Sangleys: Roots of Acknowleding a Thrust Towards "Bridging Culture" and "Bridging Dialogue"
Sangleys: Roots of Acknowleding a Thrust Towards "Bridging Culture" and "Bridging Dialogue"
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THE emergence and the evolution of the term "sangleys" are evidences of an encounter of two cultures. It is a term that bridges two governing realities in the Philippines especially during the Spanish occupation in the 16th century. It was a term coined also to stir up a new cultural and social reality in order to identify the Chinese as having a unique culture. It is a description of Chinese who live in the Philippines, governed by the Spaniards, intermarried with Filipinos, and politically and economically engaged in trade and industry.
The term "sangley" indicates also an important opportunity of study in the Church especially to reflect on the concept of inculturation because it is a term with a unique historical background, an authentic term that was coined in a specific context, the Philippines and it entails a form of "bridging dialogue" between the Spaniards and the immigrant Chinese who were already peacefully living in the Philippines long before the Philippines was claimed by King Philip II of Spain. It is a term that was coined by the Spanish authorities but it is also an ecclesial reality of dialogue which needed more revisitation and rediscovery. But who are the sangleys? And why are they important to the mission of the Church and the process of inculturation?
Residents of the Philippines- Records tell us that the Spaniards called the Chinese residents in the Philippines as Sangleys. This makes the Chinese in the Philippines possessing an special name because of a distinct culture or character they possessed. One of the proofs was the content of a letter of Captain Hernando de los Rios, who attended to Don Luis's affairs in Canton, wrote a letter at this time to Doctor Antonio de Morga; This coast is so wretchedly laid down on the charts that we did not know where we were, and on account of bad weather I could not return to the ship. Consequently I was obliged to go to Canton, where the Sangleys, who conveyed me and those who left the ship with me, accused us of having killed three Sangleys." The term sangleys was widely used during the Spanish colonial era (1565-1898).
Zealous Traders- The term "sangleys" refers to those Chinese who do business and trade in the Philippines. They were ardent and zealous in doing business with the local Filipinos as well as the Spaniards. The term "sangley" is derived from the Chinese word "seng-li" which means "business." This undertaking projected an opportunity of engagement and interconnectedness. The Church operates where people are in its evangelizing mission. Mission is an activity of bringing the Gospel to specific people and cultures and subcultures. When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, the Sangleys were already engaging in trade and they were of two kinds: first, those who were already residents in the Philippines, and second, those who came to the Philippines to engage in business.
Frequent Traders- The Sangleys frequently came to the Philippines wave after wave to engage in trade and and many of them migrated who provided labor, goods, and business because of the Acapulco-Manila Galleon Trade. Chinese traders and laborers from Fujian and Guangdong provinces were frequent visitors to the Philippines. The Spanish authorities called them "Sangleys" which means "frequent coming." Viewing this from a perspective, this was an opportunity for the proclamation of the Gospel because of the frequent coming which is also entailed a possibility of a frequent encounter with the Christian faith.
Emergence of new cultures- The frequent coming of the Chinese to the Philippines was not only a phenomenon of trade but an encounter of cultures. The encounter of cultures brings forth an opportunity of integration by migration and intermarriages. Trade had given birth to a Filipino-Chinese culture. Culture becomes the new locus of mission and the local church. It is the locus theologicus and the locus missiologicus. Thus, an existing culture becomes a gift to the Church because the Spirit operates in a concrete context. Without culture, the local church ceases to exist and without culture the proclamation of the Gospel will not be possible. The culture of the ethnic Chinese in the Philippines, therefore is important for the local church to exist and grow. As early as the 16th century, the Sangley culture was an important locus for mission in the eyes of Bishop Domingo de Salazar and the resident religious congregations.
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