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In this evocative essay on the cultural and social history of Macau, Porter (history, U. of New Mexico) examines the city's place in the geographical context of the South China Coast; its architecture; the variety of people who crossed the threshold of Macau; the material culture of everyday life; and the spiritual topography resulting from the encounters of popular religious movements in Macau. B&w illustrations. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.


American Historical Review
"For anyone who has come under Macau's spell, this [book] is a must." (Asiaweek) "This is not so much an examination of a city as an evocation of a place in time, a Macau that is about to be lost....Porter's book reminds us that a city should be savored, not just analyzed."


Book Description
A spellbinding history of a remarkable city poised on the intersection between East and West with a new epilogue by the author In this evocative essay, Jonathan Porter examines Macau as an enduring but ever-changing threshold between two worlds, the West and China. Founded by the Portuguese in 1557, Macau's geographical uniqueness has made it particularly fascinating, yet the history of Macau's cultural and social history also speaks to larger issues of cross-cultural exchange in world history. The author looks at a series of images of Macau's history and reflects on the character and meaning of the multiple cultural and social influences that met and mingled there. For this, the first paperback edition of the book, Porter has written an epilogue examining the impending reversion of Macau to Chinese rule and offering perspectives on the present and future of the city.


About the Author
Jonathan Porter is Professor of History at the University of New Mexico and the author of All Under Heaven: The Chinese World.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In this evocative essay on the cultural and social history of a unique and fragile city, Jonathan Porter examines Macau as an enduring but ever-changing threshold between East and West. Establishing Portugal and China as distinct cultural archetypes, Porter then examines the subsequent encounters of East and West in Macau from the sixteenth to the twentieth centuries. Avoiding the traditional linear chronological approach, Porter instead looks at a series of images from the city's history and culture, including its place in the geographical context of the South China coast; the architecture of Macau, which reflects the memories of its historical passages; the variety of people who crossed the threshold of Macau; the material culture of everyday life; and the spiritual topography resulting from the encounters of popular religious movements in Macau.

FROM THE CRITICS

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