Japanese philosophy Conceptual expression of Japanese culture since early 6th century ad. Japanese philosophy is not generally indig¬ enous; Japanese thinkers have always skillfully assimilated alien philo¬ sophical categories in developing their own systems. One of the two principal schools of Japanese thought arose from Buddhism and was highly tinged with a religious and often somewhat metaphysical character. The second school arose from Confucianism and was essentially a system of moral philosophy. Since the Meiji Restoration (1868), Western philosophy has been abundantly introduced into Japan. At first British and American philosophies predominated, but in the 20th century the influence of Ger¬ man philosophy became increasingly strong; leading Japanese philoso¬ phers were especially influenced by German idealism, phenomenology, and existentialism. To distinguish Western philosophy from Buddhist and Chi¬ nese thought, the term tetsugaku (“wise learning”) was coined and has come into common use.
Japanese writing system System of modified Chinese characters used for writing the Japanese language. The Japanese developed a mixed system, partly logographic (based on the Chinese writing system) and partly syllabic. In the 9th or 10th century two sets of syllabic signs evolved: hiragana, simplified cursive versions of Chinese characters; and kata- kana, based on elements of Chinese characters. Modem Japanese is writ¬ ten with the two syllabaries and Chinese characters.
Japura \,zha-pu-'ra\ River River, northwestern South America. It rises as the Caqueta River in the Cordillera Central of the Andes Mountains in southwestern Colombia. Afterward it flows through southeastern Colom¬ bia and is joined by the Apaporis River at the Brazilian border, where it takes the name Japura and flows eastward to join the Amazon River. Its total length, including the Caqueta, is about 1,750 mi (2,820 km). It has a strong current and is navigable by small boats in Brazil.
Jaques-Dalcroze Vzhak-.dal-'krozV Emile (b. July 6, 1865, Vienna, Austria—d. July 1, 1950, Geneva, Switz.) Swiss music educator and com¬ poser. He studied composition with Anton Bruckner, Gabriel Faure, and Leo Delibes, and in 1892 he became professor of harmony at the Geneva Conservatory. In the early 20th century he experimented with new meth¬ ods of music education, which evolved into eurythmics, a system in which bodily movements are used to represent musical rhythms. In 1914, hav¬ ing left the conservatory, he founded the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva to teach and promulgate his new method.
Jari River or Jary \zha-'re\ River River, northern Brazil. It flows southeast for about 350 mi (560 km) to join the Amazon River at Boca do Jari. The Jari forms the border between Para and Amapa states, and its lower course is navigable. Since the late 1960s the river’s valley has been the focus of large-scale development for lumber production.
Jarrell Vja-'relV, Randall (b. May 6, 1914, Nashville, Tenn., U.S.—d. Oct. 14, 1965, Chapel Hill, N.C.) U.S. poet and critic. He taught at the
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University of North Carolina (Greensboro) from 1947 until his death. As a critic, he revitalized the reputations of Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, and William Carlos Will¬ iams in the 1950s; his criticism is col¬ lected in Poetry and the Age (1953),
A Sad Heart at the Supermarket (1962), and the posthumous Third Book of Criticism (1969). His poems appeared in Little Friend, Little Friend (1945) and Losses (1948), both drawing on his wartime experi¬ ences, and such later collections as The Seven-League Crutches (1951) and The Woman at the Washington Zoo (1960). He was killed when he stepped in front of a moving car.
Jarrett, Keith (b. May 8, 1945,
Allentown, Pa., U.S.) U.S. jazz pia¬ nist, composer, and bandleader. He played with Art Blakey (1965-66) and with Miles Davis’s jazz-rock group (1970-71) before making a series of solo recordings that won him broad popularity. His trio (from 1966) with bassist Charlie Haden (b. 1937) and drummer Paul Motian (b. 1931), later expanded to a quartet (1971-76), was highly regarded. By the 1980s his public performance had turned mainly to classical recitals.
Jarry \zha-'re\, Alfred (b. Sept. 8,
1873, Laval, France—d. Nov. 1,
1907, Paris) French writer. He went to Paris to live on his inheritance at age 18; after exhausting it, he led a life of calculated buffoonery. His farce Ubu Roi (1896), considered a forerunner of theatre of the absurd and of Surrealism, featured the gro¬ tesque Pere Ubu, who becomes king of Poland. Jarry followed it with two sequels, one of which was published posthumously. The brilliant imagery and wit of his stories, novels, and poems usually lapse into incoherence and unintelligible symbolism. A heavy drinker, he died at 34.
Jaruzelski \,yar-u-'zel-ske\, Wojciech (Witold) (b. July 6, 1923, Kurow, Pol.) Polish army general and chief of state (1981-89) and presi¬ dent (1989-90) of Poland. He rose through the ranks of the army and the Communist Party to be elected premier and first secretary of the party in 1981 as Poland came under increasing pressure from the Solidarity move¬ ment. He declared martial law (1981-83), carrying out mass arrests of dissidents. Unable to restore Poland’s stagnant economy, he began nego¬ tiations in 1988 with Solidarity, culminating in agreements to reform Poland’s political system. Elected president in 1989, he resigned his posts in the Communist Party. In 1990 Lech Walesa was elected president, and Jaruzelski relinquished the last of communist power in Poland.
jasmine Vjaz-monN Any of about 300 tropical and subtropical species of fragrant, flowering, woody, climb¬ ing shrubs that make up the genus Jasminum of the olive family, native to all continents except North America. The jasmine used in per¬ fumery and aromatherapy comes from the fragrant white flowers of common, or poet’s, jasmine (7. offi¬ cinale), native to Iran. The dried flowers of Arabian jasmine (7. sam-
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bac) make jasmine tea. Many fragrant- flowered plants from other families are also commonly called jasmine.
Jason In Greek legend, the leader of the Argonauts. He was the son of Aeson, king of Iolcos in Thessaly. Raised by Chiron after his father’s half-brother Pelias seized Iolcos, he returned as a young man and was promised his inheritance if he could bring back the Golden Fleece. After an adventur¬ ous voyage, he won the fleece with the help of Medea. He married her, and the two returned to Iolcos, where Medea murdered Pelias. Driven out by Pelias’s son, they sought refuge with King Creon of Corinth. When Jason deserted Medea for Creon’s daughter, Medea killed her own chil¬ dren by Jason.
jasper Opaque, fine-grained or dense variety of the silica mineral chert that exhibits various colours, but chiefly brick red to brownish red. Long used for jewelry and ornamentation, it has a dull lustre but takes a fine polish; its physical properties are those of quartz. Jasper is common and widely distributed, occurring in the Ural Mountains, North Africa, Sicily, Germany, and elsewhere. For thousands of years, black jasper was used to test gold-silver alloys for their gold content. Rubbing the alloys on the stone, called a touchstone, produces a streak the colour of which deter¬ mines the gold content within 1 part in 100.