1565: Galeote Pereira
Portuguese soldier of fortune
Galeote Pereira was a Portuguese mercenary from the 16th century. In 1549, Pereira was captured by local Chinese authorities near Dongshan (东山) County in Fujian Province for smuggling. He was arrested along with Portuguese companions who came from all corners of the Portuguese Empire. This was part of Emperor Jia-jing’s (嘉靖帝, reign 1521–1567) Wokou Raids (嘉靖大倭寇) that aimed at reducing smuggling and piracy.
Although many smugglers were condemned to death, Pereira was released in 1561.
First Westerner to record life in the Ming Dynasty
After leaving China, he wrote extensively about his experiences travelling throughout China. Although several other Portuguese survivors of the Chinese justice system also wrote about their experiences, Pereira's was by far the most detailed and comprehensive.
His work then became the earliest known account of life in the Great Ming Dynasty from the perspective of a Westerner; in fact, it was also the first detailed account of dynastical China, by a layperson, since Marco Polo (马可波罗, 1254–1324), who lived about three hundred years before him.
Jews allowed to take oath by swearing to the Jewish God
Because much of Pereira's time in China was spent on run and in prison, he devoted much attention to writing about the Chinese administration, the civil service structure, the function of government officials, and the law code of the Great Ming Dynasty. He also provided much detail on the condition inside Chinese prisons and the justice system's frequent and unrestrained use of the death penalty.
In a letter dated to 1565, Pereira wrote that in the Chinese court of law, “The Moors, Gentiles, and the Jews, have all their sundry oaths,” and that all sects swear “by the things they worship.”
Impressed by the impartiality of the Chinese justice system
Pereira noted that the regime was strict, but he was simultaneously impressed by the impartiality of the Chinese justice system.
Impressed by China’s infrastructure
Pereira wrote extensively about China's vast landscape and its equally impressive infrastructure. He spoke highly of China's bridges and streets that facilitated life in both dense urban areas and the rural countryside.
Origin of the name China
Crucially, Pereira also brought attention to the alternative terms used to refer to China.
At the time, the Chinese Empire, or the Middle Kingdom, was commonly referred to by its own people as 大明 (Pronunciation in Chinese: Da Ming; Meaning: the Great Ming); they called themselves 大明人 (Pronunciation in Chinese: Da Ming Ren; Meaning: the Great Ming people).
However, Pereira noted that people in the country's southern regions, and potentially parts of Southeast Asia, referred to the Middle Kingdom as China.