Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

The Chinese in the Philippine Archipelago: Global Projection of a Local Community

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Early Global Interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World, Volume I

Part of the book series: Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies ((IOWS))

  • 774 Accesses

Abstract

In the seventeenth century, Manila became a bridge between three oceanic worlds: the Indian, the Pacific and the Atlantic. In this global connecting function, the Chinese settlers in Manila played a key role as a trigger of a new kind of trading process which transformed the Philippine archipelago social landscape. We will study the development of this migratory Chinese presence along its first century, as well as its dissemination to other places in the Philippines, as an early diasporic phenomena between a synergic cooperation and an open violent conflict with the Spaniards, with both intercultural and local impacts (fiscal, legal, urban, cultural…).

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
eBook
USD 16.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Manel Ollé (1998) Beng Sim Po Cam o Rico espejo del buen corazón: El Mingxin Baojian de Fan Liben, traducido por Juan Cobo en edición de Manel Ollé (Barcelona: Península); Liu Limei (2005) Espejo rico del claro corazón: Traducción y Transcripción del texto chino por Fray Juan Cobo (Madrid: Letrúmero).

  2. 2.

    Eric Wolf (1982) Europe and the People Without History (Berkeley, Los Angeles, and London: University of California Press).

  3. 3.

    Victorio Riccio (1681) Respuesta a un papel anónymo impresso en España sobre si se deben permitir a los sangleyes infieles en las Yslas Philipinas, Cavite, October 15th, “Expediente sobre expulsión de sangleyes de Filipinas”, Archivo General de Indias (AGI), Filipinas 28.131, fols. 960r–1130v.

  4. 4.

    Anthony G. Hopkins, ed. (2006) Global History: Interactions Between the Universal and the Local (Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan).

  5. 5.

    Juan Gil (2011) Los chinos en Manila, siglos XVI y XVII (Lisboa: Centro Científico e Cultural de Macau); Marta M. Manchado López (2008) “Chinos y españoles en Manila a comienzos del siglo XVII”, in Miguel Luque Talaván and Marta M. Machado López (eds.), Un océano de intercambios: Hispanoasia (1521–1898): Homenaje al Profesor Leoncio Cabrero Fernández I (Madrid: Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional), 141–159; Antonio A. García (2004) “Relaciones entre españoles y chinos en Filipinas”, in Leoncio Cabrero (ed.), España y el Pacífico: Legazpi (Madrid: Tomo II), 231–250.

  6. 6.

    Luke Clossey (2006) “Merchants, Migrants, Missionaries, and Globalization in the Early-Modern Pacific”, Journal of Global History 1.1, 51–58: “In 1571 the Spanish in the Philippines conquered the Muslim settlement at Manila, and the world entered a new era. The development of regular transpacific commerce immediately upon the foundation of the city linked the far eastern and far western frontiers of the largest, European, known world. What had been a two-dimensional circumscribed disc, centred on Rome and the Iberian capitals, was transformed into a three-dimensional band bound only by the polar regions. Such a world has no geometrical centre, and the nuclei of the traditional networks shared the stage with new focal points—Mexico City, a production and distribution hub for forwarding information about Asia on to Europe, as well as the commercial centres at Manila and Acapulco”.

  7. 7.

    “I hope world historians will experiment with stories of individual lives in global contexts”; Tonio Andrade (2011) “A Chinese Farmer, Two African Boys, and a Warlord: Toward a Global Microhistory”, Journal of World History 21.4, 574.

  8. 8.

    Maybe the most important effect of the Manila Galleon trade was that it sustained and subsidied the difussion of technologies and ideas in an era of high transport costs; Ma Debin (1999) “The Great Silk Exchange: How the World Was Connected and Developed”, in Dennis O. Flynn; Lionel Frost and A. J. H. Latham (eds.), Pacific Centuries: Pacific and Pacific Rim History Since the Sixteenth Century (New York: Routledge).

  9. 9.

    Francois Gipouloux (2011) The Asian Mediterranean: Port Cities and Trading Networks in China, Japan and Southeast Asia, Thirteenth–Twentyfirst Century (Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publisher); Craig A. Lockard (2010) “The Sea Common to All: Maritime Frontiers, Port Cities, and Chinese Traders in the Southeast Asian Age of Commerce, c. 1400–1750”, Journal of World History 21.2, 219–247, 220: “Not all historians find the “Asian Mediterranean” analogy compelling, partly because the monsoon winds of the Indian Ocean and South China Sea, which reverse themselves every six months, generally limited trading ships to sailing west or north half the year and east or south the other half, in contrast to year round shipping on the Mediterranean”. But, as the French historian Denys Lombard wrote, “wanting to understand Southeast Asia without integrating a good part of southern China into one’s thinking is like wanting to give an account of the Mediterranean world by abstracting Turkey, the Levant, Palestine and Egypt”.

  10. 10.

    Leonard Blussé (1999) “Chinese Century: The Eighteenth Century in the China Sea Region”, Archipel 58, 107–129.

  11. 11.

    John E. Wills (1979) “Maritime China from Wang Chih to Shih Lang”, in Jonathan Spence; John E. Wills (eds.), From Ming to Ch’ing: Conquest, Region and Continuity in Seventeenth-Century China (New Haven: Yale University Press), 213.

  12. 12.

    Chang T’ien-tsê (1934) Sino-Portuguese Trade from 1514 to 1644: A Synthesis of Portuguese and Chinese Sources (Leiden: E. J. Brill), 108; Dennis Flynn; Arturo Giraldez (1996) “China and the Spanish Empire”, Revista de Historia Económica 14.2, 309–338.

  13. 13.

    Ernst van Veen (2001) “VOC Strategies in the Far East: 1605–1640”, Bulletin of Portuguese Japanese Studies 3, 90–96.

  14. 14.

    John Wills (1979) “Maritime China from Wang Chih to Shih Lang”, 217.

  15. 15.

    Chang Pin-tsun (1983) Chinese Maritime Trade: The Case of Sixteenth-Century Fu-chien (Princeton: UMI Dissertation Services), 290.

  16. 16.

    Patricia Carioti (1995) Zheng Chenggong (Napoli: Istituto Universitario Orientale), 59–60.

  17. 17.

    “(Nicolao) ia nam era navegante mercantil, mas principe dos navegantes, com un cabedaltam grosso que tinha juntamente correspondentes no Iapan, em Manila, em Siam, na India & com seus antigos senhorios os portuguezes, mandando pera quasi todos os portos do Oriente suas naos cheias de mercancias da China”; Francisco Rogemont (1672) Relaçam do Estado Politico Espiritual do Imperio da China, pellos annos de 1659 atè ò de 1666 (Lisbon: Oficina da Ioam da Costa), 8.

  18. 18.

    John Wills (1979) “Maritime China from Wang Chih to Shih Lang”, 203; Paola Calanca (1997) “Piraterie et contrabande au Fujian: L’administration imperiale face a la mer: 17e-debut 19e siecle”, Asiatische Studien 51.4, 979.

  19. 19.

    Chang Pin-tsun (1983) Chinese Maritime Trade, 289–290.

  20. 20.

    William Atwell (1978) “The Tai-ch’ang, T’ien-ch’i and Ch’ung-chen Reigns, 1620–1644”, in Frederick W. Mote and Denis Twitchett (eds.), The Cambridge History of China, Vol. 7, pt. 1 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 615.

  21. 21.

    Antonio Caballero Santa Maria, 1660: “With power and command over sea and land, that comes from the King, he (Zheng Zhilong) no longer stole openly; rather, he dominated possessions and multiplied the treasure he had once stolen with his gains and tyrannical oppression. From Anhai and Xiamen, where has was the lord, he sent his possessions to Manila and to other places and carried on this way until 1643 when the new Tartar King succeeded in this empire”; Otto Maas (1917) Cartas de China: Documentos inéditos sobre misiones franciscanas del siglo XVII, ed. Otto Maas (Sevilla: Est. Tipografía de J. Santigosa), 118–122; José Borao et al. (2001) Spaniards in Taiwan, Vol. 2: 1642–1682 (Taibei: SMC Publishing Inc.), 578.

    In the diary of the British East India Company agent in Hirado, Richard Cooks, we find an entry for 1616, which states that Li Dan: “was governor of the Chinas at Manila in the Philippines and in the end the Spaniards picked a quarrel on purpose to seize all he had, to the value of more than 40.000 taels and put him into the galleys, from whence he escaped some 9 years since and came to Hirado where he has lived ever since”. John Wills (1979) “Maritime China from Wang Chih to Shih Lang”, 216–217.

  22. 22.

    Carrington L. Goodrich and Fang Chaoying (eds.) (1976) Dictionary of Ming Biographies (New York: Columbia University Press), vol. 1, 871–872.

  23. 23.

    In the diary of the British East India Company agent in Hirado, Richard Cooks, we find an entry for 1616, which states that Li Dan: “was governor of the Chinas at Manila in the Philippines and in the end the Spaniards picked a quarrel on purpose to seize all he had, to the value of more than 40.000 taels and put him into the galleys, from whence he escaped some 9 years since and came to Hirado where he has lived ever since”. John E. Wills (1979) “Maritime China from Wang Chih to Shih Lang”, 216–217.

  24. 24.

    “Os Olandeses da Ilha de Pescadores tinhao huà fortaleza com quatro baluartes e artilharia; E por quanto esta Ilha pertenece ainda as terras da China, O Chumpin Capitao Geral da Provincia de Foquiem, onde esta o Chincheo, foi lá ter com os Holandeses, sendo terceiro entre elles hum china christao avenegado chamado Lituan, que de Manila fugira com outros chinas por duevibas, e se fora para o Japao onde se ajuntou co os Holandeses em Firando, por vis deste disse o Chumpim aos Olandeses que aquella terra era del Rey da China por tanto se pasasem dali para a Ilha Fermosa”. Biblioteca Nacional (Madrid), mss. 3015.

  25. 25.

    John Wills (1979) “Maritime China from Wang Chih to Shih Lang”, 216–217.

  26. 26.

    “Este fue tan pobre que por no perecer de hambre pasó a esta ciudad de Manila (…) y vivió en el Parián, extramuros de ella, haciendo oficio de corredor o de regatón”. Breve Historia de Iquam y Koxinga, Manila 1662, Archivo Ateneo de Manila, Anales Eclesiásticos de Philippinas, ff. 131–133; José Borao (2001) Spaniards in Taiwan, vol. 2, 580–585.

  27. 27.

    “Fue natural de un pequeño lugar de pescadores, llamado Chiochy, enfrente del puerto de Ganhay (Anhai), y viéndose miserable y pobre, determinó probar su fortuna saliendo de su patria y de su reino. Pasó primero a Macao, donde recibió el bautismo, y se llamó Nicolás, y de allí a Manila, ejercitándose en ambos lugares en oficios viles y bajos”. Victorio Riccio (1667) Hechos de la orden de predicadores en China, Archivo de la Provincia del Santo Rosario (APSR), Ávila, China, vol. 1, 3; José Borao (2001) Spaniards in Taiwan vol. 2, 587.

  28. 28.

    Antonio Caballero Santa Maria’s Chinese name was Li Andang 利安當.

  29. 29.

    “Este mandarín supradicho tenía en Macao una hija suya, casada allí con un hijo de Manuel Bello, vecino de aquella ciudad, de la cual les hizo venir a esta con toda su familia y parentela antes de que se fuese a Pequín, a los cuales yo conocí y visité en Macao (…) A pocos días después nos vino a visitar el dicho Manuel Bello y su hijo Antonio Rodríguez, que es el marido de la hija del mandarín”. Relación del Franciscano Antonio Caballero sobre su llegada a Xiamen en 1649, comentando sobre Yquam y Koxinga [Otto Maas (1917) 28–41].

  30. 30.

    Anastasius van den Wyngaert (1936) Sinica Fanciscana: Relationes et epistolas fratrum minorum saeculi XVII collegit, ad fidem codicum redegit et anotavit P. Anastasius van den Wyngaert collaborante P. Fabiano Bolle (Claras Aquas: Collegium S. Bonaventurae), vol. 3, 21; Wu Zhiliang 吳志良 and Jin Guoping 金國平 (2007) Zaoqi Aomen shilun 早期澳门史論 (Guangzhou: Guangdong renmin chubanshe), 374.

  31. 31.

    The flamand jesuit Francisco Rogemont affirms that Zheng Chenggong in their infancy lives some years in Manila: “Era este moço filho de Nicolao & de hua molher natural do japão &, nuça for a instruido na fè, ne recebera o santo bautismo, os bautismo, os primeros annos de sua mocidade passou parte em Manila co os castellanos, & parte na ilha Fermosa co os olandeses, com os quais tinha um grande conhecimento a amistade”; Francisco Rogemont (1672) Relaçam, 14.

  32. 32.

    Antonio Caballero de Santa Maria, 1660: “La mayor parte de los champanes chinos de comercio que a esa ciudad van y han ido desde los tiempos referidos en que comenzó el referido corsario Chinchillón, después de él lo han continuado hasta el presente el dicho corsario Cuesing, su hijo, todos son y han sido cargados de haciendas suyas o robadas o compradas de plata no suya, sino también robada y precedida de lo que han saqueado”. Otto Maas (1917) Cartas de China, 118–122.

  33. 33.

    “Supe después acá, por una que ha poco recibí de Manila, haberse dicho en esta ciudad que el marítimo corsario del puerto de Emuy (Amoy, Xiamen), de donde salen para allá el mayor número de champanes del comercio, pretendía pasar con poder a Manila para levantarse con la tierra. (…) Bien es que esa ciudad e Islas se recelen de este corsario que, frustrado de salir acá con su ambicioso intento, puede ser que intente pasar a Manila, que ya tiene allá buen número de su gente, que su divisa de reconocerle a él y negarle la obediencia al nuevo rey tártaro que hoy tiene este sínico imperio es no cortarse el cabello, como esos chinos del parián”; José Borao et al. (2001) Spaniards in Taiwan, vol. 2, 578.

  34. 34.

    Charles R. Boxer (1941) “The Rise and Fall of Nicholas Iquan”, T’ien Hsia Monthly 11.5, 425, n. 30.

  35. 35.

    About the Taiwan Rebellion in 1652, see Johannes Huber (1990) “Chinese Settlers Against the Dutch East India Company: The Rebellion Led by Kuo-Huai-i on Taiwan in 1652”, in Eduard B. Vermeer (ed.), Development and Decline of Fukien Province in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries (Leiden: E. J. Brill), 265–296.

  36. 36.

    Francisco Colin (1902–1904) “Labor Evangélica de la Compañía de Jesús en las Islas Filipinas”, in Pablo Pastells (ed.), Nueva edición ilustrada con copia de notas y documentos para la crítica de la historia general de la soberanía de España en Filipinas, vols. 3 (Barcelona: Compañía General de Tabacos de Filipinas), 736.

  37. 37.

    Alberto Santamaría (1966) “The Chinese Parián”, in Alfonso Felix (ed.), The Chinese in the Philippines: 1570–1770 (Manila: Solidaridad Publishing House), 103.

  38. 38.

    Fray Joaquin Martínez de Zúñiga [d. 1672] (1893) Estadismo de las islas filipinas, o mis viajes por este pais (1800), vol. 1, ed. Emilio R. Wenceslao (Madrid: Imprenta de la Viuda de M. Minuesa de los Rios), 48–54.

  39. 39.

    William L. Schurtz (1992) El galeón de Manila (Madrid: Ediciones de Cultura Hispánica), 111.

  40. 40.

    William L. Schurtz (1992) El galeón de Manila, 82.

  41. 41.

    George Bryan Souza (1986) The Survival of Empire: Portuguese Trade and Society in China and the South China Sea, 1630–1754 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press), 81; Emma H. Blair and James A. Robertson (1973) The Philippine Islands: 1493–1898, vol. 29 (Mandaluyong: Rizal Cachos Hermanos), 208–258; Benjamim Videira Pires (1987) A viagem de comércio Macau-Manila nos séculos XVI a XIX (Macau: Centro de Estudos Marítimos de Macau), 28.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Humanities, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain

    Manel Ollé

Authors
  1. Manel Ollé
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Manel Ollé .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

    Angela Schottenhammer

  2. Research Director of the Indian Ocean World Centre (IOWC), McGill University, Montreal, Canada

    Angela Schottenhammer

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Ollé, M. (2019). The Chinese in the Philippine Archipelago: Global Projection of a Local Community. In: Schottenhammer, A. (eds) Early Global Interconnectivity across the Indian Ocean World, Volume I. Palgrave Series in Indian Ocean World Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97667-9_13

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-97667-9_13

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-97666-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-97667-9

  • eBook Packages: HistoryHistory (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation