ABSTRACTS

The Ye Merchants of Canton, 1720-1804 
The Ye merchants in Canton are exceptional examples of the class of traders known as the ‘small merchants’. Much less is known about these smaller houses than the larger ones so this study seeks to broaden our understanding of the trade in general by retracing the operations of the Ye men. They were actively involved in the commerce from about 1720 to 1804, which is a period characterized by incredible growth and expansion. Two of the Ye men, Cudgin and Yanqua, managed to become quite wealthy and retired successfully from the trade, with their fortunes intact. Their successes were unprecedented in the history of the trade at the time, regarded even by contemporaries as exemplary. In contrast, the three other Ye men, Leunqua, Giqua and Tiauqua, employed different strategies, which ended in failure. They could not keep up with their ever-increasing debt-loads, which eventually absorbed all of their working capital and led to their demise. The examples of the Ye merchants, thus, provide a unique insight into the successes and failures of the ‘small merchants’, which in turn helps us to understand better the complexities of the environment and how it operated.
[Author: Paul A. Van Dyke, pp. 6-47]

The Portuguese Merchant Fleet at Macao in the 17^th and 18^th Centuries 
This article examines and discusses the Portuguese merchant fleet at Macao, primarily, over the last quarter of the seventeenth and the entire eighteenth century. It is written from the perspective of the Portuguese community, the ship owners, operators and investors at Macao. A series of political, economic and commercial issues are outlined and engaged. The activities of the Portuguese and their merchant fleet at Macao are difficult to treat in any detail given the loss of much of the direct historical evidence and the fact that their activities have been overshadowed in comparison with the greater, more spectacular successes of the European Companies and other private trading rivals. The city of Macao was not outwardly prosperous in the eighteenth century but its merchant fleet was active and contributed to China’s maritime economy. The Portuguese merchant fleet at Macao constituted the only segment of China’s maritime trading structures over this period with a home base in China that regularly and directly commercialized Chinese goods and commodities in the Indian Ocean inter-Asian port markets.
[Author: George Bryan Souza, pp. 48-64]

Qing Justice and Homicides in Macao 
Homicides in Macao involving a foreigner (particularly if this was the presumed perpetrator) were a cause for serious conflict between the Macao and imperial authorities. While the latter regarded any suspect as being subject to Chinese law, the former would refuse to hand over accused since this would contravene the laws of God and Motherland. By looking at some specific cases, this paper seeks to track developments in Qing legislation up to the end of the first half of the 19^th century, which corresponded to a more centralised law-making policy on the one hand and, on the other, a more severe approach to foreigners living on Chinese soil. The cut-off is determined in the light of measures adopted by Ferreira do Amaral which resulted in a profound shift in Macao’s political status, removing it from the imperial structure.
[Author: Liu Jinglian, pp. 65-83] 

Wu Yushan and His Pursuit of Faith in the Great Dynastic Transition 
This paper discusses the inner world of Wu Yushan and his pursuit of faith during the dynastic transition from Ming to Qing, his Ming loyalist family background, his proud and unapproachable disposition, typical of the traditional Chinese gentry; and his outstanding talent. The author also examines Wu’s pursuit of faith by tracing his exchanges and friendship with Western missionaries and his conversion to Catholicism before training for the priesthood. The paper concludes that Wu Yushan, who was at once a typical member of the traditional Chinese gentry and a Catholic, is an excellent example of the fusion of religious faith and native culture.
[Author: Gu Weimin, pp. 106-124]

The Life and Works of Wu Yushan Wu 
Yushan [Wu Li] was an outstanding cultural figure of the Ming-Qing transition period. Born into a prominent family, he was a Ming loyalist, a renowned painter and a poet. Like other Ming loyalists of the era, Yushan maintained his integrity throughout his life, along with a strong of responsibility for the preservation and promotion of Chinese civilization. Dedicated to the causes he loved, his achievements in the fields of literature and art were exceptional despite the harsh conditions under which he lived. By Wu’s time, the Rites Controversy had become much more bitter and as a result there was no room for gentry believers to seek compromises between Catholicism and Confucianism:
 the conflicts and differences between Catholicism, representing Western culture, and Confucianism, representing traditional Chinese culture, had grown too sharp. In the end, they had to make a choice: to follow Catholicism or Confucianism. Wu Yushan came to his belief in Catholicism in middle age, well after he turned forty. After many years of studying theology and preaching, he underwent a profound change in his belief system, from Confucianism to Catholicism, at about the age of seventy. His Catholic poems, though they take the literary form of classical Chinese poetry, are expressive of Catholic teachings.
[Author: Zhang Wenqin, pp. 84-105]

Matriarchy at the Edge. The Mythic Cult of Nu Wa in Macao 
The mythological repertoires of early Chinese culture and civilization are contained in a number of classical texts. These texts are invaluable sources to understand the power of mythological narratives, which re-enact and confound with the history of China, and which crucially foster cultural cohesion and a sense of collective identity. Among a multiplicity of Chinese temples in Macau, there is a tiny one consecrated to the Daoist goddess Nu Wa. The were-snake Nu Wa has been an influential deity since antiquity and played a pivotal role in Chinese mythical history. Bits and pieces of Nu Wa’s portrayal as the primeval creator goddess and preserver of human life are narrated in time-honoured classics, dating back to the Warring States Period (475-221 B.C.) and the Han dynasty (206 B.C.-220 A.D.). Apart from her matriarchal image as the Earth Mother, she is depicted as a charming but avenging goddess in a Ming-dynasty (1368-1644) mythological novel, Feng Shen Yan (Creation of the Gods). Also, Cao Xueqin (1717-1763) opens his masterpiece, Hung Lou Meng (The Dream of the Red Chamber), with a decisive reference to Nu Wa as the repairer of the sky. This paper investigates the significance of the Nu Wa myth, her evolving status in the spiritual hierarchy, and the spirit of pantheism exemplified in her “divine abode” in Macao. It also discusses how Chinese literary texts help serve as a vehicle to consolidate myth making; what the differences and similarities of the creation myths are between the East and the West; and why Nu Wa still retains its hold, even today, and enjoys certain popularity at “the edge” of China.
[Author: Christina Miu Bing Cheng, pp. 127-142]

The Power of the Story in Postcolonial Fiction. The Novels of Brian Castro and Mia Couto
The power of storytelling, and its association with the voice of marginalized peoples, notions of plurality and hybridity, is often seen as a characteristic theme and preoccupation of the postcolonial narrative. This article focuses on the treatment given to storytelling by two novelists who have made significant contributions to literature in their respective countries. Mia Couto, who writes in Portuguese, is Mozambique’s most widely known contemporary writer. Brian Castro, of distant Portuguese descent, but who writes in English, is one of Australia’s most innovative novelists of the present day. Both are, to some extent, ancestral products of Portuguese colonial expansion, Couto being a Mozambican of European origin, Castro an Australian of complex Portuguese Eurasian ancestry. Both are supremely conscious of the weight of history upon them, and use storytelling as a metaphor for giving some sort of empowerment to those who are not part of the political and cultural mainstream. The difference between them is that Couto does this in order to reflect the different voices of a newly emergent nation, Castro does so in order to question the traditionally homogeneous cultural values of the country of his adoption. While the article refers to diverse works by these two writers, particular attention is paid to Couto’s Under the Frangipani and Castro’s After China.
[Author: David Brookshaw, pp. 143-149]