Ofício do magistrado do distrito de Xiangshan, Peng, ao procurador de Macau, sobre o assassinato de José Lopes que tinha apanhado o navio de Cantão para Macau

This archival document is an imperial edict issued in the eighth month of the fifty-third year of the Qianlong reign (1788 CE) by the Qing dynasty County Magistrate Peng, addressed to the foreign headman Leido (Leydo), concerning allegations of homicide and unlawful activity involving Portuguese sai...

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Bibliographic Details
Format: Manuscripts
Published: 1788-09-11
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Online Access:https://macau-legacy.usj.edu.mo/docs/R7IZ9H6V/viewer_R7IZ9H6V.html
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Summary:This archival document is an imperial edict issued in the eighth month of the fifty-third year of the Qianlong reign (1788 CE) by the Qing dynasty County Magistrate Peng, addressed to the foreign headman Leido (Leydo), concerning allegations of homicide and unlawful activity involving Portuguese sailors disembarking clandestinely at Macau and allegedly committing murder and robbery near Whampoa (Pǔ) on 28 June. The edict records the magistrate’s on-site investigation of the northern coastal waters of the bay—specifically the location where the foreigner Dādēngchì died—based on depositions from foreign residents and testimony from local fishermen, all of whom reported no vessel sightings or auditory evidence of disturbance on that date. It further documents official inquiries dispatched to Huangpu and the provincial capital, corroborated by the Chief Superintendant of Trade (Ta Pan), confirming no foreigners arrived in Macau on the specified date. The edict refutes the foreign officials’ claims as false, directs the interrogation of French officials Tougu A’lan’ni (Tougu d’Aulagny) and others, mandates supplementary memorials for future submissions, and underscores procedural failures in the foreign official’s handling of the case. Marginalia, seals—including those of the National Archives of Torre—and administrative markings (T105, A488, 507) indicate its provenance and archival history. This edict serves as a primary source for studying Sino-foreign legal interaction, Qing judicial administration, and maritime regulation in late eighteenth-century Guangdong.