The Qing dynasty was also particularly strict in its censorship of the printed word. Professor Wang Chiu-kui of the history department at National Tsing Hua University observes that at the accession of each Qing emperor, a list of forbidden books would be published. Books to do with love or relations between the sexes were all banned, and not one of the erotic novels of the Ming dynasty was ever allowed.
清代查緝禁書也特別嚴厲，清大歷史研究所教授王秋桂指出，清朝每位皇帝上任都會公佈一批禁書的名單，凡是與愛情、兩性相關的書通通都禁，明代的色情小說更是一本都不放過。