Anything Under the Sun
Ancient Silk Route passed Panay (2)
From Panay, the Sanglays left bringing spices -- katumbal -- (pepper), ajos -- (garlic), luy-a (ginger) and other aromatic (tanglad -- lemon grass) and coloring plants (estiwitis and kalawag). These, together with porcelain and silk, they brought to Burma and India where the first leg of the southern silk route stopped.
From there, the Arab merchants thru land route brought these merchandise to Phoenicia passing thru Arabia and Israel. There the south silk route met the north silk route. The Phoenician seafarers in turn, brought them to Greece and the Roman Empire.
As for the Sanglays, on their return trip to China from India and Borneo, they made another stopover in Panay bringing with them Indian articles like kris -- one-foot daggers with wave-like blades and knives with ornate handles and big garlic (bombay -- named after its port of origin) and martabana (jars named after its port of origin -- Martabana in Burma). These were favorite articles of West Visayans.
On their way back to China, the Sanglay brought forest products, decorative sea shells, sibukaw (red wood), bees wax, honey and animal hides. The trading practice between the Sanglay and the natives was barter because of the absence of money.
Evidence of this ancient Visayan-Chinese trade relations are artifacts found in the recent diggings in Panay (Ogtong, Guimbal and Gigantes islands) and in Negros Occidental (Ilog and Escalante) consisting of porcelain of the Ming, Tang, Sung and Ching dynasties.
By the way, the ancient Chinese writer Chao Ju Kuan in 1225 described the Visayans as pi'sho ye (warlike) echoed later by Wong Tan Yuan who called them tattooed people and likewise, described still later by the Spaniards as pintados.
However, these impressionism appeared to be isolated because in general, West Visayans are peace-loving people.