The Rise of Reading Revolution in the Late Qing Dynasty and Its Political Influence

As a pioneer in papermaking and printing technology,China could have been the leading country in reading revolution.However,in China,the real reading revolution did not come until the intrusion of the Western big powers in the late Qing Dynasty.The delayed reading revolution not only fostered Chinese people's reading preference for the Western literature,but also helped promote political resistance in the late Qing era,which facilitated China's comprehensive transition from a traditional empire to a modern nation-state.The interconnection between the reading revolution and Chinese political resistance demonstrated the indispensible role of mass media in the four properties of modern political movements including collective challenge,common purpose,social solidarity and sustained interaction.Moreover,the lack of depth and breadth in the reading revolution made it hard for the mass to reach political consensus,which led to the enduring political disorder and chaos during the Nationalist Government era.