Lusung - A preliminary investigation into its role in East Asian history

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Lusung Kingdom: A preliminary investigation into its role in East As,
by Siuala ding Meangubie---- a Pro-Sino-Japanese Perspective?
http://nippihistory.hp.infoseek.co.jp/lusunghis-e.htm

Lusung [呂宋]: A preliminary investigation into its role in East Asian history
Siuala ding Meangubie

　Etymology

The place originally called Lusung was the body of water presently
known as Manila Bay. Since the early inhabitants relied on water for
their transportation and livelihood, it became their custom to first
give names to these bodies of water before giving names to any points
of land.

The word lusung refers to a large wooden pylon used for pounding rice
[搗臼]. The bay got its name because it is shaped like the mouth of a
lusung*1 and that the settlements surrounding it constantly produce
the most rice as compared to other regions.

There is also a tradition that suggests a relationship with the Sung
Dynasty of China [960 - 1278 AD]. Whatever the nature of this
relationship, tradition suggests that Lusung [呂宋] got its name from
the Sung [宋].

Geography

The place originally called Lusung was the body of water presently
known as Manila Bay. Her terra firma was limited to the stretch of
land that surrounded this bay. The Spaniards, unfamiliar with this
native concept of territory, naturally thought that Lusung referred to
land instead of water. Thus when they conquered Lusung in 1571 AD,
they mistakenly thought they had conquered the entire island. Taking
after the Spaniards' mistake, geographers up to the present refer to
the entire northernmost major island of the Philippine archipelago as
Luzon {Lusung}.

Ethnicity

The ethno-linguistic identity of Lusung's inhabitants is still very
much a point of contention among Philippine scholars today. At
present, two major ethno-linguistic groups live along the coast of
Manila Bay - the Kapampangans and the Tagalogs. Since the Tagalogs are
a majority, most scholars suggest that Lusung is a purely Tagalog
enterprise*2. But key Lusung states like Betis, Lubao, Makabebe and
the old capital Tondo were located within the Kapampangan sphere*3. A
number of scholars suggest however that the ethno-linguistic
difference between Kapampangans and Tagalogs only became pronounced
when the Spaniards carved Lusung into various political divisions
after its conquest in 1571. The name Kapampangan came to be used only
with the creation of the province of Pampanga in 1571*4.

*1. Gaspar de San Agustin, Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas
1565-1615, Translated by Luis
　 Antonio Maneru, 1st bilingual ed [Spanish and English], published by
Pedro Galende, OSA:
　 Intramuros, Manila, 1998, page 47

*2. Scott, William Henry, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine
Culture and Society,
　 Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994, page 193.

*3. Loarca, Miguel de. 1582. Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas. Blair
and Robertson vol. 5 page
　 87: "One language is spoken in all these encomiendas. Quite near the city, and
　 along the coast from Tondo, which is situated on the other side of
the river of this city,
　 anotherlanguage is spoken."

*4. Luciano Santiago, historian and author of The Houses of Lakandula,
Matanda, and
　 Soliman (1571 - 1898), suggested a similar view in one of our
discussions during the 1st
　 International Conference on Kapampangan Studies held at Holy Angel
University in 2001.

The people of Lusung and the Southern Coast of China [南海] share many
common ethno-linguistic features and may have been one people or that
they share a common ancestry*5. Some scholars believe that the people
of the Southern Chinese coast were originally not Han but
Austronesian, the same people that populate Taiwan, Southeast Asia and
Polynesia*6.

Lusung's ethno-linguistic similarity with the people of the Southern
Chinese coast is also being attributed to the possibility that it may
have become a sanctuary for political refugees from China during the
Yuan 元period [1278 - 1368 AD]. The characters for the name Lu 呂 Sung 宋
were said to be evidence enough. However this angle needs further
research. Besides the presence of Yuan Dynasty pottery among the
ancient burial sites in Porac, Pampanga*7, no new documents have yet
been discovered to give credence to this theory.

Adding further to the Chinese enigma, when the Spaniards under Miguel
Lopez de Legaspi succeeded in making a foothold along the southern
islands of the Philippines in 1565 AD, they noted that the inhabitants
there called the ships from Lusung "Chinese junks" and Lusung
merchants as "Chinese"*8. When they finally reached Mainila (Manila)
in 1571 AD, the Spaniards learned that one of the Lords of Lusung was
an old ruler called Ache [大主] or Raja Matanda*9.

Polity

Due to the very limited scholarship on the history of pre-Hispanic
Philippines, Lusung's political identity is still very much in
question. Was it a thalassocracy, a trading empire like Srivijaya of
Sumatra and Madjapahit of Java? Was it a loose confederation of
smaller states? Was it at least one cohesive nation? Despite her yet
to be defined political identity, Lusung played a major role in the
commercial history of East Asia.

History

Genesis

As of date, no records exist to accurately date the beginnings of
Lusung. But the supremacy of the ruler of Tondo, the old capital of
Lusung, is already evident in the Laguna Copperplate Inscription, the
oldest document ever found in the Philippines that dates back to 922
AD and written in ancient Javanese. This document records that the
ruler of Tondo, Jayadewa, carried the Hindu title Senapati or military
commander and acted as supreme judge of all the lords of the nearby
settlements*10.

*5. This is often the topic of discussion between Angelito Ong,
Kapampangan-Chinese
　historian from San Fernando, Pampanga, and myself during our regular
discussions on
　history at Kito Shigeki's residence in Angeles City.

*6. Bellwood, Peter, Man's Conquest of the Pacific, New York, 1979.

*7. Beyer, Henry Otley, Outline Review of Philippine Archaeology by
Islands and Provinces,
　Philippine Journal of Science 77 [1947], pages 226-227.

*8. Gaspar de San Agustin, Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas
1565-1615, Translated by Luis
　 Antonio Maneru, 1st bilingual ed [Spanish and English], published by
Pedro Galende, OSA:
　 Intramuros, Manila, 1998, page 291.

*9. Santiago, Luciano P.R., The Houses of Lakandula, Matanda, and Soliman
　[1571-1898]:Geneology and Group Identity, Philippine Quarterly of
Culture and Society
　18 [1990], page 42.

*10. Postma, Antoon, The Laguna Copper-plate Inscription [LCI]: a
valuable Philippine
　document. National Museum Papers volume 2, number 1, Manila: National
Museum and
　the Concerned Citizens for the National Museum, 1991, pages 1-25.

Trade Missions to China

The name Lusung [呂宋] first appeared in Chinese History in 1373 AD in
the Ming Annals [明史]. In this document, Lusung was one of the first to
answer the call for tribute missions to the new Ming Dynasty 大明國 [1368
- 1644]. It was Brunei who first responded in 1371 AD, followed by
Liuchiu [琉球] in 1372, and then by Lusung in 1373 AD*11.

Despite the fact that it made its first appearance on Chinese records
as late as 1373 AD, evidences suggests that the Chinese had long known
the existence of Lusung as far back as the Sung Dynasty宋 [960 - 1278
AD]. The presence of thousands of recognisable pieces of Sung and Yuan
Dynasty porcelains found in ancient burial sites in the Province of
Pampanga*12 and Manila suggests an active trade with China long before
the Ming period.

Why was there no record of Lusung's tribute mission prior to the Ming
Dynasty and especially during the Sung Dynasty? The answer was that
Lusung perhaps never sent tribute missions to the Sung court. There
was no need to. "The imperial government was encouraging its merchants
to carry their goods abroad in their own boats" because "the Sung
Dynasty was almost literally supported by tariff revenues on overseas
trade."*13

Bruneian Conquest

In the late 15th century, Brunei became a superpower when it learned
the use of guns and artillery in naval combat. The author of this
development was Ong Sum Ping, a Ming envoy who headed of a flotilla of
Chinese boat people. He was granted the title Salalila, or more
accurately Pangiran Maharajah Sri Lela, which means "Lord of the Guns"
and became admiral of Brunei's coast guard. Ong Sum Ping, now
Salalila, became part of Brunei's ruling elite by marriage and was the
uncle and guardian of Brunei's most aggressive ruler, Bulkiah.*14

Paduka Sri Baginda Rajah dan yang di Pertuan Bulkiah, known better in
Southeast Asian History as Nakhoda Ragam (the Singing Captain), first
directed his aggression towards Sulu and Magindanau. But Brunei's
power became undisputed when it finally conquered Lusung in 1500 AD,
and transferred its capital from Tondo to Mainila (Manila). Lusung
tradition however attributed the founding of Mainila to Bulkiah's
uncle, Salalila.*15

*11. Scott, William Henry, Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study
of Philippine History,
　Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1984, page 67 and page 75.

*12. Beyer, Henry Otley, Outline Review of Philippine Archaeology by
Islands and
　 Provinces, Philippine Journal of Science 77 [1947], pages 226-227.

*13. Scott, William Henry, Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study
of Philippine History,
　Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1984, page 72 and page 65.

*14. Bunford, Stephen R., The Royal House of Brunei, Unpublished manuscript.

*15. Henson, Mariano A. The Province of Pampanga and its Towns,
1300-1965, Angeles,
　Pampanga: Published by the author, 1965. The Geneology of the Rulers
of Central Luzon
　which specifies the founding of Manila by Salalila is found in the
appendix of this book.

Salalila was said to have deployed his "Chinese" navy along Lusung's
coastline to establish key satellite states like Baibai (Macabebe) and
Agunui to defend Mainila. True enough, when Mainila surrendered to the
Spaniards in 1571 AD, it was a fleet of 40 caracoas from Macabebe that
challenged the Spaniards to a naval battle at the estuary called
Bangkusay.*16

Controlling the Straits of Malacca

As evidenced by history, the country that succeeded in controlling the
narrow strait between the Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra
would gain complete control of China's maritime silk route and thus
become a thalossocracy - a trading empire. The Srivijaya of South
Sumatra did so in 670 AD, the Chola of Southeast India in 1026 AD, the
Madjapahit of Java in 1343 AD, the Sultanate of Malacca in 1400 AD,
and finally the Portuguese in 1512 AD.*17

When the Portuguese arrived in Southeast Asia in 1500 AD, they
witnessed Lusung's active involvement in the political and economic
affairs of those who sought to take control of this economically
strategic highway. For instance, the former sultan of Malacca decided
to retake his city from the Portuguese with a fleet of ships from
Lusung in 1525 AD.*18 In 1529 AD, the Sultanate of Atjeh on the
northern tip of Sumatra became powerful enough to consider controlling
the Straits of Malacca. Lusung ships formed part of the Atjehnese
fleet that attacked key settlements along the straits. At the same
time, Lusung warriors formed part of the opposing Batak-Menangkabau
army that besieged Atjeh.*19 On the mainland, Lusung warriors aided
the Burmese king in his invasion of Siam in 1547 AD. At the same time,
Lusung warriors fought alongside the Siamese king and faced the same
elephant army of the Burmese king in the defence of the Siamese
capital at Ayuthaya.*20

The Portuguese were not only witnesses but also direct beneficiaries
of Lusung's involvement. Many Lucoes, as the Portuguese called the
people of Lusung, chose Malacca as their base of operations because of
its strategic importance. When the Portuguese finally took the Malacca
in 1512 AD, the resident Lucoes held important government posts in the
former sultanate. They were also large-scale exporters and ship owners
that regularly sent junks to China, Brunei, Sumatra, Siam and Sunda.
One Lusung official by the name of Surya Diraja annually sent 175 tons
of pepper to China and had to pay the Portuguese 9000 cruzados in gold
to retain his plantation. His ships became part of the first
Portuguese fleet that paid an official visit to the Chinese empire in
1517 AD.*21

*16. Gaspar de San Agustin, Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas
1565-1615, Translated by
　Luis Antonio Maneru, 1st bilingual ed [Spanish and English],
published by Pedro Galende,
　OSA: Intramuros, Manila, 1998, page 549-553.

*17. Siuala ding Meangubie, Timeline of Kapampangan History [3000 BC -
2000 AD],
　Unpublished manuscript used as basis on mural executed by Norman
Tiotuico at the
　Juan D. Nepomuceno Center for Kapampangan Studies at Holy Angel
University in 2002.

*18. Barros, Joao de, Decada terciera de Asia de Ioano de Barros dos
feitos que os
　Portugueses fezarao no descubrimiento dos mares e terras de Oriente
[1628], Lisbon,
　1777, courtesy of William Henry Scott, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century
Philippine Culture
　and Society, Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994, page 194.

*19. Scott, William Henry, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine
Culture and Society,
　Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994, page 194.

*20. Ibidem, page 195.

*21. Ibidem, page 194.

The Portuguese were soon relying on the Lusung bureaucrats for the
administration of Malacca and on Lusung warriors, ships and pilots for
their military and commercial ventures in East Asia. It was through
the Lucoes who regularly sent ships to China that the Portuguese
discovered the ports of Canton in 1514 AD.*22 And it was on Lusung
ships that the Portuguese were able to send their first diplomatic
mission to China 1517 AD. The Portuguese had the Lucoes to thank for
when they finally established their base at Macao in the mid-1500s.

Importance to Japan

With the encouragement of overseas trade during the Sung Period [960 -
1278 AD], China has developed in his neighbours a taste, if not a
craving, for Chinese products. Chinese silk, porcelain, parasols and
even religious products like Buddhist images and scriptures had become
an indispensable part of everyday life to places like Champa, Butuan,
Sulu, Lusung and Japan.

When the Ming Dynasty came to power after overthrowing the Mongols in
1368 AD, they did not consider overseas trade as profitable. They
tried to limit overseas trade by inviting tribute missions instead.
Brunei answered the call in 1371 AD, Liuchiu [琉球] in 1372 and Lusung
in 1373 AD.*23 The Ming limited Liuchiu [琉球] to send tribute missions
once every two years while Japan was limited to send tribute missions
only once every ten years.*24

Besides the Ashikaga government, powerful families like the Ouchi,
trading guilds like those in Sakai and the many Buddhist temples
around Japan had an interest in the China trade. Japan tried to send
more ships and as often than was authorised by the Ming government
until they became an irritation. Restrictions and sanctions were
imposed. To meet the demands at home, Japanese ships resorted to
smuggling and even raiding the northern Chinese coast.

In the mid-1400s, the Ming Empire further limited the number of
tribute missions from overseas when it did not compensate the cost of
maintaining foreign embassies and entertaining foreign envoys. In 1550
AD, the Ming Empire finally put an end to overseas trade altogether.

The Ming Empire's ban on overseas trade ironically became a blessing
to Lusung. The port cities in Fujian and Canton that had been
profiting from overseas trade since the Sung Dynasty cannot simply end
its trade relations with Southeast Asia just because the central
government in Beijing does not see profit from it. Chinese ships from
Fujian and Canton continue to smuggle goods out of China. They chose
the port cities of Tondo and Mainila in Lusung as a drop off point.
Ships from other parts of Asia, mostly Brunei and Malacca would then
sail to Lusung to pick up their percentage of the Chinese goods.

*22. Pires, Tome, A suma oriental de Tome Pires e o livro de FranciscoRodriguez:
　Leitura e notas de Armando Cortesao [1512 - 1515], translated and edited by
　Armando Cortesao, Cambridge: Hakluyt Society, 1944.

*23. Scott, William Henry, Prehispanic Source Materials for the Study
of Philippine History,
　Quezon City: New Day Publishers, 1984, page 67 and page 75.

*24. Faibanks, John K., Reischauer, Edwin O. and Craig, Albert M.,
East Asia: Tradition and
　Transformation, Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1989, page 383.

Lusung had finally become the centre of trade in illegal Chinese
goods. In corroboration, a Bruneian pilot captured by the Spaniards in
Butuan in 1565 AD reported "that the large Chinese junks would go only
to Lusung where the Borneans would buy from them, and both would buy
and sell from one another throughout those islands."*25 The Burneian
pilot further explains that this is the reason why people from other
islands call Lusung ships as "Chinese" ships and the Lusung merchants
as "Chinese" because they are the only ones that carry Chinese goods
across Southeast Asia.*26

Perhaps it was at this same point in time that Japanese traders came
to Lusung to trade in Chinese goods and other products. A famous
Japanese merchant was popularly known as Ruzon (Lusung) Sukezaemon,
perhaps profiting immensely from Japan's trade with Lusung.

Japan brought in luxury items that were highly priced by the lords of
Lusung. These included wheat flour, fresh pears, dried tuna, patterned
clothes (kimono?), folding screens with fine gold leaf designs,
kitchen knives, farm and labour equipments, paper and writing
implements, lacquered chests and drawers, birdcages, sets of armour,
spears, and swords. In return the Japanese ships brought back with
them Lusung merchants, gunsmiths and craftsmen, gold, leather made
from deer, deer antlers, arqubuses and cannons made in Mainila,
Chinese silk and porcelain, Chinese ink, sandalwood for incense,
indigo plants and dye, jars of tuba palm wine (perhaps more for the
jar than for the wine), palm sugar, honey, dried deer meat, wild cats,
locally made clay jars and potteries for tea and glasses made in
India.*27

Lusung was also making a huge profit in Tang and Sung Dynasty clay
jars, some of them glazed or gilded, which the Japanese highly priced
as containers for their tea and kept them in brocade sacks. The
Japanese were buying these up to 2000 taels of gold even if they were
chipped or cracked.*28 Lusung's export of deerskins to Japan is quite
significant. In a report made in 1616 AD, Spanish officials records
that in the province of Pampanga, 60,000 deerskins were collected
annually for export to Japan.*29

Before the Spanish advent in 1565 AD, Lusung had an arms foundry in
Mainila that specialises in the making of guns and cannons. The chief
cannon maker was a man called Pandai Pira*30 from the Indung
Kapampangan River settlement in Apalit. Lusung used these guns and
cannons as currencies for trade. They were considered so precious and
so superior by European standards that the natives would throw these
into the sea than let the Spaniards capture them.*31

*25.　Gaspar de San Agustin, Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas
1565-1615, Translated by
　 Luis Antonio Maneru, 1st bilingual ed [Spanish and English],
published by Pedro Galende,
　 OSA: Intramuros, Manila, 1998, page 291.

*26. Ibidem, page 291.

*27. Morga, Antonio de, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, obra publicada
en Mejico el ano de
　1609 nuevamente sacada a luz y anotada por Jose Rizal y precedida de
un prologo del
　Prof. Fernando Blumentritt, Impresion al offset de la Edicion Anotada
por Rizal, Paris
　1890. Manila: Historico Nacional, 1991, page 355.

*28. Mallat, Jean, Les Philippines: Histoire, Geographie, Moeurs,
Agriculture, Idustrie,
　Commerce des colonies Espagnoles dans l'Oceanie, Paris: Arthus
Bertrand, Libraire de la
　Societe de Geographie, 1846, page 33.

*29. Scott, William Henry, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine
Culture and Society,
　Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994, page 243.

*30. Morga, Antonio de, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, obra publicada
en Mejico el ano de
　1609 nuevamente sacada a luz y anotada por Jose Rizal y precedida de
un prologo del
　Prof. Fernando Blumentritt, Impresion al offset de la Edicion Anotada
por Rizal, Paris
　1890. Manila: Historico Nacional, 1991, page 23.

*31. Gaspar de San Agustin, Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas
1565-1615, Translated by
　Luis Antonio Maneru, 1st bilingual ed [Spanish and English],
published by Pedro Galende,
　OSA: Intramuros, Manila, 1998, page 553.

The Western world first heard of Japan through the Portuguese. But it
was through the Lucoes (as the Portuguese called the people of Lusung)
that the Portuguese had their first encounter with the Japanese. The
Portuguese king commissioned his subjects to get good pilots that
could guide them beyond the seas of China and Malacca. In 1540 AD, the
Portuguese king's factor in Brunei, Bras Bayao, recommended to his
king the employment of Lusung pilots because of their reputation as
"discoverers."*32 Thus it was through Lusung navigators that
Portuguese ships found their way to Japan in 1543 AD. In 1547 AD,
Jesuit missionary and Catholic saint Francis Xavier encountered his
first Japanese convert from Satsuma disembarking from a Lusung ship in
Malacca.

Spanish Conquest

After conquering Malacca in 1512 AD, the Portuguese became the new
masters of the lucrative East Asian trade. Their Spanish rivals wanted
a part of it. In 1521 AD, the Spaniards reached the Southern
Philippine islands by way of the Atlantic under the leadership of
Fernao de Magalhaes, one of the Portuguese who helped conquer Malacca
in 1512 AD. From that time on, Spain's attempts to establish a
foothold in East Asia failed. It was only in 1565 AD that the Spanish
expedition headed by Miguel Lopez de Legaspi was finally able to make
a foothold on the island of Cebu.

Finding it impossible to dislodge the Portuguese from their favoured
position in Malacca, the Spaniards gambled on the next best thing,
Lusung. The Spaniards found out from their bases in Panay Island on
the chaotic condition of Lusung's governement. Lusung's capital
Mainila was at war with its powerful neighbour, the old capital of
Tondo.*33 Ruling Mainila was an old man known as Ache [大主] or Raja
Matanda while his young heir Suliman, the Rajah Muda, was only to
eager to show his worth. Banaw, the Lakandula of Tondo was waiting for
his chance to take control of Lusung.

In 1571 AD, the Spaniards arrived in Mainila with a fleet of Visayans
from Cebu and Panay on the pretext of peace. The Lakandula of Tondo
was counting on the Rajah Muda's brashness and inexperience to make a
mistake in dealing with the Spaniards. True enough, the Rajah Muda
Suliman decided to expel the Spaniards forcefully when they became
quite unruly. The Spaniards, claiming to have acted in self-defence,
retaliated by bombarding Mainila and then burning it to the ground.*34

By 1571 AD, the Spaniards became the new rulers of Mainila. Tondo
became powerless and had to renegotiate peace with the Spaniards when
they defeated the Macabebe fleet at Bangkusay. The new Province of
Pampanga was also created in the same year. In 1572 AD, the Spaniards
had conquered Betis, said to be the richest, most populated and most
fortified city throughout the island of Lusung.*35 In 1575 AD, the
last rajah of Mainila, a mere youth, was found dead in his cell after
he was implicated in the invasion of the Chinese pirate Lim Ah Hong.
By 1590 AD, after the failed attempts to expel the Spaniards in 1585
AD and 1588 AD, Lusung ceased to exist. Mainila, now Manila, became
the capital of Islas Filipinas, the new Spanish colony in East Asia.

*32. Bayao, Bras, Letter to the king dated Goa 1 November 1540,
Archivo Nacional de
　Torre de Tombo: Corpo Cronologico, parte 1, maco 68, doc. 63, courtesy of
　William Henry Scott, Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine Culture
and Society,
　Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 1994, page 194.

*33. Gaspar de San Agustin, Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas
1565-1615, Translated by
　Luis Antonio Maneru, 1st bilingual ed [Spanish and English],
published by Pedro Galende,
　OSA: Intramuros, Manila, 1998, page 547.

*34. Ibidem, page 547.

*35. Ibidem, page 553.

The Taiko's ambition

When the Spaniards finally conquered Lusung in 1571 AD, they found 20
Japanese residents living in Mainila.*36 One of them was a Christian.
When the displaced lords of Lusung decided to expel the Spaniards in
1588 AD, one of the masterminds of the plot was a Japanese Christian
and arms dealer named Juan Gayo.*37 From then on they began to fear
Japanese involvement in Lusung's affairs.

In 1591 AD, the unifier of Japan, Toyotomi Hideyoshi, sent an arrogant
letter to the Spanish governor of Manila demanding that Lusung submits
to his rule or risk an invasion. At the same time, the Cambodian King
Phra Unkar Langara sent a gift of two royal elephants, gems and horses
to the lords of Lusung to petition them to aid him in the war against
Siam. The Spanish governor responded to Manila responded to the
petition of the Cambodian king by sending two large Lusung war junks
called viray loaded 120 Spaniards and a number of Japanese and Lusung
warriors.*38

In the same year that the Taiko sent the threat of invasion, the
Spaniards discovered a fleet of Japanese warriors under the leadership
of Zaizufu*39 or Taizufu*40 who seemed to have made a reputation of
harassing the China coast. They had fortified themselves at the mouth
of the Cagayan River and had about 27 war junks at port. The Spaniards
thought of Taizufu simply as a pirate but the government in Manila saw
it as Japan's staging base for the invasion of Lusung. Immediately,
the Spaniards sent troops to expel the Japanese. The Spaniards
secretly made their way behind the Japanese fortification and
bombarded them from a much higher position. The Spaniards noted that
the Japanese had no guns but nevertheless caused the Spaniards
tremendous damage because of the efficacy of the Japanese sword - of
which they wrote "porque los Japones hacian mucho dano con sus
catanas."*41 The battle lasted overnight. The Spaniards had to grease
their lances because the Japanese simply grabbed them and then weaved
through the Spanish defences slicing with their dreaded catanas [刀].
Before dawn, the Taizufu, dressed in elephant hide armour and a
brilliant metal headdress, led the final assault. The Spaniards noted
how frightening it was but they were able to use their firearms
effectively and annihilate the Japanese.*42

In 1592 AD, the Spaniards in Manila had heard news of the Japanese
invasion of Korea. Exhausted from their campaign to expel the Japanese
from Cagayan, the Spanish governor in Manila sent an embassy to the
Taiko, bringing with them the gifts of the two royal elephants sent by
the King of Cambodia. The Taiko was delighted with the presents from
Manila especially the two elephants that were trained to kneel before
the Taiko, raise their trunks and roar out loudly. He assured the
Spanish ambassador that Manila is no longer in danger of a Japanese
invasion. But the Taiko kept on inquiring into the true nature of the
relationship between the Lords of Lusung and the Spaniards.*43 He also
inquired on the new restrictions the Spaniards placed on the number of
Japanese ships that could visit Manila every year, the dwindling
amount of good quality Chinese porcelain being sold to them and why
they now had to pay in silver for Chinese silk and porcelain.*44

*36. Loarca, Miguel de, Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas, Blair and
Robertson volume 5,
　 page 34 - 187.

*37. Filipinos in History: Magat Salamat [1550 - 1589],
　 http://www.geocities.com/sinupan/magatsalamat.htm

*38. Morga, Antonio de, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, obra publicada
en Mejico el ano de
　 1609 nuevamente sacada a luz y anotada por Jose Rizal y precedida de
un prologo del
　 Prof. Fernando Blumentritt, Impresion al offset de la Edicion
Anotada por Rizal, Paris
　 1890. Manila: Historico Nacional, 1991, page 28.

*39. Ibidem, page 19.

*40. Gaspar de San Agustin, Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas
1565-1615, Translated by
　 Luis Antonio Maneru, 1st bilingual ed [Spanish and English],
published by Pedro Galende,
　 OSA: Intramuros, Manila, 1998, page 847.

*41. Ibidem, page 847.

*42. Ibidem.

*43. Morga, Antonio de, Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas, obra publicada
en Mejico el ano de
　 1609 nuevamente sacada a luz y anotada por Jose Rizal y precedida de
un prologo del
　 Prof. Fernando Blumentritt, Impresion al offset de la Edicion
Anotada por Rizal, Paris
　 1890. Manila: Historico Nacional, 1991, pages 84 - 85.

*44. Ibidem, page 355.

The Spanish ambassador noted the hostility of one Faranda Quiemon,*45
an advisor to the Taiko and who insisted that Japan liberate Lusung
from Christians and Spaniards. Fearing that the island of Hermosa
(Taiwan) would become the next staging point for the Japanese invasion
of Lusung, the Spaniards sent a fleet under Don Juan de Zamudio to
secure the island and requested aid from the governors of Canton and
Chincheo, "como enemigos antiguos del Japon (because they were the old
enemies of Japan)." The Spaniards in Manila finally felt relieved when
the news of the Taiko's death in the previous year came to them in
1599 AD.*46

Twilight

By 1600 AD, the Spaniards in Manila had heard that Japan had a new
ruler, the Daifu (Tokugawa Ieyasu), who was said to be more civil and
much more dignified than the Taiko.*47

In the same year, the Daifu sent an envoy named Chiquiro to the
Spanish Governor General Francisco Tello to establish trade relations
with Nueva Espana (Mexico). Through Chiquiro, the Daifu also requested
the Spaniards to help Japan build a navy as well as to send
instructors to teach the Japanese how to build ships and to navigate
them.*48 Francisco Tello sent a Spanish priest to Quanto [Kwanto], Fr.
Geronimo, to negotiate the treaty. Much to the irritation of the Daifu
however, the establishment of Christian missions in the Quanto area
had always been a condition Fr. Geronimo's negotiations. When no
agreement was forthcoming regarding the establishment of Christian
missions in the Quanto, Fr. Geronimo argued on the impossibility of a
direct Japan-Nueva Espana trade.*49

There were no more significant relations between Japan and the Spanish
colony of the Philippine islands. In 1600 AD, a fleet from Satsuma
raided a Chinese trading fleet, robbed all its merchandise and decided
to sell these at the port in Manila. The Spanish authorities crucified
all 400 of the crew.*50 The Spaniards established a militia of
Japanese and Kapampangan warriors and used them in various military
campaigns across Southeast Asia. By 1603, the Japanese in Manila
numbered 500.*51

*45. Ibidem, page 86.

*46. Ibidem, page 87.

*47. Ibidem, page 148.

*48. Ibidem, pages 152 and 188.

*49. Ibidem, pages 152 and 158.

*50. Ibidem, page 151.

*51. Ibidem, page 368.

trismegistos Jun 26 2009, 07:55 PM
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from the same author... http://www.siuala.com/read_blog.php?id=14

quote:
The Luzon Empire (呂宋國)

Through the centuries, Kapampangan writers, historians and poets all
wrote about a "lost Kapampangan empire" that was destroyed by the
Spaniards upon their conquest of the islands in the 16th century AD
(Henson, 1965). Yet the name "Kapampangan" is hard to come by in any
pre-Hispanic sources. This is understandable. The Spaniards carved out
the province of "La Pampanga" from the former Luzon Empire (張燮, 1617)
in 1571 and named it after the Indung Kapampangan river. Only then
were the inhabitants of the new colonial province called Kapampangans.

[Pampanga Bay Satellite Map]

Territory

The Luzon Empire (呂宋國, Cantonese: Lǚsòng Kók) (1279-1571 AD) was an
ancient empire once located around the Manila Bay region of the
Philippines. Its capital was Tondo (東都, Cantonese: Tūngdū). Its
territories covered most of what is now Central Luzon, extending from
the delta region that surrounds Manila Bay, all the way into the
interior along head waters of the surrounding rivers in the provinces
of Pampanga and Bulacan.

Political Identity

Many Philippine historians question the term "empire" when applied to
ancient Luzon. The Ming Dynasty chinese sources used the term Guó (國),
a sovereign kingdom ruled by "kings" (王) and not chieftains (張燮,
1617). As evidenced from the writings of later Portuguese sources (as
cited by Scott, 1994), Luzon was a thalassocracy, a trading empire
like Brunei and Malacca, or the earlier Madjapahit and Srivijaya
empires of Java and Sumatra.

Toponymy

Luzon was probably derived from lusung, an Austronesian term which
refers to the mortar or wooden pylon used for pounding rice
(Panganiban, 1972). The Austronesian people were known to be
navigators and preferred naming bodies of water that they later apply
to their settlements (Jumsai, 1997). The name Lusung, might have
therefore been originally applied to the body of water now known as
Manila Bay. This is plausible since the bay is shaped like the mouth
of a mortar surrounded by rice producing communities.

In Chinese tradition however, the name lusung (呂宋) is made of of two
characters: Lǚ (呂) which means "backbone" or "substitute" and Sòng (宋)
which refers to the Song Empire (宋國). In the Southern Chinese dialects
like Cantonese and Juzhow, the character Lǚ (呂) is added before a name
to lessen its importance or value. For instance, long (龍) "dragon"
becomes lulong (呂龍) "dragon-like" (not a real dragon) when the
character Lǚ (呂) is added before it. Therefore, the name Luzon (呂宋國)
means "Substitute Song Empire" or "Lesser Song Empire."

[Song Dynasty General]

Mythical Origins

The History of the Song Dynasty (宋史) was compiled under Mongol Prime
Minister Toktoghan (脫脫) in 1345 AD. In it, the Mongols recount the
final and complete destruction of Nan Song (南宋國, "Southern Song
Empire") (1127-1279 AD), where in 1279 AD:

* The Mongol fleet crushed the Imperial Navy of the Southern Song
Empire at the Naval Battle of Yamen (崖門戰役).

* The loyal Minister of the Left Liu Xiufu (陸秀夫) committed suicide
with last Nan Song Emperor, the child Songdi Bing (宋帝昺) rather than be
captured by the Mongols.

* The Grand Admiral Zhang Shijie (張世傑) escaped with his grand armada
but were later annihilated by a typhoon while crossing the seas (脫脫,
1345).

Alternative sources refute the accounts of the destruction of Zhang
Shijie's grand armada as nothing more than Mongol propaganda since
there were no eyewitness accounts of its destruction nor were there
traces left of its remains (Giles, 1898). For most historians, the
fate of Zhang Shijie and his grand armada remains a mystery.

Contemporary Chinese historians in Guangdong are now even questioning
the Mongolian accounts regarding Emperor Bing's death. Even though
Mongol sources claimed that the corpse of the last emperor has been
found washed ashore along the coast of Shenzen, his actual grave is
yet to be found. Cantonese folklore expressed in the traditional
Cantonese opera narrates an alternative account where the loyal
Minister Liu Xiufu tricked the Mongols by committing suicide with his
own son disguised as the young emperor. The real emperor was said to
have been smuggled out of the scene of battle by Grand Admiral Zhang
Shijie, who will eventually return to redeem the empire from the
invaders. The Travels of Marco Polo also recounts the escape of the
last Song emperor across the ocean (Yule, 1993). Zhang Shijie's fleet
and the last Song emperor may have escaped to pre-colonial Philippines
and established the Luzon Empire, the "Lesser Song Empire."

[16th century chinese record]

Excerpt from the 1617 東西洋考 (A study of the Eastern and Western Oceans)

Factual Existence

Despite the conjectures regarding its origins, the Ming Annals (明史)
are clear on the actual existence of the Luzon Empire. It records that
in 1373 AD, the Luzon Empire sent its first among the many succeeding
diplomatic mission to the Great Ming Empire (大明國) (1368-1644),
accompanied by the embassies of India's Chola Empire (张廷玉, 1739, see
also Scott, 1984).

The Ming chroniclers added the character for "kingdom" or "empire" (國,
pinyin: Guó) after Luzon (呂宋) indicating that it was once an
independent and sovereign kingdom. Her rulers were acknowledged as
kings (王) and not mere chieftains (張燮, 1617). The Ming Empire treated
the Luzon Empire more favorably than Japan by allowing it to trade
with China once every two years, while Japan was only allowed to trade
once every 11 years (张廷玉, 1739)

[Luzon Jars found in Japan]

Golden Age

The Luzon Empire flourished during the latter half of the Ming Dynasty
when China closed its doors to foreign trade. Foreigners were
forbidden to send trade missions to China. Chinese merchants were
likewise forbidden to trade beyond the borders of the Ming Empire. Yet
clandestinely, merchants from Guangzhou and Quanzhou regularly
delivered trade goods to Tondo. Luzon merchants then traded them all
across Southeast Asia and were considered "Chinese" by the people they
encountered (San Agustin, 1699).

The Portuguese who came to Asia much earlier than the Spaniards
recorded their encounter with the inhabitants of the Luzon Empire and
called them Lucoes. The Portuguese records that the Luzon Empire
played an active role in the politics and economy of 16th century
Southeast Asia, especially in controlling the trade traffic at the
Straits of Malacca (Scott, 1994).

The Luzon Empire's powerful presence in the trade of Chinese goods in
16th century East Asia was felt strongly by Japan, whose merchants had
to resort to piracy in order to obtain much sought after Chinese
products such as silk and porcelain. Famous 16th century Japanese
merchants and tea connoisseurs like Shimai Sou$hitsu (島井宗室) and Kamiya
Soutan (神屋宗湛) established their branches here (吉川, 1937). One famous
Japanese merchant, Luzon Sukezaemon (呂宋助左衛門) (Miyamoto, 1975) went as
far as to change his surname from Naya (納屋) to Luzon (呂宋).

Luzon Sukezaemon (呂宋助左衛門), famous 16th century Japanese merchant. His
statue stands in the merchant city of Sakai, Japan.

To be continued...

Reference Notes:

張燮. (1617). 東西洋考 (A study of the Eastern and Western Oceans). (1617).
Original Chinese texts at the Kobe University Library Website: 张廷玉.
(1739). 明史 (Ming Annals, 1368-1644 AD). Original Chinese text: 脫脫
(Toktoghan). (1345). 宋史 (History of the Song, 960-1277 AD). Original
Chinese text available at Giles, Herbert Allen. [1975 reprint ed.]
(1898). A Chinese Biographical Dictionary. Taipei, Taiwan: Cheng Wen
Publishing.

Henson, Mariano A. [4th rev. ed.] (1965) Pampanga and Its Towns: A.D.
1300 - 1965. Angeles, Pampanga, Philippines: Mariano A. Henson.

Jumsai, Sumet. (1997). Naga: Cultural Origins in Siam and the West
Pacific. Bangkok, Thailand: Chalermnit Press and DD Books.

Miyamoto, Kazuo. (1975). The Vikings of the Far East. New York, New
York, USA: Vantage Press.

Panganiban, Jose Villa. (1972). Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles.
Quezon City, Philippines: Manlapaz Publishing Company.

San Agustin, Gaspar [1998 bilingual ed.: Spanish & English]. (1699).
Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas, 1565-1615. Trans. Luis Antonio
Maneru. Intramuros, Manila, Philippines: Pedro Galende, OSA.

Scott, William Henry. (1984). Prehispanic Source Materials: For the
study of Philippine History. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day
Publishers.

Scott, William Henry (1994). Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine
Culture and Society. Quezon City, Philippines: Anteneo de Manila
University Press.

吉川英治 (1937). 新書太閣記. 東京,大日本帝國: 朝日新聞.

Yule, Henry. (1993). The Travels of Marco Polo, New York, New York:
Dover Publications.

Suzuka00 Jun 26 2009, 11:00 PM
Post #3

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Group: Members
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QUOTE (trismegistos @ Jun 26 2009, 08:55 PM)
from the same author... http://www.siuala.com/read_blog.php?id=14

quote:
The Luzon Empire (呂宋國)

[Pampanga Bay Satellite Map]

Territory

Political Identity

Toponymy

[Song Dynasty General]

Mythical Origins

* The Mongol fleet crushed the Imperial Navy of the Southern Song
Empire at the Naval Battle of Yamen (崖門戰役).

* The loyal Minister of the Left Liu Xiufu (陸秀夫) committed suicide
with last Nan Song Emperor, the child Songdi Bing (宋帝昺) rather than be
captured by the Mongols.

* The Grand Admiral Zhang Shijie (張世傑) escaped with his grand armada
but were later annihilated by a typhoon while crossing the seas (脫脫,
1345).

[16th century chinese record]

Excerpt from the 1617 東西洋考 (A study of the Eastern and Western Oceans)

Factual Existence

[Luzon Jars found in Japan]

Golden Age

Luzon Sukezaemon (呂宋助左衛門), famous 16th century Japanese merchant. His
statue stands in the merchant city of Sakai, Japan.

To be continued...

Reference Notes:

Henson, Mariano A. [4th rev. ed.] (1965) Pampanga and Its Towns: A.D.
1300 - 1965. Angeles, Pampanga, Philippines: Mariano A. Henson.

Jumsai, Sumet. (1997). Naga: Cultural Origins in Siam and the West
Pacific. Bangkok, Thailand: Chalermnit Press and DD Books.

Miyamoto, Kazuo. (1975). The Vikings of the Far East. New York, New
York, USA: Vantage Press.

Panganiban, Jose Villa. (1972). Diksyunaryo-Tesauro Pilipino-Ingles.
Quezon City, Philippines: Manlapaz Publishing Company.

San Agustin, Gaspar [1998 bilingual ed.: Spanish & English]. (1699).
Conquistas de las Islas Philipinas, 1565-1615. Trans. Luis Antonio
Maneru. Intramuros, Manila, Philippines: Pedro Galende, OSA.

Scott, William Henry. (1984). Prehispanic Source Materials: For the
study of Philippine History. Quezon City, Philippines: New Day
Publishers.

Scott, William Henry (1994). Barangay: Sixteenth-Century Philippine
Culture and Society. Quezon City, Philippines: Anteneo de Manila
University Press.

吉川英治 (1937). 新書太閣記. 東京,大日本帝國: 朝日新聞.

Yule, Henry. (1993). The Travels of Marco Polo, New York, New York:
Dover Publications.

I was sometimes wondering if the spaniards did not conquer the
philippines kapampangan will be luzon's official language.

taybenco Jun 27 2009, 03:57 AM
Post #4

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QUOTE (trismegistos @ Jun 27 2009, 02:48 AM)
Copy pasted from this japanese website...
http://nippihistory.hp.infoseek.co.jp/lusunghis-e.htm

Pardon me... I don't have chinese or japanese language packs installed
on my barebones/slimmed down/Nlited OS. I suggest to go from the above
links instead.

It's actually a very good summary. Maybe still a bit speculative on
the "Lesser Sung Empire" bit, but everything else is backed by the
archaelogical finds and historical sources.
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Suzuka00 Jun 27 2009, 08:50 PM
Post #5

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Group: Members
Posts: 3,740
Joined: 27-October 05

QUOTE (trismegistos @ Jun 26 2009, 08:55 PM)
Contemporary Chinese historians in Guangdong are now even questioning
the Mongolian accounts regarding Emperor Bing's death. Even though
Mongol sources claimed that the corpse of the last emperor has been
found washed ashore along the coast of Shenzen, his actual grave is
yet to be found. Cantonese folklore expressed in the traditional
Cantonese opera narrates an alternative account where the loyal
Minister Liu Xiufu tricked the Mongols by committing suicide with his
own son disguised as the young emperor. The real emperor was said to
have been smuggled out of the scene of battle by Grand Admiral Zhang
Shijie, who will eventually return to redeem the empire from the
invaders. The Travels of Marco Polo also recounts the escape of the
last Song emperor across the ocean (Yule, 1993). Zhang Shijie's fleet
and the last Song emperor may have escaped to pre-colonial Philippines
and established the Luzon Empire, the "Lesser Song Empire."

Luzon Empire/Kingdom existed way before the song dynasty ended the
laguna copperplate talks about the king of tondo as of higher
position.

trismegistos Jun 28 2009, 03:13 AM
Post #6

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Group: Members
Posts: 1,332
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From: Los Indios Bravos' Mu

QUOTE (Suzuka00 @ Jun 27 2009, 08:50 PM)
Luzon Empire/Kingdom existed way before the song dynasty ended the
laguna copperplate talks about the king of tondo as of higher
position.

Luzon Dao appeared only during the Ming annals, before that, it was
known in another name. It's predecessor was known as Sanfotsi or
Zabag/Javaka/Savaka or known locally as Kingdom of Sapa(?), either
that kingdom was a dependency of or the central state of
Sanfotsi-Zabag which was contemporary or synonymous to the Coedes'
Sri-Vijayan Empire is still being debated by historians with the
pro-Palembang faction, for now, having an upperhand and the support of
Western Academicians like the linguist Peter Bellwood. Will be waiting
for future developments on that area. As some expert pointed out that
Palembang was just a dependency of Sanfotsi accdg to earlier Chinese
writings...
http://sambali.blogspot.com/2007/02/etymol...si-article.html
quote:
Some studies have shown that the name Sanfotsi could have applied to
different regions within probably the same thallasocracy during the
same time period. Palembang as interpreted as Sanfotsi is based mainly
on Ming texts which state that Sanfotsi is also known as Pa-lin-fong.
However, earlier texts list Pa-lin-fong as a dependency of Sanfotsi,
which was located much further east in the Sea of Champa. Possibly in
Ming times, China recognized some political elements of old Sanfotsi
as present in Pa-lin-fong.
---end of quote---

http://sambali.blogspot.com/2005/12/glossary-lusung.html
quote:
Although the kingdom of Lusung first becomes prominent in the Ming
annals, it is highly likely that the Chinese knew of a related kingdom
from the same area as Sanfotsi (the Zabag of the Muslims).

As discussed previously, Sanfotsi/Zabag was explicitly placed in the
eastern South China Sea by both the Chinese and Muslim writers. The
Chinese located it due south of Quanzhou (Tsu'an-chou) and the Muslims
said that the kingdom lay in the eastern part of the Sea of Champa.

Muslim writers state that the capital of Zabag faced Champa, i.e., it
was on the western side of the island, and was situated in a delta or
estuary region effected by ocean tides.

In Hirth and Rockwell's translation of Chau Ju-Kua they give a
contemporary Chinese account of the journey from Toupo, which was
likely Toubak (old Cotabato in Mindanao), to China.

Two areas are of importance in locating Sanfotsi -- Lingyamon and Mai.

I have suggested that Lingyamon was Lingayen in northwest Luzon. It is
described as the first major port one arrives at after leaving
Quanzhou and is said to border Sanfotsi.

While Mai is sometimes equated with Panay in the Bisayas, it is more
likely the island of Mindoro, northeast of the important isle of
Palawan, where Chinese merchants sought highly-prized aphrodisiac
bird's nests.

The directions from Toupo state that ships first headed northwest
until reaching Mai, from Mai they continued northwest for a few days
until reaching Sanfotsi.

Thus, Sanfotsi is located somewhere on the western coast of Luzon
between Mindoro and Lingayen. Without a doubt, this would point to the
riverine settlements around the Manila Bay.

At some point, the name Lusung is used to describe the kingdoms of this region.

The first mention of Lusung in the Ming-shi is in 1373. The country
still had close relations with Quanzhou in modern Fukien province. By
the middle of the 16th century, tens of thousands of Chinese merchants
mostly from Fukien had come to trade or settle in Lusung.

"Lusung is situated in the southern seas not far from Chang-chou (in
Fukien)...In the past, thousands of Fukienese merchants lived there
for a long period without returning home, because the land was near
and rich. They even had children and grandchildren."

-- Ming-shi (Dynastic annals of the Ming Dynasty)

The tradition of settling in Lusung continued even after the Spanish
colonization. Traditional genealogies known as tsu-p'u tell of
different families over many generations during the Ming era migrating
to Lusung.

So close was the relation between Lusung and Quanzhou that, according
to Tome Pires, Malay and Javanese ships were not allowed to enter
Quanzhou, but the Luções could travel freely to the port city.

The Chinese in Lusung mainly lived across the Pasig River from the old
fortress of Manila in an area now known as Binondo and the Parian.

The Japanese also maintained a presence in the Philippines before the
arrival of the Spanish although apparently smaller than that of the
Chinese. When the Spanish conquered Lusung, the lords of Pampanga
conspired with Manila and then Tondo, with the help of local resident
Japanese. One of their main efforts was to request help from the Taiko
of Japan.

Later, the Japanese seem to have made Pampanga as one their main
settlement areas. According to local tradition, Japanese merchants
even founded the town of Mexico in Pampanga. This is logical as Mexico
(Masicu) was an important port along the Abacan River for collecting
deerskins and beeswax from the Sambal region-- two products highly
valued by the Japanese. The local deer like the crococile of the
Pampanga river system were eventually driven to extinction during
Spanish times.

We find later that Japanese often served together with Kapampangans in
the local armed forces and constabularies formed by the Spanish in the
Philippines.

Lusung had very close relations with Brunei, and Pires describes the
two as "almost one people."

Rui de Brito Patalim (1514), Alvarez (1515), Jorge de Albuquerque
(1515) and da Costa (1518) all describe the inhabitants of Brunei as
"Luções."

In Malacca, where a colony of Lusung traders was located at Minjam, a
Lusung prince known as Regimo de Raja, was established by the
Portuguese as temenggong (armed forces commander) and leader of the
Malays until he died in 1513. He was the brother-in-law of pepper
trader Surya Diraja. It appears that even before the Portuguese
arrived, the Luções were handling all trade between Malacca and China.

Earlier it was mentioned that the Luções were viewed by the Portuguese
as great "discoverers" who helped them with their explorations of
Asia. The case of Black Henry who accompanied Magellan was also
described.

One of the contentions of this blog is that the traditional lords of
Lusung were interested very early in providing geographical
information about the region to outsiders. Their purpose apparently to
help stem the Muslim tide coming toward their own kingdom and swamping
their old stomping grounds. By the time the Portuguese arrive on the
scene, Lusung itself is already partially Islamicized. However,
apparently there was much discord in the kingdom, something noted in
European writings. It was this dissension that played a major role in
the Spanish decision to attack Luzon.

However, we still continue to see what may be evidence of geographical
assitance during this period.

Thomas Suarez in Early Mapping of Southeast Asia mentions that Thomas
Cavendish obtained a Chinese-style map in the Philippines in 1588. And
as late as the mid-1700s Alexander Dalrymple reported receiving a
mysterious but accurate map from his servant of Luzon origin. However,
the nature of the map is not known. By the late 1700s, the British had
become very active in the region, even sacking Manila for a few years.
---end of quote---

http://sambali.blogspot.com/2008/04/lung-tsing.html
quote:
The name Lusung, as we have discussed previously in this blog, would
refer to the sacred mountain of the Sanfotsi kingdom. There exists
today other mountains, hills and geologic formations in the region
with names that are cognate to lusung "mortar" including Mt. Lusong in
Benguet, northern Luzon; Mt. Lesong in Bali and Batu Lesong in
Malaysia. These names probably derive from the mortar-like shape of
the landmarks.

The lusung or mortar-shaped sacred volcano in this case would be Mt.
Pinatubo (and Mt. Arayat) located in the region and kingdom known as
Sambali, the latter word giving rise to the Chinese name Sanfotsi
(saam-bat-zi) in our estimation. The location was described as rich in
alluvial gold. During the mid-10th century, Akbar al-Sin states that

"near Zabaj is a mountain called the Mountain of Fire, which it is not
possible to approach. Smoke escapes from it by day and a flame by
night, and from its foot comes forth a spring of cold fresh water and
a spring of hot water."

The palace of the king of Zabag, again the Arab name for Sanfotsi, was
described in Muslim texts as located at the water's edge of an estuary
close enough to the "bay of Zabag" that saltwater flowed during high
tide and freshwater during ebb. Such an estuary, it's been suggested
earlier, was known in the local language as sapa, sabang or sapang
from which the Arab place-name "Zabag" would be derived. Abu Zayd said
that the kingdom of Zabag faced China, probably referring to the
southern port of Canton, which would have been directly across the
Nanhai (South Sea) to the northwest. This geographical description is
confirmed by Mas'udi who states that the kings of the Khmer kingdom
(Cambodia) face toward the kingdom of Zabag during their morning
prayers i.e., toward the East, the sunrise.
---end of quote---

QUOTE (taybenco @ Jun 27 2009, 03:57 AM)
It's actually a very good summary. Maybe still a bit speculative on
the "Lesser Sung Empire" bit, but everything else is backed by the
archaelogical finds and historical sources.
(IMG:http://www.asiafinest.com/forum/style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

I agree. He admitted those are just speculations (stemming from his
conversations with other history buffs), still pending further
historical artifacts or documents to be rediscovered or unearthed akin
to the Laguna Copperplate Inscription. Perhaps another Brass or
Goldplate Inscription? he he

Other thant that, pretty accurate and scholarly. The author is really
in touch with his spirit or "ka-la-dua".

And speaking of Zabaj or Zabag or Sapa...
quoting from here... http://www.borobudur.tv/history_2.htm :
The one thing that we can determine from legend of the Maharaja of
Zabaj is that it sets forth a classic lesson in the Buddhist doctrine
of karma--the Law of Cause and Effect:

One day in a fit of jealousy, the Khmer ruler made the following
remark in court. "I have one desire that I would like to satisfy,"
said the young ruler.

"What is that desire, O King," inquired his faithful councilor.

"I wish to see before me on a plate," remarked the monarch, "the head
of the King of Zabaj."

"I do not wish, O King, that my sovereign should express such a
desire,” answered the minister. “The Khmer and Zabaj have never
manifested hatred towards each other, either in words or in acts.
Zabaj has never done us any harm. What the King has said should not be
repeated."

Angered by this sage advise, the Khmer ruler raised his voice and
repeated his desire so that all of the generals and nobles who were
present at court could hear him. Word of the young ruler’s impetuous
outburst passed from mouth to mouth until it finally arrived at the
court of the Maharaja of Zabaj. Upon hearing the words of the Khmer
ruler, the Maharaja ordered his councilor to prepare a thousand ships
for departure. When the fleet was ready, the Maharaja himself went
aboard and announced to the crowd on shore that he would be making a
pleasure trip amongst his islands. Once at sea, however, the Maharaja
order the armada to proceed to the capital of the Khmer ruler, where
his troops took the Khmers by surprise, seized the city, and
surrounded the palace. After the Khmer ruler had been captured, he was
brought before the Maharaja of Zabaj.

"What caused you to form a desire which was not in your power to
satisfy, which would not have given you happiness if you had realized
it, and would not even have been justified if it had been easily
realizable?" inquired the Maharaja of Zabaj.

Since the Khmer king had nothing to say in return, the Maharaja of
Zabaj continued. "You have manifested the desire to see before you my
head on a plate. If you also had wished to seize my country and my
kingdom or even only to ravage a part of it, I would have done the
same to you. But since you have only expressed the first of these
desires, I am going to apply to you the treatment you wished to apply
to me, and I will then return to my country without taking anything
belonging to the Khmer, either of great or small value."

When the Majaraja returned to his own palace back home, he seated
himself on the throne. Set before him was a plate upon which rested
the head of the former Khmer king. (15)
---end of quote---

This post has been edited by trismegistos: Jun 28 2009, 05:25 AM

Suzuka00 Jun 28 2009, 06:03 AM
Post #7

AF Guru

Group: Members
Posts: 3,740
Joined: 27-October 05

QUOTE (trismegistos @ Jun 28 2009, 04:13 AM)
Luzon Dao appeared only during the Ming annals, before that, it was
known in another name. It's predecessor was known as Sanfotsi or
Zabag/Javaka/Savaka or known locally as Kingdom of Sapa(?), either
that kingdom was a dependency of or the central state of
Sanfotsi-Zabag which was contemporary or synonymous to the Coedes'
Sri-Vijayan Empire is still being debated by historians with the
pro-Palembang faction, for now, having an upperhand and the support of
Western Academicians like the linguist Peter Bellwood. Will be waiting
for future developments on that area. As some expert pointed out that
Palembang was just a dependency of Sanfotsi accdg to earlier Chinese
writings...
http://sambali.blogspot.com/2007/02/etymol...si-article.html
quote:
Some studies have shown that the name Sanfotsi could have applied to
different regions within probably the same thallasocracy during the
same time period. Palembang as interpreted as Sanfotsi is based mainly
on Ming texts which state that Sanfotsi is also known as Pa-lin-fong.
However, earlier texts list Pa-lin-fong as a dependency of Sanfotsi,
which was located much further east in the Sea of Champa. Possibly in
Ming times, China recognized some political elements of old Sanfotsi
as present in Pa-lin-fong.
---end of quote---