ABSTRACT
The search for the first French people in Asia undoubtedly leads back to the establishment of the Portuguese trading posts in Canton and Macau around 1514 (He Yu & Li Hua 8) 1 or 1517 (Meng Hua 2004, 160). According to Chinese historiography, these two posts are the original entry points of Europeans post-Marco Polo. Certainly, from the first approaching European sailing ships to the appearance of oriental Francophonie, several centuries passed. But our return to the origins of European institutions will highlight the initial positioning of France in cultures classified as non-Francophone. Thus, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, after two years of sea voyage, the Europeans finally reached the coast of Macau and left the first traces of white people in Asia, since the Marco Polo era:
During the year of Dingchou under the reign of Zhengde [1517], while I was an official in the Guangtong Marine Affairs Department, two large ships appeared and entered directly into Huaiyuan port in Guangtong (Meng Hua 2004, 160).
