Phil.

History -- Malayan Heritage

Ages before the coming of the Spaniards, our Malay ancestors had brought to
our shores their ancestral culture as follows:
1. Food and Drinks
2. Mode of Dressing
3. Tattoos
4. House
5. Natural Courtesy and Politeness
6. Cleanliness and Neatness
7. Amusements
8. Music
9. Marriage Customs
10. The Wedding Ceremony
11. Government
12. Laws
13. Religion
14. Burial and Mourning Customs
15. Superstitions
16. Languages
17. Writing
18. Literacy of the Early Filipinos
19. Literature
20. Education
21. Arts
22. Science
23. Weight and Measures
24. Calendars
25. Coinage
26. Domestic and Foreign Trade

27. Agriculture and Industries

Food and Drinks
- rice was the staple food of the early Filipinos
- they cooked their food in earthen pots or in bamboo tubes
- tuba was the popular wine which was made from coconut same with
lambanog- a tagalog wine taken from the coconut
palm http://www.batangas-philippines.com/palm-wine.html
- Basi - an Ilocano wine made from sugarcane
- Pangasi - a Bisayan wine made from fermented
wine http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rice_wine while tapuy - an Igorot wine
distilled from rice
Mode of Dressing
- The men wore kangan (a short sleeved jacket) and bahag (a strip of
cloth wrapped around the waist and in between the legs)
- the men used putong ( a piece of cloth wound around the head) instead
of a hat
- the women wore a baro ( a wide-sleeved jacket) and patadyong (skirt)
Tattoos
- The tattoos serve two purposes:
1. to enhance their bodily beauty
2. to show their war records
House
- The early Filipino houses were made of wood, bamboo, and palm
leaves.
- the Bagobos and Kalingas still live in such houses
- the Badjaos (sea-gypsies) of Sulu Sea still live in a boat-house as their
forefathers did in ancient times
Natural Courtesy and Politeness
- when two persons of equal rank met on the road, they removed their
putong as a sign of courtesy
- when he is his superior, he took off his putong and put it over his left
shoulder and bowed low.
- when a man and woman walked together, the man was always behind
the woman.
Cleanliness and Neatness
- the early Filipinos were clean and neat in their personal habits. They
bathed daily
- their favorite hour for bathing in the river was at sunset when they had

finished their daily toil

Music
- kudyapi -tagalog guitar
- kalaleng - Tinggian nose-flute
- kulintang - Moro xylophone
- kumintang-tagalog love dance
victory
- mahinhin-tagalog courtship dance
- dandansoy-bisayan tuba dance
- kinnotan-Ilocano art's dance
- paujalay-Moro wedding dance
recounts the exploits of Lam- ang
- tadok - Tinggian love dance

- tultogan - Bisayan bamboo drum

- silbay - Ilocano reed flute
- suracan - Subanum cymbal
- tagumpay-tagalog song of
- dallu-Negrito religious song
- ayog-ku- Igorot serenade song
- bactal-Tagbanua death song
- dallot-Ilocano ballad song w/c
- tudob-Agusan harvest song

Marriage Customs
- Before marriage, the groom gave a dowry to the family of the bride
called bigaykaya
- the groom had to work in the house of the bride for a certain period of
time
Government
- The early Filipinos had their own form of government called barangaya Malayan word which was balangay -means sailboat.
- the ruler of the barangay was called datu also known as hari or raja.
-the ruler was the chief executive, legislator, and judge and in times of
war, he was the commander of the barangay warriors
- the datu usually obtained his position by inheritance. When the datu
died, his son inherited the datuship. If the datu died childless, the barangay
chose a man to be the datu on the basis of his wisdom, physical strenght, or
wealth.
Laws
- The early Filipinos had both oral and written laws. The oral laws were
the customs (ugali) of the race which were handed down orally from
generation to generation.
- the written laws promulgated by the datus with the help of the elders,
and were put into writing. These written laws were announced to the people
by a barangay crier known as umalahokan.
Religion
-the ancient Filipinos were pagan with the exception of Muslims. Their
supreme God was Bathala, creator of heaven , earth and men.

- other gods and goddesses were anitos (Tagalog), diwatas (Bisayan)

Burial and Mourning Customs
- the mourning custom for a deceased datu was called larao.
- all wars and quarrels were suspended
- clothes, food, weapons, and sometimes slaves were buried with the
dead
Superstitions
- the early Filipinos believed in witches such as: aswang, mangkukulam,
tianak, and the tikbalang
- they also believed in the magical power of amulets or charms such as:
anting-anting, gayuma,
odom- Bicol magic herb which makes its possessor invisible t the
human eye,
uiga- Bisayan charm which enables any man to cross a river without
getting wet
Languages
- the Malayo-Polynesian languages- the mother tongue of the Pacifi races
- Father Pedro Chirino in 1604 wrote: "there is no single or general
language of the Filipinos extending throughout the islands, but all of them,
though there are many different tongues, are so much alike that they may be
learned and spoken in short time."
Writing
- the early Filipinos used a sharp pointed iron instrument called sipol as
a pen.
- they wrote on banana leaves, tree-barks, and bamboo tubes
Education
- the system of the education in the Philippines before the arrival of the
Spaniards was generally informal.
- the children studied in their own homes with their parents or with some
old men in the barangays as tutors.
Domestic and Foreign Trade
- the usual method of trading with foreign merchants was by barter in
which they offered their own products in exchange for the products of other
countries.
- it had been observed by the two early Chinese writers, Chao Ju-kua
(1225) and Wang Tayuan (1349) that Filipinos were honest in their
commercial transaction.

Agriculture and Industries

-Farming was the main industry of ancient Filipinos.
- Two method of cultivation were used: the kaingin and the regular
means of tillage using wooden plows and harrows drawn by carabaos.
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OUR HERITAGE FROM INDIA, CHINA AND ARABIA

Early Relations with India

- the Hindu visitors to our land came peacefully. They were traders
or foreign immigrants.
Hindu antiques or relics from India were found in different place:
1. gold image of Agusan- this statue of a Hindu goddess was found at
Esperanza, Agusan Province in 1917.
2. Copper image of Ganesha- this statue of elephant god of the Hindus
was found in Mactan in 1843.
3. Gold pendant of Garuda- the legendary bird of India was found in
Brooke's Point, Palawa in 1961.
Traces of Hindu culture can be found in our: religion; jobs; writing; language;
customs; and races.
In religion, Bathala is of Indian origin
In jobs, weaving cotton cloth, making lotus design, making guitars, making
sampaguita flower leis, raising
fruits (mango, langka) vegetable (ampalaya, patola and ,malunggay)
In writing, our ancient alphabet came from their Sanskrit writing
In language, examples: ama, asawa, halaga, maharlika, nanay, mutya, paa,
raha, sandata
Sarong (skirt) and the putong of the ancient Filipinos were of Indian origin.
Early Relations with China
- like Hindus, the early Chines came to our land to buy and sell only not to
conquer or rules us.
- they also spread Chinese culture to our country, many Chinese settled
here and married Filipino women.
Our Chinese heritage is economic and social. Traces of Chinese influence are

found in our: jobs, costumes, language, and blood.

In jobs, Filipino learned how to make gunpowder, to mine for gold, to work
with metal, to use porcelain,
gongs and metals, and to make kites.
In costumes, loose trousers, slippers, wooden shoes (bakya), fans and
umbrellas. the use of white clothes
for mourning the dead came from the Chinese.
In social customs, respect for elders, arranged marriages, worship of dead
ancestors, use of firecrakers at
New Year; the vices: the tong (fee) for owners of gambling dens and
gambling with jueteng, cards
and mah-jong,
In language, examples: ate, bakya, bantay, buwisit, gunting, kuya, pinto, and
susi
In blood, many Chinese married Filipina women and lived in the Philippines.
Early Relations with Arabia
- Every Filipino today knows about Saudi Arabia because many of our
countrymen work there and in other Arab countries in the Middle East. In
1380, the first Arab visitor named Mukdum came to Sulu from Mecca, Saudi
Arabia. He spread the Islam, the Muslim religion and built the first mosque
(Muslim church) at Simunul, Sulu.
- In 1450, another Arab missionary named Abu Bakr went to Jolo. Married
the princess of Jolo and founded the sultanate of Sulu.
- In 1475, an Arab trader named Kabungsuwan landed at Cotabato and
conquered that valley. Also married the princess and founded the sultanate of
Maguindanao.
If the Spaniards had not come and spread Christianity, the Philippines would
have become a Muslim country.
Our Arab heritage: religion, politics, social life
Our Arabic heritage is mostly seen among Muslim Filipinos in the south.
The Arabs gave the Muslim filipinos the religion of Islam
In politics, the Arab introduced the sultanate form of government and laws.
Sultan (King); raha (heir); dayang (princess); kali (judge)
Some examples of Muslim customs are: polygamy, divorce and pilgrimage to
Mecca.

Ramadan- the Muslim holy festival of fasting and prayer

Singkil - the royal Muslim dance of the Maranao