China has had a long history of information circulation. The first publications were produced by the government and reported the court's political affairs and the nation's most important events. It was only later that bulletins written with a journalistic approach appeared. In fact, it was not until the nineteenth century that journalism as we know it today was introduced into China by Europeans. During the twentieth century the press has played an extremely important role in all social movements and independence struggles within China. It is interesting, therefore, to examine the development of the press in China since the early stages of their civilization.
During the primitive stages, men exchanged ideas simply for the purpose of transmitting messages in order to protect themselves against wild animals and other adverse circumstances. These oral messages were transmitted from one man to another and then from one generation to the other.
In the reigns of Rao (2357BC - 2258BC) and Shun (2257BC - 2208BC) tribal chiefs created "good manners banners" and "slander boards" which were posted along the main routes so as to enable people to express their opinions and suggestions to improve the government.
In the dynasties of Shong (1765BC -1122BC) and Zhou (1121BC - 256BC) the court appointed special bureaucrats who visited their subject kingdoms in order to collect folk-songs and data on local customs and folk-lore. This kind of information collection was particularly prevalent in the Spring and Autumn periods (722BC - 481BC). The collected data was given to the historian Tai. Probably, as a direct result of those visits, folk-songs have been preserved until the present day.
With the cultural progress and economic boom of the Warrior reigns of Spring and Autumn the press developed. Gradually, written messages started to circulate, replacing oral ones. As a result, the circulation of news by people gave way to the collection of information by court officials. All reigns had their history officials. There were the ancient history officials, national history officials, international history officials, officials responsible for information about the history of the court itself and also short story officials. These bureaucrats used to escort the emperor and his court wherever they went, recording statements and events and most importantly, attending state events so as to collect and record new information. This information would then be published and carefully kept in the historical archives. The chronicle "Spring and Fall" of the Lu reign is an example of the recording of this kind of information. In fact, it is said that Confucius amended and revised this chronicle which later came to be known as the "Worthless Court Bulletin". However, although some scholars may have considered this chronicle to be worthless, nevertheless, it was the first government bulletin. "Zou's History", published during the Han dynasty (206BC - 8AD) explained this government chronicle of "Spring and Fall' with historical facts and also described the intricate fights and feuds between reigns.
THE DI BULLETIN AND RECORD BULLETIN
After the foundation of the Han dynasty, the political system of power centralization that had been established by the Qin dynasty (255BC-207BC) was passed to the royal court. However, feuds were formed between lords and members of the royal family, who were allowed to open their own bases or representations in the capital. These bases were known as "Di", meaning the dwelling of a senior bureaucrat. Later, the court established a special department whose function was to send royal decrees to the heads of representations to receive memoranda from local lords. This then made the system of communication between central power and feudal lords much easier. These decrees and memoranda were known as "Di Bulletin."
According to "The Chronicle of the Upper Han Dynasty" the system of recording the court's political events was firmly established in the Qin and Han dynasties. All ministries and government departments had to provide information and written data to their superiors Although this data was never published it was still a method of conveying news in a way similar to that of a newspaper.
KAI YUAN BULLETIN
The "Kai Yuan Bulletin" was a primitive newspaper dating from the Tang dynasty (618AD-907AD). At the time, this newspaper had no name or heading. It was given the name "Kai Yuan Bulletin" by Sun Kezhi in his article "Reading the Kai Yuan Bulletin". The main purpose of this bulletin was to record government affairs and news relating mostly to the court's activities. The bulletin published daily news and displayed some primitive features of journalism.
DUNHUANG'S DI BULLETIN
This bulletin, like the Di Bulletin, was published during the Tang dynasty and was very popular among scholars and public servants. The oldest the "Dunhuang Bulletin" in now kept in the British Museum in London. The manuscript in the British Museum had been taken to Shazhou (now Dunhuang) by a selected representative to the Imperial Court at the request of the commander of the Guiyi army, Zhang Huashien. The commander requested a banner for his troops. This account is recorded on the manuscript in more than two thousand characters.
COURT BULLETIN
The "Di Bulletin" underwent extensive developments during the Song dynasty (960AD-1126AD ), which had inherited the Tang dynasty's system. Previously, the procedure had been to order all prefectures to appoint representatives whose job was to report information. However, in 981AD this system was abolished and a Central Court for Reporting Information was set up, manned by one hundred and fifty officials appointed by the central government. The objective of this court was to manage all the information provided by the prefectures and to release government messages and documents. This document had several different names besides "Court Bulletin". It was also referred to as "Prefectures Bulletin", "Di Collection" and "Written Compilation". However, whatever name it may be known by, it was an important document compiled by one of the government's high departments, which after being checked by an inspector was passed to the Central Court who in turn would circulate it to the prefectures.
The content of the "Court Bulletin" of the Song dynasty was wider than that of the "Di Bulletin" of the Tang dynasty, as it also published information on transfers, resignations of officers, audiences and farewell parties given to foreign ambassadors, decrees and memoranda. In addition, it featured no editorial or editor's comments whose view points were given through the selection and amendments they made of published articles. The bulletin featured news of a general interest but items such as conditions at the border, epidemics and earthquakes were strictly forbidden.
It was only later in the Song dynasty that a system for controlling the press was established. The "Court Bulletin" which was compiled by the reporting court had to be checked by a court's high department after which its model was defined and circulated by the court. Nothing could be added to or deleted from that defined model. On all important issues, the emperor's opinion had to be sought. This was the first form of press control to appear in China.
SMALL NEWSPAPERS
During the Song dynasty a large quantity of "Court Bulletins" were published together with "Small Newspapers" which represented the views and wishes of the people. Their format and printing type was similar to that of the "Court Bulletins": they had no headings and published the most important court information and articles written by their own editors. They also reported on unresolved matters which were pending the court's decision. These "Small Newspapers" helped the people to learn about new court trends and other social information, They originated in the Northern Song dynasty, reaching their peak during the Southern Song dynasty. The most important point about these newspapers is that their publication and circulation put an end to the press monopoly that the government had held for so long and at the same time the newspapers became a merchandise. In short, publishing a newspaper had become a profitable commercial activity.
OFFICIAL BULLETIN
During the Yuan dynasty (1277-1366), The Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and the Qing dynasty (1645-1911) official reports were still being circulated in very much the same way as they had been in the Tang and Song dynasties. The "Di Bulletin" was officially suspended during the reign of Yong Zheng in the Qing dynasty. Government decrees and official reports were published at that time in the "Titang Bulletin". "Titang" meant officials and messengers who were despatched to the capital by their local governors to exchange information between the court and local lords. This bulletin was a very simple one, featuring information on appointments and resignations, royal decrees and memoranda. However, this bulletin did not satisfy the intellectual level of scholars and officials, who by that time expected reading material of a more intellectually demanding nature.
THE PUBLISHING HOUSE OF THE INTENSIVE STUDIES ASSOCIATION
During the reign of Emperor Guang Xu, intellectuals such as Kang Youwei and Huang Zunxian founded the Publishing House of the Intensive Studies Association and the "New Newspaper of China and Abroad. The Publishing House was developed into an official book publisher which then started the publication of the "Bulletin of the Official Book Publisher". and the "Translation Journal of the Official Book Publisher". Both publications published royal decrees and memoranda as other publications had done in the past, but they differed from past papers in that they also featured news about new skills and technical information that had been translated from other languages. This trend was in response to the Wu Xu political reforms of 1898 headed by Kang Youwei and supported by Emperor Guang Xu. The reforms included learning from Western countries and supporting scientific improvements, improving the education system, developing agriculture, industry and commerce. These reforms were later defeated by conservative forces whose leader was the Queen Mother Ci Xi. At her instigation both publications were closed down.
COURT'S OFFICIAL BULLETIN
In the thirty-two year's Winter of the reign of Guang Xu and because of the political atmosphere, the Qing dynasty government was forced to falsely "promise" the drafting of the Constitution, thus allowing the "Political Research House" to publish the Political Edition Bulletin as the official government newspaper. In the third year of the reign of Emperor Xuan Tong (1911) this bulletin became known as the "Court Official Bulletin". This bulletin stated that royal decrees would be enforced on the day of publication. In addition, other government documents and reports were published in this bulletin. Therefore, this type of bulletin had the same power as other government bodies to publish decrees and laws.
CAPITAL NEWSPAPERS
During the Ming and Qing dynasties there was a people's newspaper published with the government's consent. Published by the People's Publishing Houses it was called "Capital Newspapers". These publishing houses appeared in the Ming dynasty in the capital and then in other capitals in the southern provinces. They were responsible for publishing the "Capital Newspapers" and also for managing the mail and dealing with printing. By the end of the Qing dynasty there were more than eleven houses publishing newspapers. These "Capital Newspapers" covered mainly news gathered from information publishing bodies as well as provinces' representatives established in the capital. Their content was similar to that of the Official Bulletin in that they published the Imperial Palace reports and information such as resignations, court affairs, appointments, decrees, royal orders and memoranda submitted to the emperor. Occasionally, they published interviews made by their journalists or special articles written by their editors. As the court released its news reports in the afternoon, these daily "Capital Newspapers" were published in the early evening. Their front page was yellow with a heading in red, reading "Jing Bao" meaning "Capital Newspapers". The name of the publishing house and some drawings were on the bottom of the first page. Some "Capital Newspapers" featured drawings of people and objects painted in red. Each time an emperor or empress died and a state of national mourning was declared, the front page was always in blue. Another feature of the newspapers was that before the national examination that all candidates for government positions had to sit, the papers published free supplements comprising questionnaires on all the subjects of the examination. Other publishing houses used to send their clients other supplements such as a "Court Newspaper". Towards the end of the Qing dynasty, some publishing houses began publishing periodic publications such as the "Royal Decrees Compilation", "Collection of Government Reports" and "Collection of Common Events". These publications comprised unreleased public articles or memoranda and documents.
CONTEMPORARY NEWSPAPERS AND PERIODICALS
At the beginning of the nineteenth century, missionaries and traders were the first people to establish newspapers and periodicals, as we know them today, in China. Initially, they were published in foreign languages but later they were published in Chinese. Their main objective was to spread Western religious beliefs and political and social ideas in addition to informing and protecting foreigners by publishing necessary data on all issues. Between 1860 and 1890 the Jesuits alone published more than seventy publications. Then, in the second half of the nineteenth century, the Chinese themselves started to publish their own publications such as the "News of China" and the "Circulation Daily". During the Reform Period (1898), reformist groups and associations had already more than thirty newspapers and magazines among which were "News in China and Abroad", "The National Newspaper" and the periodicals "News" and "Intensive Learning". These all played an important role in spreading new thinking.
At the beginning of the twentieth century newspapers and periodicals expanded while the national crisis deteriorated. At the time of the Republican Revolution (1911) there were between four and five hundred newspapers and periodicals among which were revolutionary papers such as "China Daily", "People's Paper" and the reformist "The New People". In addition, many other newspapers were launched which reflected the Chinese people's sense of nationalism and their concern for the future of their country. These papers covered issues such as politics, sociology, economics, culture, education, science, literature and the role of women in society. During the events of the 4th of May 1919 many other new newspapers and magazines were launched. "The New Youth" was one of them, supporting the new cultural movement and showing the enthusiasm and willingness of the young people to support the changes in their society. Similarly, the weekly "Guide" and the daily "Chinese Youth" promoted anti-imperialistic and anti-feudalistic ideas, supporting the revolutionary struggles. However, after the Great Revolution of 1927 was lost and the Kuomintang government started its reign of terror, freedom of speech was suppressed. Many revolutionary newspapers and periodicals were dissatisfied with the prevailing political conditions but in spite of this they continued to struggle.
In the meantime, the Kuomintang party's newspapers "Central Government Daily" and "Cleaning Operations Daily" propagated fascist principles and supported the foreign invasion. During the anti-Japanese War the "Liberation Daily" and the "New China Daily" encouraged people to fight against the invaders. Many other newspapers fought against the Japanese invasion whilst the Kuomintang acted in two ways, by both resisting the invasion and attacking the Chinese Communists. Eventually, the invaders were driven away and both the Communist Party newspapers and those of the democratic parties started to fight against the internal war and demanded peace and democracy.
During the National Liberation War the Chinese press developed rapidly. Progressive newspapers, especially those in Hong Kong and also those under the Kuomintang rule, fought against the autocratic Kuomintang regime. Then, after the People's Revolution in China, the Chinese press entered a new phase in its long history.
THE CHINESE MONTHLY MAGAZINE
"Chinese Monthly Magazine" was the first monthly publication launched by foreigners. The first issue was released on the 5th of August, 1815 in Malacca. Its editor was the British missionary Robert Morrison. Eighty issues of this magazine were published until it was suspended in 1821. The magazine was similar to traditional Chinese books, being printed with characters carved on tablets. Each issue had five pages and a total of two thousand characters, Initially, it released five hundred copies and by May 1819 it had released thirty thousand copies. Its distribution was free and extended to the Chinese population living in Southeast Asia, Canton and Macau. It promoted the Christian faith, spiritual values, scientific knowledge and views on other countries. After the sixth volume, comments on political affairs and daily events were added. These appeared in the form of dialogues, stories, short literary essays, poetry and compilation of aphorisms. These commentaries written by Milne, the Editor-in-Chief, became a model followed by missionaries when writing their religious books.
CHINESE REPOSITORY
Like the "Chinese Monthly Magazine" the "Chinese Repository" was also one of the earliest publications by foreigners in China. This was a weekly magazine launched by an American missionary Elijah Coleman Bridgman who became its Editor-in-Chief. After 1847, Samuel Wells Williams took over his job and Robert Morrison and Johnson were among those who wrote articles for this magazine. The "Repository" reached twenty volumes and was suspended in December 1851. Its articles were concerned mainly with politics, economics, military affairs and culture. Articles provided important data on relations between China and foreign countries and the First Opium War. The final issue of this magazine published a Table of Contents.
EASTERN-WESTERN MONTHLY MAGAZINE
This was the first monthly magazine in Chinese and was launched by a German missionary Charles Guitzlaff. It was published in Canton in 1833 and featured politics, religion, science and commerce. After its ninth issue the magazine was transferred to the Practical Knowledge Promoting Association of China. Its publication was suspended and then resumed again in 1839. However, soon after it was suspended again.
MACAU DAILY NEWS
The "Macau Daily News" was founded in February 1839 by the Translating House which was established by Lin Zuxu in Canton. This daily newspaper covered mainly foreign affairs in China and its articles were translated into English. After selection, the information published in the "Macau Daily News" was gathered in a monthly collection called "Macau Monthly". These two publications were not circulated openly and played an important role in the anti-British war headed by Lin Zuxu. When Lin Zuxu was dismissed from office, both publications were closed down.
NORTH CHINA DAILY NEWS
The original name of this newspaper was "North China Herald". It was an English weekly newspaper, established on the 3rd of August 1850 by Shearman in Shanghai. Then, on the 1st of July 1864 the name changed to "North China Daily News" and became a weekly supplement. In 1859, the British Consulate to Shanghai had nominated this publication as the official publication of the British Consulate and British trading representatives in that city. The newspaper was sponsored by the English Concession Administration Department, which placed advertisements in it. This newspaper represented British interests in China in addition to the view points of capitalists whose interests centred around their commercial interests. The "North China Daily News" ran for one hundred and one years, at the end of which time it became the longest serving and most popular foreign newspaper in China.
*Zhong Hua Wen Hua Cidian, Canton, May 1989.
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