Talking about banned books in China, we need to go back some two thousand years in 213 BC when the first emperor Qin Shi Huang ordered the burning of all philosophy books and history books, so he could suppress the freedom of speech and unify all thoughts and political opinions. This was followed by the live burial of a large number of intellectuals who did not comply with the state dogma.
Ming and Qing dynasties were two of the darkest periods of time in Chinese history for freedom of speech. These two dynasties were notorious for their Literary Persecution – imprisonment or execution of intellectuals for their writings which rulers considered offensive. Books were banned or destroyed.
Some two thousand years after the first emperor’s book burning, Mao pulled off the same trick during the Cultural Revolution starting in 1966. Young people (Red Guards) listened to Mao’s call and burned Chinese literature and classics, together with Western books, and they destroyed paintings and antiquities. Writers and artists were beaten to death, sent to labor camps and many were driven to suicide. The only books available those days were Mao’s writings, used as study material for the masses during drawn out political meetings. When I was in elementary school, Mao’s writing even replaced text books.
Over 30 years after Mao….many things has changed but the present government is still practicing the old tradition of book banning. China does business with the West, but shares very little values with the West in terms of democracy and human rights. Despite fast economic development, the government continues to deprive people of basic human rights such as: freedom to speak. The press and publication is still under tight control by the Communist Party. China’s Internet censorship is regarded by many as the most pervasive and sophisticated in the world. (Great FireWall, the new “world wonder”) The strict censorship prevents Chinese citizens from learning about past and current failures of the Party that could create anti-government sentiment.
The Doctor Who Was Followed by Ghosts which touches on many forbidden topics is one of the books banned from publication in China.
