THE MATTER OF CHINA IN GARCIA DE ORTA’S COLÓQUIOS DOS SIMPLES E DROGAS DA ÍNDIA (GOA, 1563)加西亞‧達‧奧爾塔著作《印度香葯談》里的中國見聞
This article analyzes the presence of the "matter of China" in the *Colóquios dos simples e drogas da Índia* (Goa, 1563), by Garcia de Orta, exploring how the author mobilizes knowledge that is not only pharmacological but also ethnographic, commercial, and cosmographic. The central argument holds t...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40052/2187 |
| _version_ | 1877196269977337856 |
|---|---|
| author | Rui Manuel Loureiro |
| author_autocomplete | Rui Manuel Loureiro |
| author_browse | Rui Manuel Loureiro |
| author_facet | Rui Manuel Loureiro Rui Manuel Loureiro |
| author_sort | Rui Manuel Loureiro |
| container_title | Review of Culture |
| container_title_str | Review of Culture |
| container_volume | 52 |
| container_volume_str | 52 |
| description | This article analyzes the presence of the "matter of China" in the *Colóquios dos simples e drogas da Índia* (Goa, 1563), by Garcia de Orta, exploring how the author mobilizes knowledge that is not only pharmacological but also ethnographic, commercial, and cosmographic. The central argument holds that the references to Chinese practices, products, and knowledge in the treatise result from a specific regime of information production: Orta, without traveling beyond Cape Comorin, resorts to Portuguese and Asian informants and mediators, privileging sources presented as eyewitness accounts and integrated into market networks. The methodology combines a historiographical reading of the text (identifying allusions, descriptions, and mechanisms of authority) with a historical contextualization of Luso-Chinese relations in the sixteenth century, especially the conditions preceding the permanent settlement in Macau (authorized in 1563) and shaping the quality and type of information available. It concludes that China, within the framework of the *Colóquios*, functions as a space of indirect verification: where the absence of direct observation is compensated by the circulation of news, the credentialing of informants, and commercial familiarity with Chinese goods. Thus, the treatise contributes to crystallizing a relatively consistent image of the "Chinese world" in Europe, articulating medicine, experience, and maritime expansion. |
| first_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:59Z |
| format | Articles |
| genre | Articles |
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| hierarchy_parent_title | Review of Culture |
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| issn | 1682-1106 |
| last_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:59Z |
| latest_content_date | 2026-09-11T02:56:59Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
| publishDateRange | 2016 |
| publishDateSort | 2016 |
| publishPlace | Macau |
| publisher | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
| publisherStr | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
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| spelling | THE MATTER OF CHINA IN GARCIA DE ORTA’S COLÓQUIOS DOS SIMPLES E DROGAS DA ÍNDIA (GOA, 1563)加西亞‧達‧奧爾塔著作《印度香葯談》里的中國見聞 This article analyzes the presence of the "matter of China" in the *Colóquios dos simples e drogas da Índia* (Goa, 1563), by Garcia de Orta, exploring how the author mobilizes knowledge that is not only pharmacological but also ethnographic, commercial, and cosmographic. The central argument holds that the references to Chinese practices, products, and knowledge in the treatise result from a specific regime of information production: Orta, without traveling beyond Cape Comorin, resorts to Portuguese and Asian informants and mediators, privileging sources presented as eyewitness accounts and integrated into market networks. The methodology combines a historiographical reading of the text (identifying allusions, descriptions, and mechanisms of authority) with a historical contextualization of Luso-Chinese relations in the sixteenth century, especially the conditions preceding the permanent settlement in Macau (authorized in 1563) and shaping the quality and type of information available. It concludes that China, within the framework of the *Colóquios*, functions as a space of indirect verification: where the absence of direct observation is compensated by the circulation of news, the credentialing of informants, and commercial familiarity with Chinese goods. Thus, the treatise contributes to crystallizing a relatively consistent image of the "Chinese world" in Europe, articulating medicine, experience, and maritime expansion. Instituto Cultural de Macau Macau Review of Culture Articles 2016 Rui Manuel Loureiro |
| spellingShingle | THE MATTER OF CHINA IN GARCIA DE ORTA’S COLÓQUIOS DOS SIMPLES E DROGAS DA ÍNDIA (GOA, 1563)加西亞‧達‧奧爾塔著作《印度香葯談》里的中國見聞 Rui Manuel Loureiro |
| title | THE MATTER OF CHINA IN GARCIA DE ORTA’S COLÓQUIOS DOS SIMPLES E DROGAS DA ÍNDIA (GOA, 1563)加西亞‧達‧奧爾塔著作《印度香葯談》里的中國見聞 |
| title_autocomplete | THE MATTER OF CHINA IN GARCIA DE ORTA’S COLÓQUIOS DOS SIMPLES E DROGAS DA ÍNDIA (GOA, 1563)加西亞‧達‧奧爾塔著作《印度香葯談》里的中國見聞 |
| title_full | THE MATTER OF CHINA IN GARCIA DE ORTA’S COLÓQUIOS DOS SIMPLES E DROGAS DA ÍNDIA (GOA, 1563)加西亞‧達‧奧爾塔著作《印度香葯談》里的中國見聞 |
| title_fullStr | THE MATTER OF CHINA IN GARCIA DE ORTA’S COLÓQUIOS DOS SIMPLES E DROGAS DA ÍNDIA (GOA, 1563)加西亞‧達‧奧爾塔著作《印度香葯談》里的中國見聞 |
| title_full_unstemmed | THE MATTER OF CHINA IN GARCIA DE ORTA’S COLÓQUIOS DOS SIMPLES E DROGAS DA ÍNDIA (GOA, 1563)加西亞‧達‧奧爾塔著作《印度香葯談》里的中國見聞 |
| title_short | THE MATTER OF CHINA IN GARCIA DE ORTA’S COLÓQUIOS DOS SIMPLES E DROGAS DA ÍNDIA (GOA, 1563)加西亞‧達‧奧爾塔著作《印度香葯談》里的中國見聞 |
| title_sort | the matter of china in garcia de orta’s colóquios dos simples e drogas da índia (goa, 1563)加西亞‧達‧奧爾塔著作《印度香葯談》里的中國見聞 |
| url | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40052/2187 |
| zotero_collection_key | 76L3BRGH |