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This abstract describes an official placard (pái) issued on the 12th day of the ninth lunar month in the tenth year of the Qianlong reign (1745) by the Office of the Deputy Magistrate (Zuǒtáng) of Xiangshan County, signed by Ji Kūn. The document constitutes the county’s second submission concerning compliance with a multi-tiered imperial administrative chain originating from the Ministry of War (Bīng Bù), Office of Chariots and Horses (Chējià Sī), which reported that Patrol Inspector Xiàng Sùhéng had delivered four Westerners—Jiǎng Jiāorén, Wú Zhífāng, Fù Qǐméng, and Nà Yǒngfú—to the capital for presentation to the relevant ministry and subsequent transfer to the Imperial Household Department (Nèiwù Fǔ). The placard transmits formal instructions down the bureaucratic hierarchy—from the Ministry of War, via the Provincial Administration Commission (Bùzhèng Shǐ Sī), Prefectural Administration, and County Magistrate Jiang Pī—to the designated foreign headman (Yí mù), directing strict observance of orders requiring his compliance. Marginalia indicate archival numbering (381) and registration (Dēngjì Hàomǎ), while seals and annotations reflect contemporary administrative processing. The document exemplifies Qing-era bureaucratic protocol for managing foreign presence at the local level and provides primary evidence of institutional responses to Western individuals within the Guangdong maritime frontier during the mid-eighteenth century.

This archival document is an official Qing dynasty administrative warrant (*pai*) issued in September 1745 (eighth month of the tenth year of the Qianlong reign) by Gu, Acting Magistrate of Xiangshan County, operating from the Left Hall. It concerns the recovery and remittance of 974.063 liang of silver—comprising eighteen sealed packets—embezzled or fraudulently withheld from funds designated for sugar procurement by seven Chinese merchants: Zheng Bida, Zhao Xinyi, Cai Peizi, Deng Fanjiu, Xue Qianzheng, Liao Lanfang, and Guo Songgong. The warrant directs the foreign headman (*Yi Mu*) to instruct the foreign merchant *Rixin* (*Jih-shin*) to prepare two original formal receipts (*lingzhuang*) acknowledging receipt of the sum, to be submitted to the magistrate’s office for audit and verification prior to disbursement. The directive originates from an official dispatch (*xin pai*) issued by the Maritime Defence Prefectural Administration for Military and Civil Affairs (*Haifang Junmin Fu*), underscoring inter-jurisdictional administrative coordination in commercial oversight. The document bears multiple Qing-era red seals—including a circular seal identifying Gu as Acting Magistrate and a rectangular seal dating the issuance—and marginalia indicating registration and an unspecified compliance deadline. As a primary source, it provides direct evidence of fiscal accountability mechanisms, cross-cultural commercial regulation, and bureaucratic procedure in mid-eighteenth-century Guangdong coastal administration.

This archival document is a Qing-dynasty official warrant (*yìn xìn pái*) issued on the ninth day of the seventh lunar month in the tenth year of the Qianlong reign (1745) by the *Hǎifáng Jūnmín Fǔ* (Maritime Defence Prefecture for Military and Civil Affairs), directing the *Yí Mù*—the Portuguese *capitão-mor* of Macau acting as the Qing-appointed ‘Foreign Headman’—to investigate matters concerning Dutch and British maritime activity in the Pearl River Delta. The warrant responds to a memorial from the Assistant Magistrate (*xiàn chéng*) of Xiangshan County, reporting that five individuals, including *Wèi Zhā Nān Ài*, claimed to have been seized by British ships en route from Guangzhou to Batavia in the preceding year and taken to Britain (*Bā Guó*), yet were now travelling again aboard a British vessel to Macau; it further notes the unexplained continued residence in Macau of Dutch chief merchant (*dà bān*) *Wù Lóu Lǐ*, who had petitioned for a travel permit to Macau but failed to repatriate to the Netherlands (*Fú Lán Xī*). The directive requires verification of the five men’s Dutch nationality, the factual accuracy of their seizure narrative, the circumstances of their re-embarkation with British merchant *Hā Kā*, and the reasons for *Wù Lóu Lǐ*’s prolonged stay. The document originates from Xiangshan County, concerns Macau and Guangdong-Fujian maritime routes, and reflects Qing administrative protocols under the Canton System, including inter-imperial commercial surveillance and jurisdictional oversight of foreign merchants.

This archival document is an imperial mandate issued on 5 July 1745 (seventh day of the seventh lunar month of the Qianlong 10th year) by the Acting Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, Cè Huì, transmitted through the Provincial Administration Commissioner’s Office to Jiang, Magistrate of Xiangshan County, Guangzhou Prefecture. It concerns the arrival in Macau of a Dutch merchant vessel under Captain Harro (‘Hāluō’) and an accompanying Dutch warship commanded by ‘Gan’aihu’, both operating under the authority of the Dutch East India Company (VOC). The document records reports from Lu Zhifang, Deputy Commander of the Xiangshan Coastal Defence Command, and Wu Zhu, Acting Chief Military Officer of the Guangdong Naval Command, detailing the presence of five *Fólóshěn* (Western European, specifically Dutch VOC) merchants—Wèidá Nán, Wèidá Nǎ, Wèilàohǎn, and two unnamed servants—who claimed to have been seized by a Dutch vessel near the Karimata Strait (rendered as ‘Karaba’ or ‘Kariba’) in December 1744 and taken to Batavia (*Bāguó*/*Àowō*), before being conveyed to Guangzhou aboard Harro’s ship to locate their chief factor (*Dàbān*), identified as *Láodānglǐ* (likely Jan Albertszoon Laatdang), reportedly resident in Macau. The mandate directs urgent investigation into the identities, credibility of testimony, and motives of all involved parties, surveillance of Dutch vessels anchored near the Jiujiao Islands and Macau, verification of *Láodānglǐ*’s residence and conduct, and immediate reporting to provincial and viceregal authorities.

This official placard (pai), issued on the 17th day of the 5th lunar month in the 7th year of the Qianlong reign (1742) by the Office of the Assistant Magistrate (Zuotang) of Xiangshan County, Guangzhou Prefecture, records administrative directives arising from a judicial case involving Zhang Dayou—a man of unknown origin delivered to Hepu County authorities by the local garrison alongside foreign-language documents (fan shu) and silver coinage—and two other individuals, Huang Hanchen and Zhang Zonggu. The document details hierarchical administrative review by the Provincial Judicial Commissioner (Anchasi), the Left Censor-in-Chief and Governor-General of Guangdong, Wang, and the Acting Magistrate of Xiangshan County, Feng Can, culminating in orders for the repatriation and strict surveillance of all three men to their native counties—Shixing and elsewhere—and prohibiting their travel to Macau under penalty of severe punishment. It further mandates formal admonition of foreign residents (Yi), prohibition of Chinese subjects in Guangdong from carrying correspondence for foreigners or travelling abroad at foreign behest, and the public destruction in open court of seized foreign-language documents and associated materials, including those linked to the Hunan native ‘Chiluoduo’—a transliterated Portuguese or Macanese name—and other foreign parties. The placard is formally addressed to the foreign headman (Yi mu) for immediate enforcement.

This archival document is an official Qing dynasty judicial memorandum issued by the Acting Magistrate of Xiangshan County, Guangzhou Prefecture, on 12 April 1742 (15th day of the third lunar month, Qianlong 7), received on 7 April 1742. It concerns the urgent resolution of a burglary case at the residence of Jiabide—a Portuguese resident in Macau—under investigation by the county’s *Lishiguan*, the Qing-appointed Portuguese ‘Western Affairs Officer’ responsible for liaison with Chinese authorities. The memorandum, transmitted under authority of Wang, Left Censor-in-Chief of the Censorate and concurrently Governor of Guangdong Province, directs immediate verification of the stolen property’s value and accuracy of the initial report submitted by informant Chen Yaqiu, requiring formal examination (*xunming*) of the complainant and submission of a verified statement (*quegong*) alongside an itemised inventory valued according to *medium-grade* (*zhongwu*) market standards as stipulated in the *Da Qing Lüli*. The document underscores statutory time limits for case adjudication, cites prior non-compliance, and mandates completion within one day of receipt to avoid administrative sanction. Archival references T03/474 and T3/1442 locate the original in the Xiangshan County yamen records; the text reflects formal Qing judicial protocol, inter-imperial administrative practice, and Sino-Portuguese legal interaction in the Pearl River Delta during the early Qianlong reign.

This abstract describes a Qing dynasty administrative document—a formal dispatch (*pai xing*) issued in October 1741 (sixth year of the Qianlong reign) by the Deputy Magistrate of Xiangshan County, Guangzhou Prefecture, holding an Additional Rank of First Grade. The document concerns the investigation of a theft committed against the residence of Ambitide, a foreign resident in Macau, and records procedural directives issued to the Macau *Ting* (Office of the Macau Intendant) for inquiry, evidence collection, and reporting. Key figures include Magistrate Wang of Xiangshan County—described as holding an Additional Rank of First Grade and awarded one record of meritorious service—and the Macau Foreign Headman (*Yí Mù*). The text details bureaucratic protocols including deadlines denoted as ‘Ghost Day’, requirements for sworn depositions distinguishing *qie* (theft) from *qiang* (robbery), submission of seven certified copies (*yi yang qi ben*) of the investigative dossier, and consequences for non-compliance (*gan jiu*). It further references ancillary administrative actions involving the Joint Council (*Lianzong*), official messengers (*Wen Cha*), and monetary settlements in *wén*, silver dollars (*yinyang*), and Japanese silver (*Riyin*), all situated within the jurisdictional framework of coastal Guangdong’s foreign affairs administration. The document is preserved with archival register number Qianlong 6 / 473 and exhibits physical degradation consistent with mid-Qing paper-based yamen records.