Note 13 — Chapter II · THE PHILIPPINES OF THE PAST

Koxinga was really one of the most noted characters of the Orient at that time. He was the son of a Japanese mother and a Chinese father, and seldom has China had a man to compare with him in courage, enterprise and ability. At the age of twenty-two, he held one of the highest military commands in his country. With his courage and natural ability it was his purpose to carve out a kingdom for himself. Being as shrewd as he was bold, Koxinga made the acquaintance of a Dominican friar in Amoy, whom he converted into an ambassador and sent to Manila. Fortunately for the Spaniards, Koxinga's career was cut short by his early death, in 1662, while still under forty years of age, and just as he was making preparations to invade the Philippines.