The history of the first Luso-Chinese encounters in the early sixteenth century, nearly forty years prior to the foundation of Macao in the mid-1550s, fills many learned books and articles. These events are told in many different ways, and the intellectual dimensions associated with them usually vary from one account to the next. The present work is no exception in that regard. It opens with a long introduction by Pascale Girard, who has published extensively on Sino-Iberian themes; this is followed by a collection of documents and texts translated into French, most of which were prepared by João Viegas. In other cases older versions were chosen to be included in the collection; several of these texts go back to Paul Pelliot, whose famous work on the “Ḫōǰa et le Sayyid Ḥusain de l’histoire des Ming”, published in T’oung Pao 38 (1948), no doubt, constituted a major source of inspiration for the present book.
Girard's introduction begins with the conquest of Melaka in 1511 and the first Portuguese plans to send an official embassy to China. It then narrates the events around the well-known voyage of Fernão Peres de Andrade and Tomé Pires’ mission. Besides addressing important details, it also seeks to look behind the curtains and tries to throw light on the nature of the relevant documents, their authors and backgrounds, the ways in which these texts sketch the historical stage and, above all, the dramatis personae. This kind of approach bears one advantage: readers do not get lost in an ocean of complicated philological issues, but are guided from one key issue to the next. One aspect that is particularly refreshing: Girard clearly states that most sources date from later times and cannot really qualify as first-hand material. This is especially true for the Chinese works, which are all printed items belonging to established literary or historical genres. Such circumstances also help us to understand why many ‘facts’ were badly distorted, exaggerated or wrongly reported. Moreover, quite evidently, the views and personal ambitions of persons like Qiu Daolong and He Ao differed substantially from those of Chen Xixuan and others.
Among the Portuguese texts the long ‘letters’ by Vasco Calvo and Cristóvão Vieira stand out as very special pieces. Both men were kept as captives in Guangzhou, but evidently they managed to collect information on local conditions, suggesting that China's defenses were weak and that Portugal should send troops and establish itself along the Chinese coast. But these cries for help went unheard and nothing happened. Many aspects surrounding this story remain a mystery. For instance, how did the letters of Calvo and Vieira reach Melaka? Which were the conditions to which the Chinese government had subjected both men? Girard offers some ideas, but of course the puzzle will probably never be fully solved. Other scholars, for example, Rui Loureiro and Francisco Roque de Oliveira, whose works get quoted, have pondered over similar problems.
The psychological dimensions of Pires’ mission are particularly important. This also becomes visible if we look at persons like Huozhe Yasan (Hoja Hassan, etc.). The texts featuring him and other ‘diplomats’ provide conflicting views, perhaps because the authors were unwilling to tell what they knew, or because they had to observe certain conventions, or alternatively, because they simply made no effort to look into the minds of their ‘protagonists’. This leaves much room for ‘intercultural’ interpretations. The explanations presented by Girard, I think, are very thoughtful and carefully weighed.
That may also be said of certain conceptual issues, as for example the idea of friendship. No doubt, many of the early Portuguese and their Italian partners sailing to China wished to find new friends. But friendship usually implies a certain degree of equality between the persons and / or institutions involved in such a relation, which was not really acceptable to China – at least not on the highly formalised level of inter-state exchange, because the Ming court considered itself superior to foreign governments, as Girard correctly points out. In later periods we encounter similar constellations in Luso-Chinese diplomacy, however by then both sides were able to consult experienced interpreters, often with Catholic roots, and these ‘experts’ would elegantly “move around” semantic barriers, thus contributing to mutual understanding. Pires, in his days, had no diplomatic infrastructure to rely on. In a sense the Portuguese side stumbled from one trap to the next. Disaster was brought about by misunderstandings, linguistic obstacles, and cultural gaps. Girard aptly unveils the deeper reasons behind this tragedy and what she calls the Chinese version of a ‘black legend’, which had much to do with the behaviour of Andrade's brother Simão. – In sum, her finely written exposition makes excellent reading and can be highly recommended to scholars and students interested in the broad field of Euro-Chinese ‘exchange’.
The translations are also exquisitely arranged. Prior to each text, readers will find brief notes on the author, the history of the work in question, and the circumstances under which it came into being. The long and very reliable bibliography lists further translations into European languages to which one could add some modern Chinese versions of the Portuguese texts, usually prepared by Jin Guoping, but that is of no concern here. There are similar books with a comparable arrangement, for example Clive Willis’ China and Macau (2002); however, the edition prepared by Girard and Viegas is definitely better and clearly superior in annotation. The notes, at the end of the book, are rich and well-structured; generally, they provide explanations necessary to understand larger contexts, while avoiding niggling trifles related to the level of individual words and phrases.
In sum, this book is a very mature work; it provides a fair and balanced synthesis which takes account of many conflicting variables and vantage-points; readers will access the complicated story of Pires’ mission, as seen through Girard's eyes, with great ease. To conclude: Prisonniers is a welcome addition to the field of Asian maritime history, and the introduction in particular reads like a state-of-the art report. One ought to thank the Gulbenkian Foundation for having supported the publication of this book and Chandeigne Press for having accepted it into the beautifully printed “Collection Magellane”.
