Jesuit Missionary Letters from Mindanao. Volume Two: The Zamboanga-Basilan-Joló Mission ed. and trans. by José S. Arcilla, S.J (review)

816BOOK REVIEWS ity in China? Were they also invited to submit a proposal and U so, why did they stay away? Overall, this volume is noteworthy for eschewing the usual focus on foreign missionaries and being mostly China-centered. It brings together papers that draw largely on previously unused or underused Chinese sources and reveal many new facets of the history of Christianity in China.As a whole, it is a sigmficant contribution to our understanding of the process of inculturation of Christianity that is stUl taking place in China and in many non-Western cultures. Jean-Paul Wiest Centerfor Mission Research and Study at Maryknoll JesuitMissionary Lettersfrom Mindanao. VolumeTwo: The Zamboanga-Basilan -Joló Mission. Edited, Translated, and Annotated by José S. ArciUa, SJ. (Quezon City, PhUippines: Philippine Province Archives of the Society of Jesus. 1993. Pp. xxxü, 564. $30.00.) This is a fine coUection of letters from three missions where the frustrations and dangers faced by Jesuit missionaries far outnumbered their successes in converting Moslems and upland minorities to Christianity. The volume is arranged in three sections (Zamboanga, 1880-1898, BasUan, 1880-1896, and JoIo, 1875-1898), and within each section in chronological order. It is valuable for ethnographic data especiaUy on Subanon culture and BasUan (less so on JoIo and Siassi), for insights into Jesuit resettlement and conversion efforts, for making the acquaintance of some individual Jesuits ofgreat personal character, and, most of aU,for understanding, through theU eyes, the dynamics of PhiUppine regional history in the late nineteenth century.The editor, José ArciUa, provides useful annotations, especially short biographies of each priest. His translation from Spanish reads smoothly, with only a few awkward moments. He includes four letters on a controversy over the baptism of a high Moslem official in JoIo which are not among the published letters in Spanish. ArciUa does not attempt to hide the fact that his heart is on the side of the priests as they struggle to convert their recalcitrant flock. One wonders Uthe fathers were actually met with "immense joy" by residents of Isabela, BasUan, and U those residents were, as he says, "liberated for eventual conversion and baptism " (p. xxvi). One wonders, as well, about their decision to ban Zamboangue ños from access to books (p. xxvi). The volume also suffers from an annoying lack of good maps to help the reader locate places mentioned in the letters. These caveats aside, ArciUa has provided a rich coUection of original source materials previously not avaUable in EngUsh. The Zamboanga section is the longest, with 69 letters, 42 of these from Juan Quintana (15), Estanislao March (9), and Joaquín Sancho (18). Quintana and March are keen observers of Subanon culture. Sancho is a more militant warrior against Moslems; his letters also give vivid accounts of visits among the Sub- BOOK REVIEWS817 anon and of the cholera epidemic in 1889. Pio Pi's letter (#55) is of great interest for its discussion of strategy for conversion and of obstacles in the way of success. The BasUan mission produced only 37 letters, 24 of these by Pablo Cavalleria. With the help of a Tagalog ex-convict, Pedro Cuevas, who had become a local datu, the Jesuits were able to gain some converts, mostly among tribal peoples who then resettled in Isabela or the other towns (#4, 9, 22). But theirs was a"dtfficult " mission (p. 384), and their enmity toward Moslems eventually strained their relationship with the aU-important Cuevas, who was anxious to Uve and let live with the JoIo Sultan and local Moslems (#26). CavaUeria, like Pi1provides a heart-wrenching description of the cholera epidemic (#17), which kiUed at least 1200 on BasUan. But his most fascinating letter describes the reasons preventing Moro conversion, including the government's readiness to work with and recognize local Moslem leaders, the fact that Moslems didn't have to pay tribute, the "ceaseless transit of foreign Moros, who, titled 'Haji,' travel around these islands," and the Chinese traders who "generaUy support Islam and embrace it U convenient"(#28). Ofgreat interest to scholars today is this conflict of interests and strategies between the Jesuits, Spanish secular authorities, and local Chinese. Letters from the JoIo mission...