This article put the materialistic and historical perspective on the concept of “Communication Network” and deeply depicted a scene of Lin Zexu’s journey to Guangzhou in 1838-1840. By tracing the travel, opium and translation, the paper displayed a daily operation of communication network, which included road traffc, town distribution, and the main ?ows (power, goods, and information). On this basis, it is found that closure of power and information, contradiction between the power and territory, and the limited elements of information are the major problems in the network. In contrast, the large social reaction on the Sino-Japanese War in 1894 was mainly due to the emergence of newspapers. As a new element, newspapers had largely expanded the geographical coverage, enhanced the simultaneity of time and enforced to unite people around the network.