The Liminal Landscape: The Reception of Western Press Freedom in Late Imperial China

Abstract

The concept of “freedom of the press” has been an essential conceptual tool used across disciplines which has enabled Chinese people to participate discursively in politics since the late nineteenth century. As an alien concept transplanted into China, the introduction and reception of this concept into the Chinese historical context reflects China’s encounter with the Enlightenment and the global discourse of transcultural knowledge transference in modern history. Adopting a historical approach, this article examines primary archival sources in an effort to understand the transcultural travelling of the Western concept of “freedom of the press” in modern China. It describes how the idea was introduced into late imperial China from European and Japanese origins. By contextualising the introduction and reception of this concept in Chinese history, this article further analyses the cultural factors that exerted influences on Chinese understandings and interpretations of this concept at the turn of the twentieth century. It also argues that the legacy of this liminal landscape continues to have an impact on China’s press freedom in the twentieth century and beyond.

KEYWORDS:

• freedom of the press
• freedom of speech
• history
• culture
• China
• Western Enlightenment

Notes

1 See Sun Baoxuan’s diary (4 April 1897, 12 July 1897, 13 March 1901, and 20 April 1901).

2 This saying came from the Confucian scripture “Lun Yu”. See Thierry Meynard (2015, 425).

3 This saying came from the Chinese classic “Zuo Zhuan”, published in circa B.C.E. 320 to B.C.E 296.

4 This polemic exemplified by debates between conservative scholar-officials and radical revolutionaries. See Song Jiaoren’s diary (27 August 1905, 17 January 1906, and 28 May 1907).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Yi Guo

Yi Guo (corresponding author) is Assistant Professor at the School of Journalism, Chongqing University, China. He is also an Honorary Associate Member of the Centre for Media History at Macquarie University, Australia.