作为传播概念的“告”，代表利用语言或文字进行的仪式性传播。自商代起，最早的“告”表示利用口头语言进行的祭祀仪式性传播，后来又表示利用语言或文字进行的政治仪式性传播以及礼仪性传播等，这反映了社会世俗化的进程。商、西周与春秋时期制度化的“告”，以及汉代以后的“布告”等，表明中国古代的政治传播以仪式性传播为显著特征，同时又兼具突破空间限制的传递性传播特征，这与更为凸显传递性传播的西方政治传播有所不同。以“告”代表仪式性传播的用法一直延续到今天，其核心内涵是诉诸公认的价值观念或传受双方的某些共识进行传播，这对于促进人类社会的相互理解与团结合作具有重要意义。

As a concept of communication, “Gao” means carrying on ritually communication by means of language or characters. Since Shang Dynasty, the original “Gao” has meant sacrificial ceremony’s communication by oral language, and later meant politically ritual communication and ceremonial communication by language or characters and so on, which reflects the process of social secularization. Institutionalized “Gao” of Shang, Xi Zhou and Chun Qiu Dynasty, and bulletins of Han and after Han Dynasty indicate that ritual communication is a salient feature of Chinese ancient political communication, with the feature of transitive communication breaking the space limits, which differs from political communication in the Western countries, whose transitive communication is more prominent. The usage of “Gao” as ritual communication continues until today, and its core connotation is to resort to the recognized values or some consensus of both sides to communicate, which is of great significance to promote mutual understanding, solidarity and cooperation in human society.