From the mid-1500s to December 1999, Macao was the longest-standing site of economic, religious and political contact between the Chinese and European worlds. Yet this surprising capacity for survival has resulted, ironically, form the very weakness of the Portuguese presence. In particular, since the foundation of Hong Kong (in 1840), Macao had depended on a creative use of its marginality - as a centre for gambling, for the coolie trade, the opium trade, the semi-clandestine gold trade and so on. As a rear window on China, Macao provides us with fascinating examples of marginality that allow us to study the limits of the systems that characterize the Chinese world.

Also available in hardback, 9780826457486 GBP55.00 (June, 2002)

About the Author
Joao de Pina-Cabral is Senior Research Fellow and Chairman of the Scientific Board at the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon, Portugal.


Book Information
ISBN 9780826457493
Author Joao de Pina-Cabral
Format Paperback
Page Count 256
Imprint Continuum Publishing Corporation
Publisher Taylor & Francis Inc
Weight(grams) 453g