Doctrina Christiana Part 2

In so far as Quinones [71] was the author of a grammar and dictionary claimed to have been printed at Manila in 1581, we have shown what various writers have said, and though we must conclude that the work was probably not printed, it is certain that he wrote in the Tagalog language. Agustin Maria de Castro [72] said, although no earlier writers support it, that Quinones actually presented a grammar, dictionary and Doctrina in Tagalog at the Synod of 1582 for its approval. Our total information about this Augustinian linguist boils down to these essentials: that he did write a grammar and dictionary of Tagalog about 1578-81, which may have been the earliest written in the Philippines; that he may have presented these and a Doctrina at the Synod of 1582 which approved Juan de Plasencia's works; that there is no concrete evidence that any of these works were printed; and that Quinones' works which were extant in ma.n.u.script in 1593 might have been consulted in the preparation of the present Doctrina.

Another member of the Order of St. Augustine who might have been able to partic.i.p.ate in the editing of the 1593 Doctrinas was Diego Munoz. Munoz came to the islands in 1578, and died in 1594. Of him San Agustin writes:

"Moreover in this year [1581] the ministry for the Sangleys was founded in the convent of Tondo, and P. Fr. Diego Munoz was named as its special minister. He devoted particular zeal to the study of the Chinese language, and preached in it with much elegance. And all the Sangleys who were going to be baptized, and there were many, had recourse to this ministry, and the teaching was continued with much vigilance and care. And there never lacked a religious of our order to apply himself to such holy work, from the time we came to this land, as our original records of the province prove." [73]

To him is also attributed [74] a volume of ma.n.u.script panegyric sermons in Tagalog, and because of this and his work at Tondo he may have been consulted by the Dominicans. We also mention Lorenzo de Leon, [75] who arrived in 1582, spent twelve years in the provinces, wrote a book called the _Estrella del mar_ in Tagalog, and died in 1623, and might also have helped.

THE FRANCISCANS

Although the first Franciscans did not arrive in the Philippines until June 24, 1577, the writings of the linguists of that order are more fully recorded. Among the earliest was Juan de Plasencia who, the Franciscans claim, wrote the first Tagalog grammar. He was fortunate in meeting soon after his arrival Miguel de Talavera, [76]

who had come with his parents on the expedition of Legazpi. Miguel, then quite young, became in a manner of speaking the disciple of Plasencia, and while the father taught him Latin, he in turn taught Plasencia the elements of Tagalog which he had picked up. For two years Plasencia ministered in the provinces of Tayabas, Laguna, and Bulacan where he used and perfected his knowledge of the native language. On May 20, 1579, when the provincial Pedro de Alfaro left for China, he named Plasencia acting provincial during his absence. A reference to the earliest linguistic writings of the Franciscans occurs in an account by Santa Ines of the chapter meeting held in the Convent of Los Angeles in July 1580, which was presided over by Plasencia:

"The third and last thing that was determined in this chapter was that a grammar and dictionary of the Tagalog language should be made and a translation of the Doctrina Christiana completed. And since Fr. Juan de Plasencia, the president of this same chapter, excelled all in the language, he was given this responsibility, and he accepted it, and immediately set to work. And then after great study, much lack of sleep and care, together with fervent prayers and other spiritual duties, of not little importance in the good profit of such work, he reduced the language to a grammar, made a catechism, a very full dictionary, and various translations." [77]

But the most important record of his writings is contained in the description of the Synod called by Bishop Salazar in 1582. In March, 1581, Domingo de Salazar, the first Bishop of Manila and the Philippines, had arrived. The problems which faced him were manifold, particularly those of ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the treatment of the natives by government administrators, and the means by which the gospel could best be spread. A synod was called to resolve these points. One matter of the utmost importance was the approval of standard Tagalog texts, and Juan de la Concepcion gives the following account of what transpired in this connection:

"His excellency presided at the meetings. At them the most learned topics were discussed and the most learned persons were present--the Dominican father Salvatierra, the most outstanding scholars among the Augustinians and Franciscans, the Jesuit fathers Sedeno and Sanchez, and the Licentiate Don Diego Vasquez de Mercado as dean of the new cathedral. At this convention or diocesan synod it was discussed whether the Indians were to be ministered to in their native language, or if they would be obliged to learn Spanish, and it was decided to instruct them in their native tongue. The divine office, the Doctrina Christiana, which Father Fr. Juan de Plasencia had translated into the Tagalog language, was approved. His work, the _Arte y Vocabuldrio Tagalo_, was judged most useful because of the ease by which it permitted an understanding and thorough knowledge of so foreign a language." [78]

The already quoted account of Santa Ines continues with a similar description of the Synod, and says that when the problem of teaching the natives was brought up only Plasencia could resolve it.

"Since, having seen his catechism and the translation which he had made in Tagalog of the grammar and dictionary, those who were at the Synod and understood anything of the language could do nothing but admire the fitness of the terms, their efficacy and strength. And they said that, without the particular help of heaven, it seemed impossible that in so short a time and with so few years in the country he could have done such excellent work. And then, having approved them, they ordered that various copies be made, particularly of the translation of the Doctrina, so that with them and with no other would the ministers teach the Indians, and so it was approved, in order that there might be uniformity in all parts of the Tagalog country. This translation is that which has come down to this day, except that it is more polished." [79]

It must have been shortly after the handbooks of Plasencia received the seal of ecclesiastical approval that Salazar wrote the King speaking of the action taken, and got back in answer the cedula, quoted before, giving the Bishop and Audiencia the right of censorship over such works. The question of chronological precedence [80] between Quinones and Plasencia is not important, for the specific approval of Plasencia's texts by the Synod, attended by Quinones himself, shows that Plasencia's books were accepted, and in conformity with the ruling of the Synod would have been the only texts allowed to be used generally in the Philippines.

Another reference to writers in the native tongues in an anonymous ma.n.u.script of 1649 introduces the names of other linguists:

"The first missionaries left many writings in the Tagalog and Bicol languages, the best of which are those left by Fathers Fray Juan de Oliver, Fray Juan de Plasencia, Fray Miguel de Talavera, Fray Diego de la Asuncion, and Fray Geronimo Monte. Mention is here made of the above fathers because they were the first masters of the Tagalog language, and since their writings are so common and so well received by all the orders. They have not been printed, because they are voluminous, and there are no arrangements in this kingdom for printing so much." [81]

Miguel de Talavera we have spoken of before. That he helped Plasencia in the compilation of his earliest works in Tagalog is clear, and to him in part must be attributed the miracle of the production by Plasencia of the texts "in so short a time and with so few years in the country." Martinez says specifically that Talavera "was the first interpreter among our priests, and greatly helped Fr. Juan de Plasencia in the composition of the _Arte y Vocabulario_." [82]

Juan de Oliver was in somewhat the same relationship to Plasencia, but instead of helping with the initial attempts, he carried on from where Plasencia left off. Oliver came to the Philippines on the same expedition which brought Bishop Salazar in 1581. According to Huerta [83] he worked in various Tagalog villages, and mastered the Tagalog and Bicol languages, in which he wrote twenty-two works, which Huerta lists. Of these three are of particular interest to us. The first entry says that he "corrected the Tagalog grammar written by Fr. Juan de Plasencia, and added the adverbs and particles;" [84] the second that "he perfected and augmented the Spanish-Tagalog dictionary, written by the said Fr. Juan de Plasencia;" and the sixteenth lists a _Catecismo de doctrina Cristiana esplicado_.

Several authors, attempting to establish the priority of Quinones'

dictionary, question the existence of one by Plasencia at the Synod of 1582 in the face of his own statement in 1585 that he "was then making a dictionary." [85] To us there seems to be no inconsistency, if Plasencia in 1585 was referring to a revision, unquestionably made with his knowledge and help, by Juan de Oliver. In short, it is reasonable to a.s.sume that Plasencia, burdened with administrative duties from 1583 to 1586, during which time he was custodian of his order, secured the aid of Oliver in reediting and continuing his linguistic studies. Plasencia died in 1590.

The other two Franciscans listed by the anonymous historian of 1649 are elsewhere recorded as having written various works in Tagalog. To both Diego de la Asuncion [86] and Geronimo Montes y Escamillo [87] were attributed grammars and dictionaries, and the latter also wrote a _Devotional tagalog_, said to have been printed at Manila in 1610. In speaking of these early linguistic texts, it is not necessary to believe that each was a completely original work, but rather that they were based upon a recognized model, which was at first the Talavera-Plasencia-Oliver text, and that the individual missionaries used their experience in the field to produce, as it were, new editions. That this was the case is borne out by the notes of Pablo Rojo to his bibliography of Plasencia where speaking of the grammar and dictionary he says that "perfected by other missionaries, they have been the base for such grammars and dictionaries of Tagalog as have been written, but in the form in which they came from the hands of their author, they have not come down to us." [88] More important still is Rojo's statement [89] that he found a portion of Plasencia's Doctrina which had been believed lost, and from which he quotes the Pater Noster. Since he does not say where the ma.n.u.script was or how it was known to be Plasencia's text, we cannot put too much reliance on the statement, but the text as there printed, while similar to that of the present Doctrina, is not identical.

THE JESUITS

Before pa.s.sing on to the Dominicans we shall mention briefly the linguists of the Society of Jesus. In the early days there were not many Jesuits in the Philippines. However, there were some linguists among them, chiefly of the Visayan tongue, in which they are said to have printed a Doctrina [90] as early as 1610. Limiting ourselves to a note of those who knew Chinese and Tagalog, we find that the first mentioned by Chirino as an outstanding master of one of these was Francisco Almerique, who arrived with Santiago de Vera in 1583. Shortly thereafter he "began the study of the Chinese language in his zeal to aid in the conversion of the many Chinese who came to Manila and whom we in the Philippines call Sangleys." [91] And Colin says "his princ.i.p.al occupation was with the Tagalog Indians, being the first of the Company to learn their language." [92] Nothing further is said of his accomplishments in these languages, but his knowledge would have been available in 1593, for he was then still active in the islands.

Chirino himself landed at Manila in 1590 shortly after Dasmarinas, and went almost immediately to Taytay where he learned Tagalog and was joined in 1592 by Martin Henriquez. At the time Juan de Oliver was preaching in that district, and it is exceedingly probable that he helped the newcomers with the language, for Chirino speaks of him in terms of highest praise. Henriquez "learned the language in three months and in six wrote a catechism in it, a confessionary, and a book of sermons for all the gospels of the year in the said idiom,"

[93] but he died on February 3, 1593 at Taytay. How thoroughly Chirino himself had grasped the fundamentals of Tagalog is evident from his three chapters [94] on the language and letters of the natives in which he prints the Ave Maria in Tagalog and reproduces the Tagalog alphabet--its first appearance in a European publication. But Chirino, who remained in the provinces until 1595, would have mentioned his partic.i.p.ation and that of Henriquez in the Doctrina of 1593, so we record them as possible but not probable consultants.

THE DOMINICANS

Had Aduarte written that the first books printed at Manila were two Doctrinas issued by the Dominicans at San Gabriel in 1593, and given some details of their production, we could conclude our study with a quotation from him, but nowhere does he mention them. In fact, his inference was that the first book was that printed for Blancas de San Jose, and yet we know that this Doctrina preceded anything that Blancas de San Jose could have written, since he did not come to the Philippines until 1595. We can a.s.sume, as Retana did, that by printing Aduarte meant printing from movable type, but this does not explain away the fact that Aduarte, who recorded in detail events of far less significance, did not speak of the Doctrinas at all. The best--and it is a most unsatisfactory best--that we can do is ascribe the omission to the frailty of man, and record that there is no notice of the Dominican Doctrina of 1593 in the most complete contemporary Dominican history of the Philippines.

The first members of the Order of St. Dominic [95] to land in the Philippines were Bishop Salazar and his a.s.sistant, Christoval de Salvatierra. But they were fully occupied with the administration of the bishopric and could not devote themselves to regular missionary work. It was not until July 25, 1587 that working Dominican missionaries came. Then fifteen [96] under the leadership of Juan de Castro arrived, and established the first Dominican province [97]

of the Philippines and China, thus consummating the hope expressed as early as 1579. [98]

In consultation with the other orders it was decided that the Dominicans should be given the ministry of the territories of Pangasinan and Bataan, which had theretofore been spiritually exploited by few priests. Almost immediately, on September 15, 1587, the vicariate of Bataan was founded and settled. In speaking of it, Aduarte stressed the importance of a knowledge of the language of the natives, which there would have been Tagalog, to the success of the mission. Domingo de Nieva, one of the four members of the mission, learned it rapidly and well, and soon began to preach to the Indians in their own tongue. His apt.i.tude for languages and its usefulness to the Dominicans must have been very great, for Aduarte in listing the priests who originally volunteered in Spain makes few comments about individuals, but of Nieva he remarks that he "was afterwards of great importance because of the great ease and skill with which he learned languages, whether Indian or Chinese." [99] Unfortunately Nieva was only a deacon, and so could not hear confession, a fact which was greatly deplored, because during that first year no other priest mastered the language sufficiently well to do it, but in September 1588 he reached the requisite age and was ordained. About that time the friars in Bataan--one had died and another was ailing--were joined by Juan de la Cruz, "who, being young, succeeded very well with the language," [100] and also succeeded in surviving the climate.

Early in 1588 Juan Cobo [101] arrived from Mexico. Shortly thereafter, on June 12, 1588, the Dominican chapter held its first convocation. It elected Juan de Castro the first provincial, adopted the general ordinances [102] already made in Mexico, gave the convent at Manila the t.i.tle of priory, and designated as parts of the province four vicariates. Of primary importance was the appointment then of Juan Cobo to the mission for the Chinese.

From the very earliest days of the Spanish occupation of Manila, the governors had had trouble with the Chinese and Sangleys. [103]

These people had long conducted a profitable trade between China and the Philippines, and many had settled permanently near Manila, while others stayed there regularly between trading voyages. The Chinese merchants were in full control of the shops of the city, and so monopolized retail trade that the early governors legislated [104]

against them to give the Spaniards a chance to establish themselves in business. In 1588 there were as many as seven thousand of them in and around Manila.

No one had objected to the Pangasinan and Bataan a.s.signments, but when it was suggested that the Dominicans also a.s.sume the responsibility for the ministry over the Chinese and Sangleys in the suburbs of Manila, the Augustinians vehemently resented what they considered an invasion of their prior rights. Aduarte omits any account of a disagreement, merely saying that since the Chinese had had no one to minister to them the Dominicans a.s.sumed that responsibility, but in a letter [105]

from the Licentiate Gaspar de Ayala to Philip II, dated from Manila, July 15, 1589, full details of the squabble are given. From this source we learn that the Augustinians had a convent in the village of Tondo in the Chinese district. There they had ministered to the natives in their own language, but had rather neglected their Chinese-speaking parishioners. Consequently after the arrival of the Dominicans the Audiencia pa.s.sed an ordinance requiring that the Bishop appoint ministers of one order to administer to the Chinese in their own language within thirty days. To meet the deadline the Augustinians began to study Chinese at breakneck speed, but when the Bishop came to Tondo to hear one of the friars, who was supposed to know the language, preach in it, there was some trouble as a result of which the Augustinian would not, or indeed could not, preach. Naturally, when it was decided to award the territory to the Dominicans, the Augustinians accused the Bishop of favoritism towards his own order.

The whole situation is best described in the report on the Chinese made by Salazar to the King on June 24, 1590:

"When I arrived in this land, I found that in a village called Tondo--which is not far from this city, there being a river between--lived many Sangleys, of whom some were Christians, but the larger part infidels. In this city were also some shops kept by Sangleys, who lived here in order to sell the goods which they kept here year by year. These Sangleys were scattered among the Spaniards, with no specific place a.s.signed to them, until Don Gonzalo Ronquillo allotted them a place to live in, and to be used as a silk-market (which is here called _Parian_), of four large buildings. Here, many shops were opened, commerce increased, and more Sangleys came to this city.... When I came, all the Sangleys were almost forgotten, and relegated to a corner. No thought was taken for their conversion, because no one knew their language or undertook to learn it on account of its great difficulty; and because the religious who lived here were too busy with the natives of these islands. Although the Augustinian religious had charge of the Sangleys of Tondo, they did not minister to or instruct them in their own language, but in that of the natives or this land; thus the Sangley Christians living here, were Christians only in name, knowing no more of Christianity than if they had never accepted it.... Then I appealed to all religious orders to appoint some one of their religious to learn the language and take charge of the Sangleys. Although all of them showed a desire to do so, and some even began to learn it, yet no one succeeded; and the Sangleys found themselves with no one to instruct them and take up their conversion with the necessary earnestness, until, in the year eighty-seven, G.o.d brought to these islands the religious of St. Dominic." [106]

So we find, as the Dominicans undertook their mission, a large settlement of Chinese, including both a settled and a floating population, concentrated in the Parian, across the Pasig river from the main city of Manila.

The dominating figure of the Chinese mission from the time of his arrival in the Philippines was Juan Cobo. In a letter, written by him from the Parian of Manila, July 13, 1589, probably to ecclesiastical authorities in Mexico, he gives an account of the early days of the mission:

"The Order took a site next to this Parian, since there was not a single house between Santo Domingo and the Parian. And because of this opportunity the Order presently charged itself with the Chinese, both Christians and infidels. And upon P. Fr. Miguel de Benavides and P. Fr. Juan Maldonado was imposed the responsibility for the care of the Chinese and for learning their language. P. Fr. Miguel was less occupied with other matters than Fr. Juan Maldonado, so that he progressed in the language enough to begin to catechize in it. This was the first year the Order was in Manila.

"Presently in the second year when I came, the Order moved P. Fr. Miguel and myself into another separate house at the other edge of the Parian. So that there stood between Santo Domingo and San Gabriel, which is the name of this church of the Chinese, the whole of the Parian of the Sangleys. And there a poor little church was built under the protection of San Gabriel, to whom it fell by lot, and a poor house where we two lived. We entered into it at the beginning of September 1588. This was the first church for the Chinese built, and we believe that there is today not another parish church [for the Chinese] but that.... And P. Fr. Miguel catechized them and preached to them in their Chinese language, and taught the doctrine in it. I myself did not yet know the language, but the Lord has been served, so that in a short time I progressed in it." [107]

The account of Aduarte is not so accurate in some details, but it supplies others not mentioned by Cobo. The first mission which Benavides and Maldonado (or de San Pedro Martyr as he was later known) built was near the village of Tondo, in a new settlement specially founded for Christian Chinese, called Baybay, and it was named for Our Lady of the Purification. The second mission which was established by Benavides and Cobo was at first a palm-leaf hut. The name of San Gabriel was decided upon by making lots with the names of various saints on them and then drawing. San Gabriel came out three times in a row, and "all were persuaded that the Lord was pleased to have the patronage belong to this holy archangel." Soon, because of the good works of the fathers who established a hospital there for the care of the sick and poor, the demands upon the hut became so great that a larger building was planned. At first it was to have been erected on the site of the hut, but the inhabitants protested that a stone building so near native houses might do them great damage in the event of an earthquake, so the friars went to the other side of the river, and there built a temporary building of wood which was later completed in stone. It was here then that the Doctrina was printed, in the Church of San Gabriel, near the Parian of Manila, at the edge of the Chinese settlement.