Jose Rizal
As a typical Filipinoa, Jose Rizal was a product of the mixture of different races. In his veins flowed the blood of both East and West. Like Negrito, Indonesian, Malay, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish. Predominantly, he was a Malayan and was a magnificent specimen of Asian manhood.
Rizal had a trace of Chinese ancestry that came from a businessman named Domingo Lam-Co, the ancestor of Rizal’s father. He was a Chinese immigrant from Fukien, who arrived in Manila in about 1690. He married a Chinese Christian Girl of Manila named Ines de la Rosa, and assumed in 1731 the surname Mercado (“market” in English), which was appropriate for him because he was a merchant. The couple had a son, Francisco Mercado, who resided in Biñan. He married a Chinese-Filipino mestiza, Cirila Bernacha. One of their sons, Juan Mercado, Rizal's grandfather, married Cirila Alejandro. Like his father, he was elected gobernadorcillo of Biñan. Juan and Cirila had thirteen children, the youngest being Francisco Mercado, Rizal's Father. Later, Rizal’s father changed the family name in 1859 to Rizal to suit his farming business. Rizal is derived from the Spanish “Ricial”, which means green fields.
José Rizal also had Spanish and Japanese ancestors. Rizal’s mother Teodora Alonso came from the clan of Lakan Dula, known as the last Malay king of Tondo. She was also traced to Eugenio Ursua whose ancestors came from Japan. She was the second daughter of Lorenzo Alberto Alonso who was a former representative of Spanish Cortes and Brigida de Quintos whose parents were Manuel de Quintos, of a well-known family in Pangasinan and Regina Ursua who was the daughter of Benigna and Eugene Ursua. As already noted, Teodora Alonso had a trace of Japanese ancestry. Moreover, she was of Ilocano-Tagalog-Chinese-Spanish descent. Combining the paternal and maternal ancestry, therefore Jose Rizal was born with Malay, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish lineages in his blood.
Among the Chinese the significance of a name
Rizal had a trace of Chinese ancestry that came from a businessman named Domingo Lam-Co, the ancestor of Rizal’s father. He was a Chinese immigrant from Fukien, who arrived in Manila in about 1690. He married a Chinese Christian Girl of Manila named Ines de la Rosa, and assumed in 1731 the surname Mercado (“market” in English), which was appropriate for him because he was a merchant. The couple had a son, Francisco Mercado, who resided in Biñan. He married a Chinese-Filipino mestiza, Cirila Bernacha. One of their sons, Juan Mercado, Rizal's grandfather, married Cirila Alejandro. Like his father, he was elected gobernadorcillo of Biñan. Juan and Cirila had thirteen children, the youngest being Francisco Mercado, Rizal's Father. Later, Rizal’s father changed the family name in 1859 to Rizal to suit his farming business. Rizal is derived from the Spanish “Ricial”, which means green fields.
José Rizal also had Spanish and Japanese ancestors. Rizal’s mother Teodora Alonso came from the clan of Lakan Dula, known as the last Malay king of Tondo. She was also traced to Eugenio Ursua whose ancestors came from Japan. She was the second daughter of Lorenzo Alberto Alonso who was a former representative of Spanish Cortes and Brigida de Quintos whose parents were Manuel de Quintos, of a well-known family in Pangasinan and Regina Ursua who was the daughter of Benigna and Eugene Ursua. As already noted, Teodora Alonso had a trace of Japanese ancestry. Moreover, she was of Ilocano-Tagalog-Chinese-Spanish descent. Combining the paternal and maternal ancestry, therefore Jose Rizal was born with Malay, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish lineages in his blood.
Among the Chinese the significance of a name