This document provides an overview of pre-Hispanic and Hispanic colonial literary works in the Philippines. It discusses the forms of literature that existed during the pre-Spanish period, including legends, folk tales, epics, folk songs, poems and sayings. It then outlines some of the first books printed during the Hispanic period, such as the Doctrina Christiana and Nuestra Senora del Rosario. Finally, it mentions several literary compositions from the Hispanic period, including dictionaries, grammars and novels that helped develop Philippine languages and literature.

1. COMPILATION
OF PRE-
HISPANIC AND
HISPANIC
COLONIAL
LITERARY
WORKS

2. THE PRE-SPANISH PERIOD
Long before the Spaniards and other foreigners set foot on
Philippine shores, our predecessors already had their own literature
stamped in the history of our race.
Our ancestors also had their own alphabet which was different
from that brought by the Spaniards. The first alphabet used by our
ancestor was similar to that of the Malayo-Polynesian alphabet.
Some of the works were just passed on byword of mouth till they
reached the hands of some publishers or printers who took interest in
printing the manuscripts of the ancient Filipinos.

3. PRE-SPANISH LITERATURE IS CHARACTERIZED BY:
A. LEGENDS
Legends are a form of prose the common theme of which is about the origin of a
place, location or name. The events are imaginary, devoid of truth and are
Old Filipino customs are reflected in these legends. Its aim is to entertain. THE
OF THE TAGALOGS is an example of this.
B. FOLK TALES
Folk tales are made up of stories about life, adventure, love, horror and humour
one can derive lessons about life. These are useful to us because they help us
our environment, evaluate our personalities and improve our perspectives in life.
THE PRE-SPANISH PERIOD

4. C. EPIC AGE
Epics are long narrative poems in which a series of heroic achievements or events,
hero, are dealt with at length. Nobody can determine which epics are the oldest
their translations from other languages, even in
English and Spanish. We can only determine their origins from the time mentioned in
epics.
Examples of epics:
a. Bidasari-Moro epic g. Kumintang-Tagalog epic
b. Biag ni Lam-ang-Ilokano epic h. Parang Sabir-Moro epic
c. Maragtas-Visayan epic i. “Dagoy”at “Sudsod”-
d. Haraya-Visayan epic j. Tatuaang-Bagobo epic
e. Lagda-Visayan epic k. Indarapatra at Sulayman
THE PRE-SPANISH PERIOD

5. D. FOLK SONGS
Folk songs are one of the oldest forms of Philippine literature that emerged in
Spanish period. These songs mirrored the early forms of culture. Many of these
syllables. Here are the examples:
a. Kundiman — melancholic love song
b. Kumintang o Tagumpay — war song
c. Harana —
d. Ang Oyayi o Hele — lullaby
e. Tagulaylay —songs of the dead
f. Mambayu — rice pounding song
THE PRE-SPANISH PERIOD

6. OTHER FORMS OF PRE-SPANISH POETRY:
1. Epigrams (Salawikain). These have been customarily used and served as laws or rules on
good behaviour by our ancestors. To others, these are like allegories or parables that impart
lessons for the young.
Exampe: Ang tunay na kaibigan, tunay na maaasahan.
2. Riddles (Bugtong) or Palaisipan. These are made up of one or more measured lines with
rhyme and may consist of four to 12 syllables.
Example: Ate mo, ate ko, ate ng lahat ng tao. (Answer: Atis)
3. Chant (Bulong). Used in witch craft or enchantment.
4. Maxims. Some are rhyming couplets with verses 5,6 or 8 syllables, each line having the
same number of syllables.
THE PRE-SPANISH PERIOD

7. 5. Sayings (Kasabihan). Often used in teasing or to comment on a person’s actuations.
Example: Nag-almusal mag-isa
Kaning lamig pa, tinapa;
Nahulog ang kutsara
Ikaw na sana, sinta
6. Sawikain (Sayings with hidden meanings)
Example: “kumukulo ang dugo”= is very angry
“isulat sa tubig”= forget about it
THE PRE-SPANISH PERIOD

8. THE FIRST BOOKS
HISPANIC PERIOD

9. • ANG DOCTRINA CHRISTIANA
– Doctrina Christiana, Spanish for “Christian Doctrine” or “The Teachings of Christianity,” is
Christianity,” is believed to be the first book printed in the Philippines in 1593. The present
book is a faithful facsimile of the original, of which only one copy is known to exist in the
world today, located in the Library of Congress. The present text contains the same contents
and has the same dimensions as the original text, though the latter was unbound and made
of mulberry paper.
– This 74-page text is written in three languages: Castilian, Tagalog in the native Baybayin
characters, and Tagalog transliterated into the Romanized phonetic script. Doctrina
Christiana preserves a record of the ancient Baybayin script, which died out of usage during
usage during the Spanish colonial period, and its transliteration to the Romanized script still
used to this day. In fact, the Tagalog language is so well preserved that the writing in Doctrina
HISPANIC PERIOD

10. • NUESTRA SENORA DEL ROSARI
– Nuestra Seniora Del Rosario-the second book printed in the Philippines was written by Fr.
Blancas De San Jose in 1602, and printed at the UST Printing Press with the help of Juan De
Vera, a Chinese mestizo. It contains the biographies of saints, novenas, and questions and
answers on religion.
• LIBRO DE LOS CUATRO POSTRIMERIAS DE HOMBRE
– Written by Francisco Blancas de San Jose , was a Dominican priest credited with installing
the first printing press in the Philippines in 1602. Known as the father of Tagalog
grammarians, he also produced significant treatises on the tagalog language.
– His works include the first typographic book which is the Libro de los Cuatro Postrimerias
HISPANIC PERIOD

11. • ANG BARLAAN AT JOSEPHAT
– The Greek Legend of Josaphat and Barlaan, who are believed to have survived around the
3rd-4th century in India, has been ascribed to John Damascene who wrote it around 750 B.C.
(Although some sources cite that this is actually originally written by the Georgian monk,
Euthymios in the 11th century).
– The story traces its origin to a Manichaean tract produced in Central Asia. In the Preparer’s
Notes, it has been established that this work has startling similarities with theTale of
Buddha, thus Josaphat and Baraan is referred to
as the Christianized version of Buddha’s life, with Josaphat reaching enlightenment through
he love of Jesus Christ.
HISPANIC PERIOD

12. • THE PASSION
– Gaspar Aquino de Belen, a notably poet-translator, produced devotional poetry written in
the Roman script in theTagalog language, Pasyon.
– The Pasion is a narrative of the passion, death and resurrection of Christ, which has
circulated in many versions.
• URBANA AT FELISA
– Urbana at Felisa, a novel written in 1938 by Modesto de Castro was tremendously popular
from the 19th-century to the first half of the 20th-century.The story relates the importance
of purity and ideal virtues that married people should practice and enrich.
HISPANIC PERIOD

13. • PSALMS FOR MARY
– Psalms for Mary, inTagalog, Ang Mga Dalit kay Maria, a collection of songs praising the
Virgin Mary. Fr. Mariano Sevilla, a Filipinos priest, wrote this in1865 and it was popular
especially during the May time “Flores de Mayo” festival.
• NOLI METANGERE
– Noli Me Tángere (Latin for Touch Me Not) is a novel written by José Rizal, one of the national
the national heroes of the Philippines, during the colonization of the country by Spain to
expose the inequities of the Spanish Catholic priests and the ruling government.
HISPANIC PERIOD

14. • EL FILIBUSTERISMO
– El Filibusterismo (lit. Spanish for "The Filibustering"), also known by its English alternative
alternative title The Reign of Greed, is the second novel written by Philippine national
hero José Rizal. It is the sequel to Noli me tangere and, like the first book, was written
in Spanish. It was first published in 1891 in Ghent.The novel's dark theme departs
dramatically from the previous novel's hopeful and romantic atmosphere, signifying the
character Ibarra's resort to solving his country's issues through violent means, after his
previous attempt at reforming the country's system have made no effect and seemed
impossible with the attitudes of the Spaniards towards the Filipinos.
HISPANIC PERIOD

15. • NINAY
– Nínay is the first novel authored by a native Filipino. Originally written in the Spanish
language by Pedro Alejandro Paterno when he was twenty-three years old and while living
in Spain in 1885, the novel was later translated into English in 1907 and into Tagalog in
1908. According to Dominador D. Buhain in his book A History of Publishing in the
Philippines, being the first Filipino novel, Ninaymarked the beginning of the awakening
awakening of national consciousness among the Filipino intelligentsia. Being a "largely
cultural" novel,the narrative provides a "folkloristic tour" of the distinctive culture of the
Philippines. Composed of 262 pages, the 1908 Tagalog version of the novel was published
by the Limbagan Nang La Republika Kiotan Bilang 30 during the American
period in Philippine history.
HISPANIC PERIOD

16. HISPANIC PERIOD
LITERARY
COMPOSITIONS

17. • ARTESY REGLAS DE LA LENGUATAGALA
– “Art and Rules of the Tagalog Language”. First published in 1610, it was reprinted in a
second edition in 1752 and a third edition in 1832. Even today, it is regarded as the most
comprehensive codification of the Tagalog language. The printer of Arte y Reglas de la
LenguaTagala was, again,Tomas Pinpin.
– Arte y Reglas de la Lengua Tagala is written in Latin, Spanish, and Tagalog and its material is
its material is rice paper. The book is organized into chapters on number, nouns, adjectives,
voice, verbs, and so on. Verbs are classified into the tenses present, future, accusative,
ablative, imperative, etc. The systematic division of Tagalog into a Latin grammatical
framework and the lack of Tagalog terms to describe the language make clear the author’s
HISPANIC PERIOD

18. • COMPENDIO DE LA LENGUATAGALA
– Written by Gaspar de San Agustin in 1703.
• VOCABULARIO DE LA LENGUATAGALA
– Vocabulario de la LenguaTagala is the first dictionary of the main language of
the Philippines—Tagalog.
– The first dictionary of theTagalog language was written by franciscan friar Pedro de
Buenaventura and published in Pila in 1613. He most probably used the Vocabulario
Tagalo left by fray Juan de Plasencia.
– It is considered incunabula, or a book published in the half century since the first books were
printed—1593 to 1643.The “Vocabulario” of San BuenaVentura was printed in Pila, Laguna,
HISPANIC PERIOD

19. • VOCABULARIO DE LA LENGUA PAMPANGA
– the first book in Pampango written by Fr. Diego in 1732.
• VOCABULARIO DE LA LENGUA BISAYA
– The best language book inVisayan by Mateo Sanchez in 1711.
HISPANIC PERIOD

20. • ARTE DE LA LENGUA ILOKANA
– Augustinian Francisco López (?–1627) made the first translation of the Doctrina
Christiana into Ilocano in 1621, wrote the Arte de la lengua yloca (1627) and started a
started a dictionary. Unfortunately he died before finishing it. Many years later, two
Augustinians José Carbonel (1665–1711) y Miguel Albiol (?–1710) completed López’s early
dictionary: Thesauro (ca. 1710).This dictionary is said to contain many mistakes and so Pedro
deVivar (1730–1771) was ordered to compile a new Ilocano dictionary. He finished it by 1760
and it was sent to Manila to be printed. But it ended up being destroyed when the British
took the city.
• ARTE DE LA LENGUA BICOLANA
HISPANIC PERIOD