Originally posted on March 12th, 2013
On an October evening in 1637, a young mercantile agent named Peter Mundy, accompanied by officers from the British ship “Squire Courteen”, landed on the strand just off the Praia Grande in Macau to attend a dinner at government house.[1] The ship was one of the largest in the East India Company’s fleet, and part of a squadron of four vessels under the command of Captain John Weddell. The dinner was to be one of many attempts to convince the Portuguese to help secure trading rights in Canton, the Chinese port city just up the Pearl River.
Mundy, a seasoned traveler in India and China, was chosen because of his fluency in Portuguese and Spanish. But he was no ordinary ship’s agent. Future historians would describe his descriptions of Asia as “enchanting”, all the more enhanced by “his insatiable curiosity”, his “eye for detail”, a “… desire for accuracy”, and tempered by “strong horse-sense and a balanced judgment”. Mundy first exhibited these traits in diaries tracing voyages to Bengal and Agra, where he was one of the first Europeans to witness the construction of the Taj Mahal. On succeeding trips he conducted business up and down the coast of China, in Nagasaki, Japan’s largest trading port, and in the Portuguese colonial capital of Goa.
But we owe our greatest debt to Mundy’s chronicle of a six month sojourn in Macau. For in these few pages we are given a rare glimpse of life in early Macau on the edge of the vast Ming empire.
Dining at Government House
This particular meeting likely began with greetings from members of the Leal Senado, Macau’s governing council, and prominent representatives of the colony’s merchant class. The Portuguese military contingent was led by Captain-General Domingos da Camara de Noronha, to whom Mundy and others delivered letters from England’s King Charles I and the Viceroy of Goa. Noronha’s second in command and head of the civil administration, Captain-Major Antonio de Oliveira Aranha, was also in attendance, reconfirming his personal hospitality to Mundy, who had been invited to stay in Aranha’s home following the dinner.
The setting was befitting a wealthy trading port. Mundy and others marveled at the richly furnished dining room outfitted with gold and silver plates and matching cutlery. Exotically decorated chairs and hangings lined the walls. Large Japanese folding screens called “Beeombos”. separated portions of the room. Each screen had multiple panels, which fully extended measured up to nine feet. Each panel was “…painted with (a) variety off curious colleurs intermingled with gold, containing stories, beasts, birds, fishes, forrrests, flowers, fruites…”, providing a feeling of tranquility as the assembled group was seated.
A savory meal highlighted the evening. Each guest was served portions of meat “… broughtt between 2 silver plates…”. Several dishes were offered, the frequency and variety of each attracting special notice. “For before a man had Don(e) with the one,” Mundy writes, “there was another service stood ready for him…” Behind each guest was an African servant ready for the smallest request. Beverages were similarly offered. Accompanying each place setting was a silver goblet “…which were no sooner empty butt there stood those ready that filld them againe with excellent … Portugall wine.” Light music played in the background, performed by Chinese singers and skilled musicians on harps and guitars. Behind the scenes women cooks of mixed race, probably from Malacca or Japan, stood ready to replenish each course.
In the Home of the Captain-Major
Following the dinner, Mundy was entertained in Captain Aranha’s equally splendid home. His writings of that time indicate the agent’s attention to detail. Mundy was especially taken with the Captain-Major’s Eurasian daughters, whom he noted: “… except in England, I thincke not in the world bee overmatched For their pretty Feature and complexion, … .” Mundy took special notice of their style of dress. In formal settings, each daughter was clothed in small Japanese kimonos “adorned with pretious Jewells and Costly apparel.” Their hair, pulled up to the crown, was similarly decorated with jewels and other decorations.
Mundy observed that most Macanese women dressed in this manner, often covered in public over the head with a shawl-like garment called a “Sherazzee”, with a lower kimono around the waist extending to the feet. Out on the avenues and plazas, the wealthier women “… are carried in hand chaires …, all close covered, off which there are very Costly … brought from Japan.” Indoors, all classes wore wide sleeved kimonos without the upper shawls, the less costly ones made of cotton and silk, while others were embroidered and woven with gold. Mundy also noted: “Butt when they goe without (their sedan chairs), the Mistris is hardly knowne from the Maide or slave wenche by outward appearance, all close covered over, butt that their Sherazzees are finer.”
Social Activities
During the days Mundy was invited by his hosts on outdoor excursions. He described equestrian sports, including a game called “gymkhana”, probably adapted from India involving rings, and another, according to an historian, that resembled a form of mounted baseball. He also attended picnics on neighboring islands, sailing to them on small recreational vessels, then dining on the beaches under large tents. Mundy ventured occasionally into the streets of Macau, watching Chinese plays performed, and sampling the meats, fish and fruits of the markets, noting the rich grapes and figs were similar to those of Europe.
One December evening Mundy attended plays at St. Paul’s Church acted by children under the instruction of the Jesuits. One involved a dance performed by some in Chinese dress. A second play involved children dancing in groups dressed as a local delicacy called “Stoole Crabbes”. Another depicted a battle between Portuguese and Dutch forces, which Mundy noted was “…without any reproachfull speech or Disgracefull action to that Nation.” Yet another performance involved children playing drums, which were tossed and twirled in the air “…with such exceeding quickness, withal keeping touch and stroke with the Musicke, …”
Mundy was particularly impressed by the care taken by the children’s parents and the Jesuits, which suggested that a bond had already formed between the Portuguese community and the Church. He writes: “… It being the Parents care to sett them Forth For their owne Content and Creditt, as it was the Jesuits to enstructe them who not only in this, butt in all other Manner of education are tutors and have the Care off the bringing uppe the youth and young children of this Towne, especially those of quality.” Thus, less than a century after Macau was founded, life for those of the merchant class had settled into a pleasant routine.
Tranquility Disrupted
But the calm contrasted sharply with events occurring outside Macau. Captain Weddell’s mission to secure trading rights with China failed miserably. After waiting six months in Macau, the impatient Captain set sail, with Mundy aboard, to initiate a series of naval battles with Chinese forces near Canton. Fearing the loss of the Emperor’s trust, the Portuguese refused to resupply the ships and expelled the British fleet. As a result, Weddell returned home in disgrace, while Macau and the rest of China remained closed to English trade for another one hundred years.
