The origin and development of China’s newspaper industry

A new discussion on the reasons for the lagging development of modern Chinese newspapers

2006-12-26 13:53

Textbooks about Chinese journalism, although many like to add some "Pride" exaggerates the newspapers of the past dynasties, but most people have to admit that the origin of modern Chinese newspapers cannot be older than the 19th century... No matter which newspaper is the beginning, the beginning of modern Chinese newspapers was late in the West (mainly Refers to Europe) for more than 200 years.

Academic circles generally believe that the earliest newspaper in the world was born in the early 17th century. Such as the Dutch Antwerp "News" (1609), the German "Notice" (1609), the British "Weekly News" (1621), and the French "News" (1631). 〔1〕

Although many textbooks on Chinese journalism like to exaggerate the newspapers of past dynasties with a sense of "pride", most of them have to admit that the origin of modern Chinese newspapers cannot be older than 19 Century: If Westerners came to China to run a newspaper, the earliest one was "Bee Hua Bao" in 1822; if Chinese people ran a newspaper, most scholars think it was Wang Tao's "Cycle Daily" founded in 1874, and a few scholars think it was The earlier "China and Foreign News" in 1858. [2] However, no matter which newspaper started with it, the beginning of modern Chinese newspapers was more than 200 years later than the West (mainly Europe).

This point has long been pointed out by domestic scholars. The famous scholar Tang Zhenchang once said: "Authors on the history of China's newspaper industry, when discussing the rise of the domestic newspaper industry, often exaggerate the past to decorate the present, and describe the origin of newspapers as To extend it without any restrictions is absurd, and I don’t believe it. Not to mention that the "Gongmenzhao" and "Dibao" are not the ancestors of Chinese newspapers. Even in recent times... the Chinese have started to publish a large number of printed matter themselves, or It is called a 'newspaper'... its essence is not a newspaper (newsprint) in the strict sense today... The history of newspapers in China is much shorter than that in the West." 〔3〕

German sociologist Max Weber also said: “China has had printing technology very early, but printed matter that is specially designed for printing and can only be made through printing, especially Newspapers and periodicals first appeared only in the West. ”〔4〕

So, why was it that the first person to invent printing had a long-term newspaper system and had the ability to “supervise public opinions” very early on? A traditional country, a country that worships writing almost to the point of witchcraft, a big civilized country with endless intellectuals in every dynasty, yet it lags behind the West in journalism for so long?

The author has reviewed a large number of journalism textbooks and related papers. Unfortunately, they almost always use the two words "the failure of the buds of capitalism to bear fruit" or "the autocratic strangulation of press freedom by the feudal dynasty". The reason was taken lightly. We should not be satisfied with this simple analysis that falls into the same routine as doing radio exercises. In this article, the author attempts to find clues from the aspects of publishing technology, social atmosphere, overseas trade and court control, in order to give as innovative a conclusion as possible.

1. Obstacles of engraving and printing

The prosperity of book engraving in the Ming and Qing dynasties has always been praised by scholars. In the Jianyang area of ??Fujian Province during the Ming Dynasty, an unprecedentedly large private publishing group was formed. There were hundreds of commercial bookstores, which lasted for four to five thousand years. They were operated for generations and had various varieties. They initially had the appearance of a "cultural industry".

In the Ming Dynasty, when the publishing industry was extremely developed, there were even "suspected magazine" publications, such as "Zhu Yi", "Wanjin Love Forest", "National Beauty and Heavenly Fragrance", etc. Zheng Zhenduo will It is called a "popular book". The content is mainly dramas and novels, but it also publishes some current affairs essays and trendy comments, such as "Zhu Yi", which even introduced Matteo Ricci's new theory. Unfortunately, the "suspected magazine" was not published regularly. It just used a book title and was constantly "added to" without developing into a real magazine. [5]

At the same time as the "suspected magazine" appeared, in 1580, a "suspected newspaper" called "Emergency News" appeared. It is also the only "suspected newspaper" from the Ming Dynasty that has been preserved. Newspaper" original. Like almost all publications at that time, "Emergency News" also used engraving printing, with a maximum of 6 pages. The main text mainly published the list of "urgent election officials for the Ministry of Civil Affairs" at that time. Judging from the binding, layout and content, it does not deviate from the scope of traditional newspapers.

〔2〕

Throughout the Qing Dynasty, "suspected newspapers" were further developed, including the official newspaper "Kechao" of the Sixth Section, the "tabloid newspaper" of Titang newspaper, and the "tabloid newspaper" of private newspaper "Beijing News", local publication "Yuanmen Chao", etc., each has a certain readership. However, before the 19th century, these "suspected newspapers" were still just "Dibao" style from content to form, and ultimately did not develop into modern newspapers in the true sense. 〔6〕

From a technical perspective alone, woodblock printing is the biggest bottleneck.

Since the German Gutenberg invented a complete metal movable type printing system in the mid-15th century, this technology has been widely used in the Western publishing industry. From 1448 to 1450, 1,099 printing offices were established in 246 cities in Europe. 40,000 kinds of books and 12 million books. 〔7〕It is characterized by low cost and fast printing, which fully meets the publishing requirements of modern newspapers and periodicals. In China, until the late Qing Dynasty, movable type printing never entered the mainstream. The exquisite but time-consuming and expensive woodblock printing always occupied a strong position.

It is almost impossible to use engraving technology to print modern newspapers. First of all, engraving is time-consuming. During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, it would take an engraver 500 working days to engrave a book with 120,000 words! The low efficiency of engraving and printing can be seen in a postscript written by Zheng Ji of the Ming Dynasty:

"... In terms of characters, there are 122,000 odd ones, so he ordered ten printers to print them. It is said that the work started on May 17th this summer and was completed on July 9th, on the 52nd day of the ordinary calendar..." [8]

Secondly, woodblock printing is expensive. A popular reading of the Ming Dynasty, "Newly Engraved Chen Meigong's Criticism of the Annals of the Spring and Autumn Kingdoms", has more than 1,000 pages, and requires one tael of silver to be tattooed. At that time, one tael of silver could buy 4 shi (240 kilograms) of white rice! 〔9〕 According to this ratio, the price of a "Engraved Printing Daily" with dozens of pages is at least close to 1 silver, which can also buy 24 kilograms of white rice. Ordinary citizens are definitely not willing to buy it. In the embryonic stage of European newspapers, a newspaper printed with metal movable type could only be priced at about 1 copper plate. The "cheap newspapers" that were born around the 18th century and have a special status in the history of mass communication, some are priced at only 1 cent. Only by relying on low pricing can newspapers attract the general public and become mass media, instead of just reading books for scholar-bureaucrats. At this point, woodblock printing can be said to have lost at the starting line.

It is also worth pointing out two shortcomings of woodblock printing: First, the text capacity of woodblock printing is small. The average engraving-printed book only has more than a hundred words per page. For example, the Sikuquanshu has only 182 words per page [10]. For modern newspapers that pursue information content and pay attention to thick content, if they use woodblock printing to publish newspapers, it would be like sending a woman with small feet to participate in the 100-meter race in the Olympic Games. Second, engraving printing has the problem of "expiration and invalidation" for news publications. Generally speaking, the engraving of books and periodicals can be printed multiple times on the same base plate or printed repeatedly by repairing or repairing the base plate. However, for newspapers and periodicals where timeliness is of vitality, the engraved base plate obviously cannot be reused.

Only modern printing technology based on metal movable type technology can support modern newspapers and periodicals. Of course we still remember that many textbooks have always been fond of advocating that the first person to invent movable type printing in the world was the commoner Bi Sheng recorded in "Mengxi Bi Tan". However, due to the scholar-bureaucrats' aesthetic complex about engraving and the lack of practice in improving movable type technology, in the eight or nine hundred years from Bi Sheng's invention of clay movable type printing to the re-introduction of modern movable type printing from the West to China in the 19th century, movable type printing in China The number of books is less than one percent of the engravings.

It should be admitted that movable type printing occasionally has one or two breakthroughs and makes some waves, but it soon becomes a dead end. During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, the "Collection of Ancient and Modern Books" edited by Chen Menglei was the first to use copper movable type printing on a large scale. However, a few years later, a large amount of copper type was stolen and sold by the caretakers. During the Qianlong period, Jin Jian presided over the printing of the famous wooden movable type "Wuyingdian Treasure Edition Series". However, after his death, most of the 250,000 wooden movable type were used by the court for warming. Among the people, the most common use of movable type printing is for country people to print family trees. 〔11〕

Under this situation, the Chinese could only begin to build their own journalism after the 19th century, when modern Western technologies such as typography, lithography, and photographic printing were gradually imported, as well as related equipment. .

2. "Anti-news" social habits

At first glance, it seems that the social soil of the Ming Dynasty will breed modern news newspapers. Since the middle of the Ming Dynasty, commercialization has accelerated, and a large number of rural people have migrated to cities. While "urban-rural integration" has gradually emerged, a large number of citizens with leisure time have been born. A local chronicle once recorded that in Suzhou Prefecture in the late Ming Dynasty, "45 out of 10 people lived in the city, 34 out of 10 people lived in towns, and 12 out of 10 people were scattered in the countryside." 〔12〕 In the citizen novels represented by "Jin Ping Mei" and "San Yan Er Pai", we can see a large number of records of the entertainment and leisure of citizens in the Ming Dynasty. The heartbeats and cries of the citizens' rebellious thinkers, represented by Li Zhi, seemed to coincide with the inner pulse of the consumer society of the Ming Dynasty, which was to open the shackles and enjoy the freedom of mind and body.

In the eyes of many scholars, the civil society of the Ming Dynasty was "indulgent" and "unbridled". Although it lacked self-restraint, it was a rare "free era" in Chinese history. 〔13〕

But this "freedom" is only for the class with sufficient power and purchasing power. Going to the extreme will create "two-legged beasts" like Ximen Qing. Ximen Qing's "view of freedom" can be fully demonstrated in his words to Wu Yueniang: "We heard that the Buddha in the West can only pave the ground with gold, and the ten palaces of the underworld also need some materials. We only want to eliminate this family. For selfish reasons, he raped Chang'e, raped the Weaver Girl, kidnapped Xu Feiqiong, and stole the Queen Mother of the West's daughter, but he still couldn't destroy my wealth and wealth!" [14]

This kind of money-making The "view of freedom" based on power is obviously contrary to the Western view of freedom based on "liberation of human nature" at the same time, and is incompatible with the nature of news.

Even if it does not go to extremes, this kind of "freedom" can only create "mobs" who are indifferent in leisure and entertainment. As a result, various entertainment methods that may be called "news substitutes" became popular all over the world: novels, history telling, commentaries, poetry, Taozhen, Tanci, treasure scrolls... In the daily life of citizens in the Ming Dynasty, storytellers and actors It has become the best "information disseminator". Most of the historical knowledge and current affairs news of ordinary citizens come from storytellers and published drama novels. 〔15〕

Qian Zeng, a bibliophile in the early Qing Dynasty, once mentioned in his notes: "... Sanbao's Xiyangwei Lane is widely circulated. The dramas of the inner government, the ordinary talk of the audience, and the death of Zixu are all "As the saying goes, the story goes like this." This is a strong evidence that the communication of folk current affairs in the Ming Dynasty mainly relied on daily entertainment, such as watching plays, listening to books, and so on. 〔16〕

However, the "Zixuwushi" in novels, tanci and plays is precisely the biggest enemy of news. After all, one of the essences of news is "authenticity". Therefore, a society that is keen on dramas, novels, and tanci, and a society that relies on the method of "Zixu Wushi" to spread current affairs, cannot but be said to be "anti-news."

Reminiscing and longing for yesterday rather than paying attention to the real world is another characteristic of "anti-news". In the Ming Dynasty, most of the published long chapter novels (such as "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", "Water Margin", etc.) and oral storytelling (such as "Shuo Yue", "Shuo Yue", "Shuo Five Dynasties", "Shuo Sanfen", etc.) were based on historical themes ("Jin Ping Mei") " is a big exception). Most citizens at that time, if not "preferring the past over the present," were at least "loving the past and forgetting the present." This social habit of longing for the past and being indifferent to reality is another enemy of the news.

In the Qing Dynasty, due to the prevalence of literary inquisition in the early Qing Dynasty, the "seduction" of Sikuquanshu, the emergence of the Qianjia School, the prevalence of simple Confucian classics, the "retrospective" habit was amplified to the extreme. It is even considered worthwhile and commendable to use 20,000 words to annotate a sentence in the scriptures. More than a dozen ancient books with white beards have monopolized the brains of countless readers, and the opening of Sikuquanshu has caused a considerable number of elites to indulge in tedious annotations and no longer pay attention to the world outside the study room. At such times, news is relegated to the most remote corners.

Liang Qichao has a simple and clear description of this: "Looking at the academic history of the Qing Dynasty for more than 200 years,... in a nutshell, it is said to be 'returning to liberation'. The first step is to restore the Song Dynasty The second step is to restore the ancient times of the Han and Tang dynasties, and to liberate the ancients of Cheng and Zhu. The third step is to restore the ancient times of the Western Han Dynasty, and to liberate Xu and Zheng. All the annotations have been liberated... Qing learning is in decline now... This is the inevitable trend, and it is also beneficial."

〔17〕

The "liberation" of academics in the Qing Dynasty was only the "liberation" of some of the old prejudices and old papers in the past, and most of them were still "retrospective". And "retro" is the absolute enemy of news. Before the 19th century, Chinese intellectuals, who were dominated by study scholars, were of course unable to create modern newspapers and periodicals that required a broad vision and contemporary concerns.

3. "Ill-free" trade tradition

Since the geographical discovery in the 15th century, the overseas trade of Western countries has developed rapidly and become one of the biggest driving forces for their modernization. The initial birthplaces of modern European newspapers were almost without exception in international port cities or commercial and financial center cities, such as Venice and Florence. Trade between countries was the initial driving force for the birth of news newspapers, and the prosperous cities created by overseas trade provided strong support for the further development of news newspapers.

Looking back at China, although in the early Ming Dynasty its economic strength was considered the number one power in the world, and during the Yongle period there was a grand event of thousands of overseas trade groups coming to Beijing, but for almost the entire Ming Dynasty, overseas trade was at a loss. It is "not free". Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty once decreed that "no one is allowed to enter the sea" and only strict official control was allowed. The "tributary trade" that comes and goes is more political and diplomatic than economic, and it is basically a loss-making transaction that outweighs the gains. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty, people engaged in trade activities along the coast "viewed the waves as a road, and leaning on sails and rafts as grass." The momentum of private trade gradually overshadowed the "tribute trade", and the early tax-free policy for foreign goods (this was the original policy set by Emperor Taizu of the Ming Dynasty. He said to a minister who petitioned to collect tariffs, "What kind of tax? A big country is not greedy for small profits"). , let those foreigners see the magnanimity of our great country! This is similar to our policy of selflessly assisting third world countries) and gradually changed to draw points on a regular basis; after Longqing and Wanli opened the sea, foreign merchant ships came to China. It is no longer limited to countries with tributary relations, and various restrictions have been relaxed. After paying taxes, you can enter the market and trade. However, foreign businessmen must go through government-established intermediaries to buy and sell, and cannot trade directly with private merchants. Therefore, it is still "non-free" trade controlled by the government's monopoly. 〔18〕

The maritime ban of the Qing Dynasty began at the beginning of the customs. In the 18th year of Shunzhi (1661), "relocation to the sea" was more comprehensively implemented. From this year to the early years of Kangxi, the sea ban began in Zhili in the north. , Shandong, and the coastal provinces from Guangdong in the south to "clearing the country" and moving residents along the coast dozens of miles inland. "All coastal ships were burnt and no ships were allowed to enter the sea. Every stream and river was fenced and goods were not allowed to cross the border. It's time." Hope, those who violate this will be punished by death." [19] For more than twenty years after that, commercial exchanges between China and foreign countries were almost completely cut off, and the maritime ban was far more thorough than that of the Ming Dynasty.

Sea prohibition, especially the policy of forcing "relocation to the sea" to create no-man's land, not only stifles normal overseas trade, but also displaces millions of people in coastal provinces, causing serious social problems and also greatly affecting economic development. Of course, it is impossible to affect the government's tax revenue for a long time. In 1684, Emperor Kangxi ordered that the people be allowed to go to sea to trade on the basis that opening the sea would be "useful for the livelihood of the people in the border seas of Fujian and Guangdong" and "pay for the soldiers of Fujian and Guangdong, so as to avoid the burden of transferring and assisting the provinces in the hinterland". First, in Xiamen, Fujian, Subsequently, in Guangzhou, Ningbo, Songjiang and other places, Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang and Jiangsu customs were respectively established to deal with foreign trade [19].

The good times did not last long. Qianlong, the "Shiquan Old Man", believed: "The country's Suiyuan trade...it will benefit everyone if it stays in the country for a long time. The important seaside area is not a way to prevent the slightest change." [20] Therefore, in the winter of 1757, the Guangzhou port trade policy was announced: from the following year, Western merchant ships were "no longer allowed to dock and trade in Guangdong" [21]. From trade at multiple ports along the coast to trade at Guangzhou, the open door was closed until only a crack was left during the Kangxi period. This policy was not shattered by Western warships and artillery until the Opium War.

Even for Guangzhou, which is a hub for trade, it is by no means free trade. It is still monopolized by the Thirteen Banks, which are official and commercial entities. The famous economic historian Jia Zhifang once said when discussing the nature of the Thirteen Lines: "...the merchants obtained the coat of arms with the power to manage trade due to their merits and money, which is the official position. As a result, due to the bribery of official positions, the merchants began to become merchants... The so-called 'unity of government and business' is rather inevitable." Mr. Jia based on the corrupt and luxurious life of the Thirteenth Line controller (for example, Pan Shicheng built a building specifically for his dozens of concubines. The windows were all made of glass and they were not allowed to rape each other. However, he lived in a different place and stayed in bed at night. The number plate calls for my concubine to stay with me for the night.

After his decline, the mansion was too valuable and no one could afford to buy it at once, so he was the first to sell shares in shares). The spirit of these rich people, who were also representatives of the entire wealthy class in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, was summed up as "thorough" Hedonic consumption", which runs counter to the spirit of modern capitalism - which takes the pursuit of legal profits as its bounden duty, but obtains "the glory of God" through moderation. 〔22〕

The "anti-freedom" trade tendency is destined to only produce feudal tycoons who lie in glass buildings and hug their concubines, but cannot produce people with "freedom", "equality" and "moderation" "Modern capitalists with concepts such as " can only produce hired workers with status similar to farm laborers, but cannot produce citizens who can freely exchange brainpower, labor or goods, causing the entire society to lack demand for free trade information and free current affairs information, which has become news Another sworn enemy of the press.

4. Strict Press and Publication Control

China's control over publishing has been very strict in all dynasties, and the Ming and Qing dynasties were no exception, especially the Qing Dynasty.

In the early Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang made a bad start. Others flattered him as a "born saint", but he took it as an insinuation that he had been a "monk", and the word "guang" was not used because That has the same meaning as "bald", and the word "ze" cannot be used because it is a homophone for "thief". Hangzhou professor Xu Yikui, who used the three characters "holy", "light" and "ze" in his congratulatory form, was naturally questioned. (The sentence that caused him trouble was "Under the light of the sky, a born saint sets an example for the world.") Fortunately, Zhu Yuanzhang only found fault in the memorials and notes, and only counted the "disasters caused by the notes" and did not evolve into a system. The practice of confining books. Generally speaking, the Ming Dynasty had relatively loose control over book publishing. (For example, the only novels that were officially banned in the entire Ming Dynasty were "Jian Deng Xin Hua" and "Water Margin".) [23]

The Ming Dynasty court paid more attention to the restriction of Di newspapers. The "Ming Huidian" stipulates that "those who inquire about the news reported by the deputy seal of the imperial court will be visited and questioned by the imperial envoys patrolling the city, and their heads will be beheaded in public." The biography of "History of the Ming Dynasty·Wang Yingxiong" also states that "no newspapers may be copied except in accordance with the decree." After the Apocalypse, due to the increasing border threats, the control of Di Bao became even tighter. "Anyone involved in border affairs will not be copied in the Dibao. People all over the city regard border affairs as a taboo." 〔2〕

At the same time, Europe's control over publishing still had the sinister atmosphere of the Middle Ages, and it cannot be said that it was looser than the Ming Dynasty government. At the Council of Cardinals in 1569, Pope Pius V severely criticized handwritten newspapers for defaming the Holy See, and a few days later a reporter was hanged. In 1572, the Pope issued a "declaration" banning handwritten newspapers and severely punishing journalists. In 1587, another reporter had his hands cut off, his tongue pulled out and then hanged. 〔1〕

The question is which trajectory China and Europe will develop next. In 1644, the British writer Milton published "On the Freedom of the Press," which triggered an ongoing debate around "freedom of speech" and "freedom of the press," and ultimately led to the enlightenment of journalistic consciousness and values. To this day, Milton's words that are as solid as stone still stir people's hearts: "Freedom of speech and press is the birthright of human beings, and it is the most important freedom of all freedoms." "Killing is just killing a rational animal." , destroying an image made by God; killing a letter kills reason itself and destroys the image of God in the pupils." 〔24〕 In the following one or two hundred years, European countries successively abolished knowledge taxes, libel laws, publishing censorship, etc., and finally ushered in the golden age of mass newspapers.

But in China, Chongzhen was hanged on Meishan Mountain in 1644, the Manchu Qing Dynasty took over the Central Plains, and the Han intellectuals were silent in the troubled times. Who could publish "On the Freedom of the Press" and other self-destructive works? article? Even though most intellectuals have fallen silent, the Qing Dynasty still launched a series of deep-seated literary inquisitions, which reached their peak during the Qianlong reign and gradually relaxed after the Jiadao reign. In terms of the "achievement" of banning and destroying books, the Qing Dynasty set a world record and far surpassed the so-called "five disasters" of books in Chinese history. Mr. Chen Dengyuan has a detailed review of this in his book "An Examination of the Collection and Dispersion of Ancient and Modern Classics".

Not only were books banned, the ban on newspapers in the Qing Dynasty was also extremely harsh and complicated. Which edicts and memorials should be copied and which should not be copied were often made by the emperor.

For example, in the 53rd year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1714), "Except for passing official documents and copying matters under orders, all other matters are prohibited in Titang." Wholesale of this chapter is strictly prohibited and is not allowed to be published or disseminated." In the eleventh year of Qianlong's reign (1746), it was announced that "Zhili, Jiangnan, Zhejiang and other provinces will report incidents that will not be reported in Beijing, and send notes to the governor, etc., as if this was a private trip. Reporting secrets is very superficial, and "passing instructions and giving instructions" are all intended to limit the publication and distribution of tabloids. In the fifteenth year of Jiaqing (1810), the Qing government issued an edict prohibiting foreigners from printing books and preaching. 〔25〕

The Ming and Qing Dynasty’s control of freedom of publication actually showed the fear of speech and news; the ban on printing books by foreigners in China also showed the escape from the outside world and culture . All of this has become the natural enemy of newspapers.

Conclusion

During the four to five hundred years of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, compared with Europe, the development of newspapers and periodicals in China was so slow, like a computer infected with a worm virus. You see Without the destruction of the virus, you don't know why, but you are getting slower and slower without knowing it. Beautiful but not in line with the modern spirit of woodblock printing, social habits that forget about the past, anti-free trade traditions, and the dynasty's strict control of the press and publishing, these are the worms hidden in the hard drive of history, and they have taken root silently and firmly. In the system, China's modern newspapers and periodicals were two hundred years later than those in Europe.