INTRODUCTION
"Since the remote days of the first quarter of the sixteenth century, when the Portuguese began to frequent the seas, coasts, ports and islands of South China, to the beginning of the second half of the same century, when they settled in Macao, many things came to pass from that time until the present. Some of these things are known to us, others are not.
What would we not give nowadays to know:
--What kind of reception the Chinese, in Dunmen [Port. Tamão], gave Jorge Álvares and his companions?
--The vicissitudes faced by Tomé Pires during his long stay at the Chinese Imperial Court, in Beijing?
--The exact date when the Portuguese settled in Macao?
--How this small Territory, that quickly sprang up, gradually became Politically and Administratively structured?
--The legal conditions giving legitimacy to the Portuguese settlement of Macao?
There are still no conclusive answers to any of these questions due to a lack of Documented material. This is a regular feature affecting the History of Macao". 1
The rich History of this small Territory--a meeting point for Civilisations and Cultures--will only have a chance to be correctly interpreted when most of the Sources that are preserved abroad become jointly available to those interested in studying this History. For the past five years, efforts have been made not only to carry out a comprehensive survey of Documentation on the History of Macao but also to reproduce this scattered Documentation corpus, on microfilm. Thus, a significant number of Documents pertaining to Macao belonging to Sources outside the Territory have already been systematically microfilmed and are presently stored in the Filmoteca (Film Library) in the Arquivo Histórico de Macau (Historical Archive of Macao) [AHM].
§1. ARCHIVES AND SOCIETY
"Are Archives really essential to the integrity of society? Are they really worth so much attention? Should so much money be spent on them?"
The answer is: Yes!
The State must consult the Archives for the backing required for the implementation of Legal decisions. On a broader level Archives should also store the Record of Governmental commitments undertaken both at home and abroad.
If Historical Documents are not properly classified and filed, with the passing of time, access to them becomes gradually more difficult. If they go astray or are arbitrarily destroyed then, clearly, innumerable future decisions will inevitably be impossible to be uncontestably settled, lacking their essential Historical backing.
However, if Documents are correctly filed in central Archives, well preserved, classified, catalogued and their location indexed, access will be easy and keeping the Documents in this way will effectively contribute towards correct decision taking. It is in times of uncertainty that a population gains strength from its Archives to overcome the most adverse difficulties, being reminded of a past of which they can be proud.
Economic and social development--de-fined as a series of enterprises undertaken by the State with a view to increasing standarts of the citizens' material and social infrastructure, and stimulating wealth to improve living conditions--find in the Archives data on how agriculture, industry and trade have traditionally evolved as well as information on measures taken in the past and methods used to evaluate the reasons why some of these measures failed while others were crowned with success.
Archives are also the repository of the Documental proof of Rights, Privileges and Obligations. Every citizen must have Certificates and Documents to prove birth, marriage, divorce, Nationality, military and/or civil career, to determine the right to a benefit or indemnity from the State or other individuals... and so forth. It is also important for the State to have proof of the same kind in order to compel citizens and Institutions to fulfil their obligations.
As evidence of all action taken by Public Authorities, Archives are of considerable interest to Historical research on all social activities because they are in fact the "collective memory" of the State and its Institutions.
From this point of view, they are a crucial instrument for Administrative efficiency and economy, revealing the History of Administrative acts and their successes and failures, thus allowing errors possibly committed in the past to be corrected in the present and future.
The "Commission for International Rights" of the United Nations' General Assembly declared, in April 1976, that a State could be conceived of without an Army, but never without an Archive, a Currency or a Financial structure.
If there are any people who should be passionately fond of Archives, it is the Portuguese. They were the witnesses to the dawn of the most spectacular Historical process and its development that Humanity has ever seen and in which Portugal was practically the only protagonist. This process revealed the limits of the Earth, revealed the World to be a planet and proved the unity of the Human Race."2
§2. SOURCES FOR THE HISTORY OF MACAO
2.1. LISBON.
2.1.1. ANTT: ARQUIVO NACIONAL DA TORRE DO TOMBO, LISBOA (NATIONAL ARCHIVE OF THE
"TORRE DO TOMBO", LISBON).
Since the fourteenth century the ANTT, in Lisbon, has functioned as the general State Archive of the Portuguese Nation. From the wealth of its content of Documents it can be said to rival some of the major European Archives.
Until the second half of the fourteenth century, the Royal Archive always accompanied the Monarch on his travels, whether in times of peace or in War. Indeed, this constant itinerancy and War incidents were responsible for the loss of a large number of Documents. It was only between 1352 and 1378 that the Royal Archive became stationery to be stored together with the Tombo (Registry) of the Real (Royal) assets, in the so-called Central Archives, in the Keep of Lisbon's City Castle. Because the Tombo Real (Royal Registry) was already stored in the Keep of the capital's Castle, the traditional appelation of "Torre do Tombo" was adopted to be later retained as the Official name of the State Archives, until the present day.
The Royal Archive was used mainly for storing the most important Documents related to the Legal Finances of the Royal Treasury. These Documents were selected by the Keepers of the Royal Purse who had Financial and Fiscal Duties, such as the Keeper of the Royal Privy Purse.
During the reign of King Dom João I (r. 1383-†1433) the Royal Chief Chronicler gradually became in charge of the position of Keeper of the Royal Privy Purse. This was because the Monarchs began to realise the Historical value of the Records of their deeds. For this reason, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, outstanding Chroniclers such as Fernão Lopes (°ca1380-nomm. 1418-†1458), Gomes Eanes de Azurara (°1410/1420-nomm. 1451-†1473/1474), Rui de Pina (°1440-nomm. 1497-†1514/1525), Vasco Fernandes de Lucena (°?-†1499) and Damião de Góis(°1502-nomm. 1548-†1574) became also Keepers of the Royal Privy Purse. Their 'literary' Documents became one of the most important Sources for the History of Macao and the presence of the Portuguese, in the Orient.
The following are some examples of items from Collections in the ANTT which are important for studying the History of the Orient:
The Royal Chancelleries of the Kings Dom João III (r.1521-†1557), Filipe II (r.1598-1621) [of Portugal]; Don Felipe III, of Spain], Dom João IV (r. 1640-1656) and Dom João V (r.1707-1750), the Livro das Monções (Book of Monsoons), Records, Bulls, Missives, Notifications, Orders, miscellaneous Papers, Chinese engravings (with referential texts written in Chinese) and others.
All this Documentation relating to the History of Macao has been identified, listed and catalogued, and only requires microfilming, which should probably be completed next year.
Documentation from the sixteenth, seventeenth and part of the eighteenth centuries mainly involves Royal Letters, ordinary Letters, Royal Guarantees, Instructions, Reports, etc., related not only to Macao but also to China, Japan, India, Malacca, and the Orient, in general. All together they constitute a corpus of about two-thousand Documents.
2.1.2. AHU: ARQUIVO HISTÓRICO ULTRAMARINO, LISBOA (OVERSEAS HISTORICAL ARCHIVES, LISBON)
In 1931, with the objective of protecting abundant precious Documentation from imminent deterioration. when it was founded the AHC: Arquivo Histórico Colonial (Colonial Historical Archive). This Archive was the original AHU. The 1931 basic repository of the Archive was constituted by important Documents for the History of Portuguese Colonisation which were in a poor state of preservation. Amongst many others were Documents from Macao, dating from 1603 to 1974. The bulk of the Macao Documents was divided into two Sections.
The first Section contains Codicils, Iconography, Ledgers, Maps and assorted Papers, from 1630 to 1833, amounting to around one-hundred-thousand Documents. All these Documents have been microfilmed and re-catalogued, and are presently in deposit at the AHM, in Macao.
The second Section contains Bills, Certificates, Statistical Charts, Decrees, Accounting Documents, Enquiries, Instructions, Royal Letters, Memoirs, News, Notifications, Orders, Patents, Proclamations, Proposals, Provisions, Representations, Reports, Requests, Royal Warrants, and others, from 1834 to the end of the Colonial Period. All these Documents have also been listed in an inventory and re-catalogued, microfilming being presently underway.
2.1.3. BNL: BIBLIOTECA NACIONAL DE LISBOA, LISBOA (LISBON NATIONAL LIBRARY, LISBON).
As a whole, the Archive of the BNL result from a number of old Civil Service Archives which have been progressively jointly stored. Among its seven major Collections, some have a plentiful supply of Documents on Macao. Preliminary examination established a provisional inventory of around eighty-one Codicils and twenty Caixas (Boxes) of Documentation on Macao. They have all been adequately identified, but have not yet been microfilmed.
2.1.4. BA: BIBLIOTECA DA AJUDA, LISBOA (LIBRARY OF THE ROYAL PALACE OF AJUDA, LISBON).
This Library replaced the "Old" Royal Library belonging to the Royal Paço da Ribeira, which was lost during the formidable Lisbon earthquake, of 1755.
Since its inception, apart from printed material, valuable Collections of Manuscripts were also acquired. Kings and Queens private Letters, Diplomatic Correspondence, written Legislation were here stored, in addition to multiple important Documents from several Registry Offices and Public Departments.
Among its Documental Collections which are most important for Macao are:
Jesuítas na Ásia (Jesuits in Asia)-- 1541 to 1719--; Conselho da Índia (Council of India)-- seventeenth century--; Conselho da Fazenda (Treasury Council)-- seventeenth century--; and the Cartas Régias (Royal Letters)-- sixteenth to eighteenth centuries.
The Library also has valuable Collections of maps dating from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
The Collection Jesuítas na Asia deserves special mention. It consisting of a considerable number of the Documentation originally belonging to the Archives of the Society of Jesus, formerly in the St Paul's College, in Macao, the Manuscripts of which are now dispersed in the Biblioteca de la Real Academia de la História (Library of the Royal Academy of History), the Archivo Nacional (National Archive) and the Biblioteca Nacional (National Library), all in Madrid.
These Archives belonged to the Superintendency of the Jesuitic Residences which covered the Missions of Japan, Cochin-China, Siam, Makassar and China. The The Collection Jesuítas na Ásia housed in the BA is a compilation of copies from the original Manuscript Documents initially transcribed by Fr. José Montana and later by his co-worker Br. João Álvares.
There are sixty-two Codicils with highly valuable entries, fundamental to Worldwide dedicated researchers who specialize in study of the Western impact in the History of the East, during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The BA is also an outstanding repository of a large number of loose Documents, including Accounting Documents, Decrees, Instructions, Ledger entries, Letters (private and Official), Memoirs, Notes, Registrations, Directions, Statements and others, all highly important for the study of the European expansion in the Far East.
Another important Collection stored at the BA is the Symmicta Lusitana, also known as Rerum Lusitanarum. It consists of copies of Documents provenant from Rome, ordered to be drawn up by the Ambassador Manuel Pereira de Sampaio, in the eighteenth century.
2.1.5. BACL: BIBLIOTECA DA ACADEMIA DAS CIÊNCIAS, LISBOA (LIBRARY OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE, IN LISBON).
On the 24th of December 1779, the Royal Academy of Science of Lisbon, was granted its Royal appointment, substantiating the initiatives of the second Duke of Lafões and the Abbot Correia da Serra, influenced in turn by Domingos Vandelli and by the Viscount of Barbacena.
The bulk of Manuscripts stored in the BACL is manly subdivided into two Collections.
The first is known by the name of "Série Vermelha" ("Red Series") and consists of Manuscripts from the "Bookshop" of the convent of Our Lady of Jesus, formerly owned by the clergy of the Third Order of Penitence of Our Fr. St. Francis. It contains copies and originals from the sixteenth to the nineteenth century, which include literary and theological Compositions, Correspondence, Documents related to the Overseas Missions, Prayers, Studies and Essays on Historical and genealogical subjects, and others.
Some of the most important Documents of the "Red Series" are:
•Ms. 625. 1826 -- Jornada de António de Albuquerque Coelho, governador de Macau, desde Goa até chegar a esta cidade, por João Tavares de Velles Guerreiro (Journey made by António de Albuquerque Coelho, governor of Macao, from Goa until his arrival in this city, by João Tavares de Velles Guerreiro).
• Ms. 676. 1826 -- Viagem de Macau a Lisboa do Bispo D. Frei Marcelino José de Lisboa. Ano de 1791 (Voyage from Lisbon to Macao made by the Bishop D. Frei Marcelino José de Lisboa. The year of 1791).
• Ms. 557. 1826 -- Resumo dos privilégios concedidos à cidade de Macau (Summary of the privileges granted to the City of Macao).
• Ms. 362. 1826. -- "Quindénios" -- papel sobre quindénio. Bispo de Macau. D. Frei Alexandre da Silva Pedroza ("Quindénios" -- Paper on "quindénio ". Bishop of Macao, D. Frei Alexandre da Silva Pedroza).
• Ms. 868. 1826 -- Carta de D. Frei Alexandre da Silva Pedroza, Bispo de Macau, sobre ofertas, prémios e dízimos (Letter from D. Frei Alexandre da Silva Pedroza, Bishop of Macao, on Provisions, Premiums and Tithes).
• Ms. 280. 1826 -- Carta de D. Frei Manuel da Silva Pedroza, Bispo de Macau, ao ouvidorgeral, Feliciano Ramos, sobre notícias de Macau, em 1776 (Letter from D. Frei Manuel da Silva Pedroza, Bishop of Macao to the General Magistrate, Feliciano Ramos, on news of Macao, in 1776).
The other Collection, the "Série Azul" ("Blue Series"), includes Manuscripts acquired or presented to the Academy, since it was first founded, in 1779.
It contains copies and originals from the eighteen and nineteenth centuries and include Diplomatic Correspondence and Negotiations, Memoirs, Reports, Economic Notes, Speeches, Travel Reports, Matters related to trade in general, slaves and agriculture, and others.
Some of the most important Documents of the "Blue Series" are:
• Ms. 1506 -- A Igreja católica romana, em Macau e na China (The Roman Catholic Church in Macao and in China).
• Ms. [n. n.] -- Memória sobre oporto de Macau e sobre as possessões portuguesas (Description of the Port of Macao and of Portuguese Possessions).
• Ms. [n. n.] -- Cartas dos Padres da Companhia de Jesus escritas nos anos de 1544 a 1469 (Letters from the Priests of the Society of Jesus written from 1544 to 1569)--These are extremely important codicils better known as "Cartas do Japão" ("Letters from Japan").
• Ms. [n. n.]-- Princípios da Língua Sínica Mandarim, por José Monteiro (Principles of the Mandarin Chinese Language, by José Monteiro).
• Ms. [n. n.]-- Simplices sínicas medicinais com suas qualidades e virtudes tiradas do livro que tem por título 'Y HAOC' traduzido pelo Padre António de Barros da Companhia de Jesus, sendo missionário da Guay Ngai em Conchinchina circa annu 1756 (Chinese Medicinal Cures with their qualities and virtues taken from the Book with the title YI XUE translated by Father António de Barros of the Society of Jesus, a Guay Ngai missionary in Cochin China circa annu 1756).
2.1.6. BSGL: BIBLIOTECA DA SOCIEDADE DE GEOGRAFIA DE LISBOA, LISBOA (LIBRARY OF THE GEOGRAPHY SOCIETY OF LISBON, LISBON).
The Geography Society of Lisbon is a Cultural and Scientific Institution created on the 10th of November 1875 with the aim of promoting and financing studies to enhance the progress of the geographic and associated sciences in the Portuguese Territories, namely in the Portuguese Overseas Possessions.
The BSGL contains around six-thousand Letters, Atlases and Plans, as well as tens of thousands of Books, Pictures and Manuscripts of interest to Macao and to the Portuguese presence in the Orient. Of Macao and its Region alone there are around two-thousand Maps and Pictures. Apart from the Society's own original Documents, the BSGL is in possession of copies of many destroyed Documents from the Archive of the Leal Senado [in Macao], copied just in in time, prior to the ["1, 2, 3"] 1965 events related to the Cultural Revolution which destroyed a considerable Section of this Archive.
Some examples are:
• Res. 2, maço. 5 -- Documentos extraídos do Livro dos Termos Gerais do Leal Senado da Câmara, de 1767 a 1792 (Documents taken from the Book of General Terms of the Leal Senado of the City Council, from 1767-1792).
• Res. 5, maço. 5 -- Documentos extraídos do livro Registo das cartas particulares, desde 1791 a 1817, do Leal Senado (Documents taken from the book Registry of Private Letters, from 1791-1817, of the Leal Senado).
• Res. 1 - pasta. C-130 Ms [n. n.]-- Cópia do livro Foral de Macau mandado extraír por João José da Silva, Juíz de Direito da Comarca de Macau, em 1888 (Copy of the book Macau Charter taken by the order of João José da Silva, Judge of the District of Macao, in 1888.
• Res. 1 - pasta. E-8 Ms [n. n.] -- Carta dirigida a João Feliciano Marques Pereira por José Augusto Alves Roçadas quando governador de Macau. 2 de Setembro de 1908 (Letter written to João Feliciano Marques Pereira by José Augusto Alves Roçadas, when he was Governor of Macao. 2nd of September 1908).
• Res. 1 - pasta. C-145, Ms. 310-- Cópia de um livro manuscrito existente no Arquivo do Leal Senado, mandada extrair por João José da Silva, Juíz de Direito da Comarca de Macau, no ano de 1886 (Copy of a manuscript book in the Leal Senado Archive, copied by the order of João José da Silva, Judge of the District of Macao in the year 1886).
• Res. 1 - pasta. C-122, Ms. 46-- Sanchoan, a Terra santa do Extremo Oriente (Shangchuan [Sanchoan], the Holy Land of the Far East). [Translation made in March 1912].
2.1.7. AHMNE: ARQUIVO HISTóRICO DO MINISTéRIO DOS NEGóCIOS ESTRANGEIROS, LISBOA (HISTORICAL ARCHIVE OF THE MINISTRY OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, LISBON)
This is a highly important Archive for the study of the History of Diplomatic, Political and Economic relations between Portugal and other Countries, which obviously includes the Orient.
Its Documents are divided into four Collections:
• Processes in which the Documents are classified according to topic;
• General correspondence which contain Official Letters and Letters received from Portuguese Diplomats and Consuls, Residents abroad and from other Sources;
• Registry of Documents sent by the Secretary of State;
• Loose correspondence grouped into Letters, Official Letters and Dispatches.
Added to these four Collections is a group making up the Archives of the [Portuguese] Legations.
In the Processes of this group are some very interesting Documents related to Macao, dating from 1668 to 1834.
• Among the printed Sources there are four highly important Books:
Memorandum sobre a questão de Macau (Memorandum on the Question of Macau, in "Documentos", Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional (edition reserved for the Ministry for the Colonies), 1921;
• Negócios Exteriores; documentos apresentados às Cortes na Sessão Legislativa de 1888 pelo Ministro e Secretário de Estado dos Negócios Estrangeiros (Foreign Affairs; Documents Submitted to the Courts in the Legislative Session of 1888 by the Minister and Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Negotiations with China), 2 vols., Lisboa, Imprensa Nacional (White Paper), 1888;
• QUEIRÓZ, José Maria de Eça, Relatório e Documentos sobre a abolição da emigração dos Chineses contratados em Macau, apresentado às Cortes na Sessão Legislativa de 1874 pelo Ministro e Secretário de Estado dos Negócios de Marinha e Ultramar(Report and Documents on the Abolition of the Emigration of Chinese Contracted in Macau, Submitted to the Courts in the Legislative Session of 1874 by the Minister and Secretary of State for Marine and Overseas Affairs), Lisboa, [p. n. n.], 1874;
Treaties Between the Empire of China and Foreign Powers, 1901 Shanghai, North China Herald Office, 1901 (3rd enlarged edition).
2.2. COIMBRA
2.2.1. AHUC: ARQUIVO HISTÓRICO DA UNIVERSIDADE DE COIMBRA, COIMBRA (HISTORICAL ARCHIVE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA, COIMBRA)
This Archive contains an extensive repository of Documents known as Correspondência dos Jesuítas de Macau (Correspondence from the Jesuits in Macao) of great interest to all researchers and scholars studying the role of the Society of Jesus, in Macao, in its widest ambit.
2.2.2. BGUC: BIBLIOTECA GERAL DA UNIVERSIDADE DE COIMBRA, COIMBRA (MAIN LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA, COIMBRA)
This Library, besides three Documents on the Embassy of Alexandre Metello de Souza Menezes, to China, keeps three other Codicils:
• Cod. 459-9: Consulta do Conselho de Estado sobre as causas da China, Presidido da cidade de Macau [...] (Consultation of the Counsel of State on the Affairs of China, City Presidium of Macao [...]) -1635--(in "Boletim da Filmoteca Ultramarina Portuguesa" ("Bulletin of the Portuguese Overseas Film Library", no 47, p.163);
Cod. 148: Sumário dos lugares, portos e partes mais notáveis da Índia Oriental, comessando do Cabo da Boa Esperança até o porto de Macau na China (Summary of More Notable Places, Ports and Parts of Eastern India, Beginning at the Cape of Good Hope up to the Port of Macao in China)[n. d.]--(in "Boletim da Filmoteca Ultramarina Portuguesa", no 47, p.162).
• Cod. 1650: Relação dos priores de várias igrejas e conventos da Ordem de Santo Agostinho, incluindo Macau (Relations of the Priors of the Different Churches and Convents of the Order of Saint Augustine, including those in Macao) - post quem 1572-ante quem 1835 (in "Boletim da Filmoteca Ultramarina Portuguesa", no 47, p.164).
2.2.3. BFLUC: BIBLIOTECA DA FACULDADE DE LETRAS DA UNIVERSIDADE DE COIMBRA, COIMBRA (LIBRARY OF THE FACULTY OF HUMANITIES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF COIMBRA, COIMBRA)
The Library contains valuable information on the Embassy that King Dom João V sent to the Court of Beijing, led by Alexandre Metello de Souza Menezes. Transcriptions of Documents for studying this Embassy are compiled in Dr. Maria Georgina Trigo Ferreira's Doctorate Thesis: Uma Embaixada à China no tempo de Dom João V--Subsídio para a História da Diplomacia Portuguesa (An Embassy to China in the Days of King Dom João V--A contribution towards the History of Portuguese Diplomacy).
Apart from the Dissertation, in itself a large volume, the Thesis spreads over two other hefty tomes containing all known existing Documents related to this Embassy: those in the AHU, ANTT and BNL, in Lisbon; in the BGUC, in Coimbra; in the the BPADE, in Evora; in the AHM, in Macau and the Historical Archives of Goa.
2.3. EVORA
2.3.1. BPADE: BIBLIOTECA PÚBLICA E ARQUIVO DISTRITAL DE ÉVORA, ÉVORA (PUBLIC LIBRARY AND DISTRICT ARCHIVE OF EVORA, EVORA).
With a view to safeguarding and preventing the complete loss of Documents scattered throughout the Country, owned by different Entities, Decree no 19.952, dated the 17th of July 1931, ruled that a District Archive be created in each District Capital throughout mainland Portugal and the islands [Madeira and the Azores archipelago]--with the exception of those already in possession of such an Archive-- for the purpose of collecting, housing, inventory listing and making all such Document deposits available for researchers.
Each of these newly established Archives came to include: Chapter, Cathedral, Collegiate, Parish and Notary Records, Criminal, Civic and Orphanage Procedures, Documents from extinct Monasteries, etc.
A number of these District Archives are annexed to Public Libraries such as Evora, Braga, Bragança, Vila Real, Angra and Ponta Delgada.
In the Public Library and District Archives of Evora there is a vast wealth of Documentation on Macao, grouped in the following Sections:
• "HISTÓRIA DA CIDADE DE MACAU"
("HISTORY OF THE CITY OF MACAO"):
-- General.
-- Fortifications and Artillery.
-- Population.
-- Voyages and Trade.
-- Relations with China.
• "HISTÓRIA DO CRISTIANISMO EM MACAU E NA CHINA" ("HISTORY OF CHRISTIANITY IN MACAO AND CHINA"):
-- Bishopric of Macao.
-- College of the Mother of God, Society of Jesus.
-- Chinese myths and customs from the point of view of:
-- Christianity.
-- Missions in China.
• "PERSONALIDADES LIGADAS A MACAU E À CHINA" ("PERSONALITIES LINKED TO MACAO AND CHINA"): 3
Documents dating from the sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries.
2.4. BRAGA
2.4.1. AHUM: ARQUIVO HISTÓRICO DA UNIVERSIDADE DO MINHO, BRAGA (HISTORICAL ARCHIVE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MINHO, BRAGA)
This Archive also has a Codicil plentifull of Documents on the Embassy to China led by Alexandre Metello de Souza Menezes. It is entitled Embaixada Portuguesa à China, no século XVIII (Portuguese Embassy to China in the eighteenth century).
2.5. PONTE DE LIMA
2.5.1. ASCMPL: ARQUIVO DA SANTA CASA DA MISERICÓRDIA DE PONTE DE LIMA, PONTE DE LIMA (ARCHIVE OF THE MISERICORDY OF PONTE DE LIMA, PONTE DE LIMA)
The eminent scholar on the History of Macao, Charles Ralph Boxer, reported us of a highly important Codicil in this Archive, containing the deathwill of a rich merchant from Macao, António Correia, given on board an English carrack, in the seventeenth century.
2.6. LEIRIA
2.6.1. BPADL: BIBLIOTECA PÚBLICA E ARQUIVO DISTRITAL DE LEIRIA, LEIRIA (PUBLIC LIBRARY AND DISTRIC ARCHIVE OF LEIRIA, LEIRIA)
The Documents kept in this Archive were bequeathed by Fernando de Lara Reis. They constitute a highly interesting Collection for the study of the Portuguese expansion in the Far East, particularly in Macao.
This Collection refers to the Period from 1915 to 1949, and includes Travelogues, Memoirs, Letters, Newspaper cuttings, Photographs, Drawings, and others.
The Collection is divided mainly into two Sections: the first being a Diários de Viagem (Travel Catalogue), in 26 volumes (1915-1949); the second better known as "Documentação Vária" ("Assorted Documentation "), includes, besides many other interesting items, two volumes of Memoirs (1920-1934) and four Books, in Chinese.
This is precious support material for analysing Macanese society's lifestyles during the first half of the twentieth century.
§3. CONCLUSION
The aim of this Article was to inform researchers of the History of Macao and the Portuguese in general of specific thematic Sources for further research, reflection and understanding, located in Portugal.
This Article is an abstract of a broad yet succint survey developed to inventory, as exhaustively as possible, all relevant Documents pertaining to the History of Macao which are found in Portuguese Archives and Libraries outside Macao.
The initial approach was indeed ambitious: to make a Comprehensive Inventory of all Documentation on Macao, stored in Portugal and elsewhere, in order to create a global microfilm repository, centralized in Macao. Having begun this task the fortunate situation encountered meant that all relevant existing Documentation being gradually unveiled far exceeded the initially envisaged scope of activities; thus the amplitude of the work had to be substantially restricted to comprehend, it its first phase, only Archives and Libraries, in Portugal, and even then only superficially.
A task of this nature being essential for any serious study on the Political, Economic and Social situation of the History of Macao, the decision was taken not to rest here but to pursue the undertaking already begun, in a second phase, working even further afield and in more detail, not only in Portugal but abroad.
Translated from the Portuguese by: Sheilah Cardno
Revised by: Helen Barr
PORTUGUESE LEXICON
Alvará=Guarantee
Assento=Ledger Entry
Assento=Record
Aviso=Notification
Bula=Bull
Caixa=Box
Carta Patente=Patent
Carta Régia=Royal Letter
Cartório=Notary Records
Certidão=Certificate
Chapa=Engraving
Consulta=Enquiry
Declaração=Statement
Decreto=Decree
Diário de Viagem=Travelogue
Discurso=Speech
Documento de Contabilidade = Accounting Document
Edital=Proclamation
Foral=Charter
Instrução=Instruction
Maço=Pile
Mapa Estatístico=Statistical Chart
Memória=Memoir
Memória Económica=Economic Note
Missiva=Missive
Negociação=Negociation
Nota=Note
Notícia=New
Notificação=Notification
Ofício=Bill
Ordem=Order
Oração=Prayer
Parecer=Report
Pasta=Folder
Portaria=Representation
Processo=Procedure
Proposta=Proposal
Provisão=Provision
Requerimento=Request
Regimento=Direction
Relação=Registration
CHINESE GLOSSARY
Beiping 北平
Bu Xinxian 卜新贤
Dunmen 吨门
Shangchuan 上川
Yi Xue 医学
NOTES
1 SANTOS, Isaú, O Arquivo Histórico de Macau. Fonte importante para a História do Extremo Oriente, in"Revista de Cultura" (Número Especial RC/Índia), Macau, (10)June 1988, pp. 68-72.
2 Ibidem., p.72.
3 CID, Isabel, Documentação sobre Macau e a China existente na Biblioteca Pública e Arquivo Distrital de Évora, in: "Revista de Cultura"(Edição em Português), Macau, (10), Abril/Maio/Junho 1990, pp. 31-42.
* MA in Political Sciences and in Philosophy and Theology. Diploma in Archives. Former Director of the Historical Archive of Sao Tome, in Sao Tome and Principe, of the Overseas Historical Archive, in Lisbon and of the Historical Archive of Macao. Member of the Portuguese Academia da Marinha (Naval Academy). Presently, Vice-President of the Instituto Cultural de Macau.
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