terça-feira, 31 de dezembro de 2019

Cidade do Nome de Deus


“A cidade de Macau tem por brasão as armas reaes em escudo de prata, e em volta lê se o seguinte: Cidade de nome de Deus não há outra mais leal.A etymologia do nome de Macau vem de duas palavras chinezas Ama e Cau. A primeira designa io ídolo de um pagode, que ali havia desde tempos remotos. a segunda quer dizer porto. Começando os portuguezes a chamar ao sítio Amacau logo que ali se estabeleceram, deram depois à cidade com pouca differença o mesmo nome.”
in revista “Archivo Historico de Portugal: narrativa da fundação das cidades e villas do reino, seus brazões d´armas, etc” , 1890

segunda-feira, 30 de dezembro de 2019

"Volta ao Mundo em 80 dias"

"Le tour du monde en quatre-vingts jours" - A Volta ao Mundo em 80 Dias" é um romance de aventura escrito pelo francês Júlio Verne (1828-1905) e lançado em 1873. 
A obra retrata a tentativa do aristocrata inglês Phileas Fogg e o seu criado, Jean Passepartout, de circum-navegar o mundo em 80 dias... com passagem por Hong Kong (6 Novembro 1872) e algumas referências a Macau no capítulo XIX.
Excerto:
"Hong Kong é apenas uma ilha, cuja posse foi assegurada à Inglaterra pelo tratado de Nankin, depois da Guerra do Ópio em 1842. Em poucos anos, o génio colonizador da Grã-Bretanha fundou ali uma cidade e porto importantes, o porto Victoria. Esta ilha está situada na embocadura do rio de Cantão, a apenas 100 quilómetros da cidade portuguesa de Macau, situada na outra margem. Numa batalha comercial Hong Kong deveria necessariamente vencer Macau, e agora a maior parte do comércio chinês passa pela cidade inglesa. "



Chapter XIX
"In which Passepartout Takes a Too Great Interest in His Master, and what Comes of it Hong Kong is an island which came into the possession of the English by the Treaty of Nankin, after the war of 1842; and the colonising genius of the English has created upon it an important city and an excellent port. 
The island is situated at the mouth of the Canton River, and is separated by about sixty miles from the Portuguese town of Macao, on the opposite coast. Hong Kong has beaten Macao in the struggle for the Chinese trade, and now the greater part of the transportation of Chinese goods finds its depot at the former place."

domingo, 29 de dezembro de 2019

Foto-Legenda: troço da San Ma Lou (década 1950)

A imagem é da década de 1950 e retrato um troço da Av. Almeida Ribeiro (San Ma Lou). Podem-se ver-se, por exemplo, várias alfaiatarias, o prédio da H. Nolasco e o hotel Central.
Henrique Maria Nolasco da Silva (1884-1969), filho de Pedro Nolasco da Silva (1842-1912), foi o fundador e proprietário da H. Nolasco & C.ª Lda que chegou a ter representações em Lisboa, Timor e Hong Kong. Ao seu pai deve-se, por exemplo, a criação da Farmácia Popular.



sábado, 28 de dezembro de 2019

"China, Its Marvel and Mystery" (1909)

T. Hodgson Liddell (1860-1925), pintor britânico (essencialmente de paisagens), é o autor deste "China, Its Marvel and Mystery" publicado pela primeira vez em 1909. Para além de texto com as impressões pessoais do viajante, inclui também 40 pinturas do autor, num total de 384 páginas.
"A street in Macao" é legenda original para a pintura que Liddell fez do território. Consultei a edição norte-americana de 1910. (ver imagem abaixo)
Macau é um das várias cidades (inclui Hong Kong, Cantão, Pequim, etc...) que Thomas Hodgson Liddell visitou e pintou. Foi um pintor e este é o único livro que se conhece ter sido da sua autoria. Destaco o facto de para além da assinatura dos quadros com o seu nome incluir ainda um carimbo com o nome em chinês.
Excerto da Introdução:
I undertook this journey to China solely to paint pictures of a country I had during all my life heard a great deal of, and, in my book, I try to convey my impressions as an artist. I had occasionally heard of and seen sketches made by residents in and visitors to China, but I am not aware that a concerted attempt has ever before been made to produce and show to those at home a series of pictures which might illustrate, at any rate, some parts of China known, or of interest, to Europeans. If to a certain extent I restricted myself to illustrating these better-known parts, it was because I felt that the less-known places, though equally picturesque, would not, as yet, appeal to the public; and also I knew well beforehand that the difficulties I should have to face, to work even where I did, would be very great.
And, indeed, I found I had not underestimated these difficulties. The Chinese are, naturally, very artistic; but, in most places where I worked, they have never before seen any one attempting to paint outside from nature.
One has only to think of how the crowd would gather if a China-man, in national costume, were to set up an easel and begin to paint in one of our own streets, to realise a little of what I had to put up with. I had great crowds of curious natives to manage and to humour, and in other cases I had to persuade the officials to allow me to sketch. 
Their whole idea, it seemed to me, was that a foreigner sketching meant making maps and plans for some ulterior purpose. The difficulty I experienced, and the long, patient, persistent efforts I had to make, before I could persuade those most highly educated and placed officials immediately in touch with the Throne even to petition the Empress Dowager to grant me that permission which I ultimately obtained - to work at the Summer Palace - was only one, though the most determined, effort to keep me outside. But once I had obtained that, and become known (and, I flatter myself, rather liked), and consequently favoured by those officials, my difficulties were smoothed over as far as possible. Then I had to contend with the climate, a very serious matter; to work in extreme heat and extreme cold; at times in very moist heat, and again in great dryness; the mere keeping of my paper and materials in fit condition was quite a serious matter. 
Of the places I visited and illustrated the chief were, in the order of my journey: Hong Kong, Canton, Macao, and the neighbourhood of these places, in the south. Shanghai was another centre, and from there I visited and worked in the Soochow and Tahu or Great Lake district, and at Bing-oo, Kashing, and Hangchow, with its famous West Lake. In the north I visited Pei-tai-ho, Shan-hai-kwan, Tientsin, and finally Peking, with its world-famous palaces and temples. (...)
"A street in Macao" - legenda original do livro
Capítulo 3 - Macao
The Old Portuguese Settlement and sometime Home of Camoens. 
"Gem of the Orient, Earth and open Sea - Macao: that in thy lap and on thy breast Hast gathered beauties all the loveliest O'er which the sun smiles in his majesty." - Bowring. 
The visitor to Hong Kong should not, if time allows, fail to visit Macao. The delightful trip on one of the well-equipped boats of the Canton and Macao Steamboat Company is well worth doing ; and Macao, with its history going back to 1557, when the Portuguese first founded their settlement (I think it is the earliest European settlement in China), is most interesting. The Portuguese were allowed at that time to build factories, and the Chinese built a wall to exclude the barbarians. The settlement is on a peninsula on the western side of the Canton River, and the city, with its flat-roofed houses of southern European character, is very pic- turesquely situated. It lies on the level piece of land forming the Peninsula, between bold and rocky hills at either end rising some 300 feet. 
The Chinese have always (notably in 1862) disputed the ownership of this piece of territory, but their authority has gradually diminished, and now the place has been for some time regarded as a colonial possession by the Portuguese. It was early occupied by the Jesuit mis- sionaries, who established the grand old cathedral, beautiful even in its ruin, but still towering up into the sky, and sharing with the old castle the domination of the town. Macao was the centre of a disgraceful and cruel trade in coolies, a slave trade of the worst character, from the middle of last century till it was abolished in 1874. 
More recently the colonial revenue has been largely gained from a tax on the notorious Fan-Tan gambling- dens, which in 1872-73 yielded as much as 380,000 dollars (Mexican), or close on £'35,ooo sterling. These and still worse places are largely patronised by the Chinese and Macoese (among whom half-breeds largely predominate), and one is lost in amazement at the action of a European nation in upholding such things and pandering to the worst side of the Chinese character. But, for all this, Macao is a fair place to look at and dream over; and it is a more pleasant task to let one's thoughts go back to days when, in 1568, Louis de Camoens, prince of poets of his time, was exiled here as Portuguese Governor of the Fort, for writing a satire on the Portuguese officials at Goa, exposing their corruption. 
His memory is kept green by the grotto which still bears his name, and here he is said to have composed at least part of his " Lusiad " (the national epic of Portugal), and probably in this peaceful retreat he passed the happiest time of his adventurous life. " There never fails, intent on treacherous ends, Some lurking foe to those whom Heaven befriends." ^ Nearly all the outer end of the Peninsula and close to the river rises a small and rocky tree-covered hill, and on this is situated the very beautiful Fisherman's Temple, as dainty and picturesque a group of buildings, small though they are, as I saw anywhere in the East. 
My guide induced me to visit the Fan-Tan gambling-houses, the outsides of which are ornamental in a tawdry way; the insides did not appeal to me, being rather dull and dirty. We were taken upstairs, where, round a railed opening in the floor, one looked down on the gaming-table; but the game did not appear to me to have any charm. We also looked in at a Chinese theatre, where one of their everlasting plays was in progress. I cannot say that there was any resemblance to Drury Lane. 
There was no scenery; the actors (there are no actresses, though the men make up very well as women) wear cheap but very gaudy costumes, and change their dresses on the stage ; all the hangers on, such as we might term scene- shifters, and the like, stood about the stage and watched » "The Lusiad." the performance, which was so weird I cannot find words to describe it. It largely consisted of the performers yelling at each other in very high-pitched falsetto voices (caterwauling is the only noise I can liken it to), waving their arms and walking up and down - the so-called band adding to the din, cymbals, drums, and sort of coach -horn, &, making every few minutes a great banging - then a sudden hush, after which off they would start again. The men who take women's parts are raised on false wooden feet, made quite small to give the appearance of the small, bound feet of the women; their baggy trousers are tied in at the ankle. The audience, although watching intently, seem moved very little, and only signify their approval slightly. There is no enthusiastic applause as with us, though there is occasionally slight laughter. 
While here I visited a charming Chinese residence. The owner was from home, but I was most courteously shown over it by his servants. The gardens were very pretty - approached through quaintly shaped doorways in the walls, and intersected by pathways lined by ornamental stone-work and plants and flowers - sheets of water, with the usual bridges leading to pavilions on islands, making the whole very attractive. The residential part of the house was very well furnished with fine Cantonese black wood and many pieces of beautiful porcelain. The No. I Boy brought out as a great treasure for my inspection a book of photographs of London, asking me if I knew these places; and on my saying so, I was asked by my interpreter if I would explain them. This I did, to their great delight. They were greatly struck by St. Paul's, which I described to them as our Chief Joss-House, and with the idea of the railways which went under the houses and streets. 

quinta-feira, 26 de dezembro de 2019

Milton M. Miller: 1830-1899

Entre meados e finais do século 19 vários fotógrafos ocidentais* estabeleceram-se em Hong Kong, Cantão e Macau. Milton M. Miller, norte-americano, foi um deles. Chegou à então colónia britânica em 1860. Para além de Cantão e Hong Kong registou vários aspectos da paisagem de Macau, sendo também reconhecido o seu trabalho como fotógrafo de estúdio.  Regressou ao país natal em 1863.
Sugestão de leitura: 
History of Photography in China Western Photographers 1861-1879, Terry Bennett. Ed. 2010
O stereoview com o título "View in Macao - Showing Fort on the Hill", é um desses registos. "Vista de Macau com um forte no topo" (Fortaleza do Monte).
Milton Miller, também conhecido como Marshall M. Miller, nasceu em Dummerston, Vermont (EUA), em 1830. Morreu em 1899.
“Miller is becoming increasingly recognised as one of the key figures in early Chinese photography, even though almost nothing is known about him or his career. Although little of his landscape work has yet been identified. The genre portraits he took are celebrated for their often jarring intensity and also for the apparent empathy he felt for his Chinese sitters.”

in Encyclopedia of 19th Century Photography
* nesta 'onda' de fotógrafos houve um português, tema que fica para um próximo post.
“Not much can be said about Milton M. Miller’s (1830-1899) professional life. Piecing together scattered records, we know that before starting his brief but productive career in China, he worked from 1856 to 1860 as a cameraman in Robert H. Vance’s San Francisco gallery. In 1859, Vance (1825-1876) formed a partnership with Charles Leander Weed (1824-1903), an adventurous photographer and entrepreneur who later opened galleries from Nevada and California to the Far East. When Weed moved to Hong Kong in 1859, Miller followed, serving as the ‘operating artist’ in the newly established Weed and Howard Photographic Gallery in both Hong Kong and Guangzhou (Canton). In 1861, Weed left for Shanghai and Japan to look for new venues; Miller took over the gallery’s ownership and established the firm of Miller & Co., Photographers. 
It is unclear how long he maintained the Guangzhou operation but probably only one month: in August 1861, Miller announced that the branch would be open for business for only a month. During this period, he also suffered a burglary; the missing properties included 'the whole of the articles’ in the gallery and a box of negatives. It is likely that before and after that Guangzhou studio month, Miller operated mainly in Hong Kong, from where he travelled to Macao, Guangdong and other locations on commission. Miller terminated his Chinese venture in 1863 and returned to his hometown in Vermont, selling his business and negatives in Hong Kong to his former operator S. W. Halsey. 
It seems that, once resettled in America, he reinvented himself as a real-estate investor and largely abandoned the career of a photographer; the 1870 u.s. census identifies him as a 40 years old ‘retired photographer... Miller is best known for his portraits of Chinese officials, businessmen and women. To many collectors and researchers, these are prized artistic images that not only demonstrate the photographer’s technical sophistication but also reveal the sitter’s inner character - a combination rarely seen in the early photography of China. Miller’s images have been praised as ‘the most significant body of nineteenth-century Chinese official portraits.”
in Chinese History of Photography

quarta-feira, 25 de dezembro de 2019

Dioecesis Macaonensis

A Diocese de Macau foi criada pela bula "Super Specula Militantis Ecclesiae" do Papa Gregório XIII, a 23 de Janeiro de 1576, tornando-se assim a primeira diocese do Extremo Oriente da era moderna.
Antes, a primeira diocese do Extremo Oriente, foi a de Pequim, criada em 1307, no reinado do Imperador Chengzhong da Dinastia Yuan. Tinha jurisdição sobre a China, Coreia, Japão, Cochichina, Tonquim e outras ilhas e terras adjacentes. Passou a arquidiocese em 1946 sendo a Sé a Catedral da Imaculada Conceição de Pequim.

A Diocese de Macau foi desde início consagrada a Santa Catarina de Senna e São Francisco Xavier. 
A igreja que é hoje a Sé Catedral de Macau começou por ser uma pequena ermida, dedicada a Nossa Senhora da Natividade. 
Em 1623 foi reconstruída em taipa, um composto de terra e palha, e elevada a catedral. 

Só 200 anos mais tarde, se construiu um edifício em tijolo e pedra. Pouco tempo depois, um dos muitos tufões que varrem a península de Macau danificou gravemente a igreja. O projecto de reconstrução foi confiado ao arquitecto macaense José Tomás d'Aquino. Já no século XX, em 1937, a catedral foi novamente reparada, mas conservou muitos dos traços da anterior reconstrução. Actualmente está incluída na Lista dos monumentos históricos do "Centro Histórico de Macau", que UNESCO classificou como Património Mundial da Humanidade.
O primeiro Governador do Bispado da Diocese de Macau foi D. Melchior Carneiro, fundador da Santa Casa da Misericórdia, do Hospital de S. Rafael e da leprosaria na zona de S. Lázaro.  Os Jesuítas ergueram residência em Macau em 1565 e abriram uma escola, a qual se transformou num colégio universitário, tendo adjacente a igreja Madre de Deus de que resta apenas a fachada conhecida por Ruínas de São Paulo. 
Além da Companhia de Jesus, foram-se estabelecendo em Macau, nos séculos 16 e 17, os conventos dos Franciscanos, Agostinianos, Dominicanos e Clarissas.

segunda-feira, 23 de dezembro de 2019

"Natal já tem traz de porta"

Natal já tem traz de porta 
Logo cai na quarta fêra 
Venca nós armar presépio
E aranjá candêa cera 

Nós tem sagrada familia 
Pastor vacca tem bastante 
E tem também três Rê mago 
Montado na elephante. (…) 

Na Macau padre Manuel 
Com mas dôs ou três sium-sium 
Chega festa de Natal 
Canta gorung gorungung (…) 

Sim padre Manuel fallá 
Qui aquelle são três rês-magros 
Mas eu senti bem de gordo 
Tudo costas bem de largo. 

Unga rê são portuguez 
Outra môro tem turbante
Outro cafre beço grosso 
Corpo inchido diamante.

Excerto da poesia "23 de Dezembro", da autoria do macaense Fillipe Miguel de Miranda e Lima (1823-1901) publicada em 1895 no Almanach Luiz de Camões, de Hong Kong.

sábado, 21 de dezembro de 2019

Macao Faces Historical Change

Macao Faces Historical Change

As the day when China and Portugal start negotiation on the settlement of the Macao issue draws near, the future of the island on China's southern coast is commanding much attention worldwide. In this article, Beijing Review offers a brief account of Macao's background and its current situation. About 40 miles from Hong Kong, Macao is situated to the south of the city of Zhuhai and on the western banks of the Zhujiang estuary. Macao consists of the Macao Peninsula and Taipa and Coloane islands, encompassing an area of 16.4 square kilometres. The area of Macao proper is 5.7 square kilometres, that of Taipa 4.1 square kilometres and Coloane, 6.6 square kilometres.
In 1535 (the 14th year of the reign of Emperor Jia Jing of the Ming Dynasty), the Portuguese bribed the local officials in Guangdong and secured the right to anchor and trade at Macao Harbour. In 1553 they asked to dry their loads in Macao under the pretext that their ship hit a rock and their cargo was drenched. They used this opportunity to set up residence in the area. After the first Opium War (1840-42), the Portuguese took advantage of the defeat of the Qing Dynasty to take control of Macao. The Portuguese seized Taipa in 1851 and Coloane in 1864 and placed them under their jurisdiction. They have occupied and administered Macao ever since.
'One Country, Two Systems'
Since the founding of the People's Republic, the Chinese government has declared on many occasions that Macao is Chinese territory and the Macao issue, which is a legacy of history between China and Portugal, should be solved peacefully through negotiation at an appropriate time. Since 1974, when Portugal overthrew its fascist dictatorship in the April 25th Revolution, relations between China and Portugal have gradually normalized. When China established diplomatic relations with Portugal in 1979, the two governments reached an understanding in principle on the Macao issue. In May 1985, Portuguese President Ramalho Eanes visited China, the first Portuguese head of government to do so. During his stay in Beijing, leaders of the two countries discussed the Macao issue, and reviewed the satisfactory cooperation of the two governments in handling the issue. In a subsequent joint press communique, the two sides said they would hold negotiations in the near future to settle the Macao issue through diplomatic channels.
Accordingly, the Chinese and Portuguese governments will soon begin to negotiate on this issue. The basic policy of the Chinese government towards its settlement is: According to the concept of "one country, two systems," the Macao issue will be settled through peaceful negotiation, in much the same way as the Hong Kong issue, so as to restore Macao to Chinese sovereignty while maintaining its stability and development.
Because the Chinese government will give full consideration to Macao's history and present situation, and because it has adopted a fair and reasonable policy towards the settlement of the problem, there is every reason to believe that through friendly consultation between China and Portugal the Macao issue will be solved to the satisfaction of all the parties concerned. Macao's stability will remain, and its economy will continue to develop. With the settlement of the Macao issue, a new chapter will be opened in the relations between China and Portugal.
Economy and Limits
Macao has a subtropical climate, with an averge annual temperature of 22.3 degrees Celsius and an annual precipitation of 1,970 mm. The rainy season lasts from May to September, and between May and November Macao is frequently attacked by typhoons, on the average more than 10 times a year.
According to a local census, the area has a population of 408,500. Other estimates have put the population at 450,000. Chinese people make up 97 percent of Macao's population, the rest are Portuguese (totalling around 1,000) and "Macanese," descendants of the original Portuguese settlers and local Chinese who inter-married. Macao's population density is quite high, averaging nearly 30,000 people per square kilometre.
Portuguese is Macao's official language, and all its laws, decrees and documents are written in Portuguese, a language understood mostly by those from Portugal or inhabitants of the Portuguese descent. Chinese is still widely used and English the main medium for communications between Macao and Hong Kong and the international community.
In the 1950s, Macao was a consumer city with only traditional crafts making such things as matches, firecrakers and joss sticks. The mainstay of Macao's economy was gambling, giving the island the name "Monte Carlo of the East." In the 1960s, with an influx of capital from Hong Kong, Macao's economy started to develop. The woollen yarn and clothing industries have progressed. Since the 1970s, the economy has been enjoying a robust growth, bringing in its wake a change in the industrial setup. The woollen yarn industry, the import-export trade, the building industry, tourism and finance have greatly expanded so that the importance of gambling business has gradually declined. Exports of manufactured goods, tourism and the building industry have become the three pillars of Macao's economy. In 1984 trade, tourism and the building industry accounted for 36.9 percent, 25 percent and 8.7 percent of Macao's gross national product respectively. In 1985 the growth rate of its economy was 3-4 percent, and its total output value was about 8.2 billion patacas (7.9 patacas is equivalent to US$1). Its per capita output value was then 20,000 patacas. (If the population is taken at 410,000, the average per-capita output value was US$2,500).
Because Macao has a limited market, 70 percent of its products are for export. At present Macao has trade ties with more than 90 countries and regions and has signed preferential trade agreements with the GATT, MEA and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). Macao's products are exported to members of the European Economic Community (EEC), the United States, Japan, Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. In 1985, Macao's import and export volume totalled 13,407 billion patacas, of which exports accounted for 7.18 billion patacas (about US$900 million) and imports 6.1 billion patacas.
There is almost no agriculture in Macao. Fruit, vegetables and other foodstuffs are supplied from the mainland. Fishing also plays an insignificant role.
Although Macao has achieved some progress in recent years, its foundation is rather weak and its prosperity still depends heavily on the rest of the world. Macao lacks natural resources, and industrial materials are nearly all imported. Fresh water and electricity are provided by the mainland. Macao has no deepwater harbours and no airport. Its import and export trade must, therefore, be routed through Hong Kong. Its export markets are also concentrated, and the fluctuations of the markets in the EEC, the United States and Japan have a large impact on Macao's economy, Macao's industries are also mainly labour-intensive, putting it well behind Hong Kong in the development of technology-intensive industries. These unfavourable conditions have severely circumscribed Macao's economic development. The settlement of the Macao issue will be conducive to the maintenance of Macao's stability and to the promotion of its economic progress.
Yu Huan in Beijing Review nº21 May 26, 1986

sexta-feira, 20 de dezembro de 2019

Moedas Comemorativas transferência administração

As emissões de moedas comemorativas da transferência da administração de Macau, no território, culminaram em 1999 com o lançamento em 20 de Dezembro de uma emissão de 1999 moedas de ouro com o valor facial de 1.000 patacas.

Nessa data foi também emitida uma moeda comemorativa de 100 patacas em Prata Proof 925 com encastoação revestida a ouro de 24 quilates, cunhada pela Royal Canadian Mint, peso de 31,103 gr., diam. 38 mm., não circulada e emissão limitada a 38.888 unidades.


Em Portugal a Imprensa Nacional Casa da Moeda emitiu uma moeda comemorativa no valor de 500$00 (quinhentos escudos).
Tiragem: 1.000.000. Peso: 14,00 gr. Diâmetro da Moeda: 30mm Metal: Prata 500%

quinta-feira, 19 de dezembro de 2019

Emissão numismática (moedas): Novembro 1999

Em Novembro de 1999 era lançada a segunda emissão de moedas comemorativas da transferência da administração de Macau de Portugal para a China.
A emissão comemorativa foi cunhada no Canadá pela Royal Canadian Mint e replicou o valor facial das moedas então em circulação no território - 10 avos, 20 avos, 50 avos (liga de latão), 01 pataca, 05 patacas e 10 patacas - e incluída como "novidade" de uma moeda de 2 patacas.
As moedas de 1, 2 e 5 patacas foram feitas em liga de níquel e as moedas de 10 patacas com uma coroa externa em liga de alumínio-bronze e um núcleo circular interior em níquel.
O reverso de todas as moedas comemorativas representa as insígnias da cidade, a legenda "Macau" em português e chinês e o valor facial em português e caracteres chineses.
 Numa face o símbolo do Leal Senado e na outra algumas 'imagens de marca' do território.

De acordo com o decreto-lei a cunhagem da emissão comemorativa estipulava que o anverso da moeda de 10 avos apresentasse o parque memorial de Sun Yat Sen e a representação de um aperto de mão simbolizador da amizade entre Portugal e a China, enquanto na moeda de 20 avos representava o convento do Precioso Sangue, a actual sede da AMCM, e na moeda de 50 avos um jacto-planador, um avião e a Ponte da Amizade.
No anverso da moeda de uma pataca está representado o Centro Cultural de Macau, na de duas patacas as Ruínas de S. Paulo e um carro de Fórmula 3 alusivo ao Grande Prémio de Macau e na de cinco patacas o Hotel Lisboa e dois cães alusivos às corridas de galgos.
A moeda de 10 patacas apresenta no anverso o palácio da Praia Grande, sede do governo de Macau.

quarta-feira, 18 de dezembro de 2019

Vícios no final do século 19

Introduzido na China pelos ingleses, o ópio originou duas guerras sino-britânicas (e Hong Kong), causou fortunas e desgraças durante o século 19 (e 20) e serviu de bóia de salvação à economia de Macau. Era o primeiro passo para a reputação perniciosa do território a que se juntaria o jogo e a prostituição, já para não falar do tráfico de cules.
Em 1886 (depois da segunda guerra do ópio), chineses e ingleses celebram a Convenção do Ópio, que estabelece que ambos controlam o comércio do ópio e do qual Macau já se tornara ponto de passagem desta actividade.
Em Lisboa, a 26 de Março de 1887, é assinado um protocolo preliminar entre o Ministro dos Negócios Estrangeiros português, H. Barros Gomes, e o representante da China, J. Duncan Campbell. Na sequência deste protocolo, celebram-se em Pequim uma convenção que estabelece a cooperação portuguesa na cobrança do rendimento de ópio em Macau, em moldes próximos aos dos Ingleses em Hong-Kong.
Macau importava o produto bruto (ópio cru) da Índia que depois era preparado para exportação (ópio cozido).
Na edição de 7 de Junho de 1896 o Echo Macaense escreve que existe em Macau uma “grande fabrica de cozimento do ópio para a Australia e Califórnia, onde ha sempre centenas de mil patacas em opio cozido ou por cozer”.
O hábito estava fumar ópio estava profundamente enraizado e era amplamente aceitável na sociedade macaense. Tal como o jogo (aposta a dinheiro), fantan sobretudo, e a prostituição, esta uma actividade tolerada.
A 4 de Setembro de 1898 o jornal Echo Macaense escreve:

“Pouco affeitos á moralidade dos costumes, não ha entre os chinas passatempo nem distracção onde não entra o elemento feminino. Se ha um jantar nos culaus, ou nos restaurantes, se querem obsequiar um amigo ou mandarim e se querem discutir o projecto d'uma empresa, nada se faz, antes ou depois, sem beberetes e comezainas, com assistência das pi-pá-chais , ou cantoras que servem tambem para preparar o opio aos fumistas d'esta droga, para os servir á meza e abanalos. São costumes, na verdade, repugnantes á face da nossa civilisação. (...) O bonito é que com isso soffre muita gente, especialmente as casas de fantan, de opio, de pacapiu, os floriastas, carregadores de agua, as casas de pasto, os restaurantes e varias outras industrias. Não se podem imaginar a influencia que na China exercem os bordeis sobre o commercio” (...)
Desses temos resta em Macau a chamada Casa/Armazém do Ópio, localizada estrategicamente no Porto Interior, no cruzamento da Rua das Lorchas e da Praça de Ponte e Horta, edifício construído no final do século 19. Houve também uma fábrica/armazém da rua da Alfândega.

Sugestão de leitura: "La Colonie de Macao et la question du trafic de l'opium", de José Caeiro da Matta, Lisboa, 1940

terça-feira, 17 de dezembro de 2019

BNU: marca histórica e económica e emissão há um século

Ligado a Macau desde 1901, o BNU ainda hoje está em actividade no território.
Artur Rocha Schiappa Monteiro de Carvalho foi o autor do projecto do edifício sede inaugurado em 1926.

 No cruzamento da Av. Almeida Ribeiro com a Av. da Praia Grande.
O edifício sofreu obras de renovação e ampliação em 1997* (foto abaixo). 
Actualmente está classificado como edifício de Interesse Arquitectónico.
Foto O.BS Arquitectos *

Since 1901 BNU is a landmark in Macau’s economy and history


 Frente e verso de uma nota de 100 patacas - emissão de 1919

Foram emitidas 48.000 notas desta emissão colocada em circulação em 1920 e retirada em 1948. Apresentam a curiosidade de na data aparecer "Julio" em vez de Julho.

segunda-feira, 16 de dezembro de 2019

"Escola para os Chinas"


Somos informados que alguns chinas offereceram ao governo a quantia de oitocentas patacas para construcção d'uina casa d'escola destinada para o ensino de portuguez aos chinas. 
Sam mui dignos de encomios os chinas que fizeram a offerta, e sel-o-á também o governo, se a essa pequena quantia ajuntar o que for necessário para a construcção d'um edifício decente e apropriado para esse fim. 
Será esta a primeira casa d'escola destinada para os chinas; e por mais modesta e pequena que seja, honrará altamente o governador que a mandar construir, porque representará uma ideia nobre e patriótica, bem como também o reconhecimento d uma obrigação estricta que até agora o governo não tem cumprido.
Os chinas que constituem a maioria dos contribuintes, têem pleno direito de exigir que o governo lhes forneça escolas para instrucçáo dos seus filhos, mas infelizmente as authoridades nunca se importaram d'isso. Fazemos, por tanto, votos para que essa pequena doação dos chinas possa despertar a attenção do governo, e leval-o a tomar este assunto na mais seria consideração.
Os antigos portuguezes, imitando os romanos, procuravam espalhar o conhecimento da sua lingua, onde quer que fossem, porque juntamente com a lingua e com a litteratura se espalhava também a influencia moral e politica.
Em Macau, onde temos uma população chineza, avida d'estudar, quando d'esse estudo lhe pode provir algum lucro, devia o governo, desde muito tempo, ter procurado espalhar o ensino da lingua portugueza, principalmente entre os chinas abastados, que achariam no conhecimento d'essa lingua grandes vantagens nas suas relações com as authoridades e com as repartições publicas. Desejaríamos que o governo não perdesse de vista este elemento de grande alcance para cimentar o domínio portuguez n'este paiz. 

domingo, 15 de dezembro de 2019

Our new way Round the World (1869)

The town of Macao, where the Portuguese, in advance of all Western nations, obtained a foothold in China, lies upon the southern side of the bay. It has lost commercial importance, and is now a seaside resort for the Europeans of Hong Kong. A steamer owned by an American gentleman plies between that port and Canton. It makes its appearance from among the small islands, and follows in our wake up the bay. 
It is fifty miles from Hong Kong to the Bogue forts. They are in ruins now, the shattered blocks of granite lying just as they were left at the close of the bombardment in 1856. The grass is springing fresh and green where the mandarins once marshalled their soldiers. The scenery here is charming; no high mountains, but a succession of hills, which, combined with the water views, make it a locality of rare beauty. Thus far we have been sailing northerly, but now turn toward the west, with the river deep enough for the largest ship to reach Whampoa, the port of Canton. (...)

Macao formerly had extensive dealings with Canton, but the Portuguese, who reside there, have lost their ancient vigor. It is a decaying town, beautifully situated on a peninsula, presenting a noble front to the harbor. 

The location is superior in every respect to that of Hong Kong. The harbor is sheltered from the sea, and spacious and deep enough for the largest vessels; the climate is salubrious; the buildings plain solid structures, less imposing than those of Hong Kong. Aside from the beauty of the place, there is very little to interest a visitor at Macao. It has had its day, and, like Portugal, has gone to sleep. Its trade now is insignificant compared with that of former years, when it was the only port on the South China coast. It is now the place from which nearly all the coolies are exported. The Portuguese take more readily to dealing in human flesh and blood than any other nation. Formerly they dealt in slaves, but now in coolies. The Chinese government has interdicted the trade, but Portugal, holding Macao, can carry it on in defiance of Pekin, just as England can the opium traffic.
It may be asked how the coolies can be obtained in violation of law. The answer will show the weakness of the Imperial government. Here in the provinces of Kwangton and Kwangsi, especially in the southern portions bordering on Tonquin, there is very little governmental power; the people are divided into clans, and are subject to chiefs, between whom there are frequent wars. The prisoners taken are brought to Macao and sold to the Portuguese by half-castes, who are travelling through the country continually stirring up strife. 
In addition to thus promany are those cured kidnapped. The coast swarms with pirates. Some now in sight quite likely are of this character. They purchase their cannon of English merchants at Hong Kong, sail along the coast, attack and plunder other craft, bring the crews to some out - of - the - way place, and sell them a coolt to cooly-traders, the whole proceeding being winked at by the government of Macao, which rests itself on an "Emigration Act" regulating the traffic. Another source of supply is from the gambling-houses. 
The Chinese are such inveterate gamesters that, when their money is gone, they stake themselves. It is the custom of the Chinese to pledge their bodies whenever they have no other security to offer their creditors. There are "crimps" in the employ of the cooly-dealers, who frequent the gambling-hells of the interior towns, ready to advance a trifle of money to the gamblers on their bodies; when they have lost themselves by play, they are brought to Macao, threatened by the crimp with death if they do not give proper answers to the "commissioner." (...)
They go into the barracoon, from the barracoon to the vessel; are taken to Cuba or Peru, or some other place, to all intents and purposes slaves. Including head-money, they cost from twenty-five to thirty dollars apiece. The barracoon keeper or dealer doubles his money, selling them to the shipper for sixty or seventy dollars. Insurance, passage, and other ex- penses bring their cost to about two hundred dollars at Havana, where these emigrants are sold for eight years' service at about three hundred and fifty dollars. Nearly fifteen thousand a year are shipped, and the trade is increasing. 
The Governor of Macao is appointed by the king of Portugal, and has a salary of $3,750. There is also a judge and a bishop, each having a salary of 8 2,300. All laws are made by the senate, consisting of three persons, who are elected by the people. Suffrage is universal, that is, for Portuguese residents. If a person wishes to lead a lazy, careless, good-for- nothing life, Macao is the place for him. The inhabitants are in no hurry or worry about business; provisions are cheap, the climate mild, the heat of summer tempered by the monsoon; the atmosphere conducive to indolence. Society imposes no restraints in regard to morality; there is no necessity for troubling the priest to pronounce the marriage vow; they only ask for absolution when death steals on apace.
Excerto de "Our new way Round the World", de Charles Carleton Coffin, 1869.
O autor (1823-1896) foi um político e jornalista norte-americano que acompanhou de perto a guerra civil dos Estados Unidos. Este livro é o testemunho de uma viagem que fez até ao Japão. Sobre Macau destaca o tráfico de cules bem como a questão do ópio e o vício do jogo. Três aspectos fundamentais da vida em Macau em meados do século 19.

sábado, 14 de dezembro de 2019

Charles Boxer: soldado, historiador, professor, coleccionador e viajante

Já aqui escrevi várias vezes sobre o britânico Charles Boxer (1904-2000), mas nunca é demais recordar aquele que é considerado o maior historiador estrangeiro da expansão portuguesa. Boxer começou tarde nesta actividade. Tinha 43 anos. Antes estivera na carreira militar ao serviço de sua Magestade (desde 1924). 
Em 1963, então professor da Cátedra Camões no King's College London, com 59 anos, publicou um livro que causou furor em Portugal, numa altura em que emergiam os movimentos nacionalistas contra o domínio colonial português. 
Trata-se da obra "Race relations in the Portuguese Colonial Empire, 1415-1825". Seria apenas traduzida para português em 1977: “Relações Raciais no Império Colonial Português 1415-1825” e aborda o período que vai desde o início da expansão até à independência do Brasil.
A obra foi o resultado de três conferências proferidas na Universidade da Virgínia, (EUA), em Novembro de 1962: "Morocco and West Africa", "Moçambique and India" e "Brazil and Maranhão". 
Nesses ensaios, Boxer que era  considerado um historiador moderado, empirista, distante das teses marxistas em voga na época, diz na prática que o não racismo na história  do colonialismo português era um mito. Escreve ele: "Os portugueses não eram anjos nem diabos; eram seres humanos e agiam como tais; sua conduta variava muito de acordo com o tempo, lugar e espaço." Era bem relacionado nos círculos intelectuais portugueses mas esta posição faria como fosse posto à margem durante muitos anos.
Curiosamente Macau não faz parte da obra, um território cuja história nesta altura já Boxer conhecia muitíssimo bem, tendo publicado vários livros. A razão é simples. Para Boxer o processo histórico macaense era único, pelo que deveria ser estudado fora do âmbito colonial.


Charles Ralph Boxer nasceu na ilha de Wight em 1904, descendente de uma família com grandes tradições militares, do lado paterno. Ele e o irmão frequentaram as academias militares de Wellington e Sandhurst. Foi Oficial ao serviço da Coroa na Irlanda do Norte, e segue para o Japão em 1930, uma viagem marcante.
Admira e partilha a estrita disciplina dos soldados japoneses, inicia-se na filosofia zen e pratica artes marciais.
Em 1936 está estacionado em Hong Kong e aproveita para viajar pela região, investigando fontes, pesquisando em bibliotecas, comprando livros, coleccionando moedas e outras antiguidades. É nesta altura que vai a Macau.
Torna-se amigo do padre Manuel Teixeira, uma das figuras incontornáveis da história de Macau, dirá dele o seguinte:
"Um dia perguntei-lhe qual era a sua religião. Ele respondeu-me: 'Do pescoço para cima sou episcopaliano, mas do pescoço para baixo sou mórmon!"
Tinha muita facilidade na aprendizagem das línguas. Dominava o japonês, o português, o holandês, o espanhol, o alemão e o italiano.
Quando o Japão invade Hong Kong em Dezembro de 1941 (faz agora 78 anos) Boxer está à frente dos serviços secretos da então colónia britânica. É gravemente ferido em combate e torna-se prisioneiro de guerra.
Desiste da carreira militar como major em 1947 - quando lhe é oferecida a cátedra de Camões em Londres - e passa a dedicar-se em exclusivo à história.



Em cima um dos muitos livros sobre Macau - The Great Ship from Amacon (1959)  - da autoria de Boxer, e ainda a sua assinatura e ex-libris.
Sugestão de leitura: 
Charles Boxer, an Uncommon Life: soldier, historian, teacher, collector, traveller"
de Dauril Alden, James S. Cummins e Michael Cooper.
Edição F. O., 2001
Desde o início Boxer sempre se perguntou como é que um pequeno reino na cauda da Europa tinha sido capaz de construir e manter um império durante tantos séculos? 
Macau foi uma das primeiras 'parcelas' desse império e a de maior longevidade (até Dezembro de 1999).
Quando deixou de escrever, em 1984, Charles Boxer era autor de mais de 350 livros e artigos. Muitos deles sobre Macau.
Morreu no ano 2000 com 96 anos.
Algumas das obras sobre Macau:
- Um memorial da cidade de Macau há trezentos anos, Escola Tipográfica do Orfanato, 1937 
- A derrota dos Holandeses em Macau no ano de 1622: subsídios inéditos, pontos controversos, informações novas, Escola Tipográfica de Orfanato, 1938 
- A propósito dum livrinho xilográfico dos Jesuítas de Pequim, século XVIII: ensaio histórico, Imprensa Nacional, 1947
- The Great Ship from Amacon: Annals of Macao and Old Japan Trade, 1555-1640, Centro de Estudos Históricos Ultramarinos, 1959