Group 1 4:00-5:00TThS August 28,2014

EARLY CHILDHOOD AND SOCIALIZATION OF DR. JOSE RIZAL

PLACE OF CHILDHOOD
Jose Rizal was born to the wealthy Mercado-Rizal family in Calamba, Laguna of the Philippines.
Rizal remembered many things about the house. The nipa hut in the garden was where he sketched
and sculpted. In the kitchen he learned the alphabet and in the bedroom his prayers. In the library,
he discovered books and a vast world beyond his hometown. On the azotea, he listened to his
yayas stories of skeletons and buries treasures, and trees that bloomed with diamonds.
The Rizal House, now a shrine, recaptures the era of Joses boyhood. It is built along the
architectural style of the Spanish period.The ground floor holds various exhibits, facsimile of
Rizals manuscripts and drawings.The second floor is devoted to the familys living quarters. The
first thing you see is the caida, which also served as Francisco Mercados library. A doorway
connects the caida to the sala flanked by three bedrooms the boys room, which Rizal shared with
his older brother Paciano; the girls room for his nine sisters; and the master bedroom with a four-
poster bed in which Rizal was born.
Beyond the sala is the informal dining room above which hangs a punkah, a large rectangular fan of
Indian influence. Close by is the kitchen and the azotea, below which is the old well, one of the
surviving features of the original house.
A separate structure, built in 1997, houses a library, an audio-visual room and a Rizaliana gallery.
The gallery contain artifacts from the heros later years such as a fragment of the coat he was
wearing when he was executed.
FAMILY BACKGROUND
The Mercado - Rizal Family
The Rizals is considered one of the biggest families during their time. Domingo Lam-co, the family's
paternal ascendant was a full-blooded Chinese who came to the Philippines from Amoy, China in the
closing years of the 17th century and married a Chinese half-breed by the name of Ines de la Rosa.
Researchers revealed that the Mercado-Rizal family had also traces of Japanese, Spanish, Malay
and Even Negrito blood aside from Chinese.
Jose Rizal came from a 13-member family consisting of his parents, Francisco Mercado II and
Teodora Alonso Realonda, and nine sisters and one brother.
FRANCISCO MERCADO (1818-1898)
Father of Jose Rizal who was the youngest of 13 offsprings of Juan and Cirila Mercado. Born in Bian, Laguna on
April 18, 1818; studied in San Jose College, Manila; and died in Manila.
TEODORA ALONSO (1827-1913)
Mother of Jose Rizal who was the second child of Lorenzo Alonso and Brijida de Quintos. She studied at the
Colegio de Santa Rosa. She was a business-minded woman, courteous, religious, hard-working and well-read. She
was born in Santa Cruz, Manila on November 14, 1827 and died in 1913 in Manila.
SATURNINA RIZAL (1850-1913)
Eldest child of the Rizal-Alonzo marriage. Married Manuel Timoteo Hidalgo of Tanauan, Batangas.
PACIANO RIZAL (1851-1930)
Only brother of Jose Rizal and the second child. Studied at San Jose College in Manila; became a farmer and later a
general of the Philippine Revolution.
NARCISA RIZAL (1852-1939)
The third child. married Antonio Lopez at Morong, Rizal; a teacher and musician.
OLYMPIA RIZAL (1855-1887)
The fourth child. Married Silvestre Ubaldo; died in 1887 from childbirth.
LUCIA RIZAL (1857-1919)
The fifth child. Married Matriano Herbosa.
MARIA RIZAL (1859-1945)
The sixth child. Married Daniel Faustino Cruz of Bian, Laguna.
JOSE RIZAL (1861-1896)
The second son and the seventh child. He was executed by the Spaniards on December 30,1896.
CONCEPCION RIZAL (1862-1865)
The eight child. Died at the age of three.
JOSEFA RIZAL (1865-1945)
The ninth child. An epileptic, died a spinster.
TRINIDAD RIZAL (1868-1951)
The tenth child. Died a spinster and the last of the family to die.
SOLEDAD RIZAL (1870-1929)
The youngest child married Pantaleon Quintero.
EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENT
Jose Rizal himself reminiscing his childhood memories in his beloved hometown, Calamba. Jose
Rizal, like many Filipino boys, had many beautiful memories during his childhood days. The
beauties of Calamba impressed him as a growing child and deeply influenced his mind and
character. The happiest period of his life was truly his childhood days in his natal town.
He grew up in a place and in an environment full of unique influences. Among these factors that
influenced him are the Hereditary Influence, Environmental Influence, and the Aid of Divine
Providence.
From his Malayan ancestors, Rizal inherited his passionate love for freedom and his serenity of
lifes outlook. Hereditary influence was from his Chinese ancestors where he derived his serious
nature, frugality, patience and love for children. From his Spanish ancestors, he got his elegance
of bearing, sensitivity to insult, and gallantry to ladies.
The environment also made a great contribution to the development of Rizals character. The
scenic beauties of Calamba and the beautiful garden of the Rizal family stimulated the inborn
artistic and literary talents of Jose Rizal. The religious atmosphere at his home fortified his
religious nature. His brother, Paciano, instilled in his mind the love for freedom and justice. From
his sisters, he learned to be courteous and kind to women. The fairy tales told by his aya during his
early childhood awakened his interest in folklore and legends.
There were three uncles, brothers of his mother, who played a great part in the early education and
character development of Rizal. Uncle Gregorio was a lover of books. He instilled into the mind
of his precocious nephew (Rizal) a great love for books. Uncle Jose, who had been educated at
Calcutta, India, was the youngest brother of Dona Teodora. He encouraged his nephew to master
painting, sketching and sculpting. Uncle Manuel was a big, strong and husky man. He looked after
the physical training of his sickly and weak nephew. He encouraged young Rizal to learn
swimming, fencing, wrestling and other sports, so that in later years Rizals frail body acquired
agility, endurance and strength.
The most important influence in rizals life was the Aid of the Divine Providence withoit the aid of
Divine Providnce, he cannot attain greatness in the annals of the nation.
THE HISTORY BEHIND THE LONG NAME OF DR. JOSE RIZAL
(Jose Protacio Alonso Realonda Mercado Rizal)
Among the earliest known ancestors of Jose Rizal were Siang-co and Zun-nio of Fujian, China.
Their son Lam-co migrated to the Philippines in the late 1600s. Lam-co adopted the name
Domingo and married Ines de la Rosa, the daughter of Agustin Chin-co and Jacinta Rafaela, a
Chinese mestiza resident of the Parian.
Lam-co and Ines heeded the invitation of Spanish friars to move to the Dominican estate of Bian,
Laguna. Their son, Francisco Mercado, was born there in 1731. To steer clear of the anti-Chinese
hostility of the Spanish authorities, Lam-co changed the family surname to the Spanish Mercado
(market), which also signified their merchant roots.
Francisco Mercado married Bernarda Monica of San Pedro, Tunasan in 1771 and sired Rizals
grandfather, Juan. Juan Mercado served as the capitan municipal of Bian. With his wife, Cirila
Alejandra, he had 13 children; among whom was Rizals father, Francisco.
When he was 30, Francisco married Teodora Alonso, a Manila-born girl 10 years younger than him.
Teodoras great-grandmother was Regina Ursua of Cavite, who wedded Manuel Facundo de
Quintos, a lawyer from Pangasinan. They made their home in San Pedro Makati and gave birth to
Teodoras mother, Brigida, who married Lorenzo Alberto Alonso of Bian.
One year later, Governor-General Narciso Claveria issued the dictum decreeing new family names
for the Indios to facilitate census work and the collection of taxes. Each province was given a list
from which each family could choose a new surname. The Mercados of Calamba chose the unlisted
name Rizal, although they continued to use the name Mercado. Their original application was for
the name Ricial (meaning the green of young growth or green fields), which was connected to
their livelihood, but this was denied for no apparent reason.
In the same way, the Alonsos of Bian chose the family name Realonda but continued to use
Alonso. This seemed to be a common practice, so that each family ended up with four surnames:
each of the old and new family names of both the mother and the father. For Rizal, the compounds
were his fathers double surname: Mercado and Rizal, plus his mothers surname: Alonso and
Realonda.
Francisco and Teodoras seventh child, Jose, adopted the name Rizal to enable him to travel freely
and to dissociate himself from his brother Paciano