An independent press?

The life of a Christian journalist in China is not easy. The Maoist regime demanded total obedience. Some opportunities emerged in recent decades, but the past several years have brought a new crackdown. A History of Journalism in China, volume 1, edited by Fang Hanqi (Silkroad Press, 2013) shows that freedom has been rare throughout Chinese history.

China had news written on bones or rocks more than 2,000 years ago: King Xuan’s death in 782 B.C., the murder of Wang Hai, the political successes of Qin Shi Huang in 219 B.C. The earliest newspaper in world history, the Kaiyuan Gazette, appeared between A.D. 713 and 742. Others during the Tang and Song dynasties (A.D. 618-1279) also presented only good news from the imperial standpoint: Nothing about mutinies and peasant uprisings. Floods, droughts, and locust plagues also went unreported because these signs of heaven’s disappointment could weaken the emperor.

During the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644) every Chinese province had a provincial courier officer whose task was to transmit military news and distribute imperial gazettes and notices that contained edicts, news of appointments, imperial examination results, punishments and imprisonments, and attempts to fight corruption such as the “Ban on Acceptance of Advantages,” the “Ban on Fixed Rice Price,” and the “Ban on Revenge.”

Freedom of the press? No: Penalties were severe for “giving inappropriate comments on current affairs, writing misleading books, spreading fallacies,” and passing along any information the emperor deemed secret. The emperor’s office could publish notices on big sheets of yellow paper, but all others had to use a lesser size of white paper. When peasants rebelled, they could not afford to produce newspapers; but they reported on wooden boards and bamboo pieces war news and political declarations. During the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), China’s last, a literary inquisition sometimes sentenced to death those who referred negatively to rulers.