Is it possible that where apartment blocks loom today, farmers once cultivated rice? Welcome to Mong-Há a place where the past whispers beneath the modern surface. This area was once the oldest settlement on the Macao peninsula.
Historians believe that in 1386 more than 500 households arrived here. They came from Fujian province on China’s southeast coast. They built a village with stone gates and walls. The villagers named their new home Mong-Há. In Mandarin Wangxia means facing Xiamen.
For nearly 600 years this rural Chinese village remained untouched. The Portuguese arrived in Macao in 1557. They established a settlement nearby. Conflict arose in 1846 with Governor João Maria Ferreira do Amaral. He wanted to impose Portuguese rule. He expelled Chinese customs officials from Mong-Há. Amaral seized land. He forced local farmers to pay taxes to him instead of Beijing.
Urbanization began in the early 1900s. Fields were filled. Peasant houses were demolished. New roads, schools, factories and housing were built. A military barracks appeared too.
Most of Mong-Há has been lost. Only two temples remain as reminders of this ancient village. These are the Kun Iam Temple and the Lin Fung Temple also known as Lotus Temple. The people who built Mong-Há village were farmers. They chose the rich soil to cultivate rice. This land lay between Guia Hill and Monte to the south. The low-lying hills of Montanha Russa were to the north. The households had five family names. Ho was the most common. For centuries it was a row of peasant homes crisscrossed by lanes and alleys.
Fishermen came later in the Ming dynasty. They migrated to Macao from Guangdong and Fujian. They built the A-Ma Temple. It was dedicated to the goddess of the sea. They asked for her protection before setting out. The temple remains one of the most famous in the city.
In 1744 an official was appointed to reside in Mong-Há. His presence symbolized imperial rule. Everything changed with the arrival of Governor Amaral in 1846. Queen Maria II sent him to Macao. She wanted him to establish Portuguese authority and make it a free port. This was to compete with Hong Kong. Amaral seized Chinese and Portuguese customs houses. He expelled the Chinese customs officials. The officials returned to mainland China with their families. Amaral destroyed imperial symbols. He annexed land between the city walls and the Border Gate.
Amaral instituted eight measures to assert Portuguese sovereignty. One was a road from the Portuguese city to the Border Gate. This forced residents to move ancestral graves. He imposed land leases on the farmers. He claimed they were using Portuguese land and owed taxes to the Portuguese authorities.
On 22 August 1849 a group of villagers intercepted Amaral. They pulled him from his horse. They cut off his head. Today the assassins are seen as patriotic heroes in China.
The murder happened just outside the Lin Fung temple. Mandarin Lin Zexu stayed there in 1839. He urged Portuguese officials to ban opium trading and be neutral. This conflict escalated into war.
In 1866 the Portuguese completed a fort on Mong-Há Hill. Amaral erected the original complex. His fear of Chinese invasion lingered. Cannons pointed toward the mainland. The fort became a strictly military area.
The Kun Iam Temple is famous. China and the US signed their first bilateral treaty here. It was named after Mong-Há in Mandarin. The Treaty of Wangxia was signed on 3 July 1844. The treaty granted the U.S. the same rights as the Treaty of Nanjing.
Commissioner Qiying noted that there were 819 families living in Mong-Há in 1844. An 1887 census recorded a population of 3000. Redevelopment of the area began in the early 1900s. The government sought to increase the urban area and improve sanitary conditions. Expropriation of land began in 1901.
Little remains of Mong-Há today. The Kun Iam temple is one important part. It is the earliest in Macao. It holds images of members of the old families. It is a reminder of the ancient village.