Cheng Ch'eng-kung See Zheng Chenggong Cheng-chou See Zhengzhou
Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi or Ch'eng Hao and Ch'eng I
\ , chai]- , hau... , ch3r)- , e\ (respectively b. 1032, Henan, China—d. 1085, Henan; b. 1033, Henan—d. 1107, Henan) Brothers who developed Neo- Confucianism into an organized philosophical school. Cheng Hao studied Buddhism, Daoism, and then Confucianism. He was dismissed from Chinese government service for opposing the reforms of Wang Anshi, and he joined his brother in Henan, where they gathered a circle of disciples. Cheng Yi’s stem morality led him to decline high office and criticize those in power. He was twice censured and pardoned. The brothers built their philosophies on the concept of li (basic truths), but Cheng Hao stressed calm introspection while Cheng Yi stressed investigation of the myriad things of the universe and participation in human affairs. Cheng Hao’s idealism was continued by Lu Xiangshan and Wang Yangming, and Cheng Yi’s realism was developed by Zhu Xi.
Cheng Ho See Zheng He Cheng-hsien See Zhengzhou
Ch'eng-tsung See Dorgon
Cheng-Zhu school or Ch'eng-Chu school Vchoq-'jiA Chinese school of Neo-Confucianism. Its leading philosophers were Cheng Yi (see Cheng Hao and Cheng Yi) and Zhu Xi, for whom the school is named. Cheng Yi taught that to understand li (basic truths), one should investi¬ gate all things in the world through induction, deduction, historical study, or political activity. Zhu Xi maintained that rational investigation was central to moral cultivation. The school dominated Chinese philosophy until the Republican Revolution (1911).
Chengdu Vchoq-'diA or Ch'eng-tu City (pop., 1999 est.: 2,146,126), capital of Sichuan province, China. It lies in the fertile Chengdu plain, the site of one of China’s most ancient and successful irrigation systems, watered by the Min River. First set up in the late 3rd century bc, the sys¬ tem has survived and has enabled the area to support one of the densest agrarian populations in the world. Chengdu was the capital of various dynasties, and in the 10th century ad it was immensely prosperous; its merchants introduced the use of paper money, which spread throughout China under the Song dynasty. Chengdu was famous for its brocades and satins. The capital of Sichuan since 1368, it has remained a major admin¬ istrative centre. Today it is a transportation and industrial hub, as well as an educational centre.
Chengzong See Dorgon
Chennai \,chen-'m\ formerly Madras \m9-'dras\ City (pop., 2001 pre¬ lim.: city, 4,216,268; metro, area, 6,424,624), capital of Tamil Nadu state, India, on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. Founded in 1639
by the British East India Company as a fort and trading post, it was known as Fort St. George and was used as a base for the company’s expansion in southern India. The city of St. Thome, established by the Portuguese in the 16th century, was ceded to the British in 1749 and incorporated into it. The English made Chennai their administrative and commercial capital c. 1800. It is an industrial centre and the site of numerous educa¬ tional and cultural institutions. It is traditionally considered the burial place of St. Thomas the Apostle.
Chennault Xsho-'nohA, Claire L(ee) (b. Sept. 6, 1890, Commerce, Texas, U.S.—d. July 27, 1958, New Orleans, La.) U.S. brigadier general. He served in the army air corps for 20 years before retiring in 1937 because of increasing deafness. He became an air adviser to Chiang Kai- shek, and he formed the group of U.S. volunteer aviators called the Flying Tigers to combat the Japanese. Recalled to active duty in World War II, he commanded U.S. Army Air Forces in China (1942^-5). He and his Chinese wife, Anna, remained influential supporters of Chiang Kai-shek.
Cher River \'sher\ River, central France. Rising in the northwest of the Massif Central, it flows northwest, passing through Chenonceaux, where it is bridged by a historic chateau, then passes south of Tours to join the Loire River after a course of 217 mi (349 km).
Cherbourg \sher-'bur,\ English \'sher-,burg\ Seaport (pop., 1999: 25,370) and naval station, northwestern France. Located on the English Channel, it is believed to occupy the site of an ancient Roman station. The French and English fought over the site in the Middle Ages. It was taken by the English in 1758, then passed to France and was extensively fortified by Louis XVI. In World War II the Germans held it until the Allies captured it in 1944; it became an important Allied supply port. Industries include transatlantic shipping, shipbuilding, and the manufacture of elec¬ tronics and telephone equipment. Yachting and commercial fishing are also important.
Cherenkov radiation Xchs-'req-koA Light produced by charged par¬ ticles when they pass through an optically transparent medium at speeds greater than the speed of light in that medium. For example, when elec¬ trons from a nuclear reactor travel through shielding water, they do so at a speed greater than that of light through water and they displace some electrons from the atoms in their path. This causes emission of electro¬ magnetic radiation that appeal’s as a weak bluish-white glow. The phenom¬ enon is named for Pavel A. Cherenkov (1904-1990), who discovered it; he shared a 1958 Nobel Prize with Igor Y. Tamm (1895-1971) and Ilya M. Frank (1908-1990), who interpreted the effect.
Chernenko \cher-'n y ei]-ko\, Konstantin (Ustinovich) (b. Sept. 11, 1911, Bolshaya Tes, Yeniseysk, Russian Empire—d. March 10, 1985, Moscow, Russia, U.S.S.R.) Soviet leader. He joined the Communist Party in 1931 and rose through the ranks to become Leonid Brezhnev’s chief of staff (1964). He was a full member of the Central Committee from 1971 and of the Politburo from 1977. An old-line conservative, he was consid¬ ered by some to be Brezhnev’s heir apparent, but he failed in a bid to succeed Brezhnev as party leader in 1982. When Yuri Andropov died, Chernenko succeeded him in 1984. His physical frailty soon became apparent, suggesting that his election had been intended as an interim measure; he died the next year.
Chernihiv \chir-'ne-he-u\ Russian Chernigov \chir-'ne-g3f\ City (pop., 2001: 304,994), capital of Chernihiv oblast, Ukraine. It lies north¬ east of Kiev on the Desna River. Mentioned as early as ad 907, it became the capital of Chernihiv principality in the 11th century, when its cathe¬ dral was built. Chernihiv lost importance after the Tatar invasion (1239— 40) and remained a minor provincial centre until modern times, when it developed as a railway junction.
Chernobyl accident Vchor-'no-boA Accident at the Chernobyl (Ukraine) nuclear power station in the Soviet Union, the worst in the his¬ tory of nuclear power generation. On April 25-26, 1986, technicians attempted a poorly designed experiment, causing the chain reaction in the core to go out of control. The reactor’s lid was blown off, and large amounts of radioactive material were released into the atmosphere. A par¬ tial meltdown of the core also occurred. A cover-up was attempted, but after Swedish monitoring stations reported abnormally high levels of wind-transported radioactivity, the Soviet government admitted the truth. Beyond 32 immediate deaths, several thousand radiation-induced illnesses and cancer deaths were expected in the long term. The incident set off an international outcry over the dangers posed by radioactive emissions.
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Chernov ► Cheselden I 385
Chernov \ch9r-'nof\, Viktor (Mikhaylovich) (b. Nov. 19, 1873, Kamyshin, Russia—d. April 15, 1952, New York, N.Y., U.S.) Russian revolutionary, cofounder of the Russian Socialist Revolutionary Party. A revolutionist from 1893, he became a member of his party’s central com¬ mittee in 1902 and wrote the party’s platform. In 1917 he served briefly as minister of agriculture. He was elected president of the constituent assembly that opened in Petrograd on Jan. 18, 1918, but was dispersed the next day by the Bolsheviks. He emigrated in 1920, wrote (sometimes as Boris Olenin) and lived in Paris until 1940, then went to the U.S., where he wrote for anticommunist periodicals.