Culture & Groups [Solved] Filipino Ancient Cosmetology/Fashion

Hairstyle.

Pigafetta 1521
Speaking of Visayan king/chief
“His hair was exceedingly black, and hung to his shoulders.”
Visayan women
“Their women are clad in tree cloth from their waist down, and their hair is black and reaches to the ground.”
“They have long black hair, and wear a short cloth about the head, and are always barefoot. The prince had three quite naked girls dance for us.”
Speaking of Queen Juana’s (Cebuano queen, wife of Humabon) body slaves
“A great number of women accompanied her, who were all naked and barefoot, except that they had a small covering of palm-tree cloth before their privies, and a small scarf upon the head, and all with hair flowing free.”

Blair narrating Van Nek's accounts (Van Nek's voyage to East Asia ~1600)

"On the nineteenth [of August] they anchored near the island of Coyo, one of the Philippines. There they sent a small boat ashore. Its crew learned that the inhabitants were savages, who paid tribute to the Spaniards. On the twenty-second they anchored near another large island of the Philippines, whose name cannot be found on the maps. [B]It was called Langhairs-eiland, or Longhair Island, because its inhabitants wore their hair long, and hanging below the shoulders[/B]."

Cavendish 1580's

"... wearing their haire maruellous long: yet some of them haue it made vp, and tyed with a knot on the Crowne and some with two knots, [B]much like vnto their Images which we faw carued in wood, and standing in the head of their boats, like vnto the Images of the deuill[/B]..."

De Loarca 1582
“Unlike the men of Visaya, the Moros wear their hair short, although their women bore their ears, but in a very ugly manner. The Moros inhabit only this district of the bay of Manilla.”
Of the Zambals
“Some of them cut only half of their hair—namely, from the brow to the crown of the head.”

“The natives of the Pintados Islands…Both men and women wear their hair long, and fastened in a knot on the crown of the head, which is very becoming.”

Morga

"The province of Cagayan is inhabited by natives of the same complexion as the others of the island, although they are better built, and more valiant and warlike than the others. They wear their hair long and hanging down the back..."

"In a province called Zambales, they wear the head shaved from the middle forward. On the skull they have a huge lock of loose hair...Their black hair is done up in a very graceful knot on the head."

"They dress their hair carefully, and regard it as being more ornamental when it is very black. They wash it with water in which has been boiled the bark of a tree called gogo. [226] They anoint it with aljonjoli oil, prepared with musk, and other perfumes."

"South of this district lie the islands of Biçayas...They differ from them in their hair, which the men wear cut in a cue, like the ancient style in España...The women are good-looking and graceful. They are very neat, and walk slowly. Their hair is black, long, and drawn into a knot on the head."

Quirante 1623-24 (speaking of the Igorots of Benguet/La Union/Pangasinan)

"The usual dress and clothing of that people is a loose shock of disheveled hair that reaches below the ears, and certain bands about one jeme4 wide [270] made from the bark of trees."

Colin
" The Tagalogs wear the hair hanging to the shoulders; the Cagayans longer
and hanging over the shoulders; the Ilocans shorter, and the Visayans
still shorter, for they cut it round in the manner of the oldtime
cues of Espana. The nation called Zambals wear it shaved from the
front half of the head, while on the skull they have a great shock of
loose hair...All of the women wear the hair
tied up in a knot on top of the head with a tasteful ribbon. Both
men and women, universally, consider it essential that the hair
should be very black and well cared for. For that purpose they use
lotions made of certain tree-barks and oils, prepared with musk and
other perfumes."

San Antonio 1720
“The hair is black and lank,… and is carefully tended with washings,
and very fragrant oils… They assert that
they do this in order to free it from grease (which is considerable),
but a great part of it consists in vanity. Among the Tagalogs it is
allowed to grow to the shoulders, among the Ilocans somewhat longer,
and among the Visayans slightly longer or shorter, and done up; but the
Cagayans leave it loose and hanging upon the shoulders. This custom
must have appeared well to all of them, since everywhere they envy
the one who has the longest and heaviest hair; and the same thing is
seen among the women. It is indeed considered as an affront to cut
the hair for any crime. The Zambals alone shave the head from the
middle forward; and from the middle back, as far as the occiput, they
wear a large shock of loose hair. Ribbons are never used to tie it,
but with the hair itself men, women, and children make a knot near
the crown of the head or the occiput, as do the Turks.”

Speaking of women who had been living under Spanish control around late 1600’s-early 1700’s
“Formerly, they wore a ribbon, of wrought gold which covered their foreheads and temples. Now,
at the most, they usually wear a chased silver or gold nail, thrust
through the knot of their hair.”

Superstition:
“449. Pregnant women could not cut their hair, for they said that the
children that they would bear would have no hair.”

De Mas (“Informe sobre el…”) commenting on San Antonio (1842)
“Women in childbirth they suspend by the hair in order to stop the
flow; and, after parturition, they compress the abdomen, and press
down with great force on both thighs at once, in order to make the
organs return to their former position; and they perform other things
of like nature, which we consider as injurious and nonsensical. But
they hold one of their old women higher than the best Paris physician.”

Foreman 1906 (“Philippine Islands…”)
“The coarseness of the femaleʼs hair is, however, more than compensated by its luxuriance; for, provided she be in a normal state of health, up to the prime of life the hair commonly reaches down to the waist, and occasionally to the ankles. The women are naturally proud of this mark of beauty, which they preserved by frequent washings with gogo (q.v.) and the use of cocoanut oil (q.v.)”
“Gogo (Entada pursætha), sometimes called Bayogo in Tagálog, is a useful forest product in general demand, on sale at every market-place and native general shop. It is a fibrous bark, taken in strips of [303]3 or 4 feet long. It looks exactly like cocoa-nut coir, except that its colour is a little lighter and brighter. It is used for cleansing the hair, for which purpose a handful is put to soak in a basin of water overnight, and the next morning it will saponify when rubbed between the hands. The soap which issues therefrom is then rubbed in the hair at the time of bathing. It is in common use among the natives of both sexes and many Europeans. An infusion of Gogo is a purgative. If placed dry in the tinaja jars (Tagálog, Tapayan), containing cacao-beans, the insects will not attack the beans.”

I guess the Spanish forced Filipinos/Chinese to cut their hair upon baptism as a means to 'regulate' them. -lmao

Chirino (on a native priest)

"This pagan priest, while offering his infamous sacrifices, was possessed by the Devil who caused him to make most ugly grimaces; and he braided his hair, which for his particular calling he wore long, like that of a woman. But he, beginning (like the Magdalen) with his hair, cut it off publicly, and with it the power of the Devil, who held him captive; and receiving baptism, constrained the others by his example to do the same, consigning his idols to the fire where they were consumed."

(On a Chinese convert, this is before Manchu braid edict)

"The Chinese are not accustomed to cut their hair, which they comb and make ready every morning, and wear it fastened on the head in pleasing and graceful fashion; but when we baptize them we are in the habit of cutting it off, so that in this way we may have more certainty of their faith and perseverance. These two, before baptism, had entreated and supplicated me not to cut off their hair; and in this they were not without reason, for, as one of the suppliants himself explained to me, to wear their hair was honorable among them, and a custom of their nation, as with us the wearing of mustaches or beard. But as I did not dare to act in opposition to what the prelates and other judicious ministers and religious are accustomed to do in this matter, I announced to them my decision that, unless their hair was cut, I would not baptize them. With this they submitted and obeyed, and in token of greater submission to my intentions, Tuigam came to me on the morning of the baptism, accompanied by others of his nation, and placing in my hands some scissors, asked me to cut the first handful of his hair. This I did, and another finished the task. From that time on none of them made any objection to the rule; in fact, without our speaking of it, they came to baptism with their hair cut like ours."

As a punishment:

Letter by King Felipe IV countersigned by Contreras (the King is telling the friars not to abuse the natives -lmao) 1624

"For whatever annoyance the Indians cause them, they question them with regard to the Christian doctrine, and their questions exceed those that persons with more reason and education can answer. And thereupon, if they fail in the least [99] to meet these requirements, the religious have the chiefs and their wives whipped, and cut off their hair."

Offtopic: Dilinga ("Annuæ litteræ") 1610 (note, he reiterated what Cavendish said...I guess some anitos/statues were given hair)

"It happened that some Indians turned aside from their journey to visit one of the inhabitants; and as they were taking out of a little chest some clothes that they were carrying with them, packed up, it happened that they took out along with them a tiny idol formed of a twisted mass of hair. The people of Silan who were present were frightened when they saw this, and told one of Ours, who was stationed there, of it. He went to the house as if on another errand, and uncovered the deceit together with the idol. Then taking advantage of the occasion, he made a serious address to the Indians, warning them against such wickedness; and he inspired in the owner of the idol (who was a woman) a better mind. With the help of God she abjured the impious worship of hair, which she had before pursued, and also abandoned and corrected another Page 60sin of no small heinousness."

Hairstyle throughout the times.

Boxer Codex (1590)

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"Natives " (Tagalog)

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Visayan

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Visayan

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Sambals

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[url] http://bdh-rd.bne.es/viewer.vm?id=25849&page=1 [/url]
"Indian woman bathing" (Lozano 1847)

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[url] http://bdh-rd.bne.es/viewer.vm?id=25747&page=1 [/url]
"Indian woman on a horse" (Lozano)

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"Eatery" (Lozano)

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Marryat, 1848 "Water carriers---Manilla"

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Van Kamp, 1875

Potong (head dress, turban)

"De Loarca

“The natives of the Pintados Islands…Both men and women wear their hair long, and fas-
tened in a knot on the crown of the head, which is
very becoming.”

Artieda (“Relation of the Western Islands…”)
“They wear the hair long and
take good care of it so that it will grow. The men
bind their hair on the crown of the head with a small
piece of gauze, and the women bind it with bands
made of the hair itself.”

Chirino
“The Filipinos…Upon meeting one another, they practice our custom
of uncovering the head--not that they used hats, caps, or bonnets;
but they wore a piece of cloth like a towel, some three or four
palmos long, which they wound around the head in becoming fashion,
like the ancient crowns or diadems. This they removed, as they now
do the hat [_sombrero_]--which they have adopted, in imitation of us,
abandoning the _potong_, as they called the towel or diadem which they
formerly wore. As among them it is not courtesy to remain standing
before a person whom they respect, they seat themselves upon the
ground, or rather on their heel-bones. Seated in this way, with head
uncovered and the potong thrown like a towel over the left shoulder,
they talk with their superiors.”

De Morga
“They go with legs bare, feet unshod,
and the head uncovered, wrapping a narrow cloth, called potong [220]
just below it, with which they bind the forehead and temples.”

Colin (obviously quoting Chirino heavily)
“Their manner of salutation when they met one
another was the removal of the potong, which is a cloth like a crown,
worn as we wear the hat. When an inferior addressed one of higher rank,
the courtesy used by him was to incline his body low, and then lift
one or both hands to the face, touch the cheeks with it, and at the
same time raise one of the feet in the air by doubling the knee, and
then seating oneself…hey bent in this manner
with the head uncovered and the potong thrown over the left shoulder
like a towel; they had to wait until they were questioned, for it
would be bad breeding to say anything until a question was asked…”

“The men adorned the head with only cendal [18] or long and narrow
thin cloth, with which they bound the forehead and temples, and which
they call potong. It was put on in different modes, now in the Moorish
manner like a turban without a bonnet, and now twisted and wrapped
about the head like the crown of a hat. Those who were esteemed as
valiant let the elaborately worked ends of the cloth fall down upon
their shoulders, and these were so long that they reached the legs. By
the color of the cloth they displayed their rank, and it was the badge
of their deeds and exploits; and it was not allowed to anyone to use
the red potong until he had at least killed one person. In order to
wear it embroidered with certain borders, which were like a crown,
they must have killed seven.”

San Antonio
“In olden times the men wore their heads covered or wrapped about
with a narrow strip of cotton or linen. Those who esteemed themselves
as valiant men wore the two ends hanging to the shoulders. This they
called the potong; and some wore this of colored cloth, to declare
their chieftainship. No one could wear a red one unless he had killed
at least one person, and he could not have it striped until he had
killed seven. Now they wear neat white and black hats, which are
woven from various materials which they gather in the field.”

Blair and Robertson annotation quoting Combes

"Becoquin: “A sort of cap made with a piece of cloth.” When the Joloans made a treaty with the Jesuit Lopez, they ratified it by an oath taken “on the becoquin or cap of Tampan, one of the old-time ministers of their deceit.... When the princes of Joló swear by this becoquin, using this ceremony, it is the strongest oath that they can take, and that which is most respected.” (Combés, Hist. de Mindanao, col. 478, 785.)"

Combes again
"On the head, in the Moorish style, is worn a turban. Its use throughout the Indias is general, but among these people inviolable. I do not know whether it is because even their hearts are tinged with their cursed worship, or because of hatred to our nation and to our customs, or because of flattery to their natural arrogance—through which they will never, of themselves, come to depreciate their own [143]things. Even yet throughout the islands, those who are esteemed as chiefs are ashamed of appearing without hats."

Mentioned in several dictionaries in different languages ie Mentrida 1637 (Hiligaynon), Encarnacion 1885 (Bisaya), De La Rosa 1914 (Waray), Noceda/Sanlucar 1754 (Tagalog) etc.

Mallat ("Les Philippines...") 1846 Left caption: "Visayan Indian" Right: "Kapampangan Indian"
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Boxer Codex
Bisaya
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Tagalog
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Lozano (1800's)
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Tinggian ("hill folks") ( popular name for Isnegs or "Apayaos")
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Domingo (1820's) "A Visayan native beside an earthen jar"
[url] http://www.retrato.com.ph/photodtl.asp?id=AC00362 [/url]
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"Pampango native smoking a pipe"
[url] http://www.retrato.com.ph/photodtl.asp?id=AC00353 [/url]
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CW Andrews (late 1800's) "The quack doctor"
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