The Standard Chinese word xuanchuan "dissemination; propaganda; publicity" originally meant "to announce or convey information" during the 3rd-century Three Kingdoms period, and was chosen to translate Russian propagánda in the 20th-century People's Republic of China, adopting the Marxist-Leninist concept of a "transmission belt" for indoctrination and mass mobilization. Xuanchuan is the keyword for propaganda in the People's Republic of China and propaganda in the Republic of China.
Terminology
The Chinese term xuanchuan compounds xuan "declare; proclaim; announce" and chuan or "pass (on); hand down; impart; teach; spread; infect; be contagious".
Numerous common Chinese words are based upon xuanchuan, such as: xuānchuánpǐn 宣傳品 "propaganda/publicity material", xuānchuánduì 宣傳隊 "propaganda team", xuānchuánhuà 宣傳畫 "propaganda poster", xuānchuándān 宣傳單 "propaganda slips/sheets", xuānchuángǔdòng 宣傳鼓動 "agitprop", and xuānchuán diànyǐng 宣傳電影 "propaganda film".
In lexicographic terminology, a bilingual dictionary provides "translation equivalents" (rather than "definitions") between the source and target languages. Sometimes words have complete equivalents, such as translating French chien as English dog; but other times have partial or alternative equivalents, such as translating French veau as either the animal calf or the meat veal. English propaganda and publicity are alternative equivalents for Chinese xuanchuan. The classical Chinese word qing 青 "green; blue; black", representing the distinction of blue and green in various languages, is a better known example of Chinese-English alternative translations. Compare the color range across collocations like qīngcài 青菜 "green vegetables; greens", qīngjīn 青筋 "blue veins", qīngtiān 青天 "azure sky", qīngbù 青布 "black cloth", or qīngkèmǎ 青騍馬 "gray mare".
Translation equivalents of xuanchuan in major Chinese-English dictionaries include: "to declare; propaganda" "propaganda; to carry on propaganda (for)" "propagate; propagandize; publicize; propaganda (work, bureau, etc.)" "conduct propaganda; propagate; disseminate; give publicity to" "propagate; disseminate; propagandize; give publicity to; publicize" "to publicize; to promote; propaganda; promotion" "publicize; propagate; advocated; advertise; preach; blaze sth. abroad [about]; whoop" "propagate; disseminate; give publicity to" Thus, the most frequent English lexicographical translations of xuanchuan are , , , , , and .
Many languages besides English have different words to distinguish "propaganda" and "publicity", for instance, German Propaganda and Werbung, or Russian propagánda пропага́нда and rekláma рекла́ма. Few languages besides Chinese have one polysemous word; excluding Sinoxenic loanwords from Chinese such as Japanese senden 宣伝 "propaganda; advertisement; publicity", one example is Irish bolscaireacht "publicity; propaganda; claptrap".
Historical usages
The Hanyu Da Cidian is a historical dictionary that gives chronologically arranged usage examples, comparable with the Oxford English Dictionary. The xuanchuan entry gives three meanings: xuānbù chuándá 宣布传达 "to announce or convey information", xiàng rén jiạ̌ngjiě shuōmíng 向人讲解说明, 进行教育, jìnxíng jiàoyù 进行教育 " to explain something to someone, or to conduct education", and chuánbō 传播, xuānyáng 宣扬 "to disseminate or publicize".
First, the meaning of "to announce or convey information" was originally recorded in the historian Chen Shou's (3rd century) Records of the Three Kingdoms in contexts of transmitting (esp. military) orders. For example, the biography of Shu Han dynasty General Ma Zhong (Shu Han) (d. 249) records that after defeating rebels in Nanyue, he was appointed General Who Pacifies the South and ordered back to the capital in Chengdu. "In 242, when [Ma Zhong] was returning to court, upon reaching Hanzhong, he went to see Grand Marshall Jiang Wan, who conveyed an imperial decree that he was also appointed General in Chief of Zhennan Circuit [in modern Nanchang, Jiangxi]." Later usage examples are cited from historian Li Baiyao (564–647), poet Cao Tang 曹唐 (fl. 860–874), and scholar Wang Mingqing 王明清 (1163-1224).