The North China Herald

The North China Herald (short form: NHC, Chinese characters: 北華捷報, Chinese pinyin: Bèihuà jiébào) was one of the first foreign newspapers in China .

founding

The North China Herald was a weekly newspaper, founded in Shanghai in 1850 by the Englishman Henry Shearman and published every Saturday until 1951.

In the editorial of the first issue of August 3, 1850, Shearman explains the motivation that led him to publish the North China Herald:

As the fourth largest trading port in Asia, Shanghai needs a newspaper for the trading community.
The trade experiences, the progress in the transport of goods by ship, new routes and the good cooperation between England and China were to be spread around the world through the newspaper.
Shanghai should be supported in this way in order to be able to assert itself against Hong Kong as a trade competitor.

From 1864, in addition to the North China Herald, the North China Daily News (Chinese characters: 字林西報; Chinese pinyin: Zìlín Xībào, 1864–1951), which was also available in Chinese , appeared as a daily edition . From then on the North China Herald appeared with the subtitle "The weekly edition of the North China Daily News" and contained the most important articles of the daily newspaper.

Circulation and influence

The circulation was around 100 copies at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century and was thus much smaller than that of the Chinese newspapers (for comparison: the circulation of the Chinese daily Shenbao was 7,000–9,000 copies in the late 1870s). The North China Herald initially cost $ 15 a year and later 12 Tael . As a foreign newspaper, however, the North China Herald in Shanghai had the greatest influence - of the other newspapers only the Celestial Empire and the Shanghai Mercury were able to come close to the North China Herald.

readership

Mainly the North China Herald was read in Shanghai, but also spread along the railway network (for example to Suzhou (Jiangsu) ). The North China Herald's readership consisted primarily of the foreign trade community who lived in Shanghai - with Chinese officials translating the North China Herald to find out more about foreigners' views.

Articles and authors

The articles were published in English and the topics were strongly geared towards the economic interests of the foreign community. The North China Herald served, especially in the first years of publication, as a forum for important information regarding trade (tables on import and export, shipping in Shanghai, offers for sale of goods) and public notices (wedding, birth and death notices). In addition, there was an editorial in each issue, news from Europe, letters to the editor and the “Beijing Report”, which reported on current events and matters at court in Beijing.

In the later editions the scope expanded: there was extensive coverage of political events in China, Europe, Russia and the USA, a large part of sports (reports on sports competitions in Europe, the USA and in Shanghai), books Reviews and articles on a wide variety of topics (e.g. "Wedding in Hong Kong", "Alcohol and the body" or "The Palace Treasure in Beijing" (NCH, January 6, 1912)). Court minutes were printed in the Supreme Court and Consular Gazette, which was included with the North China Herald.

The authors of the North China Herald included members of the Shanghai trade community, correspondents from other provinces, and readers and advertisers. Other newspapers (for example the Shenbao, The New York Herald, Japan Chronicle or the Kölnische Zeitung ) were cited and news reports from Reuters were printed.

financing

The North China Herald was financed through advertising income and donations from the community.

literature

Andrea Janku: Just empty speeches. Political Discourse and the Shanghai Press in Late 19th Century China . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2003, ISBN 3-447-04460-8 (plus dissertation, Heidelberg University 2000).
Barbara Mittler : A Newspaper for China? Power, Identity and Change in Shanghai's News Media (1872-1912) . Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Mass. 2004, ISBN 0-674-01217-8 (Asia Monographs Series; 226).
Natascha Vittinghoff: The Beginnings of Journalism in China (1862-1911) . Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 2002, ISBN 3-447-04634-1 (also dissertation, University of Heidelberg 1998).