Doctrina Christiana: The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593. — John Shaqi
Doctrina Christiana: The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593.
Religion
Doctrina Christiana: The first book printed in the Philippines, Manila, 1593.
Block books -- Facsimiles; Catholic Church -- Catechisms -- Spanish; Catholic Church -- Catechisms -- Tagalog; Tagalog language -- Texts
place of printing we are able, from the information given on the title,
to carry the investigation somewhat further.
THE AUTHORSHIP OF THE TEXT
The title tells us that the book was "corrected" by the priests of
more than one order, and since it was printed by the Dominicans,
we can assume that the ultimate responsibility for the preparation
of the text in consultation with friars of other orders also lay
in their hands. Our problem then is to discover what texts were
available to them in 1593 and who were the priests who formed the
editorial board. We have included in this study also the origins of
the Chinese text, for the two Doctrinas appeared at the same time,
and as we shall see the same Dominicans were probably responsible for
the production and preparation of both the Tagalog and the Chinese
texts. During the period under discussion there were priests of four
orders active in the islands, and so we shall speak in turn of the
Augustinian, Franciscan, Jesuit and Dominican fathers who might have
written or worked on the Doctrinas printed in 1593.
THE AUGUSTINIANS
The first priests to come to the Philippines were six Augustinians
who accompanied Legazpi on the expedition which in 1565 established
the first permanent European settlement in the islands. Among them
was Martin de Rada, who was one of the most important and influential
priests during the early days of the Spanish colony, and who was the
first linguist of note to work in the Philippines. The first language
he learned was Visayan, [59] native to the island of Cebu where the
Spaniards first landed, but he also learned Chinese. In May 1572 he
was elected provincial of his order, and in June 1575 he went with
Jeronimo Marin, as ambassador to China, being "the first Spaniard
who entered into that said kingdom." [60] In preparation for the
voyage, we are told by Gonzalez de Mendoza, whose famous and popular
history of China first printed in 1585 derives in a great measure from
information brought back by Rada, that Rada "began with great care &
studie to learne that language [Chinese], the which he learned in
few daies: & did make thereof a dictionarie." [61] Rada was then not
only the first to write in Visayan, but also the first to compile a
Chinese dictionary, and more important still brought back with him
to Manila from China many books of which Mendoza gives a list. [62]
These books, printed in the usual Chinese method from wood-blocks,
could have provided models for the Spaniards in the Philippines who
lacked European facilities for printing, and they may have given
birth to the idea which resulted in the xylographic Doctrinas.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account