List of Resources for Pre-Colonial Philippines.

superhusbandslove asked: Hi, I was just wondering if you have a list of resources for finding out more about pre-colonial Philippine culture, especially with religion. Thanks.

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(Made Rebloggable by Request)

There’s actually several and they are the primary sources in learning about pre-colonial Philippines. You can find most of them online on this site with English translations. There they have a database of all the volumes of The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, that is a combined composition of all the historical records of the Philippines and our ancestors between those years. There are no written records written by us because we were an oral culture, any stories and important information was passed down orally through each generation. The only things we actually did use our writing was for poems, songs, and short messages with one another. If we did write down any information they were on perishable objects like bamboo or palm leaves, and if not they were on things like the famous Laguna Copperplate, however we haven’t found them yet. Perhaps someday we might find some more written records by us but for now we still haven’t found any besides the Laguna Copperplate, so we must make do with what the early Spaniards wrote about us and the islands, which thankfully they did in some detail or else none of that would be known today. That and also records from neighboring area’s like China and Borneo.

But anyway here are some useful documents that do mention cultural stuff.

- Relacion de las Yslas Filipinas. Miguel de Loarca, June 1582
- Conquest of the island of Luzon. Manila, April 20, 1572
- Customs of the Tagalogs (two relations). Juan de Plasencia, O.S.F.; Manila, October 21 1589
- Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas. Antonio de Morga 1609

There is also William Henry Scott’s book, Barangay: 16th Century Philippine Culture and Society, which is a book based on his studies on those historical records in a more convenient organized book.

As for our indigenous religions they also mention that on there. If you want to read that in a more organized way read William Henry Scott’s book (it’s pretty organized as it’s already laid out for you with different sections like physical appearance, food and farming, trades and commerce, religion, literature and entertainment, etc. ) You can read parts of it online on Google Books, however it’s limited, so once you start reading you will only be able to read a few pages. Once you use your limit then only a few pages are able to be viewed. If you live in the Philippines however they do have a copy that you can borrow and read in the library in Ateneo University and most likely in UP.

You can also look at this site for a brief overview of our indigenous beliefs and practices for someone today interested in reviving them. The website was made by someone who does practice our indigenous beliefs and practices and is geared toward for those interested in reconstructing our indigenous beliefs. If you have any questions about that feel free to message me as I also practice our indigenous beliefs.