英文摘要
|
The case of Yang Nai-Wu was one of the most famous peculiar legal cases in the late-Qing empire, which also had close connections with Shen News. Via the analysis of the related reports in Shen News, it is believed that the case had become a wrestling field of the three major authorities: Qing government, the folks, and Shanghai Concessions. By analyzing events of the case from the reports in Shen News and royal files archived in the Qing court, our study shows that the development of Yan’s case actually was a scrabble for symbolic authority. Utilizing public anger, Qing royal took this opportunity to suppress local officials by reversing this case, in an attempt to restore the unbalanced power after the event of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Shen News in Shanghai fought for the freedom of speech and media authority by the editor's strategies and their popularity. Because of the newspaper's advantage in Shanghai Concessions, the Chinese folks even directly criticized the empire's judicial system and spoke out the early voice of judicial enlightenment at that time by the experiences earned from the West. Although Yang's case happened in Hangzhou, it had been internalized within Shanghai, and all internalization process was a confrontation between the traditional empire and the early modern. In the confrontation, Shanghai, a new growing city, had begun to produce its own local information which may shaped the identity of Shanghai residences. In other words, all the post about Yang's case was the appearance of Shanghai-opinions. Yang's case in the collusion of new media and folks had never been the local level case, but a complex symbol and a wrestling field for authority. The factor of Western modernity and Concession area's freedom of speech as the background of Sheng News promoted the early judicial enlightenment, which became one of Shanghai's identities and local knowledge afterward.
|