China is a country that attaches great importance to cultural inheritance. The most typical one is "Shang Shu", which is an ancient book. It tells the story of the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors to the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. In the world, we can only understand our ancestors through archaeology. At that time, the Chinese could understand the deeds of their ancestors through documentary records. However, it is regrettable that there have been many cultural catastrophes in Chinese history, such as the burning of books by Qin Xiaogong (Han Feizi records that Shang Jun taught Qin Xiaogong to burn "Poems" and "Books" to clarify the law, but of course it was not implemented seriously. And it was limited to the Qin State and had little impact), Qin Shihuang burned books to embarrass Confucians, Emperor Yuan of Liang burned books, etc. The most well-known of them is Qin Shihuang’s burning books to embarrass Confucians. So, is the greatest cultural catastrophe in China the burning of books and the entrapment of Confucians by Qin Shihuang? In fact, it was not the case, but it came from the hands of an emperor who dominated the literary world. This was Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty! As we all know, Qianlong was the most prolific poet in the world, writing 41,863 poems in his lifetime. There were more than 2,200 authors of "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty", and he wrote more than 48,000 poems in one lifetime. Qianlong alone almost wiped out the entire Tang Dynasty poets. In terms of the number of poems he wrote, he could be said to dominate the literary world, unprecedented and unprecedented. Of course, it may also be the "poison" that dominates the literary world. The reason is very simple. In addition to Qianlong's poems that "inject water" and even "catch a knife", Qianlong also created the largest cultural catastrophe in Chinese history, which has spread to this day. Compared with Qin Shihuang's burning of books and entrapment of Confucians, how did Qianlong create the greatest cultural catastrophe in Chinese history? Let’s briefly talk about the two aspects. The most serious cultural catastrophe caused by Qianlong is the "Sikuquanshu". Today, many scholars praise the "Sikuquanshu", but they do not mention what the "Sikuquanshu" actually is! "Sikuquanshu" is just a book that organizes ancient books. It is equivalent to reorganizing and entering the previous ancient books. It must be nonsense to say that "Sikuquanshu" has no merit at all, because the method of organizing and collecting ancient books is "unlike." "Hard work", and some orphan copies are indeed preserved. However, without Sikuquanshu, some orphan copies may be lost, but most of them will be handed down. They will not be lost because there is no Sikuquanshu, so the credit of this book will be lost. Scholars have exaggerated it. What's more serious is that compared with the work of compilation of Sikuquanshu, it has had a greater impact on Chinese culture, such as tampering with and deleting the contents of various ancient books, and even the Sikuquanshu has been poisoned to this day. How to destroy culture? Just look at one data: Siku Quanshu collected 3,461 species, 79,000 volumes, and nearly 770 million words, but banned 6,766 volumes, 93,556 volumes, exceeding the number included, not counting the fear among the people. Books that were actively destroyed due to "writing prohibitions". The books that were banned were not just one or two, but 6,766, 93,556 volumes, which exceeded the number of included books. It is simply shocking. Therefore, it is said that Qianlong was a human being The biggest destroyer of culture in history, I believe that Lu Xun’s assessment hit the nail on the head: “The Qing people compiled the Sikuquanshu and the ancient books were destroyed”! Interestingly, Lu Xun also commented on Qin Shihuang’s burning of books and the entrapment of Confucians. The key point is that. The phrase is ""Qin Shihuang was really unjust...but he was very open to all kinds of ideas." Obviously, in Lu Xun's view, Qianlong's "Sikuquanshu" was even more poisonous! The second culture created by Qianlong The catastrophe has a relatively small impact, but it has made China's top art works covered with "" psoriasis"! As we all know, celebrity calligraphy and painting are the artistic essence of a nation, precious treasures left by our ancestors. Although they may belong to someone, But it also belongs to the entire nation. Especially some super precious works of art cannot be destroyed casually. Moreover, many of the famous calligraphy and paintings obtained by Qianlong would not be considered "fair trade", right? There are many ways, even if it is not "". However, Qianlong must also have "abused power for personal gain", so he obtained a large number of antique calligraphy and paintings. No matter how Qianlong obtained these calligraphy and paintings, the key is that Qianlong graffitied all over these calligraphy and paintings, which seriously affected the artistic value of calligraphy and painting: First, Qianlong was Stamps and inscriptions on calligraphy and paintings have damaged the artistry of calligraphy and painting itself. Qianlong's calligraphy and poetry can only be regarded as average, but he openly inscribed and wrote poems on various celebrities' calligraphy and paintings. Wang Xizhi's "Quick Snow and Clear Tie" (see picture above) is a super treasure. Wang Xianzhi only wrote 28 characters, which are full of charm and endless aftertaste. However, there are 73 references to Qianlong in this calligraphy and painting. Relics, such as Qianlong's inscriptions, poems and small essays on it, as well as dense psoriasis-like seals, seriously affect the artistry of "Kuaixueshiqingtie". Not only Wang Xizhi's "Quick Snow and Clear Tie", but also Wang Xianzhi's "Mid-Autumn Tie", Wang Xun's "Bo Yuan Tie", and the famous "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains". In "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains", the relics left by Qianlong can be said to be densely packed, not just in the corners, but in conspicuous places. Qianlong was happy, but China's treasures suffered, leaving psoriasis everywhere. There are countless stories about the destruction of culture caused by Qianlong, and the residual poison is still there today. What's strange is that Qianlong's image is extremely positive. Folks affectionately call him "the romantic emperor". When many scholars mention him, they will respectfully call him ""Qianlong Lord"".
An emperor who created the greatest cultural catastrophe in China, and even in the world, has such a high evaluation, which may be unprecedented and unprecedented. On the contrary, Qin Shihuang, who only burned books and harassed Confucians once, was criticized verbally and written by countless literati, and his reputation was ruined. It can be seen that the integrity of literati is really dumbfounding.