| Total population | ||||||||||||||||||
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| 25,000 - 46,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Regions with significant populations | ||||||||||||||||||
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| Languages | ||||||||||||||||||
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Cantonese, Portuguese and Patua |
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| Religion | ||||||||||||||||||
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Mainly Catholic |
The Macanese-born Portuguese people (Portuguese: Macaense; Chinese: 土生葡人, "native-born Portuguese people") or simply the Macanese people refer to an ethnic group which originated in Macau since the 16th century, consisting mostly of people with some Portuguese ancestry.[1][2]
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Historically, many ethnic Macanese spoke Patuá, which is a Portuguese-based creole and now virtually extinct. Many are fluent in both Portuguese and Cantonese. The Macanese have preserved a distinctive Macanese cuisine.
Portuguese culture dominates the Macanese, but Chinese cultural patterns are also significant. The community acted as the interface between ruling colonial government - Portuguese from Portugal who knew little about Chinese - and the Chinese majority (95% of population) who knew equally little about the Portuguese. Most Macanese had paternal Portuguese heritage until 1974. These were Portuguese men stationed in Macau as part of their military service. Many stayed in Macau after the expiration of their military service, marrying either Macanese or Chinese women who spoke Portuguese. Many Macanese also now have Cantonese paternal ancestry, some Portuguese women and Macanese women who stayed in Macau married local Cantonese men.
During the late-nineteenth century, and increasingly during Salazar's fascist Estado Novo regime, the upbringing of most Macanese fell along the lines of the continental Portuguese - attending Portuguese schools, participating in mandatory military service (some fought in Africa) and practising the Catholic faith. As recently as the 1980s, most Macanese had not received formal Chinese schooling and, hence, could speak but not read or write Chinese. Spoken Cantonese was largely familiar, and some spoke the language with a regional accent (鄉下話) - acquired largely from their mothers or amahs.[3]
Since Portuguese settlement in Macau - dating from 1557 - included a strong Catholic presence, a number of Chinese converted to Catholicism. A large number of Macanese can trace their roots to these New Christians. Many of these Chinese were assimilated into the Macanese community, dropping their Chinese surnames and adopting Portuguese surnames. In the collective Macanese folk memory, there is a little ditty about the parish, called 進教圍, where these Chinese converts lived: 進教圍, 割辮仔, 唔係姓念珠 (Rosário) 就係姓玫瑰 (Rosa). Hence, it is surmised that many Macanese with surnames of Rosario or Rosa probably were of Chinese ancestry. Because of this, there are many Eurasians carrying Portuguese surnames Rosario, Rosa, and others that are not Portuguese-blooded may be mistaken by others as Portuguese-blooded. These Eurasians have their ancestry from the Britons, White Americans, Canadians, Australians, and some other Europeans who live in Macau for business.
The mid-twentieth century, with the outbreak of the Second World War in the Pacific and the retreat of the Republic of China to Taiwan, saw the Macanese population surge through the re-integration of two disparate Macanese communities: the Hong Kong Macanese and the Shanghai Macanese. With the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong in 1941, the Macanese population, escaping the occupation, made its way to Macau as refugees. These Macanese, including many skilled workers and civil servants, were fluent in English and Portuguese and brought valuable commercial and technical skills to the colony. Another distinct group within the Macanese community is the 上海葡僑; the descendants of Portuguese settlers from Shanghai that acted as middlemen between other foreigners and the Chinese in the "Paris of the Orient". They emigrated from Shanghai to Macau in 1949 with the coming of the Red Guard. Many spoke little Portuguese and were several generations removed from Portugal, speaking primarily English and Shanghainese, and/or Mandarin. The Shanghai Macanese carved a niche by teaching English in Macau. During World War II, Carnation Revolution, and before and after Macau's return to China, Macanese once again migrated to Portuguese African colonies and Brazil, other Latin American countries, Canada, United States, and Australia. Those who returned to Macau often speak English, Portuguese, Chinese, Macanese, and African languages.
Beginning with the post-1974 independence of other Portuguese colonies and hastened by Macau's return to China, the Macanese community began to lose its Portuguese heritage. Many Portuguese, Eurasians and Chinese who were loyal to the Portuguese left after its return to China. Of those that remained, many children - including those of pure Chinese descent - switched from Portuguese- to English-medium high school education, particularly as many of parents recognised the diminishing value of Portuguese schooling. At the same time, Macanese of pure Portuguese descent are also learning Cantonese and Mandarin to be able to communicate to non-Portuguese speaking Chinese. Today, most Macanese - if they are still young enough - would go back to study to read and write Chinese. Many see a niche role for fluent speakers of Portuguese, Cantonese and Mandarin. In the 1980s Macanese or Portuguese women began to marry men who identified themselves as Chinese.[4]
There is some dispute around the exact meaning of "Macanese". An essay by Marreiros offers a broad spectrum of "Macanese types", ranging from Chinese Christian converts who live among the Portuguese to the descendants of old-established families of Portuguese lineage; all groups are integrated into this historically legitimated group.[2] As a general rule, it is not a point of reference, however for ethnic Chinese living and raised in Macau; they often identify themselves as Chinese or Chinese from Macau; "Macanese" is applied to those persons who have been acculturated through Western education and religion and are recognized by the Macanese community as being Macanese.[5]
Traditionally, the basis for Macanese ethnic affiliation has been the use of the Portuguese language at home or some alliances with Portuguese cultural patterns and not solely determined along hereditary lines. Pina-Cabral and Lourenço suggest that this goal is reached "namely through the Portuguese-language school-system".[6] Often, due to the close proximity to the Portuguese, the Macanese closely identify themselves with Portuguese nationals as opposed to Chinese in the bi-cultural and bi-racial equation. In practice, however, being Macanese is left up to how individuals categorize themselves. Since the re-integration of Macau with the People's Republic of China in late 1999, the traditional definitions are in a state of re-formulation.[7] Given the shifting political climate of Macau, some Macanese are coming to recognize and identify closer with a Chinese heritage.
This ambiguity might be reduced by the further adjective criuolo.
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