text:
User:Bishonen/My saved bits

Salting the earth
Per WP:SALT. Go to the deleted article, click "protect". Entry on the Special:ProtectedTitles list will be generated automagically.

Collapsing text
Hey, aren't you the one who gripes at people on ANI who use this stupid template? I demand you let me speak! (Notice I'm typing inside the collapsed box so nobody is going to see this stupid post) Tex (talk) 14:34, 17 August 2012 (UTC)

 * Not at all. I'm the one who gripes at people on ANI who use the stupid archive template for active discussions (=everybody stop talking, discussion is over because I want it to be over). That's the one I am. (Take a look, if you like, at the stuff I just collapsed at User talk:Penyulap. Not long, not offensive, but a silly distraction in a discussion that's having trouble staying coherent anyway. It would have been overlong at three words.) Bishonen | talk 15:01, 17 August 2012 (UTC).

 * He no watchlist, he just stalking edits! Hey, balloon work in collapse box?  Goo chy  Oooh, pretty! 13:16, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

 * Oh, look! Balloon only show up when box is opened!  Yee haw!!! -- Bearded Burro  (Scratch Me)  13:17, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

 * Look DaDa, Barrooon! Barrooon! Baby Tex (talk) 13:18, 21 August 2012 (UTC)

It worked! I wonder if collapseboxes are infinitely recessive? Bishonen | talk 16:53, 21 August 2012 (UTC).

Green quotes
Yeah, how to make quotes green

To make a blockquote
Put "my text"

Little boxes
Either do like on my Talk, or use this "divbox", which looks much simpler. Check out also Heimstern's use of it on his talk as of July 2012.

How to make interwiki links
Wiktionary links:
 * , which appears as: article.

or

 * , which appears as: article.

Links to other wikipedias:

 * , which appears as sv:Kräftor.

or

 * , which appears as Kräftor.

Coloured text
Write like this for colour: Little Toxic User: Little Toxic mediumpurple aqua bisque blanchedalmond brown crimson cyan darkblue firebrick goldenrod maroon mediumpurple orchid plum violet palegreen grey

How to make a coloured background for a bit of text
This is how:

Harriet Sofie Bosse (19 February 1878 – 2 November 1961) was a Norwegian-Swedish actress. A celebrity in her own day, Bosse is today best remembered as the third wife of August Strindberg, one of the originators of modern drama. Bosse began her career in a minor company run by her forceful older sister Alma Fahlstrøm, in Christiania, now Oslo, the capital of Norway. Having secured an engagement at the Royal Dramatic Theatre ("Dramaten"), the main drama venue of Sweden's capital Stockholm, Bosse caught the attention of Strindberg with her intelligent acting and exotic "Oriental" appearance.

After a whirlwind courtship, unfolded in detail in Strindberg's letters and diary, Strindberg and Bosse were married in 1901, when he was 51 and she 22. Strindberg wrote a number of major roles for Bosse during their short and stormy relationship, especially in 1900–1901, which was a period of great creativity and productiveness for him. Like his previous two marriages, the relationship was broken up by Strindberg's jealousy, which some biographers have considered paranoid. The arc of Strindberg's feelings about Bosse, from worship to rage, is reflected in the roles he wrote for her to play, or wrote as portraits of her. Despite her role of muse in Strindberg's life, she remained an independent artist.

Bosse married Swedish actor Gunnar Wingård in 1908, and Swedish screen actor, director, and matinee idol Edvin Adolphson in 1927.

More simple highlighting a few words:

All three of her marriages ended in divorce after a few years, leaving her as a hard-working single mother with a daughter by Strindberg and a son by Wingård. On retiring after a high-profile acting career based in Stockholm, she returned to her roots in Oslo.

Closing AN and ANI threads
Couldn't be simpler!

Archive box
Put at the top (do NOT include the heading in the box) and  at the bottom. Subst them if you want to change the standard text.

Who can give a topic ban?
Any uninvolved admin, according to FloNight in March 2008:

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard&oldid=198080956#What_is_a_.22topic_ban.22.3F

Tip for RfA report
If you want to override the formatting on the rfa report box you can do something like this:

That is what I am doing User:HighInBC. HighInBC(Need help? Ask me) 16:53, 30 March 2007 (UTC)

History merge
(A is the desired final version = the desired final name.)

1. Move B to A (approve deletion of A)

2. Delete A.

3. Undelete A. This restores all revisions from both A and B.

4. The front page of A will now be showing whatever the most recent version of either page was. If that's a version of B, such as "#redirect A", fix this by reverting to the last version of A from before the move. First make sure you see the most recent history by purging the page (clicking on my little clock).

Try Special:MergeHistory next time. Seems very simple to perform, but has considerable instruction creep here. I think this is the only thing I need care about: "It automatically detects the latest version of the source page which is older than the oldest version of the target page, and won't allow the user to move later revisions. This feature is good if the source page eventually became something else, but can be bad if the target page had started out as a redirect to the source." Does that mean it won't create a history with mixed chronology? I think so. So only good for adding the history of the source page (=the page with the old title) to the beginning of the history of the target page (= the page with the new title).

What's the use? I can't away with all the creep. The classic way I do it is fine.

How to undo a history merge (=partial archiving of history)
If a history merge should not have been performed, then it may be undone. Note, however, that it can be quite tiring, especially if the article has a very long history. The following procedure is listed:

 * 1) Suppose A has been history merged into B.
 * 2) We want to get A's former history back into A.
 * 3) Delete B.
 * 4) Selectively undelete the revisions of B that made up the history of A before the history merge.
 * 5) Move B to A.
 * 6) Undelete the rest of the revisions of B.
 * 7) If A and/or B is now a redirect to itself or the other article, then revert or change the redirect target, as deemed appropriate.

An example of a successful history merge and undo is available at User:King of Hearts/Sandbox/6 (the A article) and User:King of Hearts/Sandbox/7 (the B article).

Thus the quoted procedure. To move my history:
 * Delete User talk:Bishonen.
 * Undelete the 2004-2006 revisions.
 * Move User talk:Bishonen to User:Bishonen/talk history archive 2004—2006
 * Undelete the rest of the revisions of User talk:Bishonen
 * Check up on the redirect situation, delete redirects as required.
 * Put a link to this new history archive into the archive box.

nah

Arbcom mailing list
arbcom-l@wikimedia.org

cc to dgerard@gmail.com will get David Gerard to notice it.

Letter from Jimbo

INVOLVING JIMBO

I'd like to add some additional recommendations for people who'd like to appeal such cases directly to me (Jimbo).

First, it's very important that you write me a minimum of six pages of text explaining and defending the version that you prefer. The more tedious details, the better. I'm specifically keenly interested in the names of obscure rivers in Germany Poland Prussia. Also, be sure to write to me about the shape of Bigfoot's head. I really am the person to make a decision about that.

Second, everyone knows that I make it a routine practice to force articles to read exactly the way that you like. I also ban longtime users and sysops whenever I feel like, just based on the say-so of people just like you. So be sure to ask for that.

Third, better yet, don't ask for it, demand it. Threaten to leave if I don't comply within 24 hours. That always works.

Fourth, if you happen to know that I'm personally politically sympathetic to your point of view, feel free to call your opponents names. For example, since I'm generally sympathetic to Israel, feel free to call anyone who has written anything critical of Israel a "Nazi." I'll get so excited that I'll probably ban them. Heck, I might even write new code in the software to only let you and people you approve edit the pages!

And finally, if for some insane reason I don't act on your wise proposals, tell everyone that you know that Wikipedia is all a scam to make money. It's a tool of capitalist oppression. It's a liberal playground with no standards. It's based on the principles of communism. It's collectivist. It's individualist. It's useless. It's the most important thing in the world, except for me screwing it up. That'll show old Jimbo who he's messing with! Jimbo Wales 13:32, 6 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Vandalism warning warning
Which expands to

Please don't accuse editors of vandalism unless you're sure they have committed it. In particular, avoid using the word in edit summaries (such as "reverting vandalism"), and be very careful about posting vandalism warning templates on users' talkpages. Review the vandalism policy thoroughly before you do that, and see especially the section "What vandalism is not". Note that content disputes are not vandalism, and that good-faith edits of any kind, even if you think them misguided, are not to be considered vandalism. Vandalism accusations without any basis in policy are bad for the climate on the wiki and make constructive discussion more difficult. See also Avoid the word "vandal".

diff, with info inside http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Talk:Islam_and_anti-Semitism&diff=prev&oldid=57260704 gives

Welcome to Wikipedia! We're delighted that you've magically stumbled upon our web site, the free encyclopedia that anyone can edit. It's marvelous that you already know so much about editing Wikipedia, from wiki syntax to policies and guidelines. It's very rare that new users learn so much on the same day, so congrats! Also, I'm glad to see that you're being bold! [Wikipedia:Requests for arbitration/His excellency] All of the edits that you're making on resemble the same kinds of edits made by recently-banned users; it's a relief that their merit is not tarred by the reputation for bad faith of their originators. I'm now confident about the integrity of those edits. It's not every day that new users crop up out of nowhere to continue carrying the torch (well, I guess that does happen every day, but, oh well), so I'm very excited about your enthusiasm, and very happy that you decided to dive in. Please don't hesitate to ask anybody if you have any questions. Good luck, and happy editing! :-)

Well, or it would if it worked. :-(

... Oh, all right. Thank you both. . May I ask where there is a log of these kinds of blocks? Bishonen | talk 20:11, 12 July 2006 (UTC).

This is the range to block for Hollow Wilerding: 64.231.0.0/16. Anons only, two-three hours, we shall see if accouont creation needs disabling.

Template for references
gives

It looks like there's no room for place of publication, but all you have to do is this:

to get

For me, it's simpler to just write it, but that won't satisfy, I expect. At least this one's simpler than the horrible template used for Belton House.

See WP:CITE for more.

Sock tags
Suspected, with category:
 * Israel shamir

Puppeteer:

Smileys

Article contribution counter
Is supposed to be here, but is currently broken.

How many people have a particular page on their watchlist?
Is here.

User contribution counter
Is here, or was in November 2006. This is Interiot's tool. Very informative, actual article titles, etc. Slow, but who cares?

Formatting text, with fancy sig
To make something stand up.

To make something stand up.

To make something stand down

To make it  really big.

To make it blink like this

To make it red

To gray it out

To make it red another way

To make something stand down

Bishonen | talk

Modestly fancy sig:

bish bosh

Blocking IP ranges

 * From Lucky's page.

It's actually not that difficult. Basically...say the user is using 129.54.23.34. If you wanted to block everyone in the 129.54.23.34 range, you would type in 129.54.23.0/24. That would block everyone that has an IP address that starts with 129.54.23, If you wanted to block the 129.54.23.0 and 24.0 ranges, you'd type in 129.54.23.0/23. 129.54.23.0/22 would block 23.0, 24.0, 25.0, 26.0. it's in multiples of 2. So /21 would block 8 ranges. /20 would block 16, etc. Hope that makes sense. :) It's actually not that complex. --Woohookitty(cat scratches) 03:26, 17 January 2006 (UTC)

The pissy autoblocker/WBardwin thing, according to JRM
From User talk:WBardwin

Note left for User:DragonflySixtyseven -- Please be aware that when you place a block on a IP address used by AOL, you rarely hit your target. Instead, innocent users get blocked for other's vandalism or misbehavior. Such IP addresses, including the one below, are on a list available to administrators and should never be blocked for long/indefinate periods of time. I have a long history of being impacted by such blocks. Please see User:WBardwin/AOL Block Collection for a history and decisions made on this problem. I would appreciate a prompt release of this and related blocks. Thank you. WBardwin 09:31, 12 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Your IP address is 207.200.116.134. Your user name or IP address has been blocked by DragonflySixtyseven.
 * User:207.200.116.134 has not been blocked recently; the only IP addresses User:DragonflySixtyseven has blocked recently are User:65.117.158.6 and User:67.82.159.228. Were you hit by the autoblocker again? If so, you need to provide the name of the account that was blocked, since it was a registered account that was blocked, not your IP address. Registered users' IP addresses are private and administrators do not have access to them. Please don't imply that DragonflySixtyseven had any way of knowing that an AOL IP address would be autoblocked by his block. Copying the entire block message here will allow us to quickly unblock you. — Knowledge Seeker দ 09:45, 12 January 2006 (UTC)
 * Sorry, I don't understand it either. I've e-mailed JRM, that's the best I can do. Bishonen | talk 11:14, 12 January 2006 (UTC).

Let's go over MediaWiki's ever so helpful and privacy respecting block system again, and why it's hardly optimal.

What happened here is that DragonflySixtyseven blocked a registered user who was being an ass. Which one is impossible to tell in retrospect. Said registered user then tried editing while logged out (clever!). In response, the autoblocker kicked in and blocked that address for 24 hours. Now, where is that address in the block list?

Nowhere, because "to respect privacy" (we all know how sensitive IP addresses are, especially of AOL proxies) IP addresses are obfuscated. So it will have been something like #XXXXX, with X a digit. If I'm not mistaken, WBardwin should have gotten a message that told him he was blocked by DragonflySixtyseven, but I do not know the reason it specified. The system should provide a reason that looks like this: "autoblocked because your IP address has been used recently by User:Foo ". With this block reason in hand administrators can look in the logs and find the obfuscated IP address that's targeted by this. Without this, they cannot. You could try to find the block based on the time of the message, but this is unreliable.

Who is to blame? The developers. There are at least three ways of solving this problem, some complementary:
 * If the autoblocker blocks someone, make it clear the autoblocker is doing it and not the administrator involved in the original block. Make this abundantly clear in messages, too. Add the time of the original block.
 * Implement a blacklist of addresses the autoblocker must never block automatically, or at most a few minutes, just like administrators are required to do.
 * Turn off the stupid autoblocker. If people log out and continue to edit, require administrators to do the re-blocking themselves. The autoblocker has proven to be incompetent. Apropos privacy: why should a blocked user who tries to evade the block have his IP address kept secret? You forfeit your right to have your IP address kept a secret when you violate our policies. Anonymous users are treated no better.

In the meantime, the most productive "codes of conduct" for everyone involved are:
 * If you're an innocent user hit by a block, ask the administrator (or an administrator) to unblock you. Mention your IP, the block reason, and the fact that you are using an AOL proxy. Do not imply the administrator must have blocked you directly and ignored the AOL block list; it's very well possible they didn't. To play it safe, you can contact an administrator of which you know they understand all this. You don't necessarily need the original admin to do it.
 * If you're an administrator, educate yourself on proxies, the autoblocker, and How Stuff Works (tm). The last thing we need is ignorant admins going "I don't understand, I didn't block you, should I unblock you?" See if the IP specified really is an AOL proxy. If it is, unblock without question. Simply enter the IP address with a block time of 0, this should release the block regardless of how it came to be, and you won't need to delve into the blocked addresses list. (Disclaimer: I don't know if this works; I "seem to recall" it does/did.)
 * If you're a developer, just go on doing whatever it is that you're doing. There aren't enough of you anyway to fix these things, so don't bother. Thanks for the autoblocker, though; it's a real help. JRM · Talk 16:28, 12 January 2006 (UTC)

Admin tools

 * Admins only can edit the text of a Special page such as Special:Blockip at, as it might be, MediaWiki:Blockiptext.
 * Block user
 * List of blocked users; users can be unblocked from here.
 * Recent changes
 * New pages
 * Criteria for speedy deletion
 * Category:Candidates for speedy deletion
 * Logs, combined display of upload, deletion, protection, blocking, and sysop logs.
 * Administrators' reading list
 * Administrators' how-to guide
 * Bishonen/School IP box
 * Template messages/Maintenance, templates for protection, in use, cleanup, copyvio.

Mediation
Mediators can be found at Mediation Committee, use e-mail to approach one privately. I can either do that, or post a request on WP:RfM. This comes from Sannse on irc 050304. But it's borked. There is a new page as of July 2005, Wikimediation. There is an even more unofficial one at WP:TINMC.

But if I want someone to pass messages and be my språkrör, what I want isn't a mediator at all, but someone from Association of Members' Advocates. That was a bit of a disaster when I tried it in March 2005, but I suppose it's all the luck of the draw.

A cool way to search Project Gutenberg
A message to the C18 mailing list:

Date: Sat, 2 Apr 2005 18:39:47 EST From: Jim Chevallier  Subject: A cool way to search Project Gutenberg

Which is to say, to search a good portion of the world's literature.

For a while I've used the Greenstone search tool to search Gutenberg:

http://public.ibiblio.org/gsdl/cgi-bin/library?site=localhost&a=p&p=about&c=gberg&ct=0

But it has a variety of limits.

Now I've discovered this 'Advanced Search' tool:

http://www.gutenberg.org/catalog/world/search

Which works a bit more like Gallica - that is, it brings up the search text in context so that you can check that before loading the whole document. Very convenient.

To purge server cache
Make an URL on this pattern and hit return: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Wikipedia:Featured_article_candidates&action=purge

Diverse MEMOS AND LINKS
Page of metalinks and shortcuts about copyright etc, very useful!

Manual of Style

Cite sources, which is part of the Manual of Style

Guide to layout, which is part of the Manual of Style

Minimum waste of time

Requests for sysop attention, perhaps superseded by WP:AN and/or WP:AN/I?

New pages

Kate's tools old

Kate's tools new

Interiot's tool

How to find an old FAC discussion
The addresses look like this:

References vs External links
What of an external link that's a reference? Apparently that's one for the "References" section, since Filiocht said in an FAC comment that "The external links that served as references need to go to a references section, along with any print refs that were used". OK, do I ever even put in any external links that are not used as references? Probably not, but other people do.

To do "strike through"
Write like this to produce the headline: To do "strike through"

To write comments in the edit field that don't show up on the page
Write like this:

External links in text vs. at the end (discussion)
A Talk:Cite sources section

Templates

 * To say This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.Category:1911 Britannica, put at the bottom of the page or under references.

 * To say "This article is partially based on content from the public domain "Owl Edition" of Nordisk familjebok", put at the bottom of the page or under references.

 * To say "This article uses text from A Dictionary of Christian Biography and Literature to the End of the Sixth Century A.D., with an Account of the Principal Sects and Heresies by Henry Wace", put  at the bottom of the page or under references.

Examples of controversial RFA promotions
All below is copied from User:Friday/bcrat.

Purpose of examples: try to demonstrate that when candidates have been promoted despite objections for good cause, this has usually been a mistake. (More importantly, it's usually been later recognized as a mistake.) Objective: get the RFA voters to open their eyes and start actually evaluating candidates. Alternately, get people to recognize that it'd be useful to have a way to remove the bit without going to arbcom.

Examples of controversial crat decisions:

Requests for adminship/Carnildo 3

Requests for adminship/^demon 3 (see also Wikipedia Signpost/2008-02-25/Controversial RFA)

Requests for adminship/Elonka 3

Requests for adminship/Gwen Gale 2

Requests for adminship/Philosopher

Requests for adminship/Ryulong 3 - was eventually desysopped for doing the sorts of things the opposers predicted

Requests_for_adminship/Majorly - weird. he was apparently promoted after this with no additional RFA? how did that happen?

Requests for adminship/Ecoleetage 3 - clear and ample evidence of unsuitability of the candidate. will likely be closed by the numbers, as a success. Some unknown quantity of chat room buddies number among the supporters. what a catastrophe. retirement stalking accusation At least people see now that we dodges a bullet there.

Requests for adminship/Foxy Loxy 3 - ongoing maturity concerns, even among supporters. yet, a big crowd of "great candidate, hooray!" voters turned up.

Other weird stuff:

Requests_for_adminship/Archtransit - not "controversial"- nobody saw this coming.

this travesty is good evidence that yes, things are screwed up with RFA. How can we discourage fan-club-ism and encourage actual evaluation of candidates?

Requests_for_adminship/IMatthew_2 - highly questionable rfa. some of the supporters, and even the nominator, had "concerns" yet they put their vote in the wrong column.

What happens when people ask crats to do something about a problem admin? We don't have much data. I have two ill-fated attempts at User_talk:Kingturtle/Archive6 and User:Raul654/archive14. All we can do is keep trying, backed up with better discussion and a good demonstration of a community lack of confidence. Altho, it appears that no argument can stand up to the objection of "But, we've never done that before."

Requests_for_adminship/Majorly_2 another case of misplaced opposes. Some of the people voting support come right out and admit he's a drama queen, and they support anyway? I strongly disagree.

Requests for adminship/Pastor Theo significant opposition for good cause, yet by simple vote counting it's successful

title: User:Bishonen/My saved bits


text:
Talk:Sensō-ji

Article rename
Moved from Sensoji Temple (which is redundant, since the -ji means "temple") —Preceding unsigned comment added by Fg2 (talk • contribs) 5 August 2004

Macrons in the title of the page
I was under the impressions that macrons were not used in the titles of pages. Maybe this is outdated, though? // Habj 02:00, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
 * We discussed it thoroughly at Wikipedia Talk:Manual of Style (Japan-related articles) and the consensus was to use macrons. Fg2 07:38, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
 * OK, thanks for the link - I will keep it. I can not see that discussion specifically mentions page titles, though. The least you can do is make a redirect from the version without macron, which I have done here. // Habj 08:56, 30 May 2006 (UTC)
 * It's all in the archives --- #15 or 16 or both or more; we've debated it up, down and all around. Regarding redirects, the easy way is to initiate the article with the title without macrons, and in the first line write it with macrons (e.g. using Template:nihongo). Then copy the spelling with macrons to the clipboard, and rename (or in Wikipedia dialect, "move") the article. Paste the name from the clipboard into the new title box. Renaming a page automatically makes the old page a redirect. (But you probably knew all that.) Fg2 12:08, 30 May 2006 (UTC)

Nakamise-dori
Doesn't Nakamise-dori mean something like "street of the central shops"? If so, please add the gloss to the section. --Error (talk) 16:36, 2 April 2020 (UTC)

 * No. It is 仲見世通り, which translates to "The road of the inside". ”中店通り”would mean central shop street. JthomasP (talk) 03:28, 16 July 2023 (UTC)

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

title: Talk:Sensō-ji


text:
Ma'ruf

Ma'ruf (معروف) is an Islamic term meaning that which is "well-known, universally accepted, ... that which is good, beneficial ...; fairness, equity, equitableness;". It is used 38 times in the Quran. The word is most often found in the Qur'anic exhortation: امر بالمعروف و نهى عن المنكر "Amr bil Ma'ruf wa Nahy an al Munkar", often translated as "Enjoin the good and forbid the wrong".

Pre-modern Islamic literature describes pious Muslims (usually scholars) taking action to forbid wrong by destroying forbidden objects, particularly liquor and musical instruments. In the contemporary Muslim world, various state or parastatal bodies (often with phrases like the "Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice" in their titles) have appeared in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Nigeria, Sudan, Malaysia, etc., at various times and with various levels of power.

There is a hadith in which Muhammad is quoted as saying, "My ummah will never agree upon an error." This has been interpreted to mean that the consensus of the community is a source of moral and legal authority.

There is also another verse in Quran, that says "والاقربون أولى بالمعروف", often translated as “those who are close to you

title: Ma'ruf


text:
Elizabeth Bowen

Elizabeth Bowen CBE (7 June 1899 – 22 February 1973) was an Irish-British novelist and short story writer notable for her books about the "big house" of Irish landed Protestants as well as her fiction about life in wartime London. In 1958, she was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature by Russian-American linguist Roman Jakobson.

Life
Elizabeth Dorothea Cole Bowen was born on 7 June 1899 at 15 Herbert Place in Dublin, daughter of barrister Henry Charles Cole Bowen (1862–1930), who succeeded his father as head of their Irish gentry family traced back to the late 1500s, of Welsh origin, and Florence Isabella Pomeroy (died 1912), daughter of Henry FitzGeorge Pomeroy Colley, of Mount Temple, Clontarf, Dublin, grandson of the 4th Viscount Harberton. Florence Bowen's mother was granddaughter of the 4th Viscount Powerscourt. Elizabeth Bowen was baptised in the nearby St Stephen's Church on Upper Mount Street. Her parents later brought her to her father's family home, Bowen's Court at Farahy, near Kildorrery, County Cork, where she spent her summers. Among her enduring childhood friends were the artists Mainie Jellett and Sylvia Cooke-Collis. When her father became mentally ill in 1907, she and her mother moved to England, eventually settling in Hythe. After her mother died in September 1912, Bowen was brought up by her aunts; her father remarried in 1918. She was educated at Downe House School under the headship of Olive Willis. After some time at art school in London she decided that her talent lay in writing. She mixed with the Bloomsbury Group, becoming good friends with Rose Macaulay who helped her seek a publisher for her first book, a collection of short stories titled Encounters (1923).

In 1923 she married Alan Cameron, an educational administrator who subsequently worked for the BBC. The marriage has been described as "a sexless but contented union." The marriage was reportedly never consummated. She had various extra-marital relationships, including one with Charles Ritchie, a Canadian diplomat seven years her junior, which lasted over thirty years. She also had an affair with the Irish writer Seán Ó Faoláin and a relationship with the American poet May Sarton. Bowen and her husband first lived near Oxford, where they socialised with Maurice Bowra, John Buchan and Susan Buchan, and where she wrote her early novels, including The Last September (1929). Following the publication of To the North (1932), they moved to 2 Clarence Terrace, Regent's Park, London, where she wrote The House in Paris (1936) and The Death of the Heart (1938). In 1937, she became a member of the Irish Academy of Letters.

In 1930, Bowen became the first (and only) woman to inherit Bowen's Court, but remained based in England, making frequent visits to Ireland. During World War II, she worked for the British Ministry of Information, reporting on Irish opinion, particularly on the issue of neutrality. Bowen's political views tended towards Burkean conservatism. During and after the war she wrote among the greatest expressions of life in wartime London, The Demon Lover and Other Stories (1945) and The Heat of the Day (1948); she was awarded the CBE the same year.

Her husband retired in 1952 and they settled in Bowen's Court, where he died a few months later. Many writers visited her at Bowen's Court from 1930 onward, including Virginia Woolf, Eudora Welty, Carson McCullers, Iris Murdoch, and the historian Veronica Wedgwood. For years, Bowen struggled to keep the house going, lecturing in the United States to earn money. In 1957, her portrait was painted at Bowen's Court by her friend, painter Patrick Hennessy. She travelled to Italy in 1958 to research and prepare A Time in Rome (1960), but by the following year, Bowen was forced to sell her beloved Bowen's Court, which was demolished in 1960. In the following months, she wrote the narrative of the documentary titled Ireland the Tear and the Smile for CBS which was realised in collaboration with Bob Monks as camera man and associate producer. After spending some years without a permanent home, Bowen finally settled at "Carbery", Church Hill, Hythe, in 1965.

Her final novel, Eva Trout, or Changing Scenes (1968), won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize in 1969 and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize in 1970. Subsequently, she was a judge (alongside her friend Cyril Connolly) that awarded the 1972 Man Booker Prize to John Berger for G. She spent Christmas 1972 at Kinsale, County Cork, with her friends, Major Stephen Vernon and his wife, Lady Ursula (daughter of the Duke of Westminster) but was hospitalised upon her return. Here she was visited by Connolly, Lady Ursula Vernon, Isaiah Berlin, Rosamund Lehmann, and her literary agent Spencer Curtis Brown.

In 1972 Bowen developed lung cancer. She died in University College Hospital on 22 February 1973, age 73. She is buried with her husband in St Colman's churchyard in Farahy, close to the gates of Bowen's Court, where there is a memorial plaque to the author (which bears the words of John Sparrow) at the entrance to St Colman's Church, where a commemoration of her life is held annually.

Legacy
In 1977, Victoria Glendinning published the first biography of Elizabeth Bowen. In 2009, Glendinning published a book about the relationship between Charles Ritchie and Bowen, based on his diaries and her letters to him. In 2012, English Heritage marked Bowen's Regent's Park home at Clarence Terrace with a blue plaque. A blue plaque was unveiled 19 October 2014 to mark Bowen's residence at the Coach House, The Croft, Headington, from 1925 to 1935.

Themes
Bowen was greatly interested in "life with the lid on and what happens when the lid comes off", in the innocence of orderly life, and in the eventual, irrepressible forces that transform experience. Bowen also examined the betrayal and secrets that lie beneath a veneer of respectability. The style of her works is highly wrought and owes much to literary modernism. She was an admirer of film and influenced by the filmmaking techniques of her day. The locations in which Bowen's works are set often bear heavily on the psychology of the characters and on the plots. Bowen's war novel The Heat of the Day (1948) is considered one of the quintessential depictions of London's atmosphere during the bombing raids of World War II.

She was also a notable writer of ghost stories. Supernatural fiction writer Robert Aickman considered Elizabeth Bowen to be "the most distinguished living practitioner" of ghost stories. He included her tale "The Demon Lover" in his anthology The Second Fontana Book of Great Ghost Stories.

Novels

 * The Hotel (1927)
 * The Last September (1929)
 * Friends and Relations (1931)
 * To the North (1932)
 * The House in Paris (1935)
 * The Death of the Heart (1938)
 * The Heat of the Day (1948)
 * A World of Love (1955)
 * The Little Girls (1964)
 * Eva Trout (1968)

Short story collections

 * Encounters (1923)
 * Ann Lee's and Other Stories (1926)
 * Joining Charles and Other Stories (1929)
 * The Cat Jumps and Other Stories (1934)
 * Look at All Those Roses (1941)
 * The Demon Lover and Other Stories (1945)
 * Ivy Gripped the Steps and Other Stories (1946, USA)
 * Stories by Elizabeth Bowen (1959)
 * A Day in the Dark and Other Stories (1965)
 * The Good Tiger (1965, children's book) - illustrated by M. Nebel (1965 edition) and Quentin Blake (1970 edition)
 * Elizabeth Bowen's Irish Stories (1978)
 * The Collected Stories of Elizabeth Bowen (1980)
 * The Bazaar and Other Stories (2008) - edited by Allan Hepburn

Nonfiction

 * Bowen's Court (1942, 1964)
 * Seven Winters: Memories of a Dublin Childhood (1942)
 * English Novelists (1942)
 * Anthony Trollope: A New Judgement (1946)
 * Why Do I Write?: An Exchange of Views between Elizabeth Bowen, Graham Greene and V.S. Pritchett (1948)
 * Collected Impressions (1950)
 * The Shelbourne (1951)
 * A Time in Rome (1960)
 * Afterthought: Pieces About Writing (1962)
 * Pictures and Conversations (1975), edited by Spencer Curtis Brown
 * The Mulberry Tree: Writings of Elizabeth Bowen (1999), edited by Hermione Lee
 * "Notes on Éire": Espionage Reports to Winston Churchill by Elizabeth Bowen, 1940–1942 (2008), edited by Jack Lane and Brendan Clifford
 * People, Places, Things: Essays by Elizabeth Bowen (2008) - edited by Allan Hepburn
 * Love's Civil War: Elizabeth Bowen and Charles Ritchie: Letters and Diaries, 1941–1973 (2009), edited by Victoria Glendinning and Judith Robertson
 * Listening In: Broadcasts, Speeches, and Interviews by Elizabeth Bowen (2010), edited by Allan Hepburn
 * Elizabeth Bowen's Selected Irish Writings (2011), edited by Éibhear Walshe
 * The Weight of a World of Feeling: Reviews and Essays by Elizabeth Bowen (2016), edited by Allan Hepburn

Critical studies of Bowen

 * Jocelyn Brooke: Elizabeth Bowen (1952)
 * William Heath: Elizabeth Bowen: An Introduction to Her Novels (1961)
 * Edwin J. Kenney: Elizabeth Bowen (1975)
 * Victoria Glendinning: Elizabeth Bowen: Portrait of a Writer (1977)
 * Hermione Lee: Elizabeth Bowen: An Estimation (1981)
 * Patricia Craig: Elizabeth Bowen (1986)
 * Harold Bloom (editor): Elizabeth Bowen (1987)
 * Allan E. Austin: Elizabeth Bowen  (1989)
 * Phyllis Lassner: Elizabeth Bowen (1990)
 * Phyllis Lassner: Elizabeth Bowen: A Study of the Short Fiction (1991)
 * Heather Bryant Jordan: How Will the Heart Endure?: Elizabeth Bowen and the Landscape of War (1992)
 * Andrew Bennett and Nicholas Royle: Elizabeth Bowen and the Dissolution of the Novel: Still Lives (1994)
 * Renée C. Hoogland: Elizabeth Bowen: A Reputation in Writing (1994)
 * John Halperin: Eminent Georgians: The Lives of King George V, Elizabeth Bowen, St. John Philby, and Lady Astor (1995)
 * Éibhear Walshe (editor): Elizabeth Bowen Remembered: The Farahy Addresses (1998)
 * John D. Coates: Social Discontinuity in the Novels of Elizabeth Bowen: The Conservative Quest (1998)
 * Lis Christensen: Elizabeth Bowen: The Later Fiction (2001)
 * Maud Ellmann: Elizabeth Bowen: The Shadow Across the Page (2003)
 * Neil Corcoran: Elizabeth Bowen: The Enforced Return (2004)
 * Éibhear Walshe (editor): Elizabeth Bowen: Visions and Revisions (2008)
 * Susan Osborn (editor): Elizabeth Bowen: New Critical Perspectives (2009)
 * Lara Feigel: The Love-charm of Bombs Restless Lives in the Second World War (2013)
 * Jessica Gildersleeve: Elizabeth Bowen and the Writing of Trauma: The Ethics of Survival (2014)
 * Nels Pearson: Irish Cosmopolitanism: Location and Dislocation in James Joyce, Elizabeth Bowen, and Samuel Beckett (2015)
 * Jessica Gildersleeve and Patricia Juliana Smith (editors): Elizabeth Bowen: Theory, Thought and Things (2019)
 * Julia Parry: The Shadowy Third (2021)

Critical essays on Bowen

 * Coughlan, P. (2018) ‘Elizabeth Bowen’, in Ingman, H. and Ó Gallchoir, C. (eds) A History of Modern Irish Women’s Literature, 1st edn., Cambridge University Press, pp. 204–226. Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10468/14892
 * Coughlan, P. (2021) ‘“We get all sealed up”: an essay in five deaths’, Irish University Review, 51(1), pp. 9–23. https://doi.org/10.3366/iur.2021.0492 . Available at: https://hdl.handle.net/10468/14882
 * The Bellman (Seán Ó Faoláin): "Meet Elizabeth Bowen" in The Bell Vol. 4 (September 1942)
 * David Daiches: "The Novels of Elizabeth Bowen" in The English Journal Vol. 38, No. 6 (1949)
 * Elizabeth Hardwick: "Elizabeth Bowen's Fiction" in Partisan Review Vol. 16 (1949)
 * Bruce Harkness: "The Fiction of Elizabeth Bowen" in The English Journal Vol. 44, No. 9 (1955)
 * Gary T. Davenport: "Elizabeth Bowen and the Big House" in Southern Humanities Review Vol. 8 (1974)
 * Martha McGowan: "The Enclosed Garden in Elizabeth Bowen's A World of Love" in Éire-Ireland Vol. 16, Issue 1 (Spring 1981)
 * Seán Ó Faoláin: "A Reading and Remembrance of Elizabeth Bowen" in London Review of Books (4–17 March 1982)
 * Antoinette Quinn: "Elizabeth Bowen's Irish Stories: 1939-45" in Studies in Anglo-Irish Literature (1982)
 * Harriet S. Chessman: "Women and Language in the Fiction of Elizabeth Bowen" in Twentieth Century Literature Vol. 29, No. 1 (1983)
 * Brad Hooper: "Elizabeth Bowen's 'The Happy Autumn Fields': A Dream or Not?" in Studies in Short Fiction Vol. 21 (1984)
 * Margaret Scanlan: "Rumors of War: Elizabeth Bowen's The Last September and J. G. Farrell's Troubles" in Éire-Ireland Vol. 20, Issue 2 (Summer 1985)
 * Phyllis Lassner: "The Past is a Burning Pattern: Elizabeth Bowen's The Last September" in Éire-Ireland Vol. 21, Issue 1 (Spring 1986)
 * John Coates: "Elizabeth Bowen's The Last September: The Loss of the Past and the Modern Consciousness" in Durham University Journal, Vol. LXXXII, No. 2 (1990)
 * Roy F. Foster: "The Irishness of Elizabeth Bowen" in Paddy & Mr Punch: Connections in Irish and English History (1993)
 * John Halperin: "The Good Tiger: Elizabeth Bowen" in Eminent Georgians: The Lives of King George V, Elizabeth Bowen, St. John Philby, and Nancy Astor (1995)
 * Julian Moynahan: "Elizabeth Bowen" in Anglo-Irish: The Literary Imagination in a Hyphenated Culture (Princeton University Press, 1995)
 * Declan Kiberd: "Elizabeth Bowen: The Dandy in Revolt" in Éibhear Walshe: Sex, Nation and Dissent in Irish Writing (1997)
 * Carmen Concilio: "Things that Do Speak in Elizabeth Bowen's The Last September" in Moments of Moment: Aspects of the Literary Epiphany edited by Wim Tigges (1999)
 * Neil Corcoran: "Discovery of a Lack: History and Ellipsis in Elizabeth Bowen's The Last September" in Irish University Review Vol. 31, No. 2 (2001)
 * Elizabeth Cullingford: "'Something Else': Gendering Onliness in Elizabeth Bowen's Early Fiction" in MFS Modern Fiction Studies Vol. 53, No. 2 (2007)
 * Elizabeth C. Inglesby: "'Expressive Objects': Elizabeth Bowen's Narrative Materializes" in MFS Modern Fiction Studies Vol. 53, No. 2 (2007)
 * Brook Miller: "The Impersonal Personal: Value, Voice, and Agency in Elizabeth Bowen's Literary and Social Criticism" in Modern Fiction Studies, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Summer 2007)
 * Sinéad Mooney: "Unstable Compounds: Bowen's Beckettian Affinities" in Modern Fiction Studies, Vol. 53, No. 2 (Summer 2007)
 * Victoria Stewart: "'That Eternal Now': Memory and Subjectivity in Elizabeth Bowen's Seven Winters" in MFS Modern Fiction Studies Vol. 53, No. 2 (2007)
 * Keri Walsh: "Elizabeth Bowen, Surrealist" in Éire-Ireland Vol. 42, No. 3-4 (2007)
 * Heather Bryant Jordan: "A Bequest of Her Own: The Reinvention of Elizabeth Bowen" in New Hibernia Review Vol. 12, No. 2 (2008)
 * Céline Magot: "Elizabeth Bowen's London in The Heat of the Day: An Impression of the City in the Territory of War" in Literary London (2008)
 * Éibhear Walshe: "No abiding city." The Dublin Review No. 36 (2009)
 * Jessica Gildersleeve: "An Unnameable Thing: Spectral Shadows in Elizabeth Bowen's The Hotel and The Last September" in Perforations
 * John D. Coates: "The Misfortunes of Eva Trout" in Essays in Criticism 48.1 (1998)
 * Karen Schaller: "'I know it to be synthetic but it affects me strongly': 'Dead Mabelle' and Bowen's Emotion Pictures" in Textual Practice 27.1 (2013)
 * Patricia J. Smith: "'Everything to Dread from the Dispossessed': Changing Scenes and the End of the Modernist Heroine in Elizabeth Bowen's Eva Trout" in Hecate 35.1/2 (2009)
 * James F. Wurtz: "Elizabeth Bowen, Modernism, and the Spectre of Anglo-Ireland" in Estudios Irlandeses No. 5 (2010)
 * Patrick W. Moran: "Elizabeth Bowen's Toys and the Imperatives of Play" in Éire-Ireland Vol. 46, Issue 1&2 (Spring/Summer 2011)
 * Kathryn Johnson:"'Phantasmagoric Hinterlands': Adolescence and Anglo-Ireland in Elizabeth Bowen's The House in Paris and The Death of the Heart" in Irish Women Writers: New Critical Perspectives, ed. Elke d'Hoker, et al. (2011)
 * Tina O'Toole: "Unregenerate Spirits: The Counter-Cultural Experiments of George Egerton and Elizabeth Bowen" in Irish Women Writers: New Critical Perspectives, ed. Elke d'Hoker, et al. (2011)
 * Lauren Elkin: "Light's Language: Sensation and Subjectivity in Elizabeth Bowen's Early Novels." Réfléchir (sur) la sensation, ed. Marina Poisson (2014)
 * Gerry Smyth, "A Spy in the House of Love: Elizabeth Bowen's The Heat of the Day (1949)" in The Judas Kiss: Treason and Betrayal in Six Modern Irish Novels (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 2015), 115-34

Television and film adaptations

 * The House in Paris (BBC, 1959) starring Pamela Brown, Trader Faulkner, Clare Austin and Vivienne Bennett
 * The Death of the Heart (1987) starring Patricia Hodge, Nigel Havers, Robert Hardy, Phyllis Calvert, Wendy Hiller and Miranda Richardson
 * The Heat of the Day (Granada Television, 1989) starring Patricia Hodge, Michael Gambon, Michael York, Peggy Ashcroft and Imelda Staunton
 * The Last September (1999) starring Maggie Smith, Michael Gambon, Fiona Shaw, Jane Birkin, Lambert Wilson, David Tennant, Richard Roxburgh and Keeley Hawes

title: Elizabeth Bowen


text:
Helsinge

Helsinge is the municipal seat of Gribskov Municipality in Region Hovedstaden on Zealand in Denmark. As of 1 January 2024, it has a population of 9,482.

History
In early 19th century Helsinge was as small as the nearby villages, but it had an inn and a church and the vicar had another parish under him, Valby. Through the 19th century Helsinge grew. In 1840 23% of the 1258 inhabitants in the parish lived in the city, but in 1901 the percentage was 43% of 1647. In the meantime the town had got among other things both a judge (1848), a doctor (1859), a post office (1863), telegraphy (1872) and a railway station (1897).

Notable people

 * Christiern Pedersen (c.1480 – 1554 in Helsinge) a canon, humanist scholar, writer, printer and publisher
 * Jens Poul Andersen (1844 in Huseby, near Annisse – 1935) an inventor, constructed cameras
 * Niels Fennet (born 1944 in Valby, near Helsinge) an engineer and businessman, founded Cabinn Hotels
 * Thor Pedersen (born 1945) politician, member of Helsinge Municipal Council 1974-1986, Mayor 1978-1986, member of Folketinget & Government Minister.
 * Bente Hammer (born 1950) a textile artist and fashion designer, moved to Bornholm in 1987
 * Anders Bircow (born 1951) a Danish actor and comedian
 * Yuko Takada Keller (born 1958) an artist, curator and essayist based in Helsinge since 1997
 * Christian Brøns (born 1977 in Kagerup, near Helsinge) a Danish singer

Sport

 * Rolf Sørensen (born 1965) a former Danish professional road bicycle racer, silver medallist at the 1996 Summer Olympics, now a cycling commentator and agent
 * Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen (born 1965) a retired Danish badminton player and President of the Badminton World Federation
 * Morten Petersen (born 1978) a Danish retired footballer, over 200 caps for Lyngby Boldklub
 * Nikolaj Markussen (born 1988) a Danish handballer who plays for Bjerringbro-Silkeborg
 * Sandra Toft (born 1989) a Danish handball goalkeeper

Twin towns — Sister cities
Helsinge is twinned with:

 * 🇵🇱 Lubsko, Poland

title: Helsinge


text:
Karasahr

Karasahr or Karashar (قاراشەھەر), which was originally known in the Tocharian languages as Ārśi (or Arshi), Qarašähär, or Agni or the Chinese derivative Yanqi, is an ancient town on the Silk Road and the capital of Yanqi Hui Autonomous County in the Bayingolin Mongol Autonomous Prefecture, Xinjiang.

it had a population of 29,000, growing to 31,773 people in 2006; 16,032 persons of which were Han, 7781 people Hui, 7154 people Uyghur, 628 Mongol and 178 other ethnicities and an agricultural population of 1078 people.

The town has a strategic location, being located on the Kaidu River (known in ancient times as the Liusha), China National Highway 314 and the Southern Xinjiang Railway and is an important material distribution center and regional business hub. The town administers ten communities. It has a predominately Muslim population and contains many mosques.

Geography
The modern town of Yanqi is situated about 24 km west of the shallow Lake Bosten. The lake is about 81 km east to west and 48 km north to south with a surface area of about 1000 km2, making it one of the largest lakes in Xinjiang. It has been noted since Han times for its abundance of fish. The lake is fed by the Kaidu River and the Konqi River flows out of it past Korla and across the Taklamakan Desert to Lop Nur. There are numerous other small lakes in the region.

The city, referred to in classical Chinese sources as Yanqi, was located on the branch of the Silk Route that ran along the northern edge of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin.

History
The earliest known inhabitants of the area were an Indo-European people who apparently referred to themselves and the city as Ārśi (pronounced "Arshi"). Their language, since it was rediscovered in the early 20th century, has been known as "Tocharian A" (a misnomer resulting from an assumed relationship to the Tukhara of Bactria). The people and city were also known as Agni, although this may have been a later exonym, derived from the word for "fire" in an Indo-Iranian language such as Sanskrit (cognate to English "ignite"). The 7th century Buddhist monk Xuanzang transliterated Agni into Chinese as O-ki-ni 阿耆尼 (MC ZS: *ʔɑ-ɡiɪ-ɳˠiɪ standard: Āqíní).

Ārśi was bordered by related Tocharian cultures, many of which also spoke related languages: Kuča (or Kucha), Gumo (later Aksu) to the west, Turfan (Turpan) to the east and to the south, Krorän (Loulan).

In China, Han dynasty sources describe Yanqi (Ārśi / Agni) as a relatively large and important neighboring kingdom. According to Book of Han, the various states of the "Western Regions", including Yanqi, were controlled by the nomadic Xiongnu, but later came under the influence of the Han dynasty, following a Han show of force against Dayuan (Fergana) in the late 2nd century BCE.

From the 1st century BCE onwards, many populations in the Tarim Basin, including the Ārśi underwent conversion to Buddhism and, consequently, linguistic influence from Indo-Iranian languages, such as Pali, Sanskrit, Bactrian, Gandhari and Khotanese (Saka). The city of Ārśi became commonly known as Agni, almost certainly derived from the Sanskrit अग्नि "fire". Names such as Agnideśa (अग्निदेश) and Agni-visaya, both of which are Sanskrit for "city of fire", are also recorded in Buddhist scriptures.

According to the Book of the Later Han, General Ban Chao went on a punitive campaign against Yanqi in 94 CE after they attacked and killed the Protector General Chen Mu and Vice Commandant Guo Xun in 75 CE. The king of Yanqi was decapitated and his head displayed in the capital. Later rebellions were subdued by Ban Chao's son Ban Yong in 127 CE.
 * It has "15,000 households, 52,000 individuals, and more than 20,000 men able to bear arms. It has high mountains on all four sides. There are hazardous passes on the route to Qiuci (Kucha) that are easy to defend. The water of a lake winds between the four mountains, and surrounds the town for more than 30 li [12.5 km]."

Agnideśa became a tributary state of Tang China in 632 CE. In 644, during the Tang expansion into the Tarim Basin, Emperor Taizong of Tang launched a military campaign against Yanqi after the kingdom allied itself with the Turks. The Four Garrisons of Anxi was established with one based at Yanqi.

According to Book of Zhou (636 CE) the kingdom of Yanqi (Karashahr) was a small country with poor people and nine walled towns, and described the country and their custom thus:
 * Marriage is about the same as among the Chinese. All the deceased are cremated and then buried. They wear mourning for seven full days, after which they put it off. The adult men all trim their hair to make a head decoration. Their written characters are the same as those of India.
 * It is their custom to serve "Heavenly God(s)" but they also show reverence and trust in the doctrines of the Buddha. They especially celebrate these days: The eighth day of the second month, and the eighth day of the fourth month. All the country abstains and does penance according to the teachings of Śākya, and follows His Way.
 * The climate is cold, and the land good and fertile. For cereals, they have rice, millet, pulse, wheat, and barley. For animals, they have camels, horses, cows, and sheep. They raise silk-worms but do not make silk, merely using [the silk fiber] for padding.  It is their custom to relish grape wine, and also to love music. It is some ten li north of a body of water, and has an abundance of fish, salt, and rushes. In the fourth year of the period Pao-ting, its king sent an envoy to present its renowned horses.
 * The climate is cold, and the land good and fertile. For cereals, they have rice, millet, pulse, wheat, and barley. For animals, they have camels, horses, cows, and sheep. They raise silk-worms but do not make silk, merely using [the silk fiber] for padding.  It is their custom to relish grape wine, and also to love music. It is some ten li north of a body of water, and has an abundance of fish, salt, and rushes. In the fourth year of the period Pao-ting, its king sent an envoy to present its renowned horses.
 * The climate is cold, and the land good and fertile. For cereals, they have rice, millet, pulse, wheat, and barley. For animals, they have camels, horses, cows, and sheep. They raise silk-worms but do not make silk, merely using [the silk fiber] for padding.  It is their custom to relish grape wine, and also to love music. It is some ten li north of a body of water, and has an abundance of fish, salt, and rushes. In the fourth year of the period Pao-ting, its king sent an envoy to present its renowned horses.

By the mid-9th century, the area had been conquered by the Uyghur Khaganate and the Tocharian languages were fading from use. Agnideśa became widely known by the Uyghur Turkic name Karasahr (or Karashar), meaning "black city". The influence of Islam grew, while older religions such as Buddhism and Manichaenism declined.

Between the mid-13th century and the 18th century, Karasahr was part of the Mongol Chagatai Khanate.

Karashahr may have been known to late medieval Europeans as Cialis, Chalis, or Chialis, although Korla, Krorän, and other city names are instead favored by some scholars.

In the early 17th century, the Portuguese Jesuit lay brother Bento de Góis visited the Tarim Basin on his way from India to China (via Kabul and Kashgar). De Góis and his traveling companions spent several months in the "Kingdom of Cialis", while crossing it with a caravan of Kashgarian merchants (ostensibly, tribute bearers) on their way to Ming China. The travelers stayed in Cialis City for three months in 1605, and then continued, via Turpan and Hami (all parts of the "Kingdom of Cialis", according to de Góis), to the Ming border at Jiayuguan.

The British traveller Francis Younghusband briefly visited Karasahr in 1887 on his overland journey from Beijing to India. He described it as being "like all the towns hereabouts, is surrounded by a mud wall, and the gateways are surmounted by the usual pagoda-like towers. There is a musketry wall round outside the main wall, but it is now almost in ruins. Inside the wall are some yamens, but only a few houses. Outside, to the south, are a few shops and inns."

An early-20th-century traveler described the situation in Karashahr as follows:
 * "The whole of this district round Kara-shahr and Korla is, from a geographical and political point of view, both interesting and important; for whilst all other parts of Chinese Turkestan can only be reached either by climbing high and difficult passes—the lowest of which has the same elevation as Mont Blanc—or traversing extensive and dangerous waterless deserts of sand-hills, here we find the one and only convenient approach to the land through the valleys of several rivers in the neighbourhood of Ili, where plentiful water abounds in the mountain streams on all sides, and where a rich vegetation makes life possible for wandering tribes. Such Kalmuck tribes still come from the north-west to Tal. They are Torgut nomads who pitch their yurts round about Kara-shahr and live a hard life with their herds ...
 * Just as these Mongols wander about here at the present day, so the nomadic tribes of an earlier period must have used this district as their entrance and exit gate. The Tochari (Yue-chi) [Pinyin: Yuezhi], on their way from China, undoubtedly at that time passed through this gate to get into the Ili valley ..."

Rulers
(Names are in modern Mandarin pronunciations based on ancient Chinese records)
 * Shun (舜) 58
 * Zhong (忠) 88
 * Guang (廣) 91
 * Yuan Meng (元孟) 94–127
 * Long An (龍安) 280
 * Long Hui (龍會) 289
 * Long Xi (龍熙) 306
 * Long Jiushibeina (龍鳩屍卑那) 385
 * Tang He (唐和) 448
 * Che Xie (車歇) 449
 * Qu Jia (麴嘉) 497
 * Long Tuqizhi (龍突騎支) 605
 * Long Lipozhun (龍栗婆准) 644
 * Long Xuepoanazhi (龍薛婆阿那支) 645
 * Long Xiannazhun (龍先那准) 649
 * Long Tuqizhi (龍突騎支) 650
 * Long Nentu (龍嫩突) 651
 * Long Yantufuyan (龍焉吐拂延) 719
 * Long Chang'an (龍長安) 737
 * Long Tuqishi (龍突騎施) 745
 * Long Rulin (龍如林) 767–789? / Tang general – Yang Riyou 789

title: Karasahr


text:
Yarkant County

Yarkant County, also Shache County, also transliterated from Uyghur as Yakan County, is a county in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, located on the southern rim of the Taklamakan Desert in the Tarim Basin. It is one of 11 counties administered under Kashgar Prefecture. The county, usually referred to as Yarkand in English, was the seat of an ancient Buddhist kingdom on the southern branch of the Silk Road and the Yarkand Khanate. The county sits at an altitude of 1189 m and had a population of 373,492.

The fertile oasis is fed by the Yarkand River, which flows north down from the Karakorum mountains and passes through the Kunlun Mountains, known historically as the Congling mountains (lit. 'Onion Mountains' - from the abundance of wild onions found there). The oasis now covers 3210 km2, but was likely far more extensive before a period of desiccation affected the region from the 3rd century CE onwards.

Today, Yarkant is a predominantly Uyghur settlement. The irrigated oasis farmland produces cotton, wheat, corn, fruits (especially pomegranates, pears and apricots) and walnuts. Yak and sheep graze in the highlands. Mineral deposits include petroleum, natural gas, gold, copper, lead, bauxite, granite and coal.

Han dynasty
The territory of Yārkand is first mentioned in the Book of Han (1st century BCE) as "Shaju" (Old Chinese, approximately, *s³a(j)-ka), which is probably related to the name of the Iranian Saka tribes. Descriptions in the Hou Hanshu ('History of the Later Han') contain insights into the complex political situation China faced in attempting to open up the "Silk Routes" to the West in the 1st century CE. According to the "Chapter on the Western Regions" in the Hou Hanshu:

 * "Going west from the kingdom of Suoju (Yarkand), and passing through the countries of Puli (Tashkurghan) and Wulei (centred on Sarhad in the Wakhan), you arrive among the Da Yuezhi (Kushans). To the east, it is 10,950 li (4,553 km) from Luoyang.

 * The Chanyu (Khan) of the Xiongnu took advantage of the chaos caused by Wang Mang (9-24 CE) and invaded the Western Regions. Only Yan, the king of Suoju, who was more powerful than the others, did not consent to being annexed. Previously, during the time of Emperor Yuan (48-33 BCE), he was a hostage prince and grew up in the capital. He admired and loved the Middle Kingdom and extended the rules of Chinese administration to his own country. He ordered all his sons to respectfully serve the Han dynasty generation by generation, and to never turn their backs on it. Yan died in the fifth Tianfeng year (18 CE). He was awarded the posthumous title of 'Faithful and Martial King'. His son, Kang, succeeded him on the throne.

 * At the beginning of Emperor Guangwu's reign (25-57 CE), Kang led the neighboring kingdoms to resist the Xiongnu. He escorted, and protected, more than a thousand people including the officers, the soldiers, the wife and children of the former Protector General. He sent a letter to Hexi (Chinese territory west of the Yellow River) to inquire about the activities of the Middle Kingdom, and personally expressed his attachment to, and admiration for, the Han dynasty.

 * In the fifth Jianwu year (29 CE) the General-in-Chief of Hexi, Dou Rong, following Imperial instructions, bestowed on Kang the titles of: "King of Chinese Suoju, Performer of Heroic Deeds Who Cherishes Virtue [and] Commandant-in-Chief of the Western Regions." The fifty-five kingdoms were all made dependencies after that.

 * In the ninth year (33 CE) Kang died. He was awarded the posthumous title of "Greatly Accomplished King." His younger brother, Xian, succeeded him on the throne. Xian attacked and conquered the kingdoms of Jumi (Keriya) and Xiye (Karghalik). He killed both their kings, and installed two sons of his elder brother, Kang, as the kings of Jumi and Xiye.

 * In the fourteenth year (38 CE), together with An, the king of Shanshan (the Lop Nor region), he sent envoys to the Imperial Palace to offer tribute. Following this, the Western Regions were (again) in communication with China. All the kingdoms to the east of the Congling (Pamirs) were dependent on Xian.

 * In the seventeenth year (41 CE), Xian again sent an envoy to present offerings [to the Emperor], and to ask that a Protector General be appointed. The Son of Heaven questioned the Excellency of Works, Dou Rong, about this. He was of the opinion that Xian, and his sons and brothers who had pledged to serve the Han were truly sincere. Therefore, [he suggested that] it would be appropriate to give him higher rank to maintain order and security.

 * The Emperor then, using the same envoy that Xian had sent to him, bestowed upon him the seal and ribbon of "Protector General of the Western Regions," and gave him chariots, standards, gold, brocades and embroideries.

"Pei Zun, the Administrator of Dunhuang, wrote saying that foreigners should not be allowed to employ such great authority and that these decrees would cause the kingdoms to despair. An Imperial decree then ordered that the seal and ribbons of "Protector General" be recovered, and replaced with the seal and ribbon of "Great Han General." Xian's envoy refused to make the exchange, and (Pei) Zun took them by force.

 * Consequently, Xian became resentful. Furthermore, he falsely named himself "Great Protector General," and sent letters to all the kingdoms. They all submitted to him, and bestowed the title of Chanyu on him. Xian gradually became arrogant making heavy demands for duties and taxes. Several times he attacked Qiuci (Kucha) and the other kingdoms. All the kingdoms were anxious and fearful.

 * In the winter of the twenty-first year (45 CE), eighteen kings, including the king of Nearer Jushi (Turpan), Shanshan, Yanqi (Karashahr), and others, sent their sons to enter the service of the Emperor and offered treasure. As a result, they were granted audience when they circulated weeping, prostrating with their foreheads to the ground, in the hope of obtaining a Protector General. The Son of Heaven, considering that the Middle Kingdom was just beginning to return to peace and that the northern frontier regions were still unsettled, returned all the hostage princes with generous gifts.

 * At the same time, Xian, infatuated with his military power, wanted to annex the Western Regions, and greatly increased his attacks. The kingdoms, informed that no Protector General would be sent, and that the hostage princes were all returning, were very worried and frightened. Therefore, they sent a letter to the Administrator of Dunhuang to ask him to detain their hostage sons with him, so that they could point this out to the [king of] Suoju (Yarkand), and tell him that their young hostage sons were detained because a Protector General was to be sent. Then he [the king of Yarkand] would stop his hostilities. Pei Zun sent an official report informing the Emperor [of this proposal], which he approved.

 * In the twenty-second year (46 CE) Xian, aware that no Protector General was coming, sent a letter to An, king of Shanshan, ordering him to cut the route to the Han. An did not accept [this order], and killed the envoy. Xian was furious and sent soldiers to attack Shanshan. An gave battle but was defeated and fled into the mountains. Xian killed or captured more than a thousand men, and then withdrew.

 * That winter (46 CE), Xian returned and attacked Qiuci (Kucha), killed the king, and annexed the kingdom. The hostage princes of Shanshan, and then Yanqi (Karashahr) and the other kingdoms, were detained a long time at Dunhuang and became worried, so they fled and returned [to their kingdoms].

 * The king of Shanshan wrote a letter to the Emperor expressing his desire to return his son to enter the service of the Emperor, and again pleaded for a Protector General, saying that if a Protector General were not sent, he would be forced to obey the Xiongnu. The Son of Heaven replied:

 * "We are not able, at the moment, to send out envoys and Imperial troops so, in spite of their good wishes, each kingdom [should seek help], as they please, wherever they can, to the east, west, south, or north."

 * Following this, Shanshan, and Jushi (Turpan/Jimasa) again submitted to the Xiongnu. Meanwhile, Xian became increasingly violent.

 * The king of Guisai, reckoning that his kingdom was far enough away, killed Xian's envoy. Xian then attacked and killed him. He appointed a nobleman from that country, Sijian, king of Guisai. Furthermore, Xian appointed his own son, Zeluo, to be king of Qiuci (Kucha). Xian, taking account of the youth of Zeluo, detached a part of the territory from Qiuci (Kucha) from which he made the kingdom of Wulei (Yengisar). He transferred Sijian to the post of king of Wulei, and appointed another noble to the post of king of Guisai.

 * Several years later, the people of the kingdom of Qiuci (Kucha), killed Zeluo and Sijian, and sent envoys to the Xiongnu to ask them to appoint a king to replace them. The Xiongnu established a nobleman of Qiuci (Kucha), Shendu, to be king of Qiuci (Kucha), making it dependent on the Xiongnu.

 * Because Dayuan (Ferghana) had reduced their tribute and taxes, Xian personally took command of several tens of thousands of men taken from several kingdoms, and attacked Dayuan (Ferghana). Yanliu, the king of Dayuan, came before him to submit. Xian took advantage of this to take him back to his own kingdom. Then he transferred Qiaosaiti, the king of Jumi (Keriya), to the post of king of Dayuan (Ferghana). Then Kangju (Tashkent plus the Chu, Talas, and middle Jaxartes basins) attacked him there several times and Qiaosaiti fled home [to Keriya] more than a year later. Xian appointed him king of Jumi (Keriya) and sent Yanliu back to Dayuan again, ordering him to bring the customary tribute and offerings.

 * Xian also banished the king of Yutian (Khotan), Yulin, to be king of Ligui and set up his younger brother, Weishi, as king of Yutian.

 * More than a year later Xian became suspicious that the kingdoms wanted to rebel against him. He summoned Weishi, and the kings of Jumi (Keriya), Gumo (Aksu), and Zihe (Shahidulla), and killed them all. He did not set up any more kings, he just sent generals to maintain order and guard these kingdoms. Rong, the son of Weishi, fled and made submission to the Han, who named him: "Marquis Who Maintains Virtue." A general from Suoju (Yarkand), named Junde, had been posted to Yutian (Khotan), and tyrannised the people there who became indignant.

 * In the third Yongping year (60 CE), during the reign of Emperor Ming, a high official of this country, called Dumo, had left town when he saw a wild pig. He wanted to shoot it, but the pig said to him: "Do not shoot me, I will undertake to kill Junde for you." Following this, Dumo plotted with his brothers and killed Junde. However, another high official, Xiumo Ba, plotted, in his turn, with a Chinese man, Han Rong, and others, to kill Dumo and his brothers, then he named himself king of Yutian (Khotan). Together with men from the kingdom of Jumi (Keriya), he attacked and killed the Suoju (Yarkand) general who was at Pishan (modern Pishan or Guma). He then returned with the soldiers.

 * Then Xian sent his Heir Apparent, and his State Chancellor, leading 20,000 soldiers from several kingdoms, to attack Xiumo Ba. [Xiumo] Ba came to meet them and gave battle, defeating the soldiers of Suoju (Yarkand) who fled, and more than 10,000 of them were killed.

 * Xian again fielded several tens of thousands of men from several kingdoms, and personally led them to attack Xiumo Ba. [Xiumo] Ba was again victorious and beheaded more than half of the enemy. Xian escaped and fled, returning to his kingdom. Xiumo Ba advanced and encircled Suoju (Yarkand), but he was hit and killed by an arrow, and his soldiers retreated to Yutian (Khotan).

 * Suyule, State Chancellor [of Khotan], and others, appointed Guangde, the son of Xiumo Ba's elder brother, king. The Xiongnu, with Qiuci (Kucha) and the other kingdoms, attacked Suoju (Yarkand), but were unable to take it.

 * Later, Guangde recognising of the exhaustion of Suoju (Yarkand), sent his younger brother, the Marquis who Supports the State, Ren, commanding an army, to attack Xian. As he had suffered war continuously, Xian sent an envoy to make peace with Guangde. Guangde's father had previously been detained for several years in Suoju (Yarkand). Xian returned Guangde's father and also gave one of his daughters in marriage and swore brotherhood to Guangde, so the soldiers withdrew and left.

 * In the following year (61 CE), Qieyun, the Chancellor of Suoju (Yarkand), and others, worried by Xian's arrogance, plotted to get the town to submit to Yutian (Khotan). Guangde, the king of Yutian (Khotan), then led 30,000 men from several kingdoms to attack Suoju (Yarkand). Xian stayed in the town to defend it and sent a messenger to say to Guangde: "I have given you your father and a wife. Why are you attacking me?" Guangde replied to him: "O king, you are the father of my wife. It has been a long time since we met. I want us to meet, each of us escorted by only two men, outside the town wall to make an alliance."

 * Xian consulted Qieyun about this. Qieyun said to him: "Guangde, your son-in-law is a very close relation; you should go out to see him." Xian then rashly went out. Guangde advanced and captured him. In addition, Qieyun and his colleagues let the soldiers of Yutian (Khotan) into the town to capture Xian's wife and children. (Guangde) annexed his kingdom. He put Xian in chains, and took him home with him. More than a year later, he killed him.

 * When the Xiongnu heard that Guangde had defeated Suoju (Yarkand), they sent five generals leading more than 30,000 men from fifteen kingdoms including Yanqi (Karashahr), Weili (Korla), and Qiuci (Kucha), to besiege Yutian (Khotan). Guangde asked to submit. He sent his Heir Apparent as a hostage and promised to give felt carpets each year. In winter, the Xiongnu ordered soldiers to take Xian's son, Bujuzheng, who was a hostage with them, to appoint him king of Suoju (Yarkand).

 * Guangde then attacked and killed [Bujuzheng], and put his younger brother, Qili, on the throne. This was in the third Yuanhe year (86 CE) of Emperor Zhang.

 * At this time Chief Clerk Ban Chao brought the troops of several kingdoms to attack Suoju (Yarkand). He soundly defeated Suoju (Yarkand) so it submitted to Han."

In 90 CE the Yuezhi or Kushans invaded the region with an army of reportedly 70,000 men, under their Viceroy, Xian, but they were forced to withdraw without a battle after Ban Chao instigated a "burnt earth" policy.

After the Yuanchu period (114-120 CE), when the Yuezhi or Kushans placed a hostage prince on the throne of Kashgar:

 * "... Suoju [Yarkand] followed by resisting Yutian [Khotan], and put themselves under Shule [Kashgar]. Thus Shule [Kashgar], became powerful and a rival to Qiuci [Kucha] and Yutian [Khotan]."

 * "In the second Yongjian year [127 CE] of the reign of Emperor Shun, [Ban] Yong once again attacked and subdued Yanqi [Karashahr]; and then Qiuci [Kucha], Shule [Kashgar], Yutian [Khotan], Suoju [Yarkand], and other kingdoms, seventeen altogether, came to submit. Following this, the Wusun [Ili River Basin and Issyk Kul], and the countries of the Congling [Pamir Mountains], put an end to their disruptions to communications with the west."

In 130 CE, Yarkand, along with Ferghana and Kashgar, sent tribute and offerings to the Chinese Emperor.

Later history

There is very little information on Yarkant's history for many centuries, apart from a couple of brief references in Tang dynasty (618-907) histories and it appears to have been of less note than the oasis of Kharghalik (see Yecheng and Yecheng County) to its south.

The area became the main base in the region for Chagatai Khan (died 1241), who inherited Kashgaria (and also much of the land between the Oxus (Amu Darya) and Jaxartes (Syr Darya) rivers) after his father, Genghis Khan, died in 1227.

Marco Polo described Yarkant in 1273, but said only that this "province" (of Kublai Khan's nephew, Kaidu, d. 1301) was, "five days' journey in extent. The inhabitants follow the law of Mahomet, and there are also some Nestorian Christians. They are subject to the Great Khan's nephew. It is amply stocked with the means of life, especially cotton."

At the end of the 16th century Yarkant was incorporated into the Khanate of Kashgar and became its capital. The Jesuit Benedict Göez, who sought a route from the Mughal Empire to Cathay (which, according to his superiors, may or may not have been the same place as China), arrived in Yarkant with a caravan from Kabul in late 1603. He remained there for about a year, making a short trip to Khotan during that time. He reported:

 * "Hiarchan [Yarkant], the capital of the kingdom of Cascar, is a mart of much note, both for the great concourse of merchants, and for the variety of wares. At this capital the caravan of Kabul merchants reaches its terminus; and a new one is formed for the journey to Cathay. The command of this caravan is sold by the king, who invests the chiefs with a kind of royal authority over the merchants for the whole journey. A twelvemonth passed away however before the new company was formed, for the way is long and perilous, and the caravan is not formed every year, but only when a large number arrange to join it, and when it is known that they will be allowed to enter Cathay."

During his journey, Göez also noted the presence of large marble quarries in the area, leading him to write that amongst native travellers from Yarkant to Cathay:
 * "no article of traffic is more valuable or more generally adopted as an investment for this journey than lumps of a certain transparent kind of marble called by the Chinese "jusce" (jade). They carry these to the Emperor of Cathay, attracted by the high prices which he deems it obligatory on his dignity to give ; and such pieces as the Emperor does not fancy they are free to dispose of to private individuals."

Yarkent Khanate

Yarkent served as capital for the Yarkent Khanate, also known as Yarkent State, from the establishment of Yarkent Khanate to its fall (1514–1713).

The Khanate was predominantly Uyghur/Turki; some of its most populated cities were Hotan, Yarkent, Kashgar, Yangihissar, Aksu, Uchturpan, Kucha, Karashar, Turpan and Kumul. It enjoyed continued dominance in the region for about 200 years until it was conquered by the Dzungar Khan, Tsewang Rabtan in 1705.

In the first half of the 14th century the Chagatai Khanate had collapsed; on the western part of the collapsed Chagatai Khanate, the Empire of Timur emerged in 1370, and became the dominant power in the region until its conquest in 1508 by the Shaybanids. Its eastern part became Moghulistan, which was created by Tughluk Timur Khan in 1347 with the capital centered in Almalik, around the Ili River Valley. It comprised all the settled lands of Eastern Kashgaria, as well as regions of Turpan and Kumul which were known at the time as Uyghurstan, according to Balkh and Indian sources of the 16th and 17th centuries. The reigning dynasty of the Yarkent Khanate originated from this state, which existed for more than a century.

In 1509 the Dughlats, vassal rulers of the Tarim basin, rebelled against the Moghulistan Khanate and broke away. Five years later Sultan Said Khan, a brother of the Khan of Moghulistan in Turfan, conquered the Dughlats but established his own Yarkent khanate instead.

This put an end to the dominance in the cities of Kashgaria of the Dughlat emirs, who had controlled them since 1220, when most of Kashgaria had been granted to the Dughlat by Chagatai Khan himself. The conquest of the Dughlats allowed the Yarkent state to become the foremost power in the region.

Qing dynasty

The Qing dynasty gained control of the region in the middle of the 18th century.

By the 19th century, due to its active trade with Ladakh, and an influx of foreign merchants, it became "the largest and most populous of all the States of Káshghar."(Kashgar). Yakub Beg (1820–1877) conquered Khotan, Aksu, Kashgar, and neighbouring towns with the help of the Russians in the 1860s. He made Yarkant the capital of the newly founded Turkic state of Yettishar, where he received embassies from England in 1870 and 1873. The Qing dynasty defeated Yakub at Turpan in 1877 after which he committed suicide. Thus ended the Yettishar kingdom, and the region returned to Qing Chinese control.

Chinese merchants and soldiers, foreigners like Russians, foreign Muslims, and other Turki merchants all engaged in temporary marriages with Turki (Uyghur) women, since a lot of foreigners lived in Yarkand, temporary marriage flourished there more than it did towards areas with fewer foreigners like areas towards Kucha's east. The Earl of Dunmore wrote in 1894:

Almost every Chinaman in Yarkand, soldier or civilian, takes unto himself a temporary wife, dispensing entirely with the services of the clergy, as being superfluous, and most of the high officials also give way to the same amiable weakness, their mistresses being in almost all cases natives of Khotan, which city enjoys the unenviable distinction of supplying every large city in Turkestan with courtesans.

''When a Chinaman is called back to his own home in China proper, or a Chinese soldier has served his time in Turkestan and has to return to his native city of Pekin or Shanghai, he either leaves his temporary wife behind to shift for herself, or he sells her to a friend. If he has a family he takes the boys with him~—if he can afford it—failing that, the sons are left alone and unprotected to fight the battle of life, While in the case of daughters, he sells them to one of his former companions for a trifling sum.''

The natives, although all Mahammadans, have a strong predilection for the Chinese, and seem to like their manners and customs, and never seem to resent this behaviour to their womankind, their own manners, customs, and morals (?) being of the very loosest description.

Twentieth century

The Battle of Yarkand took place in Yarkant county, in April 1934. Ma Zhancang's Chinese Muslim army defeated the Turkic Uighur and Kirghiz army, and the Afghan volunteers sent by king Mohammed Zahir Shah, and exterminated them all. The emir Abdullah Bughra was killed and beheaded, his head was sent to Idgah mosque.

Almost all the ancient buildings of the old city were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution (1966–1968) with only the central mosque, the main gate of the old palace and the royal cemetery surviving.

Violent clashes occurred in the county in the summer of 2014, in which dozens of people were killed according to local officials, though some estimates claim the death toll to be as high as 3,000.

In August 2015, it was reported by Chinese media that the amount of farmland per capita was increased from 2.6 mu per person to 3.5 mu after clearing up more arable lands.

Geography
Yarkant is strategically located about halfway between Kashgar and Khotan, at the junction of a branch road north to Aksu. It also was the terminus for caravans coming from Kashmir via Ladakh and then over the Karakoram Pass to the oasis of Niya in the Tarim Basin. The Xinjiang-Tibet Highway China National Highway 219, built in 1956 commences in Yecheng/Yarkant and heads south and west, across Aksai Chin and into central Tibet.

From Yarkant another important route headed southwest via Tashkurgan Town to the Wakhan corridor from where travellers could cross the relatively easy Baroghil Pass and Badakshan.

Climate
As with much of southern Xinjiang, Yarkant has a temperate zone, continental desert climate (Köppen BWk), with a mean total of only 61 mm of precipitation per annum. As spring and autumn are short, winter and summer are the main seasons. The monthly daily average temperature ranges from −5.2 °C in January to 25.3 °C in July; the annual mean is 12.01 °C. The diurnal temperature variation is not particularly large for a desert, averaging 13.3 C-change annually. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 56% in March to 75% in October, the county seat receives 2,860 hours of bright sunshine annually.

Administrative divisions
Yarkant County includes 5 subdistricts, 14 towns, 14 townships, and 1 ethnic township.

Economy
Yarkant County is an important producer of wheat, corn, rice, rapeseed, and cotton in southern Xinjiang. The area also produces grapes, rugs, and leather products. Industries include electronics, coal, silk, tractor repair, and cotton and cooking oil processing.

In 1885 there was about 154,600 acres (1,021,500 mu) of cultivated land in Yarkant.

Demographics
As of 2015, 818,379 of the 851,374 residents of the county were Uyghur, 25,404 were Han Chinese and 7,591 were from other ethnic groups.

As of 1999, 95.71% of the population of Yarkant (Shache) County was Uyghur and 3.47% of the population was Han Chinese.

Transportation
Yarkant is served by China National Highway 315, the Kashgar-Hotan Railway and Shache Ye'erqiang Airport.

Historical maps
Historical English-language maps including Yarkant:

title: Yarkant County


text:
Category:Central Asian Buddhist kingdoms

Kingdoms influenced by Buddhism in ancient Central Asia, particularly the Tarim Basin.


text: Category:Antifungals

title: Category:Antifungals


text:
Matzo

Matzo is a spelling variant for matzah, Jewish unleavened bread.

Matzo can also relate to:
 * Matzo Ball, US Jewish Christmas Eve party
 * Matzo lasagna, Italian Jewish fusion dish
 * Emma Matzo, birth name of US actress Lizabeth Scott (1922–2015)

title: Matzo


text:
Holbo Herred

Holbo Herred (Holbo Hundred) was an administrative division in Frederiksborg County in the northern part of the island of Zealand, Denmark. It comprised the present-day Gribskov Municipality plus the parish of Nødebo (which today is in Hillerød Municipality). Previously, Holbo was under Strø Herred.

Seal
Holbos seal from 1648 represents Søborg Castle.

Parishes
The following parishes are located in the former hundred.
 * Annisse Parish
 * Blistrup Parish
 * Esbønderup Parish
 * Gilleleje Parish
 * Græsted Parish
 * Helsinge Parish
 * Mårum Parish
 * Nødebo Parish
 * Ramløse Parish
 * Søborg Parish
 * Tibirke Parish
 * Valby Parish
 * Vejby Parish

title: Holbo Herred