Tim Gingrich’s Writings & World Travels 金飞西笔

Before Columbus discovered America (making Las Angeles the hub for trans-Pacific flights), westerners reached China via Macao, the Portuguese-settled enclave adjacent to Hong Kong.

Today, jet foils regularly roll into the harbor ferrying Reno-rebound gamblers, casino-loving communists (gambling is outlawed in mainland China) and blog-writing travelers.

Lost

Click here to see more pictures from Macao, “Mo’ Macao, Mo’ Problems”

God’s goth

Finally I found what I had come to see: The Ruins of the Church of St. Paul (Ruinas de Igreja de Sao Paulo). The one-walled ecclesiastical edifice is the most well-known emblem of Macao.

In 1602, victims of anti-Christian persecution in Japan found refuge in the Catholic colony and constructed St. Paul’s from scratch. Somewhere along the way, the sanctuary got scuttled and a military barracks was installed. Unfortunately, fire alarms were not. When a blaze left nothing standing besides the entrance, St. Paul’s assumed landmark status.

Today, some call St. Paul’s the greatest monument to Christianity in Asia. I don’t think Christianity requires a hand-made monument—but what’s beneath is a “sermon in stone.”

Descending down to “The Crypt” starts out like an archaeological dig. Rocks and bones—fossils of the faithful—fill exhibit cases on both sides of the underground sanctuary.

St. Paul’s is merely monumental. Stone and sculpture. An anthropological anomaly. Tragically “tourist.” But skulls stare back at you, and you realize religious-cide—refusing to back down on your beliefs, paying the ultimate price—is real. It doesn’t just rebuilt St. Paul’s or redeem Macao, it reminds you of Jesus. It rebrands the cross, not a necklace—a noose.

Left behind

My last stop: paying tribute to the the patron saint of Chinese-language students, Robert Morrison. The East-India Company Chinese translator/British missionary authored the first Chinese-English dictionary. Here’s what he wanted on his tombstone:

SACRED
to
THE MEMORY
of
ROBERT MORRISON D.D.,
The first Protestant Missionary to
CHINA,
When after a service of twenty-seven years
cheerfully spent in extending the kingdom of the blessed REDEEMER
during which period he compiled and published
A DICTIONARY OF THE CHINESE LANGUAGE
founded the Anglo Chinese College de Mallaca
and for several years laboured alone on a Chinese version of
THE HOLY SCRIPTURES
which he was spared to see completed and widely circulated
among those for whom if was destined
he sweetly slept in Jesus.

When looking up Chinese words in the dictionary, who stops to think, “Who translated the dictionary?” It’s a sobering thought—you’re not the first foreigner “explore” China. It’s historical context and perspective. This is not as far as I thought it was.

Conclusion: Macao is much more than the “Las Vegas of China.” It’s the Ghost of Chinese Past. And though it is the smallest administrative region in modern China, here you can really see the big picture.