Category:China

Chi"na, n.

1. A country in Eastern Asia.

2. China ware, which is the modern popular term for porcelain. See Porcelain. China aster (Bot.), a well-known garden flower and plant. See Aster. -- China bean. See under Bean, 1. -- China clay See Kaolin. -- China grass, Same as Ramie. -- China ink. See India ink. -- China pink (Bot.), an anual or biennial species of Dianthus (D. Chiensis) having variously colored single or double flowers; Indian pink. -- China root (Med.), the rootstock of a species of Smilax (S. China, from the East Indies; -- formerly much esteemed for the purposes that sarsaparilla is now used for. Also the galanga root (from Alpinia Gallanga and Alpinia officinarum). -- China rose. (Bot.) (a) A popular name for several free-blooming varieties of rose derived from the Rosa Indica, and perhaps other species. (b) A flowering hothouse plant (Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis) of the Mallow family, common in the gardens of China and the east Indies. -- China shop, a shop or store for the sale of China ware or of crockery. -- China ware, porcelain; -- so called in the 17th century because brought from the far East, and differing from the pottery made in Europa at that time; also, loosely, crockery in general. -- Pride of China, China tree. (Bot.) See Azedarach.

For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under Mao Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978 A.D., his successor Deng Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 A.D. output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.

Several languages spoken in China: Standard Chinese or Mandarin (Putonghua, based on the Beijing dialect), Yue (Cantonese), Wu (Shanghainese), Minbei (Fuzhou), Minnan (Hokkien-Taiwanese), Xiang, and Gan, not to mention the Hakka dialects and the minority languages.