title: Filemon Vela Jr.

text: Vela ran in the newly created 34th congressional district as a Democrat. In the May 29 primary, he ranked first in an eight-candidate field with 40% of the vote. In the July 31 runoff, Vela defeated Denise Saenz Blanchard, 67% to 33%.


title: Filemon Vela Jr.

text: In July 2013, Vela quit the Congressional Hispanic Caucus because of his opposition to the Hoeven-Corker Amendment that tied border security to a pathway to citizenship. He said "erecting more border fence drives a wedge between border communities which are culturally united".


title: Filemon Vela Jr.

text: On March 22, 2021, Vela announced that he would not seek reelection in the 2022 United States House of Representatives elections.


title: Filemon Vela Jr.

text: In August 2021, Vela joined a group of conservative Democrats, dubbed "The Unbreakable Nine", who threatened to derail the Biden administration's $3.5 trillion budget reconciliation package meant to tackle the nation's infrastructure.


title: Filemon Vela Jr.

text: On March 24, 2022, Vela confirmed that he would resign early from Congress to take a job at Akin Gump, a lobbying and law firm. His resignation officially went into effect before midnight on March 31.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: Passchendaele is a 2008 Canadian war film, written, co-produced, directed by, and starring Paul Gross. The film, which was shot in Calgary, Alberta, Fort Macleod, Alberta, and in Belgium, focuses on the experiences of a Canadian soldier, Michael Dunne, at the Battle of Passchendaele, also known as the Third Battle of Ypres, inspired by stories that Gross heard from his grandfather, a First World War soldier.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: The film had its premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival on September 4, 2008, when it also had the honour of opening the festival. The film received a mixed reception upon release. On March 2, 2009, Paul Gross was honoured for his film "Passchendaele", winning that year's National Arts Centre Award for achievement over the past performance year. The film won five awards the 29th Genie Awards, including Best Picture, and also received the Golden Reel Award for Canada's top-grossing film of 2008.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: In the spring of 1917 after Vimy Ridge, Sergeant Michael Dunne of the 10th Battalion, CEF survives heavy combat but suffers from neurasthenia. He is sent home for recovery as a war hero for taking out a German machine gun position. While in hospital in Calgary, Alberta, where he had originally enlisted, he meets nurse Sarah Mann (Caroline Dhavernas).


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: David Mann (Joe Dinicol) is Sarah's younger brother, ineligible for military service due to asthma but determined to enlist. The Manns are ostracized when it becomes known their father died at Vimy Ridge fighting for the Imperial German Army.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: The father of David's girlfriend pulls strings to allow him to enlist. Dunne feels responsible for David's wellbeing and reenlists as a private under his mother's maiden name McCrae. He promised Sarah to protect her brother.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: David and Michael end up in the battlefields of Belgium fighting for their lives. Sarah also enlists and follows the 10th as a nurse in triage at an Advanced Dressing Station near the front. The three arrive in Flanders in time for the Battle of Passchendaele. Dunne and Sarah soon meet up again when Dunne brings a wounded man to the aid station. Dunne's cover as McCrae is soon blown, he manages to escape punishment and is promoted to platoon leader by Lieutenant Colonel Ormond, who knew him from earlier combat, when his past actions "should have got a V.C." and because of the need for experienced soldiers as high casualties were expected.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: When the Canadians launch their attack, the 8th Battalion (90th Winnipeg Rifles), CEF, known as the Little Black Devils, faces a German counter-attack and become pinned down and fight to complete exhaustion. Dunne's company is sent to support them. After the support company arrives, the 8th Battalion begins to withdraw from the battlefield, believing that they are finally relieved, leaving the job of holding the ground to Dunne's small force. As the reality of the war begins to set in, David Mann begins to realize the war was not what he believed it would be. Dunne's forces spend the night in their trenches, and as a result of the shelling, David begins to have an asthmatic/panic attack and Dunne calms him down, relieving the problem.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: The next morning the Germans counter-attack, and make it as far as the line, and both forces attack each other in close quarters combat. As the Germans retreat, David breaks down and chases them back to surrender. He jumps into their trenches and is met by a gun to the face where he begs in German. He is about to be shot when an artillery shell lands and the explosion throws him onto what is effectively a cross, created by walkway timbers from the trench. He is visually crucified by the explosion. This relates to Dunne's earlier story of the legendary report of the crucified soldier. When Dunne sees this he takes his helmet off, throws his gun down and runs to David, in a reckless attempt to keep his promise to keep him alive, getting shot in the process. He crawls to the cross on his knees, looking up at it. The Germans stop firing and allow him to retrieve David, whom he carries back to his own lines. The fighting swiftly resumes with a shell landing. David lives, but Dunne is carried to the hospital where he dies after his last words with Sarah. This happens just as the news comes in that the Canadians have captured Passchendaele Ridge.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: The ending scene shows David Mann, who now has only one leg and uses a wheelchair; Sarah Mann; David's girlfriend Cassie; Highway and Dunne's best friend Royster (Gil Bellows) paying tribute at Dunne's grave on his home farm. The marker has been altered to remove the "5" of 1915 and changed to 1917. The camera then pans out and the background alters to a field of hundreds of Canadian war graves with a riderless horse on the horizon.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: Production on the film reportedly began on August 20, 2007, with principal photography in Calgary, Alberta. The film was shot over a period of forty-five days and involved over 200 actors, some of them Canadian Forces soldiers with combat experience in Afghanistan. Battle scenes were filmed on the Tsuu T'ina Indian reserve just outside Calgary, and principal photography finished in October 2007. The film was edited by David Wharnsby, and its score composed by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: This film was inspired by Gross's relationship with his maternal grandfather, Michael Joseph Dunne, who served in the 56th, 5th, 14th and 23rd Reserve Battalions, CEF, in the First World War. Like many veterans, he was reticent about sharing his experiences with his family. In a rare conversation on a fishing trip, Dunne told the story of bayonetting a young German soldier, who had eyes like water, through the head and killing him during a battle. A long time later, as Dunne lay in a hospital bed in the last days of his life, his family was mystified by Dunne's behaviour of asking for forgiveness, over and over. Only Gross knew that he was speaking to the young German he had killed.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: "He went completely out of his mind at the end. He started telling me about a hideous event that happened during a skirmish in a little ruined town in World War I. He'd killed someone in a miserable, horrible way and that had obviously haunted him throughout the rest of his life. As my grandfather died, in his mind he was back in that town, trying to find a German boy whom he'd bayonetted in the forehead. He'd lived with that memory all his life – and he was of a time when people kept things to themselves. When he finally told the story, it really affected me and I've not been able to get it out of my head."


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: During the early portion of the film, the scene is recreated in a broken church, when Sergeant Michael Dunne bayonets a young German soldier through the forehead.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: In November 2005, the Government of Alberta announced a $5.5-million grant to Gross and the film project as part of Alberta's centennial; the overall budget has been announced at between $16 million and $20 million, making it the highest-budgeted Canadian-produced film ever. The film was publicly announced at a news conference at the Museum of the Regiments on November 13, 2005.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: "The province's centennial is a time to recognize our past and tell our stories, including those about Alberta's military heritage. We must work to keep our veterans' sacrifices in the forefront of our minds. The story of Passchendaele pays tribute to a key event in our country's history, and will educate Albertans and all Canadians for years to come." – Premier Ralph Klein


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: The 10th Battalion was originally formed from Albertans, Saskatchewanians and Manitobans, though as the war progressed it became identified solely as an Alberta battalion. The "Fighting Tenth" served with the 1st Canadian Division and participated in all major Canadian battles of the war, and set the record for highest number of individual bravery awards for a single battle. At Hill 70, sixty men were awarded the Military Medal for the fighting there, in addition to a Victoria Cross, three Distinguished Service Orders, seven Military Crosses, and nine Distinguished Conduct Medals.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: "Named for a village located on a low rise in the Ypres Salient, the very word Passchendaele has become synonymous with suffering and waste. Strong German defences in this area, developed over the course of more than two years, gave the British extremely hard going.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: "The Tenth Battalion were called out of reserve to assist an attack on Hill 52, part of the same low rise Passchendaele itself was situated on. The Battalion was not scheduled to attack, but the CO wisely prepared his soldiers as if they would be making the main assault – a decision that paid dividends when the unit was called out of reserve. On 10 November 1917, the Tenth Battalion took the feature with light casualties."


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: The battle scene at the end of the movie depicts a relief of the 8th Battalion, CEF (known by their nickname "The Little Black Devils") by the 10th Battalion, an action that actually happened, as described by the history of the 10th Battalion:


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: Lieutenant Colonel Ormond, the Commanding Officer of the 10th (also a character in the film) gave a handwritten account of the relief in which he said:


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: "Passchendaele" received mixed or poor reviews from critics. As of April 8, 2022, the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reported that 40% of critics gave the film a positive review, with an average score of 5 out of 10, based on 15 reviews.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: The film was a commercial failure as it went on to gross only $4,452,423, well under its $20 million budget.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: On March 2, 2009, Paul Gross was honoured for his film "Passchendaele", winning that year's National Arts Centre Award for achievement over the past performance year.


title: Passchendaele (film)

text: At the 29th Genie Awards, the film won the Achievement in Art Direction/Production Design, Achievement in Costume Design, Achievement in Overall Sound, Achievement in Sound Editing, and Best Picture. It also received the Golden Reel Award for Canada's top-grossing film of 2008.


title: Burgomaster

text: Burgomaster (alternatively spelled burgermeister, literally "master of the town, master of the borough, master of the fortress, master of the citizens") is the English form of various terms in or derived from Germanic languages for the chief magistrate or executive of a city or town. The name in English was derived from the Dutch burgemeester. In some cases, Burgomaster was the title of the head of state and head of government of a sovereign (or partially or de facto sovereign) city-state, sometimes combined with other titles, such as Hamburg's First Mayor and President of the Senate). Contemporary titles are commonly translated into English as "mayor".


title: Burgomaster

text: In the Netherlands and Belgium, the mayor ( or ) is an appointed government position, whose main responsibility is chairing the executive and legislative councils of a municipality.


title: Burgomaster

text: In the Netherlands, mayors chair both the council of mayor and aldermen and the municipal council. They are members of the council of mayor and aldermen (, B&W) and have their own portfolios, always including safety and public order. They also have a representative role for the municipal government, both to its civilians and to other authorities on the local, regional and national level.


title: Burgomaster

text: A large majority of mayors are members of a political party. This can be the majority party in the municipal council, but there are many exceptions on this. However, the mayors are expected to exercise their office in a non-partisan way.


title: Burgomaster

text: The mayor is appointed by the national government (the Crown) for a renewable six-year term. In the past, mayors for important cities were often chosen after negotiations (behind the scenes) between the national parties. This appointment procedure has been criticised because it was seen by some as undemocratic. Especially the party D66 had a direct election of the mayor as one of the main objectives in its platform. In the early 2000s, proposals for change were discussed in the national parliament. However, opponents of the status quo were divided between two alternatives: direct election of the mayor by the people or appointment by the municipal council. A constitutional change to direct election gained a majority in both chambers but failed to pass the final vote in the Senate in March 2005.


title: Burgomaster

text: In the meantime, although the law remained the same, the practice changed. Nowadays, when a vacancy occurs, a special committee of the municipal council interviews (behind closed doors) candidates, which are pre-selected by the provincial governor (the King's Commissioner). After advice by the committee, the council express its preferences to the Minister of the Interior, who almost always follows this recommendation.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In the United States, a pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) is a third-party administrator of prescription drug programs for commercial health plans, self-insured employer plans, Medicare Part D plans, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, and state government employee plans. According to the American Pharmacists Association, "PBMs are primarily responsible for developing and maintaining the formulary, contracting with pharmacies, negotiating discounts and rebates with drug manufacturers, and processing and paying prescription drug claims." PBMs operate inside of integrated healthcare systems (e.g., Kaiser Permanente or Veterans Health Administration), as part of retail pharmacies (e.g., CVS Pharmacy or Rite-Aid), and as part of insurance companies (e.g., UnitedHealth Group).


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: As of 2016, PBMs managed pharmacy benefits for 266 million Americans. In 2017, the largest PBMs had higher revenue than the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers, indicating their increasingly large role in healthcare in the United States. However, in 2016 there were fewer than 30 major PBM companies in this category in the US, and three major PBMs (Express Scripts, CVS Health, and OptumRx of UnitedHealth Group) comprise 78% of the market and cover 180 million enrollees.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In the United States, health insurance providers often hire an outside company to handle price negotiations, insurance claims, and distribution of prescription drugs. Providers which use such pharmacy benefit managers include commercial health plans, self-insured employer plans, Medicare Part D plans, the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program, and state government employee plans. PBMs are designed to aggregate the collective buying power of enrollees through their client health plans, enabling plan sponsors and individuals to obtain lower prices for their prescription drugs. PBMs negotiate price discounts from retail pharmacies, rebates from pharmaceutical manufacturers, and mail-service pharmacies which home-deliver prescriptions without consulting face-to-face with a pharmacist.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: Pharmacy benefit management companies can make revenue in several ways. First, they collect administrative and service fees from the original insurance plan. They can also collect rebates from the manufacturer. Traditional PBMs do not disclose the negotiated net price of the prescription drugs, allowing them to resell drugs at a public list price (also known as a sticker price) which is higher than the net price they negotiate with the manufacturer. This practice is known as "spread pricing". Savings are generally considered trade secrets. Pharmacies and insurance companies are often prohibited by the PBM from discussing costs and reimbursements. This leads to lack of transparency.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: PBMs advise their clients on ways to "structure drug benefits" and offer complex selections at a variety of price rates from which clients choose. This happens by constructing a "formulary" or list of specific drugs that will be covered by the healthcare plan. The formulary is usually divided into several "tiers" of preference, with low tiers being assigned a higher copay to incentivize consumers to buy drugs on a preferred tier. Drugs which do not appear on the formulary at all mean consumers must pay the full list price. To get drugs listed on the formulary, manufacturers are usually required to pay the PBM a manufacturer's rebate, which lowers the net price of the drug, while keeping the list price the same. Pharmaceutical manufacturers say that in order to cover the cost of these rebates, they are forced to raise the price of drugs. For example, the president of Eli Lilly and Company claims the cost of discounts and rebates accounts for 75% of the list price of insulin. PBMs such as Express Scripts claim rebates are a response to rising list prices, and are not the cause of them.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: The complex pricing structure of the formulary can have unexpected consequences. When filing an insurance claim, patients usually are charged an insurance copayment which is based on the public list price, and not the confidential net price. Around a quarter of the time, the cost of the insurance copayment on the list price is more than the entire price of the drug bought directly in cash. The PBM can then pocket the difference, in a practice known as a "clawback". Consumers can choose to buy the drug in cash, but in their contracts with pharmacies, PBMs would forbid pharmacists from telling consumers about the possibility of buying their medication for a cheaper price without an insurance claim, unless consumers directly ask about it. Since 2017, six states have passed legislation making such "gag clauses" illegal. This has recently been followed by a federal bans on gag orders for private insurance effective Oct 2018, and for Medicare effective Jan 2020.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: Overall, the PBM industry claims to provide significant cost savings for end users. For example, in 2015, CVS Caremark said that it reduced its plan members' prescription drug spending to 5%, down from 11.8% in 2014. However, such conclusions can be controversial. A 2013 investigation of PBM marketing from Fortune Magazine showed: Drug pricing is difficult to untangle and customers have no way of knowing how much they are saving.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In 1968, the first PBM was founded when Pharmaceutical Card System Inc. (PCS, later AdvancePCS) invented the plastic benefit card. By the "1970s, [they] serve[d] as fiscal intermediaries by adjudicating prescription drug claims by paper and then, in the 1980s, electronically".


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: By the late 1980s, PBMs had become a major force "as health care and prescription costs were escalating". Diversified Pharmaceutical Services was one of the earliest examples of a PBM which came from within a national health maintenance organization United HealthCare (now United HealthGroup). After SmithKline Beecham acquired DPS in 1994, Diversified played a pivotal role in its Healthcare Service division and by 1999 UnitedHealth Group accounted for 44% of Diversified Pharmaceutical Services's total membership. Express Scripts acquired Diversified in April 1999 and consolidated itself as a leading PBM for managed care organizations.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In August 2002, the Wall Street Journal wrote that while PBMs had "steered doctors to cheaper drugs, especially low-cost generic copies of branded drugs from big pharmaceutical companies" from 1992 through 2002, they had "quietly moved" into marketing expensive brand name drugs.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In 2007, when CVS acquired Caremark, the function of PBMs changed "from simply processing prescription transactions to managing the pharmacy benefit for health plans", negotiating "drug discounts with pharmaceutical manufacturers", and providing "drug utilization reviews and disease management". PBMs also created a formulary to encourage or even require "health plan participants to use preferred formulary products to treat their conditions". In 2012, Express Scripts and CVS Caremark transitioned from using tiered formularies, to those that excluded drugs from their formulary.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: As of 2004, the Federal Trade Commission found PBMs operated in a marketplace with "vigorous competition". And as of 2013, in the United States, a majority of the large managed prescription drug benefit expenditures were conducted by about 60 PBMs. Few PBMs are independently owned and operated. PBM's operate inside of integrated healthcare systems (e.g., Kaiser Permanente or Veterans Health Administration), as part of retail pharmacies, major chain drug stores (e.g., CVS Pharmacy or Rite-Aid), and as subsidiaries of managed care plans or insurance companies (e.g., UnitedHealth Group). However, in 2016 fewer than 30 major PBM companies were in this category in the US, and only three major PBMs (Express Scripts, CVS Health, and OptumRx of UnitedHealth Group) comprised 78% of the market, covering 180 million enrollees.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In 2015, the three largest public PBMs were Express Scripts, CVS Health (formerly CVS Caremark) and United Health/OptumRx/Catamaran. As of 2018, the three largest PBMs controlled more than 80% of the market.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In 2012 Express Scripts acquired rival Medco Health Solutions for $29.1 billion and became "a powerhouse in managing prescription drug benefits". As of 2015, Express Scripts Holding Company was the largest pharmacy benefit management organization in the United States. with 2013 revenues of $104.62 billion.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In October 2015 Express Scripts began reviewing pharmacy programs run by AbbVie Inc and Teva Pharmaceuticals Industries Ltd regarding the potential use of tactics that "can allow drugmakers to work around reimbursement restrictions" from Express Scripts and other insurers. These reviews resulted from investigations into "questionable practices" at Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc's partner pharmacy, Philidor Rx Services.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In 1994, CVS launched PharmaCare, a pharmacy benefit management company providing a wide range of services to employers, managed care organizations, insurance companies, unions and government agencies. By 2002 CVS' specialty pharmacy ProCare, the "largest integrated retail/mail provider of specialty pharmacy services" in the United States, was consolidated with their pharmacy benefit management company, PharmaCare. Caremark Rx was founded as a unit of Baxter International and in 1992 spun off from Baxter as a publicly traded company. In March 2007, CVS Corporation acquired Caremark to create CVS Caremark, later re-branded as CVS Health.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In 2011 Caremark Rx was the nation's second-largest PBM. Caremark Rx was subject to a class action lawsuit in Tennessee, which alleged that Caremark kept discounts from drug manufacturers instead of sharing them with member benefit plans, secretly negotiated rebates for drugs and kept the money, and provided plan members with more expensive drugs when less expensive alternatives were available. CVS Caremark paid $20 million to three states over fraud allegations.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: OptumRx, one of the Optum businesses of UnitedHealth Group Inc, has been a leading PBM. In March 2015 UnitedHealth Group acquired Catamaran Corporation for about $12.8 billion to extend this PBM business.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: Many Pharmacy benefit managers are represented by the trade association the Pharmaceutical Care Management Association.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: PBMs have been strong proponents in the creation of a U.S. Food and Drug Administration pathway to approve biosimilar versions of expensive specialty drugs which treat conditions like Alzheimer's, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. PBM's support so-called biosimilar legislation which does not grant brand name drug manufacturers monopoly pricing power. In 2015 the Federal Trade Commission found that patents for biologic products already provide enough incentives for innovation and that additional periods of exclusivity would "not spur the creation of a new biologic drug or indication" and "imperils" the benefits of the approval process.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In 1998, PBMs were under investigation by Assistant U.S. Attorney James Sheehan of the federal Justice Department, and their effectiveness in reducing prescription costs and saving clients money was questioned.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In 2004, litigation added to the uncertainty about PBM practices. In 2015, there were seven lawsuits against PBMs involving fraud, deception, or antitrust claims.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: State legislatures have been using "transparency," "fiduciary," and "disclosure" provisions to improve the business practices of PBMs. In 2011, the Mississippi Board of Pharmacy formed a new division of the Pharmacy Benefit Managers, with a mandate to license and regulate PBMs.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: A 2013 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services study found negotiated prices at mail order pharmacy to be up to 83% higher than the negotiated prices at community pharmacies.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: A 2014 ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974) hearing noted that vertically integrated PBMs may pose conflicts of interest, and that PBMs' health plan sponsors "face considerable obstacles in...determin[ing] compliance with PBM contracts including direct and indirect PBM compensation contract terms".


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: In 2017, the Los Angeles times wrote that PBMs cause an inflation in drug costs, especially within the area of diabetes drugs.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar stated regarding PBMs, "Everybody wins when list prices rise, except for the patient. It’s rather a startling and perverse system that has evolved over time."


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: On January 31, 2019, Health and Human Services released a proposed rule to remove Anti-kickback Statute, safe harbor protections for PBMs and other plan sponsors, that previously allowed PBMs to seek rebates from drug manufacturers.


title: Pharmacy benefit management

text: Ron Wyden said in April 2019 that they were as “clear a middleman rip-off as you are going to find”, because they make more money when they pick a higher priced drug over a lower priced drug.


title: Scott Smith (musician)

text: Donald Scott Smith (13 February 1955 – 30 November 2000) was a Canadian musician and the bassist for Canadian rock band Loverboy. The band are best known for their hit singles "Working for the Weekend" and "Turn Me Loose", although their U.S. Top Ten hits were "Lovin' Every Minute of It" in 1985 and "This Could Be the Night" in 1986. The band won six Juno Awards in 1982 and has sold over 23 million records.


title: Scott Smith (musician)

text: Smith was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He originally studied guitar, and at the age of twelve moved to bass.


title: Scott Smith (musician)

text: Smith was majoring in English at the University of Manitoba when he received a call from Loverboy guitarist Paul Dean in Vancouver inviting him to replace bassist Jim Clench in the newly-formed band. In addition to playing bass for the band, Smith also co-wrote a few of the band's songs including the 1983 rock hit "Lucky Ones".


title: Scott Smith (musician)

text: After Loverboy disbanded in 1988, Smith was part of the band Dangerous, along with Mike Reno and Brian MacLeod. He also worked as a late-night radio DJ at CFOX, albeit briefly. Loverboy got back together for a benefit concert in 1991, and then reunited in 1993 and continued touring through the 1990s. Smith said in an interview, "We're back because we like to rock and simply because promoters want to book us."


title: Scott Smith (musician)

text: On 30 November 2000, Smith was sailing his boat, the 11-metre (36-foot) "Sea Major", with two friends off the coast of San Francisco near the Golden Gate Bridge, when a large wave swept him overboard. Searches conducted by the Coast Guard and a private company hired by friends and family were unsuccessful. Smith was pronounced missing presumed dead, lost at sea.


title: Buddhist art

text: Buddhist art is visual art produced in the context of Buddhism. It includes depictions of Gautama Buddha and other Buddhas and bodhisattvas, notable Buddhist figures both historical and mythical, narrative scenes from their lives, mandalas, and physical objects associated with Buddhist practice, such as vajras, bells, stupas and Buddhist temple architecture. Buddhist art originated in the north of the Indian subcontinent, in modern India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, with the earliest survivals dating from a few centuries after the historical life of Siddhartha Gautama from the 6th to 5th century BCE.


title: Buddhist art

text: As Buddhism spread and evolved in each new host country, Buddhist art followed in its footsteps. It developed to the north through Central Asia and into Eastern Asia to form the Northern branch of Buddhist art, and to the east as far as Southeast Asia to form the Southern branch of Buddhist art. In India, Buddhist art flourished and co-developed with Hindu and Jain art, with cave temple complexes built together, each likely influencing the other.


title: Buddhist art

text: Initially the emphasis was on devotional statues of the historical Buddha, as well as detailed scenes in relief of his life, and former lives, but as the Buddhist pantheon developed devotional images of bodhisattvas and other figures became common subjects in themselves in Northern Buddhist art, rather than just attendants of the Buddha, and by the late first millenium came to predominate.


title: Buddhist art

text: During the 2nd to 1st century BCE, sculptures became more explicit, representing episodes of the Buddha's life and teachings. These took the form of votive tablets or friezes, usually in relation to the decoration of stupas.


title: Buddhist art

text: Although India had a long sculptural tradition and a mastery of rich iconography, the Buddha was never represented in human form, but only through Buddhist symbolism. This period may have been aniconic.


title: Buddhist art

text: Artists were reluctant to depict the Buddha anthropomorphically, and developed sophisticated aniconic symbols to avoid doing so (even in narrative scenes where other human figures would appear). This tendency remained as late as the 2nd century CE in the southern parts of India, in the art of the Amaravati School (see: Mara's assault on the Buddha).


title: Buddhist art

text: It has been argued that earlier anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha may have been made of wood and may have perished since then. However, no related archaeological evidence has been found.


title: Buddhist art

text: The earliest works of Buddhist art in India date back to the 1st century BCE. The Mahabodhi Temple at Bodh Gaya became a model for similar structures in Burma


title: Buddhist art

text: Chinese historical sources and mural paintings in the Tarim Basin city of Dunhuang accurately describe the travels of the explorer and ambassador Zhang Qian to Central Asia as far as Bactria around 130 BCE, and the same murals describe the Emperor Han Wudi (156–87 BCE) worshiping Buddhist statues, explaining them as "golden men brought in 120 BCE by a great Han general in his campaigns against the nomads." Although there is no other mention of Han Wudi worshiping the Buddha in Chinese historical literature, the murals would suggest that statues of the Buddha were already in existence during the 2nd century BCE, connecting them directly to the time of the Indo-Greeks.


title: Buddhist art

text: Anthropomorphic representations of the Buddha started to emerge from the 1st century CE in Northern India, with the Bimaran casket. The three main centers of creation have been identified as Gandhara in today's North West Frontier Province, in Pakistan, Amaravati and the region of Mathura, in central northern India.


title: Buddhist art

text: Hellenistic culture was introduced in Gandhara during the conquests of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE. Chandragupta Maurya (r. 321–298 BCE), founder of the Mauryan Empire, conquered the Macedonian satraps during the Seleucid-Mauryan War of 305–303 BCE. Chandragupta's grandson Ashoka (r. 268–232 BCE), who formed the largest Empire in the Indian subcontinent, converted to Buddhism following the Kalinga War. Abandoning an expansionist ideology, Ashoka worked to spread the religion and philosophy throughout his empire as described in the edicts of Ashoka. Ashoka claims to have converted the Greek populations within his realm to Buddhism:


title: Buddhist art

text: After the overthrow of the Mauryan Empire by the Shunga Empire, the Greco-Bactrian and subsequently the Indo-Greek Kingdoms invaded north-western India. They facilitated the spread of Greco-Buddhist art style to other parts of the subcontinent. The Indo-Greek King Menander I was renown as a great patron of Buddhism, attaining the title of an arhat. Meanwhile, Pushyamitra Shunga persecuted Buddhism, presumably to further erase the legacy of the Mauryan Empire. This led to the decline of Buddhist art east of Mathura.


title: Buddhist art

text: Gandharan Buddhist sculpture displays Hellenistic artistic influence in the forms of human figures and ornament. Figures were much larger than any known from India previously, and also more naturalistic, and new details included wavy hair, drapery covering both shoulders, shoes and sandals, and acanthus leaf ornament.


title: Buddhist art

text: The art of Mathura tends to be based on an Indian tradition, exemplified by the anthropomorphic representation of divinities such as the Yaksas, although in a style rather archaic compared to the later representations of the Buddha. The Mathuran school contributed clothes covering the left shoulder of thin muslin, the wheel on the palm, the lotus seat.


title: Buddhist art

text: Mathura and Gandhara also influenced each other. During their artistic florescence, the two regions were even united politically under the Kushans, both being capitals of the empire. It is still a matter of debate whether the anthropomorphic representations of Buddha was essentially a result of a local evolution of Buddhist art at Mathura, or a consequence of Greek cultural influence in Gandhara through the Greco-Buddhist syncretism.


title: Buddhist art

text: This iconic art was characterized from the start by a realistic idealism, combining realistic human features, proportions, attitudes and attributes, together with a sense of perfection and serenity reaching to the divine. This expression of the Buddha as both man and God became the iconographic canon for subsequent Buddhist art.


title: Buddhist art

text: Remains of early Buddhist painting in India are vanishingly rare, with the later phases of the Ajanta Caves giving the great majority of surviving work, created over a relatively short up to about 480 CE. These are highly sophisticated works, evidently produced in a well-developed tradition, probably painting secular work in palaces as much as religious subjects.


title: Buddhist art

text: Buddhist art continued to develop in India for a few more centuries. The pink sandstone sculptures of Mathura evolved during the Gupta period (4th to 6th century CE) to reach a very high fineness of execution and delicacy in the modeling. The art of the Gupta school was extremely influential almost everywhere in the rest of Asia. At the end of the 12th century CE, Buddhism in its full glory came to be preserved only in the Himalayan regions in India. These areas, helped by their location, were in greater contact with Tibet and China – for example the art and traditions of Ladakh bear the stamp of Tibetan and Chinese influence.


title: Buddhist art

text: As Buddhism expanded outside of India from the 1st century CE, its original artistic package blended with other artistic influences, leading to a progressive differentiation among the countries adopting the faith.


title: Buddhist art

text: The Silk Road transmission of Buddhism to Central Asia, China and ultimately Korea and Japan started in the 1st century CE with a semi-legendary account of an embassy sent to the West by the Chinese Emperor Ming (58–75 CE). However, extensive contacts started in the 2nd century CE, probably as a consequence of the expansion of the Kushan Empire into the Chinese territory of the Tarim Basin, with the missionary efforts of a great number of Central Asian Buddhist monks to Chinese lands. The first missionaries and translators of Buddhists scriptures into Chinese, such as Lokaksema, were either Parthian, Kushan, Sogdian or Kuchean.


title: Buddhist art

text: Central Asian missionary efforts along the Silk Road were accompanied by a flux of artistic influences, visible in the development of Serindian art from the 2nd through the 11th century in the Tarim Basin, modern Xinjiang. Serindian art often derives from the Greco-Buddhist art of the Gandhara district of what is now Pakistan, combining Indian, Greek and Roman influences. Silk Road Greco-Buddhist artistic influences can be found as far as Japan to this day, in architectural motifs, Buddhist imagery, and a select few representations of Japanese gods.


title: Buddhist art

text: The art of the northern route was also highly influenced by the development of Mahāyāna Buddhism, an inclusive branch of Buddhism characterized by the adoption of new texts, in addition to the traditional āgamas, and a shift in the understanding of Buddhism. Mahāyāna goes beyond the traditional Early Buddhist ideal of the release from suffering (duḥkha) of arhats, and emphasizes the bodhisattva path. The Mahāyāna sutras elevate the Buddha to a transcendent and infinite being, and feature a pantheon of bodhisattvas devoting themselves to the Six Perfections, ultimate knowledge (Prajñāpāramitā), enlightenment, and the liberation of all sentient beings. Northern Buddhist art thus tends to be characterized by a very rich and syncretic Buddhist pantheon, with a multitude of images of the various buddhas, bodhisattvas, and heavenly beings (devas).


title: Buddhist art

text: Buddhist art in Afghanistan (old Bactria) persisted for several centuries until the spread of Islam in the 7th century. It is exemplified by the Buddhas of Bamyan. Other sculptures, in stucco, schist or clay, display very strong blending of Indian post-Gupta mannerism and Classical influence, Hellenistic or possibly even Greco-Roman.


title: Buddhist art

text: Although Islamic rule was limited tolerant of other religions "of the Book", it showed zero tolerance for Buddhism, which was perceived as a religion depending on "idolatry". Human figurative art forms also being prohibited under Islam, Buddhist art suffered numerous attacks, which culminated with the systematic destructions by the Taliban regime. The Buddhas of Bamyan, the sculptures of Hadda, and many of the remaining artifacts at the Afghanistan museum have been destroyed.


title: Buddhist art

text: The multiple conflicts since the 1980s also have led to a systematic pillage of archaeological sites apparently in the hope of reselling in the international market what artifacts could be found.


title: Buddhist art

text: Central Asia long played the role of a meeting place between China, India and Persia. During the 2nd century BCE, the expansion of the Former Han to the West led to increased contact with the Hellenistic civilizations of Asia, especially the Greco-Bactrian Kingdom.


title: Buddhist art

text: Thereafter, the expansion of Buddhism to the North led to the formation of Buddhist communities and even Buddhist kingdoms in the oasis of Central Asia. Some Silk Road cities consisted almost entirely of Buddhist stupas and monasteries, and it seems that one of their main objectives was to welcome and service travelers between East and West.


title: Buddhist art

text: The eastern part of Central Asia (Chinese Turkestan (Tarim Basin, Xinjiang) in particular has revealed an extremely rich Serindian art (wall paintings and reliefs in numerous caves, portable paintings on canvas, sculpture, ritual objects), displaying multiple influences from Indian and Hellenistic cultures. Works of art reminiscent of the Gandharan style, as well as scriptures in the Gandhari script Kharoshti have been found. These influences were rapidly absorbed however by the vigorous Chinese culture, and a strongly Chinese particularism develops from that point.


title: Buddhist art

text: Buddhism arrived in China around the 1st century CE, and introduced new types of art into China, particularly in the area of statuary. Receiving this distant religion, strong Chinese traits were incorporated into Buddhist art.


title: Buddhist art

text: In the 5th to 6th centuries, the Northern Dynasties developed rather symbolic and abstract modes of representation, with schematic lines. Their style is also said to be solemn and majestic. The lack of corporeality of this art, and its distance from the original Buddhist objective of expressing the pure ideal of enlightenment in an accessible and realistic manner, progressively led to a change towards more naturalism and realism, leading to the expression of Tang Buddhist art.


title: Buddhist art

text: Following a transition under the Sui Dynasty, Buddhist sculpture of the Tang evolved towards a markedly lifelike expression. Because of the dynasty's openness to foreign influences, and renewed exchanges with Indian culture due to the numerous travels of Chinese Buddhist monks to India, Tang dynasty Buddhist sculpture assumed a rather classical form, inspired by the Indian art of the Gupta period. During that time, the Tang capital of Chang'an (today's Xi'an) became an important center for Buddhism. From there Buddhism spread to Korea, and Japanese missions to Tang China helped it gain a foothold in Japan. Foreign influences came to be negatively perceived in China towards the end of the Tang dynasty. In the year 845, the Tang emperor Wuzong outlawed all "foreign" religions (including Christian Nestorianism, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism) in order to support the indigenous religion, Taoism. He confiscated Buddhist possessions, and forced the faith to go underground, therefore affecting the development of the religion and its arts in China.


title: Buddhist art

text: After the Tang dynasty, Buddhism continued to receive official patronage in several states during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, which continued under the successive Liao, Jin, Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties. This was marked by construction of new monumental Buddhist artwork at grottoes, such as the massive Buddha sculptures at the Dazu Rock Carvings in Sichuan province, as well as at temples, such as the giant esoteric statues of the Bodhisattva Guanyin in Longxing Temple and Dule Temple. The various Chinese Buddhist traditions, such as Tiantai and Huayan, experienced revivals. Chan Buddhism, in particular, rose to great prominence under the Song dynasty. Early paintings by Chan monks tended to eschew the meticulous realism of Gongbi painting in favour of vigorous, monochrome paintings, attempting to express the impact of enlightenment through their brushwork. The rise of Neo-Confucianism under Zhu Xi in the twelfth century resulted in considerable criticism of the monk-painters by the literati. Despite this, Chan ink paintings continued to be practiced by monastics through the Yuan (1271–1368) and Ming (1368–1644) dynasties well into the Qing (1636–1912) dynasty. Aside from Chan ink paintings, other forms of painting also proliferated, especially during the Ming dynasty, such as the Water and Land Ritual paintings and mural art which depict various Buddhist divinities and other figures.


title: Buddhist art

text: During the Qing Dynasty, Manchu emperors supported Buddhist practices for a range of political and personal reasons. The Shunzhi Emperor was a devotee of Chan Buddhism, while his successor, the Kangxi Emperor promoted Tibetan Buddhism, claiming to be the human embodiment of the bodhisattva Manjusri. However, it was under the rule of the third Qing ruler, the Qianlong Emperor, that imperial patronage of the Buddhist arts reached its height in this period. He commissioned a vast number of religious works in the Tibetan style, many of which depicted him in various sacred guises. Works of art produced during this period are characterized by a unique fusion of Tibetan and Chinese artistic approaches. They combine a characteristically Tibetan attention to iconographic detail with Chinese-inspired decorative elements. Inscriptions are often written in Chinese, Manchu, Tibetan, Mongolian and Sanskrit, while paintings are frequently rendered in vibrant colors. Additionally, the Qianlong Emperor initiated a number of large-scale construction projects; in 1744 he rededicated the Yonghe Temple as Beijing's main Tibetan Buddhist monastery, donating a number of valuable religious paintings, sculptures, textiles and inscriptions to the temple. The Xumi Fushou Temple, and the works housed within, is another project commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor that embodies the unique blend of Chinese, Tibetan and Manchurian artistic styles that characterized some of the Buddhist art produced in China under Qianlong's reign. After the Qianlong Emperor's abdication in 1795, the popularity of Tibetan Buddhism at the Qing court declined. The motives behind the Qing emperors' promotion of Tibetan Buddhism have been interpreted as a calculated act of political manipulation, and a means of forging ties between Manchu, Mongolian, and Tibetan communities, though this has been challenged by recent scholarship.


title: Buddhist art

text: The popularization of Buddhism in China has made the country home to the richest collections of Buddhist arts in the world. The Mogao Caves near Dunhuang and the Bingling Temple caves near Yongjing in Gansu province, the Longmen Grottoes near Luoyang in Henan province, the Yungang Grottoes near Datong in Shanxi province, and the Dazu Rock Carvings near Chongqing municipality are among the most important and renowned Buddhist sculptural sites. The Leshan Giant Buddha, carved out of a hillside in the 8th century during the Tang Dynasty and looking down on the confluence of three rivers, is still the largest stone Buddha statue in the world. Numerous temples throughout China still preserve various Buddhist statues and paintings from previous dynasties. In addition, Buddhist sculptures are still produced in contemporary times mainly for enshrinement in Buddhist temples and shrines.


title: Buddhist art

text: Korean Buddhist art generally reflects an interaction between other Buddhist influences and a strongly original Korean culture. Additionally, the art of the steppes, particularly Siberian and Scythian influences, are evident in early Korean Buddhist art based on the excavation of artifacts and burial goods such as Silla royal crowns, belt buckles, daggers, and comma-shaped gogok. The style of this indigenous art was geometric, abstract and richly adorned with a . Although many other influences were strong, Korean Buddhist art, "bespeaks a sobriety, taste for the right tone, a sense of abstraction but also of colours that curiously enough are in line with contemporary taste" (Pierre Cambon, "Arts asiatiques – Guimet"').


title: Buddhist art

text: The first of the Three Kingdoms of Korea to officially receive Buddhism was Goguryeo in 372. However, Chinese records and the use of Buddhist motifs in Goguryeo murals indicate the introduction of Buddhism earlier than the official date. The Baekje Kingdom officially recognized Buddhism in 384. The Silla Kingdom, isolated and with no easy sea or land access to China, officially adopted Buddhism in 535 although the foreign religion was known in the kingdom due to the work of Goguryeo monks since the early 5th century. The introduction of Buddhism stimulated the need for artisans to create images for veneration, architects for temples, and the literate for the Buddhist sutras and transformed Korean civilization. Particularly important in the transmission of sophisticated art styles to the Korean kingdoms was the art of the "barbarian" Tuoba, a clan of non-Han Chinese Xianbei people who established the Northern Wei Dynasty in China in 386. The Northern Wei style was particularly influential in the art of the Goguryeo and Baekje. Baekje artisans later transmitted this style along with Southern Dynasty elements and distinct Korean elements to Japan. Korean artisans were highly selective of the styles they incorporated and combined different regional styles together to create a specific Korean Buddhist art style.


title: Buddhist art

text: While Goguryeo Buddhist art exhibited vitality and mobility akin with Northern Wei prototypes, the Baekje Kingdom was also in close contact with the Southern Dynasties of China and this close diplomatic contact is exemplified in the gentle and proportional sculpture of the Baekje, epitomized by Baekje sculpture exhibiting the fathomless smile known to art historians as the Baekje smile. The Silla Kingdom also developed a distinctive Buddhist art tradition epitomized by the Bangasayusang, a half-seated contemplative statue of Maitreya whose Korean-made twin was sent to Japan as a proselytizing gift and now resides in the Koryu-ji Temple in Japan.


title: Buddhist art

text: Buddhism in the Three Kingdoms period stimulated massive temple-building projects, such as the Mireuksa Temple in the Baekje Kingdom and the Hwangnyongsa Temple in Silla. Baekje architects were famed for their skill and were instrumental in building the massive nine-story pagoda at Hwangnyongsa and early Buddhist temples in Yamato Japan such as Hōkō-ji (Asuka-dera) and Hōryū-ji. 6th century Korean Buddhist art exhibited the cultural influences of China and India but began to show distinctive indigenous characteristics. These indigenous characteristics can be seen in early Buddhist art in Japan and some early Japanese Buddhist sculpture is now believed to have originated in Korea, particularly from Baekje, or Korean artisans who immigrated to Yamato Japan. Particularly, the semi-seated Maitreya form was adapted into a highly developed Korean style which was transmitted to Japan as evidenced by the Koryu-ji Miroku Bosatsu and the Chugu-ji Siddhartha statues. Although many historians portray Korea as a mere transmitter of Buddhism, the Three Kingdoms, and particularly Baekje, were instrumental as active agents in the introduction and formation of a Buddhist tradition in Japan in 538 or 552.


title: Buddhist art

text: During the Unified Silla period, East Asia was particularly stable with China and Korea both enjoying unified governments. Early Unified Silla art combined Silla styles and Baekje styles. Korean Buddhist art was also influenced by new Tang Dynasty styles as evidenced by a new popular Buddhist motif with full-faced Buddha sculptures. Tang China was the cross roads of East, Central, and South Asia and so the Buddhist art of this time period exhibit the so-called international style. State-sponsored Buddhist art flourished during this period, the epitome of which is the Seokguram Grotto.


title: Buddhist art

text: The fall of the Unified Silla Dynasty and the establishment of the Goryeo Dynasty in 918 indicates a new period of Korean Buddhist art. The Goryeo kings also lavishly sponsored Buddhism and Buddhist art flourished, especially Buddhist paintings and illuminated sutras written in gold and silver ink. . The crowning achievement of this period is the carving of approximately 80,000 woodblocks of the Tripitaka Koreana which was done twice.


title: Buddhist art

text: The Joseon Dynasty actively suppressed Buddhism beginning in 1406 and Buddhist temples and art production subsequently decline in quality in quantity although beginning in 1549, Buddhist art does continue to be produced. .


title: Buddhist art

text: Before the introduction of Buddhism, Japan had already been the seat of various cultural (and artistic) influences, from the abstract linear decorative art of the indigenous Neolithic Jōmon from around 10500 BCE to 300 BCE, to the art during the Yayoi and Kofun periods, with developments such as Haniwa art.


title: Buddhist art

text: The cultural exchange between India and Japan was not direct, as Japan received Buddhism through Korea, China, Central Asia and eventually India. The Japanese discovered Buddhism in the 6th century when missionary monks travelled to the islands together with numerous scriptures and works of art. The cultural contact between Indian Dharmic civilization and Japan through the adoption of Buddhist ideas and aesthetic has contributed to the development of a national cultural order in the subsequent century. The Buddhist religion was adopted by the state in the following century. Being geographically at the end of the Silk Road, Japan was able to preserve many aspects of Buddhism at the very time it was disappearing in India, and being suppressed in Central Asia.


title: Buddhist art

text: From 711, numerous temples and monasteries were built in the capital city of Nara, including a five-story pagoda, the Golden Hall of the Horyuji, and the Kōfuku-ji temple. Countless paintings and sculptures were made, often under governmental sponsorship. Indian, Hellenistic, Chinese and Korean artistic influences blended into an original style characterized by realism and gracefulness.


title: Buddhist art

text: The creation of Japanese Buddhist art was especially rich between the 8th and 13th centuries during the periods of Nara, Heian and Kamakura. Japan developed an extremely rich figurative art for the pantheon of Buddhist deities, sometimes combined with Hindu and Shinto influences. This art can be very varied, creative and bold. Jōchō is said to be one of the greatest Buddhist sculptors not only in Heian period but also in the history of Buddhist statues in Japan. Jōchō redefined the body shape of Buddha statues by perfecting the technique of "yosegi zukuri" (寄木造り) which is a combination of several woods. The peaceful expression and graceful figure of the Buddha statue that he made completed a Japanese style of sculpture of Buddha statues called "Jōchō yō" (Jōchō style, 定朝様) and determined the style of Japanese Buddhist statues of the later period. His achievement dramatically raised the social status of "busshi" (Buddhist sculptor) in Japan.


title: Buddhist art

text: In the Kamakura period, the Minamoto clan established the Kamakura shogunate and the samurai class virtually ruled Japan for the first time. Jocho's successors, sculptors of the Kei school of Buddhist statues, created realistic and dynamic statues to suit the tastes of samurai, and Japanese Buddhist sculpture reached its peak. Unkei, Kaikei, and Tankei were famous, and they made many new Buddha statues at many temples such as Kofuku-ji, where many Buddha statues had been lost in wars and fires. One of the most outstanding Buddhist arts of the period was the statue of Buddha enshrined in Sanjūsangen-dō consisting of 1032 statues produced by sculptors of Buddhist statues of the Kei school, In school and En school. The 1 principal image Senju Kannon in the center, the surrounding 1001 Senju Kannon, the 28 attendants of Senju Kannon, Fūjin and Raijin create a solemn space, and all Buddha statues are designated as National Treasures.


title: Buddhist art

text: From the 12th and 13th, a further development was Zen art, and it faces golden days in Muromachi Period, following the introduction of the faith by Dogen and Eisai upon their return from China. Zen art is mainly characterized by original paintings (such as sumi-e) and poetry (especially haikus), striving to express the true essence of the world through impressionistic and unadorned "non-dualistic" representations. The search for enlightenment "in the moment" also led to the development of other important derivative arts such as the Chanoyu tea ceremony or the Ikebana art of flower arrangement. This evolution went as far as considering almost any human activity as an art with a strong spiritual and aesthetic content, first and foremost in those activities related to combat techniques (martial arts).


title: Buddhist art

text: Buddhism remains very active in Japan to this day. Still around 80,000 Buddhist temples are preserved. Many of them are in wood and are regularly restored.


title: Buddhist art

text: Tantric Buddhism started as a movement in Mahayana Buddhism in eastern India around the 5th or the 6th century. Monastic Tantrism became the dominant form of Buddhism in Tibet from the 8th century, and it survived there after the collapse of Buddhism in India, and the largest influence on it is probably the now largely vanished art of north-eastern India. Due to its geographical centrality in Asia, Tibetan Buddhist art also received influences from Indian, Nepali, and Chinese art.


title: Buddhist art

text: Painted thankas, paintings in manuscripts and small bronzes are typically the finest forms of Tibetan art. One of the most characteristic creations of Tibetan Buddhist art are the mandalas, diagrams of a "divine temple" made of a circle enclosing a square, the purpose of which is to help Buddhist devotees focus their attention through meditation and follow the path to the central image of the Buddha. These are usually temporary, laid out on a floor for a festival, then swept away.


title: Buddhist art

text: In 10th to 11th centuries, Tabo Monastery in Himachal Pradesh, Northern India (at that time part of Western Tibet Kingdom) serves an important role as an intermediary between India and Tibet cultural exchange, especially Buddhist art and philosophy. Notable example of Tibetan Buddhist art in Tabo is its exquisite frescoes.


title: Buddhist art

text: Chinese influence was predominant in the north of Vietnam (Tonkin) between the 1st and 9th centuries, and Confucianism and Mahayana Buddhism were prevalent. Overall, the art of Vietnam has been strongly influenced by Chinese Buddhist art.


title: Buddhist art

text: In the south thrived the former kingdom of Champa (before it was later overtaken by the Vietnamese from the north). Champa had a strongly Indianized art, just as neighboring Cambodia. Many of its statues were characterized by rich body adornments. The capital of the kingdom of Champa was annexed by Vietnam in 1471, and it totally collapsed in the 1720s, while Cham people remain an abundant minority across Southeast Asia.


title: Buddhist art

text: The orthodox forms of Buddhism, also known as Southern Buddhism are still practised in Sri Lanka, Myanmar (Burma), Thailand, Laos, and Cambodia. During the 1st century CE, the trade on the overland Silk Road tended to be restricted by the rise of the Parthian empire in the Middle East, an unvanquished enemy of Rome, just as Romans were becoming extremely wealthy and their demand for Asian luxury was rising. This demand revived the sea connections between the Mediterranean Sea and China, with India as the intermediary of choice. From that time, through trade connections, commercial settlements, and even political interventions, India started to strongly influence Southeast Asian countries. Trade routes linked India with southern Burma, central and southern Siam, lower Cambodia and southern Vietnam, and numerous urbanized coastal settlements were established there.


title: Buddhist art

text: For more than a thousand years, Indian influence was therefore the major factor that brought a certain level of cultural unity to the various countries of the region. The Pali and Sanskrit languages and the Indian script, together with Mahayana and Theravada Buddhism, Brahmanism and Hinduism, were transmitted from direct contact and through sacred texts and Indian literature such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. This expansion provided the artistic context for the development of Buddhist art in these countries, which then developed characteristics of their own.


title: Buddhist art

text: Between the 1st and 8th centuries, several kingdoms competed for influence in the region (particularly the Cambodian Funan then the Burmese Mon kingdoms) contributing various artistic characteristics, mainly derived from the Indian Gupta style. Combined with a pervading Hindu influence, Buddhist images, votive tablets and Sanskrit inscriptions are found throughout the area. Between 8th- and 12th-century, under the patronage of Pala dynasty, arts and ideas of Buddhism and Hinduism co-developed and became increasingly intermeshed. However, with Muslim invasion and sacking of monasteries in India, states Richard Blurton, "Buddhism collapsed as a major force in India".


title: Buddhist art

text: By the 8th to 9th century, Shailendran Buddhist art were developed and flourished in Mataram Kingdom of Central Java, Indonesia. This period marked the renaissance of Buddhist art in Java, as numerous exquisite monuments were built, including Kalasan, Manjusrigrha, Mendut and Borobudur stone mandala. The traditions would continue to the 13th century Singhasari Buddhist art of East Java.


title: Buddhist art

text: From the 9th to the 13th centuries, Southeast Asia had very powerful empires and became extremely active in Buddhist architectural and artistic creation. The Sri Vijaya Empire to the south and the Khmer Empire to the north competed for influence, but both were adherents of Mahayana Buddhism, and their art expressed the rich Mahayana pantheon of the Bodhisattvas.


title: Buddhist art

text: The Theravada Buddhism of the Pali canon was introduced to the region around the 13th century from Sri Lanka, and was adopted by the newly founded ethnic Thai kingdom of Sukhothai. Since in Theravada Buddhism of the period, Monasteries typically were the central places for the laity of the towns to receive instruction and have disputes arbitrated by the monks, the construction of temple complexes plays a particularly important role in the artistic expression of Southeast Asia from that time.


title: Buddhist art

text: From the 14th century, the main factor was the spread of Islam to the maritime areas of Southeast Asia, overrunning Malaysia, Indonesia, and most of the islands as far as the Southern Philippines. In the continental areas, Theravada Buddhism continued to expand into Burma, Laos and Cambodia.


title: Buddhist art

text: According to tradition, Buddhism was introduced in Sri Lanka in the 3rd century BCE by Indian missionaries under the guidance of Thera Mahinda, the son of the Mauryan Emperor Ashoka. Prior to the expansion of Buddhism, the indigenous population of Sri Lanka lived in an animistic world full of superstition. The assimilation and conversion of the various pre-Buddhist beliefs was a slow process. In order to gain a foothold among the rural population, Buddhism needed to assimilate the various categories of spirits and other supernatural beliefs. The earliest monastic complex was the Mahāvihāra at Anurādhapura founded by Devānampiyatissa and presented to Mahinda Thera. The Mahāvihāra became the centre of the orthodox Theravāda doctrine and its supreme position remained unchallenged until the foundation of the Abhayagiri Vihāra around 89 BCE by Vaţţagāmaņĩ.


title: Buddhist art

text: The Abhayagiri Vihāra became the seat of the reformed Mahāyāna doctrines. The rivalry between the monks of the Mahāvihāra and the Abhayagiri led to a further split and the foundation of the Jetavanarama near the Mahāvihāra. The main feature of Sinhala Buddhism was its division into three major groups, or "nikāyas", named after the three main monastic complexes at Anurādhapura; the Mahāvihāra, the Abhayagiri, and the Jetavanārāma. This was the result in the deviations in the disciplinary rules "(vinaya)" and doctrinal disputes. All the other monasteries of Sri Lanka owed ecclesiastical allegiance to one of the three. Sri Lanka is famous for its creations of Buddhist sculptures made of stone and cast in bronze alloy.


title: Buddhist art

text: A neighbor of India, Myanmar (Burma) was naturally strongly influenced by the eastern part of Indian territory. The Mon of southern Burma are said to have been converted to Buddhism around 200 BCE under the proselytizing of the Indian king Ashoka, before the schism between Mahayana and Hinayana Buddhism.


title: Buddhist art

text: Early Buddhist temples are found, such as Beikthano in central Myanmar, with dates between the 1st and the 5th centuries. The Buddhist art of the Mons was especially influenced by the Indian art of the Gupta and post-Gupta periods, and their mannerist style spread widely in Southeast Asia following the expansion of the Mon Empire between the 5th and 8th centuries.


title: Buddhist art

text: Later, thousands of Buddhist temples were built at Bagan, the capital, between the 11th and 13th centuries, and around 2,000 of them are still standing. Beautiful jeweled statues of the Buddha are remaining from that period. Creation managed to continue despite the seizure of the city by the Mongols in 1287.


title: Buddhist art

text: During the Ava period, from the 14th to 16th centuries, the Ava (Innwa) style of the Buddha image was popular. In this style, the Buddha has large protruding ears, exaggerated eyebrows that curve upward, half-closed eyes, thin lips and a hair bun that is pointed at the top, usually depicted in the bhumisparsa mudra.


title: Buddhist art

text: During the Konbaung dynasty, at the end of the 18th century, the Mandalay style of the Buddha image emerged, a style that remains popular to this day. There was a marked departure from the Innwa style, and the Buddha's face is much more natural, fleshy, with naturally-slanted eyebrows, slightly slanted eyes, thicker lips, and a round hair bun at the top. Buddha images in this style can be found reclining, standing or sitting. Mandalay-style Buddhas wear flowing, draped robes.


title: Buddhist art

text: Another common style of Buddha images is the Shan style, from the Shan people, who inhabit the highlands of Myanmar. In this style, the Buddha is depicted with angular features, a large and prominently pointed nose, a hair bun tied similar to Thai styles, and a small, thin mouth.


title: Buddhist art

text: Cambodia was the center of the Funan kingdom, which expanded into Burma and as far south as Malaysia between the 3rd and 6th centuries. Its influence seems to have been essentially political, most of the cultural influence coming directly from India.


title: Buddhist art

text: Later, from the 9th to 13th centuries, the Mahayana Buddhist and Hindu Khmer Empire dominated vast parts of the Southeast Asian peninsula, and its influence was foremost in the development of Buddhist art in the region. Under the Khmer, more than 900 temples were built in Cambodia and in neighboring Thailand and Laos. The royal patronage for Khmer Buddhist art reached its new height with the patronage of Jayavarman VII, a Buddhist king that built Angkor Thom walled city, adorned with the smiling face of Lokeshvara in Angkor Thom "dvaras" (gates) and "prasat" towers Bayon. Angkor was at the center of this development, with a Buddhist temple complex and urban organization able to support around 1 million urban dwellers. A great deal of Cambodian Buddhist sculpture is preserved at Angkor; however, organized looting has had a heavy impact on many sites around the country.


title: Buddhist art

text: Often, Khmer art manages to express intense spirituality through divinely beaming expressions, in spite of spare features and slender lines.


title: Buddhist art

text: The Thai Buddhist art encompasses period for more than a millennia, from pre Thai culture of Dvaravati and Srivijaya, to the first Thai capital of Thai 13th century Sukhothai, all the way to succeeding Thai kingdoms of Ayutthaya and Rattanakosin.


title: Buddhist art

text: From the 1st to the 7th centuries, Buddhist art in Thailand was first influenced by direct contact with Indian traders and the expansion of the Mon kingdom, leading to the creation of Hindu and Buddhist art inspired from the Gupta tradition, with numerous monumental statues of great virtuosity.


title: Buddhist art

text: From the 9th century, the various schools of Thai art then became strongly influenced by Cambodian Khmer art in the north and Sri Vijaya art in the south, both of Mahayana faith. Up to the end of that period, Buddhist art is characterized by a clear fluidness in the expression, and the subject matter is characteristic of the Mahayana pantheon with multiple creations of Bodhisattvas.


title: Buddhist art

text: From the 13th century, Theravada Buddhism was introduced from Sri Lanka around the same time as the ethnic Thai kingdom of Sukhothai was established. The new faith inspired highly stylized images in Thai Buddhism, with sometimes very geometrical and almost abstract figures.


title: Buddhist art

text: During the Ayutthaya period (14th–18th centuries), the Buddha came to be represented in a more stylistic manner with sumptuous garments and jeweled ornamentations. Many Thai sculptures or temples tended to be gilded, and on occasion enriched with inlays.


title: Buddhist art

text: The ensuing period of Thonburi and Rattanakosin Kingdom saw the further development of Thai Buddhist art. By the 18th century, Bangkok was established as the royal center of the kingdom of Siam. Subsequently, the Thai rulers filled the city with imposing Buddhist monuments to demonstrate their Buddhist piety as well as to showcase their authority. Among others are the celebrated Wat Phra Kaew which hosts the Emerald Buddha. Other Buddhist temples in Bangkok includes Wat Arun with "prang" style towers, and Wat Pho with its famous image of Reclining Buddha.


title: Buddhist art

text: Like the rest of Southeast Asia, Indonesia seems to have been most strongly influenced by India from the 1st century CE. The islands of Sumatra and Java in western Indonesia were the seat of the empire of Sri Vijaya (8th–13th century), which came to dominate most of the area around the Southeast Asian peninsula through maritime power. The Sri Vijayan Empire had adopted Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, under a line of rulers named the Shailendra. The Shailendras was the ardent temple builder and the devoted patron of Buddhism in Java. Sri Vijaya spread Mahayana Buddhist art during its expansion into the Southeast Asian peninsula. Numerous statues of Mahayana Bodhisattvas from this period are characterized by a very strong refinement and technical sophistication, and are found throughout the region. One of the earliest Buddhist inscription in Java, the Kalasan inscription dated 778, mentioned about the construction of a temple for the goddess Tara.


title: Buddhist art

text: Extremely rich and refined architectural remains are found in Java and Sumatra. The most magnificent is the temple of Borobudur (the largest Buddhist structure in the world, built around 780–850 AD), built by Shailendras. This temple is modelled after the Buddhist concept of universe, the Mandala which counts 505 images of the seated Buddha and unique bell-shaped stupa that contains the statue of Buddha. Borobudur is adorned with long series of bas-reliefs narrated the holy Buddhist scriptures. The oldest Buddhist structure in Indonesia probably is the Batujaya stupas at Karawang, West Java, dated from around the 4th century. This temple is some plastered brick stupas. However, Buddhist art in Indonesia reach the golden era during the Shailendra dynasty rule in Java. The bas-reliefs and statues of Boddhisatva, Tara, and Kinnara found in Kalasan, Sewu, Sari, and Plaosan temple is very graceful with serene expression, While Mendut temple near Borobudur, houses the giant statue of Vairocana, Avalokitesvara, and Vajrapani.


title: Buddhist art

text: In Sumatra Sri Vijaya probably built the temple of Muara Takus, and Muaro Jambi. The most beautiful example of classical Javanese Buddhist art is the serene and delicate statue of Prajnaparamita of Java (the collection of National Museum Jakarta) the goddess of transcendental wisdom from Singhasari kingdom. The Indonesian Buddhist Empire of Sri Vijaya declined due to conflicts with the Chola rulers of India, then followed by Majapahit empire.


title: Buddhist art

text: Philippine archaeology has found Buddhist artifacts, The style exhibits Vajrayāna influence, most of them dated to the 9th century. They reflect the iconography of the Śrīvijayan empire's Vajrayāna and its influences on the Philippines's early states. The artifacts' distinct features point to their production in the islands, and suggest artisan's or goldsmith's knowledge of Buddhist culture and literature, and the presence of Buddhist believers. The find-spots extend from the Agusan-Surigao area in Mindanao island to Cebu, Palawan, and Luzon islands. Hence, Vajrayāna ritualism must have spread far and wide throughout the archipelago.


title: Buddhist art

text: Many contemporary artists have made use of Buddhist themes. Notable examples are Bill Viola, in his video installations, John Connell, in sculpture, and Allan Graham in his multi-media "Time is Memory".


title: Buddhist art

text: In the UK The Network of Buddhist Organisations has interested itself in identifying Buddhist practitioners across all the arts. In 2005 it co-ordinated the UK-wide Buddhist arts festival, "A Lotus in Flower"; in 2009 it helped organise the two-day arts conference, "Buddha Mind, Creative Mind". As a result of the latter an association of Buddhist artists was formed.


title: TFBoys

text: TFBoys (, stylized in all caps), also known as The Fighting Boys, is a popular Chinese idol group that consists of three members: Karry Wang (), Roy Wang (), and Jackson Yee (). The group debuted on August 6, 2013 with their first single album "Start of Love" at the young ages of 12 and 13 years old. Within a year of their debut, TFBoys became one of the most popular artists in China with their hit song "青春修炼手册 Manual of Youth" and gained widespread popularity throughout Asia. The group as a whole have an estimated commercial value of more than US$430 million (CN¥3 billion) combined from endorsements and branding as of 2018, and their average sales per member from band merchandises alone amasses more than US$17 million per month.


title: TFBoys

text: They are often cited as one of the most influential acts to shape the Mando-pop industry in recent years by helping to spread Chinese culture internationally and are dubbed as one of most successful Chinese boy band to hit mainstream media in terms of sales, influence and endorsement value. As of 2018, they have a gathered more than 200 million followers combined on Sina Weibo and have ranked in Forbes China Celebrity 100 for 4 consecutive years since 2015, becoming one of the youngest celebrities to make it onto the list. The band is seen as a spiritual successor of former Taiwanese band Xiao Hu Dui by the media due to high similarities between them.


title: TFBoys

text: On June 1, 2013, the TF boys released a cover video "洋蔥" (Onion) by Aska Yang, as well by Taiwanese rock band Mayday with trainees Roy Wang, Karry Wang and the child TF band. The video went viral and set a record for the highest number of views by a child cover star in Taiwan. On June 5 of that year, they became the first Mainland child stars to appear in Taiwan news.


title: TFBoys

text: There were two trainees that were set to debut with Roy and Karry Wang but TF entertainment discovered Jackson Yee. His skill set focused on dance specifically Latin and HipHop styles. Although he was a newcomer, he had starred in many TV advertisements and dramas.


title: TFBoys

text: TFBoys first appeared on August 6, 2013 with a promotional video sent out by TF entertainment called "Ten Years". October 4, they held a showcase of their debut ep at the Sun Moonlight(SML) Center in Yuzhong District, Chongqing. They debuted on October 18, 2013 with the release of a single album "Start to Heart", including the title track "Heart".


title: TFBoys

text: The group subsequently released a series of hits in 2014, including "Magic Castle", "For Dreams, Always Be Ready" and "Manual of Youth". Their album "Manual of Youth" went on chart at number 1 on YinYueTai V Charts for 5 consecutive weeks and has won multiple music awards. The album skyrocketed the boys into A-list celebrity status in China.


title: TFBoys

text: On August 3, 2014, TFBoys held a fan appreciation meeting for their first anniversary at the Beijing Hualian Changying Shopping Center. After the event, Li Xiaolin, chairperson of International Cooperation Department of China Population Welfare Foundation, and her party issued a letter for TFBoys that stated them as ambassadors for the charity "Happy Smiles". TFBoys have been giving donations to children that suffer from cleft lip and palate through their large social media platform. The number of topic interactions on this issue has exceeded 800 million. At the time of their first anniversary, it has raised more than 370,000 yuan. A total of nearly 40,000 netizens participated in the donation. The donation helped more than 100 children with cleft lip.


title: TFBoys

text: On January 14, 2015, TFBoys attended the "2014 Weibo Night" ceremony and won the top charity contribution award for their previous year of charities.


title: TFBoys

text: On September 16, they sang a promotional single "Love With You" for the "2015 MusicRadio我要上学 (I want to go to school)" charity project. The project was aimed at left behind children in poverty stricken areas who dream of attending school.


title: TFBoys

text: On September 23, they participated in the 2015 Bazzar Star Charity Night and helped raise 4.17 million yuan in funds for the "为爱加速 (I love to Progress)" charity in the Siyuan Basha poverty-stricken county. In November, TFBoys became a public interest spokesperson for the Chongqing Public Security Fire Department. Later on in the year, they attended the "QQ Red Scarf Project" public welfare conference jointly sponsored by Tencent QQ, QQ Space, China Poverty Alleviation Fund and Tencent Public Welfare to customize winter warm clothes for young people in remote and poverty-stricken areas.


title: TFBoys

text: TFBoys held their 2nd anniversary fan meeting to a sold-out show at the Master Card Center in Beijing on August 15 entitled "出道兩週年紀念 《TFBoys Fan's Time》". The event was two and a half hours and they sung their best hits including "Manual of Youth" and "Heart".


title: TFBoys

text: In September, Jackson Yee appeared on his first solo live broadcast for the video app "美拍 (Beauty Shot)". The number of people that watched live totaled 8.128 million, more than 863 million likes, and had more than 8.529 million comments . He broke the previous record set by his group back in June.


title: TFBoys

text: In December, the group released their first EP "The Big Dreamer". On the album includes the song "Adore" (), the lyrics convey the thoughts and feelings of the boys entering puberty (14–15 years old). Lyrics like "I want to share happy things with you", "This is my first time to be nervous around someone" and "Is this love? I still don't understand yet" express the inner emotions of young people. "Adore" was Song of the Year at the ERC Chinese Top Ten Awards (). The award shows honors the top 10 biggest hits in mainland China. The EP peaked at number 1 on the Billboard China V chart for 6 weeks.


title: TFBoys

text: In 2016, they won Top Group at The 4th V Chart Awards. The group also starred in their own web drama "Finding Soul".


title: TFBoys

text: In 2017, the group starred in their own drama "Boy Hood", an inspirational youth drama which focuses on baseball. The main OST for Boyhood "Go! Amigo" hit number 1 Billboard China V Chart for 4 weeks in a row. They also won Top Group of the Year at the 5th V Chart Awards for a second consecutive time.


title: TFBoys

text: On August 11 and 13, TFBoys held their 4th anniversary concert titled 'Alive Four' in Nanjing. On the 13th, they posted on Weibo that they would be donating 100 million yuan to the victims and rescue efforts of the 2017 Jiuzhaigou earthquake. The earthquake was a 7.0 magnitude and killed more than 25 people.


title: TFBoys

text: The same year, the group announced that the members will set up their own personal studios to focus on their own individual activities.


title: TFBoys

text: On December 15, 2017, the group released an EP called "Our Time" which featured a solo song from each member.


title: TFBoys

text: Karry Wang's endorsements range from low price to high-end coverage. His endorsements include: Nike Air Teen Series, OPPO Mobile Phone, Swatch, Snickers, Jade Dynasty 诛仙 games, Pizza Hut and Rejoice Hair care. He is also a Lancome Makeup and Perfume Ambassador and a Dolce & Gabbana Asia Pacific brand ambassador, having a total of 14 endorsements.


title: TFBoys

text: Roy Wang's endorsements have a more international appeal. His includes Paris L'Oreal brand ambassador, H&M China new generation image spokesperson, Oreo brand ambassador, HP Star series spokesperson, Chopard brand ambassador, FILA brand spokesperson, Xiaomi smartphone endorser, and Line Friends global chief creative officer. In March and April 2018, Wang Yuan fans' purchases exceeded 13.93 million yuan alone. In October last year, the "TFBoys Business Value Insight" produced by the First Financial and Economic Data Center wrote: "The price level of the consumer group of Roy Wang influence radiation is the highest among the TFBoys..."


title: TFBoys

text: Jackson Yee's endorsements increased immensely in 2018 and vary from high-end luxury brands to local Chinese multinational technology companies. He became the global youth creative officer for Adidas Neo, Asia Pacific spokesperson for Bottega Veneta, China's spokesperson for Parfums Givenchy, global spokesperson for Huawei Nova and Vidal Sassoon, new generation spokesperson for Baidu, brand spokesperson for Kispa, the first ever global spokesperson for Tmall since its launch in 2000 and more. Jack Ma, creator of Alibaba Group that owns Tmall was estimated to have invested more than 3 billion yuan on Jackson for advertising his website. Jackson ranked first for celebrity endorsement value and was named as the most influential celebrity endorser of 2018 by Baidu Baike.


title: TFBoys

text: In 2018, TFBoys released a book titled "2023: Non-Fiction Growth Story" for their 5th anniversary to showcase the struggles and successes as a group. On August 2, TFBoys attended the unveiling of their wax figures at Madame Tussauds Shanghai.


title: TFBoys

text: On August 9 and August 17, 2018, the group released two singles titled "The Best Years" and "I Like You" respectively. The group held their 5th Anniversary concert at Beijing's Workers' Stadium on August 24.


title: TFBoys

text: In 2019, the group released two new singles titled “My Friends” and “Frist Love Confession” on Julys 12 and August 5 Respectively. On August 10, the group held their 6th Anniversary concert “The Fever” at ShenZhen’s BaoAn Central Stadium.


title: TFBoys

text: On August 6 2020, the group released two new singles titled “Be With You” and “Light”. On August 22, the group held their 7th Anniversary online concert titled “Chu Qu Wan(日光旅行)” on NetEase Music. The concert was viewed by more than 786,000 fans, and has set the record for the title of “The Most Live Viewers for a Paid Music Concert on a Music Application” on Guinness World Record.


title: TFBoys

text: TFBoys is considered to be one of the most popular Chinese boy bands and is seen as a Chinese pop-culture sensation. Since their debut in 2013, they have won many major music awards and earned more than 200 million Weibo followers combined. Their sales of band merchandise average more than $17 million per month. Their success was attributed to their fresh school-boy looks, which filled the void of young male idol groups in China; as well as their "wholesome and boy-next-door" image. Their impact has extended beyond the music industry, with their members appearing in films, television shows as well as commercial films.


title: TFBoys

text: Due to their image, the group has won a large number of "mother fans", women in their mid–20s to 60s who have developed maternal instincts for the boys.


title: TFBoys

text: The group has also amassed a large number of international fans due to their catchy music and versatile talents. The group has contributed in building China's "soft status", by influencing many fans around the world to learn Chinese.


title: TFBoys

text: With increased popularity and influence, the group now promotes philanthropic causes. Its members have set up charitable foundations to support education in rural areas and promote environmental protection. The group was ranked No. 1 on the 2017 Charitable Celebrity List in China.


title: TFBoys

text: The government supports the boy band group, which has been featured for four consecutive years (2016–2019) on the CCTV New Year's Gala. The Communist Youth League’s official Weibo account often promotes the group’s activities. On the International Children’s Day in 2015, the Communist Youth League released a video featuring TFBoys singing "We Are the Heirs of Communism", the song of the Young Pioneers. They have been selected as a brand ambassador of China's 2020 Chinese Mars Mission. The band is part of the government's efforts to promote its policies among China's youth. Critic Zhu Dake sees the boy band as serving to provide modernized propaganda.


title: TFBoys

text: The group's musical style is mainly dance-style music with rap elements, often classified as "bubblegum pop". Their songs have been noted for having uplifting and positive lyrics, which explores the trials of growing up and teenage love, such as "Manual of Youth" and "Imperfect Kid".


title: Golden tiger

text: A golden tiger, sometimes called a golden tabby tiger or strawberry tiger, is a tiger with a colour variation caused by a recessive gene. Like white tigers and black tigers, it is a colour form and not a separate subspecies. Known for its blonde or pale-golden color and red-brown (not black) stripes, the golden tiger colouring comes from a recessive trait referred to as "wideband" which affects the production of black during the hair growth cycle. Tiger colorations that vary from the typical orange-with-black-stripe do occur in nature, but in a very small percentage.


title: Golden tiger

text: All golden tabby tigers in captivity seem traceable to a white tiger called Bhim, a white son of a . Tony is considered to be a common ancestor of all white tigers in North America. Bhim was a carrier of the wide band gene and transmitted this to some of his offspring. Bhim was bred to his sister Sumita (also a carrier of the wide band gene), giving rise to stripeless white tigers (i.e. having two copies of the wide band gene). Bhim was also bred to a normal orange tigress called Kimanthi, and then to his own orange daughter Indira from that mating. The mating of Bhim and Indira resulted in striped white, stripeless white, normal orange, and golden tabby offspring indicating that both Bhim and his daughter carried the wide band gene. When the golden tabby male offspring was mated to the normal orange female offspring, both golden tabby tigers and white tigers resulted.


title: Golden tiger

text: Litters of different coloured cubs are not unusual because the white and golden tabby colours are caused by combinations of hidden recessive genes carried by the parents. White tigers, such as Dreamworld's Mohan (named after the white tiger captured in India in the 1950s), are highly inbred. Inbreeding reduces genetic variability and may cause hidden genes to manifest as there is a greater probability that two recessive genes will meet up.


title: Golden tiger

text: Analysis of golden tiger family trees shows that golden tigers are genetically normal orange coloured tigers with the addition of a recessive modifying gene, probably the wide band gene. This same wide band gene also gives rise to stripeless white tigers. A white tiger that inherits two copies of the recessive wide band gene will be a stripeless white. A normal orange tiger that inherits two copies of the recessive wide band gene will be a golden tabby. The wide band gene is carried independently of the white gene.


title: Coca-Cola Vanilla

text: Coca-Cola Vanilla (commonly referred to as Vanilla Coke) is a vanilla-flavored version of Coca-Cola, invented by Contra and introduced in 2002 but subsequently discontinued in North America and the United Kingdom in 2005, only remaining available as a fountain drink. It was relaunched in the US in 2007, in Denmark in 2012, the UK in 2013, and Canada in 2016. Vanilla Coke has been available in Australia since its initial introduction in 2002, being produced by Coca-Cola Amatil. Originally announced as a limited edition in the UK, it became permanent for several years; however, it was again discontinued in the UK in Summer 2018. Despite this, the product has still been distributed in related brands Diet Vanilla Coke and Coke Vanilla Zero.


title: Coca-Cola Vanilla

text: In 2003, Pepsi introduced Pepsi Vanilla to compete with Vanilla Coke. Virgin released their own vanilla cola in 2002 in the UK, the year before Coke released Vanilla Coke there.


title: Coca-Cola Vanilla

text: Ordinary Coca-Cola already contains small amounts of vanilla. The history of adding additional vanilla flavoring to Coca-Cola, at least in the US, dates back at least to the 1940s when local soda fountain workers (soda jerks) would upon request add a "shot" (roughly two tablespoons) of vanilla syrup to a (12-16 oz) Coca-Cola fountain soda. For decades, this remained common practice in ice cream shops where vanilla syrup and Coca-Cola were both available. The Coca-Cola Company first tested a Coca-Cola blend with extra vanilla flavoring at the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, Tennessee. After the introduction of Cherry Coke and the failure of New Coke, the company was hesitant to introduce anything radically new. It was not until early April 2002 that rumors began to circulate that the company was planning a new variation to their classic soft drink. The Coca-Cola Company was tight-lipped regarding the details of the new beverage, commenting to a London based newspaper, "We've always got a number of things in development," leaving open speculation for what was to develop. It was later revealed that testing for a vanilla flavor had been completed and that the new beverage would be available in months. However, in late April 2002, the company announced that Vanilla Coke would be produced as early as May.


title: Coca-Cola Vanilla

text: The marketing campaign for Vanilla Coke aimed to appeal across all generations. Yolanda Ball, brand manager for Coca-Cola Classic, said, "We had to learn how to balance the newness of vanilla with the established qualities of Coca-Cola". Vanilla Coke debuted at the Vanilla Bean Café, locally known as "the Bean," in Pomfret, Connecticut. The diet variety would be directed primarily at women. The first public tasting of Vanilla Coke took place in the Buckhead district of Atlanta at the Three Dollar Cafe with Atlanta radio station Q100 and their morning hosts from The Bert Show.


title: Coca-Cola Vanilla

text: One of the first notable advertisements was a television ad created by The Martin Agency which was based upon the product's original campaign line of "Reward Your Curiosity". The ad featured actor Chazz Palminteri, in which he and another man pull a teenager (played by a young Aaron Paul) into an alley after catching him peering into a hole. Palminteri gives the boy a Vanilla Coke, as a reward for his curiosity. Their former website rewardyourcuriosity.com went along with the campaign and drew a large interest at the time. (In the Philippine version of the ad, Palminteri's role was taken by actor Johnny Delgado.) Ms. Ball described the ad: "We were trying to create something new and intriguing. half of it was about new, different and change of pace, and the rest of it was about how people love and trust Coca-Cola. But we didn't have to say "New from Coca-Cola". We didn't have to hit them over the head with it."


title: Coca-Cola Vanilla

text: The Coca-Cola Company announced in 2002 that Vanilla Coke would be introduced initially in the United States with distribution starting May 15, followed by a rollout in Canada. The introduction of vanilla flavor was hailed by The Coca-Cola Company as "the greatest innovation since Diet Coke in 1983". It also marked the 116th anniversary of the Coca-Cola Company. Later that year, it was introduced to the Norwegian, Swedish, and Icelandic markets of Europe. This was the first Coca-Cola variety introduced in Norway since Coca-Cola itself in 1937 and Coca-Cola Light in 1983. , Vanilla Coke was marketed in several European countries as well as Australia and New Zealand (in mid-to-late-2002). By late 2003, the company had marketed Vanilla Coke in over 30 countries around the globe. During the 2016 Summer Olympics the vanilla and cherry version was presented to selected markets in Brazil. Today, It can easily be distributed using a Coca-Cola Freestyle machine, which injects vanilla syrup into Coca-Cola


title: Coca-Cola Vanilla

text: Its inaugural year in 2002 saw its best sales. It is estimated that the product was purchased by about 29% of all United States households that year. It still remains popular along with its flavored partner, Cherry Coca-Cola. Doubt was cast over the future of Vanilla Coke and its splinter beverages when the company announced the 2004 sales figures: 35 million unit cases in North America compared to 90 million in 2002; Vanilla Diet Coke dropped from 23 million unit cases in its inaugural year (2003) to 13 million in 2004.


title: Coca-Cola Vanilla

text: In November 2005, after slumping sales, The Coca-Cola Company announced that Vanilla Coke would be discontinued in North America and Great Britain by the end of the year. Coca-Cola introduced Black Cherry Vanilla Coke and Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke in North America in January 2006. At the time, the company said Vanilla Coke and Diet Vanilla Coke would possibly be made available again in the future: "We are exploring ways to bring them back at another time, but right now Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke and Black Cherry Vanilla Coke are what consumers are telling us they want." Vanilla Coke beverages were never discontinued in some markets, such as Australia, France, Russia, Malaysia, and Germany.


title: Coca-Cola Vanilla

text: From February 19, 2007, Vanilla Coke was re-introduced into New Zealand. The official re-introduction of Vanilla Coke in the US began May 25, 2007 at the World of Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, Georgia. The Coca-Cola Company announced a partnership with Edy's Ice Cream to co-advertise with Coke on the launch, and featured a 10-ton Vanilla Coke float, which was certified by the Guinness World Records as the largest ice cream float in the world. A Coca-Cola Vanilla Zero has also been introduced. The re-released Coca-Cola Vanilla features a new packaging design. The advertising campaign for the revival used an instrumental cover of "Welcome Back". In 2007, Vanilla Coke was also introduced into China. It was also introduced in other countries in Europe and Asia. In June 2010, certain convenience stores in Ontario, Canada have re-introduced it by importing it from the neighbouring United States. Coca-Cola has made Coke Vanilla available in their Freestyle beverage machine in Canada; however, bottled and canned versions were not available until 2016.