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The ''Taiwan Church News'' () is a publication of the Presbyterian Church in Taiwan. It was first published in 1885 as the ''Tâi-oân-hú-siâⁿ Kàu-hōe-pò'' () under the direction of missionary Thomas Barclay, and was Taiwan's first printed newspaper. This early edition was also notable for being printed in romanised Taiwanese using the Pe̍h-ōe-jī orthography. The publication was banned during the latter stages of Japanese rule and editions were also impounded on several occasions during the martial law era in post-war Taiwan for discussing forbidden subjects. ==Early years== In Taiwan in the late 1800s (during Taiwan's Qing era), only the educated elite could read and write. Christian missionaries in southern Taiwan were anxious that their congregations should learn to read and write, and were convinced that romanised script (i.e. Pe̍h-ōe-jī) was easier to learn than Chinese characters. James Laidlaw Maxwell, a medical missionary, donated a small printing press to the church in 1880,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Our Story ) 〕 but at the time nobody in ''Taiwan-fu'' (modern-day Tainan)〔Modern-day Tainan was formerly the capital of the island, which was governed as Taiwan Prefecture of Fujian Province. Hence its former name of ''Taiwan-fu'' ()〕 knew how to operate it. In 1881 while on furlough in Glasgow, Thomas Barclay studied printing techniques, and on his return to Taiwan-fu he sent others for printing training and set up a machine shop, which started printing in 1884.〔 Then in June 1885 came the first issue of the ''Tâi-oân-hú-siâⁿ Kàu-hōe-pò'' (''Taiwan-fu Church News''), which thus became the first printed newspaper in the island. The newspaper was just one of the products of the new press, and William Campbell was later able to proudly write that "our Tainan Mission Press turned out 700,357 pages, chiefly in the dialect or brogue of South Formosa during 1913". In 1915 the newspaper was reported as having a circulation of roughly 1,600. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Taiwan Church News」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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