When Portuguese colonial rule meets Macao Chinese customs (Part 2): "Macao Chinese Customs and Customs Code"

Decades later, perhaps when the time is right, the Macau government officially made the Chinese customs clearer, and launched the "Macao Chinese Customs and Customs Code" to standardize Chinese customs and incorporate the obscure Chinese customs in the past into the legal system. A considerable part of this code is about property disposal, indicating that the Chinese do have their own way of dealing with this aspect, and this method is officially recognized by Portugal, but it is reasonable to speculate that it is not regulated in this code. "Chinese customs" are dealt with under Portuguese law, and there is no longer any special treatment. This code eliminates disputes that may be caused by the ambiguity of Chinese customs, and at the same time changes the special mode of judicial adjudication of the Chinese, and fully integrates the judicial adjudication of the Chinese into the Portuguese judicial system.

Eight of the thirty-three articles of the Macao Chinese Customs and Customs Code deal with the issue of heirs. The first is that a Chinese family without a parent should appoint an heir to succeed him. , in order to choose the equivalent of the son of a brother, the second son of the brother should be selected first, and if there is no marriage, it will be the son of the next generation.” It can be seen that the nephew has priority in choosing an heir, and more importantly, this affects the widow’s degree of freedom in choosing an heir. Article 15 of the Macao Chinese Customs and Customs Code states: "Anyone who has no children and no heirs when he dies, allows his wife to be within his husband's closest relatives, and chooses one of the above paragraphs (that is, Article 14). The one who agrees will be the heir.” The widow cannot choose the person she likes as the heir, and needs to give priority to the nephew as the heir, which obviously limits the rights of the widow.

In terms of inheritance, Article 22 stipulates: "After the death of the parents, only their sons can share the inheritance left by them. Supplementary Clause 1: The eldest son shall share two shares according to the income of the second son. If the eldest son is deceased, the The son of the eldest son. Supplement 2: An unmarried woman shall not share the birth, but shall give it as a gift according to the quarter of the income of the second son.", Article 23: "Before a widow remarrys, The right to belong to the husband’s family.” Here, the more common Chinese method of equal distribution among sons is not adopted, but the eldest son will receive an additional share of the family property. Although daughters have no right to inherit any inheritance, the amount of dowry is clearly stipulated. As for widows, they also do not have the right to inherit property. Under the condition of chastity, the husband's family needs to take care of the widow, which can be said to guarantee the widow's future life.

Under the "Macao Chinese Customs and Customs Code", women's property management rights have been improved. For example, in the past dowry disposal customs, although husbands usually require the wife's approval, there are still exceptions. It is clearly stipulated that the wife's consent must be obtained. In fact, it increases the wife's right to speak in the dowry. In addition, the law indicates that women own their own private property, which is managed by their wives, which increases women's property management rights to a certain extent.

in conclusion:

When the Macau government had full sovereignty over Macau, out of the need for governance, it did not impose the legal system of the colonial home country on the Chinese, but showed respect for "Chinese customs" when facing Chinese groups of different cultures. However, what is Chinese customs and how to respect Chinese customs is a process of mutual understanding for both the colonial government and the Chinese themselves. It can be seen from the property disposal judgment published in the Macau Gazette that the Macau government does respect the customs of the Chinese, which depends on the method adopted by the Macau government. The Macau government adopted a method similar to a "jury", recruiting Macau Chinese businessmen as "jurors", and most of the verdicts still follow the opinions of the Chinese businessmen. This judicial trial model can be described as a win-win situation. In the face of complex and diverse Chinese customs, the Macao government understands Chinese customs through Chinese businessmen, and obeys their opinions to make rulings. Even the entire government must have a deeper understanding of Chinese customs, and there will be more and more cases, which will lay a good foundation for the formulation of the "Macao Chinese Customs and Customs Code" in the future.

References:

"Macao Gazette" Chinese Documents (1850–1911), edited by Tang Kaijian and Wu Zhiliang, Macao Foundation

Original text: https://medium.com/@horsehavehistory/When Portuguese colonial rule meets Macao Chinese customs-Part II-Macao Chinese Customs Code-a8f51dd72ada