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Emerging Media: Hong Kong and the Early Evolution of the Chinese Press

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 April 2002

Elizabeth Sinn
Elizabeth Sinn
Affiliation:
Centre of Asian Studies, The University of Hong Kong
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Abstract

The newspaper has been a key element in China's modernization. A large body of literature on the history of China's modern press, works of varying degrees of accuracy and analytical depth, has been produced, and yet, there are still many gaps in our knowledge of its development. Here, I will discuss one newspaper, the Zhongwai xinwen qiribao (hereafter, the Qiribao), published between March 1871 and April 1872, to show how, at a very crucial stage of the press's development, Chinese journalists emerged from under the apprenticeship of Westerners and shaped this new medium to their own social, political and cultural needs.

Type
Research Article
Information
Modern Asian Studies , Volume 36 , Issue 2 , May 2002 , pp. 421 - 465
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

I am grateful to Paul Cohen for reading and commenting on this manuscript; to Dr Barbara Mittler for letting me read her manuscript ‘A Newspaper for China? Power, Identity and Change in Shanghai's News Media (1872–1912)’; to Dr Natascha Vittinghoff for letting me read her manuscript articles, ‘How to Establish a Chinese Newspaper: Strategies and Models of Newspaper Houses in the Formative Stage of the Chinese Press (1872–1882)’ and ‘Testing the Limits: ReadersÕ Discussions in the Shenbao and Its Consequences (1874–1875)’; Carl Smith for providing me with valuable information; and my Research Assistant, Miss Poon Pui Ting, for all her help. I am also grateful to the Japan Foundation Grant for making this research possible. If any reader is interested in knowing the Chinese characters, please write to me and I would be happy to supply them.