Ancient cartography of the city of Macao, c. 1600-1700: Comparative analysis of European and Chinese models of representation

Abstract

The maps, plans and views of Macao collected and described in this paper represent the remaining main visual contemporary testimonies of the first 150 years or so after the foundation of this former Portuguese colony in Asia. We have focused on those cartographic objects that attained a larger international diffusion in those days, both as manuscript and printed maps and plans. We also have noticed the way in which some Chinese specific forms of cartographic representation influenced the drawn of some maps issued by the Europeans. Finally, we have noticed the way in which some western maps of Macao were altered by Chinese or Macanese drawers and artisans according to the oriental taste or the inherent symbolics of the traditional Chinese cartography. By doing so, we have at our disposal new elements that can be used to understand both the possibilities and the intrinsic limitations to this cartographic corpus when regarded as supporting tool to the accomplishment of historical geography assignments such as the one that aims to recreate the character and evolution of Macao’s primitive urban grid.