天津最早的中文报纸《时报》
2009-02

中国近代报刊的产生和发展, 是和外国资本主义入侵、天津开埠 的过程相关联的。早期的报纸和刊 物并没有严格的区分,有的虽名为 报纸,却也刊载论著。天津首家报 纸,是清光绪十二年(1886)阳历 5月创办的英文《中国时报》,有 “外人在华北的圣经”之称。
同年四月十三日(5月16日), 中文版天津《时报》 出版(日 报),这是天津第一份中文报纸。这两个第一的报 纸,都是由天津海关税务司英籍德人德璀琳和怡和 洋行总理笳臣集股创办、天津印刷公司刊行的。 中文版《时报》由英人米切(伦敦《泰晤士报》驻 津通讯员、李鸿章的顾问)任主 编。光绪十六年(1890)六月, 李鸿章聘请英国传教士李提摩太 任主笔,历时两年。《时报》除 注重商业新闻外,每日刊载时论 一篇,7日刊图一幅,鼓吹中国 实行新政。
光绪十七年(1891)五月, 中文版《时报》发行5年自行停 刊。光绪二十一年(1895), 李提摩太将刊载在中文版《时报》上的论著汇编 成《时事新论》一书,由上海广学会出版。此 后,天津的报纸如雨后春笋涌现,使天津成为近 代中国北方新闻中心。

The birth and development of modern newspapers in China was closely related with the invasion of the Imperialists and Tianjin`s opening-up as a treaty port. At the beginning,there was no clear demarcation between newspapers and magazines. Some newspaper at that time also carried theses. In May 1886 (the 12th year of Emperor Guangxu),a English newspaper,"Chinese Times",the first newspaper in Tianjin,was founded. It was regarded as "the Bible for foreigners living in North China".
On April 13 of the same year,the Times Daily (Chinese version) was published as the first Chinese newspaper in Tianjin. These two newspapers were co- invested by Dertring,head of Taxation Department of Tianjin Customs,and the General Manager of Yihe Yanghang. The Chief Editor of the Times Daily was a British person,a correspondent of Thames in Tianjin and its adviser was Governor-General Li Hongzhang. In June 1890,Li invited a British missionary Latourette as the chief editor for two years. Besides business news, the Times Daily also carried commentaries everyday and a picture every one week in order to promote the "New Deal" in China.
In May of 1891,the Times Daily stopped publication after five years of operation. In 1895, Latourette compiled all his commentaries in Times Daily into a book "Shishi Xinlun" (New Commentaries on Current Affairs) which was published by Shanghai Guangxuehui Association. At that time,many newspapers have mushroomed in Tianjin,turning it the center of news in North China.