Background.

The term "Peripatetic" is a transliteration of the ancient Greek word "περιπατητικός" ("peripatētikós"), which means "of walking" or "given to walking about". The Peripatetic school, founded by Aristotle, was actually known simply as the "Peripatos". Aristotle's school came to be so named because of the "peripatoi" ("walkways", some covered or with colonnades) of the Lyceum where the members met. The legend that the name came from Aristotle's alleged habit of walking while lecturing may have started with Hermippus of Smyrna.  Unlike Plato (428/7–348/7 BC), Aristotle (384–322 BC) was not a citizen of Athens and so could not own property; he and his colleagues therefore used the grounds of the Lyceum as a gathering place, just as it had been used by earlier philosophers such as Socrates. Aristotle and his colleagues first began to use the Lyceum in this way about 335 BC, after which Aristotle left Plato's Academy and Athens, and then returned to Athens from his travels about a dozen years later. Because of the school's association with the gymnasium, the school also came to be referred to simply as the Lyceum. Some modern scholars argue that the school did not become formally institutionalized until Theophrastus took it over, at which time there was private property associated with the school.  Originally at least, the Peripatetic gatherings were probably conducted less formally than the term "school" suggests: there was likely no set curriculum or requirements for students, or even fees for membership. Aristotle did teach and lecture there, but there was also philosophical and scientific research done in partnership with other members of the school. It seems likely that many of the writings that have come down to us in Aristotle's name were based on lectures he gave at the school.  Among the members of the school in Aristotle's time were Theophrastus, Phanias of Eresus, Eudemus of Rhodes, Clytus of Miletus, Aristoxenus, and Dicaearchus. Much like Plato's Academy, there were in Aristotle's school junior and senior members, the junior members generally serving as pupils or assistants to the senior members who directed research and lectured. The aim of the school, at least in Aristotle's time, was not to further a specific doctrine, but rather to explore philosophical and scientific theories; those who ran the school worked as equal partners.

Doctrines.

The doctrines of the Peripatetic school were those laid down by Aristotle, and henceforth maintained by his followers.  Whereas Plato had sought to explain things with his theory of forms, Aristotle preferred to start from the facts given by experience. Philosophy to him meant science, and its aim was the recognition of the "why" in all things. Hence he endeavoured to attain to the ultimate grounds of things by induction; that is to say, by "a posteriori" conclusions from a number of facts toward a universal. Logic either deals with appearances, and is then called "dialectics"; or of truth, and is then called "analytics".  All change or motion takes place in regard to substance, quantity, quality, and place. There are three kinds of substances – those alternately in motion and at rest, as the animals; those perpetually in motion, as the sky; and those eternally stationary. The last, in themselves immovable and imperishable, are the source and origin of all motion. Among them there must be one first being, unchangeable, which acts without the intervention of any other being. All that is proceeds from it; it is the most perfect intelligence – God. The immediate action of this "prime mover" – happy in the contemplation of itself – extends only to the heavens; the other inferior spheres are moved by other incorporeal and eternal substances, which the popular belief adores as gods. The heavens are of a more perfect and divine nature than other bodies. In the centre of the universe is the Earth, round and stationary. The stars, like the sky, beings of a higher nature, but of grosser matter, move by the impulse of the "prime mover".  For Aristotle, "matter" is the basis of all that exists; it comprises the "potentiality" of everything, but of itself is not actually anything. A determinate thing only comes into being when the "potentiality" in matter is converted into "actuality". This is achieved by "form", the idea existent not as one outside the many, but as one in the many, the completion of the potentiality latent in the matter.  The soul is the principle of life in the organic body, and is inseparable from the body. As faculties of the soul, Aristotle enumerates the faculty of reproduction and nutrition; of sensation, memory and recollection; the faculty of reason, or understanding; and the faculty of desiring, which is divided into appetition and volition. By the use of "reason" conceptions, which are formed in the soul by external sense-impressions, and may be true or false, are converted into knowledge. For reason alone can attain to truth either in understanding or action.  The best and highest goal is the happiness which originates from virtuous actions. Aristotle did not, with Plato, regard virtue as knowledge pure and simple, but as founded on nature, habit, and reason. Virtue consists in acting according to nature: that is, keeping the mean between the two extremes of the too much and the too little. Thus valor, in his view the first of virtues, is a mean between cowardice and recklessness; temperance is the mean in respect to sensual enjoyments and the total avoidance of them.

History of the school.

The names of the first seven or eight scholarchs (leaders) of the Peripatetic school are known with varying levels of certainty. A list of names with the approximate dates they headed the school is as follows (all dates BC):  There are some uncertainties in this list. It is not certain whether Aristo of Ceos was the head of the school, but since he was a close pupil of Lyco and the most important Peripatetic philosopher in the time when he lived, it is generally assumed that he was. It is not known if Critolaus directly succeeded Aristo, or if there were any leaders between them. Erymneus is known only from a passing reference by Athenaeus. Other important Peripatetic philosophers who lived during these centuries include Eudemus of Rhodes, Aristoxenus, Dicaearchus, and Clearchus of Soli.  Sometime shortly after the death of Alexander the Great in June 323 BC, Aristotle left Athens to avoid persecution by anti-Macedonian factions in Athens, due to his ties to Macedonia. After Aristotle's death in 322 BC, his colleague Theophrastus succeeded him as head of the school. The most prominent member of the school after Theophrastus was Strato of Lampsacus, who increased the naturalistic elements of Aristotle's philosophy and embraced a form of atheism.  After the time of Strato, the Peripatetic school fell into a decline. Lyco was famous more for his oratory than his philosophical skills, and Aristo is perhaps best known for his biographical studies; although Critolaus was more philosophically active, none of the Peripatetic philosophers in this period seem to have contributed anything original to philosophy. The reasons for the decline of the Peripatetic school are unclear. Undoubtedly, Stoicism and Epicureanism provided many answers for those people looking for dogmatic and comprehensive philosophical systems, and the scepticism of the Middle Academy may have seemed preferable to anyone who rejected dogmatism. Later tradition linked the school's decline to Neleus of Scepsis and his descendants hiding the works of Aristotle and Theophrastus in a cellar until their rediscovery in the 1st century BC, and even though this story may be doubted, it is possible that Aristotle's works were not widely read.  In 86 BC, Athens was sacked by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla; all the schools of philosophy in Athens were badly disrupted, and the Lyceum ceased to exist as a functioning institution. Ironically, this event seems to have brought new life to the Peripatetic school. Sulla brought the writings of Aristotle and Theophrastus back to Rome, where they became the basis of a new collection of Aristotle's writings compiled by Andronicus of Rhodes which forms the basis of the "Corpus Aristotelicum" which exists today. Later Neoplatonist writers describe Andronicus, who lived around 50 BC, as the eleventh scholarch of the Peripatetic school, which would imply that he had two unnamed predecessors. There is considerable uncertainty over the issue, and Andronicus' pupil Boethus of Sidon is also described as the eleventh scholarch. It is quite possible that Andronicus set up a new school where he taught Boethus.  Whereas the earlier Peripatetics had sought to extend and develop Aristotle's works, from the time of Andronicus the school concentrated on preserving and defending his work. The most important figure in the Roman era is Alexander of Aphrodisias (c. 200 AD) who wrote commentaries on Aristotle's writings. With the rise of Neoplatonism (and Christianity) in the 3rd century, Peripateticism as an independent philosophy came to an end, but the Neoplatonists sought to incorporate Aristotle's philosophy within their own system, and produced many commentaries on Aristotle's works. In the 5th century, Olympiodorus the Elder is sometimes described as a Peripatetic.

Influence.

The last philosophers in classical antiquity to comment on Aristotle were Simplicius and Boethius in the 6th century AD. After this, although his works were mostly lost to the west, they were maintained in the east where they were incorporated into early Islamic philosophy. Some of the greatest Peripatetic philosophers in the Islamic philosophical tradition were Al-Kindi (Alkindus), Al-Farabi (Alpharabius), Avicenna (Ibn Sina) and Averroes (Ibn Rushd). By the 12th century, Aristotle's works began being translated into Latin during the Latin translations of the 12th century, and gradually arose Scholastic philosophy under such names as Thomas Aquinas, which took its tone and complexion from the writings of Aristotle, the commentaries of Averroes, and "The Book of Healing" of Avicenna.

The Peripatetic school was a school of philosophy in Ancient Greece. Its teachings derived from its founder, Aristotle (384–322 BC), and "peripatetic" is an adjective ascribed to his followers. The school dates from around 335 BC when Aristotle began teaching in the Lycaeum. It was an informal institution whose members conducted philosophical and scientific inquiries. After the middle of the 3rd century BC, the school fell into a decline, and it was not until the Roman era that there was a revival. Later members of the school concentrated on preserving and commenting on Aristotle's works rather than extending them; it died out in the 3rd century.

Peripatos ist der Name der philosophischen Schule des Aristoteles. Wie die anderen philosophischen Schulen Athens (Akademie, Stoa, Kepos) leitet sich ihr Name von dem Ort ab, an dem der Unterricht stattfand, in diesem Fall vom "Peripatos" (). Entsprechend hießen die Angehörigen der Schule Peripatetiker. Heute werden die Begriffe „Peripatetiker“ und das Adjektiv „peripatetisch“ praktisch ausschließlich im Sinne von „Vertreter/Anhänger der Lehre des Aristoteles“ bzw. „auf die Lehre des Aristoteles bezogen“ verwendet. Die populäre Etymologie, die diesen Namen direkt von "peripatein" () ableitet, ist unzutreffend, vielmehr ist er vom Substantiv () abgeleitet.


Overview.

The "Eudemian Ethics" is less well known than Aristotle's "Nicomachean Ethics", and, when scholars refer simply to the "Ethics" of Aristotle, the latter is generally intended. The "Eudemian Ethics" is shorter than the "Nicomachean Ethics", eight books as opposed to ten, and some of its most interesting passages are mirrored in the latter. Books IV, V, and VI of the "Eudemian Ethics", for example, are identical to Books V, VI, and VII of the "Nicomachean Ethics", and as a result some critical editions of the former include only Books I–III and VII–VIII (the omitted books being included in the publisher's critical edition of the latter).  The translator for the Loeb edition, Harris Rackham, states in the Introduction to that edition that "in some places "The Eudemian Ethics" is fuller in expression or more discursive than "The Nicomachean Ethics"." Compared to the "Nicomachean Ethics", Rackham mentions, for example in Book III, which discusses the virtues and some minor graces of character:  Book VII is concerning friendship, discussed in greater length and detail in the "Nicomachean Ethics" than it is here.  Book VIII discusses the epistemological aspect of virtue, which as Rackham notes is treated in Book I section 9 of "Nicomachean Ethics", and also discusses good luck. Then there is a section concerning "kalokagathia", the beautiful and good nobility of a gentleman, a virtue which implies all the moral virtues as well as good fortune. This has no parallel in the "Nicomachean Ethics". And then finally there is some discussion of speculative wisdom or ""theoria"".

The Eudemian Ethics (; ), sometimes abbreviated EE in scholarly works, is a work of philosophy by Aristotle. Its primary focus is on ethics, making it one of the primary sources available for study of Aristotelian ethics. It is named for Eudemus of Rhodes, a pupil of Aristotle who may also have had a hand in editing the final work. It is commonly believed to have been written before the "Nicomachean Ethics", although this is controversial.

Die Eudemische Ethik gehört neben der "Nikomachischen Ethik" und der "Großen Ethik (Magna Moralia)" zu den drei unter dem Namen des Aristoteles überlieferten Abhandlungen zu seiner Ethik. Im 19. Jahrhundert war ihre Echtheit umstritten, doch seit Werner Jaeger (1923) hat sich die Auffassung durchgesetzt, dass sie ein Werk des Aristoteles und vor der "Nikomachischen Ethik" entstanden ist.


Terminology.

Traditional terms for homosexuality included "the passion of the cut sleeve" (), and "the divided peach" (). An example of the latter term appears in a 6th-century poem by Liu Xiaozhuo: — She dawdles, not daring to move closer, / Afraid he might compare her with leftover peach.  Other, less literary, terms have included "male trend" (), "allied brothers" (), and "the passion of Longyang" (), referencing a homoerotic anecdote about Lord Long Yang in the Warring States period. The formal modern word for "homosexuality/homosexual(s)" is "tongxinglian" () or "tongxinglian zhe" (, homosexual people). Instead of that formal word, "tongzhi" (), simply a head rhyme word, is more commonly used in the gay community. "Tongzhi" (; sometimes along with "nü tongzhi", ), which was first adopted by Hong Kong researchers in Gender Studies, is used as slang in Mandarin Chinese to refer to homosexuals. Such usage is seen in Taiwan. However, in mainland China, "tongzhi" is used both in the context of the traditional "comrade" sense (e.g., used in speeches by Communist Party officials) and to refer to homosexuals. In Cantonese, "gei1" (), adopted from English "gay", is used. "Gay" is sometimes considered to be offensive when used by heterosexuals or even by homosexuals in certain situations. Another slang term is "boli" (), which is not so commonly used. Among gay university students, the acronym ""datong"" (), which also refers to utopia, in Chinese is becoming popular. "Datong" is short for "daxuesheng tongzhi" (university students [that are] homosexuals).  Lesbians usually call themselves "lazi" () or "lala" (, ). These two terms are abbreviations of the transliteration of the English term "lesbian". These slang terms are also commonly used in mainland China now.

History.

The story of Duanxiu, which details the same-sex relationship between Emperor Ai of Han and one of his male concubines has been cited by Hinsch as evidence of the historical tolerance of homosexuality within the Chinese empire. However, critics have cited the fact that the relationship ended in tragedy and violence to argue that the story was therefore critical rather than supportive of homosexual relationships.  Ming Dynasty literature, such as "Bian Er Chai" (), portrays homosexual relationships between men as enjoyable relationships. Writings from the Liu Song Dynasty claimed that homosexuality was as common as heterosexuality in the late 3rd century: Some scholars argue that Confucianism, being primarily a social and political philosophy, focused little on sexuality, whether homosexual or heterosexual. Critics have argued that under Confucian teachings, not having children was one of the greatest sins against filial piety, contending that while procreational bisexuality was tolerated, exclusive homosexuality was not. Emperors were still obligated to marry women and raise heirs, and same-sex sexual activities and relationships were merely tolerated as secondary practices. Confucian ideology did emphasize male friendships, and Louis Crompton has argued that the "closeness of the master-disciple bond it fostered may have subtly facilitated homosexuality".  Although Taoist alchemy regarded heterosexual sex, without ejaculation, as a way of maintaining a male's "life essence", homosexual intercourse was seen as "neutral", because the act has no detrimental or beneficial effect on a person's life essence.  In a similar way to Buddhism, Taoist schools sought throughout history to define what would be sexual misconduct. The precept against Sexual Misconduct is sex outside your marriage. The married spouses () usually in Chinese suggest male with female, though the scripture itself does not explicitly say anything against same-sex relations. Many sorts of precepts mentioned in the Yunji Qiqian (), The Mini Daoist Canon, does not say anything against same-sex relations, maintaining neutrality.  Opposition to homosexuality in China rose in the medieval Tang Dynasty, being attributed by some writers to the influence of Christian and Islamic values, but did not become fully established until the late Qing Dynasty and the Chinese Republic. There exists a dispute among sinologists as to when negative views of homosexual relationships became prevalent among the general Chinese population, with some scholars arguing that it was common by the time of the Ming Dynasty, established in the 14th century, and others arguing that anti-gay attitudes became entrenched during the Westernization efforts of the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China in the 19th and 20th centuries.  In Ancient Fujian, the region had developed a sexual culture isolated from that of the rest of the Chinese empire. During the Qing Dynasty, the local population began worshipping a Taoist deity known as Tu Er Shen, who served as the guardian of same-sex love. The deity was originally a human by the name of Hu Tianbao. Hu was executed after having been caught peeping on a nobleman he had become attracted to. He was originally destined to go to hell, but the guardians of the spirit realm took pity on him, as his crime was committed out of love. He was then appointed as the guardian of same-sex love.  The Central Qing government of Beijing labeled followers of Tu Er Shen “cultists” and demanded for their persecution and elimination. It was during this dynasty that China’s very first law against non-commercial same-sex sexual conduct was enacted. However, the newly-created offense of homosexuality carried the most lenient penalty possible in the Qing legal system. Today, the temple of Tu Er Shen, located in New Taipei, serves as the world’s only religious temple dedicated exclusively to same-sex love.  The earliest law against a homosexual act dates from the Song Dynasty, punishing "young males who act as prostitutes." The first statute specifically banning homosexual intercourse was enacted in the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty.  Lu Tongyin, author of "Misogyny, Cultural Nihilism & Oppositional Politics: Contemporary Chinese Experimental Fiction", said "a clear-cut dichotomy between heterosexuality and homosexuality did not exist in traditional China."

Same-sex relationships in literature.

Same-sex love can sometimes be difficult to differentiate in Classical Chinese because the pronouns he and she were not distinguished. And like many East and Southeast Asian languages, Chinese does not have grammatical gender. Thus, poems such as Tang Dynasty poems and other Chinese poetry may be read as either heterosexual or homosexual, or neutral in that regard, depending on the reader's desire. In addition, a good deal of ancient Chinese poetry was written by men in the female voice, or persona. Some may have portrayed semi-sexual relationships between teen-aged girls, before they were pulled apart by marriage. Male poets would use the female narrative voice, as a persona, to lament being abandoned by a male comrade or king.  Another complication in trying to separate heterosexual and homosexual themes in Chinese literature is that for most of Chinese history, writing was restricted to a cultivated elite, amongst whom blatant discussion of sex was considered vulgar. Until adopting European values late in their history, the Chinese did not even have nouns to describe a heterosexual or homosexual person per se. Rather, people who might be directly labeled as such in other traditions would be described by veiled allusions to the actions they enjoyed, or, more often, by referring to a famous example from the past. The most common of these references to homosexuality referenced Dong Xian and Mizi Xia.  The Tang Dynasty "Poetical Essay on the Supreme Joy" is a good example of the allusive nature of Chinese writing on sexuality. This manuscript sought to present the "supreme joy" (sex) in every form known to the author; the chapter on homosexuality comes between chapters on sex in Buddhist monasteries and sex between peasants. It is the earliest surviving manuscript to mention homosexuality, but it does so through phrases such as "cut sleeves in the imperial palace", "countenances of linked jade", and "they were like Lord Long Yang", phrases which would not be recognizable as speaking of sexuality of any kind to someone who was not familiar with the literary tradition.  While these conventions make explicit mentions of homosexuality rare in Chinese literature in comparison to the Greek or Japanese traditions, the allusions which do exist are given an exalted air by their frequent comparison to former Golden Ages and imperial favorites. A Han Dynasty poem describes the official Zhuang Xin making a nervous pass at his lord, Xiang Cheng of Chu. The ruler is nonplussed at first, but Zhuang justifies his suggestion through allusion to a legendary homosexual figure and then recites a poem in that figure's honor. At that, "Lord Xiang Cheng also received Zhuang Xin's hand and promoted him."  A remarkable aspect of traditional Chinese literature is the prominence of same-sex friendship. Bai Juyi is one of many writers who wrote dreamy, lyrical poems to male friends about shared experiences. He and fellow scholar-bureaucrat Yuan Zhen made plans to retire together as Taoist recluses once they had saved enough funds, but Yuan's death kept that dream from being fulfilled.  Other works depict less platonic relationships. A Ming Dynasty rewriting of a very early Zhou Dynasty legend recounts a passionate male relationship between Pan Zhang & Wang Zhongxian which is equated to heterosexual marriage, and which continues even beyond death. The daring 17th century author Li Yu combined tales of passionate love between men with brutal violence and cosmic revenge. "Dream of the Red Chamber", one of China's "Four Great Classical Novels" from the Qing Dynasty, has scenes that depict men engaging in both same-sex and opposite-sex acts.  There is a tradition of clearly erotic literature, which is less known. It is supposed that most such works have been purged in the periodic book burnings that have been a feature of Chinese history. However, isolated manuscripts have survived. Chief among these is the anthology "Bian er chai" (), a series of four short stories in five chapters each, of passion and seduction. The first short story, "Chronicle of a Loyal Love", involves a twenty-year-old academician chasing a fifteen-year-old scholar and a bevy of adolescent valets. In another, "Qing Xia Ji" (), the protagonist, Zhang, a valiant soldier with two warrior wives, is seduced by his younger friend Zhong, a remarkable arrangement as it is stereotypically the older man who takes the initiative with a boy. The work appeared in a single edition some time between 1630 and 1640.  More recently, Ding Ling, an author of the 1920s in China, was a prominent and controversial feminist author, and it is generally agreed that she had lesbian (or at least bisexual) content in her stories. Her most famous piece is "Miss Sophia's Diary", a seminal work in the development of a voice for women's sexuality and sexual desire. Additionally, a contemporary author, Wong Bik-Wan, writes from the lesbian perspective in her story "She's a Young Woman and So Am I" (). Author Pai Hsien-yung created a sensation by coming out of the closet in Taiwan, and by writing about gay life in Taipei in the 1960s and 70s.  Same-sex love was also celebrated in Chinese art, many examples of which have survived the various traumatic political events in recent Chinese history. Though no large statues are known to still exist, many hand scrolls and paintings on silk can be found in private collections.

Gay, lesbian and queer culture in contemporary mainland China.

Gay identities and communities have expanded in China since the 1980s as a result of resurfacing dialogue about and engagement with queer identities in the public domain. Since the 1990s, the preferred term for people of diverse sexuality, sex and gender is "tongzhi" (). While lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) culture remains largely underground, there are a plethora of gay cruising zones and often unadvertised gay bars, restaurants and discos spread across the country. The recent and escalating proliferation of gay identity in mainland China is most significantly signaled by its recognition in mainstream media despite China's media censorship. There are also many gay websites and LGBT organisations which help organise gay rights' campaigns, AIDS prevention efforts, film festivals and pride parades. Yet public discourse on the issue remains fraught - a product of competing ideologies surrounding the body; the morality of its agency in the public and private arena.  Like in many other western and non-western societies, public sentiment on homosexuality in China sits within a liminal space. While it is not outright condemned, neither is it fully accepted as being part of the social norm. In many instances, those who associate with the queer community also associate with another marginalised group, such as rural-to-urban migrants and sex workers, and therefore the stigma that is attached to aspects of queer identity is often a manifestation of perceived social disobedience against different intersecting vectors of'moral rights'. As Elaine Jeffreys and Haiqing Yu note in their book, Sex in China, individuals who interact within the queer community do not necessarily identify as being homosexual. 'Money boys', men who provide commercial sexual services to other men, but do not identify as being homosexual, are an example of such a social group. Their minority status is imbued with aspects of criminality and poverty. This suggests that the 'perverseness' attached to homosexuality in mainland China is not purely informed by a biological discourse, but, depending on the circumstances, can also be informed by accepted notions of cultural and social legitimacy.  The influence of Western gay and lesbian culture on China's culture is complex. While Western ideas and conceptions of gayness have begun to permeate the Chinese gay and lesbian identity, some Chinese gay and lesbian activists have pushed back against the mainstream politics of asserting one's own identity and pushing for social change due to its disruption of "family ties and social harmony." Most of the exposure to Western gay and lesbian culture is through the internet or the media, but this exposure is limited—mainstream symbols of gay and lesbian culture (such as the rainbow flag) are not widely recognisable in China.  Justice Anthony Kennedy quoted Confucius in his majority ruling in "Obergefell v. Hodges" leading to discussion of the ruling on Sina Weibo. Chinese microblogging services also facilitate discourse on things like coming out to parents and articles in the People's Daily on gay men.

Recent occurrences.

In 2009, a male couple held a symbolic wedding in public and "China Daily" took the photo of the two men in a passionate embrace across its pages. Other symbolic gay and lesbian weddings have been held across the country and have been covered positively by the Chinese media. In 2012, Luo Hongling, a university professor, committed suicide because she knew her husband was a gay man. She alleged their marriage was just a lie since the man could not admit he was gay to his parents. Luo was considered a "homowife", local slang for a woman married to a homosexual male akin to the English term "beard".  In 2016, the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television banned images of homosexuals on television.  On April 13, 2018, Sina Weibo, one of China's largest and most popular microblogging platforms, announced a new policy to ban all pieces of contents related to pornography, violence, and homosexuality. According to Weibo, this act was requested by the “Network(Cyber) Security Law.” However, it is unclear which “Network Security Law” Weibo was referring to. In the newest edition of “People's Republic of China Network(Cyber) Security Law” put into effect on June 1, 2017 by the government, media related to pornography is banned, yet the issue of homosexuality is not mentioned. It remains unclear if Weibo's decision reflects its company's own discrimination against the LGBTQ community, or if it foreshadows the government's future policy against this group.  Weibo's announcement led to the anger of China's LGBTQ community as well as many other Chinese citizens. A Weibo user called “"Zhu Ding Zhen" ” made a post, saying, “"I am gay, what about you?" ” This post was read more than 2.4 billion times and shared by about 3 million users, commented by 1.5 million users, and liked by 9.5 million users in less than 3 days. On April 16, Weibo posted another announcement to reverse its previous decision, stating that Weibo would stop banning pieces of contents related to homosexuality and expressed thanks to its users’ “discussions” and “suggestions.”

Legal status.

Adult, consensual and non-commercial homosexuality has been legal in China since 1997, when the national penal code was revised. Homosexuality was removed from the Ministry of Health's list of mental illnesses in 2001 and the public health campaign against HIV/AIDS pandemic does include education for men who have sex with men. Officially, overt police enforcement against gay people is restricted to gay people engaging in sex acts in public or prostitution, which are also illegal for heterosexuals.  However, despite these changes, no civil rights law exists to address discrimination or harassment on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Households headed by same-sex couples are not permitted to adopt children and do not have the same privileges as heterosexual married couples.  Research conducted by The Chinese Journal of Human Sexuality in 2014 showed that nearly 85 percent of the 921 respondents supported same-sex marriage, while about 2 percent of them oppose the idea, and 13 percent of them said "not sure."  On January 5, 2016, a court in Changsha, southern Hunan province, agreed to hear the lawsuit of 26-year-old Sun Wenlin filed in December 2015 against the Furong district civil affairs bureau for its June 2015 refusal of the right to register to marry his 36-year-old male partner, Hu Mingliang. On April 13, 2016, with hundreds of gay marriage supporters outside, the Changsha court ruled against Sun, who vowed to appeal, citing the importance of his case for LGBT progress in China. On May 17, 2016, Sun and Hu were married in a private ceremony in Changsha, expressing their intention to organize another 99 LGBT weddings across the country in order to normalize gay marriage in China.  In 2014, a Beijing court issued an unanticipated ruling against the practice of gay conversion therapy. This ruling, however, did not apply nationwide and different district courts have issued various conflicting rulings. In 2016, a Henan court rewarded civil damages to a victim of gay conversion therapy who had been physically and psychologically traumatized as a result of the procedure. However, the Court did not expressly prohibit the practice. In parallel to the previous decision, the Henan's court's decision also did not apply nationwide. At the national level, no action has been taken against gay conversion therapy and the practice continues to be promoted on a national level. LGBT activists have been pressuring the central government for a complete nationwide ban.

Slang in contemporary Chinese gay culture.

The following terms are not standard usage; rather, they are colloquial and used within the gay community in mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan.

Culture.

Modern people.

The following are prominent mainland Chinese and Hong Kong people who have come out to the public or are actively working to improve gay rights in mainland China and Taiwan:

Movies, TV and web series.

Many gay movies, TV series and web series have been made in Hong Kong and mainland China, including:  In 2015, film-maker Fan Popo sued government censors for pulling his gay documentary "Mama Rainbow" from online sites. The lawsuit concluded in December 2015 with a finding by Beijing No.1 Intermediate People's Court that the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT) had not requested that hosting sites pull the documentary. Despite this ruling, which Fan felt was a victory because it effectively limited state involvement, "the film is still unavailable to see online on Chinese hosting sites."  On December 31, 2015, the China Television Drama Production Industry Association posted new guidelines, including a ban on showing queer relationships on TV. The regulations stated: "No television drama shall show abnormal sexual relationships and behaviors, such as incest, same-sex relationships, sexual perversion, sexual assault, sexual abuse, sexual violence, and so on." These new regulations have begun to affect web dramas, which have historically had fewer restrictions:  "Chinese Web dramas are commonly deemed as enjoying looser censorship compared with content on TV and the silver screen. They often feature more sexual, violent and other content that is deemed by traditional broadcasters to fall in the no-no area."  In February 2016 the popular Chinese gay web series "Addicted (Heroin)" was banned from being broadcast online 12 episodes into a 15-episode season. Makers of the series uploaded the remaining episodes on YouTube, and production of a planned second season remains in doubt.

Homosexuality in China has been documented in China since ancient times. According to one study, for some time after the fall of the Han Dynasty homosexuality was widely accepted in China. However, this has been disputed. Several early Chinese emperors are speculated to have had homosexual relationships accompanied by heterosexual ones. Opposition to homosexuality, according to the study by Hinsch, did not become firmly established in China until the 19th and 20th centuries, through the Westernization efforts of the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. On the other hand, Gulik's study argued that the Mongol Yuan dynasty introduced a more ascetic attitude to sexuality in general.

Im alten China war gleichgeschlechtliche Liebe weit verbreitet – zumindest wenn man literarischen Überlieferungen Glauben schenken kann – und hatte keinen negativen Stellenwert an und für sich. Kritisiert wurde sie jedoch beispielsweise bei dem Legalisten Han Fei, wenn damit persönliche Begünstigungen verbunden waren. Ob es die sogenannte Öffnung zum Westen im 18. Jahrhundert war, die zur Übernahme homophober Ideologien und Gesetze führte, wie es von einigen Aktivisten in Hong Kong behauptet wird, oder innerchinesische Veränderungen des 19. Jahrhunderts, die die selbstgewählte monogame heterosexuelle Beziehung als einzig gültige Beziehungsform darstellten, ist bis heute umstritten. Heute stellt sich die Situation von Lesben und Schwulen in der Volksrepublik China, aber auch in Hongkong, Macau und Taiwan als sehr ambivalent dar. Neben fortdauernden Repressionen, weniger von staatlicher Seite als von Familie und Gesellschaft, gibt es seit einigen Jahrzehnten nachhaltige Liberalisierungsprozesse, die in China – inklusive aller Sonderverwaltungszonen – zur vollständigen Entkriminalisierung von Homosexualität geführt haben, sofern es, wie in Hong Kong, jemals eindeutige Bestimmungen gegeben hätte. In Taiwan ist die Emanzipation der Tongzhi-Community dabei am weitesten fortgeschritten.


Species.

There are currently three recognized species in this genus:

Physical characteristics.

The maximum length of four-eyed fishes is up to 32 cm TL in "A. microlepis", making this species the largest in the order Cyprinidontiformes.  Four-eyed fish have only two eyes, but the eyes are specially adapted for their surface-dwelling lifestyle. The eyes are positioned on the top of the head, and the fish floats at the water surface with only the lower half of each eye underwater. The two halves are divided by a band of tissue and the eye has two pupils, connected by part of the iris. The upper half of the eye is adapted for vision in air, the lower half for vision in water. The lens of the eye also changes in thickness top to bottom to account for the difference in the refractive indices of air versus water.  Four-eyed fish are livebearers. Along with their sister genus "Jenynsia" they mate on one side only, right-"handed" males with left-"handed" females and vice versa. The male has specialized anal rays which are greatly elongated and fused into a tube called a gonopodium associated with the sperm duct which he uses as an intromittent organ to deliver sperm to the female.

Behavior.

Four-eyed fish spend most of their time at the surface of the water. Their diet mostly consists of terrestrial insects which are readily available at the surface, however they may consume other foods such as other invertebrates, diatoms, and small fishes.  The fish will group differently depending on the species. "A. anableps" commonly congregates in schools. "A. microlepis" also is gregarious, but restricts its schools to about a dozen individuals; it is also recorded to be found singly or as couples.  "A. anableps" is also known for the ability to survive out of water exposed to air, such as during low tide.

The four-eyed fishes are a genus, Anableps, of fishes in the family Anablepidae. They have eyes raised above the top of the head and divided in two different parts, so that they can see below and above the water surface at the same time.

Die Vieraugen ("Anableps") sind eine Gattung von ca. 30 cm langen lebendgebärenden Zahnkarpfen, die in schlammigen Küstengewässern des nördlichen Südamerika (Venezuela und Trinidad bis Amazonasmündung) und an der Pazifikküste Mittelamerikas verbreitet sind.


History.

Third Century.

Asceticism in Egypt and Syria seemed to have more differences in doctrine and practice than what they shared together. The late third century shows two distinct groups pursuing celibacy, poverty and homelessness all for the sake of freeing their lives from the troubles of this world. However, the major dividing principle between the two groups was their leader in the movement.  Egyptians saw their figurehead as Anthony the Great, the founding father of Egyptian monasticism and cultivator of what dominant Egyptian monasticism had come to stand for by that time. Syrian monks on the other hand, based their purpose and practice on apostolic precedent; and more accurately, the life and teachings of Christ and his disciples. While this may seem presumptuous, it truly created a fundamental difference in the goals and direction of Syrian monks that sent them on a path toward meaningful interaction with the world that surrounded them.  Up until the late third century, both groups of Christians felt the pressures of their surrounding social and political world. The Egyptians, like the Persians, were marginalized and persecuted for their faith, but only until an emperor by the name of Constantine arrived on the scene. His conversion and Christian presence on the throne in Rome was felt dramatically throughout the Roman Empire. While many were excited about the influx of believers following Constantine's example, many others saw the mainstreaming of Sunday congregations as a negative influence on what Christ had actually called them to. They needed a higher call to discipleship, and certainly before the fourth century, there was the creation of the Egyptian monk. Conversely, Syriac Christianity never found itself in the mainstream of acceptability in its surrounding society. Because of this, "wanderers of third-century Syria introduce[d] a motive for practicing Christian asceticism that is different from anything we have found preserved in Egyptian desert tradition."  From its very beginning, Syriac Christianity was intrinsically an ascetical faith built on its reactions and adoptions from Marcionism, and Manichaeism among other cultural heresies which promoted the Christian faith as radical dedication and sacrifice; something monastic living the world over was centered on. Thus, the Syriac Christians heard Jesus’ words of "whoever wants to save his life will lose it," as a challenge to seek a drastic way of living which measures up to Jesus’ call for discipleship.  So what real difference did Christ as head of the monastic movement in Persia create? It was found in the Syrians’ refusal to flee from a culture in which they felt called to serve and transform. Unlike Egyptian monks who felt the need to escape the pressures of Roman rule in order to form Christ-like lives in an isolated desert, the marginalized Syriac ascetics remained enmeshed in the church and lost culture that surrounded them.  The overwhelming presence of Western monasticism was not totally foreign to the minds of Syrian Christians seeking the paths for ascetic life. Theodoret gives historians a beautiful rendition of the early individualistic tendencies in the monks of Syria in his book about their history. Notable examples of extreme asceticism were the "boskoi" "grazers", monks who lived in the wild and were often mistaken for strange animals. Wrapped in goatskins or straw mats, they avoided all forms of artificial clothing or shelter and only ate what they were given or they found already growing on the ground. Needless to say, this was an extreme form of an individualistic faith that led many well-intentioned monks to the tops of pillars for forty years and others to wearing their heads raw from beating it against the ground.  The regions of the Sasanian Empire stretched far and wide, creating great distances between Christian groups that were developing and expressing themselves in radically different ways. "We do know that it was extremely complex in its diversity – so much so that it is impossible to make assessments with regard to Christian orthodoxy from that period." Because there was no overarching rule governing the civilization of Christianity, (much like one might find in the neighboring Roman Empire), Christians were more free to slip around the dogmas of the Catholics and develop widely different understanding of living the Christian life. For example, in contrast to the staunch individualistic faith seen in the rural wildernesses around them, Christians in the Persian urban areas were more intent on creating a community of believers by creating and transforming it through Christian discipleship. "From the earliest times asceticism played an integral and affirming role in the communities and the faith of Syrian Christians... discipleship to Christ, lived out by laymen and women through varying degrees... constituted the highest expression of Christian life." Communal monasticism became more and more common during the early part of the fourth century, leaving behind the influences of the Egyptian ascetic paradigm.

Fourth Century.

During this crucial fourth century and beyond, the notions of individualistic faith changed and developed into the image of Christians as "strangers". Syriac Christians that began seeing themselves as "strangers" to the world did not mean they were isolated and removed from it, but rather they "assume[d] a special responsibility for it and power within it, drawn precisely from the status of ‘stranger’." Monks of this lineage acted as a missionary to his own community, a "teacher of children, healer, arbitrator... " They were missionally minded, building a life around hospitality to others, serving the poor, and standing up for cases of social justice. "For them, following Christ meant active engagement, as Christ’s representatives, with the ‘world’ they had renounced, rather than permanent social withdrawal."  It is out of this context that the "Sons and Daughters of the Covenant" were born. "We must be reminded that the first Christian impulses in the lands of the Euphrates and Tigris did not come from Hellenistic Christianity via Antioch but from Palestinian Jewish Christianity... these archaic conditions, which understood the qeiama as the whole congregation of celibates who alone were admitted to baptism and sacramental life, were tenacious and were able to last for generations." Living the life of celibacy and ascetic dedication to their Lord; the church thrived.  During this time however, historical records of the church in Syria indicate that a major shift took place, and it began to initiate the Roman concepts of church into their practice. This led to dividing grounds between the benai and benat qeiama against the married and vocational members who were also active participants in the world's society around them. It was at this moment that a crucial split could have taken place. There was opportunity for these two groups to separate, both willing to follow God with all of their hearts, but both understanding what it means to follow Jesus as radically different and conflicting. However, through reconciliation and the grace of God, they merged and adopted a syncretism of belief; understanding their spiritual growth as steps.  From the beginning of the fourth century, the Sons and Daughters of the Covenant saw their mission as deeply interwoven with the congregational church. No longer were Syriac Christians living the Christian life for themselves, it now operationally took "a church to raise a Christian." The members of the qeiama understood themselves to be what might be thought of today as deacons. They usually lived together or with their family members, but there are instances of the benat qeiama (daughters of the covenant) to have convents and other communal organizations with which they could live and study God's Word together. Each of them took the vow of chastity in becoming a member of the covenant, and through this vow they saw themselves vehemently as the "brides of Christ". They surrounded this practice with layers of strict doctrine that did not allow them to be out after dark or for the benat to live with a man, lest they fall into temptation. They even had a judicial law that sent a dysfunctional covenanter to a secluded monastery, and renaming them bart qeiama denoting their failure to live up to the life-covenant to which they were called.  Functionally in the congregation, these qeiama were students and servants of the clergy. This meant that there were certain rules against a Son or Daughter from becoming a hireling or staff for a farmer, or any other vocation – they were to be completely devoted to the works and ministries of the church. It is certain that members of the qeiama were directly involved with the worship service itself, "In Edessa the qeiama of women had a part in the liturgy, reciting the hymns composed by Ephrem." Outside of the worship service, the benai and benat qeiama were set to the task of serving and blessing others in the congregation, as well as those not connected to a place of Christian faith.  For example, a hospital was built from the efforts of one congregation's Covenant Group, and the structure of administering the hospital sheds light on how the roles and responsibilities of each member of the congregation was dispensed. "Active believers and energetic deacons were appointed to direct the work, but for the actual service, Rabbula employed the benai qeiama." Roles are mirrored for the women's hospital built nearby. Charities for lepers in their village, shelters for the poor and destitute, as well as other institutions of Christian love kept the hands and feet of the qeiama busy as they met the needs of a hurting world. These "monks" (if they can truly be called as such) were anything but removed from those who needed their love the most, making their presence a powerful and effective one in the surrounding community.  In their dedication to helping the poor to see God's love they became the centerpiece of the Christian community. One ancient source remarking on the necessity of the Covenant children boldly states, "the churches and monasteries will be constituted (or will have their existence) through them." The very purposes the church sought to fulfill were exemplified in these Sons and Daughters of the Covenant, thus creating a standard for all other members of the church, both clergy and lay, to strive towards.  While there was much good in the services of the Sons and Daughters of the Covenant, there had yet to develop in Syriac asceticism an institutional framework for spiritual development that would progress a Christian in his journey with God and man. Enter the Liber Graduum. A series of what might be called sermons or devotionals, the Liber Graduum or "Book of Steps" creates a concrete path for Christians to walk from the earliest steps of faith to the boldest leaps of evangelistic asceticism. This was all done in the context of community; there were no "Lone-Rangers" of the faith as is seen in Coptic spirituality. The audiences of the Liber Graduum, as well as those associated with other important works not developed here (such as Letters to Virgins), built a world for themselves that supported such reliance upon each other and corporate understanding.  "The Liber Graduum portrays a prime example of a community that summoned Christians to a higher view, but still viewed this life, body and Church as a part of God’s world." The Liber Graduum for early Syriac Christians was not just a commentary on Scripture that was kept on a dusty shelf in a library. The eclectic mēmrā or what might be translated "sermons" seem to indicate a wide variety of situations that a community faced compiled over many years.  Michael Kmosko was the first to translate and comment on the Liber Graduum in 1926, categorizing it with its contemporary Messalian heresy that was striking the Persian Church at its time of writing. A later commenter Daniel Caner described the Liber Graduum as a threat in the eyes of the common Christian public of its day, inciting rebellion against the institutional Church found all over the Roman Empire. Finally however, David Lane does a concise and well-balanced overview of the Liber Graduum.  Lane suggests that the author of the mēmrā in the Book of Steps was trying to wrestle (as was his community) with Jesus’ different calls of discipleship to different people. To some Jesus would ask only that they believe in Him, and they would be healed; to others Jesus demanded nothing short of their total renunciation of property and family before they could follow in His footsteps. To Lane, the Liber Graduum builds for its community a tension between these commands, bridging them into a sort of staircase; ascending in the levels of the Christian life.

Six Profiles.

The anonymous author of the Liber Graduum points out six profiles of the Christian life, and claims that each Christian must evaluate where they are, and where others are around them, and work as a community to struggle up the staircase towards holiness.  By far, the author spends the majority of his efforts focusing and developing the top two steps, the "Upright" and the "Perfect". The first nine mēmrā focus on the Perfect and the ways in which all other forms of spiritual living compare, yet are inferior to it. The Upright are called to fulfill the minor commandments in Scripture and the Perfect are to follow the major commands. According to the author's view of salvation, God does not hold the same requirements for each person in living out the life he has called them to live. An example of such a distinction is made in Mēmrā Fourteen, "The Upright discern good people from evil ones and are moved with compassion upon the latter; the Perfect consider [others] as better than themselves." The Upright were those who strove with everything they were to be radical followers of Jesus. The Perfect however, having given up all their possessions, and worldly relationships, (even family and wife in some instances ), were not only striving to be followers, they were seen as angels on Earth. These profiles are not necessarily a job description for those on the step, but a caricature of what the author is looking for and what he sees Jesus calling them to.  The next two groups he quickly sketches are the Sick and the Children. The Children, simply put, are infants in the faith. They are new to the experience of following Jesus and therefore little is expected of their spiritual dedication. In fact, the most significant command for the Children is that, in their fledgling commitment to Christ, they must stay away from negative influences (such as pagan friends, etc.) that might pull them back into the world they are trying to escape from. The Sick harm, judge, and condemn their neighbors, instead of forgiving them as an Upright or a Perfect one would do.  While there is little difference between the Upright and the Perfect, and the Disciples of Faith and the Disciples of Love respectively, the author sees a clear distinction. Without much more than a brief reference here and there, the Liber Graduum places the Disciples of Faith and the Disciples of Love in between the Upright and Perfect, as sort of bridge points for those on the track to becoming "Perfect". Instead of leaving Christians alone in their spiritual walks toward righteous living, these six silhouettes of faith in the Syriac Church enabled Christians to dream of where their journey of faith might be calling them next.  Just as with any black and white text that is designed to facilitate the lifestyles of a colorful and changing community, so the brothers and sisters living under the guidance of the Liber Graduum became increasingly confused and conflicted as to how they were to live with each other on different steps. Pastoral reactions to conflict and spite fill much of the pages of the Liber Graduum, working over a period of what could be years to smooth out the finer lines of relationship between those on differing steps.  There was internal conflict which was mostly frustration toward the Perfect. The author bereaves the elevated status of the Perfect, likening them unto "perfect" examples of the human race, one in which all humans can look to and model after. However, since they were merely to "love everyone" and yet had given up the majority of their relationships, many saw the Perfect as totally hypocritical and useless in bettering the community. Everyone had something against them, the poor thought the Perfect as wealthy and comfortable, the starving thought all the Perfect did was recline and eat the best foods.  Beyond this concern, certain familial and religious conflict within the community began its downward spiral into oblivion. Families were concerned with children on the path to becoming one of the Perfect or Upright, and many non-Christian family members were harassing the "Children" of the Faith and causing the Children to recede. The author warns his audience, passionately reminding them of the persecution Jesus foretold on those who followed His ways.

Liber Graduum.

The fact that the author of the Liber Graduum sees his church as collapsing morally and spiritually is a key to understanding the reason and purpose behind the book. In Mēmrā Twenty-Nine, he admonishes his community for their slack behavior and spiritual laziness. He mourns the former days when the community was more dedicated to the principles outlined in earlier sermons. "We teach these others, but we do not teach ourselves... we talk about these [predecessors], but do not act like them." It is possible that those Perfect and Upright were beginning to relax in their dedication to holy living, pursuing instead a more dualistic understanding of the world. This understanding helped them feel above the need for prayer or compassion, with influences coming possibly from the current Messalian heresy that held similar views. As the community loses focus on the "journey" image and function of the Christian life, they move further into decline. Instead of hearing the author's message as "steps toward godliness" it is possible that those in the community felt they were more a part of a caste system in which was impossible to progress.  The value of an integrated spiritual community was obvious to the author of the Liber Graduum. His dream to house the deepest ascetics and newborns in the faith under the same congregational roof was a powerful one. As a pastor of the community, he could never come alongside every single member and nudge them towards righteousness in God; just as with all things in Syriac Christianity of that time, it had to be a communal effort. Building a tightly knit spiritual group of people that depended on each other led to mentorship among those on the "steps" that could not have happened in more individualistic settings. With the author's dream realized, all members could potentially teach and be taught by other members of the group, forming and equipping skills necessary for the Christian life for that time. This was a beautiful dream, and a fascinating reality.

The Members of the Covenant were an important part of early Syriac Christianity. Before the advent of monasticism proper (which developed in the desert of Egypt), most Syriac churches would consist of a community focused around the members of the covenant: men and women who had committed themselves to sexual abstinence and the service of the church. This name is the English translation of the Syriac "bnay qyāmâ" (ܒܢܝ ܩܝܡܐ), literally "sons of the covenant". A male member of the covenant was called "bar qyāmâ" (ܒܪ ܩܝܡܐ), or "son of the covenant"; a female member was "bat qyāmâ" (ܒܪܬ ܩܝܡܐ), or "daughter of the covenant".

Die Bundessöhne () waren eine dem Mönchtum ähnliche Gemeinschaft innerhalb der syrischen Kirche des 4. Jahrhunderts, die asketisches Leben mit aktiver sozialer und kirchenpolitischer Tätigkeit verbanden. Askese und Ehelosigkeit waren Voraussetzungen, um zu dieser Gruppe, die das kirchliche Leben bestimmte, zugelassen zu werden. Bestehende Ehen wurden aufgehoben:


Background.

Belgian plans.

Belgian military planning assumed that other powers would assist the Belgian Army to eject an invader and a formal alliance between France and Britain was not solidified by a potential German invasion, despite the Anglo-French Entente (1904). The Belgians judged that the British attitude towards their country had changed and that Belgium had come to be seen as a British protectorate. A General Staff was formed in 1910 but the, Lieutenant-Général Harry Jungbluth was retired on 30 June 1912 and not replaced by Lieutenant-General Chevalier de Selliers de Moranville until May 1914. Moranville began planning for the concentration

Schlieffen–Moltke Plan.

Alfred von Schlieffen, Chief of the Imperial German General Staff ("Oberste Heeresleitung, OHL") from devised plans for a decisive battle against the French army in Germany, Belgium or France. was a contingency plan for a Franco-German war, in which France (due to fewer numbers) would be on the defensive and Germany would attack by invading Belgium between Antwerp and Namur to advance south and breach the Verdun–Marne–Paris defensive area. The German armies would then pause until railways could be repaired and supplies accumulated for a second

Plan XVII.

Under Plan XVII, the French peacetime army was to form five field armies of with groups of Reserve divisions attached to each army and with a group of reserve divisions on the southern and northern flanks. The armies were to concentrate opposite the German frontier around Épinal, Nancy and Verdun–Mezières, with an army in reserve around Ste Menehould and Commercy. Since 1871, railway building had given the French General Staff sixteen lines to the German frontier against thirteen available to the German army; the French could wait until German intentions were clear. The French deployment was intended to be ready for a German offensive in Lorraine or through Belgium. It was anticipated that the Germans would use reserve troops but also that a large German army would be mobilised on the border with Russia, leaving the western army with

Declarations of war.

At midnight on the German government sent an ultimatum to Russia and announced a state of during the day; the Ottoman government ordered mobilisation and the London Stock Exchange closed. On 1 August, the British government ordered the mobilisation of the navy, the German government ordered general mobilisation and declared war on Russia. Hostilities commenced on the Polish frontier; the French government ordered general mobilisation and next day the German government sent an ultimatum to Belgium

Prelude.

French offensive preparations.

Joseph Joffre, who had been Commander-in-Chief of the French army since 1911 and the Minister of War, Adolphe Messimy met on 1 August, to agree that the military conduct of the war should exclusively be the responsibility of the Commander-in-Chief. On 2 August, as small parties of German soldiers crossed the French border, Messimy told Joffre that he had the freedom to order French troops across the German but not the Belgian frontier. Joffre sent warning orders to the covering forces near the frontier, requiring the VII Corps to prepare to advance towards Mühlhausen (Mulhouse) to the north-east of Belfort and XX Corps to make ready

French plan of attack.

On 5 August, Joffre ordered an offensive by the VII Corps, on the right flank of the First Army, to begin on 7 August towards Mulhouse. The capture of the 2nd Army order of battle on 7 August, convinced Joffre that the strength of the German forces on the flanks had left the centre weak and vulnerable to an offensive towards Neufchâteau and Arlon. On 8 August, Joffre issued General Instruction No. 1, containing his strategic intent, which was to destroy the German army rather than capture ground. The offensive into Alsace and that by the First and Second armies into Lorraine, would pin down German forces and

Alsace.

Battle of Mulhouse, 7–10 August.

The first French offensive of the war, known as the Battle of Mulhouse, began on 7 August. Joffre had directed the First and Second armies to engage as many German divisions as possible to assist French forces operating further north. The French VII Corps with the 14th and 41st divisions, under the command of General Bonneau, advanced from Belfort to Mulhouse and Colmar to the north-east. The French quickly seized the border town of Altkirch south of Mulhouse with a bayonet charge. On 8 August, Bonneau cautiously continued the advance and occupied

Belgium.

Battle of Haelen, 12 August.

The Battle of Haelen (Halen in Dutch) was a cavalry battle at the beginning of the First World War. Haelen was a small market town along the principal axis of advance of the German imperial army and provided a good crossing point over the River Gete. The battle took place on 12 August 1914 between German forces, led by Georg von der Marwitz and the Belgian troops commanded by Léon de Witte. Belgian engineers had blown the bridge over the Gete but the structure only partly collapsed and the Germans got troops over it into the centre of Haelen. The main Belgian defence line was west of Haelen in terrain which gave only an obstructed view to the attacker. The 17th and 3rd Cavalry brigades assisted the in

Lorraine.

Battle of Lorraine, 14–25 August.

The main French offensive in the south began on 14 August when the First Army advanced with two corps into the Vosges and two corps north-east towards Sarrebourg and the two right-hand corps of the Second Army of General de Castelnau advanced on the left of the First Army. One corps and the Second Group of Reserve Divisions advanced slowly towards Morhange in echelon, as a flank guard against a German attack from Metz. The First Army had captured several passes further south since 8 August, to protect the southern flank as the army advanced to Donon and Sarrebourg. Despite warnings from Joffre against divergence, the army was required to advance towards the Vosges passes to the south-east, eastwards towards Donon and north-east towards Sarrebourg. German troops withdrew during the day, Donon was captured and on the left flank an advance of was made. At dusk, the 26th Division of the XIII Corps attacked Cirey but was repulsed by massed artillery and machine-gun fire and suffered a costly repulse. On 15 August, the Second Army

Ardennes.

Battle of the Ardennes, 21–23 August.

Joffre issued instructions on 18 August but held back the Third and Fourth armies because air and cavalry reconnaissance found few German troops opposite the two armies, only a large force moving north-west away. On 19 August, the Fourth army of General Fernand de Langle de Cary, was ordered to occupy the bridges over the Semois but not to advance into Belgium until the German offensive began. A premature attack would advance into a trap, rather than give time for the Germans to empty Luxembourg of troops before the French advanced. On 20 August the German armies in the south attacked the French

Sambre.

Battle of Charleroi, 21–23 August.

On 19 August the Fifth Army began to move into the angle of the Meuse and Sambre rivers close to Namur, which required a march of up to and took the army far beyond the left flank of the Fourth Army. Opposite the French were the 2nd and 3rd armies, with against the divisions. The I Corps held the west bank of the Meuse from Givet to Namur, X Corps faced north-west along the Sambre, with the III Corps to the west opposite Charleroi and the XVIII Corps further to the left. French cavalry on the left flank skirmished with German cavalry on 20 August and next day Joffre

Battle of Mons, 23 August.

On 23 August, The German IX Corps advanced and part of the 35th Brigade got across the Mons–Condé Canal east of Nimy; reached the railway beyond in the early afternoon but was repulsed from the town. The 36th Brigade captured bridges at Obourg against determined resistance, after which the defenders at Nimy gradually withdrew; the bridges to the north were captured at and the village captured. Mons was occupied unopposed but on higher ground to the east, the defence continued. The 17th Division advanced to the road from St. Symphorien to St. Ghislain. At the divisional commander ordered an enveloping attack on the British east of Mons, who were pushed back after a stand on the Mons-Givry road. By reports to Kluck revealed that the British were in St. Ghislain and at the canal crossings to the west as far as the bridge at Pommeroeuil, with no troops east of Condé. With reports indicating that the right flank was clear of Allied troops, Kluck ordered the III Corps to advance through St. Ghislain and Jemappes on the

Aftermath.

Analysis.

The French offensive was defeated in a few days; on the right the First and Second armies advanced on 14 August and were back at their jumping-off points on 20 August. The offensive of the Third and Fourth armies was defeated from and the Fifth Army was defeated on the Sambre and forced to retreat during the same period. Joffre's strategy had failed due to an underestimation of the German armies and the dispersion of the French offensive effort. With a large German force operating in Belgium, the German centre had appeared to be vulnerable to the Third and Fourth armies. The mistaken impression of the size of the German force in Belgium or its approach route was not as significant as the faulty information about the strength of the German armies opposite the Third and Fourth armies. Joffre blamed others and

Casualties.

In "The World Crisis", Winston Churchill used figures from French parliamentary records of 1920 to give French casualties from 5 August to 5 September 1914 of wounded and missing, German casualties from August to November of and British casualties in August and September of By the end of August, the French Army had suffered of whom killed on 22 August. French casualties for the first month of the war were which during the last four

Subsequent operations.

Great Retreat, 24 August – 5 September.

The French Fifth Army fell back about from the Sambre during the Battle of Charleroi (22 August) and began a greater withdrawal from the area south of the Sambre on 23 August. The BEF fought the Battle of Mons on 24 August, by when the French First and Second armies had been pushed back by attacks of the German 7th and 6th armies between St. Dié and Nancy, the Third Army held positions east of Verdun against attacks by the 5th Army, the Fourth Army held positions from the junction with the Third Army south of Montmédy, westwards to Sedan, Mezières and Fumay, facing the 4th Army and the Fifth

Battle of Grand Couronné, 4–13 September.

The German offensive began during the night of 3 September against the fortifications of the Grand Couronné, either side of Nancy, which pushed back the 2nd Group of Reserve Divisions, comprising the 59th, 68th and 70th Reserve Divisions under General Léon Durand, to the north and the XX Corps of General Balfourier to the south, by the evening of 4 September. In the afternoon of 5 September Castelnau telegraphed to Joffre that he proposed to evacuate Nancy, to preserve the fighting power of the army. Next day Joffre replied that the Second Army was to hold the area east of Nancy if at all possible and only then retire to a line from the Forest of Haye to Saffais, Belchamp and Borville. The civilian authorities in the city had begun preparations for an evacuation but the troops on the Grand Couronné repulsed German attacks on the right flank, during 5 September. The Reserve divisions were only pushed back a short distance on the front to the east and north of Nancy. An attempt by Moltke to withdraw troops from the 6th Army, to join a new 7th Army being formed for operations on the

First Battle of the Marne, 5–12 September.

Joffre used the railways which had transported French troops to the German frontier to move troops back from Lorraine and Alsace to form a new Sixth Army under General Michel-Joseph Maunoury with nine divisions and two cavalry divisions. By 10 September twenty divisions and three cavalry divisions had been moved west from the German border to the French centre and left and the balance of force between the German and the Third, Fourth, Ninth, Fifth armies, the BEF and Sixth Army had changed to Late on 4 September Joffre ordered the Sixth Army to attack eastwards over the Ourcq towards Château Thierry as the BEF advanced towards Montmirail and the Fifth Army attacked northwards, with its right flank protected by the Ninth Army along the St. Gond marshes. The French First–Fourth armies to the east were to resist the attacks of the German between Verdun and Toul and repulse an enveloping attack on the defences south of Nancy from the north. The 6th and 7th armies were reinforced by heavy artillery from Metz and attacked again on 4 September along the Moselle.  On 5 September the Sixth Army advanced eastwards from Paris and met the German IV Reserve Corps, which had moved into the area that morning and stopped the French short of high ground north of Meaux. Overnight the IV Reserve Corps withdrew to a better position east and French air reconnaissance observed German forces moving north to face the Sixth Army. General Alexander

References.

Books

Further reading.

Books  Reports  Websites

The Battle of the Frontiers (; ; ) was a series of battles fought along the eastern frontier of France and in southern Belgium, shortly after the outbreak of the First World War. The battles resolved the military strategies of the French Chief of Staff General Joseph Joffre with Plan XVII and an offensive interpretation of the German deployment plan by Helmuth von Moltke the Younger: the German concentration on the right (northern) flank, to wheel through Belgium and attack the French in the rear.

Als Grenzschlachten bezeichnet man in der Militärgeschichtsschreibung eine Serie von größeren militärischen Kampfhandlungen, zu denen es meist in der ersten Phase eines Krieges kommt. In diesen treffen oft die zuvor aufmarschierten Hauptstreitkräfte der Kriegsparteien aufeinander. Konkret findet sich die Bezeichnung als etablierter Begriff in der Historiographie zum Deutsch-Französischen Krieg (1870/71), dem Ersten Weltkrieg (1914–1918), dem Überfall auf Polen (1939) und dem Deutsch-Sowjetischen Krieg (1941–1945).


History.

Columbine grew rapidly during the space race years from 1958 to 1968 and it was first listed as a census-designated place in the 1980 census. Its population exceeded 20,000 for the first time as of 1980. It remains at about 24,500.  Columbine was the site of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999.

Geography.

Columbine is located on the eastern edge of Jefferson County at (39.587887, −105.069332), with a small portion extending east into Arapahoe County. Columbine is bordered to the east by Littleton and Columbine Valley, and to the west by Ken Caryl. The Denver city limits are north of the northern border of Columbine, and to the south the community extends as far as the Chatfield Reservoir dam.  According to the United States Census Bureau, the Columbine CDP has a total area of, of which are land and, or 1.86%, are water.

Demographics.

At the 2000 census there were 24,095 people in 8,656 households, including 6,933 families, in the CDP. The population density was 3,629.6 people per square mile (1,401.1/km2). There were 8,800 housing units at an average density of 1,325.6 per square mile (511.7/km2). The racial makeup of the CDP was 94.82% White, 0.47% African American, 0.40% Native American, 1.16% Asian, 0.12% Pacific Islander, 1.57% from other races, and 1.46% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5.58%.  Of the 8,656 households 38.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 69.7% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.9% were non-families. 15.8% of households were one person and 3.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.77 and the average family size was 3.11.  The age distribution was 27.0% under the age of 18, 6.5% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 29.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.2% 65 or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.3 males.  The median household income was $71,319 and the median family income was $77,866 (these figures had risen to $78,203 and $88,515 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $51,300 versus $35,713 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $28,471. About 1.6% of families and 2.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.7% of those under age 18 and 2.2% of those age 65 or over.

Education.

The portion in Jefferson County is in Jefferson County Public Schools or Jeffco Schools.

Columbine is a census-designated place (CDP) in Arapahoe and Jefferson counties in the U.S. state of Colorado. Located mostly in Jefferson County, it lies immediately west of the Denver suburb of Littleton.

Columbine ist ein Census-designated place im US-Bundesstaat Colorado, der teilweise im Arapahoe County, aber zum größten Teil im Jefferson County liegt.


Service history.

Blockading Charleston.

"Housatonic" departed Boston on 11 September and arrived at Charleston, South Carolina, on 19 September to join the South Atlantic Blockading Squadron. She took station outside the bar.

Capture of "Princess Royal" and Confederate counter-attack.

On 29 January 1863, her boats, aided by those of,, and USS "America", boarded and refloated the iron steamer. The gunboat had driven the blockade runner ashore as she attempted to slip into Charleston from England with a cargo consisting of two marine engines destined for Confederate ironclads and a large quantity of ordnance and ammunition. These imports were of such great potential value to the South that they have been called "the war's most important single cargo of contraband."  It is possibly in the hope of recovering this invaluable prize that the Confederate ironclad rams and slipped out of the main ship channel of Charleston Harbor to attack the Union blockading fleet in the early morning fog two days later. They rammed, forcing her to strike her colors "in a sinking and perfectly defenseless condition", and moved on to cripple. Gunfire from the rams also damaged and before the Confederate ships withdrew under fire from "Housatonic" to the protection of shore batteries.

Capture of "Georgiana".

On 19 March 1863, "Housatonic" and, responding to signal flares sent up by "America", chased the 407 ton iron-hulled blockade runner ashore on Long Island, South Carolina. "Georgiana"s cargo of munitions, medicine and merchandise was then valued at over $1,000,000. "Georgiana" was described in contemporary dispatches and newspaper accounts as more powerful than the Confederate cruisers,, and. This was a serious and very important blow to the Confederacy. The wreck of "Georgiana" was discovered by pioneer underwater archaeologist Lee Spence in 1965.

Further captures, and attacks on Charleston.

"Housatonic" captured the sloop "Neptune" on 19 April as she attempted to run out of Charleston with a cargo of cotton and turpentine. She was credited with assisting in the capture of the steamer "Seesh" on 15 May. Howitzers mounted in "Housatonic"s boats joined in the attack on Fort Wagner on 10 July, which began the continuing bombardment of the Southern works at Charleston. In ensuing months her crew repeatedly manned boats which shelled the shoreline, patrolled close ashore gathering valuable information, and landed troops for raids against the outer defenses of Charleston.

Sunk in the first submarine attack.

At just before 9pm, 17 February 1864, "Housatonic", commanded by Charles Pickering, was maintaining her station in the blockade outside the bar. Robert F. Flemming, Jr., a black landsman, first sighted an object in the water 100 yards off, approaching the ship. "It had the appearance of a plank moving in the water," Pickering later reported. Although the chain was slipped, the engine backed, and all hands were called to quarters, it was too late. Within two minutes of the first sighting, the Confederate submarine rammed her spar torpedo into "Housatonic"s starboard side, forward of the mizzenmast, in history's first successful submarine attack on a warship. Before the rapidly sinking ship went down, the crew managed to lower two boats which took all the men they could hold; most others saved themselves by climbing into the rigging which remained above water after the stricken ship settled on the bottom. Two officers and three men in "Housatonic" died. The Confederate submarine escaped but was lost with all hands not long after this action; new evidence announced by archaeologists in 2013 indicates that the submarine may have been much closer to the point of detonation than previously realized, thus damaging the submarine as well. In 2017, researchers at Duke University further established through simulation that the Hunley's crew were most likely killed immediately at their posts by the blast's pressure wave damaging their lungs and brains.  The wreck of "Housatonic" was largely scrapped in the 1870s–1890s and her location was eventually removed from coastal navigation charts and lost to history. The anchor of "Housatonic" can be found at the office of Wild Dunes on the Isle of Palms.

USS "Housatonic" was a screw sloop-of-war of the United States Navy, gaining its namesake from the Housatonic River of New England.

Die USS "Housatonic" war ein dampfbetriebenes Segelkriegsschiff der United States Navy der Nordstaaten im Amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg. Die Sloop-of-war wurde am 20. November 1861 zu Wasser gelassen und am 29. August 1862 in Dienst gestellt. Benannt nach einem Fluss, der durch mehrere Bundesstaaten Neuenglands fließt, war sie das erste Schiff, das durch ein U-Boot im Kriegseinsatz versenkt wurde.


Development.

The Heinkel company began the He 280 project on its own initiative after the He 178 had been met with indifference from the "Reichsluftfahrtministerium" (German, Reich Aviation Ministry, "RLM"). The head designer was Robert Lusser, who began the project under the designation He 180 in late 1939. It had a typical Heinkel fighter fuselage, elliptical wings and a dihedralled tailplane with twin fins and rudders. It had a tricycle undercarriage landing gear with very little ground clearance. This arrangement was considered too frail for the grass or dirt airfields of the era; however, the tricycle layout eventually gained acceptance. The He 280 was equipped with a compressed-air powered ejection seat, the first aircraft to carry one and the first aircraft to successfully employ one in an emergency.  The first prototype was completed in the summer of 1940, but the HeS 8 intended to power it was running into difficulties. On 22 September 1940, while work on the engine continued, the first prototype started glide tests with ballasted pods hung in place of its engines. It was another six months before Fritz Schäfer flew the second prototype under its own power, on 30 March 1941. The type was then demonstrated to Ernst Udet, head of RLM's development wing, on 5 April, but like its predecessor, it apparently failed to make an impression. One benefit of the He 280 which did impress the political leadership was the fact that the jet engines could burn kerosene, which requires much less expense and refining than the high-octane fuel used by piston-engine aircraft. However, government funding was lacking at the critical stage of initial development.  Over the next year, progress was slow due to the ongoing engine problems. A second engine design, the HeS 30 was also undergoing development, both as an interesting engine in its own right, as well as a potential replacement for the HeS 8. In the meantime, alternative powerplants were considered, including the Argus As 014 pulsejet that powered the V-1 flying bomb. It was proposed that up to eight be used.  By the end of 1943, however, the third prototype was fitted with refined versions of the HeS 8 engine and was ready for its next demonstration. On 22 December, a mock dogfight was staged for RLM officials in which the He 280 was matched against an Fw 190, in which the jet demonstrated its vastly superior speed, completing four laps of an oval course before the Fw 190 could complete three. Finally, at this point the RLM became interested and placed an order for 20 pre-production test aircraft, to be followed by 300 production machines.  Engine problems continued to plague the project. In 1942, the RLM had ordered Heinkel to abandon the HeS 8 and HeS 30 to focus all development on a follow-on engine, the HeS 011, a more advanced and problematic design. Meanwhile, the first He 280 prototype was re-equipped with pulsejets and towed aloft to test them. Bad weather caused the aircraft to ice up, and before the jets could be tested pilot Helmut Schenk became the first person to put an ejection seat to use. The seat worked perfectly, but the aircraft was lost and never found.  With the HeS 011 not expected for some time, Heinkel selected the rival BMW 003. However, this engine also had problems and delays. The second He 280 prototype was re-engined with Junkers Jumo 004s while the next three airframes were earmarked for the BMW motor, which was ultimately unavailable. The Jumo engines were much larger and heavier than the HeS 8 that the plane had been designed for, and while it flew well enough on its first powered flights from 16 March 1943, it was clear that this engine was unsuitable. The aircraft was slower and generally less efficient than the Me 262.  Less than two weeks later, on 27 March, Erhard Milch cancelled the project. The Jumo 004-powered Me 262 appeared to have most of the qualities of the He 280, but was better matched to its engine. Heinkel was ordered to abandon the He 280 and focus attention on bomber development and construction, something he remained bitter about until his death.

The Heinkel He 280 was the first turbojet-powered fighter aircraft in the world. It was inspired by Ernst Heinkel's emphasis on research into high-speed flight and built on the company's experience with the He 178 jet prototype. A combination of technical and political factors led to it being passed over in favor of the Messerschmitt Me 262. Only nine were built and none reached operational status.

Die Heinkel He 280 war ein zweistrahliges Jagdflugzeug des deutschen Herstellers Heinkel und absolvierte ihren Erstflug mit Strahltriebwerken am 30. März 1941 (He 280 V2).


Description.

The doubleband surgeonfish is a deep-bodied, laterally-compressed oval fish, rather over twice as long as it is deep, with a maximum length of, although a more typical length is. The colour is variable, the sexes being similar except in the breeding season, when the mature male takes on a distinctive appearance. This fish is usually orange-beige, olive-tan or steely grey, but can turn a dark brown shade flushed with red or purple when stressed. A dark line runs along the base of the dorsal fin with a similar line at the base of the anal fin. There are two dark streaks behind the eye, and the scalpel-like scales that project from the caudal peduncle are blackish and surrounded by a large black spot with a bluish border. Both dorsal and anal fins are long, extending as far as the caudal peduncle. The caudal fin is crescent-shaped, the points growing longer as the fish ages. It is rimmed by a band of bluish-white.

Distribution and habitat.

This species has a wide distribution across the tropical and subtropical Indo-Pacific region; its range extends from East Africa and Madagascar to southern India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia. It occurs on rocks and coral reefs, on the reef slopes and in the channels between reefs, at depths down to about.

Ecology.

The doubleband surgeonfish feeds on algae growing on the seabed and detritus, as well as the algal film that grows on sand and other substrates. Breeding involves the liberation of sperm and eggs into the sea. The larvae are pelagic, and return to the reef habitat about seven weeks later. The juveniles form mixed species groups with other fish species; at first they may be black, or yellow with a black eye ring, but later they resemble the adult fish, apart from the black markings behind the eye, which at one stage in juvenile development is horseshoe-shaped. This fish feeds in the open during the day, often in small groups with parrotfish and other species.

Status.

This is a common fish in much of its range. It is sometimes caught for human consumption and for use in the aquarium trade. It is susceptible to the destruction of the reef habitats in which it lives, but is found in several marine protected areas. The International Union for Conservation of Nature has rated its conservation status as being of "least concern".

The doubleband surgeonfish or lieutenant tang ("Acanthurus tennenti"), is a marine ray-finned fish in the family Acanthuridae. It is found in the tropical and sub-tropical Indo-Pacific region and grows to a maximum length of.

Der Kreisdorn-Doktorfisch ("Acanthurus tennentii") ist eine Art aus der Familie der Doktorfische und gehört in dieser der Unterfamilie der Skalpelldoktorfische an.