Zhdanov \'shta-n6f\, Andrey (Aleksandrovich) (b. Feb. 26, 1896, Mariupol, Ukraine, Russian Empire—d. Aug. 31, 1948, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet politician. He joined the Bolsheviks in 1915 and became a leading member of the Politburo (1939) and Communist Party secretary in Leningrad. A close associate of Joseph Stalin, he formulated the extreme anti-Western cultural policy known as “Zhdanovism” (1946), which imposed strict government control on art and literature and soon affected all intellectual activity in the Soviet Union. In 1947 he founded the propaganda bureau Cominform.
Zhejiang Vjo-'jyaqN or Che-chiang conventional Chekiang Prov¬ ince (pop., 2000 est.: 46,770,000), eastern China. With an area of 39,300 sq mi (101,800 sq km), it is bounded by the China Sea, Shanghai munici¬ pality, and Fujian, Jiangxi, Anhui, and Jiangsu provinces; its capital is Hang¬ zhou. It is one of China’s smallest provinces and one of the most densely populated. Its northern part lies just south of the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) delta. Occupying parts of various kingdoms until the 13th century ad, it was divided in the 1270s into eastern and western regions. Foreign penetration began in the 1840s. After the Chinese revolution (1911-12), it became a power base for the Nationalist Party of Chiang Kai-shek, who was born in the province. Occupied by the Japanese during World War II, it was little affected by the 1946-49 civil war. In addition to its agri¬ cultural importance, it has a thriving fishing industry. Its hydroelectric power plants have spurred more growth.
Zheng Chenggong or Cheng Ch'eng-kung Vjoq-'choq-'guqN or Koxinga \kak-'siq-3\ (b. Aug. 28, 1624, Hirado, Japan—d. June 23, 1662, Taiwan) Chinese military leader of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. After the Ming dynasty fell to the Manchu, Zheng refused Manchu offers of rank and power and launched a military campaign against the new dynasty in 1659, taking a large force from his base in Fujian province up the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang). Initial success turned into failure, but, undaunted, Zheng took Taiwan from the Dutch in 1662 to use as a secure rear base area. Further glory was cut short by his death later that year. He became a popular deity and cultural hero to the Chi¬ nese on Taiwan, and even the Qing court honoured him as a paragon of loyalty. In Japan the playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon celebrated him on the stage (Zheng had a Japanese mother), and in the 20th century both Chinese communists and Nationalists embraced him as a national hero.
Zheng He or Cheng Ho Vjoq-'heV orig. Ma Sanbao (b. c. 1371, Kunyang, Yunnan province, China—d. April 1433, Calicut, India) Eunuch admiral and diplomat who helped extend Chinese maritime and commer¬ cial influence throughout the region bordering on the Indian Ocean.The Yongle emperor named Zheng commander in chief of missions to the “Western Oceans.” He first set sail in 1405 and on this mission visited Champa (southern Vietnam), Siam (Thailand), Malacca, and Java, trav¬ eled through the Indian Ocean as far as Sri Lanka, and returned to China in 1407. Subsequent voyages took him to Arabia, the eastern coast of Africa, Southeast Asia, and India. Chinese emigration increased in the
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2108 I Zhengzhou ► ZhuXi
wake of these missions, resulting in Chinese colonization of Southeast Asia and consequent tributary trade that lasted into the 19th century.
Zhengzhou Yjaq-'joV or Cheng-chou formerly (1913^49) Zhengxian Yjoq-'shyenX or Cheng-hsien City (pop., 1999 est.: 1,465,069), capital of Henan province, east-central China. Located south of the Huang He (Yellow River), it is an important rail centre. There were Neolithic settlements in the area, and the Shang Bronze Age culture (fl. c. 1500 bc) was centred there on a walled city. Zhou-dynasty tombs have also been discovered. The city was first called Zhengzhou in ad 605, and it has been known by that name virtually ever since. It achieved its great¬ est importance in the 6th-12th centuries, when it was the terminus of a canal that joined the Huang to the north. In the early 20th century it became a rail junction and a regional agricultural centre. Since 1950 its industrial base has greatly expanded, and its population has grown con¬ siderably.
Zhivkov \ , zhiv-,kof\ / Todor (Khristov) (b. Sept. 7, 1911, Pravets, near Botevgrad, Bulg.—d. Aug. 5, 1998, Sofia) Bulgarian politician. The son of poor peasants, he drifted to the Bulgarian capital of Sofia in his youth and, in the late 1920s, joined the Komsomol, the youth league of the outlawed Communist Party. During World War II he organized a resis¬ tance movement, and after the war, he held posts in the Soviet-sponsored government, including head of the People’s Militia. He became first sec¬ retary of the Bulgarian Communist Party in 1954, the youngest leader in the Soviet bloc, then served as premier (1962-71) and president (1971— 89). He hewed closely to the Soviet line but encouraged industrialization and improved the country’s living standard. When democratization reached Bulgaria, Zhivkov resigned (1989). Convicted of embezzlement, he was sentenced to house arrest in 1992.
Zhiyi or Chih-i \'jir-'e\ (b. 538, Hunan province, China—d. 597, Mount Tiantai, Zhejiang province) Chinese Buddhist monk who founded the eclectic Tiantai sect. Orphaned at age 17, he studied with the Buddhist master Huisi for seven years. He was associated with the imperial gov¬ ernments of the Chen dynasty in southern China and the Sui dynasty, which reunified China. He reconciled the various strains of Buddhism by regard¬ ing all Buddhist doctrines as true and present in the mind of the enlight¬ ened Buddha, who unfolded his teachings in periods to accommodate his listeners’ capacities. He considered the Lotus Sutra the highest teaching and helped establish it as the most popular scripture in East Asia.
Zhongyong or Chung yung \'juq-'yuq\ or Doctrine of the Mean One of four ancient Confucian texts known as the Four Books, published together in 1190 by Zhu Xi. Its metaphysics had interested Bud¬ dhists and earlier Neo-Confucianists. Zhu Xi attributes the work to Con¬ fucius’ grandson Zi Si, though it was actually part of Liji (“Book of Rites”), one of the Five Classics. Zhongyong expresses an ideal of mod¬ eration, rectitude, and lack of prejudice that should encompass virtually every relationship and activity in life.
Zhou dynasty or Chou \'jo\ dynasty (1046-256 bc) Ancient Chi¬ nese dynasty that gave China its historically identifying political and cul¬ tural characteristics. The period before 771 bc is known as the Western Zhou; the period from 771 bc on is called the Eastern Zhou and is further divided into the Spring and Autumn period (770-476) and the Warring States period (475-221). During the Zhou dynasty, iron, ox-drawn plows, cross¬ bows, and horseback riding were introduced; large-scale irrigation projects were instituted; the Chinese writing system was further developed; and the great Chinese philosophers of antiquity, including Confucius, Mencius, and Zhuangzi, lived and taught. Pottery and bronzework expanded on the tra¬ ditions of the earlier Shang dynasty, as did work in jade and lacquer.
Zhou Enlai or Chou En-lai Vjo-'en-'llX (b. March 5, 1898, Huai’an, Jiangsu province, China—d. Jan. 8, 1976, Beijing) Chinese communist leader, premier from the founding of the People’s Republic of China until his death (1949-76). Zhou became a communist during his studies abroad in France and was an organizer for the Chinese Communist Party in Europe. Like other communists, he worked with the Nationalists in the early 1920s and escaped capture when Chiang Kai-shek purged his former allies in 1927. He joined Zhu De and Mao Zedong in Jiangxi province and became political commissar of the Red Army. In the 1930s he negotiated a tactical alliance with the Nationalists to resist Japanese aggression. When the communists prevailed over the Nationalists in 1949, Zhou became premier of the new People’s Republic of China. During the Cultural Revolution, Zhou helped restrain extremists; as the revolution waned in the early 1970s, he sought to restore Deng Xiaoping and other moderates to power. He is credited with