Attempts And Limitations Of Creation Of Public Opinion Under The Theory Of "Juemin Xingdao" In The Late Qing Dynasty

The use of a new technology will change people’s daily existence and social relationships.If early missionary newspapers played a preliminary role in enlightening the people and imparting new knowledge,then in the late Qing Dynasty,the practice of Chinese newspapers further expanded the influence of newspapers as a medium,gradually establishing new types of society,organizations,and relationships that were detached from traditional models,playing a crucial role in the formation of modern public opinion concepts and providing a foundation for social modernization.As a leader in the participation of Chinese people in running newspapers in the early late Qing Dynasty,Shen Bao can observe the changes in political culture and the changes in social concepts represented by the newspaper’s comments by studying a typical report-the "Yang Naiwu and Xiao Bai Cai Case"(hereinafter referred to as the Yang Bi Case)for three years.By examining the coverage of Shen Bao in a social and political context,we can see how newspapers stimulate public opinion and influence changes in political culture by providing a public platform for public participation.The Yang Bi Case,as one of the four major mysteries of the late Qing Dynasty,attracted widespread attention and public participation at that time through the long-term report of Shen Bao,and even affected the handling results of the central government.It demonstrated the powerful power of newspaper discourse for the first time in modern newspaper history.The most important and critical part of Shen Bao’s report on this case is its introduction to the western judicial system and legal culture,and its appeal to reform the legal malpractice of the Qing Dynasty.The Shen Bao introduced the Western judicial concept of "public trial",criticized the abuse of torture in private trials,and emphasized the important role of public participation and newspaper reporting in public trials.In addition,a large number of readers’ submissions and debates can also be seen as the initial establishment of newspapers as public platforms.With the help of newspapers,the public began to actively and independently participate in discussions on public affairs,initially cultivating their political subjectivity and media literacy.The cultivation of public subjectivity in newspapers and the shift of Confucianism from "obtaining the rule of the emperor" to "realizing the rule of the people" during the Ming and Qing dynasties have ideological continuity,and under the influence of the spread of Western learning to the east,new perspectives have emerged.However,the critical nature of journalists during this period cannot be overemphasized.While absorbing advanced Western cultural concepts,they still retained the traditional sentiment of the literati class of "serving the country with words".Criticism of politics can still be seen as the maintenance and repair of the existing political system.The basic structure of the article consists of three parts: introduction,main text,and conclusion.The main text is divided into four chapters.The first chapter introduces the changes in the path of Confucianism since the Ming and Qing dynasties,from "obtaining the rule of the ruler" to "exercising the rule of the people".The early practice of newspaper writers engaging in the newspaper industry can be seen as a new interpretation of the "exercising the rule of the people" line.The second chapter introduces the tradition of introducing Western learning and reporting on typical social news in the early Shen Bao.At this time,Shen Bao has initially played a role as a public media that carries public discussion topics.In addition,it also sorted out the trial situation of the Yang Bi case and the reporting stage of the newspaper by Shen Bao.Chapter Three focuses on the contributions and political discourse of the public,viewing their active participation and expression of views as the emergence of a political subjectivity that actively participates in social affairs.As a result,newspapers have opened up a path of speech outside the system.The fourth chapter starts from the newspaper people’s appeal for legal reform.On the one hand,it is the expression of the newspaper people’s progressive consciousness under the influence of western learning and western law,but on the other hand,it also shows the conservatism and limitations of the revisionism mentality held by scholars under the traditional political ideal of scholars’ political debate during the knowledge transformation period.