A-Ma Customs and Beliefs have been rooted in Macao for a long time, being the oldest and most far-reaching Chinese traditional rituals in Macao. The A-Ma Temple, also called Matsu Pavilion and Tin Hau Temple (goddess temple), witnessed local believers’ worship of A-Ma.
For hundreds of years, the A-Ma Temple has been a favourite painting subject for foreign and local painters, given its long history and the special positioning on the way to the Macao Inner Harbour. Looking at the scenes inside and outside of the A-Ma Temple, the festive events and the livelihood of residents nearby, we see that artists from different times had used various media and forms popular in their time such as ancient maps, sketches, topographic paintings, printmaking, watercolour paintings and oil paintings to meticulously portray the A-Ma Temple and therefore left behind invaluable images with memory of that time.
Missionary Matteo Ricci, who made great contributions to the exchange of Chinese and Western cultures, visited Macao in 1582 and described the early situation of A-Ma temple in his book China in the 16th Century:The Journals of Matthew Ricci. Ricci’s description plus the stone inscription inside the temple attest that A-Ma Temple was built in the Ming Dynasty. It was the oldest and of the foremost significance among Macao’s temples, and was inscribed on the World Heritage List by UNESCO in 2005, while ‘A-Ma Customs and Beliefs’ was added to China’s Intangible Cultural Heritage list in 2014.
As can be seen in the existing historic paintings, many representative artists over 200 years had a special fondness for A-Ma Temple, such as the British painter George Chinnery residing in Macao during the 19th Century, the French painter Auguste Borget, the British Doctor Thomas Watson and the Macanese Marciano Baptista; through their colourful, harmonious and clear sketches, their paintings reflected the old contour of the A-Ma Temple as well as the daily life of the residents nearby. From the existing art works by these painters and photographers, we can glimpse the past and learn the religious rituals during the A-Ma Festival and people’s activities around the temple at that time, feeling the religious charisma and culture of A-Ma Temple and also have more understanding of people’s lives at that time. In addition, we may understand how painters of different times use their aesthetic sensation to present the Matsu Belief and A-Ma Temple in Macao.
Its well ordered complex elaborated with elegant but simple decoration, and its in-depth beliefs and rituals have been the source of inspiration for many artists. The Macao Museum of Art has preserved and presented the images in relation to the A-Ma Temple, in the hope of reflecting the artists’ humanistic concern through their art works and, moreover, to evoke the public’s love and concern for the cultural heritage of Macao.
