20th Century Chinese Journalism and Communication Studies. Public Opinion Volume of Propaganda Studies

Author: Shao Peirén (Editor)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-01-01
Features: With people came history, and with people came the need to pass on experience and exchange ideas. At the same time, some people always had the desire to dominate others, whether through the control of power or the control of thought. Propaganda became an important means to achieve all this. Although, at the dawn of human history, people's understanding of propaganda was still vague, even primitive people understood how to make themselves and others different, hoping to be recognized and obeyed, and ultimately to gain some kind of authority, even if people obeyed. China is an ancient civilization, and the political, economic, and military struggles in its history were intense and complex. Therefore, ancient propaganda activities were also diverse and rich. The "Historical Theory and Practice of Propaganda" in "An Introduction to Modern Propaganda Studies" edited by Dai Yuanguang provides a relatively concise but clear description of the situation of ancient propaganda studies. Chinese propaganda activities must have started very early. In ancient times, there were legends of Tai Hao (a legendary leader of the Dongyi people) drawing the Bagua, creating writing systems, and Cang Jie inventing characters. This can be considered the prototype of ancient cultural propaganda and education. In matriarchal societies, a few people not only possessed a large number of production tools but also owned exquisite decorations, and even more turquoise-made pendants, stone rings, pottery rings, as well as jade huang, jade ju, and pearls. These were used to display the power and wealth of the masters, serving as a form of propaganda. Some tribes hung their finely crafted ornaments to attract strong male members of other tribes and beautiful young women, which was a form of propaganda to attract talent—perhaps the earliest form of talent attraction in China. As for the fish-like images that appeared along rivers and coastlines in ancient times, and the animal images set up near forests to indicate danger or hunting areas, etc., these were likely already common propaganda methods. In patriarchal societies, the direct symbol of power was the practice of burying captives or slaves with the deceased. The use of production tools, daily utensils, decorations, and other objects symbolizing wealth and authority in burials became more common. In the same burial ground cluster, the quantity of burial goods reflected the phenomenon of wealth disparity at the time but also served to clarify identities, symbolize power, and display authority. This was a form of propaganda that used the quantity of burial goods to display social status. After the establishment of patriarchal society, tribal groups centered around power gradually expanded. At the same time, private ownership also developed, and the gap between the rich and the poor became increasingly severe. To maintain tribal unity and stability, especially to strengthen inter-tribal cooperation, tribal leaders began to use propaganda idols as tools to unify forces and maintain rule. In ancient legends, the Shao Hao tribe (a legendary ancient Dongyi leader, also known as Shaohao, with birds as totems and bird names as official titles) had four tribal groups: Zhong, Gai, Xiu, and Xi. Zhong focused on improving agricultural tools and was known as Goumang, revered as the "Wood Prime Minister"; Gai specialized in metal processing and was called Sao Shou, the "Metal Prime Minister"; Xiu and Xi were in charge of flood control, expanding the cultivation of wetlands and wilderness, and were known as Xuanming, revered as the "Water Prime Minister." Later, Shao Hao created the developed economy and culture of the eastern region through the propaganda of his four uncles and the worship of the "Wood Prime Minister," "Metal Prime Minister," and "Water Prime Minister." (The Zuo Zhuan records: "The Shao Hao tribe had four uncles: Zhong, Gai, Xiu, and Xi, who were skilled in metal and wood as well as water. They made Zhong the Goumang, Gai the Sao Shou, and Xiu and Xi the Xuanming. They held their posts without failure, and thus reached Qiongsang.") The Guo Yi records the "Lie Shan tribe" and the "Gonggong tribe," led by the chief Gui, who cleared land and farmed, and were later revered as the god of grains—Ji, and the god of the land—She. These tribal leaders used the propaganda of the gods of Ji and She as idols to call for close unity among tribal members, develop production, and prevent floods. As tribes multiplied and the population within tribes increased, the densely populated residents had to unite both internally and externally. Tribal alliances became a crucial issue. Establishing heroic figures and creating idols was an effective propaganda method for ancient tribal leaders to unify tribes into a nation and merge common living areas into common territory. Therefore, there were many legendary heroes at that time. Later, Sima Qian, following the principle of "doubt what is uncertain, be cautious," compiled the Basic Annals of the Five Emperors and established the "Five Emperor Era." The greatest characteristic of the Xia Dynasty's propaganda was the use of historical legends to create heroic stories. These heroes were tribal leaders and were revered as saviors of the people. Later, the monarchy was also revered as divine, claiming to act on the Mandate of Heaven. If anyone opposed them, they would "embrace the Mandate of Heaven and extinguish their lives." The most illustrative case is after Yu's death, when his son Qi succeeded him. Due to the traditional concept of "" (feudal succession), someone seized the throne with Qi, and other same-clan feudal lords also rebelled. Qi personally led an army to suppress the rebellion, claiming that the rebels had committed the crime of "disrespecting the five elements and neglecting the three principles," and the rebellion was eventually crushed. Even today, we use the Three Emperors and Five Emperors as propaganda idols to call for the unity of the descendants of Yan and Huang. In ancient Chinese propaganda, there was a category closely related to religious superstition. These religious superstitions were both the direct result of people's ignorance and inability to explain many natural and social phenomena, and the means of rule for tribal leaders. For example, during the era of Zhuan Xu (a tribal leader who lived in what is now Henan), "Zhuan Xu ordered the Southern Prime Minister Zhong to oversee the heavens and belong to the gods, and ordered the Fire Prime Minister Li to oversee the people and belong to the people, so that they returned to their original routines and did not invade each other, which was called 'cutting off the connection between the earth and the heavens.'" Here, the "Southern Prime Minister Zhong" refers to those skilled in observing celestial phenomena and mastering witchcraft, who had the privilege of expressing the Mandate of Heaven and demonstrating divine power, controlling the souls of the vast masses of people. The masses were not allowed to profane the gods and could only submit to their control, (dedicating themselves to labor), and obey the authority of the ruling class. Religion was an important part of the Shang Dynasty's state machinery, and the witches, who were responsible for religious functions, were a significant political force. At that time, although witches were in charge of religious affairs, all civil matters were colored with religious significance, and even scientific, cultural, and educational activities, as well as the training of the people (propaganda), were cloaked in superstition, so the power of witches was great. Led by witches, there were professional personnel such as zong, bo, and shi, forming a relatively large witchcraft institution. It was not until the later emergence of Taishi, Neishi, and Yushi that the state's military, administrative, and educational functions were separated from the subservience of witches. Religious superstition propaganda had both a positive side in mobilizing people to carry out resistance struggles and a negative side in maintaining the rule of the ruling class and deceiving the people during the slave society and feudal society periods. Many of the preserved materials show that the deceptive propaganda of the ruling class in ancient times also failed at times and in places. The Records of the Grand Historian·Basic Annals of Xia records: "Emperor Kong Jia ascended the throne, favored ghosts and gods, and engaged in lewd behavior. The virtue of the Xia royal family declined, and the feudal lords rebelled against him." In the Spring and Autumn period, the Grand Historian Cai Mo listed Kong Jia's actions such as "disturbing dragons" and "eating dragons," indicating that Kong Jia played with the concept of ghosts and gods to deceive the masses and indulged in lewd behavior, which provoked the people's resistance struggles. The decline and fall of the Xia Dynasty were closely related to the ruling class's deceptive propaganda. In addition, the people in ancient times also used various propaganda methods to resist the oppression and exploitation of the ruling class. During the Western Zhou period, one of the struggles of the working people against slaveowners was the creation of many folk songs, ballads, and stories that exposed the decay and decline of the slave society and called for the people to rise up against the rulers. This showed that the working people had a relatively deep understanding of the role of propaganda. At the same time, to make propaganda vivid, vivid, and interesting, the working people of that time already knew how to use metaphors in propaganda, such as: "Big rats, big rats, don't eat my millet! For three years, I have served you, but you don't take care of me. I will leave you and go to a happy land. Happy land, happy land, where the chickens find their happiness?" Control is the purposeful regulation of a new society. Propaganda control is the regulation made for ongoing propaganda activities to achieve propaganda decisions. The role of propaganda control in propaganda activities is reflected in strengthening, adjusting, coordinating, restricting, or canceling. An Introduction to Propaganda Studies elaborates on propaganda control, believing that it mainly manifests in the following aspects: (1) Strengthening: When propaganda activities are well-received by the audience and achieve the expected effects, then strengthen these activities and expand the propaganda effect. (2) Adjusting: The complexity of society and the complexity of human thought determine that the actual process of propaganda cannot proceed exactly according to the original plan. Therefore, propaganda managers need to adjust propaganda activities based on actual conditions. The scope of adjustment includes correcting, supplementing, and deleting content that does not conform to reality, adding new content that is actually needed, and changing the priority and sequence of content; adjusting the work of personnel according to changes in propaganda content, reassigning some propaganda personnel, and replacing some incompetent personnel; changing propaganda methods. (3) Coordinating: Coordinating the relationships among subordinate propaganda institutions and personnel within the system, eliminating conflicts, and working together in harmony; coordinating the relationships between propaganda institutions in this system and propaganda institutions in other systems, striving for their support. (4) Restricting: This includes restricting the activities of certain propaganda institutions; restricting the public dissemination of certain content and keeping it within a certain range. (5) Canceling: When certain content has caused disgust or adverse social consequences among the audience, propaganda managers should timely stop and cancel such content. The basic links of propaganda control include four aspects: , control of propaganda institutions: In accordance with the law, approving or canceling the establishment of propaganda institutions, and more importantly, urging the implementation of propaganda decisions by propaganda institutions in this system, at least not deviating from the overall goals of the propaganda decisions. Second, control of propaganda personnel: Propaganda management is based on discipline and rewards and punishments, striving to keep propaganda personnel politically and ideologically consistent with the highest decision-making body of propaganda, while making every effort to mobilize the enthusiasm, initiative, and creativity of propaganda personnel. This is the core link of propaganda control. Third, control of propaganda sources: Controlling propaganda sources, on the one hand, involves formally prohibiting the public dissemination of certain materials and taking administrative measures to prevent certain materials from leaking. On the other hand, propaganda managers, to achieve their own propaganda goals, allow relevant materials to be delivered to the audience through various channels, allowing them to be widely disseminated. Fourth, control of propaganda content: Propaganda managers check the content of propaganda in accordance with the law or discipline. Some checks are pre-screening, while others are post-punishment. Propaganda control generally has two types of methods, namely hard control and soft control. Hard control is the regulation of speech and publication (propaganda is included in speech and publication) made by the state in the form of law and administrative orders. It is coercive, that is to say, it is a rigid regulation that cannot be violated, hence the term "hard control." This rigid regulation is mainly to prevent the negative phenomena of speech and publication that endanger the fundamental interests of the ruling class, endanger national security, and infringe on the legitimate rights of citizens, and disrupt the long-term stability of society. It is a preventive regulation, hence also known as "negative control." The "sister-uncle system" method generally has a registration system and an inspection system. Soft control is the use of the power of social norms and group norms to influence the attitude of propaganda workers, allowing them to consciously regulate themselves, abide by the law, discipline, and the professional ethics of propaganda workers, and actively complete propaganda decisions. Soft control is characterized by encouraging propaganda workers to be energetic and achieve outstanding results, hence also known as "positive control." Methods of soft control include self-discipline (within the propaganda department, propaganda workers formulate behavioral norms or work codes according to the law and social morality to self-constrain), rewards, and audience comments. For propaganda managers with administrative power, the means of controlling propaganda can be divided into direct control and indirect control. Direct control is political control, relying on law, regulations, and discipline to control, such as registration and inspection. Indirect control includes economic means and technical means ①. China's systematic research on public opinion began in the 1980s. By the late 1980s and early 1990s, a batch of public opinion studies emerged. These public opinion studies systematically and pioneeringly researched and explored major public opinion topics, establishing the basic framework for public opinion research in China, and establishing and expanding the connotation and extension of public opinion research. If before the late 1980s, public opinion research could not be called a "discipline," then from the late 1980s, the systematic and institutionalized understanding and exploration of the nature and laws of public opinion, as well as the publication of works on it, marked the formation of a public opinion discipline with Chinese characteristics. Why did so many public opinion research achievements emerge in the late 1980s? Why was the scene so lively? (1) The reform and opening-up policy and the development of socialist democracy politics allowed public opinion to be further respected and reflected, opening the (green light) for the research of public opinion studies. The Party Central Committee's rectification of chaos and the proposal to establish the grand goal of four modernizations inspired scholars. To make up for lost time, scholars enthusiastically engaged in research. Under the guidance of the line of the 11th Plenary Session of the Central Committee, Chinese public opinion researchers liberated their minds, abandoned closed-doorism, opened their eyes to the world, and began to learn from the advanced aspects of the West. In the vertical and horizontal comparison of time and space, public opinion research received relatively widespread attention during this period. (2) The rapid development of mass communication media and the great progress in news content led to the significant influence of news public opinion, which attracted the attention of researchers and managers. All these changes required the advancement of public opinion research, especially the mass media, one of the pillars of China's modernization, as the "ears and mouths" and "voices" of the Party and the people, urgently needed the demand for public opinion research. How do news media reflect public opinion? How to carry out public opinion control? How to carry out public opinion supervision? How to carry out correct public opinion guidance? These became major theoretical and practical issues that the news industry urgently needed to explore, and public opinion studies, which took these as important research content, undoubtedly gave people many insights and freshness. (3) The deepening of social science research led to the development of many disciplines and the emergence of many interdisciplinary and marginal disciplines, such as political science, psychology, sociology, social psychology, and management. These disciplines were often based on the introduction of a large number of foreign-related theories, including the content of public opinion studies. In the introduction of foreign theories, according to the needs of the reality,