''Dibao'' (), literally "reports from the fficialresidences", were a type of publications issued by central and local governments in imperial

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

, which was the only official government newspaper published by the ancient Chinese central government in different dynasties.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. ‘''Dibao''’ is a general term to describe the ancient Chinese gazette. Historically, there were different types of names used to describe ''Dibao'' in different dynasties among the imperial Chinese history.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. While closest in form and function to

gazette A gazette is an official journal, a newspaper of record, or simply a newspaper. In English and French speaking countries, newspaper publishers have applied the name ''Gazette'' since the 17th century; today, numerous weekly and daily newspaper ...

s in the

Western world The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.

, they have also been called "palace reports" or "imperial bulletins". Different sources place ''Dibao'''s first publication as early as the

Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...

(206 BCE–220 CE), which would make ''Dibao'' amongst the earliest

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, spor ...

s in the world, or as late as the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

(June 18, 618–June 4, 907) according to the earliest verified and proved Dibao with historical relics. Dibao was continuously published among different imperial dynasties until the last imperial emperor in the

Qing Dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, ''

Puyi Aisin-Gioro Puyi (; 7 February 1906 – 17 October 1967), courtesy name Yaozhi (曜之), was the last emperor of China as the eleventh and final Qing dynasty monarch. He became emperor at the age of two in 1908, but was forced to abdicate on 1 ...

'', abdicated in 1912. ''Dibao'' contained official political edicts, announcements, and news from the Chinese imperial central government or local governments,Irving Fang, ''A History of Mass Communication: Six Information Revolutions'', Focal Press, 1997, p. 30 which would be delivered to inform both the central and local governments by messengers periodically and were intended to be seen only by

bureaucrats A bureaucrat is a member of a bureaucracy and can compose the administration of any organization of any size, although the term usually connotes someone within an institution of government. The term ''bureaucrat'' derives from "bureaucracy", w ...

(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 Printing is a process for mass reproducing text and images using a master form or template. The earliest non-paper products involving printing include cylinder seals and objects such as the Cyrus Cylinder and the Cylinders of Nabonidus. The ...

they were hand-written or printed with engraved wooden blocks. 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 Autumn, also known as fall in American English and Canadian English, is one of the four temperate seasons on Earth. Outside the tropics, autumn marks the transition from summer to winter, in September (Northern Hemisphere) or March ( Southe ...

of the

in 1911. The gazettes from Beijing at this time were known as ''Jingbao'' (京報), literally "reports from the capital".

Historical Origin and the Controversy

There are two main origin theories of ''Dibao'': the

origin theory and the

origin theory. Han dynasty Kingdoms 195 BC

Han Dynasty Origin theory

At the beginning of the

, the Jun-Xian system (郡縣制) from the

Qin Dynasty The Qin dynasty ( ; zh, c=秦朝, p=Qín cháo, w=), or Ch'in dynasty in Wade–Giles romanization ( zh, c=, p=, w=Ch'in ch'ao), was the first dynasty of Imperial China. Named for its heartland in Qin state (modern Gansu and Shaanxi), ...

was implemented to govern the country. The Jun-Xian system is a county system that divided the country into 100 Juns and 1400 Xians, which were the subnational governments that owned the right of autonomy to govern the local issues.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 Under the Jun-Xian system, the county governments were required to report the local affairs to the central government and receive the edicts and political decisions from the central government, which took much time to deliver and receive the information. ''Di'' (邸), which literally means the ‘subnational government officers’ residence in the

capital Capital may refer to: Common uses * Capital city, a municipality of primary status ** List of national capital cities * Capital letter, an upper-case letter Economics and social sciences * Capital (economics), the durable produced goods used fo ...

’, was instituted to solve the intelligence transmission issues and made it more efficient for the Jun-Xian system. Although ''Di'' was instituted in the

, it was not an official administrative department in the ancient

Chinese political system The People's Republic of China is run by a single party, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), headed by the CCP General Secretary who tends to be the paramount leader of China. China is among few contemporary party-led dictatorships to not hol ...

because ''Di'' was founded by county governments without the official permission from the central government. ''Di'' had two functions: to transmit the information, and provide food and accommodation for messengers. Messengers who came and stayed in ''Di'' would collect information from the central government, which was called ‘''Bao''’(報), and wrote it on the bamboo slips during the Western Han period, and afterwards on paper in the Eastern Han period. The information written on paper and transmitted from ''Di'' to the counties was called ‘''Dibao''’.

Tang Dynasty Origin theory and Origin controversy

Historians who support the

origin theory argue that the historical information about ''Dibao'' in the

had been recorded in several imperial historical texts among many dynasties. ''Xihan Huiya'' (西漢會要), literally ‘Institutional history of the

Western Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a war ...

', written by Xu Tianlin in the

Song Dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the res ...

, records the ''Dibao'' delivery situation in the

based on the detailed information about the Jun-Xian system, which is used as reliable evidence to prove the existence of ''Dibao'' in the

Historians who disagree with the

Origin theory argue that ''Xihan Huiya'', which is the only historical text that records ''Dibao'' in the

, is used as indirect historical text evidence rather than direct historical relics evidence to prove the existence of ''Dibao'' in the

. The earliest verified ''Dibao'' with historical text and relics was a Dibao called '' Kaiyuan Za Bao'' (開元雜報), which was published in the Kaiyuan period in the

during the 9th Century. In Chinese imperial historical, there were many recordings written in historical texts that were not completely correct and provable as they could be falsified by historians throughout different imperial dynasties with different political and historical purposes. Historians also doubt the societal and economic conditions in the

that if it was powerful enough to support the huge ''Dibao'' delivery system among 100 Juns and 1400 Xians because the continuous wars with the northern ''

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

'' (匈奴) nomadic nation continuously weakened the national strength of the Han Dynasty.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 https://doi.org/10.1177/0016549201063006001

Content

There was little alteration in the content of ''Dibao'' in imperial Chinese history since it was first published in the

. There were four main aspects of the ''Dibao'' content:

The daily life of the emperor

Under the influence of traditional Chinese ideology based on

Confucianism Confucianism, also known as Ruism or Ru classicism, is a system of thought and behavior originating in ancient China. Variously described as tradition, a philosophy, a Religious Confucianism, religion, a humanistic or rationalistic religion, ...

, it was significant for both the publisher and reader to know the speech and behaviour of the emperor because the emperor in

ancient China The earliest known written records of the history of China date from as early as 1250 BC, from the Shang dynasty (c. 1600–1046 BC), during the reign of king Wu Ding. Ancient historical texts such as the '' Book of Documents'' (early chapt ...

was regarded as the pivot of the whole empire, who played the most important role to govern the country.Quigley, H. (1923). The Political System of Imperial China. ''The American Political Science Review'', 17(4), 551-566. doi:10.2307/1943756 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.Mokros, E. (2016). ''Communication, Empire, and Authority in the Qing Gazette''. Retrieved from http://jhir.library.jhu.edu/handle/1774.2/40303 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''.

The significant edict, political decision, and decree

In the

, 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 A memorial to the throne () was an official communication to the Emperor of China. They were generally careful essays in Classical Chinese and their presentation was a formal affair directed by government officials. Submission of a memorial was a ...

(Chinese: Zouzhang/奏章). Memorials to the throne from the local government would be written carefully with the specific honorific format to transmit the information from different regions to the imperial court first, which will be discussed and selected by the imperial court, then transferred to the emperor to review. The memorial to the throne would be published on ''Dibao'' with the comments and decisions with the permission of the emperor. Memorials to the throne that were not allowed to publish on Dibao would be marked by the emperor as ‘''Liuzhong'' (留中)’, which literally means ‘leave in the palace’, because the content on it was not proper to publish on ''Dibao''.Man, Li. (2012). On Yuan Dynasty ‘Newspaper’: The existence of ‘Dibao’ and ‘Guanbao’ Reexamined. ''Journal of Song-Yuan Studies'', 42, 343-374. doi: https://doi.org/10.1353/sys.2013.0000 ''Kaiyuan Za'' ''bao'' records a memorial to the throne about a new type of grape brought from the western region in the Han Dynasty, which was marked as reviewed and commented with ‘boring’ by the emperor and not allowed to publish on Dibao. Some memorials to the throne were requested to ‘''Liuzhong''’ by the local government as they involved significant national secrets in political and military fields that could not be published to the public. Both the edicts and decisions published on ''Dibao'' were used as evidences for the imperial court and government officials to engage the government affairs.

The dynamic of the imperial court

The dynamic of the imperial court became the official content on ''Dibao'' in the

, where the emperor published the changes on the appointment and dismission of the government officials in the imperial court and the local governments. In the

, ''

Emperor Taizu of Song Emperor Taizu of Song (21 March 927 – 14 November 976), personal name Zhao Kuangyin, courtesy name Yuanlang, was the founder and first emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 960 until his death in 976. Formerly a distinguish ...

'' (宋太祖) and ''

Emperor Taizong of Song Zhao Jiong (20 November 939 – 8 May 997), known as Zhao Guangyi from 960 to 977 and Zhao Kuangyi before 960, also known by his temple name Taizong after his death, was the second emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 976 to h ...

'' (宋太宗) enacted the policy of emphasising literature and restricting military force (重文輕武) to further enlarge the power of the emperor and weaken the power of the military to prevent the military coup and consolidate the domination of the empire, which led to increasing occupation requirement and the fierce competition of the government officials in the imperial political system. With the rising political party movements and conflicts, the dynamic of the imperial court and the appointment and dismission of the government officials that published on ''Dibao'' gradually became the most significant information source for both the civil officials and military officers to know the occupation demand of the government, understand and analyse the political circumstance of the empire in the

. In the

Ming Dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

and the

, the content published on ''Dibao'' related to the dynamic of the imperial court was further divided into three essential parts : ''Gongmenchao'' (宮門鈔), ''Shangyu'' (上諭) and ''Zouzhang'' (奏章).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. ''Gongmenchao'', literally means ‘the paper in the palace’, involved the specific information about the imperial court and the appointment and dismission of the government officials, which would be discussed by the officials and selected by the emperor to publish on ''Dibao''. ''Zouzhang'', which is the

delivered to the emperor, would be selected, commented, then permitted by the emperor to publish on ''Dibao'' usually without the discussion with the government officials. ''Shangyu'', which literally means ‘the edict of the emperor’, was the decisions that the emperor made on the memorials to the throne, which usually were the praises, awards, and the appointment and dismission of the government officials.

The report of military and diplomacy

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 Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was the combination of the legal, economic, military, cultural and political customs that flourished in medieval Europe between the 9th and 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of structu ...

.Porter, J. (2016). ''Imperial China, 1350-1900''. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield 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. 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. Tang Fanzhen 820

Historical Development

Tang Dynasty

Both the historians who support the

origin theory and the

origin theory agree that ''Dibao'' was developed in the

and started to form a stable delivery system between the local government and the central government. In the

, ''

Fanzhen ''Fanzhen'' (), also called ''fangzhen'' (), was a governmental system involving administration through regional governors (''jiedushi''). The term ''fanzhen'' literally means "buffer town", and refers to the strategic settlement of troops in l ...

'' (藩鎮), literally means "buffer town", a governmental administration system through regional governors, was instituted to replace the Jun-Xian system.Hung, H. (2013). ''Li Shi Min, founding the Tang dynasty the strategies that made China the greatest empire in Asia''. New York: Algora Pub. The messengers from different Fanzhens collected the information related to the imperial court and those could be beneficial for their ''

s'', then wrote them on ''Dibao'' and delivered them to the ''

s''. ''Dibao'' in the

did not publish periodically and did not have fixed content with headings. The imperial court and the emperor did not review and restrict the content written on ''Dibao'' because it only represented the ''

'' governor, which was not the official gazette of the empire.

Song Dynasty

''Dibao'' became the official administrative department governed by the central government in the

, which was the earliest official gazette instituted directly by the central government in the feudal society. ''Dibao'' in the

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. In the

, 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 (重文輕武). The loss of the Northern Expedition war led by the ''emperor Ningzong of Song'' (宋寧宗) and the imperial military caused huge casualties, which ignited the anger of the public. A deep self-criticism written by the ''

emperor Ningzong of Song Emperor Ningzong of Song (19 November 1168 – 17 September 1224), personal name Zhao Kuo, was the 13th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the fourth emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He reigned from 1194 until his death in 1224. He ...

'' was published on ''Dibao'' and delivered to the local governments and shown to the public, which presented the good image of the emperor that aimed to quell the public anger, increase the military morale, and maintain the image of the ruling class.

Ming Dynasty

The social climate and the restriction on the ''Dibao'' in the

were not as strict as the

although it was still aimed to maintain feudal governance of the empire. Historians believe the subtle balance of the power between the emperor and the government officials was because the emperor in the

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 The Yuan dynasty (), officially the Great Yuan (; xng, , , literally "Great Yuan State"), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after its division. It was established by Kublai, the fif ...

. Unlike the ''Dibao'' in the

, the content published on ''Dibao'' in the

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. ''Dibao'' in the ''Wanli'' (萬曆) period in the

published numerous criticism and opposition on the decision that the ''

Wanli Emperor The Wanli Emperor (; 4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620), personal name Zhu Yijun (), was the 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1572 to 1620. "Wanli", the era name of his reign, literally means "ten thousand calendars". He was th ...

'' (明神宗/萬曆皇帝) planned to give the position of the crown prince to the son of imperial noble consort ''Zheng'' rather than the son of the empress, which against the imperial law and led to the strong dissatisfaction of the public opinion and the government officials that forced the ''

Wanli emperor The Wanli Emperor (; 4 September 1563 – 18 August 1620), personal name Zhu Yijun (), was the 14th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1572 to 1620. "Wanli", the era name of his reign, literally means "ten thousand calendars". He was th ...

'' to withdrawal his decision. In the 16th century before the establishment of the

, ''

Nurhaci Nurhaci (14 May 1559 – 30 September 1626), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Taizu of Qing (), was a Jurchen chieftain who rose to prominence in the late 16th century in Manchuria. A member of the House of Aisin-Gioro, he reigned ...

'' (努爾哈赤), the chieftain of

Manchuria Manchuria is an exonym (derived from the endo demonym " Manchu") for a historical and geographic region in Northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day Northeast China (Inner Manchuria) and parts of the Russian Far East (Outer M ...

who afterward became the first emperor in the

, dispatched many spies to buy ''Dibao'' in the

Ming empire The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last orthodox dynasty of China ruled by the Han peop ...

to collect the useful information due to high transparency it had.

Qing Dynasty

The emperor in the

became the editor in chief of ''Dibao'' who completely controlled and managed the imperial

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

and public opinion.Mittler, B. (2004). ''A Newspaper for China? Power, Identity, and Change in Shanghai’s News Media,1872-1912''. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Asia Centre. ''Dibao'' in the

still had the right to publish the criticism and opposition like the

, but they were all reviewed and selected by the emperor before publishing. '' Jingbao'' (''Peking Gazette''/京報), which literally means 'reports of the capital’, became one of the imperial gazettes to publish with ''Dibao'' at the same time.Harris, L. J. (2018). ''The Peking Gazette''. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. The content published on ''Jingbao'' only involved the edicts and decisions, which was used as Bulletin Board for the public and foreign ambassadors. The content published on other ''Dibao'' was also allowed to only involve the edicts and decisions, which would be also selected by the emperor that aimed to make the content on all ''Dibao'' become the same as ''Jingbao'' and controlled all content published on each ''Dibao'' to further control the public opinion and consolidate feudal governance. In the

, publishers who published the content without the permission of the emperor on ''Dibao'' would be sentenced because it was a crime.

References

External links

''Canadian Library Journal'', 1992 * Mitchell Stephens
History of Newspapers For Collier's Encyclopedia
{{Italic title History of ancient China Government gazettes Tang dynasty Han dynasty Song dynasty

Historical Origin and the Controversy

Han Dynasty Origin theory

Tang Dynasty Origin theory and Origin controversy

Content

The daily life of the emperor

The significant edict, political decision, and decree

The dynamic of the imperial court

The report of military and diplomacy

Historical Development

Tang Dynasty

Song Dynasty

Ming Dynasty

Qing Dynasty

See also

References

External links