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The `*`!Boxer Codex`!`* is a late-16th-century Spanish manuscript produced in the Philippines. It contains 75 colored illustrations of the peoples of China, the Philippines, `F33f`_`[Japan`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Japan]`_`f, `F33f`_`[Java`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Java]`_`f, the `F33f`_`[Moluccas`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Maluku_Islands]`_`f, the `F33f`_`[Ladrones`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Islas_de_los_Ladrones]`_`f, and `F33f`_`[Siam`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Siam]`_`f. About 270 pages of Spanish text describe these places, their inhabitants and customs. An additional 88 smaller drawings show mythological deities and demons, and both real and mythological birds and animals copied from popular Chinese texts and books in circulation at the time.

The English historian `F33f`_`[Charles Ralph Boxer`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=C.R._Boxer]`_`f purchased the manuscript in 1947 from the collection of `F33f`_`[Lord Ilchester`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Giles_Fox-Strangways,_6th_Earl_of_Ilchester]`_`f in London. Boxer recognized the importance of what he called the "Manila Manuscript" and published a paper in 1950 with a detailed description of the `F33f`_`[codex`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Codex]`_`f. He made the manuscript freely available to other researchers for study, and it became known as the `*Boxer Codex`*. Boxer eventually sold it to `F33f`_`[Indiana University`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Indiana_University_Bloomington]`_`f, where it is held by the `F33f`_`[Lilly Library`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Lilly_Library]`_`f.

>>Contents

• `F0af`_`[Description and contents`#description-and-contents]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[History and provenance`#history-and-provenance]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[Illustrations in the Boxer Codex`#illustrations-in-the-boxer-codex]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[Natives of the Philippines`#natives-of-the-philippines]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[Foreigners`#foreigners]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[See also`#see-also]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[Notes`#notes]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[References`#references]`_`f

• `F0af`_`[External links`#external-links]`_`f

-─

>>Description and contents

The manuscript was written around circa 1590`:cite-ref-1[`F5bf`_`[1`#cite-note-1]`_`f] in primarily `F33f`_`[Early Modern Spanish`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Early_Modern_Spanish]`_`f with some labels in `F33f`_`[Early Manila Hokkien`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Philippine_Hokkien]`_`f written in `F33f`_`[Spanish orthography`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Spanish_orthography]`_`f and `F33f`_`[Classical Chinese`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Classical_Chinese]`_`f and contains illustrations of `F33f`_`[ethnic groups in the Philippines`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Ethnic_groups_in_the_Philippines]`_`f, across `F33f`_`[Southeast Asia`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Southeast_Asia]`_`f, and in `F33f`_`[East Asia`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=East_Asia]`_`f and `F33f`_`[Micronesia`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Micronesia]`_`f at the time of early `F33f`_`[Spanish`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=History_of_the_Philippines_(1565–1898)]`_`f contact. It also contains `F33f`_`[Taoist`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Taoism]`_`f mythological deities and demons, and both real and mythological birds and land animals copied from popular Chinese texts and books in circulation at the time. Aside from a description of and historical allusions to what are now the Philippines and various other `F33f`_`[Far Eastern`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Far_East]`_`f countries, the codex also contains 97 hand-drawn color paintings and illustrations depicting peoples and animals of the Philippines, the `F33f`_`[Indonesian Archipelago`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Indonesian_Archipelago]`_`f, Japan, Taiwan, China, and `F33f`_`[Mainland Southeast Asia`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Mainland_Southeast_Asia]`_`f. The first illustration is an oblong fold-out, 74 are full-page colored illustrations, and the remaining are arranged four to a page on 22 pages (with some of the quarters remaining blank). Most of the drawings appear to have been copied or adapted from materials brought to the Philippines from China by `F33f`_`[Martín de Rada`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Martín_de_Rada]`_`f: the `*`F33f`_`[Classic of Mountains and Seas`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Classic_of_Mountains_and_Seas]`_`f`* and books from the `*`F33f`_`[shenmo`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Shenmo]`_`f`* genre, which depict deities and demons. The remaining drawings represent individuals, often a male and female pair, as inhabitants from tributaries of China and Taiwan with their distinctive costume; some of these have been refashioned as warriors. The depictions of inhabitants from Chinese tributaries may have been copied from a pre-existing source, drawn from memory, or perhaps even drawn according to instruction given by Rada or one of the other Europeans who visited China.`:cite-ref-0-2-0[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-0-2]`_`f] At least 15 illustrations deal with the inhabitants of the `F33f`_`[Philippine Archipelago`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=List_of_islands_of_the_Philippines]`_`f.`:cite-ref-roces1977p1003-3-0[`F5bf`_`[3`#cite-note-roces1977p1003-3]`_`f]

>>History and provenance

The `*Boxer Codex`* does not bear any direct statement of authorship or dates of production and there is no dedication that might indicate who was the patron of the work or for whom the work was intended. Its contents indicate that it was written in Manila in the early 1590s. The manuscript was likely compiled at the direction of `F33f`_`[Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Gómez_Pérez_Dasmariñas]`_`f, the Spanish `F33f`_`[Governor-General of the Philippines`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Governor-General_of_the_Philippines]`_`f, or his son, `F33f`_`[Luis Pérez Dasmariñas`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Luis_Pérez_Dasmariñas]`_`f.`:cite-ref-0-2-1[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-0-2]`_`f]

The `*Boxer Codex`* depicts the `F33f`_`[Tagalogs`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Tagalog_people]`_`f, `F33f`_`[Visayans`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Visayan_people]`_`f, `F33f`_`[Zambals`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Sambal_people]`_`f, `F33f`_`[Cagayanes`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Cagayan_Valley]`_`f or possibly `F33f`_`[Ibanags`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Ibanag_people]`_`f, and `F33f`_`[Negritos`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Negritos]`_`f of the Philippines in vivid color. The paintings' technique and the use of Chinese paper, ink, and paints suggests that the artist may have been Chinese.`:cite-ref-roces1977p1004-4-0[`F5bf`_`[4`#cite-note-roces1977p1004-4]`_`f]`:cite-ref-0-2-2[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-0-2]`_`f]

It is believed that the original owner of the manuscript was `F33f`_`[Luis Pérez Dasmariñas`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Luis_Pérez_Dasmariñas]`_`f, son of Governor General `F33f`_`[Gómez Pérez Dasmariñas`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Gómez_Pérez_Dasmariñas]`_`f,`:cite-ref-donoso2016pxlviii-5-0[`F5bf`_`[5`#cite-note-donoso2016pxlviii-5]`_`f] the Spanish `F33f`_`[Governor-General`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Governor-General_of_the_Philippines]`_`f of the `F33f`_`[Philippines`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Spanish_East_Indies]`_`f. Luis succeeded his father in office as governor-general. Since Spanish colonial governors kept extensive written reports of the territories they governed, it is likely that the manuscript was written on the governor's orders.`:cite-ref-roces1977p1004-4-1[`F5bf`_`[4`#cite-note-roces1977p1004-4]`_`f]

The manuscript's earliest known modern owner was `F33f`_`[Lord Ilchester`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Giles_Fox-Strangways,_6th_Earl_of_Ilchester]`_`f. The codex was among what remained in his collection when his estate, `F33f`_`[Holland House`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Holland_House]`_`f in `F33f`_`[London`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=London]`_`f, was bombed on September 27, 1940, during `F33f`_`[the Blitz`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=The_Blitz]`_`f. It was auctioned in 1947 and came into the possession of `F33f`_`[Charles Ralph Boxer`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=C.R._Boxer]`_`f, an authority on the Far East, and whom it is named. It is now owned by the `F33f`_`[Lilly Library`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Lilly_Library]`_`f at `F33f`_`[Indiana University`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Indiana_University_Bloomington]`_`f.`:cite-ref-roces1977p1003-3-1[`F5bf`_`[3`#cite-note-roces1977p1003-3]`_`f]

>>Illustrations in the Boxer Codex

>>>Natives of the Philippines

(All captions below based on source)`:cite-ref-0-2-3[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-0-2]`_`f]

>>>Foreigners

(All captions below based on source)`:cite-ref-0-2-4[`F5bf`_`[2`#cite-note-0-2]`_`f]

>>See also

• `F33f`_`[Códice Casanatense`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Códice_Casanatense]`_`f

• `F33f`_`[José Honorato Lozano`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=José_Honorato_Lozano]`_`f

• `F33f`_`[Damián Domingo`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Damián_Domingo]`_`f

• `F33f`_`[Juan Luna`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Juan_Luna]`_`f

• `F33f`_`[Fernando Amorsolo`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Fernando_Amorsolo]`_`f

• `F33f`_`[Fabián de la Rosa`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Fabián_de_la_Rosa]`_`f

• `F33f`_`[Tipos del País`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Tipos_del_País]`_`f

>>Notes

`:cite-note-1`!1.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-1]`_`f Lilly Library, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana (U.S.A.), Catalogue Record of the Boxer Codex

`:cite-note-0-2`!2.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-0-2-0]`_`f Souza & Turley, 2015

`:cite-note-roces1977p1003-3`!3.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-roces1977p1003-3-0]`_`f `F33f`_`[Roces 1977`#citerefroces1977]`_`f, p. 1003.

`:cite-note-roces1977p1004-4`!4.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-roces1977p1004-4-0]`_`f `F33f`_`[Roces 1977`#citerefroces1977]`_`f, p. 1004.

`:cite-note-donoso2016pxlviii-5`!5.`! `F0af`_`[↑`#cite-ref-donoso2016pxlviii-5-0]`_`f `F33f`_`[Donoso 2016`#citerefdonoso2016]`_`f, p. xlviii.

>>References

• `:citerefboxer1950`aBoxer, C. R. (1950). "A Late Sixteenth Century Manila MS". `*The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland`* (1/2): 37–49. `F33f`_`[ISSN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISSN_(identifier)]`_`f 0035-869X. `F33f`_`[JSTOR`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=JSTOR_(identifier)]`_`f 25222372.

• `:citerefcrossley2014`aCrossley, John N. (2014). "The Early History of the Boxer Codex". `*Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society`*. `!24`! (1): 115–124. `F33f`_`[doi`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Doi_(identifier)]`_`f:10.1017/S1356186313000552. `F33f`_`[ISSN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISSN_(identifier)]`_`f 1356-1863. `F33f`_`[S2CID`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=S2CID_(identifier)]`_`f 162791393.

• `:citerefdonoso2016`aDonoso, Isaac (2016). `*Boxer Codex / El Códice Boxer: A Modern Spanish Transcription and English Translation of 16th-Century Exploration Accounts of East and Southeast Asia and the Pacific, transcription and edition by Isaac Donoso, translation and annotations by María Luisa García, Carlos Quirino and Mauro García`*. Vibal Foundation. `F33f`_`[ISBN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISBN_(identifier)]`_`f 978-971-97-0692-2.

• `:citerefroces1977`aRoces, Alfredo R., ed. (1977), "Boxer Codex", `*Filipino Heritage: the Making of a Nation`*, vol. IV, Philippines: Lahing Pilipino Publishing, Inc.

• `:citerefsouzaturley2015`aSouza, George Bryan; Turley, Jeffrey Scott (2015). `*The Boxer Codex: Transcription and Translation of an Illustrated Late Sixteenth-Century Spanish Manuscript`*. Brill. `F33f`_`[ISBN`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=ISBN_(identifier)]`_`f 978-9004292734.

• "Boxer Codex". `*The Lilly Library Digital Collections, Indiana University`*. Retrieved August 17, 2021.

>>External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to

Boxer Codex

• Record and manuscript of the Boxer Codex at `F33f`_`[Indiana University`:/page/wikibook/entry.mu`zim=wikipedia_en_all_nopic_2025-08.zim|entry_path=Indiana_University]`_`f

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