[66] The frequent repetition of Búgan as the name of a female deity is worthy of further explanation. Búgan is the Ifugao ideal of feminine beauty. There is no single goddess of love and beauty such as Venus or Aphrodite, but an abstract ideal of womanly perfection. Therefore, all beneficent female deities are called Búgan, which is also the most common name among Ifugao women. When a man wishes to praise his wife, he speaks of her as Búgan-ko (my Búgan), and when a young man goes courting he often speaks of it as mum-Búgan (searching for a Búgan). Light, fleecy clouds, high in the sky, are often called “the wavy hair of Búgan.” Such poetic usages are almost innumerable. It is an interesting conception, and is one of the proofs of Ifugao æsthetic development. [↑]
[67] A Chinese author, Chao Ju-kua, writing in the year 1280, mentions that porcelain jars and bronze gongs were two of the most important exports from China to the Philippines.—Blair and Robertson, The Philippine Islands (1906), 34, 181–191. [↑]
[68] Free translation of an Ifugao text obtained by myself in January, 1909, from Tugínai Páit ([Plate III, fig. 3]), an Ifugao of Amgodé clan, Central Ifugao. [↑]
[69] The three unbroken jars brought by Ban͠ggílît from the village of souls in the Sky World are still in existence and their location is as follows: The first jar is called Inhyúwat, and is owned by Bînwâg of Búwôt. The second is called Ináyao, and is owned by Ináyao of Hinagán͠gan. The third is called Búût, and is owned by Búût of Hápao. These jars have an estimated value of several hundred pesos each, but, unless driven to it by dire extremity, their owners would not sell them for any price. ([Plate IV, fig. 1.]) [↑]
Illustrations
Plate I
Sketch map of the subprovince of Ifugao, showing its location, boundaries, and division into culture areas.