III. Trade and Commerce at the Time of Discovery and Conquest
Reading edition
Domestic trade.
Trade relations with oriental countries.
The merchandise brought by the Chinese were unloaded into champans (bancas), and taken to the Parian (Chinese quarter), or to other houses and magazines outside of the city, and there freely sold. No Spaniard, Sangley (Chinese trader), or any other person was allowed to go to the ship to buy or trade merchandise, food, or anything else. The purchase price was paid in silver and reals, for the Sangleys did not want gold, or any other articles, and would not take other things to China.
Smaller vessels belonging to natives of Borneo also came to Manila, bringing well-made palm-mats, a few slaves, sago, and tibors; large and small jars, and excellent camphor; these articles were bought more by the Filipinos than by the Spaniards. The Borneans took with them wine and rice, cotton cloth, and other wares of the Philippines.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · Chao Ju-kua’s Description of the Philippines.—Bl. and Rb., Vol. 34, pp. 183–191. Rizal, La Indolencia. (All quotations from this work are taNote 2 · The method of trading is thus described by Chao Ju-kua: “When (Chinese) merchantmen arrive at that port they cast anchor at a place (called)Note 3 · The first thing noticed by Pigafetta, who came with Magellan in 1521, on arriving at the first island of the Philippines, Samar, was the couNote 4 · “Their customary method of trading was by bartering one thing for another, such as food, cloth, cattle, fowls, lands, houses, fields, slavesNote 5 · “The natives are free to move from one island to another, and from one province to another, and pay their tribute for that year in which theNote 6 · “17. (Commerce is to be free to all Indians of whatever jurisdiction they be, throughout the Philippines; and no license is required, nor caNote 7 · “70. (Interprovincial trade of the various products shall not be prohibited, as such prohibition is in violation of law vii, título xviii, bNote 8 · There were other earlier decrees to the same effect as the following: “6. (Alcaldes-mayor and corregidors are not to accept any presents, evNote 9 · “106. The chief aim of the alcaldes-mayor, corregidors, and assistants, is trade. They buy up by wholesale the products of the land, especiaNote 10 · Rizal, La Indolencia.—“We will not cite our own experiences, for aside from the fact that we do not know which to select, critical persons mNote 11 · Resultados del Desarrollo Económico de Filipinas; in “Revista Económica,” November, 1912: “In imposing a tax payable in articles of food or Note 12 · Azcarraga, La Libertad de Comercio de Filipinas, p. 40. “To this abundance and fertility was added the proximity of China, India, Japan, MalNote 13 · Morga’s Sucesos.—Bl. and Rb., Vol. 16, p. 176.Note 14 · “These vessels come laden with merchandise, and bring wealthy merchants who own ships, and servants and factors of other merchants who remaiNote 15 · “They also bring some fine woven silk goods of mixed colors; beautiful and finely-decorated screens done in oil and gilt; all kinds of cutleNote 16 · ”* * * They take merchandise consisting of spices—cloves, cinnamon, and pepper; slaves, both black and Cafres; cotton cloth of all sorts, fiNote 17 · Ibid., pp. 185–186.Note 18 · Ibid., p. 186.Note 19 · “All of these things (referring to the trade of the Philippines) make life in that region pleasant and an object of desire to men; and indeeNote 20 · “For thirty years after the conquest the commerce of the islands was unrestricted and their prosperity advanced with great rapidity.” (HistoNote 21 · “In 1603, that is, when our colony had only thirty-two years of existence, there were already in the capital 25,000 Chinese, and the number Note 22 · “37. Accordingly the commerce of this city is extensive, rich, and unusually profitable; for it is carried on by all these Chinese and theirNote 23 · The first Spaniards who came to the Philippines observed a lively commercial intercourse, not only among the peoples of the different islandNote 24 · With the coming of the Spaniards, domestic trade was upset. First of all, restrictions were imposed upon trade; communication between the viNote 25 · Then, the government officials, though in many decrees and ordinances prohibited to engage in trade,8 used their position as a means of gainNote 26 · The coming of the Spaniards opened a new market to the products of the Orient, and Manila soon became the great distributing center of the ENote 27 · From China, from thirty to forty ships sailed every year usually in March, and reached Manila in fifteen or twenty days; here the traders soNote 28 · From Nagasaki, Japan, came Japanese and Portuguese merchants, who brought excellent wheat-flour and highly prized salt meats.15 The bulk of Note 29 · From the Moluccas, Malacca, and India, the Portuguese imported many articles,16 and in return took with them to the Moluccas rice, wine, croNote 30 · “Very seldom a few vessels came from Siam and Camboja, carrying ‘benzoin, ivory, and cotton cloth; rubies and sapphires, badly cut and set; Note 31 · It was the goods that were imported into Manila by the Oriental traders, especially the Chinese, that formed the bulk of the commerce betweeNote 32 · Legaspi’s expedition met in Butuan various traders of Luzon with their boats laden with iron, wax cloths, porcelain, etc. (Gaspar de San AguNote 33 · “111. It is not advantageous for these alcaldes-mayor and corregidors, or their assistants or friends, to receive the royal collections, for