Dibao (ancient Chinese gazette)
Dibao (Chinese:
Dibao contained official political edicts, announcements, and news from the Chinese imperial central government or local governments,[4] which would be delivered to inform both the central and local governments by messengers periodically[1] and were intended to be seen only by bureaucrats (and a given dibao might only be intended for a certain subset of bureaucrats). Selected items from a gazette might then be conveyed to local citizenry by word of mouth and/or posted announcements. Frequency of publication varied widely over time and place. Before the invention of moveable type printing they were hand-written or printed with engraved wooden blocks.[4] The introduction of European-style Chinese language newspapers, along with the growing intersection of Chinese and global affairs generally, applied pressure for the Dibao to adapt, and circulation of the Beijing Gazette was in the tens of thousands by the time publication ceased altogether with the fall of the Qing dynasty in 1911.[4] The gazettes from Beijing at this time were known as Jingbao (
Historical origin and the controversy
[edit]There are two main origin theories of Dibao: the Han dynasty origin theory and the Tang dynasty origin theory.
Han dynasty origin theory
[edit]At the beginning of the Han dynasty, the Jun-Xian system (
Tang dynasty Origin theory and Origin controversy
[edit]
Historians who support the Han dynasty origin theory argue that the historical information about Dibao in the Han dynasty had been recorded in several imperial historical texts among many dynasties.[1] Xihan Huiya (
Historians who disagree with the Han dynasty Origin theory argue that Xihan Huiya, which is the only historical text that records Dibao in the Han dynasty, is used as indirect historical text evidence rather than direct historical relics evidence to prove the existence of Dibao in the Han dynasty. The earliest verified Dibao with historical text and relics was a Dibao called Kaiyuan Za Bao (
Content
[edit]There was little alteration in the content of Dibao in imperial Chinese history since it was first published in the Han dynasty.[1] There were four main aspects of the Dibao content:
The daily life of the emperor
[edit]Under the influence of traditional Chinese ideology based on Confucianism, it was significant for both the publisher and reader to know the speech and behaviour of the emperor because the emperor in ancient China was regarded as the pivot of the whole empire, who played the most important role to govern the country.[8] The speeches and behaviours of the emperor would be recorded by the imperial historians surrounding him, which was not only a way for the emperor to ensure the legitimacy of governance and unite the country, but also a way to for the citizen to supervise the speeches and behaviours of the emperor.[9] Everything related to the emperor's daily life, such as the important speeches, summons, hunts, religious duties, conferment and award ceremonies would be written by the imperial historians on books and published on Dibao.[7]
The significant edict, political decision, and decree
[edit]Kaiyuan Za Bao | |
---|---|
In the Song dynasty, legislation became an official part of Dibao that published periodically, which involved the new edicts, penal laws, political decisions from the emperor on the memorial to the throne (Chinese: Zouzhang/
The dynamic of the imperial court
[edit]The dynamic of the imperial court became the official content on Dibao in the Song dynasty, where the emperor published the changes on the appointment and dismission of the government officials in the imperial court and the local governments.[10] In the Song dynasty, Emperor Taizu of Song (
The report of military and diplomacy
[edit]The content related to the military, diplomacy and natural disaster that published on Dibao was controlled strictly on every imperial dynasty, which aimed to maintain the feudal governance, safeguard the interest of the ruling class, and ensure the stabilisation of the feudal society.[12] The content about military action, especially related to the mutiny, peasant revolt, and the minority armed resistance, generally would not be allowed to publish on Dibao because they could disturb the popular mind and destroy the societal stabilisation and harmony, which can threaten the imperial regime and the authority of the ruling class directly.[7] The content related to military and diplomacy that published on Dibao would be reviewed by the imperial court first, then further reviewed and selected by the emperor carefully because it was equal to official government documents, which was used as evidence and reference for the local governments to deal with the local affairs that played an important role in the imperial government organisation operation.[7]
Historical development
[edit]Tang dynasty
[edit]Both the historians who support the Han dynasty origin theory and the Tang dynasty origin theory agree that Dibao was developed in the Tang dynasty and started to form a stable delivery system between the local government and the central government.[7] In the Tang dynasty, Fanzhen (
Song dynasty
[edit]Dibao became the official administrative department governed by the central government in the Song dynasty, which was the earliest official gazette instituted directly by the central government in the feudal society.[10] Dibao in the Song dynasty started to publish the content periodically related to the daily life of the emperor, edicts and political decisions, the dynamic of the imperial court, and the reports of military, diplomacy and natural disaster as a result of the ruling classes attached great importance to the function of Dibao, which aimed to transmit the information, consolidate feudal governance, and protect the rights and interests of the ruling classes.[10] In the Song dynasty, the function of Dibao gradually shifted to maintain the legitimacy of governance rather than supervising the edicts and decisions of the emperor and the government officials due to the development of high centralisation of authority with the policy of emphasising literature and restricting military force (
Ming dynasty
[edit]The social climate and the restriction on the Dibao in the Ming dynasty were not as strict as the Song dynasty although it was still aimed to maintain feudal governance of the empire.[11] Historians believe the subtle balance of the power between the emperor and the government officials was because the emperor in the Ming dynasty understood the importance of the transparent political system as the Ming dynasty was established with the peasant revolt led by the political corrosion and corruption in the Yuan dynasty.[8] Unlike the Dibao in the Song dynasty, the content published on Dibao in the Ming dynasty usually involved the conflicts and argument between the government officials and the emperor, sometimes even had the criticism on the edicts and decisions that the emperor made.[8] Dibao in the Wanli (
Qing dynasty
[edit]The emperor in the Qing dynasty became the editor in chief of Dibao who completely controlled and managed the imperial propaganda and public opinion.[14] Dibao in the Qing dynasty still had the right to publish the criticism and opposition like the Ming dynasty, but they were all reviewed and selected by the emperor before publishing.[14] Jingbao (Peking Gazette;
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Ng, C., Fang, H. (Ed.). (2012). Journalism in Ancient China. A history of journalism in china (pp.24–70). Honolulu, HI: Enrich Professional Publishing (S) Private Limited.
- ^ a b c d e Zhao, Y., Sun, P. (Ed.). (2018). The communication mechanism in ancient China. A History of Journalism and Communication in China (pp.4–22). London, United Kingdom: Routledge.
- ^ "Newspaper – MSN Encarta". Archived from the original on 2008-12-06. Retrieved 2008-12-17.
- ^ a b c Irving Fang, A History of Mass Communication: Six Information Revolutions, Focal Press, 1997, p. 30
- ^ Lamont, Ian, "The Rise of the Press in Late Imperial China", November 27, 2007
- ^ a b c d Cioffi-Revilla, C., & Lai, D. (1995). War and Politics in Ancient China, 2700 B.C. to 722 B.C.: Measurement and Comparative Analysis. The Journal of Conflict Resolution, 39(3), 467–494. doi: org/10.1177/0022002795039003004
- ^ a b c d e f Gunaratne, S. A. (2001). Paper, Printing and the Printing Press: A Horizontally Integrative Macro-history Analysis. Gazette (Leiden, Netherlands), 63(6), 459–479. Retrieved from doi:10.1177/0016549201063006001
- ^ a b c Quigley, H. (1923). The Political System of Imperial China. The American Political Science Review, 17(4), 551–566. doi:10.2307/1943756
- ^ a b Mokros, E. (2016). Communication, Empire, and Authority in the Qing Gazette. Retrieved from http://jhir.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/40303
- ^ a b c d e f g Man, Li. (2012). On Yuan Dynasty ‘Newspaper’: The existence of ‘Dibao’ and ‘Guanbao’ Reexamined. Journal of Song-Yuan Studies, 42, 343–374. doi:10.1353/sys.2013.0000
- ^ a b c d e f Brook, T. (Ed.). (1998). Spring: The Middle Century (1450–1550) (pp. 86–152). The confusions of pleasure: commerce and culture in Ming China. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
- ^ Porter, J. (2016). Imperial China, 1350–1900. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield
- ^ a b c Hung, H. (2013). Li Shi Min, founding the Tang dynasty the strategies that made China the greatest empire in Asia. New York: Algora Pub.
- ^ a b Mittler, B. (2004). A Newspaper for China? Power, Identity, and Change in Shanghai's News Media,1872–1912. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Centre.
- ^ a b c Harris, L. J. (2018). The Peking Gazette. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill.
External links
[edit]- [1], Canadian Library Journal, 1992
- Mitchell Stephens, History of Newspapers For Collier's Encyclopedia