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Zhaoqing was known to the Qin and Han as Gaoyao. It was renamed Duanzhou from its role as the seat of Duan Prefecture under the Sui. The present name, meaning 'Beginning Auspiciousness', was bestowed on the area by Emperor Huizong of the Song in 1118.<br/><br/> When the Portuguese arrived in the 16th century, Zhaoqing was still an important center, serving as the seat of the Viceroy of Liangguang (Guangdong and Guangxi). Matteo Ricci's <i>On the Christian Expedition among the Sinae</i> tells of the early visits of Macanese-based Europeans to Zhaoqing. Ricci also drew the first modern Chinese map of the world in Zhaoqing in 1584.