Shen Bao
Encyclopedia
Shen Bao, formerly transliterated as Shun Pao or Shen-pao (Chinese
: 申報; Pinyin
: Shēn Bào), known in English as Shanghai News, was a newspaper
published from April 30, 1872 to May 27, 1949 in Shanghai
, China
. The name is short for Shenjiang Xinbao, Shenjiang being a short form of Chunsheng jiang, the old name for the Huangpu River
.
Shen Bao played a pivotal role in the formation of public opinion in the late 19th century. An example is its campaign in its first years against the new practice of employing young women as waitress in opium dens, which "blurred the demarcation line between acceptable and unacceptable practices by putting waitresses in the ambiguous position of implicitly providing sex services in the opium dens. Worse still, the opium dens embracing this practice were mostly located in the French Concession
, connecting the issue to the presence of foreigners in Shanghai." As a result of the uproar, the practice was banned (although in practice not eradicated). The newspaper "innovated in printing technology, the use of the telegraph, the employment of a military correspondent (sent to cover the Sino-French War
in Vietnam in 1884), and the use of the vernacular
(baihua)"; it quickly established a reputation as one of the best in China, coming under Chinese ownership in 1909, and by the early 20th century was printing 30,000 copies a day, 9,000 circulated in Shanghai and the rest elsewhere in China. "By the early 1920s its circulation was 50,000; by the end of the decade 100,000; and by the mid 1930s, 150,000." The paper's offices were in the International Settlement
, "about a block away from the Central Police Station." In its early period, it had eight pages, with news, essays, and advertisements as well as imperial decrees and memorials. "Because the editorial policies followed the principle of 'reporting whatever possible and letting the readers determine the truth,' many interesting but unfounded rumors were often included as news." After 1905, it increased its size to 20 pages.
It was founded as a commercial newspaper, and politically it remained conservative for its first three decades, supporting the Qing
government. In 1905 it began to change its orientation, quoting Liang Qichao
's constitutionalist slogans on New Year's Day; in 1907 it was sold to Xi Zipei (1867-1929), its former comprador, who "owned Shanghai's best-capitalized publishing operation, Zhongguo tushu gongsi (Chinese Library Company)" and was under the influence of Zhang Jian
, and it became a moderately liberal newspaper that strongly supported the constitutional movement. "It had the following sections: editorials, international news, domestical news, local news, industry and trade, law and society, sports and education, literature and art, and advertisements. In addition to reporting important political news stories, it had many special columns and supplements such as ziyou tan (free discussion), automobile, education and life." In 1912 control was transferred to Shi Liangcai
. "In the 1930s, Shi was a strong supporter of the Human Rights Defence Alliance established by Madam Soong Qing Ling
, the second wife of revolutionary leader Dr Sun Yat-sen
, with Cai Yuanpei
and Lu Xun
."
In 1934, the newspaper "incurred the government's anger because of its strong anti-Japanese attitude. On November 13, Shih Liang-ts'ai
, its owner and editor-in-chief, was mysteriously assassinated on the Shanghai-Hangchow Highway"; responsibility for his murder has been laid at the feet of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics
, Chiang Kai-shek
's much-feared secret police. In 1938, with the city under Japanese control
, Norwood Francis Allman (1893-1987), an American lawyer who had been U.S. Consul in Shanghai in the early 1920s, was asked by the paper's Chinese owners to take over as editor; Time
wrote in 1940: "A fluent Chinese linguist, Allman reads every story that goes into Shun Pao, writes editorials, corrects editorials written by staff members. He serves without pay." The paper was on bad terms with the Japanese, and in 1940 a Chinese assistant editor was killed and his head left on the street as a warning to journalists. During World War II
the paper passed into the hands of collaborators with the Japanese occupation, but after the war Pan Gongzhan, an influential Kuomintang party official who had been an editor on the paper in the late 1920s, became its publisher and Chen Shunyü its chief editor. In May 1949, when the People's Liberation Army
took Shanghai, the newspaper was shut down.
There is a complete collection of the paper's issues in the Shanghai Library
.
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
: 申報; Pinyin
Pinyin
Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into...
: Shēn Bào), known in English as Shanghai News, was a newspaper
Newspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
published from April 30, 1872 to May 27, 1949 in Shanghai
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. The name is short for Shenjiang Xinbao, Shenjiang being a short form of Chunsheng jiang, the old name for the Huangpu River
Huangpu River
The Huangpu River is a -long river in China flowing through Shanghai...
.
History
Founded by Ernest Major (1841-1908), a British businessman, in 1872, Shen Bao was one of the first modern Chinese newspapers. (When Major returned to England in 1889, the newspaper was reorganized as Major Company Limited.)
Major differentiated himself from other foreign newspaper publishers in two areas. First, from the outset, he made it clear that the new newspaper would be for Chinese readers, and thus that it would emphasize news and issues of interest to Chinese, not foreigners. Secondly, he put Chinese compradorCompradorComprador or Compradore is a term used to describe native managers of European business houses in East Asia.-History:...
s in charge of running the business and let
Chinese editors pick news items and write editorials. These two methods proved very effective. While the Chinese compradors used their knowledge of and connections with the local community to raise circulation and attract advertisements, they kept the price of the paper lower than that of its competitor. Simultaneously, Chinese editors did a better job of making Shen Bao appeal to Chinese readers' taste. Within one year, Shen Bao had put Shanghai Xinbao out of business and become the only Chinese newspaper in Shanghai until the appearance of Xin Bao in 1876 and Hu Bao in 1882.
Shen Bao played a pivotal role in the formation of public opinion in the late 19th century. An example is its campaign in its first years against the new practice of employing young women as waitress in opium dens, which "blurred the demarcation line between acceptable and unacceptable practices by putting waitresses in the ambiguous position of implicitly providing sex services in the opium dens. Worse still, the opium dens embracing this practice were mostly located in the French Concession
Shanghai French Concession
The Shanghai French Concession was a foreign concession in Shanghai, China from 1849 until 1946, and it was progressively expanded in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The concession came to an end in practice in 1943 when the Vichy French government signed it over to the pro-Japanese puppet...
, connecting the issue to the presence of foreigners in Shanghai." As a result of the uproar, the practice was banned (although in practice not eradicated). The newspaper "innovated in printing technology, the use of the telegraph, the employment of a military correspondent (sent to cover the Sino-French War
Sino-French War
The Sino–French War was a limited conflict fought between August 1884 and April 1885 to decide whether France should replace China in control of Tonkin . As the French achieved their war aims, they are usually considered to have won the war...
in Vietnam in 1884), and the use of the vernacular
Vernacular Chinese
Written Vernacular Chinese refers to forms of written Chinese based on the vernacular language, in contrast to Classical Chinese, the written standard used from the Spring and Autumn Period to the early twentieth century...
(baihua)"; it quickly established a reputation as one of the best in China, coming under Chinese ownership in 1909, and by the early 20th century was printing 30,000 copies a day, 9,000 circulated in Shanghai and the rest elsewhere in China. "By the early 1920s its circulation was 50,000; by the end of the decade 100,000; and by the mid 1930s, 150,000." The paper's offices were in the International Settlement
Shanghai International Settlement
The Shanghai International Settlement began originally as a purely British settlement. It was one of the original five treaty ports which were established under the terms of the Treaty of Nanking at the end of the first opium war in the year 1842...
, "about a block away from the Central Police Station." In its early period, it had eight pages, with news, essays, and advertisements as well as imperial decrees and memorials. "Because the editorial policies followed the principle of 'reporting whatever possible and letting the readers determine the truth,' many interesting but unfounded rumors were often included as news." After 1905, it increased its size to 20 pages.
It was founded as a commercial newspaper, and politically it remained conservative for its first three decades, supporting the Qing
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
government. In 1905 it began to change its orientation, quoting Liang Qichao
Liang Qichao
Liang Qichao |Styled]] Zhuoru, ; Pseudonym: Rengong) was a Chinese scholar, journalist, philosopher and reformist during the Qing Dynasty , who inspired Chinese scholars with his writings and reform movements...
's constitutionalist slogans on New Year's Day; in 1907 it was sold to Xi Zipei (1867-1929), its former comprador, who "owned Shanghai's best-capitalized publishing operation, Zhongguo tushu gongsi (Chinese Library Company)" and was under the influence of Zhang Jian
Zhang Jian (politician)
Zhang Jian , courtesy name Jizhi , sobriquet Se'an , was a Chinese entrepreneur, politician and educationist.-Biography:Zhang was born in Haimen County, Jiangsu Province in 1853...
, and it became a moderately liberal newspaper that strongly supported the constitutional movement. "It had the following sections: editorials, international news, domestical news, local news, industry and trade, law and society, sports and education, literature and art, and advertisements. In addition to reporting important political news stories, it had many special columns and supplements such as ziyou tan (free discussion), automobile, education and life." In 1912 control was transferred to Shi Liangcai
Shi Liangcai
Shi Liangcai was a Chinese journalist best known for his ownership of Shen Bao and for his murder at the hands of Chiang Kai-shek's henchmen.Shi was born in Qingpu, now part of Shanghai...
. "In the 1930s, Shi was a strong supporter of the Human Rights Defence Alliance established by Madam Soong Qing Ling
Soong Ching-ling
Soong Ching-ling , also known as Madame Sun Yat-sen, was one of the three Soong sisters—who, along with their husbands, were amongst China's most significant political figures of the early 20th century. She was the Vice Chairman of the People's Republic of China...
, the second wife of revolutionary leader Dr Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen
Sun Yat-sen was a Chinese doctor, revolutionary and political leader. As the foremost pioneer of Nationalist China, Sun is frequently referred to as the "Father of the Nation" , a view agreed upon by both the People's Republic of China and the Republic of China...
, with Cai Yuanpei
Cai Yuanpei
Cai Yuanpei was a Chinese educator and the president of Peking University. He was known for his critical evaluation of the Chinese culture that led to the influential May Fourth Movement...
and Lu Xun
Lu Xun
Lu Xun or Lu Hsün , was the pen name of Zhou Shuren , one of the major Chinese writers of the 20th century. Considered by many to be the leading figure of modern Chinese literature, he wrote in baihua as well as classical Chinese...
."
In 1934, the newspaper "incurred the government's anger because of its strong anti-Japanese attitude. On November 13, Shih Liang-ts'ai
Shi Liangcai
Shi Liangcai was a Chinese journalist best known for his ownership of Shen Bao and for his murder at the hands of Chiang Kai-shek's henchmen.Shi was born in Qingpu, now part of Shanghai...
, its owner and editor-in-chief, was mysteriously assassinated on the Shanghai-Hangchow Highway"; responsibility for his murder has been laid at the feet of the Bureau of Investigation and Statistics
Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau is a criminal-investigation and counter-intelligence agency of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of China. The agency is run by the Director General which is accountable to the cabinet level minister, Minister of Justice.- History :The Bureau of...
, Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek
Chiang Kai-shek was a political and military leader of 20th century China. He is known as Jiǎng Jièshí or Jiǎng Zhōngzhèng in Mandarin....
's much-feared secret police. In 1938, with the city under Japanese control
Battle of Shanghai
The Battle of Shanghai, known in Chinese as Battle of Songhu, was the first of the twenty-two major engagements fought between the National Revolutionary Army of the Republic of China and the Imperial Japanese Army of the Empire of Japan during the Second Sino-Japanese War...
, Norwood Francis Allman (1893-1987), an American lawyer who had been U.S. Consul in Shanghai in the early 1920s, was asked by the paper's Chinese owners to take over as editor; Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
wrote in 1940: "A fluent Chinese linguist, Allman reads every story that goes into Shun Pao, writes editorials, corrects editorials written by staff members. He serves without pay." The paper was on bad terms with the Japanese, and in 1940 a Chinese assistant editor was killed and his head left on the street as a warning to journalists. During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the paper passed into the hands of collaborators with the Japanese occupation, but after the war Pan Gongzhan, an influential Kuomintang party official who had been an editor on the paper in the late 1920s, became its publisher and Chen Shunyü its chief editor. In May 1949, when the People's Liberation Army
People's Liberation Army
The People's Liberation Army is the unified military organization of all land, sea, strategic missile and air forces of the People's Republic of China. The PLA was established on August 1, 1927 — celebrated annually as "PLA Day" — as the military arm of the Communist Party of China...
took Shanghai, the newspaper was shut down.
There is a complete collection of the paper's issues in the Shanghai Library
Shanghai Library
Shanghai Library is the second largest library in China after the National Library of China in Beijing. It is located in Shanghai, China. At 24 stories and 348 feet tall, it is the tallest library in the world...
.
External links
- ICON (International Coalition on Newspapers) listing