A Historical Study of Spanish Colonial Manila

马尼拉，作为西班牙菲律宾的首都;始于1571年。到16世纪末，西班牙马尼拉已成为东南亚人口最多、最繁荣的港口城市之一。马尼拉大帆船贸易系统是西班牙殖民地的财富来源，通过太平洋将马尼拉与墨西哥连接起来。美国的银流入马尼拉，以换取中国的丝绸和其他奢侈品。华人商人和移民被吸引到马尼拉，形成了世纪初中国以外人口最多的华人社区。华人殖民者在许多方面对马尼拉的发展做出了贡献，他们不仅是批发商、零售商和小贩，还作为建筑工程师和劳工，实际上建造了殖民地马尼拉。本研究是本文作者撰写西班牙殖民马尼拉历史的一个更大项目的一部分。作为实现这一目标的第一步，1750-1820年期间在殖民地马尼拉的中国定居者的生活已经被审查和说明，特别是他们的经济活动，以及与西班牙人和其他当地人的关系。为此，菲律宾几个档案馆保存的西班牙文手稿，如礼宾、婚姻信息、监护人的法庭记录、海关记录等，1750-1820年期间，马尼拉的华人居民遭受了西班牙的限制政策，仅举几例，天主教信仰的要求。然而，他们成功地建立了一个覆盖福建、西属菲律宾和西班牙势力范围以外的苏禄群岛的人的网络。基督教中国人合法地与当地妇女结婚，生下混血后代。华人与他们的混血后裔携手适应不断变化的殖民环境，并继续支持西班牙殖民地马尼拉的发展。

Manila, as the capital of the Spanish Philippines; started its history in 1571. By the end of the 16th century Spanish Manila had firmly established itself as one of the most populous and prosperous ports-city in Southeast Asia. The Manila Galleon trade system was the source of wealth for the Spanish colony, which connected Manila with Mexico via the Pacific Ocean. American silver flowed to Manila in exchange for Chinese silk and other luxury. The Chinese merchants and immigrants were attracted to Manila and formed a Chinese community which had the largest population at the beginnings of the 17th century outside China. The Chinese settlers contributed to the growth of Manila in many ways, not only as wholesale merchants, retailers and peddlers, but also as construction engineers and laborers who literally built colonial Manila.This study is part of a larger project of the present author to write a history of Spanish colonial Manila. As the first step toward this goal, the life of Chinese settlers in colonial Manila during 1750-1820 has been examined and illustrated, particularly their economic activities, and relations with Spaniards and other local people. For this, the Spanish manuscripts kept in the several archives in the Philippines, such as protocolos, marriage information, provisor's court records, and customs records, etc., were consulted.The Chinese residents in Manila during 1750-1820 suffered from the Spanish restrictive policy, to name a few, the requirement of the Catholic faith. They nevertheless succeeded in establishing a network of people which covered their hometowns in Fu-jian, the Spanish Philippines, and the Sulu Islands outside the Spanish sphere. The Christian Chinese married legally local women and produced mestizo offspring. The Chinese hand in hand with their mestizo descendants adjusted to the changing colonial environment and continued to support the growth of Spanish colonial Manila.