YMCA in full Young Men's Christian Association Nonsectarian, nonpolitical Christian lay movement that aims to develop high standards of Christian character among its members. It originated in London in 1844 when 12 young men formed a club to improve the spiritual condition of young tradesmen. The first U.S. club was formed in Boston in the 1850s. YMCA programs include sports and physical education, camping, formal and informal education, and citizenship activities. It also runs hotels, resi¬ dence halls, and cafeterias. National councils are members of the World Alliance of YMCAs (established 1855), headquartered in Geneva. The YMCA was charged with sponsoring educational and recreational facili¬ ties in prisoner-of-war camps by the Geneva Convention of 1929. It now operates in dozens of countries. The Young Women’s Christian Associa¬ tion (YWCA) was founded in Britain (1877) to address the needs of women from rural areas who came to the cities to find work; in the U.S. (founded 1906), it has championed racial equality. The Young Men’s and Young Women’s Hebrew Association (YM-YWHA) developed in the mid-19th century from Jewish men’s literary societies in the U.S. and now exists in some 20 other countries worldwide.
Ymir See Aurgelmir
Yoga One of the six orthodox systems (darshans) of Indian philosophy, which has had widespread influence on many schools of Indian thought. It is better known through its practical aspect than its intellectual content, which is largely based on the philosophy of Samkhya. Holding that the
evolution of the world occurred in stages. Yoga attempts to reverse this order so that a person reenters his or her state of purity and conscious¬ ness. Generally, the Yoga process involves eight stages, which may require several lifetimes to pass through. The first two stages are ethical prepa¬ rations emphasizing morality, cleanliness, and devotion to God. The next two stages are physical preparations that condition the body to make it supple, flexible, and healthy; the physical aspects of Yoga have been most successfully popularized in the West. The fifth stage involves control of the mind and senses to withdraw from outward objects. The remaining three stages entail the cultivation of increasingly concentrated states of awareness, which will ultimately lead to release from the cycle of rebirth. See also chakra, kundalini.
Yogacara \'y6-ga-'cha-ra\ or Vijnanavada \vij-,na-n3-'va-d9\ Ide¬ alistic school of Mahayana Buddhism. It rejects the complete realism of Theravada Buddhism and the practical realism of the Madhyamika school, preferring a more complicated position in which the reality perceived by humans does not exist but only appears to do so by virtue of the capacity of the mind to perceive patterns of continuity and regularity. Yogacara emerged in India about the 2nd century and was introduced into China in the 7th century by Xuanzang. It was transmitted to Japan in the mid-7th century as Hosso.
yogurt Semisolid, fermented, often flavoured milk food. Yogurt is known and consumed in almost all parts of the world. It is traditionally made by adding common strains of Streptococcus and Lactobacillus bacteria to raw milk. The culture is produced by taking a portion of a previous batch. In modern commercial yogurt making, a blend of concentrated sterilized milk and milk solids is inoculated with the two bacteria; sometimes L. acidophilus or a lactose-fermenting yeast is also added. The product is then incubated four or five hours at 110-112 °F (43-44 °C) until curd forms. Various flavours and sweetening may be added.
Yoho National Park National park, southeastern British Columbia, Canada. It occupies 507 sq mi (1,313 sq km) of the western and central slopes of the Rocky Mountains and is adjacent to Banff and Kootenay national parks. Known for the Burgess Shale archaeological site, geologic treasures, diverse wildlife, and scenic landscape, it was established as a national park in 1886. Features include glaciers, ice fields, steep moun¬ tains, and broad valleys. Black and grizzly bears, moose, mule deer, wapiti (elk), and mountain goats inhabit the park.
Yojoa \yo-'ho-a. Lake Lake, central Honduras. The country’s largest inland lake, it has an area of 110 sq mi (285 sq km). It is volcanic in ori¬ gin and sits at an elevation of 2,133 ft (650 m). It and the surrounding region are popular tourist destinations.
Yokohama Seaport city (pop., 2003 est.: 3,466,875), east-central Hon¬ shu, Japan. The country’s principal port and second largest city, it is located on the western shore of Tokyo Bay and is part of the Tokyo urban- industrial complex. It was a small fishing village when U.S. naval officer Matthew Perry visited in 1854 to negotiate Japanese trading possibilities. In 1859 it was opened for foreign settlement and trade. Yokohama was destroyed by earthquake and fire in 1923 and severely damaged by U.S. air raids in 1945 during World War II, but it was rebuilt both times. It produces textiles, chemicals, ships, machinery, petroleum products, and automobiles.
Yom Kippur N.yom-ke-'pur, .yam-'ki-porV English Day of Atone¬ ment Jewish religious holiday, observed on the 10th day of the lunar month of Tishri (in late September or early October). It concludes the 10 days of repentance that begin with Rosh Hashanah. Its purpose is to purify the individual and community by forgiving the sins of others and by repenting one’s own sins against God. Before the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem, the high priest performed a sacrificial ceremony that concluded with the death of a scapegoat. Today it is marked by fasting and abstention from sex. Its eve, when the Kol Nidre is recited, and the entire day of Yom Kippur, are spent in prayer and meditation.
Yongding River or Yung-ting River River, northeastern China. It rises beyond the Great Wall in Hebei province and flows southeastward through Beijing municipality. It continues through Tianjin municipality, where it becomes the principal stream forming the Hai River, which flows from the Yongding’s junction with the Grand Canal to its mouth at the Bo Hai. About 300 mi (500 km) long, it is navigable in its lower reaches.
Yongjo \'yoq-jo\ (r. 1724-76) King of the Korean Choson dynasty. A reformer, Yongjo reinstated the universal military service tax but then
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Yongle emperor ► Yorktown I 2097
reduced it by half, making up the deficiency with other taxes. He adopted an accounting system and reduced an onerous cloth tax. Yongjo upgraded the status of the offspring of commoners, but his social reforms could not keep up with the speed of societal change.
Yongle emperor or Yung-lo emperor \'yuq-Te\ orig. Zhu Di (b.
May 2, 1360, Yingtian [Nanjing], China—d. Aug. 5, 1424, Yumuchuan, Inner Mongolia) Third emperor of China’s Ming dynasty, which he raised to its greatest power. Son of the Hongwu emperor, founder of the Ming, he was his father’s favourite. He was enfeoffed as the Prince of Yan (the region around present-day Beijing) and spent his youth patrolling the northern frontier and keeping the Mongols fragmented. When his nephew succeeded to the throne, Zhu Di rebelled and became emperor in 1402. As emperor, he worked to extend China’s sway. He sent out ships of exploration, most notably under Zheng He; these returned with envoys bearing tribute to acknowledge China’s overlordship. He became the only ruler in Chinese history to be acknowledged suzerain by the Japanese. A foray into Annam (now Vietnam), which he attempted to incorporate into China, led to years of guerrilla warfare. He five times led large armies north to the Gobi Desert, forestalling the creation of a Mongol confed¬ eration that might have threatened China. He transferred China’s capital from Nanjing to Beijing. He built the Forbidden City and repaired the Grand Canal so that Beijing could be provisioned without relying on sea transport. He sponsored the compilation and publication of the Confucian Classics and the preparation of the Yongle dadian (“Great Canon of the Yongle Era”), an 11,000-volume compendium.