| There was an unprecedented development of discourses on children during Republican Era. Among the many discourses children were often considered as a symbol of national salvation, and thus the construction of children became extremely important in envisioning a future China. As the leading general-interest periodicals in Shanghai, Liangyou (Young Companion ) and Dongfang zazhi (Eastern Miscellany ) were both concerned with this issue.;The goal of this study is to examine how children and childhood were perceived and represented in Shanghai's popular culture during Republican era. It explores the discourses on children expressed in various images and articles of the two periodicals, and argues that there are two competed visions of children and their relationship with the nation: in Liangyou, children are presented as little creatures with all the virtues central to building up a strong China, while in Dongfang zazhi children are seen as passive and vulnerable, waiting to be rescued. In other words, Liangyou's children are presented as China's hope, while Dongfang zazhi' are thought as a social problem of China.;This study further explores the question about how the two periodicals evolved in different directions. By looking into Liangyou's editorship, it suggests that in contrast to Dongfang zazhi's pessimistic tone, Liangyou's discourse on children reflects its own pattern of addressing China problems, and more importantly, its advocacy of a discourse of hope. This discourse is not simply a commercial orientation, but a conscious effort to enlighten people's courage and confidence in the mist of national hardship.;This study also argues that despite the differences, both visions, children as hope of the nation and children as problem for the nation, share a close connection with a newly intrusive state which has new expectations and responsibilities. Neither vision questions this intrusive state in caring for, utilizing, shaping, and training children for the project of national salvation. This is what was new during the Nanjing period (1927-1937), when there was a marked conflation of nation with the Nationalist Party state. |
