History of Macau

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Macau is a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China. It was administered by Portugal for four hundred and fifty 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.

[edit] 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 Chinese 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.

[edit] Imperial times

Historical records show that what was later known as Macau was part of Panyu County, Nanhai District, Guangdong Province, under the Qin empire (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.

Members of the southern Song Dynasty and some 50,000 followers were the first recorded inhabitants of the area, 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.

Macau in 1639

[edit] Portuguese Settlement

Macau did not develop as a major settlement until the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, during the Age of Discovery, when Portugese 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.

[edit] Macau's Golden Age

Although Portuguese attempts to settle other islands along the southern coast of China – including Shangchuan Island – had failed, Macau soon prospered. 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. 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

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.

[edit] Decline

In 1637, increasing suspicion of the intentions of Spanish and Portuguese Catholic missionaries in Japan finally led the shogun to seal Japan off from all foreign influence. Later named the sakoku period, this meant that no Japanese were allowed to leave the country (or return if they were living abroad), and no foreign ship was allowed to dock in a Japanese port. An exception was made for the Protestant Dutch, who were allowed to continue to trade with Japan from the confines of a small man-made island in Nagasaki, Deshima. Macau's most profitable trade route, that between Japan and China, had been severed. The crisis was compounded two years later by the loss of Malacca to the Dutch in 1641, damaging the link with Goa.

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" [Listen (help·info)]).

In 1685, the privileged position of the Portuguese in trade with China ended, following a decision by the emporer 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 (also known as the Treaty of Mong Há) 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.

[edit] The Hong Kong Effect

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.

1888 German map of Hong Kong, Macau, and Canton (now Guangzhou)

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 “independence”, 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: Dàngzǎi) 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 China”). 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 (青洲 in Chinese, Jyutping: Ceng1 Zau1 or Cing1 Zau1; pinyin: Qīngzhōu) 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 residents and the Macau police clashed. The Portuguese Government reached an agreement with local Chinese community leaders to end the flow of refugees from China and to prohibit all Kuomintang activities. This move ended the conflict, and relations between the government and the leftist organizations remained largely peaceful. 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.

[edit] Handover to the People's Republic of China

Main article: 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.

[edit] References

• 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

[edit] See also

• Jorge Álvares
• Anders Ljungstedt

[edit] External links

• Macau handover: Asia's last colony

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