Book censorship in China

Book censorship is a method of censorship which has been employed in China since the start of the Qin dynasty (221 to 206 BC). Both domestic and foreign books which do not meet the central government's requirement will be censored and forbidden to be published. Qin Shi Huang In 213 BCE, the government of ancient China waged a book censorship campaign which is called the "burning of books and burying of scholars". Qianlong Emperor In the 18th century Qing dynasty, the Qianlong Emperor (reigned 1735–1796) asked his officials to censor books published in the 17th century which contained any anti-dynastic or heterodox thoughts. All of these books were burned to purportedly prevent them from having a negative impact on the next generation's thoughts. This dogma began immediately after 1949 and culminated in the 1950s and 60s, during the Cultural Revolution, in which books identified as anti-Communist and anti-Maoist were censored and banned. Books beyond this scope were all banned from selling and borrowing. In 2019, Xi Jinping came under fire for resuming the practice of burning books, when a library was caught by the local press burning books in North Western China. Laws put in place by Xi's Ministry of Education gave libraries permission to "cleanse" books that promoted "incorrect global outlook and values," leading to book burnings around China. In 2023, the Chinese government began banning Mongolian language textbooks and publications. Books banned for the general populace are increasingly also banned for high-ranking CCP cadres. == Mainland China ==

As well as censoring the publication of such books within China and encouraging self censorship, the importation and dissemination of such material is often severely punished and circulation by the way of online files is strictly controlled. Over time China has banned dozens of books, all with their own reasons. (see below in the List of banned books section). Book types that are typically banned are as follows: Books about Chinese modern politics, biographies of former leaders. Books about the lives of or allegations concerning current leaders - these are particularly sensitive topics. Books concerning Tibet and Xinjiang that do less than fully endorse that these have always and will always be part of China. Books about the Dalai Lama, about the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre or the events of the Cultural Revolution. Books about the Falun Gong religious movement, and other religious books which may contradict government endorsed theology, including some editions of the Holy Bible. Books of allegorical fiction that obliquely criticize the Chinese government. Censorship in mainland China also extends from political topics into social taboos. The CCP has made strict regulations on books that have explicit descriptions of sex, like extramarital sex. Consequently, the ratio of official-to-unlicensed books is said to be 40%:60%. According to a report in ZonaEuropa, there are more than 4,000 underground publishing factories around China. on unapproved literature or books that have since fallen out of favor with CCP elites. Some banned books are distributed to CCP leaders in limited circulation, so they can have a better understanding of the outside world. These books are marked for internal use (內部) i.e. they can only be used by the party. The PRC has also tried to follow the Soviet model, by introducing state-run publishing houses for books in an attempt to keep a tight hold on what can and cannot be shown to the public. In 2019, Amy Hawkins and Jeffrey Wasserstrom of The Atlantic claimed that authorities no longer had as much of a focus on censoring books as a declining number of people read, and that there is more concern for censoring products for mass consumption. They stated this explains why the book versions of Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four are available in mainland China, but added that all references to Mao Zedong have been removed from Nineteen Eighty-Four. In 2020, Edmund Burke's Reflections on the Revolution in France was censored along with works by conservative writers such as Albert Jay Nock, James Stephen, Joseph de Maistre, Richard M. Weaver, William F. Buckley Jr., Russell Kirk, and Mario Vargas Llosa. Thomas Piketty's book Capital and Ideology was censored in China for analyzing inequality in the country. In 2021, the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China announced a ban on books in school libraries that engage in "Western veneration". ==Hong Kong==

Compared to mainland China, publishing in Hong Kong historically remained less censored. Publishers such as New Century Press freely publish books, including lurid fictional accounts, about Chinese officials and forbidden episodes of Chinese history. Banned material including imported material such as that published by Mirror Books of New York City are sold in bookshops such as "People's Commune bookstore" patronized by shoppers from the mainland. Nowadays, as more and more mainland tourists travel to Hong Kong, the central government tends to have a greater control over the book publication. There are more book store closures and less willing publishers. Bookshops in Hong Kong have been making changes of what they sell and those books generally have less coverage over political, religious, and other sensitive issues disliked by the central government. Some independent publishers in Hong Kong who sell politically sensitive books hide those forbidden books behind a counter or rent their bookstores on higher floors in some commercial buildings where few people know them. Over time, people have found different ways to reintroduce banned books into Hong Kong. One of the most famous examples is the Hong Kong book fair, in which thousands of Hong Kong, Mainland, and Taiwanese citizens come to buy censored books unattainable in mainland China. == Responses to banned books ==

In 2015, 12 American publishers, including Penguin Random House, Macmillan Publishers, and W. W. Norton & Company, signed a pledge to oppose the Chinese government's censorship targeting foreign authors' works. Many foreign authors found that some of their books' content had been removed, without their knowledge, during its translation into Chinese. Some authors did not fully understand how Chinese censorship actually worked, so they just signed contracts stating the insurance of their original content without double-checking whether the translated version had any changes to content. In the same year, the Chinese government asked Cambridge University Press to block online access to more than 300 articles which contained political sensitivities from The China Quarterly. Many scholars signed a petition to call upon Cambridge University Press to oppose against the Chinese government's censorship request so as to ensure academic and publication freedom. The Chinese government has also imposed restrictions on the access to foreign children's books since they believed that children should be more in touch with books reflecting Chinese values. In 2018, the editors of the Transcultural Research Book Series ended their cooperation with Springer Nature which imposed restrictions on access to more than 1,000 political science journal articles in China. If the content books or journals do not fit the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party's agenda, those books will be banned from publication and selling. Many organizations around the world have also come out with statements against the CCP's actions. In 2018, Summer Lopez, senior director at PEN America (an organization focused on the protection of the freedom of speech), came out with a statement concerning the CCP's actions with Gui Minhai, stating that "China's treatment of publisher Gui Minhai — a story of abduction, detention, and now denial of medical care — demonstrates flagrant disregard for the rule of law and human rights". Taiwanese books which are about democracy, protests and human rights are blacklisted in China. ==List of censored books==