Letter of the Commissary-General of Chinchew to Don Pedro De Acuña, Governor of the Philippines
To the powerful Captain-General of Luzon:
“Having been given to understand that the Chinese who proceeded to the kingdom of Luzon in order to buy and sell had been murdered by the Spaniards, I have investigated the motives for these massacres, and begged the Emperor to exercise justice upon those who had engaged in these abominable offences, with a view to security in the future.
“In former years, before my arrival here as royal commissioner, a Chinese merchant named Tioneg, together with three mandarins, went with the permission of the Emperor of China from Luzon to Cavite, for the purpose of prospecting for gold and silver; which appears to have been an excuse, for he found neither gold nor silver; I thereupon prayed the Emperor to punish this imposter Tioneg, thereby making patent the strict justice which is exercised in China.
“It was during the administration of the ex-Viceroy and Eunuchs that Tioneg and his companion, named Yanglion, uttered the untruth already stated; and subsequently I begged the Emperor to transmit all the papers bearing upon the matter, together with the minutes of Tioneg’s accusation; when I myself examined the before-mentioned papers, and knew that everything that the accused Tioneg had said was utterly untrue.
“I wrote to the Emperor and stated that, on account of the untruth which Tioneg had been guilty of, the Castilians entertained the suspicion that he wished to make war upon them, and that they, under this idea, had murdered more than thirty thousand Chinese in Luzon. The Emperor, complying with my request, punished the accused Yanglion, though he omitted to put him to death; neither was Tioneg beheaded or confined in a cage. The Chinese people who had settled in Luzon were in no way to blame. I and others discussed this with the Emperor in order to ascertain what his pleasure was in this matter, as well as in another, namely, the arrival of two English ships on the coast of Chinchew (Fukien or Amoy district)—a very dangerous circumstance for China; and to obtain His Imperial Majesty’s decision as to both these most serious matters.
“We also wrote to the Emperor that he should direct the punishment of both these Chinese; and, in acknowledging our communication, he replied to us, in respect to the English ships which had arrived in China, that in case they had come for the purpose of plundering, they should be immediately commanded to depart thence for Luzon; and, with regard to the Luzon difficulty, that the Castilians should be advised to give no credence to rogues and liars from China; and both the Chinese who had discovered the harbor to the English should be executed forthwith; and that in all other matters upon which we had written to him, our will should be his. Upon receipt of this message by us—the Viceroy, the Eunuch, and myself—we hereby send this our message to the Governor of Luzon, that his Excellency may know the greatness of the Emperor of China and of his Empire, for he is so powerful that he commands all upon which the sun and moon shine, and also that the Governor of Luzon may learn with what great wisdom this mighty empire is governed, and which power no one for many years has attempted to insult, although the Japanese have sought to disturb the tranquillity of Korea, which belongs to the Government of China. They did not succeed, but on the contrary were driven out, and Korea has remained in perfect security and peace, which those in Luzon well know by report.
“Years ago, after we learnt that so many Chinese perished in Luzon on account of Tioneg’s lies, many of us mandarins met together, and resolved to leave it to the consideration of the Emperor to take vengeance for so great a massacre; and we said as follows:—The country of Luzon is a wretched one, and of very little importance. It was at one time only the abode of devils and serpents; and only because (within the last few years) so large a number of Chinese went thither for the purpose of trading with the Castilians has it improved to such an extent; in which improvement the accused Sangleyes materially assisted by hard labor, the walls being raised by them, houses built, and gardens laid out, and other matters accomplished of the greatest use to the Castilians; and now the question is, why has no consideration been paid for these services, and these good offices acknowledged with thanks, without cruelly murdering so many people? And although we wrote to the King twice or thrice concerning the circumstances, he answered us that he was indignant about the before-mentioned occurrences, and said for three reasons it is not advisable to execute vengeance, nor to war against Luzon. The first is that for a long time till now the Castilians have been friends of the Chinese; the second, that no one can predict whether the Castilians or the Chinese would be victorious; and the third and last reason is, because those whom the Castilians have killed were wicked people, ungrateful to China, their native country, their elders, and their parents, as they have not returned to China now for very many years. These people, said the Emperor, he valued but little for the foregoing reasons; and he commanded the Viceroy, the Eunuch, and myself, to send this letter through those messengers, so that all in Luzon may know that the Emperor of China has a generous heart, great forbearance, and much mercy, in not declaring war against Luzon; and his justice is indeed manifest, as he has already punished the liar Tioneg. Now, as the Spaniards are wise and intelligent, how does it happen that they are not sorry for having massacred so many people, feeling no repentance thereat, and also are not kinder to those of the Chinese who are still left? Then when the Castilians show a feeling of good-will, and the Chinese and Sangleyes who left after the dispute return, and the indebted money is repaid, and the property which was taken from the Sangleyes restored, then friendship will again exist between this empire and that, and every year trading-ships shall come and go; but if not, then the Emperor will allow no trading, but on the contrary will at once command a thousand ships of war to be built, manned with soldiers and relations of the slain, and will, with the assistance of other peoples and kingdoms who pay tribute to China, wage relentless war, without quarter to any one; and upon its conclusion will present the kingdom of Luzon to those who do homage to China.
“This letter is written by the Visitor-General on the 12th of the second month.”
A contemporary letter of the Ruler of Japan forms a somewhat notable contrast:—