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1 Introduction Nezahualcoyotl, the poet-king of texcoco (1402–1472), has been described as one of the most important pre-Hispanic figures in nahua history. from the conquest to the present, he has been portrayed as a symbol of the Aztec civilization and culture in historical as well as literary texts: a great conqueror who built a powerful empire before the conquest; a prudent governor who established an efficient government and created a fair legal system; a patron of the arts who welcomed artists and poets in his city; a poet himself who composed philosophical songs; a sage-prophet who anticipated the destruction of the Aztec world and thus the arrival of the spaniards; and a devoted religious king who rejected human sacrifice by intuiting an unknown, true god. by focusing on these images of nezahualcoyotl, many chroniclers, historians, anthropologists, and literary critics have frequently presented him as a clear contrast to the spanish images of the bloodthirsty Mexica who were mainly interested in conducting human sacrifice and conquering their neighbors . This study, however, argues that all these images of nezahualcoyotl were invented by a european colonial ideology after the conquest.i demonstrate that spanish friars who interpreted pre-Hispanic history from a Judeo-christian perspective created this image of nezahualcoyotl, and their chronicles have repeatedly served as reliable sources for most nahua scholars who study this figure. because of the diverse disciplines of the scholars who take up this topic, including anthropologists, historians, literary critics, philosophers, and those interested in religious studies, this distorted pre-Hispanic history and culture became popular and widely accepted in nahua studies. by reexamining current images of nezahualcoyotl, this project proposes to revise the version of preHispanic Mexican history that western scholarship has continuously “reproduced ” for the last five centuries. introduction 2 Indigenous Past, Judeo-Christian Interpretation, and Nezahualcoyotl for the indigenous peoples, the conquest meant the brutal destruction of their world system under colonial exploitation, whereas for the spanish colonizers, it meant the great inauguration of building a new world under christianity. The spaniards in the sixteenth century were fervent, religious men and considered the conquest of the Aztec empire as God’s providence.1 They considered themselves the true christians, God’s chosen people, who would facilitate the establishment of the christian kingdom all over the world (lafaye 1976:34–35). from the beginning of the colonization of Mexico, the spanish colonizers used this biblical perspective to justify their military actions and to describe indigenous peoples and civilization. The first conquistadores in Mexico, such as Hernán cortés (1993:238–40) and bernal Díaz del castillo (1992:44–45), represented Aztec society as a satanic world and the conquest of this satanic world as the sacred and obligatory mission of the spaniards as good christians.2 This somewhat simplified description of the indigenous world appeared later in more sophisticated and detailed form, and with broader topics, in the chronicles of friars such as fray Andrés de olmos, fray toribio de benavente (better known by his nahuatl name Motolinia), fray bartolomé de las casas, fray Diego Durán, and many others. The spanish friars of the sixteenth century in new spain actively engaged in examining and interpreting the indigenous world. They acquired a good command of native languages and were able to access indigenous sources such as oral traditions and pictorial scripts. The friar chroniclers provide richer and more reliable descriptions of Aztec society and thus are undoubtedly significant sources.They,however,selected,excluded,and even invented many aspects of pre-Hispanic indigenous society according to the ideological demands of their religious orders. The main purpose of friars’ writing about indigenous society was not to record the past as it was,but to find a better way to evangelize the natives. fray bernardino de sahagún (1997a:17) explained that a doctor should know his patients well enough to cure them, by which he meant that the better the friars understood the indigenous people, the easier they would be able to eradicate indigenous idolatry and convert the natives to christianity. Thefranciscanreligiousorderwasthemostdominantinsixteenth-century new spain. The twelve famous franciscan friars arrived in new spain only three years after the conquest in 1524 (ricard 1995:83–84; baudot 1995:73).3 The franciscans in sixteenth-century new spain tried to establish an ideal indian church that would prepare for the arrival of the Messiah and construct the christian millennial kingdom on earth. They believed that the earthly christian kingdom would be realized...

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