Ofício do magistrado do distrito de Xiangshan, Yang, ao procurador de Macau, sobre a compra de rapé
This abstract describes a Qing dynasty imperial edict issued on the 2nd day of the tenth lunar month in the forty-second year of the Qianlong reign (1777 CE) by Yang, Magistrate of Xiangshan County, addressed to foreign community leaders (yimu), including Vilaudo and others. The document mandates th...
Saved in:
| Format: | Manuscripts |
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| Published: |
1776-11-13
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| Subjects: |
Guangdong bureaucratic governance
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Macau Trade Administration
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Official Seal Authentication
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Qing Dynasty Imperial Edict
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Xiangshan County magistrate
;
Yimu community leaders
;
authentic opium provenance
;
foreign opium procurement
;
lunar calendar compliance
;
opium regulation
;
ornamental bottle caps
;
Manuscripts
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| Online Access: | https://macau-legacy.usj.edu.mo/docs/HG8E8ABW/viewer_HG8E8ABW.html |
| Summary: | This abstract describes a Qing dynasty imperial edict issued on the 2nd day of the tenth lunar month in the forty-second year of the Qianlong reign (1777 CE) by Yang, Magistrate of Xiangshan County, addressed to foreign community leaders (yimu), including Vilaudo and others. The document mandates the procurement and delivery—within the first ten days of the tenth lunar month—of no less than four hundred catties (approximately 240 kg) of authentic foreign opium, characterised by its sharp, pungent odour and pale yellow, fine-grained appearance; it further directs the immediate despatch of an official envoy to Macau to purchase ornamental bottle caps for the storage and transport of this commodity. The edict references prior directives from the Provincial Administration Commissioner (fuxian) concerning tobacco snuff (bīyān) and rebukes foreign officials for allegedly false claims regarding vessel loss and lack of anchorage as excuses for non-compliance. Marginalia, multiple official seals—including one dated Qianlong 42 and another bearing the phrase ‘strictly prohibited; immediate action imperative’—and physical evidence of degradation (surface flaking, ink loss, indistinct stamps) are integral to the document’s material provenance. This edict constitutes a primary source for studying late eighteenth-century Sino-foreign commercial regulation, opium trade administration, local governance in Guangdong, and bureaucratic communication practices under the Qing dynasty. |
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