MACAO'S CHANGING ROLE AND STATUS IN MARITIME TRADE ROUTES DURING THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES

Macao is one of several ports in Xiangshan county (Zhongshan• municipality today), in China's Guangdong• province. Known outside China as Macao, this port is situated in the centre of the Zhujiang• Delta (Pearl River) and the Xijiang. • After the arrival of Portuguese settlers in 1553 and an initial developmental period of twenty years, there began a Golden Age of trade with the rest of the world which lasted until the seventeenth century, during which period Macao served as Guangdong's foreign port. Macao's standing in foreign trade was more significant than Guangzhou, Nagasaki, Manila, Malacca or Batavia. It was the Far East's primary collection and distribution centre for goods, the hub for Western countries' international trade in the Far East, with the additional role of economic and cultural link between the West and the East. This is why it is important for us to study the status and the role of Macao within the context of the commercial shipping routes of this era if we are to understand the economic and cultural influence Macao had on the rest of the world. This paper comprises an investigation of some topics concerning Macao's foreign trade. Comments from other specialists and scholars in this field of study are welcomed.

§1.

The main trade routes which involved Macao as a the centre for international trade between the East and the West and as the Far East's major trade hub were as follows:

1.1. Macao-Goa-Lisbon

1.2. Macao-Nagasaki

1.3. Macao-Manila- Mexico

1.4. Macao - Sunda Islands

Each of these is discussed separately below:

1.1. MACAO - GOA - LISBON

The great sailing ships of the Portuguese merchants plied this route. They were massive vessels, capable of transporting between six hundred and one thousand six hundred tons. They could accommodate five hundred to six-hundred people. A wealth of goods from China was exported on these ships from Macao to Goa, and then on to the countries of Europe. They also brought goods from Europe and India to Macao. At that time, the Chinese goods which were exported to Goa included raw silk, dyed silk thread and woven silk cloth, gold, brass, musk, mercury, cinnabar, sugar, poria coccos, brass bangles, camphor, various pottery and other ceramic objects, beds and tables painted with gold, calligraphy boxes and inkstones, hand sewn quilts, curtains and gold chains. The principal commodity was raw silk. According to the statistics available, more than three thousand dan •1 of raw silk, worth two hundred fourty thousand Taels of silver, was shipped to Goa every year between 1580 and 1590. By 1635 the amount had risen to six thousand dan, worth four hundred eighty thousand Taels.2 Goods which were imported to Macao from Goa included silver, pepper, perilla, ivory and sandalwood. Silver was the most important of these, and was the commodity in which there was the greatest volume of trade. Between 1505 and 1591, nine hundred thousand Taels of silver were imported from Goa to Macao. 3 The silver originated not from Goa, but from Peru or Mexico. It was brought to Goa by Portuguese and Spanish traders via the Spanish port of Seville and also via the Portuguese capital, Lisbon. After the silver reached Goa, it was taken to Macao as part of the trade which thrived between Goa and Macao. In 1609, a merchant from Madrid who had been engaged in trade in East Asia for twenty-five years wrote: "Almost all the silver which the Portuguese bring to Goa from Lisbon finds its way into China via Macao."4

In 1631, Malacca was taken by the Dutch, whose navy controlled the shipping routes of the South China Sea from that time on. This cut Goa off from Macao and caused the Portuguese to withdraw from India. The Dutch went on to dominate all Asian trade, wresting the Portuguese from their position as overlords of the Western Pacific Ocean, despite the Portuguese stronghold of Macao. Trade between Macao and Goa gradually waned.

1.2. MACAO-NAGASAKI

The apparent havoc wreaked by Japanese pirates during the reign of the Ming Jiajing. Emperor caused the Ming government to forbid Chinese merchants from trading with Japan. However, since Portuguese merchants in Macao were exempt from the ban, trade between Macao and Nagasaki continued to develop. Goods exported from Macao to Nagasaki included undyed silk, lead, padauk redwood, gold, mercury, tin, sugar, musk, poria coccos, rhubarb root, licorice, cotton thread and cloth. The volume of trade was considerable. For instance, around 1600, one Portuguese ship carried the following Chinese cargo to Nagasaki: five hundred to six hundred dan of cotton, five hundred dan of white lead, three thousand to four thousand Taels of silver, one hundred and fifty to two hundred dan of mercury, five hundred to six hundred dan of tin, two hundred-and-ten to two hundred-and-seventy dan of sugar, two hundred to three hundred dan of cotton thread, three thousand bolts of cotton cloth, two dan of musk, five hundred to six hundred dan of poria coccos, one hundred dan of rhubarb root, one hundred and fifty dan of liquorice, one thousand seven hundred to two thousand bolts of silk cloth. The total value of this cargo was put at one hundred thirty seven thousand six hundred-and-sixty Taels of silver and nine thousand and sixteen Pesos. 5 Of the thirteen different kinds of merchandise which were exported from Macao to Nagasaki, the most important commodity in terms of monetary value was the silk. Other statistical evidence suggests that the trade in Chinese goods from Macao to Nagasaki during the reign of the Chongzhen• Emperor was worth a yearly total of one million Taels, 6 and some years as much as three million. 7 The raw silk trade was especially lucrative at this time. In 1635, two thousand four hundred and sixty dan of raw silk, exported from Macao to Nagasaki, was valued at one million four hundred and seventy six thousand Taels. 8

The main commodity which was brought from Nagasaki back to Macao was silver. Zhou Yuanwei noted in 1568 that: "All the sailing ships come or go from Xiangshan [Macao] in Guangdong, often carrying gold, and great quantities of rare goods from overseas."9

Although it is not stated explicitly that the ships were coming from Nagasaki, it is noted in Tianxia qunguo libing shu• (Records of the Nation's Profits and Losses) that: "The ships which sail the oceans [...] return from Japan, [...] where they trade not in goods, but only in silver."10 This leaves little doubt that the ships were coming from Japan. According to non-Chinese sources, during the eleven year period some time between 1585 and 1630, fourteen million eight hundred and ninenty nine thousand Taels of silver were imported from Nagasaki to Macao, the yearly average being one million three hundred and fifty four thousand four hundred and fifty four Taels. 11 The silver which was imported to Macao from Japan was all, or almost all, then transported via Macao to Guangzhou•, where it was used to purchase merchandise which was taken back to Nagasaki. The Sino-Japanese trade conducted via Macao and Nagasaki flourished in this way. In 1637, Catholics in Japan initiated an armed rebellion, in which Portuguese Jesuit priests were implicated. The Japanese Shogunate government reacted by expelling all Portuguese from Japan, which thwarted the aspirations of the Portuguese. 12 Although the Japanese Shogunate formally banned Portuguese merchants from trading in Nagasaki in 1640, trade did not stop altogether, because the ban was specific only to Portuguese in Nagasaki, and did not prohibit merchants from China, Holland or other countries from bringing ships to and from Nagasaki, and in fact gave preferential treatment to Chinese merchants wishing to trade in Nagasaki harbour, regardless of who owned the ships they arrived on. Any ship was allowed into the harbour, provided the crew was Chinese. So from 1641 until the early Qing• dynasty, ships continued to sail between Macao and Nagasaki. Portuguese merchants used Chinese ships to take advantage of the priority access to Nagasaki, and surreptitiously continued to trade there by operating through Chinese merchants.

1.3. MACAO-MANILA-MEXICO

The many commodities which were transported from Macao to Manila included raw silk, woven silk cloth, ceramics, ironware, iron, copper, tin, mercury, sugar, gunpowder, dyed cotton cloths of various colours, saltpetre, peanuts, millet, dates, musk, white and coloured paper, silk thread, cows and horses, honey, hams, salted pork, veils, aluminium, various military equipment, lace, figs, pomegranates, pears, oranges, crockery, tiles, satin, twines, ammunition, ink, threaded pearls, precious stones and jades. After 1630, the average annual value of the goods transported from Macao to Manila was one and a half million Pesos, 13 equivalent to about one million Taels of silver. Silk and silken textiles accounted for the bulk of this trade. As noted by one Catholic bishop in the Philippines: "[Macanese] ships come with goods to trade [...]. Other than the grains mentioned above, the merchandise brought by the Chinese traders consists, for the most part, of silks (satin brocades, and both black and patterned cloths, woven with gold and silver thread), and also large quantities of black and white cotton clothing."14 For instance, in about 1608, the goods shipped from Macao to Manila were valued at two hundred thousand Pesos, of which silks accounted for one hundred and ninety Pesos, 15 about 95%. The silk trade after 1619 between Macao and Manila was virtually monopolised by the Portuguese. They took advantage of this by raising prices and made enormous profits. In 1635, an Englishman visiting Macao observed of the Portuguese trading silk from Macao to Manila that the merchants could make a 100% profit on a single journey from Macao to Manila and back. 16 After the Chinese traders had taken the silk to Manila, they settled in the north-east of the city and traded there. That area of Manila came to be known as the 'Raw Silk Market', which gives an indication of the importance of silk in the trading relationship between Macao and Manila.

Conversely, there was no great variety of goods brought back to Macao from Manila. Silver, cotton, perilla, wax and Mexican redcloth. Silver was the most important of these. Between 1587 and 1640 a total of twenty million twenty five thousand Taels of silver were brought into Macao, an amount which comprised 68.9% of the twenty nine million forty two thousand Taels which were imported to China from Manila that year. 17 It should be made clear, however, that the silver was not produced in the Philippines, but in fact originated in Peru or in Mexico and was transported to Macao by way of Manila.

Spanish colonialists were also involved in the trade carried out along this route, which was a bridge linking Macao to Mexico and the Americas.

The goods transported from Manila to Mexico during this period were mostly Chinese products: various silks and satins, cloths, cotton cloaks in white and other colours, wax, porcelain, fans, parasols, jade bangles, earthenware pottery, raw silk, iron, copper, musk, silk thread, gold, diamonds, precious stones, pearls and carpets. Once again, silk made up the bulk of the trade. Before 1636, ships arriving in Mexico carried four hundred or five hundred chests of Chinese silk products. One of the ships which set sail in 1936 had a cargo of one thousand chests of silk, while another carried one thousand two hundred chests. 18 Most of the Chinese silk which arrived in Mexico was woven into cloth in Mexican factories and then exported for sale in Peru. The Spanish merchants who conducted the trade in Chinese silks made large profits. In general, their investments yielded clear profits of 100% to 300%.

The commodities which were brought to Manila from Mexico originally included swansdown, satin, silk thread, cloth, hats, footwear and stockings, all manufactured in Spain, as well as linen, wine, vinegar, oil, olives, dried meat, soap and raisins from Holland and France. 19 But these were expensive items, soon undercut by Chinese alternatives. Later, silver was the main commodity transported from Mexico to Manila, with the exception of a small trade in wine, olive oil and redcloth. During the period from 1596 to 1634, the volume of silver imported was twenty six million four hundred and forty eight thousand and eleven Pesos. 20 The Spanish market for the cheap but competitively-priced Chinese goods for sale in Manila generated a steady flow of silver into China. The figures state that during the same period of time, the twenty million two hundred and fifty thousand silver Pesos which was imported from Manila to Macao comprised 76.5% of the total of twenty six million four hundred and forty eight and eleven Pesos which had been brought to Manila from Mexico, 21 or 79% of the entire volume of twenty five million and six hundred thousand silver Pesos which were shipped to China from Manila. 22 Towards the end of the Ming dynasty, most of the silver which was brought to Manila from Mexico ended up in China, and most of the silver that entered China did so via Macao. It is clear that the various trading links along the Macao - Manila - Mexico route were considerably interdependent and well-developed by the later Ming years.

1.4. MACAO- SUNDA ISLANDS

During November or December each year, Chinese traders from Macao and Portuguese merchants would go to Makasar (Ujung Pandang), in the south of the island of Celebes, one of the Sunda Islands, not returning to Macao until early the following year. They took with them raw silk and silk cloth, which they exchanged for sandalwood from Timor, as a consequence of which this wood became an important commodity along this trading route. The records show that three thousand to four thousand dan were being shipped annually at the end of the sixteenth century. 23 The potential profits from this trade were considerable, between 150% and 200% by the middle of the seventeenth century. 24 Although the volume of trade conducted along this route was limited and not overly significant, since the Portuguese king claimed no monopoly over it, any merchant could try his hand, and so this trade developed quite steadily.

§2.

Why did Macao's trade with the outside world expand so briskly, and why did it become the principle port of call along so many trade routes? Some of the reasons are as follows:

2.1.

The new global discoveries laid the foundations for Macao's ascendance to the status of trading hub.

The raw silk, silk cloth, incense and ceramics of the East came to be much desired by Europeans, who were in constant search of a direct route to Asia. At the end of the fourteenth century, the Turkic empire of Timur was at its height in Central Asia, cutting off the overland trade routes through the region along which trade between Europe and Asia had been conducted. This sparked off a frenzied exploration of the world's maritime routes in the search for a new route to Asia. At the same time, the cultural Renaissance which was underway in Europe enabled Europeans to absorb new Chinese technology in the form of the compass and firearms and new Arab navigational techniques. The new heliocentric theory of astronomy, successive advances in geographical understanding, the understanding of navigational latitude, the spread of navigational skills and progress in boat building technology all paved the way for the European Age of Discovery. The Portuguese discovered the Cape of Good Hope in 1486. They occupied in Goa in 1510 Malacca in 1511, and established a Portuguese Colonial Empire with India at its centre. The Spanish, on the other hand, centred their 'New World' on the American Continents, and built up their own separate colonial empire, helped by Magellan's voyages of discovery.

One of the major consequences of the Age of Discovery was the initiation of global lines of communication. From Europe to Asia, from Asia to Europe, from the Americas to Asia: global commercial and cultural links developed for the first time. While it cannot be denied that these lines of communication were established largely by and for the benefit of the Western colonial powers, it could be argued that without this global framework Macao's transformation into a hub of international maritime trade would have been inconceivable.

2.2.

The development of the economy in Ming and Qing society was the basis of Macao's foreign trade.

After the fall of the Ming dynasty, China's feudal economy entered a new phase of development. The division of labour in society became more distinct; industry and the commercial economy based on it developed at an unprecedented rate. In many areas of China, especially the coastal provinces of the south-east, there evolved a new handicraft industry which produced goods commercially. For instance, the manufacture of cotton textiles in the two towns of Songjiang•and Suzhou•in Jiangsu•province had already become a major industry for the population in those areas, with a considerable yearly output of cotton cloth which was sold both within China and abroad. The silk industries in Suzhou•and Hangzhou•soon established a reputation for themselves. During this period a large number of new silk-producing towns sprang up: Shuanglinzhen•near Huzhou,• Puyuanzhen•and Wangjiangjingzhen•near Jiaxing,• Zhenzezhen• and Shengzezhen• near Wujiang.• The smallest of this type of settlement was home to a few thousand households; the largest was more than ten thousand families, all competing with one another to produce the best silks and satins. Silken thread, cloth and swansdown from Guangzhou, Fuzhou,• Zhangzhou• and Quanzhou• became world-renowned. The porcelain industries of Jingdezhen• in Jiangxi,• Shiwan• in Guangdong, Dehua• in Fujian,• and Chuzhou• in Zhejiang• also flourished, producing goods for sale mainly on the foreign market. White and brown sugar produced in Guangzhou, Fuzhou and Sichuan• was sold abroad in Japan, Luzon and Java. The iron smelting industries of Yanping• in Fujian and Foshanzhen• in Guangdong developed even faster. Ironware, nails and wire were exported and sold throughout the world. The lacquerware industry of Wenzhou• in Zhejiang province, the papermaking industry of Changzhou, • the carving and furniture industries of Guangzhou and the inkmaking industry of Xin'an• in Anhui• province all grew enormously, exporting a portion of their goods for sale abroad. At the same time, commercial agriculture also developed. Grain production in from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Hubei, Hunan, Guangdong and Fujian provinces; vegetables from Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Beijing and Guangdong; fruit from Fujian, Guangdong, Jiangxi, Sichuan, Hubei and Hunan were areas of agriculture which increased at this time. Commercial agriculture developed especially in Macao and the Pearl River Delta, where there was a preference for silkworm and fish farming, sugarcane, fruit, incense, flowers and vegetables. The produce was destined for both for the Chinese and international markets. The diverse produce of these handicraft and agricultural industries, along with uniquely traditional Chinese products such as musk, camphor oil and medicines and all the other commodities which were habitually traded in Macao made for a rich source of commercial goods. As one Western Sinologist has said: "The Chinese have the world's best staple food: rice, the best drink: tea, and the best clothing: cotton, silk and leather. They possess these essential commodities and countless other products of secondary importance [...]."25

Chinese goods were held in high esteem and came to be respected and sought after all over the world, especially raw silk and silk cloth, which were the objects of admiration and envy everywhere. The Spanish aristocracy of the time flaunted their social status by wearing clothes made of Chinese silk, the sign of an affluent lifestyle. Chinese silks were undoubtedly in great demand. Neither the European colonial settlement in Mexico nor the African and Native American populations of Central America were able to afford the expensive linen cloth from Spain. So there was an unflaggingly buoyant market for Chinese alternatives in Manila, Peru and Europe. After the Age of Discovery, before the true value of the lands which had been discovered was fully appreciated, China was generally known as an inexhaustible treasure trove of commercial goods. As such, China enjoyed a powerful domestic market and also had a hand in shaping and exploring the foreign market, since "All the commercial goods are of no value to their owners, while those who do not possess them do attribute them with value. This is why goods must change hands. For this reason, goods are bound to be sold on. The incentive to sell forms the basis of the exchange of goods."26 Before Macao became an international trading centre, the major target markets for Chinese exports had been South East Asia and Japan, markets which were quite unable to consume the growing output of the now highly developed Chinese manufacturing industries. Clearly, the development of China's domestic economy during the late Ming dynasty was one of the material prerequisites for Macao's transformation into an international port for the trade of Guangdong and a hub of international trade.

2.3.

Macao's convenient location as a port of call on international shipping routes was essential for the development of foreign trade there.

The peninsula of Macao is surrounded by the ocean on three sides, making it conveniently accessible by sea. Setting sail north-east from Macao, the major domestic ports of Shantou,• Xiamen,• Ningbo,• Shanghai,• Qingdao,• Tianjin• and Dalian• and the Japanese port at Nagasaki were easily reached; to the west lay the Indian port of Goa; across the Indian Ocean and round the Cape of Good Hope was the route to Europe; Manila and other South East Asian ports to the south; across the Pacific Ocean there was direct access to the Americas. Macao's outer port lay to the south in the Lingding• Sea at the mouth of the Pearl River. Ships could usually weigh anchor alongside the shore, load and unload cargo and then put to sea again. The harbour at the mouth of the Haojiang• River to the west of Macao connected with the waterways of the Pearl River Delta. Vessels could go up the Haojiang to reach Shiqi,•Jiangmen,•Foshan,•Guangzhou and other cities, also Zhongshan,• Xinhui,• Shunde,• Nanhai,• Fanyu• and other counties, from which they had access to all parts of the country via the Xijiang,• Dongjiang• and Beijiang• rivers. Macao's connections were exceptionally convenient. In the Aomen jilüe•(Monograph of Macao), it is written that: "Macao is the only connection to the mainland, where there is a shortage of food. It lies within easy reach of the sea. Macao is exceptionally conveniently located for reaching the inland waterways, and by way of Macao, the ocean is only ten li • away."27 By means of the network of waterways, goods could be transported from all over inland China directly to Macao and then to sea; foreign goods could be brought to Macao by means of oceangoing ships and then taken to all parts of China. Macao was thus an ideal collection and distribution point for both Chinese and foreign goods. The best appraisal is found in the Monograph of Macao's section Shi jinzhong Aomen• (Present-day Macao):"Of the various ports in Guangdong, the very grandest come from Macao."28 Before Hong Kong was established, Macao was the superior shipping centre, and this was a major factor in its importance in foreign trade.

2.4.

To a certain extent, the activities of the 'wokou'• (Japanese 'pirates') during the Jialong• period (r. 1522-†1573) accelerated the development of Macao as a centre for foreign trade. According to the analysis of Prof. Dai Yixuan,• who has researched issues relating to Macao, the so-called 'wokou' of the Jialong period were not in fact 'pirates' like those recorded in the historical records dating from feudal times. They were mainly a group of shipping merchants who, seeking to develop international trade, had trading connections linking Japan with countries in South East Asia. It was said during Ming times that: "Both the bandits and the merchants are people: those who act like bandits in a free market are called merchants; those who trade like merchants in an illicit market are bandits."29 At that time, the "[...] Japanese 'pirates' in Macao [...]" was a term which in fact referred to 'merchant seamen'. When the Portuguese arrived in Macao, the 'pirates' did business with them and they interacted. The first foray the Portuguese made into Japan was on the very same boat as the greatest of the 'pirate' leaders, Wang Zhi.• In Hirado,• near Nagasaki in Japan, Wang Zhi "[...] built a Chinese style house to live in. He sailed back and forth on a Chinese boat [...]."30 He was a prestigious character in Japan, relied upon by the Japanese to coordinate foreign trade. He employed three thousand Japanese labourers, and was known in Hirado as the Wang of Hui•- he was originally from Anhui province. He returned to the south-eastern coast of China where he traded smuggled goods. In 1557 (Jiajing• reign, year 36), although Wang Zhi himself had been captured by the Governor General Hu Zongxian, • his gang continued smuggling along the coast of Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong. The Portuguese allowed them to settle in Macao: "[... the] Portuguese residents of Macao [...] harboured the bandit slaves as their own lackeys. They took in the fugitives as trusted friends."31 This shows the close ties between the Portuguese and the 'pirates'. There were not yet large numbers of Portuguese in Macao, so much of the foreign trade conducted between the port of Macao and Nagasaki, Goa and Manila was in fact handled by the 'pirates'. Specifically, the 'pirates' who were engaged in smuggling along the coast of Guangdong had a marked effect on the development of the trade between Macao and Japan. The Ming scholar Xie Zhaozhe• wrote that: "The colleagues of the various Guangdongnese middlemen, the Hui of Guangdong, those from Chaozhou• and Hainan• all look out for the middlemen and their agents to make a profit whatever the risk, be it by land or by sea, with the Japanese or with their own neighbours. They come and go doing trade, and have a very close relationship.''32 It is undeniably the case that the so-called 'pirate' bandits' of the Jialong period had a hand in the spread on Macao's, and indeed the whole of China's, trade with the outside world.

2.5.

Specific policies of the Ming and Qing governments hastened, to a certain extent, the development of Macao's international trade.

The feudal rulers of the Ming dynasty pursued national policies which promoted agriculture and suppressed commerce in feudal China. This suppression of commerce principally involved limiting international trade, a ban which was at times strict and at times lenient, depending on specific political situations, but the guiding ideology behind was constant. In the Da Ming Lü• (Ming Code of Law), the motive for banning foreign trade was more to do with obeying the forefathers than laying down the law. The regulation in the Ming Code of Law stated that no citizen was allowed to participate in foreign trade. By 1522, because of "[...] pirate bandits running wild [...],"33 the shipping authorities of Fujian and Zhejiang were closed down, the ports of Quanzhou and Ningbo were closed, and only the shipping authority at Guangzhou remained. 34 Guangzhou was the only trading port for the whole, vast country of China. Macao, moreover, was located near to Guangzhou on the south-eastern coast, convenient for international connections. Naturally, Macao became Guangzhou's port for foreign trade, and as such developed steadily.

§3.

The development of foreign trade in Macao had far-reaching effects. Macao's considerable influence can be evaluated in terms of the development of the economies and societies of foreign trading partners or in terms of technological and cultural exchange.

3.1. THE ACCELERATION OF THE INDUSTRIAL AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF CHINA AND OTHER COUNTRIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD

3.1.1. MACAO'S INFLUENCE ON CHINA

Foreign trade was flourishing in Macao just as the first shoots of capitalism were appearing in China's feudal economy. At this time, silver was the principal commodity which was brought to Macao and transported into China from Nagasaki, Goa and Manila. 35 The influx of this large quantity of silver into China via Macao was used to purchase manufactured and agricultural products. This carved out a market for goods produced in inland China and hastened the development of the manufacturing base itself. Between one hundred and forty thousand and one hundred and eighty bolts of cotton cloth were exported to Manila yearly: some years the total peaked to between two hundred and twenty thousand and two hundred and ninety thousand bolts, and this stimulated the Chinese cotton-growing and weaving industries considerably. 36 A huge quantity of raw and woven silk was exported, and this promoted the development of the silkworm and silk manufacturing industries in Guangdong, Zhejiang and other provinces. At the same time, silver was flowing into the country, causing prices to inflate. For example, the price of rice in Songjiang• was no more than eight copper coins per dan in 1632, while by 1638 it had risen to one tael of silver and eight or nine copper coins. After 1642, the price rose further to two or three Taels of silver. 37 Other commercial goods such as raw silk, silk cloth, cotton clothing, fruit and vegetables, oil, salt, tea, writing implements also rose in price. Initially, the inflation stimulated China's industry and production. As recorded in Guangdong xinyu• (New Words About Guangdong): "The people in Macao are very wealthy, [...] boats of all kinds arrive there carrying rare goods [...] bringing also vast quantities of silver every year. A portion of the goods is taken by the Fujianese. The raw materials are then distributed among the workers and very cleverly made into clothes and foodstuffs. This is how these precious goods are traded."38

Island with walls or fortress; European boats in the background; junks and sampan in the foreground.

'Bocca Tigris' lay at the northern end of the Pearl River estuary, thirty miles from Whampoa. Vessels approaching Whampoa were obliged to sail between the fortified islands of North and South Wantong (western side) and Anunghay (eastern side).

Unknown Chinese artist. Late eighteenth or early nineteen century.

Watercolour on paper. 49.7 cm x 35.0 cm.

In: PESSOA, António Sérgio, annot., Pinturas da China Trade II, Macau, Instituto Cultural de Macau, 1990, ill. 2 [a collection of postcards].

Worthy of special note is that the commercial economy in the Pearl River Delta entered a new stage of development as a consequence of the influence and growth that Macao's trade brought. Manufacturing developed at an unprecedented rate, commercial agriculture advanced, trade flourished. The city prospered with a bewildering array of commercial goods to trade and became an economic centre renowned for its riches. Guangzhou developed further into a commercially developed population centre, wealthy from its tax revenues. 39

3.1.2. MACAO'S INFLUENCE ON SOUTH EAST ASIA

As trade between Macao and other cities such as Manila developed, the people of the various countries in the South China Sea had access to advanced agricultural and manufacturing tools from China. This was instrumental in enabling them to make use of their mineral resources, cultivate undeveloped land and make advances in their manufacturing industries. Even more importantly, as trade between these countries and Macao developed, so many Chinese labourers went to South East Asian countries to oversee agricultural and industrial enterprises. According to statistical records, the numbers of Chinese who emigrated during the late Ming dynasty were in excess of forty thousand to Luzon, more than thirty thousand to Java, and perhaps over one hundred thousand to other destinations. 40 As Chinese emigrants turned their hand to developing mineral resources and converted barren land into a valuable resource. Some grew peppercorn plantations, some planted sugarcane and produced sugar. Some grew rice by converting huge tracts of undeveloped land into paddies. They introduced advanced production techniques into South East Asia and worked hard with the local people to transform worthless land into economically productive areas. Chinese labourers engaged in industry and commerce in the Philippines using advanced technology and accelerated economic development in that area. John Foreman points out that: "The Chinese and the Japanese are really the people who gave to the native the first notions of trade, industry and fruitful work. The Chinese taught them, amongst many other things, the extraction of saccharine juice from the sugarcane, the manufacture of sugar and the working of wrought iron. They introduced into the colony the first sugar-mills with vertical stone crushers, and iron boiling pans."41 At the same time, as Macao's trade with South East Asia developed, so low-cost high-quality Chinese products were transported for sale all over the region, shaking up and unsettling the natural economy. In many areas, people gradually altered their accustomed economic practice of cultivating their own land, growing their own cotton and weaving cloth on their own looms. In the Philippines, the indigenous population, from tribal leaders to slaves, was not split into class strata. All worked at weaving cloth, but after the arrival of merchants from Spain and Macao, at which time "[...] every year there came at least eight ships, and some years witnesses reported seeing more than twenty or thirty, all of them carrying cotton cloth and bolts of silk. When the native people of the local islands saw the cotton cloth that the Chinese brought, they were no longer motivated to take the trouble to weave their own cloth, until they gave up weaving altogether. The local people all began to wear clothes made of the Chinese cotton brought on the above-mentioned trading ships."42 Other Chinese goods besides found their way to various parts of South East Asia, which obviously spurred on commercial trade in the area. Many South East Asian merchants of this period bought up large quantities of local products to trade with the Chinese, such that both these goods and currency began to be circulated more and more widely. In many areas the use of silver, copper and tin coins minted in China became more widespread. In Java, for instance,"[...] trade was carried out using Chinese copper coins from the old dynasty [...], 43 while in Palembang "[...] both Chinese copper coins and cotton cloth are used for trading within the city."44

3.1.3. INFLUENCE IN THE AMERICAS

In the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries, the majority of nations in the American continents were Spanish colonial territories with underdeveloped economies and primitive manufacturing practices. Most of the clothing worn by the Indian and African population and handicraft objects used in everyday life were imported from Spain, but once the Macao-Manila-Mexico shipping route had been established, goods began to be shipped to the Americas, especially Mexico and Peru. A direct consequence of this was an improvement in the standard of living of most Indians and Africans, who all wore clothing made of Chinese silk, "[...] and wore it frequently in the Indian churches."45 Raw Chinese silk was one of China's major export commodities to America. Its introduction as a new raw material had a marked effect on the development on the local the textile industries, an effect which may even be described as decisive. The textile industry in areas of Mexico came to rely heavily on Chinese silk. One merchant wrote in a memorandum to the Spanish king that: "If the import of Chinese silk to Mexico were stopped, it would be a catastrophe for the fourteen thousand people who survive by manufacturing silk."46 Also during this period, the import of Chinese goods to Mexico influenced the development of the mining industry there. Mexico relied on its silver to purchase Chinese goods, as a result of which a large amount of silver found its way to China by way of Macao. This stimulated the Mexican silver mining industry, while the steady influx of cheap and durable Chinese goods into Mexico was sufficient to maintain demand and consume the output of the silver mining industry, thereby sustaining and developing it.

3.1.4. INFLUENCE IN THE COLONIAL TERRITORIES OF WESTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES

The late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries was the period during which the capitalist means of production came into being in the colonialist nations. These countries carried out policies which reflected the mercantilist nature of capitalist commercial profit making. This so-called 'mercantilism' is a term which indicates an emphasis on foreign trade. As Marx commented: "According to monetarism and mercantilism, the only true sources of wealth of currency are those sectors of world trade and the national labour force which have a direct bearing on world trade."47 The forcible occupation of Macao by Portugal, the invasion of Manila and several hundred years of colonial rule in the Americas by Spain, as well as the trading activities which controlled the Macao-Nagasaki, Macao-Goa-Lisbon and Macao-Manila-Mexico shipping routes made exorbitant profits of one or even several hundred percent. Between 1503 and 1650, The Spanish exported one hundred and eighty thousand eight hundred and fifty three kilogrammes of gold and sixteen million four hundred and forty three thousand six hundred and sixty kilogrammes of silver from Mexico, Peru and other colonies in the Americas. 48 These enormous quantities of riches, once transported back to the home country, were converted into monetary capital and provided the abundance of funds which enabled the colonialist nations to develop capitalist economies. Similarly, these capitalist countries came to Macao to trade and not only shipped an abundance of competitively-priced Chinese goods back their home countries in order to bring prosperity to their domestic economies, but also took back home with them new skills and technologies, such as steel smelting, silk weaving and boat building, fields in which China led the world in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. The colonial powers used this knowledge for their own advantage to stimulate further the development of their capitalist economies.

3.2. THE CONSTRUCTION AND SHAPING OF MACAO AS AN INTERNATIONAL CITY

International maritime trade around the changeover from the Ming to the Qing dynasties brought immense wealth to Macao and laid down the foundations of the shape the city was to take. When Macanese society had flourished for a century, The Western style churches, Chinese temples and residential houses made of straw and mud which had been built in the middle of the sixteenth century were gradually replaced by structures with wooden walls and tiled roofs. The carved beams and characteristically upturned eaves of the Buddhist temples, still important buildings in Macao today, are built in the architectural style typical of temples in southern China. The solemn and imposing St. Paul's Church is known as the St. Peter's cathedral in the Vatican, of the East. The Portuguese built residences of all shapes and sizes: square, round, triangular, pentagonal and octagonal. They built on the hillsides in the southern European style. Western and Eastern architectural styles exerted a degree of mutual influence, which became the distinguishing feature of Macao's outward appearance. While new buildings were built and old ones restyled, Macao's transport system began slowly to open up. Macao developed from a fishing town into a flourishing commercial port city. Macao was a city with "[...] tall buildings with soaring roof-beams, lined up in rows." The construction of the city "[...] increased by several hundred blocks, so that today they number over one thousand."49 During the reign of the Wanli• Emperor (r.1573-†1620) "The population of Macao is said to have numbered tens of thousand of households, perhaps as many as one hundred thousand people."50

Because of its status as a collection and distribution centre for international trade, as Macao developed, the arrival of Chinese, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, English, Korean, Indian, Malay and African residents made up a cosmopolitan city. In Macao, Chinese and foreign residents tended to live preserving their own customs and traditions, which led to a mixing of Western and Eastern cultures and the interweaving of various European and Asian moods. Macao's Chinese population maintained traditional customs and beliefs, including the raucous noise of firecrackers, gongs and drums, while the Europeans contributed the sound of the church organ, Christian religious imagery and the crash of gun salutes. There was Chinese medicine and Chinese art, but also their Western counterparts. Generally speaking, Macao was unlike any other part of China during that period: Eastern culture looking through a window towards the West, a link enabling Westerners to understand China.

3.3. PROMOTING TECHNOLOGICAL AND CULTURAL EXCHANGE BETWEEN CHINA AND THE OUTSIDE WORLD

Technological and cultural exchange are the by-products of trade. The great ocean-going sailing ships which traded between East and West along the commercial trade routes were the symbols of the exchange and integration of Western and Eastern ideas. It is commonly thought that these ships were constructed in Europe by Europeans; in fact, for a certain period at least, they were built in cities on the Chinese coast or in other parts of South East Asia, often by Chinese workers with Chinese expertise. In his book Fidalgos in the Far East [...], Charles Ralph Boxer mentions that the Portuguese ships which sailed to Japan were of South East Asian origin, and that they were sometimes crewed by sailors from China and other countries. Shu Erci• writes in his book on Manila louchuan• (The Great Ships of Manila) that the ships which crossed the Pacific Ocean were usually made by shipbuilders in Manila, and that Chinese workers and engineers played a significant role in their construction. 51

These ships were fitted in the usual Chinese way with a compass and also with astronomical and latitudinal navigational instruments, The products of more European advances in science. So it could be said that the vessels plying the international shipping routes were cultural and technical showpieces combining the most advanced scientific technology, the most exquisite craftsmanship and the best materials the world had to offer at that time.

The mutual cultural influence between China and the outside world which was brought about by trade along international shipping routes at the time of the change in dynasties was a highpoint in cultural exchange between the two worlds. Along with the trading ships came Jesuit missionaries and other religious figures with The intention of proselytising, who introduced the advanced European thinking and technology of the period. The most influential of these characters was the Italian Matteo Ricci who came to China at the end of the Ming dynasty and spread Western ideas in China. He came to Macao from India in 1568 and settled in Zhaoqing• and subsequently, after enduring extreme hardship, made his way to Beijing, where he petitioned the Wanli Emperor and presented him with a painting of "Jesus Christ", two paintings of "The Virgin Mary", two Bibles, across set with pearls, two chiming clocks, an atlas of the world and one European keyboard instrument. 52 Western culture had penetrated China's capital city. After this, other main branches of Western ideas began to enter China through Macao: astronomy, mathematics, cartography and geography, firearms technology, physics, medicine, fine arts and architecture.

Similarly, with the development of commercial transportation, certain aspects of Chinese culture spread to Europe, and had a marked effect on European culture after the sixteenth century. First and foremost was the interaction between Confucian thinking and Classical Western philosophy. The main Chinese works of Confucian philosophy, known collectively as the Four Books and Five Classics, were introduced to European philosophers by missionaries returning from China, and it was not long before European philosophers began to draw on the essential ideas of Confucianism. An example is Leibnitz's initiation of classical French dialectical philosophy, which is influential even today.

The activities of Jesuit missionaries often extended to producing translations of classical Chinese literature, which were widely circulated in Europe. In 1593, Matteo Ricci was the first to complete a Latin translation of the Four Books, which was published in Italy. Later, other Chinese classics were gradually introduced to the West.

The spread of Chinese medicine to the West began in 1671 with the publication in French of Chinese Knowledge of the Pulse. In 1685, a Polish physician wrote The Essentials of Bodily Fluids in Chinese Medicine, which was a translation of Wang Shuhe's• Maijing•(The Bodily Channels), a work on medical treatments involving diagnosis by examining the tongue's coating and the complexion. Chinese literature, arts and crafts also spread to Europe, enriching Western society.

Translated from the Chinese by: Justin Watkins

Revised version of the paper:

KAISONG, Deng, Estatuto e papel de Macau na rota marítima nos séculos XVI e XVII, delivered at the SIMPÓSIO INTERNACIONAL SOBRE A "ROTA MARÍTIMA" (INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM ON MARITIME TRADE ROUTES), Lisbon, 1992 - [Oral communication...].

NOTES

1 1 dan = 50 kg

2 BOXER, Charles Ralph, The Great Ship from Amacon: Annals of Macao and the Old Japan Trade, 1555-1640, Lisboa, Centro de Estudos Históricos Ultramarinos, 1959, pp.6, 17-18.

3 Ibidem., p. 182.

4 Ibidem., p.77.

5 Ibidem., pp.179-181.

6 Ibidem., p.195.

7 Ibidem., p. 144.

8 Ibidem., p.47.

9 ZHOU Yuande, Jinglin xuje << 泾林续记>> (Notes from Jinglin), p.3.

10 Tianxia qunguo libing shu <<天下郡国利病书>> (Records of the Nation's Profits and Losses), fasc. 93.

11 BOXER, Charles Ralph, op. cit., p.153.

12 CHANG Tiance 张天泽, Sino-Portuguese Trade from 1514 to 1644, Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1937, pp.138-177.

13 BOXER, Charles Ralph, op. cit., p. 157.

14 CHEN Jinghe 陈荆和,16 Shiji Feiliübin Huaqian 《16世纪菲律宾华侨》 (The Immigrant Chinese Population of the Philippines in the Sixteenth Century), 1936, p.67.

15 QUAN Hansheng 全汉升, Zhongguo jinji shi luncong 《中国经济史论丛》 (The History of Economics in China), Xinya chubanshe 新亚出版社 (New Asia Publishers), part. 1, p.465.

16 BOXER, Charles Ralph, op. cit., pp.17-18.

17 WANG Shihe 王士鹤, Mingdai houqi Zhongguo - Manila - Moxige maoyi de fazhan 《明代后期中国-马尼拉-墨西哥贸易的发展》 (The development of Trade between Macao, Manila and Mexico in the Late Ming Dynasty), in "Dili jikan" "地理集刊" ("Geographical Papers"), (7)1954.

18 QUANG Hansheng全汉升, op. cit., p.465.

19 Feidao shiliao 《菲岛士料》 (A History of the Philippines), fasc. 6, pp.50-52.

20 Ibidem., fascs. 10, pp.21, 24, 25.

21 WANG Shihe王士鹤, op. cit.

22 Idem.

23 PTAK, Roderich, The transportation of Sandalwood from Timor to Macau and China during the Ming Dynasty, in "Review of Culture" [English Language Edition], Macao, Instituto Cultural de Macau, 1(1) April/May/June 1987, pp.31-39, p.33.

24 Ibidem., p.34 and note 42.

25 QING Ru 卿汝, ed., Zhongguo duiwai maoyi 《中国对外贸易》 (China's Foreign Trade).

26 MARX, Karl - ENGELS, Friedrich, Makesi Engesi quanji 《马克思恩格斯全集》 (Collected Works of Marx and Engels), vol. 23, p.103.

27 YIN Guangren 印光任 - ZHANG Rulin 张汝霖 Aomen jilüe 《澳门记略》 (Monograph of Macao), fasc. 1, Xingshi pian 《形式篇》 (Topographical Features).

28 Idem.

29 XIE Jie 谢杰 Lu Tai wokou 虏台倭寇 (The Capture of Taiwan by the Japanese), vol. 1.

30 KIMIYA Yasuhiko《木宫泰彦》, Chu-Nichi kotsu shi 《中日交通史》 (A History of Sino-Japanese Communication), Shangwu yinshuguan商务印书馆(Commercial publishers), vol. 2, p.304.

31 Ming Shenzong shilü 《明神宗实录》 (Annals of the Shenzong Period during the Ming Dynasty), fasc. 576.

32 XIE Zhaozhe 谢肇浙, Wu zazu 《五杂俎》 (Miscellaneous Articles), fasc. 4.

33 LIANG Tingnan 梁廷楠, Sheguan: Yue haiguan zhi 《粤海关志》 (Records of the Guangdongnese Customs Administration), fasc. 7.

34 JIANG Risheng 江日升, Taiwan waiji 《台湾外记》 (Taiwanese Foreign Affairs Records), fasc. 22.

35 Ibidem., fasc. 14.

36 LIANG Tingnan 梁廷楠, Jinling er 《禁令二》 (Prohibition no. 2), in "Yue haiguan zhi" 《粤海关志》 ("Register of the Guangdong Customs"), fasc. 18.

37 QIN Peiheng 秦佩珩, Mingdai wujia jilu 《明代物价辑录》 (A Compendium of Commodity Prices), in "Mingdai jingjishi shuluncong chugao 《明代经济史述论丛初稿》 (A Preliminary Account of Ming Dynasty Economic History "), Henan Renmin chubanshe 河南人民出版社 (Henan People's Publishing House), 1959.

38 QU Dajun 曲大均, Diyu 《地语》 (Earth), in "Guangdong xinyu"《广东新语》 ("New Words About Guangdong"), fasc. 2.

39 Guangzhou: Huang ming jing shi wenbian) 《皇明经世文编》 (The Book of the Great Ming), in "Guangzhou" "广州", Zhongguo duiwai youhao xieshe 中国对外友好协会(China Foreign Friendship Association), 1959, fasc. 342; GUO Shangbin 郭尚宾 , Guo Gei jian shugao 《郭给谏疏稿》 (Guo Gei's Administration), fasc. 1.

40 ZHANG Weihua 张维华, Mingdai haiwai maoyi jianlun 《明代海外贸易简论》 (A Brief Introduction to Foreign Trade during the Ming Dynasty), Xuexi shenghuo chubanshe 学习生活出版社 (Academic Life Publishers), 1955, p. 105.

41 CHEN Hansheng 陈汉笙, ed., Huagong chuguo shuliao 《华工出国史料》 (History of the Export of Chinese Labour), Zhonghua shuju 中华书局 (China Press), 1981, part. 4, p.50.

42 CHEN Jinghe 陈荆和, op. cit., vol. 8, pp.84-85.

43 MA Huan 马欢, Yingya shenglan 《瀛涯胜览》 (Survey of the Oceans), chap. Zhaowa 《爪哇》 (Java).

44 Ibidem., chap. Jiugang guo 《旧港国》 (Palembang).

45 CHEN Jinghe 陈荆和, op. cit., vol. 12, p.64.

46 Ibidem., vol. 27, p.199.

47 MARX, Karl - ENGELS, Friedrich, op. cit., vol. 13, p.148.

48 YANG Hanqiu 杨翰球, 15 zhi 17 shiji Zhong-Xi hanghai maoyi shili de xingshuai 《15至17世纪中西航海贸易势力的兴衰》 (The Rise and Fall of Maritime Trade between East and West from the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Centuries), in 'Lishi yanjiu" "历史研究"("Historical Research"), (5) 1982.

49 LIU Tingyuan 刘廷元, Nanhai xianzhi 《南海县志》 (Annals of Nanhai County), fasc. 2.

50 WANG Linheng 王临亨, Yue zhao pian 《粤钊篇》 (Writings About Guangdong), fasc. 3.

51 SHU Erci 舒尔茨, Manila louchuan 《马尼拉楼船》 (The Great Ships of Manila), p.5.

52 HUANG Bolu 黄伯禄, Zhengjiao fengbao 《正教奉褒》 (Catholic Catechism), p.5.

* Researcher at the Guangdong Provincial Academy of Social Science's• Institute for Historical Research.•