title: Mulleriyawa

abstract: Mulleriyawa (මුල්ලේරියාව) is a suburb located within the greater metropolitan area of Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. Situated approximately 9 kilometers east of Colombo’s city center, Mulleriyawa occupies a strategic position along the A4 highway, providing convenient access to the heart of the capital and other surrounding areas.

text:
# Mulleriyawa

**Mulleriyawa** (මුල්ලේරියාව) is a suburb located within the greater metropolitan area of Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. Situated approximately 9 kilometers east of Colombo’s city center, Mulleriyawa occupies a strategic position along the A4 highway, providing convenient access to the heart of the capital and other surrounding areas .

## InfoBox

| Mulleriyawa මුල්ලේරියාව | |
| --- | --- |
| Suburb | |
| Mulleriyawa | |
| முல்லேரியவா transcription(s) | |
| MulleriyawaMulleriyawa | |
| Coordinates: 6°56′00″N 79°56′00″E / 6.93333°N 79.93333°E / 6.93333; 79.93333 | |
| Sri Lanka | Western Province |
| District | Colombo |
| Divisional Secretariat | Kolonnawa |
| Time zone | UTC+05:30 (SLST) |


title: Melocactus bellavistensis

abstract: Melocactus bellavistensis is a species of Melocactus found in Ecuador and Peru.

text:
# Melocactus bellavistensis

***Melocactus bellavistensis*** is a species of *Melocactus* found in Ecuador and Peru.

## InfoBox

| *Melocactus bellavistensis* | |
| --- | --- |
|  | |
| Conservation status | |
|
Data Deficient  (IUCN 3.1) | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Plantae |
| *Clade*: | Tracheophytes |
| *Clade*: | Angiosperms |
| *Clade*: | Eudicots |
| Order: | Caryophyllales |
| Family: | Cactaceae |
| Subfamily: | Cactoideae |
| Genus: | *Melocactus* |
| Species: | ***M. bellavistensis*** |
| Binomial name | |
| ***Melocactus bellavistensis***
Rauh & Backeb. | |
|


title: JP Sauni

abstract: JP Sauni is a professional rugby union player who qualifies to play for New Zealand, Australia and Samoa. He plays for the Waratahs in the Super Rugby competition. His position of choice is hooker.

text:
# JP Sauni

**JP Sauni** (born 7 July 1997) is a professional rugby union player who qualifies to play for New Zealand, Australia and Samoa. He plays for the Waratahs in the Super Rugby competition. His position of choice is hooker.

## InfoBox

JP Sauni
| Birth name | John Perelini Sauni |
| --- | --- |
| Date of birth | (1997-07-07) 7 July 1997 |
| Place of birth | Auckland, New Zealand |
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 105 kg (16 st 7 lb; 231 lb) |
| School | De La Salle College, Auckland NZ, Hallam College, Melbourne, Australia |
| Rugby union career | |
| **Position(s)** Hooker  Senior career  **Years** **Team** **Apps** **(Points)**  2017 Auckland  1  (0)  Super Rugby  **Years** **Team** **Apps** **(Points)**  2018–2021 Waratahs  0  (0)  International career  **Years** **Team** **Apps** **(Points)**  2017  New Zealand U20s | |


title: University of Michigan Library

abstract: The University of Michigan Library is the academic library system of the University of Michigan. The university's 38 constituent and affiliated libraries together make it the second largest research library by number of volumes in the United States. As of 2019–20, the University Library contained more than 14,543,814 volumes, while all campus library systems combined held more than 16,025,996 volumes. As of the 2019–2020 fiscal year, the Library also held 221,979 serials, and over 4,239,355 annual visits. Founded in 1838, the University Library is the university's main library and is housed in 12 buildings with more than 20 libraries, among the most significant of which are the Shapiro Undergraduate Library, Hatcher Graduate Library, Special Collections Library, and Taubman Health Sciences Library. However, several U-M libraries are independent of the University Library: the Bentley Historical Library, the William L. Clements Library, the Gerald R. Ford Library, the Kresge Business Administration Library of the Ross School of Business, and the Law Library of the University of Michigan Law School. The University Library is also separate from the libraries of the University of Michigan–Dearborn and the University of Michigan–Flint. The University of Michigan was the original home of the JSTOR database, which contains about 750,000 digitized pages from the entire pre-1990 backfile of ten journals of history and economics. In December 2004, the University of Michigan announced a book digitization program in collaboration with Google, which is both revolutionary and controversial. Books scanned by Google are included in HathiTrust, a digital library created by a partnership of major research institutions. As of March 2014, the following collections had been digitized: Art, Architecture and Engineering Library; Bentley Historical Library; Buhr Building; Dentistry Library (portions); Fine Arts Library; Hatcher Graduate Library; Herbarium Library; Kresge Business Administration Library; Law Library (portions); Museums Library; Music Library; Shapiro Undergraduate Library; Special Collections Research Library (portions); Taubman Health Sciences Library; Responding to restricted public funding and the rising costs of print materials, the library has launched significant new ventures that use digital technology to provide cost-effective and permanent alternatives to traditional print publication. The University Library is also an educational organization in its own right, offering a full range of courses, resources, support, and training for students, faculty, and researchers. The University Librarian and Dean of Libraries is Lisa R. Carter, whose term began on May 1, 2023.

text:
# University of Michigan Library

The **University of Michigan Library** is the academic library system of the University of Michigan. The university's 38 constituent and affiliated libraries together make it the second largest research library by number of volumes in the United States.

As of 2019–20, the University Library contained more than 14,543,814 volumes, while all campus library systems combined held more than 16,025,996 volumes. As of the 2019–2020 fiscal year, the Library also held 221,979 serials, and over 4,239,355 annual visits.

Founded in 1838, the University Library is the university's main library and is housed in 12 buildings with more than 20 libraries, among the most significant of which are the Shapiro Undergraduate Library, Hatcher Graduate Library, Special Collections Library, and Taubman Health Sciences Library. However, several U-M libraries are independent of the University Library: the Bentley Historical Library, the William L. Clements Library, the Gerald R. Ford Library, the Kresge Business Administration Library of the Ross School of Business, and the Law Library of the University of Michigan Law School. The University Library is also separate from the libraries of the University of Michigan–Dearborn (Mardigian Library) and the University of Michigan–Flint (Frances Willson Thompson Library).

The University of Michigan was the original home of the JSTOR database, which contains about 750,000 digitized pages from the entire pre-1990 backfile of ten journals of history and economics. In December 2004, the University of Michigan announced a book digitization program in collaboration with Google (known as Michigan Digitization Project), which is both revolutionary and controversial. Books scanned by Google are included in HathiTrust, a digital library created by a partnership of major research institutions. As of March 2014, the following collections had been digitized: Art, Architecture and Engineering Library; Bentley Historical Library; Buhr Building (large portions); Dentistry Library (portions); Fine Arts Library (large portions); Hatcher Graduate Library (large portions); Herbarium Library; Kresge Business Administration Library; Law Library (portions); Museums Library; Music Library (large portions); Shapiro Undergraduate Library (large portions); Special Collections Research Library (portions); Taubman Health Sciences Library (large portions);

Responding to restricted public funding and the rising costs of print materials, the library has launched significant new ventures that use digital technology to provide cost-effective and permanent alternatives to traditional print publication. The University Library is also an educational organization in its own right, offering a full range of courses, resources, support, and training for students, faculty, and researchers.

The University Librarian and Dean of Libraries is Lisa R. Carter, whose term began on May 1, 2023.

## History

The Michigan Legislature created the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor in 1838, and that year allocated funding for a library. The next year (three years before classes began), the Board of Regents of the University of Michigan acquired the University Library's first volume, John James Audubon's *Birds of America*, purchased at a cost of $970. (The book is now displayed in the Hatcher Gallery Exhibit Room). Also in 1838, the university's first professor, Asa Gray (known as the "father of American botany"), was entrusted with a $5,000 budget to establish the first collection of books for the University Library; he purchased 3,400 volumes.

Before the university's first years, books were stored in various places around campus, including at the Law School and in various professors' homes. In 1856, the North Wing of the University Building was remodeled, and books centralized in the university's Library and Museum there. In 1863, the Library moved to the Law Building. In 1883, with Raymond Cazallis Davis (chief librarian) as a motivating force in its completion, the university's first library building was finished. Within twelve years of its construction the building was already too small for the growing collection. Between 1870 and 1940 the collection grew rapidly, from 17,000 to 941,500.

In 1890, the University Library inaugurated a handwritten card catalog system, which later changed to typed cards and, after 1900, to printed cards from the Library of Congress. By 1895, the Library's overcrowding problem had become acute, and President James Burrill Angell told the Regents that "The embarrassment, to which I have called attention in previous reports, arising from the crowded condition of the Library, of course grows more serious every year."

In 1900, the library established "caged areas in the stacks to protect books of exceptional value," becoming one of the first rare book rooms to be established in America. By 1905, student borrowing privileges had become established, a shift from the early restricted-circulation model in which students needed a faculty member's permission to check books out of the Library. In 1911, the Detroit anarchist Joseph Labadie donated his personal library to the university, establishing the nucleus of what became of the Labadie Collection, the oldest collection of radical-left history materials in the world.

By 1915, the overcrowded, wood-constructed General Library was designated a fire hazard by the Board of Regents. After this, a new building was finally constructed. Designed by architect Albert Kahn, the library building (which is today the north building of the Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library) was dedicated on January 7, 1920. The same year, Professor Francis W. Kelsey (who founded the university's Kelsey Museum of Archaeology) added 617 ancient Egyptian papyri to the university's holdings, beginning the University of Michigan Papyrus Collection, which became the largest in the Americas.

By 1940, the University Library's card catalog had 2,000 trays and 1.75 million cards. A post-World War II boom in enrollment, fueled by the G.I. Bill, further strained the library's crowding problems as the library continued to expand. In 1947, the library took over collection development responsibilities, replacing the old system in which each academic department selected and purchases books and journals. In 1948, the library established its Far Eastern Library (renamed the Asia Library in 1959) of materials from China, Japan, and Korea; the Asian Library is now the largest collection of East Asian resources in North America.

In 1970, an eight-story addition was built, where much of the print collections are housed, along with the Library's administration offices, the Map Library, Special Collections, and Papyrology. The Undergraduate Library was built in 1958, and renamed for Harold T. and Vivian B. Shapiro in 1995, with extensive access for students. In years to come, the principle of access to materials would become the standard and goal for all libraries and initiatives.

## Collections

### Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library

The Harlan Hatcher Graduate Library is the university's primary research collection for the humanities and social sciences. It contains over 3.5 million volumes and over 10,000 periodicals written in more than 300 languages. Commonly cited collecting strengths of the Graduate Library include English and French history, papyrology, Germanic history and culture, classical archeology, military history, English Literature, social and political movements. In addition, these general stacks collections are supported by strong holdings in United States and foreign government documents, a significant collection of maps and cartographic materials, a comprehensive collection of publications written in East Asian languages, manuscripts and special collections, over 1.5 million items in microformat, and a strong collection of reference and bibliographic sources. The library was named after Harlan Hatcher, the eighth President of the University.

A number of units are physically in the Hatcher Library or are organizationally associated with the Hatcher Library. These include:

#### Asia Library

The Asia Library is located on the fourth floor of Hatcher Graduate Library (North). It is one of the largest collections of East Asian materials in North America, as of June 2012 holds some 785,000 volumes of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean monographs, 2,100 currently received serials, and 80,000 titles of materials in microform, and a large number of electronic resources in all East Asian languages. The Asia Library also has a reference room with essential reference materials, such as encyclopedias, dictionaries, maps, bibliographies, and indexes, in both East Asian and Western languages. The Asia Library launched its own website in April 1994, making it one of the first multilingual websites on East Asian studies.

#### Stephen S. Clark Library

The Clark Library is the university's combined "map collection, government information center, and spatial and numeric data services" center. Its map collection is the largest in Michigan and one of the largest of any university, consisting of more than 370,000 maps and about 10,000 atlases and reference works. The map collection's holdings include a variety of cartographic materials, including maps, atlases, gazetteers, geographical dictionaries, and other reference works. Among the highlights of the collection are Abraham Ortelius's 1570 *Americae sive novi Orbis, nova Descriptio*, an early map of the Americas; Giambattista Nolli's 1798 *Nuova Pianta di Roma*, a map of Rome; Giovanni Battista Piranesi's 1746 *Plan of the Course of the Tiber*, a plan of the Tiber River commissioned by Pope Benedict XIV; an 1809 pocket globe, and Guillaume Coutans's 1880 *Tableau Topographique des Environs de Paris*.

The Clark Library Government Information Collection serves as a center for government documents. The university is a Federal Depository Library for U.S. government documents, and is also the a depository for publications of the State of Michigan, government of Canada, United Nations, Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), and European Union. The university's collection of publications of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Bank, International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Trade Organization (WTO) are also held at the Clark Library. Highlights of the Government Information Collection include a full run of all U.S. congressional publications since 1789, all UN documents since 1946, and all U.S. census documents since 1790.

The library's Spatial and Numeric Data Services (SAND) is housed at the Clark Library and on North Campus at SAND North in the Spatial Analysis Lab (room 2207) of the Art and Architecture Building. SAND assists in research, and "locates, acquires, and converts numeric and spatial data sets, especially social science data sets. SAND also supports the use of geographic information systems (GIS) software.

#### Special Collections Research Center

The Special Collections Research Center (SCRC) acquires, cares for, interprets, and shares collections of unique, rare, and primary source material. The space was renamed from the Special Collections Library to the Special Collections Research Center in 2018. The collection is non-circulating, with many materials stored off-site and retrieved upon request. The SCRC includes around 275,000 published volumes, as well as an estimated 6,500 linear feet of archival material, about 450 incunabula (pre-1501 books), and almost 1,400 early manuscripts on vellum and paper. The SCRC also includes an estimated 20,000 posters and prints and 10,000 photographs. Notable strengths of the Special Collections Research Center include:

#### Jewish Heritage Collection

The library's special collection on Jewish history and culture, from a gift made jointly to the Frankel Center for Judaic Studies and the University Library. Includes more than 1,500 books, 1,000 works of art (drawings, paintings, engravings, woodcuts, lithographs, and prints); 700 items of ephemera (cards, calendars, clippings, postcards, and mementoes); and some 200 objects, including both ritual objects (menorahs, groggers, yarmulkes, Challah covers, besamim) and other objects (toys, candles, serving trays).

#### International Studies

International Studies (formerly the Area Programs Library) consists of four divisions: Near East; Slavic, East European, and Eurasian; South Asia; and Southeast Asia Division.

### Shapiro Library

The Hatcher Graduate Library is connected by a skyway to the Shapiro Library Building, which houses two libraries:

* **Shapiro Undergraduate Library** (called "the UGLi," a pre-renovation nickname that stuck) includes all four floors of the Shapiro Library Building. It is a popular study and meeting place for U-M undergraduates, and has a solid, generalist collection of about 200,000 books and journals. The UGLi also offers a great many services to its students, including Course Reserves, Reference Services, and the Peer Information Consultant (PIC) program, which allows students to get research advice from fellow undergraduates. Café Shapiro is an annual forum for students, nominated by their professors, to read their creative work in a casual, coffeehouse-style environment. The UGLi is also home to Bert's Café, which opened in February 2008. The café was donated by Bertram Askwith (LSA '31), who is also the donor of the Askwith Media Library. The basement and fourth floor of Shapiro hold books on astronomy, biology, chemistry, geology, natural resources, mathematics, physics, and statistics. The Shapiro Library contains over 400,000 print volumes and subscribes to over 2,000 journals.
* **Askwith Media Library**, formerly the Film and Video Library, was renamed and moved to the second floor of the Shapiro Library Building. The Askwith Media Library contains over 25,000 titles, including feature films, documentaries, and instructional programs available for checkout, on-site viewing, or streaming. Especially strong in foreign, animated, and documentary film, Askwith serves the entertainment and instructional needs of the university community.

### Other Central Campus libraries

The University Library contains collections that support the university's museums:

### Taubman Health Sciences Library

One of the largest medical libraries in America with comprehensive collections in all facets of health care and medical research, the Taubman Health Sciences Library also has extensive online collections and is a member of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine, a gateway for access to over a thousand medical libraries nationwide. The Taubman Health Sciences Library has recently introduced the Clinical Librarian Service for the growing information needs of health professionals within the University of Michigan Health System who cannot easily leave their units, clinics or health centers.

Many rare volumes of significance to the history of medicine have been moved to the Special Collections Research Center, with access by appointment only. These include approximately 6,300 titles dating from 1470 to the early 20th century, consisting primarily of pre-1850 imprints. It includes 82 incunabula, 52 magical medical amulets, as well as medical fugitive sheets, manuscripts, letters, medical cartoons, medical portraits, medical illustrations, and medical artifacts. Particular strengths of the collection are early 19th-century American medical literature; anatomy; surgery; homeopathy; pharmacy and materia medica; obstetrics and gynecology; cardiology; pathology; and hernia treatment.

### North Campus libraries

Two university libraries are located on the U-M North Campus: the Music Library and the Art, Architecture & Engineering Library (AAEL). The Music Library is located on the third floor of the Earl V. Moore Music Building. The Music Library's collections feature extensive materials in performance, musicology, composition, theory, and dance, including scores, serials, and sound and video recordings in many formats. The Art, Architecture & Engineering Library, in the Duderstadt Center, features more than 600,000 volumes, thousands of periodicals, and over 200 databases in the disciplines of art and design, architecture, engineering, and urban planning. The library has especially strong collections in early twentieth-century art and design, with many materials on the Bauhaus school, Le Corbusier, Louis Sullivan and Frank Lloyd Wright.

### Independent libraries

There are also several collections that are affiliated with the university, but are not part of the University Library system. Two historical libraries are the Bentley Historical Library and the William L. Clements Library. The former is home of the University of Michigan's archives as well as the Michigan Historical Collections, while the latter houses original resources for the study of American history and culture from the 15th to the early 20th century.

Other libraries include the Law School Library, the Gerald R. Ford Presidential Library, the Ronald and Deborah Freedman Library of the Population Studies Center, and the Transportation Research Institute Library. The last library is one of the world's most extensive collections of literature on traffic safety. There are also many independent departmental libraries, as well as small libraries in many student dormitories.

### Off-campus facilities

The only off-campus library in the University of Michigan system is the Biological Station Library. Its collection consists of over 16,000 cataloged volumes and more than 50 paper journals. It specializes in limnology, ornithology, ecology, systematics, taxonomy, and natural history. Located in Pellston, Michigan, near the northern tip of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan, the University of Michigan Biological Station is dedicated to education and research in field biology and environmental science.

Not considered an independent library, but nevertheless a key facility for the entire U-M library system, the Buhr Building stores in a preservation-sensitive environment over two million items too fragile or rarely used to be kept in the main libraries.

## Challenges and opportunities

### Michigan Publishing

Michigan Publishing (formerly "MPublishing") is a library publishing initiative which is "the hub of scholarly publishing at the University of Michigan."

Major activities of Michigan Publishing include: "publishing monographs in print and electronic forms; hosting and publishing journals, with an emphasis on online, open-access formats; developing new digital publishing models with the potential to become community portals for wider knowledge sharing; creating permanent, accessible versions of faculty publications and related materials; publishing and copyright consultation and education; rights advocacy for University of Michigan authors; reissuing materials from our collections and our faculty in new forms (reprints, electronic editions)."

Michigan Publishing hosts and helps operated 25 University of Michigan-based journals and scholarly conference proceedings in a variety of fields. It also operates Deep Blue, the university's institutional repository.

Michigan Publishing operates several print-on-demand programs. The University of Michigan Faculty Reprints (FRS) returns out-of-print books written by university faculty back into circulation on an openly accessible and affordable basis, both online and in print. The library also has an Espresso Book Machine on the first floor of the Shapiro Undergraduate Library.

The University of Michigan Press is a component of Michigan Publishing.

#### Scholarly Publishing Office

The **Scholarly Publishing Office** (SPO) was a unit of the University of Michigan Library devoted to developing innovative and economically sustainable publishing and distribution models for scholarly discourse. Its staff, services, and imprints are now part of Michigan Publishing. Created in 2001, the Scholarly Publishing Office provided a suite of publishing services to scholars at U-M and beyond, in order to provide alternatives to commercial academic publishing. In addition to developing cost-effective methods of publication, SPO also helped scholars increase access to their work by making it openly available online, within a trusted and durable digital library environment. Library-based publishing services such as those offered by the Scholarly Publishing Office contribute to a more robust, efficient, and diverse system of scholarly communication. In 2009 it was absorbed into a new brand name, "MPublishing", was in turn renamed to "Michigan Publishing" in 2013.

##### Background

SPO was unique among publishers because of its affiliation with a major university library. Historically, libraries have defined their mission according to the rubrics of collecting, preserving, cataloging, and distributing the fruits of scholarly inquiry. For many years this broadly conceived mission has sufficed; today, the economics of the publishing world have created a situation in which the status quo is impossible to maintain. Library budgets for public universities like the U-M are either cut or stagnant, while the costs of publishing in print form continue to rise. Publishing conglomerates drive subscription rates up, while libraries struggle—and in many case fail—to keep up. Smaller academic publishing houses do not generate sufficient revenue to support themselves, and their institutional subsidies have been slashed. Many presses have closed, and those that remain have raised prices for their books to a near-prohibitive level, further restricting sales.

Harnessing the flexibility and relatively inexpensive resources of electronic publishing, SPO responded to the economic challenges of scholarly publication by providing a cost-effective, sustainable, permanent, and user-friendly publishing option for journals that could not sustain the cost of print publication and distribution.

##### Projects and Publications

Starting with *Philosopher's Imprint*, a peer-reviewed journal produced by the University of Michigan Department of Philosophy, SPO published over a dozen journals and provided for-fee hosting for non-profit academic organizations' subscription products. For example, SPO hosted the American Council of Learned Society's ACLS Humanities Ebook (now hosted by Michigan Publishing) and the Law Library Microfilm Consortium's LLMC-Digital, a database of legal research materials. SPO also offered limited monograph publication and a print on demand service, as well as offering non-traditional publication services, such as online versions of exhibits curated by the University of Michigan's Special Collections Library.

SPO began a collaboration with the University of Michigan Press, called the Michigan Digital Publishing Initiative, to explore the possibilities of new publishing partnerships between libraries and traditional, print-based academic presses. The first fruits of this alliance was digitalculturebooks, an imprint that offers books on the role of technology in contemporary society in both print and digital formats.

SPO actively pursued new and promising partnerships and publication opportunities. For example, it released the online publication of the *Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists* (BASP), in partnership with the University of Michigan Library's Papyrology Collection. BASP is the only journal in the field of papyrology published in North America and is the official journal of the American Society of Papyrologists.

### Digitization

Since the early 1990s, the University of Michigan Library has been a leader among research libraries in efforts to digitize its vast collections. The Digital Library Production Service (DLPS) of the U-M Library oversees the digitization of Library materials, and the development of online access systems for these digitized materials. In furtherance of this goal, DLPS developed its own digital library software, called Digital Library Extension Service (DLXS), that provides a uniform interface for its digitized items. DLPS oversees the scanning and optical character recognition of about 5,000 texts per year, many of them rare, brittle, or delicate.

The Digital Library Production Service hosts many searchable digital collections. Among them are:

DLPS is also affiliated with the Text Creation Partnership (TCP) to create searchable, full-text versions of works digitized in the Early English Books Online, Evans Early American Imprints, and the Eighteenth Century Collection Online projects. TCP, when its work is concluded, will have produced over 40,000 XML-encoded text files—making it one of the largest collections of its kind.

### Google and HathiTrust

In December 2004 the University Library and Google announced their plans to digitize the over 7 million print volumes held by the Library. Especially old and fragile items, or items in special collections, will not be handled by Google; these the Library will scan itself. It is estimated that it will take approximately six years for Google to complete the scanning process; without Google, the U-M Library was on pace to have their entire collection scanned in about 1000 years. All costs for the project are borne by Google, and the company has developed special scanning technology to ensure that the books are not damaged during the process. All books that are out of copyright will be available for the public to read online; those still in copyright will be searchable, but only brief excerpts will be available to read. Copyright holders, such as publishers and authors, who do not want their books to be scanned can request to have their works excluded from the project, though the Library and Google both maintain that authors and publishers benefit from having their works digitized, since it will make them easier to find and will potentially bring more sales.

Though the project has been revolutionary, it is not without controversy. In September 2005 a lawsuit was filed against Google charging copyright infringement. The lawsuit is still pending, but the scanning goes on.

On June 6, 2007, twelve universities cooperating as the Committee on Institutional Cooperation (CIC) announced a new partnership with Google whose explicit goal was to offer a public, shared digital repository of all the open access content. That shared repository of library partners became HathiTrust. The University of Michigan, which developed the MBooks platform for its own digitized books, partnered with Indiana University and the CIC libraries and the University of California system to create governance and models for financial support. The partnership has grown to include more than 60 institutions.

## ARL rankings

Using a variety of metrics such as accessibility, materials expenditures, volumes held, and staff size, the Association for Research Libraries (ARL) has consistently ranked the UM library system among the top ten in the nation. Although Michigan ranks 3rd among academic libraries as to total volumes held, it ranks 1st for unique titles held among all institutions reporting that statistic. The ARL data is now behind a paywall, but a university page notes that the current volume count posted to the ARL site is the count contained in the infobox: approaching 13 million volumes as of 2012–2013. Financial support has grown to roughly $58 million per annum.

| Year | Volumes Held | Volumes Added Gross | Current Series | Total Expenditures | Total Staff | Data Source | Investment Index Rank |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 2013 | 13,250,648 |  |  | $69,763,323 | 669 | University of Michigan |  |
| 2009 | 9,575,256 | 176,363 | 70,047 | $53,134,323 | 584 | ARL | 5 |
| 2008 | 9,175,102 | 146,729 | 69,457 | $51,599,110 | 570 | ARL | 8 |
| 2007 | 8,414,070 | 157,552 | 71,788 | $50,591,407 | 585 | ARL | 8 |
| 2006 | 8,273,050 | 176,998 | 134,446 | $49,053,402 | 574 | ARL | 8 |
| 2005 | 8,133,917 | 189,373 | 124,809 | $47,113,239 | 473 | ARL | 5 |
| 2004 | 7,958,145 | 171,154 | 67,554 | $46,737,671 | 475 | ARL | 8 |
| 2003 | 7,800,389 | 173,081 | 74,664 | $48,193,379 | 497 | ARL | 5 |
| 2002 | 7,643,203 | 182,670 | 69,218 | $43,357,616 | 514 | ARL | 6 |
| 2001 | 7,484,343 | 172,287 | 68,684 | $43,558,787 | 501 | ARL | 6 |
| 2000 | 7,348,360 | 179,392 | 68,798 | $41,368,972 | 459 | 1.06 | 6 |

42°16′34.3″N 83°44′17.2″W / 42.276194°N 83.738111°W / 42.276194; -83.738111

## InfoBox

| University of Michigan Library | |
| --- | --- |
|  | |
|  | |
|  | |
| Location | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Established | 1838 (186 years ago) |
| Branch of | University of Michigan |
| Collection | |
| Size | 14,543,814 volumes (Ann Arbor Library) as of 2019–2020 with 16,025,996 volumes held by all university libraries |
| Other information | |
| Director | Lisa Carter |
| Website | lib.umich.edu |


title: Neilonellidae

abstract: Neilonellidae is a taxonomic family of small saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the order Nuculanida.

text:
# Neilonellidae

**Neilonellidae** is a taxonomic family of small saltwater clams, marine bivalve molluscs in the order Nuculanida.

## Genera and species

Genera and species within the family Neilonellidae include:

## InfoBox

| Neilonellidae | |
| --- | --- |
|  | |
| *Neilonella brunnea* specimens at Naturalis | |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Bivalvia |
| Order: | Nuculanida |
| Superfamily: | Nuculanoidea |
| Family: | Neilonellidae<br>Allen 1978 |
|
| Genera | |
| See text | |


title: The Lights that Failed

abstract: The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919–1933 is the first of two volumes on the political and diplomatic history of Europe between the World Wars (1919–1939) and is part of the Oxford History of Modern Europe series.

text:
# The Lights that Failed

***The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919–1933*** is the first of two volumes on the political and diplomatic history of Europe between the World Wars (1919–1939) and is part of the Oxford History of Modern Europe series.

## Synopsis

This first volume covers the period from the end of fighting in World War I and the multitude of peace treaties negotiated to end the conflict, to the disintegration of European financial systems as a result of the Great Depression and the rise of Adolf Hitler. Steiner weaves together two distinct threads of interwar historiography, security and economics, to create a "big picture" holistic view of this period of history, covering both great powers and smaller and emerging nations.

Steiner's narrative focuses mainly on the political and economic history of the period and its impact international relations. She focuses on the complex, unforgiving, and often harsh realities of nationalist economic and security policies and how they impacted the relationships between established and emerging European nations. One of Steiner's major contribution to the field of international history is her coverage of the lesser powers of Europe, such as those in Scandinavia and Eastern Europe, which are normally overlooked in works on the period, which are dominated by a great powers narrative and perspective.

The book is structured with two parts of unequal length. The first part of the work is on 1918 to 1929 and focuses on reconstruction of a "shattered" Europe after World War I. The second and shorter part is on what Steiner refers to as the "hinge years" of 1929 to 1933 and focuses on the impact of the Great Depression in Europe, the failure of disarmament as a cornerstone of European security, and the surge of nationalism which upended the European international order. Steiner refers to those years as "hinge year" because she "determined that the doors of Europe that had swung open after the First World War – favouring a reduction of barriers within Europe with regard to the movement of goods, money, people and ideas – slammed firmly shut by 1933." Steiner also covers the impact of the Japanese invasion and occupation of Manchuria on internal and external European relations. The book concludes with a chronology of international events between 1919 and 1933 and an extensive bibliography of primary and secondary sources.

## Academic reception

*"Among the many virtues of Steiner’s masterly synthetic account are a wide geographic range, with an extensive treatment of Central Europe and the Balkans; a command of the very extensive monographic literature, with judicious summings up and verdicts on the often ferocious microhistoriographical debates; beautiful vignettes of the leading politicians and diplomats; and an ability to bring together the economic and security aspects of European politics."* Harold James, Princeton University.

*"A magisterial narrative history, thorough, comprehensive, wide-ranging, well organized, cautious, balanced in judgement, objective in tone, and (insofar as any book of this size, complexity, and detail can be) readable."*

*"Its publication ... emphatically affirms Zara Steiner's status as the pre-eminent historian of inter-war international affairs."*

## Academic reviews

## Release information

## Series information

The Lights that Failed is part of the Oxford History of Modern Europe and is the first of two volumes authored by Steiner for the series, the second being the follow-up *The Triumph of the Dark: European International History 1933-1939*. The series is edited by Alan Bullock and William Deakin.

## About the author

**Zara Steiner** (6 November 1928  13 February 2020) was an American-born British historian and academic. Steiner specialised in foreign relations, international relations, 20th century history of Europe and of the United States. Richard J. Evans has described her two volumes in the Oxford History of Modern Europe (*The Lights That Failed* and *The Triumph of the Dark*) as the "standard works" on international diplomacy between the two world wars. She was elected as a fellow of the British Academy and also served as Acting President of the University of Cambridge.

### Notes

### Citations

1. James, Harold (2007). "The Lights That Failed: European International History, 1919–1933. By Zara Steiner. Oxford History of Modern Europe. Edited by Lord Bullock and Sir William Deakin. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005". *The Journal of Modern History*. **79** (3): 648–649. doi:10.1086/523217.
2. Clavin, Patricia (January 2006). "Book review: The Lights That Failed. European International History, 1919–1933". *The Institute of Historical Research, the University of London* (489).
3. Hoffmann, Stanley (2005). "Reviewed work: The Lights That Failed: European International History, 1919–1933, Zara Steiner". *Foreign Affairs*. **84** (5): 177. doi:10.2307/20031737. JSTOR 20031737.
4. Schroeder, Paul W. (2006). "The Lights That Failed, and Those Never Lit". *International History Review*. **28** (1): 119–126. doi:10.1080/07075332.2006.9641089. S2CID 154079259.
5. Conway, Martin (2006). "Reviewed work: The Lights that Failed: European International History, 1919–1933, Zara Steiner". *English Historical Review*. **121** (494): 1491–1493. doi:10.1093/ehr/cel313.
6. "Oxford History of Modern Europe". *Oxford University Press*. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
7. Richard J Evans (24 February 2020). "Zara Steiner obituary". *The Guardian*. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
8. "Steiner, Dr Zara Shakow (1928–)". *history.ac.uk*. Institute of Historical Research. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
9. "Zara Steiner". University of London.

## InfoBox

The Lights that Failed: European International History 1919–1933
| Book cover | |
| --- | --- |
| Author | Zara Steiner |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Oxford History of Modern Europe |
| Subject | History of Europe between the end of World War I and the assumption of power by Adolf Hitler |
| Genre | History |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Publication date | 2007 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle |
| Pages | 956 pp. |
| ISBN | 978-0199226863 |
| Followed by | *The Triumph of the Dark: European International History 1933-1939* |
| Website | Book Website |


title: West Pit

abstract: West Pit is a 4.3 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Cherry Hinton, on the south-eastern outskirts of Cambridge. It is part of the Cherry Hinton Pit biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which includes the neighbouring East Pit. This former chalk quarry is now steeply sloping woodland with a caravan park in the centre. The woodland has been designated an SSSI due to the presence of a plant on the British Red List of Threatened Species, the moon carrot. The site has been designated a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) by Cambridge City Council, which shows it as one LNR and East Pit and Limekiln Close as another LNR. However, the LNRs are confused on the Natural England website. One is shown as Limekiln Close and West Pit on the details page, but the map only covers Limekiln Close. The other LNR is shown on the details page as East Pit, whereas the map covers both East and West Pits. There is access to the site from the entrance to the caravan park on Limekiln Road.

text:
# West Pit

**West Pit** is a 4.3 hectare Local Nature Reserve in Cherry Hinton, on the south-eastern outskirts of Cambridge. It is part of the Cherry Hinton Pit biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which includes the neighbouring East Pit.

This former chalk quarry is now steeply sloping woodland with a caravan park in the centre. The woodland has been designated an SSSI due to the presence of a plant on the British Red List of Threatened Species, the moon carrot.

The site has been designated a Local Nature Reserve (LNR) by Cambridge City Council, which shows it as one LNR and East Pit and Limekiln Close as another LNR. However, the LNRs are confused on the Natural England website. One is shown as Limekiln Close and West Pit on the details page, but the map only covers Limekiln Close. The other LNR is shown on the details page as East Pit, whereas the map covers both East and West Pits.

There is access to the site from the entrance to the caravan park on Limekiln Road.

52°10′55″N 0°10′08″E / 52.182°N 0.169°E / 52.182; 0.169

## InfoBox

| West Pit | |
| --- | --- |
|  | |
|  | |
| Type | Local Nature Reserve |
| Location | Cherry Hinton, Cambridgeshire |
| OS grid | TL 484 558 |
| Area | 4.3 hectares |
| Managed by | Cambridge City Council |


title: Pond, California

abstract: Pond is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California, United States. It is located 8.5 miles (14 km) north of Wasco, at an elevation of 282 feet (86 m). Pond was established around 1889. A post office opened at Pond in 1912. Merle Haggard's song "The Train Never Stops At Our Town," was written by nearby Bakersfield resident, Dallas Frazier, about the struggle of life in Pond, and how difficult it was to leave the "Poor Man's Valley" compounded by the fact the train did not stop in Pond.

text:
# Pond, California

**Pond** is an unincorporated community in Kern County, California, United States. It is located 8.5 miles (14 km) north of Wasco, at an elevation of 282 feet (86 m).

Pond was established around 1889. A post office opened at Pond in 1912.

Merle Haggard's song "The Train Never Stops At Our Town," was written by nearby Bakersfield resident, Dallas Frazier, about the struggle of life in Pond, and how difficult it was to leave the "Poor Man's Valley" (San Joaquin Valley) compounded by the fact the train did not stop in Pond.

## InfoBox

| Pond | |
| --- | --- |
| Unincorporated community | |
| PondLocation in CaliforniaPondPond (the United States) | |
| Coordinates: 35°43′04″N 119°19′43″W / 35.71778°N 119.32861°W / 35.71778; -119.32861 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Kern County |
| Elevation | 282 ft (86 m) |


title: New Bern District Brigade

abstract: The New Bern District Brigade was an administrative division of the North Carolina militia during the American Revolutionary War (1776–1783). This unit was established by the North Carolina Provincial Congress on May 4, 1776, and disbanded at the end of the war.

text:
# New Bern District Brigade

The **New Bern District Brigade** was an administrative division of the North Carolina militia during the American Revolutionary War (1776–1783). This unit was established by the North Carolina Provincial Congress on May 4, 1776, and disbanded at the end of the war.

## Commanders

* Brigadier General Richard Caswell (1775–1777)
* Brigadier General William Bryan (1777–1779)
* Brigadier General William Caswell (1779–1783)
* Brigadier General John Simpson (Pro Tempore) (August 1780)
* Brigadier General James Armstrong (Pro Tempore) (2/7/1781 to 2/10/1781)
* Brigadier General John Bryan (1782)

Lieutenant Colonel Richard Dobbs Spaight from the Craven County Regiment served as an aide to general William Caswell.

## Regiments

The following regiments were included in the New Bern District Brigade, which was subordinate to the North Carolina Militia and State Troops, Major General Ashe, beginning in 1778. Each regiment contained companies of up to 50 men.

| Unit | Subordinate Brigade | Created | Disbanded | Original Commander, Rank |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| North Carolina Militia and State Troops | Governor | 1778 | 1783 | Ashe, John Sr., M.G. |
| New Bern District Brigade | North Carolina Militia | 1776 | 1783 | Caswell, Richard, B.G. |
| Beaufort County Regiment | New Bern | 1775 | 1783 | Bonner, James, Col |
| Carteret County Regiment | New Bern | 1775 | 1783 | Thompson, William, Col |
| Craven County Regiment | New Bern | 1775 | 1783 | Leech, Joseph, Col |
| Dobbs County Regiment | New Bern | 1775 | 1783 | Sheppard, Abraham, Sr |
| Hyde County Regiment | New Bern | 1775 | 1783 | Latham, Rotheas, Col |
| Johnston County Regiment | New Bern | 1775 | 1783 | Bryan, Needham, Col |
| Jones County Regiment | New Bern | 1779 | 1783 | Bryan, John, Col |
| Pitt County Regiment | New Bern | 1775 | 1783 | Simpson, John, Col |
| Wayne County Regiment | New Bern | 1779 | 1783 | Exum, Benjamin, Col |

### Beaufort County Regiment

The existing Beaufort County regiment was authorized as part of the North Carolina militia on September 9, 1775 by the North Carolina Provincial Congress, along with 34 other existing county regiments. Beaufort County had a small population and difficulties raising a militia. This regiment was involved in the Battle of Brier Creek in Georgia on Marcy 3, 1779 and the Battle of Rockfish Creek on August 2, 1781 in North Carolina. The commanders of this regiment were:

* Colonel James Bonner (1775–1778)
* Colonel Thomas Bonner, Jr. (1778–1779), also a Lieutenant Colonel
* Colonel William Brown (1779–1783), also a 2nd Major

### Craven County Regiment

The Craven County Regiment was one of the 35 existing county militias to be authorized as a regiment of the North Carolina militia by the North Carolina Provincial Congress on September 9, 1775. It was active until the end of the war. The colonels included:

* Colonel Joseph Leech (1775)
* Colonel John Bryan, Sr. (1775–1779)
* Colonel Christopher Neale (1776–1778)
* Colonel John Sitgreaves (1779–1783)
* Colonel John Tilman (1778–1783), 2nd colonel

The Craven County regiment participated in 10 known engagements during the American Revolution:

### Johnston County Regiment

The Johnston County Regiment was one of the 35 existing county militias to be authorized as a regiment of the North Carolina militia by the North Carolina Provincial Congress on September 9, 1775. It was active until the end of the war. The colonels included:

* Colonel Needham Bryan (17751776)
* Colonel William Bryan (17761777, 1781)
* Colonel Joseph Boon, Jr. (17771778)
* Colonel John Smith (17791783)

The Johnston County Regiment participated in 13 known battles and skirmishes in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia during the American Revolution:

### Jones County Regiment

The North Carolina General Assembly created the Jones County Regiment when it created Jones County out of the southern part of Craven County on January 30, 1779. This regiment was active until the end of the war in 1783.

The officers of the Jones County Regiment were appointed by the Governor of North Carolina. The commanders included:

* Colonel John Bryan (17791783)
* Colonel Nathaniel "Nathan" Bryan (2nd colonel, 1779)
* Colonel Waightstill Avery (17791780)
* Colonel Francis Avery (17811783)

The Jones County regiment was engaged in the following five known battles and skirmishes:

### Pitt County Regiment

The Pitt County Regiment was one of the 35 existing county militias to be authorized as a regiment of the North Carolina militia by the North Carolina Provincial Congress on September 9, 1775. It was active until the end of the war. The colonels of this regiment included:

* Colonel John Simpson (1775–1783, commander), (August 1780, Brigadier General Pro Tempore of the New Bern District Brigade)
* Colonel John Salter (1780–1781, second colonel), (1776–1780, captain), (1781, captain in the 1st Battalion of Militia)
* Colonel James Gorham (1776–1780, major), (1780–1781, Lieutenant Colonel), (1781–1783, 2nd colonel)

The Pitt County Regiment was engaged in the nine known battles and skirmishes:

## Bibliography

* Holloman, Charles R. (1979). "William Caswell". *NCPedia*. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
* Holloman, Charles R. (1979). "Richard Caswell". *NCPedia*. Retrieved March 9, 2019.
* Smith, Claiborne T. Jr. (1986). "Benjamin Exum". *NCPedia*. Retrieved March 9, 2019.

## InfoBox

| New Bern District Brigade | |
| --- | --- |
| Active | 1776–1783 |
| Allegiance | North Carolina |
| Branch | North Carolina militia |
| Type | Militia |
| Commanders | |
| Notable<br>commanders | Brigadier Generals: 1. Richard Caswell 2. William Bryan 3. William Caswell 4. John Simpson (Pro Tempore) 5. James Armstrong (Pro Tempore) 6. John Bryan |


title: Mullerornis

abstract: Mullerornis modestus is an extinct species of elephant bird, and the only member of the genus Mullerornis.

text:
# Mullerornis

***Mullerornis modestus*** is an extinct species of elephant bird, and the only member of the genus ***Mullerornis***.

## Taxonomy

The genus is named after Georges Muller, a French explorer, who was killed in 1892 by hostile members of the Sakalava people.

### Synonyms of *Mullerornis modestus*

* *Mullerornis betsilei* Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 (Betsileo elephant bird)
* *Mullerornis agilis* Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 (agile/coastal elephant bird)
* *Mullerornis rudis* Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 (robust elephant bird)
* ?*Mullerornis grandis* Lamberton 1934 (holotype destroyed in a fire in 1995)

## Description

*Mullerornis* is smaller than the more well-known *Aepyornis,* with a still substantial body mass of approximately 80 kilograms (180 lb). A bone possibly belonging to *Mullerornis* has been radiocarbon dated to about 1260 BP, suggesting that the animal was still extant at the end of the first millennium. *Aepyornis modestus* was shown by Hansford and Turvey (2018) to be a senior synonym of all nominal *Mullerornis* species described by Milne-Edwards and Grandidier (1894), resulting in the new combination *Mullerornis modestus*.

## Palaeobiology

### Nocturnality

Like other elephant birds and its kiwi relatives, *Mullerornis* probably was nocturnal based on the small size of its optic lobes, though it shows less optical lobe reduction than these other taxa, implying slightly more crepuscular habits.

### Diet

Isotopic evidence suggests that *Mullerornis* was likely a browsing herbivore.

### Reproduction

The eggs of *Mullerornis* are substantially smaller than those of *Aepyornis*, weighting approximately 0.86 kilograms (1.9 lb), with a shell thickness of about 1.1 mm (364 in).

## Footnotes

## InfoBox

| *Mullerornis*
Temporal range: | |
| --- | --- |
|  | |
| Life restoration | |
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Aves |
| Infraclass: | Palaeognathae |
| Order: | Aepyornithiformes |
| Genus: | *Mullerornis*
Milne-Edwards & Grandidier 1894 |
|
| Type species | |
| *Mullerornis betsilei*
Milne-Edwards & Grandidier 1894 | |
| Species | |
| * *M. modestus* (Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1869) Hansford & Turvey 2018 | |
|  | |
| Map of Madagascar showing where specimens have been found | |
| Synonyms | |
| * *Flacourtia* Andrews 1895 * *Aepyornis modestus* Milne-Edwards & Grandidier 1869 * *Mullerornis agilis* Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 * *Mullerornis betsilei* Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 * *Mullerornis rudis* Milne-Edwards & Grandidier, 1894 * *Flacourtia rudis* (Milne-Edwards & Grandidier 1894) Andrews 1895 * ?*Mullerornis grandis* Lamberton 1934 | |


title: Meng Zhixiang

abstract: Meng Zhixiang, courtesy name Baoyin (保胤), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Gaozu of Later Shu (後蜀高祖), was the founding emperor of the Chinese Later Shu dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Meng Zhixiang was originally a general and an in-law of the Later Tang dynasty's ruling family, who went by the family name Li. Meng married the eldest sister or perhaps a cousin of the Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang. Meng served the Later Tang as the military governor (Jiedushi) of Xichuan Circuit, after the conquest of Former Shu. After Emperor Zhuangzong's death, Meng was more distant to the succeeding emperor. The new emperor was Emperor Zhuangzong's adoptive brother, Emperor Mingzong. Meng, fearing accusations by Emperor Mingzong's chief advisor An Chonghui, rebelled, in alliance with Dong Zhang, military governor of neighboring Dongchuan Circuit. The Meng-Dong alliance repelled subsequent attempts to suppress or control them, although they continued as nominal subjects of Mingzong. Eventually, Meng overpowered Dong, thus assuming control of both allied domains. Meng continued as titular vassal to Mingzong for the rest of that emperor's reign; but, afterwards, Meng Zhixiang declared himself emperor, thereby founding the Later Shu dynasty.

text:
# Meng Zhixiang

**Meng Zhixiang** (Chinese: 孟知祥; 10 May 874–7 September 934), courtesy name **Baoyin** (保胤), also known by his temple name as the **Emperor Gaozu of Later Shu** (後蜀高祖), was the founding emperor of the Chinese Later Shu dynasty during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Meng Zhixiang was originally a general and an in-law of the Later Tang dynasty's ruling family, who went by the family name Li. Meng married the eldest sister or perhaps a cousin of the Emperor Zhuangzong of Later Tang. Meng served the Later Tang as the military governor (*Jiedushi*) of Xichuan Circuit (西川, headquartered in modern Chengdu, Sichuan), after the conquest of Former Shu. After Emperor Zhuangzong's death, Meng was more distant to the succeeding emperor. The new emperor was Emperor Zhuangzong's adoptive brother, Emperor Mingzong. Meng, fearing accusations by Emperor Mingzong's chief advisor An Chonghui, rebelled, in alliance with Dong Zhang, military governor of neighboring Dongchuan Circuit (東川, headquartered in modern Mianyang, Sichuan). The Meng-Dong alliance repelled subsequent attempts to suppress or control them, although they continued as nominal subjects of Mingzong. Eventually, Meng overpowered Dong, thus assuming control of both allied domains. Meng continued as titular vassal to Mingzong for the rest of that emperor's reign; but, afterwards, Meng Zhixiang declared himself emperor, thereby founding the Later Shu dynasty.

## Birth, family, and early career

### Birth

Meng Zhixiang was born in 874, during the reign of Emperor Yizong of Tang.

### Family

His family was from Xing Prefecture (邢州, in modern Xingtai, Hebei), and his ancestors had served for generations as army officers at Xing, including his grandfather Meng Cha (孟察) and his father Meng Dao (孟道). His uncle Meng Fangli become military governor (*Jiedushi*) of Zhaoyi Circuit (昭義, headquartered then in Changzhi, Shanxi), which Xing Prefecture belonged to, late in the Tang dynasty, and later moved the circuit's capital from Lu Prefecture (潞州) to Xing in 882, precipitating a mutiny that led to the division of the circuit in two in 883. After Meng Fangli's subsequent suicide in 889, he was succeeded by his younger brother (Meng Zhixiang's uncle) Meng Qian (孟遷), who subsequently surrendered the parts of Zhaoyi he controlled to the major warlord Li Keyong the military governor of Hedong Circuit (河東, headquartered in modern Taiyuan, Shanxi) in 890.

### Early career

Li later put Meng Qian back in command of (reunified) Zhaoyi Circuit in 899. However, when Zhaoyi came under attack in 901 by Li's archrival Zhu Quanzhong the military governor of Xuanwu Circuit (宣武, headquartered in modern Kaifeng, Henan), Meng Qian surrendered the circuit to Zhu. Meng Zhixiang's father Meng Dao continued to serve Li, but did not distinguish himself in the Hedong army. Li, however, was impressed with Meng Zhixiang's talent, and eventually gave his eldest daughter to Meng Zhixiang in marriage. (Meng Zhixiang's younger sister later married another younger brother of Li Keyong's, Li Kening.) Meng Zhixiang thereafter became a training officer in the Hedong army.

## Political background during Jin

In 907, Zhu Quanzhong had Tang's final emperor Emperor Ai yield the throne to him, ending Tang and starting a new Later Liang with him as its Emperor Taizu. Li Keyong and several other regional governors (Yang Wo the military governor of Huainan Circuit (淮南, headquartered in modern Yangzhou, Jiangsu), Li Maozhen the military governor of Fengxiang Circuit (鳳翔, headquartered in modern Baoji, Shaanxi), and Wang Jian the military governor of Xichuan Circuit) refused to recognize the new Later Liang emperor, with Li Keyong, Li Maozhen, and Yang continuing to maintain the Tang era name of *Tianyou*, while Wang shortly after declared himself the emperor of a new state of Former Shu, although Li Keyong was effectively the ruler of his own state of Jin as he carried the title of Prince of Jin. In 908, Li Keyong died and was succeeded as the Prince of Jin by his son Li Cunxu.

### Career as training officer

Meng Zhixiang continued to serve as training officer. Meanwhile, there was an incident in or around 912, when Li Cunxu, angry that the recently surrendered official Li Yan (李嚴) refused his request for Li Yan to serve as teacher to his son Li Jiji, was considering executing Li Yan. It was at Meng's intercession (pointing out that executing Li Yan would speak poorly for Li Cunxu's reputation) that Li Yan was spared.

### Promotion

In or around 919, Li Cunxu wanted to make Meng Zhixiang chief of staff (中門使, *Zhongmenshi*) of the recently captured Tianxiong Circuit (天雄, headquartered in modern Handan, Hebei). However, as that position was a thankless position, and several prior chiefs of staff had been executed due to accusations of wrongdoing, Meng was fearful and declined the position. When Li Cunxu asked him for an alternative recommendation, he recommended the officer Guo Chongtao, whom Li Cunxu subsequently made chief of staff. Because of this recommendation, Guo, whose career would be greatly bolstered by this commission, became thankful to Meng later. Meng himself was thereafter made the discipline officer at Hedong. At one point, Li Cunxu awarded one of his own concubines, a Lady Li, to Meng Zhixiang, and she gave birth to Meng Zhixiang's third son Meng Renzan, in 919.

## During Later Tang

### During Emperor Zhuangzong's reign

In 923, Li Cunxu declared himself the emperor of a new state of Later Tang (as Emperor Zhuangzong) at Xingtang (興唐, i.e., Weibo's capital). He designated Taiyuan as the western capital and made Meng Zhixiang its mayor, as well as its deputy defender. (Meng's wife, as the new emperor's eldest sister, was created the Grand Princess Qionghua, either at that time or in 925.) Shortly after, Emperor Zhuangzong destroyed rival Later Liang and took over its territory, setting his capital at Luoyang.

In 925, Emperor Zhuangzong was planning to launch a major campaign to destroy Former Shu. He commissioned Li Jiji as the titular commander as its operations, with Guo Chongtao serving as deputy commander, in actual command of the operations. Before departing Luoyang, Guo, still thankful to Meng for having recommended him initially, recommended Meng as the prospective military commander of Xichuan if the campaign would be successful in conquering Former Shu. Later in the year, after Li Jiji and Guo were successful in capturing Former Shu's capital Chengdu and its emperor Wang Zongyan (Wang Jian's son and successor), thus destroying it, Emperor Zhuangzong summoned Meng to Luoyang and made him the military governor of Xichuan, also bestowing on him the honorary chancellor designation of *Tong Zhongshu Menxia Pingzhangshi* (同中書門下平章事), preparing him to send him to Xichuan.

By this point, though, friction had begun to surface between Emperor Zhuangzong and the once highly trusted Guo. Emperor Zhuangzong and his wife Empress Liu were suspicious that Guo had seized the wealth of the Former Shu state and not submitted most of it to the imperial treasury. There were also rumors that Guo would rebel and seize the Shu territory for himself. Thus, when sending Meng on its way, Emperor Zhuangzong commented, "I have heard that Guo Chongtao may have treasonous wishes. When you get there, Lord, execute him for me." Meng responded, "Guo Chongtao is an accomplished old subject of the Empire, and it is not likely that he has such wishes. When I, your subject, reaches Shu, I will examine him. If he has no such wishes, I will send him back." Emperor Zhuangzong, at that time, agreed.

However, Empress Liu became convinced that Guo was about to rebel and would kill her son Li Jiji first. She was unable to persuade Emperor Zhuangzong of this, however, and she decided to issue an edict on her own, to be delivered by her servant eunuch Ma Yangui (馬彥珪) to Li Jiji, ordering Guo's death. When Ma caught up with Meng, he delivered the message to Meng, and then himself rushed toward Chengdu. Meng knew that disaster was about to come, and therefore decided to speed himself to Chengdu as well, behind Ma. Ma arrived in Chengdu shortly after, in spring 926. Li Jiji initially hesitated after receiving Empress Liu's edict, but then carried it out by summoning Guo to him and then killing him and his sons in surprise. This led to a general state of confusion in Chengdu, but Meng arrived shortly after and comforted both the army and the people in the city. Shortly after, Li Jiji left Meng in command of the city, departing it and heading back toward Luoyang with his troops.

The nearly simultaneous killing of both Guo and another major general, Zhu Youqian, however, shocked both the armies around the empire at large and the people, and almost immediately caused a number of mutinies to rise around the empire. One of those mutinies was led by one of the generals who served under Guo during the Former Shu campaign, Li Shaochen (né Kang Yanxiao) and whose soldiers were largely previously under Zhu, and therefore who wanted to avenge Zhu. Li Shaochen claimed the title of military governor of Xichuan and postured to attack Chengdu. However, he was quickly defeated in a joint operation commanded by Meng, Dong Zhang the military governor of Dongchuan Circuit, and Ren Huan. After Li Shaochen's defeat, Li Jiji, who had stopped his progress east pending the result of the campaign, continued east back toward Luoyang. Despite Li Shaochen's defeat, however, there were still many disturbances and much banditry in the Shu territory. It was said that Meng comforted the people by selecting honest officials and decreasing the tax burden, causing the people to begin to acquiesce to his control.

Before Li Jiji could reach Luoyang, however, the mutinies multiplied, and in summer 926, Emperor Zhuangzong himself was killed in a mutiny at the capital Luoyang itself. The commander of one of the mutinies, Emperor Zhuangzong's adoptive brother Li Siyuan (and therefore adoptive brother to Meng's wife Grand Princess Qionghua), quickly reached Luoyang itself and claimed the title of regent. Li Jiji postured to challenge him, but soon discovered that his own soldiers were abandoning him in droves. Finding the situation hopeless, Li Jiji committed suicide, and Li Siyuan claimed the title of emperor shortly after (as Emperor Mingzong).

### During Emperor Mingzong's reign

#### Initial establishment in Xichuan

Emperor Mingzong appeared to immediately try to make an attempt to reaffirm Meng Zhixiang's faith to his newly established administration, by bestowing on Meng the greater honorary chancellor title of *Shizhong* (侍中). However, Meng was said to begin to plan to take personal control of the region, by establishing, in addition to the 26 corps that Guo Chongtao left in Xichuan, which totaled 27,000 soldiers, some 36 additional corps of troops, totaling 32,000 soldiers, including six special naval corps preparing to defend against attacks from water.

Meanwhile, Ren Huan became a chancellor and was also in charge of the three finance bureaus (taxation, treasury, and salt and iron monopolies), and, believing that Xichuan was wealthy and capable of supporting the central government financially, sent Meng's old friend Zhao Jiliang to Xichuan to prepare to transported the wealth previously stored by the Former Shu regime, as well as taxes collected since then, to Luoyang. When Zhao arrived at Chengdu in winter 926, Meng's staff members initially advised him to refuse the orders completely, but Meng chose to partially comply — allowing Zhao to have the stored wealth shipped to Luoyang, but refusing to turn over any further tax revenues. He also kept Zhao at Chengdu to serve as his deputy military governor.

By this point, Emperor Mingzong's chief of staff An Chonghui had begun to suspect both Meng (as his wife was Emperor Zhuangzong's eldest sister) and Dong Zhang (who was one of Emperor Zhuangzong's favorite generals) of planning to separate their territory from Later Tang proper. Li Yan (whose life Meng had previously saved by interceding with Emperor Zhuangzong), who had previously served as Later Tang's emissary to Former Shu and had been a major proponent of the campaign against Former Shu, volunteered to serve as the monitor to the Xichuan army, believing that he could curb Meng's ambitions, so An had Li commissioned as the monitor to the Xichuan army, while commissioning the officer Zhu Hongzhao as the deputy military governor of Dongchuan, hoping that they could curb the powers of Meng and Dong, respectively.

Meng was very displeased with Li's commissioning, and while ostensibly welcoming Li, he sent a large number of soldiers to escort Li to Chengdu, hoping that the large display of military might would intimidate Li into leaving on his own. Li took no heed of this, however, and proceeded to Chengdu. Once Li arrived at Chengdu, Meng initially outwardly treated him with respect, but in spring 927, after publicly rebuking him for advocating the campaign against Former Shu that led to the destruction of both Former Shu and Later Tang — i.e., the destruction of Emperor Zhuangzong's administration — executed him. Hearing of Li's death, Zhu fled back to Luoyang, fearing the same fate. Meng then submitted a report to Emperor Mingzong, claiming that Li had plotted to take over the army and had falsely claimed that Meng would soon be summoned back to Luoyang to undermine Meng.

During this time, Meng had sent his attendants to escort his wife Grand Princess Qionghua, as well as Meng Renzan (and probably Meng Renzan's mother Lady Li) to Xichuan. When they reached Fengxiang, the news of Li Yan's death had also reached Fengxiang, and the military governor of Fengxiang, Li Congyan (Li Maozhen's son and successor, who was allowed to inherit the circuit after Li Maozhen submitted to be a Later Tang vassal) immediately had them detained at Fengxiang. However, wanting to retain Meng's faithfulness by grace, Emperor Mingzong ordered that they be allowed to continue on to Chengdu, escorted by the official Li Renju (李仁矩).

Meanwhile, Meng and Dong were also disputing themselves, over the profitability of the salt mines that both of their circuits controlled. To try to gain a trade advantage on Meng, Dong reduced the prices of Dongchuan salt, thus inducing merchants to go to Dongchuan, buy salt, and selling it on the Xichuan salt markets, thus depressing the price of Xichuan salt. In 928, Meng reacted by establishing taxation checkpoints on the border of Xichuan and Dongchuan and taxing such salt trade heavily. With their profits taken away by these taxes, merchants no longer went to Dongchuan to buy salt.

Around that time, Emperor Mingzong had ordered that Xichuan contribute troops in a campaign against the rebel warlord Gao Jixing the military governor of Jingnan Circuit (荊南, headquartered in modern Jingzhou, Hubei), to take back three prefectures that Emperor Zhuangzong had previously bestowed Gao (Kui (夔州), Wan (萬州), and Zhong (忠州), all in modern Chongqing). Meng sent 3,000 troops, commanded by the officer Mao Chongwei (毛重威). After Later Tang imperial forces were able to recapture those prefectures from Gao, however, Meng requested that the troops be returned; Emperor Mingzong refused. Meng then sent secret messengers to Mao and induced him to, in violation of imperial orders, return to Chengdu with his troops. Mao did so, and when Emperor Mingzong subsequently ordered that Mao be punished, Meng refused. Further, Meng also started to refuse to comply with past orders to supply the central government-created Ningjiang Circuit (寧江, headquartered at Kui Prefecture) with food, claiming that the food was necessary for his own circuit's army.

#### Joint campaign of resistance against Later Tang with Dong Zhang

Meanwhile, the Later Tang imperial government, under An Chonghui's strategy, was placing key posts in the region under its own control — with Xia Luqi (夏魯奇), who had been the deputy commander of the operations against Jingnan, made the military governor of Wuxin Circuit (武信, headquartered in modern Suining, Sichuan), Li Renju made the military governor of a new Baoning Circuit (保寧, headquartered in modern Langzhong, Sichuan), carved out of Dongchuan and Xichuan's neighboring Shannan West Circuit (山南西道, headquartered in modern Hanzhong, Shaanxi), and An's brother-in-law Wu Qianyu (武虔裕) the prefect of Mian Prefecture (綿州, in modern Mianyang), in the heart of Dongchuan itself. (Meng had effectively taken control of Wuxin earlier when Li Shaowen (李紹文) the military governor of Wuxin died in 927 and the imperial government abided by Meng's wishes by having Meng's officer Li Jingzhou (李敬周) made the acting military governor of Wuxin.) Further, there were rumors that An was ready to have Mian and nearby Long Prefecture (龍州, also in modern Mianyang) carved out of Dongchuan as a separate circuit.

These developments made both Meng Zhixiang and Dong Zhang apprehensive of the imperial government's attentions, and despite their prior animosity with each other, they began to negotiate an alliance, agreeing to have Dong's son marrying Meng's daughter; they also began to plan a joint resistance in case of an imperial operation against them. They then submitted a joint petition expressing their apprehension and objecting to the imperial establishment of these garrisons, to no avail. (Dong subsequently neutralized Wu by tricking him to Dongchuan's capital Zi Prefecture (梓州) and putting him under arrest, while the imperial government bestowed the greater honorary chancellor title of *Zhongshu Ling* (中書令) on Meng.)

Dong made one last-ditch attempt to stop the imperial government from what he and Meng saw as provocative deployments — by having his son Dong Guangye (董光業), who served as the director of imperial gardens at the capital Luoyang, inform An's deputy Li Qianhui (李虔徽) that if the imperial government sent more soldiers into the region, he would rebel. (However, as noted by, inter alia, the modern historian Bo Yang, Dong's threat had the exact opposite effect, since An's intent was to force Dong and Meng into rebellion so that he could destroy them.) When An thereafter, in fall 930, sent the officer Xun Xian'ai (荀咸乂) to reinforce Baoning's capital Lang Prefecture (閬州), Dong publicly declared his rebellion, and he and Meng joined their forces to prepare to attack Baoning, Wuxin, and Zhaowu (昭武, headquartered in modern Guangyuan, Sichuan) Circuits, which were loyal to the imperial government. Their plan (as proposed by Zhao Jiliang) was to quickly capture Baoning and Wuxin, and then defend the treacherous Jianmen Pass to stop the imperial army from advancing.

Emperor Mingzong reacted by commissioning his son-in-law Shi Jingtang the military governor of Tianxiong as the commander of an army against Dongchuan and Xichuan (with Xia as his deputy), stripping Dong Zhang and Meng of all of their titles, and slaughtering Dong Guangye and his family. Long before Shi's army could arrive in the region, however, the joint Dongchuan/Xichuan forces, under Dong Zhang's command, quickly captured Lang Prefecture and killed Li Renju, while a Xichuan army commanded by Li Renhan, with Zhao Tingyin as Li Renhan's deputy, put Xia under siege at Wuxin's capital Sui Prefecture (遂州). However, Dong, believing that Jianmen Pass was securely defended by his own Dongchuan army, turned down Meng's offer of reinforcements; rather, he headed for Zhaowu's capital Li Prefecture (利州) and tried to capture it; when inclement weather subsequently stopped his advance, he withdrew back to Lang Prefecture without reinforcing the Jianmen defense.

Dong's failure to adequately guard Jianmen led to the only crisis for Meng and Dong in their campaign against the imperial forces. In winter 930, the imperial officer Wang Hongzhi (王弘贄) bypassed Jianmen Pass and then circled around to attack it by surprise. Jianmen fell to him, and he then captured nearby Jian Prefecture (劍州, in modern Guangyuan), shocking both Dong and Meng. However, no imperial forces reinforced Wang, who thereafter felt compelled to abandon Jian Prefecture and simply guard Jianmen. Xichuan forces under Zhao Tingyin and Li Zhao (李肇) subsequently were able to take Jian Prefecture and defend it, alleviating the situation. Meanwhile, Meng also sent the former Former Shu general Zhang Wu (張武) to capture the imperially-held Wutai Circuit (武泰, headquartered in modern Chongqing).

By this time, Emperor Mingzong's resolve to defeat Dongchuan and Xichuan was beginning to dissolve, as he no longer fully trusted An's judgment or loyalty. He was particularly worried about the western circuits' reports of their difficulty in supplying Shi's army. An volunteered to head to the front to oversee the operations himself. However, as soon as he left Luoyang, Shi, who did not agree with this operation, submitted petitions requesting an end to the operations. Apparently as a test to see whether Meng would be willing to end his resistance, Emperor Mingzong released some 1,500 men that Xichuan had previously sent to Kui Prefecture back to Xichuan. In spring 931, Meng submitted a petition thanking Emperor Mingzong for their release, but did not stop his own military operations, as soon thereafter, Li Renhan captured Sui Prefecture, and Xia committed suicide. Meng, after showing Xia's head to the imperial army to demonstrate that Sui Prefecture had fallen, buried Xia with respect.

By this point, An was almost at the front, but after he visited Fengxiang on the way, then governed by Zhu Hongzhao, Zhu submitted a secret petition falsely accusing An of being resentful to the emperor and possibly ready to seize the command of the imperial army from Shi, and also wrote Shi expressing the same. Shi, in fear, submitted petitions requesting that An be recalled. Emperor Mingzong thus recalled An. As soon as he did so, Shi, without first requesting approval from the emperor, withdrew his army from the Jianmen front and headed back toward Luoyang. When Dongchuan and Xichuan forces subsequently chased Shi's army and reached Li Prefecture, Li Yanqi (李彥琦) the military governor of Zhaowu abandoned it and fled as well. Meng made Zhao Tingyin the acting military governor. Zhao Tingyin subsequently advocated seizing Dong by trick and taking over his army, but Meng stopped him from doing so. After Li Renhan captured Wuxin, Meng sent him further east to attack Ningjiang. An Chongruan (安崇阮) the military governor of Ningjiang abandoned Kui Prefecture as well, allowing Li Renhan to capture Ningjiang. When Zhao Tingyin subsequently advocated further attacking Shannan West Circuit, however, Meng, pointing out that the army was tired, refused.

Meanwhile, even before An Chonghui reached Luoyang, Emperor Mingzong commissioned him the military governor of Huguo Circuit (護國, headquartered in modern Yuncheng, Shanxi), and shortly after, after An offered to retire, initially granted the request to retire, but then sent his nephew Li Congzhang (李從璋) the Prince of Yang to kill An. After An's death, Emperor Mingzong blamed the imperial conflicts with Dong, Meng, and Qian Liu the King of Wuyue on An, and in essence capitulated by sending the Xichuan official Su Yuan (蘇愿) and the Dongchuan officer Liu Cheng (劉澄), who had been trapped at Luoyang, back to their circuits to announce An's death and the imperial government's desire for peace. (Other than minor skirmishes, this effectively ended the imperial campaign against Dongchuan and Xichuan.)

#### Aftermaths of campaign against Later Tang

After Su Yuan arrived in Chengdu in winter 931, delivering Emperor Mingzong's message and further assuring Meng that his nephews who remained in imperial territory were safe, Meng wanted to resubmit to the imperial government, and tried to persuade Dong Zhang to do so as well. Dong refused in anger, pointing out that his family members had been executed; thereafter, he began to be hostile toward Meng again. Meng, not wanting to be seen as the breaker of the covenant between him and Dong, did not himself send emissaries to the imperial government initially, and tried two more times to persuade Dong, to no avail. On the last of those occasions in spring 932, Meng's emissary Li Hao, after returning to Chengdu, pointed out that it appeared that Dong was planning an attack and that Xichuan should be prepared. (Around this time, Meng's wife Grand Princess Fuqing (her title's having been changed to Fuqing by Emperor Mingzong) died.)

In summer 932, Dong launched his attack, and initially the Dongchuan army, with Dong being known as a fierce fighter, had a number of victory over Xichuan forces. As part of Dong's plan to adversely affect the Xichuan morale, he wrote letters to Zhao Jiliang, Zhao Tingyin, and Li Zhao, acting as if they were acting in concert with him. Meng paid no heed to those letters, and, leaving Zhao Jiliang in command at Chengdu, himself took an army, along with Zhao Tingyin, to engage Dong. Meanwhile, Dong, after capturing Xichuan's Han Prefecture (漢州, in modern Deyang, Sichuan), approached Chengdu. Meng's and Zhao Tingyin's forces engaged him, but initially the Dongchuan forces prevailed; however, when Xichuan forces that Zhao Tingyin put in reserve then engaged Dongchuan forces, the Dongchuan forces were crushed, and Dong fled back to Zi Prefecture. Once he got there, his officers Wang Hui (王暉) and Dong Yanhao (董延浩) (a son to one of his cousins) mutinied. In the mutiny, another officer, Pan Chou (潘稠) killed Dong Zhang and offered his head to Wang. Wang thereafter surrendered the city to Meng.

Meng thereafter faced the situation that both Zhao Tingyin and Li Renhan wanted command of Dongchuan — a conflict that threatened to tear the victorious Xichuan forces apart. Meng, to resolve the situation, took command of Dongchuan himself, while returning Li to Wuxin and giving Zhao the command of Baoning. By this point, Meng had effective control of not only the two original circuits of Xichuan and Dongchuan, but the carved-out circuits of Wuxin, Baoning, Zhaowu, Ningjiang, and Wutai as well. However, he rejected an overture from his subordinates, led by Zhao Jiliang, to declare himself a prince.

When the imperial government initially received reports of conflict between Dong and Meng, it hoped to take advantage of the situation, but after Meng quickly defeated Dong, An Chonghui's successor as chief of staff, Fan Yanguang, pointed out to Emperor Mingzong that even though Meng controlled the region, he still needed imperial sanction because his soldiers were largely from the Central Plains. Emperor Mingzong, still outwardly treating Meng as an old friend, thus sent his attendant Li Cungui (李存瓌) — a son of Li Kening's and therefore a nephew of Meng's — to Chengdu, reassuring Meng of his family members' and friends' safety and urging him to return to the imperial fold. After Li Cungui reached Chengdu, Meng, taking the form of a subject, knelt and accepted the imperial edict. Thereafter, he became formally a vassal of Later Tang again, but was said to be even more arrogant toward the imperial government than before. He also reported the death of Grand Princess Fuqing, whom Emperor Mingzong then posthumously honored as Grand Princess Yongshun of Jin.

Shortly thereafter, Meng had Li Hao draft petitions on the part of the five acting military governors of the five subsidiary circuits, asking that Meng be given acting imperial authority in the region and asking for imperially-issued staffs for their own commands. Li Hao pointed out that this is the authority that Meng *himself* should be asking for, lest that he be viewed as needing the sanctioning from his subordinates. Under Li Hao's suggestion, Meng therefore submitted a petition of his own, requesting authority to commission prefectural prefects and lower-level officials on his own, while requesting that the imperial government officially command the five acting military governors as military governors. He also requested that the imperial government send the wives and children of the soldiers from the Central Plains to allow the families to be reunited. In winter 932, Emperor Mingzong again sent Li Cungui to Chengdu to deliver his edict, largely approving Meng's requests, and further giving him the authority to commission even military governors in the region. However, he refused to send the wives and children of the soldiers to the region, but also did not (as Meng had feared that he might) order that they be returned to the imperial government. Shortly after, Meng, under authorities granted by Emperor Mingzong, formally bestowed the five acting military governors full commands.

In spring 933, Emperor Mingzong further formally created Meng the Prince of Shu and made him the military governor of both Dongchuan and Xichuan, sending the high-level officials Lu Wenji and Lü Qi for the creation ceremony. Meng himself crafted clothes and crowns that were like the emperor's.

Later that year, Emperor Mingzong died and was succeeded by his son Li Conghou the Prince of Song (as Emperor Min). When Meng received the news, he commented:

> The Prince of Song is young and weak, and those who govern for him were people like imperial servants. They would surely create disturbances throughout the realm.

Thereafter, his subordinates persuaded him to take the throne himself, and, in spring 934, he did so, claiming himself to be the Emperor of Shu.

## As emperor of independent Later Shu state

Shortly after Meng Zhixiang claimed the Later Shu throne, the Later Tang imperial succession was thrown into turmoil when Emperor Min's chiefs of staff, Zhu Hongzhao and Feng Yun, who suspected both Shi Jingtang and Emperor Min's adoptive brother Li Congke the Prince of Lu, tried to move their commands — Shi from Hedong to Chengde (成德, headquartered in modern Shijiazhuang, Shanxi) and Li Congke from Fengxiang to Hedong. Li Congke, fearing that this move was intended to trick him to his death, rebelled; he subsequently defeated the imperial forces sent against him and advanced toward Luoyang, eventually killing Emperor Min and taking the throne himself. As he was doing so, Zhang Qianzhao (張虔釗) the military governor of Shannan West and Sun Hanshao (孫漢韶) the military governor of Wuding Circuit (武定, headquartered in modern Hanzhong), who had been part of the imperial forces against him and who feared reprisals, surrendered their circuits to Later Shu, allowing Later Shu to take the region south of the Qinling Mountains.

Meanwhile, Meng, who was said to have suffered from a stroke for over a year, became gravely ill. In fall 934, he created Meng Renzan Crown Prince. He died the same day, and Meng Renzan (whose name was then changed to Meng Chang) took the throne.

## Personal information

* Father
    + Meng Dao (孟道), posthumously honored Emperor Xiaowu with the temple name Xianzong (honored 934)
* Wife
    + Lady Li (died 932), eldest daughter of Li Keyong the Prince of Jin, later Grand Princess Qionghua (created 923?/925?) and then Grand Princess Fuqing (created 930) during Later Tang, posthumously honored as Grand Princess Yongshun of Jin by Li Siyuan, posthumously honored as empress by Meng Zhixiang (honored 934)
* Major Concubine
* Children
    + Meng Yifan (孟貽範), died young before 932
    + Meng Yiyong (孟貽邕), died young before 932
    + Meng Yiju (孟貽矩), presumably predeceased him
    + Meng Yiye (孟貽鄴), the Prince of Yan, died later than 958
    + Meng Chang (孟昶) (919–965), né Meng Renzan (孟仁贊), the Crown Prince (created 934), later emperor
    + Meng Renyi (孟仁毅) (died 955), the Prince Gongxiao of Kui (created 950)
    + Meng Renyu (孟仁裕) (928–970), the Prince of Peng (created 950)
    + Meng Renzhi (孟仁贄) (927–971), the Prince of Ya (created 950), later the Earl of Pingchang during the Song dynasty
    + Meng Rencao (孟仁操) (died 986), the Prince of Jia (created 950)
    + Meng Jiuzhu (孟久柱), Princess Chonghua, wife of Yi Yangui (伊延瓌)
    + Meng Yanyi (孟延意), Princess Yuqing, wife of Dong Guangsi (董光嗣) son of Dong Zhang
    + Princess Jinxian, wife of Zhang Kuangbi (張匡弼) eldest son of Zhang Qianzhao
    + Princess Lanying, wife of Sun Yancong (孫晏琮) son of Sun Hanshao

* Mote, F.W. (1999). *Imperial China (900–1800)*. Harvard University Press. pp. 11–15. ISBN 0-674-01212-7.
* *Old History of the Five Dynasties*, vol. 136.
* *New History of the Five Dynasties*, vol. 64.
* *Zizhi Tongjian*, vols. 268, 270, 272, 273, 274, 275, 276, 277, 278, 279.
* *Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms* (十國春秋), vol. 48.

## InfoBox

| Emperor Gaozu of Later Shu<br>後蜀高祖 | |
| --- | --- |
| 1st Emperor of Later Shu | |
| Reign | 16 March 934 – 7 September 934 |
| Successor | Meng Chang |
| Prince of Shu (蜀王) | |
| Reign | 933 – 934 |
| *jiedushi* of Xichuan Circuit<br>(西川節度使) | |
| Tenure | 925 – 934 |
|  | |
| Born | 10 May 874 |
| Died | 7 September 934(934-09-07) (aged 60) |
| Burial | He Mausoleum (和陵; in modern Chengdu)<br>30°44′28″N 104°07′11″E / 30.74111°N 104.11972°E / 30.74111; 104.11972 |
| Full name   Era name and dates  Míngdé (明德): 27 May 934 – 2 February 938  Posthumous name  Emperor Wénwǔ Shèngdé Yīngliè Míngxiào<br>(文武聖德英烈明孝皇帝)  Temple name  Gāozǔ (高祖) | |
| House | Meng |
| Dynasty | Later Shu |


title: Palaeoniscidae

abstract: Palaeoniscidae is an extinct family of "palaeoniscoid" ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii). The family includes the genus Palaeoniscum and potentially other Palaeozoic and Mesozoic early actinopterygian genera. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words παλαιός and ὀνίσκος.

text:
# Palaeoniscidae

**Palaeoniscidae** is an extinct family of "palaeoniscoid" ray-finned fishes (Actinopterygii). The family includes the genus *Palaeoniscum* and potentially other Palaeozoic and Mesozoic early actinopterygian genera. The name is derived from the Ancient Greek words παλαιός (*palaiós*, ancient) and ὀνίσκος (*oniskos*, 'cod-fish' or woodlouse).

## Historic background

The family was first named "Palaeoniscini" by Charles Lucien Bonaparte in 1846, and "Palaeonisciden" by Carl Vogt in 1851. Later, the family name was standardized to Palaeoniscidae. The authorship of the family Palaeoniscidae is variably attributed to either Bonaparte or Vogt in the literature. Vogt ascribed the following genera to Palaeoniscidae: *Palaeoniscum*, *Platysomus* (misspelled as *Platysemius*), *Amblypterus*, *Eurynotus*, *Pygopterus*, and *Acrolepis*. With the exception of *Palaeoniscum*, these genera were later placed in separate families (Platysomidae, Amblypteridae) or are considered *incertae sedis*.

Over the years, many other genera of Palaeozoic and Mesozoic early actinopterygians have been referred to Palaeoniscidae due to superficial similarities with the type genus *Palaeoniscum* from the Guadalupian-Lopingian (middle-late Permian) of Europe. Similarities were noted in their general morphology, such as the bullet shaped head and forward position of the relatively large eyes, the large gape and oblique jaw support, the body being covered with small, rhombic scales that often show peg-and-socket articulation, and the arrangement and structure of the fins, including the heterocercal caudal fin. However, these features are plesiomorphic for actinopterygians. Many taxa ascribed to Palaeoniscidae lack apomorphies that would securely affiliate them with *Palaeoniscum*. As a result, Palaeoniscidae *sensu lato* has become a wastebasket taxon (probably paraphyletic).

In the strict sense, the Palaeoniscidae should only encompass the genus *Palaeoniscum* and only those genera that are closely related to it. However, due to insufficient knowledge of *Palaeoniscum* and many other early actinopterygians, and because most of these taxa have never been included in cladistic analyses, it is still uncertain which genera other than *Palaeoniscum* should be placed in Palaeoniscidae *sensu stricto* to make this a monophyletic group.

## Classification

The following list includes species and genera that have been referred to Palaeoniscidae in the past, usually because of broad resemblance with *Palaeoniscum freieslebeni*. Many of these taxa are poorly known and have never been analyzed in cladistic studies. Their inclusion in Palaeoniscidae is in most cases doubtful and requires confirmation by cladistic analyses. The listed taxa would imply that the temporal range of the family Palaeoniscidae stretched from the early Permian to the Cretaceous. If only species of *Palaeoniscum* are included, the temporal range of the family would be restricted to the middle-late Permian.

* **Family****Palaeoniscidae** Vogt, 1852
    + Genus ?†*Agecephalichthys* Wade, 1935
        - Species †*Agecephalichthys granulatus* Wade, 1935
    + Genus ?†*Atherstonia* Woodward, 1889 \[*Broometta* Chabakov, 1927\]
        - Species †*Atherstonia scutata* Woodward, 1889 \[*Atherstonia cairncrossi* Broom, 1913; *Amblypterus capensis* Broom, 1913; *Broometta cairncrossi* Chabakov, 1927\]
        - Species †*Atherstonia minor* Woodward, 1893
    + Genus ?†*Cryphaeiolepis* Traquair, 1881
        - Species †*Cryphaeiolepis scutata* Traquair, 1881
    + Genus ?†*Cteniolepidotrichia* Poplin & Su, 1992
        - Species †*Cteniolepidotrichia turfanensis* Poplin & Su, 1992
    + Genus †*Dicellopyge* Brough, 1931
        - Species †*Dicellopyge macrodentata* Brough, 1931
        - Species †*Dicellopyge lissocephalus* Brough, 1931
    + Genus ?†*Duwaichthys* Liu *et al.*, 1990
        - Species †*Duwaichthys mirabilis* Liu *et al.*, 1990
    + Genus ?†*Ferganiscus* Sytchevskaya & Yakolev, 1999
        - Species †*Ferganiscus osteolepis* Sytchevskaya & Yakolev, 1999
    + Genus †*Gyrolepis* Agassiz, 1833 non Kade, 1858
        - Species †*G. albertii* Agassiz, 1833
        - Species †*G. gigantea* Agassiz, 1833
        - Species †*G. maxima* Agassiz, 1833
        - Species †*G. quenstedti* Dames, 1888
        - Species †*G. tenuistriata* Agassiz, 1833
    + Genus †*Gyrolepidoides* Cabrera, 1944
        - Species †*G. creyanus* Schaeffer, 1955
        - Species †*G. cuyanus* Cabrera, 1944
        - Species †*G. multistriatus* Rusconi, 1948
    + Genus ?†*Palaeoniscinotus* Rohon, 1890
        - Species †*P. czekanowskii* Rohon, 1890
    + Genus †*Palaeoniscum* de Blainville, 1818 \[*Palaeoniscus* Agassiz, 1833 non Von Meyer, 1858; *Palaeoniscas* Rzchak, 1881; *Eupalaeoniscus* Rzchak, 1881; *Palaeomyzon* Weigelt, 1930; *Geomichthys* Sauvage, 1888\]
        - Species †*P. angustum* (Rzehak, 1881) \[*Palaeoniscas angustus* Rzehak, 1881\]
        - Species †*P. antipodeum* (Egerton, 1864) \[*Palaeoniscus antipodeus* Egerton, 1864\]
        - Species †*P. antiquum* Williams, 1886
        - Species †*P. arenaceum* Berger, 1832
        - Species †*P. capense* (Bloom, 1913) \[*Palaeoniscus capensis* Bloom, 1913\]
        - Species †*P. comtum* (Agassiz, 1833) \[*Palaeoniscus comtus* Agassiz, 1833\]
        - Species †*P. daedalium* Yankevich & Minich, 1998
        - Species †*P. devonicum* Clarke, 1885
        - Species †*P. elegans* (Sedgwick, 1829) \[*Palaeoniscus elegans* Sedgwick, 1829\]
        - Species †*P. freieslebeni* de Blainville, 1818 \[*Eupalaeoniscus freieslebeni* (de Brainville, 1818); *Palaeoniscus freieslebeni* (de Brainville, 1818)\]
        - Species †*P. hassiae* (Jaekel, 1898) \[*Galeocerdo contortus hassiae* Jaekel, 1898; *Palaeomyzon hassiae* (Jaekel, 1898)\]
        - Species †*P. kasanense* Geinitz & Vetter, 1880
        - Species †*P. katholitzkianum* (Rzehak, 1881) \[*Palaeoniscas katholitzkianus* Rzehak, 1881\]
        - Species †*P. landrioti* (le Sauvage, 1890) \[*Palaeoniscus landrioti* le Sauvage, 1890\]
        - Species †*P. longissimum* (Agassiz, 1833) \[*Palaeoniscus longissimus* Agassiz, 1833\]
        - Species †*P. macrophthalmum* (McCoy, 1855) \[*Palaeoniscus macrophthalmus* McCoy, 1855\]
        - Species †*P. magnum* (Woodward, 1937) \[*Palaeoniscus magnus* Woodward, 1937\]
        - Species †*P. moravicum* (Rzehak, 1881) \[*Palaeoniscas moravicus* Rzehak, 1881\]
        - Species †*P. promtu* (Rzehak, 1881) \[*Palaeoniscas promtus* Rzehak, 1881\]
        - Species †*P. reticulatum* Williams, 1886
        - Species †*P. scutigerum* Newberry, 1868
        - Species †*P. vratislavensis* (Agassiz, 1833) \[*Palaeoniscus vratislavensis* Agassiz, 1833\]
    + Genus †*Palaeothrissum* de Blainville, 1818
        - Species †*P. elegans* Sedgwick, 1829
        - Species †*P. macrocephalum* de Blainville, 1818
        - Species †*P. magnum* de Blainville, 1818
    + Genus ?†*Shuniscus* Su, 1983
        - Species †*Shuniscus longianalis* Su, 1983
    + Genus ?†*Suchonichthys* Minich, 2001
        - Species †*Suchonichthys molini* Minich, 2001
    + Genus ?†*Trachelacanthus* Fischer De Waldheim, 1850
        - Species †*Trachelacanthus stschurovskii* Fischer De Waldheim, 1850
    + Genus ?†*Triassodus* Su, 1984
        - Species †*Triassodus yanchangensis* Su, 1984
    + Genus ?†*Turfania* Liu & Martínez, 1973
        - Species †*T. taoshuyuanensis* Liu & Martínez, 1973
        - Species †*T. varta* Wang, 1979
    + Genus ?†*Turgoniscus* Jakovlev, 1968
        - Species †*Turgoniscus reissi* Jakovlev, 1968
    + Genus ?†*Weixiniscus* Su & Dezao, 1994
        - Species †*Weixiniscus microlepis* Su & Dezao, 1994
    + Genus ?†*Xingshikous* Liu, 1988
        - Species †*Xingshikous xishanensis* Liu, 1988
    + Genus ?†*Yaomoshania* Poplin *et al.*, 1991
        - Species †*Yaomoshania minutosquama* Poplin *et al.*, 1991

## InfoBox

| Palaeoniscidae
Temporal range: | |
| --- | --- |
|  | |
| *Palaeoniscum freieslebeni* fossil | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Chordata |
| Class: | Actinopterygii |
| Order: | Palaeonisciformes |
| Suborder: | Palaeoniscoidei |
| Family: | Palaeoniscidae
Bonaparte, 1846 |
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