Note 3 — EVENTS IN THE PHILIPPINES, 1643–44

Christianity is making great gains in China; the king has granted a chapa, or royal decree, allowing all the religious to preach freely and erect churches throughout his kingdom. This chapa is placed at the entrances of the churches, and whenever the mandarins come in sight of it they make the same obeisance to it as to their king, venerating in it what he commands. It was granted at the instance of the fathers of the Society of Jesus, and has been translated from Chinese into our Castilian tongue by some of them. Its words mean that the doctrine which the fathers teach is the doctrine from Heaven; and states that inasmuch as they are so learned—for a very old clock, which had rendered many years of service, and was out of order, could not be regulated by any one until the fathers came; and they not only put it in order, but made many other new ones, furnishing the pattern to many cities—the king for this gave them permission to preach the doctrine from Heaven. He also promised to grant them many favors when they should complete a book for computing the Chinese years, which run, by twelve moons [to the year], from the beginning of the world; for a long time the mathematical fathers have been engaged in preparing this book.3 In this condition are the affairs of China.