Pangasinan (historical region)
Major historical region in Central and Northern Luzon
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Etymology
The term "Pangasinan" is toponymic, as it derives from the root word 'asin' (salt) with the prefix 'pang-' or 'panag-a' and suffix '-an', denoting place. Therefore, Panag-aasinan or Pangasinan meant "land of salt", suggesting that Pangasinan was a coastal region with a salt industry. Pangasinan was also referred by the natives as "luyag ed dapit-baybay" (place near the coast).
Pangasinan was referred to in contemporary Chinese records as 「馮嘉施蘭」 (Hokkien Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Pâng-ka-si-lân; Mandarin pinyin: Féngjiāshīlán; Wade–Giles: Fêng2-chia1-shih1-lan2), historically atonally romanized by 20th century authors in Mandarin using the Wade-Giles system as "Feng-chia-hsi-lan", even though premodern Chinese texts in the Philippines from before the 20th century were written in Classical Chinese (Hokkien Chinese: 漢文; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Hàn-bûn) composed and meant to be read from a Hokkien perspective.
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History
Territory
Pangasinan's territory occupied the entirety of the coasts of Lingayen Gulf, spanning from near Bolinao in Zambales to Balaoan in La Union. Due to Bolinao's proximity with the rest of Pangasinan, Miguel de Loarca assumed that the people of Bolinao and the rest of Pangasinan spoke the same language. Ancient potteries were also found in Bolinao during the precolonial period, suggesting active trade with the Chinese in the region. Agoo, the most prosperous port of Pangasinan, engaged in frequent trade with the Igorots in exchange for their gold. The Igorots then received carabaos and pigs which they took back to the mountains. This prosperity attracted many traders from Japan, eventually earning the name "Port of Japan". There were several chiefs who also ruled in Calasiao, Lingayen and Binmaley.
Culture
The locals wore apparel typical of other maritime Southeast Asian ethnic groups in addition to Japanese and Chinese silks. Even common people were clad in Chinese and Japanese cotton garments. They also blackened their teeth and were disgusted by the white teeth of foreigners, which were likened to that of animals. They used porcelain jars typical of Japanese and Chinese households. Japanese-style gunpowder weapons were also encountered in naval battles in the area. In exchange for these goods, traders from all over Asia would come to trade primarily for gold and slaves but also for deerskins, civets and other local products. Other than a notably more extensive trade network with Japan and China, they were culturally similar to other Luzon groups to the south, especially the Kapampangans and the neighboring Ilocanos.
During the late 16th and 17th centuries, Spanish records often stated that the region of Pangasinan were war-like. They were often deemed rebellious, unconquered or "fond of blood" by conquistadors. Bishop Domingo de Salazar described them as "really the worst people–the fiercest and the cruelest in the land–an unconquered tribe whose fiestas were cutting off one another's heads".
Chinese records
Song records
According to some historians, places in the present-day province of Pangasinan like Lingayen Gulf were mentioned as early as 1225, when Lingayen, then known as Liyin, was listed in Zhao Rukuo's Zhu Fan Zhi (A Description of Barbarian Nations, Records of Foreign People) as one of the trading places along with Ma-i.
Ming records
Pangasinan as a place was first mentioned as early as 1406 when it was recorded to have responded to emissaries sent by China under the Yongle Emperor and had sent tribute missions from 1406–1411. According to Ming records, Pangasinan appeared five times with chieftains presenting their tributes to the Ming imperial court including: Kamayin on September 23, 1406, Taymey ("Tortoise Shell"), and Liyü in 1408 and 1409. On December 11, 1411, the emperor offered a state banquet to the Pangasinan delegation.
Limahong's conquests and early Spanish period
After the conquest of Pangasinan by Juan de Salcedo in 1572, Pangasinan was founded as an encomienda.
Limahong, a Chinese corsair and warlord, briefly invaded the polity after his failure in the Battle of Manila (1574). He then set up an enclave of wokou (Japanese and Chinese pirates) in Pangasinan. Nevertheless, the Mexico-born Juan de Salcedo and his force of Tagalog, Visayan, and Latino soldiers assaulted and destroyed the pirate kingdom and then incorporated the Pangasinan people and their polity into the Spanish East Indies of the Spanish Empire. To escape, the pirate Limahong dug up a canal in the Agno river delta as a means of escape on August 4, 1575.