Development of Chinese Newspapers (Term Paper Sample)

Development of Chinese Newspaper
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Development of Newspapers in China
China was largely a secluded country coming into the 17th century CITATION Bar04 \l 1033 (Mittler, 2004). The Chinese people believed they could fend for themselves, self-dependency. While the world was undergoing an industrial revolution, China was closing its borders to trade and Western Nations CITATION Bar04 \l 1033 (Mittler, 2004). However, in due time the Chinese were coarse into trade with the British and French, and this created the origins for the Chinese newspaper CITATION Bar04 \l 1033 (Mittler, 2004). 19th century China was riddled by political and economic turmoil. As such Chinese scholars and activists needed avenues to grievances of the people. Consequently, the Chinese newspaper was born. On the contrary, British newspapers developed from scholars need to expand their literary scope CITATION Dor84 \l 1033 (Thompson, 1984). In addition, British scholars and newspaper pioneers were trying to reduce the impact of the stamp act. The Stamp Act was an act of British parliament imposed tax duty in 1756 on newspapers and other legal documents in American colonies to exact revenue CITATION Dor84 \l 1033 (Thompson, 1984). However, the tax imposition eventually led to the fall of the British Empire in the Americas. China’s first newspaper was established by missionaries in the 18th century as a form spreading religion to many people CITATION Bar04 \l 1033 (Mittler, 2004). The purpose of this paper is to compare and contrast the development of newspapers in China and Britain.
There a peculiar difference between the growth of newspapers in China and Britain. As previously mentioned, newspapers in China were created to spread religion as a missionary organ. Over time, the newspaper (China Monthly Magazine) started focusing on critical society issues CITATION Bar04 \l 1033 (Mittler, 2004). The Canton Register, the first English- language newspaper in China was developed in 1827 CITATION Bar04 \l 1033 (Mittler, 2004). Also, the paper was followed by another English newspaper, the Canton Press in 1835. On the other hand according to the Chartist Press this was one of the foundations for the inception of the dominant British press CITATION Dor84 \l 1033 (Thompson, 1984). Newspapers and Journals of the 1830s like the Poor Man’s Guardian, the English Chartist Circular and Northern channeled radicalism through publishers CITATION Dor84 \l 1033 (Thompson, 1984). However, in similarity with the Chinese newspaper development, after the inception of the Stamp duty many newspapers in Britain focused on the adverse effects of the tax CITATION Dor84 \l 1033 (Thompson, 1984). China, on the other hand, was a different proposition. No newspapers were published in China before the 17th century; this might be due to the political situation in the country or low literacy levels. However, the 19 century brought about a significant and rapid growth of the press in China, especially newspapers. Newspapers like the North China Daily News and the Shanghai Xinbao were born during this particular period CITATION Bar04 \l 1033 (Mittler, 2004).
Initially during the 17th and 18th century when China was enforcing its seclusion laws the Western powers were determined to force China into trade to enjoy the riches of the country like silk CITATION Bar04 \l 1033 (Mittler, 2004). In the end war became the only way Nations of the world could force China to trade, China lost all these wars experiencing massive losses. Radicals and political leaders could not understand why China lost its wars and why how the Chinese social structure was changing to a semi-feudal and semi-colonial society CITATION Bar04 \l 1033 (Mittler, 2004). Consequently, newspapers developed as avenues to air grievances. It is important to note that after the development of the newspapers the...