Gong

A gong (Chinese: 鑼; pinyin: luó; Indonesian or Javanese: gong; Malay: gong ) is an African, East and South East Asian musical percussion instrument that takes the form of a flat, circular metal disc which is hit with a mallet. It originated in China and later spread to Southeast Asia, and it can also be used in the percussion section of Western symphony orchestra.

Gongs are broadly of three types. Suspended gongs are more or less flat, circular discs of metal suspended vertically by means of a cord passed through holes near to the top rim. Bossed or nipple gongs have a raised centre boss and are often suspended and played horizontally. Bowl gongs are bowl-shaped, and rest on cushions and belong more to bells than gongs. Gongs are made mainly from bronze or brass but there are many other alloys in use.

Gongs produce two distinct types of sound. A gong with a substantially flat surface vibrates in multiple modes, giving a "crash" rather than a tuned note. This category of gong is sometimes called a tam-tam to distinguish it from the bossed gongs that give a tuned note. In Indonesian gamelan ensembles, some bossed gongs are deliberately made to generate in addition a beat note in the range from about 1 to 5 Hz. The use of the term "gong" for both these types of instrument is common.

Kong (surname)

Kong (孔) is a Chinese, Korean, and Cambodian surname. It can also be written as Kung in Taiwan, Hung in Hong Kong, Khổng in Vietnam, and Gong in Korea. There are around 2.1 million people with this surname in China in 2002, representing 0.23% of the population.

This surname Kong is most notable as the surname of Confucius and his descendants. The family tree of Confucius and his descendants is generally considered to be the world longest, covering over 2,500 years with more than 80 generations recorded, and has two million entries according to its last update in 2009. The main line of descent traditionally held the title of Duke Yansheng, which was changed to the title of the first Sacrificial Official to Confucius in the 20th century. This title is currently held by Kung Tsui-chang.

Kong may also be the English transliteration of a rare Chinese surname 空, or a less common form of the Gong surnames such as 龔, 貢 and 弓.

Origin

The character for the Kong surname was derived from the Zi (子) family name. The founder of the Shang Dynasty, Tang of Shang whose family name was Zi, had the courtesy name of Taiyi (太乙). His descendants fused the character Zi (子) to Yi (乙), forming the character Kong (孔) which eventually became a surname. It first appeared during the Zhou Dynasty as the courtesy name Kongfu (孔父) of a noble in the State of Song named Jia (嘉), said to be a descendant of the Tang of Shang. Kongfu Jia was murdered, and his son escaped to the State of Lu where he adopted Kong as the name of his clan. His family settled in Qufu and Confucius was one of his descendants.

Carlos Winkow

Carl Winckow known in Spain, where he spent most of his working life, as Carlos Winkow (6 February 1882 – 16 January 1952) was a German type designer who worked primarily for the Naçional Typefoundry.

Fonts Designed by Carlos Winkow

References

Notes

Nephew and niece

A nephew is a son of one's sibling or half-sibling, and a niece is a daughter of one's sibling or half-sibling. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation.

History

The word nephew is derived from the French word neveu. Historically, a nephew was the logical recipient of his uncle's inheritance if there was no son or daughter. The term 'nepotism', meaning familial loyalty, comes from the Latin term for a nephew.

Variations

Nephew (band)

Nephew is a Danish rock band, formed in 1996, in Aarhus. They had their breakthrough in 2004 with the release of their second album USADSB. The release coincided with lead singer Simon Kvamm's highly successful appearances on Danish television in the cult comedy show Drengene fra Angora, which helped boost the band's popularity. USADSB went double platinum in Denmark and spawned six hit singles.

The band uses an unusual mixture of Danish and English in their lyrics; they started singing mostly in English with just a few Danish lyrics, but gradually, they have been using Danish more frequently in their songs. The band considers Depeche Mode as one of its major influences.

History

Early Days and Swimming Time (1996-2001)

The band was formed in 1996 by Simon Kvamm, Kristian Riis, Jonas Juul Jeppesen, and Søren Arnholt, all of whom were studying musicology at the university of Aarhus. In 1997 they participated in DM i Rock (Danish Championships in Rock), where they reached the semi-finals. In 1998 Jonas Juul Jeppesen, who was until then the bassist in the band, left the band, and was replaced by the current bassist Kasper Toustrup. After recording their first demo-cd in 1999, they got some airtime on the Danish radio station P3.

Nephew (disambiguation)

Nephew can refer to: