"The most idyllic and peaceful place in the Far East"

Hermann Graf Keyserling (1880-1946) foi um escritor e filósofo alemão. Cursou as Universidades de Genebra, Tartu, Heidelberga e Viena. Viajou pelo mundo em 1911 e dessa viagem resultou um de seus livros mais conhecidos Das Reisetagebuch eines Philosophen" / "Diário de Viagem de um Filósofo", publicado em 1919.

A edição em inglês surgiu em 1925 sob o título "The Travel Diary of a Philosopher". Macau surge no Vol. 2 - "To the Far East - China - Japan - To the New World - America", pág. 42 a 51. 

Excertos:

"Macau

I have escaped from the busy turmoil of Canton into the most idyllic and peaceful place which exists in the Far East. I have reached the delightfully situated Macau where Camoëns completed his Lusiadas. To what a remarkable extent the atmosphere of China has taken possession of me. As a matter of course the reaction against city life expresses itself in my soul by quietistic thoughts à la Laotse and Djuang Tse for there can be no doubt that the extreme form of the quietism of these men must be understood as a reaction against the extremes of sociability and bustle which characterised China even in their day.

When I re read their writings here then I feel as if I were listening to the echo of my own self. The same moods in Indian or European colouring would strike me as heterogeneous nay even as tactless. What is it which gives its special character to Chinese mysticism? Certainly not its meanings, its substance in this direction it agrees with the wisdom of all peoples of all time. It is partially its method of expression. I will not expand further on this subject as it is a direct function of the Chinese system of writing. In just the same way Taoistic philosophy does not express definite thoughts so much as their ultimate significance. And since this significance alone partakes of immortality whereas all conceptual embodiments must pass away sooner or later this fact brings about an absolute superiority of the Chinese expressions of supreme truth they alone will continue to live as they stand that which can be said of other literatures only in the case of some rare sentences applies in principle to all the expressions of Chinese wisdom.

But I am not concerned to day with these objective things I am too tired after Canton too needful of rest. And then Macau is much too beautiful for me to enjoy the examination of abstract (...)

"Praya Grande, Macao" Postal ca. 1910 M. Sternberg

I like the Chinese here ever so much more than I did those of Canton. The tradesmen of course cheat me with equal success here as there but that is not the point in the Chinese quarter of Macau; the same atmosphere predominates which is so homely and attractive in the style of Kung Fu Tse it is the atmosphere of a cheerful bourgeois existence possessing an extreme sense of form. (...)

At night time I occasionally visit one of the famous gambling hells and amuse myself with the fan-tan. There can hardly be anything more calm and peaceful than such a hell Gamblers almost always look earnest and professional, but I have never observed anywhere such cheerful equanimity as in Macau. The game in itself is infinitely dull; the player at best can only win very little; the bank must in all circumstances win a great deal. The Chinaman however goes home calmly and placidly after he has played away his daily wage. He rocks himself at most if he has lost too much in sweet opium dreams to comfort himself. (...)