Supplement to my book
I found another padrão in Macau.
According to historical accounts, Jorge
Álvares is believed to have erected the first
Portuguese padrão in China at Tamão,
a trading post located in what is now Tuen Mun, Hong
Kong.
Fig. 1 Jorge Álvares, 1951 stamps, Macau
Jorge
Álvares (c. late 15th century – 8 July 1521) was a Portuguese explorer credited
as the first European to reach China by sea during the Age of Discovery. He
landed in southern China in 1513, under the commission of the Portuguese
Captain of Malacca, Jorge de Albuquerque. His arrival marked the beginning of
direct maritime contact between Europe and Ming Dynasty China.
Álvares
is believed to have established the first Portuguese “feitoria” (trading post)
at Tamão, an island in the Pearl River Delta historically identified with
modern-day Lantau Island or the Tuen Mun area in Hong Kong. It was here, in
1514, that he reportedly erected a padrão (fig. 1) and buried his son, making
the site both a territorial marker and a personal memorial.
His
pioneering voyage paved the way for subsequent Portuguese traders and
explorers, leading to the eventual establishment of a permanent Portuguese
settlement in Macau several decades later. Álvares died at Tamão on 8 July
1521, possibly during a period of heightened tensions between the Portuguese
and Chinese authorities.
The Monument to Jorge Álvares in Macau[1]
The statue of Jorge Álvares in Macau (fig. 2,3),
inaugurated on 16 September 1954, commemorates the first European navigator to
reach China by sea, an event traditionally dated to 1513, when Álvares landed
on Lintin Island at the mouth of the Pearl River. The monument remains one of
the most significant sculptural testimonies to the early phase of
Sino-Portuguese contacts.
The story of the monument begins in 1952, during an
official visit to Macau by the Minister of Overseas Territories, Sarmento
Rodrigues. On that occasion, the Chinese community offered the minister a car
as a gift. Declining the personal benefit, Rodrigues ordered that the vehicle
be auctioned, with the proceeds allocated to the erection of a monument in
honour of Jorge Álvares the navigator, recognised as the first European to
reach China.
Fig. 2 The Monument to
Jorge Álvares in Macau
According to contemporary accounts, the auction
yielded more funds than were strictly necessary. The surplus, later
supplemented by a monetary subsidy from the Government of Macau, was used to
support the construction of a second monument in Portugal, this time honouring Jorge
Álvares the chronicler. This symbolic linkage between the two statues was later
recalled by Governor Joaquim Marques Esparteiro at the inauguration ceremony.
The statue was constructed in Portugal and shipped to
Macau aboard the Portuguese liner Índia, arriving in mid-1954. Its inauguration
took place on a bright, sunny day and was attended by a broad spectrum of
colonial, religious, military, and civil authorities, alongside representatives
of the Chinese community, the foreign consular corps, and the general public.
Before its final placement was decided, a commission
evaluated several possible locations. The historian Jack Braga proposed that
the statue be erected at the Miradouro of Estrada D. Maria II, facing the sea
and aligned toward Lintin Island, where Álvares first set foot on Chinese soil.
Although historically compelling, this proposal was
rejected due to concerns about exposure to the elements and the site’s distance
from the city centre.
Other locations, including the Jardim de São Francisco,
were also considered but ultimately dismissed for aesthetic and practical
reasons. The final decision was to place the monument opposite the Palace of
Public Departments, on Praia Grande, then regarded as one of the most
prestigious and representative urban spaces in Macau—a setting described at the
time as the city’s “reception room.”
The inscription on the monument (fig. 3):
PRIMERO NAVEGADOR
QUE APORTOU A CHINA
- ILHA DE LINTIN
EM 1513
[FIRST NAVIGATOR WHO REACHED CHINA – LIN TIN ISLAND IN
1513]
Fig. 3 The Monument to
Jorge Álvares, the inscription
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