NOVA AVALIAÇÃO DE WANG BO E DO PRIMEIRO ACORDO SINO-PORTUGUÊS
This article presents a new assessment of Wang Bo and the first Sino-Portuguese agreement in the context of the founding of Macau, challenging the traditional image of the mandarin as corrupt and villainous. Drawing on available primary biographical and official sources (Wang Bo Zhuan, Jiangxi Tong...
Saved in:
| Published in: | Review of Culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
January 2002
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40001/2655 |
| Summary: | This article presents a new assessment of Wang Bo and the first Sino-Portuguese agreement in the context of the founding of Macau, challenging the traditional image of the mandarin as corrupt and villainous. Drawing on available primary biographical and official sources (Wang Bo Zhuan, Jiangxi Tong Zhi Gao) and a critical reading of recent historiography, Tan Shibao and Cao Guoqing reconstruct Wang Bo’s public career, his moral and intellectual attributes, as well as the political-military contexts of Guangdong and Zhejiang that preceded the negotiation with Leonel de Sousa. The authors argue that the Portuguese entry into Macau did not result from the corruption of mandarins, but from a political decision of the Ming dynasty, based on mutual knowledge and a cost-benefit assessment. The analysis focuses specifically on three central questions: (1) Wang Bo’s personality, highlighting traits of integrity and diligence; (2) the agreement between Wang Bo and Leonel de Sousa, understood as a means of establishing orderly coexistence between Chinese laws and foreign commercial activity; (3) doubts about corruption and the sale of Macau, presenting data that contest earlier readings and suggest the need for still under-explored materials. It concludes by advocating a historiographical revaluation of Wang Bo and his role in the founding of Macau, encouraging collaborative research for a more positive and evolutionary reading of the subject. |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |