1555: Macau’s Birth Certificate

78 Vol. 4, No. 4, October 2007 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流 History & Culture u 历史与文化 “... the wealth of Macau is in the sea, the entire city lives off it, no other reliable goods are there but those brought by the wind and the tides, if they falter, everything falters ... ” Luís da Gama, S. J. (1610-1672) Macau, December 15th, 1664 ONE THOUSAND Five Hundred and Fifty Five. In China, Zhongguo/The Middle Kingdom, it is the thirty third year of the “Excellent Order”/Jiajing of the Shining Dynasty, the Ming. Ming China is the great demographic pole of the planet with 180 to 230 million inhabitants. In the midsixteenth century, the coastal provinces of the South, where the international maritime trade is concentrated, weigh almost 30 million people (Guangdong, circa 7.5 million; Fujian, circa 6 million, and Zhejiang circa 15 million). Demographically, both Japan and Southeast Asia are worth each 15 to 18 million inhabitants at the time. Also in the sixteenth century, China is the centre of civilisation in East Asia, with a growing influence in Southeast Asia. It is the largest manufacturing and trading pole of that Asian world. Manufactured goods are imperially and state produced, but there are as well privately, locally and home produced goods, chiefly silk, cotton, porcelain, all kinds of furniture and ware, paper and printed books, especially in xylographic print. The Chinese currency is the standard in international trading, from Nanyang to Japan and Korea. The so called “boxes”, the main ancient currency of the Ming, from the end of fourteenth to the beginning of the fifteenth century, are also the internal currency in certain Asian economies, such as Ryukyu and the kingdoms of Anam, and particularly in the Japanese economy. Notwithstanding its decisive weight in all of the import and export trade of Southeast and East Asia—from pepper and sandalwood, amber and sappan,(1) to silk and porcelain, silver, gold, and copper—China endures a severe fiscal and monetary crisis. Since 1430-1450, the monetary system is based upon a silver standard, but silver, minted or not, is insufficient to supply demand. Since the decade of 1530, the imperial treasury’s monetary silver reserves are exhausted. In 1549, a fiscal reform is once again attempted, albeit to no avail. Private currencies and counterfeit currency, preferentially destined to Japan and Southeast Asia, are on the rise, especially in the Southern provinces of Guangdong and Fujian. The end of trade relations with Japan, in 1549, puts a further strain on the fiscalmonetary problem of the state and brings on increasing pressure from private or semi-official international commerce in the coastal provinces of the South. For twelve years, Jiajing (1507-1566) has been ceding a part of his own fiscal revenue for military expenses along the terrestrial and maritime borders, but this is often insufficient even to ensure garrisons’ payments. From 1545-1550 onwards, the North witnesses a growing Mongolian military pressure. In 1548, the Mongolians defeat the imperial army at Huailai, a one day journey from the capital Beijing, which comes under siege in October 1550. All 1. Translator’s note: a dye extracted from the tree Caesalpinia sappan. 79 第四卷第四期2007 年10 月 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流化 t 历史与文 History & Culture ……澳门的财富在海里， 全城都靠海为生。除风浪 所带来的东西以外，别无 其他稳定的生计来源。海 如有不虞，一切就都成问 题…… 鲁伊斯·达·加·伽马 神父( 1610-1672 年) 1664 年 12 月 15 日于澳门 1555 年，时值大明嘉靖三十三 年。明朝的中国，是当时世 界上人口最多的地方，有居 民一亿八千万1至二亿三千万。十 六世纪中叶，作为国际水上贸易主 要集中地的中国南部沿海城市，其 人口就已经达到了三千万(广东约 七百五十万，福建大概六百万，浙 江近一千五百万)。而当时日本和 整个东南亚的人口才分别为一千五 百万和一千八百万。 十六世纪的中国同时也是东 亚文明的中心，其在东南亚的重要 性也在日益增加。中国当时是整个 亚洲世界的手工制造及商业中心。 有皇家和官立的作坊，也有私人和 当地的作坊及手工作坊。它们生产 丝绸、棉花、瓷器、各种各样的家 具和用具，纸张、书籍，尤其是木 刻书。 中国的银钱是当时南洋、日 本及朝鲜海域国际贸易中的本位货 币。中国的铜板，尤其是十四世纪 末、十五世纪初明朝的铜板，也是 如琉球、安南，尤其是日本等一些 亚洲国家中通用的货币。 当时在胡椒、檀香、龙涎 香、苏木(染料植物)、丝绸、瓷 器、银、金及铜等货物的贸易上， 在东南亚及东亚的进出口中占有决 定性比重的中国，遇到了严重的 财政与货币危机。从 1430-1450 年 Luís Filipe Barreto l 白烈度 1555: Macau’s Birth Certificate 1555年：澳门的出生证 Vol. 4, No. 4, October 2007 80 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流 History & Culture u 历史与文化 throughout the decades of 1550 and 1560, the Northern terrestrial border is subject to successive, annual Mongolian attacks. The wealthy coastal provinces of the South are prey to violent, continuous attacks by pirates and smugglers, called Wakou, in the years of 1554, 1555, 1556, until circa 1560. These are provinces which show an increasing difficulty in bearing supplementary taxes and special charges to cover for official military campaigns. Campaigns such as Zhu Wan’s, in the coastal defence of Fujian and Zhejiang against piracy, in the years 1547-1550, but also against private international maritime commerce, which is one of the pillars of the very wealth of these provinces. 1555, 1554, 1553. In this context of the beginning of the mid sixteenth century, the Portuguese, the Folangji, merchants, nobility from the official structure of the Estado da Índia (State of India), merchantnoblemen and Jesuit missionaries, have a certain measure of accurate knowledge regarding the Chinese and Sino-Japanese realities, shown, as we shall see below, in the letter written by Luís Fróis S. J., from Malacca to Goa, on December 1 1555. In that year—in those last two years—new mercantile opportunities and possibilities, possible advancements in Sino-Portuguese partnerships, are in the air. The first Portuguese document written in Macau, where the term Amacau appears for the first time, is a letter of the merchant Fernão Mendes Pinto, at the time also a novice Jesuit brother. Letter of November 20 1555, to the rector of the Goa College: “From Lampacau, the harbour were we are staying, I have arrived today in Amacau, which is a further six leagues ahead, and where I met father Master Belchior, who reached here from Canton, where he had been for twenty five days to ransom Mateus, who is a nobleman, and another man, from the city’s prison, where they had been captive for six years, at the cost of one thousand tael, which amounts to one thousand five hundred cruzados,(2) and also to see the city, the ways of the people and the land, and work in order to ascertain whether it would be possible to leave behind brother Estevão de Góis to learn the language….”. (3) In 1555, Macau is a port and a meeting point for the Portuguese on their way to or from Canton, which is one day and one night away via Soma or Lantea, through the Sikian. This brief stay in Haojing, leading to the Portuguese birth certificate of Macau, takes place as a call on the sea route to Canton and is part of a voyage in which the merchant of Patane (Pattani) and of the China Seas heads from Goa to Japan, to the port of Funai in the “kingdom” of Bungo. This is a mercantile initiative, in which Fernão Mendes Pinto has invested part of his personal funds, around 3,000 to 4,000 cruzados from an estimated total of at least 7,000 to 10,000 cruzados at the time. But it is also a political initiative, since Mendes Pinto travels in the capacity of ambassador of the Estado da Índia, of Vice-Roy Dom Afonso de Noronha, to the Daimio of Bungo, Otomo Yoshihige. Finally, his is also an evangelical mission. The merchant, a novice brother, 2. Translator’s note: Portuguese coin, originally of gold, later of silver, roughly equivalent to 4 shillings in the seventeenth century. 3. “Carta de Fernão Mendes Pinto ao Pe. Baltasar Dias S.J., Macau, 20 de Novembro de 1555” [Letter of Fernão Mendes Pinto to Father Baltasar Dias S.J., November 20th, 1555], org. by Rui Loureiro—Em busca das origens de Macau, Antologia Documental [In Search of Macau’s Origins, Documental Anthology, Lisbon, Ministry of Education], 1996, p. 68. 81 第四卷第四期2007 年10 月 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流化 t 历史与文 History & Culture 起，货币系统即以银本位为基础， 或是银币或是银条，但均不能满足 需要。从十六世纪三十年代开始， 皇家国库所储存的银子已经开始短 缺。 1549 年，曾搞过一次财政改 革，但是未有成效。于是私钱及假 钱开始泛滥，在广东和福建尤烈。 它们的首选地点是流往日本和东 南亚。 由于 1549 年同日本正式贸易关 系的结束，国家的税收-货币问题进 一步严重，因而增加了南部沿海省 份私人或半官方国际贸易的压力。 嘉靖皇帝( 1507-566 年)持续 12 年将自己税收的一部分转让出来， 用于支付陆疆和海疆的军事费用， 但这常常不够，有时甚至连士兵的 军饷都发不出来。 从 1545-1550 年开始，蒙古人 在北边的军事压力越来越大。 1548 年，蒙古人在距离明朝首都北京只 有一天路程的怀来打败了明军。 1550 年 10 月围困北京。在整个 5060 年代，蒙古人每年进袭北疆。南 方沿海富庶的省份也受到了被称为 倭寇的海盗和走私份子的猛烈而持 续的袭击。 1554 年、 1555 年、 1556 年，直至 1560 年接连不断。这些 省份当时已经很难承受用于军事行 动开支的赋税。这些军事行动包括 1547-1550 年期间朱纨所发动的保卫 福建和浙江海疆的战役，其主要对 象是海盗，同时也镇压当时的私人 国际海上贸易，然而这正是这些省 份财富的根基。 在十六世纪中叶初年的 1555 年、 1554 年和 1553 年，当时被称 为“佛郎机”的葡萄牙人，包括商 人、葡属印度政权的贵族、经商的 贵族及耶稣会传教士，已经对中国 的实际情况，对中日之间的关系有 了准确的了解。我们在下面将看到 弗洛伊斯神父于 1555 年 12 月 1 日从 马六甲写往果阿的一封信中有所反 应。是年岁尾，已经出现了新的商 业机会和可能性，很有可能会形成 中国人和葡萄牙人的伙伴关系。 澳门第一份以葡萄牙文撰写， 而且出现了“亚马港”一名的文献 是由平托这个商人书写的一封信。 他当时已是耶稣会的初修修士。此 信的落款是 1555 年 12 月 20 日，收信 人是果阿耶稣会学院的院长。 “今天，我从我们驻泊的浪 白滘来到了亚马港。亚马港在浪 白滘前方六里格多处。在那里我 遇到了梅尔乔尔神甫。他从广州来 此。二十五天前，他去广州洽赎贵 族马特乌斯·德·布里托及另一已 在广州城狱中关押了六年的人。共 耗费白银千两，约合一千五百科鲁 札多。此行顺便浏览城市，了解一 下地理人情，看看是否可以将挨斯 特万·戈伊斯修士留在当地学习语 言，以备后用。” (1) 1555 年澳门已经开辟为港口， 同时也是葡萄牙人来回广州的集合 点。当时乘索马船或龙头划沿西江 只需一天一夜便可到达广州。 在“蚝镜”逗留的时间简短， 但谱写下了澳门的葡萄牙语出生 1. 〈平托致迪亚斯神父函，澳门， 1555 年 11 月 20 日〉，载于洛 瑞罗《澳门寻根》，里斯本，教育部， 1996 年，第 68 页。 Vol. 4, No. 4, October 2007 82 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流 History & Culture u 历史与文化 finances the expedition and accompanies the head of the Jesuits in Asia, viceprovincial Melchior Nunes Barreto, S. J. Melchior Nunes Barreto leads the evangelical mission along with ten other members, amongst which a Japanese interpreter and Luís Fróis S. J., who will remain in Malacca. The expedition carries an extensive library to Japan, including copies of works by Plato, Aristotle, Ptolemy, St Augustine, and St Thomas Aquinas, among other. The Portuguese give the name Macau to Haojing (Oyster Mirror). A small fishing area, mostly for oysters and crab, and a harbour at the mouth of the “Canton river”, as it is called in the parlance of the sixteenth century, Haojing is inhabited regularly since the end of the fourteenth or beginning of the fifteenth century—at least since the time of the construction of the Temple to the goddess Má-Kó—by migrants and a core of residents, very likely Fujianese or Cantonese. At the beginning of the sixteenth century, in the years of 1509 to 15121515, from information available in Malacca in the Chinese circles linked to the Nanyang trade, the Portuguese hear, probably for the first time, references to Haojing (Hou Keng, in Cantonese). Tomé Pires, who wrote down the essence of that information accumulated in Malacca mentions that “... beyond the port of Canton there is another port called Oquem three marching days away by land and one day and one night by sea. That port belongs to the léquios and other nations...” (4) It is very likely that Tomé Pires’ Oquem, three days away by land and one night and one day by sea from Canton, is the Cantonese Haocheng/ Haojing. I say likely because, in the Suma Oriental, the data regarding this matter lies somehow muddled and unclear. Oquem is a good, albeit rather secondary, port of call en route to the main port of Canton, just a seasonal landing to support the long haul Asian commerce, used by the léquios and others for trading between Southeast Asia and the China Seas. The Léquios, or Ryukyu Islands, Liuqiu in Chinese, from whence the Portuguese term originates, are a kingdom unified by Sho Hashi in 1429. With trade under royal monopoly and its main harbour in Naha, it reaches the apex of maritime and mercantile development in the reign of Sho-Shin (1477-1526), exactly at the time of the establishment, collection and writing down of the information regarding Oquem by Tomé Pires. The kingdom of Ryukyu/Liuqiu pays tribute to China in the framework of official commerce, maintaining also official tributary commercial relations with the South of Japan, Quiuxu. In China, the main partner is Fujian. Even before the unification, at least since 1393, there exists an active Fujianese community based in Okinawa. The léquios’ navigation routes follow the coasts of Fujian and Guangdong in their travels to and from the Malaysian peninsula and the island world of Nanyang. Since the years spanning 1411 to 1425, the léquios are one of the key intermediaries in the commerce from Southeast Asian seas to the Seas of China, Japan, and Korea. The 4. A Suma Oriental de Tomé Pires e o Livro de Francisco Rodrigues [The Suma Oriental of Tomé Pires and the Book of Francisco Rodrigues], A. Cortesão ed., Coimbra, [University Press], 1978, book IV. Pp. 368-369. 83 第四卷第四期2007 年10 月 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流化 t 历史与文 History & Culture 证。澳门当时是来回广州水路的 中继站，同时也是北大年和中国沿 海商人从果阿前往日本的丰后“王 国”的港口府内的落脚点。 当时平托将其部分资金，约三 千到四千科鲁扎多 cruzados ，投资 于这一贸易。据估计，他当时的资 产最少达到七千至一万科鲁扎多。 同时他还参与政治活动。他当时的 身份是由葡属印度总督诺罗尼亚派 往丰后大名大友义镇的使节。 最后，他还有传教的使命。 这位已经是耶稣会初修修士的商 人为当时耶稣会在亚洲的首领巴 雷多副省会长的活动出资，并伴 随其左右。 巴雷多神父率领一个包括一名 日本翻译和后来留在马六甲的弗洛伊 斯在内的、十几人组成的传教团，带 了大量书籍，包括柏拉图、阿里士多 德、托勒密、聖奧古斯定和聖托馬 斯·德·阿基諾等的著作前往日本。 当时葡萄牙人称“蚝镜”为 亚马港。“蚝镜”是一个小小的 渔村，尤其盛产鲜蚝和螃蟹。它 是十六世纪被称为“广州江”的 珠江入海处的一个港口。十四世 纪或十五世纪初起，始有常住居 民。当时已经有福建人和广东人 移民的村落。这至少从马阁庙修 建起便开始了。 在十六世纪初，尤其是 1509 年至 1512-1511 年之间，当时在马 六甲，通过与南洋贸易有关的华人 的渠道，葡萄牙人或许第一次听到 了“蚝镜”这个名字。“蚝镜”在 广州话中的发音是 Hou Keng 。 皮莱资将在马六甲搜集到的的 主要情报用文字记载了下来。他当 时这样写到：“除广州港外，尙有 一港名‘ Oquem ’。陆程 3 天，水路 Anonymous Portuguese map of the Far East (from the Golf of Siam to Japan), c. 1560, enclosed in the Atlas published in João de Lisboa´s Livro de Marinharia. Arquivo Nacional da Torre do Tombo, Lisbon. From Macau: Cartografi a do Encontro OcidenteOriente, Macau, Comissão Territorial Para as Comemorações dos Descobrimentos Portugueses, [1994], p. 90. Vol. 4, No. 4, October 2007 84 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流 History & Culture u 历史与文化 information collected in Malacca and transmitted, at the onset of the sixteenth century, through the Suma Oriental affords a glimpse of Haojing at the time as a possible port of call, near Canton, on the seaways which link Ryukyu and Fujian to Nanyang, and in articulation with another intermediary from Quiuxu (South of Japan). The first document written in Portuguese, in Haojing/Macau, appears around forty years afterwards, on November 1555. Haojing is now also Macau, as the Portuguese did not adopt the Cantonese phonetisation Oquem (Oyster Mirror), which they had heard first, but rather the Fujianese expression Má Kó Cau (cove/bay of the ancestral grandmother). The name Macau hints at the fact that the partnerships of Portuguese merchants and shipping entrepreneurs with the Fujianese are, at the time, as strong as, or perhaps stronger, than with the Cantonese communities and groups. It hints at that which will be a constant throughout the Ming period: a substantial weight in Macau of both Fujianese and Cantonese concerns and powers, a significant presence among the Chinese population of Haojing/Macau of a large community of “chincheos” (Fujianese) which, in 1627, Portuguese sources consider as predominant. (5) This context of the birth of Macau —at least of the visible and specifically named birth, in the Portuguese sources— as a port of call on the Japan Route in the framework of an expedition and partnership that is simultaneously mercantile, political and missionary doesn’t certainly take place at random. Who are these two Portuguese who met in Macau on November 20 1555? First of all, they are two prominent characters of the mercantile and Jesuit worlds, as well as two outstanding figures of the intellectual culture of the sixteenth century. Fernão Mendes Pinto was born in the town of Montemor-o-Velho, around the years of 1509-1511, or even of 1514. On March 11 1537 he departs to Asia. During the first two years he lived as a soldier in the West Indian Ocean (Goa, Diu, Ormuz) and, from 1539 (Malacca) through 1557, as a merchant, mainly in Southeast Asia (Patane, Siam, Pegu) and Eastern Asia (in the China and Japan Seas). Mendes Pinto’s life as an adventurermerchant must have began around the years of 1539-1540. In the 40s and 50s of the sixteenth century, Malacca is the centre of Portuguese, state controlled mercantile activities in the East Indian Ocean and the Seas of China, as well as the pole for Portuguese private trade activities, particularly by noblemen from the structure of the Estado da Índia. Patane, a kingdom tributary to Siam (Ayuthia), located on the Eastern Coast of the Malaysian Peninsula, is a strategic port for Malaysian and Chinese merchants, and also a region that exports and produces pepper. It should be kept in mind that, since the fifteenth century, China consumes more than half of the pepper produced in Southeast Asia. 5. Cf. “Carta Ânua do Colégio de Macau, escrita de ‘Machaoporto da China’, aos 14 de Novembro de 1627” [Annual Letter of the College of Macau, written from “Macau port of China”, November 14th, 1627], in Cartas Ânuas do Colégio de Macau (1594-1627) [Anual Letters of the College of Macau (1594-1627) ], org. J. Paulo Oliveira e Costa, Macau, Macau Foundation, 1999, p. 270. 85 第四卷第四期2007 年10 月 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流化 t 历史与文 History & Culture 昼夜可至。此为琉球人及其它国家 使用的港口。” (2) 皮莱资笔下的沿广东海面陆程 3 天，水路昼夜可至的“ Oquem ”很 有可能便是广州话的 Hou Keng 。我使 用可能一词是因为《东方简志》这 本书中记载的有关资料有所混淆。 “蚝镜”当时是前往主要港口 广州的一个次要的，但却优良的港 口。它是琉球人及其它在中国沿海 经商的东南亚人的亚洲长途贸易的 一个主要中继港。 Ryukyu/Liuqiu 王国，汉语 称作“琉球”，葡萄牙语中 的“ Léquios ”由此得名。 1429 年， 尚巴志统一了这个国家，将整个贸 易控制在王家手中，其主要港口 位于那覇。在尚真统治期间( 14741526 年)，琉球的海外贸易发展到 了顶峰。这正是皮莱资搜集和撰写 关于“蚝镜”情况的时代。 当时琉球国在官方贸易方面 属中国的朝贡国，同时也向日本南 方的九洲进贡。他们在中国的主要 贸易伙伴是福建。至少从 1393 年开 始，在琉球国统一前，在冲绳就有 了一个非常活跃的福建人社团。琉 球人沿着福建和广东的海岸航行， 往返于马来半岛和南洋群岛之间。 在 1411 年至 1425 年期间，琉 球人是当时东南亚海域向中国、日 本和朝鲜海域进行贸易的关键中介 人。从十六世纪初在马六甲搜集得 到，并通过《东方简志》的记载 传播下来的资料看，当时的“蚝 镜”很有可能是一个靠近广州的中 继港口，它连接了从琉球和福建前 往南洋的海道，同时又作为中继站 连接了日本南部的九洲。 大约四十年后，于 1555 年 11 月 20 日，在“蚝镜”/亚马港出 现了第一份葡语文献。现在“蚝 镜”也被称为亚马港。葡萄牙人 没有采用他们一开始听到的粤语 发音的 Oquem ，而是采用了闽语中 的“马阁澳”，意为妈祖澳。 澳门的名称表明当时葡萄牙 商人和船主同福建人结成的贸易 伙伴关系等同于、或甚至强似于 其与广东人之间的关系。这说明 整个明朝，在澳门既有福建人的利 益和势力，又有广东人的利益和势 力。“蚝镜”/亚马港华人中主要 社团之一便是一个巨大的福建人社 团。 1627 年的葡萄牙文献显示福建 人占大多数。 (3) 在葡萄牙文献中，澳门产生 的背景至少是个一目了然的过程， 它既看得见，又有具体名称。它被 认为是在商业、政治及传教航行和 伙伴关系方面，向日本航行的基地 港。这绝非出于偶然。 1555 年 12 月 20 日在澳门的那 两个葡萄牙人是谁呢？首先他们是 当时商人和耶稣会中的佼佼者，同 时又是 16 世纪知识文化的名人。 平托约于 1509 年或 1511 年， 甚至是 1514 年出生于旧蒙特穆尔。 1537 年 3 月 11 日启程来亚洲。刚到 2. 阿尔曼多·科尔特藏《托梅·皮雷斯的〈东方简志〉及弗 朗西斯科·罗德里格斯书》，科英布拉，大学印刷所， 1978 年，卷 1 ，第 368-369 页。 3. 请见〈澳门学院年报， 1627 年 11 月 14 日写于“中国港口澳 门”〉，载于科斯达主编《澳门学院年报( 1594-1627 )》，澳 门，澳门基金会， 1999 年，第 270 页。 Vol. 4, No. 4, October 2007 86 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流 History & Culture u 历史与文化 In the fifteenth century, Patane is a Malaysian Islamic kingdom tributary to Ayuthia, and it has been on the way to recovering positions in regional trade from at least 1468-1469. From 1511, Islamic, Léquios, and Javanese merchants ousted from Malacca will further boost Pantane’s international trade, in which the Portuguese start to participate in 1518. Throughout the sixteenth century, Patane is one of the most developed secondary ports of Southeast Asia on the routes linking the Malaysian world to the Chinese communities of South-eastern Asia, and to the China Seas. Chinese “boxes” are the standard currency, for Patane will only have its own currency in the seventeenth century. Patane is a mercantile city-state for the exporting of pepper, rice, and cotton to China. In the 40s and 50s of the sixteenth century, for Patane’s Portuguese community in association, but also in competition with Malacca (Fernão Mendes Pinto has a brother there, Álvaro Mendes), that city remains as the capital of their private trading in the seas and coasts of South-eastern Asia and China. In Patane, (Macau will later have a Patane, a quarter whose residents came from or were connected to that port), a city-state of around 50,000 inhabitants, there is a periodical concentration of around 300 Portuguese. Fernão Mendes Pinto is one of them. These are merchants linked to the private trade of pepper, clove, mace, nutmeg, sappan, amber, rice, cotton, silk, porcelain, camphor, musk, china-wood, rhubarb, precious metals, Chinese currency, and fire weapons; products which are mainly aimed at the coastal markets of South China or, from there, at those of Southeast Asia. Between 1541 and 1543, Fernão Mendes Pinto lives in Martabão, in the kingdom of Pegu, serving in the king’s army as a merchant-gunman. By 1543, at the latest, he travels to China for the first time and becomes involved in the commerce networks linking Siam, Pegu, China and Japan. Fernão Mendes Pinto was in Japan at least four times, staying in between the trips to and from the coast of China, trading in the triangular commerce of Southeast Asia, China, and Japan. In the mid sixteenth century, Fernão Mendes Pinto is one of the grand Portuguese merchants in Asia. The Jesuit Francisco Xavier, in a letter of 1552 to King João III of Portugal, defines Fernão Mendes Pinto as a “wealthy man” and immediately further: “... Guilherme Pereira and Diogo Pereira are two brothers, rather rich and wealthy men…”. (6) Besides being a wealthy merchant, Fernão Mendes Pinto is one of the greatest figures of Portuguese Renaissance culture due to his Cartas (Letters) and Peregrinação (Pilgrimage), of which the latter was written between the years of 1568 and 1578, and published for the first time in Lisbon in 1614 to become one of the Portuguese works of deepest impact in Europe during the seventeenth century. It is quite relevant that it was Fernão Mendes Pinto, an Asiatised merchantcum-man-of-letters—certainly the greatest among them—to write Macau’s birth certificate. Macau is also born from the interests of a group of elite 6. “Carta de Fancisco Xavier S. J. para D. João III de Cochim a 31 de Janeiro de 1552” [Letter of Francisco Xavier S.J. to King João III, from Cochin on January 31st, 1552], in Epistolae S. Francisci Xaverii aliquae eis scripta, org. G. Schurhammer and I. Wicki, Rome. MISI, 1996, tome II, pp. 304-305. 93 第四卷第四期2007 年10 月 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流化 t 历史与文 History & Culture 这封信是耶稣会士基于切身经 历而写出的第一份关于中国的准确 情报。 “……中国共有十三个省份 或王国。有一主要城市为省会， 管辖全境。……官吏、平民个个 平和。不见有人携带武器。华人喜 爱吃喝，肉欲横流。我很想留在中 国……据了解到的情况，华人洞达 事理。……关于中国的情况，我不 再着墨，否则难以收笔。……” (9) 1555 年这封信最重要的一点 是它当时已经筹划了由副省长神 父提出的开教中国可能的战略计 划。“……根据我在当地获得的经 验，我认为，要使她皈依可有两个 途径……” (10) 一种选择是通过北京的官方 正式外交途径与中国中央政府接 触；另外一种是采取非正式的办 法：“两位耶稣会神父在广州，还 有他们的翻译……”。但是后来的 情况证实这位副省会长确实有战略 眼光。 1555 年 11 月，平托和梅尔乔 而·巴雷托正在澳门。从 1555 年 7 月到 1556 年 7 月，他们转辗于广东 的数个泊口，尤其是浪白滘和澳门 之间。 1555 年的两信中有关上川、 浪白滘和澳门的信息虽然不多，但 却非常准确和宝贵。 葡萄牙商人的大船分别停泊和 航行于这三个岛屿之间。有来自日 本的船只，如由达伽马担任船长的 船，自平户而来，在澳门暂泊。或 许阿拉贡的中国式帆船也在澳门停 靠过。然后由此前往南洋。 早期的两处葡萄牙人居留地 似乎是葡萄牙人同中国商人汇集之 地。“……这上川岛，在那里同华人 交易……(第 34v 页)”梅尔乔而·巴 雷托这样说，但平托指出：“……浪 白滘，在那里贸易 ……” 这三百多葡萄牙人都是水手、 商人、船主、商业资本家、贵族、 商贩和水手，现在又加上耶稣会传 教士。他们都集中在前往广州航路 上的泊口里，进行约一个月的交 易。澳门是作为往返广州的必由之 路而出现的。 当时葡萄牙人在广州市场出 售的货物，明确提到过的有胡椒、 日本白银和龙涎香。“……我带去 了一些龙涎香。中国国王六年来寻 觅此物。重赏为他带来该种货物的 人，……” (11) 上川现在似乎成了南洋方向 来船的目的港及中继港。直到 1553 年年底它还是日本来船最经常停留 的地点。 (12) 澳门成为最新的前往广 州的必经之路，而浪白滘尽管不是 日本白银运达中国与船舶停留的 唯一港口，却是一个中枢港口(平 托语)。 1555 年末，梅尔乔而·巴 雷托来往于浪白滘和澳门，他声 称：“在我们停泊的港口，仅一 条来自日本的大船便装运了三万多 9. 〈巴雷多致果阿耶稣会会士函，浪白滘/澳门， 1555 年 11 月 23 日〉，载于《耶稣会神父及修士日本及中国来函》，前引 书，埃武腊， 1598 年，第 32-37 页。 10. 同上，第 35v 页。 11. 同上，第 36 页。 12. 请见〈阿尔卡索瓦致葡萄牙耶稣会修士函，果阿， 1554 年〉， 载于《耶稣会神父及修士日本及中国来函……， 1549 年至 1580 年》，埃武腊， 1598 年，影印再版，马雅，卡斯托利瓦 出版社， 1997 年，卷一，第 27 及 28 页。 Vol. 4, No. 4, October 2007 94 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流 History & Culture u 历史与文化 Diogo Pereira is one of the founders of Macau. A mixed blood casado (19) from Goa, Diogo Pereira is, very possibly, son of an Indian mother and Tristão Pereira, who arrived in India in 1509. The LusoIndian Diogo Pereira and his brother Guilherme Pereira are casados from Goa, as well as two of the most prestigious and wealthy figures of Portuguese Goa. Diogo Pereira is a powerful merchant and shipping entrepreneur who, since the end of the decade of 1540, is the owner of one of the largest ships, the Santa Cruz, developing his concerns and activities in the region of Malacca, Siam, the South China Coast, and the South of Japan. What is Diogo Pereira specifically doing in Lampacau and Macau in 1555? We know that on board his ship there is certainly pepper hauled from Sunda to Guangzhou (Canton), but we also know that: “... from Sunda came to China, on board the ship of Diogo Pereira, eight Japanese...”.(20) According to Chinese documents, 1555 is the year in which we find for the first time Japanese merchants dressed in Portuguese garb, and in association with Portuguese traders, in the commercial thoroughfares of Canton. An informal Luso-Sino-Japanese partnership starts to take shape in the sea and business routes which lead to Canton and, in 1555, Macau is the port and meeting point of the Portuguese plying the Canton route. This partnership developed in the coasts of Fujian, however, by the midsixteenth century, it shifts to the coasts of Guangdong. The merchant who brings eight Japanese partners to Canton in 1555 is Diogo Pereira. In 1555, the rich and erudite merchant Fernão Mendes Pinto writes Macau’s birth certificate. In 1555 the immensely wealthy merchant Diogo Pereira is bringing to life the Chinese-Portuguese-Japanese trade of Japanese silver for Canton silk, one of the pillars of Macau’s sustenance during the Ming period. In 1555, Macau is being born, or rather, the international and multicultural dimension of Haojing, to which we call Macau, is being born. At the time it is simply a port for the trade of Southeast Asian pepper and Japanese silver, where some ships come to winter. According to father Gregório Gonçalves, in a report of circa 1570, the harbour is part of a triangular network of ports in Sanchuan, Lampacau, Macau. Macau is one of the ports of the islands of Canton, in the growing and regular international commerce of Nanyang, increasingly less tributary, although fiscally integrated, which from the middle of the 1530 decade boosts the accelerated mercantile, manufacturing, and financial growth of the province of Guangdong/Guanxi. By the latest in 1553 and 1555, Portuguese tradesmen call in Macau on the sea routes linking Nanyang, Japan, and Canton. In 1555, among the wealthy and very wealthy Portuguese merchants in the area of Macau there are Mendes Pinto, Luís de Almeida, Gil de Góis, Diogo Pereira. The zone is mentioned under the name of “Oquem” both in the 19. Translator’s note: In Portuguese Asia, the term casado (lit. married) refers to a male individual settler, Portuguese or of mixed blood, wedded to a baptised indigenous or to a mestizo woman, in accordance with the official miscegenation policy in force throughout Portuguese settlements in Asia in the sixteenth century. 20. “Carta de Luís Fróis aos jesuítas de Goa, Malaca, 7 de Janeiro de 1556” [Letter of Luís de Fróis to the Jesuits of Goa, Malacca, January 7th, 1556] in Documentos del Japon 1547-1557, ed. Juan Ruiz-deMedina, Rome, IHCI, 1990, p. 649. 95 第四卷第四期2007 年10 月 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流化 t 历史与文 History & Culture 公担胡椒及价値十万科鲁札多的白 银。这些货物不消一个月便销售一 空，原因是允许他们将货物从广州 运来……。” (13) 同时在 1555 年至 1556 年之间， 在广东诸岛之间航行并在浪白滘过 冬的有迪奥戈·佩雷拉及其家族商 行的成员，如其妹夫戈伊斯及其子 弗朗西斯克·佩雷拉。迪奥戈·佩 雷拉这个人，我们前面已经看到， 圣方济各·沙勿略于 1552 年 1 月 31 日的信说他“腰缠万贯”。 迪奥戈·佩雷拉是澳门的创始 人之一。值得指出的是，他是一个 混血儿，而且在果阿有家室。其母 很有可能是印度妇女，其父是 1509 年抵达印度的特里斯滕·佩雷拉。 迪奥戈·佩雷拉这位葡-印混血儿 及其兄弟吉尔梅·佩雷拉在果阿都 有家室。他们是果阿最有名望、最 富有的人士之一。 迪奥戈·佩雷拉是个大商人和 大船主。从四十年代末开始，便拥 有当时最大的船舶当中的一艘，名 为“圣十字”号。他的商业利益与 活动遍及马六甲、暹罗、中国南部 沿海及日本南部。 迪奥戈·佩雷拉于 1555 年在 浪白滘和澳门具体做什么？我们 知道，当时他的大船上肯定载有 销往广州的胡椒，同时我们也知 道：“……有 8 个日本人乘座迪 奥戈·佩雷拉的大船从巽他来 华……”。 (14) 据中国史料， 1555 年在广东的 商业街上首次出现了扮作葡萄牙人 的日本商人。在当时通往广州的海 路及商贸路线上，这样一种非正式 的華-葡-日人的伙伴合作关系已然 形成。 1555 年澳门已成爲港口，和 来往于广州的葡萄牙人的汇聚点。 这一伙伴关系产生于福建沿 海，但在十六世纪中叶开始转向广 东沿海。当时带着 8 个日本商业伙 伴前往广州的是迪奥戈·佩雷拉。 1555 年，平托这位有文化的富 商写下了澳门的出生证。 1555 年， 腰缠万贯的迪奥戈·佩雷拉开启了 用日本白银交换广州丝绸的华-葡日人之间的贸易。这一贸易是明朝 时期澳门得以生存的支柱之一。 1555 年澳门正在诞生，确切 地说是它正在成为具有多元文化性 质的一座国际性的城市。它的名字 叫“蚝镜”，但我们称之为“亚马 港”。在当时，它不过是东南亚胡 椒及日本白银贸易航线上的一个港 口。有船只在此停留过冬。据贡萨 雷斯神父 1570 年左右所写的报告， 当时上川，浪白滘和澳门已经形成 一个三角网络。澳门是广东诸岛的 泊口之一。南洋的国际贸易在日益 增长，输贡的比重日益降低，唯在 纳税方面与大陆保持不可分割的联 系，这样的一种态势，促使了两广 地区自十六世纪三十年代中期以 来，在商业、制造与金融方面，加 快速度地发展起来。 至迟至 1553-1555 年期间，已有 葡萄牙商人途经澳门，从水路前往 13. 〈巴雷多致果阿耶稣会会士函，浪白滘， 1555 年 11 月 23 日〉，前引版本，第 32 页。 14. 〈弗洛伊斯致果阿耶稣会会士函，马六甲， 1556 年 1 月 7 日〉，载于梅迪纳主编《日本文献 1547-1557 》，罗马，耶稣 会历史学院， 1990 年，第 649 页。 Vol. 4, No. 4, October 2007 96 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流 History & Culture u 历史与文化 mercantile and the official Portuguese information circles of Malacca at the latest since the years of 1512-1515, as we have seen. It is certainly used from 1530 onwards, albeit not intensely, together with the islands of Shangchuan (Sanchuan) and Langbaiao (Lampacau). By the latest in 1553, Portuguese merchants at anchor in Macau are already requesting Canton’s authorities the space for a more permanent settlement, as well as authorisation to stay beyond the seasonal limit in Macau, rather than in Lampacau or Sanchuan. Following two decades of growing informal trade, illegal as far as the Chinese authorities were concerned, the now firm Chinese-Portuguese-Japanese partnerships dealing in silk and silver become more visible in the years of 1553, 1554, 1555. It isn’t, however, a legal or official visibility in the framework of the Central or Provincial structure of the State, but rather a tolerated, informal reality; a partnership of profits and common interests between Portuguese, Chinese, and Japanese mercantile and financial groups. Economic partnerships which the political powers control and tolerate due to the common ground of profits and interest which are also partly theirs, either at the provincial level or at the state level. By articulating the Chinese, Portuguese, and Castilian sources of circa 1570, it is possible to gather that in the years of 1554, 1555, 1556, there is a Lampacau-Macau axis through which are spread the majority of the two or three hundred Portuguese merchants involved in the trade of the China Seas. The Portuguese and Castilian sources, (the letter of father Gregório Gonzalez deserves careful analysis), seem to point to Langbaiao/Lampacau as the predominating place and to Haojing/ Macau as the secondary one, both for wintering purposes as well as for the meeting of arrivals and departures to and from Nanyang and Japan. Portuguese sources show that Macau is the port of call en route to Canton, in the comings and goings of traders to the city’s fair or to its markets. The Chinese and Castilian sources concur that it is indeed in Haojing/ Macau that in 1554, 1555, 1556 pretexts and attempts at a continuous settlement of mercantile and maritime agents, and Portuguese (or linked to them) teams and crews start to be conceived instead of a mere seasonal stay. 1555, the year of Macau’s birth certificate, issued by a notary-writer of Fernão Mendes Pinto’s stature is also the year in which, according to Chinese sources, the Japanese lead by the Portuguese, which as we have seen are Diogo Pereira and his commercial agents, arrived at the markets of Canton: ... in the year 1555 the Portuguese barbarians bid the Japanese barbarians to come and trade in the waters of Guangdong. Chou Luan, amongst others, had the Japanese disguised, so as to pass as Portuguese and thus trade in Maima Street in Canton. They left after some time. Thenceforth, the Portuguese convinced the Japanese to return year after year and trade in Guangdong... (21) 21. Zheng Shungong—Jih-pen-I-chien/Um Espelho do Japão [A Mirror of Japan], chap. 6, pp. 4-5, work of circa 1564, quoted and translated by R. Usellis—As Origens de Macau [The Origins of Macau], Macau, Maritime Museum, 1995, p. 25. 97 第四卷第四期2007 年10 月 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流化 t 历史与文 History & Culture 南洋、日本和广州。在这些葡萄牙 富商和巨贾中， 1555 年身处澳门地 区的有平托、阿尔梅达、戈伊斯及 迪奥戈·佩雷拉等。当时马六甲的 葡萄牙商业和官方情报中已出现了 有关澳门的内容。至少，我们已经 看到过，在 1512-1515 年期间已经有 了 Oquem 这个名称。 可以肯定的是，从 1530 年开 始，这个地方就与上川、浪白滘一起 被用作港口，尽管来船还不算多。 而至迟至 1553 年，停泊在澳门 的葡萄牙商人要求广东当局给予他 们可供更永久定居的地方，并允许 他们在贸易季节外，在澳门，而不 是在浪白滘和上川停留。 经过二十年非正式贸易的增 长(它在中国当局眼里看来，是非 法的)，华-葡-日之间业已结合牢 固的丝、银贸易伙伴关系，在 1553 年， 1554 年及 1555 年期间，日见彰 现。从中国无论是朝廷还是地方的 官僚机构看来，这种公开的贸易是 违法的，没有得到官方认可的，它 只是一个非官方性质的、得到了默 许的现实状况。葡萄牙人、华人和 日本人的商业财团的共同利润和利 益结合成了这样一种伙伴关系。这 种经济伙伴关系，在朝廷与地方当 局参与其中的共同的利益利润的基 础之上，获得了政治势力的默许， 并被置于其控制之下。 比照 1570 年左右的中国、葡萄 牙及西班牙文献，可看到在 1554 、 1555 和 1556 年已形成一浪白滘-澳 门轴心。参与中国海上贸易的两三 百葡萄牙人主要分布在这轴心。 葡萄牙文献及西班牙文献(贡 萨雷斯神父的信值得细读)似乎指 出浪白滘是当时的主要地点，“蚝 镜”/亚马港是次要的。它是越冬 或作为来回南洋和日本的交汇点。 葡萄牙资料显示，澳门是前往广 州的中继站，由此葡萄牙人前往 参加广州贸易集会或赴其各种集 市。中国及西班牙史料同认为，在 1554 年、 1555 年和 1556 年，在“蚝 镜”/亚马港开始寻找借口企图将 商人、水手、船务人员或与他们有 关的人长期留在当地，而不再是一 种季节性的逗留。 1555 年是澳门的出生之年， 它的出生证是由平托这么一个身份 的，作家式书记员签发的。就在同 一年，据中国史料，日本人随葡萄 牙人而来。我们知道，迪奥戈·佩 雷拉和他的商业代理人进入了广州 市场：“岁乙卯，佛郎机夷人诱引 倭夷，来市广东海上，周鸾等使倭 扮作佛郎机，同市广东卖麻街，迟 久乃去。自是佛郎机夷频年诱倭市 广东矣。” (15) 正是在这一年，皇帝下了一 道诏书，要求广东省沿海官员从 驻泊中国的洋船处购办龙涎香， 常供京廷所需。葡萄牙洋商和巴 雷多神父于该年 11 月均在广州 售出这种货物。巴雷多神父报告 说：“……为赎回这些囚徒我带 去了一些龙涎香。中国国王六年 来寻觅此物。重赏为他带来该货 15. 郑舜功《日本一鉴》，卷 6 ，第 4-5 页，约成作于 1564 年，引 自乌塞利斯《澳门起源》，澳门，海事博物馆， 1995 年，第 25 页上译文。 Vol. 4, No. 4, October 2007 98 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流 History & Culture u 历史与文化 This is also the year in which an imperial decree demands from provincial coastal servants the ability to procure from foreign ships in China a regular supply of grey amber to the Imperial Palace in Beijing. This product was sold in Canton, in November, by Portuguese merchants and by Melchior Nunes Barreto who states: “... for the ransom of those captives I carried some small quantity of raw amber something that the king of China has been seeking for six years now, having made great promises to anyone who would fetch it for him because in their books it is written that it ensures long life to the elderly when eaten with certain preparations...”.(22) The Portuguese prove thereby their ability to satisfy also the Imperial Centre’s luxury and rare products economy, providing it with whale and sperm-whale oil, from the Indian Ocean, to be used as perfume and aphrodisiac: “... Diogo Pereira, a gentleman widely known in those lands, told me that the Chinese believe the same things we do regarding the creation of amber, and they told him so word by word, saying that it is of great use in commerce with women... ”(23) 1555: Portuguese on their way to or from Japan, call in at Macau, en route to or from Canton. 1555: Japanese associated to Diogo Pereira, Leonel de Sousa and, certainly, to Chinese merchants, trade in the streets of Canton. The Portuguese merchants in the islands and markets of Canton are part of a Sino-Luso-Japanese partnership which is taking its first sustained steps in Guangdong. Macau is being born. 1555: Macau is being born. Lampacau has already replaced Sanchuan as the central port to lay anchor at due to its greater proximity to Canton and its lesser harshness. Nevertheless, in 1553, the Portuguese had already requested to settle in Haojing/Macau, and knew already about the better conditions of the harbour, using it regularly as a gateway to Canton, and in their coming and going from the capital of Guangdong. The Sino-Portuguese-Japanese partnership that links Nanyang to Quiuxu has already taken root, albeit recently, in the islands of Canton. It is now ready to become the hegemonic intermediary of the great international trade of silver and silk. Only the portcity is still to be born, but the location has been chosen and it is increasingly more visited. Text edited by Tereza Sena and Fernando Sales Lopes from chapter 1 of Macau: Poder e Saber. Séculos XVI e XVII, by Luis Filipe Barreto. Translated from the Portuguese original by Rui Parada Cascais 22. “Carta de Melchior Nunes Barreto S. J. para os Jesuítas de Goa, Lampacau-Macau, 23 de Novembro de 1555” [Letter of Melchior Nunes Barreto S.J. to the Jesuits of Goa, Lampacau/Macau, November 23rd, 1555], ed. cit., p. 36. 23. Garcia de Orta—Colóquios dos Simples, e drogas he cousas medicinals da India... [Colloquies on the simples & drugs of India…], Goa, 1563, Colóquio 3, p. 14. 99 第四卷第四期2007 年10 月 Chinese Cross Currents 神州交流化 t 历史与文 History & Culture 的人。因为据他们的书记载，此 物与其它制剂配服，能够延年益 寿……” (16) 葡萄牙人显示出他 们有能力提供中国所需要的作为 香料和春药的抹香鯨体内的“蜡 質”物质，来满足中国对奇珍异 物的需求。“……迪奥戈·佩雷 拉曾对我说，华人对龙涎香的了 解绝不亚于我们，他们曾对他详 述一切。据华人言称，此物对同 妇女的交欢具有特效，……” (17) 1555 年，往返日本，葡萄牙 人途经来回广州必经的澳门。 1555 年，日本人已同迪奥戈·佩雷拉和 奥内而·德·苏扎结伙，肯定还有 华人。他们已经在广州的街面上进 行贸易。在广东岛屿和街市上的葡 萄牙商人已经是华-葡-日人之间的 商业伙伴关系中的一份子，而且在 广东已经迈出了坚实的步伐。澳门 正在诞生。 1555 年，澳门正在诞生。浪 白滘现在已经取代了上川，成为离 广东更近的主要停泊点，因为水土 不像上川那样恶劣。葡萄牙人早于 1553 年就已要求定居于“蚝镜”/ 亚马港。他们当时已经知道澳门港 条件上乘，将其作为定期前往广东 省会的大门。 连接南洋至九洲的华-葡-日 商业伙伴关系尽管形成的时间不 长，却已在广东诸岛扎下根。很 快就将在丝、银大宗国际贸易中 占据具有垄断性的中介地位。现 在需要的是一个港口城市，而地 点已经选好，被光顾的次数已越 来越频繁。 本文由冼丽莎与罗方礼据白烈度 《澳门：权力与知识 — 16-17 世纪》 第一章改写而成。 金国平译 白烈度，里斯本大学副教授，现任澳门科 学与文化中心(葡萄牙科学技术及高等教育 部的公立机构)主任。 1992 至 1994 年，曾任 澳门大学葡萄牙研究系主任。 1998 年，任 巴黎社会科学高等研究院的访问教授，同 时也是欧洲科学基金会人文委员会委员。 他用多种语言发表了许多书籍和文章，包 括：《澳门制图学》( Lisbon, Missão de Macau, 1997 )及《葡萄牙人走向亚洲( 1480-1630 )》 ( Lisbon, CNCDP 2000 ，同年出版英文版本)。 Luis Filipe Barreto is an Associate Professor in the Lisbon University. His present position is Director of the Centro Científico e Cultural de Macau/Macau Scientific and Cultural Centre, a Public Institute of the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education. In the years 1992-1994, he was the Dean of Portuguese Studies, University of Macau. In 1998, visiting professor in the École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris and member of the Standing Committee for the Humanities, European Science Foundation. He authored books and articles in several languages as: Cartografia de Macau, Lisbon, Missão de Macau,1997 and Lavrar o Mar: Os Portugueses e a Ásia, c.1480c.1630, Lisbon, CNCDP, 2000 (with an English edition in the same year). 16. 〈巴雷多致果阿耶稣会会士函，浪白滘， 1555 年 11 月 23 日〉，前引版本，第 36 页。 17. 加尔西亚·达·奥尔塔《印度香药谈》，果阿， 156 3 年，第 3 谈，第 14 页。