Overview of "Kung Yung Pao"

Kung Yung Pao, The Only Daily Newspaper for the Ethnic Chinese in Java during Japanese Occupation: An Overview (including General Catalog)

APPENDIX: Supplementary Volume to KUNG YUNG PAO Reprint Edition (1942-1945).

Publisher: Transmission Books & Microinfo (Taipei)

Publication Date: 15 Mar. 2020.

Size: A4 (softcover, including General Catalog), 94+iv pp.

Price (paperback): 350TWD

Free Download (PDF): Click here.

Publication Data (copyright page): Click here.

ISBN: 9789869885904

Abstract

Kung Yung Pao (共栄報) was the only daily newspaper that was issued for the ethnic Chinese population in Java under the Japanese military administration. It was published in both Chinese and Malay, reflecting the linguistic circumstances of the Chinese community in Java at the time.

While the Chinese edition of Kung Yung Pao was published in March 1942 by taking over the facilities and personnel of Sin Po (新報)––the most influential China-oriented newspaper in Batavia (Jakarta)––, its Malay edition was launched in September 1942 by absorbing the pro-Japanese Malay-language newspaper, Hong Po (洪報). Both editions were headed by Oey Tiang Tjoei (黄長水), the former president of Hong Po, and their management was, as with the case for other local papers in Java during the Japanese period, supervised by the Djawa Shinbun Association (ジャワ新聞会). Although Kung Yung Pao certainly reflected the will of the Japanese military administration and possessed the characteristics of propaganda newspaper to a great extent, it provides extremely useful data for elucidating the little-known aspects of wartime lives of, and circumstances surrounding the ethnic Chinese throughout the island.

In this article, so as to gain a broad understanding of the nature of the Chinese community in Java targeted by Kung Yung Pao, Chapter 1 focuses particularly on the linguistic circumstances of the Chinese community in Java in the early 20th century before the beginning of Japanese military administration, and examines the development of their speech activities through newspapers and other media. Chapter 2 provides an overview of information control under the Japanese military administration, then explains the processes of publication and the in-house system of Kung Yung Pao. The third and final chapter provides a commentary on some of the features of the content of Kung Yung Pao.

A set of back issues of Kung Yung Pao kept in the National Library of Indonesia (Perpustakaan Nasional Republik Indonesia) was reprinted in March 2019 as the Kung Yung Pao Reprint Edition (1942-1945) based on high-definition photographs taken by Transmission Books & Microinfo (Taipei). This article is an English translation of the bibliographical introduction originally written in Japanese at the time of the reprint, and is first published in March 2020 after a major revision with some additional new findings.

Contents

Introduction

1. The Ethnic Chinese Community and Newspapers in the Dutch East Indies before the War

1.1. The Linguistic Circumstances of the Ethnic Chinese in Java in the Early 20th Century

1.2. The Genealogy of Ethnic Chinese Newspapers in Java

1.3. Surveys of the Ethnic Chinese Newspapers by Japan

1.4. Oey Tiang Tjoei and Hong Po

1.5. Major Pre-war Newspapers from Outside the Chinese Community

2. The Japanese Military Administration in Java and Control over Newspapers: The Origins of Kung Yung Pao

2.1. The Beginning of the Military Administration

2.2. Control over Newspapers and the Launch of the Japanese-language Paper Djawa Shinbun

2.3. Dutch-language and Indonesian-language Newspapers after the Start of the Military Administration

2.4. Ethnic Chinese Papers (Chinese-language) after the Start of the Military Administration: From Sin Sin Po to the Chinese Edition of Kung Yung Pao

2.5. Ethnic Chinese Papers (Malay-language) after the Start of the Military Administration: From Hong Po to the Malay Edition of Kung Yung Pao

2.6. Control through Djawa Shinbun Association and the In-house Systems of Kung Yung Pao

3. Characteristics of the Newspaper Kung Yung Pao

3.1. Transitions of the Calendar Notation

3.2. Transitions in the Description of the Publisher

3.3. Features of the Chinese Edition of Kung Yung Pao

3.4. Features of the Malay Edition of Kung Yung Pao

3.5. Japan’s Defeat, Indonesian Independence, and the End of Kung Yung Pao

Epilogue

Acknowledgements

Bibliography

List of the Newspapers' Pages Contained in KUNG YUNG PAO Reprint Edition (1942-1945)

Remarks

Acknowledgement

This research was funded by JSPS Research Grants (Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (KAKENHI): Study on Ethnic Chinese Society in Indonesia under the Japanese Military Rule) (16K16655, Representative: Tsuda Koji).

Bibliographic Information

TSUDA Koji. Kung Yung Pao, The Only Daily Newspaper for the Ethnic Chinese in Java during Japanese Occupation: An Overview (APPENDIX: Supplementary Volume to Kung Yung Pao Reprint Edition (1942-1945), Taipei: Transmission Books & Microinfo, Mar. 2020.