Ningpo massacre

The Ningpo massacre was a massacre of Portuguese pirates by Cantonese pirates led by Ah Pak around the city of Ningbo. During the Qing dynasty, in the 1800s, the Ningbo authorities contracted Cantonese pirates to exterminate and massacre Portuguese pirates who raided Cantonese shipping around Ningbo. The massacre was "successful", with 40 Portuguese dead and only two Chinese dead, being dubbed "The Ningpo Massacre" by an English correspondent, who noted that the Portuguese pirates had behaved savagely towards the Chinese, and that the Portuguese authorities at Macau should have reined in the pirates.

Battle and Massacre

Portuguese pirates who raided Cantonese shipping in the early 19th century were exterminated by Cantonese forces around Ningbo.

The people from Ningbo supported the Cantonese massacre of the Portuguese pirates and the attack on the Portuguese consul. The Cantonese did not see the Portuguese as the same as other Europeans, not being afraid of them and fighting them man to man. The Ningbo authorities had made an agreement with a Cantonese pirate named A'Pak to exterminate the Portuguese pirates. The Portuguese did not even try to fight when the Cantonese pirates sacked their consulate, fleeing and hiding among the tombs. The Cantonese butchered around 40 Portuguese while sacking the consulate. Only two Chinese and one Englishman who sided with the Cantonese died.

Further reading

• (the University of California)
• (the New York Public Library) Also available here
• Original from the University of Wisconsin - Madison (eastern china mission - Letter from Mr. Kwolton)