Digital scans of the Shēn Bào《申報》newspaper (1872-1949)

[Mark Yong]

Does anyone know if the now-defunct Shanghai newspaper Shēn Bào 《申報》 (short for 《申江新報》), which ran between 1872 to 1949, is available anywhere in digital scan format?

I am aware that the Shanghai Library maintains a complete set, but unfortunately I do not live anywhere near Shanghai. I am not sure if they have digitised the entire archive of the newspaper, and if so, whether it is readily-available on the public domain.

And although the complete set has been published by 上海書店 (http://www.shsd.com.cn/books/bookspec/view.asp?id=0202010000969785), ￥28,000 (that’s after discount, by the way) may be a bit beyond my budget. Besides, I am only aiming to view a few representative samples, not the complete set spanning 70+ years (even if I could afford the money, I don’t think I could afford the time!).

Was made to understand that the Shēn Bào 《申報》 was arguably one of the longest-running and most outstanding newspapers to come from late-Qing/early-20^th century China. I would be interested to read some samples from a language and content perspective - seeing how the language evolved from Classical Chinese to vernacular, and how the content and stance shifted from pro-Qing to Reformation over its history.

[zhwj]

The newspaper is available digitally through Huawenku 华文库 (see here); however, it's only accessible through subscribing institutions. Check out a nearby university or library and see if they have a subscription.

[ManManLai]

By the way, the 《东方杂志》is also another interesting publication from the period, especially around the establishment of the republic.

http://www.baike.com/wiki/《东方杂志》