Filipinos in China before 1500

A.Paulita Roa

THE late eminent historian, William Henry Scott, wrote a slim book all of 52 pages titled “Filipinos in China Before 1500.”

The Chinese translation is by Go Bon Juan. Scott was an American lay Episcopalian missionary and a long time resident of Sagada, Mountain Province. He studied Chinese Language (I presumed it to be Mandarin) and Literature in Yale University where he won the Alice Derby Lang Prize for Excellence in Classical Literature in 1950. His fluency in Chinese enabled him to utilize Chinese classical sources to reconstruct Philippine prehispanic history that made a rich and substantial contributions to our national history. The works of Scott helped tremendously in adding to our knowledge about what our ancient archipelago(now known as the Philippines) was like thousands of years before the Spanish conquistadores set foot on our shores. Let me share with you several excerpts from this book about our ancient forebears through the Chinese imperial records written several centuries ago

Records showed that the Filipinos went to China long before the Chinese came to our country. The first  Philippine tribute mission to China came from Butuan on March 17, 1001. A tribute mission was the Chinese idea of a diplomatic approach from the underdeveloped states and tribes which were historically her neighbors. The tributes were preferably items like pearls or frankincense or exotic birds.These gifts were acknowledgements of the emperor’s primacy among human rulers and it was not a tax or direct source of revenue. Also, the tributary states did not become colonies. Their envoys were loaded with gifts intended to show the grandeur of China and were treated royally.

According to the Song Shi or the Sung History, Butuan was a small country to the east of Champa (Vietnam) and farther than Ma-i or  Mindoro. It had regular communications with Champa but rarely with China. The Song sailing directions stated that Ma-i would be more likely 30 days away and Butuan 17 days beyond that. Butuan appeared on tribute missions during the next five years adding non-Butuan products like camphor and cloves to its offerings.

Butuan’s King Kiling (Qi-ling) sent tribute missions regularly for four years. On Oct. 3, 1003, the king sent Minister Li-yi-han and assistant Minister Jia-mi-nan to China and brought with them red parrots and other native products as their tributes. In February 1004 when the New Year Festival was proclaimed, the Emperor sent messengers in the middle of the night to fetch the Butuan envoys to see the lanterns and attend the feast. They were also given strings of cash. In April 1004, Li-yihan and his group formally presented their tributes to the Emperor.

A few months later, in October or November, an official complained that the Butuan envoys traded a lot of Chinese goods, gold and silver to take back to their country. They also took all kinds of flags and penons. He said that the people from distant lands do not understand rules and regulations and recommended that new restrictions be imposed to prohibit their dealing directly in the marketplace and making private contacts. An imperial edict was then made based on this recommendation.

In July or August of 1007, King Qi-ling sent Minister Yi-xu-han and others to China to present tortoise shell,camphor, dai branches (?), cloves, mother-of-cloves and native products to the Emperor. In return, they were given caps, bells, robes, dishes and presents, strings of cash and were provided with escorts. A month later, the Butuan ruler asked his official to petition the Emperor that he be given the same presents as the Champa (Vietnam) envoy. But this was denied with an official comment – Butuan is beneath Champa. Instead, he was given five small vari-colored flags.

In March 1011, Butuan had a new king whose name in the Chinese records was Xi-li-ba-da-sha-zhi. He sent his envoy, Li-gan-xie, with a memorial engraved on a gold tablet with the usual tribute items. He also sent as a gift–a female slave. At that time, there was a sacrificial rite to the earth god Fen-yin and all the envoys were ordered to attend. The Emperor was grieved when he saw the slave, being so strange and far from home that he ordered that she be sent back to her land.

In July, the Butuan envoy, Li-gan-xie was granted the title of  “Gently Reconciling General” and received favors from the imperial court. The following month, he and the other envoys sent up a memorial exalting their respective countries and requesting flags,penons and armor to honor their distant lands. All their requests were granted. (to be continued)