ABSTRACT
The Portuguese were the first seafaring Europeans encountered by the Chinese. The manner and timing of their appearance in the Chinese experience shaped China’s attitude and policy not only toward them but also toward the West in subsequent times. The dominant theme of the description in circulation at the time was the Portuguese could be considered as behaving like human beings only when they were in a happy mood and that their beastly nature would prevail when they lost control of their temper. The Portuguese were said to be lovers of children’s flesh for food and since in their country, this rarity was only available to their king, when they arrived in China the Portuguese bought a large number of children for the purpose. The Portuguese arrived in China in the midst of a highly alerted Ming to defend the coastal areas, especially the Chekiang and Fukien provinces, as a result of havoc brought by numerous Wo-k’ou raids.
