“What stories do these stones hold?” I ask, gesturing towards the monument before us. This is Men and Women. It stands as a silent witness to Macau’s rich and complex history.
Let’s delve into the stories of Men and Women who shaped Macau. The descendants of today’s Macanese people came from Portugal. Their numbers increased with the expansion of Portuguese trade in India and Southeast Asia in the 16th century.
These numbers grew from unions. These were between Portuguese noblemen, traders, fugitives, pirates, and adventurers. Women from Goa, Malaysia, Timor, Japan, and China were also part of this. Portuguese explorers and colonial administrators encouraged these unions. Some historians claim influential clerics and Jesuits condoned them too. Many unions were consensual, but some involved subordinate groups of women.
Elsa Penalva determined that many women came to Macau through kidnapping, purchase, negotiations, or as rescued slaves. Due to a shortage of high-status women, many low-born women were bought or kidnapped. They entered “sexual markets” or married Portuguese men who could afford them. The Jesuits tried to redeem these women in the late 16th century. They hoped to reduce lawlessness by reforming unruly sailors, traders, and adventurers.
British historian C.R. Boxer wrote about the slave trade’s origins. He also wrote about Portugal’s and Macau’s involvement before its 18th-century abolishment. Many women were kidnapped as children. Some came from Japan and other trading ports. Most, however, came from Kwantung province. They were enslaved because of rural poverty in the Pearl River Delta. Europeans were willing to trade human cargo like any other commodity. Women and some men were valued for their cooking skills. Most worked as domestics and servants. Many women were concubines, sometimes with the acceptance of Portuguese wives. Unlike the English, Spanish, or Chinese, illegitimate children in Macau were adopted. They were treated like legitimate offspring.
As the Portuguese empire declined in Asia, inter-racial marriage became an economic and political necessity. Penalva wrote that these women were indispensable. They sustained the marriage and bridal markets. This allowed the survival of families and households of the Portuguese and the growing “Luso-Asian” population.
In 1834, Swedish historian Sir Andrew Ljunstedt asserted that the first Portuguese colonialists in India were hardened criminals. They should have been in galleys. Instead, they were sent on royal fleets to serve in India. In the 17th century, many men seized opportunities to enrich themselves. Many started as pirates and smugglers. The most successful became traders and merchants.
Eventually, some settled in Macau. Men of “more correct morals” joined them. This happened when the Chinese Emperor expelled all Europeans from Canton in 1757. Ljunstedt concluded that those who had reluctantly embraced vice were recalled to social life by good example. The Church and the Society of Jesus encouraged marriage and families.
Portuguese historian Mantalto de Jesus wrote in 1902. He noted that some men came from the “best families in India”. They sought women with substantial dowries. Boxer mentioned the attraction of colonial men to “Órfãs del Rei” or orphans of the king. These Portuguese women had dowries provided by the crown. This was to prevent inter-racial relationships. As merchant families grew wealthy through trade with China, they offered dowries regardless of race. This lessened the effect of royal stipends.
Peter Mundy, an officer, described the opulence of Macau’s merchant class. He also noted the finery worn by Macau’s women. This included Captain-Major Antonio de Oliveira Aranha’s two Eurasian daughters. De Jesus wrote that they became the mothers of a new “mixed but legitimate and Christian race”.
In 1583, Macau had 9,500 residents. A century later, it had up to 15,000. By the 19th century, the population stabilized at about 30,000.
In 1602, an inscription on a cornerstone of St. Paul’s Church read: “VIRGINI MAGNE MATRI, CIVITAS MACAENSIS LUBENS, POSUIT AN.” It translates to: “Great Virgin Mother, the Macanese community dedicates this to you.”
The survival of this new race depended on trade with China. They found their home in Macau.
Boxer described the people of Macau by invoking Dryden’s poetic line: “…a headstrong, moody, murmuring race as ever tried the extent and stretch of grace”.
These men and women shaped Macau’s identity. They demonstrated determination and resilience. They leveraged opportunities. They faced external dangers and internal conflicts. They created a unique society.