Dominican Missionaries and the Importation of Unwanted Chinese Children to the Philippines in the Mid-Nineteenth Century

This paper explores the Dominican missionaries' unsuccessful but interesting project of purchasing and transporting children from China to the Philippines in the mid-nineteenth century set against the broader economic development and the ‘labour question’ in the Philippines during that period. Using primary sources from Philippine and Spanish archives, it aims to examine why and how the Dominicans conceived this project; identify the actors, institutions and processes that should have been involved in its execution; determine the factors that prevented its implementation; and discuss some events that happened as a consequence of the failed project. Ultimately, the analysis intends to demonstrate that through this undertaking the Dominicans attempted to address not only the religious but also the economic concerns – specifically related to labour – on the Spanish colony at that time.