Censorship In Ming Dynasty Literature

Another feature of Qianlong Emperor’s governance was not only to ban books and burn them, but also to persecute and attack any pro-Manchu citizens that may oppose his point of view. This is part of the “literary inquisition” of literary censorship that intimated, beheaded, or imprisoned any opponents to Qianlong Emperor policies regarding Ming Dynasty literature. In this capacity, individuals that were perceived to be an enemy of Qing Dynasty literature became a target for government officials that sought to enforce Qianlong Emperor’s policies through trials and court hearings on literary ideology:
Despite these displays of Chinese virtues, the Qianlong Emperor was not fully confident that the Chinese supported his rule, and he was quick to act on any …show more content…
These are important aspects of the “literary inquisition” that allowed the emperor to use civil law and criminal proceedings against any governor or state official that threatened his absolutist view of Qing Dynasty literary ideology (Wang 86). This aspect of Qianlong Emperor’s policies illustrate the direct control over publication of books that allowed him to control the flow of information through the near-absolute power of the Manchu government. This is a major development in bureaucratic style of literary censorship that sought to control the behaviors and reading habits of the citizen. This is a primary source of the banishment of books, since many citizens were ordered not to read them or they would suffer imprisonment or death through imperial decree.. The literary inquisition defines the broader scope of Qianlong Emperor’s power in terms of controlling pro-Qing Dynasty literature within the imperial library, but also as an imperial decree to detain and punish those that read this