Lights and Shadows of a Macao Life: The Journal of Harriett Low, Travelling Spinster

by Harriet Low Hillard, Nan Powell Hodges (Editor), Arthur William Hummel (Editor)

Lights and Shadows of a Macao Life, the title chosen by Harriett Low for her journal, aptly describes the conflicting emotions of the first American woman to live in China. Making a rude transition from the tranquility of Salem, Massachusetts into a world of sampans and sedan chairs, women with bound feet and men with queues, the lively young American records a detailed portrait of her life in Macao from 1829-1834. The constricted lifestyle of foreign merchants wives, forced by the Chinese to live in Macao while their husbands traded tea and opium in balls, operas, and picnics; Chinese customs and Catholic processions; true friendship and false; romance or religion are all reflected in the pages of her journal. Throughout nine volumes, Harriett Low displays wit and courage as she metamorphoses from a socially naive girl into a mature, independent woman. Published for the first time as a complete edition, Lights and Shadows of a Macao Life chronicles not only the impact of Western capitalism on a declining Chinese empire but also the importance of money in affairs of the heart. Forced to reject her fiancé because he lacked prospects, Harriett Low survives by immersing herself in the literature and language she loves, as well as a re-examined Unitarian faith. Independent in outlook, she is an obvious antecedent of a contemporary American woman.

833 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2001

Reviews

[Jill · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this because it was mentioned in a guide book as a reference about old colonial Macau. A true story about Harriett Low Hillard told by her letters and journals as a young Salem MA woman who sailed to the far east with her aunt and uncle who were there for business with the East India Company. This occurs in the 1830's and the attitudes are shocking. They visited and lived in several cities including Manila, Canton, Macau and Cape Town. On their return trip about 7 years later they spent time in South Africa while the uncle convalesed. This prim, entitled puritan was so rigid. While living in Macau she visited the Catholic church and marvelled at the ugliness of the nuns. Where ever they went she thought the local people, languages, and cultures were savage, and expressed suprise at any acts of their kindness. She had no interest in learning Portuguese or Cantonese (I am not sure what the local language of Macau was at the time) but spent time studying French and working on her wardrobe and visiting with other Americans and Englishmen. When they took long difficult voyages these first class passengers would tour the starving steerage area for curiosity, very indifferent to the suffering of others. On the long hard sail from Malaysia to South Africa she mentions the sailors had about 50-60 monkeys free to run around on deck, which sounds like a circle of hell to me. She mentions the discussion of the end of slavery and declares how poor off the South Africans would be without their owners. She was the first "ugly American". This book is hard to track down but I did find it through Barnes and Noble for Nook. I could not decipher some of the phrases she used and would have been thankful for a modern editor.

[L. · Rating 2 out of 5]

A young American woman travels to China with her family, does a whole bunch of nothing for several years, and her journal doesn't really pick up and get interesting until the voyage back to America.

I struggled on how to (and whether I should at all) rate this book. I always kept in mind that this was a journal Harriet was writing strictly for her sister to read and not for public consumption. My reading pleasure was never Miss Low's top priority. I tried to consider that Harriet was a young woman, writing to another young woman, so therefore she's going to write what young women care about (i.e., dresses and parties). The only time Harriet had any interaction with the natives was when she was bossing the servants around. She had no interest in learning anything about the people or the country she was living in. You can tell the difference in her writing as she absolutely hated Macao and fell in love with South Africa. Harriet is a product of her time. She was extremely prejudice towards others who were not of her race, religion or national origin.

I didn't really enjoy this book and fully acknowledge the fault is all mine as I went into this with my expectations way too high.

(On a side note, there's a Chinaman named Ayok. He worked for the family while they resided in Macao and traveled with them on the way back to America. I would have really liked to hear his story. What did he think of his exposure to Western culture? How was his shipboard experience? Did he ever make it back to China? Alas, his story is lost to us.)