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Siku Quanshu Notes & Draft

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Compilation
The compilation of the Siku Quanshu started with the Siku Quanshu Zongmu Tiyao. Fully compiled in 1773, editing would begin shortly, with the first workable drafts being completed in 1781.This would include bibliographic explanation of all the works fully included in the final Siku Quanshu, as well as a large number of works that are included in title only.

A large number of these edits were made to limit the effects of embellishments and other inaccuracies found in local records. Personal documents, often entailing the actions noteworthy local people, that could be verified through preexisting government documents were often included into the Siku Quanshu Zongmu Tiyao for consideration for inclusion into the finished Siku Quanshu. However, documents that could not be verified were often included in title only, and were criticized by the compilers as unfit for full inclusion into the finished collection. Not even officially sponsored writers, such as local gazetteers, were safe from the scrutiny of the official compilers, leading to criticisms of adding or using ambiguous sources to elevate local figures to be more significant than they actually were.

Medical knowledge was often documented through case-style narratives first seen in twenty-five instances in Sima Qian's Records of the Grand Historian. These instances would form prototypical templates for future medical accounts. Medical accounts from then on took a narrative voice with a secondary analytical tone focusing on a blend of storytelling, vocational knowledge, and historical recording. However, as time progressed, the vocabulary used to record the medical cases started to differ from author to author. By the time of the Qing dynasty, however, the language used to create and define the medical cases had begun to resettle, allowing for ease of inclusion of these texts into the Siku Quanshu.

Case-based recording and discourse of philosophy also was prominent for compilation. Similar to how medical knowledge had a prototypical template for future works, Huang Zongxi's writings in the field had largely served a similar purpose. However, despite popular discourse among scholars of this era, philosophical writing had suffered immensely from two problems. Firstly, was a lack of clear definition regarding philosophical writings as a whole, giving rise to two separate, but equal definitions. "Archival" would mean that the philosophical work would be defined as a scholarly article. Whereas "cultural" would mean the literature would be rearranged as a Buddhist Kōan, though any writing presented this way would be interpreted in a more literal fashion as compared to the traditional rhetorical question. Chinese philosophical writing's other problem at this time would be a lack of bibliographical classification, largely in part due to authors and previous compilers not considering any philosophical work as part of a historical record. As such, compilers for the Siku Quanshu redefined several compilations that made it into the published copies, and set boundaries based on the author's biographical history and intent of their writing in an attempt to remedy these dilemmas.

The Qianlong Emperor made reviews on works that were currently being compiled, and that their opinions on the work reviewed were often conveyed through direct comments or imperial edicts. This, in turn, colored the official compilers criteria for works suitable for inclusion in the Siku Quanshu, to more closely align with those of the emperor. However, the emperor often commented poorly on works from or about their political rivals, especially opponents holding Anti-Manchu sentiment s, running in contrast to stories from locally published sources. This can be exemplified in the compilers' handling of the story of Zhang Shicheng, and his rival Zhu Yuanzhang. In this particular case, the Qianlong Emperor sought to discredit the previous dynasty by highlighting the cruelty of early Ming dynasty rule. Ming-era rule would be contrasted by comparison to Qing-era policies, which appeared more palatable in comparison to harsh judgement. The Qing dynasty acknowledged the legitimacy of the former Hongwu Emperor, but by portraying him in this way, sought to solidify the legitimacy of their own dynasty by raising doubts of the latter dynasty's rule. Moreover, the compilers did not see Zhang Shicheng's rule as legitimate, but as a natural response to the narrative tyranny of the people under the Ming dynasty.

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Early Modern Warfare Japan Sandbox

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Japan
The Japanese were introduced to early firearms by Portuguese traders arriving with European-style arquebuses onto the island of Tanegashima, near the island of Kyushu in September 1543. The impact of this event would revolutionize Japanese strategy throughout the Sengoku-jidai, revolving around tactics that centered on usage of firearms.

While memoirs by Fernão Mendes Pinto attribute himself and a Diogo Zeimoto as the traders to initially introduce firearms to Japan, studies of said memoirs call this claim highly embellished, and therefore the validity of this claim falls into question. Daimyō of the period, searching for any sort of new tactical edge over their regional rivals, were quick to acquire and have blacksmiths under their retinue, reverse-engineer and reproduce the early European firearms. Portuguese traders visiting Japan several years later found that the Japanese had successfully reproduced hundreds of arquebuses, and by 1546, a rough estimate of over 300,000 of the early firearms were in circulation throughout Japan. Early production of said firearms were limited to the general region, though gunsmiths would eventually migrate throughout Japan, with certain different schools cropping up in Sakai, Yokkaichi, and Kunitomo being the most prevalent. Moreover, production of small arms ranged from the early Tanegashima arquebus, to later production teppo, which also subdivided into arquebuses of varying length and caliber, to "hand cannons" favored by those of the Shimazu clan.

Japanese military strategy, upon receiving the new weapon, began to gradually shift towards infantry-based tactics, rather than those that favored horseback cavalry. This is most famously portrayed at the Battle of Nagashino in 1575, where Oda Nobunaga's 3,000 riflemen had handily dispatched the much larger Takeda clan calvary force using the first recorded utilization of volley fire. However, certain studies have called into question Nobunaga's claim to be the first to utilize this tactic, though Japanese forces were utilizing it far earlier that other world contemporaries. Japanese battle planning soon centered around manipulating one's enemies into allied fortified positions to rapidly dispatch enemy manpower, only engaging in hand-to-hand combat when necessary.

Similarly, Japanese daimyō were introduced to artillery in 1551, when a trader claiming to be the king of Rome presented elements of the Ōtomo clan with two examples of field artillery. As with their small arms counterparts, many warlords wished to quickly adopt the weapon in order to gain an advantage over their contemporaries, but difficulties in producing suitable reproductions led to limited early usage in comparison. As with personal firearms, Oda Nobunaga was early to adopt the new weapon, and later, one of his retainers Toyotomi Hideyoshi would use cannons to destructive effect to lay siege to Kanki Castle in 1582. Moreover, Nobunaga had attempted to incorporate cannons onto warships in 1578, but their inefficacy against rival daimyō forces under the Mori had led to the discontinuation of any further implementations to other naval forces.

These changes and adoptions into Sengoku-era Japanese warfare made themselves present during the Japanese invasions of Korea of 1592-1598 after Toyotomi Hideyoshi had unified Japan. Early success in the first incursion during May 1592 into Korea was attributed to the varied small arms and tactics of the Japanese forces, allowing them to make and keep early footholds into the Korean peninsula. However, after the Koreans had allied themselves with Ming China, they gained access to better artillery with greater range and destructive power than their Japanese equivalents. Finally, the Korean navy under the command of Yi Sun-sin had utilized the superior, cannon-armed navy of the Korean-Ming alliance against the Japanese maritime supply lines, eventually leading to Japanese losses on the mainland. Japan was driven off their last stronghold in Seoul in May 1594, and subsequent ventures 1597 would not come close to the success of the first, as the Korean-Ming alliance had developed countermeasures and equivalent small arms to Japanese equivalents.

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-Possible Translation Effort?

-Application of Siku Quanshu under Qianlong Emperor -comipilation source

-philosophy source