THE 1622 DUTCH ATTEMPT TO CONQUER MACAO, IN THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEXT OF EARLY SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY EAST ASIA荷蘭人企徒征服澳門葡國人 (1622)：17 世紀初遠東的國際化背景
The article analyzes the Dutch attempt to conquer Macau in 1622, placing it within a broader international framework of the early decades of the seventeenth century. The author argues that the episode cannot be explained solely by European naval rivalries or local Portuguese strategies, but must be...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
July 2005
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40015/3796 |
| Summary: | The article analyzes the Dutch attempt to conquer Macau in 1622, placing it within a broader international framework of the early decades of the seventeenth century. The author argues that the episode cannot be explained solely by European naval rivalries or local Portuguese strategies, but must be understood in light of the transformation of political and economic conditions in East Asia, as well as the official responses of Beijing and the Tokugawa shogunate to external pressures. The research articulates a macro-historical context (post-1600 reorderings in Japan, the decline of Ming power in coastal areas, and the intensification of illicit trade) with the inter-Asian maritime dimension, highlighting networks of circulation formed by Chinese and Japanese merchants, adventurers, and corsairs. Methodologically, the text mobilizes a relational reading between state policies and transnational commercial dynamics: it examines how Japanese authorities calibrated the “sakoku” in view of the economic role of the Chinese (including communities and routes that sustained trade with China) and how the European presence—Portugal and Spain against Holland and England—transformed the balance of forces in the seas of Asia. It concludes that the Dutch attack must be interpreted as a convergent result of European competition in a reconfiguring Asian environment, mediated by the interests and limitations of regional empires. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |