The Many Names of Limahong: Remembering a Chinese Pirate in the Philippines

Authors

William Martindale, Brigham Young UniversityFollow

Keywords

piracy, collective memory, Philippines, Chinese Filipinos, Hokkiens

Abstract

The 1574 attack of Limahong on Manila and the subsequent expulsion of his attempted Pangasinan colony left a profound impact in Philippine history. The threat once presented by Limahong cast a long shadow over Spanish colonization and Philippines security, particularly regarding relations with China and Chinese. As a result, his name was continually evoked in the centuries after his attack. This paper examines how Limahong is remembered in the Philippines. Limahong is remembered as a generic sea-borne threat, a pirate whose name is evoked at any threat from the sea or from China. But, he is also remembered as a liberator who was the Philippines’ last chance to stop Spanish colonization. He is remembered as a stereotypical Chinese, driven to the Philippines through business interests and exoticized as a womanizing vengeance-seeking corsair. The memory of this stereotypical Chinese icon is carved into the land via the Limahong Channel and implanted into native Pangasinan people via his descendants. But, due to recent efforts by historians, his memory is being converted into a representative of Hokkien nationalism whose Hokkienness was erased by Spanish, Chinese, and Filipino narratives unable to account for it. Ultimately, Limahong is a mirror, through which the diverse competing nationalisms of the Philippines remember their own history.

Recommended Citation

Martindale, William (2024) "The Many Names of Limahong: Remembering a Chinese Pirate in the Philippines," BYU Asian Studies Journal: Vol. 9, Article 6.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/asj/vol9/iss1/6