Journals As Knowledge:Navy Construction And Views Of Modern Sea Power

Since the 1898 Reform Movement,journals as media,have increasingly become important carriers of Western learning and ideological fronts for social elite activities.During the War of Resistance Against Japan,faced with a heavy maritime crisis,men of insight used journals as a frontline,collectively calling for sea power.This provided valuable ideological resources for China's sea power construction.This paper outlines the concept of sea power during the Counter-Japanese War,based on the professional journal Navy Construction.First of all,it sorts out the founding backgrounds,compiling groups,readership and main contents of Navy Construction.Second,through the text of Navy Construction,the paper presents concretely the theoretical and practical reflections made by the Chinese people on the revival of sea power.At the theoretical level,Navy Construction first translated the core parts of the Western sea power theory to grasp the characteristics of sea power,that is,"sea power is the most reasonable estimate of historical progress and national prosperity".Then,Navy Construction considered China's reality under the guidance of Western theory,that is,"Navy builds a Country".Navy has an irreplaceable role in consolidating national defense and developing the economy.On the practical level,Navy Construction discussed the elements of building a navy,mainly involving strategy,tactics,systems,talent,and armaments.The journal pointed out that the construction of China's new navy must transform strategically from the defensive toward the offensive,tactically from the enemy's military force to the enemy's capital force,institutionally from the wartime system to the reorganization.The role of officers should be emphasized in personnel cultivation,and the armed forces should take into account both the brisk fleet and the main fleet.Further,this article attempts to evaluate the influence of Navy Construction on spreading the concept of sea power based on the readers' mailbox column and memoirs of military figures.This article believes that media,that is,knowledge.The concept of sea power from the West and the thoughts of insightful people on China' s sea power,entered the public's thinking world through journals,changed the people's marine awareness,promoted national defense thinking transformation and propelled China's sea power construction.