jade trees succulent plants, with fleshy water-retaining leaves, domestically grown either in pots or in gardens.
jasper a red, yellow, or brown variety of the mineral quartz.
Javanese pertaining to Java, the most heavily populated of the islands that comprise Indonesia, a country in Southeast Asia.
Joan of Arc (1412-31) the French heroine who, claiming that she regularly talked with dead Catholic saints, inspired the French to victory over the English at Orléans in 1429; she was later captured by the English, tried for heresy, and burned at the stake.
John Wayne (1907-79) American actor known for his ruggedness as a self-styled individualist in Western films.
Korean War (1950-53) the military conflict fought on the Korean peninsula between northern Marxists, supported by the former Soviet Union, and southern Korean nationals, backed by the United States; following the conflict, the Korean peninsula divided into North Korea and South Korea.
krisses swords.
Kwangtung Province also called Guangdong, a province of southeast China; incorporated into China in 222 B.C., when the first emperor of the Ch'in dynasty conquered the area.
largess generosity.
lepers' socks Leprosy is a chronic disease characterized by skin sores, gangrene, and even paralysis; because the disease is contagious, people with leprosy — known as lepers — often cover their skin to restrain the disease from spreading and because of the social stigma attached to the disease.
Li T'ieh-kuai one of the Eight Immortals; Li is depicted as an old man, with a gourd slung over his shoulder; the gourd holds medicine, which Li dispenses to the poor, and at night serves as his bedroom.
lichees the nutlike fruit of the litchi, or lichee tree, indigenous to China.
lion here, a large puppet, like a parade float, but manually operated, probably by men inside the lion.
Long Wall the fifteen-hundred-mile Great Wall of China; begun in the third century B.C. as a means of defense against invading marauders from the north.
loom a hand-operated apparatus used to weave cloth.
loquat tree a small evergreen tree, native to China and Japan, with white flowers and yellow, edible fruit.
