Zhang Zhidong（张之洞）is without doubt one of the major names in late Qing history and still one of main characters of that period that understandably attracts the attention of historians of reform and the perennial Confucian tradition in Chinese administration.

Less known is his involvement in the Macau question，reason why this paper will approach the circumstances that explain that involvement—his term of office as viceroy of Liang Guang in 1884/1888 — stressing also the importance for Macau Studies to develop a coherent and systematic study of the policies of the viceroys of Liang Guang in handling the Macau question along the last half of the XIXth century.

Actually，there is still not a complete or comprehensive understanding of the major lines of governance of the Late Qing official regarding the Macau question. We are aware of the specific attitudes of Governors of Liang Guang，but seldom we approach them in terms of understanding them in the context of a coherent central policy. We don’t even know if there was coherent central policy！

As an example I bring here today the case of one of the most famous late Qing officials，the illustrious scholar and reformer Zhang Zhidong，Governor General of Liang Guang（1884-1889）.

For those who are familiar with imperial politics of the late Qing，regarding the question of Macau，it is easy to understand that for Zhang Zhidong the question begins to be the question raised by the Sino- Portuguese treaty of 1887. But for him，the treaty is little more than a flag that leads the conservative in a struggle against the more moderate sectors of imperial administration in Beijing. We could say，that is a very much a personal struggle between Zhang Zhidong and Li Hongzhang.

Only in the end of 1887，all Zhang Zhidong’s hopes lost to block the sino-portuguese treaty and push to disgrace its negotiators，the Macau question is inscribed in the priorities of his government in Guangzhou.

He conceives a strategy. And the first line of the strategy seems to have been the commercial and economic asphyxiation of Macau with the creation of a concurrent lottery of weixingin Guangzhou. Or the dislocation of part of the Chinese population of Macau to inland through the creation of more attractive commercial and fiscal benefits. Or the transfer of the foreigners at the service of Chinese Imperial Maritime Customs from Macau to other neighboring territory and the creation of a more competitive port.

The second line of action had as a scope to fight directly the Portuguese strategy of consolidation of territorial occupations inaugurated in the middle of the XIXth century，that was supposed to fill the requirements of territorial delimitation as defined in the Chinese-Portuguese treaty of 1887.

For that，Zhang Zhidong fought fiercely to assert formally China’s sovereignty in Macau’s waters and land. As examples：the incidents regarding the “neutral land” between the Northern border of Macau and the first Chinese control posts；the disputes over the right to tax the Macau old village of Mongha；the tentative re-creation of a Chinese administrative bureau headed by a magistrate inside the town of Macau；the incidents over the sea of the Inner Harbor or the occupation of the opposite territory or Haojing island. All these actions reflect directly the “revivalist” but active style of Zhang Zhidong in that time in Guangzhou.

Because that is one of the most striking aspects of Zhang Zhidong’s style of ruling：his reformation style is not defined by innovation of mentalities or methodologies，but deserves more exactly the name of “revivalism” by appealing to classic solutions that the pragmatism of his predecessors had mitigated or in a way put in oblivion.

That “revivalism” is nothing more than “Chinese conservatism”，in the sense that is given to the term to define the efforts of huge sectors among the literati and the administration to preserve the political and social order，as well as Confucian ethics，along the ⅪⅩ and ⅩⅩ centuries. What is to say，to preserve a time-honored of order when its fundamental propositions were no more accepted as evident.

In dealing with Macau question，that appeal to the traditional order is made trough the invocation of no less traditional preoccupations. Thus，it is interesting to note that in Zhang Zhidong’s rethorics the justification of his actions in Macau are presented as a “return” to the classic formulas of controlling non-Chinese minorities and populations living in the Qing frontiers.

As a matter of fact，the association of contemporary problematic issues to the value of classic solutions is very clear on the non-direct criticisms of Zhang Zhidong to all his predecessors，guilty since the days of Qi Ying of letting to fall in oblivion the traditional methodology of controlling the foreigners of Macau.

That is why Zhang Zhidong wrote bluntly one day to the Portuguese Governor of Macau that “being trusted with the responsibility of looking over the frontiers，he had assumed the mission of reviving many things used or practiced no more”.

One should remark that，besides stressing the advantages of “muscled style” of relation with Portuguese of Macau，Zhang Zhidong’s actions had another result，perhaps even more relevant：

For the first time in the History of China，the Macau question，taken out of the secrecy of imperial departments，is presented publically as question of national honor，a problem of international prestige，a major instrument of agitation used by the more conservative sectors in their fight for the renewal of a China oppressed by Western expansionism.

Perhaps for the first time，and with pure “nationalistic” scopes，a doctrine was formulated in terms of the meaning of Macau and the role of the Portuguese in China. A doctrine that was fated to a very special success whit the publication of the writings of such politically and intellectually acclaimed author as Zhang Zhidong.

By the hand of Zhang Zhidong and by many clear personal and political motivations，the question of Macau grew without an effective proportion to its true value in Portuguese-Chinese relations. Since then，the Macau question will be no more a problem of the provincial administration of Guangdong. Transformed by Zhang Zhidong，it will become a powerful and efficient weapon of inflammation of peoples’ minds in the last years of the Qing until the two first decades of the Republic.

Actually，in many of the crisis during which the diplomacy or the Chinese administration had to define a line of analysis and action re. the Macau question，we can perceive the argumentation of Zhang Zhidong. Quite understandably，if we recall that the patriotic or nationalistic radicalism of his thesis met the requirements to manage successfully those crisis by such groups as the patriotic societies of Guangdong during the last days of the Qing dynasty，in the republican convulsion of the two first decades of the century，or even in anti-Portuguese propaganda immediately after World War Ⅱ.

To conclude，there is a vast field still opened to new research and new conclusions. But a research that clearly falls in the domain of Macaulogy.