Talk:Asano Naganori

This article does a fine job of summarizing some of the scholarly discussion or debate as to Asano's character, but provides extremely little historical or biographical information. Before delving into these sorts of matters, an encyclopedia article ought to answer more basic questions implicit in the broad question of "who was Asano Naganori?"

What do we know of his childhood? What territories was he governor of, or what positions did he hold? What happened to him, what did he do, what was his life story before his famous argument with Lord Kira?

And, amazingly not really discussed in the article at all, what are some of the historical details of that argument, and the way it ended? The article really must, at the very least, include "Asano Naganori is famous as the lord whose death the 47 Ronin fought to avenge. He was killed in X manner for Y reason at Z time. This is how and when and why it happened."

Scholarly discussion and debate is all well and good. But it needs to be built upon a foundation, and the whole point of an encyclopedia is that we assume the reader does not have that foundation, and is here because he or she is curious and interested to learn about it. If we're going to assume that the reader already knows everything, why have an encyclopedia at all?

LordAmeth 23:24, 13 January 2011 (PST)