With a family tree that has stretched over 3,100 years, it is no wonder that the Chinese surname 王 (Ong in Hokkien, Wang in Mandarin) is the second most populous surname in China. More than 50 million people in China bear this surname. Furthermore, the migration of the Wang family to Fujian in the early […]
The Chinese sari-sari (variety) store, popularly known among the Chinese as tsai-a-tiam (菜仔店), is a thing of the past. The younger generation of Chinese may not have the chance to see a Chinese sari-sari store anymore even in Chinatown or Chinese districts in Manila or the provinces. They may not have even heard of it […]
We begin this series on the origins of Chinese surnames with 李 (Li) – the biggest surname in China. 李 in Mandarin is Li, but in the Philippines, there are several spellings which all belong to this Chinese surname, such as Dy, Dee, and Lee – all pronounced as “di” in Hokkien. The surname 李 […]
Interest in genealogy or ancestral roots is growing worldwide. This is so true among the Chinese who continue to observe the tradition of honoring ancestors from the distant past. Ancestral shrines that proudly display the family lineage, listing forefathers and descendants of the same surname, are commonplace even in modern China. In response to the […]
There is a Chinese saying, “In a nest that falls, there are no eggs left unbroken (傾窼之下無完卵).” And when we say we are the same people in one country – mother Philippines – we always say we are in the same boat, and share the same fate. For Chinese in the Philippines, we always emphasize […]
The State of Qi (齊) under the reign of Xiang Gong (襄公 697-686 B.C.) was chaotic, depraved, immoral, degenerate and ineffectual. Some of the heirs of its aristocrats were forced to take refuge in other states. In 686 B.C., Qi Xiang Gong was slain by his own cousin Wu Zhi (無知), a trusted court official […]
Shen Nong (神農) is a legendary figure in ancient China. Literally, shen is deity or god (神) nong agriculture (農), Shen Nong, therefore, means god of agriculture. In ancient times, people lacked food and suffered from hunger. It is said that during the time of Shen Nong, people started to gather seeds and fruits for […]
The Ateneo de Manila University Press recently released Michael Cullinane’s new book, Arenas of Conspiracy and Rebellion in the late Nineteenth-Century Philippines: The Case of the April 1898 Uprising in Cebu. According to the back cover blurb, Cullinane’s new title “explores various aspects of late 19th-century Philippine society in an effort to locate the major […]
Zhou Chu (周處) of the kingdom of Wu (吳) had lost his father at a young age during the Three Kingdoms Period (222-280 AD). By the time he turned 20, he was already a man of great strength that no ordinary person could match. But he had never cared to learn good manners and right […]
Ferdinand Blumentritt (1853-1913), best friend of our national hero Dr. Jose P. Rizal, was one of the greatest experts on Philippine history, culture, language and geography in his day. He was an Austrian and had never been to the Philippines. Yet here we are referring to him in relation to the Chinese in the Philippines. […]