Early Chinese in Philippine Is. ; Philippine Independence --manila times

Monday, June 12, 2006


5TH DR. JOSE P. RIZAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE



Early Chinese explorations


(Reprinted from Tsinoy: The Story of the Chinese in Philippine Life, published by Kaisa Para sa Kaunlaran, Inc.)



CENTURIES before the Europeans started their search for an alternate route to the Spice Islands or the Moluccas, Chinese merchants already had harmonious trade and tribute relations with the islands at the far end of Southeast Asia.

The Chinese were a literary people who took special interest in noting down foreign lands and curious customs. Dynastic annals, travel accounts, customs records and ancient maps depicting Luzon, Min­danao, Visayas, Sulu, Panga­sinan, Ilocos, Ma­guin­danao, Cebu and Panay, among others, show the depth and breadth of relations between the Chinese and the natives of these islands.

Chao Ju Kua, a Chinese superintendent of trade and an earned customs inspector, wrote vivid descriptions of places such as Ma-I, San-su, Pisho-ye, Papuyan, Pulilu, which are identified to be islands in the Philippines.

His accounts were complied and published into a book, Zhu Fan Zhi, in 1225.

Other early Chinese accounts that mentioned various islands in the Philippines are Wang Dayan’s Dao-I Chi Lue (Barbarians of the Isles) and Tong Xi Yang Kao (East-West Ocean Examination).

Chinese navigational maps from the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties include the “Map of Observing the World,” “Complete Map of All Nations” and “Maps of the Islands in the Pacific Ocean.” Many of these early maps contained illustrations of major islands like Lu-song, Min-ta-lao, Ma-yi, San-Su and Sulu in the Philippines (before it was so named by the Spaniards).

For example, the “Complete Map of the Four Seas”—which was included in the 1781 Atlas of Maps for Observing Foreign Countries—described Ok-tong Island as a big island and a busy port between Cebu and Panay. Further research of ancient Philippine maps reveal the Ok-tong is actually Ogtong, one of the five major ports in the Philippines, which later became the capital of Panay.

Travel was not limited to the Chinese coming to the Philippines. Dynastic annals and other historical records tell of two-way trade exchanges. The earliest mention of Ma-I is in the Song Shi (History of Song) in 971 AD. The earliest travel of Filipinos to China is also recorded in Song Shi in 982 AD when people of Ba-i (now Laguna) went to Canton (now Guangzhou) to trade. Chinese goods like gold, silver, lead, tin, silk, and porcelain were exchanged for native goods like aromatics, rhinoceros horn, coral, pearls, tortoise shells, sea turtle leather and hardwood. Trading was done through ships that traveled across established and profitable sea routes.

A tributary bond eventually developed between the sultans and rajahs of the various kingdoms in the Philippines and the Chinese emperor through centuries of trade and support. Stories of these friendships are told and retold in Chinese records as the Chinese continued their sojourns to the Islands.

At least 10 rajahs and sultans sent tribute missions to China from the 11th to 15th century. The first mission was from King Qiling of Butuan in 1003, followed by other missions in 1004, 1007 and 1011. The Ming annals also mentioned several tribute embassies, such as Luzon tributes in 1417, 1420, 1421, 1423 and 1424.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Editor’s Note: The Fifth Dr. Jose P. Rizal Awards for Excellence will be presented on June 19, 2006, 7 p.m. at the Kaisa-Angelo King Heritage Center on Anda corner Cabildo Streets, Intramu­ros, Manila.







Tuesday, June 13, 2006


5TH DR. JOSE P. RIZAL AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE


Early Chinese accounts of the Philippines


(Reprinted from Tsi­noy: The Story of the Chinese in Philippine Life, published by Kaisa para sa Kaunlaran, Inc.)


Part 2 of 2



These maps, dynastic annals, travel accounts and other early records, as well as the wealth of artifacts unearthed all over the country, stand as mute evidence of the extensive and intensive trading and tributary relations between the Chinese and early Filipinos.

The traders also became cultural brokers who introduced a wealth of knowledge and technology to the local people. A peaceful and harmonious relationship strengthened as the two peoples grew to become friends and even family. Their stories and sagas continue to be written to this day.


Trade relations

Chinese jars, vases, ceramics and coins of the Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618-907) have been excavated in various parts if the country, especially in coastal settlements. Panay, Pangasinan, Rizal, Sulu, Butuan, Cagayan, Laguna, Batangas and Santa Ana, Manila, are among the sites that have yielded significant finds.

The trade wares were brought to the Philippines either directly by Chinese traders or indirectly by Arab and Indian traders who dominated Southeast Asia’s maritime trade before the 10th century.

The traders followed the trade winds, heading south before the northeast monsoon and returning home with the southwest monsoon. The Chinese had an advantage over the Arabs and the Indians because of their early discovery of the south-pointing needle—the earliest version of the mariner’s compass—their possession of navigational maps, their extensive knowledge of their trading partners, and their sturdier and bigger junks designed to survive turbulent typhoons in the open seas.

Trade with the Chinese was carried out wholesale. Merchandise loaded in junks were controlled by the flow of trade from the Pasig River, receiving goods from foreign traders and passing them on to people in the provinces through the tributaries of the Pasig and other river systems. The Chinese farmed out their goods to native traders on credit. In turn, the natives brought the goods inland and came back after weeks—even months—with native products for exchange.


Cultural relations

Some Chinese traders settled and intermarried with natives. They built better houses and taught their families technology like bringing water down from the mountains and better ways of living. The Chinese realized that it was economically advantageous to promote the well-being of their communities whose welfare had a district effect on the prosperity or decline of their own commercial activities.

Their efforts at developing their communities, including the extension of credit, allowed the Chinese to prosper in the Philippines. The early Chinese influence during this period is largely economic; apparently they did not interfere with native political institutions. In language, almost all words in Malayan languages that can be traced to Chinese sources are either economic or commercial in origin.

None of the trading ships came on a warlike mission, and those that eventually settled in the Philippine Islands were accepted as part of native communities. The natives adopted desirable Chinese customs and traditions; the settlers, desirable native customs and traditions.



(Editor’s note: The Fifth Dr. Jose P. Rizal Awards for Excellence will be presented on June 19, 7 p.m. at the Kaisa-Angelo King Heritage Center on Anda and Cabildo streets, Intramuros, Manila.)





* * * * * * *





Monday, June 12, 2006


Some facts about Philippine Independence


ON June 12, 1898, Filipinos got what they had hoped for a long time—Philippine independence. The declaration of independence asserting the rights of Filipinos to manage their own affairs was read; the flag that embodied their aspirations was unfurled, and the music that carried their hopes was played. But who were behind these elements that made the declaration of Philippine Independence meaningful?

AMBROSIO RIANZARES BAUTISTA authored the Act of Declaration of Philippine independence. He was born on December 7, 1830, in Biñan, Laguna. He was a lawyer known as “Don Bosyong” to peasants and laborers who availed themselves of his free legal services, including their defense in court cases against greedy Spaniards and rich Filipino casiques.

Involved in the propaganda movement, Bautista solicited funds to support the campaign for reforms in Spain, including the publication of La Solidaridad. When revolution broke out in 1896, he was arrested but was soon freed after proving his innocence. Bautista went into hiding before he could be served another warrant of arrest.

Bautista was appointed auditor general de guerra of General Emilio Aguinaldo when the latter returned from exile in Hong Kong. On June 12, 1898, Bautista read the Act of Declaration of Philippine Independence, which he himself prepared. Ninety-eight persons, including one American officer, Col. L.M. Johnson, affixed their signatures on the document. Bautista also waved the Philippine flag before the jubilant crowd.

JULIAN FELIPE gained fame for his masterpiece, the Marcha Nacional Filipina (National Anthem), which when played to this day reminds the present generation of that historic day in 1898 when Filipinos called themselves independent.

Felipe was born on January 28,1861, in Cavite. The youngest of 12 children of a poor couple, he was known for his musical talents. He was a music teacher in Cavite when the revolution broke out. He left his old piano and joined the patriotic cause. He was arrested but his involvement in the revolution was not proven so he was spared from the firing squad that killed 13 of his fellow prisoners on September 12, 1896. He was released from prison in Fort Santiago on June 2, 1897.

On June 5, 1898, General Aguinaldo commissioned him to compose a piece for the upcoming declaration of independence. After six days, Felipe enthralled the revolutionary generals with his composition, the Marcha Nacional Filipina, which was played during the proclamation of Philippine independence on June 12, 1898.

MARCELLA AGONCILLO, or “Roselang Bubog” as her townfolk in Batangas fondly called her because of her beauty, enshrined herself in history as the “Maker of the Filipino Flag.” Doña Marcela Marino Agoncillo was born on June 24, 1860, in Taal, Batangas. Born to a rich couple. Marcela finished her education in the Santa Catalina College, a school in Intramuros run by Dominican nuns. She married Don Felipe Agoncillo, a goodhearted Filipino lawyer who earned the ire of the Spanish authorities for defending his oppressed countrymen.

A brave woman, Marcela stood by the patriotic cause of her husband who went into self-exile in Hong Kong in 1895. The Agoncillo family resided on Morrison Hill Road in Wanchai District, Hong Kong, where Aguinaldo and his generals set up the Junta Patriotica upon their arrival in the country in 1897. The Agoncillo couple found common causes with the revolutionary leaders. It was in Hong Kong, where Marcella Agoncillo was asked to sew the Philippine flag. Assisted by her young daughter, Lorenzana, and Delfina Herbosa Natividad, she finished the flag in five days. The flag reached the Philippines on time for the proclamation of Philippine independence on June 12, 1898, before a big crowd in Kawit, Cavite.

The Act of Declaration could have been written by any lawyer, the music composed by any musician, and the flag sewn by any dressmaker, but the significance of Philippine independence proclaimed 108 years ago today could not have been less.

What is remarkable every time the declaration of independence is read, the music played, and the flag unfurled in the air is the fact that all these were made by Filipinos whose hearts longed for the best of this nation.