| The growth of communications media significantly promotes reform in terms of the world’s politics,economy,and culture,etc.As the dominant communications media in Modern China,newspapers and periodicals not only make and lead the public opinions but also reflect and expand the opinions.After modern newspapers and periodicals were introduced into China,they began to participate in the frontier crises by different degrees.To sort out how newspapers and periodicals participated in the process of intervening in the frontier crisis is helpful to explore how newspapers and periodicals influence the history of modern China,from which we can see how the media promotes the social reform of modern China.This study is carried out through two main lines.First,based on the development of newspapers and periodicals as the mainline,this study chooses the typical frontier crisis events,which happened in the southwest of Modern China to systematically investigate newspapers and periodicals how to report and participate in the events,analyzing the direction changes of frontier crises’ public opinions in different periods.Second,this study explores characteristics of process and stage of the public opinions’ participation and wisdom of applying media by different groups in different stages.The following conclusions can be drawn from the participation of newspapers and periodicals in the Sino-French war,the Pienma Incident,and the Panhong Incident:First,it is believed that the localization of Modern newspapers and periodicals in China underwent the process from plebification to the weapon of motivating reform and revolution to enlighten the public wisdom.From the "Sino-French War" to "Pienma Incident" and then to "Panhong Incident," newspapers and periodicals in the process of gradual growth and maturity strengthened the influence on the frontier crises.In a different political environment,the directions of public opinions on the frontier crises are different.Second,the role of newspapers and periodicals has a big difference in various frontier crises.In the Sino-French war,the role of the Western newspaper dominated.Specifically,the western newspapers and periodicals are the channels to obtain western information for China’s government and the role of diplomatic negotiation and potential social mobilization;for french government,they are the crucial media to begin social mobilization in the country and political propaganda as well as get information of other countries and public opinions’ game.In the Pienma Incident,the public newspaper and periodicals in coastal areas played a vital role.Through the report and interpretation of the Pienma Incident,the crises of the little niche changed into the crises related to the nation’s survival.In the course of the spread of the Banning incident,the people of Yunnan under newspapers strongly appealed to make the government and the people focus on and attach importance to the event.With the help of domestic newspapers,the Banhong incident evolved from a dispute over mineral resources to a dispute over national defense.Third,the development of newspapers and periodicals provides an essential platform with the public to participate in the frontier crises.The growth of newspapers and periodicals changes China’s conventional ways of political participation.The intellectuals can express their political opinions and appeals through newspapers and periodicals.From the process of public opinions’ participation in the Sino-French War,Pienma Incident,and the Panhong incident,we can see the change of public participation in the events.In the Sino-French War,people from the frontier areas were restricted by disseminating information,and their reaction to the event was almost impossible to investigate.When Pienma Incident broke out,the governor of Yunnan-Guizhou province and the Advisory Council Bureau of Yunnan Province sent messages to the governor-general and provincial advisory Council bureaus,respectively,on the government to pay attention to the Pienma Incident.When Panhong Incident broke out,Wa ethnic group,gentry and intellectuals,and other groups expressed their views and political suggestions through newspapers,organized diplomatic support meetings of each level,and appealed to the events.The participation of public opinions in the Sino-French War,Pienma Incident and the Panhong Incident reflects the process of the influence of the people in the border areas on the border crisis events from the weak part to the strong part.Forth,the development of newspapers and periodicals brings new challenges to deal with frontier crises for the government.Since modern times,the development of western newspapers and periodicals has changed in China and has the mode of information transmission reformed.Dealing with the frontier crises is no longer limited to the central government and the local government.When the Sino-French War broke out,the national newspapers and periodicals were in a difficult starting stage,and the pressure of public opinions on the Qing government was limited.By the end of the 20 th century,public newspaper and periodicals had proliferated,and political participation had reached an unprecedented level.The development and maturity of the newspapers,periodicals,and media transform the traditional power mode in China,which brings new influencing factors for the government to deal with the crises in the frontier areas.At the same time,with the deepening understanding of the importance of newspapers and periodicals,the government also began to use the power of public opinion,such as the use of newspapers and periodicals to mobilize the country and to negotiate with western countries through domestic public opinion,which brought positive influence for the government to deal with the frontier crisis.Fifthly,the participation of newspapers,periodicals,and media in the frontier crises is also a process of cultivating and solidifying the concept of "country" and "region." Western countries deconstruction of China’s original vassal system and encroachment on China’s frontier territories stimulated the government’s emergence and the people’s sense of worry.In the previous crises of southwestern frontier areas,the intellectuals continually emphasized the coexistence of regions,the frontier areas,and countries.With the help of propagation and education of newspapers,periodicals and media,ideas are deeply rooted in the hearts of people and have made important contributions to the security and unification of the border areas of the country. |
