Hokkien Spanish Historical Document Series IIIEspejo Rico del Claro Corazon-Beng Sim Po Cam
- Yu-Chung Lee, Fabio ed. lit.
- Chen, Tsung-jen ed. lit.
- Caño Ortigosa, José Luis ed. lit.
- Shih, Wen-cheng ed. lit.
- Jose, Regalado Trota ed. lit.
Publisher: National Tsing Hua University Press
ISBN: 978-986-6116-97-1
Year of publication: 2021
Type: Book
Abstract
The translated transcription of the Beng Sim Po Cam was a collection of the Biblioteca Nacional de España in Madrid. A popular book that had been circulating in East Asia since the fourteenth century, it was used for children's enlightenment and moral guidance. It collected proverbs and warnings from various texts which were meant to cultivate moral character and advise on choices in life. When Hokkien people arrived in Manila in late sixteenth century for trade and settlement, they also brought books of daily use like this one to Manila. The translated transcription of the Beng Sim Po Cam was transcribed by Spanish Dominican missionary Juan Cobo with help from Chinese in Manila. It was completed around 1590, and it definitely presented the process and achievements of Hokkien-Spanish interaction during the Age of Discovery. It is also an important and precious asset of "Memory of the World" for the mankind.