The Qianlong Emperor has also launched several…
February 1773 CE
The Qianlong Emperor has also launched several ambitious cultural projects.
The Yongle Encyclopedia of 1403 has remained the world's largest such until 1773, when written work begins in China on the Siku Quanshu (variously translated as the Imperial Collection of Four, Emperor's Four Treasuries, Complete Library in Four Branches of Literature, or Complete Library of the Four Treasuries).
With a total of over thirty-four hundred books, seventy-nine thousand chapters, and thirty-six thousand three hundred and thirty-four volumes, Siku Quanshu is to become the largest collection of books in Chinese history as well as the largest series of books ever edited by the feudal authority.
The editorial board includes three hundred and sixty-one scholars, with Ji Yun and Lu Xixiong as chief editors.
Qianlong has nevertheless used the Literary Inquisition to silence opposition.
The accusation of individuals begins with the emperor's own interpretation of the true meaning of the corresponding words.
Persecution begins if the emperor decides these are derogatory or cynical towards the dynasty.
Literary inquisition had begun with isolated cases in the times of Emperors Shunzhi and Kangxi, but has become a pattern during Qianlong's reign, during which there are fifty-three cases of literary persecution.