The Urban Narrative Mode Of The World Pictorial

In the short time after the Gengzi incident there was an increase in the running of schools and newspapers among average Chinese citizens.Many new types of schools in Beijing developed and grew rapidly.With the development of these new schools and newspapers Beijing pictorials began to gradually develop and throughout 1928-1937 these pictorials grew rapidly in popularity.Among these pictorials World Pictorial benefitted from the rapid modernization of China that occured in the 1920's and 1930's.World Pictorial stood out in the pictorial industry of Beiping due to its professional layout and well thought out marketing strategy.World Pictorial has been published for 11 years with a total 607 issues being published making it the first pictorial in Northern China.World Pictorial is currently the longest running pictorial in publication as well as the pictorial with the greatest number of issues published.With a strong emphasis on professional journalism,the World Pictorial has developed a historical pictorial record of Beiping which has been primarily composed of images showing the continuous development of technology,the landscape,the people,and the city.World Pictorial not only records the important information regarding the development and changes occuring in Beiping as a city but also pays attention to the continuously developing urban culture found in Beiping.Within this thesis I will cover the historical development of the Beijing pictorial industry from 1902 until 1949.I believe this thesis will shine a light on the rarely talked about the rarely talked about Northern Chinese pictorial industry.With the goal of understanding the history of the Beijing pictorial industry this thesis will focus on the development of Beiping pictorials and the influence that these pictorials have played on the culture of the city.This thesis will also examine the rapidly growing popularity of pictorials that occurred between the years of 1928-1937.Pictorials are an excellent subject for cultural research because of their unique insight into the culture,landscape,and people of a city.Looking at the influence that World Pictorial has had,this thesis will discuss the cultural snapshot displayed by World Pictorial from the perspective of the media.On June 20 th,1928 Beijing lost its status as the capital of China;a status that previously went uninterrupted for hundreds of years.The "ten years of Beiping" between 1928 until 1937 were an important transformational period for Beiping shifting it from a political center into a modern city in terms of both urban performance and the impression of the people at that time.In the past ten years the World Pictorial has paid close attention to the ever changing urban culture of Beiping recording the historical transformation of the urban culture of Beiping.Therefore this thesis aims to show the cultural tension depicted by the World Pictorial from the context of the urban culture in Beiping.This thesis will also examine the influence that mass media has played on the social changes of the city.These changes are significant and offer valuable opportunities for research.World Pictorial provides a unique insight into the urban culture of Beiping.World Pictorial showed citizens from all walks of life from celebrities,educators,students,and ordinary citizens as well.Regardless of social class or income,all forms of entertainment from theaters,temple fairs,to modern types of entertainment such as movie theaters or parks existed together;old and new,a blending of Chinese tradition and Western influence side by side in the city of Beiping.World Pictorial as the production medium of urban culture,freely walks through various cultural dimensions in various art forms such as photography,painting,comics,etc.Whether it is the eastward spread of western art,or the gradual improvement of traditional culture,both provide us with a unique perspective on art,constructing an urban space that is both elegant and secular.In addition,World Pictorial pays close attention to female images,fully demonstrates the life of urban women at the time through the communication method with pictures and texts,pushes women groups to a platform with high-density discourse,and creates a beautiful,fashionable,independent modern female image.Through detailed narrative reconstruction of the pictorial,we can see the tolerance and acceptance of World Pictorial for many contradictory concepts.The elements of "traditional" and "modern","native" and "foreign" are integrated in it,but being relatively independent at the same time.This thesis explores in depth the significant power that World Pictorial utilized in documenting the daily lives of citizens,entertainment,and art.World Pictorial was also influential in depicting modern females and explores the influence that pictorials had to Beiping urban culture.From the perspective of the media this thesis will also discuss the crossroads of urban development and transformation in Beiping.It can be said that World Pictorial opened a window for the public to better understand urban life while subtlety promoting the development and changes in the lifestyle,ideology,and mentality of urban citizens.This process also imagines,develops and presents an interwoven view between media and the historical reality of modern society in Beiping to the greatest extent possible.