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Vietnam

2008-12-19T00:33:27Z

Watashiwa: Reverse the deletion of factual data.

{{Country
|name =''Cộng hòa Xã hội Chủ nghĩa Việt Nam''
|map =Vietnam rel92.jpg
|flag =Vietnamflag.gif
|arms =Arms of Vietnam.png
|capital =Hanoi
|capital-raw =
|government =Socialist Republic (communist)
|government-raw =
|language =Vietnamese
|king =
|queen =
|monarch-raw =
|president =Nguyễn Minh Triết
|president-raw =
|chancellor =
|chancellor-raw =
|pm =Nguyễn Tấn Dũng
|pm-raw =
|area =128,065 sq mi
|pop =87,375,000 (2007)
|pop-basis =
|gdp =$262.5 billion
|gdp-year =2006
|gdp-pc =$3,100 (2006)
|currency =đồng
|idd =
|tld =
}}

The '''Socialist Republic of Vietnam''' is a [[communist]] nation in Southeast Asia previously part of [[Indochina]].
Vietnam borders [[China]], [[Cambodia]], [[Laos]], and the [[Pacific Ocean]]. The capital of Vietnam is [[Hanoi]].

==People==
Originating in what is now southern China and northern Vietnam, the Vietnamese people pushed southward over 2 millennia to occupy the entire eastern seacoast of the Indochinese Peninsula. Ethnic Vietnamese constitute about 90% of Vietnam's population.

Vietnam's approximately 2.3 million ethnic Chinese, concentrated mostly in southern Vietnam, constitute Vietnam's largest minority group. Long important in the Vietnamese economy, Vietnamese of Chinese ancestry have been active in rice trading, milling, real estate, and banking in the south and shop keeping, stevedoring, and mining in the north. Restrictions on economic activity following reunification of the north and south in 1975 and the subsequent but unrelated general deterioration in Vietnamese-Chinese relations sent chills through the Chinese-Vietnamese community. In 1978-79, some 450,000 ethnic Chinese left Vietnam by boat as refugees (many officially encouraged and assisted) or were expelled across the land border with China.

The second-largest ethnic minority grouping, the central highland peoples (formerly termed Montagnards or mountain people), comprise two main ethnolinguistic groups--Malayo-Polynesian and Mon-Khmer. About 30 groups of various cultures and dialects are spread over the highland territory.

The third-largest minority, the Khmer Krom (Cambodians), numbering about 600,000, is concentrated near the Cambodian border and at the mouth of the Mekong River. Most are farmers. Other minority groups include the Cham--remnants of the once-mighty Champa Kingdom, conquered by the Vietnamese in the 15th century--Hmong, and Thai.

Vietnamese is the official language of the country. It is a tonal language with influences from Thai, Khmer, and Chinese. Since the early 20th century, the Vietnamese have used a Romanized script introduced by the French. Previously, Chinese characters and an indigenous phonetic script were both used.
*Population (2007 estimate): 85.2 million.
*Annual growth rate (2007 estimate): 1.004%.
*Ethnic groups: Vietnamese (85%-90%), Chinese (3%), [[Hmong]], Thai, Khmer, Cham, mountain groups.
*Religions: [[Buddhism]], Hoa Hao, [[Cao Dai]], Christian (predominantly [[Roman Catholic]], some Protestant), [[animism]], [[Islam]].
*Languages: Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer, mountain area languages.
*Education (2004): Literacy--90.3%.
*Health (2007 estimate): Birth rate—16.63 births/1000 population. Infant mortality rate--17.4 /1000. Life expectancy--70.8 yrs. Death rate--6.56/1,000.

==Government and Political Conditions==
A new state constitution was approved in April 1992, reaffirming the central role of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) in politics and society, and outlining government reorganization and increased economic freedom. Though Vietnam remains a one-party state, adherence to ideological orthodoxy has become less important than economic development as a national priority.

The most important powers within the Vietnamese Government--in addition to the Communist Party--are the executive agencies created by the 1992 constitution: the offices of the president and the prime minister. The Vietnamese President, presently Nguyen Minh Triet, functions as head of state but also serves as the nominal commander of the armed forces and chairman of the Council on National Defense and Security. The Prime Minister of Vietnam, presently Nguyen Tan Dung, heads a cabinet currently composed of three deputy prime ministers and the heads of 26 ministries and commissions, all confirmed by the National Assembly.

Notwithstanding the 1992 constitution's reaffirmation of the central role of the Communist Party, the National Assembly, according to the constitution, is the highest representative body of the people and the only organization with legislative powers. It has a broad mandate to oversee all government functions. Once seen as little more than a rubber stamp, the National Assembly has become more vocal and assertive in exercising its authority over lawmaking, particularly in recent years. However, the National Assembly is still subject to party direction. More than 80% of the deputies in the National Assembly are party members. The assembly meets twice yearly for 7-10 weeks each time; elections for members are held every 5 years, although its Standing Committee meets monthly and there are now over 100 "full-time" deputies who function on various committees. There is a separate judicial branch, but it is still relatively weak. Overall, there are few lawyers and trial procedures are rudimentary.

The present 14-member Politburo, elected in April 2006 and headed by Communist Party General Secretary Nong Duc Manh, determines government policy, and its Secretariat oversees day-to-day policy implementation. In addition, the Party's Central Military Commission, which is composed of select Politburo members and additional military leaders, determines military policy.

A Party Congress, which most recently was comprised of 1,176 delegates at the Tenth Party Congress in April 2006, meets every 5 years to set the direction of the party and the government. The 160-member Central Committee (with an additional 21 alternate members), was elected by the Party Congress and it usually meets at least twice a year.

===Principal Government Officials===
*President--Nguyen Minh Triet
*Prime Minister--Nguyen Tan Dung
*National Assembly Chairman--Nguyen Phu Trong
*Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs--Pham Gia Khiem
*Ambassador to the United States--Nguyen Tam Chien
*Ambassador to the United Nations--Le Luong Minh
====Politburo====
Tenth Party Congress Politburo, named April 25, 2006; listed in the order it was announced, including the individuals’ current positions:
*General Secretary of CPV Central Committee, 10th Party Congress--Nong Duc Manh
*Minister of Public Security--Le Hong Anh
*Prime Minister--Nguyen Tan Dzung
*State President--Nguyen Minh Triet
*Standing Secretariat Member--Truong Tan Sang
*National Assembly Chairman--Nguyen Phu Trong
*Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs--Pham Gia Khiem
*Minister of Defense, General Chief of Staff--Phung Quang Thanh
*Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman, Party Internal Affairs Commission--Truong Vinh Trong
*Secretary of HCMC Party's Committee--Le Thanh Hai
*Standing Deputy Prime Minister--Nguyen Sinh Hung
*Secretary of Hanoi Party's Committee--Pham Quang Nghi
*Chairman, Party Organization and Personnel Commission--Ho Duc Viet
*Chairman, Party Control Commission--Nguyen Van Chi

===Foreign Relations===
During the second Indochina war (1954-75), North Vietnam balanced relations with its two major allies, the Soviet Union and China. By 1975, tension began to grow as Beijing increasingly viewed Vietnam as a potential Soviet instrument to encircle China. Meanwhile, Beijing's increasing support for Cambodia's Khmer Rouge sparked Vietnamese suspicions of China's motives.

Vietnamese-Chinese relations deteriorated significantly after Hanoi instituted a ban in March 1978 on private trade, mostly affecting Sino-Vietnamese. Following Vietnam's December 1978 invasion of Cambodia, China launched a retaliatory incursion over Vietnam's northern border. Faced with severance of Chinese aid and strained international relations, Vietnam established even closer ties with the Soviet Union and its allies in the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (Comecon). Through the 1980s, Vietnam received nearly $3 billion a year in economic and military aid from the Soviet Union and conducted most of its trade with that country and with other Council for Mutual Economic Assistance countries. However, Soviet and East bloc economic aid ceased after the breakup of the Soviet Union.

Vietnam did not begin to emerge from international isolation until it withdrew its troops from Cambodia in 1989. Within months of the 1991 Paris Agreements, Vietnam established diplomatic and economic relations with ASEAN as well as with most of the countries of Western Europe and Northeast Asia. China reestablished full diplomatic ties with Vietnam in 1991, and the two countries continue their joint efforts to demarcate their land and sea borders, expand trade and investment ties, and build political relations.

In the past decade, Vietnam has recognized the increasing importance of growing global economic interdependence and has made concerted efforts to adjust its foreign relations to reflect the evolving international economic and political situation in Southeast Asia. The country has begun to integrate itself into the regional and global economy by joining international organizations. Vietnam has stepped up its efforts to attract foreign capital from the West and regularize relations with the world financial system. In the 1990s, following the lifting of the American veto on multilateral loans to the country, Vietnam became a member of the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, and the Asian Development Bank. The country has expanded trade with its East Asian neighbors as well as with countries in Western Europe and North America. Of particular significance was Vietnam's acceptance into the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) in July 1995. Vietnam joined the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC) in November 1998 and hosted the ASEAN summit in 2001 and APEC in 2006. Vietnam is seeking to join the United Nations Security Council as a non-permanent member for the 2008 and 2009 term.

While Vietnam has remained relatively conflict-free since its Cambodia days, tensions have arisen in the past between Vietnam and its neighbors (especially China). Vietnam and China each assert claims to the Spratly Islands (as does Taiwan), an archipelago in a potentially oil-rich area of the South China Sea. Over the years, conflicting claims have produced small-scale armed altercations in the area; in 1988 more than 70 people were killed during a confrontation between China and Vietnam. China's assertion of control over the Spratly Islands and the entire South China Sea has elicited concern from Vietnam and its Southeast Asia neighbors. The territorial border between the two countries is being definitively mapped pursuant to a Land Border Agreement signed in December 1999, and an Agreement on Borders in the Gulf of Tonkin signed in December 2000. Vietnam and Russia declared a strategic partnership in March 2001 during the first visit ever to Hanoi of a Russian head of state, largely as an attempt to counterbalance the People's Republic of China's (P.R.C.) growing profile in Southeast Asia.

===Relations with the United States===
After a 20-year hiatus of severed ties, President Clinton announced the formal normalization of diplomatic relations with Vietnam on July 11, 1995. Subsequent to President Clinton's normalization announcement, in August 1995, both nations upgraded their Liaison Offices opened during January 1995 to embassy status. As diplomatic ties between the nations grew, the United States opened a consulate general in Ho Chi Minh City, and Vietnam opened a consulate in San Francisco.

U.S. relations with Vietnam have become deeper and more diverse in the years since political normalization. The two countries have broadened their political exchanges through regular dialogues on human rights and regional security. They signed a Bilateral Trade Agreement in July 2000, which went into force in December 2001. In 2003, the two countries signed a Counternarcotics Letter of Agreement (amended in 2006), a Civil Aviation Agreement, and a textile agreement.

As of November 2, 2006, the U.S. Government listed 1,796 Americans unaccounted for in Southeast Asia, including 1,373 in Vietnam. Since 1973, 850 Americans have been accounted for, including 608 in Vietnam. Additionally, the Department of Defense has confirmed that of the 196 individuals who were "last known alive" (LKA), the U.S. Government has determined the fate of all but 31. The United States considers achieving the fullest possible accounting of Americans missing and unaccounted for in Indochina to be one of its highest priorities with Vietnam.

Since entry into force of the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement on December 10, 2001, increased trade between the U.S. and Vietnam, combined with large-scale U.S. investment in Vietnam, evidence the maturing U.S.-Vietnam economic relationship. In 2006, the United States exported $1.1 billion of goods to Vietnam and imported $8.6 billion of goods from Vietnam. Similarly, U.S. companies continue to invest directly in the Vietnamese economy. During 2006, the U.S. private sector committed $444 million to Vietnam in foreign direct investment. This number is expected to rise dramatically following Vietnam's accession into the WTO.

Another sign of the expanding bilateral relationship is the signing of a Bilateral Air Transport Agreement in December 2003. Several U.S. carriers already have third-party code sharing agreements with Vietnam Airlines. Direct flights between Ho Chi Minh City and San Francisco began in December 2004. Vietnam and the United States also signed a bilateral Maritime Agreement in March 2007 that opened the maritime transport and services industry of Vietnam to U.S. firms.

Cooperation in other areas, such as defense, nonproliferation, counterterrorism, and law enforcement, is also increasing at a measured pace.

==Economy==
[[Image:Vietnam.JPG|right|300px]]
Economic stagnation marked the period after reunification from 1975 to 1985. In 1986, the Sixth Party Congress approved a broad economic reform package called "Doi Moi" (renovation) that introduced market reforms and dramatically improved Vietnam's business climate. Vietnam became one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, averaging around 8% annual gross domestic product (GDP) growth from 1990 to 1997 and 6.5% from 1998-2003. In 2004-2005, GDP grew over 8% annually. Vietnam's inflation rate, as measured by the consumer price index, which stood at an annual rate of over 300% in 1987, was below 4% from 1997 (except in 1998 when it rose to 9.2%) until 2003. However, in 2004 the consumer price index increased to 9.5%, dropping in 2006 to 7.5%. Average annual foreign investment commitment has risen sharply as a result of the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement and Vietnam's drive toward membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO). In 2007, investment commitment is expected again to reach $10 billion, matching the $10 billion level of 2006. The average Vietnamese savings rate is about 30%. From 1990 to 2005, agricultural production nearly doubled, transforming Vietnam from a net food importer to the world's second-largest exporter of rice.
*GDP (2006): $61 billion.
*Real growth rate (2006): 8.2%.
*Per capita income (2006): $726.
*Inflation rate (2006): 7.5%.
*External debt (2005): 32.5% of GDP, $17.2 billion.
*Natural resources: Coal, crude oil, zinc, copper, silver, gold, manganese, iron.
*Agriculture and forestry (20.4% of GDP, 2006): Principal products--rice, maize, sweet potato, peanut, soya bean, cotton, coffee, cashews. Cultivated land--12.2 million hectares. Land use--21% arable; 28% forest and woodland; 51% other.
*Industry and construction (41.5% of GDP, 2006): Principal types--mining and quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, gas, water supply, cement, phosphate, and steel.
*Services (38.1% of GDP, 2006): Principal types--wholesale and retail, repair of vehicles and personal goods, hotel and restaurant, transport storage, telecommunications, tourism.
*Trade (2006): Exports--$39.6 billion. Principal exports--garments/textiles, crude oil, footwear, rice (second-largest exporter in world), sea products, coffee, rubber, handicrafts. Major export partners--U.S., EU, Japan, China, Singapore, Australia, Taiwan, and Germany. Imports--$44.4 billion. Principal imports--machinery, oil and gas, garment materials, iron and steel, transport-related equipment. Major import partners--China, Japan, Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Thailand. Exports to U.S. (2006)--$8.6 billion. Imports from U.S. (2006) $1.1 billion.

Foreign trade and foreign direct investment have improved significantly. The shift away from a centrally planned economy to a more market-oriented economic model improved the quality of life for many Vietnamese. Per capita income, $220 in 1994, rose to $726 in 2006 with a related reduction in the share of the population living in acute poverty. However, regional differences in average income are wide: $726 for the whole country on average but about $1,800 in Ho Chi Minh City and much lower than average in poorer provinces of the central and northern highlands.

The East Asian financial crisis in the late 1990s slowed the pace of economic growth that marked the earlier part of the decade. While a return to pre-crisis levels of growth and development has been slow, the pace has picked up in recent years, primarily as the result of ongoing economic and trade liberalization. Vietnam's economic stance following the East Asian financial crisis first emphasized macroeconomic stability, then shifted its focus toward growth. While the country has moved toward a more market-oriented economy, the Vietnamese Government still holds a tight rein over major sectors of the economy through large state-owned enterprises and the banking system. The launch of the State Capital Investment Corporation at the end of 2005 is intended to make state-owned enterprises operate more competitively. The government has plans to reform key sectors and privatize state-owned enterprises, but implementation has been gradual. Greater emphasis on private sector development is critical for job creation. Urban unemployment has been rising in recent years, and rural unemployment, estimated to be between 25% and 35% during non-harvest periods, is already at critical levels.

The December 10, 2001, entry-into-force of the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) between the U.S. and Vietnam was a significant milestone for Vietnam's economy and for normalization of U.S.-Vietnam relations. Implementation of this agreement, which includes provisions on trade in goods, trade in services, enforcement of intellectual property rights, protection for investments, and transparency, fundamentally changed Vietnam’s trade regime and helped liberalize its economy. By virtue of the BTA, normal trade relations (NTR) status was accorded to Vietnam on a conditional basis. Bilateral trade between the two countries expanded dramatically, rising more than five-fold from 2001 to $9.6 billion in 2006.

By requiring a range of reforms to Vietnam's trade and investment regime, the BTA also helped Vietnam prepare for the next major step in its integration into the world economy: membership in the WTO. Following the conclusion of bilateral negotiations with interested WTO members and completion of multilateral negotiations in 2006, the WTO General Council approved the terms for Vietnam's membership on November 7, 2006. Vietnam formally acceded to the WTO as its 150th member on January 11, 2007. Vietnam was granted unconditional normal trade relations (NTR) status by the United States through a Presidential Proclamation signed by President Bush on December 29, 2006. On January 11, 2007 the United States removed the application of quotas on textile and apparel imports from Vietnam consistent with the terms of our WTO bilateral market access agreement and treatment provided other WTO members. To meet the obligations of WTO membership, Vietnam revised nearly all of its trade and investment laws and guiding regulations. As a result, foreign investors and those seeking to sell goods and services to the increasingly affluent Vietnamese population will benefit from the improved legislative framework and lower trade barriers. Local firms that have heretofore enjoyed a range of protections, meanwhile, will experience increased competition. As 2006 drew to a close, the Government of Vietnam reasserted its goal of becoming a middle-income country by 2010. That would entail raising the average per capita income to at least $1,000 from the 2006 average of $726. Economic analysts, including those at the World Bank, believe that this goal is attainable.

===Agriculture and Industry===
Land reform, de-collectivization, and the opening of the agricultural sector to market forces converted Vietnam from a country facing chronic food shortages in the early 1980s to the second-largest rice exporter in the world. Besides rice, key exports are coffee, tea, rubber, and fisheries products. Agriculture's share of economic output has declined, falling as a share of GDP from 42% in 1989 to 20.4% in 2006, as production in other sectors of the economy has risen.

Paralleling its efforts to increase agricultural output, Vietnam’s industrial production has grown. Industry contributed 41.5% of GDP in 2006, up from 27.3% in 1985. State-owned enterprises are marked by low productivity and inefficiency, the result of a command-style economic system applied in an underdeveloped country. Foreign direct investment (FDI) is a dynamic feature of Vietnam's industrializing economy. As of the end of 2005, cumulative implemented foreign direct investment totaled over $34 billion, helping to transform the industrial landscape of Vietnam.

Vietnam has successfully increased exports of manufactured goods, especially labor-intensive manufactures, such as textiles and apparel and footwear. Subsidies have been cut to some inefficient state enterprises. The Government is also in the process of "equitizing" (e.g., transforming state enterprises into share holding companies and distributing a portion of the shares to management, workers and private foreign and domestic investors) a significant number of state enterprises. However, to date the government continues to maintain control of the largest and most important companies. Despite reforms, the state share of GDP has remained relatively constant since 2000, at 38-39%.

===Trade and Balance of Payments===
From the late 1970s until the 1990s, Vietnam was heavily dependent on the Soviet Union and its allies for trade and economic assistance. To compensate for drastic cuts in Soviet-bloc support after 1989, Vietnam liberalized trade, devalued its exchange rate to increase exports, and embarked on a policy of regional and international economic re-integration. Vietnam has demonstrated its commitment to trade liberalization in recent years, and integration with the world economy has become one of the cornerstones of its reform program. Vietnam has locked in its intention to create a more competitive and open economy by committing to several comprehensive international trade agreements, including the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Free Trade Area (AFTA) and the U.S.-Vietnam Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA). Vietnam's accession to the World Trade Organization will further integrate Vietnam into the global economy.

As a result of these reforms, exports expanded significantly, growing by as much as 20%-30% in some years. In 2005, exports accounted for 63% of GDP. Imports have also grown rapidly, and Vietnam has a significant trade deficit (forecast to be $4.8 billion in 2006). Vietnam’s total external debt, accounting for 32.5% of GDP in 2005, was estimated at around $17.2 billion.

==History==
Vietnam's identity has been shaped by long-running conflicts, both internally and with foreign forces. In 111 BC, China's Han dynasty conquered northern Vietnam's Red River Delta and the ancestors of today's Vietnamese. Chinese dynasties ruled Vietnam for the next 1,000 years, inculcating it with Confucian ideas and political culture. In 939 AD, Vietnam achieved independence under a native dynasty. After 1471, when Vietnam conquered the Champa Kingdom in what is now central Vietnam, the Vietnamese moved gradually southward, finally reaching the rich Mekong Delta, encountering there earlier settled Cham and Cambodians. While Vietnam's emperors reigned ineffectually, powerful northern and southern families fought civil wars in the 17th and 18th centuries.

====French Rule and the Anti-Colonial Struggle====
In 1858, the French began their conquest of Vietnam starting in the south. They annexed all of Vietnam in 1885, but allowed Vietnam's emperors to continue to reign, although not actually to rule. In the early 20th century, French-educated Vietnamese intellectuals organized nationalist and communist-nationalist anti-colonial movements.

Japan's occupation of Vietnam during World War II further stirred nationalism. Vietnamese communists under Ho Chi Minh organized a coalition of anti-colonial groups, the Viet Minh, though many anti-communists refused to join. After Japan stripped the French of much power in Indochina in March 1945, Ho Chi Minh announced the independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945.

====North and South Partition====
France's post-World War II unwillingness to leave Vietnam led to failed talks and an 8-year guerrilla war between the communist-led Viet Minh on one side and the French and their anti-communist nationalist allies on the other. Following a humiliating defeat at Dien Bien Phu in May 1954, France and other parties, including Britain, China, the Soviet Union, and the United States, convened in Geneva, Switzerland for peace talks. On July 29, 1954, an Agreement on the Cessation of Hostilities in Vietnam was signed between France and the Democratic Republic of Vietnam. The United States observed, but did not sign, the agreement. French colonial rule in Vietnam ended.

The 1954 Geneva agreement provided for a cease-fire between communist and anti-communist nationalist forces, the temporary division of Vietnam at approximately the 17th parallel, provisional northern (communist) and southern (noncommunist) zone governments, and the evacuation of anti-communist Vietnamese from northern to southern Vietnam. The agreement also called for an election to be held by July 1956 to bring the two provisional zones under a unified government. However, the South Vietnamese Government refused to accept this provision. On October 26, 1955, South Vietnam declared itself the Republic of Vietnam.

After 1954, North Vietnamese communist leaders consolidated their power and instituted a harsh agrarian reform and socialization program. In the late 1950s, they reactivated the network of communist guerrillas that had remained behind in the south. These forces--commonly known as the Viet Cong--aided covertly by the north, started an armed campaign against officials and villagers who refused to support the communist reunification cause.

====American Assistance to the South====
In December 1961, at the request of South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, President Kennedy sent U.S. military advisers to South Vietnam to help the government there deal with the Viet Cong campaign. In the wake of escalating political turmoil in the south after a 1963 generals' coup against President Diem, the United States increased its military support for South Vietnam. In March 1965, President Johnson sent the first U.S. combat forces to Vietnam. The American military role peaked in 1969 with an in-country force of 534,000. However, the Viet Cong's surprise Tet Offensive in January 1968 deeply hurt both the Viet Cong infrastructure and American and South Vietnamese morale. In January 1969, the United States, governments of South and North Vietnam, and the Viet Cong met for the first plenary session of peace talks in Paris, France. These talks, which began with much hope, moved slowly. They finally concluded with the signing of a peace agreement, the Paris Accords, on January 27, 1973. As a result, the south was divided into a patchwork of zones controlled by the South Vietnamese Government and the Viet Cong. The United States withdrew its forces, although U.S. military advisers remained.

====Reunification====
In early 1975, North Vietnamese regular military forces began a major offensive in the south, inflicting great damage to the south's forces. The communists took Saigon on April 30, 1975, and announced their intention of reunifying the country. The Democratic Republic of Vietnam (north) absorbed the former Republic of Vietnam (south) to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam on July 2, 1976.

After reunification, the government confiscated privately owned land and forced citizens into collectivized agricultural practices. Hundreds of thousands of former South Vietnamese Government and military officials, as well as intellectuals previously opposed to the communist cause, were sent to re-education camps to study socialist doctrine.

While Vietnamese leaders thought that reunification of the country and its socialist transformation would be condoned by the international community, this did not happen. Besides international concern over Vietnam's internal practices, the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia in 1978 and its growing tight alliance with the Soviet Union appeared to confirm suspicions that Vietnam wanted to establish hegemony in Indochina.

Vietnam's invasion of Cambodia also heightened tensions that already existed between Vietnam and China. Beijing, which had long backed the Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia, retaliated in early 1979 by initiating a border war with Vietnam.

Vietnam's tensions with its neighbors and its stagnant economy contributed to a massive exodus from Vietnam. Fearing persecution, many Chinese in particular fled Vietnam by boat to nearby countries. Later, hundreds of thousands of other Vietnamese nationals fled as well, seeking temporary refuge in camps throughout Southeast Asia.

The continuing grave condition of the economy and the alienation from the international community became focal points of party debate. In 1986, at the Sixth Party Congress, there was an important easing of communist agrarian and commercial policies.

{{Template:Copyright Details (US Government)}}
License = This work is in the [[public domain]] in the United States because it is a work of the United States Federal Government under the terms of Title 17, Chapter 1, Section 105 of the US Code.| source = [http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ei/bgn/4130.htm]

[[Category:Asian Countries]]
[[Category:Vietnam]]
== See also ==

*[[Ho Chi Minh]]
*[[Viet Minh]]
*[[Viet Cong]]

Guangdong

2008-12-18T05:08:45Z

Watashiwa: Removed a link to a nonexistent article.

'''Guangdong''' (Wade-Giles: Kwangtung) is a large and populous province in southern China, The capital city is [[Guangzhou]] (Canton); the people largely speak the [[Cantonese]] language.

[[Category:Chinese Provinces, Municipalities and Regions]]

Talk:Chiang Kai-shek

2008-09-25T00:18:55Z

Watashiwa: Fixed Spelling Errors

=="Communist version"==
RJ, to describe Jiang Jieshi as the 'Communist version' of his name is absurd, and I note that you (quite properly) haven't changed other names to Wade Giles. You may not like Pinyin, but it is now the accepted scholarly system for rndering Chinese names, and I'd ask you to stick to this. [[User:Bugler|Bugler]] 06:54, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
::it is not true that historic names like Chiang are changed to pinyin. Proof: just look at the titles in the bibliography: " Boorman, Howard L. "Chiang Kai-shek in Howard L. Boorman, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Republican China (1967) 1: 319-38;
Fenby, Jonathan. Chiang Kai Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost (2004); Huang, Grace C. "Chiang Kai-shek's Uses of Shame: An Interpretive Study of Agency in Chinese Leadership." PhD dissertation U. of Chicago 2005. 282 pp.; Li, Laura Tyson. Madame Chiang Kai-shek: China's Eternal First Lady (2007). It's hard to find an English language article (in a scholarly) with Jiang Jieshi in the title. The Communists adopted pinyin in the 1950s as a political tool to oppose Taiwan on the linguistic front (they had not used it previously).[[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 07:43, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
:::Whether one likes it or not (and I find it much more accessible than Wade Giles), pinyin is here to stay. It is used in virtually all the CP articles on China and we need to adiopt it as a standard. Indeed it is used throughout this article. I agree that naming can be problematic, and the use of familiar non-Pinyin terms for very major figures is fine (Sun Yat-sen, Chiang) as long as the pinyin alternatives are given. Also, we need to be careful to be consistent. I have just altered Soong Meiling to Song Meiling; if we wanted the Soong version, it should be Soong May-ling (iirc). The same applies to geographical names. [[User:Bugler|Bugler]] 07:49, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
:::I agree this ency should use pinying for geographical names and for events post 1950. But changing history goes against my grain (and most historians I thik) and is murder for the users. For example there are hundreds of useful articles on China in the TIME magazine archives, and they use Wade-Giles. In Chiang's case he founded a contemporary government in Taiwan that very much still exists, and which rejected pinying. books.google.com gives [http://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=100&lr=&as_brr=0&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=chiang+kai-shek&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_brr=0&lr=&as_vt=&as_auth=&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb=c&as_miny=&as_maxy=&as_isbn= 8740 books with Chiang Kai-shek] and [http://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=100&lr=&as_brr=0&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=Jiang+Jieshi&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_brr=0&lr=&as_vt=&as_auth=&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb=c&as_miny=&as_maxy=&as_isbn= only 1276 using Jiang Jieshi]. [[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 09:03, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
::::To Bugler, just so you know, the name Chiang Kai-shek is actually Cantonese, not Wade-Giles. Cantonese preserved the "-k" final consonant from Middle Chinese (e.g. she'''k''' in Chiang Kai-she'''k''') and Mandarin, which is the dialect that the Wade-Giles system was based on, does not have any final consonants except "-n" and "-ng". Anyways, I do have to agree with Bugler on this issue. Yes, I think that using Chiang Kai-shek and any other non-pinyin words could be used only when those non-pinyin words are still well known, provided that the pinyin alternative will be given for the sake of modernization. The point of pinyin, whether you think it is communist or not, is to give a consistent system for learners of Mandarin Chinese to pronounce words. It is used in many modern textbooks targeted at Chinese learners. I have yet to find a modern textbook that uses Wade-Giles as the basis of romanization. I personally find it easier to grasp than Wade-Giles, especially because pinyin lacks the apostrophes used in Wade-Giles countless times. And to RJJensen, Chiang Kai-shek did form the Republic of China which, as you know already, on Taiwan. But from what I heard, the Republic of China used inconsistent romanization systems of Mandarin Chinese, which included Wade-Giles, Tongyong '''Pinyin''', and '''Hanyu Pinyin''', and this was because of local governments leaning toward different romanization systems of Mandarin Chinese. Tongyong '''Pinyin''' was basically a slightly modified version of '''Hanyu Pinyin''' and '''Hanyu Pinyin''' is… well, the pinyin system that is used today. Just recently, '''Hanyu Pinyin''' was even officially adopted by Chiang Kai-shek’s government. So you can’t say that Chiang Kai-shek’s Republic of China is still rejecting pinyin because the Republic of China's Ministry of Education finally adopted this measure nationally. And, in case you don’t believe me, here’s the source: [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/09/18/2003423528] --[[User:Watashiwa|私は苟不教（正），性乃遷。]] 19:46, 24 September 2008 (EDT)

Talk:Chiang Kai-shek

2008-09-24T23:46:44Z

Watashiwa: Forgot to add signature.

=="Communist version"==
RJ, to describe Jiang Jieshi as the 'Communist version' of his name is absurd, and I note that you (quite properly) haven't changed other names to Wade Giles. You may not like Pinyin, but it is now the accepted scholarly system for rndering Chinese names, and I'd ask you to stick to this. [[User:Bugler|Bugler]] 06:54, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
::it is not true that historic names like Chiang are changed to pinyin. Proof: just look at the titles in the bibliography: " Boorman, Howard L. "Chiang Kai-shek in Howard L. Boorman, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Republican China (1967) 1: 319-38;
Fenby, Jonathan. Chiang Kai Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost (2004); Huang, Grace C. "Chiang Kai-shek's Uses of Shame: An Interpretive Study of Agency in Chinese Leadership." PhD dissertation U. of Chicago 2005. 282 pp.; Li, Laura Tyson. Madame Chiang Kai-shek: China's Eternal First Lady (2007). It's hard to find an English language article (in a scholarly) with Jiang Jieshi in the title. The Communists adopted pinyin in the 1950s as a political tool to oppose Taiwan on the linguistic front (they had not used it previously).[[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 07:43, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
:::Whether one likes it or not (and I find it much more accessible than Wade Giles), pinyin is here to stay. It is used in virtually all the CP articles on China and we need to adiopt it as a standard. Indeed it is used throughout this article. I agree that naming can be problematic, and the use of familiar non-Pinyin terms for very major figures is fine (Sun Yat-sen, Chiang) as long as the pinyin alternatives are given. Also, we need to be careful to be consistent. I have just altered Soong Meiling to Song Meiling; if we wanted the Soong version, it should be Soong May-ling (iirc). The same applies to geographical names. [[User:Bugler|Bugler]] 07:49, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
:::I agree this ency should use pinying for geographical names and for events post 1950. But changing history goes against my grain (and most historians I thik) and is murder for the users. For example there are hundreds of useful articles on China in the TIME magazine archives, and they use Wade-Giles. In Chiang's case he founded a contemporary government in Taiwan that very much still exists, and which rejected pinying. books.google.com gives [http://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=100&lr=&as_brr=0&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=chiang+kai-shek&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_brr=0&lr=&as_vt=&as_auth=&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb=c&as_miny=&as_maxy=&as_isbn= 8740 books with Chiang Kai-shek] and [http://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=100&lr=&as_brr=0&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=Jiang+Jieshi&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_brr=0&lr=&as_vt=&as_auth=&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb=c&as_miny=&as_maxy=&as_isbn= only 1276 using Jiang Jieshi]. [[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 09:03, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
::::To Bulger, just so you know, the name Chiang Kai-shek is actually Cantonese, not Wade-Giles. Cantonese preserved the "-k" final consonant from Middle Chinese (e.g. she'''k''' in Chiang Kai-she'''k''') and Mandarin, which is the dialect that the Wade-Giles system was based on, does not have any final consonants except "-n" and "-ng". Anyways, I do have to agree with Bulger on this issue. Yes, I think that using Chiang Kai-shek and any other non-pinyin words could be used only when those non-pinyin words are still well known, provided that the pinyin alternative will be given for the sake of modernization. The point of pinyin, whether you think it is communist or not, is to give a consistent system for learners of Mandarin Chinese to pronounce words. It is used in many modern textbooks targeted at Chinese learners. I have yet to find a modern textbook that uses Wade-Giles as the basis of romanization. I personally find it easier to grasp than Wade-Giles, especially because pinyin lacks the apostrophes used in Wade-Giles countless times. And to RJJensen, Chiang Kai-shek did form the Republic of China which, as you know already, on Taiwan. But from what I heard, the Republic of China used inconsistent romanization systems of Mandarin Chinese, which included Wade-Giles, Tongyong '''Pinyin''', and '''Hanyu Pinyin''', and this was because of local governments leaning toward different romanization systems of Mandarin Chinese. Tongyong '''Pinyin''' was basically a slightly modified version of '''Hanyu Pinyin''' and '''Hanyu Pinyin''' is… well, the pinyin system that is used today. Just recently, '''Hanyu Pinyin''' was even officially adopted by Chiang Kai-shek’s government. So you can’t say that Chiang Kai-shek’s Republic of China is still rejecting pinyin because the Republic of China's Ministry of Education finally adopted this measure nationally. And, in case you don’t believe me, here’s the source: [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/09/18/2003423528] --[[User:Watashiwa|私は苟不教（正），性乃遷。]] 19:46, 24 September 2008 (EDT)

Talk:Chiang Kai-shek

2008-09-24T23:46:10Z

Watashiwa:

=="Communist version"==
RJ, to describe Jiang Jieshi as the 'Communist version' of his name is absurd, and I note that you (quite properly) haven't changed other names to Wade Giles. You may not like Pinyin, but it is now the accepted scholarly system for rndering Chinese names, and I'd ask you to stick to this. [[User:Bugler|Bugler]] 06:54, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
::it is not true that historic names like Chiang are changed to pinyin. Proof: just look at the titles in the bibliography: " Boorman, Howard L. "Chiang Kai-shek in Howard L. Boorman, ed. Biographical Dictionary of Republican China (1967) 1: 319-38;
Fenby, Jonathan. Chiang Kai Shek: China's Generalissimo and the Nation He Lost (2004); Huang, Grace C. "Chiang Kai-shek's Uses of Shame: An Interpretive Study of Agency in Chinese Leadership." PhD dissertation U. of Chicago 2005. 282 pp.; Li, Laura Tyson. Madame Chiang Kai-shek: China's Eternal First Lady (2007). It's hard to find an English language article (in a scholarly) with Jiang Jieshi in the title. The Communists adopted pinyin in the 1950s as a political tool to oppose Taiwan on the linguistic front (they had not used it previously).[[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 07:43, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
:::Whether one likes it or not (and I find it much more accessible than Wade Giles), pinyin is here to stay. It is used in virtually all the CP articles on China and we need to adiopt it as a standard. Indeed it is used throughout this article. I agree that naming can be problematic, and the use of familiar non-Pinyin terms for very major figures is fine (Sun Yat-sen, Chiang) as long as the pinyin alternatives are given. Also, we need to be careful to be consistent. I have just altered Soong Meiling to Song Meiling; if we wanted the Soong version, it should be Soong May-ling (iirc). The same applies to geographical names. [[User:Bugler|Bugler]] 07:49, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
:::I agree this ency should use pinying for geographical names and for events post 1950. But changing history goes against my grain (and most historians I thik) and is murder for the users. For example there are hundreds of useful articles on China in the TIME magazine archives, and they use Wade-Giles. In Chiang's case he founded a contemporary government in Taiwan that very much still exists, and which rejected pinying. books.google.com gives [http://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=100&lr=&as_brr=0&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=chiang+kai-shek&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_brr=0&lr=&as_vt=&as_auth=&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb=c&as_miny=&as_maxy=&as_isbn= 8740 books with Chiang Kai-shek] and [http://books.google.com/books?as_q=&num=100&lr=&as_brr=0&btnG=Google+Search&as_epq=Jiang+Jieshi&as_oq=&as_eq=&as_brr=0&lr=&as_vt=&as_auth=&as_pub=&as_sub=&as_drrb=c&as_miny=&as_maxy=&as_isbn= only 1276 using Jiang Jieshi]. [[User:RJJensen|RJJensen]] 09:03, 20 September 2008 (EDT)
::::To Bulger, just so you know, the name Chiang Kai-shek is actually Cantonese, not Wade-Giles. Cantonese preserved the "-k" final consonant from Middle Chinese (e.g. she'''k''' in Chiang Kai-she'''k''') and Mandarin, which is the dialect that the Wade-Giles system was based on, does not have any final consonants except "-n" and "-ng". Anyways, I do have to agree with Bulger on this issue. Yes, I think that using Chiang Kai-shek and any other non-pinyin words could be used only when those non-pinyin words are still well known, provided that the pinyin alternative will be given for the sake of modernization. The point of pinyin, whether you think it is communist or not, is to give a consistent system for learners of Mandarin Chinese to pronounce words. It is used in many modern textbooks targeted at Chinese learners. I have yet to find a modern textbook that uses Wade-Giles as the basis of romanization. I personally find it easier to grasp than Wade-Giles, especially because pinyin lacks the apostrophes used in Wade-Giles countless times. And to RJJensen, Chiang Kai-shek did form the Republic of China which, as you know already, on Taiwan. But from what I heard, the Republic of China used inconsistent romanization systems of Mandarin Chinese, which included Wade-Giles, Tongyong '''Pinyin''', and '''Hanyu Pinyin''', and this was because of local governments leaning toward different romanization systems of Mandarin Chinese. Tongyong '''Pinyin''' was basically a slightly modified version of '''Hanyu Pinyin''' and '''Hanyu Pinyin''' is… well, the pinyin system that is used today. Just recently, '''Hanyu Pinyin''' was even officially adopted by Chiang Kai-shek’s government. So you can’t say that Chiang Kai-shek’s Republic of China is still rejecting pinyin because the Republic of China's Ministry of Education finally adopted this measure nationally. And, in case you don’t believe me, here’s the source: [http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/archives/2008/09/18/2003423528]

Chinese Calendar

2008-07-07T06:29:27Z

Watashiwa: Added more info.

The '''Chinese calendar''' is used by [[Asian|East Asian]] cultures, including [[Chinese]], [[Vietnamese]], [[Korean|Koreans]], and the [[Japanese]]. It is predominantly a [[lunar calendar]], yet it also displays characteristics of a [[solar calendar]]. Although the Chinese calendar is no longer used in day-to-day activities, it is still used to mark traditional East Asian holidays and to mark traditional [[religion|religious]] dates in East Asia.
__TOC__
==Chinese Zodiac==
In the Chinese calendar, 12 animals of the Chinese Zodiac are used as one of the many ways to mark [[year|years]]. The 12 animals are, in this order, the [[Rat]], the [[Ox]], the [[Tiger]], the [[Rabbit]], the [[Dragon]], the [[Snake]], the [[Horse]], the [[Sheep]] (or the [[Goat]]), the [[Monkey]], the [[Rooster]], the [[Dog]], and the [[Pig]] (or the [[Boar]]). As of 2008, it is the Year of the [[Rat]].
[[Category:China]]

Chinese Calendar

2008-07-07T06:15:22Z

Watashiwa: Added info.

The '''Chinese calendar''' is used by [[Asian|East Asian]] cultures, including [[Chinese]], [[Vietnamese]], [[Korean|Koreans]], and the [[Japanese]]. It is predominantly a [[lunar calendar]], yet it also displays characteristics of a [[solar calendar]]. Although the Chinese calendar is no longer used in day-to-day activities, it is still used to mark traditional East Asian holidays and to mark traditional [[religion|religious]] dates in East Asia.

In Chinese Calendar, the years are named after the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac: [[rat]], [[cattle]], [[tiger]], [[rabbit]], [[dragon]], [[snake]], [[horse]], [[goat]], [[monkey]], [[rooster]], [[dog]], [[pig]]. 2008 is the a Year of the [[Rat]].

[[Category:China]]

Chinese Calendar

2008-07-07T04:54:32Z

Watashiwa: Updated info.

'''Chinese Calendar''' is a calendar based on the movements of the [[moon]].

In Chinese Calendar, the years are named after the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac: [[rat]], [[cattle]], [[tiger]], [[rabbit]], [[dragon]], [[snake]], [[horse]], [[goat]], [[monkey]], [[rooster]], [[dog]], [[pig]]. 2008 is the a Year of the [[Rat]].

[[Category:China]]

Cantonese

2008-07-03T20:04:22Z

Watashiwa: Added Cantonese final consonants

'''Cantonese''' is the de facto [[official language]] of [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]] and is also the lingua franca of Guangdong Province. It is a separate Chinese language from [[Mandarin]], the official language of [[China]], differing not only [[phonology|phonologically]], but also [[grammar|grammatically]] and in [[vocabulary]].

Cantonese preserved many features found in Ancient Chinese that are lost in [[Mandarin]]. It kept many of Ancient Chinese's final [[consonant|consonants]] (i.e. "m", "n", "ng", "p", "t", and "k") and has at least six tones, compared to Mandarin's two final consonants (i.e. "n" and "ng") and Mandarin's four tones. Cantonese also has fewer initial consonants but it also has about twice as many distinctively different syllables compared to Mandarin. Therefore, colloquial Cantonese words tend to be more monosyllabic compared to Mandarin, whose words tend to be more polysyllabic, because Cantonese does not differentiate as many homonyms.

[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:China]]

Traditional Chinese

2008-07-03T19:54:50Z

Watashiwa: Traditional Chinese is part of the Languages Category, isn't it?

'''Traditional Chinese''' denotes the form of written [[Chinese character]]s that was standardized in the late [[Han Dynasty]] (25-220 AD) and used for written Chinese until 1949, when it was replaced in the [[People's Republic of China]] by a [[Simplified Chinese|simplified script]]. The traditional script remains predominant among Chinese language users outside the PRC proper and Singapore (i.e., in [[Taiwan]], and among the worldwide Chinese [[diaspora]]) as well as in [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]]. Traditional Chinese characters are also employed as [[Hanja]] in [[Korean language|Korean]].

===Reference===
*[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese.htm "Chinese"] at Omniglot.com

[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:China]]

Cantonese

2008-07-01T18:14:05Z

Watashiwa: Added more info.

'''Cantonese''' is the de facto [[official language]] of [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]] and is also the lingua franca of Guangdong Province. It is a separate Chinese language from [[Mandarin]], the official language of [[China]], differing not only [[phonology|phonologically]], but also [[grammar|grammatically]] and in [[vocabulary]].

Cantonese preserved many features found in Ancient Chinese that are lost in [[Mandarin]]. It kept many of Ancient Chinese's final [[consonant|consonants]] and has at least six tones, compared to Mandarin's two final consonants (i.e. "n" and "ng") and Mandarin's four tones. Cantonese also has fewer initial consonants but it also has about twice as many distinctively different syllables compared to Mandarin. Therefore, colloquial Cantonese words tend to be more monosyllabic compared to Mandarin, whose words tend to be more polysyllabic, because Cantonese does not differentiate as many homonyms.

[[Category:Languages]]

Kamikaze

2008-07-01T17:48:03Z

Watashiwa: Added Kanji and fixed mongol to Mongol.

'''Kamikazes''' ([[Kanji]]: 神風) were [[Japanese]] [[pilot]]s who towards the end of the [[World War II|Second World War]] purposely crashed their [[plane]]s into enemy [[ship]]s. The name is translated into "Divine Wind", which refers to a [[storm]] that destroyed an invading [[Mongol]] fleet in the 13th century.

Chinese character

2008-06-30T19:22:39Z

Watashiwa:

'''Chinese characters''' ([[Traditional Chinese]], [[Kanji]], and [[Hanja]]: 漢字; [[Simplified Chinese]]: 汉字; [[Hanyu Pinyin]]: Hànzì) are semanto-phonetic [[glyph|glyphs]] that are used in written [[Chinese]]. They are commonly used in [[Japanese language|Japanese]], alongside with the Japanese syllabaries [[hiragana]] and [[katakana]]. However in [[Korean language| Korean]], [[Hangul]] is used and Chinese characters are rarely used to distinguish names and ambiguous homonyms.
==See also==
*[[Pinyin]]
==References==
*[http://www.sungwh.freeserve.co.uk/hanzi/index.html Hanzi]
*[http://www.zhongwen.com/ Zhongwen.com: Chinese Characters and Culture]
*[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/semanto-phonetic.php Omniglot]
[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Communication]]

Chinese character

2008-06-30T19:15:44Z

Watashiwa: Added link and added more info.

'''Chinese characters''' ([[Traditional Chinese]], [[Kanji]], and [[Hanja]]: 漢字; [[Simplified Chinese]]: 汉字; [[Hanyu Pinyin]]: Hànzì) are semanto-phonetic [[glyph|glyphs]] that are used in written [[Chinese]]. They are commonly used in [[Japanese language|Japanese]], alongside with the Japanese syllabaries [[hiragana]] and [[katakana]]. However in [[Korean language| Korean]], [[Hangul]] is used and Chinese characters are only used for names and to distinguish ambiguous homonyms.
==See also==
*[[Pinyin]]
==References==
*[http://www.sungwh.freeserve.co.uk/hanzi/index.html Hanzi]
*[http://www.zhongwen.com/ Zhongwen.com: Chinese Characters and Culture]
*[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/semanto-phonetic.php Omniglot]
[[Category:Languages]]
[[Category:Communication]]

Cantonese

2008-06-30T18:40:31Z

Watashiwa: This is not a Mandarin article. Ireland’s Chinese name is a transliteration and therefore the meanings do not count. And Ireland’s Chinese name is made up of “Love”, “Thou”, and “Orchid”.

Cantonese

2008-06-29T22:47:48Z

Watashiwa: Added more info.

Cantonese

2008-06-29T07:44:23Z

Watashiwa: It's better than nothing… I guess. (I’ll continue the article later.)

Cantonese is the de facto [[official language]] of [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]] and is also the lingua franca of Guangdong Province.

User:Watashiwa

2008-06-29T07:38:00Z

Watashiwa:

{{userboxtop|Watashi<s>wa</s>'''NO''' Opinion (NOTE: CORRECT JAPANESE PARTICLE)}}
{{User American}}
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{{User bothered}}
{{User JesusTeachings}}
{{User LiberalJesus}}
{{User JP2 saint}}
{{User Life begins|conception}}
{{User too liberal|Watashiwa}}
{{User evolutionScience}}
{{User bigbang}}
{{User Evo}}
{{User gay rights}}
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NUMBER 1 GOAL IN LIFE: Change the words "liberal", "Democrat", "Left", etc. from a negative connotation to at least a neutral connotation here on Conservapedia!
:I feel these words are used too much as insults. You shouldn’t hate other people for having different viewpoints! Didn’t Jesus preach about love? If you don’t remember, here’s proof: “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:39)

__TOC__
== New Introduction ==
Not done yet... Will be added in the near future though!

== 舊自我介紹 ==
國語：你好，我是私は！（「私は」本來是日文，是「我」的意思。）我有時候覺得保守百科太過「右」。（我知道這個字聽到像英式漢語。算了吧！）如果有話說，留話就可以吧！

粵語：你好，我係私は！（「私は」本來係日文，是「我」嘅意思。）我有時諗保守百科太過「右」。（我知呢個字聽到似英式漢語。算啦！）如果有嘢講，留話就得啦！

== Views on Religion ==
As you can see in “Watashi<s>wa</s>'''NO''' Opinion”, my religious views are very, very complex. I’ll elaborate on my views someday, but basically I come to recognize and respect all religions. I'm also planning to take Comparative World Religions at my school to understand more about religion.

== Quotes ==
“And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” -Matthew 22:39

“Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” -Matthew 15:14 (This is a comment about ignorance!)

“That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general, or of any denomination of Christians in particular.” - Abraham Lincoln (This is basically how I view all religions!)

「苟不教（正），性乃遷。」－三字經 (Translation: “If not taught (correctly),
people’s nature will deteriorate.” –Three Character Classic. And yes, I added the 正/correctly parts myself and they were not part of the original text.)

Talk:Traditional Chinese

2008-06-29T07:22:34Z

Watashiwa: New page: Just so you guys know… Traditional Chinese does not equal to Kanji. Kanji is simplified Chinese (NOTE: LOWER-CASE S IN SIMPLIFIED) that was sanctioned by the Japanese government. Kanji a...

Just so you guys know… Traditional Chinese does not equal to Kanji. Kanji is simplified Chinese (NOTE: LOWER-CASE S IN SIMPLIFIED) that was sanctioned by the Japanese government. Kanji also does not equal to Simplified Chinese, which was sanctioned by the PRC. And, from what I know, Hanja in Korean is virtually identical to Traditional Chinese. (Hanja are used rarely in everyday Korean writing except for names and to distinguish ambiguous homonyms.) That’s why I've changed the last sentence of the article. --[[User:Watashiwa|私は苟不教，性乃遷。]] 03:22, 29 June 2008 (EDT)

Talk:Simplified Chinese

2008-06-29T07:06:15Z

Watashiwa:

What is the Chinese diaspora? [[User:Learn together|Learn together]] 15:52, 3 June 2008 (EDT)
:I believe Chinese Diaspora means Chinese emigration. --[[User:Watashiwa|私は苟不教，性乃遷。]] 03:06, 29 June 2008 (EDT)

Traditional Chinese

2008-06-29T04:35:01Z

Watashiwa: Added Singapore. Traditional Chinese does not equal to Kanji. Kanji is simplified Chinese sanctioned by the Japanese government and it also does not equal to Simplified Chinese sanctioned by the PRC.

'''Traditional Chinese''' denotes the form of written Chinese characters that was standardized in the late [[Han Dynasty]] (25-220 AD) and used for written Chinese until 1949, when it was replaced in the [[People's Republic of China]] by a [[Simplified Chinese|simplified script]]. The traditional script remains predominant among Chinese language users outside the PRC proper and Singapore (i.e., in [[Taiwan]], and among the worldwide Chinese [[diaspora]]) as well as in [[Hong Kong]] and [[Macau]]. Traditional Chinese characters are also employed as [[Hanja]] in [[Korean language|Korean]].

===Reference===
*[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/chinese.htm "Chinese"] at Omniglot.com

[[Category:China]]

User:Watashiwa

2008-06-24T03:28:53Z

Watashiwa:

Bruce Lee

2008-06-23T23:29:25Z

Watashiwa: Changed Cantonese Yale to Jyutping

'''Bruce Lee''' ([[Traditional Chinese]]: 李小龍; [[Simplified Chinese]]: 李小龙; [[Hanyu Pinyin]]: Lǐ Xiǎolóng; [[Jyutping]]: Lei5 Siu2 Lung4) (1940 - 1973) was a [[martial arts|martial-artist]] and [[actor]]. He is the inventor of [[Jeet-Kune-Do]], and heavily credited with as the modern father of the [[mixed martial arts]] philosophy. He believed that no one martial art was supreme, but only by mixes parts of each and adopting a flexible philosophy could one reach true potential. Lee was Kato on the Green Hornet series and went on to star in martial arts films until his untimely death. He came up with the idea of the TV series Kung Fu, about a Chinese monk displaced in America, but was disappointed to see the role go to [[David Carradine]] - a white American. Lee also trained [[Chuck Norris]], who was a top middleweight [[karate]] champion before turning to acting himself.

Lee was born November 27th, 1940, in [[San Francisco]]. He tragically died of mysterious, uncertain causes on July 20th, 1973.

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Bruce}}

[[Category:Actors]]
[[Category:Martial Arts]]
[[Category:Sportspeople]]

User:Watashiwa

2008-06-23T22:53:28Z

Watashiwa:

{{userboxtop|Watashi<s>wa</s>'''NO''' Opinion (NOTE: CORRECT JAPANESE PARTICLE)}}
{{User American}}
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{{User bothered}}
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NUMBER 1 GOAL IN LIFE: Change the words "liberal", "Democrat", "Left", etc. from a negative connotation to at least a neutral connotation here on Conservapedia!
:I feel these words are used too much as insults. You shouldn’t hate other people for having different viewpoints! Didn’t Jesus preach about love? If you don’t remember, here’s proof: “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:39)

__TOC__
== 自我介紹 ==
國語：你好，我是私は！（「私は」本來是日文，是「我」的意思。）我有時候覺得保守百科太過「右」。（我知道這個字聽到像英式漢語。算了吧！）如果有話說，留話就可以吧！

粵語：你好，我係私は！（「私は」本來係日文，是「我」嘅意思。）我有時諗保守百科太過「右」。（我知呢個字聽到似英式漢語。算啦！）如果有嘢講，留話就得啦！

== Views on Religion ==
As you can see in “Watashi<s>wa</s>'''NO''' Opinion”, my religious views are very, very complex. I’ll elaborate on my views someday, but basically I come to recognize and respect all religions. I'm also planning to take Comparative World Religions at my school to understand more about religion.

== Quotes ==
“And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” -Matthew 22:39

“Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” -Matthew 15:14 (This is a comment about ignorance!)

“That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general, or of any denomination of Christians in particular.” - Abraham Lincoln (This is basically how I view all religions!)

Talk:Mao Zedong

2008-06-06T04:18:41Z

Watashiwa: Forgot Signature

Actually, the "Mao" family name is "hair", not "cat." Even the tone is different between the two syllables - mao2 is hair, mao1 is cat. His family name is quite common in Hunan, I believe. An odd mistake to make. The given name is, "Zedong", means, "Enrich East." The character, "ze2", can also mean, "a marsh."

== Comintern representatives in the U.S.? ==
Can someone please clarify the first sentence of the fourth paragraph? It doesn't make sense and I have concerns about its historical accuracy. --[[User:Ampersand|Ampersand]] 16:22, 17 April 2008 (EDT)

Yep it doesn't make sense. Should be removed, or whoever wrote it should clarify. And I mean in the next day or I'm deleting it. [[User:Rellik|Rellik]] 20:33, 21 April 2008 (EDT)

== About the Legacy ==
I'm not going to talk so much right now since I am very busy at the moment. I'll admit that I am not too knowledgeable in PRC and Modern ROC (Post-1949) History, so correct me if I'm wrong. Let's talk about the life expectancy part. It says, "Before 1949, for instance, the illiteracy rate in Mainland China was 80 percent, and life expectancy was a meager 35 years." First of all, a specific time frame is needed to cite the life expectancy. Before the late 1940s, I'm sure the life expectancy was higher than 35 years. My ancestors at the time lived for more than 35 years, I can assure you. To say that the life expectancy in the late 1940s is low is accurate, because the Chinese Civil War and World War II took the lives of many Chinese people. However, to say Mao himself changed it to 70 years is not accurate. No major wars took place when Mao was in power, even though there were people killed who Mao viewed as "dissidents" because of the authoritarian nature of his chairmanship in the Cultural Revolution, 5 Year Plans, etc. Now let's talk about the literacy rate part. Chinese has a rather high amount of characters. Many stuff were written in "Vernacular Chinese" but were still influenced by "Classical Chinese" back then. (It still is today, but I don't think it is to the same extent.) And I think Classical Chinese was much more important back than it is now. To read Classical Chinese, you need to know, I think, 6,000 characters. To read a "Vernacular Chinese" newspaper, you need to know 3,000 characters. The PRC says that a farmer needs to know 1,500 characters to be literate and that everyone else need to know 2,000 characters to be literate. Isn't that a big difference? So, because the PRC lowered the standard of literacy from what was defined as literate before 1949, the literacy rate went up. Also, have you thought about the possibility that Mao might have inflated the values of the literacy rate aside from lowering the standard of literacy? Okay, I rambled too much. I plan to write more at a later date. --[[User:Watashiwa|私は上帝不見保守百科之惡乎？]] 01:12, 5 June 2008 (EDT)
:Much food for thought, Watashiwa. I'd just like to remark on what you said about standards of literacy. This was not entirely a CCP initiative: a trend to abandon 'classical Chinese' and to use vernacular Chinese (''baihua'', 'white language') in publications went bac to the early 20th century and was a key part of the May Fourth Movement/New Culture campaign of that era, which affected the decvelopment of the Chinese Communist Party and the [[Guomindang]]. An analogous situation was the gradual abandonment of Latin for official, religious and cultural purposes in Europe - where the abandonment took place over centuries, rather than over decades in China [[User:Bugler|Bugler]] 06:29, 5 June 2008 (EDT)
::Sorry for the misunderstanding. I typed this out really, really late last night. I must have made it sound like it was the PRC who started the Vernacular Chinese movement. I know that the Vernacular Chinese movement basically started after the fall of the [[Qing]] Dynasty. What I was trying to say though was that Classical Chinese’s influence started to diminish when the Vernacular Chinese movement started and that effect was more profound by the time of Mao’s death (1976) than it was when he first controlled Mainland China (1949). So therefore, the changing definition of literacy alongside with Mao lowering the standard of literacy increased the literacy rate. --[[User:Watashiwa|私は上帝不見保守百科之惡乎？]] 00:18, 6 June 2008 (EDT)

Talk:Mao Zedong

2008-06-06T04:18:05Z

Watashiwa:

Mao Zedong

2008-06-05T05:20:51Z

Watashiwa: Added "Citation Needed" According to the Arguments on the Mao Zedong Talk Page.

[[Image:Ncvjgfu.jpg|right|thumb|Mao Zedong]]
'''Mao Zedong''' ([[Traditional Chinese]]: 毛澤東; [[Simplified Chinese]]: 毛泽东; [[Hanyu Pinyin]]: Máo Zédōng; [[Wade-Giles]]: Mao Tse-tung) lived from December 26, 1893, to September 9, 1976. He was a [[Communism|Communist]] [[Atheism|atheist]] and an early member of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] in 1921. In 1935, Mao was elected to the Executive Committee of the [[Comintern]] in Moscow and remained on this committee until it was publicly disbanded in 1943.<ref>''While You Slept : Our Tragedy in Asia and Who Made It'', John T. Flynn, New York : The Devin - Adair Company, 1951, [http://www.mises.org/books/whileyouslept.pdf pgs. 21 - 22] pdf.</ref>

Mao was the author of ''[[Quotations from Chairman Mao]],'' published in 1966, informally known as "the little red book." During his lifetime, almost everyone in the [[People's Republic of China]] was expected to have a copy. One of his most well known statements was that "political power grows out of the barrel of a gun".

[[Image:Little red book.jpg|left|200px|thumb|During the [[Cultural Revolution]], it was required for every Chinese citizen to own, read, and carry at all times ''Quotations from Chairman Mao'', popularly known as "the little red book".]]

[[Edgar Snow]] introduced Mao and [[Zhou Enlai]] to American readers in 1937 in his book, ''Red Star Over China'', shortly after the [[Chinese Red Army]]’s rout by [[Chiang Kai-shek]] in 1934 and their year long retreat to [[Yenan]] known as the [[Long March]]. Snow wrote, "The political ideology, tactical line and theoretical leadership of the Chinese Communists have been under the close guidance, if not positive detailed direction, of the Communist International, which during the last decade has become virtually a bureau of the Russian Communist Party." And he further declared that the CCP had to subordinate itself to the "strategic requirements of [[Soviet Russia]], under the leadership of [[Stalin]]."<ref>Red Star Over China by Edgar Snow, New York, 1937.</ref>

Mao defeated [[Chiang Kai-shek]]'s Nationalists, taking control of the Chinese mainland and establishing the People's Republic of China. As the leader of China, Mao initiated the [[Great Leap Forward]], an economic plan intended{{fact}} to rapidly industrialize China's then largely rural economy. In the end it proved a ruinous failure, preventing the peasants from producing needed food and causing massive famines; up to 38 million starved to death or were killed for opposing against the economic plan. In 1966, Mao instigated the [[Cultural Revolution]], in which those disloyal to the Chairman were killed or humiliated in order to solidify Mao's control. [[Richard Nixon]] was the first United States president to meet with Mao, and thus the first to acknowledge the existence of the People's Republic of China, as opposed to [[Taiwan]]'s Republic of China.

Overall, historians believe that around 43 million people died under Mao's rule, due mostly to starvation from disastrous socialist economic policies such as the [[Great Leap Forward]]. This is 7 times the common figure given for the Holocaust but it is much less known.

==Legacy==
While often portrayed negatively, Mao Zedong made many undeniable contributions to China. Before 1949, for instance, the illiteracy rate in Mainland China was 80 percent, and [[life expectancy]] was a meager 35 years.{{fact}} At his death, illiteracy had declined to less than seven percent, and average life expectancy had increased to more than 70 years (alternative statistics also quote improvements, though not nearly as dramatic).{{fact}} In addition to these increases, the total population of China increased 57% to 700 million, from the constant 400 million mark during the span between the [[Opium War]] and the [[Chinese Civil War]]. Also, under Mao's government, China ended its "Century of Humiliation" from Western and Japanese imperialism and regained its status as a major world power. Mao also industrialized China to a considerable extent and ensured China's sovereignty during his rule. Many, including some of Mao's supporters, view the [[Kuomintang]], which Mao drove off the mainland, as having been corrupt.

The Maoist era also improved women's rights by abolishing [[prostitution]], a phenomenon that was to return after Deng Xiaoping and post-Maoist CPC leaders increased liberalization of the economy. Indeed, Mao once famously remarked that "Women hold up half the heavens". A popular slogan during the Cultural Revolution was, "Break the chains, unleash the fury of women as a mighty force for revolution!" Mao was clearly an advocate for womens' rights, and worked towards equality.

==References==
<references/>

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mao Zedong}}
[[Category:China]]
[[Category:Heads of State]]
[[Category:World War II]]
[[Category:Communists]]
[[Category:Mass Murderers]]

Talk:Mao Zedong

2008-06-05T05:12:19Z

Watashiwa:

Bruce Lee

2008-06-01T06:29:12Z

Watashiwa: Added Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Hanyu Pinyin, and Cantonese Yale

'''Bruce Lee''' ([[Traditional Chinese]]: 李小龍; [[Simplified Chinese]]: 李小龙; [[Hanyu Pinyin]]: Lǐ Xiǎolóng; [[Cantonese Yale]]: Léih Síulùhng) was a [[martial arts|martial-artist]] and [[actor]]. He is the inventor of [[Jeet-Kune-Do]], and heavily credited with as the father of mixed martial arts. He was born November 27th, 1940, in [[San Francisco]]. He tragically died of mysterious, uncertain causes on July 20th, 1973.

Mandarin Chinese

2008-05-21T23:20:25Z

Watashiwa:

'''Mandarin Chinese''' is the [[official language]] of [[China]] and [[Taiwan]] and is one of the four official languages of [[Singapore]]. It is widely spoken in [[Malaysia]] and other parts of [[South East Asia]]. Mandarin Chinese has different official names in China, Taiwan, and Singapore. In China, Mandarin Chinese is officially known as Putonghua ([[Traditional Chinese]]: 普通話; [[Simplified Chinese]]: 普通话; [[Hanyu Pinyin]]: Pǔtōnghuà). In Taiwan, it is officially known as Guoyu ([[Traditional Chinese]]: 國語; [[Simplified Chinese]]: 国语; [[Hanyu Pinyin]]: Guóyǔ). In Singapore, it is officially known as Huayu ([[Traditional Chinese]]: 華語; [[Simplified Chinese]]: 华语; [[Hanyu Pinyin]]: Huáyǔ).

[[Category:Languages]]

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-21T05:52:41Z

Watashiwa: Forgot to pluralize religion!

{{userboxtop|Watashi<s>wa</s>'''NO''' Opinion (NOTE: CORRECT JAPANESE PARTICLE)}}
{{User American}}
{{User bothered}}
{{User JesusTeachings}}
{{User LiberalJesus}}
{{User JP2 saint}}
{{User Life begins|conception}}
{{User too liberal|Watashiwa}}
{{User evolutionScience}}
{{User bigbang}}
{{User Evo}}
{{User gay rights}}
{{User patriot questions authority}}
{{User Socrates}}
{{User nowar}}
{{User pubschool}}
{{User moderatecapitalist}}
{{User noBush}}
{{User comp-4}}
{{userboxbottom}}

NUMBER 1 GOAL IN LIFE: Change the words "liberal", "Democrat", "Left", etc. from a negative connotation to at least a neutral connotation here on Conservapedia!
:I feel these words are used too much as insults. You shouldn’t hate other people for having different viewpoints! Didn’t Jesus preach about love? If you don’t remember, here’s proof: “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matthew 22:39)

__TOC__
== 自我介紹 ==
國語：你好，我是私は！（「私は」本來是日文，是「我」的意思。）我有時候覺得保守百科太過「右」。（我知道這個字聽到像英式漢語。算了吧！）如果有話說，留話就可以吧！

粵語：你好，我係私は！（「私は」本來係日文，是「我」嘅意思。）我有時諗保守百科太過「右」。（我知呢個字聽到似英式漢語。算啦！）如果有嘢講，留話就得啦！

== Views on Religion ==
As you can see in “Watashi<s>wa</s>'''NO''' Opinion”, my religious views are very, very complex. I’ll elaborate on my views someday, but basically I come to recognize and respect all religions. I'm also planning to take Comparative World Religions at my school to understand more about religion.

== Quotes ==
“And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” -Matthew 22:39

“Leave them; they are blind guides. If a blind man leads a blind man, both will fall into a pit.” -Matthew 15:14 (This is a comment about ignorance!)

“That I am not a member of any Christian Church, is true; but I have never denied the truth of the Scriptures; and I have never spoken with intentional disrespect of religion in general, or of any denomination of Christians in particular.” - Abraham Lincoln (This is basically how I view all religions!)

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-21T05:51:46Z

Watashiwa:

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-21T05:39:18Z

Watashiwa:

Koran

2008-05-21T05:00:06Z

Watashiwa: I’m sure that many religious books have “Verses of Violence” in them. Yes, that even includes the Bible. So please, let’s all treat all religions with dignity and respect.

[[Image:Opened Qur'an.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A copy of the Qur'an opened for study.]]
The '''Qur'an''', also called the '''Koran''' ('''القرآن''' in [[Arabic]]), is the sacred scripture of [[Islam]].

The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet [[Muhammad]] in the 7th century AD, purportedly through the [[angel]] [[Gabriel]]. The scripture is organized (roughly) according to the length of the chapters. There are 114 suras (or chapters). The Prophet's first revelations were received in [[Mecca]]. He was exiled from Mecca after commanding the people to repent of [[polytheism]] and join the One True God, (in [[Arabic]], his name is [[Allah]]). The Prophet Muhammad then travelled to [[Medina]] and converted the entire city. He led them to a victory over the polytheists at Mecca.

The verses are of two kinds: Meccan and Medinan. Meccan verses are characterized by praise of a monotheistic God and condemnation of polytheism. Medinan verses reflect divine laws and commandments that would help Muhammad in his new role as a leader of men; that is to say, the verses are concerned more with the social laws and obligations of Muslims.

The Qur'an has influenced a great number of people over the centuries, especially in the [[Middle East]]. (A link to the text of the Qur'an and translations can be found below.)

Several commentaries on the Qur'an exist. These are labelled as "tafsir" (the word for "commentary.") Allah himself is regarded as the greatest Tafsir. Muhammad is the second-best (his tafsir is called "[[hadith]]," the Words of the Prophet). The Companions of the Prophet also produced their own tafsirs. It is important to note that "tafsir" is ''not'' scripture; it is a companion to understanding scripture.

It is also important to note that Muhammad is not worshiped as a God. The Muslims are monotheistic. The Qur'an states that God has no equals, nor was he begotten by a greater being, ''nor has he begotten any other being.'' Muslims may occasionally view Jesus and the Holy Spirit as infringing on God's divinity. The Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity is regarded as tantamount to polytheism by Muslims.

==Translation==
The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet [[Muhammad]] in what the Angel said was "clear Arabic." This has come to mean (for many reasons) that Arabic is the most beautiful language of all. The Qur'an also contains a challenge: if you do not believe that the Qur'an is the word of God, try to make something just as beautiful and good as it! This is the doctrine of inimitability (no copy can be made), or "i'jaz." These two doctrines, along with the inherent difficulty of translation, severely limit the value of translations of the Qur'an. In other words, the only Qur'an is the Arabic Qur'an. English versions of the Qur'an are regarded as commentaries.

Two of the most famous and widely-read English translations of the Qur'an are those by A. Yusuf Ali and M. Marmaduke Pickthall <ref>http://www.wokingmuslim.org/pers/pickthall/conversion.htm</ref> (and see links below).

==Sources==
Scholars and theologians have identified six main sources for the contents of the Qur'an. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' states: "The sources of the Koran be reduced to -

*The [[Old Testament]] (canonical and apocryphal) and the hybrid [[Judaism]] of the late rabbinical schools. During Mohammed's time the Jews were numerous in many parts of Arabia, especially around Medina. Familiarity with them is undoubtedly responsible for many Old Testament stories alluded to in Qur'an. Later Judaism and Rabbinism are equally well represented (Geiger, "Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthum aufgenommen?", Wiesbaden, 1833; tr. "Judaism and Islam", Madras, 1898).
*The [[New Testament]] (canonical and apocryphal) and various heretical doctrines. On his journeys between Syria, Hijaz, and Yemen, Mohammed had every opportunity to come in close touch with Yemenite, Abyssinian, Ghassanite, and Syrian [[Christianity|Christians]], especially heretics. Hence, while the influence of orthodox Christianity upon the Qur'an has been slight, apocryphal and heretical Christian legends, on the other hand, are one of the original sources of Koranic faith. (See Muir, op. cit. infra, 66-239; Tisdall, "The Original Sources of the Qur'an", London, 1905, 55-211.)
*[[Sabaism]], a combination of Judaism, [[Manicheism]], and old disfigured Babylonian [[heathen]]ism.
*[[Zoroastrianism]]. On account of Persia's political influence in the north-eastern part of Arabia, it is natural to find Zoroastrian elements in the Qur'an.
*[[Hanifism]], the adherents of which, called Hanifs, must have been considerable in number and influence, as it is known from contemporary Arabian sources that twelve of Mohammed's followers were members of this sect.
*Native ancient and contemporary Arabian heathen beliefs and practices. Wellhausen has collected in his "Reste des arabischen Heidentums" (Berlin, 1897) all that is known of pre-Islamic Arabian heathen belief, traditions, customs, and superstitions, many of which are either alluded to or accepted and incorporated in the Koran. From the various sects and creeds, and Abul-Fida, the well-known historian and geographer of the twelfth century, it is clear that religious beliefs and practices of the Arabs of Mohammed's day form one of the many sources of Islam. From this heathen source Islam derived the practices of polygamy and slavery, which Mohammed sanctioned by adopting them."<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08692a.htm Koran], by Gabriel Oussani, ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''</ref>

== See also ==

*[[Arab American]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://tanzil.info/ Tanzil Quran Navigator (searchable Quran and 41 translations)]
*[http://www.islam101.com/quran/yusufAli/ Ali English translation]
*[http://www.islam101.com/quran/QTP/index.htm Pickthall English translation]

[[Category:Book of Worship]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Koran

2008-05-21T04:56:35Z

Watashiwa: Let’s treat all religions with respect and dignity by not writing these kinds of comments.

[[Image:Opened Qur'an.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A copy of the Qur'an opened for study.]]
The '''Qur'an''', also called the '''Koran''' ('''القرآن''' in [[Arabic]]), is the sacred scripture of [[Islam]].

The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet [[Muhammad]] in the 7th century AD, purportedly through the [[angel]] [[Gabriel]]. The scripture is organized (roughly) according to the length of the chapters. There are 114 suras (or chapters). The Prophet's first revelations were received in [[Mecca]]. He was exiled from Mecca after commanding the people to repent of [[polytheism]] and join the One True God, (in [[Arabic]], his name is [[Allah]]). The Prophet Muhammad then travelled to [[Medina]] and converted the entire city. He led them to a victory over the polytheists at Mecca.

The verses are of two kinds: Meccan and Medinan. Meccan verses are characterized by praise of a monotheistic God and condemnation of polytheism. Medinan verses reflect divine laws and commandments that would help Muhammad in his new role as a leader of men; that is to say, the verses are concerned more with the social laws and obligations of Muslims.

The Qur'an has influenced a great number of people over the centuries, especially in the [[Middle East]]. (A link to the text of the Qur'an and translations can be found below.)

Several commentaries on the Qur'an exist. These are labelled as "tafsir" (the word for "commentary.") Allah himself is regarded as the greatest Tafsir. Muhammad is the second-best (his tafsir is called "[[hadith]]," the Words of the Prophet). The Companions of the Prophet also produced their own tafsirs. It is important to note that "tafsir" is ''not'' scripture; it is a companion to understanding scripture.

It is also important to note that Muhammad is not worshiped as a God. The Muslims are monotheistic. The Qur'an states that God has no equals, nor was he begotten by a greater being, ''nor has he begotten any other being.'' Muslims may occasionally view Jesus and the Holy Spirit as infringing on God's divinity. The Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity is regarded as tantamount to polytheism by Muslims.

==Translation==
The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet [[Muhammad]] in what the Angel said was "clear Arabic." This has come to mean (for many reasons) that Arabic is the most beautiful language of all. The Qur'an also contains a challenge: if you do not believe that the Qur'an is the word of God, try to make something just as beautiful and good as it! This is the doctrine of inimitability (no copy can be made), or "i'jaz." These two doctrines, along with the inherent difficulty of translation, severely limit the value of translations of the Qur'an. In other words, the only Qur'an is the Arabic Qur'an. English versions of the Qur'an are regarded as commentaries.

Two of the most famous and widely-read English translations of the Qur'an are those by A. Yusuf Ali and M. Marmaduke Pickthall <ref>http://www.wokingmuslim.org/pers/pickthall/conversion.htm</ref> (and see links below).

==Sources==
Scholars and theologians have identified six main sources for the contents of the Qur'an. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' states: "The sources of the Koran be reduced to -

*The [[Old Testament]] (canonical and apocryphal) and the hybrid [[Judaism]] of the late rabbinical schools. During Mohammed's time the Jews were numerous in many parts of Arabia, especially around Medina. Familiarity with them is undoubtedly responsible for many Old Testament stories alluded to in Qur'an. Later Judaism and Rabbinism are equally well represented (Geiger, "Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthum aufgenommen?", Wiesbaden, 1833; tr. "Judaism and Islam", Madras, 1898).
*The [[New Testament]] (canonical and apocryphal) and various heretical doctrines. On his journeys between Syria, Hijaz, and Yemen, Mohammed had every opportunity to come in close touch with Yemenite, Abyssinian, Ghassanite, and Syrian [[Christianity|Christians]], especially heretics. Hence, while the influence of orthodox Christianity upon the Qur'an has been slight, apocryphal and heretical Christian legends, on the other hand, are one of the original sources of Koranic faith. (See Muir, op. cit. infra, 66-239; Tisdall, "The Original Sources of the Qur'an", London, 1905, 55-211.)
*[[Sabaism]], a combination of Judaism, [[Manicheism]], and old disfigured Babylonian [[heathen]]ism.
*[[Zoroastrianism]]. On account of Persia's political influence in the north-eastern part of Arabia, it is natural to find Zoroastrian elements in the Qur'an.
*[[Hanifism]], the adherents of which, called Hanifs, must have been considerable in number and influence, as it is known from contemporary Arabian sources that twelve of Mohammed's followers were members of this sect.
*Native ancient and contemporary Arabian heathen beliefs and practices. Wellhausen has collected in his "Reste des arabischen Heidentums" (Berlin, 1897) all that is known of pre-Islamic Arabian heathen belief, traditions, customs, and superstitions, many of which are either alluded to or accepted and incorporated in the Koran. From the various sects and creeds, and Abul-Fida, the well-known historian and geographer of the twelfth century, it is clear that religious beliefs and practices of the Arabs of Mohammed's day form one of the many sources of Islam. From this heathen source Islam derived the practices of polygamy and slavery, which Mohammed sanctioned by adopting them."<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08692a.htm Koran], by Gabriel Oussani, ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''</ref>

==Verses of Violence==
The Qur'an contains scores of verses exhorting Muslims to engage in violence against non - Muslims:

*"I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore '''strike off their heads''' and '''strike off every fingertip of them'''" (Sura 8 verse 12). <ref>http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/023-violence.htm</ref>

*"Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them). And '''fight them''' on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there '''prevail justice and faith in Allah''' altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that they do" (8:38,39)<ref>http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/008.qmt.html#008.038</ref>.

*"So when the sacred months have passed away, then '''slay the idolaters wherever you find them''', and '''take them captives''' and '''besiege them''' and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them" (Koran 9:5).<ref>http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/023-violence.htm</ref>.

*"The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!" (9:30) <ref>http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/009.qmt.html#009.030</ref>.

*"Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority" (Sura 3 verse 151). <ref>http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/023-violence.htm</ref> This verse commands violence against Christians, who according to Mohammed 'joined Companions with Allah' and are thus infidels who must be killed, subjugated, or converted according to the Koran.

== See also ==

*[[Arab American]]

==References==
<references/>

==External links==
*[http://tanzil.info/ Tanzil Quran Navigator (searchable Quran and 41 translations)]
*[http://www.islam101.com/quran/yusufAli/ Ali English translation]
*[http://www.islam101.com/quran/QTP/index.htm Pickthall English translation]

[[Category:Book of Worship]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Talk:Koran

2008-05-21T04:53:36Z

Watashiwa:

is there seriously no discussion on this? previous unsigned comment added by [[User:Casenj]] 15:11, 2 July 2007 (EDT)

The large portion I removed is identical to the first section on the [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Qur%27an&oldid=115617266 Wikipedia page] on the date this page was created. Browsing the Wikipedia edit history shows that the information was the work of various editors, none of whom appear to be Stevendavy. [[User:Jinkas|Jinkas]] 12:44, 18 July 2007 (EDT)
: I thought Wikipedia had a crazy liberal bias? [[User:FlightlessOstrich|FlightlessOstrich]] 15:40, 15 March 2008 (EDT)

Why on earth would you describe the ''Qu'ran'' in the terms presented by the ''Catholic Encylopedia''??? That's just shameful. [[User:FlightlessOstrich|FlightlessOstrich]] 15:26, 15 March 2008 (EDT)

Where it says, “Although Muslim apologists claim that Islam respects Christians and Jews (doctrinally and personally), both Mohammed's personal actions (as recorded in the Hadith) and verses from the Koran demonstrate otherwise,” show me some proof of Mohammad’s personal actions! And as for the verses from the Koran, I saw them on the Qur’an page. Personally, I think someone should remove the sentence quoted above and the “Verses of Violence” section of the Qur’an page. And don’t tell me that the Bible doesn’t have “Verses of Violence”! I’m sure out of the whole entire Bible there are at least a few verses that seem violent.--[[User:Watashiwa|私は]] 23:01, 19 May 2008 (EDT)
:Since no one is responding, I guess I’ll just have to do this myself. And to be fair, if someone really wants to keep the “Verses of Violence” section for the Koran, someone’s going to have to make a “Verses of Violence” section for the Bible and all the other religious books as well. Or better yet, let’s treat all religions with dignity and respect and keep the changes that I’ve made for this page. --[[User:Watashiwa|私は上帝不見保守百科之惡乎？]] 00:53, 21 May 2008 (EDT)

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-20T06:16:40Z

Watashiwa: Removed My Signature

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-20T06:10:06Z

Watashiwa:

{{userboxtop|Watashi<s>wa</s>'''NO''' Opinion (NOTE: CORRECT JAPANESE PARTICLE)}}
{{User American}}
{{User bothered}}
{{User JesusTeachings}}
{{User LiberalJesus}}
{{User JP2 saint}}
{{User Life begins|conception}}
{{User too liberal|Watashiwa}}
{{User evolutionScience}}
{{User bigbang}}
{{User Evo}}
{{User gay rights}}
{{User patriot questions authority}}
{{User Socrates}}
{{User nowar}}
{{User pubschool}}
{{User moderatecapitalist}}
{{User noBush}}
{{User comp-4}}
{{userboxbottom}}

NUMBER 1 GOAL IN LIFE: Change the words "liberal", "Democrat", "Left", etc. from a negative connotation to at least a neutral connotation here on Conservapedia!
:I feel these words are used too much as insults. You shouldn’t hate other people for having different viewpoints! Didn’t Jesus preach about love? If you don’t remember, here’s proof: “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’” (Matthew 22:39)

國語：你好，我是私は！（「私は」本來是日文，是「我」的意思。）我有時候覺得保守百科太過「右」。（我知道這個字聽到像英式漢語。算了吧！）如果有話說，留話就可以吧！

粵語：你好，我係私は！（「私は」本來係日文，是「我」嘅意思。）我有時諗保守百科太過「右」。（我知呢個字聽到似英式漢語。算啦！）如果有嘢講，留話就得啦！

As you can see in “Watashi<s>wa</s>'''NO''' Opinion”, my religious views are very, very complex. I’ll elaborate on my views someday, but basically I come to recognize and respect all religions.
--[[User:Watashiwa|私は上帝不見保守百科之惡乎？]] 02:10, 20 May 2008 (EDT)

Talk:Koran

2008-05-20T03:01:59Z

Watashiwa:

Koran

2008-05-19T05:19:55Z

Watashiwa: Sorry, this is what I meant to do. I'm new to this wiki thing!

[[Image:Opened Qur'an.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A copy of the Qur'an opened for study.]]
The '''Qur'an''', also called the '''Koran''' ('''القرآن''' in [[Arabic]]), is the sacred scripture of [[Islam]].

The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century AD, purportedly through the angel Gabriel. The scripture is organized (roughly) according to the length of the chapters. There are 114 suras (or chapters). The Prophet's first revelations were received in Mecca. He was exiled from Mecca after commanding the people to repent of polytheism and join the One True God, (in Arabic, his name is Allah). The Prophet Muhammad then travelled to Medina and converted the entire city. He led them to a victory over the polytheists at Mecca.

The verses are of two kinds: Meccan and Medinan. Meccan verses are characterized by praise of a monotheistic God and condemnation of polytheism. Medinan verses reflect divine laws and commandments that would help Muhammad in his new role as a leader of men; that is to say, the verses are concerned more with the social laws and obligations of Muslims.

The Qur'an has influenced a great number of people over the centuries, especially in the Middle East. The text of the Qur'an can be found at www.quranexplorer.net.

Several commentaries on the Qur'an exist. These are labelled as "tafsir" (the word for "commentary.") Allah himself is regarded as the greatest Tafsir. Muhammad is the second-best (his tafsir is called "hadith," the Words of the Prophet). The Companions of the Prophet also produced their own tafsirs. It is important to note that "tafsir" is NOT scripture, it is a companion to understanding scripture.

It is also important to note that Muhammad is not worshiped as a God. The Muslims are monotheistic. The Qur'an states that God has no equals, nor was he begotten by a greater being, ''nor has he begotten any other being.'' Muslims may occasionally view Jesus and the Holy Spirit as infringing on God's divinity. The Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity is regarded as tantamount to polytheism by Moslems.

Although Muslim apologists claim that Islam respects Christians and Jews (doctrinally and personally), both Mohammed's personal actions (as recorded in the [[Hadith]]) and verses from the Koran demonstrate otherwise.{{fact}}

==Translation==
The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet [[Muhammad]] in what the Angel said was "clear Arabic." This has come to mean (for many reasons) that Arabic is the most beautiful language of all. The Qur'an also contains a challenge: if you do not believe that the Qur'an is the word of God, try to make something just as beautiful and good as it! This is the doctrine of inimitability (no copy can be made), or "i'jaz." These two doctrines, along with the inherent difficulty of translation (compounded by the fact that Arabic is not a Germanic nor Romance language), severely limit the value of translations of the Qur'an. In other words, the only Qur'an is the Arabic Qur'an. English versions of the Qur'an are regarded as commentaries.

Two of the most famous and widely-read English translations of the Qur'an are those by A. Yusuf Ali and M. Marmaduke Pickthall.

==Sources==
Scholars and theologians have identified six main sources for the contents of the Qur'an. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' states: "The sources of the Koran be reduced to -

*The [[Old Testament]] (canonical and apocryphal) and the hybrid [[Judaism]] of the late rabbinical schools. During Mohammed's time the Jews were numerous in many parts of Arabia, especially around Medina. Familiarity with them is undoubtedly responsible for many Old Testament stories alluded to in Koran. Later Judaism and Rabbinism are equally well represented (Geiger, "Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthum aufgenommen?", Wiesbaden, 1833; tr. "Judaism and Islam", Madras, 1898).
*The [[New Testament]] (canonical and apocryphal) and various heretical doctrines. On his journeys between Syria, Hijaz, and Yemen, Mohammed had every opportunity to come in close touch with Yemenite, Abyssinian, Ghassanite, and Syrian [[Christianity|Christians]], especially heretics. Hence, while the influence of orthodox Christianity upon the Koran has been slight, apocryphal and heretical Christian legends, on the other hand, are one of the original sources of Koranic faith. (See Muir, op. cit. infra, 66-239; Tisdall, "The Original Sources of the Qur'an", London, 1905, 55-211.)
*[[Sabaism]], a combination of Judaism, [[Manicheism]], and old disfigured Babylonian [[heathen]]ism.
*[[Zoroastrianism]]. On account of Persia's political influence in the north-eastern part of Arabia, it is natural to find Zoroastrian elements in the Koran.
*[[Hanifism]], the adherents of which, called Hanifs, must have been considerable in number and influence, as it is known from contemporary Arabian sources that twelve of Mohammed's followers were members of this sect.
*Native ancient and contemporary Arabian heathen beliefs and practices. Wellhausen has collected in his "Reste des arabischen Heidentums" (Berlin, 1897) all that is known of pre-Islamic Arabian heathen belief, traditions, customs, and superstitions, many of which are either alluded to or accepted and incorporated in the Koran. From the various sects and creeds, and Abul-Fida, the well-known historian and geographer of the twelfth century, it is clear that religious beliefs and practices of the Arabs of Mohammed's day form one of the many sources of Islam. From this heathen source Islam derived the practices of polygamy and slavery, which Mohammed sanctioned by adopting them."<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08692a.htm Koran], by Gabriel Oussani, ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''</ref>

==Verses of Violence==
The Qur'an contains scores of verses exhorting Muslims to engage in violence against non - Muslims:

*"I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore '''strike off their heads''' and '''strike off every fingertip of them'''" (Sura 8 verse 12). <ref>http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/023-violence.htm</ref>

*"Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them). And '''fight them''' on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there '''prevail justice and faith in Allah''' altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that they do" (8:38,39)<ref>http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/008.qmt.html#008.038</ref>.

*"So when the sacred months have passed away, then '''slay the idolaters wherever you find them''', and '''take them captives''' and '''besiege them''' and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them" (Koran 9:5).<ref>http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/023-violence.htm</ref>.

*"The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!" (9:30) <ref>http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/009.qmt.html#009.030</ref>.

*"Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority" (Sura 3 verse 151). <ref>http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/023-violence.htm</ref> This verse commands violence against Christians, who according to Mohammed 'joined Companions with Allah' and are thus infidels who must be killed, subjugated, or converted according to the Koran.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Book of Worship]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Koran

2008-05-19T04:56:07Z

Watashiwa: I find this offensive! Only add it back in once there is a citation!

[[Image:Opened Qur'an.jpg|thumb|right|250px|A copy of the Qur'an opened for study.]]
The '''Qur'an''', also called the '''Koran''' ('''القرآن''' in [[Arabic]]), is the sacred scripture of [[Islam]].

The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century AD, purportedly through the angel Gabriel. The scripture is organized (roughly) according to the length of the chapters. There are 114 suras (or chapters). The Prophet's first revelations were received in Mecca. He was exiled from Mecca after commanding the people to repent of polytheism and join the One True God, (in Arabic, his name is Allah). The Prophet Muhammad then travelled to Medina and converted the entire city. He led them to a victory over the polytheists at Mecca.

The verses are of two kinds: Meccan and Medinan. Meccan verses are characterized by praise of a monotheistic God and condemnation of polytheism. Medinan verses reflect divine laws and commandments that would help Muhammad in his new role as a leader of men; that is to say, the verses are concerned more with the social laws and obligations of Muslims.

The Qur'an has influenced a great number of people over the centuries, especially in the Middle East. The text of the Qur'an can be found at www.quranexplorer.net.

Several commentaries on the Qur'an exist. These are labelled as "tafsir" (the word for "commentary.") Allah himself is regarded as the greatest Tafsir. Muhammad is the second-best (his tafsir is called "hadith," the Words of the Prophet). The Companions of the Prophet also produced their own tafsirs. It is important to note that "tafsir" is NOT scripture, it is a companion to understanding scripture.

It is also important to note that Muhammad is not worshiped as a God. The Muslims are monotheistic. The Qur'an states that God has no equals, nor was he begotten by a greater being, ''nor has he begotten any other being.'' Muslims may occasionally view Jesus and the Holy Spirit as infringing on God's divinity. The Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity is regarded as tantamount to polytheism by Moslems.

==Translation==
The Qur'an was revealed to the Prophet [[Muhammad]] in what the Angel said was "clear Arabic." This has come to mean (for many reasons) that Arabic is the most beautiful language of all. The Qur'an also contains a challenge: if you do not believe that the Qur'an is the word of God, try to make something just as beautiful and good as it! This is the doctrine of inimitability (no copy can be made), or "i'jaz." These two doctrines, along with the inherent difficulty of translation (compounded by the fact that Arabic is not a Germanic nor Romance language), severely limit the value of translations of the Qur'an. In other words, the only Qur'an is the Arabic Qur'an. English versions of the Qur'an are regarded as commentaries.

Two of the most famous and widely-read English translations of the Qur'an are those by A. Yusuf Ali and M. Marmaduke Pickthall.

==Sources==
Scholars and theologians have identified six main sources for the contents of the Qur'an. ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' states: "The sources of the Koran be reduced to -

*The [[Old Testament]] (canonical and apocryphal) and the hybrid [[Judaism]] of the late rabbinical schools. During Mohammed's time the Jews were numerous in many parts of Arabia, especially around Medina. Familiarity with them is undoubtedly responsible for many Old Testament stories alluded to in Koran. Later Judaism and Rabbinism are equally well represented (Geiger, "Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthum aufgenommen?", Wiesbaden, 1833; tr. "Judaism and Islam", Madras, 1898).
*The [[New Testament]] (canonical and apocryphal) and various heretical doctrines. On his journeys between Syria, Hijaz, and Yemen, Mohammed had every opportunity to come in close touch with Yemenite, Abyssinian, Ghassanite, and Syrian [[Christianity|Christians]], especially heretics. Hence, while the influence of orthodox Christianity upon the Koran has been slight, apocryphal and heretical Christian legends, on the other hand, are one of the original sources of Koranic faith. (See Muir, op. cit. infra, 66-239; Tisdall, "The Original Sources of the Qur'an", London, 1905, 55-211.)
*[[Sabaism]], a combination of Judaism, [[Manicheism]], and old disfigured Babylonian [[heathen]]ism.
*[[Zoroastrianism]]. On account of Persia's political influence in the north-eastern part of Arabia, it is natural to find Zoroastrian elements in the Koran.
*[[Hanifism]], the adherents of which, called Hanifs, must have been considerable in number and influence, as it is known from contemporary Arabian sources that twelve of Mohammed's followers were members of this sect.
*Native ancient and contemporary Arabian heathen beliefs and practices. Wellhausen has collected in his "Reste des arabischen Heidentums" (Berlin, 1897) all that is known of pre-Islamic Arabian heathen belief, traditions, customs, and superstitions, many of which are either alluded to or accepted and incorporated in the Koran. From the various sects and creeds, and Abul-Fida, the well-known historian and geographer of the twelfth century, it is clear that religious beliefs and practices of the Arabs of Mohammed's day form one of the many sources of Islam. From this heathen source Islam derived the practices of polygamy and slavery, which Mohammed sanctioned by adopting them."<ref>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08692a.htm Koran], by Gabriel Oussani, ''The Catholic Encyclopedia''</ref>

==Verses of Violence==
The Qur'an contains scores of verses exhorting Muslims to engage in violence against non - Muslims:

*"I will cast terror into the hearts of those who disbelieve. Therefore '''strike off their heads''' and '''strike off every fingertip of them'''" (Sura 8 verse 12). <ref>http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/023-violence.htm</ref>

*"Say to the Unbelievers, if (now) they desist (from Unbelief), their past would be forgiven them; but if they persist, the punishment of those before them is already (a matter of warning for them). And '''fight them''' on until there is no more tumult or oppression, and there '''prevail justice and faith in Allah''' altogether and everywhere; but if they cease, verily Allah doth see all that they do" (8:38,39)<ref>http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/008.qmt.html#008.038</ref>.

*"So when the sacred months have passed away, then '''slay the idolaters wherever you find them''', and '''take them captives''' and '''besiege them''' and lie in wait for them in every ambush, then if they repent and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate, leave their way free to them" (Koran 9:5).<ref>http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/023-violence.htm</ref>.

*"The Jews call 'Uzair a son of Allah, and the Christians call Christ the son of Allah. That is a saying from their mouth; (in this) they but imitate what the unbelievers of old used to say. Allah's curse be on them: how they are deluded away from the Truth!" (9:30) <ref>http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/009.qmt.html#009.030</ref>.

*"Soon shall We cast terror into the hearts of the Unbelievers, for that they joined companions with Allah, for which He had sent no authority" (Sura 3 verse 151). <ref>http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Quran/023-violence.htm</ref> This verse commands violence against Christians, who according to Mohammed 'joined Companions with Allah' and are thus infidels who must be killed, subjugated, or converted according to the Koran.

==References==
<references/>

[[Category:Book of Worship]]
[[Category:Islam]]

Talk:Essay:Conservapedia Awards

2008-05-18T20:04:25Z

Watashiwa:

== Name of the Award ==

Suggestions:

* The [[William F. Buckley]] Award, for the first commentator in modern memory to make the case for [[conservative values]].
* The [[Ronald Reagan]] Award, after the one [[President of the United States]] in recent memory who has put those ideals into practice.--[[User:TerryH|TerryH]][[User talk:TerryH|Talk]] 13:38, 12 May 2008 (EDT)
::You and I think alike. I put my suggestion on the main page, though. It'd have a cool nickname, too: the Ronny. [[User:Jinxmchue|Jinxmchue]] 16:14, 12 May 2008 (EDT)

::: That's clever: the "Ronny"!--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 17:08, 12 May 2008 (EDT)

Perhaps we should coin a new name. Shocking as this may be, most of students have no recollection of Reagan. Most were born after he was president. Also, other awards are named after Reagan and even liberals invoke his memory now!--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 22:29, 12 May 2008 (EDT)

== Makers of wiki ==
You are of course aware that the makers of the wiki software is the Wikimedia Foundation, the charity that run by Jim Wales, which owns Wikipedia, that has such an awful Liberal bias that you had to create this? [[User:DanielB|DanielB]] 22:20, 12 May 2008 (EDT)

: No, the makers of the wiki software were individuals who volunteered their time, not an entity that has been taken over by a [[liberal]] mob.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 22:26, 12 May 2008 (EDT)

:: Check out there [http://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/MediaWiki website] down the bottom in the little bar it say "A Wikimedia Foundation Project". The wikimedia foundation owns this Wikipedia and about 8 other projects. [[User:DanielB|DanielB]] 23:10, 12 May 2008 (EDT)

::: That's silly, and says nothing about who developed the wiki software. If anything, that denies credit where credit is due.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 23:13, 12 May 2008 (EDT)

:::: Actually the irony only just occured to me. MediaWiki is funded by the Wikimedia Foundation. The Wikimedia Foundation gets most of it contributions through Wikipedia. Your website relise on MediaWiki, ergo your website relise on the donations brought in through Wikipedia. [[User:DanielB|DanielB]] 23:14, 12 May 2008 (EDT)

It is written the same way other open source projects are like LaTeX. Who ever happens to stop by and write some code. [[User:DanielB|DanielB]] 23:17, 12 May 2008 (EDT)

: In other words, you don't give credit where credit is due either, like Wikipedia itself.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 23:24, 12 May 2008 (EDT)

:: Oh no! Nobody thanks you. Is that why you started Conservapedia nobody thanked you for your help at Wikipedia?

:: All open source projects are like this lots of people do lots of work and nobody gets any recongition unless you creck open the code and have a look (LaTeX style files usually have the authors name commented out somewhere at the top of the source code). People have reasons other than recongnition when they participate in open source projects. LaTeX for example, you wanted to do something, you couldn't find a style file to do so you write one yourself and then upload it to the CTAN website so other people arn't met with the same problem. Nobody gets recognised but everyone gets something out of it. [[User:DanielB|DanielB]] 01:15, 13 May 2008 (EDT)

I could be wrong, but it looks like [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ward_Cunningham this guy] is the one who should be thanked, not Jimbo Wales. Took me about a minute to find that out. [[User:Jinxmchue|Jinxmchue]] 01:00, 13 May 2008 (EDT)

: He invented the first wiki, not the software that powers Conservapedia. The software that powers Conservapedia is the same as the one that powers Wikipedia, which is the one that produced by people who submit program code to MediaWiki project in order to create Wikipedia. [[User:DanielB|DanielB]] 01:15, 13 May 2008 (EDT)

::And Henry Ford just invented the modern assembly line, not the robots that work on them today. No need to recognize him for anything. [[User:Jinxmchue|Jinxmchue]] 13:34, 13 May 2008 (EDT)

::Right. And Thomas Edison merely invented the first light bulb, not the ones we use today. No one should bother recognizing Edison either!--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 15:00, 13 May 2008 (EDT)

::: William Hammer did alot of the ground work research for the light bulb. He worked in Edison's lab and after the lab as a whole developed the light globe Edison took it and patented it. It looks like you enjoy rewarding the person who took the credit rather than the people who did the work, you should give your "award" to Jim Wales than. [[User:DanielB|DanielB]] 18:43, 13 May 2008 (EDT)

::::So now you're agreeing with us. How convenient. How typical! Your arguments are a joke. It doesn't matter what Jimbo Wales actually did - you just want him to get an award from Conservapedia. Please go troll elsewhere. (And from your edit history, looks like you're here pretty much just to [[Conservapedia:Guidelines#90.2F10_rule|talktalktalk]] anyway.) [[User:Jinxmchue|Jinxmchue]] 11:52, 14 May 2008 (EDT)

:::::I didn't say I wanted to give Jim Wales an award, I said that you are ignoring the fact that the software you use was developed with support (bandwidth of the website, ect.) from money raised through Wikipedia. Andy must have relised this when he was on their website downloading the files.

:::::Your websites existence is entirly dependent on Wikipedia and any "award" for wikis will have to go in part to the Wikimedia Foundation for providing the platform for developing wikis. [[User:DanielB|DanielB]] 19:08, 14 May 2008 (EDT)

:::::: Jimxmchue, don't bother responding. DanielB did not take your hint and he violated the [[90/10 rule]], and has been appropriately blocked for it.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 19:21, 14 May 2008 (EDT)

:::::::I was done anyway. :) [[User:Jinxmchue|Jinxmchue]] 00:08, 15 May 2008 (EDT)

==Phyllis Schlafly==
Isn't she associated with Conservapedia? '''[[user:FernoKlump|FernoKlump]]'''[[User talk:FernoKlump|All the funny lines are banned]] 23:09, 17 May 2008 (EDT)

: No. Are you a conspiracy theorist, Ferno? Perhaps you believe in [[Hillary Clinton|Hillary]]'s claim of a vast right-wing conspiracy?--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 23:17, 17 May 2008 (EDT)

::What? What does that have to do with anything? I know she is your mother, I just didn't know if she was technically associated with Conservapedia. Geeze . . . '''[[user:FernoKlump|FernoKlump]]'''[[User talk:FernoKlump|All the funny lines are banned]] 23:22, 17 May 2008 (EDT)

::: Ferno, your first statement above is inconsistent with your second. When called on your contradiction, you just play dumb? Ferno, do you ever admit you're wrong?--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 23:34, 17 May 2008 (EDT)

::::Maybe I am dumb then, because I don't have a clue as to what I did that was wrong or contradictory. If you are saying that Phyllis is not associated with Conservapedia, then thank you for answering my question. As for your remarks, if you look closely at my first sentence you'll notice that it was a question, not a statement, and was intended to be read as such. '''[[user:FernoKlump|FernoKlump]]'''[[User talk:FernoKlump|All the funny lines are banned]] 23:45, 17 May 2008 (EDT)

::::: Ferno, I asked you a simple question. Are you going to answer it?--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 23:50, 17 May 2008 (EDT)

:::::: As I explained above, that question has nothing to do with this topic because I asked a simple question. And yes, I do admit I am wrong ''if'' I'm actually wrong and ''if'' I'm not being randomly insulted by some guy on the internet who doesn't understand that my question was simply a question. '''[[user:FernoKlump|FernoKlump]]'''[[User talk:FernoKlump|All the funny lines are banned]] 23:55, 17 May 2008 (EDT)

Well, gosh darn, it confuses me too Ferno.
[[User:AdenJ|AdenJ]] 00:25, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

:Ferno, I suggest your answers should be: no, no, no, yes. [[User:StatsMsn|StatsMsn]] 01:27, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

:: Ferno, your answer that you admit that you are wrong "if" you're actually wrong is not much of an answer. You may never think you're wrong. You've been blocked six times here by numerous Sysops; your signature line pushes a false statement; and your question above that started this discussion implies a falsehood. Yet I haven't seen you admit you're wrong about anything yet. I'll ask the simple question one last time, do you ever admit you're wrong?

:: Regardless, Ferno, remove the falsehood from your signature line or your account will be blocked for the 7th time.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 09:08, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

If Mrs. Schlafly is not associated with Conservapedia then why did the April 25th CP News headline refer to her as "Conservapedian Phyllis Schlafly"? --[[User:DinsdaleP|DinsdaleP]] 11:10, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

: Clever try, but Ferno gave his "reason" and that was not it. "Conservapedian" is an honorary title, as in the context of giving someone an award. My problem is not with disqualifying this nominee, but with Ferno's style of reasoning and his repeatedly unjustified insinuations, as in his signature above.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 13:45, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

:::I wasn't trying to be clever, and I really don't care about whether Mrs. Schlafly is eligible for a Conservapedia award or not - this site can honor anyone it chooses for any reason it wants to. When asked if she was a Conservapedian you answered "no", and I was simply asking for a clarification of what "Conservapedian" means since she was referred to as one. Lighten up. --[[User:DinsdaleP|DinsdaleP]] 14:06, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

::Aschlafly, do you ever admit you're wrong? '''[[user:FernoKlump|FernoKlump]]'''[[User talk:FernoKlump|Whenever I put something here I get in trouble]] 13:47, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

::: Yes. But notice how you couldn't say that.--[[User:Aschlafly|Aschlafly]] 13:50, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

::::Your argument above is that it is pointless to say that you are wrong if you actually think that you're wrong, right? Why would someone admit they were wrong if they didn't think that they were wrong? You are using pretty circular logic. But to wrap this up, being a "Conservapedian" doesn't associate you with Conservapedia, and even questioning that makes you a conspiracy theorist. And BTW I never "gave" a reason why Phyllis Schlafly should not be included, I just asked a question. '''[[user:FernoKlump|FernoKlump]]'''[[User talk:FernoKlump|Whenever I put something here I get in trouble]] 13:58, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

::::Whoa, stop the [[troll|trolling]] and [[bully|bullying]]. Conspiracies, Hillary Clinton, signatures, admitting being wrong, then threatening to block?... those go on user talk pages, not here where it appears as intimidation at best. I've seen others get life-long blocks for that. "Who polices the police?"
::::Although Conservapedia honored here on April 25 as "Conservapedian", it doesn't mean she is associated yet. That's like honoring my cat and saying my cat is associated. Being the mother of the owner of Conservapedia does not mean association to Conservapedia. But, this is a good way of defining how one is or isn't associated to Conservapedia through trial and error. Also, I'll add her founding of the Eagle Forum, since adding specifics to her lifetime contributions is pleasing to the eye. :) [[User:LardoBolger|LardoBolger]] 14:42, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

::::耶穌說：「其次也相倣，就是要愛人如己。」－馬太福音22:39 (Look up Matthew 22:39 to see what it says. Or in other words, STOP KILLING EACH OTHER!)--[[User:Watashiwa|私は]] 16:04, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

==Reasons For Nomination==

I'm adding small specifics to some nominees, since some seem to be nominated for being something anyone can be. For example, Vice President Cheney being a true patriot. Anyone can be a true patriot... so I'd like to add better examples of nomination for better understanding. [[User:LardoBolger|LardoBolger]] 14:51, 18 May 2008 (EDT)

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-18T05:38:40Z

Watashiwa:

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-18T04:36:19Z

Watashiwa:

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-18T04:20:41Z

Watashiwa:

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-17T05:25:56Z

Watashiwa:

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-16T20:51:13Z

Watashiwa:

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-16T20:48:07Z

Watashiwa: Rearranged Userboxes

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-16T20:29:10Z

Watashiwa:

{{userboxtop|Watashi<s>wa</s>'''NO''' Opinion (NOTE: CORRECT JAPANESE PARTICLE)}}
{{User comp-4}}
{{User CPLeader|FernoKlump}}
{{User too liberal|Watashiwa}}
{{User Evo}}
{{User bigbang}}
{{User evolutionScience}}
{{User American}}
{{User patriot questions authority}}
{{User LiberalJesus}}
{{User nowar}}
{{User gay rights}}
{{User moderatecapitalist}}
{{User bothered}}
{{User JP2 saint}}
{{User JesusTeachings}}
{{User pubschool}}
{{User Life begins|conception}}
{{User noBush}}
{{User Socrates}}
{{userboxbottom}}

國語：你好，我是私は！（「私は」本來是日文，是「我」的意思。）我有時候覺得保守百科太過「右」。（我知道這個字聽到像英式漢語。算了吧！）如果有話說，留話就可以吧！

粵語：你好，我係私は！（「私は」本來係日文，是「我」嘅意思。）我有時諗保守百科太過「右」。（我知呢個字聽到似英式漢語。算啦！）如果有嘢講，留話就得啦！

User:Watashiwa

2008-05-16T04:40:23Z

Watashiwa:

國語：你好，我是私は！（「私は」本來是日文，是「我」的意思。）我有時候覺得保守百科太過「右」。（我知道這個字聽到像英式漢語。算了吧！）如果有話說，留話就可以吧！

粵語：你好，我係私は！（「私は」本來係日文，是「我」嘅意思。）我有時諗保守百科太過「右」。（我知呢個字聽到似英式漢語。算啦！）如果有嘢講，留話就得啦！