Although Emperor Qianlong vigorously promoted Confucian culture, he also practiced strict cultural autocracy, the outstanding performance of which was Daxing Wenzi Prison. During the Qianlong period, the number, duration and number of people affected by punishment were the highest in all previous dynasties, and the consequences could be imagined.
Shen Deqian, the favourite of Emperor Qianlong, was accused of being a big traitor because he wrote the poem "Ode to Black Peony", which said "Zhu Fei is the most important thing, and different species are also king". When Shen Deqian died, he also "changed his position, took a name, threw himself at the monument, destroyed the niche and smashed his body".
Wang Xihou, a juren, simplified the Kangxi Dictionary and compiled a Zi Guan in order to provide convenience for students taking the imperial examination. This kind of thing is very common now. However, Kangxi Dictionary was "king-ordered" by Emperor Kangxi, and Wang Xizhi was sentenced to delete it without authorization. The title of the son official to the Qing emperor was not taboo. As a result, Wang Xihou was severely punished and all the bookboards and books were destroyed. Hai Cheng, the governor of Jiangxi Province who handled the case, was also convicted of "oversight".
Hu Zhongzao, a scholar, wrote a poem "A pinch of heart is turbid and water is clear", which Qianlong thought was slandering the Qing Dynasty and killing Hu Zhongzao.
After the death of Xu Shukui, a juren from Dongtai, Jiangsu Province, his son published Poems of One Pillar Building in memory of his dead father. There is a condensed poem "Farewell to the Emperor of the Ming Dynasty, Put the Pot aside", which is accused of using the pot as a metaphor for "Hu Er", alluding to the Qing Dynasty. There is also "the Ming Dynasty shook up and reached the capital of Qing Dynasty in one fell swoop". Later, Emperor Qianlong said, "Sooner or later, you should go to court, not to clear the capital, but to use it", so "it is obviously prosperous and clear. "As a result, the Xu family was either killed or demoted, and many people related to the Xu family were implicated.
According to statistics, during the Qianlong period, there were more than 30 literary prisons 130, of which 47 were sentenced to death, and the people involved were more extensive. Literary inquisition imprisoned China people's thoughts, which led to the confusion of ideology and culture at that time.