古代的“保”由最初的“负子于背”而引伸出保护、养育、教化等涵义,儒家伦理 讲究有自上而下的“保”,相应地就有自下而上的报答之“报”。因此在宋代以前,信 息传递意义上的“报”多用于自下而上的传递行为,这最终促成了我国最早的报纸—— 唐代进奏院状报的产生。宋代以后,官方的邸报之“报”,不再是与“保”相对的报答 之“报”,而是具有教化意义的“保”性质的“报”。无论“保”还是“报”,都是中 国古代农业社会伦理本位的反映,也是马克思所说的“家长制权威”性质的精神联系的 一种体现。

"Bao"(报,forth tone), a Chinese character naming for "newspaper", means paying back from the lower to the upper. Such an idea has originated from another character "bao"(保,third tone), which means protect from the upper to the lower. From the initial meaning of "bearing a child on the back", the ancient "bao"(保,third tone) has extended the meanings of protecting, rearing and civilizing etc. Confucian school’s ethics stressed the "bao"(保, third tone) from the upper to the lower, and accordingly,the "bao"(报, forth tone)of paying back from the lower to the upper came into being. So before Song Dynasty, "bao"(报, forth tone)in the sense of information communication was mostly used to denote passing information from the lower to the upper, which facilitated the emergence of Chinese earliest newspaper of Jinzou Yuanzhuang in Tang Dynasty. Since Song Dynasty, the "bao"(报, forth tone)of official gazette did not means "paying back" opposite to "bao"(保, third tone) any more, but the "bao" (报, forth tone)with "bao"(保, third tone) nature which means "civilizing". Both "bao"(保, third tone) and "bao"(报, forth tone) are reflections of ethics of Chinese ancient agricultural society and embodiment of mental association of "patriarchal authority", which is said by Karl Marx.