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Qixi Festival

The Qixi Festival, also known as the Qiqiao Festival , is a Chinese festival celebrating the annual meeting of Zhinü and Niulang in Chinese mythology. The festival is celebrated on the seventh day of the seventh lunisolar month on the Chinese lunisolar calendar.

A celebration of romantic love, the festival is often described as the traditional Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day. The festival is derived from Chinese mythology: people celebrate the romantic legend of two lovers, Zhinü and Niulang, who were the weaver girl and the cowherd, respectively. The tale of The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl has been celebrated in the Qixi Festival since the Han dynasty. The earliest-known reference to this famous myth dates back to more than 2,600 years ago, which was told in a poem from the Classic of Poetry.

The festival has variously been called the Double Seventh Festival, the Chinese Valentine's Day, the Night of Sevens, or the Magpie Festival.

Origin
The popular tale is a love story between Zhinü (, the weaver girl, symbolizing Vega) and Niulang (牛郎, the cowherd, symbolizing Altair). Niulang was often abused by his sister-in-law. They eventually kicked him out of the house, and gave him nothing but an old cow. One day, the old cow suddenly spoke out, telling Niulang that there would be fairies bathing in the spring nearby that night. The fairy would stay there if she failed to go back to heaven before morning. In accordance with what the old cow said, Niulang saw those beautiful fairies in the spring, and fell in love with one of the beautiful fairies who was the heavenly weaver. In order to make her stay, he took her clothes that helped her to go back to heaven; this made her an ordinary earth woman without any power. They then got married and had two children. The Emperor of Heaven (, lit. 'The Jade Emperor') found out about this and was furious, so he sent minions to escort the heavenly weaver back to heaven. Niulang was heartbroken. The old cow suddenly spoke out again, telling Niulang he could take his skin to make it into a flying coat to chase after them; and Niulang did. However, the Queen Mother of the West drew a Silver River (The Milky Way) in the sky and blocked his way. Meanwhile, the love between Niulang and the weaver moved the magpie, and so they built a bridge of magpies over the Silver River for them to meet. The Emperor of Heaven was also moved by the sight, and allowed this couple to meet on the Magpie Bridge once a year on the seventh day of the seventh lunar month. That was the origin of the Qixi Festival.

Traditions
During the Han dynasty, the practices were conducted in accordance with formal ceremonial state rituals. Over time, the festival activities also included customs that the common people partook in.

Girls take part in worshipping the celestials (拜仙) during rituals. They go to the local temple to pray to Zhinü for wisdom. Paper items are usually burned as offerings. Girls may recite traditional prayers for dexterity in needlework, which symbolizes the traditional talents of a good spouse. Divination could take place to determine the possible dexterity in needlework. They make wishes for marrying someone who would be a good and loving husband. During the festival, girls make a display of their domestic skills. Traditionally, there would be contests amongst those who attempted to be the best in threading needles under low-light conditions, like the glow of an ember or of a half moon. Today, girls sometimes gather toiletries in honour of the seven maidens.

The festival also held an importance for newlywed couples. Traditionally, they would worship the celestial couple for the last time and bid farewell to them (辭仙). The celebration stood as a symbol for a happy marriage and showed that the married woman was treasured by her new family.

On this day, the Chinese gaze up at the sky to look for Vega and Altair shining in the Milky Way, while Deneb, a third star, forms a symbolic bridge between the two stars. It was said that if it rains on this day, it was caused by a river sweeping away the magpie bridge or that the rain is the tears of the separated couple. Based on the legend of a flock of magpies forming a bridge to reunite the couple, a pair of magpies came to symbolize conjugal happiness and faithfulness.

The eating customs of Qixi Festival vary from place to place, and are called eating Qiao food. The most famous traditional food people eat on Qixi Festival is Qiao Guo, which has a history of more than one thousand years since it became popular during the Song dynasty. The main ingredients are flour, oil. and honey, sometimes adding sesame, peanuts, kernels, roses, and other different ingredients. After mixing those ingredients, the people then deep-fry them. Beyond that, people would eat crunchy candy, refreshments, and fruits together, expressing the people's pursuit of ingenuity, family health, and happy life wishes.

Literature
Many pieces of literature, such as poems, songs, and operas, have been written for this festival and about the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, dating back to the Zhou dynasty Classic of Poetry. Many describe the atmosphere of the festival or narrate related stories. This has left a valuable literary legacy which helps modern scholars better understand ancient Chinese customs, feelings, and opinions relating to the festival.

 迢迢牽牛星，                         Far, far away, the Cowherd, 皎皎河漢女. Fair, fair, the Weaving Maid; 纖纖擢素手，                         Nimbly move her slender white fingers, 札札弄機杼. Click-clack goes her spinning-loom. 終日不成章，                         All day she weaves, yet her web is still not done 泣涕零如雨. And her tears fall like rain. 河漢清且淺，                         Clear and shallow the Milky Way, 相去復幾許？                         They are not far apart! 盈盈一水間，                         But the stream brims always between 脈脈不得語. And, gazing at each other, they cannot speak.
 * 迢迢牽牛星 – 佚名（東漢） Far, Far Away, the Cowherd – Anonymous (a Han dynasty yuefu  )

(Translated by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang )

 銀燭秋光冷畫屏，         A candle flame flickers against a dull painted screen on a cool autumn night, 輕羅小扇撲流螢. She holds a small silk fan to flap away dashing fireflies. 天階夜色涼如水，         Above her hang celestial bodies as frigid as deep water, 坐看牽牛織女星. She sat there watching Altair of Aquila and Vega of Lyra pining for each other in the sky.
 * 秋夕–杜牧（唐朝） An Autumn Night – Du Mu (Tang dynasty)

(Translated by Betty Tseng )

 纖雲弄巧，                     Clouds float like works of art, 飛星傳恨，                     Stars shoot with grief at heart. 銀漢迢迢暗渡. Across the Milky Way the Cowherd meets the Maid. 金風玉露一相逢，            When Autumn’s Golden Wind embraces Dew of Jade, 便勝却人間無數. All the love scenes on earth, however many, fade. 柔情似水，                     Their tender love flows like a stream; 佳期如夢，                     Their happy date seems but a dream. 忍顧鶴橋歸路. How can they bear a separate homeward way? 兩情若是久長時，            If love between both sides can last for aye, 又豈在朝朝暮暮. Why need they stay together night and day?
 * 鵲橋仙–秦觀（宋朝） Immortals at the Magpie Bridge – Qin Guan (Song dynasty)

(Translated by Xu Yuanchong )

Other
Interactive Google doodles have been launched since the 2009 Qixi Festival to mark the occasion. The latest was launched for the 2022 Qixi Festival. The Qixi festival inspired the Tanabata festival in Japan, Chilseok festival in Korea, and Thất Tịch festival in Vietnam.

title: Qixi Festival


text:
Wikipedia talk:Things to be moved to Wiktionary

Why two sites?
Why are there two seperate sites? Why not have it all on the same site? Pizza Puzzle

 * I suppose because you have two separate books as well, a dictionary (one volume, definitions only) and an encyclopedia (many volumes, contains articles spanning several pages). It is however a little hard to know what to put where from time to time... Wzzrd 19:33 20 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * I'm not sure that the same reasoning that indicates why it makes sense to make a split into encyclopedia and dictionary in the book world can also be applied to a project like Wikipedia. What's the actual *use* of keeping the sites separate? -- Schnee 15:42 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

They are seprate as they are two different things and Wiktionary is not anoraml dictionary. -fonzy

What's the procedure?
What's the actual procedure here? Do I just list a page and forget about it? Will wiktionary experts take it from there? (hint, I've hardly used wiktionary...) Martin

Like "take a penny, leave a penny". Ellmist 02:16 20 Jul 2003 (UTC)

I'm going to echo Martin here - I'd be happy to do the move-to-Wiktionary thing myself, but I can't make heads or tails of the instructions or example at transwiki. Could somebody familiar with the process add a step-by-step list of how to do this? --Dcfleck 13:32, 2005 Apr 24 (UTC)

Very circular indeed. Is there some voting process someone would like to point out please? --Herzog 00:34, 5 October 2005 (UTC)

Moving and merging
move to Wikipedia talk:Things to be moved to Wiktionary

How does one go about moving pages to Wikiquote or Wiktionary? Manual cut and paste?

How are edit histories merged if a temp article is started?

--Jiang 12:03 17 Jul 2003 (UTC)
 * This is the same as the issue of moving things from here to [Simple], currently being discussed on the village pump. Angela

Incorrect listing: global and social
Global and social are about the phenomena of adding these adjectives as prefixes to words to make phrases - which has not just a linguistic but a political element. Read the entries. There are semantics associated with adding such prefixes that simply aren't in Wiktionary's mandate - and the number of cross-links would be extreme. A stripped-down version of these articles should go to Wiktionary, but volumes could be written say on the use of the word "social" to mean "good" by the left and "bad" by the right. And they should be written, perhaps under different names (like prefix 'global' and prefix 'social') to deal with stuff like trade vs. global trade and justice vs. social justice.

 * global - basically an overly long dictionary entry. This entry will always be about the word itself, rather than about something more worthy of an encyclopedia article like globalization. Chadloder 03:34, 6 Aug 2003 (UTC)
 * I read the global article ... could the applicable parts be incorporated into the globalization article? I still need to read the globalization article. Also ... couldn't this article be rewritten for a computer science perspective (as global related to variables)? I'm not sure if there is other implication for global than for CS. It's be a more abstract meaning than the one that the author of the current global article wanted to convey, but could be applicable ... mabey ... mabey not ... reddi 20:02, 9 Aug 2003 (UTC)
 * Obviously it's more than just CS that the term "Global" is used in. See Global Greens for instance, or lots of other entries with that adjective.  One approach for these is to rewrite them for the Simple English Wikipedia for those who don't understand the implications of taggng something as "global".  It might also go into globalization but that is already a quite long article. EofT

 * social - glorified dictionary entry. We already have a page on society. Chadloder 03:34, 6 Aug 2003 (UTC)

 * Two different issues. One is a noun, one an adjective.  Would you combine the two with a whole section on "social" as a term meaning social interest has been considered, all in the article on society?  That might be ok with a redirect.  But the article is much more than one would see in a dictionary, even the Wiktionary.  If I'm wrong about that, move it *there*. EofT

From Wikipedia:Votes for deletion
On October 11, Angela listed all the articles that on the Things to be moved to Wiktionary page on VfD. The following comments were made before she got sick of the complaints and removed them from VfD.
 * This is ridiculous. With a few exceptions, those are all valid encyclopaedia topics. If they currently contain only a definition, that's no reason to delete them. It just means they're stubs waiting to be expanded. It's perfectly normal that an encyclopaedia article begins with a definition. --Wik 13:52, Oct 11, 2003 (UTC)
 * If someone wants to delete a dictionary definition: please move it to Wiktionary and fix all the links to and from the entry. - Patrick 13:18, 11 Oct 2003 (UTC)"
 * Many of these have been listed since at least July. As I said, Wiktionary clearly does not want them and I would expect the Wiktionarians to be somewhat annoyed if someone who knew nothing about the way they set out their pages came and dumped the above rubbish into their dictionary, so suggesting someone from Wikipedia does this is ridiculous. Wikipedia is not a dictionary. We can not just keep them on the off-chance some other project might want them at some point in the future. Angela 18:34, Oct 11, 2003 (UTC)
 * Perhaps we should think more Wikimedia-wide: if an entry has value but is in the wrong project, move it, do not just delete it. (And do not break links.) But also within Wikipedia, contents of a dictionary-like entry can often fit in a related article. The original title becomes a redirect (as Kingturtle already mentioned below) and is not deleted. Somebody who is disturbed by a dictionary entry can better do these edits, instead of listing the page here. Patrick 21:13, 11 Oct 2003 (UTC)
 * For items on this particular list that get voted for deletion, maybe rather than delete them, we should redirect them to appropriate articles. Kingturtle 19:10, 11 Oct 2003 (UTC)
 * Keep them (all of them). If specific articles are listed for deletion with a reason, that's fine, but just posting a huge list only means that no real discussion can be had about the individual articles. -- Schnee 20:49, 11 Oct 2003 (UTC)

This page seems to have low traffic. Moving to wiktionary means deletion from wikipedia. Hence a proper pocedure would be via VfD, especially for words that describe things, especially rare things. Mikkalai 04:15, 15 May 2004 (UTC)

 * This page was deprecated quite a while ago in favor of the transwiki scheme. Currently, that hasn't had quite the right effect either, but I've sugegested some changes on m:talk:transwiki which might make the proecess of moving and deletion a bit smoother. Angela. 17:18, May 16, 2004 (UTC)

Suggested policy change
Please read over Soft redirect, then add your comments to this discussion: Wikipedia talk:Deletion policy. Thanks, • Benc • 11:06, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Suffixes in the Wikipedia
I think the following articles should be moved to the Wiktionary, but I don't want to get anyone mad or have revision wars over the fact. Please see the following articles: -cide, -cycle, -cracy, -ic, -ism, -ist, -ography, -oid, -ology, -omics, -onomy, -onym, -philia, -phobia, -scope, -stan, -ware

Found while stub sorting. -- AllyUnion (talk) 00:11, 28 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Look like Wiktionary articles to me. --Tagishsimon

They do provide useful lists of words that use the suffixes though, and those are pretty much Wikipedia material. The lists at least should be left. (perhaps each moved to some better name). I agreee that the definitions parts are Wiktionary material. — siro χ  o  00:22, Aug 28, 2004 (UTC)

I agree with Siroxo that the lists are encyclopedic and/or an almanac-like list, which is included in Wikipedia--can't get such a list from m-w.com. Of the ones I've checked, -ography seems to be the best example of the potential these articles have to be 'pedia-worthy (oh, even better is -ology and -ism). If we're going to have a list anyway, I think some prose at the top to set context is reasonable. As for the articles they link to, I think they would need to be evaluated on a case-by-case basis--take a look at biography--hardly a dicdef. On the other hand, -stan and especially (at least the current contents) -ware have a bit of a "what doesn't belong in this set" flavor to them. If you check the histories, -ism, -ology, and -phobia have had contributions from dozens of Wikipedians, and the rest average almost eight different contributors. Also, the 17 articles in this series were started by at least 8 or 9 different Wikipedians. Finally, at least two have inter-wiki links from other language Wikipedias. Wholesale transfer to Wiktionary doesn't seem appropriate to me. Some of the articles are certainly less developed than others, but that can be said about most any category of articles on Wikipedia. Niteowlneils 21:17, 28 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Even so, if the entry is still looking like a definition, it can moved to the Wiktionary then redirected back to the Wikipedia. As it stands, a lot of the features in the Wiktionary don't exist like the features in Wikipedia -- just because the Wiktionary is new.  Perhaps using a basic definition in Wiktionary would be useful then putting a "See also" to point to the Wikipedia for any words on that list.  Normally, suffixes are in a dictionary, as opposed to a encyclopedia.  It just seems so... out of place to me. -- Allyunion 11:21, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * If you move them to Wiktionary and redirect them back, all the links would be the same color. Most encyclopedias don't have "List of gay waitresses who shot mailmen" either, but I think these articles, as links, fit in with the precedents of Wikipedia. (personally I think just about all lists should move to a separate namespace as they're not articles but lists, but I'm in the minority on that opinion and it's not a big deal either way). anthony (see warning) 14:40, 29 Aug 2004 (UTC)

In any case, I don't think we should remove the definition but keep the list. That's just silly — all of our articles start out with a definition. WP:WWIN: of course an article can and should always begin with a good definition or a clear description of the topic. If we're going to transwiki, it should be an all-or-nothing deal. Anyway, I'm inclined to agree with Niteowlneils that the lists are at least somewhat encyclopedic, so I'm suggesting we keep the suffix series. • Benc • 05:30, 2 Sep 2004 (UTC)

 * Not all of the entries have lists, just to note. --Allyunion 07:36, 2 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Imagination
While verbs, adverbs and adjectives can be hard to write about, I'd say that nearly every tangible noun could (in theory) have an article about it. In practice, this won't always happen, as very mundane things (e.g. cup) are taken for granted as everyone knows what they are, and has a rough idea how're they made.

But even with things such as cup, it has potential for types of cups used in other countries, special cups for different situations, mention of symbolic cups (e.g. Holy Grail), what people used before cups, what cups were made out of in the 1600s (for poor and the rich) stuff like that.

It's a bit of a stupid example, and i probably know less about cups that most people, but there is potential encyclopedic content.

I'd ask that before moving such "dictionary definitions" to the wiktionary, that the theoretical possibility of an article be considered, or else the next time an antiques dealer discovers wikipedia, and wants to contribute their vast knowledge of Victorian and Elizabethan crockery, they might feel they're not wanted. :-) Tristanb 03:15, 28 Oct 2004 (UTC)

#REDIRECT word
I suggest instead of remove, include a #REDIRECT word (for the concrete word definition). If later there is a lot of information, one can re-create a wikipedia article with a link to the dictionary definition.
 * I'd prefer a tag to a redirect. Unfortunately both of these qualify as candidates for speedy deletion. 14:50, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)

This does not seem to be useable
There does not seem to be a coherent plan of how to take items off this list. Should this page even exist now that the transwiki system exists? (Even thought it doesn't work either.) Help. JesseW 09:21, 19 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Old entries
Old entries should be reviewed more carefully before any transwiki attempts. Topsail might have have been a dicdef when it was listed (although any knowledgeable person should have been aware that it could easily be a lengthy article - what's there now is still incomplete), but it grew beyond that later. Stan 07:51, 8 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Wiktionary tag of doom
I was surprised when Courtland told me "Moving something to Wiktionary in no way bars the expansion and existence of the nominated article". It seems to me to say "This is going to be deleted from wikipedia, don't improve it unless you can make a whole (new) article". I believe this interpretation is shared by many people, especially Vfd voters. Kappa 15:24, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * I'm the opposite. I see the tag as a challenge to make the article more acceptable to Wikipedia! Grutness|hello? [[Image:Grutness.jpg|25px|]] 23:52, 17 Mar 2005 (UTC)
 * Concur with Grutness. It is common for articles to be expanded in reaction to a VfD, the same would apply to Transwiki. Radiant_* 11:01, Mar 18, 2005 (UTC)
 * As I pointed before in Votes for deletion/Counsel, the actual notice itself (in its second sentence) encourages expansion, and there's plenty of evidence on this very project page that articles do expand whilst languishing in the Wiktionary queue. The idea that this is a "tag of doom" is not supported by the evidence in front of us. Uncle G 06:22, 2005 Mar 21 (UTC)
 * It says if you want to expand it you have to make an "encyclopedia article". That certainly discouraged me from touching them. Articles in Vfd are expanded precisely because they are under threat, but only a commited wikipedia would do that. Kappa 11:12, 21 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Question
I think we might be better served by just scrapping this page altogether. Its seldom used. And its not very useful, as dicdefs listed here are either tagged concurrently, and then transwikied regardless of comments, or not tagged, and then never trasnwikied even if they are dicdefs. This page just seems to confuse the process. And if many people (though it's unlikely) really do want to comment on transwiki proposals, it would be nearly as easy to just watch the category (Category:Copy to Wiktionary) for recent additions. Thoughts? --Dmcdevit 03:41, 24 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * I'd certainly like to scrap the New Requests section and let the category do the work, for the very reasons that you state. I've been working on clearing it for some time, now, with that very goal in mind.  The old listings that remain need detailed attention, though.  Perhaps we should rename the section to Old Requests and remove the encouragement to add new listings.  I think that at the moment we should keep the page as a whole, though. Uncle G 12:32, 2005 Jun 24 (UTC)
 * I've been bold and implemented the change. You may want to revise the wording if you can put it better. It seems to me like most of the old ones have been transwikied. Do you mean we need to resolve what happens to them after transwikiing (as in merging, etc.)? --Dmcdevit 07:24, 25 Jun 2005 (UTC)
 * That, listing why they have become moot (if they have), and other things, yes. Uncle G 10:45, 2005 Jun 25 (UTC)

MfD Result Notice
This page was the subject of an MfD discussion closed on 5 June 2006. The result was Keep. Xoloz 03:48, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/


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Esther Dyson

Esther Dyson (born 14 July 1951) is a Swiss-born American investor, journalist, author, commentator and philanthropist. She is the executive founder of Wellville, a nonprofit project focused on improving equitable wellbeing. Dyson is also an angel investor focused on health care, open government, digital technology, biotechnology, and outer space. Multiple citations:
 * Esther Dyson on Huffington Post
 * George, Don (4 November 1997). "Road Warrior: Esther Dyson" . Salon Wanderlust. Retrieved 12 October 2008. "Esther Dyson, one of the preeminent visionaries of the digital age – and a quintessential road warrior [..] She also invests in and sits on the boards of several U.S. start-ups. In addition, Dyson is chairwoman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit civil liberties organization" Dyson's career now focuses on health and she continues to invest in health and technology startups.
 * Esther Dyson on Huffington Post
 * George, Don (4 November 1997). "Road Warrior: Esther Dyson" . Salon Wanderlust. Retrieved 12 October 2008. "Esther Dyson, one of the preeminent visionaries of the digital age – and a quintessential road warrior [..] She also invests in and sits on the boards of several U.S. start-ups. In addition, Dyson is chairwoman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit civil liberties organization" Dyson's career now focuses on health and she continues to invest in health and technology startups.
 * George, Don (4 November 1997). "Road Warrior: Esther Dyson" . Salon Wanderlust. Retrieved 12 October 2008. "Esther Dyson, one of the preeminent visionaries of the digital age – and a quintessential road warrior [..] She also invests in and sits on the boards of several U.S. start-ups. In addition, Dyson is chairwoman of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit civil liberties organization" Dyson's career now focuses on health and she continues to invest in health and technology startups.

Education and early life
Esther Dyson's father was English-born, American-naturalized physicist Freeman Dyson, and her mother was mathematician Verena Huber-Dyson, of Swiss parentage; her brother is science historian George Dyson. Her paternal grandfather was the composer Sir George Dyson. She was educated at Harvard University, where she studied economics and wrote for The Harvard Crimson.

Career
After graduating she joined Forbes as a fact-checker and quickly rose to reporter. In 1977, she joined New Court Securities following Federal Express and other start-ups. After a stint at Oppenheimer Holdings covering software companies, she moved to Rosen Research in 1982. In 1983, when she bought the company from her employer Ben Rosen, Dyson renamed the company EDventure Holdings and his Rosen Electronic Letter newsletter Release 1.0. She and business partner Daphne Kis sold EDventure Holdings to CNET Networks in 2004 and left CNET in January 2007.

On 7 October 2008, Space Adventures announced that Dyson had paid to train as a back-up spaceflight participant for Charles Simonyi's trip to the International Space Station aboard the Soyuz TMA-14 mission which took place in 2009.

In 1997, Dyson wrote that as of that time she had never voted. The tagline of her email signature block reads “Always make new mistakes”.

Publications and business ventures
Currently, Dyson is a board member and active investor in a variety of start-ups, mostly in online services, health care, logistics, artificial intelligence, emerging markets, and space travel. She was a board member of Yandex, which is considered the “Google of Russia,” until March 2022.

Previously, Dyson and her company EDventure Holdings specialized in analyzing the effect of emerging technologies and markets on economies and societies. She produced the following publications on technology:
 * Release 1.0, her monthly technology-industry newsletter (started by Ben Rosen), published by EDventure Holdings. Until 2006, Dyson wrote most issues herself and edited the others. When she left CNET, the newsletter was picked up by O'Reilly Media, which appointed Jimmy Guterman to edit it and renamed the newsletter Release 2.0.
 * Rel-EAST, a sister newsletter focused on the technology industry in Eastern Europe.
 * Release 2.0, her 1997 book on how the Internet affects individuals' lives. Its full title is Release 2.0: A Design for Living in the Digital Age. The revision Release 2.1 was published in 1998.

Philanthropy
Dyson is an active member of a number of non-profit and advisory organizations. From 1998 to 2000, she was the founding chairman of ICANN, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers. As of 2004, she sat on its "reform" committee (the At-Large Advisory Committee), dedicated to defining a role for individuals in ICANN's decision-making and governance structures. She opposed ICANN's 2012 expansion of generic top-level domains (gTLDs). She has followed closely the post-Soviet transition of Eastern Europe, from 2002 to 2012 was a member of the Bulgarian President's IT Advisory Council, along with Vint Cerf, George Sadowsky, and Veni Markovski, among others. She has served as a trustee of, and helped fund, emerging organizations such as Glasses for Humanity, Bridges.org, the National Endowment for Democracy, the Eurasia Foundation, StopBadware, and the Sunlight Foundation. She was previously a member of the Global Business Network.

Currently, she is a trustee of Charity Navigator, ExpandED Schools (outside-of-class services for kids), the Long Now Foundation, Open Corporates, and The Commons Project, where she chairs the comp and culture committee.

Other pursuits
Dyson was one of the first ten volunteers for George Church’s Personal Genome Project where you can find her complete genome.

Dyson has served as a judge for Mayor Michael Bloomberg's NYC BigApps competition in New York.

title: Esther Dyson


text:
Talk:John Backus

FORTRAN
Though I admire brief things your bio on John Backus is far, far too short. The modern computer combined with John Backus' FORTRAN language is one of "THE" inventions of the 20th Century as noted by the National Academy of Sciences. The computer was marvelous, but with out the 'high level' language of FORTRAN it would have been a gee-whiz thing. Requiring days and weeks of laboriously entering long strings of numbers (without error) to do the simplest things. FORTRAN, or FORmula TRANslation, allowed any mathmetician or scientist to use ordinary equation type english language to solve problems. The FORTRAN compiler would then translate that into tons of machine language to run on the various computers (90% IBM) of the day. This freed the scientist to pursue scientific things rather than laboriously learning and using machine language. I could go on and on. The invention of FORTRAN was one of the first steps to make the computer useful, other steps, and people would lead us to the supremely useful PC of today.

comments from Harry Porter - I was nearby in the early days.

 * You are right of course, we have many articles that are way too short. It's just a case of waiting until an interested and knowledgeable contributor comes along.  If that's you in this case, please go ahead and expand the article :) -- sannse 21:16 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

--- I would venture to say that the Backus-Naur Form was much more important in the grand scheme of things than even FORTRAN was. Not to take anything away from Backus' breakthrough and useful language (ground stations controlling satellites launched into orbit in 2006 still use FORTRAN code!), but sooner or later, he or someone else would have come up with a scientifically-oriented programming language. The Backus-Naur Form (or Notation) he and Peter Naur built, created a standard which freed computer scientists to create compilers and interpreters for all kinds of new languages. The creators of COBOL (1961), BASIC (1965), PL/1 (1970s), C, PASCAL, etc. all benefitted from this huge advance. 00:41, 21 March 2007 (UTC)Raryel

When was FORTRAN invented? --Hirzel 21:37 22 Jun 2003 (UTC)

1954. 02:50, 21 March 2007 (UTC)Raryel

Great resource for info on Backus
Check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/19/obituaries/20cnd-backus.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin His NYTimes obituary (Narkstraws 01:44, 20 March 2007 (UTC))

Full Article on the Life of John Backus
Full Article on the life history of John Backus (Not an Obituary) http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/business/20backus.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

--Root Beers 03:22, 21 March 2007 (UTC)

Where's the rest
This article should state "from 1960 to 2007, nothing at all is known about his whereabouts or doings". Really. I'm serious.Wjhonson (talk) 21:35, 6 August 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just added archive links to 1 one external link on John Backus. Please take a moment to review my edit. If necessary, add after the link to keep me from modifying it. Alternatively, you can add to keep me off the page altogether. I made the following changes:
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Lithuanian family name
Was he an offspring of Lithuanian immigrants? both or just a male line? like this person https://www.geni.com/people/Juozas-Ba%C4%8Dkus/6000000020868010289

title: Talk:John Backus


text:
Tony Award for Best Revival

The Tony Award for Best Revival was given to the best play, musical or non-musical, which had already appeared on Broadway in a previous production. It was presented from 1977, where it was called Most Innovative Production of a Revival and later Reproduction (Play or Musical) in 1980, until 1994, when it was split into the Best Revival of a Musical and the Best Revival of a Play.

If there are not enough revivals, it is possible under the current Tony rules for this category to return. Any time there are three play revivals and three musical revivals, the categories are automatically separated; if there are fewer, the Tony Awards Administration Committee may still choose to split up the categories.

Winners and nominees
{{legend|#B0C4DE|indicates the winner}}

title: Tony Award for Best Revival


text:
Germania

Germania, also called Magna Germania (English: Great Germania), Germania Libera (English: Free Germania), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman province of the same name, was a historical region in north-central Europe during the Roman era, which was associated by Roman authors with the Germanic people. The region stretched roughly from the Middle and Lower Rhine in the west to the Vistula in the east. It also extended at some point as far south as the Upper and Middle Danube and Pannonia, and to the known parts of southern Scandinavia in the north (this being linked to Germanic Migration Period). Archaeologically, these people correspond roughly to the Roman Iron Age of those regions. While dominated by Germanic people, Magna Germania was also inhabited by a few other Indo-European people.

The Latin name Germania means "land of the Germani", but the etymology of the name Germani itself is uncertain. During the Gallic Wars of the 1st century BC, the Roman general Julius Caesar encountered people originating from beyond the Rhine. He referred to these people as "Germani" and their lands beyond the Rhine as "Germania". In subsequent years, the Roman emperor Augustus sought to expand across the Rhine towards the Elbe, but these efforts were hampered by the victory of Arminius at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 AD. The prosperous Roman provinces of Germania Superior and Germania Inferior, sometimes collectively referred to as "Roman Germania", were subsequently established in northeast Roman Gaul, while territories east of the Rhine remained independent of Roman control.

From the 3rd century AD, Germanic people moving out of Magna Germania began encroaching upon and occupying parts of Roman Germania. This contributed to the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD, after which territories of Roman Germania were captured and settled by migrating Germanic people. Large parts of Germania subsequently became part of the Frankish Empire and later East Francia. The name of Germany in English and many other languages is derived from the name Germania.

Etymology
In Latin, the name Germania means "lands where people called Germani live". Modern scholars do not agree on the etymology of the name Germani. Celtic, Germanic, Illyrian and Latin etymologies have been suggested.

The main source on the origin of the names Germania and Germani is the book Germania (98 AD) by Tacitus. Tacitus writes that the name Germania was "modern and newly introduced". According to Tacitus, the name Germani had once been applied only to the Tungri, west of the Rhine, but it became an "artificial name" (invento nomine) for supposedly-related peoples east of the Rhine. Many modern scholars consider Tacitus's story to be plausible, but they are unsure whether the name was commonly used by Germani to refer to themselves.

Geography
The boundaries of Germania are not clearly defined, particularly at its northern and eastern fringes. Magna Germania stretched approximately from the Rhine in the west to beyond the Vistula river in the east, and from the Danube in the south and northwards along the North and Baltic seas, including Scandinavia. Germania Superior encompassed parts of modern-day Switzerland, southwest Germany and eastern France, while Germania Inferior encompassed much of modern-day Belgium and Netherlands.

In his Geography (AD 150), the Roman geographer Ptolemy provides descriptions of the geography of Germania. Modern scholars have been able to localize many of the place names mentioned by Ptolemy, and associated them with place names of the present day.

Germania was inhabited by a large number of peoples, and there was not much unity among them. It appears that Germania was not entirely inhabited by Germanic peoples. Hydronymy provides evidence for the presence of another Indo-European group, which probably lived under Germanic domination.

History

During the Gallic Wars of the 1st century BC, the Roman general Julius Caesar came into contact with peoples originating east of the Rhine. In his Commentarii de Bello Gallico, Caesar refers to these peoples as the Germani, and the lands from where they originated as Germania. The Romans appear to have borrowed the name from the Gauls. Having defeated the Germanic chieftain Ariovistus in Gaul, Caesar built bridges across the Rhine and conducted punitive expeditions in Germania. He writes the area was composed of numerous Germanic states, which were not entirely united. According to Caesar, the Gallic Volcae Tectosages had once crossed the Rhine and colonized parts of Germania, but had since become militarily inferior to the Germani. He also writes that Germani had once crossed the Rhine into northeast Gaul and driven away its Gallic inhabitants, and that the Belgae claimed to be largely descended from these Germanic invaders.

In the late 1st century BC, the Roman emperor Augustus launched campaigns across the Rhine, and incorporated areas of Germania as far east as the Elbe into the Roman Empire, creating the short-lived Roman province of Germania Antiqua in 7 BC, with further aims of establishing a greater province of Magna Germania, with headquarters at Colonia (modern-day Cologne). The Roman campaign was severely hampered by the victory of Arminius at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9. The outcome of this battle dissuaded the Romans from their ambition of conquering Germania, and is thus considered one of the most important events in European history. The Rhine eventually became the border between the Roman Empire and Magna Germania. Areas of northeast Gaul bordering the Rhine remained under Roman control, and are often referred to as "Roman Germania". Four Roman legions were stationed there, and a Roman fleet, the Classis Germanica, was also established. The area was effectively governed as Roman provinces.

Areas of Germania independent of Roman control were referred to as "Magna Germania". Modern scholars sometimes refer to the Magna Germania as "Free Germania" (Latin: Germania Libera) or Germanic Barbaricum. As parts of Roman social engineering efforts, large numbers of Germani, including Ubii and Sicambri, were settled within Roman Germania in order to prevent revolts by resident Gauls. Roman Germania became characterized by a mixed Celtic, Germanic and Roman population, which became progressively Romanized.

By the mid 1st century AD, between eight and ten Roman legions were stationed in Roman Germania to protect the frontiers. From AD 69 to AD 70, Roman Germania was heavily affected by the Revolt of the Batavi. Tacitus writes that the leader of the revolt, Gaius Julius Civilis, recruited a vast amount of warriors from his self-described "kinsmen" all over Germania, and hailed Arminius for having liberated Germania from slavery. Civilis' rebels seized Colonia (modern-day Cologne), capital of Roman Germania and home of the Germanic Ubii, who according to Tacitus were considered traitors by other Germani for having "forsworn its native country". After initially seeking to raze all of Colonia to the ground, the forces of Civilis declared the city returned "into the unity of the German nation and name" and "an open city for all Germans". Although initially declaring the rebels and "other Germans" their "kinsmen by blood", the Ubii, a Germanic Tribe eventually assisted the Romans in recapturing the Colonia.

In the late 1st century AD, under the leadership of the Flavian dynasty, the provinces of Germania Inferior (headquartered at Colonia) and Germania Superior (headquartered at Mogontiacum) were created out of Roman Germania and other eastern parts of Roman Gaul. They hosted a large military force and carried out lucrative trade with Magna Germania, which greatly contributed to the wealth of Roman Gaul. Germania (98 AD) by Tacitus provided vivid descriptions of the peoples of Magna Germania.

In the late 1st and early 2nd century AD, the Romans reoccupied areas lying between the Rhine, Main, and Danube rivers. This area became known as the Agri Decumates. Additional numbers of Germani were settled by the Romans within this area. The Roman fortifications on the border with Magna Germania were known as the Limes Germanicus. The 3rd century AD saw the emergence of several powerful Germanic confederations in Magna Germania, such as the Alemanni and Franks. The Crisis of the Third Century included raids on Roman Germania by Alemanni and Franks, and the area briefly became part of the Gallic Empire established by the usurper Postumus. Around 280 AD, the Agri Decumates were evacuated by the Romans and occupied by Alemanni.

Under Diocletian (3rd century AD), Germania Superior was renamed Germania Secunda, while Germania Inferior was renamed Maxima Sequanorum. Both provinces were under the Diocese of Gaul. The provinces of Roman Germania continued to be subjected to repeated Alemannic and Frankish attacks. In the late 4th century AD and early 5th century AD, Gothic Wars in the Balkans forced the Romans to withdraw troops from Roman Germania. In 406, a large number of people fleeing the Huns crossed the Rhine from Magna Germania into Roman Germania and Gaul, leading to the eventual collapse of Roman rule there, and the emigration of large numbers of Romans, particularly Roman elites. Roman Germania was subsequently occupied by Alemanni and Franks. During subsequent centuries, peoples of Germania played a major role in dismembering what was left of the Western Roman Empire. Large parts of Germania, including all of Roman Germania, were eventually incorporated into the Frankish Empire.

Archaeology
From the 1st to the 4th century AD, Magna Germania corresponds archaeologically to the Roman Iron Age. In recent years, progress in archaeology has contributed greatly to the understanding of Germania. Areas of Magna Germania were largely agrarian, and display archaeological commonalities with each other, while being strongly differentiated from that of Roman Germania, largely due to the absence of cities and independent coinage. Archaeological discoveries testify to flourishing trade between Magna Germania and the Roman Empire. Amber was a primary export out of Magna Germania, while Roman luxury goods were imported on a large scale. Such goods have been found as far as Scandinavia and Western Russia.

Legacy
The name Germania is attested in Old English translations of Bede and Orosius. Since the 17th century, the most common name of Germany in English has been derived from the name Germania.

title: Germania


text:
President of Colombia

The President of Colombia (President of the Republic) is the head of state and head of government of the Republic of Colombia. The president heads the executive branch of the national government and is the commander-in-chief of the Military Forces of Colombia.

The power of the presidency has grown substantially since the first president, Simón Bolívar, took office in 1819. While presidential power has waxed and waned over time, the presidency has played an increasingly important role in Colombian political life since the early 20th century, with a notable expansion during the presidency of Álvaro Uribe.

The office of president was established upon the ratification of the Constitution of 1819, by the Congress of Angostura, convened in December 1819, when Colombia was the "Gran Colombia". The first president, General Simón Bolívar, took office in 1819. His position, initially self-proclaimed, was subsequently ratified by Congress.

The president is directly elected through Universal Suffrage for a period of four years, along with the vice president. According to article 125, ratified in 2018, no person who has been elected for a presidential term can be elected for a second. In addition, three vice presidents have become president by virtue of the death or resignation of a president during the term. In total, 34 people have served in 36 presidencies that span 48 four-year terms, with Alfonso López Pumarejo, Álvaro Uribe and Juan Manuel Santos being the only ones with double terms, in the case of López Pumarejo non-consecutive. Gustavo Petro is the 34th and current president of the Republic of Colombia, having assumed office on August 7, 2022.

Commander-in-chief
One of the most important executive powers is the role of the president as Commander-in-Chief of the Colombian Military Forces. The power to declare war is constitutionally vested in Congress, but the president has ultimate responsibility for the direction and disposition of the armed forces. The exact degree of authority that the Constitution grants to the president as commander in chief has been ratified in article 189 of the Constitution, where it is described that the president has the function of directing the public force and disposing of it as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. of the Republic.

Administrative powers
The Executive Branch is responsible for executing, in a coordinated manner, all the administrative activities that are at the service of the general interests of the community for the fulfillment of the essential purposes of the State. It is represented by the President of the Republic, who symbolizes national unity, is the head of state, head of government and supreme administrative authority.

The National Government is formed by the President of the Republic, the ministers of the office and the directors of administrative departments. The President and the corresponding Minister or Director of the Department, in each particular business, constitute the Government.

Judicial powers
The responsibility of judging the president of the republic is found in the Supreme Court of Justice, the main body in the event that the president is taken to Political Trial, within the actions of the Supreme Court there will be 7 of which are, Judge the President of the Republic or whoever acts in his place and the senior officials referred to in article 174, for any punishable act imputed to them, in accordance with article 175 numerals 2 and 3.

Foreign affairs
it requires the president to "receive the ambassadors." This clause, known as the Reception Clause, has been interpreted to imply that the president possesses broad power over matters of foreign policy, and endorses the exclusive authority of the president to grant recognition to a foreign government. The Constitution also empowers the president to appoint Colombian ambassadors and to propose and mainly negotiate agreements between Colombia and other countries. Such agreements, upon receiving the advice of the minister of foreign affairs, become binding with the force of national law.

While foreign affairs have always been an important element of presidential responsibilities, technological advances since the adoption of the Constitution have increased presidential power. Where previously ambassadors were vested with significant power by the president to negotiate independently on Colombia's behalf, presidents now routinely meet directly with leaders of foreign countries.

Leadership roles
As head of state, the president is the visible face of Colombia's domestic and foreign policy. In his role as leader, one of his aspects is to represent and safeguard the international image of the country, since 1934, the year in which it was officially created, it is the protocol office of the First Lady, she is the one who is in charge of accompanying the president at his receptions. and state visits abroad, gaining more importance over time.

The president of Colombia symbolizes the National Unity, and after taking an oath to the Constitution of Colombia and swearing to defend and protect the nation's laws, he is charged to guarantee and protect the rights and liberties of all Colombian nationals.

The Administrative Department of the Presidency of Colombia has the commission to assist or support the president of Colombia on its constitutional mandated functions and legal issues.

Article 115 states that the National Government is formed by the president of Colombia, the vice president of Colombia, the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Colombia and the Directors of the Administrative Departments of Colombia. Any official from these entities constitute the Government of Colombia in any particular business.

Any act by the president of Colombia, in order to be legal and enforceable, must be sanctioned by any of the ministries or department directors, who will also be held responsible for the act. The only exception is if the president appoints or removes ministers, administrative departments' directors and any other officials appointed by him under his administrative authority. Governors of the Departments of Colombia, mayors of Municipalities of Colombia, as well as regional superintendents of Colombia, public establishments and industrial and commercial state owned enterprises, are all part of the executive branch of Colombia.

Eligibility
The president must be a natural-born citizen of Colombia, at least 30 years of age. The Constitution of Colombia requires the president to meet the same eligibility requirements as the president that can be re-elected. Individuals are eligible to serve an unlimited number of terms as president.

 * be a natural-born citizen
 * be a at least 30 years old

Campaigns and nomination
The modern presidential campaign begins before primary elections, which political parties use to clear the field of candidates before their national nominating conventions, where the most successful candidate is the party's or coalition's presidential candidate. In general, the presidential candidate of the party or, failing that, the coalition of parties chooses a candidate for the vice-presidency, generally being the second with the highest number of votes in the convention. The most common previous profession of presidents is that of a lawyer.

Election
The president and vice president serve a term of office of four years after being elected by popular vote. Since 2015, the president is barred from running for reelection, even for a nonconsecutive term.

From 1910 to 2005, the president was limited to a single term. However, on 24 November 2005, the Colombian Congress introduced the Electoral Guarantees Law (Ley de Garantias Electorales), which modified Article 152, of the Colombian Constitution of 1991 and allowed a president to run for a second term. The President or Vice President running for re-election was required to formally notify the National Electoral Council and guarantee a fair competition for the other contenders. Participation of acting officials in political proselytism was standardized. Presidents or vice presidents not running for office were barred from participating on political proselytism. If one or both were running, they could only engage in political activity four months before the primary elections. Also, if the president and/or vice president were running for office, they could participate in their political party's selection mechanism to postulate candidates. In 2010, the Constitutional Court of Colombia threw out a planned referendum to allow presidents to run for three consecutive terms. It ruled that Colombian presidents could only serve two terms, even if they are nonconsecutive. In 2015, a constitutional amendment repealed the 2004 changes and reverted to the original one-term limit.

Inauguration
The inauguration of the President is made up of various ceremonies and traditions carried out on August 7 every four years. Through democratic elections or coups, resignations and deaths, presidential inaugurations have been important events in the history of Colombia, which at the same time mark the beginning of new eras.

Presidential sash
The presidential sash is considered symbolic, which determines the figure of the president, there are no official records, but the first presidential sash was introduced by Antonio Nariño, who simulated the decoration sash of order, over the years it has had different designs being one of the most characteristic, its first design that only consisted of the 3 colors of the national flag, currently the presidential sash consists of the colors of the flag in the same order with the only difference that it consists of the coat of arms in the central part, emulating the presidential flag

Residence
Currently the official residence of the Colombian president is the Casa de Nariño. While in office, the president has the right to use its facilities and personnel, including medical care, recreation, domestic services, and security services. The first presidential palace where Simón Bolívar dispatched after Independence of Colombia was the former Palace of the Viceroys, which was located on the western side of the Plaza Mayor of Bogotá (where the Palacio Liévano is currently located). The 1827 earthquake left the property partially destroyed, for which reason the presidential office and the official residence were moved to the Palacio de San Carlos. In 1885, the president Rafael Núñez ordered the purchase of the house where Antonio Nariño was born to use it as an official residence. In 1906, the architect Gastón Lelarge transformed the property into the Palacio de la Carrera and in 1979 the architect Fernando Alsina remodeled the building to the current Casa de Nariño and designed the Plaza de Armas that left it directly connected to the National Capitol.

The House of Illustrious Guests in the city of Cartagena de Indias is the house where the Colombian president receives international guests. Likewise, the President has the Hato Grande country estate, located in Sopó, Cundinamarca as a resting place, which belonged to General Francisco de Paula Santander and was later acquired by the businessman from Antioquia Pepe Sierra, whose family donated it to the national government.

Travel
When traveling within Colombia or abroad, the President of the Republic uses the presidential plane identified with the registration FAC 0001, (a Boeing 737 Business Jet BBJ class). The president also uses two helicopters in VIP configuration, a Bell 412 with the registration FAC 0004 and a UH-60 Black Hawk with the registration FAC 0007.

Protection
On December 7, 1927, President Miguel Abadía Méndez signed a decree officially founding the Presidential Guard. On August 16, 1928, the battalion was given its current name, with its first commander being Lieutenant Colonel Roberto Perea Sanclemente. Memorable actions of this battalion are remembered such as the protection given to the president during the violent acts of the Bogotazo (April 9, 1948) and during the Palace of Justice Siege on November 6, 1985. Resolution 3446 of August 17, 1955, created the medallion “Guardia Presidencial” and Decree 1880 of 1988 ruled the award merits for this prize given to the distinguished members of the battalion for their loyalty, service and good behavior.

Since August 16, 1928, the security of the president has been in the hands of the Presidential Guard, who also has the mission of maintaining the security of the president, his family and his official residence, the Casa de Nariño. Since 1958 it was given to the Presidential Guard Battalion, a sui generis organization in the National Army, with a representation of the four arms and its units were called Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery and Engineers.

title: President of Colombia


text:
Talk:Qixi Festival

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Lantern Festival
元宵 is often refered as Chinese Valentine day also. The title of this article is somehow misleading as there is no real Chinese Valentine day. Wshun —Preceding undated comment added 21:26, 22 June 2003 (UTC)

 * I started out from the astronomical side of this, wanting to tell the story of Niu Lang/Zhi Nu as part of the mythology surrounding Altair and Vega. My problem was that I didn't want to tell the story twice, so I created this new page to hold the story. I was aware that the name "Chinese Valentine's Day" is not traditional and thus a little jarring but I also note that it is gaining modern acceptance and the women are going to make it stick I predict (plus where else to tell this wonderful story?). I was not aware the Lantern Festival is also sometimes called Chinese Valentine's Day.  So I like your idea of putting both, but I'd rather give "top billing" to Qi Qiao Jie -- let me show you in an edit...  technopilgrim

Inappropriate title
Qi Qiao Jie, what you call "Chinese Valentine's Day", is termed generically as Qíngrén Jié (情人節) or the "Day of Lovers". Both Valentine's Day and the Day of Lovers are about romantic love, but the customs are different, and the histories are completely unrelated. They are not equivalents at all. Moreover, the Day of Lovers is definitely not a copy of Valentine's Day or a sub-festival of the Valentine's, and the current title doesn't convey that, if anything, it'd encourage such ideas to those unfamiliar of China. Even if they were equivalents, why not call Valentine's Day "The Western Qíngrén Jié"?

Saint Valentine's Day in Chinese-speaking regions is called by its transliteration: Shèng Huálúntài's Jié (聖華倫泰節) or Shèng Wǎlúntīng Jié (聖瓦倫丁節). But because foreign names aren't easily remembered, the Chinese applied the Chinese name to it. But such application is unofficial, and we'd not do that in the Chinese Wikipedia. Instead, we'd create a disambiguity block or page in the article "情人節". --Menchi 02:16 23 Jun 2003 (UTC)

Agree! Qi Qiao Jie should be the title, not Chinese Valentine's Day. Moreover, the Lantern festival in HK could be a better candidate as an equal to Valentine's Day --- it is already merchandized to be the same!!! :P Wshun —Preceding undated comment added 02:28, 23 June 2003 (UTC)

 * I'm sold on the name change. Google counts show 594 references for 'Qi Qiao Jie', 137 for 'Chinese Valentine's Day', 118 for 'Qing Ren Jie' and 11 for 'Day of Lovers'.  I'm changing the title to 'Qi Qiao Jie', please standby...  technopilgrim 17:46 23 Jun 2003 (UTC)

 * Qi Qiao Jie is the correct title. See also a related case at Talk:Qing Ming Jie.  —Lowellian (talk)   06:48, Oct 9, 2004 (UTC)

 * "Qi Qiao Jie" is the correct title in China, and it also called "Qi Xi Jie". They called Chinese Valentine's Day it would easy to understand for foreigner. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 209.147.144.19 (talk) 05:36, 15 October 2014 (UTC)

The reason for the term "Chinese valentines day" is that it makes westerners understand the romantic connotations to the festival, this is the english wikipedia after all, we have no idea what Qíngrén Jié is, but we know what Valentines day is. Though I agree that it is a bad title, it should be a description in some bread text under the title. 89.150.199.13 (talk) 12:59, 3 August 2022 (UTC)

Qi Qiao Jie? Never heard of it before
I'm a native Chinese speaker in Taiwan and I've never heard of people calling it 乞巧節(Qi Qiao Jie) before. 七夕(qī xì) is the way we call it here. A search on Google also gives a 1,160,000-hit result on "七夕" and a 4,770-only on "乞巧節". Could the starter of this page tell us the reason to choose Qi Qiao Jie as its main title please? Is it a common usage in mainland China? --Gsklee 17:17, 28 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Title Change Planned

Recently I've got enough evidence to convince myself that "Qi Qiao Jie (乞巧節)" is the name only being used in Cantonese exclusively. A search on Google will reveal that most of the websites using this phrase are constructed by Cantonese people (mostly from Hong Kong). "七姐誕" and "巧夕" also turned out to be Cantonese aliases as well.

A newest [Google] search result:

乞巧節-860 hits

七姐誕-434 hits

巧夕-295 hits

七夕-631000 hits

So, if no one is gonna to provide a convincing arguement that why 乞巧節 is better than 七夕 within a week, I will then change the title.--G.S.K.Lee 08:28, 11 Mar 2005 (UTC)

Correct spelling
can someone correct the spelling of the word "comprecatedly" in the text of this page. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Al95521 (talk • contribs) 21:50, 14 February 2006 (UTC)

The Weaver Girl, The Cow Herder, and The Ox
An additional component/variant to the story that is quite common in both G-rated and adult rated versions is that for the Ox's meddling, he was punished with hard labor. This is sort of an allegory to not meddle with the affairs of heaven (or earth for that matter) or there will be a price to pay. While not an important concept related to Qi Xi, I believe that it is pertinent to the story itself, since it does not yet have its own page and its section in "The Jade Emperor" is significantly lacking. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 128.195.142.18 (talk) 18:56, 14 February 2007 (UTC).

Version in 'The Chinese Fairy Book'
A variant of the tale The Herd Boy and the Weaving Maiden is given in The Chinese fairy book

ed. by Dr. R. Wilhelm, tr. after original sources by Frederick H. Martens, with six illustrations in color by George W. Hood. Published 1921 by Frederick A. Stokes company in New York

Open Library:	OL7036371M

Project Gutenberg EBook #29939

The note at the end of this version of the story is that it is retold after an oral source — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.154.123.40 (talk) 19:25, 27 September 2011 (UTC)

Interwiki fork
I came across this article, and, surpised that it wasn't linked with the Chinese wiki article on the same topic, tried to add the link. Turns out, I can't, because there seem to be two seperate pages at play here: http://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7224883 and http://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q13423122. What was wrong with the old, simple system of adding an interwiki link, I don't know, but someone who knows what he's doing needs to merge those two, because I don't know how to do it. 90.245.22.213 (talk) 07:08, 20 June 2013 (UTC)

Connection with Perseid meteors?
Complete speculation on my part, but given that this legend-linked festival falls roughly (being lunar-based and therefore variable by the solar calendar) at the same time as the Perseid meteor shower (which of course extends either side of its peak around 12/13 August), I wonder if the legend's element of a fall of rain/tears from heaven is inspired by the shower. Has anyone come across evidence of this? {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 212.95.237.92 (talk) 16:50, 13 August 2013 (UTC)
 * Why people always want to find associations?--77.0.243.42 (talk) 21:12, 16 August 2013 (UTC)
 * sparks don't fly down, january 2nd Hufflenerd (talk) 16:48, 6 April 2017 (UTC)

Wording Change
This is one of my favourite legends, but I have a picky, linguistic change to the wording. Vega and Altair are stars and the young people are legends. In most mythological stories, the (real) star is the symbol for the (legendary) being, not the other way around. Please feel free to revert, but only if you can explain why it would be different here. Thanks & Cheers, Last1in (talk) 14:15, 3 August 2023 (UTC)

title: Talk:Qixi Festival


text:
Talk:Tombstone (disambiguation)

comment
I deleted the following:

"This movie showed a more emotional, more reluctant Wyatt Earp. It seemed more like a play than a movie just the way everything was arranged. It showed the Clantons as dirty, unsightly outlaws. I believe they were bad but not that bad. Morgan in the movie wasn't really portrayed to good; form what I have heard he was a more like a hot tempered, quick to like for a fight. The blood rating was pretty good, at least they bleed a fair amount when they are shot. The gunfight was probably the most accurate portatyal even though in reality it only lasted less than 30 seconds, but hey its enetertainment. If you like blood and comedy and drama all mixed get this movie. 4.5 out of 5!"

I don't think Wikipedia is a site for movie reviews. Or am I mistaken? RickK

Headstone, London
Do i include the link here or create a new page with Headstone (disambiguation)?Simply south 16:03, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
 * I'll create the page, and closslink it under See also both here and at Headstones. Sanguinity 19:49, 18 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Done. Sanguinity 19:57, 18 October 2006 (UTC)

Discussion at Redirects for discussion/Log/2019 December 12
You are invited to join the discussion at Redirects for discussion/Log/2019 December 12. Shhhnotsoloud (talk) 17:46, 13 December 2019 (UTC)

title: Talk:Tombstone (disambiguation)


text:
Getica

De origine actibusque Getarum (The Origin and Deeds of the Getae), commonly abbreviated Getica, written in Late Latin by Jordanes in or shortly after 551 AD,  claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the origin and history of the Gothic people, which is now lost. However, the extent to which Jordanes actually used the work of Cassiodorus is unknown. It is significant as the only remaining contemporaneous resource that gives an extended account of the origin and history of the Goths, although to what extent it should be considered history or origin mythology is a matter of dispute.

Synopsis of the work
The Getica begins with a discussion of a large island named Scandza, which faces the mouth of the Vistula river and had been described by the writers Claudius Ptolemy and Pomponius Mela. Jordanes reports this island to be the original home of many different peoples including the Goths, who have swarmed like bees from there (16-25). Jordanes commences the history of the Goths with the emigration of a Gothic king named Berig with three ships from Scandza to Gothiscandza (25, 94), in the distant past. In the account of Jordanes (or Cassiodorus), Herodotus' Getian demi-god Zalmoxis becomes a king of the Goths (39). Jordanes tells how the Goths sacked "Troy and Ilium" just after they had recovered somewhat from the war with Agamemnon (108). They are also said to have encountered the Egyptian pharaoh Vesosis (47). The less-fictional part of Jordanes' work begins when the Goths encounter Roman military forces in the 3rd century AD. The work concludes with the defeat of the Goths by the Byzantine general Belisarius, which was recent in the time of Jordanes. Jordanes states that he writes to honour those who were victorious over the Goths after a history of 2030 years.

Importance and credibility
Because the original work of Cassiodorus has not survived, the work of Jordanes is one of the most important sources for the period of the migration of the European tribes, and the Ostrogoths and Visigoths in particular, from the 3rd century AD. Jordanes mentioned that his work, perhaps via Cassiodorus, also drew upon Gothic "folk songs" (carmina prisca) as an important source, and a Gothic chronicler. Modern scholars have struggled to find any confirming evidence that his claims about such sources can give credibility to the more doubtful parts of the work.

Like many other classical writers, Jordanes equated the earlier Getae to the later Goths. He specified that he did this on the testimony of Orosius Paulus. In a passage that has become controversial, he identifies the Venedi, a people mentioned by Tacitus, Pliny the Elder and Ptolemy, with the Slavs of the 6th century. Since as early as 1844, this passage has been used by some scholars in eastern Europe to support the idea that there was a distinct Slavic ethnicity long before the last phase of the Late Roman period. Others have rejected this view because of the absence of concrete archaeological and historiographical data.

The book is important to some medieval historians because it mentions the campaign in Gaul of one Riothamus, "King of the Brettones," a possible source of inspiration for the early stories of King Arthur.

One of the major questions concerning the historicity of the work is concerning the periods before the Goths enter the written record in the third century. Although there is a range of views, the earliest parts of the narratives are considered mainly mythological, and the account becomes more reliable as it approaches the 6th century. Whether or not Cassiodorus was the main collator of the information about the earliest Goths, not only contains chronologically untenable parts, but also shows evidence of being to at least partly derived by culling ancient Greek and Latin authors for descriptions of peoples who might have been Goths. Furthermore, it seems that Jordanes distorted Cassiodorus's narrative by presenting a cursory abridgement of it mixed with 6th-century ethnic names.

Some scholars claim that, while acceptance of Jordanes' text at face value may be too naïve, a totally skeptical view is not warranted. For example, Jordanes writes that the Goths originated in Scandinavia in 1490 BC. Although the chronology is untenable, one Austrian historian, Herwig Wolfram, believes that there might be a kernel of truth in the claim, proposing that a clan of the Gutae may have left Scandinavia and contributed to the ethnogenesis of the Gutones in eastern Pomerania (see Wielbark culture). An example of more believable material concerning the more recent centuries is the name of King Cniva, which David S. Potter thinks is genuine because, since it doesn't appear in the fictionalized genealogy of Gothic kings given by Jordanes, he must have found it in a genuine 3rd-century source.

On the other hand, a Danish scholar, Arne Søby Christensen, claims that the Getica is an entirely fabricated account, and that the origin of the Goths that Jordanes outlines is a construction based on popular Greek and Roman myths, as well as misinterpretation of recorded names from Northern Europe. The purpose of this fabrication, according to Christensen, may have simply been to preserve a memory of a people who, at the time, looked liked they were about to cease to exist. Canadian scholar Walter Goffart suggests another incentive, arguing that the Getica was part of a conscious plan by Justinian I and the propaganda machine at his court to affirm that the Goths and their barbarian cousins did not belong to the Roman world, thus justifying the claims of the Eastern Roman Empire to hegemony over the western part.

Editions
A manuscript of the text was rediscovered in Vienna in 1442 by the Italian humanist Enea Silvio Piccolomini. Its editio princeps was issued in 1515 by Konrad Peutinger, followed by many other editions.

The classic edition is that of 19th-century German classical scholar Theodor Mommsen (in Monumenta Germaniae Historica, auctores antiqui, v. i.). The best surviving manuscript was the Heidelberg manuscript, written in Heidelberg, Germany, probably in the 8th century, but this was destroyed in a fire at Mommsen's house on July 7, 1880. Subsequently, another 8th-century manuscript was discovered, containing chapters I to XLV, and is now the 'Codice Basile' at the Archivio di Stato in Palermo. The next of the manuscripts in historical value are the Vaticanus Palatinus of the 10th century, and the Valenciennes manuscript of the 9th century.

Jordanes' work had been well known prior to Mommsen's 1882 edition. It was cited in Edward Gibbon's classic 6 volumes of The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (1776), and had been earlier mentioned by Degoreus Whear (1623) who refers to both Jordanes' De regnorum ac temporum successione and to De rebus Geticis.

Jordanes himself
Former notarius to a Gothic magister militum Gunthigis, Jordanes would have been in a position to know traditions concerning the Gothic peoples without necessarily relying on anyone else. However, there is no evidence for this in the text, and some of the instances where the work refers to carmina prisca can be shown to depend on classical authors.

Cassiodorus
Cassiodorus was a native Italian (Squillace, Bruttium), who rose to become advisor and secretary to the Gothic kings in various high offices. His and the Goths' most successful years were perhaps the reign of Theodoric. The policy of Theodoric's government at that time was reconciliation and in that spirit he incorporated Italians into the government whenever he could. He asked Cassiodorus to write a work on the Goths that would, in essence, demonstrate their antiquity, nobility, experience and fitness to rule.

Theodoric died in 526 and Cassiodorus went on to serve his successors in the same capacity. He had not by any means forgotten the task assigned to him by his former king. In 533 a letter ostensibly written by King Athalaric to the senate in Rome, but ignored by Cassiodorus, mentions the great work on the Goths, now complete, in which Cassiodorus "restored the Amali with the illustriousness of their race." The work must have been written at Ravenna, seat of the Gothic kings, between 526 at latest and 533.

What Cassiodorus did with the manuscripts after that remains unknown. The fact that Jordanes once obtained them from a steward indicates that the wealthy Cassiodorus was able to hire at least one full-time custodian of them and other manuscripts of his; i.e., a private librarian (a custom not unknown even today).

Jordanes says in the preface to Getica that he obtained them from the librarian for three days in order to read them again (relegi). The times and places of these readings have been the concern of many scholars, as this information possibly bears on how much of Getica is based on Cassiodorus.

There are two main theories, one expressed by the Mierow source below, and one by the O'Donnell source below. Mierow's is earlier and does not include a letter cited by O'Donnell.

Gothic sovereignty came to an end with the reconquest of Italy by Belisarius, military chief of staff for Justinian, ending in 539. Cassiodorus' last ghost writing for the Gothic kings was done for Witiges, who was removed to Constantinople in 540. A number of token kings ruled from there while Belisarius established that the Goths were not going to reinvade and retake Italy (which was however taken again by the Lombards after Justinian's death).

Cassiodorus retired in 540 to his home town of Squillace, where he used his wealth to build a monastery with school and library, Vivarium.

Authors cited by Getica
The events, persons and peoples of Getica are put forward as being up to many centuries prior to the time of Jordanes. Taken at face value, they precede any other history of Scandinavia.

Jordanes does cite some writers well before his time, to whose works he had access but we do not, and other writers whose works are still extant. Mierow gives a summary of these, which is reviewed below, and also states other authors he believed were used by Jordanes but were not cited in Getica (refer to the Mierow source cited below). Mierow's list of cited authors is summarized as follows:

 * Ablabius. Otherwise unknown historian, author of the work Gothorum gentis ("of the Gothic people"), now lost.
 * Dexippus on the Vandals and the Heruli.
 * Dio, either Dio Cassius or Dio Chrysostom, author of another Getica. Description of Britain in Jordanes.
 * Fabius. Otherwise unknown, author of a work including the siege of Ravenna, now missing.
 * Josephus in IV.29, brief mention of the Goths as Scyths.
 * Livy, brief mention in II.10.
 * Lucan on the Amali, V.43.
 * Pompeius Trogus, now known only in Justinus' epitome of Historiae Philippicae.
 * Pomponius Mela.
 * Priscus. Events concerning Attila.
 * Ptolemy on Scandinavia in Getica Part III.
 * Strabo. Authority on Britain.
 * Symmachus. Copies of his copies from Julius Capitolinus on Maximinus.
 * Tacitus. Authority on Britain.
 * Virgil.

The Late Latin of Jordanes
The early Late Latin of Jordanes evidences a certain variability in the structure of the language which has been taken as an indication that the author no longer had a clear standard of correctness. Jordanes tells us in Getica that he interrupted work on the Romana to write Getica, and then finished Romana. Jordanes states in Romana that he wrote it in the 24th year of the emperor Justinian, which began April 1, 551. In Getica he mentions a plague of nine years previous. This is probably the Plague of Justinian, which began in Egypt in 541, reached Constantinople in 542 and Italy in 543. The time is too early to identify a direction of change toward any specific Romance language, as none had appeared yet. This variability, however, preceded the appearance of the first French, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, etc. After those languages developed, the scholastics gradually restored classical Latin as a means of scholarly communication.

Jordanes refers to himself as agrammaticus before his conversion. This obscure statement is sometimes taken to refer to his Latin. Variability, however, characterizes all Late Latin, and besides, the author was not writing just after his conversion (for the meaning of the latter, see under Jordanes), but a whole career later, after associating with many Latin speakers and having read many Latin books. According to him, he should have been grammaticus by that time. More likely, his style reflects the way Latin was under the Goths.

Some of the variabilities are as follows (Mierow):

Orthography. The spelling of many words differs from the classical standard, which Jordanes would certainly have known. For example, Grecia replaces Graecia; Eoropam replaces Europam; Atriatici replaces Adriatici.

Inflection. Substantives migrate between declensions, verbs between conjugations. Some common changes are fourth to second (lacu to laco), second declension adjective to third (magnanimus to magnanimis), i-stems to non-i-stems (mari to mare in the ablative). Gender may change. Verbs may change voice.

One obvious change in a modern direction is the indeclinability of many formerly declined nouns, such as corpus. Also, the -m accusative ending disappears, leaving the preceding vowel or replacing it with -o (Italian, Romanian), as in Danubio for Danubium.

Syntax. Case variability and loss of agreement in prepositional phrases (inter Danubium Margumque fluminibus), change of participial tense (egressi [...] et transeuntes), loss of subjunctive in favor of indicative, loss of distinction between principal and subordinate clauses, confusion of subordinating conjunctions.

Semantics. Different vocabulary appears: germanus for frater, proprius for suus, civitas for urbs, pelagus for mare, etc.

title: Getica