Print the Province: Liansheng Zizhi and Hangzhou Newspapers in the Early 1920s

Abstract

On April 1, 1914, Zhijiang ribao (River Zhi Daily), one of Hangzhou'fs leading newspapers in early Republican China (1911-1949), celebrated its first anniversary. The daily'fs interest in covering national affairs was evident in one of its editorials: Although our newspaper is a regional one, [our] journalists'f outlooks transcend one area. Whatever we focus on is relevant to the current situation [in China]. The editorialist then proceeded to discuss banditry in Henan and political unrest in the Northwest, both of which, according to the editorial, were concerns of the daily. On Zhijiang ribao'fs tenth anniversary, by contrast, its editors felt compelled to exclusively serve readers in Zhejiang: In the past decade… Zhejiang was able to preserve its territory and narrowly escape the sufferings of wars. Our colleagues can therefore relish the chance to… [celebrate] this moment (the tenth anniversary).… From now on, we will do nothing but try our best not to let Zhejiang people down.… [Let'fs] rely on thirty million people in the province to build an ideal new Zhejiang.