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This paper examines the genesis of Avenue Praia Grande in the context of Macao’s urban development to spotlight several critical factors that influenced the construction along the bay and the formation of the promenade. Praia Grande’s geographical characteristics, the nature of the Portuguese colonisation, the Ming and Qing courts’ attitude towards foreign powers and trades, as well as the modern idea of city beautification, are the four aspects in this discussion on how a promenade took shape in Macao during Portuguese rule. From a marginalised frontier to a promenade of wealth and nostalgia, and a zone of ignorance at the fringe of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Avenue Praia Grande has been a testament to the contest of a multitude of forces in Macao.

Since the avowedly Catholic Portuguese officially settled in 1557, Macao has been fervently brought into contact with the monotheistic Christian faith. Despite the evangelical zeal of missionaries, the majority of the local population has traditionally embraced a religious culture that richly exhibits polytheism and the syncretism of disparate beliefs. The dynamics and complexity of religious syncretism are deftly epitomized in Tianhou, Guanyin, Guandi, and Nuwa, who are enshrined in four notable temples in Macao. In hagiographies, Tianhou—the autochthonous Daoist Goddess of the Sea—and Guanyin—the Avalokitesvara-incarnated Buddhist Goddess of Mercy—were living maidens. They adamantly defied patriarchal authority to be married and died premature deaths. Their ‘undefiled’ virgin bodies duly became quintessential in their paths to ascending to sainthood. Guandi, a historical warrior with flagrant human flaws, was elevated as a ‘divine-human’ to embody the ideal of masculinity that hailed excellence in both literary attainment and martial valor. These three mortals were systematically forged as immortals by statecraft for inclusion into the state-sanctioned religion. In Chinese mythical history, the were-snake Nuwa is the creatrix of the cosmos and the Chinese people. This great goddess fails to stand the test of time, and her worldly roles have been modified, though she still retains her elemental grandeur in the supernatural realm.

This work aims to provide a reading of Henrique de Senna Fernandes's *Os Dores* and, through his writing, to reveal a vision of the city of Macao and Macanese society at a time when personal and social relations were governed by social standing and stratification, as well as by the relations—or the lack thereof—between the Christian city and the Chinese city, which, side by side, teemed with life. Nevertheless, an individuality prevailed, interspersed here and there with cross-cultural relations that defied the dictates of the time and proved that such relations were possible, should one so wish. The richness of the author's writing is also highlighted, immersing us in the settings and moments of the characters' lives as though we too were part of the narrative.

While it might be assumed that separate communities in Macao, whether custodians of churches, Chinese temples, and public buildings have always attended to preserving heritage, the ravages of time, economic cycles and even the fluctuation of real estate values have frequently impacted the built environment. As this article demonstrates, while many other Asian cities turned a blind eye to heritage protection, Macao’s landmark Heritage List of 1976 went far beyond built environment to include precincts and natural settings such as trees. Without this list and its socialisation, or a view of heritage as holistic and dynamic, it is argued that Macao’s historic centre may have missed the boat for its inscription on the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2005.

This article explores the diary of an American merchant's wife written in 1853 during a voyage between the USA and China in 1853. Beyond the incidents of the long round trip, the diary also addresses the period of approximately two months that the couple spent in Macao. This type of intimate record was rare among women and was only made public some 200 years after it was written. The document provides not only information on the physical aspects of the cities of Canton and Macao, but also portrays the social fabric, including the interaction of the foreign community with the local population. As an unpublished manuscript, Sarah's Diary holds exceptional historical value. Being the only known account of its kind to date about life in Macao in the early years of the second half of the nineteenth century, it is an essential source of information for understanding the reality of the region during a period marked by multiple diplomatic initiatives and intense commercial exchanges between Asia and the West.

A Árvore das Patacas is based on real events that have now been fictionalized. At the center of this narrative is the controversial financing of a Portuguese political party, obtained through funds raised from Macau businessmen and involving processes of dubious legality. These facts culminate in the transfer of a substantial sum of money to Portugal, without knowledge of the final destination of these funds. This novel is one of the few literary works from Macau that employs an intersection of historical facts and fiction to construct a sociopolitical landscape of Macau during a specific period of time.

The earliest collector of the painting

Focusing on the dynamics between negotiation and homogenisation in discourses about heritage, this paper provides a philosophical analysis of the idea of ‘medium of memory’, complemented with the case of the Festival of the Drunken Dragon in Macao, and attempts to demonstrate how an item of heritage can, in the course of its regular practice, be (re)mediated through different collective and individual memories. The motif of the ‘ouroboros’ is suggested throughout our analysis to compare with the self-perpetuating memory-mediating processes expressed in the emergence of ‘heritage’. Conceptualising heritage as a medium capable of being bestowed with differentiating narratives and memories allows us to come to an alternative perspective of ‘heritage’, that is both malleable and sustainable. Such a perspective also sheds light on certain abuses of ‘heritage’, such as the creation of simulacra.

This paper examines the effectiveness of Macao’s cultural heritage management, specifically through the historic districts revitalisation project since 2023, in enhancing community engagement. Despite the city’s inscription as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (WHS) and efforts to promote sustainable tourism, many residents perceive heritage activities as primarily serving tourists rather than the local community. This study employs a mixed-method approach by integrating both qualitative and quantitative data to evaluate the effectiveness of the revitalisation project in Macao, highlighting the necessity for targeted interventions that genuinely reflect local perspectives and experiences to effectively bridge this disconnection.

The Romance of Yolanda, by Rodrigo Leal de Carvalho, is a fictional narrative published in 2005. Yolanda, the main character around whom a rich cast of other characters gravitates, is a woman unconcerned with social conventions and the opinions of others, embracing an overwhelming passion for Ramon, a Filipino, who physically and verbally assaults, humiliates, despises, and abandons her. The climax occurs when Yolanda takes revenge by handing Ramon over to the police, and he spits all his contempt and hatred in her face.

This article presents the synthesis of a larger research on the presence of migrants from Macao in the Mascarenes archipelago, in the Western Indian Ocean, and the contemporary Chinese heritages that are part of the local Creole cultures. The methodology moves between archival research and ethnography, crossing historical research with heritage and cultural studies, opening dialogues between history and cultural landscapes, the past and the present, the archives and contemporary society. Besides, this text is not only about historical traces of Macao in the Mascarenes, but also interrogates how today’s Chinese cultural heritages are seen, debated, and narrated in the archipelago, and how they integrate contemporary diasporic senses of belonging. This article is from the research paper for the project ‘Macau, from the Ocean to the Archives: Maritime Routes, Emigration and Heritage in the Mascarenes’, funded by the Academic Research Grant 2020 of the Macao SAR Government.

Over the course of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Canton was facing increasing tensions and difficulties not only with foreign officials and traders, but also with foreign sailors visiting the port. These years witnessed a marked increase in the number of Western ships trading at Canton. The increase in the number of foreign ships brought an attendant increase in the number of foreign sailors — in the thousands by the early nineteenth century — who on 'liberty days' in groups of anywhere from 12 to 50 men headed to Hog Lane alongside the Western factories for a day of whoring and drinking.

Based on an interview conducted by Portuguese journalist José Pedro Castanheira, this work examines various archival sources to compile all relevant biographical information about a life story that spans the 85 years of the subject’s life. The richness of this information gathering lies in the impartiality with which Roque Choi recounts facts and characterizes figures, unraveling a thread of events that extends from local society to global contexts, with particular relevance to China, surrounding Asian countries, America, and Europe. This study aims to spark readers' interest in a subject that is captivating due to the sincerity, clarity, and disinterestedness with which it is presented.

Initially, trade between Macao and Japan was under the monopoly of the Captain-Major of Portugal. However, a contract was subsequently established between the Portuguese residents of Macao and the Captain-Major, whereby each resident came to enjoy a certain quota of raw silk to transport to Japan. Moreover, the Jesuits enjoyed 50 piculs. According to the present research, the term "armação," both in the Portuguese Royal Decree and in the document by Father Manuel Dias4 of 1610, refers to a shipping contract, rather than to a commercial body or company. The aforementioned document records the specific system of silk trade between Macao and Nagasaki, evidencing the importance of the Senate of the Chamber in the development of commercial relations between Macao and Japan.

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.

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.

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

The French Religious Protectorate enabled France to act as the guardian of Catholics in China. After the 1858 Treaty of Tientsin, it protected Catholic missions and missionaries and was accepted as a diplomatic arrangement by the main international actors. While not being a signatory to the Protectorate, the Catholic Church complied with its terms and accepted French diplomatic representation in matters of Chinese affairs. The agreement involved all missionaries from different countries in China, including those of Italian origin. Inevitably, over time, the Protectorate became a controversial question because it exposed the Church’s pastoral mission to interferences from foreign powers. In November 1928, Italy signed the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with China, enhancing political relations under Chiang Kai-shek’s leadership. It was the beginning of a new age of cooperation and reciprocities based on strong political affinities. A few months later, on 11 February 1929, Italy and the Holy See signed the Lateran Pacts, reestablishing diplomatic relations after Rome’s annexation to the Kingdom in 1870. Benito Mussolini saw the importance of aligning with the Church to gain the support of Catholics and strengthen his leadership. These agreements bolstered cooperation between the regime and the Church in domestic and international affairs. In China, the cooperation allowed the Church to gradually shift away from French diplomatic interference and finally attempt to connect, free of constraints, with the Chinese Nationalist government.