By March 1773, an editorial board (composed of hundreds of editors, collators, and copyists) was created in Beijing to gather and review books brought to them. This board included over 361 scholars, with Ji Yun and Lu Xixiong (陸錫熊) as chief editors. There was around 3,826 scribes who copied every word by hand. These copyists were not paid in coinage but in government positions after they had transcribed a set amount of the encyclopedia. It took over a decade until the encyclopedia was completed and all seven copies were distributed.