The Chio Family Mansion is located at nos. 24-26 Travessa da Porta. It was the former residence of the prominent Chio family from the village of Mong Há in northern Macao. The mansion’s main building is believed to have been constructed no later than 1875.[1] The Mansion, a Lingnan-style residential building, was arranged in a layout of 'three bays, three halls and two corridors'. Later, due to the insufficient space of the main building, four more houses were successively added adjoining the four corners of the main building.
The Chio family were descendants of the Imperial Zhao family (or "Chio" in Cantonese) of the Song dynasty, descendants of Zhao Guangyi, Emperor Taizong of Song. According to the Shuze-Tang Genealogy for the Chio Family and the Chio Family Synopsis, this family was descended from the imperial clan of the Song dynasty. Zhao Youzhi of the 12th-generation moved to Xiangshan County for his officialdom; and Zhao Youbi, of the 22nd generation, after the death of his father, moved with his mother, younger brother, wife, and children, from Shangzha, in Xiangshan, to Mong-Há Village, in Macao, where they took up residence. Into the mid-19th century, Chio Chong Hoi, of the 28th generation of the Chio family, moved from Mong-Há to Travessa da Porta, thus marking the start of the history of the Chio Family Mansion in Macao.
After settling in Macao, generations of descendants of the Chio family studied and achieved excellent results in the imperial examinations. Notably of them, “two attained the degree of Juren (provincial graduate or first-degree scholar), two passed prequalification to the palace examination in the capital, one became an official for higher education and yet another two were admitted to the highest imperial school.”[2] In this context, the Chio family became one of the four most prominent families in Mong-Há, Macao. Among the descendants, the 25th (Chio Un Leok 趙元輅) and 26th (Chio Vun Ching 趙允菁) generations during the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns of the Qing dynasty, were the most renowned, because both (father and son) attained the rank of Juren – which explains why the plaque with the inscription “父子登科 Fuzi Dengke” (meaning both father and son having passed the provincial civil service exam), was hung in the Chio Family Mansion. The father and son also founded a private school, nurtured many talents, and made a vital contribution to Macao’s education sector in its early years, while also playing an important role in spreading Confucianism in Macao. Moreover, the Chio family actively participated in local social affairs, acting as a representative of the community of Chinese gentry. These said, the Chio family had a great influence on the society then and made significant contribution to Macao’s culture, education, and politics. The Chio Family Mansion is the only surviving residence of this prominent family in Macao, bearing witness to the development history of the family itself in this city.
Based on the different construction periods, the Mansion can be divided into five distinct parts, namely the main building and the houses at the east, south and north corners of the main building. These houses were connected with the main building, but each had an individual access gate; Only the house at the west corner was not connected to the main building. Speaking of architectural style, the main building was an enlarged version of a Lingnan Cantonese structure in a layout of "three halls and two corridors", while the south corner house adopted the same style, and the other three corner dwellings were built as residences of load-bearing brick walls and wooden support beams, with tiled floors and part of the roofs covered with tiles. The house at the west corner also integrates Western-style architectural elements.
[1] In addition to the ancestral house in Mong-Há, the Chio family also owned other properties in Macao, such as a shop in Rua das Estalagens and a shop in Beco do Porco (劏豬圍), as recorded in the Chronicle of the Construction of Chio Ancestral Halls. It can be thus presumed that the property located at no. 26, Travessa da Porta, would also have been acquired long ago by the Chio family. Also, according to relevant studies, the Chio Ancestral Hall in Mong-Há was destroyed by a typhoon in 1874, and later the Chio family moved the ancestral hall to no. 26, Travessa da Porta. Therefore, it is deduced that the Mansion was completed no later than 1875.
[2] Lin Guangzhi, A Study on the History of the Chio Family in Mong-Há, Macao in the Qing Dynasty, in the third issue of Macao History Studies (chief editor: Tang Kaijian), 2004, p. 125.