Dibao (ancient Chinese gazette)
Dibao (), literally "reports from the [official] residences", were a type of publications issued by central and local governments in imperial China, which was the only official government newspaper published by the ancient Chinese central government in different dynasties. ‘"Dibao"’ is a general term to describe the ancient Chinese gazette. Historically, there were different types of names used to describe "Dibao" in different dynasties among the imperial Chinese history. While closest in form and function to gazettes in the Western world, they have also been called "palace reports" or "imperial bulletins". Different sources place "Dibao"'s first  publication as early as the Han Dynasty (206 BCE–220 CE), which would make "Dibao" amongst the earliest newspapers in the world, or as late as the Tang Dynasty (June 18, 618–June 4, 907) according to the earliest verified and proved Dibao with historical relics. Dibao was continuously published among different imperial dynasties until the last imperial emperor in the Qing Dynasty, "Puyi", abdicated in 1912. "Dibao" contained official political edicts, announcements, and news from the Chinese imperial central government or local governments, which would be delivered to inform both the central and local governments by messengers periodically and were  intended to be seen only by bureaucrats (and a given "dibao" might only be intended for a certain subset of bureaucrats). Selected items from a gazette might then be conveyed to local citizenry by word of mouth and/or posted announcements. Frequency of publication varied widely over time and place. Before the invention of moveable type printing they were hand-written or printed with engraved wooden blocks. The introduction of European-style Chinese language newspapers, along with the growing intersection of Chinese and global affairs generally, applied pressure for the Dibao to adapt, and circulation of the "Beijing Gazette" was in  the tens of thousands by the time publication ceased altogether with the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. The gazettes from Beijing at this time were known as "Jingbao" (京報), literally "reports from the capital". Historical Origin and the Controversy. There are two main origin theories of "Dibao": the Han Dynasty origin theory and the Tang Dynasty origin theory. Han Dynasty Origin theory. At the beginning of the Han Dynasty, the Jun-Xian system (郡縣制) from the Qin Dynasty was implemented to govern the country. The Jun-Xian system is a county system that divided the country into 100  Juns and 1400 Xians, which were the subnational governments that owned the right of autonomy to govern the local issues. Under the Jun-Xian system, the county governments were required to report the local affairs to the central government and receive the edicts and political decisions from the central government, which took much time to deliver and receive the information. "Di" (邸), which literally means the ‘subnational government officers’ residence in the capital’, was instituted to solve the intelligence transmission issues and made it more efficient for the Jun-Xian system. Although "Di" was instituted in the capital, it was  not an official administrative department in the ancient Chinese political system because "Di" was founded by county governments without the official permission from the central government. "Di" had two functions: to transmit the information, and provide food and accommodation for messengers. Messengers who came and stayed in "Di" would collect information from the central government, which was called ‘"Bao"’(報), and wrote it on the bamboo slips during the Western Han period, and afterwards on paper in the Eastern Han period. The information written on paper and transmitted from "Di" to the counties was called ‘"Dibao"’. Tang Dynasty Origin theory and  Origin controversy. Historians who support the Han Dynasty origin theory argue that the historical information about "Dibao" in the Han Dynasty had been recorded in several imperial historical texts among many dynasties. "Xihan Huiya" (西漢會要), literally ‘Institutional history of the Western Han Dynasty', written by Xu Tianlin in the Song Dynasty, records the "Dibao" delivery situation in the Han Dynasty based on the detailed information about the Jun-Xian system, which is used as reliable evidence to prove the existence of "Dibao" in the Han Dynasty.Historians who disagree with the Han Dynasty Origin theory argue that "Xihan Huiya", which  is the only historical text that records "Dibao" in the Han Dynasty, is used as indirect historical text evidence rather than direct historical relics evidence to prove the existence of "Dibao" in the Han Dynasty. The earliest verified "Dibao" with historical text and relics was a Dibao called "Kaiyuan Za Bao" (開元雜報), which was published in the Kaiyuan period in the Tang Dynasty during the 9th Century. In Chinese imperial historical, there were many recordings written in historical texts that were not completely correct and provable as they could be falsified by historians throughout different imperial dynasties with different political  and historical purposes. Historians also doubt the societal and economic conditions in the Han Dynasty that if it was powerful enough to support the huge "Dibao" delivery system among 100 Juns and 1400 Xians because the continuous wars with the northern "Xiongnu" (匈奴) nomadic nation continuously weakened the national strength of the Han Dynasty. Content. There was little alteration in the content of "Dibao" in imperial Chinese history since it was first published in the Han Dynasty. There were four main aspects of the "Dibao" content: The daily life of the emperor. Under the influence of traditional Chinese ideology based  on Confucianism, it was significant for both the publisher and reader to know the speech and behaviour of the emperor because the emperor in ancient China was regarded as the pivot of the whole empire, who played the most important role to govern the country. The speeches and behaviours of the emperor would be recorded by the imperial historians surrounding him, which was not only a way for the emperor to ensure the legitimacy of governance and unite the country, but also a way to for the citizen to supervise the speeches and behaviours of the emperor. Everything related to  the emperor’s daily life, such as the important speeches, summons, hunts, religious duties, conferment and award ceremonies would be written by the imperial historians on books and published on "Dibao". The significant edict, political decision, and decree. In the Song Dynasty, legislation became an official part of "Dibao" that published periodically, which involved the new edicts, penal laws, political decisions from the emperor on the memorial to the throne (Chinese: Zouzhang/奏章). Memorials to the throne from the local government would be written carefully with the specific honorific format to transmit the information from different regions to the imperial  court first, which will be discussed and selected by the imperial court, then transferred to the emperor to review. The memorial to the throne would be published on "Dibao" with the comments and decisions with the permission of the emperor. Memorials to the throne that were not allowed to publish on Dibao would be marked by the emperor as ‘"Liuzhong" (留中)’, which literally means ‘leave in the palace’, because the content on it was not proper to publish on "Dibao". "Kaiyuan Za" "bao" records a memorial to the throne about a new type of grape brought from the western region  in the Han Dynasty, which was marked as reviewed and commented with ‘boring’ by the emperor and not allowed to publish on Dibao. Some memorials to the throne were requested to ‘"Liuzhong"’ by the local government as they involved significant national secrets in political and military fields that could not be published to the public. Both the edicts and decisions published on "Dibao" were used as evidences for the imperial court and government officials to engage the government affairs. The dynamic of the imperial court. The dynamic of the imperial court became the official content on "Dibao" in the Song  Dynasty, where the emperor published the changes on the appointment and dismission of the government officials in the imperial court and the local governments. In the Song Dynasty, "Emperor Taizu of Song" (宋太祖) and "Emperor Taizong of Song" (宋太宗) enacted the policy of emphasising literature and restricting military force (重文輕武) to further enlarge the power of the emperor and weaken the power of the military to prevent the military coup and consolidate the domination of the empire, which led to increasing occupation requirement and the fierce competition of the government officials in the imperial political system. With the rising political  party movements and conflicts, the dynamic of the imperial court and the appointment and dismission of the government officials that published on "Dibao" gradually became the most significant information source for both the civil officials and military officers to know the occupation demand of the government, understand and analyse the political circumstance of the empire in the Song Dynasty. In the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty, the content published on "Dibao" related to the dynamic of the imperial court was further divided into three essential parts : "Gongmenchao" (宮門鈔), "Shangyu" (上諭) and "Zouzhang" (奏章). "Gongmenchao", literally means ‘the paper in  the palace’, involved the specific information about the imperial court and the appointment and dismission of the government officials, which would be discussed by the officials and selected by the emperor to publish on "Dibao". "Zouzhang", which is the memorial to the throne delivered to the emperor, would be selected, commented, then permitted by the emperor to publish on "Dibao" usually without the discussion with the government officials. "Shangyu", which literally means ‘the edict of the emperor’, was the decisions that the emperor made on the memorials to the throne, which usually were the praises, awards, and the appointment and  dismission of the government officials. The report of military and diplomacy. The content related to the military, diplomacy and natural disaster that published on "Dibao" was controlled strictly on every imperial dynasty, which aimed to maintain the feudal governance, safeguard the interest of the ruling class, and ensure the stabilisation of the feudal society. The content about military action, especially related to the mutiny, peasant revolt, and the minority armed resistance, generally would not be allowed to publish on "Dibao" because they could disturb the popular mind and destroy the societal stabilisation and harmony, which can threaten the imperial regime  and the authority of the ruling class directly. The content related to military and diplomacy that published on "Dibao" would be reviewed by the imperial court first, then further reviewed and selected by the emperor carefully because it was equal to official government documents, which was used as evidence and reference for the local governments to deal with the local affairs that played an important role in the imperial government organisation operation. Historical Development. Tang Dynasty. Both the historians who support the Han Dynasty origin theory and the Tang Dynasty origin theory agree that "Dibao" was developed in the Tang  Dynasty and started to form a stable delivery system between the local government and the central government. In the Tang Dynasty, "Fanzhen" (藩鎮), literally means "buffer town", a governmental administration system through regional governors, was instituted to replace the Jun-Xian system. The messengers from different Fanzhens collected the information related to the imperial court and those could be beneficial for their "Fanzhens", then wrote them on "Dibao" and delivered them to the "Fanzhens". "Dibao" in the Tang Dynasty did not publish periodically and did not have fixed content with headings. The imperial court and the emperor did not review  and restrict the content written on "Dibao" because it only represented the "Fanzhen" governor, which was not the official gazette of the empire. Song Dynasty. "Dibao" became the official administrative department governed by the central government in the Song Dynasty, which was the earliest official gazette instituted directly by the central government in the feudal society. "Dibao" in the Song Dynasty started to publish the content periodically related to the daily life of the emperor, edicts and political decisions, the dynamic of the imperial court, and the reports of military, diplomacy and natural disaster as a result of the ruling  classes attached great importance to the function of "Dibao", which aimed to transmit the information, consolidate feudal governance, and protect the rights and interests of the ruling classes. In the Song Dynasty, the function of "Dibao" gradually shifted to maintain the legitimacy of governance rather than supervising the edicts and decisions of the emperor and the government officials due to the development of high centralisation of authority with the policy of emphasising literature and restricting military force (重文輕武). The loss of the Northern Expedition war led by the "emperor Ningzong of Song" (宋寧宗) and the imperial military caused huge casualties , which ignited the anger of the public. A deep self-criticism written by the "emperor Ningzong of Song" was published on "Dibao" and delivered to the local governments and shown to the public, which presented the good image of the emperor that aimed to quell the public anger, increase the military morale, and maintain the image of the ruling class. Ming Dynasty. The social climate and the restriction on the "Dibao" in the Ming Dynasty were not as strict as the Song Dynasty although it was still aimed to maintain feudal governance of the empire. Historians believe the subtle balance  of the power between the emperor and the government officials was because the emperor in the Ming Dynasty understood the importance of the transparent political system as the Ming dynasty was established with the peasant revolt led by the political corrosion and corruption in the Yuan Dynasty. Unlike the "Dibao" in the Song Dynasty, the content published on "Dibao" in the Ming Dynasty usually involved the conflicts and argument between the government officials and the emperor, sometimes even had the criticism on the edicts and decisions that the emperor made. "Dibao" in the "Wanli" (萬曆) period in the Ming Dynasty  published numerous criticism and opposition on the decision that the "Wanli Emperor" (明神宗/萬曆皇帝) planned to give the position of the crown prince to the son of imperial noble consort "Zheng" rather than the son of the empress, which against the imperial law and led to the strong dissatisfaction of the public opinion and the government officials that forced the "Wanli emperor" to withdrawal his decision. In the 16th century before the establishment of the Qing Dynasty, "Nurhaci" (努爾哈赤), the chieftain of Manchuria who afterward became the first emperor in the Qing Dynasty, dispatched many spies to buy "Dibao" in  the Ming empire to collect the useful information due to high transparency it had. Qing Dynasty. The emperor in the Qing Dynasty became the editor in chief of "Dibao" who completely controlled and managed the imperial propaganda and public opinion. "Dibao" in the Qing Dynasty still had the right to publish the criticism and opposition like the Ming Dynasty, but they were all reviewed and selected by the emperor before publishing. "Jingbao" ("Peking Gazette"/京報), which literally means  'reports of the capital’, became one of the imperial gazettes to publish with "Dibao" at the same time. The content published on "Jingbao  only involved the edicts and decisions, which was used as Bulletin Board for the public and foreign ambassadors. The content published on other Dibao" was also allowed to only involve the edicts and decisions, which would be also selected by the emperor that aimed to make the content on all "Dibao" become the same as "Jingbao" and controlled all content published on each "Dibao" to further control the public opinion and consolidate feudal governance. In the Qing Dynasty, publishers who published the content without the permission of the emperor on "Dibao" would be sentenced because it was a crime. Dibao