The Study Of The Hot Topics And The Shaping Of The Public Opinion Of The War Against China On North China Herald During Second Opium War(1856-1860)

At the end of the late Qing Dynasty in the 19th century,modern newspapers gradually emerged in China,which not only recorded the great changes of this era,but also affected the development of the society.During this time,The North China Herald,founded by the British,is one of the longest-existent and most influential English newspaper in China in modern history,which makes it possesses important research value.Judging from the existing researches,the current research on The North China Herald is relatively small in number,and the papers on the relationship between this newspaper and the Second Opium War from the angle of journalism and communication are also rare.Therefore,the purpose of this article is to conduct an in-depth study of The North China Herald.With the Second Opium War as the background,we will study the newspaper's hot reports and comments during the war from the field of public opinion in modern China.As the "British official newspaper",The North China Herald carried out a large number of continuous and detailed reports on the Second Opium War.During the different phases of the war,The North China Herald focused on the "Arrow Event","the Fall of Canton" and"the Capture of Harry.S.Parkes".After the outbreak of the Arrow Event,The North China Herald created a lot of hot topics by declaring its position,following up the events and publishing editorials and letters from readers.This triggered heated discussion among the readers,guided the public opinion,and provided an excuse for the use of force in China for the British military.After the Fall of Canton,The North China Herald targeted the defeat of the Qing army and the arrest of Qing officials.It shaped a large number of negative images of China and guided the readers to form negative attitudes toward China.Also,it detailed the history of Sino-British diplomacy in order to create an atmosphere of public opinion for the revision of the treaties with Qing government in the next step.At the end of the Second Opium War,the Capture of Harry Parkes caused an acute increase in the hostility to China of The North China Herald.The newspaper published a large number of articles and comments on China's national character and publicly called for tougher measures against China.On the whole,The North China Herald created the public opinion about the Second Opium War in two ways.For one thing,it created reportable hotspots to attract readers'attention.For the other,it reshaped reader's impression on China by publishing certain reports and reviews related to war and encourage the readers to participate in the discussion.In terms of creating hotspots,The North China Herald chose certain news facts and comments,edited relevant topics in prominent column positions,and at the same time strengthened the exposure of the issues through increasing the number of the reports.In terms of the content of the public opinion,The North China Herald persuaded the readers to agree with its standpoint by citing plenty of historical materials and official information in its reports and articles.It also used provocative words to arouse readers' negative emotions and change their attitudes toward China.