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Compa_Mighty
Dor-Lomin
Jul 3 2010, 9:42pm
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Mexico from A to Z: Letter N
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Hello all! Amid an exciting World Cup weekend comes the new installment of Mexico from A to Z, this week featuring letter N. So let us begin!
N is for Nezahualcoyotl
Nezahualcoyotl, the Fasting Coyote is one of the most important figures of pre-hispanic Mexico. Known as the “Poet King”, many of the most beautiful poems composed in Nahuatl that survive to our days are of his authorship. He was also a visionary and compassionate ruler, a philosopher, and all together a wise man.
Born as the Prince of Texcoco, he was present when his father was murdered by the soldiers of Tezozomoc, someone I have mentioned several times now, ruler of Azcapotzalco, and the most powerful man in the region of the Texcoco Lake during the early 15th century. He had to go into exile, wandering among the states who dared maintain some loyalty to the memory of his father. Eventually, as a late teen-ager he was able to re-enter and live in Tenochtitlan, where the Tlatoani’s family, his cousins, aunts and uncles, received him. It was there where he planned his eventual seize of the power that was his by birth right. It was him that represented Texcoco in the Triple Alliance of 1428, as Tenochtitlan’s Itzcoatl and Tlacopan’s Totoquihuatzin allied to overthrow Maxtla, Tezozomoc’s tyrant son. That was the start of the new political balance of the region, in which Tenochtitlan and Texcoco shared the leading power.
 
Nezahualcoyotl in War gear from a codex / Pictogram of Nezahualcoytol's name
As Tlatoani of Texcoco, Nezahualcoyotl had great military victories, improved infrastructure, built gardens, zoos and palaces, philosophized about the meaning of life, the existence of men, the potential existence of a single god, whom he identified with Tloque Nahuaque, The Owner of Near and Far, the creator god. He also wrote beautiful poetry, a verse of which is written in a very small font in the $100 peso bill (along with his image):
I love the singing of the zenzontle, bird of four hundred voices
I love the color of jade, and the intoxicating perfume of flowers
But I love more my brother, Man.
Nezahualcoyotl in the 100 bill
And my favorite poem of his:
Where will we go?
Where death does not exist?
But, because of this shall I live crying?
Let your heart straighten:
Here, no one lives forever.
Even princes came to die
Funerary wrappings burn.
Let your heart straighten:
Here, no one lives forever.
(Both translations are mine.)
Today, one of the “sub-cities” within Mexico City is Nezahualcoyotl City, commonly known as Ciudad Neza. It has over one million people, most of them in the lower middle-class and upper lower class.
N is for Niños Héroes
The Hero Children. Official history says that as the Americans marched toward Mexico City in the Mexican-American War, one of the last defenses was mounted in the Military College, with see in the Chapultepec Castle. Being atop a hill, attacking it was really difficult, but the only defence was to be carried out by adolescents and young adults of the academy. The battle was fierce, and ultimately won by the American forces, but the heroic battle the “children” waged earned them the moniker “The Hero Children”. This story has obviously been put into perspective by historians, they weren’t as young as originally said, and there were many, as opposed to the Six that are always mentioned in history books. This is of no use, anyway…. The Hero Children story is one of those that really inspires kids in primary schools all over the country to be patriotic and love their country, and that civic purpose is why it remains one of the most re-told stories of the country.
In this story, heroism is at its best when student Juan Escutia sees the Americans are going to take our flag, so he wraps himself in the flag and jumps off the cliff, to save it from falling in the hands of the enemy. Imagine the impact of the image in a child’s mind when he hears it for the first time when he is 6! It is a very Romantic and Patriotic idea. There are MANY people in Mexico called “Juan Escutia” as their given name.
Muralist Ángel Flores painted this dramatic mural of Juan Escutia falling from the Castle in the ceiling of its main stairway.
The other five important Niños Héroes were: Agustín Melgar, Fernando Montes de Oca, Juan de la Barrera, Francisco Márquez and Vicente Suárez.
A monography -condensed piece of info sold for homeworks in Mexico- about the Niños Héroes
A beautiful white marble monument is erected in their memory at the foot of the Chapultepec Hill. Wikipedia says that in the 100th anniversary of the battle, President Truman visited the monument and left a wreath. When asked about it, Truman said: "Brave men don't belong to any one country. I respect bravery wherever I see it."
The Monument to the Niños Héroes, with the Castle in the background.
N is for Náhuatl
Throughout the series, when I want to call a greater ethnic group to which Aztecs belong, I have referred to it as “The Nahua Tribes”. Mythologically, they were the Seven Tribes that spawned in Chicomoztoc, the Place of the Seven Caves, and that travelled to the south, to Central Mexico, and eventually took control of the region. French Historian Christian Duverger, one of the leading people in a more modern view of the history of pre-hispanic peoples, even says Mesoamerican identity is Nahua identity, that it was them, originally outsiders, who brought cohesion and uniform culture to Middle America.
The Nahua Tribes spawning in Chicomoztoc
Philologically, it is a language of the Uto-Aztecan family, which has many representatives in Western USA. Utah is a name that comes from the Uto-Aztecan Ute. The family also includes the Comanche and the Shoshone. For more detail on this, you can go here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uto-Aztecan
The Náhuatl language influence up until today is HUGE. With the arrival of the Nahua tribes to Central and Southern Mexico, it started to expand, but with the expansion of the power of the Triple Alliance, it became the “Imperial” language, that used for business and culture. It became some sort of English, if you allow me the simile. The Aztec territory, all of Central Mexico was called Anáhuac, “By the Nahua”. The whole American Continent was called by them Cem Anáhuac, “What surrounds the area by the Nahua”, Nicaragua means “Up to here the Nahua”, and names like Mexico and Guatemala come from words in Náhuatl. Words everybody in the world use are also Náhuatl, like Chocolate, which I will further review in letter X.
Mexican Spanish is full of Náhuatl words. Countless places are still named by their pre-hispanic names (the municipality where I live is called Naucalpan, Place of Four Houses, and the one in our vicinity are Atizapan, Tlalnepantla, and Cuautitlan, just to name some). We also use some Náhuatl terms as opposed to the Spanish proper ones: Tlapalería as opposed to Ferretería for Hardware store; or Tianguis instead of Spanish Mercado or Arabic Bazaar for Market.
Today, Náhuatl is the second most spoken native language in Mexico, with over 1 million speakers. Unfortunately, unlike Maya, it is in a declining trend. Náhuatl can be learned at the National University, and is actively preserved by the Mexican government.
Main Nahuatl speaker locations. Yellow is before 1521, Orange immediately at the time of the Conquest. Red today.
N is for Nahual
In Mesoamerican religion and mythology, every person and god has a protector animal spirit, or animal alter ego called a nahual. This nahual exists since the person is born, and it has to do with their social status and ritual calendar birth date. For example, the ruling class was more prone to have eagles and jaguars as their nahual, according to what has already been mentioned about these animals. A person whose nahual was the zenzontle, the bird of four hundred voices, would be good at singing.
Both ancient priests and modern shamans from cults derived from Mesoamerican religions are and were thought to be able to be close with their nahual than ordinary people, some of the times even to the point of being able to transfigure into their nahual’s animal form. Huitzilopochtli nahual was the Hummingbird, Tezcatlipoca's the Jaguar and Quetzalcoatl's the quetzal.
Similar, yet not exact examples in modern literature would include, Phillip Pullman’s daemons from the Golden Compass and His Dark Materials Trilogy and Tolkien’s Beorn’s bear alter ego.
N is for the Nao of China
The Nao of China is one of the episodes of human love for voyage stories as generated and told by commerce. Like Marco Polo’s voyage, the Silk Route, and the Chinese Horse and Tea Route, the Nao of China is a Romantic and mysterious story of something as mundane as trade.
The complete route Manila-Acapulco-Veracruz-Seville
The Nao of China, formally and officially called The Manila Galleon, was a ship that sailed twice in a year to a fro the port of Acapulco in Mexico to the capital of the Philippines, Manila, where merchandise from the whole Asian continent was collected. The route was established in 1565 and stopped working in 1815, as a result of the Mexican Independence War. Acapulco was, thus, the gate of Asia to the Spanish colonies, and Spain itself. Let us not forget that the Philippines are so called after Philip II of Spain, King during the highpoint of the Spanish Empire, and during the Invincible Armada incident in la Mancha Channel. The Philippines remained a Spanish domain until around 1898 in the Spanish-American war that saw Spain losing these islands and Cuba.
Engraving of a Spanish galleon of the time.
The Nao of China was so called because to Mexicans and Spaniards of the time, anyone and anything oriental was simply called Chinese. This tendency continues up until these days, without any derogatory sense. To most Mexicans who simply don’t care to be more precise, whether you’re Japanese, Korean or Philippine, you will always be referred to as “chino”.
Nautically speaking, a Nao is a small vessel similar to a caravel (as Columbus’s), but the term was also used in a familiar way to name any small ship with sails.
Reproduction of one of Magellan's Nao, very similar to the Galleon of Manila.
The Nao of China brought spices, ivory, silk, porcelain, and many more Asian goods –and people- to the Spanish Empire. Items that were sent to Spain were transported by land to Veracruz and then embarked to Seville or Cádiz.
Here's to Del Toro becoming the Irvin Kershner of Middle Earth!
Essay winner of the Show us your Hobbit Pride Giveway!
(This post was edited by Compa_Mighty on Jul 3 2010, 9:44pm)
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SirDennisC
Gondolin
Jul 5 2010, 12:40am
Post #2 of 9
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"If you ask me, and I note you're not, we're taking the long way round"
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re The Nao of China: I wonder if this route was chosen to avoid pirates, privateers and the East Indian Trading Company? Or was it felt that things destined to the colonies from the Philippines wouldn't make it past Spain?
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Compa_Mighty
Dor-Lomin
Jul 5 2010, 1:07am
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Sorry, Dennis, I don't know if I understood your point...
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It was certainly easier (and cheaper!) to send things by sea from Philippines to Mexico than to go from China to Spain by land. The tough part was English pirates and privateers in the Atlantic, but they always favored gold and silver shipments rather than merchandise.
Let's say they avoided all customs taxes of in-land transit (which wouldn't be few from China to Spain) by sending things from one Spanish colony to another. Colonies could be provisioned without any further charge, and the remaining merchandise could be sent to Spain again, only with freight costs, no customs costs whatsoever.
Perhaps we could sum it up as saying that with this route they kept it domestic commerce.
Here's to Del Toro becoming the Irvin Kershner of Middle Earth!
Essay winner of the Show us your Hobbit Pride Giveway!
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
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Jul 5 2010, 1:37am
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Interesting about the origin of the Náhuatl. Has anyone ever attempted to "locate" where the Place of the Seven Caves was thought to be? Apparently they had some influence over other native tribes in the American Southwest - or could those tribes also have once been this people?
The Nahual reminded me immediately of the Native American concept of a totem - and then, of the zodiac!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
"It struck me last night that you might write a fearfully good romantic drama, with as much of the 'supernatural' as you cared to introduce. Have you ever thought of it?"
-Geoffrey B. Smith, letter to JRR Tolkien, 1915
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squire
Gondolin
Jul 5 2010, 2:29am
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You can dig from here to China - 25000 miles around.
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If I remember my Global history (since I teach it, I hope I do), Portugal had been given (roughly) the Eastern hemisphere and Spain had been given the Western hemisphere, by the Pope in 15-something. Thus Brazil - east of the line - was Portuguese and still speaks that language. Thus the Philippines - west of the line - was Spanish until the U.S. grabbed it four hundred years later. So from the Spanish point of view, sailing from Manila across the Pacific to Mexico, transhipping the cargo over Mexico, and sailing again across the Atlantic to Spain, kept the trade routes within Spanish jurisdiction throughout.
At least until the English Sea Dog, Sir Francis Drake, rounded Cape Horn and entered the Pacific! He captured at least one "Manila galleon" for himself and Queen Bess, much to Spain's displeasure. One book on the Spanish Empire that I read recently, emphasized how Spain managed to rule the world on the cheap for centuries only because she was largely unopposed, and because she recruited heavily for the best talent of other European nations. Once other countries like England and France began to assert themselves, Spain - underpopulated, resource-poor, and spoiled by easy wealth from America - began a centuries-long decline. Mexico as a nation has a fantastic native energy due to its people's brilliance, but it inherited the political ethics of a declining, rather than rising, empire. Now that is finally receding into the past. I admire the dynamism of present-day Mexico, despite all its problems, far more than I do the romantic adventurism of historical Mexico.
squire online:
RR Discussions: The Valaquenta, A Shortcut to Mushrooms, and Of Herbs and Stewed Rabbit
Lights! Action! Discuss on the Movie board!: 'A Journey in the Dark'. and 'Designing The Two Towers'.
Footeramas: The 3rd TORn Reading Room LotR Discussion; and "Tolkien would have LOVED it!"
squiretalk introduces the J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: A Reader's Diary
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Compa_Mighty
Dor-Lomin
Jul 5 2010, 6:31am
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The Papal Bula Intercaetera of 1493 in conjunction with the Treaty of Alcacovas (with many an iffy business and encountered interpretations) divided the new conquerable territories between Spain and Portugal.
Bottom line, as you say, trade between Philippines and the New Spain was within Spanish jurisdiction, and thus, domestic commerce.
You also are right in Drake's account. There was more than one Galleon of Manila hijacked, however most of the piratical acts committed against Spain were in the Atlantic. Spanish splendor was short-lived for the factors you named, and because two HUGE ones that together, were the ruin of the country. First, the last good king Spain had was Philip II, starting from the third, they were uncapable rulers who only milked the colonies for their benefit. Most of that money was also spent in pointless wars like the one in the Netherlands. Second, England's determination to strip Spain of power led to the heavy hiring of privateers, corsairs and pirates (many of whom were later Knights of the Empire, Sir Francis Drake, Sir Walter Raleigh), who systematically robbed the Spanish from their colonial metals. There is a strong point in saying pirates shaped the world of today. Had Spain had enough money to wipe out France and England from contention, neither of the latter countries would have had the development to have the Enlightenment and Industrial Age thinkers they had... and the world would be different today.
Since this didn't happen, what did occur was what you say:
Once other countries like England and France began to assert themselves, Spain - underpopulated, resource-poor, and spoiled by easy wealth from America - began a centuries-long decline. Mexico as a nation has a fantastic native energy due to its people's brilliance, but it inherited the political ethics of a declining, rather than rising, empire.
A great place to read about this Spanish decadence starting after Phillip II death are the Captain Alatriste novels from Arturo Pérez-Reverte. Allow me to copy a couple paragraphs that show this clearly. In the novels, Spanish real-life writer Francisco de Quevedo is a character, and it is said of him:
I didn't understand, because of my young age, that it is possible to talk very harshly about what one loves, precisely because one loves it, and by the authority that very love endows us with. Many years later I could understand that don Francisco de Quevedo hasd extreme pain for Spain. A Spain still fearsome on the outside, but that in spite of the elegance, of our young and likeable king, of our national pride and our heroic feats of arms, had gone to sleep, trusting in the gold and silver that was being lost in the hands of aristocracy, bureaucracy and the clergy, slackering and unproductive, and being wasted (gold and silver) in vain endeavors like maintaining the costly war in the Netherlands. Even the Dutch, who we fought, sold us their manufactured products, and had commercial agreements in the very Cádiz, to get hold of our precious metals that our ships brought from the Easte after dodging their own pirates. Aragon and Catalunya made trouble, Portugal was still held fragily, trade was in the hands of foreigners, finances were owned by Genovian bankers, and nobody worked except for the poor peasants, emptied to the limit by the aristocracy and the King. And amid all that corruption and madness, against the natural course of History, like a beautiful and terrible animal in appearance, capable of dealing fierce blows but its heart diminished by a malign tumor, that disgraced Spain was rotten inside, condemned to an inexorable decadence.
Captain Alatriste, The Adventures of Captain Alatriste Book 1 Sorry, it's textual, Spanish prose is usually written with very long sentences with many commas, and few stops.
(circa 1630) To the North, the General States, supported by France, England, Venice, and other enemies of ours, consolidate themselves in the rebellion of the Calvinist cult, more useful than the true religion (Catholicism) for their bourgeoisie and business men […] getting rid of a Castillian monarchy too distant, centralist and oppressive. On the South were the loyal Catholic States, who were nonetheless getting tired of the cost of a war that was drawing close to 80 years. […] To that we must add Spain’s own decadence, where a well-intentioned yet incapable King, a sterile aristocracy, a corrupt bureaucracy, and a clergy as stupid as fanatical were leading us head-first into an abyss and misery, with Catalunya and Portugal on the verge of separating from the Crown, this last one forever. Stagnated among kings, nobles and priests, with religious and civil common uses that despised those who pretended to earn their bread honestly with their hands, the Spanish preferred to search for fortune in Netherlands or conquering America, looking for that lucky strike that would allow us to live as Lords, without paying taxes. This was the cause our workshops and looms went mute, Spain became under populated and impoverished, and which reduced us first to a legion of adventurers, then to a people of beggar nobles, and ultimately a bunch of good-for-nothings. In that way, the vast heirloom received by the King from his grandfather, that Spain in which the sun never set, because when it set somewhere, it was out already elsewhere, remained only thanks to the gold that galleons brought from America, and the spears […] of its veteran Tercios (battalions), who despite the Spanish decadence weren’t yet despised and still feared.
The Sun of Breda, Chapter II, The Adventures of Captain Alatriste Book 3 So there you go, pretty much was you said, as written by a Spanish master writer.
As you say, we unfortunately inherited many of these attitudes as Mexicans. As you also said, things are starting to change, but very slowly. The road in long and winding, most of the times painful and dangerous. Many of us think it should and could be more peaceful and faster, but there is still much need for education, and true patriotic behavior. Oh well...
Not related to this... regarding last week's muralism. Without deliberately doing it, I visited the Fine Arts Palace today. LOTS of murals, and surprisingly, Rivera's The Man at the Crossroads of History! It's the first time I see it live, and naturally, I thought about your post.
I also saved a quote I loved. Jorge González Camarena said: "Mural painting is the highest, most logical and purest, because it is for the people. It is for everyone."
Nice sentiment.  Sorry for the long post, I hope you find it interesting in spite of me going way out of topic.
Here's to Del Toro becoming the Irvin Kershner of Middle Earth!
Essay winner of the Show us your Hobbit Pride Giveway!
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Compa_Mighty
Dor-Lomin
Jul 5 2010, 6:44am
Post #7 of 9
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But everything is speculation. The mythical Aztlán has been related with an archaelogical site called La Quemada, in the state of Zacatecas. This is supposed to be where the Aztecs began their journey, and from where they got their name.
There even is a Chicano (Mexican-American) political movement that defends the creation of a nation called Aztlán, which would encompass some parts of Southwestern USA and Northwestern Mexico. They say they want to reclaim the lands where their heritage and history began, and they defend this new Chicano culture, which according to them has its own identity that does not longer encompass anything defined within the concepts of the USA or Mexico. It is not a very strong movement, but it does exist.
It has been hypothesized that Mesoamerican cultures did have communication with southern cultures of modern United States, through the Northern nomads, calle dthe Chichimeca, which was actually a a broad concept. It is normally accepted that Aztecs were some Chichimecas that eventually become sedentarian and much more civilized. However, this is not 100% proved.
What is much more probable is what philologists and anthropologists say. Peoples from the Western USA were related to the Aztecs by common ancestors, who had come from Asia and migrated South over thousands of years. The Aztecs simply developed a more advanced civilization by their geographic and political context over time.
As for the Nahual, it is somehow totemic in nature, much more than zodiacal (does that exist in English?). I wouldn't risk going into more details, as I only have some notions of how the totemic rites and religions work. Perhaps if you tell me we can reach some conclusions? 
Here's to Del Toro becoming the Irvin Kershner of Middle Earth!
Essay winner of the Show us your Hobbit Pride Giveway!
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dernwyn
Forum Admin
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Jul 5 2010, 2:17pm
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I was not aware of the Chicano movement, although it does not surprise me that there would be such renewed interest in that ancient culture, that is happening in many places nowadays - and is more accepted than it once was, the prejudices are gradually dissolving! (I live close to the Mohegan and Pequot tribes, and there is greater interest now in the preservation of their cultures, and in "returning" certain ancient tribal lands to them, than there was thirty years ago.)
La Quemada is further south than I thought it might be. I had wondered about a connection between the Náhua tribes and the ancient Pueblo cultures.
I wish Dreamdeer were able to be more active these days (I miss her insights!). She'd be the expert on totems! Here's a fascinating discussion of hers regarding Tolkien and totems. (Unfortunately, hatster's link to the Oxford English Dictionary definition of "totem" no longer works.)
(And yes, "zodiacal" is an English word, I had to look it up in the dictionary to make sure!  )
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I desired dragons with a profound desire"
"It struck me last night that you might write a fearfully good romantic drama, with as much of the 'supernatural' as you cared to introduce. Have you ever thought of it?"
-Geoffrey B. Smith, letter to JRR Tolkien, 1915
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SirDennisC
Gondolin
Jul 6 2010, 4:57pm
Post #9 of 9
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you answered my inept question. I was thinking a route west by water from Manila to Mexico via Spain would be shorter. But I thought it would also be frought with peril from privateers, pirates, the unscrupulous practises of the East India Trading Company, and poor attitudes towards the colonies at Spanish ports.
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