READINGS IN PHILIPPINE HISTORY
MODULE I. HISTORY AND HISTORIOGRAPHY
Lesson I. History: Meaning,
Relevance and Method
Introduction
History in its simplest definition is the study of the past, however, it is not
all that. In a more in-depth discussion of the meaning of history, a broad
understanding of it as a discipline and as a narrative is needed to come up with
a more comprehensive definition that transcends the above meaning.
One of the many tasks of historians is to deal with bulk of documents and
evidences to prove their assertions. They must look for authentic and valid
sources of information in order to get away with biases that will hinder them
in exposing the truth. With the historical methodologies coupled with
appropriate perspective and a tinge of personal equation, a near to accurate
historiography can be achieved.
Lesson
Objectives
1. Evaluate the definition of history and historiography.
2. Demonstrate understanding of the importance of the study of history.
3. Determine the contribution of primary sources in understanding our
historiography specifically of our pre-colonial history.
Activate Prior
Knowledge
Before you proceed in studying this lesson, you must first fill-up the K-W-
L table below. What you are going to do is to list down what are the things that
you have known (prior knowledge) of this lesson in the K column, then the
things that you want to know (wanted to learn) in the W column, and after the
discussion and further activities, you will also enumerate the things that you
have learned from this lesson in the L column. Make your own table and do not
limit your list of the number of rows provided in each column. Add more rows
if needed. Write your answer ona separate sheet of paper, however, your
answer will bear NO points and will not be recorded.
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Activity 1.0
Lesson: _________________________________________________________________________
K What I Know W What I Want to L What I Learned
know
Acquire New
Knowledge
Since you’re through in filling-up the K-W-L table, let’s now proceed to
acquire new knowledge by reading and understanding the information below.
MEANING OF HISTORY
1. What do you think of when you hear the word “HISTORY?”
When answering this question, consider it in a personal aspect. Go back
in time and try to imagine your experiences as far as the time you can
remember. History, in a personal aspects, includes all the things that happened
in your past, all of your experiences whether it is positive and worth
remembering or the other way around. This is so because all these things
might help you understand yourself in oder to become a better person. And in
order to do these, find the link of your past to your present state that will may
help guide you with your future.
2. Where does the word HISTORY come from?
The word history comes from Greek ἱστορία (historia), “knowledge
acquired by investigation” and from the Proto-Indo-European *wid-
tor-, “to know, to see".
This root is also present in the English words wit, wise, and
wisdom.
So “HISTORY” means “WISDOM.”
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HISTORY defined:
History is the study of the past, with emphasis on the written record of
human activities. Scholars who write about history are called historians. It is
also a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyze the
sequence of events in the past, and with the aim of objective investigation of the
patterns of cause and effect that determine events.
Just think!!!
Having learned the definition of history, can you
make your own definition based on your
experiences?
IMPORTANCE OF HISTORY
1. Why is HISTORY important?
This question is somehow relegated into periphery with regards to our
quest for daily life experiences. This is true because the present generation put
career through technology as center of daily living. However, humanities are
still needed especially in the academe. The following are justifications by
famous figures in history affirming the importance of history.
History is the witness that testifies to the passing of time; it
illuminates reality, vitalizes memory, provides guidance in daily life.
– Marcus Tullius Cicero
The value of history … is that it teaches us what man has done and
thus what man is and can do. – R. G. Collingwood
“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”
- George Santayana
"Men make their own history, but they do it under circumstances
directly found, given and transmitted from the past." - Karl Marx
2. Is HISTORY useful?
History helps us understand OUR WORLD
You cannot understand people if you do not understand their
past
You cannot understand our community if you do not know how
it came to be
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You cannot understand our nation without history
You cannot understand our world if you do not understand
history
History give us identity
Studying history gives people a sense of nationalism
It gives groups such as ethnic, organization, even schools a
sense of identity
It gives family and personal identity as well
History helps us understand people and society
People make up society and it is very hard to test how that kind
of group behaves when it is made up of 4 billion people
History acts as a “social laboratory”, one of the few way we can
help predict the future behavior of such a large group
Those that study and understand history become good citizens
It provides national identity
Provides examples of success, morality and of course the
examples of the opposite
Helps us understand current world affairs and conflicts by
understanding the root of the problems
Provides support for making decisions and encourages,
“responsible public behavior, whether as a national or
community leader, an informed voter, a petitioner, or a simple
observer”.
It contributes to moral understanding
History also provides a terrain for moral contemplation
Real, historical circumstances can provide inspiration
Studying the stories of individuals and situations in the past
allows us to test our own moral sense
History helps us understand change and how the society we live in
came to be
The past causes the present, and so the future
It helps us grasp how things change
It provides us comprehension of the factors that cause change
It helps us understand what elements of an institution or a
society persist despite change
Just think!!!
Based on your experiences, is the study
of HISTORY important and useful to you?
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HISTORICAL METHOD
Historical method is the collection of techniques and guidelines that
historians use to research and write histories of the past. A way of presenting
information (as in teaching or criticism) in which a topic is considered in
terms of its earliest phases and followed in an historical course through its
subsequent evolution and development.
Secondary sources, primary sources and material evidence such as
that derived from archaeology may all be drawn on, and the historian's skill lies
in identifying these sources, evaluating their relative authority, and combining
their testimony appropriately in order to construct an accurate and reliable
picture of past events and environments.
In the philosophy of history, the question of the nature, and the
possibility, of a sound historical method is raised within the sub-field of
epistemology. The study of historical method and of different ways of writing
history is known as historiography.
HISTORIOGRAPHY
1. Can an objective HISTORIOGRAPHY be achieved?
Before you can answer this question, Let’s define first historiography, and
then read an excerpt of an article by Richard Vann on methodology of
historiography.
HISTORIOGRAPHY defined:
Historiography, the writing of history, especially the writing of history
based on the critical examination of sources, the selection of particular details
from the authentic materials in those sources, and the synthesis of those details
into a narrative that stands the test of critical examination. The term
historiography also refers to the theory and history of historical writing.
Historiography in the Philippines
Historiography of the Philippines refers to the studies, sources, critical
methods and interpretations used by scholars to study the history of our
country. Our archipelago has been part of many empires before the Spanish
empire has arrived in the 16th century.
Before the arrival of Spanish colonial powers, our country is less known.
Southeast Asia is classified as part of the Indosphere and the Sinosphere. The
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archipelago has direct contact with China during Song dynasty (960-1279) and
there are documents suggesting that our country has been a part of
the Srivijaya and Majapahit empires.
Our ancestor during the pre-colonial era uses the Abugida writing
system that has been widely used in writing and seals on documents though it
was for communication and no recorded writings of early literature or history.
Our ancient forefathers usually write documents on bamboo, bark, and leaves
which did not survive unlike inscriptions on clays, metals, and ivories did like
the Laguna Copperplate Inscription and Butuan Ivory Seal. The discovery of
the Butuan Ivory Seal also proves the use of paper documents in our country in
the ancient times.
There is another important source of information about our pre-colonial
history and that is oral tradition. Our early ancestors narrated their history
through communal songs and epics that they passed orally form a generation
to another.
When the Spanish colonizers came, they wrote the history of their
colony in a bipartite view, seeing them in the lenses of Western thought and
Christianity. They consider the pre-colonial era in our country as dark ages
until they introduce the light. To poster their belief, they burned our pre-
colonial manuscripts and documents to eliminate pagan beliefs. However, our
first nationalists insisted on tripartite view. They saw our pre-colonial times as
luminous until the colonizers snatch it from them.
This has been the burden of historians in the accumulation of data and
the development of theories that gave historians many aspects of our history
that were left unexplained. The interplay of pre-colonial events, the use of
secondary sources written by historians to evaluate the primary sources, do
not provide a critical examination of the methodology of the early historical
study of our country.
The historiography of the post-colonial period was focused on our
struggles and historians saw the colonial era as a prelude. The critical role
played by our foregoer in shaping our national history in this period is well
highlighted and analyzed based on the accounts on the revolution and the
Philippine-American War as it describes the social, economic, political, and
cultural conditions of our country.
The last couple of decades were considered as the most productive in
our historiography, not only because of greater volume of historical studies but
many of these studies shaped and widened our perspective of our history.
In pursuit of a historiography that can be called our own, Filipino
historian Zeus Salazar introduced the new guiding philosophy for writing and
teaching history, this is the pantayong pananaw (for us-from us perspective) –
this perspective highlights the importance of facilitating an internal
conversation an discourse among us and about our own history, using the
language that is understood by everyone.
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Just think!!!
What is your own understanding of pantayong
pananaw?
How this perspective helps us in understanding
our past?
Can we achieve objectivity in historiography?
Application
As an application of what you have learned, you will analyze early
document pertaining to our early society. This is the Laguna Paleograph or the
Laguna Copperplate Inscription. After reading the translated version of this
evidence, answer the supporting questions below. Write your answers on a
separate sheet.
The Laguna Copperplate Inscriptions*
circa: 900 A.D., Laguna, Philippines
Line 1: Hail! In the Saka-year 822; the month of March-April;
according to the astronomer: the 4th day of the dark half of the moon; on
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Line 2: Monday. At the time, Lady Angkatan together with their
relative, Bukah by name,
Line 3: the child of His Honor Namwran, was given, as a special
favor, a document of full acquittal, by the Chief and Commander of
Tundun,
Line 4: The former leader of Pailah, Jayadewah. To the effect that
His Honor Namwran, through the Honorable Scribe
Line 5: was totally cleared of debt to the amount of 1 kati and 8
suwarna (weight of gold), in the presence of His Honor the Leader of
Puliran,
Line 6: Kasumuran; His Honor the Leader of Pailah, namely:
Ganasaki; (and) His Honor the Leader
Line 7: of Binwangan, namely: Bisruta. And (His Honor Namwran)
with his whole family, on orders of the Chief of Dewata,
Line 8: representing the Chief of Mdang, because of his loyalty as a
subject (slave?) of the Chief, therefore all the descendants
Line 9: of His Honor Namwran have been cleared of the whole
debt that His Honor owed the Chief of Dewata. This (document) is
(issued) in case
Line 10: there is someone, whosoever, some time in the future, who
will state the debt is not yet acquitted of His Honor…
*Translated by Antoon Postma
Supporting Questions:
1. How this evidence shows the early society of our
ancestors?
2. What information you can get out of the document to
help you understand our early society and culture?
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Assessment
Learning Task
Lesson Exercise
Modified True or False: Read each statement or phrase carefully. Write
Tiktok if the statement is true. If the statement is false, write Balitok. Write
your answers on the space provided before each number in your answer sheet.
_______________________ 1. History is the study of the present.
_______________________ 2. Historians are the only one who write history.
_______________________ 3. History is the subject of historiography.
_______________________ 4. History has nothing to do with moral understanding.
_______________________ 5. In writing of history, historical sources that were not
written should not be included or used.
_______________________ 6. To examine and analyze the sequence of events, history
uses a narratives.
_______________________ 7. The saying that “past is past” only proves that history
has nothing to do with the present.
_______________________ 8. History helps us understand people and society.
_______________________ 9. Historians are not the only source of history.
_______________________ 10. Objectivity can be achieved in writing of history.
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References
Module I. Lesson 1.
Candelaria, J.L. & Alporha, V.C. 2018. Readings in Philippine History. QC:
Rex Book Store.
Richard T. Vann. Methodology of Historiography. Encyclopaedia
Britannica. Retrieved on June 23, 2020 from
https://www.britannica.com/topic/historiography/The-
presentation-of-history
Peter N. Stearns. (1998). Why study history? American Historical
Association. Retrieved on June 22, 2020 from
https://www.historians.org/about-aha-and-membership/aha-
history-and-archives/historical-archives/why-study-history-(1998)
Penn T. Larena. Introduction to history: definition, issues, sources and
methodology. Retrieved on June 24, 2020 from
https://www.slideshare.net/PennVillanueva/introduction-to-
history-definitionissuessources-and-methodology
Historical Methods. Faculty of History. Oxford University
https://www.history.ox.ac.uk/historical-methods#collapse386591
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