Chapter 16 Section 3 Destroy Memories
At the beginning of the forty-second year of Qianlong (1777), at the gate of the Yamen in Xinchang County, Jiangxi Province, a middle-aged man with fierce eyes came to sue with a thick book.
The plaintiff was Wang Longnan, a well-known "bachelor" in the local area. He usually roams around the village and is notorious.The book he was carrying was called "Zi Guan", a dictionary newly compiled by Wang Xihou, a rural Juren.He told the county magistrate that the book was "arrogant and rebellious", very reactionary, and should be dealt with severely.
The county magistrate has dealt with Wang Longnan for a long time, knowing that he and Wang Xihou are enemies, so he has long been vigilant.The county magistrate took the book, flipped through it roughly, and asked with a frown, "This is just an ordinary dictionary. What's wrong with it?"
Wang Longnan walked a few steps on his knees, and pointed to the preface of the book: "Please read these few sentences."
The county magistrate took a closer look, and the author Wang Xihou wrote in his preface that there was a problem with the retrieval method of the "Kangxi Dictionary": "The 46,000 characters in the "Kangxi Dictionary" are strange. Go through the whole book, cover up the volume and still be at a loss." That is to say, the "Kangxi Dictionary" is sorted, and there is no connection between characters, which is very inconvenient to look up.His "Zi Guan" solves this problem, and puts synonymous words in one place, which is easy to find.
The county magistrate was still puzzled: "What's wrong with this?"
Wang Longnan said anxiously: "The "Kangxi Dictionary" is made by Emperor Shengzu. Wang Xihou dares to criticize that the dictionary compiled by Emperor Shengzu is not as good as his. Isn't this a big rebellion?"
The county magistrate couldn't help laughing: "Oh, that's it! Isn't this nitpicking?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the county magistrate suddenly realized that his words were inappropriate.He turned his eyes, and his face suddenly became gloomy: "But since you said so, and such a serious case, I will report it to the Governor."
Officials in the mid-Qianlong period preferred left to right when it came to writing cases.They knew that the emperor attached great importance to the issue of writing, "It is better to kill a thousand by mistake than to let one go."
Haicheng, the governor of Jiangxi Province, is a bannerman with a low level of education, but he has always been very active in the "writing case".In the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong (1774), the emperor began to implement the "Campaign to Investigate Banned Books" across the country. Most provinces did not perform well, and the number of banned books found was very small.However, Jiangxi has outstanding achievements. Under Haicheng's tight grasp, more than 8,000 "illegal" and banned books were found in two years, ranking first in the country.
Although he is used to picking on the bones of writing, Haicheng also feels that "Zi Guan" is not a big case.What Wang Xihou said could be considered "arrogant" at best, how could it be called "rebellious"?But it's about words, even the smallest things should be directly listened to by Datian.He wrote the whole story of the case into a detailed report, saying that the tone of the preface was arrogant after all, and suggested that Wang Xihou's title of Juren should be removed so that he could be tried and convicted. If not, he asked the emperor for instructions.
Haicheng felt that he was cautious enough, how could he have expected that this memorial would actually threaten his life.
The memorial and the sample booklet were sent to the emperor's study at an expedited speed of six hundred miles.The past two years have been unlucky for the emperor.The second Jinchuan War lasted for many years, and it barely won last year, which greatly lost the court's face.At the beginning of this year, the empress dowager passed away, and the filial emperor was deeply saddened.In particular, the "Book Banning Movement" was promoted for more than two years, and the governors from all over the country were inattentive, and the progress was very slow, which made the emperor helpless.The emperor, who was in a bad mood, picked up the dictionary, read the preface, and felt that the so-called "rebellion" was really nothing special.After casually reading the tenth page, the emperor sat upright suddenly, his beard and eyebrows were erect, his face was flushed, and he picked up a pen and wrote on Haicheng's memorial: "This is really a crime that has never happened before, and the crime will not be tolerated." Punishment, you should follow the law of the Great Rebellion!"
What was it that made the emperor so angry?It turns out that on the tenth page, the author Wang Xihou wrote the names of Kangxi, Yongzheng, and Qianlong, namely "Xuanye", "Yinzhen" and "Hongli" in order to let readers understand what "avoiding taboos" is. , to remind readers that when they encounter these six characters when writing an article, they must not write all of them, or write one less stroke, or use other characters instead, otherwise they will commit a "taboo".
This is a good intention, but the emperor who is in a bad mood read it very eye-catching.In traditional society, it is not allowed to call elders by their first names directly.An American can directly call his father Tom or Peter, but in China in the past, it was a heinous crime for a son to call Lao Tzu by his first name.Therefore, the emperor jumped up and scolded Haicheng, saying that the "big rebellion" in "Zi Guan" can be seen immediately after opening the book, but Haicheng actually said "no words of rebellion", which shows how serious his work is and how disloyal he is to the emperor .The emperor sent an order to Haicheng, scolding him for "no pearls in his eyes" and "utter ignorance of conscience", and ordered him to escort the traitor Wang Xihou to Beijing quickly and hand him over to the Ministry of Punishment for strict interrogation.In this way, the case of Wang Xihou's "Zi Guan" was suddenly upgraded to a huge counter-offensive case handled by the imperial court.
In fact, the emperor's reaction was too much.It is actually unavoidable to commit "taboos" in traditional society, because there are too many taboos.Emperor Qianlong was very tolerant on this issue. During the Yongzheng period, many people were punished for breaking taboos. He didn't take it seriously. As soon as he took the throne, he issued a decree repeatedly stating: "The theory of avoiding names is a slack in the text. I have never taken it seriously." Therefore Although Wang Longnan did everything possible to frame Wang Xihou, he never thought of making an article about him breaking the "temple taboo" and "imperial taboo". Blind eyes", but because it wasn't a "problem" in the first place.
So, why did the emperor go against his own words this time, get so angry, and seize this small problem to go online?The matter begins with the banning of books in the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong.
After the good foundation laid by the father and grandfather for two generations, followed by the hard work in the early years of Qianlong, the Qing Empire jumped to the pinnacle of prosperity.The state of the country is like cooking oil in a raging fire, flowers are blooming, and all indicators are far ahead of the past.
Although his achievements in governance were so brilliant, Qianlong did not feel complacent.The Book of Changes says, "There is no peace, there is no change, and there will be no return."The ancient Chinese dialectics have long reminded people that the moment everything reaches its peak is often the beginning of its decline.
Therefore, after the twenty-fourth year of Qianlong (1759), the emperor reminded himself more and more that there must be no slack thoughts.The smoother the situation, the more we must cheer up, otherwise we will overturn. The words "preserving prosperity and maintaining prosperity" appear more and more in the emperor's documents.In December of the twenty-fifth year of Qianlong (1760), he told his subjects all over the country in his decree that in this day of heyday, he "should only work harder and harder, keep the prosperity and profit, and use it to inherit the spirit and rest with us. The people of the world will share the blessing of peace." ("Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty") Not long after he was leveled, he wrote a poem to encourage himself, saying: "Every day encourages oneself to be strong, respect heaven and work hard, and start from the beginning."
The emperor said so, and he did so.He did not change his habit of diligence, but became more conscientious, cautious, and diligent.Qianlong was indeed too ambitious, and this political superman still had boundless energy.He believes that maintaining a prosperous age is difficult to create a prosperous age, and only by "protecting" with the mentality of "fighting" can we truly "protect" the victory.Therefore, he resolutely put aside all the achievements he had made, hoping to start from the beginning, find the loopholes in his rule, eliminate all hidden dangers for the Qing Dynasty, and solve all difficult problems in advance for future generations, so as to ensure the great Qing Dynasty. Wan Si Nian never changes color.
So, what loopholes are there in the Qing Dynasty?
After careful sorting out and "several times at night", the emperor discovered that there was only the field of ideology and culture left.After Kangxi and Yongzheng two generations of literary inquisition, the ideological dictatorship of the Qing Dynasty has been greatly strengthened.However, the anti-Qing consciousness in the whole society, especially the middle and lower classes, has not been completely eradicated, and there are still a large number of "illegal characters" in private.The Peng Jiaping case in the 22nd year of Qianlong (1757) reflected that many families in the civil society had hidden unofficial histories of the Ming Dynasty, and even Wu Sangui's anti-Qing essays.Scholars regarded it as a rare treasure, passed it on and copied it one after another, and even commented on it, expressing their approval.This case shows that some people, especially middle- and lower-level intellectuals, are still obsessed with the "distinction between Hua and Yi" and do not agree with the rule of the Qing Dynasty.At the same time, several sporadic civil riots, such as Ma Chaozhu's anti-Qing case in the seventeenth year of Qianlong (1752), all carried the banner of "anti-Qing and restoring Ming".This shows that after a hundred years of peace in the country, the "anti-Qing consciousness" in the minds of Han people is still the best fire for social unrest and the biggest hidden danger in the Qing society.
Han Feizi said it well, "The supreme ruler forbids one's heart, secondly forbids one's words, and secondly forbids one's deeds."A ruler needs not only "hard power", but also "soft power".The ancestors and ancestors succeeded in taming the bodies of the people in the interior, but they failed to completely "tame the hearts".And only when the depth of rule of "heart taming" is reached, the great Qing Dynasty can last for hundreds of millions of years.However, "Taming the Heart" is the most difficult thing, it requires slow work and meticulous work.Now that all the other big and pressing problems had been solved, he could take advantage of the time to concentrate on solving people's ideological problems.
Therefore, after announcing that the country had entered its "extreme prosperity", the emperor put forward the slogan of "Daxing Wenzhi".The emperor said that the rule of sages "starts with martial arts and ends with writing."
The core of "Cultural Rule" is to establish a set of correct historical views and values for the subjects of the whole country.While dealing with countless complicated government affairs, the emperor also took care of himself, and focused on the following major events in the field of ideology:
One is to "make" a standard history for the subjects of the world.Writing history textbooks is the most powerful weapon for constructing ideology.Constructing and modifying the memory of a nation through storytelling has always been one of the most brilliant techniques of governance.In the 33rd year of Qianlong (1768), the emperor guided his ministers to compile the book "The Collection of Imperial Reviews of Past Dynasties", which systematically described the history of 4,559 years from the Yellow Emperor to the end of Ming Dynasty.
The biggest ideological difficulty encountered by the rulers of the Qing Dynasty after entering the customs was the "orthodox view" based on the "discrimination between Hua and Barbarians".According to the traditional saying, the entry of ethnic minorities into the Central Plains, no matter how it is explained, is an intolerable "putting the cart before the horse."What Qianlong focused most on in this book was to establish a new "orthodoxy."Qianlong rebuilt the "orthodox view" from the perspective of "one family under heaven" and "great unification", and re-demonstrated the legitimacy of the minority regimes in the past dynasties.Qianlong found evidence for himself from the "Spring and Autumn" and other traditional classics and said: "The barbarians and the Chinese are the Chinese; the Chinese are the barbarians, and the barbarians are the same." He emphasized that "the people in the world belong to the world, not the world under one family." Whoever establishes a "great unified" regime and whose policies and measures are beneficial to the lives of the people are naturally "orthodox".Through the wide dissemination of this book, foreign rulers occupied the commanding heights of "Orthodoxy" for the first time, effectively promoting the legitimacy of their own rule.
The second is to substantially revise the evaluations of some contemporary historical figures according to the needs of the times.
Qianlong was extremely conceited.Every move he makes is to set an example for future generations.So he has always aimed at the most difficult and intractable problems that matter to the overall situation, so as not to leave troubles for future generations.Adjusting the evaluation of figures in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties falls into this category.
As we all know, without the help of a large number of outstandingly talented Han Chinese, it would have been impossible for the Manchus to rule the Central Plains.Therefore, Emperor Yongzheng praised the Ming officials who surrendered to the Qing Dynasty in "Dayijue Milu" "all respond to the weather, master the righteousness, and assist the dynasty to achieve a unified cause of peace. .This represents the consistent attitude of the rulers of the early Qing Dynasty towards the heroes of the Han nationality.
However, by the Qianlong period, the country had been stable for a hundred years, and the offensive and defensive trends had changed.When starting a business, it is advocated that "those who know current affairs are heroes", and when starting a business, what is most needed is to advocate the "foolish loyalty" of subjects.In order to "strengthen the festival of ministers", Qianlong decided to label these "two monarchs" as negative teachers, so as to prevent the latecomers from also "adapting to the weather and understanding the righteousness" when the Qing Dynasty encountered a crisis.
Qianlong knew that for such a major event that directly violated the judgment of the ancestors, future generations would not have the courage and ability to do it, and he must bear the responsibility.In the forty-first year of Qianlong, he specially ordered the National History Museum to realize the innovation of writing style, specially established "The Biography of Second Officials", and included all those "deficient" characters who "had been appointed to the official edition in the Ming Dynasty and returned to the current dynasty" such.He said that not only Qian Qianyi and other later surrendered ministers "had a big loss, which is really not worthy of human beings", even those founding fathers who made great contributions to the establishment of the Qing Empire could not escape today's moral judgment.Although the founding father Fan Wencheng did not serve in the Ming Dynasty, because he was originally a member of the Ming Dynasty, he was evaluated by Qianlong as "indistinguishable from the Pure Confucianism Festival".Li Yongfang was the first official in the Ming Dynasty to surrender to the Qing Dynasty. He was loyal to the Houjin Dynasty and made outstanding contributions.Hong Chengchou entered the customs with Dorgon and served as the prime minister of the cabinet.All the above-mentioned people were compiled into Part A of "Biography of Second Officials" for future generations to criticize forever.Qianlong said that doing this "is the so-called filial son and grandson, who can't be changed for a hundred generations... This is my heart of great integrity, and it will be a guideline for all generations of ministers, that is, to show it."
The third is to sort out Chinese historical documents on a large scale and create a broad and magnificent cultural atmosphere to prove the "extreme prosperity of cultural governance" in the prosperous age.Sufficient financial resources supported Qianlong's overhaul of official books to embellish the peace. During the Qianlong dynasty, there were as many as 120 kinds of large-scale series of books, which were the highest in all Chinese dynasties.Among them, "Xu Tong Dian" and "Da Qing Hui Dian" have achieved remarkable results, and the most famous one is of course "Si Ku Quan Shu".
In March of the thirty-eighth year of Qianlong (1773), the emperor said that in order to greatly promote cultural governance, he intends to create another unprecedented record during his tenure, compiling the largest series of books in human history.The emperor issued an edict to encourage bibliophiles to donate their treasured books to the country for the purpose of compiling books. Whoever donates more will be rewarded by the emperor.
In order to prevent people from dedicating books for fear of "breaking taboos", the emperor specially stated in the decree:
It is unavoidable that literati wrote books and set up talks, each expressing its strengths, or the rumors are different, or the records are inaccurate.Even if the meaning of the words is in the way, such as the mutual slander in the history of the North and the South, this is the prejudice of the predecessors and has nothing to do with the people around us, so why be too timid!
This passage is spoken calmly and reasonably. Compared with Kangxi and Yongzheng's narrow attitudes towards taboo characters, it is a world of difference.The general idea is that books written by literati and bachelors cannot be politically correct, and some inaccuracies are inevitable.Even if some books touch on ethnic issues, such as the southern and northern peoples cursing each other in the history of the North and the South, it is just the prejudice of the previous generation and has nothing to do with the book collectors. Why should you be so timid and afraid to contribute!
The emperor issued an order, and all localities actively implemented it, and all kinds of books were continuously transported from the people to the emperor's study. In just one and a half years, more than 13,500 rare books were sent from various places. A century of erudition and Confucianism has never been seen, but now you can borrow money from the pavilion."
The emperor, who loves reading, was very excited.However, after reading for a few days, the emperor discovered a serious problem.Why is there not a single book that is slightly "reactionary" among the more than ten thousand kinds of books?
It turned out that behind the plan of editing an unprecedented book, there was still a secret idea of the emperor.Compiling books and promoting "righteousness" is the hand of "yang" in Wenzhi.However, for any major move, "Yang" alone is absolutely not enough.Another important purpose of the emperor's compilation of this great book was to take this opportunity to investigate the collection and circulation of "reactionary books" or "violating books" among the people, and also to look at the "rebellious books" collected by the people. What exactly is "rebellion"?He needed a comprehensive understanding in order to take steps to eradicate those "heresies" for future generations.
However, among the more than 10,000 books, there is not a single word in the book. It is obvious that when the books are sent to various places, they have been carefully screened.In August of the thirty-ninth year of Qianlong (1774), the emperor issued an edict to criticize officials from all over the country: "There are no less than ten thousand kinds of suicide notes in all provinces, and there are no memorials or books with slight taboos. How can there be such a collection of suicide notes, and there is not a single one?" Violating the principle of handwriting?"
Since this method did not achieve the goal, the emperor no longer concealed it.He directly launched a "Book Ban Campaign" across the country.The emperor ordered the officials from all over the country to "let the honest people go to (the house of collections) to understand the edict, and if there are books that should not be kept, they should be handed over immediately."And require officials from all over the country to strictly search and confiscate, otherwise "it will be questioned by the governor."
However, the work of banning books has progressed very slowly.For this kind of matter that is easy to cause trouble for themselves, officials from all over the country are used to using the old method to deal with delays and delay it.Especially Jiangsu and Zhejiang and other cultural provinces, the number of banned books reported was very small, which made him very depressed.The emperor really has nothing to say to these elm-headed old fried dough stick bureaucrats.They didn't understand his good intentions at all.The emperor knew that the power of words is limited, and only facts can enlighten people.So he has been looking for opportunities to create a big case that shakes the whole country, kill one to make an example, and slap the local officials on the back, so as to wake up these crooked guys.The case of Wang Xihou hit this muzzle.
Speaking of which, the big case deliberately created by the emperor was completely an unjust case. The author of "Zi Guan", Wang Xihou, was already sixty-five years old this year. Since he was thirty-eight years old and passed the examination, he has failed in nine consecutive examinations.After struggling all his life, Tengda was hopeless and his livelihood was not sustainable, so he had no choice but to write this "Zi Guan", which was published and sold for money.Unexpectedly, he didn't make a lot of money, but caused a catastrophe.
The emperor's words are always correct. Although his next sentence turned a 180-degree turn from the previous one, and he accused "people in the village" of "writing taboo", he did not meet the slightest resistance. The bureaucratic system tamed by him into a twisted and soft way resolutely carried out the will of the emperor.On November 23, the forty-second year of Qianlong (1777), Wang Xihou was escorted to Beijing and put into the prison of the Ministry of Criminal Justice.The Ministry of Punishment ruled that Wang Xihou Lingchi should be executed according to the law of "big rebellion".Emperor Qianlong showed great kindness and changed from lenient to decisive.Seven of his descendants, including Wang Lin, were changed from lenient to beheaded, and executed after autumn.Wives, daughters-in-law, and children and grandchildren under the age of sixteen are rewarded as slaves to the families of heroes.According to the report of the local official who confiscated the house, Wang Xihou's entire family property, including pots, pans, piglets and hens, is only more than sixty taels of silver.When Wang was taken to the execution ground, "the situation was very miserable when he was executed", ("Yan Cheng") the whole family cried bitterly, and everyone who saw it shed tears.A poor little intellectual family was completely crushed like this.
The one who was more wronged than Wang Xihou was Jiangxi Governor Hai Cheng.Although he was the first to bear the brunt of the book ban movement, and his grades once ranked first in the country, because of this negligence, he was accused by the emperor of saying, "It can be seen that Haicheng used to investigate and deal with the books that should be destroyed, but he did not check in earnest", completely obliterating his previous achievements. Achievements.In just two months, Haicheng was first "delivered a decree to strictly reprimand him", then he was "strictly discussed and punished by the Ministry of Punishment", and then "dismissed and handed over to the Ministry of Punishment for punishment", which was upgraded step by step until the Ministry of Punishment planned to execute him.Only then did the emperor feel that the firepower was enough, and ordered to change from lenient to beheaded.Gao Jin, the governor of Liangjiang, was also implicated and was punished by being demoted to stay in office.
The injustice is clear at a glance, but it is precisely because of the injustice that this major case shocked the whole country and made officials all over the country tremble.The emperor almost deliberately used this method to wake up his servants. A "model" like Haicheng who investigates and prosecutes banned books is "empty words", what lessons should you learn?The emperor did not deny that he took Haicheng to teach everyone a lesson, "to make the ministers of the frontiers lose their conscience and benefactors".The emperor said in the edict: "The local officials of all provinces should be vigilant together, and they must always pay attention to check. If there are illegal books published or circulated in their subordinates, they should report to the governor immediately and take severe punishment." "If you don't find out later, you must deal with it severely." ("Records of Emperor Gaozong of the Qing Dynasty")
It is the emperor's usual method to create terror and kill one to warn others.In the politics of Qianlong's first dynasty, there were often examples of surprises and heavy punishments for minor crimes.
In addition to emotional and personality factors, Qianlong's administration was lenient and strict, but more importantly, it was a strategic consideration.
Almost all princes of great ability and ability have a deep understanding of the magic of terror.Terror makes the bureaucracy more efficient, the people at the bottom more disciplined, the benevolence of the ruler more memorable, and therefore safer.Machiavelli said, "It is safer to be feared than to be loved".A monarch who doesn't know how to "kill people to establish prestige" will be despised by the ruled sooner or later.Kindness and tolerance are more cherished and celebrated only in the context of terror and severity.So a successful ruler must have two sides: one is as benevolent as a saint, and the other is as cruel as a lion.
For Qianlong, who cherished power extremely, it was extremely important not to allow others to grasp his ruling status.It is his established goal to rule that people will always be in a state of trembling and not knowing when the ax will fall.Qianlong always believed that the most effective deterrence and intimidation would be to create one or two unusual and outrageous major cases at the right time.This is a way to break resistance and advance a policy with twice the result with half the effort.He liked Shi Maqian's words very much: "The law of the Shang monarch is to punish those who abandon the ashes to the Tao. The husband abandons the ashes, and the crime is light, and he is punished, and the punishment is heavy. He only understands the master. Husband's crime is minor and supervising is serious, but is there a serious crime? The old people dare not commit it."
It means that Shang Yang imposed severe punishment on those who litter on the road, which is a good way to govern the country.It is a small sin to pour ashes on the road.Imposing heavy penalties for this small mistake can have a better publicity effect.Qianlong believed that in order to achieve this effect, wronging a few ordinary people, or even a few bureaucrats, was an incalculable cost.Because what he has in mind is the whole country, the whole community.
The emperor really achieved his goal. The "Zi Guan Case" strongly promoted the movement to ban books.After this case, the work of banning books was vigorously carried out in all provinces, and "bookstores" were established in various places to be responsible for confiscating "illegal and obstructive" books.Officials from all over the country put down other work at hand, and regard the banning of books as the most important core work at present.They put up notices in local places to intimidate book collectors. If they don't hand over the books that are in violation, they will "injure themselves, and even more so, their children and grandchildren."Many local officials gave full play to their creativity and came up with various insidious methods.For example, Sanbao, the governor of Zhejiang, said that he sent all the teaching staff in the province back to their hometowns, and asked them to go to their relatives' homes, "careful interviews and inspections because of relatives and friends", and used the results of handing in books as the basis for future promotions. : "In the future, the number of handed-in books will be the order of supplementary use." Inspired by the Three Treasures, officials from all over the country also ordered staff to go deep into the homes of residents, even farmers' homes in remote areas, and search door-to-door.The entire Qing Dynasty was almost turned upside down.
As the book banning campaign was vigorously carried out, more and more banned books were sent to Beijing.The results were so fruitful that the Fanglue Hall, where the imperial court temporarily stored illegal books, was overwhelmed with books and could not accommodate them, and even the courtyard was piled up like a mountain.
So, what are the contents of these mountains and seas of books that made the emperor so mobilize his troops to collect and destroy them?
During the Kangxi and Yong Dynasties, there were roughly two types of banned books:
One is books with anti-Qing ideas.The Han people have always had a narrow view of nationality.Huang Zongxi said: "The difference between China and barbarians is the difference between inside and outside. China should be governed by China, and barbarians should be governed by barbarians. People should not be mixed with beasts, and beasts should not be mixed with humans." The traditional view of history that is too much of the relationship between the monarch and his ministers, as well as books that promote narrow nationalism that "the barbarians are different, close to beasts" are of course taboo.
The second is to record the unofficial history of various atrocities committed by the Manchus in their conquest of China.In the books of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, there are quite a few records of Manchu atrocities and curses and detractors. These are banned books that the rulers of the Qing Dynasty were very concerned about.
In the Qianlong Dynasty, the scope of literary inquisition was greatly expanded on this basis.The characteristic of Emperor Qianlong's work is to consider everything and cut grass and roots.Kangxi and Yongzheng mainly targeted the works of deceased authors, but Qianlong expanded the target to all "violating writing" of living people.What he wants to correct is not only anti-Manchu sentiment, but also the Han people's "wrong perception" of all minority regimes.Therefore, what he wants to ban is not only the unofficial history of the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, but also all the words and sentences denouncing ethnic minorities in the Song, Yuan and Ming dynasties.
Therefore, under Qianlong’s standards, there are so many taboos on writing: avoid captives, avoid Rong, avoid Hu, avoid barbarians, avoid dog Rong, avoid Tibetans, avoid chieftains, avoid forgery, avoid thieves, and avoid violating the que Of course, the requirements for books with the words "Jurchen" and "Manchuria" are stricter.Jurchens have been active in Chinese history for a long time. From the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty, any book that contains the words "Jurchen", "Nvzhi", "Manchuria", or even "Liaodong" may violate the law even if it only mentions a place name.Measured by this standard, "taboo" words are of course everywhere, and illegal books are of course everywhere.Under the domination of the mentality of preferring the left over the right, officials from all over the country will confiscate any books suspected of being "taboo", no matter what happens, and ask for instructions to "destroy all the books" and "destroy the entire book".
Why did the emperor regard national sentiment as a great enemy?The reason is that the establishment process of the Qing Dynasty was different from that of the previous Han Dynasty.
The favorite sentence of the emperors of the Qing Dynasty was "I won the righteousness of the world by the Qing Dynasty", which means that the Qing Dynasty won the world, which is the most upright and logical thing in history.
The monarchs and ministers of the Qing Dynasty explained this "positive" in this way.They said that in the Cao Wei, Western Jin, Tang, and Song dynasties, the original courtiers took advantage of the chaos to seize power from orphans and widows.As for the Han and Yuan dynasties, they were established with naked heads and blood, and they were much tougher than the aforementioned dynasties. "However, the Han Dynasty destroyed the Qin Dynasty, and the Yuan Dynasty destroyed the Song Dynasty. Although it is not wrong, it is connected with the Ding Revolution." (Zhang Xuecheng's "Bingchen Notes") For example, the Song Dynasty was not at fault, and the Yuan Dynasty robbed it. Isn't it a bit embarrassing?Another example is that although Taizu of the Ming Dynasty was a commoner, he was a citizen of the Yuan Dynasty after all. "Based on the words of Gang Changlun, how can he escape the crime of usurping"? ("Dayijue Milu")
Only the emperors of the Qing Dynasty did not have this psychological burden, because their world was obtained from the "traitors", not from the Ming Dynasty.They were originally "neighboring countries" with the Ming Dynasty. Seeing that the slaves of the neighboring country rebelled and killed their masters, they sent troops to suppress the slaves out of righteous indignation and avenged the masters. Li Zicheng is also the one who robs the family property and drives out the masters of the Ming Dynasty. In our dynasty, we drove out the bandits, obeyed the heavens and obeyed the people, and won the world. This is because we caught the robbers and punished the heavenly officials who ordered the law." ("Dayijue Milu") "Yu Guming has the virtue of saving compassion, and there is no suspicion of revolution."So speaking of it, other people win the world by robbing and cheating, while "My Great Qing" has naturally obtained such a large family business because of "doing what is right".
With a gun in hand, any lie can be told confidently and confidently, and it can even move the liar himself into a mess. This is a common rule in Chinese politics.However, the eloquence of the rulers of the Qing Dynasty was unexpected.
In fact, the psychological motivation behind the occupation of the Central Plains by ethnic minorities in the past dynasties is the plunder of wealth.The bloody, barbaric and cruelty in the establishment of the Qing Dynasty created historical records in the process of conquering ethnic minorities in many ways.
The Manchurians did not enter the customs, as they said, they came to "serve the people in the interior" because they saw that there was no one in the world.The Manchus in the Ming Dynasty were originally in a period of slave society and their economy was backward.From the early years of the Ming Dynasty, they often plundered people from Han and North Korea to serve as slaves.In the eighth year of Xuande in the Ming Dynasty (1433), Wu Liang, commander of Jinyiwei, went to Haixi as an envoy and saw "Jurchen savages, many Chinese, driving farming" at that time.By the end of the Ming Dynasty, the Jurchens were not involved in production, and all the people were soldiers.Foreign robbery has become the most important source of income for the post-Jin Kingdom.
The North Korean envoy described what he saw in the "Jianzhou Experience Record" written after his visit to the Northeast, saying that the happiest thing for the Manchurians is to send troops to rob.War is a festival for Manchurians. When they hear that there is a war to be fought, every Manchurian's face is filled with uncontrollable excitement.All the Manchurians in the city happily put on the original armor prepared by themselves, and said to each other: "Go to the west!"
"When the soldiers went to war, all the Manchurians rejoiced. Even the wives of the sergeants were all happy, and their only wish was to get more property. For example, if there were four or five members of the sergeant's family, they all rushed to ask to go to the army, just for the property."
Before they are strong enough to conquer the whole of China, the biggest ambition of the Manchus is to plunder the children of gold and silk in the interior.During the fifteen years from the second year of Ming Chongzhen (1629) to the sixteenth year (1643), Emperor Taiji of Manchuria organized five massive robberies.They bypassed the Shanhaiguan Pass, entered Han from the gap in the North Great Wall, and swept through Beijing, Hebei, Shandong, and Shanxi provinces with lightning speed.Every time, there are piles of corpses and blood flowing into the sea. In 1639, Manchurian soldiers massacred the city of Jinan, leaving behind 130,000 corpses and the looted city.
At that time, the Manchurians didn't know what it meant to "emphasize righteousness over profit", and they didn't know how to pretend to be righteous and awe-inspiring.They don't blush for their material desires at all, and they are not ashamed of their cruelty and savagery.Every time I come back, I proudly show off what I have snatched.For example, after the triumphant return of the fifth robbery, Abate and others who led the army reported as follows:
The ministers and others were blessed by heaven, and the emperor Dewei led the army straight to the Ming Dynasty. When they arrived at Yanzhou Mansion, they could not refuse to defend.Kill the king of Lu in the Ming Dynasty, the kings of Leling, Yangxin, Dongyuan, Anqiu, and Ziyang, as well as the officials in charge of the government and the clan.A total of 88 cities were conquered in three prefectures, eighteen prefectures, and sixty-seven counties.Defeat thirty-nine enemy soldiers.The wealth obtained is 2,250 taels of gold; 2,252,700 taels of platinum; 4,440 taels of pearls; and 52,230 taels of satin in all colors. Ten horses; 3,840 collars of satin and fur coats; 500 rare furs of mink, fox, leopard, tiger, etc.; There are three hundred and twenty-one thousand camels, horses, mules, cows, donkeys, and sheep.
In their eyes, the people of the Han region were just a group of prey like cattle and sheep. When they swung their knives to kill and drive them away, they didn't have the slightest mercy in their hearts.Even, in the reports they returned from the looting, most of the time the Han people and livestock were mixed up. There are four thousand two hundred and ten cows and donkeys, and three."The report after the third plunder was: "A total of 179,820 people and livestock were captured." In September of the first year of Chongde (1636), "I went to Zhengming State Doro Wuying County King Azige... to make a statement. ...then went straight to the Great Wall, passed Baoding Mansion to Anzhou, conquered twelve cities, won all fifty-six battles, and captured a total of 179,820 people and livestock."In July of the eighth year of Chongde (1643), Ming Kejie was conquered, and "a total of 920,300 people and animals were captured."So much so that historians of later generations have a headache for the numbers that distinguish humans from livestock.
According to estimates by historians, before entering the customs, the Manchus plundered at least 2 million Han Chinese as slaves. A considerable number of these people died on the way to be driven into the customs, and other survivors were used as cattle and horses by the Manchus.
After the Qing people successfully entered the customs, the Manchus "migrated to the west" and rushed to the inland to directly suck the fat of the Han people.History books repeatedly say that the Qing people "passed through the country and entered the customs", and it is said that the westward migration of the entire nation "after thirty-five or six days, men and women followed each other without end."When they arrived in Beijing, the first thing they did was to "enclose land" wantonly.In name, it is said that the "unowned wasteland" is "distributed to the kings, ministers, soldiers, etc. from the east", but in fact, it does not distinguish between owner and owner, and seizes a large number of Han people's properties.According to historical records, during the most tyrannical enclosure process, "Whenever the enclosure arrives, the landlord is immediately expelled, and everything in the room is his own. Those who have wives and children who are ugly bring them along, and those who want to stay dare not take them with them. The tenants have no lives. Instead, rely on it to cultivate it." (Ston's "Miscellaneous Records of Mourning") The amount of land they plundered from the Han people near Beijing is staggering.For example, due to encirclement and investment in Zunhua Prefecture, the remaining taxpayer land is less than 1% of the original amount; Jizhou is less than 2% of the original amount; That's it, there's nothing left."Fang Wenyou, a poet in the early Qing Dynasty, said in a poem: "As long as the land is filled and occupied, there is not much land left for the Han people."A large number of facts prove indisputable that the Manchurians at this time still harbored a naked robbery mentality towards the people in the interior.
With the deepening of Sinicization, the ethnic policies of the Qing regime were adjusted.康熙皇帝亲政之后，断然命令永远停止圈地，并且大力推动满洲人放弃奴隶制。康、雍、乾三代的高效统治，使中国人安享了一百多年的太平。
但是，历史毕竟是抹不去的。汉人内心的仇恨并没有随着时间的流逝彻底泯灭。一旦想起往事，任何一个汉人不免都会心绪难平。
而满族皇帝也因为那一段血腥的历史而心虚不已。他们知道自己祖先的血债太深。这些血债在任何时候，都是点燃汉人反抗情绪的火种。
所以他们急于毁灭证据。
乾隆三十九年（1744年）开始，武英殿前的字纸炉就经常不分昼夜地日夜燃烧。在军机要员的严密监视之下，巨量珍贵图书在这些字纸炉中灰飞烟灭，随同消灭的是一个民族的大量记忆。
乾隆对销毁工作的认真执着几乎达到了变态的程度。那些不法书籍，今日在我们看来，许多其实都被禁得莫名其妙，毫无道理。大部分有“反清内容”的书，今天读来，也没有多大“毒性”。可是乾隆却视如大敌。他唯恐这样的精神污染物“扩散”，污染任何一个其他人。他规定，所有有违碍的书籍，为了防止扩散，都要“封固进呈”。也就是说，发现之后，立刻密封，不得使其他人看到，迅速送往北京。
许多官员头脑中的这根弦没有乾隆绷得紧，暂护贵州巡抚韦谦恒就是其中一个。他认为这些图书数量太大，何必费人费力千里迢迢送至北京，不如在本地直接销毁。他请示皇帝说：“将原书封固，发还书局，俟奉到圣谕，即率同司道等官传集绅士焚销。”意思是说，等皇帝批复一到，就把全省官员和绅士传来，一起观看焚书，可以起到很好的现场警示教育作用。不料乾隆接到这份请示后大为光火，朱笔连批带抹，痛骂他“何不解事，糊涂至此”！“所办实属乖谬”！
皇帝为此事专门发了一道上谕，再次强调：
贵州等地文化不发达，百姓心思幼稚粗鲁，这些不法书籍也许不会出现私下传播的情况。至于江浙等省，人们一听到有禁书，一定激起他们的好奇心，千方百计会弄来偷看，甚至私下广为传播。韦谦恒你本身是江南人，居然没有想到这一点？不知轻重，至于如此，看来你是一个糊涂不晓事的人，难堪大任！
韦氏竟因此区区小事丢了官。
皇帝因此重申：
各省查办违禁之书，屡经传谕，令各督抚检出解京，并经朕亲行检阅，分别查销。
乾隆朝“消灭记忆”运动，进行得十分周密和彻底，以致今天已经完全无法估量所承受的文化损失。史载乾隆销毁的书籍“将近三千余种，六七万卷以上，种数几与四库现收书相埒”。吴晗也说过“清人纂修《四库全书》而古书亡矣”！据近代学者推算，全国禁毁图书一万三千六百卷。焚书总数达十五万册。销毁版片总数一百七十余种、八万余块。除了焚毁书籍，乾隆还系统地对明代档案进行了销毁。目前明代档案仅三千余件，其余估计不少于一千万份明代档案，已经被销毁了。
乾隆朝“文治”的本质，是中国历史上最大的一场文化浩劫。
修改直至销毁记忆，本来是专制统治者的专利，但乾隆以比祖先更残忍的方式来掩盖祖先的残忍，就无论如何不可原谅了。
我们永远不要低估专制统治者的自私和阴狠。乾隆心里十分清楚，不论工作多么细致，仅靠官员们的搜查，是不可能禁绝所有不法文字的。最有效的办法是通过制造空前的恐怖，使臣民们自己主动悄悄地销毁家中的不法文字。
为了达到这个目的，乾隆帝蓄意制造冤案、酷案，把一些语义含混的文字打成大案，借无辜者的脑袋来恐吓天下之人，所作所为，令人发指。
乾隆四十二年（1777年），江苏人蔡嘉树指控徐述夔所著《一柱楼诗》“大逆”。
蔡嘉树与王泷南一样，是江苏扬州的乡间无赖，原租了徐家的十几亩田地。乾隆十三年（1748年），徐述夔之孙徐食田向蔡家提出要赎回这十几亩田地。而蔡嘉树占着不放，两家因此产生纠纷。蔡因此以徐氏祖父徐述夔刊印散发的书里有“忌讳之词”，向官府控告。
蔡嘉树的证据是徐书中有“明朝期振翮，一举去清都”一句，说这是“非常悖逆之词”。这显然是胡说八道，江苏布政使陶易一见案卷，也认为这“显系挟嫌倾陷”。然而，案件上报到皇帝那里，皇帝却批复道，蔡氏所说有理。皇帝说，此句乃“借'朝'夕之'朝'作'朝'代之'朝'，且不用'上''到'等字而用'去'清都，显寓欲复兴明朝之意，大逆不道至此已极”。此案的结局是十分严酷的：陶易拟斩立决，皇帝降旨“加恩改为应斩监候，秋后处决”，后瘐死狱中。徐述夔及其子已死，也开棺戮尸，枭首示众。徐食田兄弟等五人参与出版校对者拟斩立决，俱奉旨加恩改斩监候。徐述夔的两个曾孙及三个孙媳等，给付功臣之家为奴，全部家产造册入官。为他作序的毛澄杖一百，流三千里。连皇帝已故去多年的诗友沈德潜也未予放过，革去名号，扑毁碑文。
皇帝在文字狱的制造过程中表现出了一种难以理解的偏执和完美主义。在皇帝的蓄意吹求之下，全国各地诬告之风大行。几乎大清帝国每个人都生活在不安全中：如果你识文断字，那么你随手涂抹的几个字难免有被人蓄意曲解的可能；即使你一字不识，你家的那个破筐烂柜里也保不齐有一两本祖上传下来的旧书，成为惹祸的源头。
戴昆是康雍时人，早已身故，地方官查办禁书时，发现他的书中有“长明宁易得”“短发支长恨”这样的句子，上报之后，被刨坟戮尸。他的孙子戴世道六十多岁了，因刊刻了这本书，“奉旨斩决”。湖北黄梅人石卓槐书中有“大道日已没，谁与相维持”“厮养功名何足异，衣冠都作金银气”之句，不过发了点牢骚，被凌迟处死，亲属缘坐。
“明”“清”二字是诗词习用之语，若要避祸，只好不去吟诵清风明月。但也不行。乾隆四十七年（1782年）有个劣监告发卓长龄（康熙时人）著有《忆鸣集》，“忆鸣”二字，实寓“追忆前明”之意，结果卓长龄之孙卓天柱因私藏禁书，“从宽”改斩监候，秋后处决。
这些恶例一开，禁忌如毛。墓志铭上常用“皇考”作为亡父的尊称，结果被地方官指为“悖逆”；为亡父刊刻的“行述”中有“赦不加息”之语，被人告发竟敢用“赦”字，实屈“狂妄不法”；为人代作的寿文联语中有“绍芳声于湖北，创大业于河南”，“创大业”被定为“语言悖逆”。
乾隆的文化恐怖政策收效是非常明显的。
在风声鹤唳之下，每个家庭都进行自我检查，刨地三尺，消灭所有不安全的文字。文人学士再也不敢吟风咏月，甚至不敢再写日记。朝廷的大臣们之间都不敢相互通信。胡中藻《坚磨生诗钞》案，内外臣工惊骇不已，乾隆担心下面或有非议，于新任浙江按察使富勒浑陛辞（官员离京前上殿向皇帝辞别）时，交代他一项特殊任务：到任后留心体察赋闲在钱塘（今杭州市）老家的协办大学士梁诗正的反应。梁诗正一见富勒浑，就大谈自己为官多年的诀窍：“笔墨招非，人心难测，凡在仕途者，遇有一切字迹，必须时刻留心，免贻后患。”在另一次谈话中，他又说：“一切字迹最关紧要，我在内廷时惟与刘统勋二人从不以字迹与人交往，即偶有无用稿纸亦必焚毁。”梁诗正的话典型地反映了乾隆高压政策下臣民的心态。
历史学家可以大致推算出通过修撰《四库全书》，清朝的官僚机构销毁了多少图书，而民间百姓自发销毁的文字数量却无法计算。我们只能说，其数量绝对多于武英殿前字纸炉中焚毁的书籍。
对于乾隆用心的险恶深鸷，大清王朝的某些子民读得十分透彻。乾隆四十四年（1770年），安徽天长县的秀才程树榴对乾隆的做法极为气愤，在为朋友的诗集所写序言中借题发挥，隐约其词地说，“造物者之心愈老而愈辣，斯所操之术乃愈出而愈巧”。应该说，这两句评语是对乾隆制造文字狱的动机及手段的极佳点评。在近于没有死角的普天文网笼罩之下说这样激愤的话，当然逃不脱乾隆的如来佛手心。很快，这篇序言就被程树榴的内弟王廷赞告到官府，指明这两句是影射当今皇帝，并且解释说，“我皇帝上春秋愈高，仁恩愈普”，怎么能说愈老而愈辣？“彼王锡侯、徐述夔等皆其自取，予以显戮，普天称快”，如何能说手段愈出而愈巧？
案情被汇报到乾隆那里。居心已经被揭穿，并且评点得如此精当到位，皇帝在他的一生中潇洒地表现出了惊人的一次坦率。这一年他已经七十岁了，回顾一生制造文字狱的过程，他在谕旨中郑重承认王廷赞对程树榴诗序的解释点中了要害，“愈老愈辣”云云骂的正是自己，程树榴之所以含沙射影就是为王锡侯、徐述夔这些被冤杀者一吐不平之气。
按照惯例，程树榴必然被千刀万剐，满门被抄。然而，皇帝这一次却表现了出人意料的宽容。程氏“从宽改为斩决”，家人并不牵连。这一“惊人料理”的背后，反映了皇帝的某种复杂心理。也许，对于自己的残忍阴险，他自己也有清夜扪心，恍然如有所失之时吧。