title: F. W. de Klerk

text: Upon hearing of the death of Mandela, de Klerk said: "He was a great unifier and a very, very special man in this regard beyond everything else he did. This emphasis on reconciliation was his biggest legacy." He attended the memorial service for him on 10 December 2013.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: In 2015, de Klerk wrote to "The Times" newspaper in the UK criticizing a campaign to remove a statue of Cecil Rhodes from Oriel College, Oxford. He was subsequently criticized by some activists who described it as "ironic" that the last apartheid president should be defending a statue of a man labelled by critics as the "architect of apartheid". South Africa's far-left Economic Freedom Fighters called for him to be stripped of his Nobel Peace Prize. In 2020, de Klerk told an interviewer that the description of apartheid as a "crime against humanity" "was and remains an agitprop project initiated by the Soviets and their ANC/SACP allies to stigmatize white South Africans by associating them with genuine crimes against humanity." This generated controversy in South Africa, and further calls for the removal of his Nobel Prize. De Klerk's Foundation retracted his statement several days later.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: On 19 March 2021, it was announced that de Klerk had been diagnosed with mesothelioma. He died from complications of the disease in his sleep at his home in Cape Town on 11 November 2021, at the age of 85. He was the last surviving State President of South Africa.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: After his death, a video message from de Klerk was released from the FW de Klerk Foundation, apologizing "without qualification" for the harm caused from apartheid and pleading that the government and all South Africans would embrace the constitution in a balanced manner while also promoting economic growth, guarding the independence and impartiality of the courts, as well as promoting non-racialism and non-discrimination in South Africa.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: On 16 November 2021, President Cyril Ramaphosa declared a four-day mourning period for de Klerk and ordered for all of the national South African flags to fly at half-mast from 17 November to 21 November "as a mark of respect." Though the de Klerk family determined that he would have a private cremation and funeral, the South African government agreed to hold a state memorial service for de Klerk "in which government leaders, leaders of political parties and representatives of civil society will participate" at a later date. The state memorial service was held in Cape Town on 12 December 2021, and saw Ramaphosa deliver the keynote speech.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: De Klerk was widely regarded as a politically conservative figure in South Africa. At the same time, he was flexible rather than dogmatic in his approach to political issues.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: He often hedged his bets and sought to accommodate divergent perspectives, favouring compromise over confrontation.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: Within the National Party, he continually strove for unity, coming to be regarded—according to his brother—as "a party man, a veritable Mr National Party". To stem defections from the right-wing end of the National Party, he made "ultra-conservative noises". This general approach led to the perception that he was "trying to be all things to all men".


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: De Klerk stated that within the party, he "never formed part of a political school of thought, and I deliberately kept out of the cliques and foments of the enlightened and conservative factions in the party. If the policy I propounded was ultra-conservative, then that was the policy; it was not necessarily I who was ultra-conservative. I saw my role in the party as that of an interpreter of the party's real median policy at any stage."


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: De Klerk stated that "The silver thread throughout my career was my advocacy of National Party policy in all its various formulations. I refrained from adjusting that policy or adapting it to my own liking or convictions. I analyzed it as it was formulated, to the letter."


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: According to his brother, de Klerk underwent a "political conversion" that took him from supporting apartheid to facilitating its demolition. This change was not "a dramatic event" however, but "was built... on pragmatism – it evolved as a process."


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: He did not believe that South Africa would become a "non-racial society", but rather sought to build a "non-racist society" in ethnic divisions remained; in his view "I do not believe in the existence of anything like a non-racial society in the literal sense of the word", citing the example of the United States and United Kingdom where there was no legal racial segregation but that distinct racial groups continued to exist.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: De Klerk accepted the principle of freedom of religion, although still believed that the state should promote Christianity.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: De Klerk wrote in opposition to gender-based violence, arguing that "holding perpetrators accountable, irrespective of how long ago the crime was committed, is essential to stamping out impunity and preventing future atrocities".


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: Glad and Blanton stated that de Klerk's "political choices were undergirded by self-confidence and commitment to the common good." His brother Willem stated that de Klerk's demeanour was marked by "soberness, humility and calm", that he was an honest, intelligent, and open minded individual, and that he had a "natural cordiality" and a "solid sense of courtesy and good manners". He felt that de Klerk's "charisma" came not from an "exceptionally strong individualism" but from "his rationality, logic and balance". He was, according to de Klerk, "a man of compromise rather than a political innovator or entrepreneur".


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: Willem stated that "he keeps an ear to the ground and is sensitive to the slightest tremors", and that it was this which made him "a superb politician". Willem also stated that his brother was "a team-man who consults others, takes them into his confidence, honestly shares information with his colleagues, and has a knack of making people feel importance and at peace".


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: His former wife Marike described de Klerk as being "extremely sensitive to beautiful things", exhibiting something akin to an artistic temperament.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: Willem also noted that "in the most profound sense", de Klerk was driven by his concern for Afrikanerdom and "the survival of his own people in their fatherland". De Klerk was deeply upset that many Afrikaners did not realise that his reforms to dismantle apartheid were carried out with the intention of preserving a future for the Afrikaner people in South Africa.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: With Marike, de Klerk had three children: Susan, who became a teacher, Jan, who became a farmer in Western Transvaal, and Willem, who went into public relations. Willem stated that de Klerk had a close relationship with his children, and that he was "a loving man who hugs and cuddles".


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: De Klerk was a heavy smoker but gave up smoking towards the end of 2005. He also enjoyed a glass of whisky or wine while relaxing. He enjoyed playing golf and hunting, as well as going for brisk walks.


title: F. W. de Klerk

text: Glad and Blanton stated that de Klerk, along with Mandela, "accomplished the rare feat of bringing about systemic revolution through peaceful means." His brother noted that de Klerk's role in South African history was "to dismantle more than three centuries of white supremacy", and that in doing so his was "not a role of white surrender, but a role of white conversion to a new role" in society.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Islamic schools and branches have different understandings of Islam. There are many different sects or denominations, schools of Islamic jurisprudence, and schools of Islamic theology, or "ʿaqīdah" (creed). Within Islamic groups themselves there may be differences, such as different orders ("tariqa") within Sufism, and within Sunnī Islam different schools of theology (Atharī, Ashʿarī, Māturīdī) and jurisprudence (Ḥanafī, Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, Ḥanbalī). Groups in Islam may be numerous (the largest branches are Shīʿas and Sunnīs), or relatively small in size (Ibadis, Zaydīs, Ismāʿīlīs). Differences between the groups may not be well known to Muslims outside of scholarly circles, or may have induced enough passion to have resulted in political and religious violence (Barelvi, Deobandi, Salafism, Wahhabism). There are informal movements driven by ideas (such as Islamic modernism and Islamism) as well as organized groups with a governing body (Ahmadiyya, Ismāʿīlism, Nation of Islam). Some of the Islamic sects and groups regard certain others as deviant or accuse them of being not truly Muslim (for example, Sunnīs frequently discriminate Ahmadiyya, Alawites, Quranists, and Shīʿas). Some Islamic sects and groups date back to the early history of Islam between the 7th and 9th centuries CE (Kharijites, Sunnīs, Shīʿas), whereas others have arisen much more recently (Islamic neo-traditionalism, liberalism and progressivism, Islamic modernism, Salafism and Wahhabism) or even in the 20th century (Nation of Islam). Still others were influential in their time but are not longer in existence (non-Ibadi Kharijites, Muʿtazila, Murji'ah).


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The original schism between Kharijites, Sunnīs, and Shīʿas among Muslims was disputed over the political and religious succession to the guidance of the Muslim community ("Ummah") after the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. From their essentially political position, the Kharijites developed extreme doctrines that set them apart from both mainstream Sunnī and Shīʿa Muslims. Shīʿas believe ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib is the true successor to Muhammad, while Sunnīs consider Abu Bakr to hold that position. The Kharijites broke away from both the Shīʿas and the Sunnīs during the First Fitna (the first Islamic Civil War); they were particularly noted for adopting a radical approach to "takfīr" (excommunication), whereby they declared both Sunnī and Shīʿa Muslims to be either infidels ("kuffār") or false Muslims ("munāfiḳūn"), and therefore deemed them worthy of death for their perceived apostasy ("ridda").


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: In addition, there are several differences within Sunnī and Shīʿa Islam: Sunnī Islam is separated into four main schools of jurisprudence, namely Mālikī, Ḥanafī, Shāfiʿī, and Ḥanbalī; these schools are named after their founders Mālik ibn Anas, Abū Ḥanīfa al-Nuʿmān, Muḥammad ibn Idrīs al-Shāfiʿī, and Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal, respectively. Shīʿa Islam, on the other hand, is separated into three major sects: Twelvers, Ismāʿīlīs, and Zaydīs. The vast majority of Shīʿa Muslims are Twelvers (a 2012 estimate puts the figure as 85%), to the extent that the term "Shīʿa" frequently refers to Twelvers by default. All mainstream Twelver and Ismāʿīlī Shīʿa Muslims follow the same school of thought, the Jaʽfari jurisprudence, named after Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the sixth Shīʿīte Imam.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Zaydīs, also known as Fivers, follow the Zaydī school of thought (named after Zayd ibn ʿAlī). Ismāʿīlīsm is another offshoot of Shīʿa Islam that later split into Nizārī and Musta‘lī, and the Musta‘lī further divided into Ḥāfiẓi and Ṭayyibi. Ṭayyibi Ismāʿīlīs, also known as "Bohras", are split between Dawudi Bohras, Sulaymani Bohras, and Alavi Bohras.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Similarly, Kharijites were initially divided into five major branches: Sufris, Azariqa, Najdat, Adjarites, and Ibadis. Of these, Ibadi Muslims are the only surviving branch of Kharijites. In addition to the aforementioned groups, new schools of thought and movements like Ahmadi Muslims, Quranist Muslims, and African-American Muslims later emerged independently.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Sunnī Islam, also known as "Ahl as-Sunnah waʾl Jamāʾah" or simply "Ahl as-Sunnah", is by far the largest denomination of Islam, comprising around 85% of the Muslim population in the world. The term "Sunnī" comes from the word "sunnah", which means the teachings, actions, and examples of the Islamic prophet Muhammad and his companions ("ṣaḥāba").


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Sunnīs believe that Muhammad did not specifically appoint a successor to lead the Muslim community "(Ummah)" before his death in 632 CE, however they approve of the private election of the first companion, Abū Bakr. Sunnī Muslims regard the first four caliphs—Abū Bakr (632–634), ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb (Umar І, 634–644), ʿUthmān ibn ʿAffān (644–656), and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib (656–661)—as "al-Khulafā'ur-Rāshidūn" ("the Rightly-Guided Caliphs"). Sunnīs also believe that the position of caliph may be attained democratically, on gaining a majority of the votes, but after the Rashidun, the position turned into a hereditary dynastic rule because of the divisions started by the Umayyads and others. After the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1923, there has never been another caliph as widely recognized in the Muslim world.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Followers of the classical Sunnī schools of jurisprudence and "kalām" (rationalistic theology) on one hand, and Islamists and Salafists such as Wahhabis and Ahle Hadith, who follow a literalist reading of early Islamic sources, on the other, have laid competing claims to represent the "orthodox" Sunnī Islam. Anglophone Islamic currents of the former type are sometimes referred to as "traditional Islam". Islamic modernism is an offshoot of the Salafi movement that tried to integrate modernism into Islam by being partially influenced by modern-day attempts to revive the ideas of the Muʿtazila school by Islamic scholars such as Muhammad Abduh.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Shīʿa Islam is the second-largest denomination of Islam, comprising around 10–15% of the total Muslim population. Although a minority in the Muslim world, Shīʿa Muslims constitute the majority of the Muslim populations in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Azerbaijan, as well as significant minorities in Syria, Turkey, South Asia, Yemen, and Saudi Arabia, as well as in other parts of the Persian Gulf.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: In addition to believing in the supreme authority of the Quran and teachings of Muhammad, Shīʿa Muslims believe that Muhammad's family, the "Ahl al-Bayt" ("People of the Household"), including his descendants known as Imams, have distinguished spiritual and political authority over the community, and believe that ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, Muhammad's cousin and son-in-law, was the first of these Imams and the rightful successor to Muhammad, and thus reject the legitimacy of the first three "Rāshidūn" caliphs.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Shīʿīte groups and movements who either ascribe divine characteristics to some important figures in the history of Islam (usually members of Muhammad's family, the "Ahl al-Bayt") or hold beliefs deemed deviant by mainstream Shīʿa Muslims were designated as "Ghulat".


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Kharijite (literally, "those who seceded") are an extinct sect who originated during the First Fitna, the struggle for political leadership over the Muslim community, following the assassination in 656 of the third caliph Uthman. Kharijites originally supported the caliphate of Ali, but then later on fought against him and eventually succeeded in his martyrdom while he was praying in the mosque of Kufa. While there are few remaining Kharijite or Kharijite-related groups, the term is sometimes used to denote Muslims who refuse to compromise with those with whom they disagree.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Sufris were a major sub-sect of Kharijite in the 7th and 8th centuries, and a part of the Kharijites. Nukkari was a sub-sect of Sufris. Harūrīs were an early Muslim sect from the period of the Four Rightly-Guided Caliphs (632–661 CE), named for their first leader, Habīb ibn-Yazīd al-Harūrī. Azariqa, Najdat, and Adjarites were minor sub-sects.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The only Kharijite sub-sect extant today is Ibadism, which developed out of the 7th century CE. There are currently two geographically separated Ibadi groups—in Oman, where they constitute the majority of the Muslim population in the country, and in North Africa where they constitute significant minorities in Algeria, Tunisia, and Libya. Similarly to another Muslim minority, the Zaydīs, "in modern times" they have "shown a strong tendency" to move towards the Sunnī branch of Islam.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Islamic schools of jurisprudence, known as "madhhab", differ in the methodology they use to derive their rulings from the Quran, "ḥadīth" literature, the "sunnah" (accounts of the sayings and living habits attributed to the Islamic prophet Muhammad during his lifetime), and the "tafsīr" literature (exegetical commentaries on the Quran).


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Sunnī Islam contains numerous schools of Islamic jurisprudence ("fiqh") and schools of Islamic theology ("ʿaqīdah"). In terms of religious jurisprudence ("fiqh"), Sunnism contains several schools of thought ("madhhab"):


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The Salafi movement is a conservative reform branch and/or revivalist movement within Sunnī Islam whose followers don't believe in strictly following one particular "madhhab". They include the Wahhabi movement, an Islamic doctrine and religious movement founded by Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab, and the modern Ahle Hadith movement, whose followers call themselves "Ahl al-Ḥadīth".


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: In Shīʿa Islam, the major Shīʿīte school of jurisprudence is the Jaʿfari or Imāmī school, named after Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, the sixth Shīʿīte Imam. The Jaʿfari jurisprudence is further divided into two branches: the Usuli school, which favors the exercise of "ijtihad", and the Akhbari school, which holds the traditions ("aḵbār") of the Shīʿīte Imams to be the main source of religious knowledge. Minor Shīʿa schools of jurisprudence include the Ismāʿīlī school (Mustaʿlī-Fāṭimid Ṭayyibi Ismāʿīlīs) and the Zaydī school, both of which have closer affinity to Sunnī jurisprudence. Shīʿīte clergymen and jurists usually carry the title of "mujtahid" (i.e., someone authorized to issue legal opinions in Shīʿa Islam).


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The "fiqh" or jurisprudence of Ibadis is relatively simple. Absolute authority is given to the Quran and "ḥadīth" literature; new innovations accepted on the basis of "qiyas" (analogical reasoning) were rejected as "bid'ah" (heresy) by the Ibadis. That differs from the majority of Sunnīs, but agrees with most Shīʿa schools and with the Ẓāhirī and early Ḥanbalī schools of Sunnism.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: "Aqidah" is an Islamic term meaning "creed", doctrine, or article of faith. There have existed many schools of Islamic theology, not all of which survive to the present day. Major themes of theological controversies in Islam have included predestination and free will, the nature of the Quran, the nature of the divine attributes, apparent and esoteric meaning of scripture, and the role of dialectical reasoning in the Islamic doctrine.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: "Kalām" is the Islamic philosophy of seeking theological principles through dialectic. In Arabic, the word literally means "speech/words". A scholar of "kalām" is referred to as a "mutakallim" (Muslim theologian; plural "mutakallimūn"). There are many schools of Kalam, the main ones being the Ashʿarī and Māturīdī schools in Sunni Islam.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Ashʿarīsm is a school of theology founded by Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ashʿarī in the 10th century. The Ashʿarīte view was that comprehension of the unique nature and characteristics of God were beyond human capability. Ashʿarī theology is considered one of the orthodox creeds of Sunni Islam alongside the Māturīdī theology. Historically, the Ashʿarī theology prevails in Sufism and was originally associated with the Ḥanbalī school of Islamic jurisprudence.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Māturīdism is a school of theology founded by Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī in the 10th century, which is a close variant of the Ashʿarī school. Māturīdī theology is considered one of the orthodox creeds of Sunni Islam alongside the Ashʿarī theology, and prevails in the Ḥanafī school of Islamic jurisprudence. Points which differ are the nature of belief and the place of human reason. The Māturīdites state that "imān" (faith) does not increase nor decrease but remains static; rather it's "taqwā" (piety) which increases and decreases. The Ashʿarītes affirm that belief does in fact increase and decrease. The Māturīdites affirm that the unaided human mind is able to find out that some of the more major sins such as alcohol or murder are evil without the help of revelation. The Ashʿarītes affirm that the unaided human mind is unable to know if something is good or evil, lawful or unlawful, without divine revelation.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Traditionalist theology, sometimes referred to as the Atharī school, derives its name from the word "tradition" as a translation of the Arabic word "hadith" or from the Arabic word "athar", meaning "narrations". The traditionalist creed is to avoid delving into extensive theological speculation. They rely on the Qur'an, the Sunnah, and sayings of the Sahaba, seeing this as the middle path where the attributes of Allah are accepted without questioning their nature ("bi-la kayf"). Ahmad ibn Hanbal is regarded as the leader of the traditionalist school of creed. The modern Salafi movement associates itself with the Atharī creed.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Muʿtazilite theology originated in the 8th century in Basra when Wasil ibn Ata left the teaching lessons of Hasan al-Basri after a theological dispute. He and his followers expanded on the logic and rationalism of Greek philosophy, seeking to combine them with Islamic doctrines and show that the two were inherently compatible. The Muʿtazilites debated philosophical questions such as whether the Qur'an was created or co-eternal with God, whether evil was created by God, the issue of predestination versus free will, whether God's attributes in the Qur'an were to be interpreted allegorically or literally, and whether sinning believers would have eternal punishment in hell.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Murji'ah was a name for an early politico-religious movement which came to refer to all those who identified faith ("iman") with belief to the exclusion of acts. Originating during the caliphates of Uthman and Ali, Murijites opposed the Kharijites, holding that only God has the authority to judge who is a true Muslim and who is not, and that Muslims should consider all other Muslims as part of the community. Two major Murijite sub-sects were the were Karamiya and Sawbaniyya.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Qadariyyah is an originally derogatory term designating early Islamic theologians who asserted that humans possess free will, whose exercise makes them responsible for their actions, justifying divine punishment and absolving God of responsibility for evil in the world. Some of their doctrines were later adopted by the Mu'tazilis and rejected by the Ash'aris.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: In direct contrast to the Qadariyyah, Jabriyah was an early islamic philosophical school based on the belief that humans are controlled by predestination, without having choice or free will. The Jabriya school originated during the Umayyad dynasty in Basra. The first representative of this school was Al-Ja'd ibn Dirham who was executed in 724. The term is derived from the Arabic root j-b-r, in the sense which gives the meaning of someone who is forced or coerced by destiny. The term Jabriyah was also a derogatory term used by different Islamic groups that they considered wrong, The Ash'ariyah used the term Jabriyah in the first place to describe the followers of, Jahm ibn Safwan who died in 746, in that they regarded their faith as a middle position between Qadariyah and Jabriya. On the other hand, the Mu'tazilah considered the Ash'ariyah as Jabriyah because, in their opinion, they rejected the orthodox doctrine of free will. The Shiites used the term Jabriyah to describe the Ash'ariyah and Hanbalis.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Jahmis were the alleged followers of the early Islamic theologian Jahm bin Safwan who associated himself with Al-Harith ibn Surayj. He was an exponent of extreme determinism according to which a man acts only metaphorically in the same way in which the sun acts or does something when it sets.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The "Bāṭiniyyah" is a name given to an allegoristic type of scriptural interpretation developed among some Shia groups, stressing the "bāṭin" (inward, esoteric) meaning of texts. It has been retained by all branches of Isma'ilism and its Druze offshoot. Alevism, Bektashism and folk religion, Hurufis and Alawites practice a similar system of interpretation.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Sufism is Islam's mystical-ascetic dimension and is represented by schools or orders known as "Tasawwufī-Ṭarīqah." It is seen as that aspect of Islamic teaching that deals with the purification of inner self. By focusing on the more spiritual aspects of religion, Sufis strive to obtain direct experience of God by making use of "intuitive and emotional faculties" that one must be trained to use.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Many slaves brought from Africa to the Western Hemisphere were Muslims, and the early 20th century saw the rise of distinct Islamic religious and political movements within the African-American community in the United States, such as Darul Islam, the Islamic Party of North America, the Mosque of Islamic Brotherhood (MIB), the Muslim Alliance in North America, the Moorish Science Temple of America, the Nation of Islam (NOI), and the Ansaaru Allah Community. They sought to ascribe Islamic heritage to African-Americans, thereby giving much emphasis on racial and ethnic aspects (see black nationalism and black separatism). These black Muslim movements often differ greatly in matters of doctrine from mainstream Islam. They include:


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam was founded in British India in 1889 by Mirza Ghulam Ahmad of Qadian, who claimed to be the promised Messiah ("Second Coming of Christ"), the Mahdi awaited by the Muslims as well as a "subordinate" prophet to the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Ahmadis claim to practice the pristine form of Islam as followed by Muhammad and his earliest followers. They believe that it was Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's task to restore the original "sharia" given to Muhammad by guiding the "Ummah" back to the "true" Islam and defeat the attacks on Islam by other religions.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: There are a wide variety of distinct beliefs and teachings of Ahmadis compared to those of "most other" Muslims, which include the interpretation of the Quranic title "Khatam an-Nabiyyin", interpretation of the Messiah's Second Coming, complete rejection of the abrogation/cancellation of Quranic verses, belief that Jesus survived the crucifixion and died of old age in India, conditions of the ""Jihad" of the Sword" are no longer met, belief that divine revelation (as long as no new "sharia" is given) will never end, belief in cyclical nature of history until Muhammad, and belief in the implausibility of a contradiction between Islam and science. These perceived deviations from normative Islamic thought have resulted in severe persecution of Ahmadis in various Muslim-majority countries, particularly Pakistan, where they have been branded as Non-Muslims and their Islamic religious practices are punishable by the Ahmadi-Specific laws in the penal code.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The followers of the Ahmadiyya Movement in Islam are divided into two groups: the first being the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, currently the dominant group, and the Lahore Ahmadiyya Movement for the Propagation of Islam. The larger group takes a literalist view believing that Mirza Ghulam Ahmad was the promised Mahdi and a "Ummati Nabi" subservient to Muhammad, while the latter believing that he was only a religious reformer and a prophet only in an allegorical sense. Both Ahmadi groups are active in "dawah" or Islamic missionary work, and have produced vasts amounts of Islamic literature, including numerous translations of the Quran, translations of the Hadith, Quranic "tafsirs", a multitude of "sirahs" of Muhammad, and works on the subject of comparative religion among others. As such, their international influence far exceeds their number of adherents. Muslims from more Orthodox sects of Islam have adopted many Ahmadi polemics and understandings of other religions, along with the Ahmadi approach to reconcile Islamic and Western education as well as to establish Islamic school systems, particularly in Africa.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Sunni Muslims of the Indian subcontinent comprising present day India, Pakistan and Bangladesh who are overwhelmingly Hanafi by fiqh have split into two schools or movements, the Barelvi and the Deobandi. While the Deobandi is revivalist in nature, the Barelvi are more traditional and inclined towards Sufism.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The Gülen movement, usually referred to as the Hizmet movement, established in the 1970s as an offshoot of the Nur Movement and led by the Turkish Islamic scholar and preacher Fethullah Gülen in Turkey, Central Asia, and in other parts of the world, is active in education, with private schools and universities in over 180 countries as well as with many American charter schools operated by followers. It has initiated forums for interfaith dialogue. The Cemaat movement's structure has been described as a flexible organizational network. Movement schools and businesses organize locally and link themselves into informal networks. Estimates of the number of schools and educational institutions vary widely; it appears there are about 300 Gülen movement schools in Turkey and over 1,000 schools worldwide.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Islamic modernism, also sometimes referred to as "modernist Salafism", is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response" attempting to reconcile Islamic faith with modern Western values such as nationalism, democracy, and science.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Islamism is a set of political ideologies, derived from various fundamentalist views, which hold that Islam is not only a religion but a political system that should govern the legal, economic and social imperatives of the state. Many Islamists do not refer to themselves as such and it is not a single particular movement. Religious views and ideologies of its adherents vary, and they may be Sunni Islamists or Shia Islamists depending upon their beliefs. Islamist groups include groups such as Al-Qaeda, the organizer of the September 11, 2001 attacks and perhaps the most prominent; and the Muslim Brotherhood, the largest and perhaps the oldest. Although violence is often employed by some organizations, most Islamist movements are nonviolent.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The "Al-Ikhwan Al-Muslimun" (with Ikhwan brethren) or Muslim Brotherhood, is an organisation that was founded by Egyptian scholar Hassan al-Banna, a graduate of Dar al-Ulum. With its various branches, it is the largest Sunni movement in the Arab world, and an affiliate is often the largest opposition party in many Arab nations. The Muslim Brotherhood is not concerned with theological differences, accepting both, Muslims of any of the four Sunni schools of thought, and Shi'a Muslims. It is the world's oldest and largest Islamist group. Its aims are to re-establish the Caliphate and in the meantime, push for more Islamisation of society. The Brotherhood's stated goal is to instill the Qur'an and "sunnah" as the "sole reference point for... ordering the life of the Muslim family, individual, community... and state".


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The "Jamaat-e-Islami" (or JI) is an Islamist political party in the Indian subcontinent. It was founded in Lahore, British India, by Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi (with alternative spellings of last name Maudoodi) in 1941 and is the oldest religious party in Pakistan. Today, sister organizations with similar objectives and ideological approaches exist in India (Jamaat-e-Islami Hind), Bangladesh (Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh), Kashmir (Jamaat-e-Islami Kashmir), and Sri Lanka, and there are "close brotherly relations" with the Islamist movements and missions "working in different continents and countries", particularly those affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood (Akhwan-al-Muslimeen). The JI envisions an Islamic government in Pakistan and Bangladesh governing by Islamic law. It opposes Westernization—including secularization, capitalism, socialism, or such practices as interest based banking, and favours an Islamic economic order and Caliphate.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: "Hizb ut-Tahrir" () (Translation: Party of Liberation) is an international, pan-Islamist political organization which describes its ideology as Islam, and its aim the re-establishment of the Islamic Khilafah (Caliphate) to resume Islamic ways of life in the Muslim world. The caliphate would unite the Muslim community ("Ummah") upon their Islamic creed and implement the Shariah, so as to then carry the proselytizing of Islam to the rest of the world.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Quranism or Quraniyya (; "al-Qur'āniyya") is a protestant branch of Islam. It holds the belief that Islamic guidance and law should only be based on the Quran, thus opposing the religious authority and authenticity of the hadith literature. Quranists believe that God's message is already clear and complete in the Quran and it can therefore be fully understood without referencing outside texts. Quranists claim that the vast majority of hadith literature are forged lies and believe that the Quran itself criticizes the hadith both in the technical sense and the general sense.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Liberal Islam originally emerged out of the Islamic revivalist movement of the 18th-19th centuries. Liberal and progressive Islamic organizations and movements are primarily based in the Western world, and have in common a religious outlook which depends mainly on "ijtihad" or re-interpretation of the sacred scriptures of Islam. Liberal and progressive Muslims are characterized by a rationalistic, critical examination and re-interpretation of the sacred scriptures of Islam; affirmation and promotion of democracy, gender equality, human rights, LGBT rights, women's rights, religious pluralism, interfaith marriage, freedom of expression, freedom of thought, and freedom of religion; opposition to theocracy and total rejection of Islamism and Islamic fundamentalism; and a modern view of Islamic theology, ethics, "sharia", culture, tradition, and other ritualistic practices in Islam.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Mahdavia, or Mahdavism, is a Mahdiist sect founded in late 15th century India by Syed Muhammad Jaunpuri, who declared himself to be the Hidden Twelfth Imam of the Twelver Shia tradition. They follow many aspects of the Sunni doctrine. Zikri Mahdavis, or Zikris, are an offshoot of the Mahdavi movement.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Non-denominational Muslims is an umbrella term that has been used for and by Muslims who do not belong to or do not self-identify with a specific Islamic denomination. A quarter of the world's Muslims are non-denominational Muslims.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Tolu-e-Islam ("Resurgence of Islam") is a non-denominational Muslim organization based in Pakistan, with members throughout the world. The movement was initiated by Ghulam Ahmed Pervez.


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Ahl-i Hadith (, : ) is a movement which emerged in the Indian subcontinent in the mid-19th century. Its followers call themselves "Ahl al-Hadith" and are considered to be a branch of the "Salafiyya" school. Ahl-i Hadith is antithetical to various beliefs and mystical practices associated with folk Sufism. Ahl-i Hadith shares many doctrinal similarities with the Wahhabi movement and hence often classified as being synonymous with the "Wahhabis" by its adversaries. However, its followers reject this designation, preferring to identify themselves as "Salafis".


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The "Salafiyya" movement is a conservative, "Islahi" (reform) movement within Sunni Islam that emerged in the second half of the 19th century and advocate a return to the traditions of the "devout ancestors" ("Salaf al-Salih"). It has been described as the "fastest-growing Islamic movement"; with each scholar expressing diverse views across social, theological, and political spectrum. Salafis follow a doctrine that can be summed up as taking "a fundamentalist approach to Islam, emulating the Prophet Muhammad and his earliest followers—"al-salaf al-salih", the 'pious forefathers'...They reject religious innovation, or "bidʻah", and support the implementation of "Sharia" (Islamic law)." The Salafi movement is often divided into three categories: the largest group are the purists (or quietists), who avoid politics; the second largest group are the militant activists, who get involved in politics; the third and last group are the jihadists, who constitute a minority. Most of the violent Islamist groups come from the Salafi-Jihadist movement and their subgroups. In recent years, Jihadi-Salafist doctrines have often been associated with the armed insurgencies of Islamic extremist movements and terrorist organizations targeting innocent civilians, both Muslims and Non-Muslims, such as al-Qaeda, ISIL/ISIS/IS/Daesh, Boko Haram, etc. The second largest group are the Salafi activists who have a long tradition of political activism, such as those that operate in organizations like the Muslim Brotherhood, the Arab world's major Islamist movement. In the aftermath of widescale repressions after the Arab spring, accompanied by their political failures, the activist-Salafi movements have undergone a decline. The most numerous are the quietists, who believe in disengagement from politics and accept allegiance to Muslim governments, no matter how tyrannical, to avoid "fitna" (chaos).


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: The Wahhabi movement was founded and spearheaded by the Ḥanbalī scholar and theologian Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab, a religious preacher from the Najd region in central Arabia, and was instrumental in the rise of the House of Saud to power in the Arabian peninsula. Ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab sought to revive and purify Islam from what he perceived as non-Islamic popular religious beliefs and practices by returning to what, he believed, were the fundamental principles of the Islamic religion. His works were generally short, full of quotations from the Quran and "Hadith" literature, such as his main and foremost theological treatise, "Kitāb at-Tawḥīd" (; "The Book of Oneness"). He taught that the primary doctrine of Islam was the uniqueness and oneness of God ("tawḥīd"), and denounced what he held to be popular religious beliefs and practices among Muslims that he considered to be akin to heretical innovation ("bidʿah") and polytheism ("shirk").


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: Wahhabism has been described as a conservative, strict, and fundamentalist branch of Sunnī Islam, with puritan views, believing in a literal interpretation of the Quran. The terms "Wahhabism" and "Salafism" are sometimes evoked interchangeably, although the designation "Wahhabi" is specifically applied to the followers of Muhammad ibn ʿAbd al-Wahhab and his reformist doctrines. The label "Wahhabi" was not claimed by his followers, who usually refer themselves as "al-Muwaḥḥidūn" ("affirmers of the singularity of God"), but is rather employed by Western scholars as well as his critics. Starting in the mid-1970s and 1980s, the international propagation of Salafism and Wahhabism within Sunnī Islam favored by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and other Arab states of the Persian Gulf has achieved what the French political scientist Gilles Kepel defined as a "preeminent position of strength in the global expression of Islam."


title: Islamic schools and branches

text: 22 months after the September 11 attacks, when the FBI considered al-Qaeda as "the number one terrorist threat to the United States", journalist Stephen Schwartz and U.S. Senator Jon Kyl have explicitly stated during a hearing that occurred in June 2003 before the Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology, and Homeland Security of the U.S. Senate that "Wahhabism is the source of the overwhelming majority of terrorist atrocities in today's world". As part of the global "War on Terror", Wahhabism has been accused by the European Parliament, various Western security analysts, and think tanks like the RAND Corporation, as being "a source of global terrorism". Furthermore, Wahhabism has been accused of causing disunity in the Muslim community ("Ummah") and criticized for its followers' destruction of many Islamic, cultural, and historical sites associated with the early history of Islam and the first generation of Muslims (Muhammad's family and his companions) in Saudi Arabia.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck (, ; born 21 February 1980) is the Druk Gyalpo (Dzongkha: Dragon King) of the Kingdom of Bhutan. After his father Jigme Singye Wangchuck abdicated the throne in his favor, he became the monarch on 9 December 2006. A public coronation ceremony was held on 6 November 2008, a year that marked 100 years of monarchy in Bhutan.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: Khesar was born 21 February 1980 at Paropakar Maternity and Women's Hospital in Kathmandu. He is the eldest son of the fourth Dragon king of Bhutan, Jigme Singye Wangchuck, and his third wife, Queen "Ashi" Tshering Yangdon. He has a younger sister, Princess "Ashi" Dechen Yangzom, and brother, Prince "Gyaltshab" Jigme Dorji, as well as four half-sisters and three half-brothers.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: After completing his higher secondary studies at Yangchenphug High School, Khesar was educated in the United States at Phillips Academy in Andover and at Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, where he finished high school. He then studied at Wheaton College in Massachusetts before completing the Diplomatic Studies Programme at Magdalen College, Oxford.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: The Crown Prince, popularly known to the people of Bhutan as 'Dasho Khesar', accompanied his father on his many tours throughout the kingdom to meet and speak to the people. He also officially represented Bhutan on several international events.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: On 8 May 2002, he represented Bhutan at the 27th UN General Assembly and made his first speech to the United Nations, addressing issues related to the welfare of millions of children around the world. He attended Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej's 60th Anniversary Celebrations on 12–13 June 2006 in Bangkok along with royals from 25 countries.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: On 31 October 2004, Khesar was installed as the 16th Trongsa Penlop in Trongsa Dzong. The institution of the Trongsa Penlop, started by "Zhabdrung" Ngawang Namgyal in 1647, signifies the true heritage to the Bhutanese Throne and the investiture ceremony of the Trongsa Penlop is the formal declaration of this status of the Crown Prince.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: In December 2005, King Jigme Singye Wangchuck announced his intention to abdicate in his son's favour in 2008, and that he would begin handing over responsibility to him immediately. On 9 December 2006, the former king issued a Royal Edict announcing his abdication, and transferred the throne to Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, who was officially crowned on 6 November 2008, in Punakha. Religious ceremonies and public celebrations were also held at Tashichho Dzong and Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu. The coronation ceremony comprised an ancient and colourful ritual, attended by few selected foreign friends of the royal family and dignitaries, including the then-President of India, Pratibha Patil.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: To welcome Khesar as king of Bhutan, people painted street signs, hung festive banners and decorated traffic circles with fresh flowers. He received white, yellow, red, green, and blue silk scarves.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: As he opened the session of parliament on Friday, 20 May 2011, the king announced his engagement to Jetsun Pema, born in Thimphu on 4 June 1990. They were married on 13 October 2011 in Punakha Dzong. The wedding was Bhutan's largest media event ever. The ceremony was held in Punakha, followed by formal visits to different parts of the country. During the ceremony the king also received the Phoenix Crown of the Druk Gyaltsuen (Dragon queen) from the most sacred Machhen temple of the Dzong and bestowed it on Jetsun Pema, formally proclaiming her queen of the kingdom of Bhutan. The wedding was held in traditional style with the "blessings of the guardian deities".


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: On 11 November 2015, it was announced that the king and queen of Bhutan were expecting their first child, a son, early in 2016. They announced the arrival of their son Jigme Namgyel Wangchuck, who was born in Lingkana Palace in Thimphu, on 5 February 2016.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: On 17 December 2019, it was reported that they were expecting their second child, to be born in spring 2020. Their second son was born in Lingkana Palace in Thimphu on 19 March 2020. They formally uploaded the photo of their second son on 31 March 2020, through the official Facebook page. On 30 June 2020, the Royal Family announced that the second Gyalsey had been named Jigme Ugyen Wangchuck, and would be known as His Royal Highness "Gyalsey" Ugyen Wangchuck.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: The young king began his reign overseeing the democratisation of Bhutan by presiding over the last sessions of the parliament where electoral laws, land reform and other important issues were debated. He said that the responsibility of this generation of Bhutanese was to ensure the success of democracy. He traveled extensively to explain and discuss the Draft Constitution of Bhutan with the people and to encourage participation in the upcoming democratic exercises. He continues such visits, speaking mainly to young people on the need for Bhutanese to strive for higher standards in education, business, civil service, and the need for people of a small country to work harder than those of others.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: On 17 February 2021, he signed the abolishment of anti-homosexuality laws into law, effectively decriminalising same-sex activity in the kingdom, after the repeal of such laws had been approved by both houses in 2020. Tashi Tsheten, of the LGBT organisation "Queer Voices of Bhutan", welcomed the king's decision as a milestone and expressed gratitude to the king and every politician involved in making the decriminalisation possible. Additionally, Tea Braun of the organisation Human Dignity Trust said that Bhutan had made a "step forward" by legalising homosexual activity.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: The king signed a new treaty of friendship with India in February 2007, replacing the treaty of 1949. Many government initiatives were undertaken by the new king with a view to strengthen the system in preparation for democratic changes in 2008. The Constitution of Bhutan was adopted on 18 July 2008 after legislation dictated that the National Council and the National Assembly was to be elected democratically.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: The king's first landmark project after his formal coronation was launching the National Cadastral Resurvey in March 2009, aimed at resolving long-standing issues of excess land that affect every Bhutanese household. A variation of land reform focuses on improving the lives of people living in remote and difficult areas, with the Rehabilitation Project. The pilot Rehabilitation Project at Khinadang in Pemagatshel was initiated in June 2011, and inaugurated by Prince "Gyaltshab" Jigme Dorji Wangchuck on 28 October 2014. The Project resettled people living in less accessible areas to villages, and provided them with basic amenities and services, as well as support in agriculture. The project saw tremendous success, and similar projects are in the pipeline in other parts of Bhutan.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: One of the most important and ongoing works of the king involves Kidu, a tradition based on the rule of a Dharma king whose sacred duty is to care for his people. The people can access Kidu in several ways: by applying to the Office of the Royal Chamberlain, which accepts applications during working hours; by sending applications through Dzongkhag Kidu Officers in every district, whose responsibility is to collect such applications as well as identify people who need help; and by appealing to the king directly. To give the people the opportunity for direct appeal, the king on his numerous road trips across the country stops for every potential appellant along the road.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: There are several Kidu schemes designed to help certain groups of people, such as students unable to afford even the free education available in the country, elderly citizens, and those requiring medical treatment. The king has also continued the tradition of giving state land to landless farmers around the country. The ongoing project takes him to remote villages and communities. Kidu includes providing immediate assistance to victims of natural disasters. The king personally supervised the rebuilding efforts following major earthquakes and floods in 2009 and 2011.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: In 2012, the king granted Nu.100 million from the Armed Forces to the Zhung Dratshang for the Dzong Reconstruction Fund, as on 24 June, the historic Wangduephodrang Dzong was destroyed by fire. As Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, he commanded the armed forces and to the site immediately, and with help from dzongkhag officials and citizens, many things were saved from the fire.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: The king initiated military-style training for volunteers known as the DeSuung Training Programme, DeSuung meaning "Guardians of Peace", in 2011, on the request of the youth. The programme aims to equip volunteers with the skill to provide assistance during emergencies, and has been hugely successful, with more than 3000 volunteers having completed their training and volunteering for public events and emergencies. Graduates of the program are known as DeSuups and wear orange jumpsuits. They live by the DeSuung Honour Code, which is to "keep service to their nation before their own safety and comfort".


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: In December 2019, during the 112th National Day, the king announced the initiation of a one-year national service for all eighteen-year-olds, starting from 2022. The training includes three months of military-style training and a nine-month educational course on agriculture, entrepreneurship, computers, coding and health sciences.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: The Constitution of Bhutan empowers the king to grant amnesty to prisoners. In 2014 he pardoned 45 prisoners who had been imprisoned for possessing an excessive amount of tobacco, following an amendment of the Tobacco Control Act of Bhutan 2010 by the Parliament of Bhutan, since the amended law could not be enforced retroactively, and previous offenders who would not be liable now would still be tried under previous laws. The Royal Pardon was granted to those who were not repeat offenders and had good prison records.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: The "People's king", like his father, enjoys exceptionally warm relations with India. He has visited India on several occasions, and was invited as the Chief Guest for India's 64th Republic Day celebrations in 2013.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: Following his 2006 visit to Thailand as crown prince, the king has been immensely popular in Thailand. The number of Thai tourists visiting Bhutan has increased steadily since the visit.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: In November 2011, the king and Queen Jetsun Pema made a state visit to Japan; they were the first state guests to Japan since the 2011 earthquake. It was reported that the Japanese were fascinated by the king and queen of Bhutan.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: In March 2015, the king and queen were among the foreign dignitaries who attended the funeral of Singapore's former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew.


title: Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck

text: Also, the king and the queen attended the funeral of King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand in October 2017 and the enthronement ceremony of Emperor Naruhito and Empress Masako of Japan in October 2019.


title: 5G NR frequency bands

text: Frequency bands for 5G New Radio (5G NR), which is the air interface or radio access technology of the 5G mobile networks, are separated into two different frequency ranges. First there is Frequency Range 1 (FR1), which includes sub-6 GHz frequency bands, some of which are traditionally used by previous standards, but has been extended to cover potential new spectrum offerings from 410 MHz to 7125 MHz. The other is Frequency Range 2 (FR2), which includes frequency bands from 24.25 GHz to 71.0 GHz.


title: 5G NR frequency bands

text: From the latest published version (Rel. 17) of the respective 3GPP technical standard (TS 38.101), the following tables list the specified frequency bands and the channel bandwidths of the 5G NR standard.


title: 5G NR frequency bands

text: Note that the NR bands are defined with prefix of "n". When the NR band is overlapping with the 4G LTE band, they share the same band number.


title: Kabuki

text: Kabuki is thought to have originated in the very early Edo period, when founder Izumo no Okuni formed a female dance troupe who performed dances and light sketches in Kyoto. The art form later developed into its present all-male theatrical form after women were banned from performing in kabuki theatre in 1629. Kabuki developed throughout the late 17th century and reached its zenith in the mid-18th century.


title: Kabuki

text: In 2005, kabuki theatre was proclaimed by UNESCO as an intangible heritage possessing outstanding universal value. In 2008, it was inscribed in the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.


title: Kabuki

text: The individual kanji that make up the word "kabuki" can be read as , , and . "Kabuki" is therefore sometimes translated as "the art of singing and dancing". These are, however, characters which do not reflect actual etymology. The kanji of "skill" generally refers to a performer in kabuki theatre.


title: Kabuki

text: Since the word "kabuki" is believed to derive from the verb , meaning "to lean" or "to be out of the ordinary", the word "kabuki" can also be interpreted as "avant-garde" or "bizarre" theatre. The expression referred originally to those who were bizarrely dressed. It is often translated into English as "strange things" or "the crazy ones", and referred to the style of dress worn by gangs of samurai.


title: Kabuki

text: The history of kabuki began in 1603 when Izumo no Okuni, possibly a of Izumo-taisha, began performing with a troupe of female dancers a new style of dance drama, on a makeshift stage in the dry bed of the Kamo River in Kyoto, at the very beginning of the Edo period, and Japan's rule by the Tokugawa shogunate, enforced by Tokugawa Ieyasu.


title: Kabuki

text: In the earliest forms of kabuki, female performers played both men and women in comic playlets about ordinary life. It didn't take long for the style to become popular, and Okuni was asked to perform before the Imperial Court. In the wake of such success, rival troupes quickly formed, and kabuki was born as ensemble dance and drama performed by women.


title: Kabuki

text: Much of the appeal of kabuki in this era was due to the ribald, suggestive themes featured by many troupes; this appeal was further augmented by the fact that many performers were also involved in prostitution. For this reason, kabuki was also known as during this period.


title: Kabuki

text: Kabuki became a common form of entertainment in the red-light districts of Japan, especially in Yoshiwara, the registered red-light district in Edo. The widespread appeal of kabuki often meant that a diverse crowd of different social classes gathered to watch performances, a unique occurrence that happened nowhere else in the city of Edo. Kabuki theatres became well known as a place to both see and be seen in terms of fashion and style, as the audience—commonly comprising a number of socially low but economically wealthy merchants—typically used a performance as a way to feature the fashion trends.


title: Kabuki

text: As an art-form, kabuki also provided inventive new forms of entertainment, featuring new musical styles played on the , clothes and fashion often dramatic in appearance, famous actors and stories often intended to mirror current events. Performances typically lasted from morning until sunset, with surrounding teahouses providing meals, refreshments and place to socialise. The area surrounding kabuki theatres also featured a number of shops selling kabuki souvenirs.


title: Kabuki

text: Despite its popularity, the ruling shogunate held unfavorable views of kabuki performances. The crowd at a kabuki performance often mixed different social classes, and the social peacocking of the merchant classes, who controlled much of Japan's economy at the time, were perceived to have entrenched upon the standing of the samurai classes, both in appearance and often wealth. In an effort to clamp down on kabuki's popularity, women's kabuki, known as , was banned in 1629 for being too erotic. Following this ban, young boys began performing in , which was also soon banned. Kabuki switched to adult male actors, called , in the mid-1600s. Adult male actors, however, continued to play both female and male characters, and kabuki retained its popularity, remaining a key aspect of the Edo period urban life-style.


title: Kabuki

text: Although kabuki was performed widely across Japan, the Nakamura-za, Ichimura-za and Kawarazaki-za theatres became the most widely known and popular kabuki theatres, where some of the most successful kabuki performances were and still are held.


title: Kabuki

text: During the time period of 1628–1673, the modern version of all-male kabuki actors, a style of kabuki known as (lit., "young man kabuki"), was established, following the ban on women and young boys. Cross-dressing male actors, known as "" (lit., "woman role") or "" took over previously female- or -acted roles. Young (adolescent) men were still preferred for women's roles due to their less obviously masculine appearance and the higher pitch of their voices. The roles of adolescent men in kabuki, known as , were also played by young men, often selected for their attractiveness; this became a common practice, and were often presented in an erotic context.


title: Kabuki

text: The focus of kabuki performances also increasingly began to emphasise drama alongside dance. However, the ribald nature of kabuki performances continued, with male actors also engaging in sex work for both female and male customers. Audiences frequently became rowdy, and brawls occasionally broke out, sometimes over the favors of a particularly popular or handsome actor, leading the shogunate to ban first and then roles for a short period of time; both bans were rescinded by 1652.


title: Kabuki

text: During the Genroku period, kabuki thrived, with the structure of kabuki plays formalising into the structure they are performed in today, alongside many other elements which eventually came to be recognised as a key aspect of kabuki tradition, such as conventional character tropes. Kabuki theater and , an elaborate form of puppet theater later known as , became closely associated with each other, mutually influencing the other's further development.


title: Kabuki

text: The famous playwright Chikamatsu Monzaemon, one of the first professional kabuki playwrights, produced several influential works during this time, though the piece usually acknowledged as his most significant, ("The Love Suicides at" ), was originally written for . Like many plays, it was adapted for kabuki, eventually becoming popular enough to reportedly inspire a number of real-life "copycat" suicides, and leading to a government ban on (plays about love suicides) in 1723.


title: Kabuki

text: Also during the Genroku period was the development of the style of posing, credited to kabuki actor Ichikawa Danjūrō I, alongside the development of the mask-like makeup worn by kabuki actors in some plays.


title: Kabuki

text: In the mid-18th century, kabuki fell out of favor for a time, with taking its place as the premier form of stage entertainment among the lower social classes. This occurred partly because of the emergence of several skilled playwrights in that time. Little of note would occur in the further development of kabuki until the end of the century, when it began to reemerge in popularity.


title: Kabuki

text: In the 1840s, repeated periods of drought led to a series of fires affecting Edo, with kabuki theatres—traditionally made of wood—frequently burning down, forcing many to relocate. When the area that housed the Nakamura-za was completely destroyed in 1841, the refused to allow the theatre to be rebuilt, saying that it was against fire code.


title: Kabuki

text: The shogunate, mostly disapproving of the socialisation and trade that occurred in kabuki theatres between merchants, actors and prostitutes, took advantage of the fire crisis in the following year, forcing the Nakamura-za, Ichimura-za and Kawarazaki-za out of the city limits and into Asakusa, a northern suburb of Edo. This was part of the larger Tenpō Reforms that the shogunate instituted starting in 1842 to restrict the overindulgence of pleasures. Actors, stagehands, and others associated with the performances were also forced to move in lieu of the death of their livelihood; despite the move of everyone involved in kabuki performance, and many in the surrounding areas, to the new location of the theatres, the inconvenience of the distance led to a reduction in attendance. These factors, along with strict regulations, pushed much of kabuki "underground" in Edo, with performances changing locations to avoid the authorities.


title: Kabuki

text: The theatres' new location was called Saruwaka-chō, or Saruwaka-machi; the last thirty years of the Tokugawa shogunate's rule is often referred to as the "Saruwaka-machi period", and is well known for having produced some of the most exaggerated kabuki in Japanese history.


title: Kabuki

text: Saruwaka-machi became the new theatre district for the Nakamura-za, Ichimura-za and Kawarazaki-za theatres. The district was located on the main street of Asakusa, which ran through the middle of the small city. The street was renamed after Saruwaka Kanzaburo, who initiated Edo kabuki in the Nakamura-za in 1624.


title: Kabuki

text: European artists began noticing Japanese theatrical performances and artwork, and many artists, such as Claude Monet, were inspired by Japanese woodblock prints. This Western interest prompted Japanese artists to increase their depictions of daily life, including the depiction of theatres, brothels, main streets and so on. One artist, Utagawa Hiroshige, produced a series of prints based on Saruwaka from the Saruwaka-machi period in Asakusa.


title: Kabuki

text: Despite the revival of kabuki in another location, the relocation diminished the tradition's most abundant inspirations for costuming, make-up, and storylines. Ichikawa KodanjiIV was considered one of the most active and successful actors during the Saruwaka-machi period. Deemed unattractive, he mainly performed , or dancing, in dramas written by Kawatake Mokuami, who also wrote during the Meiji era to follow. Kawatake Mokuami commonly wrote plays that depicted the common lives of the people of Edo. He introduced (seven-and-five syllable meter) dialogue and music such as . His kabuki performances became quite popular once the Saruwaka-machi period ended and theatre returned to Edo; many of his works are still performed.


title: Kabuki

text: In 1868, the Tokugawa ceased to exist, with the restoration of the Emperor. Emperor Meiji was restored to power and moved from Kyoto to the new capital of Edo, or Tokyo, beginning the Meiji period. Kabuki once again returned to the pleasure quarters of Edo, and throughout the Meiji period became increasingly more radical, as modern styles of kabuki plays and performances emerged. Playwrights experimented with the introduction of new genres to kabuki, and introduced twists on traditional stories.


title: Kabuki

text: Beginning in 1868, enormous cultural changes, such as the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate, the elimination of the samurai class, and the opening of Japan to the West, helped to spark kabuki's re-emergence. Both actors and playwrights strove to improve the reputation of kabuki in the face of new foreign influence and amongst the upper classes, partially through adapting traditional styles to modern tastes. This endeavour would prove successful, with the Emperor sponsoring a kabuki performance on 21 April 1887.


title: Kabuki

text: After World War II, the occupying forces briefly banned kabuki, which had formed a strong base of support for Japan's war efforts since 1931. This ban was in conjunction with broader restrictions on media and art forms that the American military occupation instituted after WWII. However, by 1947 the ban on kabuki was rescinded, but censorship rules lingered.


title: Kabuki

text: The ensuing period of occupation following World War II posited a difficult time for kabuki; besides the war's physical impact and devastation upon the country, some schools of thought chose to reject both the styles and artforms of pre-war Japan, kabuki amongst them. Director Tetsuji Takechi's popular and innovative productions of kabuki classics at this time are credited with sparking new interest in kabuki in the Kansai region. Of the many popular young stars who performed with the Takechi Kabuki, Nakamura Ganjiro III (b. 1931) was the leading figure, first known as Nakamura Senjaku before taking his current name. It was this period of kabuki in Osaka that became known as the "Age of Senjaku" in his honor.


title: Kabuki

text: Today, kabuki is the most popular of the traditional styles of Japanese drama, with its star actors often appearing in television or film roles. Well-known actor Bandō Tamasaburō V has appeared in several non-kabuki plays and movies, often in the role of a woman.


title: Kabuki

text: Kabuki also appears in works of Japanese popular culture such as anime. In addition to the handful of major theatres in Tokyo and Kyoto, there are many smaller theatres in Osaka and throughout the countryside. The troupe, based in Ōshika, Nagano Prefecture, is one example.


title: Kabuki

text: Some local kabuki troupes today use female actors in roles. The Ichikawa Shōjo Kabuki Gekidan, an all-female troupe, debuted in 1953 to significant acclaim, though the majority of kabuki troupes have remained entirely-male.


title: Kabuki

text: The introduction of earphone guides in 1975, including an English version in 1982, helped broaden the artform's appeal. As a result, in 1991 the Kabuki-za, one of Tokyo's best known kabuki theaters, began year-round performances and, in 2005, began marketing kabuki cinema films. Kabuki troupes regularly tour Asia, Europe and America, and there have been several kabuki-themed productions of Western plays such as those of Shakespeare. Western playwrights and novelists have also experimented with kabuki themes, an example of which is Gerald Vizenor's (2004). Writer Yukio Mishima pioneered and popularised the use of kabuki in modern settings and revived other traditional arts, such as Noh, adapting them to modern contexts. There have even been kabuki troupes established in countries outside Japan. For instance, in Australia, the Za Kabuki troupe at the Australian National University has performed a kabuki drama each year since 1976, the longest regular kabuki performance outside Japan.


title: Kabuki

text: In November 2002, a statue was erected in honor of kabuki's founder, Izumo no Okuni and to commemorate 400 years of kabuki's existence. Diagonally across from the Minami-za, the last remaining kabuki theater in Kyoto, it stands at the east end of a bridge (Shijō Ōhashi) crossing the Kamo River in Kyoto.


title: Kabuki

text: While still maintaining most of the historical practices of kabuki, aimed to broaden its appeal by creating a new genre of kabuki productions called . With as the first Super Kabuki production to premiere in 1986, remakes of traditional plays and new contemporary creations have been brought to local theaters throughout the country, including anime-based productions such as "Naruto" or "One Piece" starting from 2014.


title: Kabuki

text: Super Kabuki has sparked controversy within the Japanese population regarding the extent of modification of the traditional art form. Some say that it has lost its 400-year history, while others consider the adaptations necessary for contemporary relevance. Regardless, since incorporating more advanced technology in the new stage sets, costumes, and lighting, Super Kabuki has regained interest from the young demographic.


title: Kabuki

text: The kabuki stage features a projection called a , a walkway which extends into the audience and via which dramatic entrances and exits are made. Okuni also performed on a stage with her entourage. The stage is used not only as a walkway or path to get to and from the main stage, but important scenes are also played on the stage.


title: Kabuki

text: Kabuki stages and theaters have steadily become more technologically sophisticated, and innovations including revolving stages and trap doors were introduced during the 18th century. A driving force has been the desire to manifest one frequent theme of kabuki theater, that of the sudden, dramatic revelation or transformation. A number of stage tricks, including actors' rapid appearance and disappearance, employ these innovations. The term , often translated as "playing to the gallery", is sometimes used as a catch-all for these tricks. The , and several innovations including revolving stage, and have all contributed to kabuki. The creates depth and both and provide a vertical dimension.


title: Kabuki

text: Scenery changes are sometimes made mid-scene, while the actors remain on stage and the curtain stays open. This is sometimes accomplished by using a , or "small wagon stage". This technique originated at the beginning of the 18th century, where scenery or actors move on or off stage on a wheeled platform. Also common are stagehands rushing onto the stage adding and removing props, backdrops and other scenery; these are always dressed entirely in black and are traditionally considered invisible. Stagehands also assist in a variety of quick costume changes known as ("quick change technique").


title: Kabuki

text: When a character's true nature is suddenly revealed, the devices of and are often used. This involves layering one costume over another and having a stagehand pull the outer one off in front of the audience.


title: Kabuki

text: The curtain that shields the stage before the performance and during the breaks is in the traditional colours of black, red and green, in various order, or white instead of green, vertical stripes. The curtain consists of one piece and is pulled back to one side by a staff member by hand.


title: Kabuki

text: An additional outer curtain called was not introduced until the Meiji era following the introduction of western influence. These are more ornate in their appearance and are woven. They depict the season in which the performance is taking place, often designed by renowned artists.


title: Kabuki

text: Since feudal laws in 17th century Japan prohibited replicating the looks of samurai or nobility and the use of luxurious fabrics, the kabuki costumes were groundbreaking new designs to the general public, even setting trends that still exist today.


title: Kabuki

text: Although the earliest kabuki costumes have not been preserved, separate and kabuki costumes today are made based on written records called and in collaboration with those whose families have been in the kabuki industry for generations. The kimono the actors wear for their costumes are typically made with vibrant colors and multiple layers. Both and wear - pleated trousers – in some plays, and both use padding underneath their costumes to create the correct body shape for the outfit.


title: Kabuki

text: Kabuki makeup provides an element of style easily recognizable even by those unfamiliar with the art form. Rice powder is used to create the white base for the characteristic stage makeup, and enhances or exaggerates facial lines to produce dramatic animal or supernatural masks. The color of the is an expression of the character's nature: red lines are used to indicate passion, heroism, righteousness, and other positive traits; blue or black, villainy, jealousy, and other negative traits; green, the supernatural; and purple, nobility.


title: Kabuki

text: Another special feature of kabuki costumes is the , or the wig. Each actor has a different wig made for every role, constructed from a thin base of hand-beaten copper custom-made to fit the actor perfectly, and each wig is usually styled in a traditional manner. The hair used in the wigs is typically real human hair hand-sewn onto a habotai base, though some styles of wig require yak hair or horse hair.


title: Kabuki

text: , or history plays, are set within the context of major events in Japanese history. Strict censorship laws during the Edo period prohibited the representation of contemporary events and particularly prohibited criticising the shogunate or casting it in a bad light, although enforcement varied greatly over the years. Many shows were set in the context of the Genpei War of the 1180s, the Nanboku-chō Wars of the 1330s, or other historical events. Frustrating the censors, many shows used these historical settings as metaphors for contemporary events. , one of the most famous plays in the kabuki repertoire, serves as an excellent example; it is ostensibly set in the 1330s, though it actually depicts the contemporary (18th century) affair of the revenge of the 47 "rōnin".


title: Kabuki

text: Unlike , which generally focused upon the samurai class, focused primarily upon commoners, namely townspeople and peasants. Often referred to as "domestic plays" in English, generally related to themes of family drama and romance. Some of the most famous are the love suicide plays, adapted from works by the playwright Chikamatsu; these center on romantic couples who cannot be together in life due to various circumstances and who therefore decide to be together in death instead. Many if not most contain significant elements of this theme of societal pressures and limitations.


title: Kabuki

text: Important elements of kabuki include the , in which the actor holds a picturesque pose to establish his character. At this point his house name () is sometimes heard in loud shout () from an expert audience member, serving both to express and enhance the audience's appreciation of the actor's achievement. An even greater compliment can be paid by shouting the name of the actor's father.


title: Kabuki

text: The main actor has to convey a wide variety of emotions between a fallen, drunkard person and someone who in reality is quite different since he is only faking his weakness, such as the character of Yuranosuke in . This is called or "belly acting", which means he has to perform from within to change characters. It is technically difficult to perform and takes a long time to learn, but once mastered the audience takes up on the actor's emotion.


title: Kabuki

text: Emotions are also expressed through the colours of the costumes, a key element in kabuki. Gaudy and strong colours can convey foolish or joyful emotions, whereas severe or muted colours convey seriousness and focus.


title: Kabuki

text: Kabuki, like other forms of drama traditionally performed in Japan, was—and sometimes still is—performed in full-day programmes, with one play comprising a number of acts spanning the entire day. However, these plays—particularly —were commonly sequenced with acts from other plays in order to produce a full-day programme, as the individual acts in a kabuki play commonly functioned as stand-alone performances in and of themselves. plays, in contrast, were generally not sequenced with acts from other plays, and genuinely would take the entire day to perform.


title: Kabuki

text: The structure of a full-day performance was derived largely from the conventions of both and Noh theatre. Chief amongst these was the concept of , a pacing convention in theatre stating that the action of a play should start slow, speed up, and end quickly. The concept, elaborated on at length by master Noh playwright Zeami, governs not only the actions of the actors, but also the structure of the play, as well as the structure of scenes and plays within a day-long programme.


title: Kabuki

text: Nearly every full-length play occupies five acts. The first corresponds to , an auspicious and slow opening which introduces the audience to the characters and the plot. The next three acts correspond to , where events speed up, culminating almost always in a great moment of drama or tragedy in the third act, and possibly a battle in the second or fourth acts. The final act, corresponding to , is almost always short, providing a quick and satisfying conclusion.


title: Kabuki

text: While many plays were written solely for kabuki, many others were taken from plays, Noh plays, folklore, or other performing traditions such as the oral tradition of the "Tale of the Heike". While plays tend to have serious, emotionally dramatic, and organised plots, plays written specifically for kabuki generally have looser, more humorous plots.


title: Kabuki

text: One crucial difference between and kabuki is a difference in storytelling focus; whereas focuses on the story and on the chanter who recites it, kabuki has a greater focus on the actors themselves. A play may sacrifice the details of sets, puppets, or action in favor of the chanter, while kabuki is known to sacrifice drama and even the plot to highlight an actor's talents. It was not uncommon in kabuki to insert or remove individual scenes from a day's schedule in order to cater to an individual actor—either scenes he was famed for, or that featured him, would be inserted into a program without regard to plot continuity. Certain plays were also performed uncommonly as they required an actor to be proficient in a number of instruments, which would be played live onstage, a skill that few actors possessed.


title: Kabuki

text: Kabuki traditions in Edo and the Kyoto-Osaka region (Kamigata) differed; throughout the Edo period, Edo kabuki was defined by its extravagance, both in the appearance of its actors, their costumes, stage tricks and bold poses. In contrast, Kamigata kabuki focused on natural and realistic styles of acting. Only towards the end of the Edo period did the two styles begin to merge to any significant degree. Before this time, actors from different regions often failed to adjust their acting styles when performing elsewhere, leading to unsuccessful performance tours outside of their usual region of performance.


title: Kabuki

text: While there are many famous plays known today, many of the most famous were written in the mid-Edo period, and were originally written for theatre.


title: Kabuki

text: Every kabuki actor has a stage name, which is different from the name they were born with. These stage names, most often those of the actor's father, grandfather, or teacher, are passed down between generations of actors' lineages, and hold great honor and importance. Many names are associated with certain roles or acting styles, and the new possessor of each name must live up to these expectations; there is the feeling almost of the actor not only taking a name, but embodying the spirit, style, or skill of each actor to previously hold that name. Many actors will go through at least three names over the course of their career.


title: Kabuki

text: Since its beginning, kabuki has remained a significant piece of Japanese culture. The stories and actors have been recreated in many different art forms, including woodblock prints, books, magazines, oral storytelling, photography in later years, and others. Additionally, kabuki was and continues to be influenced by the books and stories circulating in Japan. In one such instance, the widely popular book , or Eight Dogs, was acted out in various episodes on the kabuki stage.


title: Kabuki

text: One important way the laboring class was able to enjoy kabuki performances outside of the stage was through home-brewed shows called . Also referred to as "amateur kabuki", these performances took place at the local level across Japan, but were most commonly held in the Gifu and Aichi prefectures. In Gifu Prefecture specifically, kabuki was a prominent feature of the annual autumn festival, with children's reenactments of kabuki performances taking place at Murakuni shrine for over 300 years.


title: Kabuki

text: Closer to the cultural epicenter of kabuki in Edo (later Tokyo), commoners had other methods to enjoy performances without attending the shows. was type of performance in Tokyo, but unlike kabuki, it was shorter in length and more affordable to the common class. performances were often based on plots used in kabuki, and the two styles shared common themes. was another popular medium for kabuki consumption among commoners and elites alike. During the course of its publication, this magazine allowed those unable to attend performances to enjoy the liveliness of kabuki culture.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: Vampire: The Masquerade is a tabletop role-playing game (tabletop RPG) created by Mark Rein-Hagen and released in 1991 by White Wolf Publishing as the first of several Storyteller System games for its World of Darkness setting line. It is set in a fictionalized "gothic-punk" version of the modern world where players assume the role of vampires, who are referred to as "Kindred." and deal with their night-to-night struggles against their own bestial natures, vampire hunters, and each other.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: Several associated products were produced based on "Vampire: The Masquerade", including live-action role-playing games ("Mind's Eye Theatre"), dice, collectible card games (""), video games ("", "", "" and "", ""), and numerous novels. In 1996, a short-lived television show loosely based on the game, "", was produced by Aaron Spelling for the Fox Broadcasting Company.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: "Vampire" was inspired by role-playing games (RPGs) such as "Call of Cthulhu", "RuneQuest," and "Nightlife", as well as the writings of Joseph Campbell and vampire films such as "The Lost Boys". Rein-Hagen felt that hunting vampires, as a game premise, would get boring, so he came up with the idea of a game wherein the players played vampires instead of hunting them. Rein-Hagen stated that he purposefully did not read Anne Rice's "Vampire Chronicles" until "very late" in the development process but admitted she was probably an influence on the vampire films that inspired the game. He wanted to go beyond what Anne Rice had done by creating individual vampires, with a whole secret vampire society and culture.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: Some of "Vampire"s central themes of the power of belief developed out of Rein-Hagen's religious upbringing. Inspired by a comic book given to him by White Wolf business partner Stewart Wieck, Rein-Hagen developed the idea that the cursed character of the Biblical Cain was the original vampire. In an "Ask Me Anything" interview on Reddit Rein-Hagen referred to the idea of Cain as the progenitor of all vampires as a "big turning point." He commented further: "I was trying to shy away from religion. After that... I went all in. The game and the world became about religion and belief. My father was a Lutheran minister, and I think that played a huge role in not only "Vampire" but the whole "WoD" series. I was always fascinated by what made people believe so strongly when I didn't seem to believe at all. Talking about that theme, the power of belief, fueled the second half of "Vampire" game design."


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: "Vampire" was notably new in many respects. It was conceived as a dark, moody, urban fantasy game with a unique gothic feel that harkened back to TSR's "Ravenloft". It would also be the first of a series of linked games sharing the same game world. Its simple cover photo of a rose on green marble set the tone for the game and differentiated it from other games on the market. Its content was also novel, as the game focused on plots, intrigue, and story as opposed to more straightforward dungeon scenarios. While the RPG industry in general had been trending towards a more narrative approach, "Vampire" was one of the first games of its kind to center on these things.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: The vampires were given an extensive list of broad supernatural powers called disciplines, which included superior strength, speed, and toughness, as well as other powers such as mystic senses, mind control, and blood magic. The 13 clans added late in the development process provided a much-needed character class-like system based on vampiric archetypes. This system proved very popular with players.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: For the game's mechanical elements, Rein-Hagen turned to Tom Dowd, co-designer of "Shadowrun" (1989). "Vampire"s system of "comparative" dice pools drew on the mechanics innovated by "Shadowrun," changing only the type of dice rolled from six-sided to ten-sided. Skill values that determined the number of dice rolled had been used in games like "Champions", but rather than add the result of the dice in total, "Vampire" compared the result of the dice with a fixed value to determine the degree of success or failure. Skill levels were relatively low, ranging usually from one to five, and were represented with dots rather than numbers, which was the standard of its contemporaries. Players could easily figure their dice pool and roll against the assigned difficulty rating. This system was a boon for the narrative style of play that emphasized story over mechanics, as it was easy for new players to quickly grasp, but it often provided unexpected results, such as a highly skilled character being more likely to fumble.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: The original 1991 version was superseded by a second edition in 1992 and a revised edition in 1998. The "Vampire: The Masquerade" game line was discontinued in 2004, at which point it was superseded by "".


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: In mid-2010, White Wolf switched exclusively to a print-on-demand model via online role playing game store DriveThruRPG, offering the new and classic World of Darkness source books through the DriveThruRPG web site starting with a number of formerly out of print "Vampire: The Masquerade" books and gradually adding more as they were ready for print. DriveThruRPG and White Wolf indicated that, eventually, all World of Darkness material will be available in this way.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: On March 17, 2011, White Wolf announced the 20th Anniversary Edition, which was published during the Grand Masquerade event in New Orleans on September 15–17, 2011 and released to the attendees. Customers not attending The Grand Masquerade were offered a limited time preorder option. The 20th Anniversary Edition contains revisions of rules and is a compendium of most information provided in supplemental material in the game's earlier life. The 20th Anniversary Edition officially revived "Vampire: The Masquerade" as part of White Wolf Publishing's shift to a print on demand business model, and multiple new "Masquerade" products have been announced. All of White Wolf's tabletop roleplaying games were then published by Onyx Path Publishing, including "Vampire" through its 20th Anniversary Edition, while all of White Wolf's Mind's Eye Theatre products were published by By Night Studios.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: In 2015, Paradox Interactive purchased White Wolf and all of its intellectual properties from CCP Games, and it was announced that White Wolf would remain a subsidiary of Paradox Interactive. A 5th edition of "Vampire: The Masquerade" (also known as V5) was then released in early 2018. Development of the new edition was led by game designer Kenneth Hite, and it was distributed by Modiphius Entertainment. After the release of the "Anarch" sourcebook in November 2018, Paradox Interactive announced it would no longer allow White Wolf to develop the series in-house due to references in the sourcebook to the anti-gay purges in Chechnya and other controversies surrounding White Wolf. In December 2018, Paradox Interactive announced that Modiphius Entertainment would continue the development of the series with final approval by Paradox Interactive.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: In November 2020, Paradox Interactive announced that Renegade Game Studios would become the publishing partner for the entire World of Darkness brand and that they would release "Vampire: The Masquerade" products. The company also announced it would bring IP development back in-house under the World of Darkness team and "placed White Wolf veteran Justin Achilli at the helm of that effort as the World of Darkness Creative Lead." "ICv2" reported that it was unclear how this would impact the publishing relationship with Onyx Path Publishing and Modiphius Entertainment.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: In 2021, "Polygon" reported that "since the initial launch of the game, the "Core Rulebook" and other products have been revised and updated to meet new ethical standards enforced by the team at Paradox." V5 was released on Roll20 in June 2021. In July 2021, Renegade Game Studios released retail "reprinted editions of "Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition Roleplaying Game" core rulebook and sourcebooks." The online toolset World of Darkness Nexus, which supports "Vampire: The Masquerade" and other games in the series, is planned to be released in 2022, with a rules and lore compendium, character creation and management tools, matchmaking, and video chat functionality. Early access to Vampire: The Masquerade Nexus was launched in June 2022; this launch includes bundles of both physical and digital game products.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: The game uses the cursed, vampiric condition as a backdrop to explore themes of morality, depravity, the human condition (or appreciation of the human condition in its absence), salvation, and personal horror. The gloomy and exaggerated version of the real world that the vampires inhabit, called the "World of Darkness", forms an already bleak canvas against which the stories and struggles of characters are painted. The themes that the game seeks to address include retaining the character's sense of self, humanity, and sanity, as well as simply keeping from being crushed by the grim opposition of mortal and supernatural antagonists and, more poignantly, surviving the politics, treachery, and often violent ambitions of their own kind.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: "Vampire" is based on the Storyteller System. In addition to the general Storyteller rules, it uses a number of specific mechanics aimed towards simulating the vampiric existence. A vampire has a "blood pool" signifying the amount of human blood or "vitae" currently in their body; this blood can be spent to power abilities and perform supernatural tricks. These tricks simulate many of those portrayed in film, such as turning into animals or mist, sleeping in the ground or having unnatural charisma and powers of hypnotic suggestion.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: Close to the central theme of the game is Humanity. Vampires each have Humanity scores, measuring how closely in touch with human nature they are; as Humanity decreases, vampires become more susceptible to the "Beast", the feral side of the vampiric soul that is driven entirely by rage, hunger, and hatred of God and humanity. Brutal, immoral actions risk lowering a vampire's Humanity score. If the individual's Humanity drops to zero, the Beast takes over and the vampire is in a state of constant frenzy known as "Wassail".


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: The actions taken during gameplay are expressed using ten-sided dice. The number of dice used correspond to the player's current skill level, often based on two different skills that together represent the player's ability. For example, to land a punch, the character's dexterity and brawl skill are combined. The resulting number is the number of dice rolled to perform the task. It is up to the story teller to set how high a dice roll must be to be considered a success (usually 6 for standard actions).


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: Vampires in the World of Darkness make use of several familiar tropes of vampires in myth and legend such as immortality and a powerful thirst for blood. They are truly undead as their hearts do not beat, they do not require food or drink, they do not age, their skin is cold and pale, and the only sustenance they require is blood. Despite their undead status, vampires of this world are thinking, feeling beings capable of thought, emotion, and empathy (though this capacity may diminish with age, or through a desensitization caused by immoral actions, referred to as "loss of Humanity"). Other tropes or weaknesses are described as mere legends or superstitions, such as a vampire's victim becoming a vampire simply from a bite. Though they are typically not repulsed by garlic or holy symbols, there is a system of merits and flaws that can affect characters in this way, though they are not animated by some demonic spirit according to in-game lore.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: Sunlight is fearsome and deadly to vampires of this canon, and at most, they can tolerate a few seconds of exposure before perishing. A wooden stake through the heart is not deadly to these creatures but will immobilize them until it is removed. Arguably their biggest weakness is what is known in-game as the "Beast". The Beast is a savage, carnal predatory drive within all vampires. The Beast seeks only to satisfy its base urge to survive. Anger, mortal threats, hunger, or bloodlust are some of the things that can cause the Beast to rise. The Beast is capable of taking over the vampire's conscious mind, forcing them into a frenzied state where they take violent, often deeply regrettable, actions that they perhaps otherwise would not. One of the major themes of "Vampire" is characters' battles to strike a balance between their violent, predatory nature and being morally responsible before their humanity is eroded by this powerful force within themselves. This theme is summed up in the axiom, "A Beast I Am, Lest a Beast I Become."


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: Vampires may enter a deathlike sleep called torpor. Torpor may be caused by near-fatal injuries or may be entered into voluntarily. In-game, the level of the vampire's humanity determines how long they sleep for. Though they cannot die of old age, vampires in this setting can die. Fire, sunlight, decapitation, supernatural powers, or succumbing to a clan weakness can cause the vampire to reach what is referred to as Final Death—to truly die. Torpor allows the vampire release from their existential pain but it also may make them vulnerable. Vampires in this state, if not well hidden, may have difficulty defending themselves and are vulnerable to destruction by vampire hunters or Diablerie by other vampires.


title: Vampire: The Masquerade

text: Characters in this world refer to the supernatural blood in their bodies that sustains them as "vitae". Vampires gain vitae by drinking blood. In-game, this accumulation of vitae is called a "blood pool". This represents the amount of vitae the player has available to expend to fuel supernatural powers, to heal wounds, or to increase their physical strength, agility, or stamina. Characters can replace lost Vitae by drinking more blood.