On The Coverage Of Foreign Reports By Dian Shi Zhai Pictorial

First issued in 1884, Dian Shi Zhai Pictorial is considered as the earliest pictorial in China when measured against the three standards of a pictorial, i.e. news, timeliness, and extensive illustrations. Published once every ten days, each issue of the Pictorial contained 8 pieces of illustrated news. When it ceased publication in 1898, a total of 4665 illustrations had been published and accompanying descriptions exceeded 1.2 million Chinese characters, amounting to a huge illustrated database. These illustrations left behind a detailed depiction of the different facets of the late Qing society, covering politics, military affairs, latest development of foreign science and technology, and urban sidelights. Vividly reproducing the integration of traditional and modern cultures and the Chinese and foreign cultures, the Pictorial was truly an encyclopedia of the late Qing society and of great significance for the study of that period of history. It ushered in a new age of lithographic printing in China and would exert a considerable influence on the development of lithographic pictorials at the end of Qing Dynasty. Moreover, it would exert an even greater influence on newspapers in late Qing Dynasty when it came to release cycles, distribution channels, illustrative styles and other aspects, making it a very important source of information for the study of the history of the press in late Qing Dynasty.This paper studies foreign reports. Dian Shi Zhai Pictorial devoted over one third of its space to foreign figures and occurrences. This was partly due to the fact that China was eagerly learning new knowledge from other parts of the world, popularizing science, and enlightening its citizens and partly the fact that it was mainly issued in Shanghai. Late Qing Dynasty was a very special historical period. Invasive wars opened China’s door to Western cultures and Shanghai, harboring so many foreign settlements, naturally became the main channel for foreign cultures to enter China. Moreover, as a city of immigrants, Shanghai had a complex demographic and cultural structure, making Shanghai residents more curious about and tolerant of foreign cultures and ensuring an open and progressive attitude.People at that time greatly admired advanced Western polities and the convenience brought by technologies. However, they naturally resisted foreign invaders and the culture brought by them. Such an ambivalent attitude was reflected in the coverage of foreign reports by the Pictorial. With distinctive characteristics of the times, such reports reflected the clashes, confrontations, and integrations between China and the West in political, military, and folk cultural areas.This paper analyzes the coverage of foreign reports by Dian Shi Zhai Pictorial from four aspects, i.e. content, editing features, painting techniques, and presentation of foreigners. In terms of the content, the foreign reports covered by the Pictorial could be divided into four groups, namely, diplomacy/government, military affairs/defense, technology/medicine, and culture/entertainment. From them, we could feel the ambivalent attitude of people at that time towards foreign cultures. They also reflected the complex emotions and attitudes of citizens of the late Qing Dynasty who were faced with the shock of Western cultures and things.As an illustration-based pictorial, Dian Shi Zhai experienced constant evolutions of painting techniques in its coverage of news, especially foreign reports. The first issues followed traditional Chinese painting techniques in picture compositions and strokes. Later it gradually introduced Western painting techniques, mainly reflected in the use of focus stenography for the overall composition and the employment of light and shade to indicate the space. While adopting innovative techniques, artists never forgot the viewing habits of people at that time. Traditional painting techniques were still used to depict the vast majority of Chinese figures and buildings, forming a unique artistic style featuring the integration of Chinese and Western painting techniques. In the illustrations of the Pictorial, foreign figures were quietly experiencing changes as well. In the beginning, all foreigners looked the same and wore the same clothes. Later, readers could clearly tell different nationalities and races. More colors and styles were applied to Western clothes and distinctively Western check patterns were used to depict the fabric. This reflected the transition from the simplistic and stereotyped presentation of foreigners to concrete images as well as the strengthened vividness of illustrations in the Pictorial.