The Middle Class and Publishing Industry 02

作者：admin  点击次数：24  发布时间：2025-02-17

The conflict between journalists and bureaucrats over the divisiveness of constitutional reform and the weakening of central power escalated in the last days of the late Qing rule. When the court finally issued the much-anticipated resolution on official system reform on November 6, 1906, the founders of the Times realized that in fact, the government was using the illusion of constitutionalism to centralize economic and military power. This centralization measure was more clearly reflected in the Qing government's recovery of control over all regional railways, which was embodied in the great discussion of the Suzhou-Hangzhou-Ningbo Railway in 1907. When the royal family unilaterally decided to borrow money from Britain to complete the construction of the railway, the journalists accused the royal family of losing power and humiliating the country, criticized the government for blatantly abusing its power, and condemned the Qing court's actions to restrict the expression of public opinion and manipulate representatives of public opinion. They criticized the "Great Qing Newspaper Law" issued in January 1908 and the restrictions on freedom of speech imposed by the provisions of August 1908. The "Outline of the Constitution" gave the Qing court unique privileges in China's constitutionalism. When provincial assemblies were established in 1909 and the body of popular representation was formed, journalists criticized the government for limiting the powers of these new institutions.
The conflict between the representatives of the people and the centralization of power reached its peak in 1910-1911, and the opposition forces that had been gradually building up since 1906 provided more material for the newspapermen. In 1910, the government rejected the call of the Congressional Petition Movement for the immediate convening of the National Assembly. In May 1911, the calls of the Railway Protection Movement for greater autonomy and protection of China's national interests were ignored by the courts, and the Qing government announced that all railways would be nationalized, thus relying more heavily on foreign loans to develop China's railway system.
As hostility grew and the number of participants, petitioners, and citizens sympathizing with the movement increased, reformist journalists attempted to separate the idea of ​​"state" from that of "dynasty" in their media writing and political activities. They urged the people to unite and not to succumb to the dynastic government. Just as they resisted the training of ministers for the empire, they also reconstructed education as a way to mobilize citizens in accordance with national interests and encouraged ordinary people to truly understand the country rather than follow the imperial decrees. When the crisis of 1910-1911 finally broke out, middle-class representatives played an important role in weakening the symbolic harmony and top-down integration structure that had flourished. Although it was not the Times that increased the tension between rulers and the ruled, the Times journalists did make these conflicts play a larger and more important role. In part, we need to thank their clever rhetoric and mobilization ability for the possibility of reforming China in the early 20th century.