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The Boxer Codex: transcription and translation of an illustrated late

sixteenth-century Spanish manuscript concerning the geography, history and
ethnography of the Pacific, South-e...

Article in Journal of Pacific History · November 2016

DOI: 10.1080/00223344.2016.1250329

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 The Journal of Pacific History

ISSN: 0022-3344 (Print) 1469-9605 (Online) Journal homepage: http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjph20

The Boxer Codex: transcription and translation

of an illustrated late sixteenth-century Spanish
manuscript concerning the geography, history and
ethnography of the Pacific, South-east and East
Asia

Andrea Ballesteros Danel

To cite this article: Andrea Ballesteros Danel (2016) The Boxer Codex: transcription and
translation of an illustrated late sixteenth-century Spanish manuscript concerning the geography,
history and ethnography of the Pacific, South-east and East Asia, The Journal of Pacific History,
51:4, 470-472, DOI: 10.1080/00223344.2016.1250329

To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/00223344.2016.1250329

Published online: 03 Nov 2016.

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470 JOURNAL OF PACIFIC HISTORY

rooted in people’s birth lands, and expanding through their communities, ethnic groups and
the nation as a whole.
In ‘narratives of nation’, the author describes how the word ‘Kanak’ came to refer to
the Melanesian people of New Caledonia. Derived from Hawaiian kanaka, meaning ‘person’,
the word was initially used to refer to Pacific Islanders, but for the colonialists, it became a dero-
gatory term. Kanak, however, started using it with a positive connotation to express and sym-
bolise their unity as one national community and changed the spelling from the French
‘Canaque’ to ‘Kanak’ (pp. 40–45, 460). Another term, Caledonian, was initially used to refer
to all the inhabitants of New Caledonia but has begun to be used more specifically for
people of European descent, including those of mixed race, in preference to an older term, Cal-
doches. The differentiation of these terms and the complex ways they are used reflects the racial
and cultural diversity of New Caledonia and the changes in people’s perception of their identity.
The author gives a detailed account of the evolving political relationship between
France and New Caledonia and how recent political and social changes have led Kanak to
develop and strengthen their sense of unity and accommodate new socio-political structures
despite still being bound by blood relationships and traditions. Kanak identity is thus trans-
forming and becoming multi-tiered. At the same time, political aspirations have changed
from Kanak independence to the restoration of traditional rights and dignity as the Indigenous
people of the island.
The issues raised by the author are too numerous to discuss, but I would like to draw
attention to the word ‘partner’, which the author uses several times. ‘Partner’ was a key word
for the late Jean-Marie Tjibaou, a Kanak independence leader (pp. 223, 267), who said in 1985
that Kanak needed to regain sovereignty over their country and that sovereignty meant the
right to choose partners. This evokes memories of first visits to tribus (reserves) and la coutume,
a formalised greeting where the visitor offers the village chief a present and the chief responds
with a standard discourse such as, ‘Thank you for visiting … Now that you have done this
coutume, you will always be welcome here … ’ I believe this custom reflects the same spirit of
accepting the other as a ‘partner’ and treating him or her as a trustworthy ally, an important
act in Kanak society. Japan has a similar social practice, often described as uchi (inner circle),
which is intimate and relaxed, as against soto (outer circle), which is more distant and formal.
I recommend Edo’s publication very highly. It successfully depicts the complex
nature of Kanak identity, which has been formed through a struggle against a colonial
power to regain self-esteem and rights as autochthons. But Edo’s work goes further than
merely describing the historical facts. Her numerous interviews are personal testimonies to
how Kanak individuals perceive and feel about the changing world around them and how
much they care about their land, culture, language and country.

MIDORI OSUMI
Tokyo Woman’s Christian University
[email protected]
© 2016 Midori Osumi
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223344.2016.1241172

The Boxer Codex: transcription and translation of an illustrated late sixteenth-century Spanish manuscript con-
cerning the geography, history and ethnography of the Pacific, South-east and East Asia. Edited by George
Bryan Souza and Jeffrey S. Turley. European Expansion and Indigenous Response 20. Leiden
and Boston, Brill, 2015. 712 pp., illus., maps, bibliog., index. ISBN 978-90-04-29273-4 (hbk).
€199.00. ISBN 978-90-04-30154-2 (ebook). €199.00.

The Boxer Codex is a detailed and illustrated manuscript of uncertain origin believed to have
been written around 1595 and produced in the Philippines. Although never completed, it
 BOOK REVIEWS 471

provides a notable account of geographical, ethnographical and historical aspects of the

Pacific, Southeast Asia and East Asia from a European perspective. The manuscript, currently
housed in the Lilly Library at Indiana University, was named after Professor Charles R. Boxer
(1904–2000), a distinguished authority of Portuguese and Dutch colonial history, who pur-
chased it in 1947 at an auction.
Given the political climate at the time of its production, the Boxer Codex was most
probably amassed for two reasons: to transmit information about the Natives of these areas
and the encounters with them, and to provide military intelligence about potential enemies
to the Iberian Crown and their colonial projects. As such, it includes detailed descriptions
of the inhabitants from parts of China, Java, Japan, Siam, the Philippines, the Moluccas
and the Ladrones (Mariana) Islands, as well as illustrations of their physical appearances
and dress, and even of some Chinese mythical creatures.
Antonio de Morga Sánchez Garay (1559–1636) is believed to be the compiler of the
Boxer Codex, as argued by Souza and Turley. Born in Seville, he spent nearly ten years (1595–
1604) in the Philippines and served in the Spanish Crown’s colonial administration for several
more, not just in the Philippines but also in other parts of the New World. His observations and
encounters with the locals would result in his compilation of detailed descriptions of the above
geographical areas as well as the management of the production of the illustrations.
Aside from the detailed narratives describing the history and geography, certain parts
of the Boxer Codex are reminiscent of Alltagsgeschichte, a form of microhistory focusing on
aspects of everyday life. Further curious inclusions in the form of local expressions are also
noteworthy, examples of which are Nahuatlisms from New Spain adopted in the Philippines,
such as the word petate, used to refer to reed mats. Evidently, the Boxer Codex was compiled
centuries before the history of everyday life became a craft, a greater reason for why the reader
may find these descriptions engaging and stimulating.
The book is divided into two parts: the transcription and the translation. The first
part, the transcription, is a faithful yet structured reproduction of the manuscript with in-
text references to the relevant illustrations. It requires proficiency in Old Spanish for a
thorough comprehension, perhaps making part II a lot more appealing. This section portrays
Souza’s and Turley’s remarkable efforts in presenting the reader a thorough and annotated
translation of this prized manuscript. In addition to these, this scholarly work is completed
by a foreword; a list of drawings, illustrations and maps; a comprehensive glossary; a list of
abbreviations; the illustrations (print version only); and a detailed and enlightening
introduction.
Equally as meticulous and valuable as the manuscript is the colossal effort by Souza
and Turley to bring together this prized piece of work and make it accessible to readers inter-
ested in 16th-century European representations of this geographical area. Souza’s and
Turley’s work has filled a gap, as although this manuscript has been known and studied for
several years, previous attempts to translate and transcribe it have all been partial. Therefore,
we have in Souza and Turley’s edition the first complete transcription and English translation
of this codex, with the associated corpus of annotations to enfold it.
Souza and Turley’s edition of The Boxer Codex is clearly a joint effort of several years.
The meticulously crafted transcription, translation and surrounding annotations, as well as
additional content, are evidence of this. Scholarly and even lay interests in 16th-century Euro-
pean representations of the geographical area mentioned above will be nurtured, as topics
ranging from geographical descriptions to government and the organisation of towns and
cities, social classes and occupations, currencies and trade are described, as well as aspects
of law and order, dress, fare and everyday customs.
The outlay for this edition of The Boxer Codex appears to be comparable to the Uni-
versity of California Press’s 1992 edition of the Codex Mendoza, a four-volume set with one
volume dedicated to the transcription and translation of this Spanish text with an inclusion
of the corresponding images in black and white. (The Codex Mendoza is a highly valuable
post-conquest historical document created by the Aztecs that is rich in illustrations and
 472 JOURNAL OF PACIFIC HISTORY

facts, ranging from tributes paid to the Spanish to descriptions of everyday life. This manu-
script is similar to the Boxer Codex in that it was also commissioned for the Spanish Crown
in the 16th century, following a period of Spanish presence in New Spain.) Given its rich
content and unique illustrations portraying the peoples of these lands, as observed by the
Spanish, arguably very few manuscripts compare to the Boxer Codex in value and range of
topics that centre on this part of Asia.

ANDREA BALLESTEROS DANEL

Australian National University
[email protected]
© 2016 Andrea Ballesteros Danel
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00223344.2016.1250329

Rapa Nui – Easter Island: cultural and historical perspectives. Edited by Ian Conrich and Hermann
Mückler. Berlin, Frank & Timme, 2016. 252 pp., illus., map, notes, index. ISBN 978-3-
7329-0265-1 (hbk). €39.80.

Few places in the world have such an enigmatic glare as Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The mys-
teries of Rapa Nui’s prehistorical narrative are, however, all creations of exaggeration, racial
prejudices and commercialism in the writings of explorers, adventure authors and scientists
alike. In this narrative, the voices of the Indigenous population of Rapa Nui have been predo-
minately ignored. In general, the Rapanui, if given any role at all, have been portrayed as reck-
less barbarians who, in their pursuit of an introverted megalomaniac culture, threw a fragile
ecosystem out of balance and laid their own thriving civilisation in ruins – an apocalyptic
lesson for all humankind on how indifference and greed made a lustrous paradise into a deso-
lated and barren moonscape only inhabited by ‘alien’ stone giants (moai).
It is from this image that Ian Conrich and Hermann Mückler’s new anthology (the
results of a 2010 Easter Island symposium held in conjunction with the opening of Conrich’s
exhibition Easter Island, Myths and Popular Culture) takes off, with the intention of turning the
tables, stressing that the Rapanui civilisation did not perish at all; the Rapanui are still
there, as they always have been, and the time has come for their voices, history and culture
to emerge from the heavy shadow of the moai. The statement that the Rapanui have been
overshadowed by the moai is hardly a new one, but it is still a very promising and important
point of departure that the editors have chosen for the anthology, which brings together 13
papers divided into five different sections.
In the first section, ‘History and society’, Mückler contributes a paper on the 1911
Chilean expedition to Easter Island, a much-welcomed addition to the historiography of
Pacific archaeology and anthropology, which provides further insight into and understanding
of the expedition and Walter Knoche’s ethnographical work on Easter Island. The section also
features an interesting paper by Maxi Haase on the role of contemporary Rapanui in the
island’s cultural heritage preservation and tourism and the discourse on authenticity and his-
torical narratives.
The second and third sections focus on depictions of Rapa Nui and the Rapanui in
popular culture. Dominc Alessio supplies a paper on the writings of James Churchward and
the lost continent of Mu; Dan Bendrups analyses images of Rapa Nui on American and
Rapanui record covers, a type of material that unfortunately very seldom receives scholarly
attention; and Jennifer Wagner, Roy Smith and Ian Conrich provide individual papers on
depictions of Rapa Nui in American and Franco-Belgian comic books and contemporary
adventure novels – all painting a rather gloomy picture of how Rapa Nui has been portrayed
in ‘Western’ popular culture.

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