Mandarin’s House – An Authentic Experience of Cultural Heritage

Every old house has a story to tell; such is the old Macao mansion known as the Mandarin’s House. Situated in the city’s Historic Centre, the UNESCO Heritage site is open for visitors to admire its history and architectural splendor, that give away the glorious past of the family who once resided within the exquisite walled compound.

by Ramen Yao

January 8, 2019

An architectural treasure

We visit the Mandarin’s House early one morning with Chan Sok I, Secretary General of the Oral History Association of Macao. The association has been working with the Cultural Affairs Bureau in recent years to collect anecdotes of former residents, with an aim to compile historical records of the Chinese mansion in a comprehensive way.

With Chan’s expert guidance, we explore details and elements which reflect the wealth and accomplishment of its owners. Even the humble alter at the entryway has something to tell – restoration specialists found 17 layers of paints on it, showing the respect the owners had for tradition through repetitive restoration work.

A few steps away stands the gatehouse, with walls adorned with protruding three-dimensional plasterwork of nature scenes, such as fish leaping over the “Dragon Gate”, which symbolizes success; and blooming flowers that signify fortune.

Opposite the entrance is the moon gate, an iconic ornament in Chinese gardens. It leads to a long corridor where visitors from the past would descend from palanquins. On the left are two adjoining courtyard homes with elaborately carved doors, western-style windows, and exquisite frescoes decorating the walls.

The main hall “Yu-Qing-Tang” is located in the first main building. There, you can find couplets and a family motto inscribed on wooden tablets, and wooden windows adorned with Asia Moon Scallop, grinded into hexagonal shape to signify longevity.

Strolling through rooms and corridors, we return to the ground floor. Chan then leads us to a dwelling on the far end of the compound. “Behind the closed door were a few steps leading to what was originally the waterfront (before reclamations took place),” Chan reveals; “The family even had a private port for trade. You can see how wealthy it was in its prime.”

Wealth and accomplishment

The largest Chinese mansion in Macao had a curious beginning. It was built in 1869, after Zheng Wenrui – a wealthy merchant from Xiangshan – dreamed about constructing a family compound on this waterfront location with great Feng Shui.

The compound continued to expand after his sons moved in. Zheng Guanying, the second son, was the most famous of his children. Born in 1842 in Xiangshan, he moved to Macau at the age of seven. When he reached 17, he was advised by his father to leave Macao for Shanghai, and worked as a comprador (a native agent) for Butterfield & Swire, one of the biggest British trading firms at the time. He later set up a canvassing business and tea shops independently. In 1873, he was appointed as director of the China Navigation Company under Swire Group.

According to Chan, Zheng Guanying took English classes at night time, so that he could communicate with overseas companies. “Due to early exposure to Western culture, Zheng Guanying was very open-minded, full of progressive ideas for reforming the country,” Chan says.

Zheng Guanying moved back to Macao at the age of 44 in 1885, after losing money to business disputes. Disappointed, he decided to withdraw from the business world. By then, he had already spent 20 years in Shanghai.

In the palatial estate built by his father, he completed the acclaimed masterpiece, Shengshi Weiyan (Words of Warning in Times of Prosperity), which was published in 1894. “We can only say that he edited the book here, because it boasted a long writing process spanning almost a decade,” Chan said.

In the book, Zheng emphasized “a country must create wealth to become strong; and wealth comes from encouraging economic and industrial developments, putting emphasis on education, quick legislation, respect for ethics and political reformation”.

The book advocated social reforms such as education for girls, as opposed to the traditional Chinese belief that favored boys over girls. It also proposed that China should host a World Expo in Shanghai. This vision was realized in 2010, when the event was held in the city as China’s first ever major expo.

The book had a great influence on famous reformists such as Kang Youwei and Sun Yat-Sen. Mao Zedong was also a keen reader. He once said: “… I have read a book named Shengshi Weiyan which I like a lot. Its authors were all old scholars who advocated reform. … Shengshi Weiyan continues to drive my desire to pursue knowledge …”.

Decline and Revival

Zheng Guanying left Macao again in 1891, when he was appointed as the head of Coal Mine Guangdong Office in Kaiping. But he would occasionally return to the city in his later years.

After the founding of the Republic of China in 1911, Zheng Guanying devoted himself to education and became chairman of state schools in Shanghai. According to his third son Zheng Runshen, when he died in 1922, at the age of 82, the state schools suspended operations for three weeks to express condolences.

Zheng had a large family with six sons, six wives and concubines. But many of them moved out of Macao to other parts of China and abroad. Eventually, the family compound faced irreversible decline. While keeping most of the second floor of the compound, Zheng’s descendants rented out the first floor and the courtyards as cheap accommodations for families. The number of residents even once peaked at 300. Other tenants included small businesses that made incense sticks, pepper and dried duck meat.

In 2001, the government purchased the entire compound to embark on a challenging restoration process. By then, more than 70 per cent of the house had been damaged by fire and subdivision. Some rooms had the roof missing; water was leaking and the plaster had fallen off the walls.

The Mandarin’s House project employed skilled people from other cities in Guangdong, experienced in historic preservation. Elderly residents who recalled memories of the house were also consulted.

In 2005, the Mandarin’s House, as part of the Historic Centre of Macao, was listed as UNESCO World Heritage. The restoration was completed in 2009, after eight years of work and study. It was opened to the public in the following year, with a descendant of the Zheng family being the first visitor.

According to Chan, the priority of the restoration was to be faithful to the original. “Sometimes, people may question why the house still looks old, some paintings are still missing. However, we need to understand that restoration is about preserving, not creating something new.”

The Mandarin’s House now has an area of 4,000 square metres, with more than 60 rooms in different sizes. However, from an interview with Zheng Guanying’s granddaughter-in-law – a former resident of the house – the Oral History Association of Macao learnt that the compound occupied a much larger area originally.

According to Chan, the lady said she used to see soldiers patrolling when she looked through the windows of her room. “We studied the urban fabric of the city and found that the Moorish Barracks (the building now housing the Marine and Water Bureau) was originally built in 1874 to accommodate a regiment from Goa, Portuguese India. The building is about a five-minute walk from the Mandarin’s House. It is very likely that the original compound could have stretched as far as there, before the family sold parts of the house.”