Vibal Foundation, Inc. (FVI) commemorated women’s month with the launch of the first book in its Colección Iberoasia series: Martín de Rada (1533–1578): Scientist, Missionary, and Spanish Philippine Diplomat to China by Dolors Folch, an eminent Spanish scholar of East Asian Studies.
About Martín de Rada (1533–1578): Book
Highlights
In this first volume of VFI’s Colección Iberoasia
imprint, sinologist and professor Dolors Folch recreates the ideals, life,
times, and works of Fray Martín de Rada, both a man of science and a man of the
cloth, who arrived in the Philippines in 1565 with Miguel Lopez de Legazpi’s
expedition that established a Spanish colony in the islands.
An expert in astronomy and mathematics, indispensable
for the invading Spanish missionaries and conquistadors, he was not just a
witness to the first two decades of colonial rule in the Philippines, he was
also the first to describe China to Spanish readers.
Although Fray Martín’s only surviving portrait depicts
him as the quintessential scientist, he was, for his more than twelve years in
the Philippines, also an author, a critical observer of the plight of native
Filipinos, a missionary, and, most importantly, an ambassador to China in 1575.
Martín de Rada (1533–1578):
Scientist, Missionary, and Spanish Philippine Diplomat to China explores the
milestones in the man’s life that made him one of the most important players in
Spain–China relations. It chronicles his early years as an Augustinian
missionary in New Spain (Mexico) who was commended for his administrative
talent, as well as his mathematical and scientific mastery, leading to his
selection as part of the royal expedition to the Philippines under the command
of Miguel López de Legazpi.
De Rada’s stay in the Philippines, as recounted in the
book, proved crucial to the evolution of his beliefs about the real situation
of the native population at the hands of the Spaniards who, as he reported to the Mexican viceroy, abused
and left them impoverished.
The book also gives an account of his evangelization of
the natives as he carried this experience to accompany a delegation to Ming-era
China, a country that left an indelible impression on the Augustinian. He
shared his experience of the country in his renowned Relación, which succeeding
scholars would use as a primary reference on China.
About the author
Dolors Folch,
professor emerita of the Department of Humanities of Pompeu Fabra University in
Barcelona, Spain, was dean of the Faculty of Humanities from 1992 to 1999 and
director of the School of East Asian Studies.
Aside from supervising the groundbreaking research La
China de España Elaboración de un corpus digitalizado de documentos españoles
sobre China de 1555 a 1900, she also curated the landmark 2007 exhibit Els
grans viatges de Zheng He at the Museu Marítim de Barcelona.
Folch is the author of Els grans viatges de Zheng He
(Angle, 2008), La Construcción de China (Península, 2002), La Fundació de
l'imperi xinès (Empúries, 1991), and Wang Wei, Vell País Natal (Empúries,
1986).
About Vibal Foundation
Founded in 2007, Vibal Foundation is Vibal Group’s
philanthropic arm. Its vision is to engage Filipinos in intellectual discussion
of Philippine history, culture, and the arts by providing beautiful and
insightful print and digital materials.
Its institutional partners are the Ateneo Art Gallery,
Biblioteca Historica, Galleria Duemila, Gallery Genesis, International Rice
Research Institute, National Historical Commission of the Philippines, National
Museum of the Philippines, Philippine Departments of Labor and Education,
Premio Zóbel, San Agustín Museum, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, and the UP
Jorge B Vargas Museum.
Colección Iberoasia is Vibal Foundation’s first global
publishing imprint offering digital and printed titles available on Amazon.
Martín de Rada (1533–1578): Scientist, Missionary, and
Spanish Philippine Diplomat to China will be available in major bookstores,
Shopee, Lazada, and Vibal Shop in May. Please follow Vibal’s FB page for
announcements: www.facebook.com/vibalgroup
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