Lu Shengnan's Historical Essays Case

In 1729, Lu Shengnan, a former magistrate of Wu County and a secretary in the Ministry of Works, was accused by Prince Shuncheng Xibao of authoring seditious essays, most notably the "Tongjian Lun" (A Discourse on History). Emperor Yongzheng, having previously deemed Lu arrogant, personally scrutinized the texts and interpreted them as veiled attacks on his rule and the Qing dynasty. Lu was charged with great treason for using historical analogies to criticize imperial policies, the establishment of provinces, and the ruler's personal character. Despite a complete absence of any overt rebellion, the emperor's conviction was absolute. In the twelfth month of Yongzheng 7, Lu Shengnan was beheaded in front of the army. The case is a notorious example of the harsh literary inquisitions during Yongzheng's reign.

Lu Shengnan was convicted of great treason and sentenced to immediate beheading. The execution was carried out in late 1729 or early 1730.

Whether composing historical commentaries with ambiguous allusions, without any concrete seditious act, could legally constitute "great treason." The core contention lies in the conviction based purely on the emperor's subjective and suspicious interpretation of literary works.

The case severely intensified the climate of ideological terror, marking a high point in Qing literary inquisitions. It sent a chilling warning to the entire scholar-official class, effectively stifling free discussion of history and politics, and consolidating autocratic rule through fear and suppression of intellectual dissent.