ZHIDONG HAO, MACAU : HISTORY AND SOCIETY郝志東, MACAU : HISTORY AND SOCIETY
The review article presents and evaluates Zhidong Hao's book *Macau: History and Society* (2011), arguing that Macau's history should be read simultaneously as a study of Sino-Western relations over the past four centuries and as a pathway to interpreting the city's unique cultural and identity-rela...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
October 2011
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40040/3126 |
| Summary: | The review article presents and evaluates Zhidong Hao's book *Macau: History and Society* (2011), arguing that Macau's history should be read simultaneously as a study of Sino-Western relations over the past four centuries and as a pathway to interpreting the city's unique cultural and identity-related characteristics. The reviewer highlights that Hao frames Macau within the scope of "Greater China" and employs the past as an interpretive method for understanding political, economic, and cultural processes, including sovereignty disputes and dynamics of cooperation and conflict between communities and European powers.
The work is structured into an introduction, eight thematic chapters, a chronology, and a bibliography. The initial sections address Macau's formation within the context of Portuguese maritime expansion and the defensive strategies of imperial Chinese power, questioning traditional readings based on "bribery" and proposing the existence of hidden political-military and economic considerations (the "Macao formula"). Subsequently, the evolution of the political system, the model of dual jurisdiction, and the contested notion of sovereignty are analyzed; then the economy and social survival are examined, although the periodization presents limitations due to activities that transcend historical periods. The central chapters demonstrate with particular quality the cultural, religious, and artistic interactions, though a weak effective circulation of skills between Chinese and Westerners is observed. Finally, the book discusses contemporary social problems and formulates challenges for the future, advocating for Macau as a platform for multicultural exchange, symbolically represented by the façade of St. Paul's Church. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |