Donetsk Xdo-'nyetsk \ formerly (1924-61) Stalino X'sta-lyi-noX City (pop., 2001: 1,016,000), southeastern Ukraine. In 1872 an ironworks was founded there by a Welshman, John Hughes, to produce iron rails for the growing Russian rail network. Fueled by the rich deposits of the Donets Basin, both coal mining and steelmaking developed rapidly. Extensive destruction in World War II led to postwar modernization, and subsequent growth has been rapid. Modern Donetsk is one of Ukraine’s largest met¬ allurgical centres.
Dong-nai River or Donnai River X'dorj-'nlX River, southern Viet¬ nam. Rising in the central highlands, it flows southwest for about 300 mi (480 km), joining the Saigon River northeast of Ho Chi Minh City and combining with it and other streams to form an estuary north of the Mekong delta.
Dong Qichang X'duq-'che-'chagX or Tung Ch'i-ch'ang (b. 1555, Huating, Kiangsu province, China—d. 1636) Chinese painter, calligra¬ pher, and theoretician of the late Ming period. He is noted especially for his writings on Chinese painting, which he divided into the Northern school, which taught the acquisition of truth, and the Southern school, which emphasized sudden, intuitive understanding. At the centre of the scholarly ideal of the Southern school was the art of calligraphy, which expressed the true nature of the artist without the interposition of picto¬ rial description. Dong Qichang’s own paintings stress stark forms, seem¬ ingly anomalous spatial renderings, and naive handling of ink and brush. His ideas continue to influence Chinese aesthetic theory.
Dong Son X'doq-'sonX culture Important prehistoric culture of main¬ land Southeast Asia that developed in the 1st millennium bc, best known for its bronzes. Excavations at the site of Dong Son in northern Vietnam revealed bronze objects, iron, pottery, and Chinese artifacts. The Dong Son were a seafaring people who traded throughout Southeast Asia. They are credited with making the Red River delta area a great rice-growing region. Dong Son culture, transformed by Chinese and Indian influence, became the basis of the general civilization of the region. The Dong Son homeland was taken over by the Han dynasty of China in ad 43.
Equestrian statue of Gattamelata, bronze sculpture by Donatello, 1447- 53; in the Piazza del Santo, Padua, Italy.
ANDERSON-AUNARI FROM ART RESOURCE/EB INC.
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
564 I Dong Thap Muoi ► Doolittle
Dong Thap Muoi See Plain of Reeds
Dong Zhongshu V'duq-'juq-'shiiXorTung Chung-shu (b. c. 179 bc, Guangchuan, China—d. c. 104 bc, China) Confucian scholar. As chief minister to Wudi of the Han dynasty, he dismissed all non-Confucian scholars from government. He established Confucianism as the empire’s unifying ideology (136 bc) and set up an imperial college, instrumental in the later establishment of the Chinese civil service. As a philosopher, he made the theory of the interaction between heaven and humanity his central theme. He merged the yin-yang concept with Confucianism and believed that one of the emperor’s duties was to preserve the balance of yin and yang. His Chunqiufanlu is one of the most important philosophi¬ cal works of the Han period.
Dongan Vdaq-gonV Thomas, 2nd earl of Limerick (b. 1634, Castletown, County Kildare, Ire.—d. Dec. 14, 1715, London, Eng.) Brit¬ ish colonial governor of New York. A member of an Irish royalist family, he was exiled to France after the English Civil Wars. Recalled to England in 1677, he served as lieutenant governor of Tangiers from 1678 to 1680. As governor of New York (1682-88), he organized the colony’s first rep¬ resentative assembly, issued a “Charter of Liberties” in 1683, and pursued a policy of cooperation with the Iroquois Confederacy against the French. He returned to England in 1691.
Dongbei See Manchuria
Donglin Academy or Tung-lin Academy Vduq-'linX Chinese academy founded during the Song dynasty and revived in 1604 by schol¬ ars and officials to protest the moral laxity and intellectual weakness undermining public life in the last years of the Ming dynasty. Its members cultivated the antiabsolutist views of Mencius and rebuked the court for failing to uphold Confucian values. The court eunuch Wei Zhongxian per¬ secuted members and supporters of the Academy, practically wiping it out by 1627. It was rehabilitated after Wei’s death.
Dongting Lake Chinese Dongting Hu Vduq-'tiq-'hiiV or Tung- t'ing Hu Large, shallow lake, northeastern Hunan province, China. Its size varies greatly from season to season. Its normal area of 1,089 sq mi (2,820 sq km) may increase up to 7,700 sq mi (20,000 sq km) in flood season. Some two-fifths of the water from the Yangtze River (Chang Jiang) flows into the lake through four channels. It also is fed by the Zi, Yuan, Xiang, and Li rivers. It discharges into the Yangtze.
Donitz \'doe-nits,\ English Vdor-notsV, Karl or Karl Doenitz (b. Sept. 16, 1891, Griinau-bei-Berlin, Ger.—d. Dec. 22, 1980, Aumiihle, W.Ger.) German admiral. After serving as a submarine officer in World War I, he oversaw the creation of the German U-boat fleet in the 1930s, thus vio¬ lating the Treaty of Versailles. As the fleet’s commander, he conducted the Battle of the Atlantic in World War II, then served as commander in chief of the navy (1943—45). He succeeded Adolf Hitler as Germany’s leader in the last few days of the war and executed Germany’s surrender to the Allies. Convicted of war crimes at the Niimberg trials, he served 10 years in prison.
Donizetti \,do-ned-'za-te,\ English V.da-no-'ze-teV (Domenico) Gaetano (Maria) (b. Nov. 29, 1797, Bergamo, Cisalpine
Republic—d. April 8, 1848, Bergamo, Lombardy, Austrian Empire) Ital¬ ian opera composer. He was tutored and guided by the opera composer Simone Mayr (1763-1845). His opera Zoraida di Granata had a success¬ ful premiere in Rome in 1822, but it was Anna Bolena in 1830 that made his name internationally. Later successes included L’Elisir d’amore (1832), Lucrezia Borgia (1833), Lucia di Lammermoor (1835), Roberto Devereux (1837), La Fille du regiment (1840), and Don Pasquale (1843). Enormously prolific, he could produce an entire opera in weeks. He com¬ pleted almost 70 operas, as well as more than 150 sacred works and hun¬ dreds of songs. Infected with syphilis, he suffered a severe four-year decline leading to his death. He was one of the foremost Italian opera composers of the early 19th century and a principal master of the bel canto style.
donkey or burro Descendant of the African wild ass that has been used as a beast of burden since 4000 bc. The average donkey stands about 40 in. (100 cm) high at the shoulder, but breeds range from 24 to 66 in. (61-168 cm). Coats range from white to gray or black, usually with a dark stripe from mane to tail and a crosswise stripe on the shoulders. The mane is short and upright, and the tail has long hairs only at the end. The very long ears are dark at the base and tip. Donkeys are surefooted and can carry heavy loads over rough terrain. See also mule.
Donkin, Bryan (b. March 22, 1768, Sandree, Northumberland, Eng.—d. Feb. 27, 1855, London) British inventor. Initially apprenticed to a papermaker, Donkin perfected a version of the Fourdrinier machine. He established a factory to produce and can vegetable soups and preserved meats for the Royal Navy. With a printer he developed a forerunner of the rotary press and a composition printing roller. He became a civil engi¬ neer in London, received two gold medals from the Society of Arts, and was a founder of the British Institution of Civil Engineers (1818).
Donme or Donmeh \doen-'m t,\English N.don-'maX Jewish-Islamic sect founded in Salonika (now Thessaloniki, Greece) in the late 17th century. Its members were followers of Shabbetai Tzevi, whom they believed to be the Messiah. Arrested by Ottoman authorities in 1666, he chose conversion to Islam over death, as did his followers, who believed that his conver¬ sion was a step in the fulfillment of messianic prophecy. While accepting Islam, they secretly practiced various Jewish rites, preserved some knowl¬ edge of Hebrew, and refused to intermarry with Muslims. The commu¬ nity moved to Turkey in the early 20th century and gradually was assimilated, resisting Jewish attempts to return them to Judaism.