Periodization of Rizal

PERIODIZATION AND KEY EVENTS IN THE LIFE OF
JOSE PROTACIO MERCADO RIZAL ALONZO Y REALONDA

* Sociological Imagination, C. Wright Mills: an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society (History + Biography + Social Structure)

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FORMATIVE YEARS: 1861 – 1882
The Family * Rizal Family: one of the biggest families during their time / principalia class * Mercado: real surname adopted in 1731 by Domingo Lamco (paternal great great grandfather of Jose Rizal) * Rizal: second surname given by a Spanish alcalde mayor of Laguna, who was a family friend * Mercado-Rizal family: Japanese, Spanish, Malay and even Negrito blood aside from Chinese * Jose Rizal: 19 June 1861, 7th child * Parents: Francisco Mercado / Teodora Alonso * Siblings: Saturnina, Paciano, Narcisa, Olympia, Lucia, Maria, Concepcion, Josefa, Trinidad, Soledad

The Rizal Home * One of the distinguished stone houses in Calamba * By day, it hummed with the noises of children at play and the songs of birds in the garden * By night, it echoed with the dulcet notes of family prayers

Childhood Years in Calamba * Childhood Memories: (1) happy days in the family garden when he was three years old, (2) daily Angelus prayer, (3) nocturnal walk in town, (4) Death of Little Concha * First teacher of Rizal was his mother (age 3: alphabet and prayers) * Age of five: (1) read the Spanish Bible, (2) made sketches with his pencil, (3) mould objects in clay and wax * The Story of the Moth – made the profoundest impression on Rizal (“died a martyr to its illusions”) * Influences: (1) hereditary influence, (2) environmental influence, (3) aide of Divine Providence PERSON | INFLUENCE ON RIZAL | Jose Alberto – studies for 11 years in British School in Calcutta and traveled in Europe | artistic ability | Manuel Alberto – a husky and athletic man | physical strength | Gregorio Alberto – a book lover | reading of good books | Fr. Leoncio Lopez – old and learned Parish priest of Calamba | love for scholarship and intellectual honesty |

Early Education in Calamba and Biñan * Private Tutors: Maestro Celestino, Maestro Lucas Padua and Leon Monroy * 1870, Biñan: Justiniano Aquino Cruz (Latin and Spanish) / Juancho Carrera (free lesson in Painting) * “the favorite painters of the class” because of his artistic skills, together with his classmate Jose Guevarra * December 17, 1870 – Rizal left the Biñan riding the steamer Talim (he was watched by Arturo Camps, Frenchman friend of Rizal’s Father

GOM-BUR-ZA Martyrdom * 17 February 1872: execution of Fathers Mariano Gomez, Jose Burgos and Jacinto Zamora in Bagumbayan (linked with Cavite Mutiny, 20 January 1872) * “Filibustero” – person/s who do not follow the law/rules of the government * The martyrdom of Gom-Bur-Za inspired Rizal to fight the evils of Spanish tyranny and redeem his oppressed people * Rizal dedicated the El Filibusterismo to Gom-Bur-Za

Imprisonment of Teodora Alonzo * As the mother of a perceived enemy of the Spanish authorities, she was often made a target * 1871: Mother was imprisoned in Sta. Cruz, Laguna (2 and a half years) * Poisoned the wife of her cousin Jose Alberto

Ateneo and the Jesuits * First used the surname “Rizal” * Escuela Pia Ateneo Municipal de Manila Ateneo de Manila * Fr. Margin Fernando (college registrar), refused to admit Rizal: (1) late for registration, (2) sickly and undersized for his age * Manuel Xerex Burgos: because of him, Rizal was admitted in Ateneo * Jesuit system of education: trained the character of students by rigid discipline and religious instructions * Fr. Jose Bech: Rizal’s first professor in Ateneo * To improve his Spanish, he took private lessons in Santa Isabel College PERSON/BOOK | INFLUENCE ON RIZAL | The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas | First favorite novel of Rizal which made an impression on him | Travels in the Philippines by Dr. Feodor Jagor (German scientist-traveler who visited the Philippines in 1859 – 1860) | Impressed by the book: (1) keen observation of the defects of Spanish colonization, (2) Jagor’s prophecy that someday Spain would lose the Philippines and that America would come to succeed her as colonizer | Padre Francisco de Paula Sanchez – great educator and scholar; professor of Rizal | Inspired him to study harder and to write poetry / cultivated his literary talent | Agustin Saez – famous Spanish painter | Studied painting | Romualdo de Jesus – noted Filipino sculptor | Studied sculpture | Literary Ventures * Wrote poems on various topics – religion, education, childhood memories and war TITLE | YEAR | | Mi Primera Inspiracion (My First Inspiration) | 1874 | Dedicated to his mother on her birthday | A La Juventud Filipina (To the Filipino Youth) | 1878 | Won Liceo Artistico-Literario prize / Expressed for the first time nationalistic concepts that the Filipinos were the “fair hope of the Fatherland” | El Consejo delos Dioses (The Council of the Gods) | 1880 | Received Licco Artístico-Literario diploma of honorable mention – deprived of the first prize | Junto Al Pasig (Beside the Pasig) | 1880 | Zarzuela staged by the Ateneans on December 8, 1880 |

Encounter with Guardia Civil * 1878: wounded in the back for not saluting a Guardia Civil lieutenant whom he had not seen * The authorities ignored his complaint -------------------------------------------------
EUROPEAN SOJOURN: 1882 – 1887
Enlightenment Education * Aside from completing his studies in Spain, Rizal has his “secret mission” – “was to observe keenly the life and culture, languages and customs, industries and commerce, and government and laws of the European nations in order to prepare himself the mighty task of liberating his oppressed people from Spanish tyranny” * Impressed by the way the Spanish Mason openly and freely criticized the government policies and lambasted the friars * Joined the Masonic Lodge called Acacia in Madrid in 1883 in order to secure Freemasonry’s aid in his fight against the friars in the Philippines * In Leipzig, Rizal translated Schiller’s William Tell from German into Tagalog so that the Filipino might know the story that champion Swiss independence

Medical Studies * Universidad Central de Madrid (1882) – Medicine, and Philosophy and Letters * Conferred Licentiate in Medicine in 1884 / Licentiate in Philosophy and Letters in 1885 * Went to Paris and Germany in order to specialized in ophthalmology (because he wanted to cure his mother’s eye ailment)

Patriotism * Amor Patria (Love of County) – nationalistic essay, Rizal’s first article written in Spain’s soil under the pen name Laong Laan / printed in Diariong Tagalog on August 20, 1882 * Alin Mang Lahi (Any Race) – patriotic song written by Rizal which asserts that any race aspires for freedom

Noli Me Tangere * Latin term for “Touch Me Not” * Inspired by Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin * Depicts the miseries of the Filipino people under Spanish tyrants * Wrote the novel from 1884 to 1886 / Published in 1887 * Maximo Viola – his friend from Bulacan, loaned him the funds to publish the novel

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THE TURNING POINT: 1887 – 1888
The Calamba Hacienda Case * Calamba was a hacienda town which belonged to the Dominican Order * Family was ejected from their lands in Calamba as a result of a land conflict between Dominicans and the Filipino tenants. The family moved to Manila, but the Spanish persecution still followed

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SECOND SOJOURN: 1888 – 1892
Radicalization of Rizal * The Calamba tragedy led Rizal to make a more radical separatist position in the second phase of his political career (1882 – 1892) * From 1887 to 1892, we can see the inconvertible evidence of a subversive Rizal.
Even before the Calamba incident, Rizal had expressed the view that independence through peaceful struggle was nothing but a dream and that seeking assimilation to Spain was a mistake.

Historical, Ethnological and Linguistic Studies * Rizal became acquainted with such prominent European ethnologists and linguistic (furthered his studies)

Los Indios Bravos * Replaced the social society Kidlat Club formed by Rizal in Paris in 1889 * Its members pledged to excel in intellectual and physical prowess in order to win the admiration of the foreigners

Conflict and Break With Del Pilar and La Solidaridad * According to Quibuyen, the conflict between Rizal and del Pilar is not just a personality conflict. There were more profound political/ideological differences between Rizal and del Pilar, both illustrados, than between Rizal and Bonifacio * A more radical Rizal can be seen after Rizal’s break with del Pilar and the La Solidaridad.
For del Pilar’s group, the sole problem to work on was the expulsion of the friars, but Rizal had come to realize that the root problem was the Spanish colonialism itself. For Rizal, the illustrados should work for the enlightenment of the Filipinos in the Philippines.

El Filibusterismo * Started writing in 1887 and finished in 1891 * Novel dedicated to Gom-Bur-Za * Valentin Ventura – sent funds for the publication of this book

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THE MOMENT OF TRUTH: 1892 – 1896
Rizal and the Revolution * False premise that Rizal was an assimilationist reformist who “vehemently repudiated” the revolution / American representation of Rizal as a counterrevolutionary bourgeois intellectual * Rizal never equated Filipino with Hispanization. In Rizal’s mind, Filipino signifies the nation-in the-making * A theme running through the Noli-Fili is that an oppressed people may be disunited and without a voice, but through enlightened struggle, it can become a nation

La Liga Filipina and the Katipunan * The Calamba tragedy led Rizal away from del Pilar’s assimilationist program. He then turned to the Philippines to start a more militant, more consciously nationalist movement, La Liga Filipina. * Established in 1892 / Motto: Unus Instar Omnium (One Like All)

Exile to Dapitan * Practiced medicine, pursued scientific studies, continued his artistic and literary works, widened his knowledge of languages, established a school for boys, promoted development projects, invented a wooden machine for making bricks, and engaged in farming and commerce * Community projects in Dapitan, organized cooperatives

Arrest and Martyrdom * Quibuyen: Confronted with the option between revolution and martyrdom, Rizal chose the later * December 30, 1896 at 7:03am. * Mi Ultimo Adios (My Last Farewell)