Discourse upon Chinese cultural background of “Bao” (报,forth tone):Study on the relationship between “bao”(保,third tone) and “bao”(报, forth tone) in the sense of Chinese ancient information communication

ZHAO Shang

Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication ›› 2015, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (9) : 145-156.

PDF(1689 KB)
PDF(1689 KB)
Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication ›› 2015, Vol. 37 ›› Issue (9) : 145-156.

Discourse upon Chinese cultural background of “Bao” (报,forth tone):Study on the relationship between “bao”(保,third tone) and “bao”(报, forth tone) in the sense of Chinese ancient information communication

  • ZHAO Shang is a doctoral student at School of Journalism and Information Communication, Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Email:shangxia78@163.com.
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Abstract

"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.

Key words

"Bao"(保, third tone) / "Bao"(报, forth tone) / Propaganda / Patriarchy

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ZHAO Shang. Discourse upon Chinese cultural background of “Bao” (报,forth tone):Study on the relationship between “bao”(保,third tone) and “bao”(报, forth tone) in the sense of Chinese ancient information communication[J]. Chinese Journal of Journalism & Communication. 2015, 37(9): 145-156
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