Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 18.djvu/237

* BINDING. 193 SINGAPORE. Nocturnes. His compositions, the most notable of which are for the piano, are remarkable for their brilliamy and Norwegian characteristics. Many of them have become very popuhir in the United States. BINDING, Otto Ludwig (1842—). A Nor- wegian landscape and genre painter, born at Trondhjem. He studied under Eckersberg in Christiania, under (Jude and Kiefstahl at Karls- nihe, and under Piloty at Munich. As a marine painter of his own rugged and rock-bound coast he attained distinct success in such pictures as the "Lofoten Laplanders (iviH'ting tlic Kctuni of the Sun." which was exliibited in 1S!)1 at Munich. His fine picture of "The Surf" (1S70) showed him as a marine painter par excellence, and as a genre painter he acliieved liigh suc- cess in the '"Struggle at the Peasant Wedding." His "Ruth and Boaz" was awarded a medal at the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. BINDING, Stefan (1840—). A Norwegian sculptor, liorn at Trondhjem. He began his studies under Wolft' in Berlin, and there exhibited his first statue, "Volund the Smith." At the Paris Exposition of 1878 he exhildted his "Cap- tive." and afterwards at Rome he produced the "Barbarian ^■oman Carrying the Body of Her Son Killed in Battle." which established his repu- tation. By tliis group he prdved his departure from the classic school of Thorwaldsen. which until that time had been supreme in Scandi- navia. Other examples of his work are the re- liefs of "The Pillars of Christianity;" the sym- bolic figure of "The Ancestress;" a statuette of "Mercurv;" "Iphigenia;" and the fine "Terra Mater" '(1000). SINE. See Trigonometry : Curve of Sines. SINGAKADEMIE, zing'a-ka-da-me'. A fa- mous Berlin choral society founded in 1700 by Karl Christian Fasch (q.v. ). The member- ship consisted originally of about Ifi persons, members of the leading families of Berlin. On May 27. 1791 (when the first record of attend- ance was made). 27 singers were on the roll. This is the date which is celebrated as that of the foundation of the Singakademie. the name subsequently adopted for the society. They studied choral music not for the sake of amuse- ment and pleasure, but with serious artistic aims. It is to the perpetuation of this spirit that the Singakademie owes its position to- day as the strongest factor in the promotion of choral culture in Germany. The member- ship has constantly increased, and is now about 600. Possibly the greatest achievement of the society was the rescue from almost total oblivion of Bach's Passion Aceurdinfi to ffahil Matthmc. which Mendelssohn, then a young man of twenty, persuaded the societv to perform in 1820. SI-NGAN-FU, seng'iin'foH', SI-GAN-FTJ, or SI-AN-FU (Chin., west tranquil city), also sometimes spelled Hsi-an-fu. A departmental city of Cliina, capital of the Province of Slien-si (q.v.), and noted for its antiquity as well as its importance as a commercial centre (Map; China, Co). It is finely situated near the Wei River, the principal affluent of the Hoang-ho, in the midst of a great loess plateau sloping south- ward from the high table-lands of jlongolia to the Tsing-ling range, and eastward from Kan-su to the Hoang-ho. Its walls are not as high as those of Peking, but the four great gates with tla'ir h)fty towers surpass those of I'eking in magnificence. They arc well built, and in 181)8-71 successfully withstood the attacks of the -Mohannnedan liosts then in rebellion. They have a circuit of 24 miles. The streets are wide, well paved, and clean, and lined with fine shops and warehouses. An immense trade is carried on licrc, for here the great trade routes from the northi'ast, east. ani to Hi (277:! miles), Varkand (3108), Kashgar I33(il), anil other Central Asian points converge. Popu- hUion estimated at l.OOO.OOO. including ;">0,000 Molianunedans, and m;uiy Tibetans. .Mongols, etc. On this spot or in its vicinity several dynasties establislied their capital, beginning with the Chow in B.C. 1122. It is consequently rich in oljjects of great antiqiuirian interest. Among them is the oldest mosque in China, built over 1100 years ago, a very old tenqde dedicated to Lao-tse ; the I'ri-lin or 'Forest of Tablets' belonging to diti'erent dynasties, from B.C. 100. and collected from many quarters, consisting of incised specimens of calligraphy, emblematic animals, historic scenes, etc., and the "Thirteen Classics" cut in stone in the T'ang dj'nastv (618-960) ; and in the Manchu City in the northwest quarter of the city is an old palace of the same period. Here in 1625 was dis- covered a large stone tablet (erected in 781 and still preserved), carved with Chinese and Syriac writing recording the establishment of Christianity in this neighborhood in the seventh century by the Nestorians and eulogizing it as the King-Kiao or •Luminous Religion.' Si-ngan- fu sutlered much during the Mohammedan Re- bellion of 1805-78. but has now almost recovered. During the advance of the allied troops for the relief of the beleaguered foreigners in Peking in 1900 the Emperor and Empress Dowager fled hither, and kept their Court here until Novem- ber, 1001. The Tsung-tuh or Governor-General of the United Provinces of Shen-si and Kan-su (officially known as Shen-Kan) resides here. SINGAPORE, slu'ga-por'. An island belong- ing to Great Britain and included in the colony of the Straits Settlements. It lies off the southern point of the Malay Peninsula, from which it is separated by a narrow strait from 'i! to % of a mile wide, and bordered on the south by the wider Singapore Strait which sepa- rates it from the small Dutch islands that lie east of Sumatra (Map: French Indo-China, D 7). It is situated less than 100 miles north of the equator. The island is 27 miles long and 11 wide; area, about 210 square miles. It passed into the possession of the East India Company in 1810, and in 1824 the possession was ratified l)y the payment to the Sultan of .Tohorc of .$(i0.00n and a life annuity of $24,000. The island is well watered and has a hot. damp, but not un- hcalthful climate, the range of temperature being less than twenty degrees. The surface of the island is broken by small hills, varying in altitude from 300 to' 400 feet, and densely forested. There is no regular rainy season, but showers are scattered throughout the year. The principal products are cocoanut oil, gambler, tapioca, cacao, aloes, nutmegs, and a great v:u'iety of fruits and vegetables. The flora and fauna resemble those of the Malay Peninsula,