Ming dynasty (1368-1644) Chinese dynasty that provided an interval of native rule between eras of Mongol and Manchu dominance. The Ming, one of the most stable but autocratic of dynasties, extended Chinese influ¬ ence farther than did any other native rulers of China. Under the Ming, the capital of China was moved from Nanjing to Beijing, and the Forbid¬ den City was constructed. Naval expeditions led by Zheng He paved the way for trade with Southeast Asia, India, and eastern Africa. During the Ming dynasty, novels were written in the vernacular, while philosophy benefited from the work of Wang Yangming in Neo-Confucianism. Ming monochrome porcelain became famous throughout the world, with imi¬ tations created in Vietnam, Japan, and Europe.
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Minggantu ► minnesinger I 1263
Minggantu Chinese Ming Antu, Mongolian Minganto (b. ?—d.
c. 1763) Chinese astronomer and mathematician. A Mongolian of the Plain White Banner (see Banner system), Minggantu first appeared in offi¬ cial Chinese records in 1712 as a student in the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. He spent his whole career there, at a time when Jesuit mission¬ aries were in charge of calendar reforms. He took part in the compilation of the imperially commissioned Liili yuanyuan (c. 1723; “Source of Math¬ ematical Harmonics and Astronomy”), and from 1737 to 1742 he worked with the Jesuits on the revision of its astronomical section. In 1759 he became director of the Imperial Astronomical Bureau. He left an unfin¬ ished mathematical manuscript, the Geyuan milii jiefa (“Quick Methods for the Circle’s Division and Precise Ratio”), which his student Chen Jixin completed in 1774.
Mingus, Charles (b. April 22, 1922, Nogales, Ariz., U.S.—d. Jan. 5, 1979, Cuernavaca, Mex.) U.S. jazz composer, bassist, and bandleader. Mingus played in the groups of Lionel Hampton, Duke Ellington, and Red Norvo, ultimately working with many of the innovators of bebop. In 1953 he organized the Jazz Workshop ensemble, which played a spirited com¬ bination of loosely arranged passages and improvisation, incorporating elements of the blues and free jazz. As a pioneering bandleader and vir¬ tuoso bassist, Mingus remained an uncompromising and innovative force in jazz for the rest of his career. He was one of the most important and colourful figures in modem jazz.
Min how See Fuzhou
miniature painting Small, detailed painting, usually a portrait, executed in watercolour on vellum (parchment), prepared card, copper, or ivory that can be held in the hand or worn as a piece of jewelry. The name derives from the minium, or red lead, used to emphasize initial letters in medieval illuminated manuscripts. Combining the traditions of illumina¬ tion and the Renaissance medal, it flourished from the early 16th to the mid-19th century. The earliest datable examples were painted in France by Jean Clouet the Younger at the court of Francis I; in England H. Hol¬ bein the Younger produced masterpieces in miniature under Henry VIII and inspired a long tradition of the practice, known as “limning.” Nicholas Hilliard served as miniature painter to Elizabeth I for more than 30 years. In the 17th—18th centuries, painting in enamel on metal became popular in France. In Italy Rosalba Carriera introduced the use of ivory (c. 1700) as a luminous surface for transparent pigments, stimulating a great revival of the medium in the late 18th century. By the mid-19th century minia¬ ture paintings were regarded as luxury items and rendered obsolete by the new medium of photography.
Minimalism Twentieth-century movements in art and music character¬ ized by extreme simplicity of form and rejection of emotional content. In the visual arts, Minimalism originated in New York City in the 1950s as a form of abstract art and became a major trend in the 1960s and ’70s. The Minimalists believed that a work of art should be entirely self- referential; personal elements were stripped away to reveal the objective, purely visual elements. Leading Minimalist sculptors include Carl Andre and Donald Judd; Minimalist painters include Ellsworth Kelly and Agnes Martin. In music, Minimalism arose in the 1960s. It employs a steady pulsing beat, incessant repetition of tones and chords with only gradual changes in their components, a slow rate of harmonic change, and little or no counterpoint. Its principal antecedents are the musics of India and Southeast Asia. Its most important early practitioners include La Monte Young (b. 1935), Terry Riley (b. 1935), whose In C (1964) is perhaps its most seminal work, Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and John Adams.
minimum In mathematics, a point at which the value of a function is lowest. If the value is less than or equal to all other function values, it is an absolute minimum. If it is merely less than at any nearby point, it is a relative, or local, minimum. In calculus, the derivative equals zero or does not exist at a function’s minimum point. See also maximum, optimization.
minimum wage Wage rate established by collective bargaining or by government regulation, specifying the lowest rate at which workers may be employed. A legal minimum wage is one mandated by government for all workers in an economy, with few exceptions. Privately negotiated minimum wages determined by collective bargaining apply to a specific group of workers in the economy, usually in specific trades or industries. The modern minimum wage, combined with compulsory arbitration of labour disputes, first appeared in Australia and New Zealand in the 1890s. In 1909 Britain established trade boards to set minimum wage rates in certain trades and industries. The first minimum wage in the U.S. (which
applied only to women) was enacted by Massachusetts in 1912. Mini¬ mum wage laws or agreements now exist in most nations.
mining Excavation of materials from the Earth’s crust, including those of organic origin, such as coal and petroleum. Modern mining is costly and complicated. First, a mineral vein that can likely produce enough of the desired substance to justify the cost of extraction must be located. Then the size of the vein or deposit is determined, and mining engineers decide the best way to mine it. Most of the world’s yearly mineral pro¬ duction is extracted by surface mining, which includes open-pit mining, strip mining, and quarrying. For ore bodies that lie a considerable dis¬ tance below the surface, underground mining must be considered. In both techniques, excavating and extracting mineral substances involve costly combinations of drilling, blasting, hoisting, and hauling, as well as mea¬ sures for health and safety and reduction of environmental impact.
mink Either of two species of nocturnal, semiaquatic carnivores in the weasel family (Mustelidae) that are trapped and raised commercially for their pelts. American mink ( Mustela vison), found throughout North America except in arid parts of the southwestern U.S., is 17-29 in.
(43-74 cm) long and weighs up to 3.5 lb (1.6 kg). The Eurasian species (M. lutreola ) is slightly smaller. The rich brown coat consists of a dense, soft underfur overlaid with glossy guard hairs. Except for furs in the rare mutant colours produced by crossbreeding, wild mink fur is more valuable than “ranch mink.”
Minkowski Xmiq-'kof-skeV Oskar (b. Jan. 13, 1858, Aleksotas, Rus¬ sian Empire—d. July 18, 1931, Fiirstenberg an der Havel, Ger.) German physiologist and pathologist. While researching diabetes mellitus in 1884, he found that beta-hydroxybutyric acid and a decrease in blood bicarbon¬ ate cause diabetic acidosis (low blood pH) and that diabetic coma is accompanied by decreased blood carbon dioxide and can be treated by alkali therapy. Experiments on dogs with Joseph von Mering (1849-1908) led Minkowski to propose that the pancreas is the source of an “antidi¬ abetic” substance, now known to be insulin. He also demonstrated that the liver produces bile pigments and uric acid.