|
History
his-to-ry
[HIS-tuh-ree, HIS-tree]
noun
origin: 1350-1400
1. the branch of knowledge dealing with past events.
2. a continuous, systematic narrative of past events as relating to a particular people,
country, period, person, etc., usually written as a chronological account; chronicle: a
history of France; a medical history of the patient.
3. the aggregate of past events.
|
|
Author's Research Sources
Barangay: 16th Century Philippine Culture & Society
William Henry Scott
Raiding, Trading and Feasting: The Political Economy of Philippine Chiefdoms
Laura lee Junker
1421 The Year China Discovered America
Gavin Menzies
Magellan’s Voyage Around the World & the Discovery of the Philippines
Antonio Pigafetta's Milan Edition
The Philippines Before Magellan
Dr. H. O. Beyer
The Philippine Saga
Dr. H.O.Beyer & Jaime DeVeyra
|
|
The Philippines Before Magellan
By: Charity Beyer-Bagatsing
From the notes of Dr. H. Otley Beyer
Download:
article
Four hundred years ago, Ferdinand Magellan anchored his little exploring fleet in Philippine
waters in the evening on March 16, 1521. Herein, to most people Philippine history begins
with Antonio Pigafetta's splendid diary of Magellan’s voyage. Spanish colonization both
in the Americas and the Philippines has been characterized by a fanatic zeal for the
Christian faith and corresponding hatred for all other forms of belief led them to regard
the native writings and art as works of the devil—to be destroyed wherever found.
In Mexico and Peru many old records were preserved in more or less modified form in
the writings of the early Christians and Spanish half-castes, but in the Philippines
the destruction was ruthlessly thorough and only a few fragments have survived. One
Spanish priest in southern Luzon boasted of having destroyed more than three hundred
scrolls written in the native character. How valuable those old records might have been
to us. The results is that we have no trustworthy native material, and our past can only
be pieced together from data painstakingly gathered from neighboring countries, to be
patiently pieced together with local tradition and archeological discoveries. It is of no
wonder that most historians have been content to pass over the Pre-European period and
begin the body of their work with Magellan's voyage.
When Magellan arrived in the Philippines, he did not came across a land occupied
by ignorant wild savages but discovered one of the epicenters of the international
trade industry which extended from the Atlantic to the Pacific.
William Henry Scott in his book the Pre-Hispanic Source Materials intenerates "When the
pre-Hispanic epoch was brought to a close by Ferdinand Magellan's arrival in 1521,
Luzon traders were sailing to Timor, Malacca and Canton, had a colony in Minjam on the
Malay Peninsula, a Portuguese appointed magistrate in Malacca and marriage relations
with the Sultan of Brunei, and the Manila bourgeoisie were learning to speak Malay."
The pre-Hispanic Filipinos were very literate and used syllabaries of Indian origin.
Father Chirino (1604, 39):"These islanders are so given to reading and writing that
there is hardly a man and much less a woman, who does not read and write in the letters
of the island of Manila."
The first actual mention of the Philippines is recorded in the official Sung history when
certain traders from Ma-i (the present island of Mindoro) brought valuable merchandise
to Canton for sale in 982 A.D. As early as the tenth century Philippine vessels were
crossing the oceans to China and Champa for exportable trade goods.
From the 12th to the 15th centuries, accounts of Bruni, Sulu, Ma-i and others of the
Philippine islands became more numerous. The following abbreviated account comes from
Chau Ju Kua written about 1225. The salient points of this report are as follows:
"The island of Ma-i lies north of Borneo. When trading ships enter the anchorage, they
stop in front of the officials place, for that is the place for bartering of the country.
There is a great market there. After a ship has been boarded, the natives mix freely with
the ship's folk. The chiefs are in the habit of using white umbrellas, for which reason
the traders offer them as gifts."
The custom for trade is for the local traders to assemble in crowds and carry the goods
away with them in baskets; and, even if one cannot at first know them, and can but slowly
distinguish the men who remove the goods, yet there will be no loss. The local traders
then carry these goods on to other islands for barter, and as a rule takes them about
eight – nine months before they return, when they repay the merchants on shipboard with
what they have obtained for the goods.
The products of the country consist of yellow wax (beeswax), cotton, pearls, tortoise-shell,
medicinal betel nuts, fiber cloth (sinamay). The goods used in trading are porcelain,
trade-gold, iron cauldrons, lead, colored glass beads, iron needles, pieces of iron,
colored cotton stuffs, red taffetas, ivory, silks of different colors, copper pots, sycee
shoes, and the like."
The San-hsu (or three islands) belong to Ma-i; their names are Kia-ma-yen (Kalamian or Culion),
Pa-lau-yu (probably Penon de Coron) and Pa-ki-nung (probably Busuanga), and each has its
own tribes scattered over the islands. When the ships arrive there, the natives come out
to trade with them.
In the remotest valleys, there lives another tribe called Hai-tan (Aetas). They are smaller
in nature, they have curly hair and they nest in tree tops. Whenever foreign traders
arrive at the settlements, they announce their presence to the natives by beating drums.
Upon this, the natives race for the ships in small boats, carrying cotton, yellow wax,
native cloth and coconut husk mats which they offer for barter. If the prices cannot be
agreed upon, one or two of the natives remain on board the ship as hostages while the
chief of the traders must go on shore to meet the native ruler in order to come to an
understanding. These being reached the natives are offered presents of silk umbrellas,
porcelain, and rattan baskets. After the traders return to their ships, the hostages are
released. A ship will not remain at anchor longer than three days or four days which it
proceeds to another place."
Several late Sung and Yuan period Chinese documents make frequent reference to the
Philippine trade centers. Ports in Sulu are described to having a well developed
organized network for exportable forest and maritime products (sandalwood, laka-wood,
ebony, animal hides and pearls). The Sulu pearls are known to be whiter and rounder than
those from other places and command a high price.
Several late Sung and Yuan period Chinese documents make frequent reference to the
Several late Sung and Yuan period Chinese documents make frequent reference to the
In addition to the above, we find the following accounts of trade in Sulu from the brush of a Chinese author in 1349: “When a ship arrives there, the natives take all the goods and carry them for sale in the interior, while they also sell to the neighboring countries and when they come back, the native articles are delivered to the merchants as payment. The natives are always afraid that our ships will not return, and whenever a ship leaves they detain some men as hostages to make sure the ship will call again. “
Medieval Filipinos merchants and mercenaries were deemed as honest business entrepreneurs throughout Southeast Asia as stated by Wang-Ta-yuan in his Tao I Chih Lueh written in 1349 after 20 years of travels in the pursuit of overseas profits “The shipboard merchants advance them credit for never have they defaulted since the beginning.”
During the early 14th century, the ties between Chinese- Philippines trade relations grew
stronger. In 1406, in the reign of Chinese Emperor Ch’eng-tsu a Filipino chieftain
visited the Imperial Court at Nanking and was presented gifts of horses, silver and other
products. This was followed by other trips. Another visit occurred during Emperor
Hung-wa's reign in 1572 when the Filipino tribute embassy was welcomed at his court.
Early Spanish documents provide a detailed documentation of the Southeast Asian trade
industry. Asides from the Chinese junks; large trade ships from Borneo, Thailand and
Japan were regularly arriving at some of the larger Philippine coastal ports: Manila,
Mindoro, Pangasinan, Cebu, Jolo (Sulu), and Cotabato. Filipino traders had significant
knowledge and presence at other Southeast Asian trade ports such as Melaka, Borneo,
Ternate (Moluccas) and Myanmar.
Chiefs in pre-Hispanic Philippines also financed and equipped outgoing trade voyages for
foreign trade. Furthermore they made attempts to attract foreign trade partners by
investing in port facilities, good harborage, military protection for merchants, housing,
provision and entertainment for foreign traders, and developed efficient systems for
mobilizing the trade goods. Sixteenth century descriptions of Manila records a well
fortified heavily populated trade port with special quarters for Chinese and Japanese
merchants and a well organized port area managed by a grand chieftain and a number of
lesser chiefs.
The blissful period of pre-Hispanic Philippines clearly indicates a sophisticated
cultured people who focused on peaceful commercial trade, maritime exploration while
maintaining friendly and viable economic relations with their neighbors. A far cry from
the depictions made by European historians who portrayed a people whose existence began
as a colony of Spain and for many years was deemed as the only source for the study of
Philippine history.
The purpose of this article is to remind this present generation about the grand history
of their ninunos (forefathers) and rekindle our diwa (spirit of greatness) that has
always been the heritage of the Filipino people.
Charity Beyer-Bagatsing is the great-granddaughter of Dr. H. Otley Beyer. She is the
guardian of the Beyer Library Collection and Publisher of Northwest Woman Magazine. To
contact the author visit her website:
www.northwestwoman.com
Email:
editor@northwestwoman.com
Optional Photographs: From the H.O. Beyer Collection
1)Bamboo with Baybayin writings on the outside and a scroll inside.
Luxury Trade Goods from the Pre-Hispanic Period.
2)Colored Glass Beads
3)Green Ming Jarlet
4)Ming Hole Bottom Dish
|
|
|
|
|
|
|