1690 Decision taken by the Leal Senado in response to a request from the Mandarins of Canton to count the Chinese living in Portuguese premises in Macao: “The Councillors concurred that forcing our residents to account for the Chinese was detrimental to … the tranquility of the City.”

 

 

On the third day of the month of June, 1690, in this City of the Name of God in China, at a meeting of the currently appointed Councillors in the city chambers, the Procurator of this City proposed that since the Mandarin of Heungshan had sent an Official Letter from the Mandarins in Canton ordering that the Heads of Streets should list all Chinese living in the City, in Residents’ Houses, Shops, and Godowns, and that a representative should be appointed by each group of ten persons, who would always be able answer for them whenever asked, then the names of all of residents accommodating Chinese in their Godowns should be requested and provided. And, on hearing this, the Councillors concurred that forcing our residents to account for the Chinese was detrimental to the People and to the tranquility of the City. Thus, in order to avoid this, all residents should be notified to remove every Chinese person living in their Godowns, and that they should not be allowed there anymore, at the risk of having to pay all losses and damages that could arise. Thus the opposite of what was requested should be done. Thus they immediately ordered the Heads of the Streets to be notified and informed that they should give the Mandarins the lists of all Chinese living in Houses and Shops, but that they should not give the names of Chinese currently in Residents’ Godowns, for as soon that they threw them out there would be no need for the names of any of our Residents appearing in the Chinese Courts and them having to account for the Chinese.

And moreover the Councillors agreed that the Residents should be told to close and seal over the new doors that they had opened in their Godowns for the Chinese to use. And as they all agreed and ordered, I, Fr^co Fragozo, Ensign and Scribe of the City Council , wrote these minutes which the said Councillors signed - Jozé Vieira da Silva – Martim Afonço de Souza – Jeronimo de Vasconcellos – Constantino Alvares da Páz.