32In memory of the Xin Hai Revolution and Francisco H. Fernandes, a Comrade of Sun Yat-sen in the 1911 Revolution in Macau
54 My interest in the study of Francisco H. Fernandes dated back to over a decade ago when I was working for the University of Macau (UM). I was supposed to compile a book for UM in collaboration with Prof. Zhang Lei, a renowned and accomplished Sun Yat-sen scholar: Macau: Sun Yat-sen’s Gateway to the World and Stage to Society, the first book to be published in three languages, Chinese, English and Portuguese. During this project, I was lucky enough to gain access to some rare and precious archive materials about Francisco H. Fernandes. At the same time, through the works of João Guedes, a Portuguese researcher in Macau, I also came to know of some local Portuguese records about the relationship between Sun Yat-sen and Fernandes. Even though I did not in fact know too much about Fernandes at the time but I was already deeply impressed by the deeds of chivalry and bravery of this legendary comrade of Sun. I, therefore, decided to delve further into the Macau Archives, the Leal Senado Ar-chives, the St. Lawrence Church Archives as well as the archives of the Cemetary of St. Michael (Cemitério de São Miguel Arcanjo) and even the Santa Casa da Misericórdia, where I wish to dig out some more information about the life and background of Fernandes. My efforts paid off be-cause I found some important materials about the little known life of Fernandes. In fact I did not waste any time making use of part of these materials to write our 1996 book on Sun. Whenever I think of this early period of my research on Fernandes, I cannot help feeling indebted to a few of my Macanese friends who had given me generous and valuable help to make the endeavor successful. I would like, first of all, to thank Mr. Rufino Ramos, who, as the Administrator of UM, had been genuinely committed to putting to print our manuscript on Sun Yat-sen. More than that, he personally made contacts with the direc-tors of various relevant departments and institutes of the Macau government to open up doors for my research work into their depositories. Secondly, my gratitude also goes to Dr. Rodolfo Azedo who was the Librarian of UM at the time. It was Rodolfo who drew my attention to the fact that some copies of Echo Macaense, the newspaper published by Fernandes were in fact available in Macau and so were other Portuguese newspapers published in Macau during the same revolutionary period. These IIIPreface
76source materials had proven to be extremely useful as I was able to find solid evidences of the relationship between Sun and Fernandes. Last but not least, I would like also to acknowledge my heart-felt thanks to Mrs. Merlinde Assumpção Brown who is a resident of Califor-nia, USA and a distant relative of the Fernandes family. For several years Merlinde has graciously helped me locate the whereabouts of the existing family members of the Fernandes and provided me with an as reliable as possible account of how Francisco H. Fernandes looked like in the absence of any existing photograph of him. For one thing, my interest in researching into Fran-ciscos’ life is, to some extent, a personal hobby rather than an academic commitment. For this reason, I have not been able to compile systematically the findings collected in my spare time into a complete and handy file especially when I had to keep moving my home and changing my place of work in the past decade. As a result my writings on Francisco H. Fernandes have at best been sporadic and inconsistent. During a casual talk with Mr. Rufino Ramos some time in 2011, I told him that I had been engaged in publishing a book for the Commercial Press (HK) about the 1911 Revolution and its connections with Hong Kong and Macau to mark the 100th Anniversary of the Revolution. He then asked me if I could finish writing a booklet about Francisco H. Fernandes, Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary comrade in order to commemorate Fernandes on such an important historical occasion. It did not take me too much time to realize that it was certainly a most worthwhile job for me to do in order to pay tribute to one who saved the life of Sun and the hero of my heart. I, therefore, promised Mr. Rufino to give it a try. To begin with, I got to immediately locate the files I have collected over the years and kept somewhere in my house. Fortunately, after three nights of mine-sweeping search into the book shelves and closets and cabinets, I found most of the source materials that I needed to write the booklet. I quickly launched a writing spree and had to write down everything in a draft within one month’s time. Looking back, those days were indeed like living in hell. I am much obliged to Mr. Norman Chan who volunteered IVIII
98to edit my manuscript and also to Mr. Tse Tak Wah who volunteered to supervise over the printing matters. Without their genuine support the manuscript could never have been put to print within the deadline. I would like also to take this opportunity to thank two colleagues of mine, Miss May Huen who typed my manuscript and Miss Wong Un Na who helped to translate some documents in Portuguese. Finally, I would like to reiterate the fact that the reason why I tried my utmost to get this booklet pub-lished before October 10 this year is quite obvious. It is because, during such a memorable occasion of the 1911 revolution, on behalf of all of my colleagues who had helped me along my research and writing project, I want to pay the highest tribute to Francisco H. Fernandes who had truly helped Sun Yat-sen heart and soul in Sun’s early revolutionary activities in Macau.K.C. Fok, August, 2011 VIV
05041. Preface When Dr. Sun Yat-sen decided to make the earliest attempts to promote a revolutionary movement in China, he had a few close comrades from Macau .They included the Lou brothers, i.e., Lou Lim Iok（盧廉若） and Lou I Iok（盧怡若）, Yang Heling（楊鶴齡） and Francisco H. Fernandes（飛南第）. The Lou brothers were well-known businessmen in Macau back in the late Qing and early Republican periods. The father of the Lou brothers was Lou Kau（盧九） (also called Cheuk-Ji（焯之）), who is often referred to as one of the first generation of casino tycoons in the gaming history of Macau. Yang Heling（楊鶴齡） was a classmate of Dr. Sun when Sun studied at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese. Yang was better known as one of the so-called “Four Bandits”（四大寇）, a nickname referred by friends to Sun and his most intimate associates at the College because they all the time got together to discuss how to launch a revolution in China. Since most experts studying Dr. Sun and his relationship with Macau are quite familiar with the Lou brothers and Yang, this pamphlet will mainly focus on Francisco Fernandes who is relatively little known to historians.12. The Hong Kong Encounter Francisco Fernandes and his family members are traditionally called “Native-born Portuguese” by people of Macau. But it is a more accurate way to address them as “Native-born with Portuguese Heritage” because some of them are not pure Portuguese. Francisco Fernandes was born on February 13, 1863 in Macau. His father came from a Portuguese family which had been living in Macau for several generations. His mother was, however, a Chinese. Francisco Fernandes was a Catholic and lived in Rua da Praia do Manduco which is within the jurisdiction of the St. Lawrence Parish Church. For this reason, records of some key events in his life related to his religious belief, such as his baptism, wedding or even his death, can be found in the archives of his parish church. Some of these records contain rather precise information about the individual. For example, one could learn about Francisco’s family background from his baptism record and about his wife’s background in his wedding record. The Church records are an integral part of the first hand materials to study Francisco’s family background. It is commonly believed that Francisco and Dr. Sun became acquainted with each other when Sun was studying at Hong Kong. At that time Francisco was working first as a clerk, usher and later on an interpreter in the Hong Kong High Court. They soon became close friends. Dr. Sun came to Macau to practise medicine after he graduated from the Hong Kong College of Medicine for the Chinese. By then Francisco had also returned to Macau. The reason why Sun decided to come to Macau to promote revolutionary activities through medical practice might have something to do with the Lou family. This viewpoint can be evidenced in the recollection remarks made by Lou I Iok in 19642. It was on the occasion of the 100th Anniversary of the Birth of Dr. Sun Yat-sen when Lou, as an 84 years old man, made The first academic writing on Fernandes with pictures and supporting documents should be Sun Yat-sen’s Gateway to the World and Stage to Society, co-edited by Zhang Lei（張磊）, Fok Kai Cheong（霍啟昌） and Sheng Yonghua（盛永華）, printed by Macau Livros do Oriente (澳門東方文萃) in 1996. However, the article which did detailed analysis on the documents to prove that Fernandes indeed had a close relationship with Sun and that Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao （《鏡湖叢報》）indeed reported the first armed uprising in 1895, was written by Fok Kai Cheong（霍啟昌）, “A Brief Analysis on Archives in Hong Kong and Macau on the Relationship between Sun and Macau”（《淺釋港澳檔案所藏有關孫中山與澳門關係研究的一些資料》）, published by Academic Research（《學術研究》）, Guangzhou（廣州）, 1997, 2nd issue, pp.60-65. Then Jiang Yihua（姜義華） 1.mentioned this topic in the preface and Fei Chengkang（費成康） wrote an article on this topic in the re-printed edition of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao（《鏡湖叢報》）, co-printed by the Macau Foundation（澳門基金會） and Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences（上海社會科學院）. The earliest non-academic writing on this topic should be the article written by Mei Shimin（梅士敏） entitled “Sun founded the Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao and developed friendship with Fernandes”（〈創辦《鏡湖叢報》與飛南弟結友誼〉）on Macau Daily（澳門日報） in November 11, 1986.Li Ao（李敖）: Sun Yat-sen he Zhongguo Xi Hua Yixue（《孫逸仙和中國西化醫學》） (Sun Yat-sen and China’s western medicine), pp. 99-100. Ren Zhilin（任志林）: Lugong Yiruo Chuan （《盧公怡若傳》）(Lou I Iok Biography, unpublished) also mentioned this briefly.2.
07063. Ibid.a special trip from Macau to Taiwan to attend the ceremony. Lou disclosed this in an interview with the Xin Sheng Daily News in Taiwan when Lou was asked about the relationship between Dr. Sun and the Lou family: Seventy years ago, the mother of Zhang Xinhu（張心湖） got seriously ill. Zhang was a well-known businessman in Macau. She went to see many doctors for treatment but all to no avail. Lou’s father Lou Cheuk Ji （盧焯之）then brought the “Father of the Nation” (Sun) to Macau. After the attentive treatment from the “Father of the Nation”, she soon recovered. Most people (in Macau) were very impressed by the superb medical skills of the “Father of the Nation” and insisted that the “Father of the Nation” should be invited to practise in Macau. It might be that on the one hand Dr.Sun felt that it was difficult to decline such hospitable gesture and on the other hand believed that after all Macau might be a good place to organize his revolutionary forces. At the end, with the help of Lou Cheuk Ji, Sun joined the Kiang Wu Hospital（鏡湖醫院） and became the first Chinese medical doctor to practise Western medicine there3. If Sun indeed believed that Macau might not be a bad place to develop his revolutionary forces as Lou I Iok （盧怡若）told the press, then the reason is likely to be his belief that he could solicit the support and assistance of Francisco Fernandes. As later events unfold this viewpoint seems even more convincing. Francisco Fernandes was well-educated, gifted with talents and very good at languages. This is well illustrated in the recommendation letters written by a few key officials in the then Hong Kong Government and by the documents which verified his employment as an interpreter in the Hong Kong High Court. One of the key officials was James Dyer Ball（波乃耶）, head of the translation department of the Hong Kong Government. James Dyer Ball was regarded by the community of linguists as one of the foreigners who had excellent command of the Chinese language. A review article on Ball’s Cantonese Made Easy （粵語易通）in the China Review（中國評論報） had this to say: “We cordially recommend it… It is worthy of Mr. Ball’s reputation as a ‘Master of Cantonese Colloquial.”4 While the China Mail（德臣西報）commented on the same book that “Mr. Ball has perhaps mastered the Cantonese dialect better than any foreigner has yet done… We have no hesitation in saying that Ball’s two works Cantonese Made Easy（粵語易通） and How to Speak Cantonese （怎樣講粵語）form as concise and complete a manual of the dialect as it is nigh possible to expect. There are really no other works on the subject worthy of comparison with them.”5 James Dyer Ball, the acclaimed “Master of Cantonese Colloquial” had this much to say about the Chinese competence of Fernandes: “I believe that he has a thorough knowledge of Cantonese and Mandarin dialects to fill the post of an interpreter, anywhere, as the fluency with which is spoken cannot be easily attained by every one.”6 The other key government official was the Rev. E.J.Eitel（歐德J.D. Ball, How to Write Chinese, Second edition, 1905, Section on Advertisements.Ibid.Administração Civil, no. P-7324, CXJ47, 20.4.5.6.
0908理）, an internationally well-known priest and sinologist. Eitel strongly recommended Fernandes to work as an interpreter in the Hong Kong High Court7 （香港高等法院）and believed that Fernandes had such a good command of the Portuguese language and the Cantonese, Mandarin and other Chinese dialects that Fernandes was capable of taking up the important job. The chief of staff in the Hong Kong High Court also praised Fernandes for his good English, good education and gifted talents. 87. Ibid, page 19.8. Ibid. A transcript issued for Fernandes dated January 1886 by the Hong Kong High Court showed that he had already been working at the High Court for 30 months, which simply means that he started his job around June 1883.9 Fernandes was only 20 years of age by then. Sun studied in the Diocesan Boys School（拔萃書院）from 1883 to 1885 and later took up undergraduate studies at the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese during the period 1887 to 1892. Since no firm evidence has been found to prove that Fernandes had been staying in Hong Kong prior to his service with the High Court, it is logical to assume that the first meeting between Sun and Fernandes should take place no earlier than June 1883. During his stay in Hong Kong it is true that Fernandes, unlike Sun, had not been subject to the influence, atmosphere and unique cultural environments of the Hong Kong English schools and the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese run by the government. However, he ought to have learnt from his job in High Court that even though Hong Kong was a British colony it had long been governed by the British system of law and for that matter all Hong Kong residents could enjoy basic individual human rights. In contrast to their contemporaries of the then politically turbulent Mainland China and other Asian nations in modern history, people in Hong Kong could in fact live with a greater sense of security. Fernandes should have also realized that in Hong Kong, anyone could advocate for reforms towards democracy and greater freedom and against tyranny in other governments as long as one abided by the laws of Hong Kong and did not get involved in any 9. Ibid.
1110activity of subversion to overthrow the British Government in Hong Kong. The unique environments in Hong Kong thus permitted the general public to advocate for revolutionary changes in China’s political system and to openly denounce the Qing officials in the English newspapers or even in some of the Chinese newspapers.10 Since Fernandes had a fairly good command of the English language it would not be too difficult for him to follow the press reports on China’s plight on the international scene. The editors of these newspapers were all keen to follow the latest trends of development of major events in the Chinese hinterland and commented on and analyzed such events without any reservation according to their own political insights. It is important to point out that the mother of Francisco Fernandes was Chinese. Based on the fact that Fernandes was well versed in several Chinese dialects, it is reasonable to assume that he must have had deep feelings and empathy towards China, the birth place of his beloved mother. While in Hong Kong, it was relatively easy for Fernandes to learn from the newspapers there about the political plight of China. In the midst of one diplomatic setback after another he could quickly draw fairly accurate conclusions about China’s vulnerable position in world affairs. Under the circumstances it was natural for Fernandes to become more receptive to ideas of reforms and to become orientated towards helping Chinese revolutionaries to change China. It would be, therefore, not too far-fetched for one to accept the idea that Sun and Fernandes soon became intimate friends in Hong Kong either from 1883 to 1885 or from 1887 to 1892. According to some Portuguese sources Sun and Fernandes became friends after Sun had been summoned by court for some reasons and was released due to Fernandes’ help. However, no similar reports can be found in any other sources related to Sun nor in any other revolutionary literatures, to confirm the credibility of such Portuguese version. It is necessary to look into the history of Hong Kong during Sun’s stays there to find out whether it was at all a feasible story.11João Guedes, “Sun Iat Sen Macau e a Revolução”, Revista de Cultura, 1991, pp. 71-72.11.Fok Kai Cheong（霍啟昌）, Gangao Dangan Zhong de Xinhai Geming (The Revolution of 1911 in Hong Kong and Macau Archives《港澳檔案中的辛亥革命》), The Commercial Press, 2011, pp. 88-89.10.
1312 During the period from June 1883 to the end of 1892, two strikes were recorded in the history of Hong Kong. One was the strike by dock workers at the wharf in protest against the French invasion of China in 1884. Another was the strike by some 4000 boat people in 1888. Dr. Sun Yat-sen once said that “I became determined to overthrow the Qing Dynasty and to establish the Republic of China in 1885, the year when China was defeated by France.”12 According to one historian the strike which broke out in 1884 carried a distinctive theme of patriotism and anti-colonialism. Judging from Sun’s above-mentioned remark, the strike must have an enormous impact on the hot-headed young student with a strong sense of national consciousness. If one were to recall what sort of a teenager Sun used to be shortly before he came to study in Hong Kong and what he had done to defy authoritarianism, one would be in a better position to figure out how Sun might have reacted towards the strike. In fact Sun was sent home in early 1883 by his elder brother, Sun Mei, who was becoming worried that Sun might embrace Christianity. In fact Sun had sent his brother a letter from Hawaii asking for permission to be baptized. Once back home Sun was whipped by his father as punishment for having such unbecoming intentions. Sun was even dragged by his father to the Bei-ti temple and forced to kneel down before the Bei-ti Deity statue to ask for repentance. Sun was so upset by the incident that he returned afterwards to the temple and smashed the Bei-Ti statue into pieces to vent his anger. This outrageous act of Sun incurred the wrath of the village elders who went to Sun’s house to reprehend him to the disgrace and great embarrassment of his parents. This is why Sun had to leave the family for Hong Kong.13 This incident served to demonstrate, without any doubt, the strong and rebellious personality of Sun against tyrannical rule. Under the free atmosphere and environment in Hong Kong and greatly inspired by the national consciousness of the strikers, it is highly possible that Sun supported in some ways or even participated in the 1884 strike and consequently was detained by the authority and later released with the help of Fernandes.Sun Yat-sen Quanji (Sun Yat-sen Collections《孫中山全集》), Volume 1, Preface of Lundun Binan Ji 《倫敦避難記》(Kidnapped in London).12.Li Ao（李敖）, pp.13-14.13.
15143. A Revolutionary in Medical Practice The exact time of the return of Fernandes to Macau from Hong Kong is still unknown. But it must have occurred before Sun started his medical practice in Kiang Wu Hospital. This is because some Portuguese sources indicated that Sun asked Fernandes to help him with his application for a doctor’s license in Macau.14 According to Lou I Iok’s narrative, it was his father, Lou Kau, who invited Sun to practise medicine in Macau and it was also Lou Kau who helped to arrange for Sun to work in Kiang Wu as the first Chinese practitioner in Western medicine.15 An internationally well-known historian of Macau once pointed out that in the entire 1700s and thereafter, few Portuguese in fact could obtain a doctor’s license to operate 14. João Guedes, pp.72-73.15. Li Ao, pp. 99-100.in Macau as they had to be graduates from the Faculty of Medicine in Portugal’s Coimbra University at Lisbon. Medical graduates from foreign countries were required to apply for a permit from the Fisico Mor in Lisbon in order to operate in Macau. 16 In fact Sun also alluded to this in his book, Lundun Binan Ji (Kidnapped in London) : “Because there is the Portuguese regulation which requires all practitioners in medicine within the territories of Portuguese rule to hold a Portuguese diploma. Based on this regulation the Portuguese doctors tried to give me a hard time. At the beginning they only tried to stop me from treating Portuguese patients. But then later they even prohibited all pharmacies to prescribe for non-Portuguese doctors.”17 According to what Lou I Iok said, when Sun succeeded in curing Zhang Xinhu’s mother, “ most people (in Macau)were impressed by the superb medical skills of the “Father of the Nation” and insisted in inviting the “Father of the Nation” to practise in Macau.”18 By “most people” here Lou might be referring to a larger group of people rather than just the Lous. According to A Brief History To Commemorate the Fiftieth Anniversary of How the President Started His Medical Studies and the Revolutionary Movement （《總理開始學醫與革命運動五十周年紀念史略》）published in 1935 by the Preparatory Committee of Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Lingnan University in Guangdong, “when Dr. Sun was studying in Hong Kong he went back on one occasion to his native village via Macau. Charles Boxers, A Note on the Interaction of Portuguese and Chinese Medicine at Macao and Peking (16th-18th Centuries), pp. 5-6.Li Ao, pp.99-100.Ibid.16.17.18.
1716Cao Ziji and Ho Huitian, two rich businessmen in Macau, both had family members who had fallen ill for a long time. Dr. Sun treated them with just one prescription and they were cured. Both Cao and Ho were marveled at Dr. Sun’s medical skills. When Dr. Sun graduated from Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, Cao and Ho together with other rich businessmen in Macau provided Dr. Sun with the necessary fund to open the Zhongzi Pharmacy（中西藥局）so that Dr. Sun could start his work as a practitioner in Macau.”19 However, according to the receipt of the loan issued to Dr. Sun by the Kiang Wu Hospital（鏡湖醫院）, it was stated clearly that the guarantor of payment was Wu Jiewe（吳節薇）, brother-in-law of Yang Heling（楊鶴齡）. while Song Ziheng was one of the witnesses for the transaction. The Portuguese edition of the Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao（鏡海叢報）, the Echo Macaense, published a commercial entitled Spring Comes to Kiang Wu at least two times. In the commercial readers are introduced to the fact that Dr. Sun offered free medical services at Kiang Wu Hospital but charged his patients for medical services in other clinics in Macau. The people who put up this commercial were listed in order as Lou Kau（盧九）, Chen Xiru（陳席儒）, Wu Jiewei（吳節薇）, Song Ziheng（宋子衡）, He Huitian（何穗田） and Cao Ziji（曹子基） respectively.20 The two above-mentioned reports in fact do not conflict with each other. They just happen to put emphasis on the relative significance of different people on the list. Those who are familiar with Macau at that time would easily realize that the above-mentioned group of people was in fact the group responsible for the management of the Kiang Wu Hospital and it was this group which invited Dr. Sun to come to Kiang Wu Hospital to practise medicine. There was an article entitled “Hospital China de Macau” (in English, “Chinese Hospital in Macau”) in Echo Macaense. At the same time there was another article entitled “Zhao Yi Xi Lun” (in English, “Direct Translation from the Western Editorial” ). After a critical checking with the contents of these two articles, it is without doubt that the Chinese article is a translated excerpt from “Hospital China de Macau”. In the article the author discussed some malpractices prevalent in the Kiang Wu Hospital and criticized the Hospital for “claiming to Ibid.Echo Macaense, September 26, 1893, page 4; Oct 4, 1893, page 4.19.20.
1918do good for the community in name only but in fact has done nothing good for the sick and the poor”. The article also mentioned, however, that after Sun joined the Hospital he began to practise western medicine there. What really happened was that Dr. Sun had to set up his out-patient clinic of western medicine on his own financial means. The article also mentioned that Dr. Sun did cure many patients for the Hospital as a result. As the funding available was very tight starting from day one, at one time only 50 patients could be provided with medicine free of charge. Nevertheless, those poor patients in critical conditions were able to get hospitalized for some time. However, the administrators, heads of various departments and other doctors of the Kiang Wu Hospital soon became jealous of Dr. Sun. They decided to close down the inpatient department in the excuse that the hospital was being run at a loss and refused to allow Dr. Sun to get involved in fund-raising activities. Therefore, at the end of the article the author proposed four measures to rectify the operations in the Kiang Wu Hospital: the first was that those doctors who wanted to work for Kiang Wu must take and pass examinations; secondly, all department heads need to be replaced by people who should possess professional competence as well genuine compassion for patients; thirdly, half of the hospital’s total funding should be allocated to western medicine and fourthly, the patients should be hospitalized if their symptoms so required rather than because of their good connections with the hospital management21. The above article not only had the guts to disclose the malpractices in KiangWu, but also vented the unfair treatment to Sun. The orginal article should be written in Portuguese as the Chinese version was only a translated excerpt of the Portuguese version. This article should be written by a close Portuguese friend of Sun. It is the author’s opinion that it is highly possible that either Fernandes or Antonio J. Bastos（巴士度） 22, who was also a close friend to Sun, wrote it. Bastos was a well educated lawyer. His Portuguese was for sure better than Fernandes. Bastos enjoyed high social and political status in Macau. He was awarded the Comendador da Ordem Militar de N. S. J. Cristo (基督軍事指揮勳章) by the King of Portugal and other medals from the Japanese Government, the King of Siam (today Thailand), the Pope and the French Government respectively. Bastos was known Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao, December 19, 1893, Page 1.21.Lou I Iok Biography mentioned him as Bastos. For more information on Bastos, please see Nomes e Vultos Tlustres de Macau, page 12.22.
2120for his poignant style of writing. He was the editor-in-chief of O Macaense and often published articles in other Portuguese newspapers to support those who were oppressed by the authorities, corrupted officials and local bullies.23 He is the type who dares to challenge the powerful in order to maintain justice. Bastos also wrote an article in 1894 on Echo Macaense to stand by Sun. Therefore, it is reasonable to believe that the above 23. Ibidarticle was also written by Bastos. It is worthy of note that in the above article, both the Portuguese and Chinese versions have mentioned that at that time Kiang Wu employed doctors based on recommendations of the directors rather than the doctor’s professional qualification. In such cases, though Sun did not have any doctor license from Macau and Portugal, it was possible that he could still practise medicine in Kiang Wu out of the recommendations of influential businessmen like Lou Kau and the help from Bastos and Fernandes. However, Kiang Wu was a hospital of Chinese medicine and traditionally only Chinese doctors were allowed to work there. But Sun set up a clinic of Western medicine within the hospital. According to existing regulations, doctors practising western medicine without official licenses could not prescribe drugs. So Sun had to turn to Wu Jiewei, one of the administrators of Kiang Wu, for funding to open the Zhongsi Pharmacy in order to obtain supply of drugs. The above article no doubt reflected that Sun was not happy with the Kiang Wu Hospital. He often had different views with other doctors there and the administrative staff in the hospital, leading to conflicts between the two sides. Therefore it was necessary for Sun’s good friend to write the above article to vent out Sun’s grievances. Those businessmen who helped to bring Sun to Macau were concerned more about having a top professional doctor around in case of sickness rather than being like-minded revolutionaries themselves. Besides, those businessmen were all supportive of constitutionalists like Kang
2322Youwei（康有為） and Liang Qi-chao（梁啟超）. According to Feng Ziyou’s （馮自由）record, during Sun’s stay in Macau, “Sun is looking for compassionate comrades like Zheng Shiliang（鄭士良） and Chen Shaobai（陳少白）, but such comrades are no where to be found.”24 If by comrades here Sun meant Chinese comrades, then he is probably correct. This is because even though Lou I Iok claimed to be a long supportor of the revolutionary movement, Lou in fact only joined the Tung Meng Hui（乙未首義） (Chinese Revolutionary League) in Yokohama（橫濱） in 1895, when he studied in Japan after the first armed uprising led by Sun against the Qing Dynasty（清朝） failed. Therefore, during Sun’s stay in Macau while practicing medicine, only Fernandes, a Macaense, could be of help in his revolutionary activities.4. Publishing newspapers to promote his intimatefriend’s revolutionary course Fernandes came from a family which had been in the printing business for generations. Fernandes’ family set up a commercial printing house back in 1855 and the printing house undertook printings for the Macau Government. Therefore when Fernandes returned to Macau, he could start immediately to run two weekly newspapers (Echo Macaense and Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao（鏡海叢報）) as he already possessed favorable resources to do it in the right time and the right place. It is worth noticing that the Portuguese Republic was founded in 1910, one year earlier than the success of the revolution of 1911. The revolutionary movement in Portugal started in the late nineteenth century and there were quite a few Portuguese dignitaries living in Macau who were supporters of the republican government. Fernandes, who set up and used his newspapers to help Sun’s revolutionary movement, was one of such avant-garde intellectuals. The editorials on Echo Macaense quite often consisted of reformatory opinions. For example, the editorial on August 1, 1893 stated that: “One can hear the Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao, reprinted edition, page 5.24.
2524same lingering complaints about the lousy political situation here in Macau… it is time to change the regime… we have to achieve this through our efforts, all of us, Macau residents, Portuguese and Chinese alike, let us unite together.”25 Fernandes, as the person in charge of these newspapers, had the guts to defy the authoritative. He dared to disclose and criticize the weakness and maladministration in Mainland China and Macau as well as the wrongdoings of the corrupted officials and rich businessmen on his newspapers. Below is a series of excerpts from Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao founded in July 18, 1893, declaring the objectives and principles of the newspaper. To start with, an editorial verbally presented by Fernandes but ultimately written with modification by Wei Weisheng（味味生） (pen name for the chief editor, Wang Qinnan（王琴南）) said: “The objective of our newspaper is to publish articles on happenings in both nearby areas and places afar. We touch upon both Western and Oriental rulers and ministers. We shall show no fear of the powerful and the dignitary. We often air different views. We are not afraid of any life threats. We learned recently that there were some wicked people outside who detested our harsh criticism of them and our disclosure of their secrets. Some threatened to burn and kill .. or blackmail.. This is like trying to fight a losing battle against the healthy upward “Qi” in nature by the tiny mortal beings.”26 Another editorial on March 27, 1895, said: “We still abide by our own principle of fairness and righteousness and dare to reprehend the evil and the wicked… as we were at the start.. to voice all we know without any reservation… to support the the righteous and outspoken people is our consistent wish. Since we have started running the newspaper, whenever there are any malpractices in the Portuguese administration, our newspaper is sure to disclose and criticize them with a view to warning them so that they may rectify their wrongdoings.”27 Again another editorial went like this: “Two years have passed since we published the first issue and a lot has happened in between. We deliberately did what others dared not and fought for justice for those unfairly treated. Whether they are from China or from Western countries, the rich and the wicked in Macau, or from various religious denominations, have all threatened to throw us in jail or even kill us, but we would not butch an inch.”28 There is yet another editorial on August 21, 1895 which reiterated that: “After our newspaper was founded, there were many people who thought highly of our virtues but it also happened that many got irritated by us. No matter whether they were high-ranking officials or rich businessmen, from the West or from China, if they were cunning, tyrannical or ruthless type, our newspaper would definitely use our pens as weapons to pounce on them… Our newspaper belongs to no political party nor faction 27. Ibid, No. 28th issue, Page 1.28. Ibid, No. 35th issue, Page 2.25.26.Echo Macaense, August1, 1893, page 1.No. 38th issue of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao, 1895, Page 1
2726and wishes merely to make fair and balanced commentaries according to our conscience.”29 From the above editorials, one can learn that Fernandes hates evil people as his deadly foes and exerts his full and best efforts to disclose and criticize the corrupted officials and businessmen in both Mainland China and Macau. The chief editor of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao was once sprinkled with nitro-hydrochloric acid water in the street, and Francisco Fernandes immediately published a statement on his newspaper to offer award to any informant who can lead to clues to arrest the villain. Fernandes clearly expressed that such villainous acts would not deter him from doing what he wanted.30 Fernandes also dared to openly criticize the Portuguese dignitaries in Echo Macaense. He even fiercely attacked the then governor of Macau on numerous occasions for his policies and was therefore sued by the governor at court. It was a well-known lawsuit and was reported in every detail by a contemporary Portuguese newspaper in Hong Kong. During his defense, Fernandes impressed people by demonstrating his righteous character. These newspaper reports are valuable materials for the study of Fernandes.31 The above remarks well serve to show Fernandes’ political orientation. The commentary column in Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao, similar to today’s leading article or editorial, frequently discussed Chinese political affairs at the time and made acute comments against the Qing dynasty（清朝）. It called for a strong economy to save the nation and to turn China into a modernized country. Judging from this, Fernandes might play an influential role in the early parts of Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary activities in China. Fernandes had for long followed and reported on Sun’s activities and revolutionary movement through Echo Macenese and Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao ever since the newspapers were founded. During Sun’s stay in Macau while practicing medicine during the period from late 1892 to early 1894, Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao reported Sun’s medical practice in its first issue on July 18, 1893. The article entitled “Kiang Wu Glory” reported how Sun cured six patients with his excellent medical skills: “Chen Yu（陳宇） who came from Xiangshan（香山）, aged 61, had been sick for eight years for numbness. He suffered a lot. Sun treated him in the hospital and he recovered in just a couple of days with twice as much energy as before. A Portuguese lady experienced a difficult delivery of her baby and invited Sun to help her. Both mother and son were saved. A noodle peddler had an enlarged kidney. Sun pierced his kidney with a needle to let out the fluid inside and the patient could soon walk as usual. Two workers in the Dalong Paper Work Shop（大隆紙店） were spilled with poisonous liquid on the face and chest and were in serious condition. Ibid, No. 5th issue, Page 4.Ibid, 1894, No.23rd issue, page 1.O Porvir, No. 98th, 99th, 100th, 101st and 103rd issue.29.30.31.
2928Sun treated them with a medical mask and they recovered within a day. A guest in a hotel quarreled with his wife and then his wife swallowed some opium to commit suicide at midnight. But she was not advised to go to see Sun until 8 am the next day. Nevertheless Sun still saved her life. And she was glad to be reborn. You Qidong, a registry clerk in one of the Hong Kong Government Departments, had been suffering from hematemesis for years. No Chinese doctors were able to cure him. He came to Sun in person and was cured in one month.”32 As a matter of fact there were a series of public notices published on the advertisement pages in Echo Macaense during July to October 1898 in which Sun was highly praised for his superb medical skills and especially for his high moral virtue. They gave a good account of Sun’s medical practices. For example, an advertisement on July 25, 1893, named “Magical Medical Skills”（神乎其技）, was put up by the Yemen（軍民府） from Qianshan（前山） to express the official’s gratitude to Sun. “In one’s life what kind of illness can make one feel sick but not really being sick? It will not cost one’s life but will cause one to suffer lifelong pain? The answer is piles. Western doctors aim to cure it by detailed diagnosis, but no patient was completely cured. I had piles for over 20 years, the more I sought treatments and the more I suffered. Every spring the piles would go so serious that I have to lie down for several hours before I can get up after my bowel movement. It is very painful and causes me a lot of suffering. One of my friends, He Ruitian（何瑞田）, heard about this and came to visit me one day. He strongly recommended Dr. Sun to me for his good personality, high intellect and excellent Western medical skills. He asked me to invite Sun over for treatment. I have heard about Sun and knew that he could cure weird medical cases both internal and external within a short period of time and besides, not on a profit-making basis. Therefore, with He Ruitian’s recommendation, I had my full confidence in Sun and invited him over last February. Sun told me that there were many ways to treat the piles, including cutting, scissoring, burning and tying with threads or stimulation with medicinal liquid. He asked me to make the choice. I decided to go for stimulation with medicinal liquid. Sun told me that my piles became so aged that only one treatment would not cure it entirely. But he would try. So he used the stimulation method. I felt like being needled but without much pain. The stimulation Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao, July 18, 1893, page 1.32.
3130lasted for about five to six seconds. After the treatment I could have regular bowel movements. Sun tried the same stimulation treatment the next day. This time I had to take some pills in addition to the stimulation treatment. The piles began to shrink after each bowel movement. Then it shrank to half of its original size after several bowel movements. After seven days of treatment my piles went off completely without causing any side effects. After seeing with their own eyes that my aged piles vanished completely, my family members, male and female, old and young, master and servants all believed in Sun’s medical skill and went to seek treatment from him. They all got cured, be it a patient with a 10 year old liver disease or cerebritis or one with a 60 year long history of haemorrhage. I have benefited from Sun’ s treatment and dare not keep it only to myself. For this purpose I am publishing this notice to inform patients who are suffering elsewhere.”33 He Ruitian, who recommended Sun to patients in the above advertisement, was one of the twelve directors of Kiang Wu hospital（鏡湖醫院）. Fernandes also reported continuously in Echo Macaense on Sun’s medical practices in Macau.34 There was another public notice entitled “Spring Comes to Kiang Wu（春滿鏡湖）” which was published two times in Echo Macaense on September 26 and October 7, 1893 respectively, giving a good account of Sun’s medical practices in Macau at the time:35 “Grand Master Dr. Sun Yat-sen , a Chinese practising Western medicine, has an amiable personality with professional acumen. He studied with well-known medical professors in Great Britain and the United States and had developed great insights into methods of healing. He has been practising medicine free of charge in Kiang Wu Hospital for months with significant effective results. Nevertheless, besides offering free medical services, he still has some free time for public service in his own clinics.” “It fact Dr, does not bother to set up fees charged for his services. But it is our opinion that it is but right and natural to pay for medical services. That is why the The punctuation was added by the author.Ibid; Echo Macaense, December 12, 1893, page 4.Ibid; September 26, 1893, page 4; October 4, 1893, page 4.35.33.34.
3332undersigned together worked the following service schedule of Sun together with the fees charged for the public to follow. Every morning from 10.00 am to 12.00 noon he will provide medical services at Kiang Wu Hospital free of charge for the poor; from 1.00pm. to 3.00pm. he will provide charged services in his office; from 3.00 pm. onwards he will pay home visits. For fees not listed below, it should be decided on spot depending on the patient’s condition and symptoms. The fee will be moderate as long as both parties can benefit from the transaction. The payment merely aims to support Dr. Sun’s pursuit for his ideals. Please abide by the following principles: For those who come to Zhongsi Pharmacy during 7 am to 9 am on Street, whether men or women, shall pay 20 cents.For those who come to Sun’s office on the right hand side of Santa Casa da Misericordia, each should pay 1 patacasFor those who need home visits and their house is located in downtown Macau, they will be charged 2 patacas but if their house is in Macau’s vicinity, they will be charged according to the distance.For those in difficult labor or have swallowed poison, different fees shall be charged depending on whether the patient is rich or poor.For yearly service, it is 50 patacas per person. If a family consists of less than 5 members, the annual fee for the whole family is 100 patacasFor those who want to take smallpox vaccination during 10.00 am to 12.00 noon on Sunday at Dr. Sun’s office, the fee is 1 pataca per person while for the service done during home visits the fee is 3 patacasAs to any treatment for broken mouths, broken ears, damaged eye film, paralysis, ulcer, clyer（�瘤）, lymphatic node, different fees will be charged on a case-to-case basis.For treatment of weird diseases, the amount of fees charged will be decided after consultation.For treatment of patients in places outside of Macau, the daily charge is 30 patacas starting from the day of departure from Macau. Your fellow brothers: Lou Cheuk Ji（盧焯之）, Chen Xiru（陳席儒）, Wu Jiewei（吳節薇）, Song Ziheng（宋子衡）, He Suitian（何穗田）, Cao Ziji（曹子基）” The above is a valuable piece of evidence which proved
3534that Dr. Sun had indeed practised medicine in Macau. Since the newspaper was a contemporary newspaper by then, what is said there is of high credibility. The above notice also shows the daily activities of Sun in Macau, with the timing, location and scope of his medical services. More importantly, from the contents above, we could learn that Sun was well supported and respected by the local Chinese for his superb medical skill and high professional ethics. This is because all the undersigned in the above advertisement were rich businessmen and dignitaries of the time in Macau. There was an article on Echo Macaense in 1893 reporting an important event related to Sun, but this article had been seldom noticed.36 The article reported that Sun once wrote a letter to his fellow villager in Xiangshan, Zheng Zaoru. Zheng used to work as China’s Consul to the United States. In his letter, Sun proposed to Zheng to take three measures to reform Xiangshan County by leveraging on Zheng’s public influences. Firstly, it is to grow mulberry trees in the area to raise silkworms; secondly, Sun suggested to set up a county council to vehemently enforce the prohibition of opium-smoking; thirdly, Sun thought that it was necessary to establish learning associations and schools to make education more available for the public with the final goal of having one school for every 100 households. Sun also suggested that if the Xiangshan model worked it should be spread to other parts of China. The letter here from Sun to Zheng is what is widely believed by the experts who studied Sun as the first article written in Chinese by Sun on political reforms in 1890. It is the same article that later was published by the Haotou Monthly Journal in 1947 entitled“A letter to Zheng Zaoru”. According to Haotou Monthly Journal, this article“was based on an article from a Macau newspaper in 1892”.37 Mr. Fei Chengkang, a historian from Shanghai, once gave an insightful elucidation on this issue:“Up to now, the earliest writing from Sun that is available is “ A Letter to Zheng Zaoru”, written in 1890. It is said that this writing was first published on a newspaper in Macau in 1892. However, as many articles on Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao had pointed out, Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao was the first Chinese journal in Macau for the past several hundreds of years…Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao was run by Fernandes, a Macanese, whose family had been in the Macau printing business for generations. There was no reason why Fernandes should not be aware of other Chinese newspapers already in Macau in 1892, just one year before the founding of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao. Furthermore, the chief reporter of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao was Wang Zhenqing, who had Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao, August 1, 1893, page 2.36.Zhang Lei（張磊）, Fok Kai Cheong（霍啟昌）, Sheng Yonghua（盛永華）, co-edited: Sun Yat-sen’s Gateway to the World and Stage to Society（《澳門：孫中山的外向門戶和社會舞台》）, 1996, page 149.37.
3736offended many people. If Wang wrongly claimed himself as the first to run a local Chinese newspaper, it would give an excuse to his enemies to attack and mock him. Therefore, it was credible that Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao was the first local Chinese newspaper in Macau. In 1892, there was no local Chinese newspaper yet. Hence, “A Letter to Zheng Zaoru”by Sun could not be published on a Macau newspaper in 1892. There were several letters carried in Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao which were written as reform proposals to officials and dignitaries of the time and these issues are still available today. And Sun no doubt had a close relationship with this newspaper. If indeed “A Letter to Zheng Zaoru”was first published around 1892 in Macau, it should be carried in one of the dozens of issues of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao that are missing today.”38 It seems that at the time he wrote the above analysis Mr.Fei did not have the chance to read the above article on Echo Macaense, so he is not a hundred percent sure about his conclusion. For those who have read both the Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao and the Echo Macaense, they would surely know that Fernandes used to publish the same article on both papers that were run by him, sometimes on the same date but sometimes on a different date. Besides, if the article was originally written in Portuguese, it would be summarized and translated into Chinese to be published on Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao; and if the article was originally written in Chinese, it would be summarized and translated into Portuguese to be published on Echo Macaense. Therefore, the report on“A Letter to Zheng Zaoru” in Portuguese on August 1, 1893 on Echo Macaense should be an excerpt from the original article written in Chinese carried in Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao on the same day. It is a shame that this issue of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao could not be found today, so we cannot duly verify that Mr. Fei’s conclusion is correct. However, the evidences above are sufficient to show that Mr. Fei’s version is rather reliable. The newspaper in Macau that first published “A Letter to Zheng Zaoru（鄭藻如）”should be Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao. Perhaps Haotou Monthly Journal made a mistake sixty years later by wrongly setting the date of publication of“A Letter to Zheng Zaoru”by one year earlier. As to the first armed uprising in 1895, only very short reports could be found in the available so-called revolutionary literature. The most relevant and important documentation are the two documents actually found by Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao, reprinted edition, page 4.38.
3938the author a few years ago in the Hong Kong and Macau archives. One document was found in the Colonial Office as recorded in CO129/271. It is a report over 1,000 words written by Sir William Robinson, the then governor of Hong Kong, to the Secretary of State for the Colonies about the investigation results by the Hong Kong Government on the first armed uprising in 1895. The report was actually based on a memorandum prepared by F. J. Badeley, the then Acting Assistant Colonial Secretary.39 The second document was found in Macau’s Administração Civil, with file number AC/CX3011544. It was an official letter written by Crespo, the then Portuguese Consul in Guangzhou, to the governor of Macau on October 28, 1895. In the letter, Crespo mentioned the first uprising in 1895.40 There was a news report about the uprising in the No. 16 issue of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao on November 6, 1895. The news report was under the column “Major Events in Telegrams”. It consisted of 702 Chinese characters in total. It was of course not as lengthy and detailed as the Hong Kong Government’s report on the same uprising. However, the Hong Kong Government report only focused on how Zhu Cuiquan（朱貴全） recruited the revolutionary forces in Hong Kong and how he organized them to board the Pao On ferry to sail from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. The Hong Kong Government report mentioned nothing on how Sun Yat-sen and Lu Haodong （陸皓東）plotted the whole uprising in Guangzhou. On the contrary, though a bit short, the news on Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao reported on the missing part: “It was found that Sun Wen（孫文） (Sun Yat-sen) and… hidden in Yungang Villa（雲岡別墅） in Wang Jiaci（王家祠） temple in Guangzhou（廣州）… So (we) led a team to arrest them on the ninth day…but they had already fled. However, we nevertheless arrested two rebels on the spot, Chen Zhun（程准） and Lu Haodong（陸皓東）. Then we arrested another three rebels in Li’s residence（李公館） in Xin Xialan（咸蝦欄） in Nan Guan（南關）. Two big cooking pots and fifteen sharp axes with long handles were found. We were informed that dozens of people gathered Fok Kai Cheong（霍啟昌）, Gangao Dangan Zhong de Xinhai Geming （港澳檔案中的辛亥革命）(The Revolution of 1911 in Hong Kong and Macau archives), The Commercial Press, pp. 15-19.Ibid, page 27.39.40.
4140in the room a couple of days ago. Because our plan to crack down on them was leaked out, the group had fled. So we took the five arrested rebels back for interrogation.”41 Though the above report is rather brief, it is in fact the most detailed first hand information on Sun Yat-sen activities to subvert the Qing Government in Guangzhou during the first uprising. Therefore it is worthy of serious note. Most of the remaining parts of the news report are in compliance with the Hong Kong Government report. However, one should notice that the concluding remarks in the news report by the Guangzhou Government are similar to the comments made by the Portuguese Consul-General about the uprising: “First, there were some gangsters who came to Guangzhou to rent about 20 residential apartments for the purpose of holding a meeting… later the number of gangsters grew to roughly 40,000. The original plan was to gather first in front of the government building after gathering in Guangzhou. If they were to succeed, the team would head for Qingyuan, Hua Xian county and then all the way up north. These gangsters’ vicious plan was detected by his honorable Li Zhixiang（李止香）, and was soon cracked down. Otherwise, after the rebels succeeded in Guangzhou, it would spread as fast as the thunder struck and would leave no time for us to be prepared for the attack, in that case, we would be in a precarious situation” 42 Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao was established by Francisco Fernandes. Though Fernandes himself was a supporter of Sun Yat-sen’s revolutionary movement, he was also a professional journalist who sticks to the principle of independent and unbiased reporting. It needs to be specifically pointed out that the above news report on the first uprising was a copy of the Guangzhou official news release. This conforms to the guidelines set up by Fernandes for the editors of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao: “The first page is for commentaries. The second page is news on China and overseas. News reports shall first cover the major happenings in Peking and then followed by news on other provinces and countries. The third page is news clippings from Guangdong and Hong Kong. We selectively publish daily news clippings from newspapers in Guangdong and Hong Kong that are true happenings….”43 The wordings in the above news report on the first uprising from the Guangzhou Government were anti-revolutionary. Therefore it would be a mistake to use the above report as an evidence to prove that Fernandes did not support Sun and his revolutionary movement. In contrast, on the same day, the leading story on the front page of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao was an article written by Sun entitled “Preface for Nong Xue Hui (Society of Agricultural Sciences) with a brief introduction about the writer at the beginning of the article: “Sun Wen, or Sun Yat-sen, was born in Xiangshan, Guangdong. He went to America to study when he was young and became familiar with foreign affairs and languages. Sun is also an expert in Western medicine. He is a serious Christian. When Sun was at his twenties he came back to his hometown and knew very little Chinese. Then after several years of serious 43. Ibid; first issue, 1893, Page 1Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao, No. 16th issue, 1895, Page 5.Ibid; page 6.41.42.
4342study Sun could already read Chinese history works such as the ones written by Si Maqian and Ban Gu who are famous ancient Chinese historians. Sun is very intelligent as he is capable of elaborating on what he had learned. Similar to a famous ancient Chinese, Xiang Yu of the Chu State, who pretended to seriously pursue learning fencing and literature but in fact entertained ambitions beyond the mere mastery of books and the sword, Sun also has great visions. However, he sometimes only concentrates on lofty ideals but overlooks the details so that many of his endeavors went in vain. Sun once sent a proposal on how to reform the Qing Dynasty to Zhang Xiangshuai (Zhang Zhidong) and Li Hongzhang, two most powerful statesmen of the time. Some of his suggestions were adopted. Sun later visited Europe and America to make friends with many talented and capable people. He returned to Hong Kong this spring. Then he made field trips to the Yangtze River and climbed the five highest mountains in Mainland China. He observed and learned about the local social situation and the livelihood of the people along his trip. Sun then founded the Nong Xue Hui. He published a book to call for more people to join with an aim of benefiting society. Now we are in an era which is short of talented people, especially we should avoid letting talented people idling around and failing to provide room for them to play their role. Keeping in mind that China has strong neighbors, China should be concerned more about having such disadvantageous situation. In the Tang Dynasty, when Empress Wu read the memorial sent to her by Luo Bin Wang blaming her for wrong doings, she turned to the Prime Minister and blamed him for failing to appreciate the talents of her critic. Hope we can have leaders of such depth as the Empress today. We always verbally express our thirst for talents. Talents are there and we should do more to use them,” 44 There is no conclusion as to who the writer is for the above introduction. If it were verbally presented by Fernandes and then written out by Wei Wei Sheng as is Ibid; No.16th issue, 1895, page 1.44.
4544often the case for some editorials, there is always a note about it. So some people are led to guess that it might be Sun who wrote the above introduction. Anyway, whoever the writer may be, the most important thing is that Fernandes, as the owner and editor-in-chief of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao, was courageous enough to openly compliment Sun, the most wanted political figure by both the Qing and Hong Kong Governments. This shows without any doubt that Fernandes is determined to support Sun in his revolutionary movement. This author fully agrees with Ting Lilan’s article on Tuan Jie Pao which argues that the fact that the above report on Sun could appear in Fernandes’ newspaper itself shows that Fernandes and Sun were no ordinary friends but real buddies.45 There was another report entitled “ Another Uprising Shall Occur Again”, under the section on “Macau News” on November 27, 1895 in Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao, which clearly showed that it was supportive of Sun’s revolution. In the report, it said: “Sun and Yang fled overseas. The rest of the revolutionaries spread all over Mainland China to stay underground to get prepared for another uprising. Sun has talents that could overturn the dynasty and some of his friends were all very capable people.” In addition, Echo Macaense also reported the first armed uprising on October 30, but just with less detail compared to that of Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao. It is worth special mentioning that, from the above analysis, one can understand that two out of the few political writings by Sun in the early days, as recognized by the experts studying the thought of Sun, were published on the newspapers run by Fernandes. Fernandes also used these two newspapers to publicize the superb medical skills of Sun. Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao and Echo Macaense were the first two newspapers that reported the first armed uprising in 1895. Besides, these two newspapers dared to highly commend Sun’s strong leadership. Though these two newspapers were published in Macau, their influences went far beyond as they were distributed in Hong Kong. Guangzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Xiamen（廈門）, Hankou（漢口）, Japan, San Francisco, Singapore, the Phillipines, Timor and Lisbon.5. Saving Sun’s Life There is something which is even more worthy of mentioning and that is when Sun attempted to develop his revolutionary course in Macau, Fernandes not only gave Sun his full support but actually saved Sun’s life. When the first armed uprising failed, Sun was put on the wanted list by the Qing Government. But Sun was able to flee to Macau. According to some Portuguese sources Francisco Fernandes was brave enough to hide Sun in his own apartment which was also the official address of the Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao. A few days later Fernandes arranged for Sun to escape to Hong Kong where he was able to board a steamer for Japan. According to Lou I Iok’s autobiography: Zhang Lei, Fok Kai Cheong, Sheng Yonghua, page 212.45.
4746“The Father of the Nation (Sun) enjoyed increasing reputation in Macau and this led to the attention and jealousy of the Qing Government which decided to get rid of Sun. Luckily Lou Cheuk Ji had a broad social network. When Lou heard about this, he hired a wooden boat and entrusted the task of rescuing Sun to Fernandes who escorted Sun to Hong Kong where he boarded a ship bound for destination abroad. Thus the seed of the revolution was preserved.46 There was, however, another report on the same event but written in a slightly different angle in The Biography of Lou I Iok : “Dr. Sun stayed in Macau and opened the Zhongsi Pharmacy as a cover up for his revolutionary activities. The Qing Government soon learned about this and issued a warrant to arrest him. As this happened suddenly, Lou Cheuk Ji, after discussions with Francisco Fernandes, a Macaense friend,47 he arranged for Fernandes to escort Sun to Hong Kong where he was able to sail to Kobe. 48“ This author has no doubt that the father and son of the Lou family were both involved in rescuing Sun out of this dangerous situation. It would be of no surprise if the Lous helped with arranging for the boats and provided financial assistance for the boatmen and other expenses for the escape. More importantly, the Lous were also very influential with the Macau Government. It is possible that they had lobbied the relevant government officials not to take action against Sun before he got on board the boat to leave Macau. Besides, the Lous also had very close relationship with some senior Guangdong officials. Lou I Iok once disclosed in his autobiography that he had very close link with the Guangdong Admiral, Li Zhun.49 Li was one of the senior officials in Guangdong who was keen on capturing the revolutionaries. Therefore it would not be too difficult a task if the Lous wanted to protect Sun from falling into the hands of Li and his subordinates. For all these reasons, this author believes that what Lou I Iok said ten years later to the public about this episode was the truth, that is, they had participated in the plot to rescue Sun out of trouble. This author also believes that F. Fernandes and A. Bastos, who were close friends to both Sun and the Lou brothers, perhaps also got involved in the rescue. Since Bastos was very close to the then governor José Horta e Costa, it would be of no difficulty for Bastos to lobby the Macau government not to interfere. This is also one of the key Li Ao, pp.99-100.F. Fernandes was the second child in the family, also called Fernandes the second.Ren Zhilin, Lou I Iok Biography.46.47.48.Ibid.49.
4948success factors in the rescue. Nevertheless, a fact that no one could deny is that it was Fernandes who took part personally in the mission to rescue Sun by risking his own reputation and life.6. Everlasting friendship In 1895, Sun was exiled from Hong Kong by the Hong Kong Government out of the pressure of the Qing Government. Since then he had to run here and there all over the world to continue organizing his revolutionary activities. Fernandes consistently followed Sun’s activities on his newspapers. For example, on October 25, 1896, Echo Macaense reported that Sun founded a revolutionary organization, Revive China Society, in the United States.50 On November 15th and 29th, 1896, Echo Macaense ran a series of reports on how Sun was kidnapped in London and later rescued.51 After the Revolution of 1911 succeeded, Fernandes wrote immediately two English letters in January, 1912 to Sun to congratulate him for having been elected as the Provisional President. His passion and strong emotion attached to Sun could be felt everywhere in the letters, especially in the opening lines of the first letter: “It is over 18 years since we have last shaked our hands when you departed from this place, with full courage and optimism for the great struggle of shaking off with the Manchu’s yokes and during that time I have often had great desire to write to you, but I was unable to do so, as your address could not be inquired about. Now I have the greatest pleasure to present my congratulation for your success and to your elevation to the Presidency of the Chinese Republic”52 He further went on: “I am confident that you will continue to push forward with unrelenting vigour to the ultimate desirous end for the emancipation of the Great Han”. He informed Sun that he was working as a senior councilor in the Macau Leal Senado (today’s Municipal Council), “I beg to offer myself to any service or information that may be of use to your great enterprise”.53 In the end, Fernandes said he was most concerned and eager to have Sun’s contact infomation so his letters could surely reach Sun.54 The letters show that Fernandes was truly overjoyed from the bottom of his heart. This is because ever since his acquaintance with Sun, Fernandes saw the gold in the sand and gave Sun his full support with the belief that Sun would surely one day become a great man. Echo Macaense, Oct 25, 1896.Ibid; Nov 15, page 2; Nov 29, page 2.50.51.Zhang Lei, Sheng Yonghua, Fok Kai Cheong, page 20. Original letter was in English. Ibid; page 209.Ibid; page 210.52.53.54.
5150 When the Republic of China was established, Leal Senado accepted the proposal by Fernandes to raise the Republic flag and convene a ceremony outside the council building to celebrate the birth of the Republic of China and Sun’s inauguration as the Provisional President.55 When Sun resigned from the post of Provisional President in May 1912, he went back to Cui Heng village, Xiangshan County from Hong Kong via Macau. In Macau, Sun stayed in the Lou Lim Iok Garden of the Lou brothers and had a gathering with several best friends including Fernandes in Chun Cao Tang (literally Spring Grass Cottage) inside the Garden. Neither did Sun forget his close friend. When Sun became the President in 1921, he invited Fernandes to work as his consultant, but the invitation was declined by Fernandes due to health reasons.56 Fernandes indeed died two years later in Macau. The narration below is from A Brief History To Commemorate the Fiftieth Anniversary of How the President Started His Medical Studies and the Revolutionary Movement published in 1935 by the Preparatory Committee of Dr. Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hospital of Lingnan University in Guangdong: “There was a water filter that Sun used to have when he was practicing medicine in Macau. It was collected by Yang Heling in the early years and now is in the Guangzhou City Museum. When Sun stayed in Macau, he was most close to Fernandes, a Macaense. Sun consigned some stuff to Fernandes, including the plaque of the Zhongsi Pharmacy, one round table with engraved porcelain, one lamp with four bulbs, one pendent with flower cover, two green porcelain vases, two gilded porcelain cups, eight white porcelain sugar jars, one earthen parrot figurine, one surgical knife and fourteen knives and needles. Sun also gave a full set of English Encyclopedia of 12 volumes to Fernandes as a gift. When Fernandes died, his wife, a Chinese called Madam Yang, looked after all the above items left behind by Sun.57 We know from the above that the friendship between Sun and Fernandes is deep and eternal.55. P. Manuel Teixeira, A Medicina em Macau, Vol. III, 1976, page 36156. Ibid57. Li Ao, page 42.
53527. Conclusions Though Sun only stayed in Macau for a little more than one year before the success of the Revolution of 1911, he recognized the importance of Macau to his revolutionary course in his two important books: Jianguo Fanglue (Strategy for Nation Building) and Lundun Binan Ji (Kidnapped in London). Sun mentioned in his first book that: “After my graduation, I practised medicine in both Macau and Guangzhou. It was the real beginning of my revolutionary movement”. In the second book, Sun said: “In 1892, I was staying in Macau, which is close to the delta of the Pearl River… My political life began in that year; and my pursuit of state affairs also started in that place”. This shows that Sun believed his entire revolutionary career got started when he worked in Kiang Wu hospital and Tung Sin Tong. This pamphlet has cited highly reliable relevant materials in both Chinese and Portuguese, and after the careful analysis of the sources by the author, it is reasonable to draw the conclusion that during Sun’s stay in Macau, only Francisco Fernandes was the soul mate who openly supported Sun in his revolutionary endeavors. When Fernandes heard that Sun had accepted the invitation to practice medicine in Kiang Wu Hospital, he returned to Macau immediately and set up two newspapers in a very short period of time. Ever since their first issue who published, the two newspapers, Echo Macaense and Ching-Hai-Tsung-Pao, had long followed closely and reported on Sun’s major activities, including his practice with superb medical skills, his leadership talents and revolutionary activities. This was the reason why Sun published his two important articles about political reform in the early years on these two newspapers. In addition, it was still these two newspapers that first reported the first armed uprising in 1895 plotted by Sun. More importantly, when the 1895 uprising failed and Sun was hunted by the Qing Government, Sun fled to Macau. It was a group of Macau people, with Fernandes carrying the banner, who rescued Sun with whole-hearted efforts, otherwise Sun would have already been dead as other early martyrs like Lu Haodong. One cannot tell whether somebody else would have the same perseverant revolutionary spirit, everlasting passion and energy which are crucial prerequisites to lead the revolution through serious setbacks, traumatic moments
5554of utter despair to ultimate success. Therefore, the conclusion is that in the early days of the revolutionary movement, one cannot deny that Macau people like Fernandes did make significant contributions to its success. This is the reason why people should commemorate Fernandes, a close revolutionary comrade of Sun, when celebrating the success of the Revolution of 1911.
5756Title : Commemorating Francisco Hermenegildo Fernandes-– Dr. Sun Yat-sen’s Close Revolutionary Comrade from MacauAuthor : Fok Kai CheongEditor : International Institute of MacauCover : Nick Ng (853design@gmail.com)Layout : BING DESIGNPrinting : XXCirculation : 500 copiesISBN : Macau, November, 2013
