A History of the Philippines

by David P. Barrows

The Chinese are without question the most remarkable colonizers in the world. They seem able to thrive in any climate. They readily marry with every race. The children that follow such unions are not only numerous but healthy and intelligent. The coasts of China teem with overcrowding populations. Emigration to almost any land means improvement of the Chinese of poor birth. These qualities and conditions, with their keen sense for trade and their indifference to physical hardship and danger, make the Chinese almost a dominant factor wherever political barriers have not been raised against their entrance.

The Chinese had early gained an important place in the commercial and industrial life of Manila. A letter to the king from Bishop Salazar shows that he befriended them and was warm in their praise.[24] This was in 1590, and there were then in Manila and Tondo about seven thousand resident Chinese, and they were indispensable to the prosperity of the city.

Importance of Chinese Labor and Trade.—In the early decades of Spanish rule, the Philippines were poor in resources and the population was sparse, quite insufficient for the purposes of the Spanish colonizers. Thus the early development of the colony was based upon Chinese labor and Chinese trade. As the early writers are fond of emphasizing, from China came not only the finished silks and costly wares, which in large part were destined for the trade to New Spain and Europe, but also cattle, horses and mares, foodstuffs, metals, fruits, and even ink and paper. “And what is more,” says Chirino, “from China come those who supply every sort of service, all dexterous, prompt, and cheap, from physicians and barbers to burden-bearers and porters. They are the tailors and shoemakers, metal-workers, silversmiths, sculptors, locksmiths, painters, masons, weavers, and finally every kind of servitors in the commonwealth.”[25]

Distrust of the Chinese.—In those days, not only were the Chinese artisans and traders, but they were also farmers and fishermen,—occupations in which they are now not often seen. But in spite of their economic necessity, the Chinese were always looked upon with disfavor and their presence with dread. Plots of murder and insurrection were supposedly rife among them. Writers object that their numbers were so great that there was no security in the land; their life was bad and vicious; through intercourse with them the natives advanced but little in Christianity and customs; they were such terrible eaters that they made foods scarce and prices high.

If permitted, they went everywhere through the Islands and committed a thousand abuses and offenses. They explored every spot, river, estero, and harbor, and knew the country better even than the Spaniard himself, so that if any enemy should come they would be able to cause infinite mischief.[26] When we find so just and high-minded a man as the president of the Audiencia, Morga, giving voice to such charges, we may be sure that the feeling was deep and terrible, and practically universal among all Spanish inhabitants.

The First Massacre of the Chinese.—Each race feared and suspected the other, and from this mutual cowardice came in 1603 a cruel outbreak and massacre. Three Chinese mandarins arrived in that year, stating that they had been sent by the emperor to investigate a report that there was a mountain in Cavite of solid precious metal. This myth was no more absurd than many pursued by the Spaniards themselves in their early conquests, and it doubtless arose from the fact that Chinese wares were largely purchased by Mexican bullion; but the Spaniards were at once filled with suspicion of an invasion, and their distrust turned against the Chinese in the Islands.

How far these latter were actually plotting sedition and how far they were driven into attack by their fears at the conduct of the Spaniards can hardly be decided. But the fact is, that on the evening of Saint Francis day the Chinese of the Parian rose. The dragon banners were raised, war-gongs were beaten, and that night the pueblos of Quiapo and Tondo were burned and many Filipinos murdered.

In the morning a force of 130 Spaniards, under Don Luis Dasmariñas and Don Tomas Bravo, were sent across the river, and in the fight nearly every Spaniard was slain. The Chinese then assaulted the city, but, according to the tradition of the priests, they were driven back in terror by the apparition on the walls of Saint Francis. They threw up forts on the site of the Parian and in Dilao, but the power of their wild fury was gone and the Spaniards were able to dislodge and drive them into the country about San Pablo de Monte. From here they were dispersed with great slaughter. Twenty-three thousand Chinese are reported by Zuñiga to have perished in this sedition. If his report is true, the number of Chinese in the Islands must have increased very rapidly between 1590 and 1603.

Restriction of Chinese Immigration and Travel.—Commerce and immigration began again almost immediately. The number of Chinese, however, allowed to remain was reduced. The Chinese ships that came annually to trade were obliged to take back with them the crews and passengers which they brought. Only a limited number of merchants and artisans were permitted to live in the Islands. They were confined to three districts in the city of Manila, and to the great market, the Alcayceria or Parian.

The word “Parian” seems to have been also used for the Chinese quarter in and adjoining the walled city, but here is meant the district in Binondo about the present Calle San Fernando. A block of stores with small habitations above them had been built as early as the time of Gonsalez. It was in the form of a square, and here were the largest numbers of shops and stores.