Chinese Canadian Publications from 1920s to 1980s: A Historical Perspective.

Chinese Canadian Publications from 1920s to 1980s: A Historical Perspective.

Chinese

A number of studies show modern Chinese newspapers appeared in China and some other countries with sizable Chinese immigrant populations almost simultaneously. Some of the earliest Chinese newspapers were actually published overseas by the local Chinese business people or Christian missionary workers. In Canada, two newspapers can trace their publications to the beginning of the 1920s. One of them is “Ta Hon Kong Pao” <大汉公报> , which was first issued in 1907 in Vancouver and ceased publication in 1992. It has been credited being the longest lasting Chinese publication in Canada. Another one is “Shing Wah Yat Po” <醒华日报> which was published in Toronto between 1922 and 1990. The paper itself was the official organ of the overseas branch of Kuomintang Party (KMT, Chinese Nationalist Party). Given its long span of publication and broad coverage of international, national and local news; it can be considered one of the most important Chinese language newspapers in Canada. In the first part of the 20th Century, Chinese immigrants tied them closely with Chinese social political situations. Canada was no exception. The Chinese government had an influence on the local Chinese communities to a great extent.
Publications in Chinese were one of the major means of the reach out efforts then. From the 1970s, the dramatic change of the political landscape and shifting position of mainland China and Taiwan on the world stage have had a long lasting impact on overseas Chinese communities, including Chinese Canadians. Public media, like newspapers and magazines along with other publications have reflected the change of reality. The current paper will go through different stages that Chinese Canadians went through,and use publications as one special aspect of the Chinese diaspora to explore how broader social-economic changes have been reflected via publications.

Qiao, Stephen

Chinese

Newspaper

Print media

Canada

1920s-1980s

Qiao, Stephen. "Chinese Canadian Publications from 1920s to 1980s: A Historic Perspective", A paper for The Second Sino-American Academic Library Forum for Cooperation and Development, Lanzhou, China, July 16-20, 2013.