LALFER] RELATIONS OF CHINESE TO THE PHILIPPINES 275 



Baroos camphor, birds' nests, sea-slugs, ebony, redwood, fish, and 

 salt. These are all considered the best beyond the sea. Formerly, 

 at the time of the Ming dynast} - , Spain took this country and founded 

 the city of Kuei-tou (Cavite) on the outer lake (/. c, Manila Bay), 1 

 near the coast of the Western Ocean. They set a guard on the 

 isle of Keng-i, west from the city, that they might have this territory 

 far and near under their control. The winds are extremely severe." 

 Now follow some curious remarks on the Catholic religion in 

 Manila. The Spanish monks are designated as the foreign "Bud- 

 dhist priests" (fan seng) — a term derived from Sanscrit samgha, the 

 Buddhist clergy. "The foreign priests," comments the author, 

 "have established a church," a word which he expresses by Pa-li 

 yuan ("a hall of the padres"), pa-li reproducing the sounds of the 

 Spanish padre. "By means of a waterfall they make a clock strike 

 in the church day and night. At the hours of noon and midnight it 

 strikes the first stroke, and so on until twelve strokes sound, and this 

 is repeated." To make this explanation clear in his language, the 

 Chinaman had a great difficulty to overcome, as his day is divided 

 into twelve parts, each comprising two hours of our time. Then he 

 continues : 



They do not sacrifice to their ancestors, but worship only their God 

 Wci-lor and, what is still stranger, the padres forgive people their sins. All 

 the people regard the holy water with great esteem. The corpse of the king 

 of the padres (probably bishop) is fried and turned into fat. A father of 

 the religion superintends the work. If somebody desires to embrace their 

 faith, they order him to take an oath to the effect that his body shall now 

 belong to Wei-lo. After the oath the padre takes the holy water of the corpse 

 and pours it over his head. Therefore it is called the "waterfall" water. At 

 the celebration of a wedding the religious father takes a chain and fastens it 

 around the neck of the man and the woman. 3 



On every seventh day they go to church and beg the padre for forgiveness 

 of sins, and this they call '"hearing mass" (k'an mi-shih=\a misa). There is 

 also a nunnery especially for the administration of funds with which to defray 

 the needs of the country. This nunnery is a strict and dignified institution, 

 and is kept locked, while the men who retire into monastic life enjoy an ac- 

 knowledged authority and are greatly honored. The daily necessaries of life 

 are transmitted to the nuns bv means of a revolving frame like a Chinese 



1 In Luzon, according to the view of the Chinese author, there are three 

 lakes — an outer, a middle, and an inner one. 



2 This is doubtless intended for Spanish cielo. The Annals of Kuangtung 

 give a number of Spanish words in Chinese transcriptions, and write cielo 

 with the characters hsi-lo (Cantonese, sai-lo). 



3 My friend Mr. Bandelier explained to me that this custom is still observed 

 also in remote parishes of Spanish South America. 



