Meaning, Relevance, and Sources of History - Renato R.

Constantino Main Types of Written Source

LESSON 1 ● History is not just about the perspective of the ● Primary Source
“winners.” History takes the importance of the - It is the testimony of an eyewitness, or of a witness
Meaning of History common man or the “masses” into account. by any other of the senses, or of a mechanical
● History is not just the study of past events. ● To write history “from below” requires the proper device like the dictaphone – that is, of one who or
● History originated as a derivation of historia, an use of the documents “from below.” that which was present at the events of which he or
ancient Greek term for learning through inquiry it tells (Gottschalk, 1950).
Traditional VS New History
(Hoefferle, 2013). - Examples: diaries, audio recordings, artifacts,
● History refers to a chronological record of significant Traditional New History letters, newspaper articles, documents,
events such as those affecting a nation or institution, photographs, video recording.
often including an explanation of their causes It is a scientific and It is a humanistic and
objective narrative. subjective narrative. ● Secondary Source
(Merriam Webster Dictionary).
- It is the testimony of anyone who is not an
Meaning of History according to: Only written documents Artefacts and oral eyewitness – that is, one who was not present at
are valid – No document, tradition can be used as
- Zeus A. Salazar the events of which he tells (Gottschalk, 1950).
no history. the basis of history.
● Ang Kasaysayan ay Salaysay hinggil sa nakaraan - Examples: bibliographies, commentaries,
o nakalipas na may Saysay–kahulugan, katuturan, The great and powerful The masses also had annotations, dictionaries, encyclopedias, journal
at kabuluhan–sa Sariling Lipunan at Kultura o people are the focus of their own version of articles, magazines, monographs, and textbooks.
kabuuang kinabibilangan. Ito ay ini-uulat gamit ang history. history.
Types of Unwritten Source
mga konsepto at kategorya ng sariling kultura
Relevance of History ● Archeological Evidence – it refers to remains
(Salazar, 1999).
● The relevance of history according to Peter Stearns such as artifacts and ecofacts which help a
- Teodoro A. Agoncillo (1998): historian in determining the culture of the people.
● History is not objective. In the process of recreating - History contributes to moral understanding. ● Oral Evidence – it pertains to folk tales, myths,
the past, the personality of historians plays an - History helps us understand people and societies. legends, folk songs and popular rituals.
important role. - History provides Identity. ● Material Evidence – it includes photographs, art
● Since history is a matter of interpretation of - History is essential for good citizenship. works, videos, and sound recordings.
significant past events, there was a need to rewrite ● History helps us understand how events in the past
history from “the Filipino point of view,” while shaped the present and the future.
sticking to the facts. ● History teaches us to learn from the errors of the
past that can be used in the present for the
- Reynaldo C. Ileto
betterment of our future.
● History is not merely a chronological series of
events nor the story of heroes and great men. It Sources of History
also consists of the people’s efforts to attain a better ● Sources are the primary foundation of history.
life. ● Sources are defined as artifacts that have been left
● History is a recorded collective struggle that by the past (Howell and Prevenier, 2001).
involves the mass of human beings who are
Classification and Types of Historical Sources
therefore the motivators of change and history.
● can be classified into two categories:
1. Written Source 2. Unwritten Sources
 Tests of Authenticity And Credibility Basic Assumptions with Sources and piracy, the unauthorized use of someone else’s
LESSON 2 ● Here are some assumptions which can guide work, such as the publication of a book without
historians or researchers in examining primary permission of the author.
Method vs Historiography sources:
La Loba Negra
● Sources must be examined and should be dealt with 1. Sources like relics, artifacts, remains, documents,
● La Loba Negra is a novel that tells the story of the
high regard in order to ascertain the accuracy of and witnesses are accurate when proven to be
Governor-General Francisco Bustamante and his
information for the greater benefit of the readers. authentic and credible. Relics, artifacts, and
subsequent assassination and the revenge of his wife
● Method pertains to the process of thoroughly remains, though, are more reliable while
Luisa.
examining and critically analyzing the records and documents (or narratives) and witnesses are more
● Unpublished during the lifetime of Burgos, it seems
survivals of the past. detailed and specific.
first to have appeared publicly in 1938 when it is said
● Historiography refers to the process of 2. The authenticity of a source increases the
to have been published in a limited edition by
reconstructing historical data that has already been credibility of that source.
Augusto R. de Luzuriaga.
tested by the method. 3. A primary source is more reliable than a secondary
● This novel was debunked by Fr. John Schumacher
one.
External Criticism: The Test of Authenticity due to its inconsistencies and forged signature of Fr.
4. The credibility of a source is increased if it is
● External criticism focuses on the origin and Jose Burgos—attributing this fraud novel to Jose E.
corroborated by independent sources.
authenticity of the source. Marco.
5. Sources would tend to be biased, especially to its
● It examines factors such as:
provenance or to the one who made it or held its Sa Aking mga Kabatà
- Provenance: Where the source comes from and its
custody. ● Sa Aking Mga Kabatà is a poem about the love of
historical context?
6. If sources like witnesses or their testimonies do not one’s native language written in Tagalog.
- Authorship: Who created the source and their
have immediate interest or direct involvement in ● It is widely attributed to the Filipino national hero José
background?
the event, they become more credible than those Rizal, who supposedly wrote it in 1868 at the age of
- Date and Place of Creation: When and where the
who have interest or direct involvement. eight.
source was produced?
7. If all independent sources agree to a certain event, ● The poem was first published in 1906, a decade after
- Physical Characteristics: What are the material
then the event becomes usually acceptable or his death, in a book by the poet Hermenegildo Cruz.
and format of the source, including any alterations
factual. ● Cruz claimed that he received the poem from another
or forgeries?
8. Testimonies of witnesses are credible if the poet, Gabriel Beato Francisco.
Internal Criticism: The Test of Credibility witnesses are mentally and emotionally fit at the
FALSIFICATION of Philippine History
● Internal criticism deals with the content of the time of the interview or declaration. 9. The source
● Falsification is one of the widespread propaganda
source itself. that does not conform to its milieu is considered a
methods when, in order to achieve political goals, an
● It evaluates: fabricated source.
interested party denies historical facts and revises the
- Accuracy: How reliable is the information 9. The source that does not conform to its milieu is
past.
presented? considered a fabricated source.
- Bias: Does the author have any biases or ● Historical revisionism (negationism)
FORGERY in Philippine History ● Denying or justifying crimes committed by
perspectives that might influence the account?
● Forgery is a technique used to make or destroy authoritarian regimes
- Consistency: Is the information consistent with
reputations, solve intractable cases, manipulate truth, ● Idealizing/romanticizing dictators and authoritarian
other known facts or sources?
or control the historical record. regimes
- Context: How does the context in which the source
● Other fraudulent practices include plagiarism, the ● Stirring up historical traumas
was created affect its content?
false presentation of another’s work as one’s own, ● Evoking nostalgia for the past
Photograph of William Howard Taft ● Aside from their political agendas, these images were dated itself to the Saka year 822, which
also used to sexualize the Filipino body as exotic and corresponds to the year [Apr. 21] 900 AD.
oriental beauty.
- Summary and Highlights
● The LCI is composed of 10 lines and can be
Pre-colonial Sources in Philippine History divided into four parts:
LESSON 3
○ First is the salutation remarks and designation
of the exact date of inscription in Sanskrit.
Introduction
○ Second is the presentation of the case and
● Before the Advent of Islam and Christianity in the
the people involved.
Philippines, the process of Indianization and
○ Third is the decision and its consequent
Sinicization permeated the Southeast Asian region
conditions bestowed to the debtor.
between the 5th and 13th century.
○ Fourth is the confirmation of acquittance of the
Falsification of Philippine History ● Foreign merchants and emissaries from the
debtor to his debt.
● Dean C. Worcester served as the secretary of the neighboring countries went to the Philippines to
● Jayadewa, the Chief of Tondo, released its
interior for the US Insular Government in the establish commercial and political ties.
bearers, the children of Namwaran, through an
Philippines from 1901 to 1913. ● The pre-colonial Philippine society and culture
acquittance certificate from their debt of gold.
● He is the longest serving member of the colonial flourished by assimilating the foreign influences with
● The following customs and practices had shown
administration in the Philippines in the years before the existing local customs and heritage of the people.
the intricacies and high culture of pre-colonial
the first world war. Laguna Copperplate Inscription Philippine societies in 10th century:
● He wielded enormous influence in developing official ● The earliest-known calendar-dated document - writing system based - quasi-judicial
policies and procedures for governing the colony. found in the Philippines. An official acquittance on Kawi Script system
● Worcester successfully influenced substantial certificate inscribed onto a copper plate. It is
numbers of Americans to share his beliefs that made of copper and measures about 20 by 30 - literacy - social stratification
Filipinos were much too backward for political centimeters with the words directly embossed
- weighting and - widespread
independence and that the US should control the onto the plate. measuring system socio-political
archipelago for a long time. ● It was mainly written in Old Malay using the Early alliance
● Photographs could provide visual evidence of the Kawi script, with several technical Sanskrit
supposedly backward state of the colonies, which, in words and either Old Javanese or Old Tagalog - calendar system - trading and
turn, could help to bolster arguments that the US was commercial ties
honorifics.
acting in the benevolent interests of the newly
- Discovery and Translation Zhu Fan Zhi – A Description of Barbarian Nations,
colonized peoples.
● LCI was found in 1987 near the mouth of the Records of Foreign People
● For Worcester, the Non-Christian Filipino clothing is
Lumbang River by a man named Ernesto ● Written by Chau Ju-kua around 1225 CE.
more of a display than of modesty - justifying their
Legisma. ● The work is a collection of descriptions of
lack of civilization.
● It was later sold to the National Museum of the countries and various products from outside
● Through these images, he presents the state of
Philippines under the care of Alfredo E. China during the Song Dynasty.
nakedness as equal to savageness while clothedness
Evangelista. ● The first volume gives a description of various
represents civilizedness.
● A year later, Antoon Postma deciphered and countries and the customs of the local people.
translated the script and found the document
 ● The second volume provides information on the bearers are often unknown, none of the ● These merchants were probably from Manila,
trade goods available from those countries. goods are ever lost or stolen. The savage traders Pampanga, Sulu, Maguindanao, Cebu, and
● Some of the information given in the book are transport these goods to other islands, and thus Butuan.
fanciful tales. eight or nine months pass until they have ● There are an estimated 500 pre-conquest
obtained other goods of value equivalent to Luções or Luzones living in Minjani.
- Chau Ju-kua (1170-1231)
those that have been received from the Chinese. ● The Luções owned shops, had trade deals with
- He is also known as Zhao Rukuo.
foreign kingdoms, and had business ventures
- He was a member of the Song Dynasty The Suma Oriental Of Tome Pires
with the new Portuguese overlords of Malacca.
imperial clan. ● Written by Tome Pires in Malacca between
● Some Luzones had diraja titles — diraja is a
- He was posted to Fujian as a supervisor of 1512-1515.
Malayan term that means “noble royalty” or
maritime trade in Quanzhou. ● Description of the geography, ethnography and
“royalty by descent.”
- His position gave him the opportunity to gather commerce of the Asian coastline stretching from
● One of them was Regimo Diraja, the founder
information personally from various foreign the Red Sea to Japan.
and the leader of the Luzones Town and was
traders who anchored at his port. ● The manuscript is an important record of the
married to a Malaccan.
region at the start of European colonization in the
- Summary and Highlights ● Another successful Filipino diraja was Surya
early sixteenth century.
● The country Ma-yi (Luzon) is located north of Diraja, who owned vast plantations and country
● This book was unpublished and presumed lost
Poni (Borneo). About one thousand families estates in Malacca.
until 1944 when a manuscript copy was
inhabit the shores of a river. The country has ● In 1525, the Luzones warriors aided Sultan
discovered in a Paris archive.
many lofty hills and rugged rocks which rise up Mahmud Shah in the failed attempt to reclaim
like gigantic walls. The houses of the inhabitants - Tomé Pires (C. 1468 — C. 1524/1540) Malacca from the Portuguese.
are built of bamboo. The natives dress in linen, ● He was a Portuguese apothecary, colonial ● The bravery of the ancient Filipinos was
wearing clothes that look like sheets; or they administrator, and diplomat. immortalized when the Portuguese described
cover their bodies with sarong. In the thick ● Before being sent overseas, Pires worked as them as “the most warlike and valiant.”
woods are scattered copper statues of Buddha. apothecary to Prince Afonso of Portugal. ● According to the Philippine Historian William
● Women go back and forth to the mountain ● In 1510, he was commissioned by the Henry Scott, “Perhaps the ‘discovery of the
bearing on their heads jars filled with water, a Portuguese court to serve as a "factor of drugs " Philippines ’ was made in Malacca.”
load that does not bother them. The products of in India.
that country are yellow wax, cotton, pearls, ● In 1512 he was sent to the port city of Malacca,
shells, betel nuts, and jute textiles. The interior of recently captured by the Portuguese to serve as
the valleys is inhabited by a race called Hay-tan the chief accountant for the royal factory.
(Aeta) They are of short stature, have round ● Pires was sent to China in 1516 as ambassador
yellow eyes, curly hair. When Chinese of Portugal to the Ming Court where he spent his
merchantmen arrive at that port they cast an remaining years.
anchor at the place of Mandarins.
- Summary and Highlights
● When foreign traders come to one of their
● There was a place called Minjani in the
villages, they must not touch the ground, but
16th-century Malacca that had a market village
must remain aboard their vessel. In order to
that welcomed merchants from the pre-colonial
trade, the savage traders are assembled, and
Philippines.
have the goods carried in baskets, and although