PARSEE MERCHANTS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA澳門的巴斯人
This article investigates the Parsee merchants who established themselves in Macao and Canton, situating their community within the broader mercantile networks of the Pearl River Delta. Carl T. Smith traces Parsee origins to Zoroastrian Persians who migrated first to India (notably Bombay) and then...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
April 2004
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40010/3856 |
| _version_ | 1877196271321612288 |
|---|---|
| author | Carl T. Smith |
| author_autocomplete | Carl T. Smith |
| author_browse | Carl T. Smith |
| author_facet | Carl T. Smith Carl T. Smith |
| author_sort | Carl T. Smith |
| container_title | Review of Culture |
| container_title_str | Review of Culture |
| container_volume | 10 |
| container_volume_str | 10 |
| description | This article investigates the Parsee merchants who established themselves in Macao and Canton, situating their community within the broader mercantile networks of the Pearl River Delta. Carl T. Smith traces Parsee origins to Zoroastrian Persians who migrated first to India (notably Bombay) and then to China, where Parsis appeared in Canton before expanding into Macao's commercial sphere. A central focus is the Parsee minority's distinctive identity, including dress, customs, and a naming system that preserves the father's name as last name (patronymics) with occasional fixed surnames appearing in the nineteenth century; the study also notes the prevalence of patronymic endings such as *bhoy* and *jee*, which complicate kinship tracking.
Methodologically, the article relies on archival, primary-source material: English East India Company records, Canton registers, the *Anglo-Chinese Calendar* (1832) listing Asiatic British subjects, and Canton General Chamber of Commerce membership lists. These sources enable a reconstruction of Parsee presence and movement: twenty-one merchants with clerks and servants in 1831; a substantial Parsee presence in five foreign-hong premises by 1832; a rising Parsee count through the 1830s (peaking in the mid-1830s, with continued representation into the 1840s). The piece also documents social incidents—such as a sunrise-prayer practice in Canton and a fatal quarrel at a Parsee-involved factory in 1829—illustrating religious identity and cross-cultural tensions.
Conclusions emphasize the Parsee merchants as a significant yet understudied component of Macao's multicultural commercial landscape, whose diasporic networks linked Canton and Macao to wider Indian Ocean capitalism. |
| first_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:52Z |
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| hierarchy_parent_title | Review of Culture |
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| last_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:52Z |
| latest_content_date | 2026-09-11T02:56:52Z |
| publishDate | April 2004 |
| publishDateRange | 2004 |
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| publishPlace | Macau |
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| spelling | PARSEE MERCHANTS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA澳門的巴斯人 This article investigates the Parsee merchants who established themselves in Macao and Canton, situating their community within the broader mercantile networks of the Pearl River Delta. Carl T. Smith traces Parsee origins to Zoroastrian Persians who migrated first to India (notably Bombay) and then to China, where Parsis appeared in Canton before expanding into Macao's commercial sphere. A central focus is the Parsee minority's distinctive identity, including dress, customs, and a naming system that preserves the father's name as last name (patronymics) with occasional fixed surnames appearing in the nineteenth century; the study also notes the prevalence of patronymic endings such as *bhoy* and *jee*, which complicate kinship tracking. Methodologically, the article relies on archival, primary-source material: English East India Company records, Canton registers, the *Anglo-Chinese Calendar* (1832) listing Asiatic British subjects, and Canton General Chamber of Commerce membership lists. These sources enable a reconstruction of Parsee presence and movement: twenty-one merchants with clerks and servants in 1831; a substantial Parsee presence in five foreign-hong premises by 1832; a rising Parsee count through the 1830s (peaking in the mid-1830s, with continued representation into the 1840s). The piece also documents social incidents—such as a sunrise-prayer practice in Canton and a fatal quarrel at a Parsee-involved factory in 1829—illustrating religious identity and cross-cultural tensions. Conclusions emphasize the Parsee merchants as a significant yet understudied component of Macao's multicultural commercial landscape, whose diasporic networks linked Canton and Macao to wider Indian Ocean capitalism. Instituto Cultural de Macau Macau Review of Culture Articles April 2004 Carl T. Smith |
| spellingShingle | PARSEE MERCHANTS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA澳門的巴斯人 Carl T. Smith |
| title | PARSEE MERCHANTS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA澳門的巴斯人 |
| title_autocomplete | PARSEE MERCHANTS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA澳門的巴斯人 |
| title_full | PARSEE MERCHANTS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA澳門的巴斯人 |
| title_fullStr | PARSEE MERCHANTS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA澳門的巴斯人 |
| title_full_unstemmed | PARSEE MERCHANTS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA澳門的巴斯人 |
| title_short | PARSEE MERCHANTS IN THE PEARL RIVER DELTA澳門的巴斯人 |
| title_sort | parsee merchants in the pearl river delta澳門的巴斯人 |
| url | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40010/3856 |
| zotero_collection_key | 76L3BRGH |