LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,

AND JAPAN, 1888

LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888
Guide Questions:
1. How was the trip of Rizal to Hong
Kong?
2. How did Rizal described Hong Kong?
3. How did Rizal described Macao?
4. What are the things Rizal
experienced in Hong Kong?
5. What did Rizal’s next destination
after Hongkong?
6. What are the different streamers he
boarded for his trips?
 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

• Hounded by powerful enemies, Rizal was forced to leave his country for
a second time in February 1888.
• He was then a full-grown man of 27 years of age, a practising
physician, and a recognized man-of-letters. The first time he went
abroad in June 1882, he was mere lad of 21, a youthful student in
search of wisdom in the old world, a romantic idealist with beautiful
dreams of emancipating his people from bondage by the magic power of
his pen.
• Times had changed. Rizal at 27 was an embittered victim of human
iniquities, a disillusioned dreamer, and a frustrated reformer.
 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

The Trip to Hongkong

• On February 3, 1888, after a short stay of six months in his beloved
Calamba, Rizal left Manila for Hongkong on board Zafiro.
• He was sick and sad during the crossing of the choppy China Sea.
• He did not get off his ship when it made brief stopover at Amoy on
February 7 for three reasons: (1) he was not feeling well, (2) it was
raining hard, and (3) he heard that the city was dirty. He arrived in
Hongkong on February 8.
• During his stay in Hongkong, a British colony, Rizal wrote a letter
to Blumentritt, dated February 16, 1888, expressing his bitterness.
LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

“Zafiro”
 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

• In Hong Kong, Rizal stayed at

Victoria Hotel. He was welcomed
by the Filipino residents,
including Jose Maria Basa,
Balbino Mauricio and Manuel
Yriarte (son of Francisco Yraiarte,
alcalde mayor of Laguna).
 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

• A Spaniard, Jose Sainz de Varanda, who

was former secretary of Governor
General Terrero, shadowed Rizal’s
movement in Hong Kong. It is believed
that he was commissioned by the
Spanish authorities to spy on Rizal.

Jose Sainz de Varanda

 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

• “Hong Kong,” Rizal wrote to Blumentritt on February 16, 1888, “is

a small but very clean city.
• Many Portuguese, Hindus, English, Chinese and Jews live in it.
There are some Filipinos, the majority of whom being those who
had been exiled to the Marianas Islands in 1872.
• They are poor, gentle, and timid. Formerly, they were rich
mechanics, industrialists and financiers.”
 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

Visit to Macao
• On February 18, Rizal, accompanied by
Basa, boarded the ferry steamer Kiu-
Kiang for Macao. He was surprised to see
among the passengers a familiar figure—
Sainz de Varanda.
• Macao is a Portuguese colony near Hong
Kong. “The city of Macao,” wrote Rizal, in
his diary, “is a small, low, and gloomy.
There are many junks, sampans, but few
steamers. It looks sad is almost dead.”
 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

• During his two- day sojourn in Macao, Rizal

visited the theatre, casino, cathedral and
churches, pagodas, botanical gardens and
bazaars. He also saw the famous Grotto of
Camoens, Portugal’s national poet. In the
evening of February 19, he witnessed a
Catholic procession, in which the devotees
were dressed in blue and purple dresses and
were carrying unlighted candles.
• On February 20, Rizal and Basa returned to
Hong Kong, again on board the ferry steamer
Kiu- Kiang.
 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

Experiences in Hong Kong

• During his two- week visit in Hong Kong, Rizal studied Chinese
life, language, drama, and customs. He wrote down in his own
diary the following experiences:
1. Noisy celebration of the Chinese New Year which lasted from
February 11th (Saturday) to 13th (Monday). Continuous
explosions of firecrackers. The richer the Chinese, the more
firecrackers he exploded. Rizal himself fired many firecrackers
at the window of his hotel.
 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

2. Boisterous Chinese theatre, with noisy audience and noisier music. In

the Chinese dramatic art, Rizal observed the following: (1) a man stride a
stick means a man riding on horseback, (2) an actor raising his leg means
he is entering a house, (3) a red dress indicates a wedding, (4) a girl about
to be married coyly covers her face with a fan in the presence of her fiancé,
and (5) a man raising a whip signifies he is about to ride a horse.
3. The marathon lauriat party, wherein the guests were served numerous
dishes, such as dried fruits, geese, shrimps, century eggs, shark fins, bird
nests, white ducks, chicken with vinegar, fish heads, roasted pigs, tea, etc.
The longest meal in the world.
 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

4. The Dominican Order was the richest religious order in Hong

Kong. It engaged actively in business. It owned more than 700
houses for rent and many shares in foreign banks. It had millions of
dollars deposited in the banks which earned fabulous interests.
5. Of the Hong Kong cemeteries belonging to the Protestants,
Catholics and Muslims, that of the Protestants was the most
beautiful because pf its well- groomed plants and clean pathways.
The Catholic cemetery was most pompous, with its ornate and
expensive mausoleums and extravagantly carved sepulchres.
6. The Muslim cemetery was the simplest, containing only a little
mosque and tombstones with Arabic inscriptions.
 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

Departure from Hong Kong

• On February 22, 1888, Rizal left Hong
Kong on board the Oceanic, an American
steamer. His destination was Japan.
• He did not like the meals on board, but
he liked the ship because it was clean
and efficiently managed.
• His cabin mate was a British Protestant
missionary who had lived in China for 27
years and knew the Chinese language
very well, Rizal called him “a good man”.
 LESSON 13: HONGKONG, MACAO,
AND JAPAN, 1888

• Other passengers with whom Rizal conversed in their own

languages, were two Portuguese, two Chinese, several British, and
an American woman Protestant missionary.