AI in China: Sketchy Prehistories
Created by Xuenan Cao, Ye Zhao, Ke Zhu, Mengmeng Zhu.
*Xuenan Cao, Assistant Professor, Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Ye Zhao, Graduate of Master of Arts in Inter-Cultural Studies, The Chinese University of Hong Kong; Ke Zhu, Ph.D. Student in Media Studies at University of Amsterdam; Mengmeng Zhu, Ph.D. Candidate in Cultural Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
The prehistory of artificial intelligence in China has largely been a history of personalities such as Qian Xuesen and Song Jian.[i] Unlike the select few elite scientists, mid-level researchers and scientists improvised with whatever little information theories they understood. How do their interests differ? This project sketches the research trends of cybernetics, automation, and artificial intelligence in China. Instead of solely focusing on China’s importation of the information revolution from the West, this project studies how the lesser elites (scientists and researchers working in various insitutions) reacted to the influx of theories related to information and computation.
The data analysed here are based on China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), partitioned by periods: 1956-1976 in section 1 and 1977-1990 in section 2. Section 3 details the method of data collection, the limitations of CNKI, and the validity of our results by comparison to results obtained from Google Ngram Viewer.
1956-1976
1956-1967, the Marching Years. 1956 was an important year. At the National Conference on Intellectual Work held in January 1956, Premier Zhou Enlai called the nation to “march towards science.”[i] The long march was guided by a “12-year-plan” (1956-1967), a strategy detailed by the Scientific Planning Committee.[ii] This committee also pointed out the urgency of the plan and drafted an “Emergency Measures for the Development of Computing Technology, Semiconductor Technology, Radio Electronics, Automation, and Remote Control Technology”.[iii] Key areas are identified. The research keywords of this period include machine (ji qi), communication (tong xin), automation (zi dong hua), and computer (ji suan ji).
Machine (ji qi) – Automation (zi dong hua). Machinery dominated research interests at the beginning of this period. It reached its peak during China’s Great Leap Forward (1958-1960), an ambitious campaign to catch up with the US and Britain in terms of industrial productions that ended in a disaster. Despite material poverties experienced across sectors, science research was still the priority. The ultimate goal of the Great Leap Forward, per Mao Ze Dong, was to increase production while using fewer materials (zeng chan jie yue). Automation thus emerged a key means to end for this period. By the end of 1959, the number of papers on automation matched that of machinery.
Communication (tong xin). Communication, or telecommunication, was linked to railway transportations throughout this period. Telephone connections were installed to ensure communication between train stations and workers, so that conductors would not run their trains into each other. The top vocational colleges that supplied telecommunication engineers were those housed in the behemoth bureau called China Railway. Microelectronics-based computing and communications evolved in tandem. Besides China Railway, work units started installing telecommunication infrastructures. The reduced price of communication devices offered affordable means for communes to get connected.
Computers (ji suan ji). Research papers on computers saw a rapid increase from 1958 to 1959. Starting in 1956, Chinese scientists gradually acquired research documentation on the M-3, M-20, and БЭСМ computers from the Soviet Union during these periods.[iv] With Soviet experts, the Institute of Computing Technology at the Chinese Academy of Sciences developed China’s first electronic computer, the 103, in 1958. The following year, Chinese scientists enhanced this design and created the 104 computer which was capable of performing 10,000 operations per second.[v] It was also during this period that Chinese science fiction began to feature imaginations of “computers.”[vi]
The End of the March (1967). Scientific publications hit bottom in 1967. During the two decades spanning the Great Leap Forward (1958-1960) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), the country has been trapped in a deficit of resources, especially in scientific literature. The scarcity was compounded by the deterioration of Sino-Soviet relations, which started in 1958. By 1960 the Soviet Union recalled all Soviet experts. When the Soviet experts withdrew in 1960, they took most of the documents and equipment with them, forcing many research projects to halt.[vii] The Chinese Academy of Sciences reorganized the unexecuted parts of the “122 Items” and voluntarily cancelled 21 of them after the withdrawal of Soviet experts. Nevertheless, they retained all projects related to computing and semiconductors.
Cultural Revolution (1966-1967). During the Cultural Revolution spanning 1966-1976, most scientific research was forced to stop amid the political turmoil, resulting in a significant decrease in the number of research papers. However, there was a slight recovery in 1972 and 1973, a side effect of researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences returning to work after several years spent in the numerous “May 7th Cadre Schools” (五七干校) established across the country to implement Mao Zedong’s “May 7th Directive.”[viii]
1977-1990
1977 saw an increasing number of scientific publications in all fields. After the end of the Cultural Revolution, an enormous amount of scientific advancement once suppressed in China was available overnight: everything from Russian “logic machines” to Czech formalism, US cybernetics to artificial intelligence. Such an explosion of new scientific literature loaded researchers and engineers with new theories to experiment with, a deluge of what one might aptly describe as information overload. Meanwhile, at the 1978 National Science Conference, Deng Xiaoping emphasized key productive forces being science and technology.[i] Electronic computers, cybernetics, and automation technologies appeared in his speech and entered the official discourse of policies-makers. Computer (ji suan ji) and the various notions linked to information (xin xi and qing bao) dominated this era.
Computers (ji suan ji). Unbeknownst to many outsiders, China in the 1970s was advanced in mainframe computers. The research done at Shanghai Computing Research Institute and Institute of Computing Technology in Beijing had shocked than a US delegation sent to China had realized.[ii] But minicomputing had yet to open China’s market. Global manufactures such as IBM did not begin exporting large amount of computers in China until mid 1980s.
Information (qing bao and xin xi) became a multifaceted telo in the 1980s. The increase of information-related theories was a reaction to the US and Europe. In 1983, the US launched “Strategic Defense Initiative,” also known as “Star Wars.” The Eastern Bloc together with seventeen Western European countries jointly signed “Eureka,” a joint program of science and technology research. “Star Wars” and “Eureka” had triggered a response in China.[iii] In March 1984, six party and government agencies held a seminar “Lectures on the New Technological Revolution.” There, five reports addressed information technologies and cybernetics.[iv] In 1985, a significant transformation took place in China’s science and technology sector with the issuance of the “Decision on the Reform of the Science and Technology System” by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China referred to as “the 1985 Decision”). [v] 1985 Decision set up market for the commercialization of science and tech research, encouraged research funding from corporations. The newly-granted autonomy stimulated research and accentuated the high status of scientists as intellectual workers.[vi]1985 Decision dismantled the state’s monopoly over research, shifting the research climate from central planning to market orientation.[vii] In 1986, the State Council organized experts to demonstrate, formulate, and implement the “National High Technology Research and Development Program.”[viii] This program includes 15 thematic projects across biotechnology, aerospace technology, information technology, advanced defence technology, automation technology, energy technology, and new materials technology. The goal was to catch up with global standards.[ix]
Information (qing bao) refers to cryptology, intercepted messages, or simply the way content is organized. Some evidence suggests that Chinese scholars began developing theories of information much earlier. Anatoly Detwryler, a media and literary historian specializing in information aesthetics, has unearthed a trove of republican era (ca. 1912-1949) documents that reveal early theories of what we now call the digital humanities.[x] In the late 1970s and early 1980s, amidst the Cold War, information as cryptology or intercepted message dominated the research.
Information (xin xi) seems to refer to information in the way we know it today. But in the 1980s, xin xi as a definite, technical concept was yet to exist.
In 1984, the Intelligence Study Center at Shanghai Social Science Academy[xi] commissioned a magnificent 1700-page anthology Shi Jie Xin Ke Xue Zong Lan (1986) [An Encyclopedia of New Fields in Science], an unusually thick volume for its time. It is likely to be found in reference sections of specialized colleges and institutions. Entries related to information (xin xi) occupy the first 105 pages, filled with hundreds of imported concepts. In the second preface to this guidebook, the editors also point out, “there is no definite definition about information and its taxonomy,”[xii] only a collection of desirable traits. Information was a sensuous experience, a technical object, and a concept all at once.
Interesting note: 1983 also saw the beginning of the Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign in 1983. The Chinese scientific community was shielded from its impact through the implementation of the “Six Policy Boundaries.”[xiii] Chinese science fiction, however, was labeled a kind of “spiritual pollution” and did not revive until the late 1980s.[xiv]
Data presented above are extracted from CNKI (China National Knowledge Infrastructure; 中国知网; 中国知识资源总库), the largest digital database in China for Chinese researchers and academics, featuring academic journals and articles, news reports, conference proceedings, among others.[i]
Methods of Data Collection
Why CNKI? Between July and August 2023, we conducted a search on the term 人工智能 (artificial intelligence) on Google. We identified Chinese journal articles published between 1979 and 1988. The search yielded a story about importation: how Western information theories entered China. We turned to China’s digital database powerhouse CNKI to sketch the local research landscape in China. By searching the keyword 人工智能 and sorting results by publication year in ascending order, we found previously unseen histories of artificial intelligence in modern China dating back to the 1950s.
Data used for this project are publicly available via Flourish.
The graph generated by CNKI shows the distribution of the term 人工智能 (artificial intelligence) across 40 different disciplines. A total of 2,161 papers related to “artificial intelligence” were obtained by using the advanced search in the CNKI database and setting the search criteria to this term, with language in Chinese and publication date from January 1, 1949 to December 31, 1990.
Search Criteria:
Each decade from the 1960s to the 1980s revealed shifts in scholarly discourses on information, machines, and cybernetics. Given the overwhelming number of journals published after 1985, we archived approximately 400 journals published from 1958 to 1985. Based on the 400 samples on AI and a word frequency analysis generated by the CNKI system, we went on the one-stop search with the frequently related words on AI, and started with the following keywords as search criteria:
| Search Criteria | ‘Title, Keyword and Abstract’ |
| Language | Chinese |
| Content Type | Academic Journals |
| Publication Date | 1st Jan 1949 – 31rd Dec 1990 (42 years) |
| No. | Term (Title, Keyword and Abstract) | Total Occurrences |
| 1 | 人工智能 Artificial Intelligence | 118 |
| 2 | 计算机 Computer as ji suan ji | 73 |
| 3 | 自动化 Automation | 49 |
| 4 | 机器人 Robot | 18 |
| 5 | 专家系统 Expert System | 16 |
| 6 | 机器 Machine | 15 |
| 7 | 第五代计算机 Fifth Generation Computer (plus Sixth Generation Computer, Nth Generation Computer, and New Generation Computer) | 19 |
| 8 | 通讯 Communication | 13 |
| 9 | 认识论 Epistemology | 11 |
| 10 | 电子计算机 Electronic Computer (plus Intelligent Computer and Supercomputer) | 15 |
| 11 | 信息 Information as xin xi | 9 |
| 12 | 情报 Information as qing bao | 8 |
| 13 | 决策系统 Decision System | 6 |
| 14 | 控制论 Cybernetics | 5 |
| 15 | 认识主体 Cognitive Agent | 5 |
| 16 | 认知心理学 Cognitive Psychology | 5 |
| 17 | 自然语言 Natural Language | 5 |
| 18 | 电脑 Computer as dian nao | 4 |
| 19 | 博奕 Game (plus Game Theory) | 3 |
| 20 | 微型机 Microcomputer | 2 |
| 21 | 信息论 Information Theory | 1 |
| 22 | 运筹学 Operational Research | 1 |
The selection was also added by CNKI’s Word Frequency service. We aggregated the total number of journals on CNKI containing each specific term published between 1949 and 1990, and extracted meta-data (such as journal title, author, and year). Using publication year as the criterion, we retrieved all relevant journals within this timeframe. CNKI’s export system then generated a list of selected journal articles.
We further broadened our keyword search to include the following terms:
- 系统工程 Systems Engineering, the term proposed by scientist Qian Xuesen in 1954 on control of complex and interrelated systems.[ii]
- 系统论 Systems Theory, the term included in the ‘three theories’—information theory, systems theory, control theory or cybernetics.[iii]
What are the limitations of CNKI search? The results of the search conditioned by CNKI algorithms, Natural Language processing, and other elements may black-box the data transparency and reliability:
- CNKI search models and optimization
The search results of the same set of keywords vary each time subject to the sequence and phrasing of words. For example, the number of journals shown by a single-word search far exceeds the number of compound-word searches:
[计算机 Computer][iv](69,421) > [第五代计算机 Fifth Generation
Computer](319)
[第五代计算机 Fifth Generation Computer] = [第五代 计算机 Fifth
Generation (with a space) Computer](319) > [第五代+计算机 Fifth
Generation+Computer] (200)
[专家系统 Expert System]=[专家 系统 Expert (with a space) System](1689) >
[专家+系统 Expert+System](1481)
CNKI explains:
“Advanced search supports the combination of multiple search terms within the same search item using operators *, +, -, ”, “”, and (). The content entered in the search box should not exceed 120 characters. When entering operators *, +, -, (), there should be a space before and after them, and the priority needs to be determined by English half-width parentheses”.
It is important to note that the method of inputting the symbol ‘+’ determines a distinct range of word searches. The search volume for [A+B] without space varies from the total count of [A + B] with a space. We found that the sum of [A + B] with a space is more than the sum of [A+B] without space. There is a hypothesis that [A+B] without space will be acknowledged as a compound word, while [A + B] with a space will be acknowledged as two retrieval instructions encompassing both the terms A and B. Furthermore, the sum of [A + B + C + …+ X] with spaces encompasses a total of X term retrievals. Based on the [A + B] search approach, the investigation into [X + 人工智能Artificial Intelligence] reveals that varying the search phrase and input with Artificial Intelligence yields distinct outcomes.
[X]+[人工智能 Artificial intelligence] > [X + 人工智能 Artificial intelligence]
| [X]+[人工智能 Artificial intelligence] | [X + 人工智能 Artificial intelligence] | |||
| [计算机] | [人工智能] | 71316 | [计算机 + 人工智能] | 70368 |
| [机器人] | 4597 | [机器人 + 人工智能] | 4436 | |
| [专家系统] | 3764 | [专家系统 + 人工智能] | 3209 | |
| [认识论] | 6806 | [认识论 + 人工智能] | 6755 | |
| [控制论] | 4724 | [控制论 + 人工智能] | 4641 | |
| [认知心理学] | 2292 | [认知心理学 + 人工智能] | 2264 | |
| [自然语言] | 2632 | [自然语言 + 人工智能] | 2517 | |
- Language and Translation
Multiple translation of the same term exists. For instance, while the term 博弈 (game theory) is now widely accepted, we also encounter similar results in journals using the keyword 博奕. These interchangeable terms can influence data outputs and interpretations. Meanwhile, when the system language of CNKI is switched to English, it yields a significant number of journal entries in English and Russian. When the system language is changed to Simplified Chinese, the same entries in English and Russian are automatically converted to Chinese (so one has to check the catalogue to see the original language).
- Archival Gaps
Despite CNKI’s efforts to expand its digitalization of historical archives predating 1990, an unknown corpus of print materials from 1950s to 1990s has remained undigitized. For example, the Chinese term智据, introduced in a 1988 book to refer to information, has no entries in the CNKI database.[v] Similar cases may highlight the gaps and omissions in the current digital archives of CNKI.
Why are results from CNKI still valid? Despite the limitations, the results presented above can be validated by comparison to Google Books Ngram Viewer. Google Books Ngram Viewer is a tool for analyzing the frequency of words and phrases in books over a specified period, providing a visual representation of their usage trends. It is based on the Google Books corpus, which includes millions of digitized books spanning multiple centuries and languages.[vi]The vertical axis in Ngram Viewer represents the relative frequency of the searched terms, showing the proportion of the keywords’ occurrence in the total number of words in all scanned books for a given year. The horizontal axis shows the time range over which the frequency of the terms is tracked. Ngram Viewer also allows for the simultaneous input of up to 12 different juxtaposed terms for comparison.
The trend according to Google Ngram Viewer, which matches that of CNKI.
We searched 12 Chinese keywords, namely “人工智能 (artificial intelligence), 计算机 (computers as ji suan ji), 电脑(computers as dian nao), 自动化 (automation), 机器人 (robots), 控制论 (cybernetics), 机器 (machine), 通讯(telecommunication), 认识论 (epistemology), 信息 (information as xin xi), 情报 (information as qing bao), 电脑(computers), 信息论 (information theory)” in the Ngram Viewer, set the time range from 1949 to 1990, and used the Chinese language corpus. These 12 terms were selected from the 24 terms we searched in CNKI based on their higher frequencies. Then we obtained the figure 3 below. The overall trends presented by these 12 terms are similar to the number of research papers in CNKI (see figure 4 below). “情报 (information as qing bao)” and “信息 (information as xin xi)” appear more frequently in google books than CNKI.
References (Introduction)
[i] Susan Greenhalgh, “Missile Science, Population Science.” (2005). Xiao Liu, Information Fantasies (2019). Dylan Levi King, “A Brief History of Chinese Cybernetics”, in Yuk Hui edited, Cybernetics for the 21st Century Vol. 1: Epistemological Reconstruction (Hong Kong: Hanart Press, 2024), 171-202.
References (1956-1976)
[i] Zhou Enlai 周恩来, Guanyu zhishifenzi wenti de baogao关于知识分子问题的报告 (Report on the Intellectual Issue)(Beijing: renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1956), 41.
[ii] Although the Anti-Rightist Campaign around 1957 unavoidably hindered the work of scientists, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) soon issued the “Directive on the Anti-Rightist Campaign in the Field of Natural Sciences” (关于自然科学方面“反右派”斗争的指示) in the same year. This official document stated that the Anti-Rightist Campaign in the field of natural sciences should be more detailed in strategy and should be handled differently depending on the situation. Specifically, for those natural scientists and technical personnel with significant achievements, except for a few serious cases, a policy of firm protection should be adopted. Zuoyue Wang suggests that the “12-year plan” was “the result of political contestations and compromises among the Communist Party-state leaders and between the state and the scientific–technological elite.” I also contend that the protection of some scientists during the Anti-Rightist Campaign can be seen as a compromise aimed at achieving the goal of “marching toward science.” As a result, scientists in the four key areas were able to continue their research amidst political turmoil, leading to an increase in achievements. See Zuoyue Wang, “The Chinese Developmental State During the Cold War: the Making of the 1956 Twelve-Year Science and Technology Plan,” History and Technology 31, no. 3(2015), 180-205. “Note: The Soviet Embassy in Beijing to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, 18 July 1960”, in Cold War International History Project Bulletin Issue 8-9, Winter 1996/1997, 249-250.
[iii] Jiuchun Zhang 张久春, Baichun Zhang 张柏春, Guihua kexue jishu: 1956-1967 nian kexue fazhan yuanjing guihua de zhiding yu shishi 规划科学技术：1956—1967 年科学技术发展远景规划的制定与实施(Planning Science and Technology: Working out and Implementing the Long-term Program for Developing Sciences and Technology from 1956 to 1967)，Bulletin of Chinese Academy of Sciences 34 (September 2019), 985.
[iv] The book Transfer of Soviet Technology to China has presented the contributions of Soviet computer experts in China and detailed their assistance to the Institute of Computing Technology, including the introduction of principles, provision of equipment, dispatch of experts, and talent cultivation. See Zhang Baichun 张柏春, Yaofang 姚芳, Zhang Jiuchun张久春 and Jiang long 蒋龙, Sulian jishu xiang zhongguo de zhuanyi 苏联技术向中国的转移 (Technology Transfer from the Soviet Union to the P. R. China)(Jinan: Shandong jiaoyu chubanshe, 2005), 205-247. The Chinese Academy of Sciences’ ten-year summary of the work of Soviet experts in 1959 also noted that the Soviet Union had offered significant help in training personnel in computing technology and developing computers in China.
[v] Ibid, 237-239.
[vi] Rao Zhonghua 饶忠华，Zhongguo kehuan xiaoshuo daquan Shang中国科幻小说大全上 (Complete Collection of Chinese Science Fiction Novels, Volume I)(Beijing: Haiyang chubanshe,1982), 46-47.
[vii] Zhang Baichun 张柏春, Yaofang 姚芳, Zhang Jiuchun张久春 and Jiang long 蒋龙, Sulian jishu xiang zhongguo de zhuanyi 苏联技术向中国的转移 (Technology Transfer from the Soviet Union to the P. R. China)(Jinan: Shandong jiaoyu chubanshe, 2005), 357.
[viii] Ibid, 124.
References (1977-1990)
[i] Deng Xiaoping,Deng Xiaoping wenxuan dierjuan邓小平文选第2卷 (Selected Works of Deng Xiaoping Volume 2) (Beijing: Renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1994), 86.
[ii] Thomas Mullaney, The Chinese Computer (Cambridge Massachusetts: MIT Press, 2024), 100.
[iii] Xinhua News Agency 新华社, “guojia gaojishu yanjiu fazhan jihua gangyao de chansheng” 国家《高技术研究发展计划纲要》的产生 (The Origin of the National High Technology Research and Development Program Outline) . Accessed [1 July 2024]. https://www.gov.cn/test/2009-10/27/content_1449639.htm.
[iv] Jin Lingang 劲林纲. “Yingjing xin de jishu geming –xinjishu geming zhishi jiangzuo” 迎接新的技术革命——新技术革命知识讲座.” 迎接新的技术革命——新技术革命知识讲座 (Embracing the New Technological Revolution: Lectures on the New Technological Revolution) (Changsha: Hunan keji chubanshe, 1984), table of contents.
[v] Guanyu kexue jishu tizhi gaige de wenjian 关于科学技术体制改革的文件(Documentation on the reform of the science and technology system)(Beijing: renmin wenxue chubanshe, 1985), 1-15.
[vi] Ibid.
[vii] “The Evolution of China’s Science and Technology Policy, 1975-2007,” OECD Reviews of Innovation Policy: China 2008(OECD Publishing, 2009), 383-384.
[viii] “Guojia guojishu yanjiu fazhanxiangmu – 863 jihua gaoashu” 国家高技术研究发展项目——“863”计划概述(Overview of the National High Technology Research and Development Program –“863”Plan), Zhongguo keji xinxi no. Z1(1997), 79.
[ix] Ibid.
[x] Cite his unpublished MS here.
[xi] Later this center changed to its name to a less conspicuous name, the Information Study Center.
[xii] 信息的定义和分类问题至今尚无定论 (23)
[xiii] Gu Mainan顾迈南 and He Huangbiao 何黄彪, “Gejijie yao jixu luoshi zhishifenzi zhengce: Guowuyuan pizhun liutiao zhengce jiexian” 科技界要继续落实知识分子政策: 国务院批准六条政策界限 (The Scientific Community Must Continue to Implement Intellectual Policies: The State Council Approves Six Policy Boundaries), Renmin ribao, December 18, 1983.
[xiv] Mingwei Song, “Preface”, Renditions no. 77 & 78 (Spring & Autumn 2012), 8.
References (Data Collection)
[i]Xiao Liu, “Document Services”, 456. The rise of CNKI academic database dates back to the Information Center for Social Sciences of Renmin University of China (中国人民大学书报资料中心) founded in 1958. For decades, the Information Center served as the primary database for humanities and social sciences research in China while offering photocopying and clipping services. With the advent of digital media and the increasing need for data digitization, Tsinghua Tongfang Co., Ltd., affiliated with Tsinghua University, developed the China Academic Journals Full-Text Database (中国学术期刊全文数据库, CJFD), providing more accessible and comprehensive full-text databases. Today, CJFD is one of the major meta-databases of CNKI. Following CJFD, the Century Journal Project (世纪期刊, CJP) was initiated to locate and digitize journals published as far back as 1915. A significant portion of our collected articles (published between 1949 and 1990) should come from the CJFD and CJP projects. Today, visiting the CNKI database website (https://www.cnki.net/index/), you will be greeted by a clean, blue-themed interface. By typing in your desired keywords in the search bar and hitting enter, you initiate a search while the site processes the query and promptly presents a list of relevant results. Upon selecting a result, users are then directed to an abstract page dedicated to the individual article. With subscription-based service, the article is downloadable as a digital PDF or CAJ format file.
[ii] Levi King Dylan, “A Brief History of Chinese Cybernetics,” in Cybernetics for Cybernetics for the 21st Century Vol. 1: Epistemological Reconstruction, ed. Yuk Hui, 1st ed., vol. 1 (Hong Kong: Hanart Press, 2024), 175.
[iii] Ibid, 188.
[iv] [X] indicates the number of journals resulting from a search with ‘X’ as the input.
[v] In 1984, led by his former student Timothy Yu, American communication scholar Wilbur Schramm visited Guangzhou. His lecture speech at South China Normal University and Yu’s speech notes were later published in 1988 in the book传媒·教育·现代化—教育传播理论与实践 (Media, Education, Modernization—Theory and Practice of Educational Communication). On page 3, the editor defined ‘information’ as智据. Also see Qiu, Jack Linchuan. “Cultural Translators of Communication Studies in Greater China.” International Journal of Communication 10 (2016): 1035.
[vi] Google Books Ngram Viewer information: https://books.google.com/ngrams/info