The Boxer Codex is a late-16th-century Spanish manuscript produced in the Philippines. It contains 75 colored illustrations of the peoples of China, the Philippines, Java, the Moluccas, the Ladrones, and Siam. About 270 pages of Spanish text describe these places, their inhabitants and customs. An additional 88 smaller drawings show mythological deities and demons, and both real and mythological birds and animals copied from popular Chinese texts and books in circulation at the time.
The English historian Charles Ralph Boxer purchased the manuscript in 1947 from the collection of Lord Ilchester in London. Boxer recognized the importance of what he called the "Manila Manuscript" and published a paper in 1950 with a detailed description of the codex. He made the manuscript freely available to other researchers for study, and it became known as the Boxer Codex. Boxer eventually sold it to Indiana University, where it is held by the Lilly Library.
The manuscript was written circa 1590[1] and contains illustrations of ethnic groups in the Philippines, across Southeast Asia, and in East Asia and Micronesia at the time of early Spanish contact. It also contains Taoist mythological deities and demons, and both real and mythological birds and animals copied from popular Chinese texts and books in circulation at the time. Aside from a description of and historical allusions to what is now the Philippines and various other Far Eastern countries, the codex also contains 97 hand-drawn color paintings and illustrations depicting peoples, birds and animals (both real and mythological) of the Philippines, the Indonesian Archipelago, Japan, Taiwan, China, and Mainland Southeast Asia. The first illustration is an oblong fold-out, 74 are full-page colored illustrations and the remaining are arranged four to a page on 22 pages (with some of the quarters remaining blank). Most of the drawings appear to have been copied or adapted from materials brought to the Philippines from China by Martin de Rada: the Shānhǎi Jīng (山海经, The Classic of Mountains and Seas), and books from the shenmo (神魔) genre, which depict deities and demons. The remaining drawings represent individuals, often a male and female pair, as inhabitants from tributaries of China and Taiwan with their distinctive costume; some of these have been refashioned as warriors. The depictions of inhabitants from Chinese tributaries may have been copied from a preexisting source, drawn from memory or perhaps even drawn according to instruction given by Rada or one of the other Europeans who visited China.[2] At least 15 illustrations deal with the inhabitants of the Philippine Archipelago.[3]
History and provenanceedit
The Boxer Codex does not bear any direct statement of authorship or dates of production and there is no dedication that might indicate who was the patron of the work or for whom the work was intended. Its contents indicate that it was written in Manila in the early 1590s. The manuscript was likely compiled at the direction of Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas, the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, or his son, Luis Pérez Dasmariñas.[4]
The Boxer Codex depicts the Tagalogs, Visayans, Zambals, Cagayanes or possibly Ibanags, and Negritos of the Philippines in vivid color. The paintings' technique and the use of Chinese paper, ink, and paints suggests that the artist may have been Chinese.[5][2]
It is believed that the original owner of the manuscript was Luis Pérez Dasmariñas, son of Governor General Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas, the Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines. Luis succeeded his father in office as governor-general. Since Spanish colonial governors kept extensive written reports of the territories they governed, it is likely that the manuscript was written on the governor's orders.[5]
The manuscript's earliest known modern owner was Lord Ilchester. The codex was among what remained in his collection when his estate, Holland House in London, was bombed on September 27, 1940, during the Blitz. It was auctioned in 1947 and came into the possession of Charles Ralph Boxer, an authority on the Far East, and whom it is named. It is now owned by the Lilly Library at Indiana University.[3]
Picture gallery of the illustrations in Boxer Codexedit
This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (September 2019)
Boxer, C. R. (1950). "A Late Sixteenth Century Manila MS". The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1/2): 37–49. ISSN 0035-869X. JSTOR 25222372.
Crossley, John N. (2014). "The Early History of the Boxer Codex". Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. 24 (1): 115–124. doi:10.1017/S1356186313000552. ISSN 1356-1863. S2CID 162791393.
Roces, Alfredo R., ed. (1977), "Boxer Codex", Filipino Heritage: the Making of a Nation, vol. IV, Philippines: Lahing Pilipino Publishing, Inc.
Souza, George Bryan; Turley, Jeffrey Scott (2015). The Boxer Codex: Transcription and Translation of an Illustrated Late Sixteenth-Century Spanish Manuscript. Brill. ISBN978-9004292734.
"Boxer Codex". The Lilly Library Digital Collections, Indiana University. Retrieved August 17, 2021.
External linksedit
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boxer Codex.
boxer, codex, late, 16th, century, spanish, manuscript, produced, philippines, contains, colored, illustrations, peoples, china, philippines, java, moluccas, ladrones, siam, about, pages, spanish, text, describe, these, places, their, inhabitants, customs, add. The Boxer Codex is a late 16th century Spanish manuscript produced in the Philippines It contains 75 colored illustrations of the peoples of China the Philippines Java the Moluccas the Ladrones and Siam About 270 pages of Spanish text describe these places their inhabitants and customs An additional 88 smaller drawings show mythological deities and demons and both real and mythological birds and animals copied from popular Chinese texts and books in circulation at the time Reception of the Manila galleon by the Chamorro in the Ladrones Islands c 1590The English historian Charles Ralph Boxer purchased the manuscript in 1947 from the collection of Lord Ilchester in London Boxer recognized the importance of what he called the Manila Manuscript and published a paper in 1950 with a detailed description of the codex He made the manuscript freely available to other researchers for study and it became known as the Boxer Codex Boxer eventually sold it to Indiana University where it is held by the Lilly Library Contents 1 Description and contents 2 History and provenance 3 Picture gallery of the illustrations in Boxer Codex 3 1 Natives of the Philippines 3 2 Foreigners present in the Philippines 4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External linksDescription and contents editThe manuscript was written circa 1590 1 and contains illustrations of ethnic groups in the Philippines across Southeast Asia and in East Asia and Micronesia at the time of early Spanish contact It also contains Taoist mythological deities and demons and both real and mythological birds and animals copied from popular Chinese texts and books in circulation at the time Aside from a description of and historical allusions to what is now the Philippines and various other Far Eastern countries the codex also contains 97 hand drawn color paintings and illustrations depicting peoples birds and animals both real and mythological of the Philippines the Indonesian Archipelago Japan Taiwan China and Mainland Southeast Asia The first illustration is an oblong fold out 74 are full page colored illustrations and the remaining are arranged four to a page on 22 pages with some of the quarters remaining blank Most of the drawings appear to have been copied or adapted from materials brought to the Philippines from China by Martin de Rada the Shanhǎi Jing 山海经 The Classic of Mountains and Seas and books from the shenmo 神魔 genre which depict deities and demons The remaining drawings represent individuals often a male and female pair as inhabitants from tributaries of China and Taiwan with their distinctive costume some of these have been refashioned as warriors The depictions of inhabitants from Chinese tributaries may have been copied from a preexisting source drawn from memory or perhaps even drawn according to instruction given by Rada or one of the other Europeans who visited China 2 At least 15 illustrations deal with the inhabitants of the Philippine Archipelago 3 History and provenance editThe Boxer Codex does not bear any direct statement of authorship or dates of production and there is no dedication that might indicate who was the patron of the work or for whom the work was intended Its contents indicate that it was written in Manila in the early 1590s The manuscript was likely compiled at the direction of Gomez Perez Dasmarinas the Spanish Governor General of the Philippines or his son Luis Perez Dasmarinas 4 The Boxer Codex depicts the Tagalogs Visayans Zambals Cagayanes or possibly Ibanags and Negritos of the Philippines in vivid color The paintings technique and the use of Chinese paper ink and paints suggests that the artist may have been Chinese 5 2 It is believed that the original owner of the manuscript was Luis Perez Dasmarinas son of Governor General Gomez Perez Dasmarinas the Spanish Governor General of the Philippines Luis succeeded his father in office as governor general Since Spanish colonial governors kept extensive written reports of the territories they governed it is likely that the manuscript was written on the governor s orders 5 The manuscript s earliest known modern owner was Lord Ilchester The codex was among what remained in his collection when his estate Holland House in London was bombed on September 27 1940 during the Blitz It was auctioned in 1947 and came into the possession of Charles Ralph Boxer an authority on the Far East and whom it is named It is now owned by the Lilly Library at Indiana University 3 Picture gallery of the illustrations in Boxer Codex editThis list is incomplete you can help by adding missing items September 2019 Natives of the Philippines edit 2 All Captions Below Based on Source nbsp A Lady from the Cagayan Valley Possibly Ibanag nbsp Warrior from Cagayan Valley Possibly Ibanag nbsp Couple with tied long hair and Kampilan hilt from Taimei Anchorage Lingayen Gulf Luzon Philippines Possibly Pangasinense nbsp Zambal hunters from Zambales nbsp Zambal hunters hunting nbsp A couple belonging to the Zambal warrior hunter class The image shows a culture of falconry nbsp Aeta or Negrito hunters nbsp Tagalog royalty in red the distinctive color of his class with his wife nbsp Tagalog royal couple in red the distinctive color of their class nbsp Tagalog maginoo noble class wearing blue the distinctive color of his class with his wife nbsp Native common women wearing simple clothes and headscarves likely Muslims from Maynila in the 1500s nbsp A Native Binukot Lady Possibly Visayan nbsp Visayan kadatuan royal couple nbsp Visayan kadatuan royal with his wife wearing red the distinctive color of their class nbsp A Pintado Possibly Cebuano or Waray couple of the timawa or tumao martial feudal class later demoted to freedman status nbsp Pintados Possibly Cebuano or Waray from Bohol showing their patok or tattoos nbsp Native Visayan uripon slaves adorned with gold Foreigners present in the Philippines edit 2 All Captions Below Based on Source nbsp Tatar Likely Mongol Noble with Wife from Tartary Likely either Mongolia or Manchuria nbsp Manchu Noble with Wife from Dalian then ruled by Ming Dynasty China nbsp Emperor amp Empress of Ming Dynasty China nbsp Noble Prince and Princess from Ming Dynasty China nbsp Mandarin Bureaucrat with Wife from Ming Dynasty nbsp Ming Dynasty Chinese General with Attendant nbsp Chinese Sangley Couple living in Manila Philippines wearing hanfu from Ming Dynasty nbsp Another Chinese Sangley Couple living in Manila Philippines wearing hanfu from Ming Dynasty nbsp She or Hakka Chinese Merchant with Wife from Ming Dynasty China nbsp Japanese Couple Possibly Samurai Ronin living in Manila Philippines wearing yukata with hair styled in Chinese fashion from Japan during Nanban trade era nbsp Vietnamese Noble with Wife in Manila from Tonkin Đại Việt Vietnam under either the Mạc dynasty or Le dynasty at that time nbsp Vietnamese Warrior with Wife from Hải Phong Tonkin Đại Việt Vietnam nbsp Vietnamese Noble with Wife from Quảng Nam Đại Việt Vietnam under the Nguyễn lords at the time nbsp Cham Couple from Champa in modern day Ninh Thuận Southern Vietnam nbsp Siamese Thai Warrior with Wife from Siam Thailand nbsp Khmer Couple from Kampuchea Cambodia nbsp Taiwanese Aboriginal Headhunter Couple from Keelung Spanish Formosa in modern day Taiwan nbsp Taiwanese Aboriginal Headhunter Couple from Tamsui Spanish Formosa in modern day Taiwan nbsp Chamorro Hunter from Marianas Islands Guam Northern Marianas with Spear nbsp Chamorro Hunter from Marianas Islands Guam Northern Marianas with Bow nbsp Warrior with Japanese swords and armor Possibly a Mercenary from other southeast Asian territories nbsp Malay Couple from the Terangganu Sultanate in Modern day Malaysia nbsp Bruneian Warrior with Wife from Burney Borneo or Brunei nbsp Javanese Warrior with a spear and shield from Iaua modern day Java Indonesia nbsp Sangirese Warriors from Siau Island Sangir Archipelago in modern day North Sulawesi Indonesia nbsp Moluccan Warrior from the Moluccas in modern day Maluku Islands Indonesia See also editCodice Casanatense Jose Honorato Lozano Damian Domingo Juan Luna Fernando Amorsolo Fabian de la Rosa Tipos del PaisNotes edit Lilly Library Indiana University Bloomington Indiana U S A Catalogue Record of the Boxer Codex a b c d Souza amp Turley 2015 a b Roces 1977 p 1003 Souza 2015 a b Roces 1977 p 1004 References editBoxer C R 1950 A Late Sixteenth Century Manila MS The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1 2 37 49 ISSN 0035 869X JSTOR 25222372 Crossley John N 2014 The Early History of the Boxer Codex Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society 24 1 115 124 doi 10 1017 S1356186313000552 ISSN 1356 1863 S2CID 162791393 Roces Alfredo R ed 1977 Boxer Codex Filipino Heritage the Making of a Nation vol IV Philippines Lahing Pilipino Publishing Inc Souza George Bryan Turley Jeffrey Scott 2015 The Boxer Codex Transcription and Translation of an Illustrated Late Sixteenth Century Spanish Manuscript Brill ISBN 978 9004292734 Boxer Codex The Lilly Library Digital Collections Indiana University Retrieved August 17 2021 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to Boxer Codex Record and manuscript of the Boxer Codex at Indiana University Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Boxer Codex amp oldid 1204694859, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
