The Colonial Legacy of the Portuguese in Macau

Though Macau has been an autonomous region of China since 1998, its 400 years of Portuguese rule has given Macau a distinctive flair found nowhere else in Asia.

The pastel-colored buildings of Senado Square give off a European flair. Teen Wolf. CC BY-NC 2.0.

Macau, a Special Administrative Region (SAR) of China, located on the Pearl River Delta south of Guangdong province, was a Portuguese colony from 1557 to 1999. In its early years, the city quickly became a bustling commercial center, since it was at the crossroads of several notable trade routes. It was the gateway to China for the Portuguese. By the time Macau became a SAR of China  in 1999, ending the period of European colonization of Asia, the Portuguese had left their mark on the city. 

When the Portuguese first established Macau as a colony, settlement was limited to a small island that became the Macau Peninsula. As the original colony expanded, it incorporated the islands of Taipa and Coloane. Today, the land between Taipa and Coloane has been reclaimed, and the resulting strip of land, the Cotai Strip, is home to many casinos. Those casinos are one of the major economic drivers of Macau, generating even more revenue than Las Vegas, and they attract many tourists from around Asia. Macau is quickly becoming a cosmopolitan center, but the historic core of the region, on the Macau peninsula, is full of buildings constructed in the Portuguese style. Other influences remain of Portuguese rule, such as its cuisine, languages and legal system.

Architecture

The ruins of St. Paul’s Church. Christian Junker | Photography. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0. 

It is easy to spot the Portuguese influence on the buildings in Macau, because many of them have Ionic columns and baroque appearances. The Portuguese mainly left their mark on religious and administrative buildings in the city, such as the Ruins of St. Paul’s Church and the buildings of Senado Square. 

St. Paul’s Church was built between 1604 and 1640 by the Jesuits, and the church became their base of operations in Asia. It was the largest church in Asia at the time and was called the “Vatican of the Far East”. The baroque front of the church combines Eastern elements, as Japanese Christians who were fleeing persecution in their home country were involved with its construction. However, most of the church was made of wood, and much of it burned down during a typhoon in 1836. All that remains is its ornate façade, which has become a popular site in Macau.

The Holy House of Mercy is intricately linked with the early history of Macau. wiredtourist.com. CC BY 2.0.

The historic colonial administrative buildings are also preserved in Senado Square, which is full of pastel-colored, neo-classical buildings. It served as the main town square in centuries past and it contains a fountain. The square is flanked by the Leal Senado Building and the Holy House of Mercy. The Leal Senado Building, built in 1784 in a neoclassical style, was Macau’s first municipal chamber. Today, the building continues to host the city’s municipal council meets. There is also a Portuguese-styled courtyard behind the building.

Across Senado Square from the Leal Senado Building lies the Macau Holy House of Mercy. Built in 1569 shortly after the establishment of the colony, the Holy House of Mercy served as a medical institution originally and now serves a charitable institution. The Holy House of Mercy is also a present-day museum that holds a collection of Macau’s Catholic relics, telling the story of how Western culture entered Asia through the city.

Cuisine

Macau egg tart. foodnut.com. CC BY-NC-ND 2.0.

Portuguese influences also affect the food of Macau, which is “one of the best places in the world to sample Portuguese cuisine.” It is easy to find signature Portuguese dishes such as bacalhau, which is dried and salted cod, in local restaurants. 

Macau is also the home of the world’s first fusion cuisine, combining Chinese and Portuguese influences into local staples. Portuguese settlers in Macau added new spices and herbs to traditional Chinese foods and introduced new cooking methods like roasting, grilling and stewing to create a unique Macanese cuisine. Today, well-known Macanese dishes include minchi (considered Macau’s national dish and made from minced beef, soya sauce, onions and fried egg), tacho (a stew containing both Chinese and Western ingredients) and cappela (a meatloaf with cheese, black olives and breadcrumbs). Another popular dish, the Macau egg tart, has its origins in Portuguese pastries, but they are slightly different from similar dishes found in Portugal and neighboring Hong Kong.

Language

Street signs in Macau are still written in both Chinese and Portuguese. shankar s. CC BY 2.0.

The Portuguese language retained its official status in Macau after the handover, but only around 6,200 people speak it (based on the data from 2014). While its popularity dwindled in the years immediately following the handover, the Portuguese language has seen a resurgence in Macau due to the increase in Lusophone countries doing business with China, which is leading to a growing number of people learning it. 

Macau is also the home of the very unique creole language of Macanese Patois, also known as patuá to its native speakers, which is a combination of Cantonese and Portuguese with a few influences from Malay and Indian languages. There is no standard orthography in the language. The number of speakers is decreasing rapidly, and it is only spoken by around 50 people of Macanese ancestry. The Macanese people are a distinct group of people who are of mixed Portuguese and Chinese ancestry. However, there is a growing effort to preserve the language, with a drama group called Doci Papiaçam di Macau leading the revival by performing original plays in patuá.

Legal System

Macau government headquarters, which was also built in a Portuguese architectural style. Friscocali. CC BY-NC 2.0.

When Macau was returned to China in 1999, the Chinese government promised that Macau would be governed under the concept of “one country, two systems”. As part of that arrangement, Macau would be able to keep its existing political and economic systems for at least 50 years after becoming an SAR of China. Because of this, the legal code of Macau, though it is under Chinese sovereignty, is still based on the Portuguese legal code. However, recently, the Chinese government has undermined the agreements to keep the Portuguese legal code in place by removing Portuguese judges from presiding over sensitive cases. As China exerts more influences over Macau, which may have diminished some Portuguese influences, and the city could be in a much different place by 2049, when the agreement made in 1999 ends.

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Bryan Fok

Bryan is currently a History and Global Affairs major at the University of Notre Dame. He aims to apply the notion of Integral Human Development as a framework for analyzing global issues. He enjoys hiking and visiting national parks.

How an Ancient Islamic Holiday Became Uniquely Caribbean

A throng of Trinidadians line up along the streets of St. James and Cedros to admire the vibrant floats with beautifully bedecked models of mausoleums. Their destination is the waters of the Caribbean, where the crowds will push them out to float.

This is part of the Hosay commemorations, a religious ritual performed by Trinidadian Muslims, that I have observed as part of the research for my forthcoming book on Islam in Latin America and the Caribbean.

What fascinates me is how a practice from India has been transformed into something uniquely Caribbean.

Re-enacting tragedy

During the 10 days of the Islamic month of Muharram, Shiite Muslims around the world remember the martyrdom of Hussein, Prophet Muhammad’s grandson, who was killed in a battle in Karbala, today’s Iraq, some 1,338 years ago. For Shiite Muslims Hussein is the rightful successor to Prophet Muhammad.

Ashura, the 10th day of Muharram, is marked by public mourning and a re-enactment of the tragedy. Shiite Muslims put on passion plays that include inflicting suffering, as a way to remember Hussein. In Iraq, Shiite are known to beat themselves with swords. In India, mourners whip themselves with sharp blades. Some Shiite also visit Hussein’s shrine in Iraq.

Ashura procession in Pakistan. Diariocritico de Venezuela, CC BY

The commemoration has also become a symbol for the broader Shiite struggle for justice as a minority in the global Muslim community.

Early history

In Trinidad, the 100,000 Muslims who make up 5 percent of the island’s total population, celebrate the day of Ashura, as Hosay – the name derived from “Hussein.”

The first Hosay festival was held in 1854, just over a decade after the first Indian Muslims began to arrive from India to work on the island’s sugar plantations.

But Trinidad at the time was under British colonial rule and large public gatherings were not permitted. In 1884, the British authorities issued a prohibition against Hosay commemorations. Approximately 30,000 people took to the streets, in Mon Repos, in the south, to protest against the ordinance. Shots fired to disperse the crowd killed 22 and injured over 100. The ordinance was later overturned.

The “Hosay Massacre” or “Muharram Massacre,” however, lives in people’s memories.

Colorful floats of Trinidad

These days, Hosay celebrations in St. James and Cedros not only recall Hussein, but also those killed during the 1884 Hosay riots. Rather than recreate the events through self-flagellation or other forms of suffering, however, people in Trinidad create bright and beautiful floats, called “tadjahs,” that parade through the streets to the sea.

The tadjah, a colorful model of a mausoleum. Nicholas Laughlin, CC BY-NC-SA

Each tadjah is constructed of wood, paper, bamboo and tinsel. Ranging from a height of 10 to 30 feet, the floats are accompanied by people parading along and others playing drums, just as is the practice in India’s northern city of Lucknow. Meant to reflect the resting place of Shiite martyrs, the tadjahs resemble mausoleums in India. To many, their domes might be a reminder of the Taj Mahal.

Walking ahead of the tadjahs are two men bearing crescent moon shapes, one in red and the other in green. These symbolize the deaths of Hussein and his brother Hassan – the red being Hussein’s blood and the green symbolizing the supposed poisoning of Hassan.

The elaborateness of the tadjahs continues to increase each year and has become somewhat of a status symbol among the families that sponsor them.

A bit carnival, a bit Ashura

Trinidad’s Hosay brings in a more carnival-like joy to a somber remembrance. Nicholas Laughlin, CC BY-NC-SA

While the festival is certainly a somber one in terms of its tribute, it is also a joyous occasion where families celebrate with loud music and don festive attire. This has led some to compare Hosay to Trinidad’s world-famous carnival with its accompanying “joie de vivre.”

But there are also those who believe that the occasion should be a more somber remembrance of the martydom of Hussein. More conservative Muslims in Trinidad have made attempts to “reform” such celebrations. These Muslims believe local customs should be more in line with global commemorations like those in Iraq or India.

What I saw in the festival was an assertion of both the Indian and Trinidadian identity. For Shiite Muslims, who have dealt with oppression and ostracism – both in the past and in the present – it is a means of claiming their space as a minority in Trinidadian culture and resisting being pushed to the margins. At the same time, with its carnival-like feel, the festival could not be more Trinidadian.

Indeed, the celebrations each year illustrate how Indian and Trinidadian rituals and material culture merged to create a unique festival.

KEN CHITWOOD is a Ph.D. Candidate in Religion in the Americas and Global Islam at the University of Florida

THIS ARTICLE WAS ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED ON THE CONVERSATION