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Featured Article: Ashikaga shogunate
The Ashikaga shogunate (1336 – 1573), was a feudal samurai government ruled by the shoguns of the Ashikaga family. Shoguns were de facto rulers of Japan although the authority of the Emperor was nominally acknowledged. He was kept in imperial isolation as a distant but revered figure while governance devolved to the military dynasties. The Shogunate began by re-opening contact and commerce with China and ended with the first contact with Europeans, including Christian missionaries. This period is also known as the Muromachi period and gets its name from the Muromachi area of Kyoto where the third shogun Yoshimitsu established his residence.
Popular Article: Azazel
A Azazel was either a mysterious desert demon to whom the ancient Israelites sacrificed a scapegoat on the day of Yom Kippur, or else a rugged cliff upon which the scapegoat was cast down to atone for Israel's sins. In the Book of Leviticus, God orders the high priest Aaron to "place lots upon the two goats, one marked for the Lord and the other marked for Azazel" (16:18). Aaron was to confess over the second goat all the iniquities and transgressions of the Israelites and then set the goat free in the wilderness (Lev. 16:21-22), likely throwing it over a cliff.
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Jiang Qing, better known as Madame Mao, studied literature and drama and was a successful actress prior to marrying Chairman Mao Zedong (source: Jiang Qing)
