ACTIVIDADES DOS PORTUGUESES NOS MARES DA CHINA NOS PRIMÓRDIOS DA DEMANDA DA ÁSIA
This article analyzes the initial activities of the Portuguese in the seas of China during the first half of the 16th century, contextualizing their arrival within a period of transformation in the foreign policy of the Ming dynasty. Through a Chinese historiographical perspective, the author examin...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Articles |
| Published: |
Instituto Cultural de Macau
January 2002
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40001/2652 |
| _version_ | 1877196271544958976 |
|---|---|
| author | Li Jingming |
| author_autocomplete | Li Jingming |
| author_browse | Li Jingming |
| author_facet | Li Jingming Li Jingming |
| author_sort | Li Jingming |
| container_title | Review of Culture |
| container_title_str | Review of Culture |
| container_volume | 1 |
| container_volume_str | 1 |
| description | This article analyzes the initial activities of the Portuguese in the seas of China during the first half of the 16th century, contextualizing their arrival within a period of transformation in the foreign policy of the Ming dynasty. Through a Chinese historiographical perspective, the author examines how the transition between maritime exploration and commercial establishment was facilitated by a specific political conjuncture: the decline of Chinese naval power following Zheng He's expeditions and the growing porosity of the maritime prohibition laws (*haijin*).
The study highlights the fundamental role of the provincial authorities of Guangdong, particularly the civil governor Wu Tingju, who promoted the legalization of trade with non-tributary countries for fiscal and military reasons. This relaxation of the tributary trade system allowed pioneers such as Jorge Álvares and Rafael Perestrelo to establish exchange networks in Canton and Tun Men with relative success. The author argues that the success of the Portuguese incursion depended both on Lisbon's expansionist initiative and on the regional Chinese economic necessity to circumvent the restrictions of the imperial court. In sum, the article demonstrates that the founding of Macau and the consolidation of the Lusitanian presence in the region were processes shaped by a pragmatic openness in the Ming administration, at a time when the empire no longer exercised absolute control over its seas. |
| first_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:50Z |
| 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 |
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| issn | 1682-1106 |
| last_indexed | 2026-09-11T02:56:50Z |
| latest_content_date | 2026-09-11T02:56:50Z |
| publishDate | January 2002 |
| publishDateRange | 2002 |
| publishDateSort | 2002 |
| publishPlace | Macau |
| publisher | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
| publisherStr | Instituto Cultural de Macau |
| record_format | zotero |
| spelling | ACTIVIDADES DOS PORTUGUESES NOS MARES DA CHINA NOS PRIMÓRDIOS DA DEMANDA DA ÁSIA This article analyzes the initial activities of the Portuguese in the seas of China during the first half of the 16th century, contextualizing their arrival within a period of transformation in the foreign policy of the Ming dynasty. Through a Chinese historiographical perspective, the author examines how the transition between maritime exploration and commercial establishment was facilitated by a specific political conjuncture: the decline of Chinese naval power following Zheng He's expeditions and the growing porosity of the maritime prohibition laws (*haijin*). The study highlights the fundamental role of the provincial authorities of Guangdong, particularly the civil governor Wu Tingju, who promoted the legalization of trade with non-tributary countries for fiscal and military reasons. This relaxation of the tributary trade system allowed pioneers such as Jorge Álvares and Rafael Perestrelo to establish exchange networks in Canton and Tun Men with relative success. The author argues that the success of the Portuguese incursion depended both on Lisbon's expansionist initiative and on the regional Chinese economic necessity to circumvent the restrictions of the imperial court. In sum, the article demonstrates that the founding of Macau and the consolidation of the Lusitanian presence in the region were processes shaped by a pragmatic openness in the Ming administration, at a time when the empire no longer exercised absolute control over its seas. Instituto Cultural de Macau Macau Review of Culture Articles January 2002 Li Jingming |
| spellingShingle | ACTIVIDADES DOS PORTUGUESES NOS MARES DA CHINA NOS PRIMÓRDIOS DA DEMANDA DA ÁSIA Li Jingming |
| title | ACTIVIDADES DOS PORTUGUESES NOS MARES DA CHINA NOS PRIMÓRDIOS DA DEMANDA DA ÁSIA |
| title_autocomplete | ACTIVIDADES DOS PORTUGUESES NOS MARES DA CHINA NOS PRIMÓRDIOS DA DEMANDA DA ÁSIA |
| title_full | ACTIVIDADES DOS PORTUGUESES NOS MARES DA CHINA NOS PRIMÓRDIOS DA DEMANDA DA ÁSIA |
| title_fullStr | ACTIVIDADES DOS PORTUGUESES NOS MARES DA CHINA NOS PRIMÓRDIOS DA DEMANDA DA ÁSIA |
| title_full_unstemmed | ACTIVIDADES DOS PORTUGUESES NOS MARES DA CHINA NOS PRIMÓRDIOS DA DEMANDA DA ÁSIA |
| title_short | ACTIVIDADES DOS PORTUGUESES NOS MARES DA CHINA NOS PRIMÓRDIOS DA DEMANDA DA ÁSIA |
| title_sort | actividades dos portugueses nos mares da china nos primórdios da demanda da ásia |
| url | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40001/2652 |
| zotero_collection_key | 76L3BRGH |