“FROM TRADE TO HERITAGE: THE EVOLUTION AND PRESERVATION OF MACAU’S CANTONESE PORCELAIN IN GLOBAL CONTEXT”

ABSTRACT

IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE 20TH CENTURY, MACAO’S THREE TRADITIONAL HANDICRAFT INDUSTRIES WERE: MAKING MATCHES, FIRECRACKERS, AND INCENSE, AND THESE THREE BECAME IMPORTANT PILLARS OF MACAO'S ECONOMY. THESE INDUSTRIES WERE SUPPORTED BY FOUR OTHER INDUSTRIES, NAMELY: SHIPBUILDING, WINE, PRINTING AND THE CLOTHING THAT ARE INTEGRAL TO UNDERSTANDING THE HISTORY OF MACAO. THE PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH HAS BEEN TO DOCUMENT THE IMPORTANCE OF MACAO'S SEVEN TRADITIONAL INDUSTRIES, IN PARTICULAR THE FIRECRACKER FACTORIES WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE YICK LOONG FACTORY. THIS DISSERTATION MAKES A SIGNIFICANCE CONTRIBUTION TO THE SUBJECT OF THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF MACAO’S TRADITIONAL HANDICRAFT INDUSTRIES IN REVIEWING EACH OF THE TRADITIONAL INDUSTRIES AND IN PARTICULAR DETAILING THE YICK LOONG FACTORIES OPERATIONS AND THE UNDERSTANDING OF THE LOCAL MACAO PEOPLE TO THE PAST IMPORTANCE OF THIS OPERATION. THESE INDUSTRIES NEED TO BE DISCUSSED SO THAT SOCIETY CAN HAVE A DEEPER UNDERSTANDING OF THE IMPORTANCE OF THEM, AS UP TO NOW THEY HAVE BEEN LITTLE EXPLORED. SO, BY VISITING THE LOCATION OF THE YICK LOONG FIRECRACKER FACTORY, GATHERING KNOWLEDGE, AND CONDUCTING IN-DEPTH RESEARCH AND IN BOOKS AND THROUGH A SURVEY ABOUT THE MACAO FIRECRACKER BUSINESS, THE AUTHOR HAS BEEN ABLE TO SHOW THAT THERE APPEARS TO BE LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FIRECRACKER INDUSTRY IN MACAO. THOUGH, PEOPLE MOST RECALL THE YICK LOONG FACTORY’S NAME WHEN PROMPTED ABOUT NAMING A FIRECRACKER FACTORY IN MACAO AND ASSOCIATE FIRECRACKERS WITH THE LUNAR NEW YEAR CELEBRATIONS. HOWEVER, THEY SEEM TO HAVE LIMITED UNDERSTANDING OF THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE FIRECRACKERS TO MACAO, EXCEPT FOR CHILDHOOD MEMORIES OF THEM BEING RELEASED.