ON THE BORDER GATE : JOÃO MARIA FERREIRA DO AMARAL AND VICENTE NICOLAU DE MESQUITA臨界之上──亞馬喇和美士基打
Starting from the symbolism of Macao's **Portas do Cerco** (Border Gate) and the two dates engraved on opposite sides of the wall (August 22 and 25, 1849), this article analyzes how Portuguese colonial memory was materialized and contested over time. The author focuses on the figures of **João Maria...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
January 2010
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40033/3560 |
| _version_ | 1877196270608580608 |
|---|---|
| author | Christina Miu Bing Cheng |
| author_autocomplete | Christina Miu Bing Cheng |
| author_browse | Christina Miu Bing Cheng |
| author_facet | Christina Miu Bing Cheng Christina Miu Bing Cheng |
| author_sort | Christina Miu Bing Cheng |
| container_title | Review of Culture |
| container_title_str | Review of Culture |
| container_volume | 33 |
| container_volume_str | 33 |
| description | Starting from the symbolism of Macao's **Portas do Cerco** (Border Gate) and the two dates engraved on opposite sides of the wall (August 22 and 25, 1849), this article analyzes how Portuguese colonial memory was materialized and contested over time. The author focuses on the figures of **João Maria Ferreira do Amaral** and **Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita**, understood less as isolated historical individuals than as supports for a political narrative constructed to legitimize Portuguese authority. Methodologically, the text mobilizes a historiographical discussion on the “ambiguity” of history—as a situated narrative—by cross-referencing the reading of the monument and the inscribed dates with the public trajectory of the two statues (inauguration in **1940**, removals in **1966** and **1992**, and the return of the artifact to Portugal), as well as with the way in which colonial and Sino-local authorities disputed the meaning of “aggressors” and “patriots.”
It concludes that the statues constituted devices for **consolidating power** and **selecting memories**: in a context of empire and colonialism, history was reconstructed “in favor of the victor,” but also left traces of trauma that re-emerged when the political order changed. Thus, the Portas do Cerco functions as a spatial archive of a memory in conflict and in continuous rewriting. |
| first_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:56Z |
| format | Articles |
| genre | Articles |
| genre_facet | Articles |
| hierarchy_browse | Review of Culture{{{_ID_}}}zotero-coll-76L3BRGH |
| hierarchy_parent_id | zotero-coll-76L3BRGH |
| hierarchy_parent_title | Review of Culture |
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| hierarchy_top_title | News |
| hierarchytype | Default |
| id | zotero-LSCWC476 |
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| issn | 1682-1106 |
| last_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:56Z |
| latest_content_date | 2026-09-11T02:56:56Z |
| publishDate | January 2010 |
| publishDateRange | 2010 |
| publishDateSort | 2010 |
| publishPlace | Macau |
| publisher | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
| publisherStr | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
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| spelling | ON THE BORDER GATE : JOÃO MARIA FERREIRA DO AMARAL AND VICENTE NICOLAU DE MESQUITA臨界之上──亞馬喇和美士基打 Starting from the symbolism of Macao's **Portas do Cerco** (Border Gate) and the two dates engraved on opposite sides of the wall (August 22 and 25, 1849), this article analyzes how Portuguese colonial memory was materialized and contested over time. The author focuses on the figures of **João Maria Ferreira do Amaral** and **Vicente Nicolau de Mesquita**, understood less as isolated historical individuals than as supports for a political narrative constructed to legitimize Portuguese authority. Methodologically, the text mobilizes a historiographical discussion on the “ambiguity” of history—as a situated narrative—by cross-referencing the reading of the monument and the inscribed dates with the public trajectory of the two statues (inauguration in **1940**, removals in **1966** and **1992**, and the return of the artifact to Portugal), as well as with the way in which colonial and Sino-local authorities disputed the meaning of “aggressors” and “patriots.” It concludes that the statues constituted devices for **consolidating power** and **selecting memories**: in a context of empire and colonialism, history was reconstructed “in favor of the victor,” but also left traces of trauma that re-emerged when the political order changed. Thus, the Portas do Cerco functions as a spatial archive of a memory in conflict and in continuous rewriting. Instituto Cultural de Macau Macau Review of Culture Articles January 2010 Christina Miu Bing Cheng |
| spellingShingle | ON THE BORDER GATE : JOÃO MARIA FERREIRA DO AMARAL AND VICENTE NICOLAU DE MESQUITA臨界之上──亞馬喇和美士基打 Christina Miu Bing Cheng |
| title | ON THE BORDER GATE : JOÃO MARIA FERREIRA DO AMARAL AND VICENTE NICOLAU DE MESQUITA臨界之上──亞馬喇和美士基打 |
| title_autocomplete | ON THE BORDER GATE : JOÃO MARIA FERREIRA DO AMARAL AND VICENTE NICOLAU DE MESQUITA臨界之上──亞馬喇和美士基打 |
| title_full | ON THE BORDER GATE : JOÃO MARIA FERREIRA DO AMARAL AND VICENTE NICOLAU DE MESQUITA臨界之上──亞馬喇和美士基打 |
| title_fullStr | ON THE BORDER GATE : JOÃO MARIA FERREIRA DO AMARAL AND VICENTE NICOLAU DE MESQUITA臨界之上──亞馬喇和美士基打 |
| title_full_unstemmed | ON THE BORDER GATE : JOÃO MARIA FERREIRA DO AMARAL AND VICENTE NICOLAU DE MESQUITA臨界之上──亞馬喇和美士基打 |
| title_short | ON THE BORDER GATE : JOÃO MARIA FERREIRA DO AMARAL AND VICENTE NICOLAU DE MESQUITA臨界之上──亞馬喇和美士基打 |
| title_sort | on the border gate : joão maria ferreira do amaral and vicente nicolau de mesquita臨界之上──亞馬喇和美士基打 |
| url | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40033/3560 |
| zotero_collection_key | 76L3BRGH |