The cultural achievements of pre-colonial Philippines include those covered by the prehistory and the early history (900–1521) of the Philippine archipelago's inhabitants, the pre-colonial forebears of today's Filipino people. Among the cultural achievements of the native people's belief systems, and culture in general, that are notable in many ethnic societies, range from agriculture, societal and environmental concepts, spiritual beliefs, up to advances in technology, science, and the arts.
Summary of achievements
The following are the notable achievements of the natives of the pre-colonial archipelago between the 16th century to the 9th century, and most likely even farther. Many of the achievements have been lost or retrofitted due to more than three centuries of colonial rule beginning in the middle of the 16th century and ending in the middle of the 20th century. Development and expertise in Indigenous martial arts and warfare High respect for the natural world, including the spiritual realms and its beings, which are all seen as part of all the affairs of every life on earth, thus envisioned as an interconnected web, where one action affects the other, whether directly or indirectly Development of an organized system of communities, with laws enacted to promote social welfare and to protect nature, the spirits, and the people Expansion of Indigenous educational systems and writing systems through focusing on belief systems, epics, and other mediums that exhibit good values of an egalitarian societyFrancia, Luis (2010). A History of the Philippines: from indios bravos to filipinos. New York: The Overlook Press. pp. 40–44Hernandez Kahayon, Alicia; Limdico, Magdalena; Santiago, E M (1989). Panitikang Filipino: kasaysayan at pag-unlad: pangkolehiyo. Metro Manila: National Book Store Publishing Inc. pp. 32–33. Widespread literacy in the Indigenous writing systems, such as the Baybayin writing system, by both men and women. Sociable culture based on peace pacts, maritime and land journeys, communal gatherings, and respect towards ethnic differences Solving problems and wars through a variety of mediums such as divine intervention, sacred peace pacts, public consultations, and community interference Development of craft innovations used for non-agricultural and non-martial tasks such as textiles, pottery and ornaments, with respect to the sustainability of sources and the environment and its wildlife Development of Indigenous culinary and healing arts, including medicinal practices and its associated objects and ingredients that were sustainably sourced due to respectful cultures directed to the natural world Enhancement of the fine arts focusing on folk literature, calligraphy, performing arts, and craft arts, among many other forms High respect for equal rights, notable in the matriarchal societies of pre-colonial ethnic groups, which includes the legality of divorce, equal stand on decision-making from any gender, retention of names after marriage whether women or men, equal suitability of any work for any gender"Kasaysayan: The Story of the Filipino People", 1998, Reader's Digest
Agriculture
Pre-colonial Philippine societies relied more on swidden agriculture than intensive permanent agriculture. For example, in pre-colonial Visayas, the staple crops such as rice, millet, bananas and root crops were grown in swiddens (kaingin). While rice was highly valued and was the preferred food, the most common food all year round were actually root crops, and in some areas the only available crop for most of the year were root crops such as taro and yam. The historian William Henry Scott also noted that pre-colonial Visayan farmers neither knew the plow nor the carabao before the arrival of the Spaniards while the anthropologist Robert B. Fox described the Mangyans of Mindoro as sedentary agriculturalists who farm without the plow and the carabao. In fact, it is well known among historians that the plow technology and the harnessing of the domesticated carabao for plowing were introduced and disseminated by the Spanish friars to finance the colonial enterprise, a fact which is often elided in most Philippine nationalist histories. Similarly, the building of the rice terraces of the Cordilleras started around 1650 and coincided with the arrival of the Spaniards in northern Luzon; this notion is supported by archeological evidence collected from five major sites (Old Kiangan Village, Hapao, Nagacadan, Batad, and Banaue) by the Ifugao Archeological Project, thus falsifying the previously accepted notion that the rice terraces of the Philippine Cordilleras have a 2000-year-old origin. The anthropologist Stephen Acabado noted that the adoption of wet-rice agriculture in the Cordillera highlands and the subsequent landscape modification for terraced wet-rice cultivation were part of the strategy of resistance of the highlanders from the Spanish conquest, as the modified landscape served as zones of refuge.
William Henry Scott also noted that the swiddening techniques employed by the pre-colonial Visayans were not destructive, as evidenced by the fact that most of the Visayan settlements around that time were permanent. The people did not see the need to resort to cutting into virgin woodland each time but due to the balance between the population and the available land available to them, reuse of previously abandoned swidden areas which underwent forest regeneration was possible.
Martial arts and weaponry
The most intimate weapon wielded by pre-colonial inhabitants of the Philippines was the balaraw, a dagger with a double-edged leaf-shaped blade and a cross-shaped hilt which at times was used as a protection against wrist cuts. They are typically 20-25 centimeters long, although there were smaller versions given to youngsters since even a boy felt naked without one.
Pre-colonial Filipinos use two kinds of swords for combat, the kris and the kampilan. The kris (also called in Visayan as kalis) is a double-edged blade, which can be either completely straight (called sundang) or completely wavy (called kiwo-kiwo). The kris blades were forged from layers of different grades of steel, which gave them a damascened appearance. The Visayan kris was considered inferior compared to those from Mindanao and Sulu, and these in turn were less esteemed compared to the imports from Makassar and Borneo. The blade of the kampilan on the other hand is long and straight with a single edge which widens to a dual point. Like the kris, it was coated with poison before combat and the propagated fiction that an arcane alchemy was used to render the kampilan blade poisonous certainly increased its market value. The kampilan was never manufactured by the Visayan smiths but imported from Mindanao. Those with access to foreign imports also possessed Japanese swords (or katana) as weapon of war.
For protection, they wielded padded armor and carabao-hide breastplates, and long narrow shields called kalasag, or round bucklers called palisay. People who had access to foreign imports may also possess the Chinese peaked helmet, also called or in Tagalog.
The Bornean arquebus called astinggal (etymologically derived from Malay istinggar, ultimately from Portuguese espingarda) was also known by the pre-colonial Filipinos, however the Spaniards never faced any in their encounters in Luzon as they did in Mindanao. Such arquebusses on the other hand, did appear in Palawan through contacts with Borneo, as recorded by Antonio Pigafetta. June 5, 2013
While historical and archeological evidences suggest that the pre-colonial inhabitants of the Philippines were a metal-using people, they did not possess the metallurgical knowledge of locally forging war cannons. The archeological researcher Eusebio Dizon noted that the pre-colonial Filipinos were capable of forging the small cannons, called lantakas, although they are not used for warfare but as ornaments for interior decoration. As far as current archeological data is concerned, pre-colonial Filipinos were not capable of founding the heavy European-style cannons used in sixteenth-century warfare. Despite this, lantakas did find a place in Philippine warfare, as witnessed for example by the soldiers of Juan de Salcedo during the conquest of Luzon.
Education and writing
Early chroniclers, who came during the first Spanish expeditions to the islands noted the proficiency of some of the natives, especially the chieftain and local kings, in Sanskrit, Old Javanese, Old Malay, and several other languages.Bergreen, Laurence.Over The Edge of The World: Magellan’s Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe. New York. 2003. A Jesuit priest wrote in 1604 that "So accustomed are all these islanders to writing and reading that there is scarcely a man, and much less a woman, who cannot read and write in the letters proper to [Luzon]". A Spanish magistrate wrote in 1609: "Throughout the islands the natives write very well using [their letters]... All the natives, women as well as men, write in this language, and there are very few who do not write well and correctly".
Maritime culture and aquaculture
Indigenous people of the Philippines, being descendants of the balangay-borne Austronesian migrants from Maritime Southeast Asia, The Austronesian People. Accessed September 4, 2008. were known for their navigational skills. Some of them used compasses similar to those used among maritime communities of Borneo and traders of China, although most had no need for such devices. In modern times, some fishermen and traders in the Visayas, Mindanao, Sulu and Palawan are still able to navigate long distances over open water without the use of modern navigational instruments. Ancient Philippine Civilization. Accessed January 7, 2013.(archived from the original on December 1, 2007 Philippine ships, such as the karakao or korkoa were of excellent quality and some of them were used by the Spaniards in expeditions against rebellious tribes and Dutch and British forces. Some of the larger rowed vessels held up to a hundred rowers on each side besides a contingent of armed troops. Generally, the larger vessels held at least one lantaka at the front of the vessel or another one placed at the stern. Philippine sailing ships called praos had double sails that seemed to rise well over a hundred feet from the surface of the water. Despite their large size, these ships had double outriggers. Some of the larger sailing ships, however, did not have outriggers.