Parian started the Chinatown in Manila
THE CELEBRATION of Chinese New Year is relished and more palpable through a grand festivity involving a lion dance and fireworks in the streets of Binondo or Manila’s very own Chinatown that traces its origin in 1594.
Binondo was created by Spanish governor Luis Perez Dasmarinas as a permanent settlement for Chinese immigrants or “sangleys” as they were called back then.
Chinese settlement in the Philippines, which came in waves during the Spanish period, centered in an area called “parian,” which was a silk market or mercantile district operated by the Chinese.
Several number of parians were put up in Manila, with the first ones established right inside the walled city of Intra- muros, which was the seat of power of the Spanish.
The establishment of the first parian was in 1581. It was located between the walls and the plaza of the Manila Cathedral and ran up to the door of Sto. Domingo Church. It was put up by Governor Gonzalo Ronquillo, who gave the market space to the Chinese living in Tondo who were mostly traders. However, in just over a year of operation, this parian burned down; the cause of the fire originated in San Agustin Church during the funeral of Ronquillo.
The second parian was built in 1583. It was larger and now located in front of Santa Catalina and Letran and near Fort San Gabriel.
It existed for 10 years only and was eventually transferred outside the walls of Intramuros, in an area described as swampy grounds. The third Calle del Parian ran from the suburbs near the Parian Gate to the Pasig River to the point where the Jones Bridge was subsequently built.
The relocation of the parian outside the walls of Intramuros had to do with the growing distrust of the Spaniards with the Chinese because of one incident. One Spanish official by the name of Pedro Roxas was murdered by Chinese group manning a galley where Roxas was onboard.
From the swampy grounds outside the walls of Intramuros, the parian was once again transferred farther to Binondo, which was the fourth location for the Chinese market. The transfer was prompted when the Spaniards noticed the Chinese establishments were already encroaching on the walls of Intramuros.
The fourth parian in Binondo lasted from March 1594 to August 1595. It was again en- gulfed in fire.
The fifth parian was located in the site later known as Arroceros. A fire in 1597 destroyed the area, which also gutted the church and hospital of San Gabriel.
The Arroceros parian stood for 44 years and four months, from September 1595 to the end of 1639.
Because of the Chinese revolt in 1639, the parian was once again transferred to a new location. This time it sat right inside a military stockade in Tondo.
This parian was subsequently destroyed by fire caused by candles used in a Chinese funeral service in 1642. The parian was again transferred to its former location in Arroceros.
A Royal Decree in 1744 ordered for the expulsion of the Chinese in the islands except for those who converted to Christianity and this totally eliminated the existence of the parian. The houses of the parian were relinquished to the natives and Chinese mestizos.
After the expulsion of the sangleys by Governor Arandia in 1754, the former parian situated in Arroceros was abandoned. Don Fernando Mier y Noriega then presented a plan to build a silk market. The plan was approved by a Royal Decree in 1758 and the silk market, known as San Jose, was finally built in 1762.
The British occupation of Manila in 1762 caused a lot of Chinese to be banished from the country anew as punishment for siding with the British.
The silk market of San Jose was destroyed in 1860. It was torn down by Governor Basco, but he erected it elsewhere in
the city. Thus in 1875, the newly established parian’s location was on Calle de Recoletos, which ran from the northeast to the southeast from the old parian up to Calle Cabildo.
By practice, Chinese merchants all over Southeast Asia lived permanently aboard their vessels and did not build warehouses or outposts. But when the Spaniards established a political regime as well as a city in Manila, the Chinese immediately began settling in big numbers in Manila to trade with the Spaniards who also gave them protection.
The Chinese settlement was essential to the very existence of the city of Manila and its Spanish settlers because of the multiple services it spawned, apart from trading, which was the economic lifeblood of the city. Raquel P. Gomez (Source: The Chinese in the Philippines, 1570-1772, presented by the Historical Conservation Society.)