“Gia Định báo” is the name of what many people consider to be the first Vietnamese newspaper. It was first published in 1865 in Vietnamese using the Latin script.
“Gia Định” is another name for Saigon, and this newspaper, or really more like a “government gazette,” was published in Saigon which at that time had recently come under French control following the signing of the Treaty of Saigon in 1862.
In looking around the digitized materials in the French National Library, I came across the Gia Định báo, but then I also came across a 嘉定報 (Gia Định báo).
Starting in 1862, the year the Treaty of Saigon was signed, a Gia Định báo in classical Chinese was published, and the French National Library has digitized a few issues from 1862 and 1863.
This earlier Gia Định báo is fascinating to read. Actually, it’s quite disorienting to read. Let me explain why.
In the past, government documents written in classical Chinese had various conventions for indicating hierarchy. For instance, whenever the emperor was mentioned, the term “emperor,” was placed at the start of a new line, and at a higher level than the rest of the text.
The original Gia Định báo was written in this way as well. As such, even though it was communicating information from “French-controlled” Saigon, it still granted the Nguyễn Dynasty emperor the highest honor by placing his title above the rest of the text.
I need to look more at this earlier Gia Định báo, but the other thing that is striking is that in these first couple of years, it looks like Nguyễn and French rule overlapped. It looks like it wasn’t the case that with the signing of the Treaty of Saigon the Nguyễn ceded all affairs to the French. Instead, it looks like the French were initially like regional Nguyễn officials. I need to examine this further though before I can say more.
