Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 608 views

    Laguna Copperplate PDF

    Uploaded by

    Kyla Camille
    The document summarizes the discovery and significance of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI), the oldest known written document found in the Philippines. In 1989, a dredging worker in Laguna accidentally discovered a copper plate with unusual writings. Experts later deciphered that the inscription was written in 900 AD in the ancient Philippine script of Kavi, making it an important primary source on Philippine history. The LCI provided insights into the culture and politics of early Philippine societies, including mentioning several chiefdoms and an account of settling debts. While questions remained about its authenticity, the LCI opened doors to new understandings of Philippine history prior to Spanish colonization.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Laguna Copperplate PDF

    Uploaded by

    Kyla Camille
    608 views2 pages
    The document summarizes the discovery and significance of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI), the oldest known written document found in the Philippines. In 1989, a dredging worker in Laguna accidentally discovered a copper plate with unusual writings. Experts later deciphered that the inscription was written in 900 AD in the ancient Philippine script of Kavi, making it an important primary source on Philippine history. The LCI provided insights into the culture and politics of early Philippine societies, including mentioning several chiefdoms and an account of settling debts. While questions remained about its authenticity, the LCI opened doors to new understandings of Philippine history prior to Spanish colonization.

    Original Title

    laguna copperplate.pdf

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    The document summarizes the discovery and significance of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI), the oldest known written document found in the Philippines. In 1989, a dredging worker in Laguna accidentally discovered a copper plate with unusual writings. Experts later deciphered that the inscription was written in 900 AD in the ancient Philippine script of Kavi, making it an important primary source on Philippine history. The LCI provided insights into the culture and politics of early Philippine societies, including mentioning several chiefdoms and an account of settling debts. While questions remained about its authenticity, the LCI opened doors to new understandings of Philippine history prior to Spanish colonization.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    608 views2 pages

    Laguna Copperplate PDF

    Uploaded by

    Kyla Camille
    The document summarizes the discovery and significance of the Laguna Copperplate Inscription (LCI), the oldest known written document found in the Philippines. In 1989, a dredging worker in Laguna accidentally discovered a copper plate with unusual writings. Experts later deciphered that the inscription was written in 900 AD in the ancient Philippine script of Kavi, making it an important primary source on Philippine history. The LCI provided insights into the culture and politics of early Philippine societies, including mentioning several chiefdoms and an account of settling debts. While questions remained about its authenticity, the LCI opened doors to new understandings of Philippine history prior to Spanish colonization.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    BONGCAWIL, KYLA CAMILLE A.

    HIST 1 – X1

    The Laguna Copperplate Inscription


    (Reflection Paper)
    For history to be chronicled, it has to be created.
    The Philippine history is a wide assemblage of artefacts, of oral records, and of mostly
    written documents from the ancient times up to now; and every so often, a fragment of the past
    gets discovered by an expert or even just by an ordinary citizen in an unforeseen place and moment.
    The odd thing is we might never know its real form and meaning unless someone notices it and
    tries to decipher its contents.
    For an instance, in 1989 at Lumbang River near Laguna de Bay, a man – who was in a
    concrete business – was dredging sand at the mouth of the said inlet when he accidentally found a
    begrimed rolled metal. He could’ve had thrown it for it just looked like any other scraps that would
    usually get congested in his equipment, but upon unfolding it, he reckoned it wasn’t just a junk but
    rather a plate of copper with unusual writings on it. It was sold to the antique dealers in Manila;
    however, the copper plate was not a good find for the buyers – no one wanted to avail it. That was
    why out of despair, they sold the thing for P2000, to the National Museum of the Philippines which
    was typically the last gasp for the unsold objects.
    The unearthed metal was currently known as the “Laguna Copperplate Inscription”, the
    first engraved artefact of the pre-Hispanic times from the Philippines. The epigraphs on it were
    studied to be more complex and more ancient than the Baybayin writing system. At first, the
    experts’ interest in interpreting the plate didn’t thrive for some possible reasons such as being on
    duties, lack of curiosity, and inadequate skill and knowledge on decoding such complexity.
    Fortunately, in 1990, a Dutch whose expertise was on Philippine scripts and Mangyan writing,
    namely Antoon Postma, had successfully translated and traced the roots of LCI. Contrasting the
    similarities and differences between the readily available writing systems, he learned that the text
    was in Kavi. Aside from these, the copperplate provided a precise Sanskrit date: Monday, April
    21, 900 AD – an important date which seemed to signify the beginning of our country’s history. It
    also contained some names of the former chiefs of the places mentioned like Pailah (Paila), Tundun
    (Tundo), Puliran (Pulilan), Binwangan (Binwangan), Dewata (Diwata), and Medang (Medang).
    Additionally, the LCI was a clear evidence of the culture of the people from the past when it comes
    to unsettled debts. The message was interpreted as a pardon from the chief of Tondo that released
    BONGCAWIL, KYLA CAMILLE A.
    HIST 1 – X1

    a man called Namwaran from a huge number of debits. Unfortunately, the last sentence was
    incomplete, hence there possibly was a second or more pages of it.
    Nevertheless, like the other artefacts and records discovered, the LCI had raised more
    questions of validity and confusion. The authenticity of the copperplate had been one of the
    greatest concerns of the historians since they encountered a multitude of fraud in the past times.
    Despite that, the veracity of the inscription was guaranteed due to Postma’s effort in consulting
    the Indonesian and Dutch specialists.
    Uncovering things like LCI has been always essential to the entirety of the history. Coming
    across the copperplate opened a doorway to a segment of our history which nobody had found
    before. It was a help in completing the prolific puzzle pieces of the nation’s historical narrative.
    Also, it enabled more experts to continue seeking for more evidences and connections from the
    old times. Now, we are just bounded by theories and speculations on a lot of subject matters in our
    history but, through these tiny snippets, we can turn our surmises into certainties.

    Sources:
    Primary
    Postma, A. (n.d.). The Laguna copper-plate inscription: text and commentary. Retrieved from
    Ateneo de Manila University website: http://www.philippinestudies.net.
    Secondary
    Morrow, P. (2006, July 14). The Laguna copperplate inscription. Retrieved at
    http://paulmorrow.ca/lcieng.htm.
    Santos, H. (1996, October 26). The Laguna copperplate inscription. Retrieved at
    http://www.bibingka.baybayin.com/dahon/lci/lci.htm.

    You might also like