Spanish Diplomacy in the China Seas at the Turn of the 16th Century (original) (raw)
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Journal of Early Modern History, 2019
During the second half of the seventeenth century, there were at least three embassies between the Spaniards of Manila and the Fujian based Zheng regime. The first em- bassy took place in 1656 ordered by the Spanish governor in Manila. The ambassadors were two captains of the city, and its aim was to re-establish trade relations, which had been severed many months before. In response, Zheng Chenggong sent his cousin to the Philippine islands to settle several business arrangements regarding Fujianese trade. In 1662, Zheng Chenggong took the initiative of sending the Dominican Victorio Riccio, who worked as missionary in the Catholic mission at Xiamen, as emissary to the Governor of the Philippines, don Sabiniano Manrique de Lara. The third embassy took place in 1663. Thereupon, Zheng Jing, Zheng Chenggong’s successor, sent Riccio to Manila for signing a peace pact and for re-establishing trade. The three embassies were related to the Zheng’s purpose of gaining economic and political supremacy over the Philippines and the South China Seas. In all three cases, the actors, the diplomatic correspondence, the material aspects and the results differed profoundly. The article analyzes the role of individuals as intermediaries and translators while considering the social and cultural effects that these embassies had on the Sino-Spanish relations in Manila.
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The last decades of the sixteenth century saw the Spanish empire at the height of its splendor. During that period it expanded its sphere of influence beyond the Americas. Motivated by the competition with Portugal over world hegemony, the Asian spice trade, and the desire to convert the people of China, Spain made great efforts to find an alternative route to the Far East, and to establish a foothold in Asian waters. These attempts culminated in 1565, when Miguel Lopez de Legazpi's (1502-1572) expedition had successfully colonized the Philippine Islands. Contrary to Spanish expectations, spices or precious metals were not abundant in the Philippines. In addition, the geographical dispersion and social organization of the local population made it hard to control. This resulted in disappointment on the side of the Spaniards as for the profitability of the Philippine venture. What helped to preserve the Spanish colonization of the Philippines was the trade that evolved between the young colony and China; Chinese commodities, mainly silk products, were exchanged for American silver, and then shipped across the Pacific Ocean to Acapulco. The Chinese side of this commerce was managed by the Chinese merchant community in Manila. However, as early as in the first decade of colonization, it became clear that the Spaniards in Manila were interested in no less than the conquest and evangelization of China. In the three decades that followed, such aspirations were manifested in several petitions sent to King Philip II (1527−1598; r. 1556−1598). So far, scholars have treated these plans as a mere expression of Spanish hubris and religious and territorial aspirations. The following paper suggests that in evaluating this phenomenon, the social configuration of the Spanish-Philippine society is highly significant (although previously overlooked). The colonial society in the Philippines differed significantly from its prototypes in the Americas; from its very beginning it did not generate the resources needed for its existence by using the native labor force, but rather functioned, at least from an economic point of view, as a merchant society. The shift in colonial patterns from one that emphasizes control over land and people to one that relies on trade, was not a smooth shift for the Spanish settlers in the Philippines. This essay will argue that the Spanish plans for the conquest of China were, in