Eastern Western Monthly Magazine
| Eastern Western Monthly Magazine | |||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 東西洋考每月統記傳 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese | 东西洋考每月统纪传 | ||||||
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | Dōng Xīyáng Kǎo Měiyuè Tǒngjì Zhuàn |
Eastern Western Monthly Magazine was the inaugural modern-age Chinese language magazine first published on August 1, 1833 in Canton (Guangzhou), China by the Prussian Protestant Missionary Karl Gützlaff at a time when foreign missionaries risked strangulation or deportation. In 1837, due to increasingly strained Sino-British relations presaging the First Opium War, the magazine moved to Singapore with its last issue appearing in 1838. Contributors included fellow missionaries Robert Morrison and his son John amongst others, with the publication covering religion, politics, science, commerce and miscellaneous topics.
Originally from Prussia, Gützlaff arrived in Southeast Asia as a missionary for the Netherlands Missionary Society in 1827 but shortly afterwards left to join the London Missionary Society. At the beginning of 1831 he set out on a tour of China and soon became dismayed at the widespread view amongst the Chinese that Westerners were "Barbarians". Gützlaff announced that he would start a monthly magazine that would correct this impression by introducing the ideas of Western art and science and promote understanding and friendship. In March 1834 the magazine carried an article entitled "A Discussion of Newspaper Strategy" 《新闻纸略论》 (Xīnwénzhǐ Luè Lùn), which was the first treatise on the Western press to appear in China. Although only 331 words long, the article covered newspaper origination, freedom of the press and reviewed the details of a number of Western papers. Copies of the magazine were circulated to Nanking (Nanjing), Peking (Beijing) and other cities but its reception is not recorded.
The magazine ceased publication after Issue 10 in May 1834, restarted in February 1835 only to cease again in July of the same year. The magazine relocated to Singapore in 1837, printing its last issue in 1838.
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Wikipedia