| “The Young Companion” Pictorial is the first large-scale comprehensive news pictorial in the history of modern press and publication in China.Meanwhile,it has possessed a super wide range of contents and themes,along with extends to politics,economy,military,literature and art,film and television,sports and so on,whether they are at home and abroad.Therefore,as a neighbor across the sea from China along with the China's failure in the China-Japanese War in July 1894,and develop the strength of Japan after the Meiji Restoration,as well as other factors had made China begin to pay more attention to the existence of Japan,thus “The Young Companion”also realized that the need of concern for Japan from the beginning of the initial issue.Therefore,“The Young Companion” pictorial presented its Japanese image to the readers at that time.Through the concept and practice of newspaper-runners,which is under the complex and changeable international background of China-Japanese relations at that time.In the early eras of its publication,“The Young Companion” mainly focused on cultural entertainment and paid more attention to the local conditions along with customs of Japan,thus describing Japan as an "exotic" city which is different from China.It is worth noting that,the outbreak of the "Jinan Massacre" has made the editors of “The Young Companion” focus on Japan's powerful strength once again,as well as its expanding ambitions.Besides,they need to take more precautions against the Japan,and they also need to regard Japan as a "other person" for learning.The authors of “The Young Companion”hope to reflect on themselves in this way.Therefore,Japan is shaped by “The Young Companion” as a blend of Japanese traditional memory that can be said to be a other person and the image of Japan is forced into Chinese lives at this time.Meanwhile,it can be seen that in the early days of Daily-related reports in“The Young Companion”,where appeared a modern mode of communication.Moreover,it also hoped that readers would pay more attention to the modernization of Japan and other powerful countries in the West.With the outbreak of the September 18 th Incident,Japan began to invade China.At the same time,the transformation of China-Japanese relations and the sense of responsibility for the intellectuals,which has naturally lead to the change of the attitude of “The Young Companion” towards Japan.Through news reports,literary works,art and entertainment sections,it has shaped the image of "aggressor" of Japan from various angles,hoping to stimulate the national consciousness of the people and mobilize the anti-Japanese sentiment of the people.Thus at this time,“The Young Companion” has changed with the view of historical context,and has turned to the "nation-state" mode of communication,along with the anti-Japanese and national salvation movement has become the core of this period in people's view.At the same time,when people compare “The Young Companion” with the influential newspapers in different horizons,people can find that the outbreak of the September18 th Incident has led to the intensification of the coverage for the most Chinese newspapers and periodicals.Although the ways of reporting are different,they have described and portrayed Japan as an "aggressor" in general.Therefore,the image of Japan depicted in “The Young Companion” has become not only a single image,but also closely related to the international environment at that time,as well as experienced a specific complex process of gradual change.Moreover,the study of the "image of Japan" constructed by the “The Young Companion”pictorial newspaper in this sense,which can not only scan a section of the image of Japan in the first half of the twentieth century,but also dialyses the evolution of the relationship between China and Japan through this aspect.At the same time,it can also play a comparative and reference role for the current study of Japan. |
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