The Ningpo Massacre was a massacre of Portuguese pirates by Cantonese pirates led by

Ah Pak Ah Pak (, meaning "uncle" or "old man") was the chieftain of the Cantonese pirates who defeated Portuguese pirates in Ningpo, Zhenjiang. The authorities at Ningpo were weak and requested his aid rather than submit to the tyranny of the Portuguese. ...

around the city of

Ningbo Ningbo (; Ningbonese: ''gnin² poq⁷'' , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly romanized as Ningpo, is a major sub-provincial city in northeast Zhejiang province, People's Republic of China. It comprises 6 urban districts, 2 sate ...

. During the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speaki ...

, in the 19th century, the Ningbo authorities contracted Cantonese pirates to eliminate by extermination Portuguese pirates who raided Cantonese shipping around Ningbo. The campaign was "successful", with 40 Portuguese dead and only two Chinese dead, being dubbed "The Ningpo Massacre" by an English correspondent, who noted that the Portuguese pirates had behaved savagely towards the Chinese, and that the Portuguese authorities at

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 ...

should have reined in the pirates.

Battle and Massacre

Portuguese pirates who raided Cantonese shipping in the early 19th century were eliminated by Cantonese forces around Ningbo. The people from Ningbo supported the Cantonese massacre of the Portuguese pirates and the attack on the Portuguese consul. The Ningbo authorities had made an agreement with a Cantonese pirate named A'Pak to exterminate the Portuguese pirates. The Portuguese did not even try to fight when the Cantonese pirates sacked their consulate, fleeing and hiding among the tombs. The Cantonese butchered around 40 Portuguese while sacking the consulate. Only two Chinese and one Englishman who sided with the Cantonese died.

References

{{coord missing, Zhejiang 1857 in China 1857 murders in Asia Massacres in 1857 China–Portugal relations Massacres in China June 1857 events Ningbo History of Zhejiang Naval battles involving China Naval battles involving Portugal 1857 in Portugal History of Hong Kong Military history of Guangdong Military history of Macau Portuguese Macau Piracy in China Naval battles involving pirates 19th-century murders in China

Battle and Massacre

Further reading

References