China and the Philippines
A Connected History, c. 1900–50

Challenging global history's Euro-American orientation, this study centres China and the Philippines in the early twentieth-century.

Phillip B. Guingona (Author)

9781009359214, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 22 May 2025

292 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.5 cm, 0.426 kg

'Guingona's monograph makes important interventions into the historiographies of these diverse fields by putting previously ignored Chinese and Filipino historical actors at the forefront of the interconnected histories of China and the Philippines. This exploration, as Guingona shows, has previously been most heavily focused on American-Japanese-European perspectives and sources. Guingona intentionally turns his attention away from imperial/colonialist narratives toward highlighting Filipino and Chinese figures. … this book is a novel decolonial interconnected history of China and the Philippines. It would be a good source for those wishing to better understand China's history of entanglements in Southeast Asia, and vice versa, as well as those interested in the histories of overseas ethnic Chinese communities.' Patrick Buck, H-Net Reviews

Foregrounding the entangled history of China and the Philippines, Guingona brings to life an array of understudied, but influential characters, such as Filipino jazz musicians, magnetic Chinese swimmers, expert Filipino marksmen, leading Chinese educators, Philippine-Chinese bankers, Filipina Carnival Queens, and many others. Through archival research in multiple languages, this innovative study advances a more nuanced reading of world history, reframing our understanding of the first half of the twentieth century by bringing interactions between Asian people to the fore and minimizing the role of those who historically dominated global history narratives. Through methodologically distinct case studies, Guingona presents a critique of Eurocentric approaches to world/global history, shedding light on the interconnected history of China and the Philippines in a transformative period. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.

Introduction. Before a Vast Ocean
Part I. Mirrored Diasporas
1. Shanghai's Filipinos and Manila's Chinese
2. Trumpets and Ledgers
Part II. The Philippine Model
3. Achieving Modernity by Studying the Philippines
4. Achieving Modernity by Studying in the Philippines
Part III. Nationalisms of the Founders
5. Capital Heroes and a Hokkien Nation
6. Seeking Salvation and a Chinese Nation
Part IV. The Pivot
7. Coalescence: 1921, a Year of Promise
8. Possibilities: Meeting at Springfield's Fields
9. Disintegration: The Triangle Offense
Conclusions. The Ghosts of the Present.

Subject Areas: Asian history [HBJF]