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Chinese Filipino

(simplified Chinese:

华菲

;traditional Chinese:

華菲

; pinyin:

Huáfēi

;Hokkien:

Huâ-hui

;Cantonese:

Wàhfèi

;Tagalog/Filipino: "Tsinoy" (

pronunciation(help·info)

) derived from two words: "Tsino" (meaning "Chinese") and "Pinoy" (the slang word for "Filipino") is aFilipinoof Chineseancestry but raised in thePhilippines.Many, if not all people in thePhilippines,including Chinese Filipinos themselves, use and accept the term "Filipino Chinese"/"Filipino-Chinese".

[1]

However, this is inconsistentwithUS Englishusage, on whichPhilippine Englishis largely based. Despite its inconsistency with American English, the term remains to be the officially accepted reference in the Philippines.

[

verification needed

]

Use of the term Chinese Filipino

The term "Chinese Filipino" may or may not

[2][3]

be hyphenated. The website of the organization

Kaisa para sa Kaunlaran

(Unity for Progress) omits the hyphen, adding thatChinese Filipino is the noun where "Chinese" is an adjective to the noun "Filipino." The

Chicago Manual of Style

and theAPA,

[4]

among others, also recommend dropping thehyphen. When used as an adjective, "Chinese Filipino" may take on a hyphenated form or may remain unchanged. For instance, when hyphenated, "Chinese-Filipinocommunity," "Chinese-Filipino Catholic," or "Chinese-Filipino student." Chicago style, on the other hand, explicitly advises against using the hyphen even when "ChineseFilipino" is used as an adjective. For instance, "Chinese Filipino student" and "Chinese Filipino community",

[5][6][7]

but "Chinese-Filipino Catholic" or "Chinese-FilipinoBuddhist" given that three consecutive words are capitalized and that Filipino in that sense is linked to Chinese rather than being an adjective to Catholic or Buddhist.

Terminology

Different terminologies are used to refer to Chinese Filipinos, as follows:

•

Of pure Chinese descent: Chinese (English),

Tsino

Chino

(Filipino, Spanish), and

Lan-lang

(Chinese Min Nan Dialect)

•

Of mixed Chinese and indigenous Filipino descent: Filipino Chinese/Chinese Filipino/Philippine Chinese (Eng.),

Tsinoy

Chinoy

(Fil., Sp.), and

Chhut-si-ia

(Chi.Minnan)

•

Of mixed Chinese and Spanish descent:

Tornatras

(Eng., Fil., Sp.; archaic)

•

The terms

Intsik

and

Mistisong Intsik

are considered derogatory ethnic slurs and should be avoided There are also a variety of Chinese terms in use:

•

華人

Huárén

-- a generic term for referring to Chinese people, without implication as to nationality

•

華僑

Huáqiáo

-- Overseas Chinese, usually China-born Chinese who have emigrated elsewhere

•

華裔

Huáyì

-- People of Chinese ancestry who were born in, residents of and citizens of another country

•

華菲

Huáfēi

-- Chinese Filipino or Philippine Nationals of Chinese descentDuring the Spanish Colonial Period, the termSangleywas used to refer to people of unmixed Chinese ancestry while the termMestizo de Sangleywas used to classify persons of mixed Chinese and indigenous Filipino ancestry; both are now out of date in terms of usage."Indigenous Filipino" is used in this article to refer to the original inhabitants prior to the Spanish Conquest of the islands. During the Spanish Colonial Period, the termIndio was used.

Overview

The Chinese Filipinos has always been one of largestethnic Filipino groups in the countrywith Chinese immigrants comprising the largest group of immigrant settlers in thePhilippines. The rate of intermarriage between Chinese immigrants and indigenous Filipinos is among the highest in Southeast Asia, exceeded only byThailand. However,intermarriages occurred mostly during the Spanish colonial period because Chinese immigrants to the Philippines up to the 19th century were predominantly male. It was onlyin the 20th century that Chinese women and children came in comparable numbers. These Chinese mestizos, products of intermarriages during the Spanish colonial period, thenoften opted to marry other Chinese mestizos (as was the case with the ancestors of national hero Dr.Jose Rizal). Generally, the term Chinese mestizo is reserved for those whohave more recent Chinese ancestry; those who still retain, in full or in part, the surnames of their Chinese ancestors; or those who have "Chinese eyes" or fairer complexioncompared to the general populace which can be attributed to their Chinese ancestry.By this definition, the ethnically Chinese Filipinos comprise 1.5% (1.14 million) of the population.

[8]

This figure however does not include the Chinese mestizos who sinceSpanish times have formed the middle class in Philippine society nor does it include Chinese immigrants from the People's Republic of China since 1949.

Ethnicity

Most Chinese in the Philippines belong to either the Fujianese or Cantonese dialect groups of the Han Chinese ethnicity. Most unmixed Chinese in the Philippines come fromthe province of Fujian in China and are thus called Fujianese, or Hoklo.They speak theLan-nang(Philippine) variant of theMinnanChinese dialect, which is further subdivided into several sub-dialects. The most common Minnan (Southern Fujianese) dialect in the Philippines is theXiamendialect, which is mutually intelligible with theQuanzhou dialect, another common dialect in the Philippines. The rest of the unmixed Chinese in the Philippines are mostly of Cantonese origin, with large numbers of descendantsoriginally from theTaishancity of Guangdong province in Southern China. They speak theCantonesedialect group/language, although many are raised to speak only the Minnan dialect. Most are not as economically prosperous as their Fujianese cousins in Philippine society. Some ghettoes of the Cantonese people are found inSanta Mesa,Manilaand inTondo.There are also a minority of Cantonese who havePortugueseancestry - they are theMacanesefromMacau.Other non-resident Chinese in the Philippines, such as expatriates and envoys are of Beijing,Shanghainese,andHunaneseorigin.

Mestizos

See also:Mestizos in the Philippines.

Chinesemestizosare persons of mixed Chinese and either indigenous Malay or Spanish (or both) ancestry. They make up between 10-20% of the country's total population(those who are ethnic Chinese make up 1.5% of the population). A number of Chinese mestizos have surnames that reflect their heritage, mostly two or three syllables that haveChinese roots (e.g., the full name of a Chinese ancestor) with a Hispanized phonetic spelling. The Chinese mestizos may also be known as Tsinoys (alternatively spelled as"Chinoy"), although this term may also refer to the full-blooded Chinese Filipinos; and/or Chinito, a term that largely denotes physical characteristics (referring to slanted eyes)rather than ethnic origin or cultural orientation. During Spanish times, they were legally classified asMestizo de Sangleywhich was printed on their

cedulas

or community taxcertificates.During the Spanish colonial period, the Spanish authorities encouraged the Chinese male immigrants to convert to Catholicism. Those who converted got baptized and their names Hispanized, and were allowed to intermarry with indigenous Malay women. They and their mestizo offspring became colonial subjects of the Spanish crown, and as suchwere granted several privileges and afforded numerous opportunities denied both the unconverted Chinese or the indigenous Filipinos. With their colonial privileges, theChinese mestizos became much more successful economically than the indigenous population. Starting as traders, they branched out into land leasing, money lending and later landholding.Today, most of the mestizos in the Philippines trace their ancestry to these Chinese immigrants and not Spanish settlers despite their Spanish-sounding names. This was due toSpanish policies imposing racial segregation on the residents of the colony.

CultureLanguage

Most of the Chinese in the Philippines trace their ancestry to the southern part of Fujian province. TheLan-nangvariant of Min Nan,also known as Hokkien or Lán-lâng-oē (

咱

人話

; "our people's language"), is the lingua franca of the Chinese-Filipino community. The rest are descendants of migrants fromGuangdong,Hong Kong,or Taiwan.The other Chinese dialectsthat can be heard in the Chinese-Filipino communities areMandarin Chinese(which is taught in Chinese schools in the Philippines and spoken in varying degrees of fluency by Chinese Filipinos),Taiwanese(which is mutually intelligible with theQuanzhouandXiamendialects), andCantonese. The vast majority of the Chinese in the Philippines, however, are fluent inEnglishas well asTagalog, and for those residing outside of Metro Manila, the local language of the region, likeIlokano,Cebuano(Cebu, Davao, Iligan, and Zamboanga), andChabacano.Mandarin Chinese used to be the medium of instruction in Chinese schools prior to the Filipinization policy of Former PresidentFerdinand Marcos.Partly as a result of Marcos' measures, Tagalog and English are gradually supplanting Chinese (Minnan and Mandarin) as the preferred medium of communication among the younger generation.

Lifestyle

TheChinesein the Philippines are mostly business owners and their life centers mostly in the family business. These mostly small and medium enterprises play a significantrole in the Philippine economy. A handful of these entrepreneurs run large companies and are respected as some of the most prominent business tycoons in the Philippines.Chinese Filipinos attribute their success in business to frugality and hard work, and entrepreneurship is highly valued and encouraged among the young.Most Chinese Filipinos are urban dwellers. An estimated 60% of the Chinese Filipinos live withinMetro Manila, with the rest in the other larger cities of the Philippines. Incontrast with the Chinese mestizos, few Chinese are plantation owners. This is partly due to the fact that until recently when the Chinese Filipinos became Filipino citizens, thelaw prohibited the Chinese from owning land.As with other Southeast Asian nations, the Chinese community in the Philippines has become a repository of traditional Chinese culture. Whereas in Mainland China manycultural traditions and customs have been suppressed by theCultural Revolutionor simply regarded as old-fashioned and obsolete, these traditions have remained largelyuntouched in the Philippines. Many new cultural twists have evolved within the Chinese community in the Philippines, distinguishing it from other overseas Chinesecommunities in Southeast Asia. These cultural variations are highly evident during festivals such asChinese New Year andMid-Autumn Festival. The Chinese Filipinos have developed unique funerary

[9]

and wedding customs

[10]

as well.While the older generation practiced the ancient customs of imperial and feudal China

[11]

,the younger generation have largely acculturated to the dominant cultures of mainstream society. In the Philippine context, this means adopting the prevailing western lifestyles such as going to discos, playing golf and drinking cappuccino. Traditionalcustoms such as ancestor worship are still practiced today through family shrines and clans associations.

[12]

For the newly rich, building a grand mansion with the proper FengShui in a private, exclusive, suburban subdivision is a lifelong dream which reflects on the wealth and status of one's family.

[13]

Religion

The Chinese Filipinos are unique in Southeast Asia in being overwhelmingly Christian. Almost all Chinese Filipinos, including the Chinese Mestizo but excluding the recentimmigrants, had or will have their marriages in a Christian church. This proves that the majority of Chinese Filipinos have been baptized in a Christian church, with Catholicsforming the largest group.However, many of Chinese-Filipino Catholics still tend to practice the traditional Chinese religions side by side withCatholicism, although a small number of people practisingsolely traditional Chinese religions do exist as well.

,Taoism

andancestor worship(includingConfucianism)

[17]

are the traditional Chinese beliefsthat continue to have adherents among the Chinese Filipinos. Some may even have Jesus Christ as well as Buddha statues or Taoist gods in their altars. It is not unheard of tovenerate the blessed Virgin Mary using joss sticks and Buddhist offerings, much as one would have done for Mazu.

[18]

Buddhist-Taoist temples can be found where the Chineselive, especially in urban areas likeManila,and the Chinese have the tendency to go to pay respects to their ancestors at least once a year, either by going to the temple, or goingto the Chinese burial grounds, often burning incense and bringing offerings like fruits and accessories made from paper. Some Chinese-Filipino Catholics do have problems withthis religious duality, but due to Christian proselytization, the elderly vastly outnumber the young in the Chinese temples in the Philippines.A comparatively large number of Chinese Filipinos are alsoProtestants. Chinese Filipinos comprise a large percentage of membership in some of the largestevangelical churches in the Philippines like Christ's Commission Fellowship and Greenhills Christian Fellowship. The United Evangelical Church of the Philippines, was founded byChinese Filipinos, and they form the majority of worshippers.

[19]

Civil Society

Aside from their family businesses, Chinese Filipinos are active in civic organizations related to education, health care, public safety, social welfare and public charity. As mostChinese Filipinos are reluctant to participate in politics and government, they have instead turned to civic organizations as their primary means of contributing to the generalwelfare of the Chinese-Filipino community and to the betterment of Philippine society. Beyond the traditional family and clan associations, Chinese Filipinos tend to be active

members of numerous alumni associations holding annual reunions for the benefit of their Chinese-Filipino secondary schools.

[20]

Outside of secondary schools catering toChinese Filipinos, some Chinese Filipino businessmen have established charitable foundations to benefit Philippine society. Notable ones include the Gokongwei BrothersFoundation, Metrobank Foundation, Tan Ya Kee Foundation, Angelo King Foundation, Jollibee Foundation, Alfonso Yuchengco Foundation, Cityland Foundation, etc. SomeChinese-Filipino benefactors have also contributed to the creation of several centers of scholarship in prestigious Philippine Universities, including the John Gokongwei Schoolof Management at Ateneo de Manila, the Yuchengco Center at De La Salle University, and the Ricardo Leong Center of Chinese Studies at Ateneo de Manila. Coincidentally, both Ateneo and La Salle enroll a large number of Chinese-Filipino students. In health care, Chinese Filipinos were instrumental in establishing and building renowned medicalcenters in the country including the Chinese General Hospital, the Metropolitan Hospital, the Angelo King Medical Center at De La Salle University's Health Sciences Campus,and the St. Luke's Medical Center, one of Asia's leading health care institutions. In public safety, Teresita Ang See's Kaisa, a Chinese-Filipino civil rights group, organized theCitizens Action Against Crime and the Movement for the Restoration of Peace and Order at the height of a wave of anti-Chinese kidnapping incidents in the early 1990s.

[21]

Inaddition to fighting crime, Chinese Filipinos have organized volunteer fire brigades all over the country, reportedly the best in the nation.

[22]

In the arts and culture, the BahayTsinoy and the Yuchengco Museum were established by Chinese Filipinos to showcase the arts, culture and history of Chinese Filipinos and the Philippines.

[23]

[Surnames

Most Chinese Filipinos today have single syllable Chinese surnames, the most common of which areTan(

陳

),Ong(

王

),Lim(

林

),Go/Ngo(

吳

),Ng/Uy/Wee(

黃

),Chua/Cua(

蔡

),Sy/See/Si(

施

),Co(

許

) andLee/Dy

（李

). Chinese Filipinos as well as Chinese mestizos who trace their roots back to Chinese immigrants to the Philippines during theSpanish Colonial Period usually have multiple syllable Chinese surnames such as Biazon, Chuacuco, Cojuangco, Ganzon, Lacson, Ongpin, Quebengco, Singson, Tambengco,Tanbonliong, Tantoco, Tuazon, Yuchengco, Dyloco, Dytoc, and Yupangco, among such others. These were originally full Chinese names which were transliterated into Spanishand adopted as surnames. In contrast, more recent immigrants have single syllable Chinese surnames. Many Chinese mestizos (as well as Spanish-Chinese andTornatras) havealso either inherited or took on Spanish or indigenous surnames, such as Martines, Madrigal, or Santos.

History

Presence of peoples from the Chinese mainland in the Philippines has been evident since during the Ice Age, when a land bridge enabled many people from southernChinatosettle in the Philippines. But they are not to be confused for the later Sinitic-speaking peoples (ethnicChinese) who came long after the land bridge submerged. These ethnic Chinese sailed down and frequently interacted with the indigenous tribes as evidenced by a collection of priceless Chinese artifacts found in the Philippines, dating back right upto the 10th century. Prehistoric evidence attest to the fact that manydatusandrajahs(indigenous rulers) in the Philippines were of mixed Filipino and Chinese ancestry. They formed the group which is to be calledPrincipaliaduring the Spanish period, and were given privileges by the Spanish colonial authorities.The arrival of the Spaniards to thePhilippinesattracted many Chinese male immigrants fromChina, and maritime trade flourished during the Spanish occupation. The Spanish authorities restricted the activities of the Chinese immigrants and confined them to the

Parían

near Intramuros.With low chances of employment and prohibited from owningland, most of them engaged in retail trades or acted as skilled artisans to the Spanish colonial authorities. Many of the Chinese who arrived during the Spanish period wereCantonese, who worked as stevedores and porters, but there were also Fujianese, who entered the retail trades. The Chinese revolted fourteen times, against Spanish abuses, buttheir revolts were quickly put down by joint forces of the indigenous Filipinos, Mexicans, and the Spaniards. Deeply distrustful of the Chinese immigrants, the Spaniardsconducted a total of six massacres against the them, two of which were successful. Fearful of a reprisal from China, Spanish authorities sent envoys to China explain their actions but were surprised to learn that the Chinese rulers were markedly indifferent to the plight of the Chinese immigrants. As it were, the Chinese rulers at the time forbadetheir Chinese subjects from emigrating and made the crime of leaving China punishable by death upon their return. To the Chinese rulers, those who had abandoned their homeland to settle in foreign lands were considered traitors

who ceased to be Chinese

[24]

In addition, the Spanish authorities decided to segregate the Chinese immigrants intotwo groups:

Parían

(unconverted) andBinondo(converted). The massacres and expulsions targeted the unconverted while sparing the converted Chinese. To avoid this grimfate, most Chinese male immigrants converted to Catholicism, intermarried with indigenous women, and adopted Hispanized names and customs. The children of unions between indigenous Filipinos and Chinese were calledMestizos de Sangleyor Chinese mestizos, while those between Spaniards and Chinese were calledTornatrásand were classified as

blanco

or white, together with the mixed-race Spanish mestizos and pure-blooded Spanish Filipinos. The Chinese mestizos were largely confined to theBinondo area. However, they eventually spread all over the islands, and became traders, moneylenders and landowners.

[25]

During the American Colonial Period, the Chinese Exclusion Act in theUnited Stateswas also put into effect in thePhilippines.

[26]

Nevertheless, the Chinese were able to settlein the Philippines, despite strict American law enforcement. During World War II, the Japanese massacred many unmixed Chinese. Following World War II and the fall of theChinese mainland tocommunism,many Chinese migrated from Fujian province in China to the Philippines. This group formed the bulk of the current population of ChineseFilipinos.

[24]

BeginningWorld War II,Chinese Filipino soldiers and guerillas joined in the fight against the Japanese Imperial Forces during the Japanese Occupation in the Philippines(1941-1945). In April 9, 1942, many Chinese Filipino Prisoners of War were killed by Japanese Forces during theBataan Death Marchafter the fall of BataanandCorregidor in 1942. Thousands of Chinese Filipino soldiers and guerrillas died of heroism in thePhilippinesfrom 1941 to 1945 duringWorld War II. Over hundreds of thousands of the Chinese Filipino soldiers and guerrillas were attacked by Japanese Imperial Forces during the liberation of the Philippines. Thousands of Chinese Filipino Veterans are interredin the Shrine of Martyr's Freedom of the Filipino Chinese in World War II located in Manila.

[27]

After independence, successive Philippine presidents have had ambivalent attitudes about the Chinese Filipinos. PresidentsRamon MagsaysayandCarlos P. Garcia promoted the Filipino First policies, and put in tough government directives to hinder the ownership of businesses by Chinese Filipinos who were still citizens of theRepublic of China. During theMartial LawPeriod, Chinese language schools were ordered closed or else to limit the time alloted for Chinese language, history, and culture subjects from 4 hoursto 2 hours, and instead devote them to the study of Filipino languages and culture. This method of teaching persists to this very day. Marcos' policy eventually led to the formalassimilation of the Chinese Filipinos into mainstream Filipino society.

[28]

FollowingPeople Power Revolution(EDSA 1), the Chinese Filipinos quickly gained national spotlight asCory Aquino,a Chinese mestiza, eventually became president.

[29]

She encouraged free press and cultural harmony, a process which led to the burgeoning of the Chineselanguage media. Mild racist riots occurred during 1992 when several Filipinos, led byArmando Ducat, Jr.

,a businessman, campaigned for 'kicking-out theChinese-Filipinosinstead of the Americans', referring to the formal closure of the American military bases in the Philippines, and during 1998, when a Chinese mestizo, Senator Alfredo Lim,entered the candidacy for president. Also, numerous incidents of crimes such kidnap-for-ransom, extortion and other forms of harassment were committed against the ChineseFilipino community starting in the early 1990s and lasting to this day. Senior members of the Philippine Military were allegedly involved.

[30]

Future

Most of the Chinese Filipinos are descendants of Chinese who migrated three or four generations ago. In the case of most Chinese mestizos, this can be as far back as five, six,or up to eight generations ago. Unlike in Malaysia and Indonesia where intermarriage is uncommon and people can generally be classified ethnically just by physicalappearance, the Philippine definition of who is Chinese Filipino and who is Chinese mestizo can be based on one's language usage and cultural values. A full-blooded Chinesewho can no longer speak Chinese and no longer practice Chinese culture or beliefs is more often than not identified as a Chinese mestizo. By the same token, a Chinese mestizowho still speaks fluent Chinese and practices Chinese culture might be reintegrated into the Chinese-Filipino culture. As "mestizo" often evokes a person of higher social strata,there is also a tendency to not identify those in the lower class as "mestizo" even if they are in fact of mixed descent.