History | Macau beneath the surface

Macau’s largest archaeological excavation of blue-­and-white porcelain has revealed the city’s prosperity as an export center more than four centuries ago
To better understand the scope of St Paul’s Church and the adjacent St Paul’s college, the Cultural Affairs Bureau (IC) invited the Institute of Archaeology of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences to conduct an archaeological project entitled “St. Paul’s College Ruins Archaeological Investigation and Excavation Project.”
Six years of archaeological work behind the ruins of St Paul’s have unearthed thousands of pieces that give us a new understanding of the booming commercial life in Macau during the late Ming and early Qing periods.
The work began in 2010 at the Rua de D. Belchoir Carneiro N.16-22 and has been going on uninterrupted since then.
“The main things we discovered were bowls, dishes and other items used in daily life,” said Harold Kuan Chon Hong, a senior technician in IC’s Department of Cultural Heritage. “They show us that, at that time, Macau was a flourishing trade center from which Chinese goods were exported to the world.”
The Portuguese began to settle in Macau in the mid-16th century, during the last century of the Ming dynasty. The Manchus, who established the Qing dynasty in 1644, overthrew it. Numerous pieces of construction materials such as tiles and bricks and ceramic pieces were excavated. Of these ceramic pieces, there were thousands of pieces of blue-and-white porcelain artifacts, including “Kraak” porcelain for export sale.
It was estimated that these items were manufactured in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. “Kraak” porcelain manufactured in the period from the late Ming to early Qing Dynasties of China was a new line of export product at the time. Its patterns and motifs are unique, characterized by the continuous ring of “reserved panels” around the central painting.
“Chinese products, especially tea, silk and porcelain, were in great demand among foreign buyers, including in the west and Southeast Asia,” Kuan said in an interview. “Macau was one of China’s most important export points at that time. We believe that most of what we discovered were items destined for export. A small portion might have been used by wealthy foreign residents of Macau.”
“Most of the pieces we found were imperfect. They are broken or have flaws. Only one or two are in perfect condition. Tea and silk degrade, so that we did not find remains of them. What we found were drinking bowls, dishes and other items used in daily life, mostly porcelain,” he said.
“It has great artistic meaning. The pieces tell us what was beautiful and popular at that time and what designs the foreigners liked. There are birds, plants and paintings of Chinese children,” said Kuan.
“We have been able to identify the pieces from Jingdezhen in Jiangxi province, one of the most important centers of porcelain production in China. The quality of its pieces is very good. It is famous for the whiteness of its pieces. There is a bowl used by Muslims to wash their hands before they say their prayers,” he said.
Kuan added that the pieces are also useful for historical reference, to compare to what has been discovered elsewhere. “They show us the history of Macau. For this, we need not only written documents but also physical objects. They are very accurate as evidence of history and show us the prosperity of the city at that time,” he said.
From 26th September 2014 to 11th January 2015, the Department of Culture of Guangdong Province, the Home Affairs Bureau of the Hong Kong SAR and the IC organized a travelling exhibition titled “Historical Imprints of Lingnan: Major Archaeological Discoveries of Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau,” to make known the successes of the archaeological works held in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau and showing the results of the three regions’ joint efforts within the context of cultural cooperation meetings.
The exhibition showed some of the archaeological finds in the Ruins of St. Paul’s College. The government has made no decision on whether to build a permanent museum to show the pieces.
Between 1990 and 1996, the colonial government organized archaeological excavations at a different site on the ruins of St Paul’s; Portuguese experts conducted it. After five years of work, they created the Museum of Sacred Art where some of the pieces are displayed.
Kuan said that the greatest challenge in the project was the abundance of the materials and how to handle them correctly.
“This is the archaeological site where the most blue-and-white porcelains have been excavated so far in Macau, with several thousand pieces. The challenge is how to catalogue, record and photograph them and arrange everything in the correct way. We must examine the different characteristics of each piece and find out which were together.”
“We must date the pieces. In some, we found writing below, which refers to an emperor and his era. The porcelain fragment shows part of its foot ring. It is interesting to note that two manufacturing dates are inscribed over one another at the base. It is assumed that the new reign mark, a six-character calligraphic inscription that reads ‘Made in the Tianqi reign of Ming Dynasty’, was simply written over the first reign mark, ‘Made in the Chenghua reign of Ming Dynasty’. The actual manufacturing date is most likely in the later years of the Tianqi reign, Ming Dynasty. The fragment shows that some of the blue-and-white porcelain wares were intentionally inscribed with a date earlier than its actual production date,” he said.
The work involves both digging on site and examination and research indoors. During the summer, Macao has heavy rains; “if they are not too severe, we can continue the work. The longer time will be spent working indoors.”
He said that he could not estimate when the project would be completed because they had to work meticulously. “Our superiors support us in our work. We have our own pressure. This is so important to the history of Macau.”
During the first two years, between 2010 and 2012, the work was conducted jointly by staff of the IC and of the archaeology division of the China Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing.
“We complemented each other,” said Kuan. “They were very experienced in this field and helped us, while we had the local knowledge. They gave us advice and guidance. After 2012, we continued to exchange ideas and opinions through e-mail.” Mark O’Neill, MDT/Macauhub