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This article examines the construction of social and political identity among teenagers (ages 15–19) in Macau, Hong Kong, and Goa, three territories defined by their shared history of European colonization. Drawing on post-colonial and post-modern theoretical frameworks, the study interrogates how identity is shaped by historical, cultural, and administrative processes. The author distinguishes between authentic self-identification and the "immuted" identities imposed by colonial powers, arguing that identity remains a dynamic, multidimensional process influenced by the interplay of ethnicity, nationality, and class. Through a comparative lens, the research analyzes the different colonial legacies left by Portugal (in Macau and Goa) and Britain (in Hong Kong), specifically focusing on the role of educational systems and social policies in mediating the relationship between the colonizer and the colonized. By exploring the experiences of youth in these three distinct contexts, the article highlights the complexities of identity formation during periods of sovereign transition and the enduring impact of colonial structures on contemporary social perceptions and the "making" of the self.

This article analyzes the origins and consolidation of the Portuguese entrepôt of Macau in the mid-sixteenth century, contextualizing its foundation within the framework of Lusitanian expansion in the Far East and the intensification of commercial exchanges with China and Japan. Starting from the premise that the genesis of the city remains frequently shrouded in romanticized narratives lacking documentary substantiation, the author resorts to the scrutiny of sixteenth-century Iberian sources to disentangle the concrete circumstances surrounding the Portuguese settlement on the peninsula. The investigation highlights the impact of the 1554 agreement between Leonel de Sousa and the authorities of Canton, as well as the transition of mercantile activity from Lampacau to the anchorage of Macau. Particular relevance is given to the testimony of the Spanish priest Gregório González, whose letters of 1573 offer crucial evidence regarding the presence of small Christian communities on the peninsula between 1555 and 1557, a period during which the site transitioned from a provisional stopover to a permanent settlement. The study concludes that the emergence of Macau resulted from a favorable regional conjuncture in the province of Guangdong and from a gradual adaptation of foreign traders, whose dynamics of permanence were ultimately tolerated by the Chinese authorities, transforming a previously inconsequential port into a pivotal hub of maritime commerce in Asia.

This article reexamines the so-called Official Opening of Macau as a Port for Foreign Trade, offering a contribution to the clarification of facts in Chinese historiography and in Sino-foreign history of the Ming and Qing dynasties. Starting from the observation that, among scholars and in modern sources, the attribution of the opening to 1535 (14th year of the reign of Jia Jing) and to a reading that benefits, above all, the Portuguese persists, the author proposes a critical evaluation of three central questions: (i) the date of the opening; (ii) the circumstances of the decision and the role of the administrative authority of the time (the transfer of the Superintendency of Merchant Ships to Haojing/Macau); and (iii) the beneficiaries of the opening (only Portuguese or merchants of all nationalities). The methodology combines a bibliographic review of canonical Chinese sources (Ming Shi, Ming Chao Shi Hua, Zhongguo Gudai Shi, Zhongguo Lishi Dashi Nianbiao) with reading of recent historiography and dictionaries of Macau and History of China's Foreign Relations, articulating primary data with historiographic interpretations. Among the main conclusions, the author argues that the date of 1535 is problematic and requires revision, and that the opening should be understood as a process of broader scope than an exclusive benefit to the Portuguese. The article, by dealing mainly with the double question of date and beneficiaries, points to the need for a historiographic reassessment based on primary sources and new readings.

This study proposes a reassessment of the idea of Macao as an administrative entity prior to its official founding, by investigating the so-called "Legend of the Villages" on the Macao Peninsula before the establishment of the territory under Ming/Qing governance. The research utilizes primary Ming and early-imperial sources, with emphasis on the Chronicle of Xiangshan District (Deng's Register) and the Ka Tcheng (26th year, 1547), cross-referenced with district maps, especially the perception of the Macao area in earlier cartography, and with relevant materials such as the Monograph of Macao (Ou Mun Kei Leok) and the Aomen Ji Lue. The approach is historical-documentary, involving critical textual analysis, toponymic reading, and spatial location of the "Macao area" and its surrounding hills. The results indicate that the Macao area did not appear on the map of Heong San District (1547) and that the subprefecture of Gong Chang administered 22 villages entirely outside what is today designated as the Macao area. District mapping, on the other hand, excluded the Macao region, treating it as unincluded islands. It is concluded that, until the Qing unification, the Macao Peninsula and nearby islands already appeared on maps as part of local governance, but they exerted no stable economic, cultural, or population influence on Chinese administration; rather, they were associated with various forces that rejected central/local authority, leading to temporary exclusions from maps. Based on this evidence, the legend of the villages remains as cultural memory, not as a pre-existing administrative entity, offering a critical reading of the historiography on the founding of Macao.

This article presents a new assessment of Wang Bo and the first Sino-Portuguese agreement in the context of the founding of Macau, challenging the traditional image of the mandarin as corrupt and villainous. Drawing on available primary biographical and official sources (Wang Bo Zhuan, Jiangxi Tong Zhi Gao) and a critical reading of recent historiography, Tan Shibao and Cao Guoqing reconstruct Wang Bo’s public career, his moral and intellectual attributes, as well as the political-military contexts of Guangdong and Zhejiang that preceded the negotiation with Leonel de Sousa. The authors argue that the Portuguese entry into Macau did not result from the corruption of mandarins, but from a political decision of the Ming dynasty, based on mutual knowledge and a cost-benefit assessment. The analysis focuses specifically on three central questions: (1) Wang Bo’s personality, highlighting traits of integrity and diligence; (2) the agreement between Wang Bo and Leonel de Sousa, understood as a means of establishing orderly coexistence between Chinese laws and foreign commercial activity; (3) doubts about corruption and the sale of Macau, presenting data that contest earlier readings and suggest the need for still under-explored materials. It concludes by advocating a historiographical revaluation of Wang Bo and his role in the founding of Macau, encouraging collaborative research for a more positive and evolutionary reading of the subject.

This article questions the reissue of the *Cartas* (Letters) of José Inácio de Andrade, focusing on the nature of the edition announced as the first and the editorial choices that shape the volume in circulation. Starting from a contextualization of the didactic and moralizing epistolary tradition, Sena situates the *Cartas* (1815–1835; originally published in Lisbon, 1843) as a document aimed at making certain "truths" public to friends and, by extension, to his children. The study employs a critical bibliographic reading, comparing editions from 1843, 1847, and the contemporary edition published in Macao (1998), and examining paratexts, the dedication, and the inclusion of additional texts—including panegyrics, an Epistle by J. M. da Costa e Silva, and the Improvised Ode by J. M. H. Leal de Gusmão—as well as the correspondence between Andrade and the Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon regarding the publication. Methodology: collation between editions, reading of prefaces, editorial notes, and analysis of the work's circulation (distribution among friends, disappearance from libraries) to understand the editorial choices. Main results: the changes between editions are not substantial; the current edition omits the original dedication and uses materials from the 1847 edition without indication, which raises questions about the qualification of "first edition" and textual fidelity. It concludes by pointing to the need for greater editorial transparency and an explicit discussion of editorial criteria, in order to preserve the educational and philosophical-political function of the *Cartas* in the Luso-Macaense context.

This study offers a historical reading of the period of Macau's establishment, framing it within the dynamics of fiscal policy and border defense of the Ming Empire and the trajectories of maritime trade between China and the outside world. Using Chinese primary sources—especially the General Registers of Taxes and Services of Guangdong (Guangdong Fu Yi Quan Shu), the work Guangdong Xin Yu, notes on the catastrophe of 1550, and official accounts of pirate control—combined with narratives on the granting of "peitas" and the authorization for the lease of Macau, the article reconstructs a sequence of events from the initial Portuguese presence (1535–1553) in Haojing'ao, Shizimen, and adjacent islands, to the consolidation, in 1557, of the port monopoly through payment to Wang Bo, and the formal affirmation of Macau as a leased territory with legal basis in the 1st year of Wan Li (1573). The author argues that the foundation of Macau results from a dialectic between fiscal and national defense interests, the commercial opening pursued by local authorities in Guangdong, and the strategy of controlling smuggling and piracy, rather than a simple Portuguese colonial initiative. The conclusions locate the formal milestone of the foundation within the imperial framework of Wan Li, offering an integrated reading of politics, economics, and port practice in southern China in the sixteenth century.

Abstract Food-related encounters represented an important convivial and cross-cultural component in the Jesuit-led Catholic missions in China. By adopting a longue durée perspective from the end of the sixteenth century to the beginning of the twentieth century, this article engages with both visual and textual sources related to Sino-European culinary encounters in the context of the Jesuit missions in China. These encounters offer valuable insights into the daily activities of Jesuit missionaries and their interlocutors, including Chinese literati, converts, and non-Christian individuals. This article examines several case studies, ranging from early modern accounts of Chinese food practices to nineteenth-century Catholic texts and primers for children published in Shanghai, providing examples of the relevance of food practices. It also considers the broader significance of culinary practices for Catholic missionaries from different orders in China.

In some of the earliest Chinese works written by Catholic missionaries in the late Ming Dynasty, St. Augustine became associated with the mystery of t...

Resumen El presente ensayo tiene como objetivo explorar el papel que las mujeres y, en particular, las religiosas presentes en los confines asiáticos de los imperios hispánico y portugués desempeñaron en la configuración de una suerte de catolicismo ibérico. Se interroga acerca de las condiciones que en dichos espacios definieron sus formas de vida y sus interacciones con los contextos sociales y culturales en los que se integraron. No sólo considera la capacidad que tuvieron estas religiosas para intervenir sobre el espacio público mediante visiones, escritos y devociones que contribuyeron en último término a reforzar las identidades religiosas y los vínculos políticos entre los territorios de las monarquías portuguesa y española. Plantea asimismo cuestiones que inciden sobre lo contextos misioneros que las rodeaban y el modo en el que articularon las obligaciones de clausura y oración con la movilidad y con una clara vocación de participación en las tareas de conversión. A tal efecto, la investigación analizará la trayectoria vital la religiosa clarisa María Magdalena de la Cruz, quien, en la década de 1620, viajó desde Sevilla a Manila, participando en la conocida expedición comandada por Jerónima de la Asunción. En 1633, se trasladó a Macao con el fin de fundar un nuevo convento en este enclave sino-portugués, y aún paso un tiempo en la Cochinchina, donde en parte pudo dar curso a sus aspiraciones apostólicas. Conocida por sus visiones, dejó constancia de sus experiencias contemplativas en un extenso tratado ‘inmaculista’, titulado Floresta franciscana, que compuso bajo los auspicios de su confesor.

We analyze the writings of Br. Jacinto de Deus (1612-1681), whose output was extensive, including literature on spirituality, a mirror for princes, and the work Vergel de plantas e flores (Garden of plants and flowers), in which is narrated the history of the Franciscans in the Portuguese Asian Empire, as an effort at preserving the memory of the Observant Franciscans (Capuchin), after achieving institutional autonomy in relation to the Province of Portugal.

Abstract Dating back many years, Marian devotion is currently a ubiquitous phenomenon among Vietnamese Catholics in Vietnam. This article examines the endeavours of specific global Catholic missionary societies – the Society of Jesus (S.J.), the Dominican Order or the Order of Preachers (O.P.) and the Society of Foreign Missions of Paris (mep) – in spreading Marian devotion in pre-twentieth-century Vietnam. In doing so, the article seeks to demonstrate that the prevalence of Marian devotion primarily resulted from the enduring efforts of global Catholic missionaries during the stages of proselytization. This argument aims to challenge the prevailing notion that the primordial Vietnamese cultural identity, widely known for emphasizing female status and Mother Goddess worship, exerted its influence on the elevation of Marian devotion among Vietnamese Catholics during the course of history.

This essay is to illustrate the inter-cultural features involved in the Chinese Rites Controversy, which had a devastating impact on the Chinese missionary endeavor. The 1659 instruction by Propaganda Fide, also known as the Magna Charta of the Congregation, obliged apostolic vicars and all missionaries in eastern Asia, including China, to carry out the missionary practice of adaptation. Missionaries were prohibited from combating local customs and traditions, except when they were in obvious contradiction to faith or morals. The directives also included the invitation for the promotion of indigenous clergy. The instructions were quite innovative, just as innovative was the missionary method envisaged by Francesco Ingoli, Propaganda Fide’s first director. Sadly enough, the ground-breaking directives were not put into practice, quite paradoxically, exactly by Apostolic Vicars and missionaries sent by Propaganda Fide. Subsequent pronouncements by Propaganda Fide and by the same Pontifices contradicted early openness. Proposals coming from China for the promotion of Chinese clergy and liturgical adaptation were disapproved. At the end of the Rites Controversy, Chinese Christians were forced to discontinue the practice of the traditional rites in honour of the ancestors. The Rites Controversy was initiated in Fujian province in mid-1635. Dominican and Franciscan missionaries objected to the evangelization method introduced to China by Matteo Ricci and Giulio Aleni. Propaganda Fide and the Holy See were called in to declare whether the Christians were allowed to participate in the ancestral rituals. In contradiction with 1659’s Instruction, Rome was unable to make a coherent decision, and the controversy dragged on. Pope Clement XI was determined to disapprove the Rites hoping, at the same time, to save China Mission from destruction. Sadly, the two objectives could not be achieved together. In 1742, Benedict XIV condemned the Rites in the most solemn fashion, putting to a definitive end China Mission as envisaged by Matteo Ricci.

The Franciscan presence in China is one of the first expressions of the Chinese encounter with Christianity. Despite the significant number of preserv...