Exhibition of the 140-year-old “Shen Bao” Paper Kicked off
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An exhibition featuring selected historical materials collected by Shanghai Library in relation to the “Shen Bao” (romanised as “Shun Pao”), known as the “most important and influential newspaper” in the modern Chinese journalism history has kicked off to commemorate the 140th anniversary of the paper’s founding.
The Shen Bao commenced publication on April 30, 1872 and stopped on May 27, 1949 with altogether 25,600 issues. It records the major political, military, cultural, economic and social events and news stories between the late Qing Dynasty and the Minguo Period (the Republic of China, 1911-1949) during its 77-year existence; and it is regarded as the “encyclopedia of the modern Chinese history” due to its exclusive value as historical records and research materials.
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The Shen Bao also witnessed the emergence and growth of the early Chinese journalism as well as a galaxy of renowned journalists therewith, including, among others, Mr Shi Liangcai, the owner of the paper during the 1910s and 1930s, who paved the way for many reforms and innovations for news report. Mr. Shi also expanded the business to many cultural sectors by founding schools and libraries, and establishing the Shen Bao Publishing House to publish series, monthly and yearbooks.
Shanghai Library is the one and only library at the provincial level in China that boasts the complete runs of the original Shen Bao paper from 1872 to 1949. In the 1980s a full set of photocopied Shen Bao paper was published by the Shanghai Book Store Publishing House on the basis of the original collection held by Shanghai Library.
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This exhibition, staged in commemoration of the 140th anniversary of the founding of Shen Bao, is accessible to the general public till late July in the cataloguing hall of the modern historical document reading area, the first floor of Shanghai Library.
Periodicals, almanacs, series, pictorials and atlases are being displayed in memorial of Shen Bao’s birth and growth, along with many other relevant original items making public debut since their acquisition by Shanghai Library, including the initial and the last issue of the newspaper, the earliest news reports about the 1911 revolution in China, selected issues of the “Huanying Pictorial” (aka “Global Illustrated”, the first pictorial magazine in China and published by Shen Bao), photos of Mr Shi Liangcai and the paper’s other major figures, as well as a variety of commercial advertisements found on the pages and joints.
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