The Influence of China's Ancient Public Relations Thought on Modern Public Relations

Strictly speaking, public-private relations only appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, but just like everything has its embryo and embryonic form, thoughts and activities with public relations consciousness appeared in ancient society. However, people at that time did not realize the significance of the relationship between the public and the people, nor did they adopt scientific and systematic methods to shape their image, so those thoughts and activities belonged to the spontaneous state of the relationship between the public and the people. This paper expounds the main contents of this paper from three aspects: the source of public relations, the causes of ancient public relations activities, the examples of public relations activities and the reference and influence on modern public relations activities, and draws the conclusion that although these public relations and quasi-public relations activities have not matured into today's public relations, they still play an important role in the long history and still have a profound impact on today's public relations activities. The above-mentioned Shang Yang reform, Zhuge Liang's "thirty-six plans" is still a model for modern enterprises to organize public activities. Therefore, it is a conclusion that the study of ancient quasi-public relations activities will never be out of date for modern public relations activities.

Keywords: the origin, reason, reference and influence of public relations activities

Text: Everything has its historical process of emergence and development, and public relations is no exception. Studying the historical development of public relations and analyzing the social and historical reasons for the emergence and development of public relations are not only conducive to further grasping the essence of public relations, but also conducive to our objective analysis and understanding of the current situation of public relations in China.

Although the relationship between the public and the public in the strict sense only appeared at the beginning of the 20th century, just like everything has its embryo and embryonic form, thoughts and activities with public relations consciousness have already appeared in ancient society. However, people at that time did not realize the significance of the relationship between the public and the people, nor did they adopt scientific and systematic methods to shape their image, so those thoughts and activities belonged to the spontaneous state of the relationship between the public and the people.

First, the source of public relations

(A) the discovery of ancient public relations activities in history

1903, Li Jinmei, a famous American journalist, opened a formal public relations company in the United States, which made public relations a social occupation and marked the arrival of modern public relations.

Abroad, archaeologists discovered BC 1800 in Iraq. This announcement tells farmers how to sow seeds, how to irrigate, how to deal with sick rats and how to harvest crops, much like the propaganda materials released by modern agricultural organizations. This discovery is called the earliest trace of public relations activities in human history. Ancient Greece in Europe practiced slave-owner democracy, and citizens of city-states had great democratic rights. Every year, the "shell exile law" is used to decide whether the consul will stay or not at the mass meeting. In order to win public support, every ruler must learn the skills of winning public support. Aristotle, a great philosopher in ancient Greece, elaborated the art of how to use language skills to influence public thought and behavior in his famous work Rhetoric. Modern western public relations scholars believe that rhetoric is the earliest theoretical work of public relations. The Roman Empire used the "Twelve Bronze Tables Method" to engrave laws on twelve bronze medals and published them, thus winning the support of the people. In order to seek public support, Julius Caesar founded the world's first newspaper, Every Diary, and publicized it to the public in popular Latin. He also wrote a book for him, The Battle of Gaul, which established his own image and thus ascended the throne of the highest consul.

(2) The origin of two schools of ancient public relations.

There is still great controversy in the theoretical circle about whether there is a relationship between public and public before modern society. Based on the above historical facts, we must admit that the relationship between the public and the public is not passive water, and we should admit its historical origin. Although ancient public relations activities can not be called public relations in a clear sense, some of its characteristics still reflect the characteristics of public relations.

Academic circles hold two views on the origin of ancient public relations. One holds that it originated in ancient Greece and Rome, and the other holds that it originated in the United States.

It is believed that it originated in ancient Greece and Rome. Taking the princes and nobles in ancient Greece and Rome who hired poets to create public opinion for themselves as an example, the appearance of professional persuaders shows the existence of similar public relations activities and ideas at that time.

Those who believe that the source of information is in the United States emphasize the purpose and secrecy of propaganda and communication. They took some people who deliberately created events, created and influenced public opinion during the American War of Independence as examples, and took political goals as examples to illustrate the existence of similar public relations activities and ideas at that time.

(3) The kind of public relations activities in ancient China.

In ancient China, spontaneous public relations activities were very common. Legend has it that in the Yao and Shun era, the court set up a "gossip bureau" outside the court to encourage the world to remonstrate with the court. "The Biography of Yang Zhen in the Later Han Dynasty" said that I heard that Yao Shun, remonstrated against drums and slandered wood, and set up a court. This may be the earliest facility for the ancient government to solicit public opinion. It is also called "huabiao wood" because it is to nail a crossbar on the column. However, in feudal society, huabiao gradually evolved into a decoration to express the dignity of the emperor. In BC 1324, Shang King Pan Geng planned to move his capital from Gengdi (now Qufu, Shandong) to Yin Di (now Anyang, Henan). Many subjects were unwilling to obey, so Pan Geng made three famous speeches. His speech was very convincing and appealing, and finally won the support of the people. Pan Geng's three speeches were included in China's earliest political works (Shangshu), which was called "Pan Geng Three Movements" in history. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the interpersonal skills were developed, and one of the "strategists" contended by a hundred schools of thought was formed. Strategists, represented by Su Qin and Zhang Yi, made speeches among countries with their golden words, or "united front" (forming the anti-Chu united front of northern countries). In the process of persuasion, they made a thorough study of people's psychological activities, which is worth learning even today.

In the history of China, such public relations activities abound. The story of "Three Caves of Coward Rabbits" in Historical Records and Biography of Meng Changjun is a successful example of establishing a good image.

Liu Bang, Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty, wrote three famous chapters on the contract: "The murderer dies, the wounded are injured, and the crime of stealing compensation". On the one hand, it stabilized the social order, on the other hand, it won the hearts of the people. This is undoubtedly a successful public-private relationship activity.

It can be seen that although the above public relations activities were mainly to meet the needs of monarchs, kings and military leaders at that time, they showed some characteristics of modern public relations in different degrees and aspects. Undeniably, ancient quasi-public relations originated from ancient Greece and Rome, or the United States or China, and ancient quasi-public relations are an indispensable part of modern public relations.

Second, the causes of ancient public relations activities

The emergence of ancient quasi-public relations activities did not happen out of thin air. It has its profound social and historical roots, mainly including the following three points:

(1) There is a relationship between organizations and the public in human social life. Social groups, organizations and human beings come into being at the same time. All human beings have the relationship between the external public and the internal public.

(2) In the social life of human beings, it is necessary for the existence to do a good job in the relationship between the organization and the public. With the relationship between the public and the public, there is the problem of relationship state. In order to establish a good public relations relationship, there will be spontaneous public relations activities.

(3) The existence of public relations and the development of public relations activities will inevitably be reflected in people's minds and form public thoughts.

In addition, every ruler took necessary public relations activities in order to maintain his rule, which undoubtedly became the political factor of ancient public relations activities.

Three. Examples of ancient public activities and their reference and influence on modern public activities

Although the activities of ancient * * * could not reach the influence and scope in the sense of today's * * *, today's activities of * * * can find a good prototype in ancient times. These ancient activities of * * * provide a lot of reference for modern activities of * * *. Take * * *' s activities in China as an example. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, such activities appeared.

During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Shang Yang, the prime minister of Qin State, made a political reform. In order to win the trust of the people, he specially put a suitcase at the gate of the city and posted a notice saying: whoever can carry this suitcase from this gate to another gate will be rewarded with twelve ounces of gold. At first, everyone didn't believe it, but one person did it and was really rewarded. The next day, many people who hoped to get the prize so easily gathered at the city gate again, but there was no wood at this time, and the notice of government reform was posted. Political reform has established prestige in the hearts of the people because of "keeping promises", which can be regarded as a successful public relations plan, which is known as "no faith" in history. This is somewhat similar to the practice of "making news" today. In modern times, we often say the word "publicity", especially when the movie premieres, the cinema will hire some people to do special effects for the movie, and all kinds of things will enhance the credibility of the movie. This method is similar to the propaganda of Shang Yang's political reform. Although the application fields are different, the basic purpose is the same, all of which are to enhance credibility.

For another example, Zhuge Liang of the Three Kingdoms, who can be said to have a famous relationship with everyone, has great talent for governing the country and keeping the country safe. Internally, he is very good at using talents, coordinating relations and stabilizing the morale of the army. Externally, he is very good at winning all the positive factors that can be won. Create talents and surrounding environment conducive to the development of Shu. For example, Zhuge Liang's "seven captures and seven verticals" Meng Huo focused on his heart and finally moved Meng Huo to submit to the Han Dynasty. Consolidating the rear area of Shu is an outstanding example of "international public relations" We can find the epitome of this from the management of some Japanese enterprises. In Japan, business management circles have drawn a lot of essence from The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Kōnosuke Matsushita, regarded as the god of management, once said, "Panasonic owes its success to the three countries." Nowadays, popular people often use the "36 strategies" of the Three Kingdoms to run shopping malls, and many of them draw lessons from many public relations cases.

Moreover, some enterprises in ancient China also attached great importance to external image publicity. For example, Tongrentang, a century-old shop, was founded in the eighth year of Kangxi. During the examination in Beijing, they presented Niuhuang Shangqing Pill, Lingqiao Baidu Powder and other drugs to those who were anxious to get angry. Every February, when the capital opens ditches (repairs drainage ditches), they will hang red lanterns with the words "Tong Ren Tang Nourishes" beside the ditches to prevent pedestrians from falling into the ditches at night. In addition, the donation of porridge and coffins for the poor in the famine year also made Tong Ren Tang's reputation widely circulated.

However, we must also clearly realize that although there were some successes in various public relations activities in ancient times, there were many defects in the development process due to insufficient conditions. Since ancient public relations activities have such deep social roots and good political vassals, why didn't they develop into real public relations? Looking at the spontaneous relationship between China and foreign countries in ancient times, we can find some characteristics of * * * *:

The first is blindness. Practitioners do not really realize the significance of the public, and their activities are also out of temporary needs, not conscious behavior;

Secondly, it is empirical. In ancient times, public relations activities lacked the guidance of systematic theory, and people just acted according to common sense or intuition, although some beautiful techniques also made us admire today;

Finally, it is low. Due to the lack of advanced means of communication, the main form of ancient public relations activities was interpersonal communication, and its level and scope were very small. From today's perspective, the ancient relationship can only be regarded as a quasi-public relationship, quasi-public relationship.

Although these public relations and quasi-public relations activities have not matured into today's public relations, they still play an important role in the long history and still have profound influence and reference significance for today's public relations activities. The above-mentioned Shang Yang reform, Zhuge Liang's "thirty-six plans" is still a model for modern enterprises to organize public activities. Therefore, it will never be out of date to study ancient public-private relations activities for modern public-private relations activities.