Research On The Intellectuals And Media Criticism From The Late Qing Dynasty To The Early Republic Of China

Rare social upheavals happened on the late Qing Dynasty.The traditional “world”was experiencing disruptive change.The social order was collapsing.That forced ournation had to be looking for new spiritual way of life.Under the background,traditional intellectuals gradually tend to modern transformation.They boarded thestage of history and became an important force to promote social progress.At thattime,the western empire invaded,China sank into the situation of flux.With activeattitude,intellectuals participated in saving the nation by social movement.They foundadvanced western science,technology,nature with sensitive antennas and attempted toreform China’s political system,economic system and cultural system.They alsoparticipated in talking about politics revolution and criticism on social reality throughall sorts of social interaction,including criticism about media system,mediaphenomenon, media products,professional behavior and media culture.Modern mass media was growing up and created a prosperous period from thelate Qing Dynasty to the early Republic of China. However,it faced various problemsand challenges,and its social orientation was not clear,Therefore,new intellectualsstarted to emerge Media Criticism.Modern press and publishing provided a broadpublic platform and space for Media Criticism. Intellectuals fully recognized valueand function of the Press,they launched serious criticism about quality problems ofPublished works,the press behavior against occupational moral,media system trying tomuzzle freedom of speech,Cultural invasion from imperialist.In the continuousreflection and intervention for media reality,the modern Media Criticismgradually move towards independent,reason,and professional consciousness.Discursive practices of Media Criticism from emerging intellectuals not onlyfully demonstrated historical development path of modern Media Criticism,but also revealed the fresh and vivid age style and ideology color from the late Qing Dynastyto the early Republic of China.The paper saw through from the words to the thoughtof Media Criticism,found that the thought of Media Criticism not only influenced by“Writing Carry Doctrine”infiltration concept,but also influenced by the western Pressfreedom idea.It presented a fusion trend between Chinese criticism concept andWestern.Intellectuals pursued professional consciousness of criticism,also stressedpolitical orientation in “tool rationality”,it is contradictory,but the two kinds ofcontradictory consciousness was skillfully fused in together for historical mission of“save the nation from extinction”.According to the rich first-hand literature material,the paper sortes andinterpretes discursive practices of Media Criticism occurring from the late QingDynasty to the early Republic of China,tries to show clearly evolvement track andmakes a profound investigation to the era of connotation of the modern mediacriticism.Text is made up of six parts.The first chapter mainly provides support of theoryfor study by introducing related research background,methods and concepts.Thesecond chapter analyzes social background,media ecological environment,theintellectual’s ideological flowing deformation, and introduce platform and the externalcontext of Media Criticism from macroscopic perspective.The third chaptercomprehensivly sorts out discursive practices of Media Criticism in the period ofReform of qing, the1911Revolution,the May4th movement.On the one hand,thepaper shows major general view in breeding, infancy,self-consciousness preliminaryformation period,on the other hand, summarizes main features of the modern MediaCriticism in each time.The fourth chapter’s content adoptes case study method,chooses the intellectuals who is representative and interpret their discursive practicesof Media Criticism,so as to deeply understand the media criticism thought onintellectuals at that time.The fifth chapter grasps the whole text characteristic andthought characteristic on macroscopic angle,and analyzes the progress and limitationof modern Media Criticism. Epilogue part briefly discusses the different inheritancemode to the traditional of modern Media Criticism,probes into the profound influence of the thought and discursive practices of modern Media Criticism.Through thorough research to discursive practices of modern Media Criticism,we can find he modern intellectuals not only hold rational reflection and professionalspirit,also have traditional political feelings of “Speech salvation”.The fine traditionand care for the nation are provided with compatible open,independent enterprising,watch justice spirit,which is a precious historical wealth,worth contemporary mediacritics to learn,inherit and carry forward.