Ofício do mandarim sub-prefeito de Macau, Wei, ao procurador de Macau, sobre a advertência aos portugueses, residentes em Macau, de ser interdito o descarregamento ilegal de mercadorias de navios estrangeiros atracados nas águas da Taipa
This archival document is an official Qing dynasty directive issued on the twenty-fourth day of the intercalary fourth month of the nineteenth year of the Qianlong reign (1754) by the Guangzhou Maritime Defence Prefecture for Military and Civil Affairs, concurrently overseeing customs enforcement in...
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| Format: | Manuscripts |
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| Published: |
1754-06-19
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| Subjects: |
Cantonese Smuggling Collusion
;
Dongguan Customs Enforcement
;
Foreign Headmen Regulation
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Guangzhou Maritime Defence Prefecture
;
Jiāsīduō
;
Macau Trade Supervision
;
Qianlong Reign Directive
;
Qing Dynasty Coastal Governance
;
Shunde Oversight
;
Shízì Mén Smuggling
;
Xiangshan Oversight
;
Manuscripts
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| Online Access: | https://macau-legacy.usj.edu.mo/docs/S6PKFX37/viewer_S6PKFX37.html |
| Summary: | This archival document is an official Qing dynasty directive issued on the twenty-fourth day of the intercalary fourth month of the nineteenth year of the Qianlong reign (1754) by the Guangzhou Maritime Defence Prefecture for Military and Civil Affairs, concurrently overseeing customs enforcement in Dongguan, Shunde, Xiangshan, and Zhongshan counties. Addressed to Magistrate Wei and formally transmitted to foreign headmen (*Yí mù*), including Jiāsīduō, the directive responds to recurrent smuggling activities involving Cantonese subjects colluding with foreign merchants at Shízì Mén (‘Cross Gate’)—a designated outer anchorage near Macau—where light, high-value goods were illicitly transported via fishing boats to evade customs duties. The text outlines administrative concerns regarding enforcement failures, reaffirms prior prohibitions recorded in official archives, and mandates immediate, rigorous surveillance and interdiction across the prefecture’s jurisdiction. It specifies that any Cantonese subject found conspiring with or inciting foreigners to smuggle dutiable commodities shall be summarily apprehended and prosecuted, and warns foreign headmen that collusion, inducement, or facilitation of such smuggling will result in immediate arrest and judicial investigation. Marginalia indicate a same-day compliance deadline and a return receipt date of the twenty-ninth day. As a primary source, the document illuminates Qing coastal governance, Sino-foreign commercial regulation, and the institutional role of *Yí mù* intermediaries in mid-eighteenth-century Pearl River Delta trade. |
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