FOREWORD
Zhang Shuguang[1]
This volume is chiefly about historians’ interpretations of historic maps about Macau. There can be little doubt that maps are multifunctional - particularly so with historic and antique maps. An obvious one is that maps are expected to be sources of information，which is supposed to be true to position，location and distance. There，however，seems to be a lot more than just that. Do they carry “hidden messages” or do they inadvertently reveal some “unexpected information about their makers or the world at the time”？Cartographers of the British library believe they do.[2] For one，the choice of style，the format design and the material used，may suggest some clues about the mapmakers’ education，class，profession，and personality，and more implicitly，their beliefs，values，historical consciousness，world views and ideologies. Behind each map exists there a personal story and history. For another，maps can create different images of the objective world，which may lead to knowledge transfer across time and space. In this sense，maps constitute a knowledge base in a human society，though likely culturally bound.
Macau，an international city in the Spanish and Portuguese creation since the late 15th century，has been mapped globally. Who made the maps about or containing Macau and how？Why the cartographers made the maps？What are the stories and histories associated with the maps and the mapmakers？What are the possible hidden messages in them？And more importantly，what historical and cultural implications one can derive from these maps and their makers？These are the questions that the historians who contribute to this volume bore in mind when they ventured to interpret the maps.
This volume is not intended as a strict cartographic study，neither is it to be a map history. The authors exhibit academic backgrounds largely in history，geography or librarianship and their scholarly probe has been into the insights of non-current but historic maps produced in，or of，any part of the world，which resembles the history of cartography，a well-established academic discipline. For this project，however，they were concerned more with the diverse purposes of early maps and the varied implications that the maps may entail with regard to the history of Macau.
This is so largely because this volume is an outcome of a long-term research project on “Macau in the global history” at Macau University of Science and Technology（MUST）. Macau was the very first place at which European merchants，missionaries and travellers found residence in an East Asian place. Over the four hundred sixty plus years，it established itself as a significant joint to connect the west with the east，economically and culturally alike. The modern history of Macau is no doubt an integral part of the world or global history. Because of that，MUST’s Social and Cultural Research Institute has taken on the studies of modern Macau in the light of global history since 2008. Led by Professor Qian Chengdan - a renowned global historian at Peking University - and supported by the Macau Foundation，the project has，indeed，produced multiple volumes on the global history of Macau.[3] In the course of their work，however，they invariably felt the need to explore historic maps that remain scattered in varied libraries around the world and thus to enrich the exsting historical documents on Macau.
It so happened that Professor Dai Longji，MUST’s University Librarian，has developed a keen interest in collecting these maps and，more important，assembling them into an accessible database for historical research and public education. Hailed by the historians and echoed by the Macau Foundation and particularly its president Dr. Wu Zhiliang who himself is an established historian of Macau[4]，MUST thereafter launched the project of “Global mapping of Macao” in 2013. Designed as a long-term research endeavor，this project is in pursuit of a trifold aim：first，the expansion of the global history of Macau as a research area；second，the development of a special collection on world maps about Macau；and third，the provision of a database on maps of Macau for public education. To this end，historians，librarians and cartographers have joined hands in executing the rather daunting and yet exciting task.
Off a solid start，the diligent researchers for the project underwent several time-consuming stages. First，they perused the existing literature on the histories of Macau，Mainland China，Asia，Europe and the world thereby to establish a historical context within which Macau had evolved itself as an international city. Narratives on the East-West intercourse and certainly the earlier globalization proved particularly helpful. Second，guided by the written histories，they devoted a large part of their efforts to cartographic studies and the histories of maps with a keen focus on maps of varied functions and by different mapmakers. In addition to geographic information contained in maps，information on cartographers，their sources，and the ways in which they treated the sources，embedded largely in the cartographic literature，was accorded special attention. Third，with clues gathered，the researchers conducted extensive online research，targeting the map collections by over a dozen websites of various libraries - public and private - in the US，UK，France，Italy，Germany，Spain，Portugal，Netherlands，Vatican and China. Fourth，they then travelled to the selected libraries to dig deep into the still not catalogued maps in any given map collection. For all the Macau-related maps found，they would request for their photocopying and scanning and，more important，conducted extensive library research on any related information. Last but not least，once the maps collected and digitalized，all the researchers were availed the same access to them. This was where the historical interpretations began.
During the first phase of the research project，the researchers decided to focus their interpretations on the maps that they had collected from the Pusey Library of Harvard University. There they were no doubt availed with a large number of historic maps，amounting to over 600，000 with a portion waiting to be categorized but the rest well preserved in boxes. Muddling through such a huge reservoir was in itself a humongous challenge，both physically and mentally. The researchers then adopted one single measure：whichever map contains Macau as a place would automatically make to their search list. As a result of their tenacious work，a total of 500 were identified. Covering the period between the early 17th and the late 19th centuries，the maps were made largely by westerners，either about the Orient or of the world. There were certainly a few by Asian map-makers. In regard to their production，the maps were stylistically varied：some were block-printed editions；others were manually drawn manuscripts and reprints of modern time. While some maps came from a single series of maps，others were selected from atlas as well as map illustrations in classic books.
Much invaluable as they are，however，these maps merit more than simply a cartographical analysis. Rather，they should also serve as archives and historical records for serious historical studies. It is with this consensus that the contributors to this volume embarked upon their probing voyages with the maps. Slightly different from one another in approaches and perspectives，though，their study tends to fall into the cutting-edge and still evolving fields of historical studies.
First，there appears to be a push for further paradigm shift in cartographical and historical studies. In that，the transparent paradigm，which assumes that the map is merely transparent，serving primarily as an informative and archival device for objective knowledge，is believed to be out-dated. Encouraging scholars，largely cartographical specialists，to discuss accuracy of maps，this conventional approach is particularly challenged with its presumption that maps are “reliable” and accurate historical evidence. Instead，a new paradigm has been on the rise，or known as historical paradigm. By definition，such a research orientation regards map more as a special historical document or record. It argues that when cartographers make a map，their decision on what it to be included and how depends not only on the information about a place available to them，but more important，their understanding and judgment of the information，which may be shaped largely by their attitude toward，perception of，and knowledge about that particular place - likely peoples or cultures as well. And these tended to be inevitably framed by the time and space that they lived in. Much as subjective，map making entails history making.
Second，the contributors to this volume exhibited a general acceptance that maps could and should be approached from a cultural history perspective. As a relatively new and still dynamic discipline，cultural history inspires researchers - historians，anthropologists，or cultural specialists - to offer a cultural interpretation of human experiences in the past. Particularly keen on how human relations（such as ideas，sciences，arts and technologies）have culturally evolved and how social interactions in the form of trade，travel，migration and even war have been culturally expressed，this historical approach requires not only interdisciplinary training but also solid archival support. Historic maps fit this requirement and should warrant cultural interpretations of the experiences of both human relations and social interactions. More specifically，maps are no doubt visual artifacts，embodying symbols that may correspond well with the main concepts of cultural history including but not limited to power，ideology，class，culture，cultural identity，attitude，race，and gender.[5] With this understanding in mind，the contributors underwent extra steps to examine how the maps would convey knowledge about Macau in different times and across different spaces and，more interestingly，how they communicate or distort that knowledge so as to establish the demanded social and political，social and even cultural orders.
Third，an international history approach has also been conscientiously given reference to by the contributors to this volume. Maps，particularly，historic maps，can be to serve political purposes：marking a country’s territorial lines and establishing a nation-state’s sovereignty over or jurisdiction of a place. Used frequently as evidence-base for diplomatic negotiations or dispute resolution，maps have historically served as a linkage - either real or artificial - of relations among nations. Indeed，historic maps may engage the origins of dispute and even conflict among nations in several ways. For one，they stand as the visual representations of a lasting conflict，as well as the processes of political/diplomatic or even military attempts to resolve it. More often than not，nation-states may have dictated the cartography to foster their required representations of the disputed territory so as to gain an advantageous position in diplomatic bargaining. In this sense，the maps themselves can be the cause of international dispute or conflict，which may have arisen about the necessity to make the maps and then about the content of the maps themselves. Maps that met with the approval of both parties would be signed to establish their authority. Yet when two maps of a region were produced and only one was signed，they then became a source of dispute or conflict as the mapmakers’visions of the territory differed.[6] With national power embedded as a currency in the mapmaking，historical maps have proven relevant in not only nation-to-nation relations，but also nation-to-society and nation-to-people relations. This aspect corresponds well with the general themes of international history.
Last but not least，the contributors to this volume guided their studies with the newest literature of world history or global/transnational history. With the origins of globalization still heatedly debated，historians who adopt world and global concerns in their historical study have been exploring how human experiences can be examined and narrated within a global context. Without focusing entirely on the globalization，they tended to use a thematic approach to identify commonalities/diversities or continuities/discontinuities of human and social evolutions across all regions，nations，peoples，and cultures. Thematically made maps did，for example，emerge in the sixteenth century in respond to the functional call in the field of cartography. Different thematic maps have since been created for specific purposes - geological，geographical，and even political-and by using different techniques. To world and global historians，thematic maps may be more like graphic essays that may depict implicitly physical，social，political，cultural，economic or sociological features of a place around the globe that can be pieced together in historical analyses.[7] Where，then，did Macau stand in the earlier and modern globalization？How was it involved in the long process of East-West intercourse or integration？The maps，particularly the thematic maps，seemed to have offered clues to these questions.
Indeed，this volume，as well as the project on “Global mapping of Macao，” may seem a bit too ambitious. Its chief objective，though，entails not only gathering，organizing，preserving and celebrating Macau’s history within the context of the East-West interconnectedness，but also joining and promoting the efforts toward paradigm shift in both cartographic and historical studies. Showcasing historic - in some cases antique - maps selected from collections，rare books，panoramas and atlases from around the world，this volume is to offer a glimpse at the dynamic and complex process of earlier globalization and more so，the emergence of Macau as an international place and a significant joint between the East and the West. Hence is this volume.
My warmest congratulations are hereby extended to all the contributors. My profound gratitude also goes to the Macau Foundation，the Office of Tertiary Education Services Office of Macau SAR，the Pusey Library of Harvard University and the Social Sciences Academic Press（China）.
June 2014
Taipa，Macau
[1] Zhang Shuguang，Professor，Senior Vice Rector of Macau University of Science and Technology（MUST）；Director of Institute for Social and Cultural Research，MUST.
[2] British Library. “The Role and function of Maps，” http：//www.bl.uk/learning/artimages/maphist/activities/role/ theroleandfunctionofmaps.html.
[3] Led by Professor Qian Chengdan，phase 1 of the Macau Foundation funded research project of “Macau’s historical position，special roles and contemporary implications in the globalization and east-west intercourse（澳門在全球化和東西方文化交流中的歷史地位、獨特作用與現實意義研究）” has produced a total of nine books. 臧小華：《陸海交接處：早期世界貿易體系中的澳門》（北京：社會科學文獻出版社，2013年）；許平、陸意等：《澳門紀事：18、19世紀三個法國人的中國觀察》（北京：社會科學文獻出版社，2013年）；徐健：《“往東方去”：16-18世紀德意志與東方貿易》（北京：社會科學文獻出版社，2013年）；顧衛民：《“以天主和利益的名義”：早期葡萄牙海洋擴張的歷史》（北京：社會科學文獻出版社，2013年）；程美寳等：《把世界帶進中國：從澳門出發的中國近代史》（北京：社會科學文獻出版社，2013年）；周湘、李愛麗等：《蠔鏡映西潮：屏蔽與緩衝中的清代澳門中西交流》（北京：社會科學文獻出版社，2013年）；黎曉平、汪清陽：《望洋法雨：全球化與澳門民商法的變遷》（北京：社會科學文獻出版社，2013年）；何志輝：《治理與秩序：全球化進程中的澳門法（1553-1999）》（北京：社會科學文獻出版社，2013年）；婁勝華、潘冠瑾、趙琳琳：《自治與他治：澳門的行政、司法與社團（1553-1999）》（北京：社會科學文獻出版社，2013年）。
[4] Acting as the chief editor of Macau Studies Series，Dr. Wu Zhiliang has himself published a number of books on the history of Macau，including：《东西交汇看澳门》（沈阳：辽宁教育出版社，1999），《澳门政治发展史》（上海：上海社会科学出版社，1999），《澳门政治制度史》（广州：广东人民出版社，2010）。
[5] See，for example，Alessandro Arcangeli，Cultural History：A Concise Introduction（London，UK：Routledge，2011），Chapter one.
[6] Guenter Weissberg，“Maps as Evidence in International Boundary Disputes：A Reappraisal，” The American Journal of International Law. Vol. 57，No. 4（1963），781-803；Romulo R. Ubay，Jr.，“Evidence in International Adjudication：Map Evidence in territorial Sovereignty Dispute Cases，” Aegean Review Law Sea，Vol. 1（2011），287-300.
[7] Guenter Weissberg，“Maps as Evidence in International Boundary Disputes：A Reappraisal，” The American Journal of International Law. Vol. 57，No. 4（1963），781-803；Romulo R. Ubay，Jr.，“Evidence in International Adjudication：Map Evidence in territorial Sovereignty Dispute Cases，” Aegean Review Law Sea，Vol. 1（2011），287-300. See，for example，Norman J.W.Thrower，Maps & Civilization：Cartography in Culture and Society（Chicago，IL：University of Chicago Press，2008），3rd ed.，Chapter 1.