Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A Trading Powerhouse
Macau grew rapidly as a trading centre. Acting as agents for the Chinese merchants, who
were forbidden to leave the country by imperial decree, Portuguese traders took Chinese
goods to Goa and exchanged them for cotton and textiles. The cloth was then taken to
Malacca, where it was traded for spices and sandalwood. The Portuguese would then carry
on to Nagasaki in Japan, where the cargo from Malacca was exchanged for Japanese silver,
swords, lacquerware and fans that would in turn be traded in Macau for more Chinese
goods.
During the late 16th century, the Portuguese in Macau were at the forefront of all interna-
tional commerce between China and Japan. In 1586 Macau was conferred the status of a
city by the Portuguese Crown: Cidade de Nome de Deus (City of the Name of God).
By the beginning of the 17th century, Macau was home to several thousand permanent
residents, including about 900 Portuguese, Christian converts from Malacca and Japan, and
a large number of slaves from colonial outposts in Africa, India and the Malay Peninsula.
Many Chinese moved to Macau from across the border, working as traders, craftspeople,
hawkers, labourers and coolies; by the close of the century, their numbers reached 40,000.
Besides trading, Macau had also become a centre of Christianity in Asia. Among the
earliest missionaries was Francis Xavier of the Jesuit order, who was later canonised.
The Portuguese in Macau, along with their Macanese descendants, created a home away
from home, with luxurious villas overlooking the Praia Grande and splendid baroque
churches, paid for with the wealth generated by their monopoly on trade between China and
Japan.
Colonial Portuguese architecture survives throughout Macau, infused with Chinese fea-
tures and the styles of Portugal's trading partners and former colonies. In Hong Kong, by
contrast, the Western model was transplanted with far fewer adaptations.
Portuguese Decline
In 1580 Spanish armies occupied Portugal and, for more than 60 years, three Spanish kings
ruled over the country and its empire. In the early years of the 17th century, the Dutch
moved to seize the rich Portuguese enclaves of Macau, Nagasaki and Malacca. In June 1622
some 13 Dutch warships carrying 1300 men attacked Macau, but retreated when a shell
fired by a Jesuit priest from one of the cannons on Monte Fort hit a stock of gunpowder and
blew the Hollanders out of the water.
