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Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is a role-playing video game developed by BioWare and published by Interplay Entertainment. It is the sequel to 1998's Baldur's Gate and was released for Windows in September 2000. Following its predecessor, the game takes place in the Forgotten Realms, a fantasy campaign setting, and is based on the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition rules. Powered by BioWare's Infinity Engine, Baldur's Gate II uses an isometric perspective and pausable real-time gameplay. The player controls a party of up to six characters, one of whom is the player-created protagonist; the others are certain characters recruited from the game world.

Much of Baldur's Gate II takes place in and around Athkatla, a city in the country of Amn. Opening shortly after the events of Baldur's Gate, the game continues the story of the protagonist, Gorion's Ward, whose unique heritage has now drawn the attention of Jon Irenicus, a powerful and sinister mage. The storyline revolves around the machinations of Irenicus and the player's encounters with him.

Development began in January 1999. BioWare set out to improve upon the first Baldur's Gate in every way possible. From a list of constructive criticism—compiled from the suggestions of fans, reviews, and internal suggestions—a list of features to be added to the game was distilled: some of these were 800 x 600 resolution, 3D support, and character kits. For Baldur's Gate, the game's engine and content were being developed at the same time, whereas with Baldur's Gate II, the engine was working from the start. Having a completed engine meant they could direct their efforts towards making content, instead of focusing on basic functionality.

Shadows of Amn received critical acclaim, being praised for its gameplay, artwork, and voice acting, and is often regarded as one of the best video games ever made. GameSpy, GameSpot, and IGN awarded it their "Role-Playing Game of the Year" awards for 2000, and the game has sold more than two million units. An expansion pack, Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, was released in 2001. This well-received expansion, besides adding a large dungeon and enhancements to the game, concluded the main storyline. Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal have been included together in various compilations. In 2013, an enhanced version of Baldur's Gate II was released, carrying the title Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition and using an updated version of the Infinity Engine. A sequel, Baldur's Gate 3, developed by Larian Studios, was released in 2023.

Gameplay

Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn is an Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition computer role-playing game. The central quest of the game consists of about 50 to 60 hours of play, while the full game, including all side quests, is estimated to be between 200 and 300 hours. The player controls a party of up to six characters, one of whom is the protagonist; if the protagonist dies, a saved-game must be loaded, or a new game begun. The game begins with character creation through a series of configuration screens, choosing such things as class, ability scores, appearance, and alignment. Alternatively, an existing character from Baldur's Gate or its expansion Tales of the Sword Coast can be imported. Once in the game world, the player may recruit certain non-player characters (NPCs) to travel with him or her, though only five may do so at a time; depending on who is present in the group, bickering, romance, and side quests can result. NPCs in the party often converse with the player or with one another, and at times interject into the player's conversations with others.

The game is played from an isometric perspective, and the screen, which does not need to remain centered on the protagonist, can be scrolled with the mouse or keyboard. Areas are revealed as they are explored by the player's characters. A fog of war effect hides explored areas when the player's characters move away from them. The player can also change the formation in which the party moves. Clicking an area exit, such as a doorway or staircase, causes another area to be loaded. Clicking on the edge of an outside area causes the party to travel there; the game then presents the player with the World Map, from which the player may select a destination.

The player interacts with characters and objects by clicking on them. Clicking on the ground causes the player's selected characters to move. The gameplay, though in real-time, can be paused, whereupon commands may be issued to controllable characters, who will attempt to execute them when the game is unpaused. The game can also be set to pause automatically at certain times. Dialogue is started by NPCs at certain scripted times, or by the player's clicking on NPCs who are not immediately hostile. When speaking to an NPC, the player must often choose what to say from a list of responses. The dialogue may lead to quests or important information. When the player clicks on a hostile being, the currently selected characters will advance to attack it. Information about characters, creatures, items, and buildings in the game environment is shown on a tool tip, which appears when the mouse pointer is held over game elements.

When a character in the group gains the necessary experience points, he or she gains a level. Experience points are awarded for certain player actions, such as killing enemies or completing quests. The party also has a reputation, which is affected by the player's moral actions, and which, along with the party leader's charisma attribute, influences how NPCs in the game world react to the player. The characters in the party will also complain if the party's reputation conflicts with their alignment. Resting heals the characters in the party and refreshes those who are fatigued; also, resting allows a character to memorize spells. The game contains over 300 spells available for memorization. With the exception of sorcerers, magic-users must memorize spells before they can be cast. Spell-casting takes time and may be disrupted by attacks or other spells.

The player can access sub-screens through the interface: area and world maps; the journal, which tracks important information, such as quests and the game's plot; the inventory page, which is used to manage and equip items; the record screen, which is used to view information about, as well as level up, characters in the party; the mage book and priest scroll screens, where spells can be inspected and memorized; and the options screen, where settings may be altered, saved-games loaded, or the game saved or quit.

Classes and kits
During character creation the player chooses a class: fighter, ranger, paladin, thief, bard, mage, cleric, druid, barbarian, monk, or sorcerer (the last three of which are new for the game). Different classes have different special abilities and restrictions; a thief character, for instance, can find and remove traps, but thieves have limitations on which weapons and armor they may use, and cannot be of lawful good alignment. Most classes also have a subset of kits, or specializations within a class, to choose from. Kits have special advantages and, usually, disadvantages; for example, the cavalier—one of the kits of the paladin class—specializes in fighting monsters such as dragons and demons, but cannot use missile weapons. At some point in the game, the player may join or take over a stronghold. The type of stronghold is determined by the protagonist's class.

Multiplayer
The game also has a multiplayer mode, in which up to six human players can adventure through the game, controlling player-made characters as well as recruited NPCs. The content of the game is otherwise the same, and one player controls the protagonist.

Setting
The Forgotten Realms, the high fantasy campaign setting in which Baldur's Gate II is set, is a fictional world similar to a medieval Earth, but with its own peoples, geography, and history. In the Realms, as its inhabitants call it, fantastic creatures and magic are common.

Baldur's Gate II takes place mainly in Amn, a country on the subcontinent of Faerûn. This country, known commonly as the Merchant Kingdom, lies south of Baldur's Gate; wealth and trade are the chief concerns of the region. The capital city of Athkatla, around which a fair portion of the game revolves, is the most important in Amn and is ruled by the anonymous Council of Six. The local thieves' guild, the Shadow Thieves, also has considerable power. The group, which operates all along the Sword Coast, is based in Athkatla. Another powerful organization in Amn are the Cowled Wizards, who regulate the use of magic in the region. The Shadow Thieves, the Cowled Wizards, and the Harpers, a semi-secret conglomeration of good organizations, all factor prominently into the story and provide side quests.

Besides Athkatla, other places the player will pass through include: an island, on which stands both the port town of Brynnlaw and the asylum Spellhold; the Underdark; the city of Suldanessellar; and the Astral Plane. There are also other places, which may be explored: the Umar Hills, where people have been disappearing; a temple ruins, fallen under the shadow of the Shade Lord; the de'Arnise Keep, home of the de'Arnises but recently overrun by trolls; the town of Trademeet, under attack by animals; a druid grove connected to Trademeet's woes; the Windspear Hills, where the player becomes entangled in the intrigues of Firkraag, a dragon; the underwater Sahuagin city; and the Planar Prison.

Baldur's Gate II is set in the year 1369 DR (Dale Reckoning), and thus takes place not long after the Time of Troubles (1358 DR), when the Tablets of Fate, powerful magic items which maintain a balance between good and evil, were stolen. Lord Ao, the Overdeity, forced the gods to become mortal until the Tablets were found; some gods died while in this mortal state.

Characters
Bhaal, the God of Murder, was slain by an adventurer named Cyric, who himself became a god, but Bhaal foresaw his destruction and walked the land before the other gods. He left behind him "a score of mortal progeny", whose later deaths, when they were slain by heroes, would fuel his rebirth. The game's protagonist is one of these offspring, but, through the choices of the player, may be either good or evil. The character grew up in the library fortress of Candlekeep, watched over by the mage Gorion. Imoen, who grew up there as well, became a close friend. The story of the first Baldur's Gate followed their adventure along the Sword Coast, where the hero learned of their heritage and defeated their half-brother Sarevok, a fellow child of Bhaal.

Some notable characters in Shadows of Amn include: Gaelan Bayle, who offers the party the help of the Shadow Thieves; Aran Linvail, the leader of the Shadow Thieves; Saemon Havarian, who sails the party to an island; Adalon, a silver dragon whose eggs have been stolen and given to drow; Elhan; and Queen Ellesime, the ruler of Suldanessellar. Jon Irenicus and his sister Bodhi are the chief antagonists, Irenicus being the main villain of the game. Forgotten Realms character Drizzt Do'Urden also makes an appearance; if the player solicits his aid, he and his companions will later help the player.

In Baldur's Gate II, several characters from the first game reappear, of which the following can join the player's party: Imoen, who grew up with the protagonist in Candlekeep; Jaheira, who, with her husband Khalid, was a friend of Gorion's; Minsc, a warrior who carries with him a hamster named Boo; Edwin, a Red Wizard of Thay; and Viconia, a dark elf cleric. There are also many new NPCs who may join the party: Aerie, a winged elf who has lost her wings and was sold to the circus by slavers at a young age; Keldorn, an older paladin and a powerful and respected member of the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart;  Mazzy, an honorable halfling fighter and "the nearest thing to a paladin that a halfling can aspire to"; Nalia, who is of the upper class, but, though conscious of class distinction, tries to help those less fortunate than herself; Valygar, who is of a family noted for its talented magic-users, but hates the art; Anomen, a member of the Most Noble Order of the Radiant Heart, and whose wish is to become a full knight; Cernd, a druid; Haer'Dalis, a tiefling bard and one of the actors of an acting troupe; Jan, a gnome, of the Jansen family; Yoshimo, a thief from the land of Kara-Tur; and Korgan, an evil dwarven fighter.

Story
Shortly after the events of Baldur's Gate, the hero and companions are overcome and taken captive. When the game opens, the player character awakens in a cage and is then experimented on by a wizard, who is aware of the player character's heritage and speaks of "untapped power". The wizard is distracted as his complex is attacked by Shadow Thieves, and disappears to fight them. Imoen, appearing from a side room, frees the player character. Jaheira and Minsc are also held in cells close by. Minsc reveals that his witch Dynaheir was killed sometime after their capture, while Jaheira's husband Khalid is later found tortured to death, leaving Jaheira emotionally devastated. The characters fight their way through the underground complex, learning more and more of their captor's despicable character and that his name is Irenicus. At length, escaping the complex, they emerge into the city of Athkatla and witness Irenicus fighting off some of his attackers, whom he destroys. An argument then ensues, during which Imoen angrily attacks Irenicus using magic. The Cowled Wizards appear and, after a fight, arrest both Irenicus and Imoen for the unsanctioned use of magic, and teleport both of them away.

In the slums of Athkatla, a man named Gaelan Bayle offers the party the help of a powerful organization, who can find Imoen or Irenicus for the large sum of 20,000 gold pieces. The party is approached by and offered the help of another rival guild headed by Bodhi; it is the player's choice whom to side with. Meanwhile, Imoen and Irenicus have been removed to an asylum called Spellhold, which is situated on an island. Irenicus soon breaks his bonds and prepares to experiment on Imoen.

Back in Athkatla, the party raises the money necessary and receives assistance from whichever organization it has decided to work with, and gains passage to the island on a ship sailed by the dubious and treacherous Saemon Havarian. The heroes then manage to get inside Spellhold, but they are captured by Irenicus, who has taken control of the prison and had planned all along to bring the protagonist there. Irenicus then subjects the protagonist to a ritual, taking the latter's soul. Imoen, who turns out to be a Child of Bhaal as well, had earlier undergone Irenicus's ritual, and her soul has gone to Bodhi, Irenicus's sister. Bodhi then abandons the party to the maze beneath Spellhold, so that she can hunt them after a span of time, saying also, as bait, that Irenicus may yet be foiled. When they face her, the now soulless protagonist loses control and transforms into a creature called the Slayer, one of the avatar forms of Bhaal. Bodhi, quite taken aback, retreats to tell Irenicus of it. The player character returns to their normal self after a short while. Soon, with the aid of Spellhold's inmates, the party battles Irenicus, forcing him to retreat. The party follows, and reaches the surface via the Underdark.

Upon reaching the surface, the party encounters the army of the elven city of Suldanessellar. The elves cannot return to the city, for Irenicus has magically hidden it. To gain access to it, the party secures the Rhynn Lanthorn from Bodhi, who has stolen the artifact; upon Bodhi's death, Imoen's soul is restored. The Rhynn Lanthorn lights the way to Suldanessellar, which has been invaded by Irenicus and his minions. The party proceeds through the city and, at the Tree of Life, learns that Irenicus is draining the power of the Tree, which will doom Suldanessellar. The heroes defeat him, but because Irenicus still has the protagonist's soul, the protagonist is dragged with the wizard into Hell, and the rest of the party are dragged along also. When they defeat Irenicus, they return to life and are honored by the elves of Suldanessellar.

Development
Baldur's Gate II was developed by BioWare and published by Black Isle Studios, a division of Interplay Entertainment. The game uses the same Infinity Engine as Baldur's Gate (1998), but with many improvements. Other games that used this engine were Black Isle Studios' Planescape: Torment (1999) and Icewind Dale (2000). BioWare dedicated Baldur's Gate II to Daniel Walker, who died in 1999 and was the company's second employee.

Though a success, both commercially and critically, Baldur's Gate was the first role-playing game designed by BioWare, and they applied what they learned in the process to Baldur's Gate II. They also felt they did not have enough time to reach their design goals with the first game, due to developing both the content of the game and the Infinity Engine at the same time. In Baldur's Gate II, it was determined that the designers should be allowed "adequate time" so that the game might "reach its full potential". Throughout its development, BioWare focused "on ensuring that Baldur's Gate II is significantly better than Baldur's Gate in every way possible, and to make it appeal not only to fans of the original game but also to make it accessible to new fans who never played the original game".

Development of Baldur's Gate II began in January 1999. From the suggestions of fans on message boards and newsgroups, reviews of Baldur's Gate, and internal suggestions, a list of constructive criticism was compiled; from this list, a slightly shorter one of features to be added to the game was made. Some of the items on this list were: support for higher resolutions, such as 800 by 600 pixels and above; 3D support; non-pausing dialogue in multiplayer; drop off panels in the interface; character kits; dual-wielding of weapons; a streamlined journal and annotable map; deathmatch; and inclusion of famous AD&D monsters such as the dragon. Not many features had to be cut, and they kept as many as they could. Because of the engine's mature state of development, most features were fairly easy to add. Co-lead designer James Ohlen wrote that having a completed engine meant they could direct their efforts towards producing content, instead of focusing on "basic functionality". Producer Ben Smedstad said that "the engine was up and running since day one, which is a huge morale booster. When a monster is complete, we put it into the 'override' directory and it appears in the game! This is a huge change from working on the original". Late in the project, deathmatch was removed, while non-pausing dialogue, which proved "the most problematic feature", was removed early on before being reintroduced in early 2000.

Baldur's Gate II reused the Infinity Engine, which had powered Baldur's Gate, but the engine was improved in many ways since development on Baldur's Gate II began: optional 800 x 600 resolution as well as the old 640 x 480 resolution. Drop-away side panels were implemented; for spells and special effects, 3D support was added. Pathfinding had been improved in Tales of the Sword Coast (the Baldur's Gate expansion), and was improved further in Shadows of Amn through a feature called "bumping", which allowed a character to move another one out of the way if the path was blocked. Also, to aid pathfinding even more, paths in dungeons were widened, so that characters would get stuck less often. The interface was also refined a bit.

To avoid some of the design mistakes made in Baldur's Gate, guidelines were drawn up for each department; the level designers had the longest set of guidelines. These lists continually changed and evolved as the development progressed. The main design guidelines for the entire project were that the players should feel like their actions have an effect on the game world, and good versus evil options should be available depending on which path the player takes. Guidelines for the story were to keep the focus on the player's character, keep the player updated on the activities of the game's villain, add a significant plot twist, and make the ending of the game open enough so that there would be room for more sequels. Environment guidelines were to break the game into chapters, make some locations key to the central plot, keep areas interesting and easy to quickly navigate, and showcase areas before they were available to explore to capture player interest. For the game systems, guidelines focused on character customization and a well-crafted reward system. The writing guidelines were concerned mainly with dialogue: limiting the number of sentences NPCs spoke at a time, keeping the number of player response choices at three as often as possible, avoiding profanity and accents, and having a small set of random dialogue for unimportant NPCs. Many early design decisions did not follow the guidelines, and programming constraints were not always followed by other departments, such as design and art, leading to slowdowns in some parts of the game that were difficult or impossible to fix.

The process for creating levels was long and complicated. It began with the creation of a general layout of the area to be built by designers. They would pass this concept map to the artists, who added models to it, beginning with the largest objects and ending with small items such as individual pieces of furniture. After everything was put in place by the art team, designers took over again, inserting graphical enhancements, effects, and collision detection code. With a functional level, creatures, items, traps, and triggers were added last, then scripts were written for everything to control behavior. The team found it quite difficult to keep track of changes made to levels, and there were sometimes communication problems between different parts of the team, such as the artists and designers, resulting in inconsistencies between their work. Co-executive producer Ray Muzyka wrote that "they learned to make sure all elements of the team are talking to each other and working as a group, rather than as a bunch of individuals!" They did feel they had done a good job automating the level creation process, as levels were rapidly designed. Muzyka also said that "a designer might submit a level description and receive it, art complete, a month later ready for scripting, but missing some key features (almost always a door). We would then have to determine whether the omission was important enough to have the art piece redone, or whether we could simply tweak the design of the level to fit the finished art". Areas were made more compact than before, the amount of "dead space" being curtailed, facilitating faster travel between key areas because less distance has to be traveled.

Marcia Tofer, art director for Shadows of Amn, worked with a team of 8 to 12 people to create the game's artwork, such as the backgrounds, monsters, etc. Tofer observed that the city of Baldur's Gate had been their first attempt at city building and what they learned there served to make Athkatla "far more diverse and interesting". City renders took from 18 to 24 hours, though they used hardware that was powerful for those days: multiple Dual Pentium IIIs at 500 MHz, coupled with 512 MB of memory.

In traditional mediums like text or film and television, what is read or seen is effectively controlled by the creators. Games are a visual medium, according to Luke Kristjanson, one of the writers and designers on Shadows of Amn, but they are unlike the traditional ones of film and television. For Baldur's Gate, the developers knew what would be seen on the critical path, but not when players would see it, or whether the right amount of significance would be placed upon it.

In Shadows of Amn, several tools were used to remedy these shortcomings. One of these were in-game cutscenes, which were like small plays, "adding suspense and depth to the world and overall story". Cutscenes had been used in Baldur's Gate, but were employed "more effectively" in Shadows of Amn. Another technique was to increase, to a greater degree than Baldur's Gate, the interactivity of the characters that travel with the player. While the characters in Baldur's Gate possessed "banter", there was a very great increase of this in Shadows of Amn, but was not merely an increase in the amount of dialogue and text. NPCs interject, reinforcing "the importance of events [and] contributing their own motivations". They recognize critical junctures in the game, since those are of significance to them as well. They even make comments to each other, as Kristjanson put it: "If Imoen thinks that Jaheira is being too strict she'll say so, and if Jaheira thinks Imoen is being immature she'll counter, and if Minsc thinks the both of them would benefit from getting hamsters of their own [...] he won't hesitate to offer that little nugget of wisdom". Kristjanson noted that the character of Imoen was unexpectedly popular with players of the first game, in spite of the fact that she was a late addition during development and was undeveloped as a character. Kristjanson remarked that her lack of interactions with other characters in the first game projected an impression of closeness to the player character, although this was not intended by the developers; this led to her being revealed as the player character's half-sister in its sequel and an integral character to its plot.

Producer Ben Smedstad, speaking of "crunch time" during the latter stages of a game's development, noted that it was important to begin it at the right time, not too early, nor too late. By July 2000, Shadows of Amn had entered its second phase of crunch, where the hours ran from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, and from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays. Their first crunch phase had been a normal working week, but hours of 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays. "As long as it takes" would be the philosophy of the last phase, encompassing the last week of development. Smedstad said that the second phase, which they were working under in July 2000, is where the stress really begins, and that the third phase is actually not as bad as one might think, because by then people are used to the lengthy hours.

During the game's development, a quality assurance department was added to BioWare, and the game's publishers lent their assistance in testing. Muzyka wrote that "because of its immense size, Baldur's Gate II was a tester's nightmare—this was compounded by the fact that we didn't do enough testing as areas were being developed". The game contained about 290 quests, each of which had to be tested in both single- and multi-player modes. BioWare used a method, introduced to them by Feargus Urquhart, Douglas Avery, and Chris Parker of Black Isle Studios, in which the game's quests were listed on whiteboards, with a cross placed beside each quest. Pairs consisting of a designer and tester worked their way through the quests, each pair covering about 6 quests per day. When a quest was verified, its cross was removed.

Muzyka wrote:

"In the final days of working on BG2 there was a strangely serene feeling in the office. We didn't experience the headlong panic that is sometimes prevalent while finishing a game, but we certainly did experience considerable stress as we built 21 final candidates in 3 days. After a few long nights with the whole team playing the game over and over again, we reached a point where we built a good final candidate. Then it was sent to the duplicators!"

Audio
Black Isle Studios, the publisher, handled the game's voice-over. Producer Chris Parker, writing in April 2000 about the upcoming voice-over recording sessions as Baldur's Gate II neared completion, observed that it could only start once story and dialogue were done. A script would then be put together that, in addition to the lines, would have other information; for example, emotional states and directions that would guide actors to perform lines the right way. Since Black Isle Studios was near Hollywood, there was a lot of voice-over talent in the area. Roughly 50 actors would be needed, and most of the casting would be done by tape using talent they were familiar with. As producer, Parker's job would be to make sure that performances were in the right spirit; the studio would handle the technical side of things. Sometimes, different lines would be tried to see what sounded better, and if that version ended up being used, the text in the game would have to be changed to match it. English actor David Warner provided the voice for Jon Irenicus; PC Gamer observed that "his commanding portrayal of the arrogant elven mage made Irenicus one of the most memorable villains in RPGs, and is one of the key reasons why Baldur's Gate 2 remains such an arresting experience today".

Michael Hoenig, a German composer who played with Tangerine Dream, composed the game's music. He also composed the music for the first Baldur's Gate.

Release
Baldur's Gate II was announced in November 1999. The game went gold on September 14, 2000, and shipped in North America on September 21, and in Europe and Australia on September 29. Also released was a Collector's Edition, which included the game, a cloth map, eight character-trading cards, a Black Isle Studios writing tablet, and an additional CD containing unique armor and weapons as well as music from the soundtrack. A Macintosh version was ported by MumboJumbo and released on October 15, 2001.

Expansion pack
Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, an expansion pack for Shadows of Amn, was developed by BioWare and published by Black Isle Studios, and released in June 2001. Throne of Bhaal takes the protagonist's history further, and, being the final chapter, concludes the Baldur's Gate saga. It also added a variety of features to the base game: a new dungeon called Watcher's Keep, which can be accessed from both Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal; new features and enhancements, such as high-level class abilities, a higher experience point cap, and the Wild Mage character class; and new items and spells. Reviewers generally praised Throne of Bhaal and thought it a spectacular conclusion to the Baldur's Gate saga. It won the "PC Role-Playing" award at the 2002 Interactive Achievement Awards.

Re-releases
Shadows of Amn was re-released, along with its expansion, Throne of Bhaal, as Baldur's Gate II: The Collection in 2003. In 2004, they were bundled with the original Baldur's Gate and Icewind Dale as Black Isle Compilation Part Two. In 2006, they were re-released with Baldur's Gate and Tales of the Sword Coast as Baldur's Gate: 4 in 1 Boxset. They were also included in The Forgotten Realms Deluxe Edition, Ultimate Dungeons & Dragons, and Dungeons & Dragons Anthology: The Master Collection. In 2010, Baldur's Gate II Complete was released in digital format on GOG.com, including both Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal. Bundled with it are the game manuals in PDF format, high-definition wallpapers, artwork, avatars, and the Shadows of Amn and Throne of Bhaal soundtracks.

Enhanced Edition
Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition was released in 2013. Developed by Overhaul Games, it is an enhanced version of Baldur's Gate II and uses an updated version of the Infinity Engine. The game was released for PC, iOS,  Mac OS X, Linux, and Android. Skybound Games, a division of Skybound Entertainment, brought Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch in 2019.

Sales
In the United States, Baldur's Gate II entered PC Data's computer game sales charts at #5 during the September 17–23 period. It rose to second place the following week, behind The Sims: Livin' Large, while its Collector's Edition captured the seventh position. In its first 14 days, Baldur's Gate II drew in revenues of $4 million across all SKUs in North America, a sales record for an Interplay computer title. The game and its Collector's Edition were ranked 11th and 19th, respectively, on PC Data's monthly chart for September. Entering its third week, the game fell to fifth place on the weekly chart, but it remained in the top 10 throughout the October 5–28 period,  and finished seventh for the month. Afterwards, it was absent from PC Data's weekly top 10 and monthly top 20. PC Data reported Baldur's Gate II's sales at 199,914 copies and its revenues at $9.2 million in the United States by the end of 2000. The game's success in the country continued during 2001, when it finished 15th for January and sold another 103,144 units between February and the first week of November alone. It tallied 225,763 domestic sales for the full year, which drew $9.63 million in revenue.

On Media Control's computer game sales rankings for the German market, Baldur's Gate II debuted at #3 in October 2000. It climbed to second place the following month, before dropping to 12th in December. The Verband der Unterhaltungssoftware Deutschland (VUD) presented it with a "Gold" award by the end of 2000, indicating sales of at least 100,000 units across Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Media Control proceeded to rank the game 10th, 17th and 23rd during the first three months of 2001, respectively. In the United Kingdom, Baldur's Gate II claimed #2 for its release month of November 2000, according to Chart-Track. It fell to tenth place in December, and exited the top 10 in January 2001.

The combined global sales of Baldur's Gate, Baldur's Gate: Tales of the Sword Coast, and Baldur's Gate II surpassed 3.5 million copies by March 2001. Baldur's Gate II alone reached almost 1.5 million sales by December 2002, and more than 2 million by November 2005. According to the NPD Group, the game totaled 480,000 sales ($19.6 million) in the United States by August 2006. At that time, Edge declared it the country's 31st-best-selling computer game released since January 2000.

Critical reviews
Baldur's Gate II received critical acclaim upon its release, and is listed as the seventh highest-scoring PC game on the review aggregator Metacritic (as of November 2022). GameSpot's reviewer stated that, while it is a long game, its fine points are what make it so great, and that it was in a class by itself. IGN concluded with a similar sentiment, saying that the game was incomparable and without peers. Though extolling the game immensely and finding only small issues, Computer Gaming World's reviewer noted that he would not trap himself with the "best RPG ever" phrase, but conceded that it "certainly ranks up there with greats like Fallout, Planescape: Torment, and Betrayal at Krondor". Eurogamer lavished much praise upon Baldur's Gate II, and noted that "the story and quests are captivating, the gameplay tried and tested, and the overall feel is professional and entertaining". David Simkins reviewed the PC version of the game for Next Generation, rating it five stars out of five, and wrote that "Baldur's Gate II raises the bar for PC RPGs, elevating the genre to a new level".

GameSpot and IGN felt the game was superior to its predecessor, Baldur's Gate. Computer Games Magazine and Gameplanet noted that it improved upon Baldur's Gate in almost every way. "Polish" or "polished" was a description applied to the game by some reviewers. RPGamer, somewhat more critical of the game than others, concluded: "Maybe it's a bit thin in some areas, but it's still an exemplary game that is well worth the time invested".

Baldur's Gate II's gameplay was called "addicting" by GamePro. RPGamer said that while the game was generally the same as the original Baldur's Gate, the combat was much improved, with less frustration and more strategic options. Computer Gaming World agreed, saying players would put more consideration into designing and implementing combat plans. Eurogamer noted that the interface was "incredibly easy to use". IGN's reviewer observed that many a time the game posed tough decisions that made him think, and also praised the clarity of the quests and ease of moving from one goal to the next. Some reviewers, however, felt the non-player characters in the game were not as powerful as player-made characters. GameSpy said the game is much more difficult than Baldur's Gate and requires more strategy and planning than the original does. GameSpot felt the opening level of the game fell flat, but that it got much better once the player reached Athkatla. IGN noted that the introductory section of the game, while good, was nowhere near as fun as the adventures in Athkatla.

The game's plot was met positively by most reviewers,     GameSpy calling it "epic" and GameSpot a "great story". Eurogamer felt the story quite outdid the original. Computer Gaming World, too, observed that it was much improved, adding that the plot style was reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings. He felt the story was somewhere between Planescape: Torment and Icewind Dale in terms of depth. RPGamer's reviewer, on the other hand, felt that the plot was lackluster, but approved of the side quests, which, he said, could turn into "minor epics" of their own.

The game's graphics were well received. GamePro praised them, saying that "the backdrops are stunning and the spell effects are impressive". IGN echoed this statement, calling the difference between Baldur's Gate and Shadows of Amn "like looking at a still oil painting, and then turning to see the scene in living motion on a big screen TV". Eurogamer, too, commended the artwork. GameSpot thought both the pre-rendered backgrounds and the animations for characters and monsters were well done. FiringSquad said the game's artwork surpassed that of Planescape: Torment, and called the background artwork "fantastic". The voice acting of Baldur's Gate II was also praised by FiringSquad, who said that "characters sound alive and vivacious (or depressed, crazy—whatever suits them)" and that the quality of the voices drew the player more deeply into the game. IGN called the voice acting "outstanding" and said the variety of personalities would cause players to become "attached" to the characters, only noting with disapproval the dearth of new voices for the player's protagonist. Reviewers generally found the game's music to be well-done,    but RPGamer felt it was "inoffensive but unimpressive".

Gameplanet criticized the game's poor support for online multiplayer, saying it was "unstable and quite frustrating". FiringSquad felt that the lack of communication between players in combat during online games was problematic, but that local area network play would be more satisfying. PC Zone said that multiplayer was as unimpressive as it had been in the first game of the series and that the game needed multiplayer maps. IGN, however, felt that multiplayer play was solidly implemented and fun. Pathfinding was sometimes criticized. Criticism was also directed at bugs in the game, such as frequent crashes when trying to access certain locations. According to GameSpy, Baldur's Gate II is "not 100% stable". GameSpot noted that the game's loading times were somewhat long and that the game crashed on occasion, but said that these problems are not significant. IGN, though noting that the game slowed down during combat when a lot of animations were happening simultaneously because of spells or "dazzling backgrounds", said that there were almost no other technical problems. GameSpot also felt that the small number of character portraits to choose from was a disappointment and was displeased that the game reused special effects, audio, and graphics from the first game.

GameSpot later called Baldur's Gate II "a towering achievement in the history of role-playing games". In a 2007 Gamasutra article on the "Platinum and Modern Ages" of computer role-playing games (CRPGs), Matt Barton noted contemporary reviewers' universal praise for the game, and called it "the finest CRPG ever designed". According to GameSpy, "this is easily one of the finest CRPGs ever made and an experience that no RPG fan should miss".

Awards
Baldur's Gate II has been honored many times. GameSpot, GameSpy, and IGN awarded it their "Role-Playing Game of the Year" awards in 2000,  and it won GameSpot's Readers' Choice Game of the Year award for that year. It received three "Gaming Globe" awards from Eurogamer in 2001: Best Game, Best Art Direction, and Best Male Supporting Character (for Minsc). The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences honored Shadows of Amn with the "Character or Story Development" award at the 4th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards; the game also received nominations for the "Game of the Year", "PC Game of the Year", "PC Role-Playing", and "Game Play Engineering" categories. IGN placed it at No. 25 on their 2005 "Top 100 Games of All Time" list. In 2006, though not ranking in the top five games, it earned an "honorable mention" in Gamasutra's Quantum Leap Awards. Baldur's Gate II was inducted into GameSpot's "Greatest Games of All Time" list. In 2009, Game Informer placed Baldur's Gate II at No. 88 on their list of "The Top 200 Games of All Time", calling it "the best Dungeons & Dragons game ever made". This is up one place from their top 100 list in 2001. Empire ranked it No. 19 on their list of the 100 Greatest Games. At the end of 2009, Baldur's Gate II, though not quite making the Top 12 list, received an honorable mention in Gamasutra's Game of the Decade, where readers voted for their best game of the 2000s.

In 2010, on IGN's Top 25 Modern PC Games, Baldur's Gate II clocked in at No. 2. In 2013, it was placed at No. 46 on GamingBolt's "Top 100 greatest video games ever made". IGN ranked Baldur's Gate II No. 1 on their list of "The Top 11 Dungeons & Dragons Games of All Time" in 2014. Ian Williams of Paste rated the game No. 2 on his list of "The 10 Greatest Dungeons and Dragons Videogames" in 2015. IGN ranked Baldur's Gate II No. 3 on their "Top 100 RPGs of All Time" list. In 2016, PC Gamer noted the game on their "best RPGs of all time". It was placed at No. 9 on Game Informer's "Top 100 RPGs Of All Time" list, and was included among PCGamesN's "best RPGs on PC" as well.

Novel
There is a novelization of the game by Philip Athans. Published in 2000 by Wizards of the Coast, it focuses solely on Abdel, the last of the Bhaalspawn. The novel is the second in the series; the first, also by Athans, is a novelization of Baldur's Gate, and the third, by Drew Karpyshyn, of the Throne of Bhaal expansion.

title: Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn


text:
Talk:Sterling Newberry

Untitled
Stirling, just wondering: I know it's not you, etc. etc., but is this a refutation? In case the link doesn't work, it says "Cosslett, V.E. 	British physicist, constructed the first microfocus X-ray tube as a part of his "Shadow X-ray microscope" in 1951 (Nature 10, 1951, pp 24). He started out of a suggestion by M. v. Ardenne." Just wondering. Could you give more detail on the invention? Thanks. Geogre 19:32, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)

died this morning 28 Jan 2017 146.115.82.167 (talk) 12:09, 28 January 2017 (UTC)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Talk:Sterling Newberry


text:
USS Carter Hall (LSD-3)

USS Carter Hall (LSD-3) was an Ashland-class dock landing ship in the United States Navy, named in honor of Carter Hall, the Millwood, Virginia estate of Lt. Col. Nathaniel Burwell (1750–1814).

Carter Hall was launched on 4 March 1943 by Moore Dry Dock Company, Oakland, California, sponsored by Mrs. T. Wilson; and commissioned on 18 September 1943.

World War II
Carter Hall sailed from San Francisco 12 October 1943 with cargo and passengers for Brisbane, Australia. She arrived at her next port, Milne Bay, New Guinea, on 26 November to act as receiving ship, tender, and supply ship for small craft there and at Buna until 10 May 1944. During this period, she took part in the invasion landings at Cape Merkus, Arawe, New Britain on 15 December 1943, where valuable experience in the use of newly developed landing craft was gained. Upon the invasion of Aitape and Tanahmerah Bay late in April, Carter Hall once again launched laden landing craft, and stood by the invaded beaches to service small craft, remaining in the area until 2 May 1944.

Carter Hall arrived at Guadalcanal on 12 May 1944 for amphibious training, then sailed to Kwajalein to stand by in case she should be needed during the invasion of Saipan. Her services not required for that assault, she sailed on to Eniwetok and final preparations for the smashing return to Guam, where she arrived 21 July, the day of the initial assault. She remained off the island, supporting the operation through servicing small craft, until 26 July. The dock landing ship returned to Hollandia on 29 August, and from 11 September to 1 October supported the operations at Morotai.

Carter Hall sailed from Hollandia on 12 October 1944 with the Palo Attack Group of the Northern Attack Force, bound for the landings on Red Beach near Tacloban, San Pedro Bay, Philippines on 20 October. Working efficiently in the apparent chaos that concealed the intricate, smoothly meshed landing plans, Carter Hall's men carried out their key role both in landing their craft and in caring for small craft through 24 October, when she made her retirement as the Battle of Leyte Gulf raged nearby. Her participation in the Leyte operation continued as she carried cargo from New Guinea on a series of runs until 17 November. From then until 30 December, she was stationed in San Pedro Bay as tender and supply ship for landing craft.

Overhauled at Oakland, California, between 31 January and 4 April 1945, Carter Hall returned to Subic Bay on 1 May to transport small craft, and to take part in the invasions at Brunei Bay, 10 to 16 June, and Balikpapan, 1 to 4 July. She remained at Leyte drydocking small craft until 6 September, when she sailed for Jinsen, Korea, carrying LCMs and picket boats for use in the occupation of Korea.

Occupation duty at Shanghai and Sasebo continued until 9 April 1946, when Carter Hall cleared for San Francisco. She was decommissioned and placed in reserve at San Diego 12 February 1947.

1951–1956
Recommissioned 26 January 1951 for duty in the Atlantic Fleet, Carter Hall arrived at her home port, Norfolk, Virginia, on 11 June 1951. Until 7 January 1955, she operated on training, salvage, and fleet exercises, as well as a tour with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean from January through May 1953. Prior to the Mediterranean cruise, she operated in support of construction of the Defensive Early Warning system off Hebron, Labradore and briefly visited Greenland, crossing the Arctic Circle at 1431, latitude 66'30"N and in longitude 52'03"W on 22 July 1952.

Returning to the Pacific Fleet, Carter Hall arrived at San Diego on 31 January 1955. Along with type training and fleet exercises, she had tours of duty in the western Pacific in 1955, 1958, 1959, and 1960, and took part in Arctic supply operations in summer 1956.

Fate
Carter Hall was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 31 October 1969 and sold to N. W. Kennedy, Vancouver, British Columbia, 28 August 1970, for scrapping.

USS Carter Hall awards, citations & campaign ribbons
Carter Hall received six battle stars for World War II service.
 * Top Row: China Service Medal (extended) — American Campaign Medal
 * Second Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (6) — World War II Victory Medal — Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp)
 * Third Row: National Defense Service Medal (2) — Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (1-Cuba, 4-Vietnam) — Vietnam Service Medal (5)
 * Fourth Row: Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation (14) – Philippines Liberation Medal (1) — Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
 * Fifth Row: Individual Combat Action Ribbon (crewmembers aboard 13 December 1966)

title: USS Carter Hall (LSD-3)


text:
Kang Youwei

Kang Youwei (Cantonese: Hōng Yáuh-wàih; 19March 1858 – 31March 1927) was a prominent political thinker and reformer in China of the late Qing dynasty. His increasing closeness to and influence over the young Guangxu Emperor sparked conflict between the emperor and his adoptive mother, the regent Empress Dowager Cixi. His ideas were influential in the abortive Hundred Days' Reform. Following the coup by Cixi that ended the reform, Kang was forced to flee. He continued to advocate for a Chinese constitutional monarchy after the founding of the Republic of China.

Early life
Kang was born on 19March 1858 in Su Village, Danzao Town, Nanhai County, Guangdong province (now the Nanhai District of Foshan City). According to his autobiography, his intellectual gifts were recognized in his childhood by his uncle. As a result, from an early age, he was sent by his family to study the Confucian classics to pass the Chinese civil service exams. However, as a teenager, he was dissatisfied with the scholastic system of his time, especially its emphasis on preparing for the eight-legged essays, which were artificial literary exercises required as part of the examinations.

Studying for exams was an extraordinarily rigorous activity so he engaged in Buddhist meditation as a form of relaxation, an unusual leisurely activity for a Chinese scholar of his time. It was during one of these meditations that he had a mystical vision that became the theme for his intellectual pursuits throughout his life. Believing that it was possible to read every book and "become a sage", he embarked on a quasi-messianic pursuit to save humanity.

Biography
Kang called for an end to property and the family in the interest of an idealized future cosmopolitan utopia and cited Confucius as an example of a reformer and not as a reactionary, as many of his contemporaries did. In his work A Study of Confucius as a Reformer of Institutions,  he discussed the latter point in great detail. He argued, to bolster his claims, that the rediscovered versions of the Confucian classics were forged, as he treated in detail in A Study of the Forged Classics of the Xin Period.

In 1879, Kang traveled to Hong Kong and was shocked by the prosperity there, which started his interest in Western culture and thoughts. In 1882, Kang went to Beijing to take the imperial examination. When he was returning home, he stopped over in Shanghai and bought many Western books there, and started developing his ideology based on these writings. He was influenced by Protestant Christianity in his quest for reform.

In 1883, Kang founded the Anti-Footbinding Society near Canton.

Kang Youwei launched the Society for the Study of National Strengthening (Qiangxue hui) in Beijing. It is the first political group established by reformists in China. Through it, Kang became acquainted with Governor-General Zhang Zhidong and received his financial support to inaugurate the Paper of the Society for the Study of the National Strengthening (Qiangxue bao) in January 1896. In the same month, the society was dissolved and the paper had to cease publication.

Kang was a strong believer in constitutional monarchy and wanted to remodel the country after Meiji Japan. These ideas angered his colleagues in the scholarly class who regarded him as a heretic.

In 1895, China was defeated by Japan in the First Sino-Japanese War. In protest against the Treaty of Shimonoseki, Kang Youwei, Liang Qichao and over 600 civil examination candidates signed a petition to the Guangxu Emperor, known to history as Gongche Shangshu movement. This movement is taken as the sign of the appearance of reformists and the start of Chinese mass political movements.

Kang and his noted student, Liang Qichao, were important participants in a campaign to modernize China now known as the Hundred Days' Reform. The reforms introduced radical change into the Chinese government. Empress Dowager Cixi staged a coup that put an end to the reforms, put the Guangxu Emperor under house arrest, and ordered Kang's arrest and execution on the basis that he had tried to have her assassinated. Kang fled the country, but also organized the Protect the Emperor Society which promoted the cause of the Guangxu Emperor, mainly in Chinese diaspora communities, and advocated the removal of Cixi. Kang relied on his principal American military advisor, General Homer Lea, to head the military branch of the Protect the Emperor Society. Kang traveled throughout the world to promote his ideas. He competed with the revolutionary leader Sun Yat-sen's Revive China Society and Revolutionary Alliance for funds and followers among overseas Chinese. Kang visited India twice, first in 1901–1903 and then again in October 1909, in part to study India, which he regarded as comparable to China. Although his information about Indian history was derived from English authors, he observed that India's plight as a colonised country was due to the disunity among the different regions of India.

The Xinhai Revolution led to the abdication of the Qing dynasty and the establishment of a republic under Sun Yat-sen in 1912. Kang opposed the creation of a republic.

Some advocated that a Han be installed as Emperor: either the descendant of Confucius, who was the Duke Yansheng,  – which Kang briefly endorsed before dropping the idea and returning to the idea of a Qing monarch – or the Ming dynasty Imperial family descendant, the Marquis of Extended Grace.

Kang remained an advocate of constitutional monarchy and launched a failed coup d'état in 1917. General Zhang Xun and his queue-wearing soldiers occupied Beijing, declaring a restoration of Emperor Puyi on July1.

The incident was a major miscalculation. The nation was highly anti-monarchist. Kang became suspicious of Zhang's insincere constitutionalism and feared he was merely using the restoration to become the power behind the throne. He abandoned his mission and fled to the American legation. On July 12, Duan Qirui easily occupied the city.

Kang's reputation serves as an important barometer for the political attitudes of his time. In the span of less than twenty years, he went from being regarded as an iconoclastic radical to an anachronistic pariah.

Chinese-British biographer Jung Chang gave Kang Youwei unfavorable criticism due to his role in spreading numerous vilifying stories about the Empress Dowager. Among those stories including accusation Cixi of murdering Empress Dowager Ci'an, driving her own son to death, and massively appropriating naval funds. Chang asserted that Kang Youwei was a "master propagandist" who also harbored an intention to become an emperor by claiming as the reincarnation of Confucius, although he later abandoned that plan.

Datong Shu
Kang's best-known and probably most controversial work is Datong Shu (大同書). The title of the book derives from the name of a utopian society imagined by Confucius, but it literally means "The Book of Great Unity". The ideas of this book appeared in his lecture notes from 1884. Encouraged by his students, he worked on this book for the next two decades, but it was not until his exile in India that he finished the first draft. The first two chapters of the book were published in Japan in the 1900s, but the book was not published in its entirety until 1935, about seven years after his death.

Kang proposed a utopian future world free of political boundaries and democratically ruled by one central government. In his scheme, the world would be split into rectangular administrative districts, which would be self-governing under a direct democracy but loyal to a central world government. There would also be the dissolution of racial boundaries. Kang outlines an immensely ambitious, and equally inhumane, eugenics program that would eliminate the "brown and black" racial phenotype after a millennium and lead to the emergence of a fair-skinned homogeneous human race whose members would "be the same color, the same appearance, the same size, and the same intelligence". Some of the methods envisioned for achieving this end included forced relocation to colder regions inhabited by whites coupled with sterilization of those suffering from diseases or whose mental and/or physical attributes were deemed exceptionally grotesque. One of the more humane tactics involved giving distinctive honors to white and yellow people who were willing to “improve humanity" by procreating with their brown and black counterparts. It is worth noting that although Kang felt that the white and yellow phenotype could coexist in his ideal scheme, he ultimately felt that white was nonetheless superior to yellow, and that the latter under ideal circumstances could be eliminated within the span of a century (prior to the advent of the "Great Unity").

His desire to end the traditional Chinese family structure defines him as an early advocate of women's independence in China. He reasoned that the institution of the family practiced by society since the beginning of time was a great cause of strife. Kang hoped it would be effectively abolished.

The family would be replaced by state-run institutions, such as womb-teaching institutions, nurseries and schools. Marriage would be replaced by one-year contracts between a woman and a man. Kang considered the contemporary form of marriage, in which a woman was trapped for a lifetime, to be too oppressive. Kang believed in equality between men and women and that there should be no social barrier barring women from doing whatever men can do.

Kang saw capitalism as an inherently evil system. He believed that government should establish socialist institutions to overlook the welfare of each individual. At one point, he even advocated that government should adopt the methods of "communism" although it is debated what Kang meant by this term.

In this spirit, in addition to establishing government nurseries and schools to replace the institution of the family, he also envisioned government-run retirement homes for the elderly. It is debated whether Kang's socialist ideas were inspired more by Western thought or by traditional Confucian ideals.

Laurence G. Thompsom believes that his socialism was based on traditional Chinese ideals. His work is permeated with the Confucian ideal of ren (仁), or humanity. However, Thompson also noted a reference by Kang to Fourier. Thus, some Chinese scholars believe that Kang's socialist ideals were influenced by Western intellectuals after his exile in 1898.

Notable in Kang's Datong Shu were his enthusiasm for and his belief in bettering humanity through technology, unusual for a Confucian scholar during his time. He believed that Western technological progress had a central role in saving humanity. While many scholars of his time continued to maintain the belief that Western technology should be adopted only to defend China against the West, he seemed to whole-heartedly embrace the modern idea that technology is integral for advancing mankind. Before anything of modern scale had been built, he foresaw a global telegraphic and telephone network. He also believed that as a result of technological advances, each individual would only need to work three or four hours per day, a prediction that would be repeated by the most optimistic futurists later in the 20th century.

When the book was first published, it was received with mixed reactions. Kang's support for the Guangxu Emperor was seen as reactionary by many Chinese intellectuals, who believed that Kang's book was an elaborate joke and that he was merely acting as an apologist for the emperor as to how a utopian paradise could have developed if the Qing dynasty had been maintained. Others believe that Kang was a bold and daring protocommunist, who advocated modern Western socialism and communism. Amongst the latter was Mao Zedong, who admired Kang Youwei and his socialist ideals in the Datong Shu.

Modern Chinese scholars now often take the view that Kang was an important advocate of Chinese socialism. Despite the controversy, Datong Shu still remains popular. A Beijing publisher included it on the list of 100 most influential books in Chinese history.

Philosophical views
Kang enumerated sources of human suffering in a way similar to that of Buddhism.

The sufferings associated with man's physical life are: being implanted in the womb, premature death, loss of a limb, being a barbarian, living outside China, being a slave, and being a woman. The sufferings associated with natural disasters are: famine resulting from flood or drought, epidemic, conflagration, flood, volcanic eruptions, collapse of buildings, shipwreck, and locust plagues. The sufferings associated with the human relationship are: being a widow, being orphaned or childless, being ill with no one to provide medical care, suffering poverty, and having a low and mean station in life. The sufferings associated with society are: corporal punishment and imprisonment, taxation, military conscription, social stratification, oppressive political institutions, the existence of the state, and the existence of the family. The human feelings which cause suffering are: stupidity, hatred, fatigue, lust, attachment to things, and desire. The things that cause suffering because of the esteem in which they are held are: wealth, eminent position, longevity, being a ruler, and being a spiritual leader. He also visualised a hierarchy of various religions, in which Christianity and Islam were considered the lowest, above them being Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. He predicted that the lower religions would eventually disappear in the future.

Calligraphy
Kang Youwei was an accomplished calligrapher, responsible for the creation of Kang Typeface (Bad Model, Chinese: 破体). He commended tablet calligraphy and depreciated model calligraphy. In his early years, he learned from Ouyang Xun by imitation. In his work Guang yizhoushuangji (广艺舟双楫), he did comprehensive and systematic research and introduction about tablet calligraphy. In Kang’s later years, selling calligraphy became his most reliable source of income.

Kang Youwei Island
After the failure of the Hundred Days’ Reform, Kang Youwei fled China. In 1898, he arrived in Japan via Hong Kong. Kang reached Sweden in 1904 and was deeply attracted to the landscape. He bought an islet off Saltsjöbaden and built a Chinese style garden and building named "Beihai Caotang" (Chinese: 北海草堂). This island is still known as Kang Youwei Island by many Chinese.

Death
Kang died at his home in the city of Qingdao, Shandong in 1927. He was 69.

In other languages

 * Chi Wen-shun, K'ang Yu-wei (1858–1927) (in Die Söhne des Drachen. Chinas Weg vom Konfuzianismus zum Kommunismus, ed. P. J. Opitz, Mchn. 1974, S. 83–109).
 * Franke, W. Die staatspolitischen Reformversuche K'ang Yu-weis u. seiner Schule. Ein Beitrag zur geistigen Auseinandersetzung Chinas mit dem Abendlande (in Mitt. des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen, Bln. 38, 1935, Nr. 1, S. 1–83).
 * Kuang Bailin, Kang Youwei di zhexue sixiang, Peking 1980.
 * G. Sattler-v. Sivers, Die Reformbewegung von 1898 (in Chinas große Wandlung. Revolutionäre Bewegungen im 19. u. 20. Jh., ed. P. J. Opitz, Mchn. 1972, S. 55–81).
 * Tang Zhijun, Kang Youwei yu wuxu bianfa, Peking 1984. – Ders., Wuxu bianfa shi, Peking 1984.
 * Wuxu weixin yundong shi lunji, ed. Hu Shengwu, Changsha 1983.

title: Kang Youwei


text: Category:Artists by nationality

title: Category:Artists by nationality


text:
Fort Crawford

Fort Crawford was an outpost of the United States Army located in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, during the 19th century.

The army's occupation of Prairie du Chien spanned the existence of two fortifications, both of them named Fort Crawford. The first of was occupied from 1816 to 1832, the second from 1832 to 1856. Both of the forts formed part of a string of fortifications along the upper Mississippi River that also included Fort Snelling near Saint Anthony Falls in Minnesota, and Fort Armstrong in Rock Island, Illinois. Fort Crawford was also associated with a string of forts built along the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway, which included Fort Winnebago in Portage, Wisconsin and Fort Howard in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The site of the second fort has been preserved and holds the Fort Crawford Museum, located in the Second Fort Crawford Military Hospital. This is a 1930s reconstruction of the hospital serving the second fort. This building contains the only surviving building fragments of either fort, and it was designated a U.S. National Historic Landmark in 1960.

First Fort Crawford
The U.S. Army established a presence in Prairie du Chien during the War of 1812, when it built Fort Shelby on St. Feriole Island in the Mississippi River, which was part of the town separated by a marshy bayou. On July 19, 1814, Fort Shelby was captured by British forces and renamed Fort McKay. The British would continue to occupy Prairie du Chien until 1815, after the Treaty of Ghent restored the pre-war border between the United States and British Canada. When the British retreated from the city, they burned Fort McKay rather than give it back to the Americans.

To protect Prairie du Chien against future invasion, U.S. forces returned in June 1816, with orders to construct a new fort on the site of Fort McKay. This fort was named Fort Crawford in honor of William H. Crawford, the Secretary of War under James Madison. Built entirely of wood except for the magazine, the fort measured 343 ft on each side and included Blockhouses at its northwest and southeast corners. Construction of the fort lasted through the summer of 1816.

Following the completion of Fort Crawford, the garrison was engaged primarily in peacekeeping between the new white settlers arriving in the region and the region's historic Native American tribes. Lieutenant Colonel Henry Leavenworth, a former U.S. Indian Agent, was among the early commanders at the fort. The United States conducted several negotiations with American Indians at Fort Crawford during the 1820s. One of the largest Indian councils in U.S. history was held at the fort in 1825, when over 5000 representatives of nearly a dozen Native American nations gathered to discuss and sign the first Treaty of Prairie du Chien.

Because of the first Fort Crawford's location alongside the Mississippi River, diseases such as malaria and dysentery were common among the troops. They did not understand the role of mosquitoes and sanitation in these diseases. In addition, the fort's wooden walls rotted because of seasonal flooding that took place nearly every spring. The post took meteorological observations in 1822. In 1826, after a major flood, the garrison at Fort Crawford was ordered to leave Prairie du Chien and reinforce Fort Snelling in Minnesota.

During 1827, while no troops remained in Prairie du Chien, a group of hostile Winnebago Indians led by chief Red Bird murdered a family of settlers near the abandoned fort. This incident was the start of the Winnebago War of 1827. The federal government ordered the return of soldiers to Prairie du Chien. Shortly afterward, the Army decided that the first Fort Crawford was no longer habitable. In 1828 a decision was made to build a new fort on higher ground. Maj. Stephen W. Kearny, commanding officer at the time, surveyed the area and chose a site for the new fort upon a hill near the Mississippi River's eastern bank.

Second Fort Crawford
The construction of the second Fort Crawford began in 1829 under the direction of the new commander, Col. Zachary Taylor, later elected as President of the United States. The new fort's location on the mainland in Prairie du Chien was much more floodproof. In addition, to make the fort more weather-proof, it was decided to construct the structure using quarried limestone rather than wood. Use of this material and delays in federal funding resulted in delays to complete the new fort; it was not finished until 1835. Troops in Prairie du Chien were unable to fully occupy the new fort's barracks until 1832, and in the meantime remained at the first Fort Crawford.

Army surgeon Dr. William Beaumont did his best to keep the troops healthy. Beaumont would later achieve fame for a series of experiments on human digestion which he conducted at locations across the United States. Fifty-six of these experiments were conducted at Fort Crawford hospital, and allowed Beaumont to draw conclusions on the effects of temperature and emotion on the digestive process.

As the second fort's barracks were being completed in 1832, the Black Hawk War broke out in Illinois, and the troops at Fort Crawford were called to defend pioneer settlements. After the Battle of Bad Axe near present-day Victory, Wisconsin, Chief Black Hawk surrendered to Col. Zachary Taylor at Fort Crawford. Black Hawk was imprisoned at the fort until he was escorted by Lt. Jefferson Davis to St. Louis, Missouri. Davis, who had been assigned to Fort Crawford in 1831, was later elected as President of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.

While assigned to Fort Crawford, Davis met and fell in love with Sarah Knox Taylor, the daughter of his commanding office Zachary Taylor. Colonel Taylor disapproved of the relationship between Davis and his daughter, as he felt the life of an Army officer was too hard on wives and families. In 1834 Davis was reassigned to Fort Gibson in Oklahoma. Shortly afterward, Davis resigned his commission in order to pursue his relationship with Sarah in Prairie du Chien. Upon discovering that Zachary Taylor still would not consent to their marriage, the couple eloped to Kentucky, where Davis married Sarah Taylor in 1835.

In 1835-1836 the garrison at Fort Crawford was assigned to build a road between Fort Crawford and Fort Winnebago in Portage. The route they chose for the road is now followed by U.S. Highway 18 eastward from Prairie du Chien towards Madison, Wisconsin over Military Ridge, which is so named because of the military road which followed its crest. After the road was completed and the Ho-Chunk people were relocated from Wisconsin to Minnesota, the fort had little use. It was abandoned in 1849. In 1855 Fort Crawford was reoccupied when rumors circulated of an impending uprising among the remaining Native Americans, but no such event occurred. Troops left the fort for the last time on June 9, 1856.

During the American Civil War, the fort housed part of the Swift United States Army General Hospital.

Fort Crawford Museum
Except during the American Civil War, when the fort was used as both a recruitment center and hospital for Union soldiers, Fort Crawford was left unoccupied between 1856 and 1933. In 1933, the Daughters of the American Revolution began work on reconstructing a portion of the fort's hospital, while clearing away the remaining parts of the dilapidated fort to allow for other development.

In the 1960s, the reconstructed fort hospital was transformed into a museum of medical history called the Fort Crawford Museum of Medical Progress. The museum featured exhibits on the experiments by Dr. Beaumont and other medical innovations. It was operated by the Wisconsin Medical Society until 1995. In 1996, the museum was donated to the Prairie du Chien Historical Society. It was converted into a museum of local history, called the Prairie du Chien Museum at Fort Crawford. While the fort's hospital, which is registered as a National Historic Landmark, still houses exhibits related to Dr. Beaumont and medical history, adjacent buildings are now filled with exhibits on other aspects of Prairie du Chien history.

title: Fort Crawford


text:
Talk:De Stijl

De Stijl or Neoplasticism?
On en-wiki shouldn't this article be under the English Neoplasticism rather than the Dutch De Stijl. -- Solipsist 19:40, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)

 * Neoplasticism is a translation of the Dutch "nieuwe beelding," not De Stijl. It is probably best to consider Neoplasticism as the art "movement" and De Stijl as the loose association of contributors to the journal of that name. English art historians refer to "De Stijl" without translating it (as they do with the Bauhaus, the Fauves, etc.)

 * Plus, De Stijl is the more familiar term (from first year art history). Freshacconci 19:36, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

 * I had always thought that De Stijl and Neo-Plasticism were not synonymous. Most of the De Stijl works that people are familiar with are going to be Mondrian's works, and he was a Neo-Plasticist, but De Stijl was broader than that.  Whether the article is based at one, the other, or separated into two, I don't think it should be identified as "also called neoplasticism." superlusertc 2008 January 17, 19:42 (UTC)
 * You're absolutely correct. Neo-plasticism links here, but I think this glosses over an important distinction. Even one of the references makes this distinction: look at the Tate glossary link.

 * Van Doesburg squeezed publicity out of the (more talented) Mondrian by officiously placing him under his umbrella of De Stijl. He aped Mondrian and put words in his mouth, until van Doesburg felt he (or Art itself, for which he would presume to speak) had "moved beyond" neo-plasticism. Mondrian disagreed and continued with his own mode of working until he himself made a change in New York, near his death. So, while De Stijl and Neoplasticism were closely associated for a time, De Stijl was a wider umbrella, and Neoplasticism had its own tenets and practice beyond the self-proclaimed "official sanction" of van Doesburg. Of course nothing so opinionated can go in the article :) but I do think it's unfair to simply have neo-plasticism redirect here.--96.242.191.15 (talk) 22:10, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

This chair is one of the hardest pieces of mood bord resurh i have ever done for dt a level —Preceding unsigned comment added by 94.6.23.47 (talk) 22:23, 15 November 2009 (UTC)

Lines? Terminology unclear
"In many of the works under this movement, the vertical and the horizontal lines slide past each other and do not intersect." Sorry, I don't follow this 'sliding' concept. Any chance of an illustrative pic? Or is it that there are lines in only two perpendicular directions as in the pic in the articles? RMoloney 02:36, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)

 * I think perhaps what it's trying to express is that when one line is on the x-axis, another on the y axis, while the lines may be on the same x and y points, they are not on the same z-axis; they build on top of each other but do not form an intersection that exists in precisely the same space. I would not have possibly reached this understanding from the words the article currently uses to express it but only from looking at the examples cited. The fact that one of the key stylistic features of Mondrian is his use of intersecting perpendicular lines probably takes away from the statement as a general one. Unless there are examples of this "sliding" in 2d art it should be mentioned that this is characteristic of only De Stijl 3d art—namely, sculpture and architecture. Also, are there counterexamples? And is there any real significance to this aspect? Theshibboleth 07:05, 30 April 2006 (UTC)

 * It is like the lines of this Rietveld lamp. MH 20:40, 18 May 2006 (UTC) [[image:Rietveldlamp.jpg|right]]

 * Is it appropriate to put illustrations on the talk page? I'm just asking, I really do not know what the "rules" are in this regard. --Charles 20:49, 18 May 2006 (UTC)

 * A way to remember how this works is that de stijl permits squares, but not crosses; i.e. intersections must be two (very stretched, line-like) squares in front of each other, not one cross-like shape in single z-space. Sunnan 23:47, 19 May 2006 (UTC)

Article incomplete?
I agree some of the things in the article aren't detailed enough to understand, and there are other things that are missing from the article like information about their theories, and poetry etc. produced by the group and printed in their journal. I guess it's a bit bold to ask for it to be expanded when the Dutch WP article for this Dutch group is pretty short too, but it would be excellent for more info to be added anyway. Шизомби 03:55, 6 March 2006 (UTC)

 * I am in the process of translating the Dutch article, for merging into the English one. It isn't really that impressive either, but it has more historical context. Radioflux 11:45, 9 July 2006 (UTC)

Okay, I have basically taken the Dutch article, translated it into English, and merged relevant information from the original English entry back into the translation. Then I restructured it, and expanded on some points. We're far from complete yet, though. I don't know if something should be said about Stijl-influenced poetry, for example. Should we make a list of missing topics? Would WikiProject:Architecture be the right place to do so? --Radioflux 22:55, 14 July 2006 (UTC)

 * Perhaps the best way to do this is to create a 'to do' list using  . This creates a subpage which we can then bring into the wikiproject page as shown here. This has 2 advantages -
 * 1) People who come to this page who are unaware of the project can still see what needs to be done.
 * 2) The wikiproject can be automatically updated.

I've just gone through the process of translating and converting a German FA to an English FA - not easy. See IG Farben Building. There was quite a bit of confusion about referencing. In the end the original German references were relegated to a Further Reading section. I had to find a bunch of english references for the article which one reviewer asked to be put into Footnotes and another into References; I ended up with them in references. I've got some books that mention de stijl so I'll have a look at improving the architecture side of the movement.--Mcginnly | Natter 16:14, 31 July 2006 (UTC)

Quotation
The artists…provided an exact explanation of the nature of this plan to bridge the traditional gap between art and technology.  The environment and man's everyday life are lacking, by virture of their imperfect state and their barren necessity. And so art becomes a means of escape. In art man seeks the beauty, the harmony, which is lacking or which he pursues vainly in his life and his environment. Tomorrow, however, the realization of a plastic equilibrium within the concrete reality of our environment will take the place of works of art. Then there will be no need for paintings and sculptures, because we will be living in a realization of art. Art is only a substitute for when there is not enough beauty in life; it will vanish as life regains its equilibrium.
 * —Mondrian

 Art and technology are indivisible, and the pure plastic invention will always conform to practical exigencies, because they are both questions of balance. Our times demand this equilibrium and it can never be achieves in only one way.
 * —Mondrian

Trivia
Trivia section mentions: "Australian band Silverchair's 5th album Young Modern has artwork based on De Stijl". Would we really want to list every instance of artwork based on De Stijl? --Radioflux 23:20, 25 March 2007 (UTC)
 * I think we should axe the entire section - the limited value it adds to the article far outweighs the damage done by inviting cruft. --Mcginnly | Natter 10:05, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Pronunciation guides
The beginning of the article shows two contradicting Dutch pronunciation guides: and. Which is correct? Hangfromthefloor (talk) 05:17, 13 November 2011 (UTC)

Influencing music
The article only sources one person as being influenced by de stijl to create music but in a blatant homage to the movement the White Stripes wrote an entire album of the same name that works on the same principals of de stijl. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 108.239.148.85 (talk) 18:23, 10 October 2013 (UTC)

History Section Misleading?
I'm just a student and don't have much specific knowledge about the Netherlands during WWI or De Stijl, however the Early History section seems to take the perspective that the artists of De Stijl couldn't leave the netherlands as a result of the war, as if no Dutch citizens could leave, where all history seems to indicate very much the opposite and that the Dutch were not only able to move around Europe freely, but that it was a great benefit for the warring countries as Dutch citizens made excellent spies.

While the whole section is uncited it seems that this source (cited for reference), would be an excellent background and seems to lineup with the information in the section. Although there are differences. The book translates De Nieuwe Beelding in de schilderkunst as ("Neo-Plasticism in the art of painting") which is different than the current translation ("Neo-Plasticism in Painting"). Not to mention some capitalization differences.

modwizcode (talk) 18:12, 18 October 2016 (UTC)

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De Stijl, International Style and Cubist architecture
, I was wondering, what is your source for this paragraph? I've removed it from the article pending the source: "In Modern architecture of the 1920s are three notable movements: Cubist, Expressionist and Constructivist architecture. The magazine 'De Stijl' (first issue October 1917) was influential on Cubist architecture of the International Style. The other Dutch magazine 'Wendingen' (first issue January 1918) was influential on international Expressionist architecture." Coldcreation (talk) 18:05, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

In the article Modern architecture (29 October 2017) are three notable movements mentioned:

1. Cubist architecture

2. Expressionist architecture

3. Constructivist architecture

Sources for Cubist architecture: The notion International Style is introduced in the US in 1932. Professionals in Europe don't like this notion. CUBIST ARCHITECTURE gives more information about the architectural form and is more familiar to the other two notions. / Theo van Doesburg used the term CUBISTS on his poster in 1920 (see ill.) and in articles. - Leuk2 (talk) 23:45, 10 November 2017 (UTC)

 * I'm not asking what these types of architecture are. I'm asking you what your source is for your claim that: "The magazine "De Stijl" (first issue October 1917) was influential on Cubist architecture of the International Style. The other Dutch magazine "Wendingen" (first issue January 1918) was influential on international Expressionist architecture." Please provide the author, title, publisher, date and page number(s) so I can verify these assertions. Thanks in advance. Coldcreation (talk) 03:33, 11 November 2017 (UTC)

Three dominant styles: In 1932 Henry-Russell Hitchcock and Philip Johnson introduced the notion International Style. In 2017 we are talking about 3 groups of dominant styles: Cubist, Expressionist and Constructivist architecture. In Europe the term International Style is a little bit outdated in 2017. You can see the development of the 3 groups of styles in the article Modern architecture (29 October 2017).

2- and 3-dimensional artistic world: On your website one can find a very interesting collection of paintings of the 2-dimensional artistic world, and architecture is minimal present. Perhaps this is the source of the conflict and discussion between Cubist architecture and International Style?

Green color: You uploaded the cover of the magazine "De Stijl" 1917-1. De colors of "De Stijl" are red, blue and yellow (incl. black and white). In the country of "De Stijl", the Netherlands, the green color of your illustration is not acceptable. Perhaps the green color can be eliminated?

Deletion of correct informations: In the article "De Stijl" you deleted correct informations! 9.11.2017 you deleted the Manifesto of "De Stijl", Dadaism and later Housing Kiefhoek in Rotterdam, Weissenhof Stuttgart etc. Do you have the right to delete correct informations? This is not the best condition for a useful discussion.

Leuk2 (talk) 15:45, 11 November 2017 (UTC)
 * Ping me when you've answered the question I asked you twice now. Coldcreation (talk) 16:50, 11 November 2017 (UTC)

 * I see you've edited your comments but you still have not provided a source (please see WP:RS if you are uncertain about what that means). Cubist architecture being synonymous with International Style, to the point of piping the former term over the article title of the latter, is highly questionable and will definitely need some good sourcing. I am failing to see the relevance of your initial edit: that Europeans don't care for the term "International"? If so, what's the point in the context of this article? It's arbitrary and confusing. That De Stijl influenced cubist architecture? That's nice, if true, and I suppose it can be mentioned if well-sourced, but it's hardly a crucial point to make, particularly the way it's introduced in the paragraph you added. Wikipedia should reflect as much as possible global views on topics but not if that means erasing common mainstream views, particularly without any sources. We can't just take your word on it. If the term International Style is outdated, this isn't the article to address it.  freshacconci  (✉) 14:52, 12 November 2017 (UTC)

 * As to your comment on the "green" cover: the publication in question was black ink on white or cream paper with no colour. What you are seeing is the fading of an archival work. It's not "green" it's just appearing to have a green tint due to time. You can see the uncropped image here which shows the fading around the edges of the cover. It's entirely possible that the first issue was printed on green paper as well, as it was a journal/magazine and they would have used what was available or economical or they were not concerned with purity of colours in something like a journal. In any case, this is the image that is available to us in the public domain and unless a different free example is available, changing it based on assumptions of what the original intent what is misguided.  freshacconci  (✉) 15:02, 12 November 2017 (UTC)
 * This is another copy, taken from a Christie's auction site. Clearly not the same copy: the one Wikipedia uses appears to be cropped from a version with a stamp in the upper right corner. This version has no stamp but has the same sort of fading. Either it's green paper fading to beige on the edges, or the paper is greening with age (which may have to do with the kind of paper used, the material that went into the paper -- paper from China was popular at the time and Chinese paper often used bamboo and leaf material rather than cotton more common in the west). This may explain the greening (or, as I said, they simply used green paper at the time. It was the first issue; who knows what restrictions they had).  freshacconci  (✉) 15:11, 12 November 2017 (UTC)

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Theo van Doesburg: The pioneers of "Cubist architecture" (1922)
See quotations in Talk:Modern architecture. Leuk2 (talk) 11:12, 13 December 2017 (UTC)
 * Leuk2 (talk) 15:45, 11 November 2017 (UTC)
 * What your source is for your claim that: "The magazine "De Stijl" (first issue October 1917) was influential on "Cubist architecture" of the International Style. Ping me when you've answered the question I've asked you three times now. The link you posted at Talk:Modern architecture doesn't cut it. Coldcreation (talk) 14:38, 13 December 2017 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 09:37, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
 * Gino Severini at the opening of his solo exhibition at the Marlborough Gallery, London, 1913 (detail).jpg

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 13:52, 12 September 2022 (UTC)
 * De Stijl, Vol. 1, no. 1, Delft, October 1917 (detail).jpg

title: Talk:De Stijl


text: Category:Entertainers by nationality

title: Category:Entertainers by nationality


text:
Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Reverse course

 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was Reverse course was proposed for deletion. This page is an archive of the discussion about the proposed deletion. This page is no longer live. Further comments should be made on the article's talk page rather than here so that this page is preserved as an historic record. The result of the debate was KEEP with a request for Clean-Up. Rossami 23:14, 9 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Reverse course
AfDs for this article:  I wasn't sure whether to list this here or on cleanup. But as is, the article seems a trifle superficial and with a name that is not exactly unique. So far, it is only linked to in one article. Perhaps there is much more that could be said about this subject and it might be a worthwhile article, but right now it doesn't seem particularly helpful. older ≠ wiser 19:41, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC) This page is now preserved as an archive of the debate and, like other '/delete' pages is no longer 'live'. Subsequent comments on the issue, the deletion or on the decision-making process should be placed on the relevant 'live' pages. Please do not edit this page.
 * Clean-up. Certianly a valid concept worthy of an article, just needs more links (Both in and out) and a lot more detail. --Golbez 21:17, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Comment: Also, it could probably use a name change. Reverse course (Japan) or something along those lines.
 * Concur- the events & policy were notable, and deserve an entry, since they had some significant geopolitical consequences; the article needs rewritten, though, and a more relevant title. -FZ 23:45, 16 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Delete: The concept of the change in post-war aid to Japan is well and good, but "Reverse Course?"  Only Kenan?  Only cold war?  Huh?  I don't see what in this article is so worthy, except that the author probably knew some of what he or she was talking about.  He or she did not, however, contextualize it and did not locate it at the right name space.  Geogre 00:37, 17 Aug 2004 (UTC)
 * Clean-Up. The "reverse course" in the American occupation is a well-known term to describe the change in the American policies in Japan.  You will find the term used and explained in any textbook of modern Japanese history worth its salt.  If I get time I might provide a better entry for this article, but at present I am too busy to give it the necessary attention.  --Tom Stratton 22:27, Sep 8, 2004 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.


text:
Sap

Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant.

Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separate substance, separately produced, and with different components and functions.

Insect honeydew is called sap, particularly when it falls from trees, but is only the remains of eaten sap and other plant parts.

Types of sap
Saps may be broadly divided into two types: xylem sap and phloem sap.

Xylem sap
Xylem sap (pronounced ) consists primarily of a watery solution of hormones, mineral elements and other nutrients. Transport of sap in xylem is characterized by movement from the roots toward the leaves.

Over the past century, there has been some controversy regarding the mechanism of xylem sap transport; today, most plant scientists agree that the cohesion-tension theory best explains this process, but multiforce theories that hypothesize several alternative mechanisms have been suggested, including longitudinal cellular and xylem osmotic pressure gradients, axial potential gradients in the vessels, and gel- and gas-bubble-supported interfacial gradients.

Xylem sap transport can be disrupted by cavitation—an "abrupt phase change [of water] from liquid to vapor" —resulting in air-filled xylem conduits. In addition to being a fundamental physical limit on tree height, two environmental stresses can disrupt xylem transport by cavitation: increasingly negative xylem pressures associated with water stress, and freeze-thaw cycles in temperate climates.

Phloem sap
Phloem sap (pronounced ) consists primarily of sugars, hormones, and mineral elements dissolved in water. It flows from where carbohydrates are produced or stored (sugar source) to where they are used (sugar sinks). The pressure flow hypothesis proposes a mechanism for phloem sap transport, although other hypotheses have been proposed. Phloem sap is thought to play a role in sending informational signals throughout vascular plants. According to Annual Review of Plant Biology,"Loading and unloading patterns are largely determined by the conductivity and number of plasmodesmata and the position-dependent function of solute-specific, plasma membrane transport proteins. Recent evidence indicates that mobile proteins and RNA are part of the plant's long-distance communication signaling system. Evidence also exists for the directed transport and sorting of macromolecules as they pass through plasmodesmata."

Many insects of the order Hemiptera (the half-wings), feed directly on phloem sap, and make it the primary component of their diet. Phloem sap is "nutrient-rich compared with many other plant products and generally lacking in toxins and feeding deterrents, [yet] it is consumed as the dominant or sole diet by a very restricted range of animals". This apparent paradox is explained by the fact that phloem sap is physiologically extreme in terms of animal digestion, and it is hypothesized that few animals take direct advantage of this because they lack two adaptations that are necessary to enable direct use by animals. These include the existence of a very high ratio of non-essential/essential amino acids in phloem sap for which these adapted Hemiptera insects contain symbiotic microorganisms which can then provide them with essential amino acids; and also insect "tolerance of the very high sugar content and osmotic pressure of phloem sap is promoted by their possession in the gut of sucrase-transglucosidase activity, which transforms excess ingested sugar into long-chain oligosaccharides." A much larger set of animals do however consume phloem sap by proxy, either "through feeding on the honeydew of phloem-feeding hemipterans. Honeydew is physiologically less extreme than phloem sap, with a higher essential/non-essential amino acid ratio and lower osmotic pressure," or by feeding on the biomass of insects that have grown on more direct ingestion of phloem sap.

Human uses
Maple syrup is made from reduced sugar maple xylem sap. The sap often is harvested from the sugar maple, Acer saccharum.

In some countries (e.g., Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Belarus, Russia) harvesting the early spring sap of birch trees (so called "birch juice") for human consumption is common practice; the sap can be used fresh or fermented and contains xylitol.

Certain palm tree sap can be used to make palm syrup. In the Canary Islands they use the Canary Island date palm while in Chile they use the Chilean wine palm to make their syrup called miel de palma.

title: Sap


text:
Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording

The Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording was conceived and lobbied for by then NYC NARAS Chapter Board Member, salsa pianist, composer, arranger, and bandleader, Larry Harlow. Through his gathering of 100,000 signatures and protesting in front of the Uris Theater in Manhattan it finally became a reality. It was presented from 1976 to 1983 and primarily encompassed progressive salsa and Latin-oriented jazz recordings. Starting from 1984 the Latin field was expanded to Grammy Award for Best Latin Pop Album, Best Tropical Performance (encompassing salsa and merengue), and Best Mexican/Mexican American Performance. Its first winner was Eddie Palmieri for the album, Sun of Latin Music.

Years reflect the year in which the Grammy Awards were presented, for works released in the previous year.

title: Grammy Award for Best Latin Recording