Sangley

Sangley (Intsik, Sangley Mestizo, Mestisong Sangley, Mestizo de Sangley or Chinese mestizo; plural: Sangleys or Sangleyes) is an archaic term used in the Philippines beginning in the Spanish Colonial Period to describe and classify a person of pure Chinese ancestry. The Spanish used the term mestizo de sangley to refer to a person of mixed Chinese and indigenous/Indio (Filipino) ancestry (the latter were referred to as Indio). The Chinese immigrants and their descendants played important roles in the Philippines, contributing to trade, culture and politics. Today, Filipinos widely use the term Intsik.

Tsinoy (from the Spanish word Chino, and the word Pinoy) is also used to refer to a person of Chinese descent.

The Chinese had entered the Philippines as traders prior to Spanish colonization. That development increased some work and business opportunities. Many emigrated to the Philippines, establishing concentrated communities first in Manila, then in other cities.

Sangley comes directly from Hokkien seng-li (Chinese: ; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: seng-lí), meaning "business." The majority of Chinese sojourners, traders, and settlers in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period came from southern Fujian and spoke Hokkien, leaving their mark on Filipino culture (especially the cuisine). Although mestizo de sangley literally means "mixed-race (person) of business," it implies a "mixed-race (person) of Chinese and indigenous/Indio (Filipino) descent" because many early Chinese immigrants were traders and intermixed with the local population. Outside the Philippines, the Spanish word mestizo (without the qualifying de sangley) is normally used to refer to refer to persons of mixed European and non-European ancestry, but the lower number of European mestizos in the Philippines made the term mestizo come to mean mestizo de sangley. For example, Benito Legarda used this definition when talking to the United States Philippine Commission (1899–1900), citing Wenceslao Retana's Diccionario de filipinismos (1921). The term chino mestizo was also used interchangeably with mestizo de sangley'

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