africa. From his fourth voyage, he brought envoys from thirty states who traveled to China and paid their respects at the Ming court.
In 1424, the Yongle Emperor died. His successor, the Hongxi Emperor (reigned 1424–1425), decided to stop the voyages during his short reign. Zheng He made one more voyage during the reign of Hongxi's son Xuande Emperor (reigned 1426–1435), but after that the voyages of the Chinese treasure ship fleets were ended. Xuande believed his father's decision to halt the voyages meritorious, and thus "there would be no need to make a detailed description of his grandfather’s sending Zheng He to the Western Oceans." This, and the fact that the voyages "were contrary to the rules stipulated in the Huangming zuxun, Ancestral Injunctions of the August Ming," the royal founding documents laid down by the Hongwu Emperor, account for the Ming "neglect" of Zheng He in official accounts and the scant records of the voyages available for later historians.
Zheng He died during the treasure fleet's last voyage. Although he has a tomb in China, it is empty: he was, like many great admirals, buried at sea.
Zheng He led seven expeditions to what the Chinese called "the Western Ocean" (Indian Ocean). He brought back to China many trophies and envoys from more than thirty kingdoms – including King Vira Alakeshwara of Ceylon, who came to China as a captive to apologize to the Emperor.
There are speculations that some of Zheng's ships may have traveled beyond the Cape of Good Hope. In particular, the Venetian monk and cartographer Fra Mauro describes in his 1459 Fra Mauro map the travels of a huge "junk from India" 2,000 miles into the Atlantic Ocean in 1420. What Fra Mauro meant by 'India' is not known and some scholars believe he meant an Arab ship. However, Professor Su Ming-Yang thinks "the ship is European, as it is fitted with a crow’s nest, or lookout post, at the masthead, and has sails fitted to the yards, unlike the batten sails of Chinese ships."
Zheng himself wrote of his travels:
We have traversed more than 100,000 li (50,000 kilometers or 30,000 miles) of immense water spaces and have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising in the sky, and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue transparency of light vapors, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds day and night, continued their course [as rapidly] as a star, traversing those savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare… — Tablet erected by Zheng He, Changle, Fujian, 1432. Louise Levathes
There is little attempt to provide an accurate 2-D representation; instead the sailing instructions are given using a 24 point compass system with a Chinese symbol for each point, together with a sailing time/distance, which takes account of the local currents and winds. Sometimes depth soundings are also provided. It also shows bays, estuaries, capes and islands, ports and mountains along the coast, important landmarks (pagodas, temples) and shoal rocks. Of 300 named places outside China, more than 80% can be confidently located. There are also fifty observations of stellar altitude.
Chinese records assert that Zheng He's fleet sailed as far as East Africa. According to medieval Chinese sources, Zheng He commanded seven expeditions. The 1405 expedition consisted of 27,800 men and a fleet of 62 treasure ships supported by approximately 190 smaller ships. The fleet included:
Treasure ships (Chinese:宝船), used by the commander of the fleet and his deputies (nine-masted, about 126.73 metres (416 ft) long and 51.84 metres (170 ft) wide), according to later writers . This is more or less the size and shape of a football field. Equine ships (Chinese:馬船), carrying horses and tribute goods and repair material for the fleet (eight-masted, about 103 m (339 ft) long and 42 m (138 ft) wide). Supply ships (Chinese:粮船), containing staple for the crew (seven-masted, about 78 m (257 ft) long and 35 m (115 ft) wide). Troop transports (Chinese:兵船), six-masted, about 67 m (220 ft) long and 25 m (83 ft) wide. Fuchuan warships (Chinese:福船), five-masted, about 50 m (165 ft) long. Patrol boats (Chinese:坐船), eight-oared, about 37 m (120 ft) long. Water tankers (Chinese:水船), with 1 month's supply of fresh water.
Six more expeditions took place, from 1407 to 1433, with fleets of comparable size.
If the accounts can be taken as factual, Zheng He's treasure ships were mammoth ships with nine masts, four decks, and were capable of accommodating more than 500 passengers, as well as a massive amount of cargo. Marco Polo and Ibn Battuta both described multi-masted ships carrying 500 to 1000 passengers in their translated accounts. Niccolò Da Conti, a contemporary of Zheng He, was also an eyewitness of ships in Southeast Asia, claiming to have seen 5 masted junks weighing about 2000 tons. There are even some sources that claim some of the treasure ships might have been as long as 600 feet. On the ships were navigators, explorers, sailors, doctors, workers, and soldiers along with the translator and diarist Gong Zhen.
The largest ships in the fleet, the treasure ships described in Chinese chronicles, would have been several times larger than any wooden ship ever recorded in history, surpassing l'Orient ( long) which was built in the late 18th century. The first ships to attain long were 19th century steamers with iron hulls. Some scholars argue that it is highly unlikely that Zheng He's ship was in length, some estimating that they were long and wide instead while others put them as small as in length, which would make them smaller than the equine, supply, and troop ships in the fleet.
One explanation for the seemingly inefficient size of these colossal ships was that the largest 44 Zhang treasure ships were merely used by the Emperor and imperial bureaucrats to travel along the Yangtze for court business, including reviewing Zheng He's expedition fleet. The Yangtze river, with its calmer waters, may have been navigable by these treasure ships. Zheng He, a court eunuch, would not have had the privilege in rank to command the largest of these ships, seaworthy or not. The main ships of Zheng He's fleet were instead 6 masted 2000-liao ships.
…We stopped in the port of Calicut, in which there were at the time thirteen Chinese vessels, and disembarked. China Sea traveling is done in Chinese ships only, so we shall describe their arrangements. The Chinese vessels are of three kinds; large ships called chunks (junks), middle sized ones called zaws (dhows) and the small ones kakams. The large ships have anything from twelve down to three sails, which are made of bamboo rods plaited into mats. They are never lowered, but turned according to the direction of the wind; at anchor they are left floating in the wind. Three smaller ones, the "half", the "third" and the "quarter", accompany each large vessel. These vessels are built in the towns of Zaytun and Sin-Kalan. The vessel has four decks and contains rooms, cabins, and saloons for merchants; a cabin has chambers and a lavatory, and can be locked by its occupants. This is the manner after which they are made; two (parallel) walls of very thick wooden (planking) are raised and across the space between them are placed very thick planks (the bulkheads) secured longitudinally and transversely by means of large nails, each three ells in length. When these walls have thus been built the lower deck is fitted in and the ship is launched before the upper works are finished."'' (Ibn Battuta).
The Galle Trilingual Inscription stone tablet, erected by Zheng He around 1410 in Sri Lanka, records details about contributions of gold, silver, and silk that Zheng He made on behalf of the emperor at a Buddhist mountain temple. Also, a commemorative pillar at the temple of the Taoist goddess Tian Fei, the Celestial Spouse, in Fujian province records details about his voyages. It has the inscription:
:We have traversed more than 100,000 li (50,000 kilometers) of immense water spaces and have beheld in the ocean huge waves like mountains rising in the sky, and we have set eyes on barbarian regions far away hidden in a blue transparency of light vapors, while our sails, loftily unfurled like clouds day and night, continued their course [as rapidly] as a star, traversing those savage waves as if we were treading a public thoroughfare… :—Erected by Zheng He, Changle, Fujian, 1432. Louise Levathes
In Malaysia today, many people believe that Admiral Zheng He (who died in 1433) sent princess Hang Li Po to Malacca in the year 1459. However there is no record of Hang Li Po (or Hang Liu) in Ming history. She is mentioned only within Malaccan folklore and in the Sejarah Melayu or Malay Annals.
Indonesian religious leader and Islamic scholar Hamka (1908–1981) wrote in 1961: "The development of Islam in Indonesia and Malaya is intimately related to a Chinese Muslim, Admiral Zheng He." In Malacca he built granaries, warehouses and a stockade. Indonesian scholar Slamet Muljana writes: "Zheng He built Chinese Muslim communities first in Palembang, then in San Fa (West Kalimantan), subsequently he founded similar communities along the shores of Java, the Malay Peninsula and the Philippines. They preached Islam according to the Hanafi school of thought and in Chinese language."
Li Tong Cai, in his book 'Indonesia – Legends and Facts', writes: "in 1430, Zheng He had already successfully established the foundations of the Hui religion Islam. After his death in 1434, Hajji Yan Ying Yu became the force behind the Chinese Muslim community, and he delegated a few local Chinese as leaders, such as trader Sun Long from Semarang, Peng Rui He and Hajji Peng De Qin. Sun Long and Peng Rui He actively urged the Chinese community to 'Javanise'. They encouraged the younger Chinese generation to assimilate with the Javanese society, to take on Javanese names and their way of life. Sun Long's adopted son Chen Wen, also known as Radin Pada, is the son of King Majapahit and his Chinese wife."
The Hanafi Islam that some from the fleet may have propagated lost almost all contact with its parent in China, and gradually was totally absorbed by the local Shafi’i school of thought. Long before 600 years had elapsed, the presence of ethnic Chinese Muslims had declined to almost nil.
Although the Ming Dynasty did ban shipping with the Hai jin edict, they eventually lifted this ban. By banning oceangoing shipping, the Ming (and later Qing) dynasties had forced countless numbers of people into black market smuggling. This reduced government tax revenue and increased piracy. The lack of an oceangoing navy then left China highly vulnerable to the Wokou pirates that ravaged China in the 16th century.
Richard von Glahn (University of California, Los Angeles Professor of History and a specialist in Chinese history) commented that a majority of school history texts present Zheng He wrongly; they "offer counterfactual arguments", and "emphasize China's missed opportunity." The "narrative emphasizes the failure" instead of Zheng He's accomplishments. He goes on to claim that "Zheng He reshaped Asia." According to him, maritime history in the fifteenth century is essentially the Zheng He story and the effects of Zheng He's voyages.
Von Glahn claims that Zheng He's influence lasted beyond his age, may be seen as the tip of an iceberg, and there is much more to the story of maritime trade and other relationships in Asia in the fifteenth century and beyond.
State-sponsored Ming naval efforts declined dramatically after Zheng's voyages. Starting in the early 15th century, China experienced increasing pressure from resurgent Mongolian tribes from the north. In recognition of this threat and possibly to move closer to his family's historical geographic power base, in 1421 the emperor Yongle moved the capital north from Nanjing to present-day Beijing. From the new capital he could apply greater imperial supervision to the effort to defend the northern borders. At considerable expense, China launched annual military expeditions from Beijing to weaken the Mongolians. The expenditures necessary for these land campaigns directly competed with the funds necessary to continue naval expeditions.
In 1449 Mongolian cavalry ambushed a land expedition personally led by the emperor Zhengtong less than a day's march from the walls of the capital. In the Battle of Tumu Fortress the Mongolians wiped out the Chinese army and captured the emperor. This battle had two salient effects. First, it demonstrated the clear threat posed by the northern nomads. Second, the Mongols caused a political crisis in China when they released Zhengtong after his half-brother had proclaimed himself the new Jingtai emperor. Not until 1457 did political stability return when Zhengtong recovered the throne. Upon his return to power China abandoned the strategy of annual land expeditions and instead embarked upon a massive and expensive expansion of the Great Wall of China. In this environment, funding for naval expeditions simply did not happen.
In modern times, he is the continued subject of interest and a cultural reference. In Vernor Vinge's science fiction novel A Deepness in the Sky published in 1999, Qeng Ho, named after Zheng He, is the commercial traders in the human galactical system. The expeditions of Zheng He were featured in the 2005 novel "The Map Thief" by Heather Terrell. In 2009, China's CCTV released Zheng He Xia Xiyang, a television series specially produced in 2005 to mark the 600th anniversary of Zheng He's voyages. Gallen Lo starred as Zheng He.
;Stele of Tongfan Deed (通番事跡碑) The stele of Tongfan Deed (通番事跡, deed of foreign connection and exchange) is located in the Tianfeigong in Taicang, where they started their journey. It was submerged and disappeared, but has been rebuilt.
;Stele of Record of Tianfei Showing Her Presence and Power (天妃靈應之記碑) In order to thank Tianfei for her blessings, Zheng He and his colleagues rebuilt Tianfeigong in Nanshan, Changle County, Fujian province before their seventh western voyage. They also raised a stele with the inscription Tian Fei Ling Ying Zhi Ji (天妃靈應之記, Record of Tianfei Showing Her Presence and Power), which tells about their voyages.
;Zheng He Stele in Sri Lanka The Galle Trilingual Inscription in Sri Lanka was discovered in the city of Galle in 1911 and is preserved in the National Museum of Colombo. Three languages were used for the inscription: Chinese, Tamil and Persian. The inscription gives praise to Buddha and describes the fleet's donations to a Buddhist temple, the famous Tenavarai Nayanar temple of Tondeswaram.
Zheng He's assistant Hong Bao's tomb was unearthed recently in Nanjing.
Category:Articles with inconsistent citation formats Category:1371 births Category:1433 deaths Category:People from Yunnan Category:Hui people Category:Chinese Muslims Category:Chinese explorers Category:Explorers of Asia Category:Explorers of Africa Category:Chinese admirals Category:History of Kerala Category:Chinese geographers Category:Ancient geographers Category:Medieval Islamic travel writers Category:Ming Dynasty eunuchs Category:Naval history of China Category:Chinese diplomats Category:Burials at sea
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