Looking Back 4

Chulalongkorn's Elephants : The Philippines in Asian History

Ocampo Ambeth R.

• Publisher: Anvil Publishing, Inc.
• Year: 2021
• eBook ISBN: 9789712736766
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Asian History
• Index: History

Ambeth Ocampo on the inspiration behind this collection of essays: "Chulalongkorn's elephants are the bronze elephants the King of Siam gave to Singapore and Java as gifts during his travels in 1871. I met the Singapore elephant first as I traced Rizal's footsteps and found a reference to it in his diary. It was upon meeting next the Jakarta elephant that prompted me to compile this collection of essays that begins and ends with an elephant. More reflective than usual and going beyond Rizal and my 19th-centuray comfort zone, these explorations still carry my trademark irreverent humor."

AMBETH R. OCAMPO is a public historian and independent curator whose research covers the late 19th century Philippines: its art, culture, and the people who figure in the birth of the nation.

At present he is Full Professor and former Chairman, Department of History, Ateneo de Manila University. He has held previous appointments at: University of the Philippines (Diliman), De La Salle University, San Beda College, Chulalong University (Thailand), Kyoto University, and Sophia University (Tokyo, Japan).

He also served as: President, Philippine Historical Association; Chairman, National Historical Commission of the Philippines; Chairman, National Commission for Culture and the Arts.

He has published over thirty-five books, writes a widely read editorial page column for the Philippine Daily Inquirer, and moderates a growing Instagram and Facebook fan page.

Other books by AMBETH R. OCAMPO:

The Paintings of E. Aguilar Cruz (1986)

Rizal Without the Overcoat rev. ed. (2011)

Makamisa: The Search for Rizal’s Third Novel rev. ed. (2009)

A Calendar of Rizaliana in the Vault of the Philippine National Library rev. ed. (2011)

Aguinaldo’s Breakfast (1993)

Bonifacio’s Bolo (1995)

Mabini’s Ghost (1995)

Teodora Alonso (1995)

Talking History: Conversations with Teodoro A. Agoncillo rev. ed. (2011)

Luna’s Moustache (1997)

The Centennial Countdown (1998)

Bones of Contention rev. ed. (2014)

Meaning and History: The Rizal Lectures rev. ed. (2013)

Bones of Contention: The Andres Bonifacio Lectures rev. ed. (2014)

60 Years and Bon Vivant: Philippine French Relations (2008)

101 Stories of the Philippine Revolution (2009)

Looking Back rev. ed. (2009...

Table of contents

• Introduction
• Chulalongkorn’s Elephants
• History in Words
• Where Susu Means Milk
• Sex and Murder in 1635
• Governor vs. Archbishop in 1635
• Lagda: An 18th-Century Book of Manners
• Walang Cuenta
• The Philippines in the Golden Age
• Christmas Shopping in 1588
• Taipan Origins in 1590
• Quezon in Mexico
• Quezon Saved Jews from the Holocaust
• Bin Laden, Geronimo, and Lawton
• Philippine Connections with the Ascent to Mt. Everest
• Viva Pancho Villa
• Limahong
• Quiapo Before the Nazareno
• Rethinking Crab Mentality
• How to Kill a Rat
• Elephants in Manila, 1595
• A Jesuit Elephant in 17th-Century Manila
• Hideyoshi’s Elephant, 1597