『東西洋考每月統記傳』 (The Eastern-Western Monthly Magazine)考

Abstract

This study considers the Eastern-Western Monthly Magazine published for missionary work by the Chinese missionary from Prussia, Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff (1803-1851). This study aims to explore various aspects of the aforementioned magazine, such as its foundation, publication, circulation, content, characteristics, and significance. The first issue of the Eastern-Western Monthly Magazine was published in Guangzhou on August 1, 1833. The purpose of its foundation was to change the image of Westerners held by Chinese people by promoting Western culture in China. Six hundred copies of the first issue were published. Three hundred copies were additionally printed because it was common at that time for Westerns, who lived in Guangdong Province, to purchase the magazine and hand it out to Chinese people. Nine hundred copies of each issue were printed from the second issue. However, the magazine was completely suspended with its last issue in September 1939, right before the Opium War. This magazine published a total of 39 issues for five years and three months, excluding a suspended period in the middle. However, six issues were reprints of earlier issues, so a total of 33 issues were actually published. The Eastern-Western Monthly Magazine tried to gain a sense of familiarity from Chinese readers. The 15 x 25 cm sized magazine vertically printed the title “the Eastern-Western Monthly Magazine” in the middle of the cover. The words of Confucius were printed to the left of the title, and the editor Aehanja(愛漢者) was revealed beneath the title. Aehanja, which means a person who loves China, was the pseudonym of Karl Friedrich August Gützlaff. Each page, which had content arranged in a vertical manner, had 11 lines, and each line had 25 letters. The magazine attempted to harmonize Western culture and China's traditional mainstream culture by showing respect for Confucianism. The magazine tried to satisfy Chinese readers' reading habits by adopting the traditional writing style that Chinese readers were familiar with. It can be said that the Eastern-Western Monthly Magazine, whose content was extensive and diverse, was an encyclopedic publication. The magazine had categories, such as introduction, history, geography, astronomy, news, trade, and miscellaneous, and the presented content covered science and technology, economy, animal, human figure, literature, policy, edification, advertisement, and others. In summary, the Eastern-Western Monthly Magazine has the following significances: First, the magazine, founded in China by a Western missionary, was a periodical publication and had an important position in modern media and publishing. Second, although the magazine was published for the propagation of Christian, it also appeared to be a sort of educational magazine that introduced Western civilization and culture to China. Third, the educational characteristics of the magazine had a significant influence and contributed to the appearance of many educational magazines in China.