{{Italic}}{{Short description|Chinese newspaper supplement (1911–1935)}} '''''Ziyoutan''''' ({{Zh|c=自由談|l=random talk' or 'free talk}}) was a literary supplement to the Shanghai newspaper ''Shen Bao'' published from 1911 to 1935. ==History== In 1911, {{Interlanguage link|Xi Zipei|zh|席裕福}}, the editor of the popular Shanghai newspaper ''Shen Bao'', invited his friend and fellow journalist Wang Dungen ({{zh|c=王鈍根|labels=no}}) to establish a literary supplement for the newspaper. Debuting in August of that year, the supplement was dubbed ''Ziyoutan'' ({{Zh|c=自由談|l=random talk' or 'free talk|labels=no}}).{{sfn|Lee|2007|p=53}}{{Sfn|Tsai|2010|p=129}}''Shen Bao'' intended for the supplement to enter into the growing market for entertainment-based periodicals.{{Sfn|Lee|2007|p=56}} Generally located at the back of the newspaper, literary supplements became a common feature for Chinese newspapers during the early-20th century, and gave a space for prominent writers to share their work and discourse with one another.{{Sfn|Chen|2012|pp=36–37}} Xi and Tong Ailou ({{zh|c=童愛樓|labels=no}}), an obscure writer of popular fiction, served as the supplement's first editors.{{sfn|Lee|2007|pp=53–54}}
In September 1913, while still working for ''Shen Bao'', Wang began publishing a journal titled ''Liberty Magazine'' ({{Zh|c=自由談|p=Zìyóu zázhì|labels=no}}), claiming that he had received too many "brilliant specimens of writing" to include within the supplement alone. Much of ''Liberty Magazine'' consisted of republications from ''Ziyoutan'', with about half of the entries credited to Xi and Tong. This magazine proved popular with readers, and after two issues Wang renamed it to ''Pastime Magazine'' ({{zh|c=遊戲雜誌|p=Youxi zazhi|labels=no}}). He soon left ''Shen Bao'' to focus on the journal full time.{{sfn|Lee|2007|pp=53–54}}{{sfn|Link|1981|p=165}}
After Wang left ''Shen Bao'', his friend Chen Diexian took over as the editor of the ''Ziyoutan'' supplement. Chen hired one of his sons, Chen Xiaodie, as a staff writer, and published contributions from another son, Chen Cidie.{{sfn|Link|1981|pp=165–166}} Chen later left the magazine to focus on his business ventures, and was replaced with Zhou Shoujuan, a novelist and bonsai expert.{{Sfn|Tsai|2010|p=157}}
In December 1932, ''Shen Bao'' manager Shi Liangcai revamped the supplement, replacing Zhou with the young editor {{Interlanguage link|Li Liewen|zh|黎烈文}}. Shi was impressed by Li's literary knowledge and his lack of previous political involvement.{{Sfn|Tsai|2010|pp=13–14, 128}} Under Li's editorship, the supplement moved away from the 'Mandarin Duck and Butterfly' (a style of Chinese genre fiction) which had previously defined it, gaining it significant acclaim within the literary world and increasing its readership. The supplement ran until October 1935, when it was discontinued.{{Sfn|Tsai|2010|pp=128–129}}
==References== {{reflist}} ===Bibliography=== {{refbegin}} *{{cite journal|first1=Jianhua|last1=Chen|title=Republican Constitutional Politics and Family-State Imagination: Zhou Shoujuan and the 'Free Talk' Column in ''Shenbao'': 1921–1926|journal=Contemporary Chinese Thought|volume=44|issue=1|date=2012|doi=10.2753/CSP1097-1467440102|pages=36–69}} *{{cite book|first=Michel|last=Hockx|title=Questions of Style: Literary Societies and Literary Journals in Modern China, 1911-1937|publisher=Brill|isbn=9789004129153|date=2003}} *{{cite journal|first1=Haiyan|last1=Lee|title='A Dime Store of Words': ''Liberty'' Magazine and the Cultural Logic of the Popular Press|journal=Twentieth-Century China|date=2007|doi=10.1179/tcc.2007.33.1.53|pages=53-80|volume=33|issue=1}} *{{cite book|first1=E. Perry|last1=Link|title=Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies Popular Fiction in Early Twentieth-Century Chinese Cities|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=9780520041110|date=1981}} *{{cite thesis|degree=PhD|last=Qin|first=Lei|title=Between Political Tendentiousness and Mass Media: Popularizing Propaganda under Party Politics (1927-1937): A Case Study of Shenbao Free Talk|date=2017|publisher=Washington University in St. Louis|url=https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2275&context=art_sci_etds}} *{{cite book|first=Weipin|last=Tsai|date=2010|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|title=Reading Shenbao: Nationalism, Consumerism and Individuality in China, 1919–37|isbn=9780230019829}} {{refend}}
Category:1911 establishments in China Category:1931 disestablishments in China Category:Newspaper supplements