Glorious past of Malayans · Rare Periodicals · Open Access Repository @ UPD

Title

Glorious past of Malayans

Creator

Soliven, Benito

Language

English

Source

I (10&11) October-November 1949

Year

1949

Subject

Civilization

Theory (Philosophy)

Rights

In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted

Fulltext

GLORIOUS PAST OF MALAYANS by BENITO SOLIVEN PAN-MALAYAN is a term that immediately grips the mind and fires the imagination. It is thought-provoking, and it conjures up a vision in which a great drama unfolds itself from the distant past, at times glorious with heroic and epic grandeur, at other times of going from place to pla.ce-the work of a tourist-begins to produce discouragements and dismays! "Oh, believe me that if we do not succeed in becoming independent, it is because we do not des.erve i.t: because there is no energy in our men, nor patriotic virtue in our women. Hence I need your cooperation, for women can do much. "Tell to our fellowmen that Independence cannot be obtained from roses with comfort and without risk. Independence is attained after a period of fighting, of sufferings, sacrifices, afflictions and · the surge of blood. If our fellowmen there do not have the courage to go to the battlefield to fight, they should at least have the virtue to be silent, inasmuch as in living in Manila they want to say that they recognize American sovereignty, because he who is not with us is against us, and are consequently, traitors. "I do not demand compliance with oaths, cries and the unfurling of national colours in times of peace where everything was quiet and the table was ready. I would only want a bit of consistency, somewhat reasonable, that demonstrates that we are neither children nor cowards. "Good-bye, Conchita! We find more pleasure here than there and we know how to be consistent with our ideals. "Know that your servant is attentive to you, A. LUNA" (The foreuoinn lette1· is a reprint from the English ve1"Sion by Julio Villamor of Col. Juan h/la.mo1·'s book: "GENERAL D. ANTONIO LUNA Y NOVICIO," pp. 6466.) ---oOo--OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, 1949 radiant with the romance and exquisite beauty of tropical seas and skies, with the sweet cadence and rhythm of Oriental music, song and dance; and again solemn and spiritual with mystic sublimity of philosophy and religion. You have asked me to speak on Malayan history and culture. It is a subject far beyond my very limited powers and meager preparation. Volumes of fascinating narrative and literature could hardly do it honor and justice; for it would be more than a mere historical and ethnological treatise, it would be the vindication of a much misunderstood people, a race that has prominently contributed to lay the foundation of modern civilization and progress. And yet I have accepted the task willingly, and even enthusiasticallv because I am convinced that any unbiased discussion of history, however brief, will show that the Malayan race, to which we have the privilege to belong, is not inferior to any other race, absolutely to no other race, either in potentialities and capacity or in culture and achievements. I lay no claim to any special erudition on the subject. But I am animated by honest conviction, and the fond hope that some of you with greater talents and more facilities than I have at my disposal, would take up the quest and undertake the defense of the Malay against the charge, at times outspokenly made, and always insinuated, that we are a shiftless race, incapable of sustained effort and constructive progress. The tragedy of it is that such an unjust and unfounded prejudice has gained credence even among our own people, many of whom have developed a· kind of inferiority complex, a state of mind which has caused us incalculable harm and has considerably retarded our progress, like leaden '!l,Weights shackled to our feet. No people that does not have a firm belief in its power and capabilities can achieve a great destiny. It is of the *A reprint from Filipiniana Page 533 highest transcendence, therefore, _thll;t we strive for the well-deserved d1gmfication of our race, by showing the immense contribution given to civilization by our ancestors, and _by re~ounting and making known then' glorious achievements. Thus may we redeem ourselves from the approbrium or blind prejudice; thus may we release the tremendous but latent forces of our people. I will not now indulge in subtle definitions and distinctions, based on philogical and ethnological theories, as regard who the Malays are, or whether thev are different from Indonesians or Polvnesians. Even learned authors fail to agree on these questions. I shall use the term M.alay as referring to the brown race in general, as distinguished from the white, the yellow and the black, according to that simple, unsophisticated a~d practical classification we learned 111 the schools of our boyhood. As we look around us today, we find the brown man occupying a widespread and far-flung territory more vast than we imagine; more extensive than that of any other race. Besides his home in the Malayan Peninsula and the Indian Archipelago, comprising Sumatra, Java, Borneo and other islands of the East Indies, and the Philippines, we find him in India, in Southeastern Asia, where the names of countries like Siam and Annam and Kalinga, are suggestively Malaya; in Korea, Formosa and Southern Japan, particularly in the island of Kyushiu; in the Hawaiian Archipelago and other oceanic island groups; in New Zealand and Australia; in Madagascar and the African coast; in North and South Americas in the person of the American Indian and the descendants of the Aztecs and the Incas. And even in Europe traces of him may be found among the brunette peoples of the Mediterranean coast. The unparalleled dispersion of the race over the face of the entire globe speaks high of the courage and pioneering spirit of the brown race. History and literature written by Occidental writers, almost always one-sided and over-emphatic on the history of the white race, and exPag2 584 ceedingly brief on the history of the East, extol the bravery and the sea-faring exploits of Phoenicians and Greeks in the dawn of history. We do not wish to minimize the heroism and the glory of their adventures, but it may be well to remember that they were almost entirely confined to the Mediteranean and Aegean seas, mere lakes compared with the immense vastness of the Pacific where the unsung adventures and daring exploits of Malayan Ulysses, conquerors, traders and colonizers were enacted, long before Trojans and Greeks fought their wars made famous by song and epic poetry, long before Phoenician sailors venturously issued forth from their native shores upon the blue waters of inland seas, to brave the dangers of mythological Scylla and Charybdis. In consequence of that spirit of adventure and daring, which is also a necessary element of the highest progress, we see today the universal impress of Malay civilization and culture. Its influence is not only found in the present homelands of the race, which bear names all too obviously Malayan, like the kingdom of Siam, a word which means "nine" of Annam, which means "six," allusions probably to subdivisions or provinces of a more ancient and larger political unit; Malacca, Malabar in India, and the Himalayas ,the highest mountain of the world, whose name suggests that the Malay might have been the first to use formidable mountain passes like famous Khyber pass now associate<.I with the more recent migrations of Aryans; Madagascar near South Africa, and other places bearing Malayan names. The very word "Malay," "Malayo" which in Tagalog and kindred dialects means "far," denotes the wide range of Malay activities and influence. But it is not only in the East that the brown race· has held its swav and has left traces of its ancient culture. It is not a wild theory to uphold that it has in no slight degree helped to lay the foundation of European civilization. I will now submit for your consideration certain facts and inferences which, though I do not pretend that tl'ey have been historically and defiTHE LOCAL GOVERNMENT REVIEW nitely established, may yet be true, and .are at least reasonable leads or suggestions for further study and search in line with our thesis. Prior to the flowering of Aryan civilization, antedating Median, Pesian, Greek, Roman and Teutonic cultures, there flourished in Europe and North Africa and in the islands of the Mediterranean, great empires and kingdoms ot' dark-skinned or brown people8, whose civilization reached such a high degree of development and excellence, tnat in many respects it has remained unsurpassed unto this day. Sumerian and Ancient Egypt and Crete were the pioneers of European civilization, and they were the homes of dark-skinned or brown, Non-Aryan peoples. Huxley and Wells and many other researchers admit this fact. It has likewise been found that the Ancient Egyptians belonged to the same stock as the Dravidians of India, and therefore absolutely of the brown race. When we pause in wonder before the awesome grandeur of the Pyramids of Giseh, or the Oriental magnificence of the temples of Karnak; when we feel ineffable enchantment at the sight of the precious remnants of the lost arts of Egypt; when upon reading the deciphered cuneiform records of Assyria we come across the mention of a marvelous Sumerian civilization; when we admire a precious vase of exquisite "·orkmanship excavated from pre-historic ruins of Cnossos, unexcelled by the best of Greek art, we cannot but feel proud of the accomplishments of the dark or brown race; and we realize how groundless and futile is the assumption and the misjudgment that ours is an indolent and unprogressive people. We do not want to claim sul)eriority but neither do we admit in foriority. If we have learned much from other races, we may also contend with equal truth that they have learne<l much from us. In passing we may state, for whatever it may be worth, that even the symbols, adopted by those that pretend to be the principal exponents of Occidental civilization, were familiar to the Malay or the brown race. The Swastika of Nordic Germany is an old symbol of good luck among the people of Northern Luzon. The Roman ·OCTOBER-NOVEMBER, 1949 salute has for u11told ages been the salute of ancient Malayan sun-worshippers and even the fasces, which stand for unity call to mind the graceful and banded strength of our bamboo trees. The folklore of Europe, specially of Ireland, is strikingly similar to that of the Malays. As builders of empires the brown race was unsurpassed in ancient times. Besides those of Sumeria, Egypt anrl the Aegean cities, which we have alreEdy mentioned, there were those of India whose architectures are significantly of the same style, of the same imposing and colossal proportion, coupled with artistic care and finesse of details; those of Shri-Vishaya, and of the Kmers in Cambod who build the marvelous palaces and temples of Angkor-Vat and Angkor-Thom, and there was the Malay empire of l\Iadjapahit, which produced the magnificent palaces of the BoroBuddar, and ·.vith which, like the older Shri-Vishayan empire, the Philippines was associated. As to the great men of the brown race, besides Rizal, Gandhi and others of our days, we may mention Buddha of Gautama, Asoka and Akbar and a host of others. Acording to Biblical history, the mother of Solomon, the wisest of men, was Hittite, of the Hyksos of Egypt who were a dark or brown people. Thus, may we say, our race had a place in the origins of Christianity. And one of the three kings or wise men who paid ·homage to the Divine Child at Bethlehem was Baltazar, the Malayan prince. We may continue reconstructing the glories of the past of our race. But what has already been said is sufficient to show the great potentialities of our people, and that what our people, and that what our ancestors could do we may achieve; that we are a people inferior to none, capable 0f the highest progress, culture and civilization: Sons of Malaya, lift higl1 your brow, and steel your hearts and souls for noble and high achievements: be worthy of your ancestors and the glorious past of the race! Page 535