Ofício do reitor do Seminário de São José de Macau, Manuel Correia Valente, ao secretário de estado da Marinha e Ultramar, Martinho de Melo e Castro, sobre a carta do Bispo de Pequim, D. Alexandre de Gouveia; a libertação e homenagem aos missionários europeus na China e sobre o envio do decreto imperial que dá liberdade aos mesmos missionários
This abstract describes a bilingual (Chinese and Latin) imperial edict issued on 9 November 1785—the eighth day of the tenth lunar month in the fiftieth year of the Qianlong reign—alongside a contemporaneous ecclesiastical dispatch dated 22 January 1786 from Macau. The document records the Qing Empe...
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| Format: | Manuscripts |
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1786-01-22
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| Online Access: | https://macau-legacy.usj.edu.mo/docs/ISNATCKS/viewer_ISNATCKS.html |
| Summary: | This abstract describes a bilingual (Chinese and Latin) imperial edict issued on 9 November 1785—the eighth day of the tenth lunar month in the fiftieth year of the Qianlong reign—alongside a contemporaneous ecclesiastical dispatch dated 22 January 1786 from Macau. The document records the Qing Emperor’s conditional release of twelve European missionaries, including Patiliano (Father Joannes a Salsis), who had entered China without official authorisation and were apprehended across multiple provinces including Huguang, Zhili, Guangdong, Gansu, Jiangxi, and Sichuan. It details the Emperor’s rationale for initial sentencing to perpetual imprisonment—citing clandestine movement and proselytisation as disruptive analogues to the legendary venomous serpent *Guiyu*—and his subsequent clemency, permitting the missionaries either residence in Beijing churches (*jiaotang*) or repatriation to Macau under imperial auspices. The dispatch, authored by Martinho de Melo, Apostolic Administrator *ad interim* of Macau, reports ceremonial reception in Beijing—including imperial audience, liturgical celebration at the Cathedral, and solemn processions—as well as the identities and nationalities of twelve missionaries en route to Macau, among them Bishop Francisco Gabriel Turin of Sichuan, Italian, Spanish, French, Macanese, and Colombian clergy. The text reflects Qing administrative procedures, jurisdictional roles of the Board of Rites (*Lifan Yuan*) and Ministry of Justice (*Xingbu*), and missionary interpretations of imperial favour, including the term *Condegiro* as colloquial reference to high-ranking mandarins. This material constitutes a primary source for studying Sino-European religious diplomacy, Qing legal administration, and Catholic missionary activity in late eighteenth-century China. Obs.: Tem anexo a cópia do decreto imperial. |
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