OLDEST NEWSPAPER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLI, Issue 12570, 11 May 1904, Page 1 (Supplement)

OLDEST NEWSPAPER.

The Pel;in Gazette is the oldest newspaper in the world. It was established at the end -of the ninth century and has been regularly published since 1351 A.1).. It is at present •edited by six members of the Chinese Academy, is issued daily and consists of ten or twelve pages of brown paper, 7i by 31 •inches, stitched together in'pamphlet form and finished with yellow covers. It is printI ed from movable wooden type. I Its greatest importance lies in the fact [ that it is the Government organ, or Government Blue Book, as it contains formal records of all important; ceremonies, proceedings, judgments, opinions and transactions' of the Imperial Government and household. The' Emperor of China is the head of both temporal and spiritual concerns, and side by Side with everyday affair? are decrees regulating the ritual for dead heroes and worship and; offerings to be paid to the deities arid ancestors and the ceremonies for the propitiation of ghosts and spirits. The Government subsidises and supports all the enforced rituals, so that the Chinaman has nothing to grumble at on the score of expense. The sixteen officials in whose hands the management of the Gazette is placed are representative of the " sixteen districts, or divisions, of the Celestial Empire, and as soon as printed copier are despatched to each of their divisions. There extracts are published to meet the local needs. Many persons make a living by furnishing subscribers with written copies of special arti- . cles from the original edition. ■>.