Heritage | Second phase of Chapas Sínicas launches

The second phase of the “Chapas Sínicas” exhibition will be held at the Archives of Macao from August 21 to December 7, according to a statement issued yesterday by the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC). An auxiliary exhibition featuring pieces from the first phase is to be hosted by the University Gallery at the University of Macau from September 5 to October 31.

A series of lectures delivered by the director of the Archives of Macao, Lau Fong, will be held in association with the auxiliary exhibition, focusing on the inclusion of the collection in the Memory of the World Register.

“Chapas Sínicas” is a collection of Qing dynasty records of Macau. Preserved in Portugal’s National Archive of Torre do Tombo, the collection comprises over 3,600 documents, including official letters written in Chinese, the translated Portuguese-translated copies of letters and other miscellaneous documents. The collection was titled “Official Records of Macao During the Qing Dynasty (1693-1886)” in its nomination for the Memory of the World Register.

The records are reflections of the conditions of the society, people’s lives, urban development, and the trade and commerce of Macau during the Qing dynasty.

According to the IC, they represent the significance of Macau to the world and tell stories which, though they took place in Macau, are of historical relevance to China, Portugal and even major developments in world history.