The writing of the Chinese version of Macao 400 Years was started in the early 1980s. By then, the Portuguese had settled in Macao for about 430 years, but so far no Chinese scholar had ever written any book that systematically depicted the history of Macao. That is one of the reasons why Macao 400 Years has been well received among readers on China's mainland and in Macao since its publication in 1988 by Shanghai People's Publishing House.

Quite a few Portuguese colleagues and friends also knew about this Chinese book concerning Macao's history, but they are unable to read it because of language difficulties. Some Chinese and Portuguese people suggested that the book be translated into English. At the urging of Mr. Zhang Yongchun, the Senior Technician of Macao Foundation, and with the energetic support of Mr. Wu Zhiliang, Director of Macao Foundation, as well as Mr. António Rodrigues Júnior, the President of Macao Foundation, the English version of the book and its publication has now been realized.

Before translating the book into English, I had once planned to revise the structure and basic viewpoints of the Chinese version. After deliberation, I found no point that needed major revision. Therefore, the Chinese version and the English version are almost identical in basic contents, except for the addition of some newly-found materials. I am especially happy that some new viewpoints I presented ten years ago have gradually been accepted by my colleagues. I regard the policy of Ming and Qing governments towards Macao before the Opium-War as basically positive, that is, while strengthening local control, the Chinese governments allowed the Portuguese to settle in the place and have a high degree of autonomy to keep the important bridge facilitating economic and cultural exchanges between the East and the West at that time. Before the Opium War, although there were some conflicts between the Chinese and the Portuguese, on the whole, I believe, the two sides had a harmonious relationship in Macao, contributing together to the development of world economy and culture.

In the English version, I have added some materials that I found in recent years, both in Chinese and in Western languages. Two years ago, when I visited the University of California at Berkeley and Columbia University, I found some materials in English that had never been known to scholars in China. But since Portuguese scholars and other Western scholars can read historical materials in Western languages themselves, most of the materials I have added into this English version are Chinese. In 1994, supported by the Macao Foundation, I spent a month at the Macao Historical Archives, reading microfilms of the documents of the communications between China and Portugal in the mid-Qing with the original documents in Portuguese National Archives, finding some valuable materials which had never been used by Chinese or Western scholars. For example, in a document sent by the Portuguese authorities of Macao to the Chinese authorities in 1818, the Portuguese authorities said clearly that the north boundary of the Portuguese settlement in Macao was in the middle of Macao Peninsula; two documents of the same year claimed: "Within the settlement, all are Portuguese property; outside of the settlement, the Portuguese do not dare to trespass." Some of these materials have been added into the English version.

In the process of translation and revision, some fellow scholars such as Dr. Camões C.K. Tam, Mr. Cheng Surong, Mr. Zheng Weiming, Mr. Zhang Wenqin and Mr. Liang Zhenxing explored many points concerning Macao's history with me, and enlightened me greatly. Some of them found some rare materials in Chinese for me. I have also talked with some Portuguese historians such as Mrs. Beatriz Basto da Silva, the author of Cronologia da Historia de Macau, feeling deeply that their academic style is strict and they have made great efforts to have a true picture of Macao's history. Among them, Fr. Manuel Teixeira's comment about Anders Ljungstedt, the author of A Historical Sketch of the Portuguese Settlements in China and of the Roman Catholic Church and Mission in China & Description of the City of Canton, clearly reflected that some contemporary Portuguese historians had adopted a clear and definite approach in sticking to truth and opposing erroneousness. He said:

In the past, because of language obstacles, it was very difficult to carry out academic exchanges between Chinese and Portuguese scholars. So neither side knew the latest viewpoints of their counterparts concerning the history of Macao. It is very much like a Chinese Beijing Opera called "Sancha Kou" (An Inn at a Fork of a Road). The heroes in the play do not know where their enemies are in the darkness of midnight, so they have to feel about blindly. The significance of the publication of the English version of Macao 400 Years lies in the fact that it has for the first time systematically introduced the Chinese scholars' views concerning the history of Macao to their Western counterparts, in spite of the fact that some Chinese scholars may disagree with some of the points in the book. Because of different national and cultural backgrounds, it is natural that the Portuguese historians hold views different from the Chinese scholars concerning many historical problems of Macao. As long as we all adhere to the approach of seeking truth from facts, I believe that with further research, exchange and discussion, Chinese and Portuguese scholars will certainly iron out some of their differences. Even if some viewpoints still remain diversified for the time being, each side can keep its own. It can be foreseen that through more and more exchanges, what has been agreed upon will grow, and disagreements will diminish.

The translator of the book is Mr. Wang Yintong, my colleague in Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, who has made long and painstaking efforts in translating the book into English. American scholar and my friend, Ms. Sarah K. Schneewind, carefully and seriously polished the whole translation and rewrote some of the paragraphs in American style, improving the quality of the translation. Because of the difference in writing styles between the Chinese and English languages, and because this book is so long, it is difficult to rewrite it to conform completely to English writing style. What should be mentioned here is that when writing the book in Chinese, the author quoted some paragraphs from books translated from English into Chinese. But in the libraries of Chinese mainland at the moment, we are unable to find some of these original English books, so we have to retranslate these quotations into English according to the meaning in Chinese only. If they are not identical with the original text, please take the original text as the standard.

During the process of translation, my colleagues and I have met some problems calling for much deliberation. First, the translation of local place names. For the sake of readers' convenience, all the names of the places within the present Macao area are translated according to their present Portuguese names except for "Border Gate", which was translated as "Barrier Gate" instead. All places outside Macao, except Canton, are translated according to Chinese pinyin, and sometimes names given by Westerners are added in brackets. For example, Duimianshan (Lapa), Dahengqin (Montaha Island) and so on. Chinese officials' titles in the Ming and Qing period are transliterated with their English equivalent in bracket when they appear for the first time in the book and the English titles are used thereafter. For example, a Chinese official "Zuotang" is transliterated into Zuotang (the Vice Magistrate) for the first time. The complete title of the Mandarin of Casa Branca as the Portuguese called it is the Vice Prefect of Coastal Defence of Canton Prefecture. As some officials’ titles are very long and appear frequently, they have been shortened for convenience of reading. For instance, the Deputy Surveillance Commissioner for Coastal Inspection of Guangdong Province (Haidao Fushi) is shortened into Deputy Surveillance Commissioner. Many titles are translated according to A Dictionary of Official Titles in Imperial China by Charles O. Hucker, (Standard University Press, 1985), but some of them, including those not listed in the dictionary, are translated by ourselves. Before the Opium War, only Chinese was used in official documents concerning negotiations and presentations between the Chinese and the Portuguese, so the translation of these documents are all based upon the Chinese version only. After the Opium War, the treaties between China and Portugal are translated according to the designated standard text. Explanations are made when the Chinese version and the standard version are not identical or even quite different in meaning.

Chinese historian Professor Chen Xulu wrote a preface for the Chinese version of Macao 400 Years. Because this preface was written many years ago, some of the materials quoted by it reflected the Chinese scholars' traditional views towards the history of Macao in the past. Wen Yiduo's poem, which was written at the beginning of this century, claimed that Macao had left its motherland's embrace for 300 years, Mr. Wen Yiduo regarded 1550s when the Portuguese began to trade and settle down in Macao as the time when Macao left its motherland, reflecting one of the Chinese scholars' views about Macao's history in recent one century. Now, Professor Chen Xulu, who had profound learning and was of noble character and high prestige, had already left us for seven years. The publication of the English version of his preface to this book is a recall for the teacher of my post graduate study.

Finally, at the time of the publication of the English version of Macao 400 Years, I express my heartfelt thanks to all the colleagues and friends who have helped the English translation and publication of this book. In the meantime, I also sincerely hope that the publication of this book can promote the academic exchanges between the scholars of China and Portugal, and the further study of Macao history among the scholars both in China and in Portugal.

Fei Chengkang       

July 18, 1995       

Shanghai, China