The Luso-Chinese agreement of 1554 ( pt, Acordo Luso-Chinês de 1554) was a

trade Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exc ...

agreement Agreement may refer to: Agreements between people and organizations * Gentlemen's agreement, not enforceable by law * Trade agreement, between countries * Consensus, a decision-making process * Contract, enforceable in a court of law ** Meeting ...

between the Portuguese headed by

Leonel de Sousa Leonel de Sousa was the second Captain-Major of Portuguese Macau in 1558 (the equivalent of the later governor of Macau). In 1554 he had negotiated an agreement with the local authorities of Guangzhou known as the first Luso-Chinese agreement whi ...

, and the authorities of

Guangzhou Guangzhou (, ; ; or ; ), also known as Canton () and Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kwongchow or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, sou ...

headed by the Provincial Admiral (海道副使; ''haitao'' in European sources) Wang Bo (汪柏), which allowed for the legalization of Portuguese trade in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

by paying taxes. It opened a new era in Sino-Portuguese relations, as Portuguese were until then officially barred from trading in the region. In 1517 an embassy led by

Fernão Pires de Andrade Captain Fernão Pires de Andrade (also spelled as Fernão Peres de Andrade; in contemporary sources, Fernam (Fernã) Perez Dandrade) (died 1552) was a Portuguese merchant, pharmacist, and official diplomat under the explorer and Portuguese Ma ...

to the Ming court failed and, after conflicts in

1521 1521 ( MDXXI) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar, the 1521st year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 521st year of the 2nd millennium, the 21st year ...

and 1522, trade was conducted as

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are variou ...

and was fought by the authorities, who considered Portuguese to be "

Folangji Farang ( fa, فرنگ) is a Persian (and Southeast Asian) word that originally referred to the Franks (the major Germanic tribe) and later came to refer to White Europeans in general. The word "Farang" is a cognate and originates from O ...

" (Frankish)

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

. In their first attempts at obtaining trading posts by force, the Portuguese were defeated by the Ming Chinese at the Battle of Tunmen in Tamão or

Tuen Mun Tuen Mun or Castle Peak is an area near the mouth of Tuen Mun River and Castle Peak Bay in the New Territories, Hong Kong. It was one of the earliest settlements in what is now Hong Kong and can be dated to the Neolithic period. In the more ...

in 1521 where the Portuguese lost 2 ships and

Battle of Sincouwaan The Battle of Sincouwaan (), also known as Battle of Veniaga Island (Portuguese: ''Batalha da Ilha da Veniaga'') was a naval battle between the Ming dynasty coast guard and a Portuguese fleet led by Martim Afonso de Mello that occurred in 1522. T ...

Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located West of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the Islands ...

where the Portuguese also lost 2 ships and

Shuangyu Shuangyu () was a port on Liuheng Island () off the coast of Zhejiang, China. During the 16th century, the port served as an illegal entrepôt of international trade, attracting traders from Japan, Southeast Asia, and Portugal in a time when priv ...

in 1548 where several Portuguese were captured and near the Dongshan Peninsula in 1549 where two Portuguese junks and Galeote Pereira were captured. During these battles the Ming Chinese captured weapons from the defeated Portuguese which they then reverse engineered and mass produced in China such as

matchlock A matchlock or firelock is a historical type of firearm wherein the gunpowder is ignited by a burning piece of rope that is touched to the gunpowder by a mechanism that the musketeer activates by pulling a lever or trigger with his finger. Befor ...

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually di ...

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

es which they named bird guns and Breech loading swivel guns which they named as Folangji ( Frankish) cannon because the Portuguese were known to the Chinese under the name of Franks at this time. The Portuguese later returned to China peacefully and presented themselves under the name Portuguese instead of Franks and rented Macau as a trading post from China by paying annual lease of hundreds of silver taels to Ming China. Leonel de Sousa,

Captain-Major A donatary captain was a Portuguese colonial official to whom the Crown granted jurisdiction, rights, and revenues over some colonial territory. The recipients of these grants were called (donataries), because they had been given the grant as a ( ...

of the voyage to Japan, had reached the coast of

Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020 ...

in 1552, where he learned that all foreigners could trade through the payment of taxes to the Chinese, except the "Folanji" including Portuguese, then considered as pirates. He then asked that they comply with the assumptions of peace and payment of taxes, pledging to change this "name". In 1554 Leonel de Sousa made an agreement with Guangzhou's officials to legalize the Portuguese trade, on condition of paying certain

customs Customs is an authority or agency in a country responsible for collecting tariffs and for controlling the flow of goods, including animals, transports, personal effects, and hazardous items, into and out of a country. Traditionally, customs ...

duties. The single surviving written evidence of this agreement is a letter from Leonel de Sousa to Infante Louis, king John III's brother, dated 1556,. which states that the Portuguese undertook to pay the fees and were not to erect fortifications. The letter, one of the most important documents in the history of Sino-Portuguese relations, describes the protracted negotiations with the ''haitao'' Wang Bo, identified in Chinese sources as having accepted a bribe from the Portuguese to dry their cargo and pay taxes in Guangzhou. Both sides were available to find a solution, as the port of Guangzhou was also facing a depletion since it was closed to foreign trade. Leonel de Sousa tried to negotiate only 10% fees, which Wang Bo countered with the mandatory 20%, but focusing only on half the cargoes, to which Leonel de Sousa agreed. This treaty would be followed by the recognition of

Macau Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a pop ...

as an official Portuguese warehouse in 1557. Leonel de Sousa became the second

of Macau in 1558 (the equivalent of the later

governor of Macau The governor of Macau ( pt, Governador de Macau; ) was a Portuguese colonial official who headed the colony of Macau, before 1623 called captain-major ( pt, Capitão-mor). The post was replaced on 20 December 1999 upon the transfer of sove ...

). Chinese historical documents claim the Portugual used bribe to make corrupt local official in Guangzhou sign the agreement in private. Legitimacy of such claim have been debated in more recent academic studies.

References

External links

J. M. Braga, "The First Sino-Portuguese Treaty Made by Leonel de Souza in 1554"
Includes a full English translation of Leonel de Souza's letter mentioning the 1554 agreement. {{Ming dynasty topics Treaties of the Ming dynasty Treaties of the Kingdom of Portugal Portuguese Macau Concessions in China Commercial treaties Free trade agreements of China History of Macau China–Portugal relations Portuguese Empire 1554 in Portugal 1554 in China 1554 treaties 16th-century economic history Economic history of China Economic history of Macau Economic history of Portugal

See also

References

External links