Wagner, Rudolf, “The Early Chinese Newspapers and the Chinese Public Sphere” (2001)

Title : “The Early Chinese Newspapers and the Chinese Public Sphere”

Author(s) : Wagner, Rudolf

Year : 2001

Type : Journal article

Subject : History

Keywords : culture;foreigners;press

Journal : European Journal of East Asian Studies

Volume : 1

Number : 1

Start page : 1

End page : 33

Language:Name : English

Support : Print

Abstract : In Shanghai in 1872, the newspaper Shenbao was established by a Westerner, Ernest Major. It was the most important Chinese-language newspaper until around 1905 and was still significant until 1949. Before the establishment of Shenbao, government gazettes printed what little information the government chose to provide. Shenbao hired Chinese journalists and printed items by Chinese writers and letters submitted by readers. The peculiar status of Shanghai's International Settlement enabled the growth of a public sphere, as Shanghai became China's media capital. Since Shenbao routinely included the government gazette information in its issues, the state became part of the public sphere. in the Asian concept of public sphere, the Chinese state had a duty and right to steer thought and information into a cohesive whole.