INTRODUCTION
It was a day much like another in 1901 when Deolinda Conceição Rosário da Silva's mother left her on the steps of a Portuguese orphanage, the Asilo da Santa Infância e Inválidas (Asylum of the Holy Infancy and Invalids). ** Her fate was like that of many other Chinese girls born into unfavourable circumstances in the Colony of Macao. Often, these unwanted children wee sold‚ drowned‚ left in the street‚ or abandoned at birth. This particular young Chinese girl grew up and was raised in the orphanage-school run by an Order of Catholic nuns-the Canossian Sisters. Like the destiny of other orphans‚ she was later adopted by a local Macanese family‚ married‚ and integrated into local Portuguese society.
By the turn of the century in Macao‚ Church schools had become a well established and familiar institution in the social landscape of the Colony. Young Macanese children and orphans were educated in the handful of convents and seminaries in hope that they would become better‚ upwardly mobile Portuguese. Amahs‚ or Chinese housemaids, acted as a supplement to these girls' formal education within the convent's walls. Although the orphaned girls were adopted by local Macanese families, they were often socialized by the amahs who worked for these middle-class families. Orphaned Chinese girls who completely went through this cycle of education were promptly married into local Christian families or to recent Portuguese immigrants.
Primarily‚ this thesis concentrates on the role of the formal education establishment of the Roman Catholic Church and informal socialization outside the Church in molding the identities of these orphan girls. Experiences of two orphans living in Macao illustrate this process. The intention of this study is to present a coherent picture of the methods for the inclusion of 'others' into Macanese society and the individual's mediation of this inclusion. 1The mechanisms for orphaned Chinese girls' entrance into the local community illustrate a group's acculturation and assimilation: the liminal status of orphan girls in Macao simultaneously underwent disruptive changes with the new influences and experiences in the social dynamics within a Creole Portuguese community during the initial decades of this century (1900-1940).
I will first present the history of the Portuguese community and orphan care in Macao and second the life stories of two women who attended the Canossian school‚ followed by a commentary on their identity formation and social dynamics within Macao.
§ 1. PORTUGUESE SETTLEMENT AND MARRIAGES STRATEGIES
1.1 HISTORIC BACKGROUND
In 1547 Portugal established a settlement on the peninsula known as Haojing'ao • at the mouth of the Pearl River. The political status of this small colony was uncertain‚ however‚ in light of the prohibited trade with Japan‚ Chinese merchants welcomed the Portuguese ships that regularly plied the waters from Japan laden with silver. 2 Perhaps due to their increased commercial importance or their role in suppressing pirates in the South China Sea‚ the peninsula now known as Macao was let by ground-rent to the Portuguese. 3 Several years following its initial settlement‚ Macao was proclaimed a city in 1552. Later the Chinese authorities introduced a system of taxes‚ duties‚ and bribes in the Macao settlement that he Portuguese accepted. Pina Cabral writes: "In this way was established what the Chinese historian Kai Cheong Fok [Huo Qichang]• calls the "Macao Formula"-an ambiguous situation in which the Portuguese were allowed to govern themselves independently without‚ however‚ having full sovereignty over the territory or its Chinese subjects. The latter remained under the authority of the Imperial magistrates present in Macao‚ where there was also an Imperial Customs Office."4
This political situation lasted in Macao until the Opium Wars of the mid-1800s. Afterwards, Macao was rapidly and actively integrated into the Portuguese Empire. The Portuguese Governor‚ Ferreira do Amaral expelled the Chinese magistrates and closed the Customs Office in 1846‚ thereby establishing a tenuous Portuguese sovereignty over the Territory. 5 Change has always marked the political landscape of Macao; for that reason the perpetually numerically small creolized Macanese community has long persevered in its role as an intermediary between the Portuguese and the Chinese and its voice has been influential in the amelioration of conflicts between the Portuguese and Chinese.
1.2. THE 'MARRIAGE POLICY'
At the outset of Portuguese overseas expansion in the fifteenth century both Imperial and secular authorities lamented the fact that Portuguese soldiers and traders married or took non-Catholic girls as concubines. The stigma attached to such relationships with 'heathens' was pervasive throughout the Portuguese colonies. These relationships were considered “[...] the bypredicts of poor moral judgment [...]."6 The best way to preserve the cohesion and loyalty of the overseas Portuguese to the Empire was to encourage these young man to marry Catholic women.
Since there were few Catholic Portuguese women In Asia during the sixteenth century‚ Portuguese men married local non-Catholic or took them as mistresses. 7 In the eyes of the Portuguese administrative authorities, such behaviour was intolerable. These men challenged the administrative Edicts by consorting with local non-Catholic woman and such challenges were vigilantly punished. 8
Continental Portugal faced an acute lack of people necessary to maintain its many outposts in Asia at even moderate strength. In 1511‚ the Viceroy of the Portuguese State of India‚ at Goa, Afonso de Albuquerque attempted to remedy the situation in his jurisdiction by advocating a “[...] marriage policy [...]”.9 The Portuguese administration offered the overseas Portuguese soldiers and traders a modest dowry and command of a fortress or stewardship of a Factory as an encouragement to marry local brides of “[...] good social position [...]”.10 The government also promised financial and mercantile privileges as a further inducement. The government thought that the “[...] marriage policy [...]” would increase the Portuguese population in these outposts. Nevertheless‚ there was not a great response from the Portuguese men for two reasons:
1. The government poorly administered the dowries and did not pay them promptly, and
2. Placement in a remote fortress or Factory did not sufficiently entice the Portuguese away from their local mistresses. 11
Additionally‚ the Roman Catholic clergy opposed this marriage policy since many of the girls were non-Catholic. In Macao‚ the unrestrained affairs of the Portuguese brought sharp rebuke from ecclesiastical circles‚ and suggestion was made for the importation of Catholic women from Portuguese Malacca. 12 Visitors to Macao noted that they "[...] live[d] in harems much like [polygamous] Chinese around them."13
In 1563‚ Fr. Francisco de Sousa‚ one of the first Jesuits who came to Macao‚ was disgusted at the 'unholy' relations carried on around him and ordered that each Portuguese household should be like a convent and men should marry only one woman. 14 The Jesuits petitioned the Crown to immediately send marriageable women for the colonists. 15 Subsequently, two-hundred and four-hundred and fifty Catholic girls were sent respectively from Malacca and Goa with the specific intention of marrying them to Portuguese men. 16 These women were too few in numbers to make a difference. Many of those who married died soon afterwards in childbirth or from tropical diseases and environmental differences. Later‚ when Catholics were evicted from Japan and fled to Macao in the mid-seventeenth century‚ several Portuguese found Japanese brides. 17 However‚ in Macao itself‚ "Chinese women were always present‚ as both purchased slaves and concubines and as orphans [/brides] raised by the many Christian charitable institutions [...]."18 One of the main institutions that raised orphans was the Santa Casa da Misericórdia (Holy House of Misericordy) popularly known as 'Santa Casa' ('Holy House').
The Santa Casa raised some orphaned girls until marriageable age. The Santa Casa invested in these girls so that they would become the potential future Catholic bribes for Portuguese and Macanese men. Through doing this‚ the Church guaranteed a Catholic and Portuguese community in which it could function.
The spiritual and educational interest in the salvation and marriage of these orphans reflected the dual reality of high infant mortality and a need for wives. The Church aimed through providing these wives for the preservation of the Portuguese nation in the Far East. Priority was given to young women currently residing in the orphanage in the granting of dowries. Frequently the final act of charity by the Santa Casa was the payment of her dowry at marriage. Such dowries and the expense of caring for the orphans caused a tremendous financial strain in the Santa Casa and caused its closure of the orphanage in 1737. Despite financial loss, the Santa Casa persevered in providing other charitable services for the city of Macao. Over the period of the next century orphan care was provided by several charitable organizations and bodies‚ and in 1876 the Canossian Sisters took over the Santa Casa's orphanage at the present site of the Santa Clara (Saint Claire) complex [demolished in 1996].
§2. TWO ORPHANS RAISED BY THE CANOSSIANS
2.1. SENHORA DONA DEOLINDA CONCEIÇÃO ROSÁRIO DA SILVA
A mutual acquaintance introduced me to Maria Yu [
] in the summer of 1995 while I was visiting Macao. We first met in a small coffee-shop at the foot of Colina da Guia (Guia Hill). The Guia area was the place were both Maria and her mother grew up. After meeting with her on three separate occasions‚ sometimes extending to four hours‚ Maria told me at length about her grandmother‚ who had been an orphan raised by the Canossian Sisters, and her mother‚ who grew up in a Portuguese household. She also speaks about herself and the shifting dynamics of Macanese community over the pasty sixty years. She also helped me to identify the historical and social changes that effected three generations of women. Despite Maria's engaging presentation of these Macanese women‚ I have decided to present the story of Maria's grandmother‚ Deolinda from her birth to marriage.
Maria's maternal grandmother was a Chinese orphan brought up in the mission school who later married into a well-respected Macanese family. As a woman of firm Catholic upbringing, she attended mass regularly and observed the teachings of the church. She was also a member of a women's missionary group. She saw herself as an educated Portuguese woman‚ who‚ like her newly arrived continental compatriots, aimed to 'civilize' those Chinese in Macao who still practiced millennia-old social and religious customs. Identifying herself as European, she agreed that with adequate Catholic values and Portuguese education‚ “[...] any Chinese could be transformed into a responsible Portuguese. "
Deolinda Conceição Rosário da Silva was born in 1901. Her mother was a poor Chinese woman living in Mong-Há,• the Chinese section of the city. The exact date of her birth is unknown; however‚ Deolinda told Maria that she was found in the spring. From their files, the Canossian Sisters estimated her age to be around four months old when she was found at the orphanage. She was taken into the orphanage where she was isolated for a short period of time due to heath concerns and later admitted to the nursery. Isabel, a young Chinese widow and recent convert, was hired to be Deolinda's wet-nurse. 19 She introduced Deolinda (Lin-Lin) with Christian values. She also taught Lin-Lin domestic responsibilities and the Guangdongnese language. Isabel looked after Lin-Lin as one of her own children until she was four years old. The Canossian Sisters then readmitted her to the Santa Infância in the Santa Clara complex. 20
Back to the orphanage Lin-Lin was assuaged with periodic visits by Isabel who brought her small gifts of clothes and food. Isabel was not required to visit Lin-Lin, but did so because the two grew very close together. At the Canossian school Lin-Lin was quick to make friends with the Canossian Sisters and eagerly attended school. Maria tells of her grandmother's life 'between the walls':
"Several of the Chinese orphans from Mong-Há were admitted to the College‚ but only a few showed true promise. [...] My grandmother told me frequently about her days at College. She was proud of herself [...].
At sunrise‚ with the toll of the bell, all the girls would get up. The first thing they did after washing as to go across the yard to the rectory and do morning prayers. This was a very small group of girls and they were very close-knit. They were always together. After their morning prayers, they went to help the Sisters and the amahs in tending to the younger children. The nuns were strict about everything in those days. They loved the children dearly, but they were strict.
They demanded a lot of the girls and because of this the girls matured quickly. They learned to be quick at everything and to be self-reliant. A special bond grew between the girls and the nuns and many of the orphans were moved to a religious life because of this. Several of my grandmother's friends remained in the convent to join the sisterhood.
In the morning would begin a long day of chores and schooling. They were either in class with the Portuguese and the Macanese girls from the city or they were working. The Sisters tried to teach the girls to have skills so they would be self-reliant and could earn their keep outside.
The orphaned girls were taught the art of embroidery. This was an important skill for a Portuguese lady to have. They embroidered priests' vestments and altar cloths.
Along with the Portuguese girls, they formed a small fábrica (factory). About fifty young women trained in this oficina de bordados (embroidery workshop). Together they grew up as workers. It was beautiful [...] they all, learned side-by-side: the Portuguese children and the girls in the convent [...] they made quite a group!"
In traditional Macanese society‚ the ability to embroider was a skill that needed to be mastered before marriage. There a saying ridiculing the young woman who is thinking of marriage without the mastery of embroidery: "Inda nunca sabi dá dôs ponto de costura bemfêto, já sai com casamento!"21 The orphans were trained to embroider, which in Portuguese culture was a skill mastered by a good wife The Canossian Sisters geared the girls for the specific role of being a Portuguese wife. Edith de Martini‚ a Macanese writer‚ says of education within the convents:
"Women because of their education in convents, were also very gifted with their hands‚ which from a very young age were taught not to be idle: knitting, lace making‚ embroidering‚ sketching‚ and piano playing were‚ amongst others‚ the favourite abilities parents wished to bestow on their daughters."22
It is important to note the specific skills that Martini mentions in the convent education of women [orphans]. These girls were not trained as nuns, maids, or for other roles. This is because embroidering, lacemaking and piano were saleable points to Portuguese men and to Portuguese society. The Canossian Sisters emphasized the necessity of these skills to the girls. The orphans were sent into the community for a double purpose:
1. To gain valuable work and social experience in the Macanese community‚ and
2. To find husbands.
The mastery of these skills only helped to make the previously unmarriageable Chinese orphan into a 'refined' and 'traditional' Portuguese bride that would fill the territory's void of marriageable women.
The orphans also learned from the women who came in from the community to learn the same skills. Macanese families also wished to make their daughters desirable for marriage:
"Some high-society women were there‚ too. But they were paying to be taught how to sew and do other household duties. The purpose of the school was to teach people for society and to make good wives out of them.
The nuns were attentive in their teaching. They gave support to the poor as well as to those with money. No one was favoured. I think they did this so no rivalries over their attention would grow."
It is important to note that all the donations the Sisters received went into education or to the community since they kept nothing for themselves.
"They gave everything away in services or in charities. So‚ the girls in the convent needed their own means of support. These young women sewed and performed other services in the community. After classes in the convent, the convent girls left and went to their jobs. "
For most of their lives‚ until the age of twelve‚ these girls knew no life outside the convent. Many of them were afraid to leave, but the Sisters made them. Sometimes against their will many girls were made servants and placed in a respectable home by the Mother Superior. This happened to Deolinda.
Girls who remained in the Canossian school formed strong and lasting relationships among themselves. Inside the walls of the convent complex they constructed a tiny‚ self-sufficient community. The girls depended upon each other for spiritual and moral support. Using Maria's words‚ the orphan girls “[...] all came from the same place [...]" and underwent the same experiences inside the convent.
All of the girls were brought up as strict Catholics. "Their saintly piety was respected by the community and they were extolled for their virtue. ” C Several families often asked the Mother Superior for these gorillas to enter their homes and become junior-maids or amah-helpers. The Macanese author, Edith de Martini's parents brought one such girl into their home:
"I had a companion‚ a young lady who lived with my parents. She was an older version of [me]. She was orphaned at a very young age and though she could find a safe life in a convent being a nun, but unfortunately her health was not strong [enough] to withstand the hardships of convent life, so my mother took her in. She found a home with us and sewed for my mother. She was an artist with her hands. She embroidered beautifully and made rag dolls [...]. She had infinite patience with me‚ and she gave me a sense of security‚ peace‚ like a comer where I could go and hide myself. She did not make demands on me; she accepted and understood what I was. Her name was Celeste, but because it was difficult for me to say it‚ I called her 'Cessie'.”23
For Maria's memories of Deolinda, her disposition was much like that of Martini's "Cessie". Because of her calm and pleasant character‚ Lin-Lin (Chinese name as a child) now called Deolinda (Lusofied name as a young adolescent) was readily adopted by a local Macanese family at age eleven. In a small ceremony Deolinda was given to Rebeca do Rosário as her god-daughter. At the ceremony Deolinda took the additional names 'Conceição' after the Holy Conception of Jesus Christ and 'Rosário', the surname of her godmother.
Deolinda learned much about her life and her role in her foster family from the older Guangdongnese maid. The older amah taught Deolinda about life outside the walls of the convent. The two soon became friends. Since Deolinda had already learnt some Guangdongnese as a child‚ the language barrier between the two was soon lifted. Deolinda while she was primed in how to properly prepare meals and cook‚ also gossiped with the older amah.
Over the course of her stay with the Rosário family‚ Deolinda became well verse in the social dynamics of the Macanese household. Gossip provided her with an informal and unstructured means of learning about her surroundings. Deolinda was not to be too close to her godmother‚ nor too familiar with the master of the house. She was to keep detached relations with both‚ although she was allowed to build strong relationships with the children and the amah. Forbidden from eating meals with the family‚ Deolinda and the amah relaxed together. In these periods they talked about their lives and daily concerns. The amah helped Deolinda to identify with her own Chinese birth. The amah also proved to be a nurturing and matronly figure for Deolinda as well.
Primarily‚ the duties of the two women were the care of the household. It was Deolinda's responsibility to take care of the children and general domestic chores, the amah did more specialized tasks‚ but these soon passed to Deolinda. Since she was a student at the Canossian school‚ Deolinda also served as a personal tutor to the children.
"My grandmother's time was divided into the separate fields: the home‚ the market‚ and the church. At home she was completely responsible for the care of the two girls in the household. She fed‚ played with and tutored them. Her other duties included mending, cleaning, and cooking. She spent much time with the [other amah] who taught her Guangdongnese and how to cook Chinese food correctly. She learned to speak in both Portuguese and Guangdongnese fluently. This was helpful since she traveled to the Chinese market each morning to buy the family's [groceries]. Daily‚ she would leave the house and hurry to the market where she would haggle over the price of everything; if she didn't speak Guangdongnese, the merchant would try to take her money. It was important for her survival in the streets for her to know how to speak Guangdongnese!
Back at home the mistress spoke patoá [Macanese creole] to her so my grandmother also had to learn [it]. It was required for her to communicate. In a period of two years she learned two more languages. I am very impressed with her, it was a product of the Canossian Sisters. They trained her to learn quickly and well."
Over the year Deolinda grew up within the family and was almost treated as a daughter‚ although one of a lesser status. She participated with the family at gatherings and was introduced as the family's goddaughter‚ not maid. Maria told me she was introduced in this way because:
"If she was simply called 'maid', that meant that her status of goddaughter was not recognized. The family was calling her one of their own."
Even though Maria tried to defend this extension of fictive kin ties with Deolinda, the fact remains that she still had to perform the duties of a maid - duties that the other children did not need to do. However‚ through this extension‚ she was accepted as a member of the Macanese community.
Despite Maria's talk of Deolinda's belonging to the family‚ she did not. Although she has the status of a goddaughter‚ she was the family's maid. Paadoxically, Maria recounts Deolinda referring to her godmother‚ not as a godmother, but as Senhora [Miss] Rebeca - there was a lack of familiarity between the two, unlike the case with the nurturing role of Isabel, her wet-nurse. This status and her acceptance into Macanese society was attached to her race. Race was the dividing point in Deolinda's acceptance into the community. The family needed to signify that Deolinda was their goddaughter so that others would recognize that this young girl was not simply the family's Chinese maid‚ but a proto-Macanese. What the family was doing, through having her work in the household, was conditioning her for Macanese society and trying to set an example of proper behaviour in the Macanese community. The lack of familiarity was emotionally stifling for Deolinda, but was necessary from the perspective of the Rosário family. Senhora Rebeca needed to distance herself from this young girl in case Deolinda 'failed'.
In time Deolinda became further trusted and endeared to the family. Through complete obedience and a 'charming personality' Deolinda made friends with the children in her charge. As the daughters grew up as respectable women‚ Deolinda, too grew in reputation as a trustworthy and virtuous girl in the community.
She built respect and recognition through her good reputation:
"She acted sometimes as a go-between for the girls of the house and their love interests. She was very trusted. Since the girls were not allowed to leave the house except for going to mass‚ excursions to boys' houses were simply intolerable. So, the girls would slip my grandmother a note and when she went out to market she would deliver the note to the boy, and vice-versa. Occasionally the girls would petition their mother to go to church for a novena. Actually they were going to church so they could catch glances of the boys they were interested in. It was in this way that my grandmother met her future husband.
One day while delivering a note‚ the brother of one of the boys spied on her. As she came repeatedly to the house he was able to catch more and more glimpses of her.
Occasionally they would talk; since she was a maid she had the opportunity to speak to boys. Their relationship grew and soon she was as anxious to go to church as were her mistresses's daughters. In time‚ as these things work‚ the boy's mother started to inquire of Mrs. Rosário about my grandmother. She would say things like: -"So, I see your pretty goddaughter at church often [...]. " or - "I hear she cooks very well [...]." and things like that. So Mrs. Rosário invited the boy's parents for dinner and my grandmother cooked for them. Little did she know‚ but they were actually there to see what sort of girl she was. After dinner they all went to the parlour to talk. Inside a marriage was being arranged. The next day the boy's parents went to see the Mother Superior and asked if my grandmother could marry. Of course the Mother Superior granted their request and my grandmother was engaged to marry in six months.
By the time six months came she became Senhora Deolinda Conceição Rosário da Silva. She was accepted wholeheartedly into the community since everyone knew her as a good woman. I think from that moment on she can be called a true Macanese since everyone loved her."
Deolinda married the youngest son of a prosperous Macanese family. On the surface‚ there were no problems with the marriage, however with the addition of Deolinda members of the extended family stated behind closed doors that she made the family 'less Portuguese'. Most of these comments stayed behind closed doors since Deolinda proved to be a good wife and mother. Despite possible criticism‚ she continued her benevolent relationships with Isabel‚ her Chinese wet-nurse. She always remembered where she came from although she was not always proud of it. Society dictated that she forget her Chinese ancestry and adopt Portuguese identity. Deolinda was far too absorbed in her daily life and daily routine to question who or what she was; and, she seemed resignate to her fate. She accepted the social situation as it was and did not wish to change it since it brought her to the relatively priviliged status that she enjoyed.
She soon became the mother of one boy and two girls‚ all of whom grew up in the period just before and during the Second World War. During this time, traditional Macanese culture began to fragment and take on a new shape‚ one closer to the Chinese‚ and resembling current Macao: one of increased connections with the local Chinese and less emphasis on a Portuguese heritage. During her youth‚ a Portuguese education and connection to the Portuguese was something to be proud of; with the change in political regime in 1926, the reinóis, or Portuguese from Portugal‚ became denigrated. By the 1930s the Portuguese state had become‚ according to some‚ an ultra-nationalistic and quasi fascist country. The Macanese‚ although prospering under the new system soon found their cultural heritage and customs proscribed by the Portuguese. Specifically‚ for administrative positions complete mastery of the standard Portuguese language was required; the creole patoá was viewed as a low-prestige dialect and essentially began to die. Deolinda witnessed these changes take place around her‚ but as Maria plainly states:
"She was resigned to everything. She did not question. She only accepted. This he must have learned as a child."
2.2. À-MEI ALVES
"My mother was a prostitute."
These were the first words that Lara Alves [] told me about her mother‚ Mei, after having been introduced to me by Maria Yu. These two women met in Lisbon while attending the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (New University of Lisbon) in the 1970s. My discussions about Macanese ethnicity and the feminine condition in Macao with Lara remained unresolved upon my leaving Macao. She presented me with another intriguing perspective on the role of the Church and amahs in the acculturation of Chinese orphans. Lara was blunt with her observations and terse in her critiques and descriptions of Macanese society:
"I would not consider my mother Macanese. She was raised in the Orfanato Chinês [Chinese Orphanage section of the Santa Clara complex], but I would not at all consider her Macanese. Let me explain why. A Macanese is a person born and raised in Macao. They are called the filhos da terra (sons and daughters of the soil) meaning local born persons. They are also part Portuguese, either through blood or society [acculturation] and are usually Catholic. My mother was neither of these. She was Chinese and non-religious. She did not want to be Macanese [...] I sometimes think she regretted this in later life.
Even though she married a Macanese man she was not originally accepted into the Macanese community. I call it a community because it was like a large, extended family. This is the case because:
1. She did not speak Portuguese expect for a little, and
2. She would not convert to Roman Catholicism.
But, I think she resisted all of those [markers of Macanese ethnicity] because the other women in the community saw her as a disgrace, as someone shameful. Not so much because she was abandoned, since some Macanese wives were once orphans, but because she was a former prostitute."
Mei was orphaned in 1918 at another Canossian institution, the Asilo da Santa Infância e Inválidas (Asylum of the Holy Infancy and Invalids in Mong-Há. She was found severely ill and close to death. Luckily she was taken by someone to the Canossian infirmary and later entered the Chinese Orphanage of the Santa Clara complex. In a week, the Canossian Sisters placed her in a home where she was raised by a Chinese woman.
"My mother had a poor recollection of this time she was so young [...]. She did not tell us much about her past since she saw being an orphan - actually being abandoned by her parents - as shameful. If there was anything she felt shame for‚ it was this and being a muitsai (girl-slave).
I think her mother must have come and visited her in the orphanage since my mother sometimes spoke of a woman who came and gave money to the Sisters for her. I am unclear on this, but such practices are not uncommon occurrences. I do suspect this 'women' was her mother. But‚ she was first taken in by a Chinese woman where she was raised until she was four or five and then taken back by the Canossian Sisters. The only reason I know this is that the woman who took care of my mother came to her funeral and told us this [...]. My mother never really knew when or where she was found. She just knew that she was growing up different that the other Chinese girls.
In the Canossian school she was taught rudimentary reading, writing‚ and counting. She was also taught many songs. In the Chinese Orphanage‚ the Canossian Sisters hired Chinese maids to look after the children. These women were hard on the girls and my mother recalled how she was beaten more than once for things blamed on and not done by her. Besides that‚ her recollections of life inside the orphanage were calm and pleasant.
The orphanage‚ at times‚ had as many as five hundred children of both sexes and all ages until ten or twelve inside. So the maids became very testy with the children. This accounts for the many beatings my mother received at their hands.
Around eight‚ she was given to a Chinese household to do chores. In the evenings she would return to the convent and receive religious education. Or some sort of education. She would repeat this cycle day in and day out [...]. I am really unsure as to the exact sort of schooling she received in the school, but must have had some rudimentary Catholic teachings by the maids‚ since they were required to be Catholics. Outside of that‚ she learned basic reading and writing Chinese and how to count. The Canossians were mainly concerned with her ability to work, not her soul.
At eleven my mother ran away from the Canossian school‚ never to return. She was supposed to return from her job one day but never did. She told me that she just did not feel like returning‚ so she did not. She had heard of other girls who left and never returned‚ so she decided to do the same. She already had contacts with the Chinese community [...]. She returned to her wet-nurse [this woman was also a settler of young girls] who told her that she could find work for her. Unknown to my mother at the time, the woman whom she thought she could trust actually sold her as a muitsai."
While in the Chinese Orphanage‚ Mei was sent out to work in the Chinese community. She undertook heavy tasks and other taxing physical tasks such as hauling stones and wood. She would return to the orphanage exhausted. She did not gain admittance to the Santa Infância, like Deolinda, for a number of reasons. Only those children who were well behaved and not rebellious were accepted. Mei, from her earliest days resented 'authority' and did not like being disciplined. Also‚ Mei was seen as an unattractive girl. She looked very Chinese- she did not have 'fine features' which were praised in children who were to become Portuguese wives. Since she was neither well-behaved nor attractive in the eyes of the Canossian Sisters‚ she was made to stay in the Chinese Orphanage and engage in heavy tasks, not light chores, like embroidering. Lara Alves related that this was the most unhappy of her mother's childhood memories. It may also have been an impetus for Mei's desire to leave the Chinese Orphanage.
Upon running away from the orphanage‚ Mei went directly to her old wet-nurse. In return from 'hiding her', the nurse set her to work in her house. The girl once called 'Maria' by the Canossian Sisters was now known as 'À-Mei', and had become a muitsai, a slave-girl. Her trusted friend, intended of selling her for a profit. So‚ for a period of about a month‚ she was looked at by several potential buyers. Without any great formality except with a signature of a contract‚ the girl passed into the possession of an owner of an opium den for sixty Patacas. It was her task to serve opium pipes and entertain guests. Mei unwittingly entered as life as a slave-girl; however‚ although she had run away from the Canossian school, she had no thought of returning nor running away from the opium den. She understood her situation as contractual and binding.
Work in the opium den was relatively light as compared to what she did before. Among her several duties, Mei was also an entertainer; learning from the other girls how to sing‚ dance‚ and massage. She was very good at entertaining and enticing patrons into taking more opium or incurring larger and larger gambling debts. Whatever money she received from them‚ she kept. These 'tips' were often spent on clothes or saved. She hoped to one day buy her freedom - if she were to remain another year‚ she would have been able to finally buy herself out. Unfortunately, her owner was not lucky and needed to sell all of his assets to repay gambling debts.
"My mother was resold to a brothel for the price of one hundred and sixty Patacas (because she was so pretty) on the Rua da Felicidade [Street of Happiness], at the age of fourteen.
After three years of work in the opium den‚ my mother was sold into prostitution. Her contract designated her as a meretriz [common prostitute], and not a muitsai. I am unsure as to why this change [was made]. My mother said it was due to the nature of her 'entertaining' at the opium den. As a muitsai she did perform sexual services‚ but could not be considered a prostitute per se because she was a domestic slave."
In this 'hybrid role' she performed sexual roles at the beck and call of her owner. Mei accepted this situation with resignation with the hope that she could eventually buy her freedom. The transition to a common prostitute, or meretriz, was not a difficult one. Lara said that:
"If she was first a prostitute when she left [the Chinese Orphanage], then she would have problems [...]."
This was due to the fact that‚ for her to build up her status as a successful prostitute‚ she needed to start from the bottom. She had once already been a muitsai, therefore, at the very bottom of the ladder. She was later sold‚ and elevated in the status of a prostitute. She was able to build on her past knowledge and use it to her advantage. Lara's statement implies that the transition to prostitute was easier for her mother since she was firstly a muitsai. Experiencing life as a muitsai 'eased' her into prostitution‚ and not thrown into it completely off-guard.
"My mother was not ashamed of being a prostitute. Nor am I. She boasted her prowess and mastery of the sexual arts to us‚ her children, as we grew into adolescence. It was after my first communion that she began to tell me about her past. At first it made me deeply sad to learn this‚ but I came to accept that this was who my mother was. It is always a shock to learn things like that. The ability to use her body and gratify was something she took great pride in. I cannot describe to you how she spoke to us. [...] It was inappropriate for a Chinese woman to talk like that. But she did anyway. At the same time she wished differently for us. She wanted us to be Portuguese and Catholic and good wives and mothers. However, she tried hard to teach us what she learned as a young woman. I do not think my sisters and I ever listened until it was too late."
Life in the brothel was not hard for Mei. The Madame primed her on the arts of the prostitute. She soon raised her status from a common meretriz, the sort that sailors consorted with‚ to the call-girl ofd rich and powerful men. She did this by careful mastering the arts of prostitution and through careful manipulation of her Madame. Lara told me:
"My mother was soon known in the casinos and brothels as a beautiful; woman and her client-base grew. She brought much money to that house."
This is an ironic statement since she was cast as an ugly baby by the Canossian Sisters.
Lara later explained to me the life of a prostitute in Macao during the 1930s and walked me through the Rua da Felicidade and to show me the place where her mother once worked. The Rua da Felicidade runs parallel to Avenida Almeida Ribeiro (Almeida Ribeiro Avenue) and was the locale known for its many restaurants and brothels. More or less‚ both worked simultaneously‚ never closing, with patrons going from one to the next at all hours. On the Rua da Felicidade, there were also the lui-kông-kuang• (opium dens) and casinos. The most well-known and auspicious of them at the time was the Hotel Central (Grand Central Hotel). Lara's father, Fernando Alves met Mei after a long night of gambling at the Grand Central.
"In a couple of years my mother was soon found working in [the area near] the Hotel Central. In those days it was known as a place for gatherings of gangsters and artist. It was famous for its cabaret‚ cinema‚ and gambling hall. The Hotel Central represented a higher form of luxury [...]. It was only natural for my mother to work there."
Lara recounted to me the words of her father and how he came to meet Mei:
"My father was a rascal when he was younger. He gambled and had many women. In those days such things were expected of a young man. When asked how he met my mother, he always got a twinkle in his eye as he made a small smile. Here is what he would say, more or less:
-"I went to Rua da Felicidade to meet a woman who knew well the art of making love. [...] Not the sort of woman who habitually prostituted herself to any man [...]‚ who gives for the sake of giving and offers herself not as a product to be bought. ”
My father‚ I think‚ came to romanticize things. Every time he told us this‚ mother would smile.
-"I wanted to meet an artist [...] who was neither docile nor subservient [...]. I say the same about love. I came to meet a Chinese woman. The sort of woman not like the Portuguese, one who could be captivated and astonished.""
One night at the exit of the Hotel Central, after loosing several hundred Patacas in the games of fantan• and glu-glu,• Fernando Alves hired a trusted 'pilot' to introduce him to hou-tai mui-tchai• (beautiful girl). The 'pilot' then took him through several back alleys and left him at the doorstep of the hotel where Mei worked.
"After walking up three or four stairways of the hotel and looking at the many 'hostesses' who were playing mah-jong• he found himself "[...] captivated by a lone figure who stood isolated smoking a cigarette of rolled paper. She was a young woman who was not any older than twenty years. She was wearing rose-coloured stockings [...]..."24
And that is how my father came to first meet my mother. He told us that story so many times‚ embellishing it with more surroundings and descriptions of my mother. She was a beauty on her day. He met her again at least three more times and the two fell in love. One day he approached her Madame and offered three hundred silver Patacas for her. They were later wed in a civil ceremony."
The scandal of Lara's father marrying a prostitute shook the Alves family. From the moment he brought his new bride home‚ no one accepted her or the marriage as 'legitimate in the eyes of God'. Mei was often called “[...] that woman [...]." Only when Lara's older brother was born a year later‚ did the family gradually grudgingly accept Mei's entry.
The Macanese community during this period was very small and very close-knit‚ but it was undergoing changes. Marriages to non-Catholic Chinese women were on the increase. However‚ Mei and Fernando's marriage was the first of several such marriages; and they nonetheless caused some social reverberations. The Alves family was proud of its 'Portuguese-ness' and Mei's 'Chinese-ness' and reputation tainted the family.
The only way for the larger family group to defend their Portuguese identity and reputation was to ostracize the new bride. She was not invited to family functions, nor was she welcome within the Alves family complex. She and Fernando moved in with one of his older brothers.
"Even though after the birth of their first son, the marriage was not completely accepted by the family. It was my grandmother who was opposed to my mother. I do no think she ever liked her. [...] My mother although married to a Macanese was not accepted as a Macanese. I think she tried hard in the beginning to assimilate‚ but after meeting constant disapproval, she rejected everything. She projected all her social aspirations on her children. In the end, she went back to all her Chinese friends and remained an outsider to Macanese society."
The difference between Deolinda and Mei's entrance into Macanese society revolved around the question of each woman's reputation and respectability. Deolinda was raised in the Canossian school and was specifically trained to be a Portuguese wife. she held all the credentials for entrance into Macanese society; she was Catholic‚ she spoke Portuguese‚ and had all the traits that made for a good wife. Deolinda was also an attractive woman due to her 'fine features' and excellent cook. Mei, on the other hand, was very Chinese and was an ex-prostitute. Mei did not come into the family with proper credentials‚ nor a good reputation. Lara suggested that her mother initially tried to be a good daughter-in-law and wife, but was met with constant resistance from the Alves family. If Deolinda tainted the da Silva family with her Chinese blood‚ then Mei undoubtedly shamed “[...] all previous generations of Alves."
The stories of these two women represent divergent paths of an orphaned child's life may take in Macao and also the Macanese community's reaction to the assimilation of these outsiders.
§3. THE CANOSSIAN SCHOOL AND SOCIAL DYNAMICS
3.1. THE COLLEGE OF SANTA ROSA DE LIMA: (THE SANTA CLARA COMPLEX)
The Canossian Sisters operated three orphanage-schools in Macao at the turn of the century. The most prominent of these was the College of Santa Rosa de Lima, which was previously called the Covent/College of Santa Clara. In 1910‚ there were three orphanages in Macao with one hundred and ninety five residents. 25
However‚ the name ['asilo'] 'orphanage' given to these institutions is a misnomer since these children were abandoned rather than orphaned; usually the parents were alive and sometimes stepped forward to reveal their identity.
In 1874 the Bishop of Macao decided that there was the need for a Church-run orphanage in the territory and subsequently drew-up its regulations. These regulations were approved in a government ruling published on the 19th of February 1875. In 1876, Bp. João Paulino de Castro invited the Missionárias Franciscanas de Maria (Franciscan Missonaries of Mary - Canossian Sisters) to take care of the convent and also to run the school. 26
Some years later, in 1883‚ the assets of what had been the Convent of Santa Clara were finally handed over to the committee that ran the College of Santa Rosa de Lima. Until 1886, the Canossian Sisters dedicated themselves almost exclusively to the care of poor Chinese girls and abandoned children. Unlike the Santa Casa‚ the Canossians directly educated Chinese and Portuguese girls with cultural, social and religious education. These girls studies in the Casa de Benificiência (Benificence Home) on the grounds of Santa Clara.27 There, the nuns taught English‚ French‚ and piano as well as the traditional courses in needlework and embroidery. In 1889‚ a Novitiate [junior-run] course was opened for young aspirants for a religious life. 28 By this point the school was a familiar institution in the territory. Despite its many changeovers throughout the years‚ its basic program of orphan education and acculturation remained the same; all orphans in the Casa de Benificência studied Portuguese and learned domestic skills. 29
3.2. ASILO DA SANTA INFÂNCIA EINVÁLIDAS
At the foot of Guia Hill‚ overlooking the Parque de São Francisco (St. Francis Park) stood the Convent of Santa Clara and the College of Santa Rosa de Lima‚ which still exists today. Within this convent complex there was a section specially devoted to the care of orphans and the invalid. This section was commonly called the 'Asilo de Santa Clara' (Asylum of Saint Claire), although it was officially refered to as the Asilo da Santa Infância e Inválidas (Asylum of the Holy Infancy and Invalids). There‚ the Canossian Sisters‚ in the separate Chinese Orphanage also took care of abandoned Chinese babies and raised them if they survived.
3.3. THE ORPHANS
In Macao‚ it was not uncommon for Chinese parents in extreme circumstances to abandon their female babies in the streets. Socially stigmatized babies‚ i.e. ‚ the illegitimate and/or bi-racial, along with the physically deformed were most likely to be abandoned. The frequency of abandonment reflects the social system in Macao. Families in uncertain financial situations that could not support the upkeep of these children gave them the better-equipped institutions who they felt could take care of and provide for the necessities of their children. 30 The parents had many choices‚ and one of them was with one of the several Christian charitable institutions. So‚ some parents left their unwanted children at the door of the local Christian parish council or the orphanage. Many babies were found in this manner by police or missionaries; often these children were handed over to the orphanage. 31
The reason why so many baby girls were abandoned was tied to marriage superstition. Commonly, it was thought that a female child had to be cared for by her natural family with no prospect of a profitable return; upon marriage these girls would leave their natural parents to live with those of their husbands‚ depriving her natural parents of her adult productivity. In Macao, parents married their girls as early as possible between the ages of twelve and fifteen so they could reduce any losses in raising the girl. 32 Boys, on the other hand‚ remained at home even after marriage and contributed to the betterment of the extended family. 33
Many Chinese in Macao also believed that if baby girls born in certain months or on certain festivals were kept in the house, they would bring illness or even death to their father or eldest brother. 34 Superstitions took many forms, but all to protect the male child. Some people believed that if a girl was killed, the next child would be a boy; others added that if a mother gave birth to four girls in a row, it proved she was possessed by evil spirits and the only means of driving the invader out of the mother was to get rid of the newborn girl. 35Babies destined to be abandoned were usually discarded immediately after birth to ease the grief of the mother. A Catholic nun tells of the first child she took into the orphan-age: "I remember clearly the first time a baby was left on our steps. It was my first week in Macao. [...] A mother, followed by another woman (who I learnt was her mother-in-law), came silently weeping with a tiny child cradled in her arms. The baby was no more than a week old. The other woman seized the child and placed her on the doorstep and rang the bell. I saw all this from afar and was shocked. The mother tried to pick the baby up, but the other woman began to beat her despite her pleas of mercy. The tiny baby was right there, right on our steps, crying. I could not believe it, I rushed to the door, took the child in my arms and tried to chase after the couple. A fellow Sister stopped me and told this was common. Later inside [...] we named her after the Mother Mary and the next morning she died. ”36
Other young girls taken in by the Canossian Sisters were the unwanted children of prostitutes. Some of the children were fathered by Portuguese sailors and foreigners visiting the city. These children were not readily accepted in the Chinese community. The Canossian Sisters discriminated between bi-racial; and Chinese orphans. Committees of Macanese went into the districts of the city regularly and asked for any bi-racial children. 37 Once found these children were taken to the Santa Infância. It is important to note that this orphanage was also the one in which children were educated as Portuguese and married into Macanese society. Chinese orphans were kept at the Chinese Orphanage, and were educated as Chinese. They were later released, not married into the Chinese community and not Catholicized. However, certain orphans who were not bi-racial were educated in the Santa Infância. These children were considered exceptional cases, like Deolinda.
There were also other poor little girls of other circumstances taken in by the Sisters. Some were beaten by their parents or were runaway muitsai. Often they came pursued by their parents and/or employers and sought refuge in the Asylum/Orphanage.
Many of the babies taken in by the Sisters died upon admittance to the orphanage. 38 However, the major cause of infant mortality was unsanitary care of the unwanted child after birth. Usually, the older infant when found, the greater its chances of survival. However, the Canossian Sisters admitted some newly-born; several of these were illegitimate children. Unmarried girls took great pains to hide their pregnancy from their families, or hurt themselves trying to terminate the pregnancy. The shame attached bearing an illegitimate child bought several women to take desperate steps, even injuring a fetus when they did not succeeded in aborting it. Many infants marked as deformed by the Canossian Sisters were labeled as such because of mishaps that occurred while they were in the womb from abortificants, compressions, and other means that the mother hoped would hide her shame. A mother sometimes tried, halfheartedly, to cause harm to the child after birth. In some instances, children were found with the umbilical cord tied with a piece office straw or a bit of hemp, then cut with a broken piece of dish and dressed with ashes of old rags. Many of the children received by the Canossian Asylum at Mong-Há were already dying from lockjaw. 39
The Catholic Sisters showed great concern for the immediate baptism of these dying babies. 40If the infant died after baptism, then their baptism ensured them an eternal life; if they survived, the orphanage offered a chance for a Christian and productive life; the motto of the Canossian Sisters was: "Save Youth in Order to Save Society"41 (my translation).
The Canossian Sisters hired foster nurses to care for the healthy infants. The first set of foster mothers, called 'out' or 'wet' nurses if they nursed the babies, raised the orphans for the first three or four years. They received a small monthly allowance of twenty five Patacas for raising the girls in their own homes. Every week or ten days, they brought them back to the orphanage for a checkup. Before placing each baby, the Canossian Sisters pricked either the back of the ear or the space between the big toe and the next toe with a needle dipped in indelible ink. The tiny tattoo identified each infant during examinations. The Canossian Sisters found this system necessary after they discovered that some of the babies had been deposited in the Chinese Orphanage or that the foster mothers had been bribed to exchange a sick or dying child for a healthy Canossian baby.
In the Santa Clara complex, when a girl reached the age of two or three, she became a permanent resident of the orphanage and attended school run by the Canossian Sisters. During this period the child, no matter which part of the orphanage she was in, could be adopted. Unusually attractive and healthy children were adopted. Upon reaching the age of twelve to sixteen years, the girls left the orphanage to look for work, The Chinese orphans left the complex entirely, while girls in the Portuguese section remained more or less until graduation. The disabled generally remained in the orphanage and, having received a certain basic degree of elementary, but Christian education, they lived in the asylums until they died.
Girls in the Portuguese section, who were not adopted by their early teens, were taken into Catholic homes where they worked as maids. Just before hire/ adoption, it was usual to anoint them with holy oils in a formal ceremony, with the dona da casa (lady of the house) as godmother. They then received Christian names and other forms of identification, of their choice or chosen by their godmother. At the age of eighteen or twenty they married and left the convent or homer in which they were working. Most found work in the city and lived outside the convent. Some of them returned to the convent because they felt persecuted by people in the community and remained there as nuns.
Sometimes, despite the many years of preparation by the Canossian Sisters, several of the girls they raised did not adjust well to life outside the convent. Some of these women were unhappy in their marriages and moved for separation. Many other ran away from the convent or the home from which they were working and disappeared forever. However, despite this, the Church carried out its mission of charity and condoned Macanese society and the Government.
§4. BI-RACIAL IDENTITIES AND BI-CULTURAL STATUSES
4.1. REPUTATION AND RESPECTABILITY
Following from Wilson's scholarship, underlying the Macanese community's social matrix were not predominantly the ideas of class and race, but the notion of respectability. 42 Respectability was intrinsically linked with the reputation of one's family background; the most respected and successful families were evaluated by two criteria:
1. Predominance of Portuguese heritage and 'blood', and
2. Adherence to Catholic faith.
An elitist Macanese family could always trace its roots to a single Portuguese or New Christian founder and point to its devotion to the Catholic's Church. 43 Respectability in its varying degrees also depended upon the constant 'maintenance' of these values; this was perpetuated by marriage to the 'correct person' with the corresponding social rank. The more Portuguese and Catholic a family, the more respectable it was. This was the social ethos and core of Macanese ideas of respectability.
Such an ethos is taken from the vantage point of those within the society. The Macanese justified their social position within Macao proper through cultural delineation. They also preserved the group by keeping themselves apart. The Macanese community drew its own identity boundaries that included and excluded outsiders. Excluded individuals were not required to adopt the same ethos as the Macanese unless they wanted admission to the community.
For the orphans, the Canossian Convent/School represented the first 'test' that would grant or deny them access into Macanese society. By placing orphans into separate sections‚ the Canossian Sisters made decisions on those whom they thought fit for admission to their institution, fit for admission to their institution, fit for a Catholic Portuguese education, and fit for marriage into Macanese society. Simultaneously they also made judgments on those who would lead lives as Chinese. They made superficial judgments based on physical appearance. Bi-racial-looking children were considered more 'attractive' than the more Chinese-looking orphans. Mei was immediately categorized as 'Chinese' by the convent and was segregated apart from the other 'Portuguese' orphans. This early segregation and her own identification with her 'Chinese-ness' alienated her from the Macanese community. Because she was denied the religious and social training and education in the Convent/School, she had to rely on other skills to build a reputation and the respectability she needed in order to re-establish her place in the community.
The Sisters concerned themselves not with the edification of the Chinese orphans in the Chinese Orphanage, but with teaching them how to toil. Chinese children were accorded with fewer opportunities for advancement and left the complex at an early age. In comparison, the Sisters indoctrinated respectable notions of sexual propriety and dignified household manners to the girls in the Portuguese school. The Church advocated ideals of chastity and industriousness for the girls - enabling them to enjoy a high degree of community respect and recognition. At the same timer, to achieve this, the Church enclosed the girls physically and psychically within the walls of the convent. Inside the church-school complex, the orphans learnt the ways if the outside society. These young women raised in this way were also made more marriageable.
Only selected individuals played representative roles that were imbued with greater social significance. Because Mei was a very Chinese-looking child, she was denied the resources of the convent and the remedy for her social stigma of being an orphan, a legitimate, Christian marriage. In her adult life she lived a life counter to both the Church's mores and Macanese values.
After leaving the convent, Mei used her charms and body to re-establish herself in the city. She rejected the traditional feminine role the convent initially tried to mold her into. Because she did not obediently lower her head in silence and accept a destiny that would oppress her, Mei asserted a small space of control and freedom over her own life as a prostitute. She used her body in and on her own terms. As Mei's role changed from a muitsai to a more independent meretriz, she exhibited and gained respectability from her community and the people she interacted with.
However, Mei struggled to re-define her life in a more masculine power structure when she later married into a Portuguese family. The respectability and success that she achieved within the context of the prostitute subculture were the negatively evaluated in terms of morality by her new family. When initially confronted with the prospect of entering a Macanese family, Mei attempted to transform herself. She tried to be loyal to the Macanese ideal. But she was too much an outsider and no transformation could obscure her past. She was trapped by her reputation. The Alves family prided itself for its 'Portuguese-ness' and determined that only those who could marry into the family needed to exhibit strong Portuguese backgrounds, not a Chinese prostitute.
A Macanese family's relative 'Portuguese-ness' allowed access to administrative and political positions from which Chinese were excluded. Marriage with a person of Portuguese 'blood' increased a Macanese family's status of 'Portuguese-ness', while marriage with a 'more Chinese' individual reduced it. This was the core preoccupation for many elitist families including that of Fernando Alves, who married Mei.
In families with less prestige at stake, acceptance of a Church-educated orphan into the family was less of an issue; furthermore, often families that brought such young women in had more Chinese 'blood' or were New Christians. This explains why the Silva family's extended relatives grumbled at the entrance of Deolinda - she did not add any more Portuguese 'blood' to the family. However, because the family was trying to better itself socially‚ Deolinda did prove a lucrative addition. Despite her being Chinese by birth, her education cast her as a Catholic Portuguese. The family, welcomed the added prestige brought to it by accepting this completely Catholic young woman.
Deolinda, in comparison to Mei, represented the perfect model of a marriageable orphan. At initial inspection the Canossian Sisters found her bi-racial features attractive and gave her to a Catholic wet-nurse. Undoubtedly, from the beginning, she was bound for her education in the Casa de Benificência as she later was. As a student and a maid, she worked hard for her acceptance and assimilation in the Macanese community. Although her physical features opened many doors of opportunity at first, her reputation and respectability allowed for her acceptance into the Macanese community. Although at the outset hindered by her status of being a Chinese orphan‚ Deolinda's established respectability did not cause many familial reverberations with her marriage into the Silva family.
The exploitation and constant scrutiny of Deolinda and Mei's reputation was instrumental for their entrance into the Macanese community. Through marriage‚ the community accepted prospective female outsiders based upon their credentials and ties to the community. However‚ to be marriageable‚ a woman must exhibit Catholic values and have good wifely skills. The racial qualities of an individual were overlooked if these standards were met‚ but not entirely. Mei, on the other hand, operated outside the moral boundaries of the community. As an orphan and later a prostitute‚ she violated the society's sexual code of chastity. Her respectability was forever tainted by that reputation when she wished to assimilate by marrying into a 'good' Portuguese family. The social isolation that Mei experience was a structural device which was impossible for her to change or surmount. The society would not allow her to move beyond her reputation.
CONCLUSION
In the first section of this article I illustrated the ambiguous position of Macao concerning its legal and historical statuses. This status of ambiguity allowed it to persevere until today. Out of this history emerged the Macanese community, caught between two dominant groups: the Portuguese who dominate politically and the Chinese who dominate economically and demographically. This unique situation is a result of the historical forces that brought both China and Portugal together.
The Macanese community persevered due to the needs for social cohesion and a sense of social identity. The Macanese considered themselves a numerical minority group in terms of the surrounding Chinese population. They also felt isolated by geographical and psychological distances from the Portuguese. Although both the Macanese and the Portuguese shared the same national identity‚ the two communities remained largely separated due to the rigid power structure and cultural politics within the Colony. In terms of power structure‚ the peninsular Portuguese or reinóis, occupied the upper levels of the administrative and military posts ion the government. They also controlled the socially dominant institutions such as the Church and schools. In terms of actual political control, the Macanese, although largely middle-class, occupied the lowest rungs of the administration. Regarding cultural politics, Macanese culture pervaded multiple levels of social interplay that excluded the reinóis: distinctive cuisine‚ folk traditions (songs‚ riddles‚ folk medicines‚ etc.), and organization of social events (weddings‚ religious festivals‚ etc.). They also inherited the memory of a creole language‚ patoá. Though not a mother tongue in the early twentieth century, it was still used as a marker of social identity; a way of identifying the in-group from the outsider‚ or 'others'.
Despite the psychological differences between the Macanese and Portuguese‚ the Macanese community still held to its 'Portuguese-ness', This follows from the fact that the Macanese community found its position advantageous as a middle-ground for conducting business with the Portuguese and Chinese communities.
"For the Portuguese‚ the inability of the Chinese to 'let them in' is a sign of distance‚ of unfriendliness. Portuguese say all the time that Chinese are incapable of affection‚ and true friendship. The Chinese feel the Portuguese too invasive‚ too uncourteous. In my view, it's a matter of culture, of what is acceptable. That's why Macanese are so different: they understand both cultures‚ they are aware of what is proper with each of them and they have the ability to behave accordingly. ”44
The Portuguese held not only economic ties to Macao‚ but also social ones. In the early periods of Portuguese overseas expansion‚ the administrators of the Empire were concerned with the protection of the highly profitable sea routes, and in turn built several fortified trading posts on the coasts of Africa and Asia. Macao was one of those fortified ports. Since Portugal was not densely populated, a minimum number of people were allocated to the administration and upkeep of the enclaves. Due to the rigours sand dangers of sea travel‚ few women from Portugal ventured to these areas.
In Macao‚ the Portuguese sailors and colonizers married or had relations with the non-Christian locals or women from Malacca‚ much to the chagrin of the administrative authorities. At first, such relationships were not condoned by the Crown nor the Church and moves were made to have the Portuguese men marry women exported from Portugal. This solution proved too unwieldy and costly. In time, marriage to newly Christianized local women became the policy for the creation of a population loyal to Portugal in Macao.
The institution credited for providing brides to the Portuguese was the Santa Casa [da Misericórdia]. It acted as a clearinghouse for brides for the Portuguese in the Far East. The Santa Casa brought in small numbers of orphaned girls and raised them for the specific purpose of marriage to Portuguese men. Due to financial problems‚ the Santa Casa's orphanage closed and was later taken up by the Canossian Sisters.
The Canossian Sisters operated a group of schools and asylums to fight against poverty in the Colony. The institution most renowned in Macao for its education was the College of Santa Clara. There‚ orphaned girls were educated in two separate sections segregated by ethnicity. The Chinese children were raised for the purpose of self-reliance and self-sufficiency in the Chinese community. Some Chinese orphans were selected based upon their physical appearance and behaviour for education as Portuguese. These girls were trained as Portuguese wives and were promptly married or adopted into the local Macanese society.
The ideals of daily life in the Macanese community were heavily ordered around the notions of respectability as advocated by the Catholic Church. If a woman had an immoral reputation‚ then she would be socially alienated and deemed unmarriageable. Her past would be systematically used to deny her the reputation of an honest, respectable and valid individual. Not stated, but commonly known, these rules of 'which sorts of wives were considered respectable' governed a woman's access into Macanese society.
ORAL INTERVIEWS AND CORRESPONDENCE
Dr. Lara Alves*** - Macanese professional.
Dr. Beatriz Basto da Silva - Portuguese historian of Macao.
Dr. Rui Simões - Professor at Universidade de Macau (University of Macao).
Sister Maria*** - Nun.
Mons. Manuel Teixeira - Secular priest and historian of Macao.
Dr. Maria Yu*** - Macanese professional.
Dr. J. Coelho - Macanese Professional.
NOTES
**Translator's note: Portuguese 'asilo' = English 'asylum'. Portuguese 'orfanato' =English 'orphanage'. See: p.102
***Pseudonyms of the interviewed persons.
See: SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY - for the following authors and further titles of authors already mentioned in this article:
AMARO, Ana Maria, Filhos da Terra; AMARO, Ana Maria, Sons and Daughters of the Soil; AMARO‚ Ana Maria‚ Macau: Terra de Contrastes; ANDERSON‚ Benedict; ALMEIDA‚ António de; BARTH, Frederik; BATALHA, Graciete Nogueira, Estado actual do dialecto macaense; BATALHA, Graciete Nogueira; BENCK, Henrique; BERGE‚ Pierre L. van den; CHANDRA, Ricard de Silva; FIGUEIREDO‚ Olivia; FREYRE, Gilberto; JASCHOK, Maria; JORGE‚ Cecília; LIEBKIND, Karmela; LISBOA‚ Henrique C. R.; LJUNGSTEDT, Andrew; MESGRAVIS, Laima; MOSSEN, George L.; PARAI, Daphne; PEARSON‚ M. N.; RAVEAU, François et al; ROOSEN, Eugene; SABOYA, Salvador; TAMAGNINI, Ana Maria Acciaioli; TEIXEIRA, Manuel‚ The Macanese; TEIXEIRA, Manuel‚ The Origin of the Macanese; TURNER, Victor; VASCONCELOS, Ernesto de C. E.
1 I employ the [Portuguese] term 'Macaense' as a label for the creole Portuguese in Macao. This term is used in Portuguese to denote a person of Portuguese ancestry or acculturation from or of Macao. Conventionally‚ people of Portuguese ancestry indentify themselves as 'Macaense' or more generally‚ 'filhos da terra' ('sons and daughters of the soil').
Chinese residents of Macao call themselves, 'Chinese from Macao' or the English term 'Macanese'. 'Macanese' is also used as an adjective to denote anything or anyone from Macao. I use 'Macaense' when speaking of Portuguese-speaking or accultured individuals in Macao and 'Macanese' when referring to the Chinese locals. Several authors in translation do not make this distinction.
2 BOXER, Charles Ralph, Fidalgos in the Far East. 1550-1770. Fact and Fancy in the History of Macao, The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff, 1948.
3 BRAGA, José Maria, The Western pioneers and their discovery of Macao, Macau, Imprensa Nacional, 1949.
4 CABRAL, João de Pina, Personal identity and ethnic ambiguity. Naming practises among the Eurasians of Macao‚ in "Social Anthropology", Paris‚ 2 (2) 1994‚ p.116.
5 MORBEY, Jorge, Macau 1999:O desafio da transição, Lisboa, edição do autor [author's edition]‚ 1990.
6 TEIXEIRA, Manuel, Interview‚ 1995 (Oral communication).
7 This condition continued until the nineteenth century. During this century‚ with improvements in travel‚ men were able to bring wifes from Portugal.
8 The Viceroy of the Portuguese State of India Dom Afonso de Albuquerque attempted to curb these practises by hanging a young nobleman who was having an affair with a Moorish girl as as example.
See: RUSSELL-WOOD‚ A. J. R. ‚ Fidalgos and Philanthropists: The Santa Casa da Misericórdia of Bahia, 1550-1755, Berkeley, University of California Press‚ 1968‚p.174.
9 SUBRAHMANYAM, Sanjay, The Portuguese Empire in Asia, 1500-1700: A political and Economic History, London, Longman, 1993, p.220.
10 Idem.
11 Idem.
12 RUSSEL-WOOD, A. J. R. ‚ op. cit.
13 TEIXEIRA, Manuel, Interview, 1995 (Oral communication).
14 Idem.
15 The Portuguese in Macao were prohibited in their initial three decades of settlement from marrying local Chinese‚ by order of the Mandarin in charge of the area. At a later and unspecified date‚ this prohibition was lifted. Population records show that the date may tentatively have been around 1580.
See: LESSA, Almerindo, A população de Macau: génese e evolução de uma sociedade mestiça, in "Revista de Cultura" [Portuguese Language Edition]‚ Macau, 2 (20) Julho/Setembro [July/September] 1994, pp.97-126, p. 100 -The reason for the importation of wives from overseas and not marrying local Chinese girls was due to "[...] physical‚ economic and social barriers [...]." (My translation).
16 Ibidem., p.65
17 TEIXEIRA, Manuel, Interview, 1995 (Oral communication).
18 CABRAL, João de Pina, op. cit., p.116.
19 Both women identify this Chinese wet-nurse as the recognized mother to Deolinda. Deolinda calls her 'Mama', in Guangdongnese, and Maria calls this woman 'Bisavó' ('great grandmother') in Portuguese.
Compare this later with Senhora [Lady] Rebeca, Deolinda's god-mother.
20 The Santa Clara complex consisted of two sections: The Casa de Benificência (House of Beneficence), where girls were educated as Portuguese; and the Orfanato Chinês (Chinese Orphanage), were children of both sexes were raised as Chinese.
A discussion of the admission standards in presented in the next section.
21 Literally: "She does not [yet] know how to sew properly and she is already talking of marriage. ”
22 MARTINI‚ Edith Jorge‚ The Wind amongst the Ruins: A Childhood in Macau, New York‚ Vintage Press‚ 1993‚ p. 15.
23 Ibidem., p.26.
24 At this point Lara recounted her parents' Chinese conversation. Through this act‚ Lara showed me that she‚ as a bi-cultural person‚ identifies closely with her mother.
25 TEIXEIRA, Manuel‚ As Canossianas na Diocese de Macau: Cem Anos de Apostolado, 1874-1974, Macau, Tipografia da Missão do Padroado, 1974.
26 TEIXEIRA, Manuel, Interview, 1995 (Oral communication).
27 TEIXEIRA, Manuel, 1974, op. cit. , pp.9-10, 15.
28 TEIXEIRA, Manuel‚ 1974, op. cit., pp.172-173.
29 TEIXEIRA, Manuel, Correspondence, 1995 (Unpublished).
30 GANITT, Philip, Charity and Children in Renaissance Florence: the Ospedale degli Innocenti, 1410-1536, Ann Arbor‚ The University of Michigan Press‚ 1980.
31 CABRAL‚ João de Pina - LOURENÇO‚ Nelson‚ Em Terra de Tufões: Dinâmicas da Etnicidade Macaense, Macau, Instituto Cultural de Macau, 1993.
32 YU, Maria, Interview, 1995 (Oral communication).
33 WOLF, Margery, Women and the Family in Rural Taiwan, Stanford, Stanford University Press, 1972.
34 YU, Maria, Interview, 1995 (Oral communication).
35 Idem.
36 MARIA, Sister, Interview, 1995 (Oral communication).
37 TEIXEIRA, Manuel, Interview, 1995 (Oral communication).
38 TEIXEIRA, Manuel, 1974, op. cit., pp.172-173.
39 Ibidem., p.175.
40 It is also important to note that as soon as the Canossian Sisters received a child in the orphanage‚ they registered gave him/her a name. Usually the name was that of a Saint or made from the letters of the Mother Superior's name.
41 TEIXEIRA, Manuel‚ 1974‚ op. cit. ‚ p.2 (my translation).
42 WILSON‚ Peter J. ‚ Crab Antics: The Social Anthropology of English-Speaking Negro Societies of the Caribean, New Haven - London, Yale University Press‚ 1973.
43 A New Christian is a recently Catholicized person.
44 COELHO, J., Correspondence, 1995 (Unpublished).
* Graduate student at the Department of Portuguese and Brazilian Studies, Brown University, Providence, Rhode Island, U.S.A.
start p. 71
end p.