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REALTIME:
MAKING DIGITAL
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REALTIME: MAKING DIGITAL CHINA 3
C O N T
07 CHINA.AI
10 FUTURE RECIPES
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REALTIME:
In an uncertain world, grand narratives of the future often fall short. Computers
are used to formulate and calculate timetables, 2 requiring us to form plans
and ways to execute them. The predictable outcome of computer simulations
contrasts with the growing uncertainty we observe. We often feel lost in planning
and time scales, searching for a set of instructions that could finally provide a
predictable outcome.
CHINA SPEED
Arguably, the country on Earth that has undergone the most drastic transformation
over the last half century is China. Its urban population went from slightly
over 100 million to more than 600 million people between 1978 and 2018. 3 The
manufacturing and export of billions of Made in China goods shaped entirely
new ways of producing and consuming all across the world. Once a relatively
isolated nation, the country now occupies a central role in international affairs.
1 The “flash crash” of May 6, 2010, has become a canonical example of how systems can surpass
the understanding of mankind. At 2:32 pm EDT, the most important stock indexes in the United States
collapsed for approximately 36 minutes, causing a loss of almost one trillion dollars before rebounding
and recovering most of the original amount. To this day, the exact reasons for this remain unknown.
2 The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) relies on statistical models and advanced
computation to define the timeframe of global warming.
3 Statistics from the World Bank, 2018.
9
All this happened with incredible speed. Anyone who has witnessed firsthand
the development of Chinese cities over the past three decades can attest to its
velocity. Nationwide infrastructure projects were developed and deployed in a
matter of years, including more than 100,000 km of railway tracks and 4,000 km
of subway lines. These developments evolved from intense planning through
successive five-year and ten-year plans, but also from a surprising sense of
urgency and immediacy that has spread over the country.
All across the nation, thousands of people were arriving each day at train
stations, bags in hand, ready to start a new urban life. Planners had to develop
entire cities to host these newcomers, who were often present illegally. In
many cases, urban plans were used to explain and contain what was already
happening. Among the population, the dedication to executing tasks at a faster
rate was also palpable. Manufacturers would hear a client request, rush back
to the factory and work day and night until a prototype was ready to ship. “On
my way to meet a Korean client, I was blowing on the phone to dry the paint!”
remembers a Shenzhen electronics maker with a large smile.
THE CITY-ON-A-CHIP
Since the 1990s, communication devices and the Internet have played an
important role in the transformation of our world. By 2018, half the planet’s
population had access to a network of computers. 4 Beyond humanity itself,
billions of machines are now exchanging information daily. Direct communi-
cations continue to raise new questions about the ways habitants, cities and
nations comprehend time and space.
Indeed, why should urban composition be based on the spatial order of places
and roads when we can find our own way using a text search? Why should we
wait to interact physically when an interface able to react in under a tenth of a
second feels instant? One of the most outwardly visible actions of computers is
to reorganize space. Cities, like computers, evolved from the same necessity of
humans to organize things and thoughts into functions and zones.
In this regard, the technocratic dream that predates the “smart city” is a very
old one. The city is classically represented as a machine, with vertical dynamics
of institutions and horizontal ranges of possibilities. With computers networks
In most Chinese cities, digital technologies are omnipresent. With both the
largest urban areas and the largest electronics manufacturing industry in the
world, the country has created entirely new models of production, use and
regulation of information technology. As with urban development, the emer-
gence of these technologies has followed both chaotic paths and well-thought-
out plans. Digital devices have been deeply integrated into urban spaces,
from LED screens and phones, to cyber-cafes, surveillance cameras, drones
and robots.
This volume is composed of two sides—graphical on the left, textual on the right
—so as to offer the reader an experience that is both analytical and sensory.
It contains perspectives from researchers and practitioners across various fields
including geography, anthropology, economics, design, architecture and art.
The opening three chapters provide the larger context, with a historical overview
of the ascent of digital technologies in China (chap. 1), a spatial perspective
on the planning of cities (chap. 2) and a geopolitical look at the evolution of
China’s role in defining global technological standards (chap. 3). The bulk of
the volume is dedicated to observations collected from the field, including a
unique collection of shanzhai phones (chap. 4) and an exploration of Shenzhen’s
night markets in search of second-hand electronics (chap. 5). Chapter 6
narrates a methodological experiment for studying makerspaces in China. The
following three chapters present accounts of home-grown Internet phenomena,
namely the media propaganda surrounding artificial intelligence (chap. 7), the
evolution of rural e-commerce villages (chap. 8) and the popular activity of live
11
commenting directly over online videos (chap. 9). The final chapter is a work
of fiction that attempts to articulate a potential future of China’s technology
through food and recipes (chap. 10).
Together these contributions constitute a small but significant sample from the
vast spectrum of technology in China. They remind us that technology, before
being from any specific nation, is deeply human.
Clément Renaud
Florence Graezer Bideau
Marc Laperrouza
REALTIME: MAKING DIGITAL CHINA 13
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15
C O [0 科 I N TE E 伸
CHINA’S FIRST EMAIL.
On September 14, 1987, scientists from China and Germany together, sent China’s
first email entitled “Across the Great Wall, we can reach every corner in the
world.” The email was received in Germany six days later, on September 20.
THE ASCENT
Over the last few decades, the harsh international competition between nations
for technological domination has shifted towards digital technology. This global
rivalry has largely contributed to framing technology in China as a direct continuity
of the Chinese state. Discourse around the Internet in China—the so-called
“Chinese Internet”—has been fueled by techno-nationalisms both in and outside
of China, enhancing the need for nation-states to reassert their power in the
face of increasingly complex production and communication networks.
Historical references and analogy (such as the Great Wall) have been present since
the early days of the Internet in China, and provided a historical anchor for national
claims over computer networks. Digital technology has often been renamed after
Deng’s socialism epithet, the famous “with Chinese characteristics.” This self-
reinforcing narrative of digital China’s otherness pleased both the Chinese and
non-Chinese sides, as it offered a comfortable frame of reference for national
or regional issues.
More than debunking one or the other, to consider digital technology in China
requires framing it as a part of the country’s experience over the last several
decades. The lives of hundreds of millions of people have been radically trans-
formed over this period, partly by massive relocation movements from the coun-
tryside to megacities. The incredible diversity of these experiences provides the
historical, political and daily context of where digital technology occurs in China,
simultaneously locally and with numerous consequences across our planet.
1 This trend culminates in global rankings such as the Global Innovation Index published by the WIPO
19
Debating the Internet in China has long provided a safe framework for critics,
scientists and editorialists to demonstrate how the Internet could “go bad,” while
preserving enthusiasm about their own technological condition—and their own
sales plans. Recently though, the dystopian tone solely used to describe digital
technology in China has gained momentum across other areas of discussion,
bringing new perspectives on the Chinese example. To make things easier,
we could date this shift in perception to June 6, 2013, when Edward Snowden
published his revelations on the surveillance practices of several US government
offices. Occurring in Hong Kong, the “Snowden moment” shed light on unknown
administrative mechanisms and structures of digital networks, revealing the
extent of control wielded by the US government over them. As a direct conse-
quence, it provided a great opportunity for editorialists in China to reassert their
national claims over the Internet. 2
2 The People’s Daily published on June 23, 2014, an editorial entitled Cyber Sovereignty, A Question
21
BOTTOM: The Cangjie Input method was invented in 1976 for inputting Chinese
characters on a standard keyboard.
urging countries to reassert their “cyber sovereignty” made a few converts,
Writing is more than merely a tool for territorial and resource management.
Goody (1977) has shown how alphabetization was a transformative experience
of the mind—creating a new framework with which to visually and logically
order thoughts. In many regards, new writing technologies transform the way
we think—and the way thinking is regulated. During successive Chinese empires,
characters, measurement systems, maps and virtually all writing systems were
used to standardize practices and unify the Chinese territory. The current offi-
cial history in the PRC dates the birth of China to the inception of the Yellow
Emperor, whose first action after seizing power was to ask a famous scholar
to create a new writing system to unify the territory. In the Analects, Confucius
explains to his disciple that the first thing a new ruler coming into power should
do is to “rectify words”. 5
The early use of the Chinese printing press also greatly facilitated the compi-
lation of studying materials for Imperial examinations. The circulation of these
texts was an important political concern, and a stepping stone for the emer-
gence of a gigantic bureaucracy under the rule of the Mandarins. Mao Zedong
himself understood this very well, making his Little Red Book one of the most
circulated books in the world with an estimated billion copies in circulation.
3 See, for instance, the report Towards a European Digital Sovereignty Policy published in 2019
by the Section for European and International Affairs (ESEC).
4 For more about pirates as hostis humani generis, see the excellent Mercenaries, Pirates,
and Sovereigns: State-Building and Extraterritorial Violence in Early Modern Europe by
Janice E. Thomson (1994)
5 “必也正名乎”—“Tsze-lu said, ‘The ruler of Wei has been waiting for you, in order for you to
administer the government. What will you consider the first thing to be done?’—The Master replied,
23
For the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) who seized power after the Second
World War, rebuilding the country was not only an economic endeavor but also
a grandstanding mission to reinvent China. Therefore, a new set of writing
tools were needed. The Chinese language was reformed and simplified, with
vast literacy campaigns conducted across the population. The goal was not
only to teach the people to read but also to increase the political outreach
of official statements, which gradually evolved to claim a continuation of the
ancient Chinese civilization (wenming). 6 It was no surprise then, that the formi-
dable writing capacity unleashed by digital technology was to become a major
vector of the country’s political and societal transformations—as well as partially
reproducing Imperial power and knowledge structures.
While Mao or Deng’s experience was mostly with the military in the People’s
Liberation Army, rebuilding the country required different skills. Hundreds of
thousands of engineers would have to build roads, bridges, ports and cities
for the whole country over the following decades. Called the “Red Engineers”
(Andreas 2009)—in contrast to the experts and political agitators of the Cultural
Revolution—this new generation pursued higher education in science and
technology.
Chinese engineers rapidly grasped the importance of computers. From the new
possibilities of information storage and computation to nationwide distribu-
tion networks, the potential of the computer was virtually unlimited. In 1989,
Jiang Zemin was named General Secretary of the CCP and would soon become
China’s president, and the first engineer to ever hold this position. Having studied
electrical engineering during the Japanese occupation, he understood the
6 In Chinese, wen (文) means writings and literacy. Civilization is often translated as wenming (文明),
25
[88] Prescott states that Las Casas was on the island at the time. In this he is
mistaken. On the other hand, Bernal Diaz was an eye-witness, and tells a very
different story. But the tale of the soldier is not so striking as that of the priest, who
writes from the statements of Velazquez’ friends, colored by time and distance.
The final words which passed between the governor and Cortés, according to Las
Casas, in effect were these: ‘Compadre, is this the way you are going? A nice
manner, truly, of taking leave!’ To which Cortés makes answer, ‘Pardon me, sir;
there are things which must be carried out before they are considered. I wait your
worship’s orders.’ Hist. Ind., iv. 451-2; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. iii. cap. xii.
[89] Testimonio de Montejo, in Col. Doc. Inéd., i. 437. ‘No le pudo estoruar la yda
porq̄ todos le siguian: los q̄ alli estauã, como los q̄ venian con Grijalua. Ca si lo
tentara con rigor vuiera rebuelta en la ciudad, y aun muertes. Y como no era párte
dissimulo.’ Cortés even announced that he was going on his own account, and
that the soldiers had nothing to do with Velazquez. Gomara, Hist. Mex., 13. But
this is highly improbable. According to De Rebus Gestis Ferdinandi Cortesii,
Cortés spread insinuations against Velazquez’ greed and selfishness, commented
upon his own liberality and upon the rich prospects before them, and thus gained
the voice of his followers, so that the former dared not attempt any overt acts.
‘Loricâ ab eo tempore sub veste munitus, stipatusque armatis militibus, quos spe
sibi fidos amicos fecerat.’ Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 346-9; Cortés, Memorial, 1542,
in Cortés, Escritos Sueltos, 310. Las Casas repeats his condemnation of Gomara,
as a man who wrote only what he was told by his master. He scouts the idea of
the powerful Velazquez either needing Cortés’ pecuniary aid or not being able to
dispose of his fleet as he wished. A humble squire, indeed, to raise his voice
against the great Velazquez, who could have taken his bread and life at any
moment! Hist. Ind., iv. 448-9.
[90] In his memorial to the emperor in 1542, Cortés relates this enforced
transaction quite at length. Learning that his stock of the week had been seized,
Hernan Dalonso seeks Cortés and complains, with tears in his eyes, whereupon
he receives the gold chain, ‘de unos abrojos.’ Cortés, Escritos Sueltos, 310-11;
Col. Doc. Inéd., iv. 221.
[91] Bernal Diaz asserts that Duero and Láres were present at the parting, and
that Velazquez and Cortés several times embraced each other and vowed eternal
friendship. ‘Habuit Cortesius cùm e Sancti Jacobi urbe et portu solvit, naves sex;
aliâ, nam septem habuit, in portu, ut sarciretur reficereturque, relictâ.’ De Rebus
Gestis Ferdinandi Cortesii, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 348. This authority believes
that one of the reasons for Cortés’ hurried departure was a fear that Grijalva’s
vessels might turn up; but they had already arrived, as we have seen. The seventh
vessel, a caravel, joined Cortés at Trinidad, with nine horses and eighty
volunteers, under Francisco de Salcedo. Id., 354. ‘Partiose de Santiago Barucoa
... en seys nauios.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 13.
[92] Pedro Juarez Gallinato de Porra was sent with a caravel under orders to take
the cargo of supplies to Cabo Corrientes or Punta de Santanton, and there await
the fleet. Gomara, Hist. Mex., 13. In De Rebus Gestis Ferdinandi Cortesii, loc. cit.,
the captain is called Pedro Gonzalez de Trujillo. He brings 1500 tocinas (salt
pork), and 2000 loads cassava. ‘Mil cargas de pan cazavi, y dos mil tocinos y
muchos fasoles y aves y otras cosas.’ Cortés, Memorial, 1542, in Id., Escritos
Sueltos, 311.
[93] Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 14, mentions several more names, with occasional
remarks on wealth and standing. Puertocarrero is also written Puerto Carrero, and
in the modern form of Portocarrero. Torquemada and Oviedo, passim.
[95] Ordaz proceeded on his mission in the caravel El Guerho, and returned to
Trinidad in the vessel of Sedeño, who received two thousand and more
castellanos in gold fringes, the only treasure on hand. Cortés, Memorial, 1542, in
Id., Escritos Sueltos, 312. ‘Quatro mil arrouas de pan, mil y quinientos toçinos y
muchas gallinas.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 14. Bernal Diaz intimates that Sedeño
came into port of his own accord, and was induced to sell ships and cargo. Hist.
Verdad., 14. He was reputed the richest man in the party. Id.; Las Casas, Hist.
Ind., ii. 455-6; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. iii. cap. xii. ‘De una hacienda de V. M. compró al
mayordomo de ella quinientas é tantas cargas (pan)’. Cortés, Memorial, 1542, loc.
cit. The Probanza de Lejalde, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 411, contains interesting
testimony as to what goods were obtained, and how.
[96] The Habana was then situated on the south side of the island, not on the
north side, where the appellation now obtains. Prescott and others fall into
numerous blunders by supposing the Habana of to-day to be identical with the
Habana of three hundred years ago, sending a whole fleet far out of its way for no
other purpose than to collect provisions, which one vessel would accomplish as
well.
[97] ‘Començó Cortés â poner casa, y â tratarse como señor: y el primer
Maestresala q̄ tuvo, fue vn Guzmã que luego se muriò, ò mataron Indios.’ A
different man from the later mayordomo, Cristóbal de Guzman, who captured
Quauhtemotzin during the siege of Mexico. ‘Caceres ... fue despues de ganado
Mexico, hombre rico.’ Bernal Diaz, Hist. Verdad., 15-16.
[98] Bernal Diaz says that Barba was one of the most devoted to Cortés. See,
also, Herrera, dec. ii. lib. iii., cap. xiii. Solis details at length a public gathering, in
which the members of the expedition became highly excited over Velazquez’
efforts to stop Cortés, and threatened to destroy the town. He adds that a rumor of
Velazquez’ coming in person to enforce his order created another excitement.
Hist. Mex., i. 63-6; Robertson, Hist. Am., ii. 8, follows him; also Prescott. According
to Las Casas, Velazquez sends a letter to Cortés, asking him to wait for an
important communication, which he will bring in person or send by messenger. At
the same time come letters for Ordaz and others, requesting them to seize the
commander. Ordaz accordingly invites him to a banquet on board his vessel, with
the intent of carrying him off to Santiago; but Cortés perceives the snare and
retires under pretence of indisposition. The good bishop observes that he never
knew Velazquez evince so little sagacity as on this occasion; nor did Ordaz
behave any better. Hist. Ind., iv. 456-7. Gomara has the same account, but adds
that the messenger from Velazquez came in a caravel, together with Alvarado,
Olid, Ávila, Montejo, and others of Grijalva’s party, who had just arrived from an
interview with the governor. Hist. Mex., 14. He is evidently mixed. Torquemada,
who quotes both versions from Herrera and Gomara, places the occurrence at
Trinidad, and considers that Cortés was capable of and right in foiling Velazquez.
Bernal Diaz scouts Gomara’s story, which is repeated in De Rebus Gestis
Ferdinandi Cortesii, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 355-6. Peralta claims that his
father, Suarez, pursued and slew the Indian courier sent with orders for Luis de
Medina, then with the fleet, to assume the command. He thereupon brought the
papers to Cortés and warned him to sail away. Nat. Hist., 62-4. Peralta evidently
upholds all his father told him.
[99] So affirms Tapia, one of the party. Relacion, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 555;
and this is the view of most writers. Bernal Diaz states that the review was held at
Cozumel, which may also have been the case; but he was not present at San
Antonio. A review must have been held before the fleet set out on its voyage, in
order that captains might be appointed and receive apportionments of men and
supplies. Zamacois, Hist. Méj., ii. 292-3, assumes that, owing to Alvarado’s
absence, the muster was reserved for Cozumel.
[100] ‘Tomo [Cortés] fiada de Diego Sanz tendero, vna tieda de bohoneria en
sieteciẽtos pesos de oro.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 12, 14-15. This was at Santiago.
This author, who, together with Diaz, forms the main authority for the above list,
mentions only eleven vessels, but does not include Alvarado’s. He places the
Spanish force at 550 men, but, by adding to this the sixty and odd men absent
with Alvarado from the review, the number would agree with Bernal Diaz’ figures.
Thirteen vessels, two having joined at Habana as transports; 530 infantry; twenty-
four horses; 5000 loads of maize and cassava; 2000 tocinos. De Rebus Gestis
Ferdinandi Cortesii, in Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., i. 356. Twelve vessels and 500 men.
Carta del Ayunt. de V. Cruz, in Col. Doc. Inéd., i. 419-20. Fifteen vessels and 500
men, without any Indians or negroes, says Cortés, in his Memorial, 1542, not
venturing to admit that he had disobeyed the royal order and his instructions in
taking Cuban Indians. Cortés, Escritos Sueltos, 310; Col. Doc. Inéd., iv. 220.
Seven navios, three bergantines. Oviedo, i. 539. Nine vessels, 550 Spaniards, two
to three hundred Indians. Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 446, 457. Eleven vessels of
thirty to one hundred tons, 663 Spaniards, including thirty men with firearms.
Brasseur de Bourbourg, Hist. Nat. Civ., iv. 54; Cogolludo, Hist. Yucathan, 19;
Vetancvrt, Teatro Ecles., pt. ii. 100-11; Fancourt’s Hist. Yuc., 26-7; Zamacois, Hist.
Méj., ii. 296. Thirteen vessels, 560 persons, thirteen horses. Tapia, Relacion, in
Icazbalceta, Col. Doc., ii. 558; Prescott, Mex., i. 262, follows both Bernal Diaz and
Gomara, but without seeking to account for their differences, and thus allows
himself to exceed every other authentic estimate for the number of the men.
[101] Torquemada, i. 364; Gomara, Hist. Mex., 14, gives the same names, except
that Francisco de Salcedo stands in the place of Alvarado. Solis, Hist. Mex., i. 66,
mentions eleven, including Salcedo and Nortes; Las Casas, Hist. Ind., iv. 453,
names eight, as appointed by Velazquez. Zamacois, Hist. Méj., ii. 287, leaves out
Ávila, which is certainly a mistake, based on Bernal Diaz, who includes Ginés
Nortes, the captain merely of a transport. Salcedo joined later, at Villa Rica.
[102] Such is in substance the speech prepared by Gomara, Hist. Mex., 15-16,
well suited for the enterprise, yet not exactly in accord with the pretended mission
of peaceful trade and exploration. Torquemada, i. 364-5, gives it nearly in the
same form, while Solis, Hist. Mex., i. 71-3, elaborates to suit himself.
1519.
Early in March[122] the fleet again sailed, and after taking shelter
from a gale behind Punta de las Mujeres for one or two days, passed
round Catoche and along the Yucatan coast, hugging the shore to
note its features, and sending forth a growl of revenge on passing
Potonchan. Boca de Términos was now reached, whither Escobar
had been sent in advance to explore, and within the entrance of a
little harbor, to which a boat’s crew was guided by blazings, a letter
was found, hidden in a tree, from which circumstance the harbor was
named Puerto Escondido. The letter reported a good harbor,
surrounded by rich lands abounding in game; and soon after the fleet
met the exploring vessel, and learned of the important acquisition to
the expedition in Grijalva’s lost dog.[123] Off Rio de Tabasco the fleet
came to anchor, and the pilots knowing the bar to be low, only the
smaller vessels entered the river. Remembering the friendly
reception accorded Grijalva, the Spaniards were surprised to find the
banks lined with hostile bands, forbidding them to land. Cortés
therefore encamped at Punta de los Palmares, on an island about
half a league up the river from the mouth, and not far from the capital
of the Nonohualcas, a large town of adobe and stone buildings on
the opposite mainland, protected by a heavy stockade.[124]
In answer to a demand for water, the natives thereabout pointed
to the river; as for food, they would bring some on the morrow.
Cortés did not like the appearance of things; and when, during the
night, they began to remove their women and children from the town,
he saw that his work must begin here. More men and arms were
landed on the island, and Ávila was ordered to proceed to the
mainland with one hundred men, gain the rear of the town, and
attack at a given signal.[125] In the morning a few canoes arrived at
the island with scanty provisions, all that could be obtained, the
natives said; and further than this, the Spaniards must leave: if they
attempted to penetrate the interior, they would be cut off to a man.
Cortés answered that his duty to the great king he served required
him to examine the country and barter for supplies. Entering the
vessels, he ordered them to advance toward the town; and in the
presence of the royal notary, Diego de Godoy, he made a final
appeal for peace, as required by Spanish law, casting upon the
natives the blame for the consequences of their refusal. The reply
came in the form of yells, mingled with the noise of conchs,
trumpets, and drums, and a shower of arrows. The Spaniards drove
their prows forward into the mud. The Indians crowded round in
canoes to prevent their landing. A well directed volley at once
cleared the way, and notified Ávila to attack. Panic-stricken at the
strangeness and suddenness of it all, the natives fell back, but rallied
at the call of their leaders, and poured a shower of arrows on the
Spaniards as they threw themselves into the water to wade ashore,
receiving them at the point of their lances as they reached the bank.
Tabasco’s men were powerful and brave. The charge of cowardice
had been flung at them by their neighbors for having been friendly
with the Spaniards on former occasions, and they were now
determined to vindicate their character for courage. Once on solid
ground the Spaniards rang their battle-cry of “Sus, Santiago, á ellos!”
Up, Santiago, and at them! and drove the enemy within the
stockade. A breach was quickly made, and the defenders chased
some distance up the streets, where they made a stand, shouting
“La, la, calachoni!” Strike at the chief! At this juncture Ávila
appeared. The natives saw the day was lost to them, and they
turned and fled. The Spaniards did not pursue very far, but halted in
an open space, where three stately temples invited to pillage, though
little was found worth taking, except some maize and fowl. During
the action eighteen Indians were killed and fourteen Spaniards
wounded.[126] In the formal taking of possession which followed, it
was noticed by those present that mention of the name of Velazquez
was significantly omitted.[127]
Next morning Alvarado and Francisco de Lugo, each with one
hundred men, were sent by different ways to reconnoitre and forage,
with orders to return before dark.[128] Melchor, on being called to
accompany one of them, was missing. Presently his clothes were
discovered hanging on a tree, indicating that he had gone over to the
enemy. Lugo had advanced not more than a league when, near a
town called Centla, he encountered a large body of warriors, who
attacked him fiercely and drove him back toward the camp. Alvarado
had meanwhile been turned by an estuary from his course and in the
direction of Lugo. Hearing the noise of battle he hastens to the
assistance of Lugo, only to be likewise driven back by the ever
increasing hosts, and not until Cortés came to the rescue with two
guns did the enemy retire.[129] The result, according to Bernal Diaz,
was two of Lugo’s men killed and eleven wounded, while fifteen
Indians fell and three were captured.
Nor did the matter rest here. The captives told Cortés that
Tabasco, concerned at the arrival of so large a fleet which augured
hostile occupation, had aroused the province, the assembled chiefs
being also urged by Melchor to manfully expel the invaders, as the
people of Potonchan had done. To depart now would leave a stain
upon the generalship of Cortés in the eyes of both Spaniards and
Indians such as was not to be thought of. There must be a battle
fought and won. To this end all the horses, cross-bows, firelocks, and
guns were brought on shore. Thirteen of the best horsemen[130]
were selected to form a cavalry corps under the leadership of
Cortés. The horses were provided with poitrels having bells
attached, and the riders were to charge the thick of the enemy and
strike at the face. Ordaz was made chief of infantry and artillery, the
latter being in special charge of Mesa.[131] In order both to surprise
the enemy and secure good ground for the cavalry, Cortés resolved
to advance at once on Centla. It was annunciation day, the 25th of
March, when the army left camp and stood before Centla, in the
midst of broad maize and cocoa fields, intersected by irrigation
ditches. The enemy were ready, their dark forms appearing in the
distance under an agitated sea of glistening iztli. The cavalry now
made a detour to gain their rear, while the infantry marched straight
on.[132] Formidable as was in truth the Spanish army, the
unsophisticated natives made light of it, and came gayly forward to
the combat in five squadrons, of eight thousand warriors each,[133]
as Bernal Diaz says, “all in flowing plumes, with faces painted in red,
white, and black, sounding drums and trumpets, and flourishing
lances and shields, two-handed swords, fire-hardened darts, and
slings, and every man protected by an armor of quilted cotton.” They
would encircle these impudent interlopers, and did they not fall
fainting beneath their brave yells and savage music, they would
crush them like flies. And by way of beginning, they sent forth a
cloud of arrows, stones, and charred darts, wounding many and
killing one, a soldier named Saldaña. The Spaniards answered with
their cross-bows and firelocks, and mowed the packed masses with
their cannon. The soft soil and ditches were less to the agile Indian
than to the heavily accoutred Spaniard.
It adds nothing to the honor of Spanish arms to throw in at this
juncture a miracle to terrify the already half-paralyzed Indians, who
might otherwise prove too strong for their steel-clad assailants; but
the records compel me. While in the dire embrace of heathen
hordes, midst thrust and slash and crash of steel and stone, the
enemy hewn down and driven back only to give place to thrice the
number, behold, upon a gray-spotted steed, a heavenly horseman
appeared, and from a slight eminence overlooking the bloody field
he frowned confusion on the foe. The heathen warriors were stricken
powerless, enabling the Spaniards to form anew; but when the
horseman vanished, the Indians rallied. Thrice, with the same effect,
the awful apparition came and went.[134] Then there were horsemen
indeed, more real to the Spaniards, but none the less spectral to the
Indians. They had been detained by the marshes intervening; and
now, with swords and helmets glittering, they rose in the enemy’s
rear, and midst clang of arms and shouts of Santiago y San Pedro,
they threw themselves with terrible effect upon him. What could the
Indians do? Those that were not trampled or cut to death turned and
fled, and the Spaniards possessed the field. “And this was the first
preaching of the gospel in New Spain, by Cortés,” remarks the
caustic Las Casas.[135]
The Spaniards drew up at a grove to return thanks for this great
victory. A large number of the enemy were slain. Sixty of their own
number were wounded, and two lay dead; eight horses had been
scratched, and their wounds were cauterized and anointed with the
fat of dead Indians.[136] On returning to camp two of five captives,
leading men, were sent with presents to the cacique to represent the
danger of further hostility, and to propose a council of peace.
Tabasco was very ready to lay down arms, and he sent a propitiatory
offering of fowl, fried fish, and maize bread by messengers with
blackened faces and dressed in rags. Cortés answered with a
reprimand, “Tell your master, if he desires peace he must sue for it,
and not send slaves.” Tabasco hastened to comply, and sent
immediately to Cortés an embassy of forty chiefs, richly clad and
walking in stately procession, followed by a file of slaves bearing
presents. Low bowing before the bearded assembly, and swinging
before them the censer in token of reverence, the ambassador
implored pardon, and proffered submission. “The blame is all your
own,” said Cortés, with severity. The Indians acquiesced, though it
puzzled them to know for what they were to blame. Cortés further
informed them that the great king, his master, had sent him to scatter
blessings, if they were found deserving; if not, to let loose upon them
the caged lightning and the thunder which he carried. Whereat the
gun charged for the occasion was fired, and as the noise
reverberated over the hills and the ball went crashing through the
trees, the Indians fell prostrate with fear, and the noble Europeans
were proud of their superiority.
Reassured against further punishment, the next trick played
upon them was to tie a mare in the bushes in sight of a stallion which
they paraded before their visitors; and when he neighed and reared
and plunged to get to his mate, the natives were told that the great
beast was angry because of the peace that was being made, and
only further gifts would pacify him.
On the following morning Tabasco presented himself in person,
attended by a large retinue, and bringing presents, among which
were some gold ornaments of little value and twenty female slaves.
The terms dictated by Cortés were that they should return their
women and children to the village within two days, in token of their
good faith, and that the treacherous Melchor should be delivered up.
But the unfortunate interpreter had already suffered death in return
for his bad advice. It was useless to demand gold, for there was little
or none here. So they proceeded at once to expound the doctrines of
their faith; to lay before them the truths of the gospel which they had
come so far to bring. An altar was erected in the chief temple on
which was placed a large cross. From this altar Father Olmedo
preached to the natives, and here were baptized the first converts to
the church in New Spain, consisting of the twenty female slaves,
who were afterward distributed among the leaders. Then followed
the ceremonial tender of allegiance by the chiefs of Tabasco’s
province to the Spanish king, and the formal naming of the large
town, which was called Santa María de la Victoria, in
commemoration of the victory.[137]
Palm Sunday being at hand, it was resolved to celebrate it in
such a manner as to further impress the natives. Attired in their most
brightly colored garments, with palms in their hands and banners
aloft, the Spaniards marched in solemn procession, to harmonious
chants, about the temple; and when these doughty men of war
humbled themselves before the symbols of their faith, the wondering
heathen thought that great indeed must be the god worshipped by
such beings. After commending the sacred emblems to the care of
the chiefs, with a promise to send holy men to teach them the true
faith, and with assurances of royal protection, the Spaniards bade
the Nonohualcas farewell, and were shortly on their way again.
Keeping close to the shore for purposes of observation, the
several places observed and named by Grijalva were pointed out to
Cortés and commented upon by those who had accompanied the
former expedition. Certain of the new captains took umbrage at this
assumption of superior knowledge, accompanied by liberal proffers
of advice; and one of them, the polished Puertocarrero, broke out in
a strain of pleasant sarcasm. “It seems to me, señor,” he said, taking
the incidents of a well-known romance for his text, “as if these
gentlemen would enlighten you, in the words of the father of
Montesinos: