Yao or YAO may refer to:
The Yao nationality (its great majority branch is also known as Mien; Traditional Chinese: 瑤族, Simplified Chinese: 瑶族, Pinyin: Yáo zú; Vietnamese: người Dao) is a government classification for various minorities in China. They form one of the 55 ethnic minority groups officially recognized by the People's Republic of China, where they reside in the mountainous terrain of the southwest and south. They also form one of the 54 ethnic groups officially recognized by Vietnam. In the last census in 2000, they numbered 2,637,421 in China, and roughly 470,000 in Vietnam.
The origins of the Yao can be traced back 2,000 years ago, starting in Hunan Province. The Yao and Miao people were among the rebels during the Miao Rebellions against the Ming dynasty. As the Han Chinese expanded in southern China, the Yao retreated into the highlands between Hunan and Guizhou to the north and Guangdong and Guangxi to the south, and stretching into eastern Yunnan. Around 1890 the Guangdong government started taking action against Yao in northwestern Guangdong.
Yao (Chinese: 姚; pinyin: Yáo), also romanized as Yiu in Cantonese, is one of the most ancient Chinese surnames. It is ranked 101st in the Hundred Family Surnames, and as the 51st most common surname in Mainland China.
Paragon may refer to:
Paragon is a speed metal/power metal band from Hamburg, Germany.
Paragon was founded by guitarist Martin Christian (who in many of the band's album booklets is written as Martin Wöbcke when it comes to songwriting-credits). After releasing some demo tapes and a mini-CD, they were able to release an album in 1994, the debut World of Sin. Shortly after this, their record company Blue Merle went bankrupt, and Martin decided to put the band on hiatus.
About two years later, Martin found four new members (Andreas, Jan, Markus, & Claudius) and recorded the album The Final Command. In 1999, Chalice of Steel was released. In 2001, Paragon released Steelbound, engineered and produced by Piet Sielck of Iron Savior. Piet has worked with the band on every album since then.
After the recording of Forgotten Prophecies in early 2007, the band's longtime bass player Jan Bünning quit the band because of "musical differences." Shortly after the band had found a replacement in Dirk Seifert.
Paragon is the codename used by three unrelated fictional characters from Marvel Comics. The first was genetically engineered by the Enclave. The second was created as an original character for the video game Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects. The third is a superhero and a member of Nebraska's Initiative team.
Paragon (Maya) is a fictional character from Electronic Arts who first appeared in Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.
After a century-long search, a young Amazonian warrior, Maya, was chosen from an isolated, primitive, and forgotten society deep within the South American jungle. Matching a specifically required DNA structure, Maya was the perfect candidate for the ultimate weapon. Maya possessed a toxin free physical make-up, Amazonian warrior skills, and the instinctual savagery found at the core of all humanity.
Having acquired the perfect specimen, Niles Van Roekel ordered her to be put into a prolonged stasis. It would take years to successfully master the fusion of alien tech with humans before Roekel’s team would finally be ready to work on Maya.