Series
The Historic Centre of Macau is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and behind each monument lies a person's story. This series links the heritage landmarks to the people — from the Jesuits of St Paul's to Robert Morrison and George Chinnery resting in the Protestant Cemetery, and the figures behind the Casa Garden and the Lou Kau Mansion.
Macau's best-known World Heritage landmark is the Ruins of St Paul's — the remains of the church attached to the College of St Paul, the Jesuits' great centre of learning in the Far East. Alessandro Valignano, and all used Macau as their gateway into China, and the early-Qing painter-priest studied at St Paul's College.
Matteo Ricci
An Italian Jesuit who reached Macau in August 1582, studied Chinese language and customs there, and entered mainland China from 1583. His scholarly and missionary achievements — and his fame — belong mainly to the mainland (Zhaoqing, Nanjing, Beijing). This archive frames his Macau link through the gateway of his entry into China. He died in Beijing in 1610.
Michele Ruggieri
An Italian Jesuit who arrived in Macau in 1579 to study Chinese language and customs, regarded as among the pioneers of the Jesuit China mission. With Matteo Ricci he co-authored the first Portuguese-Chinese dictionary, and at Zhaoqing he printed the first book written in Chinese by a European. His path into China began in Macau, an early testament to the city's role as a mission gateway.
Alessandro Valignano
An Italian Jesuit and Visitor of the Society's missions in the East Indies. He reached Macau in 1578 and made the city his command centre for Jesuit work across Asia. In 1594 he founded St. Paul's College in Macau, regarded as one of the earliest Western-style colleges in East Asia. Macau's role as the gateway of the Catholic China mission is largely his doing. He died and was buried in Macau in 1606.
Not far from St Paul's, the Old Protestant Cemetery (the East India Company cemetery) holds two Westerners with deep Macau ties: Robert Morrison, the first Protestant missionary to China, and George Chinnery, the English painter who lived in Macau for nearly thirty years recording southern China. The cemetery and the adjoining Morrison Chapel are part of the World Heritage centre.
The heritage centre also preserves the footsteps of the famous. The Camões Grotto in the Casa Garden honours the Portuguese epic poet Luís de Camões; and the World Heritage Lou Kau Mansion was the home of the late-Qing Macau merchant Lou Kau (Lou Wa Siu), witness to the fortunes of a Chinese family. Drawing on public sources, this series links Macau's World Heritage to the stories of its people.
Robert Morrison
An England-born missionary and sinologist sent by the London Missionary Society, who arrived in Macau in 1807 as the first Protestant missionary to China. Working from Macau and Canton, he single-handedly compiled the first Chinese-English dictionary, made the first complete translation of the Bible into Chinese, and served as a translator for the East India Company. He died in Canton in 1834 and is buried in the Old Protestant Cemetery in Macau.
George Chinnery
An English painter, born in London in 1774, who spent years in Madras and Calcutta before settling in Macau in 1825, where he lived until his death in 1852. He was the only Western painter resident in South China through the early-to-mid 19th century, recording Macau's streets, temples and the ordinary people of the Pearl River Delta in oils, watercolours and drawings. He is buried in Macau's Old Protestant Cemetery.
Luís de Camões
Portugal's national poet and author of the epic Os Lusíadas (rendered in Macau as 葡國魂), regarded as a founding figure of Portuguese-language literature. Camões Garden in Macau is named after him; the well-loved story that he composed part of the epic in a grotto there is a legend, not documented fact.
Lou Wa Siu
Late-Qing Macau's wealthiest merchant and holder of the fantan gambling tax-farm. From New Hui refugee to merchant prince, his residence — the Lou Kau Mansion — remains one of the most iconic Chinese houses in Macau's UNESCO Historic Centre.
