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Chinese-language Australian newspapers

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Chinese-language Australian newspapers

One of the earliest known Chinese language newspapers in Australia was the English and Chinese Advertiser(1857?-1857?) available for free in the Ballarat area. However it was not Chinese or Chinese Australian owned and was published by Robert Bell, Ballarat in both Chinese and English language. Only three issues of this publication are known to exist today. The newspaper consisted entirely of advertisements.

The first known Chinese backed newspaper was the Chinese Australian Herald (1894-1923) which was established in Sydney in 1894. In Chinese it was called Guang Yi Hua Bao or 'Paper for extending benefits to the public'). It was jointly funded by two Europeans G.A. Down and J.A. Philip and a Chinese immigrant Sun Johnson. This newspaper was funded through advertising from major Australian firms and involved to introduce its Chinese readers the western cultures in its 30 year lifespan. At its peak it had about 800 long term subscribers and a distribution of thousands in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific islands.

During the lifetime of the Chinese Australian Herald another four newspapers were established largely in response to political upheavals and changes in China. These were the Tung Wah News (1898-1902) later Tung Wah Times(1902-1936), the Chinese Times (1902-1915, 1919-1920, 1922-1948), the Chinese Republican News (1914-1937) and the China World's News (1921-1950's). These papers catered to a Chinese population of about 35,000 Chinese in Australasia and the South Pacific, with an estimated aggregate circulation in the early decades of the 19th century of 6,000-8,000.

The Tung Wah News or Dong Hua Xin Bao (East China News) was established in Sydney on 29 June 1898 in response to the Sino-Japanese war. It was funded through shares held mostly by Chinese merchants. It also was an official newspaper of the Chinese Chambers of Commercial of New South Wales. One of the biggest shareholders was Thomas Yee Hing (or Liu Ru Xing) of the On Cheong and Co., who controlled the management of the paper. Initially the paper did not have a political agenda but after the reform movement in China collapsed in 1898, it became committed to the monarchist cause of Kang Yu-wei and Liang Qichao. It also defended conservative and later reactionary causes. It promoted the development of the New South Wales Chinese Empire Reform Association and from 1900 was virtually its organ.

The Tung Wah News was involved in a court case in 1901 which led to its bankruptcy and closure in 1902. It changed its name to the Tung Wah Times and began republishing shortly afterwards. In the same year, Tang Caizhi, an editor from China recommended by Liang Qichao, became an editor of this newspaper. The newspaper strongly supported the Chinese Empire Reform Association and Confucianism. During 1909-1910, there was a debate between the Tung Wah Times and the Chinese Times due to their different political ideologies. Generally, the Tung Wah Times supported constitutional movement in China rather than the republican movement. It therefore put the Tung Wah Times into conflict with the Chinese republican newspapers and nationalists.

The Chinese TimesAi Guo Bao (Patriotic Newspaper or Love Motherland Newspaper) was Melbourne's first Chinese newspaper and was founded in January 1902. From 1902 to 1922, it had a number of Chinese names reflecting important shifts in ownership and political emphisis. In English it is catalogued as the Chinese Times up until 1948.

The founder and first editor of the Ai Guo Bao was Zheng Lu (also known as T. Chong Luke). Zheng was also one of the initial founders of the New South Wales Empire Reform Association and between 1899 and 1901 edited the Tung Wah News. By 1901 Zheng's political views had become too revolutionary for both these organisations. In addition to supporting the modernisation of China he also supported the removal of Manchu rule. Zheng left Sydney and came to Melbourne to establish his own paper. The paper aimed to encourage patriotism and raise the political consciousness of overseas Chinese. It argued that Chinese in Australia should participate in local politics to protect their interests. Zheng's business skills were not strong and in 1905 due to mounting financial difficulties he sold the paper to Ruan Jianzhai. Its Chinese name changed to Jing Dong Xin Bao (Arouse the Orient News) at this time. Difficulties continued and in 1907 the paper temporarily closed.

In 1908 the Chinese Empire Reform Association (Xinmin qizhi hui means: New Citizens Enlightenment Society, this society was different with the Chinese Empire Reform Association even though they adopted the same English title) revived the Jingdon Xin Bao as an organ for their republican propaganda. In an effort to bring the paper up to the intellectual standing of the Tung Wah Times the society appointed two republican school teachers from China, Lew Goot-chee (Liu Dihuan) and Wong Yue-kung (Huang Yougong), to edit the paper. This paper was the first paper to openly challenge monarchist ideas. In 1915 the two editors returned to China and till 1917 the paper closed. In 1910 the Chinese Reform Association had expanded and they changed their name to the Young China Society (Shaonian Zhongguo Hui) which eventually became the Melbourne Branch of the Chinese Nationalist Party (KuoMingTang). In 1919 the paper was transferred to the Chinese Nationalist Party where is was renamed the Civic News (Min Bao). Shortly afterwards, in 1922 it moved to Sydney where it stayed in print till the close of World War II.

The Chinese Republic News or Min Guo Bao was established in Sydney in 1914 by 23 Chinese Republicans (including Rev. John Young Wai, J.A. Chuey, John Moy Sing, George Bew and Charles Yee Wing) sympathetic to the nationalist cause. George Bew (a founding partner of the Wing On corporation) was a major sponsor and president of the Chinese Republican News. The paper was first published in 1914 with the aim of publicising democratic political ideals. Four years later in 1916 the Chinese Nationalist League (which became the Chinese Nationalist Party also known as the Kuomintang) was formed in Sydney. Both organisations were established in opposition to the New South Wales Chamber of Commerce with its organ the Tung Wah Times. It was established to propogate the political doctrines of Dr Sun Yatsen. It advocated the reunification of China under Chinese nationalist forces and attacked the Yuan regime more severely than the Chinese Times and so was also in conflict with the Tung Wah Times which condemned republican insurrections. The paper was edited by Chiu Kwok-chun and Ng Hung-piu, two Chinese church high school teachers in Canton and members of the then illegal Chinese Revolutionary League (established by Sun Yutsen in Japan). It claimed a distribution of 2,000 copies per issue in Australasia, the South Pacific, the Straits Settlements, Hong Kong and China. It ceased publication in 1937.

The Chinese World's News or Gong Bao (or The Bulletin) was the political organ of the New South Wales Chinese Masonic Society (previously the anti-Manchu Yee Hing) and was established in August 1921. £s;3,000 were collected from Chinese Masonic Society members in Australia and New Zealand. Its first editor was Jue Yin Jing who was a Hong Kong merchant who arrived in Sydney in 1920 and left Australia in 1923. Jang Loong Shun, another of the newspaper's editors was also employed for a time as headmaster of the short-lived Chung Wah School in 1924. Later in 1924 he also returned to China. The Chinese World's News was published until the 1950's.

The Pingbao (Harmony) and Shangbao (Commerce) were two other Chinese-language magazines or newspapers which were established in the 1920s. These publications were in published in both Chinese and English language. However they were short lived and very little is known about them.

The establishment of so many newspapers from 1890's to 1950's reflected the intimate involvement of Australian Chinese in the turbulent political situation in China. In 1923 political feelings were so strong that mediation was organised between the Chinese World's News, the Chinese Times and the Tung Wah Times to try and stop their written polemics. This flourishing Chinese newspaper culture in Sydney and Melbourne also reveals an adoption of modern communication by these Chinese-Australian communities, illustrating a transformation in Chinese diasporic identity.

Sources used to compile this entry: Liu Weiping, Chinese newspapers in Australia from the turn of the century, Translated by Sang Yichuan and John Fitzgerald, Chinese Heritage of Australian Federation website, http://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/5/5/1/public/chinese_newspapers.htm; Poon, Yuk-lan, 'The Two-Way Mirror: Contemporary Issues as Seen through the Eyes of the Chinese Language Press, 1901-1911', in Fitzgerald, S. and Wotherspoon, G. (eds), Minorities: Cultural Diversity in Sydney, State Library of New South Wales and the Sydney History Group, Sydney, 1995; Yong, C.F., New Gold Mountain: The Chinese in Australia 1901-1920, Raphael Arts, South Australia, 1977; Comments from Kuo Mei-fen and Liu Luxin gratefully acknowledged.

Published Resources

Books

  • Ch'ng, David, A content analysis of advertisements in the Chinese Times, 1902-1914, Faculty of Business Staff Papers, Swinburne Institute of Technology, Melbourne, 1991. Details
  • Jones, Paul, Chinese-Australian Journeys: Records on Travel, Migration and Settlement, 1860-1975, National Archives of Australia, Canbera, 2005, p.209. Details
  • Lowenthal, Rudolf, The Chinese Press in Australia, 1936?. Details
  • Yong, C.F., New Gold Mountain: The Chinese in Australia 1901-1920, Raphael Arts, South Australia, 1977. Details

Book Sections

  • Poon, Yuk-lan, 'The Two-Way Mirror: Contemporary Issues as Seen through the Eyes of the Chinese Language Press, 1901-1911', in Fitzgerald, S. and Wotherspoon, G. (eds), Minorities: Cultural Diversity in Sydney, State Library of New South Wales and the Sydney History Group, Sydney, 1995. Details

Journal Articles

  • Wang, Yewang and Ryder, Jula, 'An 'eccentric' paper edited for the unwelcome aliens: a study of the earliest Australian Chinese newspaper, The Chinese Advertiser [An abridged version of this article in Chinese was published in The Tide (Chinese Newspaper) on 21 Aug 1997.]', Australian Academic and Research Libraries, vol. 30, no. 4, December, pp. 300-312. Details

Theses

  • Pang, Anne, 'The Chinese Times', BA (hons) Thesis, University of Melbourne, 1980. Details
  • Poon Yuk Lan, 'Through the eyes of the dragon: The Chinese press in Australia 1901-1911', BA (hons) Thesis, Department of History, University of Sydney, 1986. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • '[photograph and article on wedding of Fang Jinyi and Anne Fuller]', Chinese Australian Herald, 17 September 1897, p. 21. Details
  • '[photograph of wedding of Ye Yuezu and Li Yueming]', Tung Wah, 28 January 1922. Details
  • '[photograph of wedding of Luo Weixin and Ye Meigui]', Tung Wah, 17 February 1923, p. 21. Details
  • '[photograph of wedding banquet of Miu Huili and Sun Jinrong in Sydney]', Tung Wah, 13 Feburary 1926. Details
  • '[photograph of wedding of Ye Zuyi and Tsung Yung Lo]', Tung Wah, 13 July 1929, p. 21. Details

Images

Title
Ancestral altar
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 5 February 1911
Place
Australia - New South Wales - Sydney
Details

See also

Title
Collection of pictures from a picnic in Aspendale Park
Type
Photograph
Date
c. 7 February 1905 - c. 18 February 1905
Place
Australia - Victoria - Melbourne - Aspendale
Details

Created: 11 July 2001, Last modified: 4 October 2011