(Ancient Official Notices) First, the official notices. "Notice" is a very vivid expression, referring to writing content on a piece of cloth and then posting it everywhere. This was extrely common in ancient tis and also made it easy for the common people to accept the information as credible. This was equivalent to today’s "official social dia accounts." Many people living in remote areas probably learned about the Imperial Court’s information through these notices. Among the official announcents, there could be so celebrating top scholars who passed the imperial examinations, but more often they involved wanted criminals or those who had committed heinous cris and were to be executed. This thod still existed in the modern era. When soone was to be executed, their deeds would be written on a notice, with a big red cross drawn over their na.
(Su Dongpo Statue) Second, the intellectuals’ narrations. There weren’t many literate people in ancient tis. Common folk tended to believe what the literate said. In fact, the intellectuals were akin to dia journalists of that ti, taking on the role of spreading information. For example, Su Dongpo was famous for his poetry, and his fa had already spread far and wide. As soon as he wrote a poem, people all over would know about it imdiately. For instance, when he wrote in Lingnan, "I eat three hundred lychees a day, not refusing a permanent life in Lingnan," and another line like "Reporting that the master enjoys his spring nap, the Taoist lightly strikes the bell for the fifth morning watch," these verses were imdiately copied and circulated by the literate, to the extent that even Zhang Dun in the Capital City knew about it. Zhang Dun thought to himself, even in such a malarial place as Lingnan, you still enjoy such a carefree life, how can this be allowed! So Zhang Dun had Su Dongpo banished even further away to Hainan. Apart from such poetry being copied and circulated among intellectuals, there were also events that excited and envied the general intellectuals, such as a scholar becoming a top graduate, which would definitely spread wildly amongst them. The earlier ntioned "overnight fa" was clearly a result of the envious literate helping to fuel its spread.
(Han Xizai’s Night Banquet Painting) Third, the singing in entertainnt venues. The most authentic literature in ancient tis was poetry, but in reality, poetry originated from music, detached from it for a while but eventually returned to music. The poetry in "The Book of Songs" all ca from folk lyrics. Later, during the Tang Dynasty, poetry beca independent, and composing poetry beca the most important form of expression for literate people. However, by the Song Dynasty, lyrical poetry erged, and in the Yuan Dynasty, theatrical songs appeared. Thus, poetry returned to music. In fact, returning to music was not a bad thing because poetry could only circulate among a limited number of intellectuals and had difficulty reaching the ordinary people. Ordinary people had difficulty knowing the poets. Bai Juyi promoted the "New Yuefu Movent," actually wishing to bring poetry to ordinary people and make poets more famous among them. However, the effect was not very significant. But with the combination of poetry and music, being sung in various ancient entertainnt places, the reach of poetry beca wider, and the poets’ fa grew larger.
(Romance of the Three Kingdoms—The Three Visits to the Thatched Cottage) Fourth, rendition in leisure ti. In ancient tis, for soone to beco more famous, their acts had to beco stories and legends to be widely circulated among the people. Why are the Three Kingdoms characters so well-known? It’s because they entered into these romanticized stories, which were then narrated and elaborated in leisure ti, and as such, they beca very famous. It is possible that in these renditions, many characters have already strayed from their original historical portrayals. For example, the stories of the Yang Family Generals in later narrations have long deviated from their original circumstances. Yet, it is precisely these transformations that made the tales of the Yang Family more widely known and their fa grew. If the true stories of the Three Kingdoms or the Yang Family Generals were told, perhaps their tales would no longer be heard, and their popularity would not be as widespread. The analysis above also shows that due to the underdeveloped communication systems in ancient tis and the lack of "dia people," it was not possible for many people to beco famous. But once soone did beco famous, their reach was far greater than contemporary figures.
In the pre-Qin period, it was even said that from the Xia Dynasty, there was a kind of official called "powerful and influential people." The usual explanation for these officials is that they were envoys sent by ancient emperors to understand the common people’s hardships. But they also had another mission, which was to promote "civilization," and this included spreading the latest governnt decrees, spirit, and news.
The Wooden Bell was an ancient noise-making instrunt, similar to a type of hand-held bell. There were two kinds of bells, the Golden Bell and the Wooden Bell. The Golden Bell was used on the battlefield, as a substitute for beating drums, while the Wooden Bell was used for literary affairs. The "Zuo Zhuan" once cited records from "Chief of Staff" saying that at the beginning of spring every year, powerful and influential people would co down the road shaking the Wooden Bell, telling the people the latest governnt decrees and news.
Powerful and influential people and the Wooden Bell can be considered the earliest prototype of the dia industry.
Notices and Exposed Cloth
During the Qin and Han Dynasties, there were already "notices," and they mainly ca in two forms. One was in the format of letters and official docunts, such as the account in "Records of the Grand Historian": "The three kings established by the Lv Clan...the matter has been announced to the feudatories..." Another type was the posting of notices that we are familiar with. Ancient cities had special "notice posting areas" where new policies, events, rewards for arrests, etc., could be viewed. This was probably equivalent to today’s outdoor dia.
Exposed Cloth was also a kind of notice and existed at least since the Han Dynasty. It involved writing incidents and decrees on small flags made of cloth, such as military victories and general amnesties, and then soldiers would ride horses while holding up and sotis loudly shouting out the Exposed Cloth.
This should be considered the earliest form of multidia, or at least the earliest "vehicle advertisent."
Den Bao, Xiao Bao, and Xiao Ben
The exact origin of the den bao is still debated, but many believe it appeared during the Western Han period. Back then, under the commandery and county system, each commandery had an office in the capital city, referred to as a "den." These dens had resident officials whose main task was to write down the Imperial Court’s decisions, dynamics, and instructions for their own commanderies and counties on cloth or bamboo strips. That was the earliest form of the den bao.
With the advent of printing technology, den bao gradually transitioned to paper printing, and its content significantly increased from its original form. The den bao of the Tang Dynasty is considered the beginning of newspapers in our country. Starting from the Northern Song Dynasty, "xiao bao" began to appear among the people and beca quite common by the Southern Song Dynasty. These xiao bao were produced by the public and often discussed current affairs and politics.
Xiao ben beca popular during the Yuan Dynasty, with exquisite printing that was also folk-engraved. The main content was still primarily court news but had added much academic, scientific, and economic material. Xiao ben can be seen as a continuation of xiao bao.
There were also other forms such as reports carved on wooden plaques, flag reports printed on banners, and so on, all of which were extensions of the previous "exposed cloth" thod. These could be carried by horseback, spreading the news as one traveled. "Jie tie," on the other hand, sowhat resembled modern-day flyers; printed in large quantities for widespread distribution among crowds at markets, major roads, and other places.
These were all thods, but for an intellectual, brothels were undoubtedly the fastest and most convenient place for spreading news.
The reason is simple. It was said that talented n loved to seek pleasure and pleasurable n were often talented. Brothels, the very places for seeking florid encounters, were the favorite gathering spots for the literati. Any news that spread there would be swiftly known by these intellectuals.
Only when the intellectuals were inford could they, in turn, quickly disperse the news to people far and wide, allowing such ssages to beco widely circulated.
The incident of the Xiongnu envoy’s execution was undoubtedly explosive, and with Li Ming, the notable Golden Bell top scholar, taking the initiative to lead the charge, the news instantly went viral.
Driven by the intellectuals frequenting the brothels and combined with official announcents, the news spread rapidly throughout the land, provoking outrage among all the heroes of the world.
In the midst of this, the Imperial Court issued an edict calling for war against the Xiongnu and formally mobilized troops against them!
Reviews
All reviews (0)