As we all know, Jobs's invention of the Apple mobile phone subverted people's understanding of mobile phones, changing people's communication, entertainment and lifestyle. Henry Luce is also such a presence, and it is not an exaggeration to be known as the "Jobs" of the news magazine. Reading this, you must be wondering who Henry Luce really is, right? You may not have heard of the name, but you certainly know Time magazine! Yes, Henry Luce is the father of Time.
Figure 1. Henry Luce
But some people wondered, he is an American, how did he form a relationship with China? Let's travel through time and space with Xiaobian to see it!
An American baby who grew up in China
In 1897, his parents came to China to preach. The following year, he was born in a temple. Little Henry could understand Chinese at the age of three and could go to church for Mass; by the age of five, he had a strong ability to express himself.
Figure 2. Three-year-old Henry jr. sat in a wicker chair
Later, after entering school at the age of 10, he began to read and study Chinese history books and pay attention to China's development. Luce also served as editor-in-chief of a tabloid at the school.
Young and dreamy
In the autumn of 1912, the 14-year-old Luce left Shandong, China, and against his parents' wishes, he chose to board a ship to Britain from Shanghai and began his dream-building journey. However, when he bid farewell to China, he still said that he was from Shandong.
The first Chinese to appear on the cover of Time
In 1923, Time Magazine was born. Under Luce's leadership, by the end of 1942, Time Magazine's weekly circulation had exceeded one million copies and more than 2 million subscribers, which was only a decade or so!
When Time was first published, its innovative cover design attracted a large number of readers, and this feature is still inherited to this day. Yes, as we must all know, it is the "cover person", which uses the portrait of a well-known person in recent news on the cover.
Interestingly, the first time on the cover of "Time Magazine" Chinese - Wu Peifu, and coincidentally, he and Luce are half a fellow countrymen. This is the second year of Time magazine's publication.
Figure 3. Wu Peifu appeared on the cover of Time
He spared no effort to support China's resistance to Japan
As a witness to China's poverty and war at the beginning of the last century, Luce in his childhood loved and hated China. Growing up, he firmly believed that only by relying on the American way of development could he help China achieve a great rejuvenation. Therefore, in the initial War of Resistance Against Japan, although American society was still deeply affected by the idea of "isolationism", Luce took the lead in reporting a large number of Chinese anti-Japanese situations in magazines regardless of the dozen or so war correspondents sent to the front line of the Chinese war. However, the relevant reports have a clear tendency and purpose, that is, to attack the atrocities of the Japanese army. At the same time, he also struggled to consolidate Chiang Kai-shek's image as China's wartime leader, and received sympathy and assistance from the U.S. government public. During that time, Jiang Song frequently appeared on the cover of "Time", and the two were even named "Husband and Wife" in 1938.
There were very few Americans who cared about the situation in China at the time, and Luce was one of them. Time Magazine's reports of China's massive bombing have indeed had a huge impact on American society, and the aid provided to China by the U.S. government and the private sector under the guidance of Luce's public opinion has also increased rapidly.
He once clung to prejudice and distorted the image of New China
Gradually, however, his preference for Chiang Kai-shek became deformed.
Luce recognized Chiang Kai-shek's anti-communist stance and his Christian background, saw him as China's hope, and for decades gave him full support. In fact, as early as 1927, Chiang Kai-shek appeared on the cover of the magazine as commander of the Northern Expedition. In 1932, Chiang Kai-shek returned to Luce, China after 20 years of vip hospitality, and Luce took advantage of this opportunity to quickly form a deep friendship with the Soong family. When Soong Mei-ling visited the United States in 1943 to seek assistance, Luce set up a "Preparatory Committee for New York Citizens to Welcome Mrs. Chiang."
In order to beautify the rule of the Kuomintang, Luce has done very excessive behavior. He turned a blind eye to all unfavorable reports he had sent back reporters about the Chinese Kuomintang, and even tried to cover up the truth and began to deceive the public. This has gradually lost the principle of being a journalist, and finally made Luce play a disgraceful role in the history of Sino-US relations, and guided the United States to refute China. When Japan surrendered in 1945, Luce wanted to put Chiang Kai-shek on the cover again. At that time, Bai Xiude, a veteran journalist in China, was firmly opposed to this. Bethurtech believes that without principles and bottom lines, there is no responsibility to millions of readers. However, the two could not reach an agreement in the end, and a pair of friends parted ways.
After the fall of the Nationalist government, with a strong anti-communist mentality, Luce became irrational, believing that "a useful lie is better than a harmful truth". Since then, although the leaders of New China, Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, have both made "cover characters", they did not appear in the public eye as glorious images, but were maliciously smeared.
A shift in attitude
It was not until Luce's anti-China political attitude expressed in Time in his later years that it developed and changed. He died in 1967, and in the course of diplomacy after the founding of New China, Time paid new attention and finally began to report positively. In April 1971, in order to report on the famous "table tennis diplomacy", a group photo of Chinese and American table tennis players on the Great Wall was published. In November of the same year, Zhou Enlai also appeared on the cover with a positive image.
Figure 4
After Nixon's successful visit to China in February 1972, time was displayed on the cover of March 6, and the abstract Chinese character "friend" divided the picture into four parts, namely Nixon's meeting with Mao Zedong and Zhou Enlai, visiting the Great Wall, and watching song and dance performances. It shows that the attitude is changing to positive and friendly.
With the deepening and success of China's reform and opening up, it has increasingly become an important role on the world stage, and Time's attention to China has also entered a new era. The most typical change is reflected in the high attention paid to Deng Xiaoping. In the 20 years since 1976, Deng Xiaoping has appeared on the cover nine times, twice becoming the person of the year.
Figure 5. Deng Xiaoping was elected Time Person of the Year in 1978
So far, only a few world leaders, such as Churchill and Eisenhower, have been able to match it.
Now that we have entered a new century, the distance between Time and China can be closer. The scope of the report is no longer limited to the attention to Chinese politics, and China's sports stars and ordinary people have gradually entered the "Times", which is the proof that our country is going to the world. "Time" will also surely take Luce's special Chinese feelings to the new era.
Figure 6 Liu Xiang - the cover character of "Time" in 2008
Stephen Chow – Cover character of Time in 2003
Author: Zhao Caichen Editor: Wang Yiran
Image source: In order of occurrence
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bibliography:
[1] Alan Brinkley, Publisher: Henry Luce and His American Century[M].Beijing: Law Press, 2001:236.
[2] People's Daily News
[3] MBA Think Tank Encyclopedia https://wiki.mbalib.com/wiki/ Henry Luce