PRENÚNCIOS SOMBRIOS. A CONCESSÃO DE HONG KONG EXPOSTA PELOS PORTUGUESES AOS CHINESES COMO FACTOR DE PERTURBAÇÃO DA ORDEM IMPERIAL陰沉的預兆 － 葡國人向中國人解說香港的出讓問題是擾亂皇家次序的因素
The article argues that the concession of Hong Kong, agreed within the framework of the First Opium War and formalized in the Treaty of Nanking, should not be read merely as a Luso-British territorial reconfiguration on the southern coast of China, but rather as a "disturbing factor" interpreted by...
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| Published in: | Review of Culture |
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| Format: | Articles |
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Instituto Cultural de Macau
July 2007
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| Online Access: | https://www.icm.gov.mo/rc/viewer/pdfViewerParts/40023/3699 |
| Summary: | The article argues that the concession of Hong Kong, agreed within the framework of the First Opium War and formalized in the Treaty of Nanking, should not be read merely as a Luso-British territorial reconfiguration on the southern coast of China, but rather as a "disturbing factor" interpreted by the Portuguese of Macao in their dealings with the Chinese authorities. Based on a critical reading of official documentation and public interventions attributed to Portuguese protagonists of the period (including communications and discursive framings regarding the expected economic and administrative effects for Macao), the author reconstructs how these agents allegedly sought to sensitize the imperial power to the gravity of the arrangement: the transfer of the island and port would be presented not only as an immediate commercial threat, but as an ominous sign for the continuity of the Qing "imperial order."
Methodologically, the text combines historical contextualization with rhetorical and political-institutional analysis, highlighting a significance that historiography has barely explored concerning the meeting held on 6 November 1841 at the Temple of Lianfeng, in Macao. It concludes that the Portuguese initiative aimed to produce mutual awareness and reinforce the possibility of a Chinese response articulated with the defence of Macanese interests, anticipating systemic tensions that historiography has frequently relegated to the background. |
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| ISSN: | 1682-1106 |