Macau is a
Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the
People's Republic of China. It was administered by
Portugal for about 450 years, first as a
trading post, and subsequently as a
colony, until its handover to China in 1999. It was the last European colony in Asia.
Early history
The human history of Macau stretches back up to 6,000 years, and includes many different and diverse civilisations and periods of existence. Evidence of human culture dating back 4,000 to 6,000 years has been discovered on the
Macau Peninsula and dating back 5,000 years on
Coloane Island.
Imperial times
Historical records show that what was later known as Macau was part of
Nanhai Prefecture when the whole region became part of the Chinese empire during
Qin dynasty (
221–
206 BC). During the
Jin Dynasty (265-420), the area was part of
Dongguan County and later alternated under the control of Nanhai and Dongguan. In 1152 (during the
Song Dynasty, 960–1279), it was identified as administratively part of the new
Xiangshan County.
Since at least the
5th century, merchant ships traveling between
Southeast Asia and
Guangzhou used
Haojingao as a way stop for refuge, fresh water, and food.
The first recorded inhabitants of the area were members of the
southern Song Dynasty and some 50,000 followers, seeking refuge in Macau from invading
Mongols in
1277. They were able to defend their settlements and establish themselves there.
Mong Há has long been the center of Chinese life in Macau and the site of what may be the region's oldest temple, a shrine devoted to the
Buddhist Guanyin (Goddess of Mercy).
The
Hoklo Boat people were the first to show commercial interest in Macau as a trading center for the southern provinces. During the
Ming Dynasty (1368–1643), fishermen migrated to Macau from various parts of Guangdong and
Fujian provinces and built the
A-Ma Temple in which they prayed for safety on the sea.
Portuguese Settlement
Macau did not develop as a major settlement until the
Portuguese arrived in the
16th century, during the
Age of Discovery, when Portuguese sailors were exploring the coasts of Africa and Asia. Having established posts at
Goa in
1510 and
Malacca in
1511, the first Portuguese arrived on the
China coast in 1513 aboard a hired junk sailing from Malacca. They landed on
Lintin Island in the
Zhujiang (Pearl River) estuary and erected a stone marker claiming the island for the
king of Portugal. When Portuguese fleets arrived in the vicinity of Haojing'ao in 1517 and 1518, Chinese officials expressed displeasure over violations of China's sovereignty. Portuguese adventurers were forcibly expelled from along the coast of Guangdong in 1521. Following a ship wreck in 1536, Portuguese traders were allowed to moor at Haojingao, however. Most historians note the date of the permanent presence of the Portuguese in Macau as 1553, the year they started establishing on-shore trading depots there.
Lisbon obtained a leasehold for Macau in return for tribute paid to Beijing in 1557, and during that same year, established a walled village there. Ground rent payments began in 1573. China retained sovereignty and Chinese residents were subject to Chinese law, but the territory was under Portuguese administration. In 1582 a land lease was signed, and annual rent was paid to Xiangshan County.
Macau's Golden Age
Although Portuguese attempts to settle other islands and areas along the southern coast of China – including
Swatow,
Ningbo[Macao, Illustrations of China and Its People, John Thomson 1837-1921, (London,1873-1874)] and
Shangchuan Island – had failed, Macau soon prospered.
In
1535, the Portuguese obtained the right to anchor ships in Macau harbours and carry out trading activities. Portuguese and Chinese merchants flocked to Macau, and it quickly became an important node in the development of Portugal's trade along three major routes: Macau-Malacca-Goa-Lisbon, Guangzhou-Macau-Nagasaki and Macau-Manila-Mexico. The Guangzhou-Macau-Nagasaki route was particularly profitable because the Portuguese acted as middlemen, shipping Chinese silks to Japan and Japanese silver to China, pocketing huge markups in the process. This already lucrative trade became even more so when Chinese officials handed Macau's Portuguese traders a monopoly by banning direct trade with Japan in 1547, due to piracy by Japanese nationals. In around 1552-1553, the Portuguese obtained permission to go ashore and erect storage sheds
[, in order to dry out goods drenched by sea water, and establish a settlement as a reward for defeating pirates and to serve as middlemen for trade between China and Japan and between both nations and Europe.[1]. In 1557, the Portuguese established a permanent settlement in Macau. Fortifications and a church were the first buildings were constructed there. For the next 100 years Macau flourished.]
Macau and its position in Portuguese and Spanish global trade routes.
Macau's golden age coincided with the union of the Spanish and Portuguese crowns, between 1580 and 1640. King Philip II of Spain was encouraged to not harm the status quo, to allow trade to continue between Portuguese Macau and Spanish Manila, and to not interfere with Portuguese trade with China. In 1587, Philip promoted Macau from "Settlement or Port of the Name of God in China" to "City of the Name of God in China" (Cidade do Nome de Deus de Macau).
The alliance of Portugal with Spain meant that Portuguese colonies became targets for the Netherlands, which was embroiled at the time in a lengthy struggle for its independence from Spain, the Eighty Years' War. After the Dutch East India Company was founded in 1602, the Dutch unsuccessfully attacked Macau several times, culminating in a full scale invasion attempt in 1622, when 800 attackers were successfully repelled by 150 Macanese and Portuguese defenders. One of the first actions of Macau's first governor, who arrived the following year, was to strengthen the city's defenses, which included the construction of the Guia Fortress
Religious activity
As well as being an important trading post, Macau was a centre of activity for Catholic missionaries, as it was seen as a gateway for the conversion of the vast populations of China and Japan. Jesuits had first arrived in the 1560s and were followed by Dominicans in the 1580s. Both orders soon set about constructing churches and schools, the most notable of which were the Jesuit Cathedral of Saint Paul and St. Dominic’s Church built by the Dominicans. In 1580, Macao was established as an episcopal see by Gregory XIII, and 13 bishops were consecrated[.]
Slave trade
From 1848 to about the early 1870s, Macao was the infamous transit port of a trade of coolies (or slave labourers) from southern China. Most of them would have been kidnapped from Guangdong province and be shipped off in packed vessels to Cuba, Peru, or other South American ports to work on plantations or in mines. Many would die on the way there due to malnutrition, disease, or other mistreatment[. The ''Dea del Mar'' which had set sail to Callao from Macao in 1865 with 550 Chinese on board, arrived in Tahiti with 162 of them still alive][.]
Decline
The full title awarded to Macau by King
Joao IV is still displayed to this day inside the
Leal Senado, though the building and emblem itself date from the
19th Century.
The news that the Portuguese House of Braganza had regained control of the Crown from the Spanish Habsburgs took two years to reach Macau, arriving in 1642. A ten week celebration ensued, and despite its new-found poverty, Macau sent gifts to the new King Joao IV along with expressions of loyalty. In return, the King rewarded Macau with the addition of the words "There is none more Loyal" to its existing title. Macau was now "City of the Name of God in China, There is none more loyal". ("Não há outra mais Leal" []).
Macao, ''ca''. 1870
In 1685, the privileged position of the Portuguese in trade with China ended, following a decision by the emperor of China to allow trade with all foreign countries. Over the next century, England, Holland, France, Denmark, Sweden, the United States and Russia moved in, establishing factories and offices in Guangzhou and Macau.
Until 20 April 1844, Macau was under the jurisdiction of Portugal's Indian colonies, the so-called “Estado português da India†(Portuguese State of India), but after this date, it, along with East Timor, was accorded recognition by Lisbon (but not by Beijing) as an overseas province of Portugal. The Treaty of Peace, Amity, and Commerce between China and the United States was signed in a temple in Macau on 3 July 1844. The temple was used by a Chinese judicial administrator, who also oversaw matters concerning foreigners, and was located in the village of Mong Há. The Templo de Kun Iam was the site where, on July 3, 1844, the treaty of Wangxia (named after the village of Mong Ha where the temple was located) was signed by representatives of the United States and China. This marked the official beginning of Sino-US relations.
The Hong Kong Effect
1888 German map of Hong Kong, Macau, and Canton (now Guangzhou)
After China ceded Hong Kong to the British in 1847, Macau's position as a major regional trading centre declined further still because larger ships were drawn to the deep water port of Victoria Harbour.
In an attempt to reverse the decline, Portugal declared Macau a free port, expelled Chinese officials and soldiers, and thereafter levied taxes on Chinese residents. In 1849, Portugal declared the colony independent of China.
Portugal continued to pay rent to China until 1849, when the Portuguese abolished the Chinese customs house and declared Macau's “independenceâ€, a year which also saw Chinese retaliation and finally the assassination of Gov. Ferreira do Amaral. Portugal gained control of the island of Wanzai, to the north of Macau and which now is under the jurisdiction of Zhuhai, in 1849 but relinquished it in 1887. Control over Taipa (氹仔 in Chinese, Jyutping: Tam5 Zai2; pinyin: Dà ngzÇŽi) and Coloane (路環 in Chinese, Jyutping: Lou6 Waan4; pinying: Lùhuán), two islands south of Macau, was obtained between 1851 and 1864. The Treaty of Tianjin (signed 13 August 1862) recognized Macau as a Portuguese colony, but because China never ratified the treaty, Macau was never officially ceded to Portugal. Macau and East Timor were again combined as an overseas province of Portugal under control of Goa in 1883. The Protocol Respecting the Relations Between the Two Countries (signed in Lisbon 26 March 1887) confirmed “perpetual occupation and government†of Macau by Portugal (with Portugal's promise “never to alienate Macau and dependencies without agreement with Chinaâ€). Taipa and Coloane were also ceded to Portugal, but the border with the mainland was not delimited. The Treaty of Commerce and Friendship (28 August 1888) recognized Portuguese sovereignty over Macau but was never ratified by China. Ilha Verde (é’æ´² in Chinese, Jyutping: Ceng1 Zau1 or Cing1 Zau1; pinyin: QÄ«ngzhÅu) was incorporated into Macau's territory in 1890, and, once a kilometer offshore, by 1923 it had been absorbed into peninsular Macau through land reclamation.
World War II
Macau enjoyed a brief period of economic prosperity during World War II as the only neutral port in South China, after the Japanese occupied Guangzhou (Canton) and Hong Kong. In 1943, Japan created a virtual protectorate over Macau. Japanese domination ended in August 1945.
Macau and Communist China
When the Chinese communists came to power in 1949, they declared the Protocol of Lisbon to be invalid as an “unequal treaty†imposed by foreigners on China. However, Beijing was not ready to settle the treaty question, requesting a maintenance of “the status quo†until a more appropriate time. Beijing took a similar position on treaties relating to the Hong Kong territories of the United Kingdom. Portugal designated Macau a separate overseas province in 1955.
In 1955, the fascist Salazar regime declared Macau, as well as other Portuguese colonies, an "Overseas Province" of Portugal.
Riots broke out in 1966 when local Chinese and the Macau authority clashed. The spark was overreaction by some Portuguese official to what was a regular minor dispute concerning building permits. The riots cause 8 deaths and the end was a total climb down by the Portuguese Government, signing two agreements one with Macau's Chinese community the other with a mainland China. In the latter an agreement with local Chinese community leaders with as much as 2 million Macau Patacs in compensation and to prohibit all Kuomintang activities in Macau. This move ended the conflict, and relations between the government and the leftist organizations remained largely peaceful. The success in Macau encourage leftist in Hong Kong to "do the same". This eventually lead to the 1967 Hong Kong leftist riots. A Portuguese proposal to return the colony to China was declined by China.
In 1974, following the anti-colonialist Carnation Revolution, Portugal relinquished all colonial claims and recognized Chinese sovereignty over Macau.
Handover to the People's Republic of China
Main articles: Transfer of the sovereignty of Macau
Portugal and the People's Republic of China established diplomatic relations on 8 February 1979, and Beijing acknowledged Macau as “Chinese territory under Portuguese administration.†A year later, Gen. Melo Egidio became the first governor of Macau to pay an official visit to Beijing.
The visit underscored both parties' interest in finding a mutually agreeable solution to Macau's status. A joint communiqué signed May 20, 1986, called for negotiations on the Macau question, and four rounds of talks followed between 30 June 1986 and 26 March 1987. The Joint Declaration on the Question of Macau was signed in Beijing on 13 April 1987, setting the stage for the return of Macau to full Chinese sovereignty as a Special Administrative Region on 20 December 1999.
After four rounds of talks, "the Joint Declaration of the Government of the People's Republic of China and the Government of the Republic of Portugal on the Question of Macao" was officially signed in April 1987. The two sides exchanged instruments of ratification on January 15, 1988 and the Joint Declaration entered into force. During the transitional period between the date of the entry into force of the Joint Declaration and December 19, 1999, the Portuguese government was responsible for the administration of Macao.
The Basic Law of the Macau Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, was adopted by the National People's Congress (NPC) on 31 March 1993 as the constitutional law for Macau, taking effect on 20 December 1999.
The PRC has promised that, under its “one country, two systems†formula, China's socialist economic system will not be practiced in Macau and that Macau will enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all matters except foreign and defense affairs until 2049, fifty years after the handover.
Thus the history of European colonization of Asia ended where it began. Although offered control of Macau in the 1970s, the Chinese deemed the time "not yet ripe" and preferred to wait until December 1999--the very end of the millennium, two years after the Hong Kong Handover--to close this chapter of history.
References
1. Macau - a unique city
Further reading
★ Coates, Austin: ''A Macao Narrative''
★ Porter, Jonathan: ''Macau: The Imaginary City''
★ Shipp, Steve: ''Macau, China: A Political History of the Portuguese Colony's Transition to Chinese Rule''
See also
★ Anders Ljungstedt
★ Culture of Macau
★ Jorge Ãlvares
★ Names of Macau
★ Religion in Macau
External links
★ Macau handover: Asia's last colony
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