Preface

Literature is a crystallization and representation of a city's taste and disposition. As a vital cultural resource, the art of literature helps urban residents free their spirits and cultivate their minds, which tends to become a state of existence and the basis of transition towards a state of self-containment.

Macao’s literature dates back to the Ming and Qing dynasties. By the mid and late 1930s, the region’s literary landscape began to take on a modern look. Starting from the 1980s, Macao writers began to create "literary images" peculiar to Macao, marking the start of the region having its own literature. Macao’s literature has made great progress and become a distinctive part of Chinese literature as a whole, especially after the handover on December 20th, 1999, under the "One Country, Two Systems" policy, and the historic context of reform and opening up and regional development.

Macao boasts an outstanding literary ecosystem with balanced demographics of the literary community and a variety of schools and genres. A distinctive, flourishing literary landscape, which has Chinese culture at its heart and features a mix of different western cultures, has taken shape, thanks to the creations of authors, writers, and poets at home and abroad, of contemporary and ancient times that suit both refined and popular tastes.

Macao’s literature is perhaps not rich enough to produce classic works that stand the test of time. But it’s our belief that its literature is an aesthetic creation deeply rooted in the language, feelings, lives and minds of local people - full of conscience, sympathy, compassion, caring, tolerance and sincerity. Everyone approaching her can hear her heartbeats and feel her imagination and longing. She is a poetic presentation of life and genuine humanity rather than pretentiousness or show-off.

As a matter of fact, there are so many people in Macao who reject to give in to commercialization, consumerism, or sensory experience, and retain poetic wisdom in their minds. Under the heavy burden of work and life, they are writing and expressing their minds as always, thus transcending the material world and living as free, unrestrained people.

The establishment of the House of Macao Literature bears testimony to the Macao SAR Government and the general public’s deep respect for and cherishing of Macao’s literature. The exhibition space, though not so spacious, serves as a window showcasing the region’s literary milestones and achievements, as well as a platform for interaction between peers, writers and readers through scientific management and diverse activities.

                                                                 Cultural Affairs Bureau ofthe Macao Special Administrative Region Government