MACAU

MACAU. Macau (Macao), the "City of the Name of God" in China, was the second largest in Portuguese Asia. Founded in the mid-sixteenth century on an isolated peninsula at the western edge of the mouth of the Pearl River, Macau prospered, since such a commercial center was in the mutual interests of both the Portuguese and the Chinese. Macau was the focus of a trade nexus extending throughout the South China Sea to Malacca (Melaka), south to Macassar (now Ujung Pandang, Indonesia), and north to Nagasaki (in Japan). The most famous and lucrative example of these trade routes was Chinese silk traded for Japanese silver. A state-awarded annual monopoly conducted the trade with very high annual profits. Mexican silver also entered this system via Manila in the Spanish Philippines.

Macau was governed by its senate (municipal council). Officials were selected to serve on this board from the local elites. Given the tremendous distance from the Portuguese viceroy in Goa, a state in India controlled by the Portuguese until 1961, the council had a great deal of independence and power.

Macau grew slowly from its origins as a cluster of fishing villages. The Portuguese were always a small percentage of the total population, which was largely Chinese. In 1583, there were a reported 900 Portuguese present in Macau. By 1640, in a population of 26,000, of which 20,000 were Chinese, only 1,200 were Portuguese.

Perhaps the best indicator of Macau's wealth and importance were the unsuccessful efforts by the Dutch to capture the city in the period 1604–1627. Economics alone did not drive the city, however. It was also a base for Jesuit missions to China and Japan and had a number of impressive churches, monasteries, and convents.

See also Goa; Portuguese Colonies: The Indian Ocean and Asia.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Primary Source

Menezes, Dom Luis de. "Asia Portuguesa no Tempo do Vice-Rei Conde da Ericeira (1717–1720)." Correspondencia oficial do Conde da Ericeira, edited by C. R. Boxer. Macau, 1970. A unique collection of letters written by one of the viceroys in Goa, much of which relates to Macau.

Secondary Sources

Boxer, C. R. Fidalgos in the Far East, 1550–1770. The Hague, 1948. A classic work on the growth and development of Macau, written by the leading authority on the Portuguese Empire.

Gomes, Luís Gonzaga. Bibliografia Macaense. 1973 rpt. Macau, 1987. An extensive bibliography of publications about the city.

Oliveira Marques, António Henrique de, ed. História dos Portugueses no Extremo Oriente. Lisbon, 1998. A comprehensive modern collection of essays on the history of Macau.

Porter, Jonathan. Macau, the Imaginary City: Culture and Society, 1557 to the Present. Boulder, Colo., 2000. A wonderful introduction to the intermediary role played by Macau, connecting China and the West. A good starting point for those interested in Macau.

Souza, George Bryan. The Survival of Empire: Portuguese Trade and Society in China and the South China Sea, 1630–1754. Cambridge, U.K., 1986. A modern and comprehensive study of Macau's importance in Southeast Asian trade.

TIMOTHY J. COATES