THE TIMOR-MACAO SANDALWOOD TRADE AND THE ASIAN DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT SOUTH LAND?帝汶與澳門的檀香貿易和亞洲人發現南方大陸
This article examines how the sandalwood trade between Timor and Macao, within the framework of Portuguese and Dutch expansion in the eastern archipelago throughout the “long” seventeenth century, reconfigured and simultaneously disrupted long-distance Asian networks of trade and tribute. It is argu...
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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/40053/2283 |
| _version_ | 1877196269941686272 |
|---|---|
| author | Geoffery C. Gunn |
| author_autocomplete | Geoffery C. Gunn |
| author_browse | Geoffery C. Gunn |
| author_facet | Geoffery C. Gunn Geoffery C. Gunn |
| author_sort | Geoffery C. Gunn |
| container_title | Review of Culture |
| container_title_str | Review of Culture |
| container_volume | 53 |
| container_volume_str | 53 |
| description | This article examines how the sandalwood trade between Timor and Macao, within the framework of Portuguese and Dutch expansion in the eastern archipelago throughout the “long” seventeenth century, reconfigured and simultaneously disrupted long-distance Asian networks of trade and tribute. It is argued that the Timorese case allows us to overcome competing civilizational frameworks—the Chinese “Nanyang” and the Portuguese “Estado da Índia”—by demonstrating that the viability of European incursions depended on regional constraints and local mediations, including Chinese mercantile networks reactivated through the presence of groups based in Macao. Methodologically, the study articulates a historiographical synthesis with a critical reading of the circulation of cartographic and cosmographic information, contrasting European narratives of “discovery” with evidence of Asian integration: European attention to Timor, the role of intermediaries and intra-colonial conflicts (with Makassar, the VOC, and the Timorese polity of Wehale), and the centrality of the sandalwood trade. It concludes that, although Portugal structured its own narrative of knowledge and possession, the Timor–Macao articulation suggests an Asian “discovery” of the “Great South” (terra Australis incognita) preceding European formalizations, exemplified by the Luso-Malaccan cosmography of Manuel Godinho de Erédia and the concept of nusa Antara (“land between”). |
| first_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:59Z |
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| issn | 1682-1106 |
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| latest_content_date | 2026-09-11T02:56:59Z |
| publishDate | 2016 |
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| publishPlace | Macau |
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| spelling | THE TIMOR-MACAO SANDALWOOD TRADE AND THE ASIAN DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT SOUTH LAND?帝汶與澳門的檀香貿易和亞洲人發現南方大陸 This article examines how the sandalwood trade between Timor and Macao, within the framework of Portuguese and Dutch expansion in the eastern archipelago throughout the “long” seventeenth century, reconfigured and simultaneously disrupted long-distance Asian networks of trade and tribute. It is argued that the Timorese case allows us to overcome competing civilizational frameworks—the Chinese “Nanyang” and the Portuguese “Estado da Índia”—by demonstrating that the viability of European incursions depended on regional constraints and local mediations, including Chinese mercantile networks reactivated through the presence of groups based in Macao. Methodologically, the study articulates a historiographical synthesis with a critical reading of the circulation of cartographic and cosmographic information, contrasting European narratives of “discovery” with evidence of Asian integration: European attention to Timor, the role of intermediaries and intra-colonial conflicts (with Makassar, the VOC, and the Timorese polity of Wehale), and the centrality of the sandalwood trade. It concludes that, although Portugal structured its own narrative of knowledge and possession, the Timor–Macao articulation suggests an Asian “discovery” of the “Great South” (terra Australis incognita) preceding European formalizations, exemplified by the Luso-Malaccan cosmography of Manuel Godinho de Erédia and the concept of nusa Antara (“land between”). Instituto Cultural de Macau Macau Review of Culture Articles 2016 Geoffery C. Gunn |
| spellingShingle | THE TIMOR-MACAO SANDALWOOD TRADE AND THE ASIAN DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT SOUTH LAND?帝汶與澳門的檀香貿易和亞洲人發現南方大陸 Geoffery C. Gunn |
| title | THE TIMOR-MACAO SANDALWOOD TRADE AND THE ASIAN DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT SOUTH LAND?帝汶與澳門的檀香貿易和亞洲人發現南方大陸 |
| title_autocomplete | THE TIMOR-MACAO SANDALWOOD TRADE AND THE ASIAN DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT SOUTH LAND?帝汶與澳門的檀香貿易和亞洲人發現南方大陸 |
| title_full | THE TIMOR-MACAO SANDALWOOD TRADE AND THE ASIAN DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT SOUTH LAND?帝汶與澳門的檀香貿易和亞洲人發現南方大陸 |
| title_fullStr | THE TIMOR-MACAO SANDALWOOD TRADE AND THE ASIAN DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT SOUTH LAND?帝汶與澳門的檀香貿易和亞洲人發現南方大陸 |
| title_full_unstemmed | THE TIMOR-MACAO SANDALWOOD TRADE AND THE ASIAN DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT SOUTH LAND?帝汶與澳門的檀香貿易和亞洲人發現南方大陸 |
| title_short | THE TIMOR-MACAO SANDALWOOD TRADE AND THE ASIAN DISCOVERY OF THE GREAT SOUTH LAND?帝汶與澳門的檀香貿易和亞洲人發現南方大陸 |
| title_sort | the timor-macao sandalwood trade and the asian discovery of the great south land?帝汶與澳門的檀香貿易和亞洲人發現南方大陸 |
| url | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40053/2283 |
| zotero_collection_key | 76L3BRGH |