Life and Works of Rizal

The rise of Chinese

mestizo
Bernales, Allyzah Faith BSN 3B

French Illustration of a Chinese-Filipino

mestizo couple, c.1846 by Jean Mallat de
Bassilan
 WHAT IS A

Chinese meztizo
Any person born of a Chinese
father and an Indio mother was
classified a Chinese mestizo.
But a Chinese mestiza who
married an Indio
was listed, together with her
children, as Indio.

Mestizos Sangley y Chino (Sangley Chinese and/or

Chinese Mestizos), c. 1841 Tipos del País, watercolor
by Justiniano Asuncion
• With the the economic and political
change that happen in Europe it affect
Spain and consequently the philippines.
• The gradual end to the monopoly held
by the Manila-Acapulco Galleon was
significant and serve as the driver for
increased trade. A 1590 illustration showing a Spanish Manila galleon in the Ladrones
Islands
(Mariana Islands) in the Pacific Ocean. (From the Boxer Codex)
 end of galleon trade Opening of suez canal
The demand for Philippine sugar
By the middle of the 1830s, after
and abaca (hemp) grew quickly,
the end of the galleon trade,
and after the Suez Canal opened in
Manila was nearly completely
1869, exports to European nations
accessible to foreign traders.
increased much more.
 The development of commercial agriculture in
the archipelago resulted in the presence of a
new class. Alongside the landholdings of the
church and the rice estates of the pre-Spanish
nobility, there emerged haciendas of sugar,
coffee, and hemp, typically owned by
enterprising Chinese-Filipino mestizos.
A Scene In Town (w/ Sangley & Chinese Mestizos), c. 1847 Tipos
del País Watercolor by José Honorato Lozano
In a larger perspective, the fast rhythm of economic progress
in the Philippines during the 19th century expedited by some
mentioned factors resulted in the rise of a new breed of rich
and influential Filipino middle class. Non-existent in. earlier
centuries, this class, composed of Spanish and Chinese
mestizos ascended to a position of power in the Philippine
society and in due course became leaders in education and
finance. This middle class included:
" the ilustrados who belonged to the landed gentry and who
were highly respected in their respective pueblos or towns,
though regarded as filibusteros or rebels by the friars. The
relative prosperity of the period has enabled them to send
their sons to Spain and Europe for higher studies. Most of
them later became members of freemasonry and active in
the Propaganda Movement. Some of them sensed the
failure of reformism and turned to radicalism, and looked Ilustrados in Madrid, c.1890
up to Rizal as their leader." (Vallano, n.d.)
References
Mañebog, J., Paragas, R., Barrientos,
M., & Francisco, R. (2018).

Tan, A. S. (2016, March 30). Antonio

S. Tan. Archipel.