The God Culture Philippines Biblical History Library

🪶 THE SMOKING QUILL | May 25, 2025

PART 2: Volume I Vindication:

The Forgotten Lequios of Luzon

[Vol. 1 Download]

🕰️ Introduction

While modern scholars continue to debate the meaning of "Lequios," and some translations obscure its reference altogether, Volume I of Fernão Mendes Pinto’s original Peregrinação leaves no such ambiguity. Long before Catz and colonial editors replaced names in Volume II, Pinto had already left multiple, consistent references that unmistakably locate the Lequios within the Philippine archipelago.

This installment of The Smoking Quill compiles the most telling passages from Volume I, each revealing a portion of Pinto’s worldview that affirms the Philippines—particularly Luzon and surrounding islands—as the true identity of the Lequios.

🔍 Primary References from Volume I

📄 Page 4 — "Pestana do Mundo"

"...naquele oriental arquipélago dos confins da Ásia, a que os escritores chins, siameses, guéus, léquios chamam em suas geografias a pestana do mundo..."

Analysis:
This early framing places the Lequios among the foremost geographers of Asia, affirming their role in defining the eastern archipelago as the "eyelash of the world." This is cosmographic language commonly associated with the Philippines on early world maps, not with the Ryukyus. The repeated use of this term in Volume II (p. 230) confirms Pinto’s long-term consistency.

📄 Page 91 — Strategic Geography

"...fora no norte da China, Japão, Léquios e outras muitas terras e portos..."

Analysis:
Léquios is listed after Japan, with no distinguishing marker separating the two as distinct countries. Instead, it fits as part of the southern arc of strategic Portuguese maritime activity—most clearly through Luzon.

📄 Page 136 — Léquios Junk Bound for Siam

"...achamos um junco de léquios que ia para o reino de Sião com um embaixador..."

Analysis:
A trading vessel from Léquios was headed to Siam with a diplomatic mission. This demonstrates Léquios as a trade-connected, political participant in mainland Southeast Asia. The Philippines, particularly the Lucoes, were known for exactly such regional diplomacy.

📄 Page 145 — Merchant Travel

"...para a ilha dos léquios a fazer sua fazenda..."

Analysis:
Merchants from Siam describe the island of Léquios as a place of commerce. This underscores the Philippines’ role as a marketplace port in the 16th-century trading world—a reputation not shared by Ryukyu in Pinto’s day.

📄 Page 204 — Corsair Out of Léquios

"...um junco de Patane que vinha dos léquios... com trinta portugueses..."

Analysis:
Portuguese were on board a junk from Léquios, further tying it to the areas under Lusophone influence—again matching Luzon, not Ryukyu.

📄 Page 254 — Port Scene with Léquios Presence

"...chins, malaios, champás, siameses, bornéus, léquios..."

Analysis:
Léquios appear as one of the many nationalities present in a bustling Southeast Asian port. Their inclusion among these southern groups, and not separately as a "Japanese" offshoot, strengthens the identification with Luzon. This cannot be Ryukyu.

📄 Page 440 — Spread of Religion

"...pelo arquipélago das ilhas de Ainão, Léquios e Japão..."

Analysis:
Religious diffusion described as flowing from Cambodia, Laos, and Siam outward into island chains including Léquios and Japan. Léquios is again separate, consistent with an identification of Luzon or Batanes—not Ryukyu.

📄 Page 526 — Return to the Island of the Léquios

"...arribarmos em popa à ilha dos léquios onde esse corsário era muito conhecido..."

Analysis:
A final mention showing a return to the island of the Léquios, where a corsair was well known to the local king. This reinforces earlier Volume II descriptions of a structured kingdom in Léquios with diplomatic familiarity—fitting Luzon far more than Ryukyu.

🔧 Final Assessment

Before Catz inserted [Ryukyus] into Pinto’s Volume II, Pinto had already made his definition clear. In Volume I, the Léquios are:

• Part of the southern maritime archipelago

• Associated with major port cities

• Hosts to Portuguese and Asian traders

• Integrated into the religious and political structure of Southeast Asia

They are not a mystery. They are Luzon.

This isn’t a reinterpretation. It’s a restoration.