Chinese Censorship of Books on This Day in History

This Day in History: The Chinese government removed a decade old ban on William Shakespeare's work on this day in 1977. There are now Chinese language editions of the Bard. China has also banned Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, which was also banned at Woodsville High School in Haverhill, New Hampshire in 1900. D.H. Lawrence's Lady Chatterley's Lover was also banned in China, but then that book may be the most banned book of all time. Even Dr Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham was banned for its portrayal of early Marxism (I missed that when I read it). Oddly enough, you can buy George Orwell’s Animal Farm and 1984 in China, but you are not allowed to talk about them on social media.

As far as I can tell, the country with the most banned books is not China, but rather Singapore, and most of those books are pro-Communist...such as the writings of Lenin, Stalin and Mao.

As for the Western World, literary researchers agree that during the 20th century Australia was considered one of the harshest censors. Also, some activists consider Australia's laws on Internet censorship to be among the most restrictive in the west. That Australia has a tough authoritarian streak was in full display with their severe lockdowns during the epidemic scare in 2020/2021.

In Russia, both the Koran and the New World Translation Bible are banned. 

The Satanic Verses is a book banned in many Muslim countries, and one book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F#@k, is banned in the UAE simply for its title.

With the recent Wokeness fad, we will continue to see more banning of books, as we have seen recently with To Kill a Mockingbird, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and certain Dr Seuss books. 

See also History of Book Censorship By Frederick W. Hamilton 1918
https://thebookshelf2015.blogspot.com/2016/04/history-of-book-censorship-by-frederick.html

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See also Over 200 Banned, Controversial and Forbidden Books on DVDrom and Forbidden and Condemned by the Catholic Church - 150 Books on DVDrom

See also: Free Speech IS the Speech You Hate - Quotations on Freedom of Expression