Recibo do magistrado do distrito de Xiangshan, Meng, ao procurador de Macau, sobre o pagamento do foro do chão do território de Macau, no ano 39 do reinado de Qianlong (1774)

Resource type
Title
Recibo do magistrado do distrito de Xiangshan, Meng, ao procurador de Macau, sobre o pagamento do foro do chão do território de Macau, no ano 39 do reinado de Qianlong (1774)
Abstract
This archival document is an official tax receipt issued by Meng, Magistrate of Xiangshan County, on the eleventh day of the twelfth lunar month in the thirty-ninth year of the Qianlong reign (29 December 1774), certifying the remittance of land rent and associated payments for the Macau enclave (*Houjing’ao*) by Portuguese Overseas Affairs Magistrates, including *Weiluoduo*. The receipt records the deposit into the county treasury of five hundred taels of silver as annual land rent, plus fifteen taels designated as the ‘integrity allowance’ (*yanglian yin*) for the provincial judicial commissioner (*yuan si*). It bears the official red seal of the Xiangshan County Magistrate and the certification signature of *Weiluoduo*, reflecting Qing administrative oversight of Macau’s fiscal obligations under the tributary and leasehold framework. Marginalia include a large red character *She*, indicating that the sum was recorded in the official accounts as owed but not yet fully settled in cash—a standard Qing fiscal notation (*she zhang*). The document originates from the Xiangshan County yamen and forms part of the historical record of Sino-Portuguese administrative and fiscal relations in the late eighteenth century. Archival references are 368 and 1445, with the document paginated as T36. This receipt serves as primary evidence for studying Qing local governance, cross-cultural taxation practices, and the legal-administrative status of Macau during the Qianlong period.
Date
1775-01-12
Archive
Portugal. Arquivos Nacionais da Torre do Tombo
Loc. in Archive
PT/TT/DCHN/1/1/000036
Link
Notes

Transcription

Page 1

[Page]
T36

[Archival mark]
368

[Archival mark]
1445
T36

[Stamp — left center]
[Red square seal: 香山縣正堂印]

[Main text]
香山縣正堂孟
為督征錢糧事現據西
洋理事官唩囉哆等完解後項銀兩前來
除先收貯庫外合給庫收遵照須至庫收者
計實收濠鏡澳乾隆三十九年分地租銀
銀伍百兩正
院司養廉銀壹拾伍兩正

[Signature]
夷官唩囉哆執照

[Date]
乾隆叁拾玖年拾貳月十一日給

[Marginalia — top left]
[UNCLEAR: possible handwritten annotation]

[Marginalia — left side]
[Large red character: 賒]

Translation

Page 1

[Page]
T36

[Archival reference]
368

[Archival reference]
1445
T36

[Official seal — bottom left, centred]
[Red square seal bearing the characters: *Xiangshan County Magistrate’s Official Seal*]

[Main text]
The Magistrate of Xiangshan County, Meng,
hereby issues this receipt in connection with the supervision and collection of land tax and grain levies. It is hereby recorded that the Portuguese Overseas Affairs Magistrates (*Weiluoduo* et al.) have duly remitted the following sums of silver to the county yamen:
Having received and deposited these funds in the official treasury, this official receipt is accordingly issued for due observance.

This receipt certifies the actual receipt of the annual land rent for the Macau enclave (*Houjing’ao*) for the thirty-ninth year of the Qianlong reign (AD 1774), amounting to:
— Five hundred taels of silver (*liang*), precisely;
— Fifteen taels of silver (*liang*) designated as the ‘integrity allowance’ (*yanglian yin*) for the provincial judicial commissioner (*yuan si*).

[Signature]
Certified by the Portuguese Overseas Affairs Magistrate, *Weiluoduo*

[Date]
Issued on the eleventh day of the twelfth lunar month in the thirty-ninth year of the Qianlong reign (29 December 1774)

[Marginalia — top left]
[Illegible: possibly a contemporary handwritten annotation]

[Marginalia — left margin]
[Large red character: *She* — indicating ‘credit account’ or ‘deferred payment’, i.e., a notation that the sum was recorded as owed but not yet fully settled in cash; cf. *she zhang*, a standard accounting term in Qing fiscal administration]

Citation
Recibo do magistrado do distrito de Xiangshan, Meng, ao procurador de Macau, sobre o pagamento do foro do chão do território de Macau, no ano 39 do reinado de Qianlong (1774). (1775). Portugal. Arquivos Nacionais da Torre do Tombo (PT/TT/DCHN/1/1/000036). http://43.156.68.124/docs/ESC32ND8/viewer_ESC32ND8.html