Old Cebu in the eyes of a Chinese chronicler
Chau-Ju-Kua, a Mandarin of the Southern Sung Dynasty who was Superintendent of Foreign Trade had this to say of what Cebu was: "Cebu was variably referred to as 'Mai-I', 'San-su' and 'Pi-sho-yu' by the Mandarins."
The compilation further says: "More than 1,000 families settled down there on between two banks of the streams. Some of the natives were cloth like bedsheets loosely thrown over themselves, others use the loincloth only to cover their bodies…"
"Copper statues of Buddha are set up all over the grassy land, but no one knows where the statues come from. When the trading vessels enter the harbor, they cast anchor in front of the 'official market' designated as the spot for all bartering transactions in the country. By day the native chiefs carry white umbrellas, and so the foreign traders offer umbrellas as presents. As a rule they begin to come back in eight or nine months' time using what goods to repay the overseas traders on board. Some natives, however do not return within the customary time limit. For this reason foreign traders to May-yi are generally the latest to return to their home ports. The reason for this delay was usually the unpredictable weather. Either, the continuous rains offered dangerous travel on land and on the seas. Usually, the natives could go to the market place during the harvest time which was also a favorable time for travel on land and on water."
A geo-political illustration is written on the compilation: "To May-yi (believed to be the Cebu islands as whole) belong the islands of San-su (which must be Cebu mainland) Pai-pu-yen, Li-yin-tung, Lin-sin, Liban. The native products are cotton, yellow wax, pearls, tortoise shells, medicinal betel nuts and uta (or yuta) cloth. For these the traders barter with their trade wares, trade metals, tripod vessels, black beads, iron needles. The three islands that compose the San-su are Kia-ma-yen, Pa-lau-yu and Paki-meng (it is obvious that San-su is the Cebu mainland and the three islands must be Mactan, Olango, and Camotes). The natives build wattled huts perched on lofty precipitous heights. The women fetch water from the stream with jars which are piled on their heads, two or three stories high. They climb the hill or wade across the water as if they were walking on level ground." The name of the report compilation is called "Chu-Fan-Chih. The excerpts of the report is written in the book "Glimpses in History of Early Cebu" written by Lina Quimat in 1980.
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