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Randall Flagg

Randall Flagg is a fictional character created by American author Stephen King, who has appeared in at least nine of his novels. Described as "an accomplished sorcerer and a devoted servant of the Outer Dark", he has supernatural abilities involving necromancy, prophecy, and influence over animal and human behavior. His goals typically center on bringing down civilizations through destruction and conflict. He has a variety of names, usually with the initial letters "R. F." but with occasional exceptions, such as Walter o'Dim and Marten Broadcloak in The Dark Tower series.

Flagg first appeared in King's 1978 novel The Stand as a demonic figure who wreaks havoc after a plague kills most of the world population. He makes his second appearance in the 1984 novel The Eyes of the Dragon as an evil wizard trying to plunge the fictional medieval city of Delain into chaos. Flagg was a primary antagonist in King's epic series, The Dark Tower, who tries to keep protagonist Roland Deschain from reaching the Tower - the linchpin of existence - so he can claim it for himself and become a god. The Dark Tower expanded on Flagg's background and motivation, linking his previous appearances. Flagg was portrayed by Jamey Sheridan in a 1994 television miniseries adaptation of The Stand, by Matthew McConaughey in a 2017 The Dark Tower film adaptation, and by Alexander Skarsgård in a 2020-21 television miniseries adaptation of The Stand. He has additionally appeared in adaptations of The Dark Tower and The Stand by Marvel Comics.

King initially cited Donald DeFreeze, primary kidnapper of Patty Hearst, as his inspiration for Flagg. Later, he attributed Flagg to an image of a man walking the roads in cowboy boots, denim jeans and a jacket, a notion which "came out of nowhere" when he was in college. Flagg's character and the nature of his evil have been the subject of considerable critical attention.

"The Dark Man"
King first wrote the poem "The Dark Man" in college, about an unnamed man who rides the rails and confesses to murder and rape. The one-page poem was published in Ubris in 1969. According to King, the poem served as the genesis for Flagg.

The Stand
Randall Flagg makes his first named appearance in King's 1978 apocalyptic novel The Stand, where he tries to construct a new civilization in the United States after a plague kills most of the population. Flagg is described as a "tall man of no age" in old blue jeans, denim jacket and old cowboy boots. He wears an old Boy Scout knapsack, and his jacket pockets are stuffed with pamphlets from dozens of fringe splinter groups. Flagg's background is vague, even to him; he says that at some point he just "became", although he remembers being a Marine, a Klansman, a Viet Cong member, and having a hand in the kidnapping of Patty Hearst. In Las Vegas Flagg attracts people drawn to destruction, power and tyranny, using crucifixion, torture and other punishments on those disloyal to him. His followers reorganize society, repairing and restarting services in the city of Las Vegas, Nevada. Flagg plans to attack and destroy a rival emerging civilization—Mother Abagail's Free Zone in Boulder, Colorado—to become the dominant society in the former United States.

After two of Flagg's followers fail to kill the leaders of the Free Zone, the Boulder community sends a group of men to Las Vegas to stop him. The three who reach the city are taken prisoner, and Flagg orders one of them executed for his defiance. As the other two are being prepared for a public execution, one of Flagg's most loyal followers, the Trashcan Man, arrives with a nuclear warhead salvaged from a military base. As Trash is dying of radiation poisoning, the ball of fire Flagg had summoned to kill Whitney the cook descends as a supernatural hand, detonating the warhead and annihilating Flagg, his followers, and the prisoners.

An expanded edition of The Stand was published in 1990, restoring text that had been cut from the original edition. It includes an epilogue in which Flagg appears on a beach and finds a primitive tribe ready to fall under his influence.

The Eyes of the Dragon
Flagg later appears in The Eyes of the Dragon, published in 1984 as an evil wizard wreaking havoc in the medieval country of Delain. He is described as a "thin and stern-faced man of about 50 [years of age]", despite being much older. He hides himself under a dark cloak, and most of his magic comes from spells, potions, and poisons. He is described as a "sickness" which seems to reappear in Delain when there is something worth destroying. In this novel, Flagg schemes to throw the kingdom of Delain into chaos by poisoning the king and framing Prince Peter, the legitimate heir to the throne, for the crime. Peter's naive, resentful younger brother Thomas becomes king instead; Flagg, whom he sees as his only friend, becomes his royal advisor. Due to his youth and inexperience, Thomas allows Flagg great power and is easily manipulated by the wizard. Flagg becomes the de facto ruler of Delain, plunging the kingdom into a Dark Age. Years later Thomas confronts Flagg about his father's murder, which he witnessed as a child but suppressed the memory out of fear. Thomas shoots Flagg in the eye with an arrow, and Flagg disappears from the kingdom. Peter is given his rightful throne; Thomas and his butler, Dennis, leave the kingdom in search of Flagg. The novel states that Thomas and Dennis find Flagg, but the nature of their encounter is never revealed and Flagg survives to engender chaos in later stories.

The Dark Tower series
Flagg makes several appearances in King's Dark Tower series (1982-2012), which follows gunslinger Roland Deschain as he travels in search of the Dark Tower. Flagg's presence is felt in the opening sentence of the first book: "The man in black fled across the desert and the gunslinger followed". In this series, Flagg assumes the guise of several individuals. He first appears as Walter o'Dim, chased across the desert by Roland. In flashbacks Flagg assumes the identity of Marten Broadcloak, a wizard who conspires with the Crimson King to cause the fall of the Dark Tower. In the original edition of the first novel Marten is a separate person from Walter, who is also not known to be Flagg, but Marten and Walter are retconned into one character in the revised version.

When Roland was young, Marten had an affair with Roland's mother, Gabrielle, using the affair to provoke Roland to take the gunslinger test early. He hoped Roland would fail so he would be exiled but Roland passed the test. Eventually, Roland catches Walter; they have a long discussion about Roland's destiny and the Tower which causes him to slip into delirium. He awakens to find a pile of bones in Walter's place. In the original edition, Walter and Marten are separate characters, with Walter dying at the end of the novel. When King published an expanded edition of the novel,and Walter and Marten are portrayed as identical, and Walter fakes his own death.

Flagg appears briefly in a flashback in the second installment of the Dark Tower series, The Drawing of the Three. Roland recalls seeing two men named Thomas and Dennis pursuing a man named Flagg, who was almost certainly a demon. These are implied to be the same characters from The Eyes of the Dragon. This is the first example of the Dark Tower series crossing over with one of King's other novels.

Flagg makes his next full appearance in the series' third installment, The Waste Lands. In the city of Lud, Flagg saves Tick-Tock Man Andrew Quick, an enemy of Roland's ka-tet left for dead in an earlier confrontation. Quick becomes Flagg's devoted servant, and Flagg assumes the name of Richard Fannin. The character returns in the fourth book, Wizard and Glass, as Marten Broadcloak. Also identifying himself as Flagg, he warns Roland and his ka-tet to abandon their quest for the Dark Tower. In flashbacks, the reader learns that Flagg as Walter o'Dim was an emissary for John Farson, one of those responsible for the destruction of Roland's home Gilead.

The "Argument", a summary of the series thus far, beginning Wolves of the Calla—the fifth novel in the series—notes that Flagg is known as Broadcloak, Fannin and John Farson, depending on the world in which he lives. In Wolves of the Calla, Flagg makes a brief appearance as Walter o'Dim when Father Callahan arrives in Roland's world. Flagg gives Callahan Black Thirteen, a dangerous crystal ball, hoping it will kill Roland on his way to the tower. In this encounter, Flagg is described with "the face of a human weasel", and "the same welling red circle" on his forehead as the Can-toi. His appearance in Song of Susannah is via a flashback revealing that Flagg bargained with the succubus Mia; this resulted in the birth of Mordred Deschain, son of both Roland and the Crimson King.

In The Dark Tower, Flagg indicates that he is not John Farson, but served under him until the latter's downfall. Flagg reveals his plans to climb the Dark Tower, see the room at the top and become the god of all. Flagg believes that he can only achieve this by killing Mordred and taking his birthmark-stained foot. Although he tries to befriend Mordred and pledge allegiance to him, Mordred telepathically senses Flagg's true motives and eats him, forcing him to rip out his eyes and tongue first.

The Dark Tower reveals more of Flagg's background, relating that he was born Walter Padick in Delain to Sam the Miller of Eastar'd Barony. At age 13, Walter set out for a life on the road, but was raped by a fellow wanderer; author Bev Vincent hypothesized in The Road to the Dark Tower that Flagg's later actions toward Delain in The Eyes of the Dragon may have been revenge for the abuse he suffered as a child. Resisting the temptation to crawl back home, Padick instead moves toward his destiny; he learns various forms of magic, achieving a quasi-immortality. After centuries of wreaking havoc, Flagg attracts the attention of the Crimson King, who adopts him as his emissary.

In 2012, King published a new story from The Dark Tower entitled The Wind Through the Keyhole. Here Flagg is depicted as the Covenant Man: central villain of the book's story within a story, "The Wind Through the Keyhole", a legend from Mid-World set years before the series' beginning. He is the Barony's "tax collector" from Gilead, attempting to collect taxes from residents of the small town of Tree. The Covenant Man sends the story's protagonist, a young boy named Tim, on a perilous quest through the Endless Forest to save his mother; unbeknownst to Tim, the Covenant Man is supplying him with false prophecies and misinformation as part of a cruel practical joke. However, Tim succeeds in his journey; he saves his mother after encountering the wizard Maerlyn, who has been imprisoned in the form of a "tyger". While the Covenant Man is not explicitly identified as Flagg, with only the initials "RF/MB" in his signature as identification and at one point being referred to as 'the man in the black cloak', Stephen King confirmed in an interview with Bev Vincent for his book The Dark Tower Companion that the two are one and the same.

Hearts in Atlantis
In Hearts in Atlantis (1999), Raymond Fiegler is identified near the novel's end as leader of an activist group when he prevents Carol Gerber from retrieving an unexploded bomb on a college campus. King never identifies Fiegler as Flagg, but Christopher Golden and Hank Wagner suggest in The Complete Stephen King Universe that there is little doubt Fiegler is Flagg. Golden and Wagner cite evidence such as Fiegler's ability to make himself appear "dim", an ability shared by Flagg in Eyes of the Dragon, his manipulation of Carol Gerber and her activist friends and Flagg's frequent use of aliases, usually with the initials "R.F."

Gwendy's Button Box trilogy
Stephen King's novel Gwendy's Button Box, which he co-wrote with Richard Chizmar, features a mysterious man in black named Richard Farris. Farris gives a young girl, Gwendy Peterson, a "button box" which, depending on the buttons or levers that are used, can dispense magical treats or cause death and destruction. Farris reappeared in Gwendy's Magic Feather (written solely by Chizmar) and Gwendy's Final Task (co-written by both King and Chizmar).

Chizmar was asked whether or not Richard Farris's initials signified that he was another manifestation of Randall Flagg; his response was "Maayyybee... He's definitely mysterious, and it's really obvious there's more to him than meets the eye." Chizmar later revealed during a Reddit AMA session that the initials were indeed indicative of Farris being Flagg. In 2022, King stated while the character started off as Flagg that was no longer the case: "I saw him as a force of evil when I first started to write about the box. By the time I realized he was a force of the White, it was too late to change the initials."

Film and TV
King was influential in deciding who would play Flagg in the 1994 television adaptation of The Stand. He felt Flagg was the best villain he had ever created, and wanted the actor playing him to be right for the part. Director Mick Garris and the studios wanted to give the role to an established star such as Christopher Walken, James Woods, Willem Dafoe or Jeff Goldblum. King himself had suggested Robert Duvall in his introduction to the novel. Miguel Ferrer, who played Flagg's henchman in the film, was interested in playing the villain.

King's idea for the role was someone who "would make the ladies' hearts go pitty pat, that looked like the type of guy you would see on the cover of one of those sweet, savage love paperback romances". He eventually persuaded Garris to cast a lesser-known actor as Flagg; Garris ultimately chose Jamey Sheridan for the role.

Sheridan's performance was generally well received. Entertainment Weekly's Ken Tucker wrote that the best acting came from Sheridan, who gave the character a "grim intensity". He commented that Sheridan had "leading-man looks" with the hair of a "dissolute heavy metal star", making him "unsettling" even when not wearing makeup that makes him look like a devil. Douglas E. Winter of Fangoria magazine believed that Sheridan might have been a bit young and "zany" for the part, but gave a credible performance; he said that Sheridan attacked the role "with the swagger of Elvis, the sway of David Koresh and as much craziness as your heart desires (and network TV allows)".

In February 2011, Warner Bros. announced plans to produce a new feature film adaptation of The Stand. King commented that he would like to see Dutch actor Rutger Hauer in the role of Flagg, but conceded that he was perhaps too old for the part. In August 2014, it was reported that Warner Bros. wanted actor Matthew McConaughey for the role.

McConaughey was confirmed to be playing Walter, Flagg's alter-ego, in the film adaptation of The Dark Tower in 2016. Nikolaj Arcel, the film's director and co-writer, said, "Matthew is an incredible actor who can do anything. That's how I feel about [Walter]. He could do anything." Arcel described Walter as having "a very interesting way of seeing the world. He sees it with a sort of delight, even though he is obviously on the wrong side of the light-and-dark spectrum. He's someone I've been having a lot of fun with." McConaughey described Walter as "the Devil having a good time, getting turned on by exposing human hypocrisies wherever he finds them".

The 2016 miniseries 11.22.63, based on King's 2011 novel 11/22/63, incorporates numerous references to other King stories, including an appearance by Randall Flagg, who is seen cycling through the Dallas throngs just before the assassination of John F. Kennedy in the final episode.

In 2019, Finnish actor Jasper Pääkkönen was cast as Marten Broadcloak for the pilot of Amazon Prime Video's television adaptation of The Dark Tower; Amazon ultimately decided not to pursue the series. In the same year, Swedish actor Alexander Skarsgård was cast as Randall Flagg in the CBS All Access miniseries adaptation of The Stand. Showrunner Taylor Elmore described Skarsgård's Flagg with "[he] is so beautiful, he is absolutely a lion-like God figure. With perfect hair and... and also, there's a softness to Alex's performance that I think is fascinating. Alex just plays it where you feel not only sympathy for this character, but you hopefully understand why it's so easy for people to gravitate toward him. He's just magnetic, he's just absolutely fascinating to watch. He's galvanizing as a leader."

Comics
Beginning in 2007, Marvel Comics released a series of comics which were a prequel to the Dark Tower novels. Randall Flagg, appearing as Marten Broadcloak and Walter o'Dim, plays a significant role in the series.

In April 2009, Marvel released a single-issue comic written by Robin Furth and illustrated by Richard Isanove entitled The Dark Tower: Sorcerer, which focused on the character of Marten Broadcloak-Walter o'Dim. Sorcerer provides an origin for the character that is different from the one King initially wrote, explaining that Walter was the son of the wizard Maerlyn and Selena, Goddess of the Black Moon. Walter was left at the home of a mill owner "to learn the ways of men". At age 13, Walter burns down his adoptive father's mill before running away to find his true father; Walter's rape is not mentioned. Furth wrote in the comic's afterword that the idea of Maerlyn being Walter's father came from King.

The comic also reveals that Marten had poisoned Roland's infant brother. Furth introduced the idea that the Bends o' the Rainbow, 13 magic spheres created by Maerlyn in the distant past, are sentient beings able to project personifications which can interact with other characters. Marten has a sexual relationship with the female personification of Maerlyn's Grapefruit, one of the spheres. This is described as incestuous, since the beings were given life by Maerlyn, Walter's biological father; Marten and the Grapefruit repeatedly call each other as brother and sister. The siblings also refer to the Crimson King as their "cousin", indicating that Maerlyn is related to him. In her afterword, Furth says that although she conceived these ideas, King approved them.

According to the comic, Marten's romantic feelings for Roland's mother trigger jealousy in the Grapefruit who influences Roland to unwittingly kill his mother; in Wizard and Glass, the witch known as Rhea of the Cöos orchestrates Roland's matricide as revenge for his killing of her pet snake. Enraged, Marten imprisons his "sister" in the Grapefruit and vows revenge on Roland for his involvement in his beloved's death. Addressing inconsistencies between the novels and the comics, Furth stated that the comics exist on another level of the Tower: "a spinoff world, one which is very similar to, but not exactly the same as the one where [the Dark Tower novels] take place".

On the character of Marten, Furth noted that "[he] is one of the scariest characters that Stephen King has ever created. He moves from book to book, bringing chaos and anarchy with him... He is quite a demonic figure, and as such he is one of the great anti-heroes of contemporary popular fiction" and that "journeying into Walter's mind is a pretty wild experience and at times a little frightening. You have to travel to very dark places." To find Walter's voice, Furth went to John Milton's Paradise Lost, William Blake's Proverbs of Hell, the Biblical Song of Solomon and the writings of Aleister Crowley for inspiration.

In his interview with Bev Vincent, Isanove opined that Walter was his favorite character to draw; "Jae [Lee, the original artist for the series] established him as almost androgynous. He's always got this bare chest, and he's very feminine in the way he moves, with his hands raised. He's always moving his hands around. He's got this weird face, with a broken nose and greasy hair. He's starting to bald, but he's always got a very white separation in the middle of it. He's just so greasy, he's great to draw. And he still has to be seductive at the same time, so you can't make him repulsive... He's such a great character."

Marvel later released a comic book adaptation of The Stand, which began in September 2008 and ran for thirty issues. Writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa described Flagg as "The man of nightmares. Or, put another way, our nightmares given human (more or less) form. The dark side of the American Dream... King's 'Walkin' Dude' may not be the Devil, himself, as Mother Abagail says, but he comes pretty damn close..." Initially, artist Mike Perkins said he felt "Flagg needed to be designed less as a man—more as a force of nature. His hair will obscure his features, his face will be almost always in heavy shadow. This is the creature lurking under your bed, in your wardrobe, in your nightmares. Slightly familiar but wholly terrifying." Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa later commented on the original idea of hiding Flagg's face: "...the further into the book and the adaptation you go, the less feasible that becomes. Stephen spends so much time describing [Flagg]'s features and smiles, you need to show those things."

Concept and creation
King initially named Donald DeFreeze, lead kidnapper in the Patty Hearst case, as his inspiration for Randall Flagg. According to King, he remembered the Patty Hearst case when he began to write a description of DeFreeze: "Donald DeFreeze is a dark man". He remembered that in photographs of the bank robbery in which Patty Hearst participated that DeFreeze was only partially visible, hidden under a large hat. What he looked like was based on guesses made by people who only saw a portion of him. This inspired King, who then wrote "A dark man with no face". After reading "Once in every generation the plague will fall among them", King began writing The Stand and developing the character of Randall Flagg.

In 2004, King said that Flagg had been a presence in his writing since the beginning of his career, with the idea coming to him in college. He first wrote a poem, "The Dark Man", about a man who rides the rails and confesses to murder and rape; written on the back of a placemat in a college restaurant, the one-page poem was published in 1969, but the character never left King's mind. To the author, what made Flagg interesting was "the idea of the villain as somebody who was always on the outside looking in, and hated people who had good fellowship and good conversation and friends".

Characterization and critical reception
When Stephen King created the character of Flagg, he based him around what he believed evil represented. To King, Flagg is "somebody who's very charismatic, laughs a lot, [is] tremendously attractive to men and women both, and [is] somebody who just appeals to the worst in all of us". This idea carries over into The Stand, in which Flagg first appears as the personification of evil opposing Mother Abagail, the personification of good. Character Tom Cullen ascribes to Flagg the ability to kill animals and inflict cancer at will, referring to him as the demon Legion, while character Glen Bateman refers to him as the Lovecraftian entity Nyarlathotep, among other ancient names. King wanted Flagg to embody a "gigantic evil", although he intended the character to weaken by the end of The Stand. He said, "I think the Devil is probably a pretty funny guy. Flagg is like the archetype of everything that I know about real evil, going back all the way to Charles Starkweather in the '50s—he is somebody who is empty and who has to be filled with other people's hates, fears, resentments, laughs. Flagg, Koresh, Jim Jones, Hitler—they're all basically the same guy". Although Flagg does not explicitly represent Satan, this does not detract from what King sees as his ultimate goal. He notes that no matter who sees him or how he is seen as Flagg appears differently to different individuals, his message is the same: "I know all the things that you want and I can give them to you and all you have to do is give me your soul".

Critics also note Flagg's penchant for evil. Tony Magistrale, author of Stephen King: The Second Decade, Danse Macabre to The Dark Half sees Flagg as a Shakespearean villain, comparing him to Iago, Edmund and Richard III, contending that Flagg is an antihero. Magistrale believes that Flagg's evil is based on his ability to replace peace with conflict and unity with destruction; although he seeks power, it is merely a resource to achieve a greater level of destruction.

Author and journalist Heidi Stringell finds Flagg "an embodiment of pure evil", contending that King sees good and evil as "real forces"; Flagg's embodiment of evil is confirmed by the fact that "he is a killer, a maker of mischief, a liar, and a tempter". To Stringell, Flagg's disappearance at the end of The Stand shows that "evil ultimately leads nowhere". The author calls Flagg a "generic hybrid" of the archetypical "Dark Man and the Trickster". To her, the combination of these two characteristics found in different cultural realms forces people to face their "flawed humanity" with the "amorality" Flagg represents. Jenifer Paquette, author of Respecting The Stand: A Critical Analysis of Stephen King's Apocalyptic Novel, writes that "Flagg's horror is that he looks like an ordinary man, and his behavior is a mockery of humanity - a terrible insight into the human psyche. King suggests that the thing to fear the most is inside ourselves".

Douglas Winter, author of Fear Itself: The Horror Fiction of Stephen King, believes that Flagg epitomizes the Gothic villain—an "atavistic embodiment of evil"—since his appearance is indistinct, malleable and a "collection of masks". Flagg symbolizes "the inexplicable fear of the return of bygone powers—both technological and, as his last name intimates, sociopolitical". Like other Gothic villains, Flagg's plans seem to fail at every turn as he seems to need to convince others of his importance. Winter asserts that Flagg is a Miltonic superman who receives his strength from a dark, mysterious source. He compares him to J. R. R. Tolkien's Sauron in The Lord of the Rings: both collapse when directly confronted.

Journalist Alissa Stickler describes Flagg as a "contemporary medievalist interpretation on the themes of evil, magic and the (d)evil figure". She likens Flagg to Merlin, whispering in the ear of Arthur. Stickler notes that Flagg is politically powerful in The Stand and The Eyes of the Dragon; he uses his power differently in each novel, challenging depictions of evil and witchcraft common in medieval times. She explains that there does not appear to be a higher power to which Flagg "must appeal to his abilities" as there is with traditional evil. Flagg is more of a "humanesque evil", which works against him as much as it does for him. His supernatural knowledge is fallible, and the customary black-and-white depiction is replaced with an "acceptance of a shadowy gray area". Stickler says that although Flagg appears "terrifying and supernatural" as depicted by King, there are no absolutes. She concludes that Flagg represents the medieval monster both past and future, which challenges and yet supports the literary Middle Ages.

Flagg's character has its detractors. In his essay "The Glass-Eyed Dragon", author L. Sprague de Camp criticizes Flagg in Eyes of the Dragon, saying that he is one of the least-believable characters in the book and too evil to be credible. According to de Camp, absolute evil is hard to envision; whereas Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin believed they were improving the world, Flagg only enjoys causing destruction and chaos. De Camp notes that Flagg fails to see that there is no advantage to his actions.

Flagg's embodiment of evil is not the only characteristic seen by critics. Author Joseph Reino commented that the character's presence in The Stand was "Stephen King's version of a pestilential Big Brother". Tony Magistrale revisits the character in a second book, this time comparing him to Norman Mailer. Here, Magistrale states that in The Stand Flagg gives the reader an "illustration of King's jaundiced perspective of modern America" as he presents the consequences of technology—worship and the sacrifice of "moral integrity to the quest for synthetic productivity".

Flagg's background as a rape victim and its impact on his character have also been explored. Patrick McAleer, author of Inside the Dark Tower Series: Art, Evil and Intertextuality in the Stephen King Novels, argues that Flagg's situation is the most sympathetic of all of King's characters, and his evil may be retribution: "[I]n suspending any disbelief in the possibility that reprisal is a reaction to rape, the life of Flagg becomes one that looks to strike a balance for the sexual crime committed against him. And although Flagg's possible search for justice and balance is that which becomes imbalanced and even prejudiced, the mitigating factor here is that Flagg is not an originator of evil - he is just caught up in its web as another wronged individual seeking justice". McAleer compares Flagg to Satan in Paradise Lost, suggesting that he may be another "fallen angel who has a valid case supporting his devilry". While agreeing that Flagg can be seen "relishing in evil deeds at almost every juncture", he contends that no judgement can be made without the full story and context for his actions.

title: Randall Flagg


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 * Ilocano people
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title: Ilocano


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Xiao Xiao

Xiao Xiao (, "Little Work") is an Internet Flash cartoon series by Chinese animator Zhu Zhiqiang, featuring stick figures performing choreographed fight scenes. Some of the cartoons are interactive and game-like. All cartoons are in the Adobe Flash format, with the exception of Xiao Xiao #1, which was originally in AVI format and converted to Flash format.

"Xiao Xiao" is the Chinese character for "small" repeated twice in Mandarin Chinese; here this reduplication connotes an affectionate diminutive, an equivalent might be the English expression "itty bitty" or "lil' old". Each Xiao Xiao cartoon is given a Chinese title with the adjective "Xiao Xiao" preceding a descriptive noun phrase. Xiao Xiao #1 was originally titled "Xiao Xiao Zuo Pin", which translates to "A Little Bit of Creative Work". Since then each Xiao Xiao cartoon has had a different noun succeeding "Xiao Xiao". #4 is titled "Little Sheriff", and #7 is titled "Little Movie".

The term has gradually shifted meaning from the cartoons themselves to the main character, an anonymous black stick-figure. In this context it means something similar to "little fella", appropriate since in most perspectives Xiao Xiao and his fellow stick-people appear tiny and childlike, with disproportionately large heads and small limbs.

Xiao Xiao is placed in various dangerous situations to prove his martial arts prowess, often against other stick figures who appear more or less identical to himself. Usually other stick figures are also black, but can be other colors, and Xiao Xiao's perpetual nemesis is the Boss, a purple stick figure who commands the enemy sticks and appears to be Xiao Xiao's only peer in ability.

Others have seized on Xiao Xiao's popularity to make animations exploiting the easy-to-draw style of stick figures and minimalist backgrounds, often creating cartoons that are sequels or takeoffs of the official Xiao Xiao cartoons, especially Xiao Xiao #3.

Episodes

 * Xiao Xiao #1 is a simple fight between two stick-figure men, parodying the look of Hong Kong martial arts films by taking the level of violence in the fight to extremes.
 * Xiao Xiao #2 adds interactivity; the stick-man (Xiao Xiao) faces a series of physical challenges, the outcomes of which depend on the player's timing. The game contains many features that would later become a staple of the Xiao Xiao series, including revamped animation and character design, most notable the introduction of the series' main antagonist, "The Boss" (although he is not referred to by name until Xiao Xiao #3), a magenta-colored crime boss who acts as the final challenge of the game via a boss fight.
 * Xiao Xiao #3 is a kung-fu style fight scene in a simple line-drawn building; Xiao Xiao faces off against a seemingly endless series of stick-man opponents (around forty enemies) using fast-paced martial arts moves; the simple background, two-dimensional movement, vanishing corpses and regenerating enemies call to mind side-scrolling games. The encounter ends in a final showdown between Xiao Xiao and a purple stick-man labeled "Boss" (another video game reference) in a fight that parodies multiple scenes from The Matrix (especially Xiao Xiao's last move, a slow-motion air kick which resembles that of Trinity at the beginning of the movie as well as using a sound clip straight from the movie). The visual theme of Xiao Xiao, a plain black stick-man, fighting against a purple stick-man Boss, remains constant throughout the series. This is the best known Xiao Xiao animation, and has been shown on MTV. This Xiao Xiao is one of the more famous and thought of as the one hardest worked on, and is noted to be one of "the original stick fighting flash movies", and sets the bar for the many stick flash movies.
 * Xiao Xiao #4 is an interactive first-person shooting game in the style of Virtua Cop, casting the player as Xiao Xiao in the role of a Western-style sheriff complete with cowboy hat and six-shooter. It ends with another scripted fight scene with the purple Boss (which parodies another scene from The Matrix).
 * Xiao Xiao #5, billed as a "Battle to the death... and beyond", returns to the two-dimensional fighting-game-reminiscent side-view style of #3. This time, Xiao Xiao and the Boss duel using various conventions from anime and manga, exhibiting supernatural powers such as the use of magic spells, the ability to pull weapons out of hammerspace, and to continue their battle through astral travel after death. It is notable for its comedic ending, where an ambulance shows up in the middle of the fight, taking the two characters' dead bodies away. The two look at one another, then both run after the ambulance.
 * Xiao Xiao #6 returns to Xiao Xiao #2's style, but this time with a bit more of a plot, forcing the player to button-mash Xiao-Xiao through a barroom brawl.
 * Xiao Xiao #7 and #8 are the most elaborate of the animations, forsaking the side-view of previous Xiao Xiaos for a fully three-dimensional, cinematic camera view throughout. Once again riffing on films like The Matrix, they depict Xiao Xiao's infiltration of the Boss's mansion and his pursuit after the Boss escapes. #8 ends with a "To Be Continued" message and has yet to have a sequel, though given that the ending is a bit of an anticlimax, and that two more flashes unrelated to this one came out after it, the message may have been ironic.
 * Xiao Xiao #9, a departure from the rest of the series, is a fully interactive "beat em up" game in the style of Final Fight and Streets of Rage where Xiao Xiao uses Guy's moves. Rather than a plain, pen-and-ink background, the background is this time a full-color, realistic re-creation of a desk ostensibly intended to be Zhu's (the computer monitor has a screenshot of Xiao Xiao #3). As with other Xiao Xiaos and the original "beat-em-ups" that helped inspire them, Xiao Xiao must fight through a series of purple stick-thugs before confronting the Boss.
 * Xiao Xiao Beer Ad #1 appears to have been created by Zhu as a Chinese advertisement for Heineken beer. This one is one of the more recent movies and also is the first to feature eyes and facial expressions on the stick figures. The movie starts with odd coding lines moving down the screen in a style similar to the matrix, and then it zooms in on a Heineken Beer bottle. The scene then changes to the original black Xiao Xiao holding a Heineken Beer Bottle and a bo-staff. Suddenly, some enemy stick figures appear and try to steal his beer. Xiao Xiao fights them off with his staff in an action packed fight scene, while keeping the bottle safe. After the second to last grunt falls, one last one appears and attempts to shoot him with a pistol. Xiao Xiao proceeds to skillfully dodge the bullets and then strike the ground with his staff, causing a massive crevice to crack open in the earth and the foe falls right in. The movie ends with Xiao Xiao holding up the bottle and smiling, then it shifts to a Heineken advertisement saying "Get Connected, Heineken."
 * Xiao Xiao Beer Ad #2 is the sequel to Xiao Xiao Beer Ad #1 and uses the same style, as well as picks up immediately where the last one left off. It also appears to be a Chinese Heineken Beer advertisement as well. After the one enemy stick figure falls into the crevice, he then jumps out, hinting that he must be the Boss. This one then proceeds to create physical doubles of himself in a manner similar to Naruto's Shadow Clone. The stick figure and his doubles then charge toward Xiao Xiao. He then fights off the enemy stick figures with his staff and slays every last one of them. After the last one is defeated, a car drives by him. Xiao Xiao scratches the side of the car with his staff. A stick figure then emerges from the back door, and he slams him down immediately. After that, Xiao Xiao proceeds to drop the staff and fly into the air, Superman style, and then lands on top of a giant Heineken Beer bottle. At the end, the scene once again shifts to a Heineken advertisement saying "Get Connected, Heineken," but with Xiao Xiao standing heroically on top of the bottle.
 * Xiao Xiao Cityplaza or Xiao Xiao: Mall Brawl appears to have been created by Zhu as an advertisement for the CityPlaza mall in Hong Kong; it is an altered version of Xiao Xiao #3 wherein the main character/hero is a red stickman (to match the CityPlaza logo) and the background has been embellished to make it resemble the inside of a shopping mall. The original black Xiao Xiao making a cameo appearance for a short while. He is in the background and doesn't fight, but simply rides past on a pair of ice skates. Also, a scene from Xiao Xiao #3 is also playing on the TV during the fight. Contrary to belief, Xiao Xiao was not initially aired on MTV, but originally was viewed on the Flash animation super community known as Newgrounds.

Characters

 * Xiao Xiao: Xiao Xiao is the protagonist of the series. He is a martial arts expert, as well as an elite assassin. His skills are unmatched, and the only person who comes close is the Boss.
 * Bad Boss: Bad Boss is another martial artist, and appears to be some sort of gang leader and the main antagonist of the series. He is the only one who can give Xiao Xiao a decent fight, and has been beaten by Xiao Xiao on multiple occasions. His name is a reference to most video games, in which a very difficult character near the end is called a boss. The Boss usually appears in magenta.
 * The gangs: Various-colored stick figures who are beat down by Xiao in a matter of seconds.

Legal dispute
In June 2004, Zhu filed a lawsuit against Nike for plagiarizing his cartoon stickmen in their commercials. Nike's representatives denied the accusations, claiming that the stickman figure lacks originality, and is public domain. Zhu eventually won the lawsuit, claiming his copyright on his style and not the stickman, and Nike was ordered to pay $36,000 to the cartoonist.

title: Xiao Xiao


text:
Vascular smooth muscle

Vascular smooth muscle is the type of smooth muscle that makes up most of the walls of blood vessels.

Structure
Vascular smooth muscle refers to the particular type of smooth muscle found within, and composing the majority of the wall of blood vessels.

Nerve supply
Vascular smooth muscle is innervated primarily by the sympathetic nervous system through adrenergic receptors (adrenoceptors). The three types present are: alpha-1, alpha-2 and beta-2 adrenergic receptors|. The main endogenous agonist of these cell receptors is norepinephrine (NE).

The adrenergic receptors exert opposite physiologic effects in the vascular smooth muscle under activation:
 * alpha-1 receptors. Under NE binding alpha-1 receptors cause vasoconstriction (contraction of the vascular smooth muscle cells decreasing the diameter of the vessels). These receptors are activated in response to shock or low blood pressure as a defensive reaction trying to restore the normal blood pressure. Antagonists of alpha-1 receptors (doxazosin, prazosin) cause vasodilation (a decrease in vascular smooth muscle tone with increase of vessel diameter and decrease of the blood pressure). (See also receptor antagonist)
 * alpha-2 receptors. Agonists of alpha-2 receptors in the vascular smooth muscle lead to vasoconstriction. However, in clinical practice drugs applied intravenously that are agonists of alpha-2 receptors such as clonidine lead to powerful vasodilation, which causes a decrease in blood pressure by presynaptic activation of the receptors in the sympathetic ganglia. This presynaptic effect is predominant and completely overrides the vasoconstrictive effect of the alpha-2 receptors in the vascular smooth muscle.
 * beta-2 receptors. Agonism of beta-2 receptors causes vasodilation and low blood pressure (i.e. the effect is opposite of the one resulting from activation of alpha-1 and alpha-2 receptors in the vascular smooth muscle cells). Usage of beta-2 receptor agonists as hypotensive agents is less widespread due to adverse effects such as unnecessary bronchodilation in lungs and increase in blood sugar levels.

Function
Vascular smooth muscle contracts or relaxes to change both the volume of blood vessels and the local blood pressure, a mechanism that is responsible for the redistribution of the blood within the body to areas where it is needed (i.e. areas with temporarily enhanced oxygen consumption). Thus the main function of vascular smooth muscle tone is to regulate the caliber of the blood vessels in the body. Excessive vasoconstriction leads to high blood pressure, while excessive vasodilation as in shock leads to low blood pressure.

Arteries have a great deal more smooth muscle within their walls than veins, thus their greater wall thickness. This is because they have to carry pumped blood away from the heart to all the organs and tissues that need the oxygenated blood. The endothelial lining of each is similar.

Excessive proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells contributes to the progression of pathological conditions, such as vascular inflammation, plaque formation, atherosclerosis, restenosis, and pulmonary hypertension. Recent studies have shown that the majority of cells within atherosclerotic plaque, the predominant cause of heart attack and stroke, are vascular smooth muscle cell derived.

title: Vascular smooth muscle


text:
Grand Alliance (HDTV)

The Grand Alliance (GA) was a consortium created in 1993 at the behest of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to develop the American digital television (SDTV, EDTV) and HDTV specification, with the aim of pooling the best work from different companies. It consisted of AT&T Corporation, General Instrument Corporation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Philips Consumer Electronics, David Sarnoff Research Center, Thomson Consumer Electronics, and Zenith Electronics Corporation. The Grand Alliance's DTV system is the basis for the ATSC standard.

Recognizing that earlier proposed systems demonstrated particular strengths in the FCC's Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service (ACATS) testing and evaluation process, the Grand Alliance system was proposed to combine the advantages of all of the previously proposed terrestrial digital HDTV systems. At the time of its inception, the Grand Alliance HDTV system was specified to include:
 * Flexible picture formats with a header/Descriptor approach, allowing the inclusion of both 1125 and 787.5 raster formats.
 * Progressive scanning and square pixel capabilities in both raster formats.
 * Interlaced scanning and rectangular pixel formats.
 * Video compression based on MPEG-2, with additional syntax elements that represent contributions from each previously proposed system.
 * A packetized, prioritized data format, providing flexibility of services and extensibility.

Audio and transmission systems had not been decided at the time of the GA agreement. Five channel audio was specified, but a decision among the Dolby AC-3, multi-channel MUSICAM audio, and MIT "AC" systems had not yet been made. Candidate transmission approaches included QAM, Spectrally-Shaped QAM, 6 VSB (with trellis code) and 4/2 VSB. COFDM had been proposed by third parties, but was rejected as not being mature, and not offering fringe-area coverage equivalent to analog transmission. A thorough analysis of service area, interference characteristics, transmission robustness and system attributes would be performed to determine the "best approach."

In the end, 1080, 720 and 480-line resolutions were implemented at various aspect ratios and frame rates, with progressive and interlaced scanning (the so-called "18 formats"), together with 8-VSB modulation and Dolby AC-3 audio. However, the selection of transmission and audio systems was not without controversy. The choice of 8-VSB was later criticised by several groups as being inferior to COFDM under conditions of multipath interference. Improvements in receiver designs would later render this apparently moot. With MUSICAM originally faltering during GA testing, the GA issued a statement finding the MPEG-2 audio system to be "essentially equivalent" to Dolby, but only after the Dolby selection had been made. Later, a story emerged that MIT had entered into an agreement with Dolby whereupon the university would be awarded a large sum if the MUSICAM system was rejected. Following a five-year lawsuit for breach of contract, MIT and its GA representative received a total of $30 million from Dolby, after the litigants reached a last-minute out-of-court settlement. Dolby also offered an incentive for Zenith to switch their vote (which they did), however it is unknown whether they accepted the offer.

Grand Alliance Chronology

 * 1987 - Advisory Committee on Advanced Television Service is formed, with Richard E. Wiley as chairman
 * 1990 - Simulcast principle advocated by the FCC
 * 1990 - Four competing digital HDTV systems announced
 * 1992 - Systems tested at Advanced Television Test Center (ATTC)
 * 1992 - All competitors announce planned improvements
 * 1993 - ACATS Special Panel recommends retesting
 * 1993 - Grand Alliance forms, "collaborative" phase begins
 * 1994 - Grand Alliance system undergoes ATTC verification testing
 * 1995 - ATSC Standard A/53 is published, incorporating Grand Alliance System
 * 1996 - FCC Adopts ATSC A/53 as standard for the transmission of digital television, but excludes requirements with respect to scanning formats, aspect ratios, and lines of vertical resolution
 * 1997 - Academy of Television Arts & Sciences presents Primetime Engineering Emmy Award to Grand Alliance companies for developing and standardizing the transmission and technology for digital TV.

title: Grand Alliance (HDTV)


text:
Thomas Crecquillon

Thomas Crecquillon or Créquillon (c. 1505 – probably early 1557) was a Franco-Flemish school composer of the Renaissance. While his place of birth is unknown, it was probably within the region loosely known at the time as the Low Countries, and he probably died at Béthune.

Biography
Very little is known about his early life. He was a priest and a member of the chapel of Emperor Charles V, but whether he was maître de chapelle or merely a singer is still a matter of dispute; the surviving documents are contradictory. Later he seems to have held positions at Dendermonde, Béthune, Leuven, and Namur. Unlike many of the composers of the Franco-Flemish school, he seems never to have left his home region for Italy or other parts of Europe. Crecquillon was retired by 1555, and most likely he died in 1557, probably a victim of the serious outbreak of the plague in Béthune that year. The location of his burial remains a mystery, and no likeness of Crecquillon is known to exist.

Crecquillon's music was highly regarded by his contemporaries, and shows a harmonic and melodic smoothness which prefigures the culminating polyphonic style of Palestrina. He wrote twelve masses, more than 100 motets and almost 200 chansons. Stylistically he uses points of imitation, rather in the manner of Josquin des Prez, in almost all of his sacred works (the masses and motets), following the contemporary trend toward pervading imitation and polyphonic complexity. Unlike Josquin, however, Crecquillon rarely varies his texture for dramatic effect, preferring smoothness and consistency.

His secular chansons, unlike most of those by other composers of the same time, also use pervading imitation, although as is normal in a lighter form of music, they make considerable use of repetition (for example of the final phrase). Because they were imitative, it was Crecquillon's chansons which provided some of the best models for the later development of the instrumental canzona, the instrumental form which developed directly from the chanson. Many of his chansons were arranged for instruments, especially lute.

The printers Petrus Phalesius the Elder (of Leuven) and Tielman Susato (of Antwerp) published more music by him than by any other composer, which shows the extent of his reputation at the time, though his music is not as often recorded today as is that of many of the Netherlanders working at the same time.

His name is pronounced "toh-MAH krehk-kee-YON." Some historical sources spell the composer's last name with an acute accent mark above its "e", then the composer's last name is actually pronounced "krayk-kee-YON."

Scores

 * The complete musical works of Thomas Crecquillon (the Opera Omnia) were published in twenty volumes, between 1974 and 2011, by the American Institute of Musicology.
 * The complete musical works of Thomas Crecquillon (the Opera Omnia) were published in twenty volumes, between 1974 and 2011, by the American Institute of Musicology.
 * The complete musical works of Thomas Crecquillon (the Opera Omnia) were published in twenty volumes, between 1974 and 2011, by the American Institute of Musicology.

title: Thomas Crecquillon


text: Category:Mercury (automobile)

title: Category:Mercury (automobile)


text: User talk:203.1.203.4

title: User talk:203.1.203.4


text: File:TTH Music at Work.jpg

title: File:TTH Music at Work.jpg


text:
Dean Dozen

The "Dean Dozen", in American politics, was the collective term for six groups of 12 candidates endorsed by Democracy for America, the political action committee led by former Vermont governor and presidential candidate Howard Dean, in the 2004 elections.

Those chosen to be in the Dean Dozens were Democrats. Governor Dean called the Dean Dozen "the progressive movement’s best chance at taking back Congress." Candidates Selected received significant promotion by progressive groups through emails, fundraisers, and speeches. Democracy for America also fundraisers for the candidates directly, using their membership of over a million citizens to seek contributions for candidates directly

They came from across the U.S. and ran for widely varying positions, from county sheriff to U.S. Senator. No incumbents were chosen, and members of Dean Dozens also tended to target key districts.

Candidates in bold won.

In the 2012 elections Governor Dean selected a new Dean Dozen to receive the endorsement of DFA.

First

 * Mary Ann Andreas: 80th State Assembly District, California
 * Ken Campbell: Oconee County Representative, South Carolina State House
 * Maria Chappelle-Nadal: 72nd State House District, Missouri State House
 * Scott Clark, Mark Manoil and Nina Trasoff: Arizona Corporation Commission
 * Kim Hynes: Connecticut State Representative
 * Richard Morrison: U.S. Representative from Texas
 * Barack Obama: State Senator and U.S. Senate Candidate from Illinois
 * Rob MacKenna: Supervisor of Elections in Hillsborough County, Florida
 * Monica Palacios-Boyce: Massachusetts State Representative
 * Lori Saldaña: California State Assembly
 * Jeff Smith: State Senator from Missouri
 * Donna Red Wing: District 25, Colorado State House

Second

 * Kalyn Free: United States Representative from Oklahoma (Lost in primary)
 * Tom Potter: Mayor of Portland, Oregon
 * Alisha Thomas Morgan: Georgia General Assembly
 * Samara "Sam" Barend: U.S. Representative from New York
 * Peter Corroon: mayor of Salt Lake County, Utah
 * Vicki Walker: Missouri State House
 * David Van Os: Texas Supreme Court
 * Patrick McCormick: County Council for DeKalb County, Illinois
 * Jonathan Bing New York State Assembly
 * Christine Cegelis: U.S. Representative from Illinois
 * Don McDaniel: Georgia General Assembly
 * Nelson Thompson: Board of Chosen Freeholders for Cumberland County, New Jersey

Third

 * Jim Stork: United States Congress from Florida
 * Tami Green: Washington State House of Representatives
 * Susan Clary: Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor of Orange County, Fl
 * Eddgra Fallin: School Board in Huntsville, Al. S
 * Missy Taylor: Kansas House of Representatives.
 * Judge William O'Neill: Supreme Court of Ohio.
 * Patti Fritz: Minnesota State House District 26B.
 * Scott Kawasaki: Alaska State House
 * Lois Herr: United States Congress from Pennsylvania.
 * James Whitaker: Michigan State House.
 * Edward Ableser: Arizona House of Representatives.

2012 Dean Dozen

 * José M. Hernández (CA-10)
 * Kathy Boockvar (PA-8)
 * Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1)
 * Joe Miklosi (CO-6)
 * Martin Heinrich (NM-Sen)
 * Shelli Yoder (IN-9)
 * Annie Kuster (NH-02)
 * Raul Ruiz (CA-36)
 * Manan Trivedi (PA-06)
 * Elizabeth Warren (MA-Sen)
 * Mazie Hirono (HI-Sen)
 * Tammy Baldwin (WI-Sen)

Others
Other endorsed candidates include:
 * Paul Babbitt, candidate for U.S. representative from Arizona
 * Jerry McNerney and Jim Brandt, candidates for U.S. representative from California
 * Stan Matsunaka, candidate for U.S. representative from Colorado
 * Jon Jennings and Melina Fox, candidates for U.S. representative from Indiana
 * Adam Smith, candidate for U.S. representative from Kentucky
 * Nancy Farmer, candidate for U.S. senator from Missouri
 * Brian Schweitzer, candidate for governor of Montana
 * John Lynch, candidate for governor of New Hampshire
 * Amy Vasquez, Anne Wolfe, Herb Conaway, and Steve Brozak, candidates for U.S. representative from New Jersey
 * Richard Romero, candidate for U.S. representative from New Mexico
 * Patsy Keever, candidate for U.S. representative from North Carolina
 * Greg Harris and Jeff Seemann, candidates for U.S. representative from Ohio
 * Joe Hoeffel, candidate for U.S. senator from Pennsylvania
 * Peter Clavelle, candidate for governor of Vermont
 * Al Weed and James Socas, candidates for U.S. representative from Virginia

title: Dean Dozen


text: User talk:80.119.208.140

title: User talk:80.119.208.140


text:
USS Sylph (1813)

USS Sylph was a schooner in the United States Navy during the War of 1812.

Built to strengthen Commodore Isaac Chauncey's squadron on Lake Ontario, Sylph was laid down on 26 July 1813 at Sackett's Harbor, New York, by Henry Eckford; and launched on 18 August 1813.

Service history
Three days later, the new schooner reinforced Chauncey's fleet on Lake Ontario. On the afternoon of 11 September, she began a long-range, running battle off the mouth of the Genesee River. During the three and one-half hour engagement, the American squadron suffered no casualties nor damage while the Royal Navy had a midshipman and three seamen killed and seven wounded. One of their brigs was seriously damaged before the British squadron escaped into Amherst Bay.

Sylph got into action again on the 28th when the two fleets met in York Bay. However, since she was towing a slower schooner throughout the engagement, she was unable to get close to the fleeing British ships, instead firing at them from a great distance as her contribution to the American victory.

Chauncey broke off the pursuit about mid-afternoon, lest his fleet be endangered by a threatening storm. Bad weather lasted until the evening of the 31st. On 2 October, the British fleet got underway and escaped. Chauncey hunted for the English ships and, on the afternoon of the 5th, came upon seven vessels. The American ship captured five; one other was burned by her crew to prevent capture and one managed to escape. Two of the prizes proved to be HMS Confiance and HMS Hamilton, which were the former American ships USS Julia (1812) and USS Growler (1812 schooner). Thereafter, the British fleet remained in Kingston, Ontario, where they were blockaded until the end of November when cold weather closed navigation on the lake for the winter.

During the off-season, both fleets engaged in a shipbuilding race in an effort to achieve naval superiority in 1814. During this period, Sylph was rerigged as a brig, and her armament was changed to 2 × 9-pounder and 16 × 24-pounder carronades.

In the spring of 1814, the British squadron was first to venture out upon the lake. On 5 May, they captured the American base at Oswego, New York; and then proceeded to Sacketts Harbor which they blockaded until 6 June.

The American fleet got underway on 31 July and sailed up to the head of the lake where Chauncey intercepted the British brig Sir Sydney Smith. He ordered Sylph to sail into shoal water to destroy the brig but, before Sylph could do so, the British vessel's crew ran her aground and burned her.

Chauncey then took his squadron to Kingston where he blockaded the British fleet until winter ended navigation.

The Treaty of Ghent obviated further naval operations on the Great Lakes. Sylph was laid up at Sacketts Harbor until 1823 when she was reported sunk and decayed. Her hulk was sold before 1825.

title: USS Sylph (1813)


text:
Talk:Implicate and explicate order

Untitled
One editor feels that the following provides a better discussion of this issue: User:Togo/Holomovement.

Lets face it Implicate and Explicate Order is not equal to Holomovement nor do you really explain it nor have nearly the completenes of the Holomovement article! Of course I dont mind if you contribute to Holomovement as long as I don't get any of those 'deleted because I don't understand'. If you were to try to formualte anything that you don't understand in a simpler way I'd help you! Togo 05:04, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)

Sorry, [anonymous], but I don't approve of your additions. The Implicate Order is categorically not an empirically studied phenomenon. It is speculation. Also, I don't find the description of Deism terribly relevant. Let's leave that to the Deism article. I'd be willing to allow Deism as a see also but that's about as far as I'll go. –Floorsheim 00:24, 15 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Mysticism?
This article is full of accusations that the Implicit and Explicit order amount to metaphysics. Perhaps I'm missing something. This seems to be more of a general criticism of the philosophy of physics then anything else. Where is the metaphysics? Hewhorulestheworld (talk) 03:48, 26 April 2009 (UTC)

Footnote/first sentence
The footnote claims that Immanuel Kant believed that "true reality is different from the reality we percieve." This is a misinterpretation; he certainly did not believe this in the way that the others listed there did. He probably should not be mentioned unless we want to get bogged down in explaining transcendental idealism (which is far outside the scope of this article).

I think the best idea would be to get rid of the footnote entirely, since it is not particulary relevant, and re-write the first sentence so it immediately defines implicate and explicate order without going off topic. For example, I suggest starting with something like this: "Implicate and Explicate Order are terms for actual and apparent reality, respectively, in the philosophy of David Bohm."

I also think we could use an explanation of Explicate as well as Implicate Order in the first paragraph, and a whole lot more clarity in the definitions of both. (I am not an expert on this topic, so I can't do that myself.)

changes needed
"David Bohm believed that true reality is different from appearance, or the reality we perceive". This opening is problematic. Firstly, what is the difference between "true reality" and "reality"? The true is rudundant because the term reality implies truth (implies is a fitting word here, becuse it has the same root as implicate, as Bohm seemed fond of pointing out). In Bohm's paradigm, reality consists of the implicate and explicate order. On this, Bohm (1980, p. 197) said “the explicate order can be derived as a particular, distinguished case of the implicate order”. While I understand the intention of the statement, it doesn't seem to me to capture and convey the essence of implicate and explicate order as Bohm conceived it. With regards to perception, he spoke about us having a more immediate sense (or something along these lines) of the implicate order - i.e. of an unbroken, flowing whole. Indeed, he characterised consciousness in such terms. It's true, he also siad something to the effect that the explicate (as he characterised it) may seem primary. A key point is that he thought primacy should be given to the implicate order; hence, the implicate order is deeper, more fundamental. This doesn't mean "true reality is different from appearance" though.

Any objections to be me having another go at this? Regarding the previous comment -- I don't know that we need an 'expert' on this -- I think it's reasonable to say that within Bohm's view, expertise has to do with rigrorous and specialised understanding of some aspect of the explicate order. What is really needed is an understanding of and characterisation of the essence of this paradigm. Whether 'right or wrong', ultimately productive or otherwise, it is one of the most thought-provoking viewpoints I have ever encountered. Stephenhumphry 14:15, 12 July 2005 (UTC)

Also, on the following *** Aboutness is as odd as wholeness in sharp contrast. As the former is to the content, so the latter is to the context to the last as the ultimate determiner of meaning. *** this does not make sense -- I assume something is wrong with the wording. If anyone can sharpen it, great, otherwise I think it is best omitted because it detracts as is. Stephenhumphry 05:01, 17 July 2005 (UTC)

Isn't what Bohm means about 'reality' and 'true reality' being different simply that what we percieve at present is a universe full of isolated 'things' ie trees, birds, sun, sky etc when in fact the 'true reality' is an overall flow of things in which all these isolated objects are in fact all one? 'Appearance' tells us that myself and the tree I see are not the same whereas 'reality' as Bohm suggests actually says that the tree and myself ARE the same. Bohm's whole theory is that at any given time we have a 'world map' which causes us to interpret the external 'reality' around us. His point is that at present our thought processes cause us to see 'reality' in a particular way. For example when we say a thing is green it isn't actually green but reflects the green light. In a nutshell, Bohm's concept here is that of Blake's - 'if the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is, infinite'. A further implication of Bohm's theory is that we reject certain phenomena and perceptions of energy flow which do not correspond to our 'world map'. This could provide an explanation for all sorts of phenomena we term 'supernatural'. What psychics and mystics call things like 'auras'could just be a glimpse of the energy flow Bohm talks about. Now wouldn't that be an interesting idea? Science finally coming up with an explanation for all the wierd stuff people claim is going on out there? :-) ThePeg 23:19, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

NPOV
Too much of this article appears to be written as advocacy of this theory, rather than description. Please edit to use NPOV style. -- The Anome 06:48, July 30, 2005 (UTC)

please be specific
"Too much of this article appears..."? Could you please be specific. I've changed some of the earlier statements, becuase I could see your point. If you have specifics, let me know ... but I'll take the NPOV off for now coz frankly, I spent a lotta time making sure I cited Bohm! (and I don't have the time to do much more on this).

Note the following phrases that used in the article:

In proposing this new notion of order ... In Bohm’s conception of order ... Bohm maintained that ... Central to Bohm's schema is the notion that ... In this view of order ... Bohm (1980, p. 147) asks us to "consider the possibility that ..." Consistent with Bohm, this potentially calls into question whether .... He argued, however, that ... ...a confusion he perceived to exist... According to Bohm ...

I have now added more qualifications, particularly early on, to set the tone ... From NPOV "Perhaps the easiest way to make your writing more encyclopedic is to write about what people believe, rather than what is so". "... an easy way to avoid making a statement that promotes a point of view is to find a reputable source for a fact and cite the source". Bohm is cited repeatedly, and for my own part, I went out of my way to make it clear that what is presented are his arguments, contestations, perceived problems, etc. In addition, I hope others will come along and present some more alternative views in time, but you gotta start somewhere Stephenhumphry 09:54, 30 July 2005 (UTC)

David Bohm's challenges to some generally prevailing views
it is not clear whether the list contains presuppositions or challenges. --MarSch 16:51, 2 November 2005 (UTC)
 * No, fair enough - I'll have a go at making it clearer soon as I get a chance Stephenhumphry 23:38, 2 November 2005 (UTC)

Proposed title change
The present title, Implicate and Explicate Order according to David Bohm is somewhat long and unwieldy. Since the title of the book Wholeness and the Implicate Order redirects here, and the entirety of the article appears to discuss the book, would there be objection to moving the present title to the title of the book? --Blainster 21:10, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

 * Great idea, change it. Implicate order and explicate order both redirect here already. The book is a collection of essays, but this is the title Bohm gave to the collection, and so I think that is the most appropriate title. I agree the current title is unweildy. Holon 01:10, 13 July 2006 (UTC)

 * I also agree that the title is WAY too long. It coudl just be shortened to Implicate and Explicate Order (David Bohm). --JudelFoir (talk) 16:35, 7 October 2009 (UTC)

Bohm & Kaballah
There is much discussion about Bohm's theories and their correspondence with Buddhist and Taoist ideas. Has no-one thought to investigate the relationship between his ideas and the Jewish Mystical tradition of Kabbalah? The theories of Wholeness And the Implicate Order have striking parallels with Kaballistic ideas of the Microcosm and the Macrocosm, the simultaneous Separateness and Oneness of everything within the En Sof and the the relationship between human consciousness and reality. Hmmm. Food for thought. ThePeg 23:20, 26 October 2006 (UTC)

Metaphysics: Aristotle & Leibniz
Bohm's theories are also directly related to Metaphysics. Leibniz called it "Monadology".

"The first philosophy (Metaphysics) is universal and is exclusively concerned with primary substance. ... And here we will have the science to study that which is just as that which is, both in its essence and in the properties which, just as a thing that is, it has." (Aristotle, 340BC)

"It follows from what we have just said, that the natural changes of monads come from an internal principle, and that change is continual in each one. … Now this connection of all created things with each, and of each with all the rest, means that each simple substance has relations which express all the others, each created monad represents the whole universe." (Leibniz, 1670)

"Reality cannot be found except in One single source, because of the interconnection of all things with one another. (Leibniz, 1670)

BakuninXL 18:49, 5 November 2006 (UTC)

Well, now, this is the interesting thing. I have looked at some of the Skeptical Enquirer sites analysing Bohm's ideas and their relationship to metaphysics and mysticism. What is so fascinating is how the modern scientific mindset gets into a terrible panic when it tries to evaluate the mystical element or influence in great scientific endeavour. So for instance the Skeptical Enquirer insists that Bohm's interest in everything from Buddhism to spoon-bending needn't worry us in looking at his science in much the same way as Newton's Alchemical interests shouldn't worry us with his or Kepler's interest in Astrology his. In fact their mystical leanings were almost certainly CENTRAL to their science as it was how the evaluated the universe! Leibniz, Spinoza, Plato, Aristotle, Pythagoras - all were mystically inclined rationalists, as were Einstein who read Kaballah and Rutherford who had Hermes Trismegistus on his coat of arms! If you actually read these belief systems they are identical to modern String Theory and Bohm's Implicate and Explicate Order ideas. Its nothing new. The only thing that is different and which panics scientists now is that they all bring God into the equation, although not the God we find in Christianity or Judaism as it is today. Their concept is more of an all-embracing energy of which we are part - as in Daoism, Platonism, Hermeticism etc. Perhaps Bohm et al were a little more open minded than their successors? It would be a neat way of putting to bed the infantile extremes of the Creationism vs Darwinism debate!

Actually, I find our resistance to the potential massive leap in human consciousness fascinating. Only the other day I was reading about Hubble images of Dark Energy/Matter and the scientific assertion that the matter we can actually SEE in the universe accounts for only 5% of what is there! Now think of the implications of that - that there is 95% of the universe which we can't see and which not only holds everything together but keeps everything moving - and THEN we read the Hermetica which talks about EXACTLY that only in terms of everything being animated by a Divine Consciousness/Energy which we can't see but can feel and decide its all hocus-pocus! Or we read the Kaballah and learn about the 'Dark Light' which surrounds God. Imagine what would happen if we shifted our perspective on existence to really embrace what Bohm and the Quantum Physicists say, just as we did when Galileo revealed to us that we weren't the centre of the universe or Newton described the universe in mechanistic terms? Everything would change - our concept of Time, our relationship with each other. And this is exactly the shift in consciousness Bohm was talking about in all his books.

Anyway, here's a brief extract from the Hermetica to get your juices flowing:

"God is whole and constant. In himself he is motionless, yet he is self-moving... He is hidden yet obvious everywhere. His being is known through thought alone, yet we see his form before our eyes. He is bodiless yet embodied in everything. There is nothing which he is not... He is the unity of all things... He is the Whole which contains everything. He is One, not two. He is all, not many. The All is not many separate things, but the Oneness that subsumes the parts. The All and the One are identical. You think that things are many when you view them as separate, but when you see they all hang on the One and flow from the One you will realise they are united - linked together and connected by a chain of Being from the highest to the lowest, all subject to the will of God"

You see my point? :-)

ThePeg 14:14, 28 November 2006 (UTC)

To continue this line of reasoning... Its worth remembering that the Hermetic idea of God is Nous or Mind, in other words: Universal Consciousness. As I understand it, this is something which some Quantum Physicists are starting to agree...

Another irony... the Medieval and Renaissance Church found the doctrine that God was incarnate in his own Creation heretical and burned at the stake anyone who argued for it - Giordani Bruno for instance. Now we have a scientific community which claims the same infallibility as the Church which also denies the idea that there may be a Consciousness in reality. Are we not back where we were in some sense? ThePeg 21:37, 17 April 2007 (UTC)

GENERAL SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVMENT

1) Article is much better than presentation of Holomovement in related section, but suffers from relying too exclusively on Wholeness and the Implicate Order, and so doesn't explain sufficiently the genesis of the Implicate Order theory in the context of the overall development of Bohm's physics.

2) To call the implicate order a "cosmological order" is not quite accurate. Rather he saw the implicate order as a "new order of physics" within a larger cosmological worldview of potentially infinite orders (eg: the super-implicate order and so on).

3) Some discussion of the evolution of the implicate order concept would be useful, esp. going back to '52 articles where he speaks of the "sub-quantum mechanical order," and the continuing subtle modifications of thoses ideas in Chance and Causality and articles. Unfortunately presentation here suggests that the implicate order is something fundamentally different and new which Bohm comes out with in 1980.  Rather, the implicate order is the outgrowth of his earlier engagment.  Note: much of the confusion on this issue (as in the confused presentation on the "Bohmian Interpretation") comes from the fact that the "spin" which Bell and the "Bohmian Mechanics" people give to the Hidden Variables theory does not correspond to what Bohm himself thought he was doing.  Ditto for the Vigier interpretation.

4) Instead of talking about Bohm's challenges to the "prevailing oder," speak instead of challanges to the Copenhagen Interpretation" or challanges to the "mechanistic philosophy."  That would keep article from sounding too subjective and POV-ish.

5) Discussion of hidden variable theory should be in the context of the overall development of Bohm's ideas (see above)

6) "Quantum entaglement" is not a term Bohm ever uses and should probably be avoided.

7) Delete final section relating to connections with other works as that whole discussion is pretty shallow, and indeed unnecessary.  Sfwild 01:32, 25 June 2007 (UTC)

Criticism section
As I understand it, better-known interpretations of quantum physics such as the Copenhagen, Many Worlds, and others are still being modified and are still under debate. In light of that, it not be appropriate to create a section that mentions some of the major criticisms of Bohm's interpretation and evidence that (at least in some physicists' opinion) fails to support it?

This is true, but without a satisfactory presentation of Bohm's own concepts, it is easy to get lost in very secondary debates. Bohm and Hiley deal quite extensively with various versions of the Many Words interpretation in Undivided Wholeness, pointing out similarities and differences with their own ontological interpretation. That would be a good place to start, though as these debates are very much ongoing it seems to me to make more sense, for purposes of an informational article, to focus on Bohm's own historical contributions and the development of his ideas. Sfwild 18:43, 16 September 2007 (UTC)

It puzzles me that people think that due to his background, Bohm's points concern quantum physics. Whatever the merit, Bohm was explicitly concerned in this book and the essays it is based on, with a whole view of the universe. He focused on topics from language to consciousness. I agree with the above, it is easy to get lost in secondary debates. Bohm is cited on the point he explicitly made about hidden variables. It is fine to briefly mention interpretations of quantum physics, but an extended discussion would be very out of place (psychologists could also comment on his views about consciousness, etc. etc.). Holon 14:26, 17 September 2007 (UTC)

Actually I don't think it is true that you can disassociate Bohm's "cosmological" views from his interpretation of qm. The theory of the implicate order comes directly out of his "hidden variables" approach. The core chapters of the book (I assume we're talking about Wholeness..)are the ones that recount the evolution of the causal (later ontological) interpretation from the '52 essays to the development of the idea of the implicate order as a new order of physics. It's true that he extends this approach to consciousness, life systems, etc., and that his thinking in the Birbeck period ranged freely and widely over many domains (artistic creativity etc.), but his core preoccupation all along was to formulate an alternative interpreation to the Copenhagen Theory. 70.137.156.110 02:50, 30 September 2007 (UTC)

Gross Out
I think that picture of a real brain is gross. I don't want to let my personal feelings interfere with something that may be necessary for the article though. So, does anyone think the gross picture is necessary?--Neptunerover (talk) 08:55, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

 * A more aesthetically appealing image could be found, but the brain image is fine for now. — goethean ॐ 15:27, 23 December 2009 (UTC)

Error
This article states:

"Kant held that the parts of an organism, such as cells, simultaneously exist to sustain the whole, and depend upon the whole for their own existence and functioning."

This is false and entirely anachronistic; cell theory was not developed at least 20 years after Kant's death and thus he could not have held this view as presented here.

I do not want to officiously intervene, but it is imperative that this either be clarified, removed, or otherwise corrected. Perhaps the author is imposing modern knowledge on Kant's principles for the sake of accessibility, but it is far too divergent to be permitted. 150.135.210.78 (talk) 06:02, 15 September 2011 (UTC)
 * Kant's "part-whole" analogy has been applied to every possible concept distinguishing parts from whole since his era. Including, regularly, that of cells and organs as parts of the whole creature that they compose.  (Nevertheless, the whole reference was since removed.)  –  SJ  +  04:35, 10 November 2013 (UTC)

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title: Talk:Implicate and explicate order


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text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Here (0th nomination)

WINAD. V V 05:08, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. The article goes beyond being a dictionary [[User:Sverdrup|❝Sverdrup❞ ]] 05:18, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Sure, perhaps I should say that it has nothing encyclopedic in it. Will we have articles for there, now, because?  (Okay, we have the first two, but they're for other things.) V V  05:41, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Abstain -- I agree that the page raises WINAD issues, but it really sounds like something from the HHGTTG. Klanda 05:20, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. Slight problems, but overall an encyclopedic look at the concept of here, which goes beyond a dicdef — siro  χ  o  06:44, Aug 16, 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep, for amusement if nothing else. -Sean Curtin 09:31, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. This has already been through the wringer about a year ago.  Looks like I need to get busy on because.  Smerdis of Tlön 11:37, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * This is ridiculous. We don't have articles on just words, except those notable as words (mostly swear words).  You'd better get to work on during, although, whenever, anyway, in case of, without, and notwithstanding. V V  22:21, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. Wile E. Heresiarch 15:21, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. A small part of the article defines "here." The rest is just a few references to the word.  If I had more votes, I'd vote delete twice more just to counter the "amusement" vote and the "HHGTTG" vote.  -- WOT 19:02, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Move to BJAODN.   — Gwalla | Talk 22:09, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep just because the last paragraph is wonderful. -- Jmabel 01:42, Aug 17, 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete. It's part dicdef, part philosophy, part brilliant prose and entirely the funniest thing I've read all day, but it ain't an encyclopedia article. sjorford 13:13, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * comment: Right now it's a little useful and a lot silly. Can we maybe increase the usefulness while decreasing the silliness without it becoming a dicdef? Probably not, but it could be worth a try. -R. fiend 15:30, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Unfortunately, I do not see how. Delete unless substantially improved within the discussion time. Transwiki to Wiktionary. Rossami 00:38, 18 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Amusing, but I don't think it belongs, ahem, here. Delete Lacrimosus 05:38, 19 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete? I think not! This is the epitomy of a philological article, well-written and with humor. If this article falls to deletion, then the Pokemon editors really have won the ball game. Denni ☯ 03:10, 2004 Aug 20 (UTC)
 * Keep The Steve 07:18, Aug 20, 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep: Artistic, and, in my opinion, useful enough. - RedWordSmith 17:36, 20 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep: it's more than a word; it's a concept.Wolfman 20:35, 20 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Keep. --Dittaeva 20:42, 21 Aug 2004 (UTC)


text:
Silver Springs, Florida

Silver Springs is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Marion County of northern Florida. It is the site of Silver Springs, a group of artesian springs and a historic tourist attraction that is now part of Silver Springs State Park. The community is part of the Ocala metropolitan area. It was first listed as a CDP for the 2020 census, at which time it had a population of 2,844.

One of Florida's first tourist attractions, the springs drew visitors even before the U.S. Civil War. Glass-bottom boats have been a popular way to see the 242 acre complex. A small amusement park with various animals, a concert stage, a carousel, and exhibits also developed.

History
Silver Springs was founded in 1852.

Since the mid-19th century, the natural environment of Silver Springs has attracted visitors from throughout the United States. The glass-bottom boat was invented and tours of the springs began in the late 1870s. In the 1920s, W. Carl Ray and W.M. "Shorty" Davidson, after leasing the land from Ed Carmichael (upon whose death the springs were left to the University of Florida), developed the land around the headwaters of the Silver River into an attraction that eventually became known as Silver Springs Nature Theme Park. The attraction featured native animal exhibits, amusement rides, and 30 or 90-minute glass-bottom boat tours of the springs. The 1934 'Princess Donna' is the oldest and only remaining operational boat from this bygone era. The "Princess Donna' currently operates on the Rainbow River in Dunnellon, Florida. In 2013, the State of Florida took over operations of Silver Springs and combined it with the adjacent Silver River State Park to form the new Silver Springs State Park. The T. W. Randall House on the National Register of Historic Places is located to the northeast.

Several defunct tourist attractions were once located near Silver Springs. The Western-themed Six Gun Territory theme park, which included several attractions such as the Southern Railway & Six Gun narrow gauge railroad, operated from 1963 to 1984. The Wild Waters water park also existed in Silver Springs and operated from 1978 to 2016.

Silver Springs was "whites only" until 1967. From 1949 to 1969, African Americans were served by nearby Paradise Park, Florida, which closed when Silver Springs integrated racially.

Cattle ranch development
Canadian billionaire Frank Stronach has been building the Adena Springs Ranch for cattle, an abattoir, residential property development, and a thoroughbred horse farm in the area, stirring concern over plans for water use and how groundwater draw will affect the springs.

Geography
Silver Springs is in central Marion County and is bordered to the southwest by the city of Ocala, the county seat. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the Silver Springs CDP has a total area of 6.2 sqmi, of which 0.03 sqmi, or 0.50%, are water. The springs, in the center of the community, flow out to form the Silver River, which runs 4 mi east to the Ocklawaha River.

Transportation
The main road through Silver Springs is State Road 40 which runs east and west from Rainbow Lakes Estates to Ormond Beach in Volusia County. State Road 326 terminates at SR 40, as does State Road 35, which becomes County Road 35 north of SR 40 before terminating at SR 326. County Roads 314 and 314A are also important north-south county roads that run west and into the Ocala National Forest.

Notable people

 * Ross Allen, herpetologist

 * Bruce Mozert, photographer
 * Ted Potter Jr., PGA Tour professional golfer

title: Silver Springs, Florida


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text:
Unequal treaties

The unequal treaties were a series of agreements made between Asian countries (including China and Korea) and foreign powers (including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the United States, Russia, and Japan) during the 19th and early 20th centuries. They were often signed following a military defeat suffered by the former party, or amid military threats made by the latter. Their terms specified obligations to be borne almost exclusively by the former party: provisions included the cession of territory, the payment of reparations, the opening of treaty ports, the relinquishment of the right to control tariffs and imports, and the granting of extraterritoriality to foreign citizens.

With the rise of Chinese nationalism and anti-imperialism in the 1920s, both the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party used the concept to characterize the Chinese experience of losing sovereignty between roughly 1840 to 1950. The term "unequal treaty" became associated with the concept of China's "century of humiliation", especially the concessions to foreign powers and the loss of tariff autonomy through treaty ports.

Japanese and Koreans also use the term to refer to several treaties that resulted in a reduction of their national sovereignty. Japan and China signed treaties with Korea like the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876 and China–Korea Treaty of 1882, with each granting privileges to the former parties concerning Korea.

China
In China, the term "unequal treaties" first came into use in the early 1920s to describe the historical treaties, still imposed on the then-Republic of China, that were signed through the period of time which the American sinologist John K. Fairbank characterized as the "treaty century" which began in the 1840s. The term was popularized by Sun Yat-sen.

In assessing the term's usage in rhetorical discourse since the early 20th century, American historian Dong Wang notes that "while the phrase has long been widely used, it nevertheless lacks a clear and unambiguous meaning" and that there is "no agreement about the actual number of treaties signed between China and foreign countries that should be counted as unequal." However, within the scope of Chinese historiographical scholarship, the phrase has typically been defined to refer to the many cases in which China was effectively forced to pay large amounts of financial reparations, open up ports for trade, cede or lease territories (such as Outer Manchuria and Outer Northwest China (including Zhetysu) to the Russian Empire, Hong Kong and Weihaiwei to the United Kingdom, Guangzhouwan to France, Kwantung Leased Territory and Taiwan to the Empire of Japan, the Jiaozhou Bay concession to the German Empire and concession territory in Tientsin, Shamian, Hankou, Shanghai etc.), and make various other concessions of sovereignty to foreign spheres of influence, following military threats.

The Chinese-American sinologist Immanuel Hsu states that the Chinese viewed the treaties they signed with Western powers and Russia as unequal "because they were not negotiated by nations treating each other as equals but were imposed on China after a war, and because they encroached upon China's sovereign rights ... which reduced her to semicolonial status".

The earliest treaty later referred to as "unequal" was the 1841 Convention of Chuenpi negotiations during the First Opium War. The first treaty between the Qing dynasty and the United Kingdom termed "unequal" was the Treaty of Nanjing in 1842.

Following Qing China's defeat, treaties with Britain opened up five ports to foreign trade, while also allowing foreign missionaries, at least in theory, to reside within China. Foreign residents in the port cities were afforded trials by their own consular authorities rather than the Chinese legal system, a concept termed extraterritoriality. Under the treaties, the UK and the US established the British Supreme Court for China and Japan and United States Court for China in Shanghai.

Chinese post-World War I resentment
After World War I, patriotic consciousness in China focused on the treaties, which now became widely known as "unequal treaties." The Nationalist Party and the Chinese Communist Party competed to convince the public that their approach would be more effective. Germany was forced to terminate its rights, the Soviet Union surrendered them, and the United States organized the Washington Conference to negotiate them.

After Chiang Kai-shek declared a new national government in 1927, the Western powers quickly offered diplomatic recognition, arousing anxiety in Japan. The new government declared to the Great Powers that China had been exploited for decades under unequal treaties, and that the time for such treaties was over, demanding they renegotiate all of them on equal terms.

Towards the end of the unequal treaties
After the Boxer Rebellion and the signing of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance of 1902, Germany began to reassess its policy approach towards China. In 1907 Germany suggested a trilateral German-Chinese-American agreement that never materialised. Thus China entered the new era of ending unequal treaties on March 14, 1917, when it broke off diplomatic relations with Germany, thereby terminating the concessions it had given that country, with China declaring war on Germany on August 17, 1917.

As World War I commenced, these acts voided the unequal treaty of 1861, resulting in the reinstatement of Chinese control on the concessions of Tianjin and Hankou to China. In 1919, the post-war peace negotiations failed to return the territories in Shandong, previously under German colonial control, back to the Republic of China. After it was determined that the Japanese forces occupying those territories since 1914 would be allowed to retain them under the Treaty of Versailles, the Chinese delegate Wellington Koo refused to sign the peace agreement, with China being the only conference member to boycott the signing ceremony. Widely perceived in China as a betrayal of the country's wartime contributions by the other conference members, the domestic backlash following the failure to restore Shandong would cause the collapse of the cabinet of the Duan Qirui government and lead to the May 4th movement.

On May 20, 1921, China secured with the German-Chinese peace treaty (Deutsch-chinesischer Vertrag zur Wiederherstellung des Friedenszustandes) a diplomatic accord which was considered the first equal treaty between China and a European nation.

Many treaties China considered unequal were repealed during the Second Sino-Japanese War (1937-1945). After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, China became an ally with the United Kingdom and the United States, which then signed treaties with China to end British and American extraterritoriality in January 1943. Significant examples outlasted World War II: treaties regarding Hong Kong remained in place until Hong Kong's 1997 handover, though in 1969, to improve Sino-Soviet relations in the wake of military skirmishes along their border, the People's Republic of China was forced to reconfirm the 1858 Treaty of Aigun and 1860 Treaty of Peking.

Japan
When the US expeditionary fleet led by Matthew Perry reached Japan in 1854 to force open the island nation for American trade, the country was compelled to sign the Convention of Kanagawa under the threat of violence by the American warships. This event abruptly terminated Japan's 220 years of seclusion under the Sakoku policy of 1633 under unilateral foreign pressure and consequentially, the convention has been seen in a similar light as an unequal treaty.

Another significant incident was the Tokugawa Shogunate's capitulation to the Harris Treaty of 1858, negotiated by the eponymous U.S. envoy Townsend Harris, which, among other concessions, established a system of extraterritoriality for foreign residents. This agreement would then serve as a model for similar treaties to be further signed by Japan with other foreign Western powers in the weeks to follow.

The enforcement of these unequal treaties were a tremendous national shock for Japan's leadership as they both curtailed Japanese sovereignty for the first time in its history and also revealed the nation's growing weakness relative to the West through the latter's successful imposition of such agreements upon the island nation. An objective towards the recovery of national status and strength would become an overarching priority for Japan, with the treaty's domestic consequences being the end of the Bakufu, the 700 years of shogunate rule over Japan, and the establishment of a new imperial government.

The unequal treaties ended at various times for the countries involved and Japan's victories in the 1894–95 First Sino-Japanese War convinced many in the West that unequal treaties could no longer be enforced on Japan.

Korea
Korea's first unequal treaty was not with the West, but instead with Japan. The Ganghwa Island incident in 1875 saw Japan send the warship Un'yō led by Captain Inoue Yoshika with the implied threat of military action to coerce the Korean kingdom of Joseon through the show of force. After an armed clash ensued around Ganghwa Island where the Japanese force was sent, which resulted in its victory, the incident subsequently forced Korea to open its doors to Japan by signing the Treaty of Ganghwa Island, also known as the Japan–Korea Treaty of 1876.

During this period Korea also signed treaties with Qing China and the West powers (such as the United Kingdom and the United States). In the case of Qing China, it signed the China–Korea Treaty of 1882 with Korea stipulating that Korea was a dependency of China and granted the Chinese extraterritoriality and other privileges, and in subsequent treaties China also obtained concessions in Korea, such as the Chinese concession of Incheon. However, Qing China lost its influence over Korea following the First Sino-Japanese War in 1895.

As Japanese dominance over the Korean peninsula grew in the following decades, with respect to the unequal treaties imposed upon the kingdom by the West powers, Korea's diplomatic concessions with those states became largely null and void in 1910, when it was annexed by Japan.

Modern rhetorical usage
In 2018, Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad criticized the terms of the bilateral infrastructure projects under the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative in Malaysia and urged the Chinese negotiators to reassess them through invoking the historical memory of China's unequal treaties. Stating that "they know that when they lend big sums of money to a poor country, in the end they may have to take the project for themselves". He appealed by stating that "China knows very well that it had to deal with unequal treaties in the past imposed upon China by Western powers. So China should be sympathetic toward us. They know we cannot afford this."

title: Unequal treaties