literary inquisition
China Dictionary is defined as "in the old days, the rulers deliberately extracted words from their works to persecute intellectuals, and Luo Zhi became a crime", while Encyclopedia of China is defined as "a prison established in the Ming and Qing Dynasties for violating the ban on words or using the word Luo Zhi to eliminate dissidents." The literary inquisition in ancient China was the most cruel and tyrannical in Qing Dynasty. The Qing emperor put it into practice, aiming at suppressing the Han people's sense of national independence and resistance, establishing the authority of the Qing dynasty and strengthening centralization. This policy of cultural autocracy has caused social terror and cultural decline, imprisoned ideas, destroyed talents and seriously hindered the development and progress of China society.
China's literary inquisition has existed since ancient times, and it has existed in all dynasties. According to Hanshu, Yang Yun, the grandson of Sima Qian, was beheaded for openly disobeying because he received a letter to Sun asking him to "declare the emperor's hatred".
At the end of Cao Wei, Ji Kang was beheaded in Dongshi for writing "Breaking Up with Shanjuyuan", which made Si Mazhao, a powerful minister "hate it".
In June of the 11th year of Taiping Zhenjun in the Northern Wei Dynasty (AD 450), Minister Cui Hao presided over the compilation of the Straight Book of National History, which revealed the shameful history of Tuoba's ancestors, and was ordered by the Northern Wei Emperor Wu Tai to control the clan. At the same time, Ho Choi's in-laws such as john young Lushi, Taiyuan Shiguo and Hedong Liushi were collectively killed, which is called "the prison of national history".
Literary inquisition in Qing dynasty
Cracking down on dissidents and suppressing thoughts and speeches that are not conducive to their own rule have created some cases of being convicted of speech. There were all kinds of literary inquisitions in the Qing Dynasty, especially during Shunzhi and Qianlong periods in the early Qing Dynasty.
The literary inquisition in Qing Dynasty was unprecedented, and deepened with the stability of the rule. The more stable the rules are, the more they reach the peak. By the Qianlong period, it had been strengthened beyond measure, and the traditional culture of China was distorted. According to Lu Xun, is there really no place in Wenyuan that will not be ravaged? [ 14]。 The emperor shunzhi has seven literary inquisitions, Emperor Kangxi has more than 20 literary inquisitions, Yong Zhengdi has more than 20 literary inquisitions, and Emperor Qianlong 130 literary inquisitions. The following are important cases of literary inquisition in Qing Dynasty.
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There were three kinds of literary inquisitions in the early Qing Dynasty:
(1) The Qing Dynasty was ruled by the Ming Dynasty and attacked by officials. After the Qing court occupied the Central Plains, it kept this historical event secret. Therefore, it not only deleted and banned the old historical records, but also indiscriminately punished those who continued to compile and even collect them on the charge of "great transgression".
② The anti-Qing thought in the early Qing Dynasty could not be eliminated for a long time, especially the Han scholar-officials attached to the old Ming Dynasty and preached the thought of "preventing summer", which was extremely unfavorable to consolidating the rule of the Qing court. In order to strengthen the feudal autocratic rule of Manchu nobles, anti-Qing thoughts must be attacked by violence.
(3) On the occasion of Kang Yong, the power struggle between the royal families in the Qing Dynasty was unprecedentedly intensified, which was called the official position struggle in history. After Yong Zhengdi acceded to the throne, in order to consolidate the victory, in addition to killing the king who seized power, he also used the literary inquisition to crack down on the forces attached to the king party.
The historical manuscript of the story, Bian Ji, was captured by Qing soldiers at the gate of Nanjing. After a year of torture, he was exiled to Shenyang. The following year, there was Preface to Fang seal cutting, which was written by Fang seal cutting with Shunzhi as the theme, and was regarded as an "unforgivable article" about "orthodoxy" by Gang Lin. Provisions: "From now on, China ink stick bamboo slips can only be published after being edited and reviewed by courtiers, and other miscellaneous manuscripts of the Housing Department are prohibited." From then on, the censor of speech in Qing Dynasty was born, the autocracy of censorship of speech and publication in China began, and China people's "freedom of speech and human rights" greatly regressed.