The China Poblana

THE PUEBLAN CHINESE WOMAN

In the Church of Compañia, in Puebla, nigh the door which connects the presbytery with the sacristy, a tombstone is embedded in the wall, signaling the place where the mortal remains of Catarina de San Juan are buried. In 1907, existed a street called “De las Chinitas”(The Chinese’s), where Mirnha died.

It is told by the elder chroniclers that in the year 1609, a princess named Mirnha was born in the city of Indra Prastha. She descended from western India’s Mongolian lineage. Fleeing from the Turks, her family reached the coast where the slave trafficking Portuguese had settled.

Mirnha’s skin was almost white; she had dark hair, ample forehead, lively eyes, sultry nose and classy walking. On one day, as the princess was taking a walk in the beach, accompanied by her younger brother, she was taken prisoner and carried to Cochin, to later be sent to Manila, in the Philippine Islands.

The Marquis of Galvez, then Viceroy of Mexico, requested “good looking and graceful slaves” to the governor of Manila. He tried to acquire Mirnha, but she was reserved for Captain Miguel de Sosa and his wife, Mrs. Margarita de Chavez. The Chinita was then secretly embarked towards the Nueva España (New Spain) in 1620 to be delivered to the Mexican couple.

In the first third of the seventeenth century she arrived to the port of Acapulco, aboard the ship “Nao de Manila”. The oriental slave wore strange clothes, comprised of a richly embroidered shirt, colorful petticoat, a pair of silk sandals and long braids. It was the first time that a woman with oriental features and this type of clothing was seen in the port of Acapulco, so the curiosity of the attendees of the festival held because of the arrival of the Nao de Manila was deeply aroused. People wondered how that “China”(Chinese) had got there, so they immediately named her so, not taking into account her true Indian origin.

Her owners in Puebla baptized the newly arrived in the church of the Santo Angel de Analco under the name of Catarina de San Juan. She received a catholic education and was seen more as a member of the Sosa family than as a servant.

She married a slave of Chinese origin, Domingo Suarez, with whom she refused to have a marital life. While living with her adoptive parents, she continued to wear her strange clothing, which she mingled with the typical indigenous clothes, creating the now traditional China Poblana dress. She was then admitted in the Santa Catalina convent. There she gained the reputation of saint.

Regarding the China Poblana dress, there are plenty of legendary stories. Catarina de San Juan was always clad in dresses similar to those worn by the current China Poblana. With this, she set an identity for the indigenous women of the region while keeping some aspects of her oriental clothing. Evoking her royal attires, the princess mimicked the elaborate tailoring using two pieces of fabric of contrasting colors, and transformed it into some sort of European skirt, ample and with its bottom ending in sharp figures, embroidered with sequins.

The huipil (woman’s tunic), which is also delicately embroidered, goes loose over the shoulders and arms. The colors green, white and red were later adopted based on the Mexican flag, after the Independence in the nineteenth century. The China Poblana attire is more of a hybrid than an oriental one, and clearly shows the fusion of different cultures, which in turn resulted in a multitude of achievements of great beauty.

This traditional outfit is comprised essentially of tunic, blouse or shirt, skirt and sandals. The most appropriate tunic is the one called “de bolita” (a special type of weave), which is usually made in bright colors. The blouse is short sleeved and embroidered with chaquira (a plastic or glass-made material used to decorate) of lively colors. The skirt consists in two parts: the upper one, made of green silk or percale, and measuring about 25 cm; and the lower one, adorned with sequins and chaquira patterns resembling multicolored flowers, birds and butterflies.

The China Poblana’s hairstyle consists of two braids with both ends tied with ribbon bows of the same hue of the waistband and the lower part of the skirt. They carry pending earrings and coral necklaces. Sometimes they use Veracruzan hats discretely adorned with chamois or lace.

Their sandals are covered with green or red silk.

Many consider that the China Poblana legend is nothing more than a story. But the attire has been traditionally kept, and continues to be used by Mexican women.

Adapted by Marko Castillo