Japan's Culturalization From The Chinese Perspectives:Reportage Of The Chinese Mail (1872?1874)

Japan's Culturalization(Bunmei Kaika)refers to the social trends or thoughts in the early years of Meiji Era(1872?1874)which is characterized by the country's absorption of Western European civilization in various fields.After the signing of Sino-Japanese Amendment Regulations in 1871,an increasing number of Chinese envoys and literati left for Japan,where they recorded the civilized aspects of the Japan's society.In the meanwhile,information dissemination had been boosted by the emergence of newspapers with stronger dissemination abilities during this period.This paper focuses on the reportage in early Chinese newspapers about the various fields in the Japanese society during the climax period of Culturalization(1873-1875).It is generally believed that it is the First Sino-Japanese War that changes the Chinese attitude of Japan as a "tiny state".But in fact,in the early days after the emergence of Japan's Culturalization,there had already been an attitude change showed by some Chinese people of insight.As the second Chinese newspaper run by the Chinese,The China Mail was founded in 1872,a year that happened to fall on the climax period of Japan's Culturalization.In the column named "Home and Abroad News" were a large number of reports concerning Japan.Exhibited the perspective on Japan of the Chinese people during that period,this newspaper can be regarded as important historical materials on how the Chinese in the 1 870s disseminated the facts about Japan's Culturalization through newspaper.Based on Denis Mc Quail's Media and Social Theory and Cross-cultural Research Theory,this paper analyzes the newspaper's reportage on and attitudes towards the changes in different fields of Japan through the accessible reports in the newspaper that fall on the climax period of the country's Culturalization.Furthermore,the paper also analyzes the reasons why the newspaper chose to report on those changes from the social situations of both Hong Kong and China at that time.At last,the study analyzes the newspaper's impact on the social development of modern China by comparing with the travel notes,poems and other materials of the scholars or diplomats in Japan during the same period.The Prologue discusses the need for the study,related studies,the reportage materials to be studied,the study methods and the structure of this paper.Based on the previous literature,this part states the research value of the reportage of The China Mail on Japan's Culturalization.Chapter ? serves as the introduction of the paper.This chapter sorts out the historical background of both The China Mail and its editors.In terms of reportage proportion,the contents relating to Japan,among others,had risen to the first place since 1873 from the second in the overseas news reports.Among the Japan-related reports,the contents pertaining to the country's Culturalization accounted for the largest part and were of multiple sources and of timeliness.From Chapter ? to ?,the paper specifically focuses on the following three parts from the perspectives of economy,politics,and social life,namely,Japan's changes in the financial industry,the political and diplomatic activities resulting from Emperor Meiji's demonstration of supporting the Culturalization,and the emerged differences of the policies of cross-border study and the social customs in China and Japan due to the influences of "Western Objects".The fifth chapter analyzes the uniqueness in the perspective of The China Mail on Japan's Culturalization and the newspaper's influences on the modern China.Through comparing with the travel notes and other records of the then celebrities who were in Japan,it can be seen that the news report of The China Mail on finance,the Emperor's activities,education reform,and hospital sanitation more relatively more innovative among other information sources and provided its readers with new information on the Meiji Restoration.In the meantime,through evaluations of the changes in different fields of the Japanese society,the newspaper also had a subtle influence on social reforms of the late Qing Dynasty in economics,politics,medical care and education.Through the deduction and analyses above,it can be seen that The China Mail lay the foundation of the early Chinese newspaper industry,and that the Japanese-related reports in the newspaper had an impact on the contact between the cultures of China and Japan.The mission,editorial principles,content classification and layout design of The China Mail provided a model for the establishment of early Chinese newspapers.The newspaper's report Japan's Culturalization broadened the horizon of the readers of that time and provided them with a plural perspective to understand and accept the spread of foreign cultures,through which the cultural exchanges of China and the Western has been promoted.