Shun Pao And Modernization Process Of Chinese Art In The Field Of Communication (1872—1937)

The general character of Chinese art in the 20th century is its modernization with the development of Chinese society. Thus it has always been a hot topic for study. However, most of the researches focused on the perspective of art only. From the view of communication, this article chooses Shun Pao as an example to analyze how it motivated the change of the social function and cultural value of Chinese art as a mass media in the process of modernization of Chinese art to rebuild the art function and eventually modernize Chinese art.Shun Pao is famous for its long duration, rich content and great influence with a history of almost eighty years and there is no one Chinese newspaper which can be compared with it. It has experienced the greatest reform of politics, economy, society and culture in China. With the founders like Shi Liangcai, Shao Piaoping, Zhou Shoujuan and Zhu Yingpeng, Shun Pao built various supplements and columns to influence and involve in the fields of politics, economy, military, literature, art etc. As for art, Shun Pao has been spreading and concerning about various new modern art exhibitions and art societies since its foundation. Additionally, it created a supplement called Art World which aimed at broadcasting western art knowledge. It created Dianshizhai Pictorial, supported various commercial art and selected cartoons which can reflect life of ordinary people. All of these can prove Shun Pao’s contribution for the popularization of art. Thus we can make a conclusion that Shun Pao plays a crucial part in motivating the modernization of Chinese art.