Social Customs of the Late Qing Dynasty and Early Republic Era: Selected Works from "Enlightening the Public Illustrated Newspaper"

Author: Hou Jie Wang Kunjiang Wang Kunjiang Hou Jie
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: In March 1907, the renowned social activist Wen Shilin and others initiated the establishment of "Xingsu Huabao" (Awakening Folk Illustrated Newspaper). This illustrated lithographic newspaper, with a mission to "awaken the nation and correct bad customs," used picture stories to report and comment on various novel phenomena, customs, urban folk life, and current events of the time, preserving for us vivid historical details of social life during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. The newspaper sold well, with competing vendors boasting of its exceptional popularity. Even those illiterate in the flower district would hold a copy to discuss the news. As the bamboo verse from the late Qing Dynasty praises, Tianjin's "Xingsu Huabao" was a beloved popular illustrated newspaper. The over 200 images selected in this book allow us to once again touch this newspaper and approach the era it belonged to.