PROTESTANT MISSIONARY PUBLISHING AND THE BIRTH OF CHINESE ELITE JOURNALISM

ISSN： 1469-9699

Source： Journalism Studies, Vol.8, Iss.6, 2007-12, pp. : 879-897

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Abstract

The article attempts to trace the development of Protestant missionary publishing in 19th-century China, the considerable impact this had on the elite group of Chinese scholars and how this influence gave rise to modern Chinese “elite” journalism. It focuses particularly on the case of Wanguo Gongbao, the most influential Protestant periodical in the 19th century. Through examining Wanguo Gongbao's secular content, the article demonstrates l iberal Protestant journalists’ broad social, political and cultural concerns and their aim to influence the Chinese literati. Following this, the periodical's connections with the emergent political press—XunHuan Daily edited by Wang Tao, Shiwu Bao by Liang Qichao—are explored to reveal the guiding role of Wanguo Gongbao on Chinese elite journalism. The rapid spread of such independent newspapers associated with the reform movement at the end of the 19th century is described. The paper concludes with a critical analysis of the Protestant press as one significant source of the contemporary context of Chinese journalistic culture and the lessons this may hold for us.