Chinese Filipino - Terminology

Terminology

The term "Chinese Filipino" may or may not be hyphenated. The website of the organization Kaisa para sa Kaunlaran (Unity for Progress) omits the hyphen, adding that Chinese Filipino is the noun where "Chinese" is an adjective to the noun "Filipino." The Chicago Manual of Style and the APA, among others, also recommend dropping the hyphen. When used as an adjective, "Chinese Filipino" may take on a hyphenated form or may remain unchanged.

There are various universally-accepted terms used in the Philippines to refer to Chinese Filipinos:

• Chinese (Filipino: Tsino, Intsik; Chinese: 華人, Hoâ-jîn, Huáren) -- often refers to all Chinese people in the Philippines regardless of nationality or place of birth.
• Chinese Filipino, Filipino Chinese, or Philippine Chinese (Filipino: Tsinoy, Chinoy; Chinese: 菲華, Hoâ-hui, Huáfēi) -- refers to Chinese people with Philippine nationality, and to Chinese peoples with Chinese nationality but were born in the Philippines.
  • Lan-nang, Lán-lâng, Bân-lâm, Hokkienese (咱人, 福建人, Fújiànren) -- a Chinese term referring to Chinese Filipinos whose ancestry is from Fujian province.
  • Keńg-tang-lâng, Cantonese (广东人, Guǎngdōngren ) -- a Chinese term referring to Chinese Filipinos whose ancestry is from Guangdong province.
• Chinese Mestizo (Filipino: Mestisong Tsino, Chinese: 華菲混血, Chhut-si or Chhut-si-ia) -- refers to people who are of mixed Chinese and Filipino ancestry. A common phenomenon in the Philippines would be having 75% Chinese ancestry - they are considered to be Chinese Filipino (Tsinoy), rather than Chinese Mestizo.
• Mainland Chinese, Mainlander -- refers to Chinese people with Chinese nationality and were born in China.
• Taiwanese (Filipino: Taga-Taiwan; Chinese: 台灣人, Tâi-oân-lâng, Táiwānrén) -- refers to Chinese people with Republic of China (Taiwan) nationality and were born in Taiwan.
• Tornatras or Torna atras -- refers to people who are of varying mixtures of Chinese, Spanish, and Filipino ancestry during the Spanish Colonial Period. The Tornatras are now referred to as Chinese Mestizo.

Other terms being used with reference to China include:

• 華人 -- Hoâ-jîn or Huárén—a generic term for referring to Chinese people, without implication as to nationality
• 華僑 -- Hoâ-kiâo or Huáqiáo -- Overseas Chinese, usually China-born Chinese who have emigrated elsewhere
• 華裔 -- Hoâ-è or Huáyì -- People of Chinese ancestry who were born in, residents of and citizens of another country

During the Spanish Colonial Period, the term Sangley was used to refer to people of unmixed Chinese ancestry while the term Mestizo de Sangley was used to classify persons of mixed Chinese and indigenous Filipino ancestry; both are now out of date in terms of usage.

"Indigenous Filipino", or simply "Filipino", is used in this article to refer to the Austronesian inhabitants prior to the Spanish Conquest of the islands. During the Spanish Colonial Period, the term Indio was used.

The Chinese Filipinos has always been one of the largest ethnic groups in the country with Chinese immigrants comprising the largest group of immigrant settlers in the Philippines. They are one of the three major ethnic groupings in the Philippines, namely: Christian Filipinos (73% of the population-including indigenous ethnic minorities), Muslim Filipinos (5% of the population) and Chinese Filipinos (22% of the population-including Chinese mestizos). Today, most Chinese Filipinos are locally born. The rate of intermarriage between Chinese settlers and indigenous Filipinos is among the highest in Southeast Asia, exceeded only by Thailand. However, intermarriages occurred mostly during the Spanish colonial period because Chinese immigrants to the Philippines up to the 19th century were predominantly male. It was only in the 20th century that Chinese women and children came in comparable numbers. Today, Chinese Filipino male and female populations are practically equal in numbers. These Chinese mestizos, products of intermarriages during the Spanish colonial period, then often opted to marry other Chinese or Chinese mestizos. Generally, Chinese mestizos is a term referring to people with a partial Chinese ancestry.

By this definition, the ethnically Chinese Filipinos comprise 1.3% (1.1 million) of the population. This figure however does not include the Chinese mestizos who since Spanish times have formed a part of the middle class in Philippine society nor does it include Chinese immigrants from the People's Republic of China since 1949.