The God Culture: Bananas And Behaim

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture is absolutely positive the Philippines is Japan, Cipangu or Zipangu on older maps. His proof this time? Banana trees. You see, Japan is not tropical thus banana trees cannot grow there. Ergo, Japan is the Philippines. He gets this information from a French translation of the  inscriptions on Martin Behaim's 1492 globe. 

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/bananas-behaim-behold----zipangu-was-never-japan/

Bananas, Behaim & Behold — Zipangu Was Never Japan

🍌 The French Edition That Accidentally Exposed the Truth

In 1801, French editors released a new edition of Premier Voyage autour du Monde (p. 61 origin), translating accounts of Pigafetta and incorporating commentary on the Magellan voyage, Martin Behaim’s globe, and early Portuguese navigation. We will cite a historic publishing from 1802 noting this as well. Tucked in this scholarly prologue lies a devastating truth — one the editors themselves never fully grasped:

“...on en doit lire à l’Isle Cipangu: il y a de l’or et des arbres de Pisang.”

("...one should read on the island of Cipangu: there is gold and banana trees.”)

Wait — banana trees?

That’s right. And just like that, Japan is eliminated as Marco Polo’s legendary “Zipangu.” Because bananas didn’t grow in 13th-century Japan — but they thrived in one place Marco Polo’s sources knew well:

🇵🇭 The Philippines.

Tim says a French translation of Pigafetta's journal, along with commentary, mentions bananas growing in Cipangu and this proves Japan is the Philippines. However, Pigafetta says they passed Cipangu shortly after traversing the Strait of Magellan and long before they reached the Philippines. 

During those days we sailed west northwest, northwest by west, and northwest, until we reached the equinoctial line at the distance of one hundred and twenty-two degrees from the line of demarcation. The line of demarcation is thirty degrees from the meridian, and the meridian is three degrees eastward from Capo Verde. We passed while on that course, a short distance from two exceedingly rich islands, one in twenty degrees of the latitude of the Antarctic Pole, by name Cipangu, and the other in fifteen degrees, by name Sumbdit Pradit.

Magellan's Voyage Around the World, Charles Nowell, pg, 128

The first source Tim provides he has not actually cited. He has provided a link to it but he does not cite it. The actual text and translation is:

"(2) Ces figues sont les bananes, ou les fruits de la Musa. (Musa pisang, Linn. Dans la suite je me servirai toujours du nom de banane au lieu de celui de figue qu'emploie l'auteur."

"(2) These figs are bananas, or the fruits of the Musa. (Musa pisang, Linn. Hereafter I will always use the name banana instead of that of fig which the author employs."  

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015062204436&seq=141&q1=pisang

That is on page 61 of this book it is a reference to the Lardones or Isle of Thieves. Here is the full citation of the paragraph which contains that footnote. 

This people feeds on birds, flying fish, potatoes, a type of fig half a foot long (2), sugar canes, and other similar fruits. Their houses are made of wood, covered with planks, on which they spread the leaves of their fig trees, four feet long (3). They have fairly clean rooms with joists and windows; and their beds, quite soft, are made of very fine palm mats, spread over fairly soft straw. They have for their only weapon only spears, tipped with a pointed fish bone. The inhabitants of these islands are poor, but very skillful and especially adept thieves; that is why we called them the Isles of Thieves (1).

 Cipangu is mentioned on page 56 and has a very long footnote. 

On our route, we passed along the coasts of two very tall islands, one located at the 20th° south latitude, and the other at the 15th°. The first is called Cipangu, and the second Sumbdit-Pradit (2)

2) Cipangu is Japan, which has this same name on the globe of Behaim, where it is said to be the richest island of the East. Sumbdit-Pradit may be Antilia on the same globe, also called Septemtrionate. But on this globe these two islands are in the northern hemisphere, one at the 20th° and the other at the 24th°. Ramusio (tome I, tab. III) places Cipangu at 25°, but in the 19th map of Urbain Monti, I find Sumbdit at the 9th° south latitude. Delisle — I don’t know on what basis — places it at the 17th° and 20th° south latitude. One must, however, observe that Pigafetta does not say he saw it, but that he passed near it — that is to say, he thought he had come close; and because Marco Polo had made people believe that Cipangu was the easternmost island of the Indies, navigators, not having found it to the west, expected to encounter it first going east; but not finding it, it is assumed he must have passed near it. On his return to Spain (lib. IV), he speaks of Sumbdit-Praditas an island situated near the coasts of China.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015062204436&seq=136&q1=pisang

It is simply impossible that Pigafetta and Magellan came anywhere near Japan at that latitude in that region of the world. Remember, this is long before they reached the Philippines. The mention of Cipangu at this stage of the voyage and passing it by means Cipangu was not their destination. Whatever Pigafetta thought he saw it was neither Japan nor the Philippines. 

This book also contains the a description of Cipangu though it is not the exact inscription on Behaim's Globe.

Isle of Zipangu (2) (r). "The island of Zipangu is located in the eastern part of the globe. The people of the country are idolaters. The king of the island is dependent on no one. The island produces an extraordinary quantity of gold; and there are all sorts of precious stones and oriental pearls. This is what Marco Polo of Venice says about it, in his book III, chapter 2. "Marco Polo also reports, in his IIIrd book, chapter 42, that navigators have truly observed that in this Indian Sea there are more than twelve thousand seven hundred inhabited islands, and in several of which are found precious stones, fine pearls and gold mines; others abound in all sorts of spices, and the inhabitants are extraordinary men; but that would be too long to describe here. "There are here in the sea several marvelous things, such as mermaids and other fish. "If one wishes to learn about these singular peoples and these extraordinary fish of the sea, as well as the terrestrial animals, one must consult the books of Pliny, Isidore, Aristotle, Strabo, the Specula of Vincent de Beauvais, and several other authors. "In these books are found the description of the inhabitants of the islands and of the sea, as well as several other marvels, and terrestrial animals that reside in these islands; roots, precious stones, etc."

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015062204436&seq=405&q1=pisang

Again, no mention of pisang or bananas. 

Tim has another source for the banana tree metric which is also French. 

Refined English Translation:

"After the first edition of this Diplomatic History in 1778, which I present here in a much expanded form, a French translation was published in Paris by Mr. H. J. Jansen, in the Collection of Interesting Pieces Translated from Different Languages, Volumes I and II, Paris, 1787, in octavo format, including the plate of the Hemisphere of the Globe, where one reads at the Isle of Cipangu: there is gold and banana (pisang) trees.

Published by Barrois the elder, bookseller, Quai des Augustins.

The translator later included it with the translation by Citizen Charles Amoretti of the First Voyage Around the World, by the Knight Pigafetta, aboard Magellan’s squadron during the years 1519, 1520, 1521, and 1522. (Paris, H. J. Jansen, Printer-Bookseller, Rue des Maçons, No. 406, Place Sorbonne, Year IX [1801], in octavo format.)

Published under the title: Notice on the Knight M. Behaim, Famous Portuguese Navigator; with the Description of His Terrestrial Globe, by M. de Murr. Translated from the German by H. J. Jansen, pp. 287–384."

Pisang is not Japanese, nor from Ryukyuan, but a tropical fruit endemic below the Tropic of Cancer where Japan is not. This translator, as many, failed to read Behaim's Globe he referenced here and did not bother to test the resources as is typical with such an uneducated conclusion.

This is a reference to the previous book already cited which has been analyzed and found to have no references about pisang in Japan. This book contains the already cited inscription from Behaim's Globe on pages 40-41.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b141124&seq=54

There is no mention of pisang or banana trees in this section. 

Page 145 contains the original German inscription on Behaim's map though it is not exact. 

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b141124&seq=157

Isle of Zipangu 

This island of Zipangu lies in the Orient of the world. The people of the land worship idols. Their King is subject to no one. In the island grows exceedingly much gold, also there grow all sorts of precious stones, oriental pearls. This writes Marco Polo of Venice in the 3rd book. 

Marco Polo writes to us in the third book in chapter 42, that it has truly been found by the sailors that in this Indian Sea, there are more than 12700 islands that are inhabited, and in which are found many precious stones, fine pearls and gold mountains. Others are full of 12 kinds of spices and wondrous people, of which it would be too long to write. 

Here one finds many sea wonders of mermaids and other fish.

And if anyone desires to know about these wondrous people and strange fish in the sea or animals on earth: let him read the books of Pliny, Isidore, Aristotle, Strabo, and Specula Vincenzi, and many other teachers.

There one finds about the wondrous people in the islands and in the sea from sea wonders, and what strange animals on earth and in the islands of spices and precious stones grow.

No mention of Pisang trees. 

This citation of Murr also references another book by Jansen titled, "Recueil de Pièces intéressantes concernant les antiquités, les beaux-arts, les belles-lettres et la philosophie, traduites de différentes langues."  Volume 1 has the same citation from Behaim. 

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=ien.35556008982969&seq=365&q1=pisang

Again, no reference to Pisang or bananas.

Murr's book  mentions a plate of Behaim's Globe where pisang is mentioned on Cipangu. Here is a high resolution image of that map.  There is a very faint outline of a map in images 173-174 but the full map is not visible. 

https://www.geographicus.com/P/AntiqueMap/atlantic-murrbehaim-1787

At the very bottom of Japan it reads:

Cipangu est la plus riche Ile de l'orient en Epiceries en Pierres fines, il y a de l'Or a Pisangboum

Cipangu is the richest Island of the orient in Spices in Fine stones, there is Gold of Pisangbeum

Finally the reference to Pisang or Pisangbeum has been found. It is not exactly clear which edition of the book this is from. There is another version of this map from the original 1778 edition which looks slightly different. 

https://www.raremaps.com/gallery/detail/68828/martin-behaim-globe-book-pars-globi-terrestris-ao-1492-de-murr

Cipanga di edelst und reichste Infel in orient von fpecerei und edelgestein gold hat pisangbeum

Cipangu, the noblest and richest island in the orient, has spices and precious stones, gold, (and) banana trees.

Slightly different but with the seem meaning. The page numbers are also different. 

Whatever the reason for the differences this is not the same inscription on Behaim's Globe. 

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/RavensteinBehaim.jpg

Here is Behaim's original text with a translation. 

https://archive.org/details/gri_33125008398949/page/88/mode/2up

Off the Southern extremity we read:-

jn difer inful do wechft gold und gewürz stauden.  In this island are found gold and shrubs yielding spices.

As can be seen there is no reference to Pisangbeum but to gewürz stauden, shrubs yielding spices. How that became Pisangbeum is not clear. Why is Pisangbeum only on the map and absent from the two description of Zipangu on pages 40-41 and 145?

In this same article Tim mentions the map of Johann Gebhard.

In this 1853 reconstruction by science rockstar Johann Gebhard, Gebhard even describes this is the Philippines. Wow!!! Coming soon!

That article can be read here. It isn't worth going over in detail because it all hinges on Tim's misinterpretation of the inscriptions on Behaim's Globe. However there are two things to note. One is Tim finally recognizes Ernst Ravenstein who wrote Martin Behaim: His Life and Globe. In that book Ravenstein meticulously proves that the City of Nuremberg commissioned and paid for the Globe. He even shows the receipts and instructions. Tim is very adamant the King of Portugal commissioned the Globe which is flat out wrong. However, Tim's attitude toward Ravenstein is revealed when he calls him a propagandist. 

Behaim places Argyra at Mindanao, yet Ravenstein claims it’s Arakan (modern-day Myanmar). How does one confuse Mindanao, the large island just north of Borneo, with a mainland region hundreds of miles away? That is either grossly incompetent geography or deliberate colonial propaganda.

This is colonial paradigm enforcement in action. Ravenstein applies dislocated identities to known islands simply to redirect glory and biblical memory away from Southeast Asia—particularly the Philippines.

Tim still refuses to understand that a map from 1492 cannot possibly show ANY islands of the Philippines because they had not been discovered. 

The second thing to note is Tim continues to propagate the banana disinformation. 

The following translations come directly from Gebhard’s 1853 facsimile performed by AI and affirmed. Each shows that Cipangu was imagined not as temperate Japan, but as a tropical island brimming with bananas, spices, gold, and precious gems — all consistent with the Philippines.

Funny that Tim says the translations of Gebhard's map are "performed by AI and affirmed" when nearly every translation in his article is attributed to Ernst Ravenstein. It's just another way for Tim to hypocritically disparage the actual scholarship of Ravenstein while simultaneously relying on it.

Bananas are not on the Cipangu inscription on Gebhard's map.

"in diser insul do wechsl gold und gewurz stauden."

English Translation: (Ravenstein, click link)
“In this island are found gold and shrubs yielding spices.”

Tim's own notes on this map confirms the absence of bananas yet he has nothing to say about it. Why does Murr's map from 1787 have Pisangbeum and Gebahrd's map from 1853 not have Pisangbeum? Because it's not original to Behaim. The question remains, what is the origin of Pisangbeum?

So, what does this all mean? It means Tim is relying on an obscure note in an obscure book to build his case for the Philippines being Japan. There is no mention in Jansen, Behaim, Gebhard, or Pigafetta of Cipangu having bananas. The description of Cipangu in Murr's book does not mention bananas yet the map in the same book has an inscription that says Pisangbeum which differs from Behaim's original text of "shrubs yielding spices." All in all this article relying on an unexplained inscription further reveals the intellectually bankrupt methodology of Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture. 

The God Culture: A City Founded In The 16th Century Is On A 2nd Century Map

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture is writing a new book about the Philippines. Or maybe he is going to update his book The Search For King Solomon's Treasure. Either way, something deeply flawed this way comes from the computer of Timothy Jay Schwab. If he does have a research team they will need to step up their game and stop manipulating their sources. Of course, picking through his obvious lies makes it so much easier to critique Tim.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/maniolas-lequios-luzon----and-the-golden-isles-unveiled/

The Misunderstood Geography of Ptolemy.  

Modern scholarship often stumbles when interpreting Ptolemy’s maps, offering colonial-era opinions without engaging the corrections made by Magellan, Pigafetta, or even Columbus. Few realize that Ptolemy’s knowledge ended east of India — he never mapped the Philippines, as confirmed by Magellan himself. Instead, he skipped directly to regions like Taprobane (which classical sources and maps correctly equate with Sumatra, not Sri Lanka) and Maniolas, a clear reference to Manila.  

The result? A cartographic void filled with guesses — while Magellan and other explorers offered the course correction. Yet academia, in Colonial British propaganda, continues to anchor itself to the South and West, ignoring the obvious: the Region of Gold was the Philippines. It still is. 

We introduce this correction here — but the full breakdown comes in upcoming blogs. This is not our position but that will be forthcoming, and overwhelming. 

This blog centers on one of them — Lequios — and its undeniable Philippine identity. While other legendary places like Maniolas and Chryse are mentioned in the same breath, we will not unpack those positions here. That evidence, vast and overwhelming, will be addressed in a dedicated series and one of our next books coming soon. 

• Maniolas was Manila — not metaphorically, but directly and cartographically, as many scholars, maps, and colonial-era sources have affirmed. [a plethera of sources say so, we will cover these, not in this article]

Maniolas on Ptolemy's world map is Manila says Tim. That is true because other people said it is true. Never mind the fact that it is impossible a second century map could reference a city founded in 1571. It is true that some people did speculate that Maniolas and Manila are related but that does not make it so. Connecting a second century map detail and a city founded in the 16th century is the height of absurdity. 

Here is what Tim writes concerning Domingo Fernández Navarrete's comments on Maniolas. 

In the late 17th century, in the midst of Jesuit propaganda, a high-ranking Spanish Dominican Archbishop, theologian, writer, and missionary named Domingo Fernández Navarrete dared to write what others would not: that the islands known as Ptolemy's Maniolas are none other than Luzon and the Philippines, and that the Biblical lands of Ophir, Tarshish, and Havilah are found in these same islands. Another Navarrete, Martín Fernández de Navarrete (1765–1844), Spanish naval officer and historian, also placed Lequios at 21 degrees North (Philippine waters) a couple of centuries later. The ancient names of the bifurcated isle of Luzon were clearly Lequios (North) and Maniolas (Manila/South).

✒️ Literal Translation & Analysis:

🗺️ Page 429–430

"Lib. 1, p.2, prueba con Tholomeo, que las Islas Philipinas eran las Maniolas, por la semejanza grande de este nombre, con el nombre Manila..."

Translation:

“Book 1, page 2, proves with Ptolemy that the Philippine Islands are the Maniolas, due to the strong similarity of that name with Manila…”

🔍 This is a direct identification of Ptolemy’s “Maniolas” with the city of Manila and its surrounding isles. Navarrete points out what modern scholars pretend not to see: linguistic, geographic, and historical continuity.

“...si Manila fuera, o hubiera sido en algún tiempo nombre de aquella isla…”

Analysis:

He acknowledges that if Manila was a name for the island as a whole (as several maps indicate), or derived from it, then Ptolemy's identification makes perfect sense — because it is the same region. He was clearly aware of Magellan's corrections of Ptolemy, as modern scholars should be. He also emphasizes the Tagalog root names and the logic of these derivations. This utterly obliterates modern denials that Maniolas = Manila = Luzon.

Navarrete also affirms the ships fashioned without nails fitting Ptolemy's account of Maniola and that magnetic lodestone (magnetite) was very abundant throughout the Philippines which remains so today according to mining reports and the National Museum of the Philippines. 

Indeed, he doubts the legend that the lodestone could literally stop a ship which we do as well. However, the legend remained there all along regardless. Magnetic anomalies however, are factual around the Philippine waters and likely, it is the Maniola shoals that spawned such legend which is why we see them called magnetic in Behaim's 1492 inscription next to Mindanao. 

Yes, maps affirm Maniola as a name for Luzon or a portion. More on that soon. All affirm that is what Ptolemy meant all along when he labeled Maniola which Magellan, Behaim, Columbus and others adjust correcting Ptolemy's Golden Isles (NONE are Peninsulas) to the Philippines.

This is wrong. First of all it should be noted, and Tim does not note this, that Navarrete is citing Father Fransisco Colin. 

After having finished these drafts, I accidentally found the history that the very Reverend Father Francisco Colín wrote about the progress, Christianities, and labors of his Sacred Family of the Company of Jesus in the Philippine Islands, and since I lived among them, I had a particular knowledge of this great man, and of his many talents, which I do not praise so as not to exaggerate them, as Tacitus said regarding Agricola: "His integrity and abstinence, in such a man, would have been injured by virtues." 

pg. 429

Second of all, these:

"Lib. 1, p.2, prueba con Tholomeo, que las Islas Philipinas eran las Maniolas, por la semejanza grande de este nombre, con el nombre Manila..."

“...si Manila fuera, o hubiera sido en algún tiempo nombre de aquella isla…”

are half quotes. Here is the full quote in English. The bolded text is what Tim leaves on the cutting room floor. 

2 Lib. 1, p. 2, proves with Ptolemy that the Philippine Islands are the Maniolas, due to the great resemblance of this name to the name Manila; but the foundation is so flimsy that it cannot even generate probability: if Manila had ever been the name of that Island, or of any other in that Archipelago, that opinion could still be tolerated; but it being certain that it is a name imposed for the site of the City, because it is mostly swampy and muddy land, although it is now otherwise, which the Tagalog calls Mainila, as I already wrote in treatise 1, c. 1, section 1, it follows that no inference can be drawn from that name for the purpose he intends.

While Colin supposed Ptolemy's Maniolas was Manila, Navarrete says "the foundation is so flimsy that is cannot even generate probability." Ptolemy's own text links Maniolae not with a city or magnets but with cannibals!

There are said to be other islands here adjoining, ten in number, called Maniolae, from which they say that boats, in which there are nails, are kept away, lest at any time the magnetic stone which is found near these islands should draw them to destruction. For this reason they say that these boats are drawn up on the shore and that they are strengthened with beams of wood. They also say that these islands are occupied by cannibals called Manioli. There are means of approach from these islands to the mainland.

Geography pg. 157

Navarrete does not agree with Colin and is of no use to Tim. Yet for some reason Tim has decided to selectively edit the text to appear that he does. Why? Is this obvious nonsense, that a city founded in the 16th century shows up on a 2nd century map bolstered by a manipulated citation from Navarrete, going to make it into Tim's new book? I certainly hope so. Because if it does, it will serve as yet another glaring example of his deeply flawed and dishonest methodology.

In this next quote Tim claims Navarrete affirms Ophir, Tarshish, and Havilah founded the Philippines. 

🗺️ Page 430–431

“En el cap. 4.pagin.16. trata de los Fundadores, o Pobladores de aquellas Islas,y Archipielago, y dize fue Tharfis, hijo de lauan, y Ophir, y Heuilath de la India,de que fe trata en el capit. 10. del Genef. Grande antiguedad de morado-res dà aquella tierra. En auer fido faci-lifsimo poblaríe todas aquellas Islas,por eftar algunas cercanífsimas a la tierra Continente, para mi no tiene duda.”

Translation:

“In chapter 4, page 16, it deals with the Founders or Settlers of those Islands and Archipelago, and it is said that it was Tharsis, son of Javan, and Ophir, and Havilah of India, of whom it is dealt with in chapter 10 of Genesis. Great antiquity of inhabitants of that land. In succession it would be very easy to populate all those Islands, since some of them are very close to the Continent, for me there is no doubt.”

🔍 Navarrete is here stating plainly: the ancient biblical regions of Tarshish, Ophir, and Havilah were in the Philippines and he believes without doubt the Philippines fit that identity best. He uses Genesis 10, which lists descendants of Noah spreading into those regions, to anchor the idea that these islands were peopled in antiquity from that biblical dispersion.

This is once more wrong. It must be remembered that Navarrete is quoting Fr. Colin. Colin does not say Ophir founded the Philippines. 

Although these are islands, it won't be necessary to strain our understanding, speculating (as Saint Augustine and other authors do regarding other islands and the Americas) about how and from where people and animals came to them. Because if some of these were at some point a continent after the flood, then people and animals could have remained there since that time. And if they have always been islands, the proximity of some to others, and of some of them to the mainland of Asia—from where the propagation of the human lineage and the populating by Noah's descendants began—is sufficient for some of them to have been able to come and populate these parts. And that this was indeed the case, and the principal colonizer of these Archipelagos was Tarshish, son of Javan, with his brothers—just as Ophir and Havilah were for India—is founded in the tenth chapter of Genesis, which deals with the dispersion of peoples and the populating of lands, as we have established in detail elsewhere.

pg. 15

Navarette writes:

the Founders or Settlers of those Islands and Archipelago, and it is said that it was Tharsis, son of Javan, and Ophir, and Havilah of India, 

Clearly Tarshish founded the archipelago, the Philippines, while Ophir and Havilah founded India. That is how both texts groups them. Don't forget Tim previously manipulated this same quote from Colin.

📖 3. The Biblical Bombshell: Philippines as Ophir and Tarshish

Perhaps most stunning, Colin writes:

“Y el principal Poblador de estos Archipielagos fuese Tharsis, hijo de Javan... como lo fueron Ophir, y Hevilath…”

(Labor Evangelica, p. 16)

📌 Translation:

"And the principal settlers of these archipelagos was Tarshish, son of Javan... just as were Ophir and Havilah..."

Citing Genesis 10, Colin aligns the early Philippine settlers with the biblical sons of Javan, declaring the islands the biblical lands of gold.

He speaks not hypothetically — but with scriptural and ethnographic confidence.

Compare the original Spanish to Tim's edit. 

Y que con efecto fuesse assi, y el principal Poblador de estos Archipiélagos fuesse Tharsis, hijo de Iauan, con sus hermanos, como lo fueron Ophir, y Heuilath de la India, tiene fundamento en elcapitulo diez del Génesis, que trata de la dispersión de las gentes, y población de las tierras, como lo fundamos de proposito en otro lugar.

It's absolutely intolerable that Tim has manipulated Colin's text in this manner. It is thoroughly dishonest and underscores his total lack of integrity. This is more proof that Timothy Jay Schwab is not to be trusted and his research should be discarded.

https://thegodculturephilippines.blogspot.com/2025/06/the-god-culture-father-colin-confirms.html

It also does not appear that Navarrete is agreeing with Colin about Tarshish settling the Philippines. The sentence of concern here is:

Grande antiguedad de moradores dà aquella tierra. En auer fido facilifsimo poblaríe todas aquellas Islas, por eftar algunas cercanífsimas a la tierra Continente, para mi no tiene duda.

Tim has translated this particular sentence in a different manner than the one I am receiving. Let's ask Gemini.

Both translations convey the same core meaning, and the differences are very subtle. However, let's break them down to see which is a slightly more direct translation of the original Spanish:

Original Spanish: "Grande antiguedad de morado-res dà aquella tierra. En auer fido faci-lifsimo poblaríe todas aquellas Islas,por eftar algunas cercanífsimas a la tierra Continente, para mi no tiene duda."

Your provided alternative translation: "Great antiquity of inhabitants of that land. In succession it would be very easy to populate all those Islands, since some of them are very close to the Continent, for me there is no doubt."

My previous translation: "Great antiquity of inhabitants is given to that land. It is undoubtedly very easy to populate all those Islands, being some very close to the mainland."

Comparison:

1. "Great antiquity of inhabitants...":

   • Your version: "...of that land." - This is a very direct and accurate translation of "de morado-res dà aquella tierra" (inhabitants of that land).
   • My version: "...is given to that land." - Also correct, but perhaps slightly less direct in connecting "inhabitants" directly to "that land."

2. "In succession" vs. "It is undoubtedly":

   • Your version: "In succession it would be very easy..." - The phrase "En auer fido facilifsimo" literally means "having been very easy" or "it having been very easy." "In succession" is an interpretation and not a direct translation of any word in the Spanish.
   • My version: "It is undoubtedly very easy..." - I translated "para mi no tiene duda" (for me there is no doubt) as "undoubtedly" and integrated it earlier in the sentence.

3. "for me there is no doubt" vs. integrated "undoubtedly":

   • Your version ends with "...for me there is no doubt." - This is a very literal and accurate translation of "para mi no tiene duda" placed at the end of the clause as it is in Spanish.
   • My version integrates "undoubtedly" earlier, which is also a valid way to convey the meaning but changes the sentence structure slightly.

Conclusion:

Your alternative translation is arguably slightly more "correct" in terms of its directness for "of that land" and its literal placement of "for me there is no doubt." However, the inclusion of "In succession" is not directly supported by the Spanish text.

My translation accurately conveys the meaning, but took a slightly more interpretative approach by integrating "undoubtedly" earlier and using "mainland" instead of "Continent."

Both are very good translations. If precision to sentence structure and literal word translation is paramount for "para mi no tiene duda," then your alternative is slightly better, if you remove "In succession." The phrase "In succession" is the only element that doesn't clearly map to a direct Spanish word in the provided snippet.

Now, let's ask ChatGpt.

Certainly. Here's the English translation of the Spanish sentence you provided:

"Great antiquity of inhabitants is given to that land. Since it would have been very easy to populate all those islands, because some are very close to the mainland, to me there is no doubt."

Modernized phrasing for clarity:

"That land is considered to have been inhabited since ancient times. Since many of those islands are very near the mainland, I have no doubt it was easy to populate them all."

Let me know if you'd like more context or the original source interpreted in full.

Gemini says, except for the added phrase "in succession," Tim's translation is "slightly better" because of its literalness.  However, both Gemini and ChatGPT give a translation in which the "no doubt" refers not to Navarrete agreeing with Colin but with the ease populating the Philippine archipelago would entail since it is close to the mainland. Tim's translation may be literal word-for-word but it appears to miss the meaning of the text. 

Maniolas is not the only Ptolemaic map place name Tim mentions. He claims Magellan found Catigara. 

🧭 Magellan: The Course Corrector

Ferdinand Magellan’s 1521 arrival didn’t “discover” the Philippines — it corrected Ptolemy. Cap Catigara of Ptolemy was actually Samar-Leyte according to Magellan who even directly corrected Ptolemy and others. Yet, few seem to even know this.

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/maniolas-lequios-luzon----and-the-golden-isles-unveiled/

This is completely wrong and I have written about it before. Pigafetta did not say they landed at Catigara. He said they set course for it. He absolutely does not claim Samar-Leyte or any other place in the Philippines is Catigara. 

Back in Spain the surviving crew were subject to interrogation. That testimony and a complete description of the voyage can be read at this link but it's all in Spanish. Maximilianus Transylvanus, a courtier of Emperor Charles V, actually interviewed the surviving crew members and wrote a summary of the voyage. 

Now, the book of the aforesaid Peter having disappeared, Fortune has not allowed the memory of so marvellous an enterprise to be entirely lost, inasmuch as a certain noble gentleman of Vicenza called Messer Antonio Pigafetta (who, having gone on the voyage and returned in the ship Vittoria, was made a Knight of Rhodes), wrote a very exact and full account of it in a book, one copy of which he presented to His Majesty the Emperor, and another he sent to the most Serene Mother of the most Christian King, the Lady Regent.

As this voyage may be considered marvellous, and not only unaccomplished, but even unattempted either in our age or in any previous one, I have resolved to write as truly as possible to your Reverence the course (of the expedition) and the sequence of the whole matter. I have taken care to have everything related to me most exactly by the captain and by the individual sailors who have returned with him. They have also related each separate event to Cæsar and to others with such good faith and sincerity, that they seemed not only to tell nothing fabulous themselves, but by their relation to disprove and refute all the fabulous stories which had been told by old authors. 

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_First_Voyage_Round_the_World/Letter_of_Maximilian,_the_Transylvan

In his introduction Maximilianus recognizes the importance and worth of Pigafetta's published journal and tells us that what is to follow was related to him by the surviving crew members. That is crucial for what he writes about concerning Cattigara.

When our men had set sail from Thedori, one of the ships, and that the larger one, having sprung a leak, began to make water, so that it became necessary to put back to Thedori. When the Spaniards saw that this mischief could not be remedied without great labour and much time, they agreed that the other ship should sail to the Cape of Cattigara, and afterwards through the deep as far as possible from the coast of India, lest it should be seen by the Portuguese, and until they saw the Promontory of Africa, which projects beyond the Tropic of Capricorn, and to which the Portuguese have given the name of Good Hope; and from that point the passage to Spain would be easy. But as soon as the other ship was refitted, it should direct its course through the archipelago, and that vast ocean towards the shores of the continent which we mentioned before, till it found that coast which was in the neighbourhood of Darien, and where the southern sea was separated from the western, in which are the Spanish Islands, by a very narrow space of land. So the ship sailed again from Thedori, and, having gone twelve degrees on the other side of the equinoctial line, they did not find the Cape of Cattigara, which Ptolemy supposed to extend even beyond the equinoctial line; but when they had traversed an immense space of sea, they came to the Cape of Good Hope and afterwards to the Islands of the Hesperides.

https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_First_Voyage_Round_the_World/Letter_of_Maximilian,_the_Transylvan

At this point in the voyage it is December 1521 and the crew are on the island of Tidore which is in the Moluccas. One of the ships springs a leak but it cannot be fixed. The other ship is told to press ahead to the Cape of Cattigara but they are never able to find it. 

There you go. Simple as that. Neither Pigafetta nor the surviving crew members claim Samar is the Cape of Cattigara or that they ever found its actual location. There is more to this story as those who listened to the testimony of these men decided that Gilolo island in the Moluccas was Cattigara.

https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=miun.afk2830.0001.001&view=1up&seq=219&skin=2021

Item: it can not be denied that the island of Gilolo, lying near the Maluco Islands, is the cape of Catigara, inasmuch as the companions of Magallanes journeyed westward upon leaving the strait discovered in fifty-four degrees of south latitude, sailing such a distance west and northeast that they arrived in twelve degrees of north latitude where were found certain islands, and one entrance to them. Then running southward four hundred leagues, they passed the Maluco islands and the coast of the island of Gilolo, without finding any cape on it. Then they took their course toward the Cabo Buena Esperanza [Good Hope] for Spain. Therefore then the cape of Catigara can only be the said island of Gilolo and the Malucos.

Are these men, who were well acquainted with the testimony of the entire crew dunderheads and ninny's who ignored actual history? Of course not. 

https://thegodculturephilippines.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-god-culture-100-lies-about_18.html

Though he reads this blog, Tim continues to ignore those facts.

As it stands Tim claims the Philippines is: The Garden of Eden, the Holy of Holies, the Land of Creation, Arsareth, Havilah, Sheba, Seba, Tarshish, Ophir, Lequios, Maniolas, Antillia, Thilis, Japan, Swarnadwipa, Al-Wakwak, Catigara, and the land of Gold spoken of by all nations. This is not history, it is bloated and ridiculous myth-making which has been shown many times to have a foundation "so flimsy that it cannot even generate probability." Yet Tim, in the midst of all his textual manipulations, claims he has a "monumental case no one can disprove." 

As I noted, Tim is either writing a new book about this subject or he's updating his previous book. He says these two articles are not his full position as that will be revealed much later with more information. He claims to have a plethora of sources to back him up. But as we see with this source, Navarrete, and as we have seen with every other article he has published, Tim's plethora of supporting documents doesn't exist except in seriously misunderstood and manipulated terms. If this is the type of material he intends to publish in a book then it will only serve to solidify the lack of intellectual integrity of Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture. 

The God Culture: Liuqiu Was Never A Chinese Name For The Philippines

Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture has an answer for everything. It is a fact that the Chinese Book of Sui refers to the Liuqiu Islands. It is also a fact that Lequios and Ryukyu are the European and Japanese versions of Liuqui respectively. Tim has an answer for those facts. Let's take a look at his arguments and see if they hold up. 

https://thegodculturephilippines.com/流求-was-never-ryukyu-the-real-identity-of-ancient-liuqiu/

🪶 THE SMOKING QUILL | June 17, 2025

流求 Was Never Ryukyu: The Real Identity of Ancient ‘Liuqiu’ 

How the Chinese Book of Sui Was Misinterpreted by Centuries of Scholars — And Why the Philippines, Not Okinawa, Was the True Kingdom of the Flowing Dragon

📜 The Name That Floated Across the Sea

The ancient Chinese toponym 流求 (Liúqiú) appears prominently in the Book of Sui (636 AD). For centuries, it has been missassigned as the origin of the modern Ryukyu Kingdom (琉球). But just because later records equated the names does not mean they referred to the same place.

We’re here to set the record straight. Let's test the data. 

🧭 What the Book of Sui Actually Said 

In 607–608, the Sui Dynasty launched three voyages to a place they called Liuqiu:

"The country of Liuqiu is situated amidst islands in the sea, to the east of Jian'an. One may arrive there by five days’ travel by water…"

That rules out Okinawa immediately.

▶️ Ryukyu is 2–3 days closer to China by sail.

▶️ Five days from Fujian puts you in Batanes or Northern Luzon.

That's not a little problem for the Ryukyu theory, it fails!

Full Section Translation:

"Book of Sui: [English Translation from Wikipedia] 

"A detailed description of an island kingdom called "Liuqiu" may be found in the Book of Sui. Chinese Liuqiu was first attested in the Book of Sui (636), which stated that Sui China had sent expeditions to what it called Liuqiu (流求) three times in 607 and 608. The Book of Sui places the report on Liuqiu second to last within the chapter on "Eastern Barbarians" (Dongyi), following the report on Mohe and preceding the report on Wa (Japan). The text describes the territory of Liuqiu and its people as follows: 

"The country of Liuqiu is situated amidst islands in the sea, in a location that should be east of Jian'an County, to which one may arrive with five days' travel by water. The land has many caves. Its king's clan name is Huansi, and his given name is Keladou; it is not known how many generations have passed since he and his have come to possess the country. The people of that land call him Kelaoyang, and for his wife, [they] say Duobatu. His place of residence they call Boluotan Grotto, with threefold moats and fences; the perimeter has flowing water, trees and briars as barriers. As for the domicile of the king, it is sixteen rooms large, and engraved with carvings of birds and beasts. There are many Doulou trees, which resemble the orange but with foliage that is dense. The country has four or five chiefs, who unite several villages under their rule; the villages have [their own] little kings.'" 

"The people have deep eyes and long noses, seeming to be rather akin to the Hu, and also having petty cleverness. There is no observance of hierarchy of ruler and minister nor the rite of prostrating oneself with one's palms pressed together. Fathers and children sleep together in the same bed. The men pluck out their whiskers and beards, and any place on their bodies where they happen to have hair, they will also remove it. The adult women use ink to tattoo their hands in the design of insects and serpents. As for marriage, they use wine, delicacies, pearls and shells to arrange a betrothal; if a man and a woman have found pleasure in each other, then they get married." 

Zhu Kuan, the leader of the first Sui expeditions to "Liuqiu", originally wrote the name with the characters 流虬 or "flowing dragon" because the shape of the island reminded him of a dragon floating on the sea. While Okinawa is a long and thin island that later commentators also associated with a dragon, Taiwan is an oval-shaped island rather than dragon-shaped." 

Wikipedia then clarifies: "There is no scholarly consensus on what specific territory "Liuqiu" refers to in the Book of Sui and History of Yuan." There is no definitive position of Ryukyu as the Liuqiu.

There are six main arguments that Tim employs as proof Batan Island specifically is Liuqiu. Once again his theories conflict because earlier he theorized Lequios is the entire northern half of Luzon Island. Is there a bifurcated Luzon or is Lequios Batan Island? 

1. The Shape of the Island

Liuqiu Island is said to be in the shape of a flowing dragon. Compared to Okinawa, Batan is short and squat.  Okinawa even has what could be interpreted as a wing. The section of Batan that could be referred to as a wing looks more like a hump or a horn. Even though the shape of the islands is subjective, Okinawa is long and thin like a traditional dragon while Batan is short and fat like the dragon Spike from the original 1980's version of My Little Pony.

2. Five days from Fujian puts you in Batanes or Northern Luzon

Tim asserts this and does not prove it. Depending on the current, the wind, and the type of ship being used five days from the coast of China could land one in Okinawa. Liuqiu is said to be 

east of Jian'an County.

Batan and the rest of the Philippines is to the Southeast. For some reason Tim continues to think east of China means southeast of China. The two directions are not the same and in older writings a difference is made between them. 

3. Doulou Trees

The Book of Sui says

There are many Doulou trees, which resemble the orange but with foliage that is dense.

Tim says there is no such tree in Okinawa.

No such plant native to Okinawa. 

But in the Philippines? That’s duhat (Syzygium cumini): 

• Turns orange before ripening 

• Dense canopy 

• Known locally as duat, dungboi, lomboi, longboi — depending on dialect.

Tim provides a link to a plant known as duhat which he says is the Doulou tree. But we find this tree is not native to the Philippines while it is native to China.

Distribution 

- Introduced into the Philippines.

- Found throughout the Philippines, planted, and in many regions spontaneous.

- Probably of prehistoric introduction from Malaya.

- Native to Andaman Is., Assam, Bangladesh, Cambodia, China South-Central, China Southeast, East Himalaya, Hainan, India, Jawa, Laccadive Is., Laos, Lesser Sunda Is., Malaya, Maluku, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Queensland, Sri Lanka, Sulawesi, Thailand, Vietnam.

https://www.stuartxchange.org/Duhat.html

This says the plant was introduced to the Philippines in prehistoric times which is kind of odd. How would anyone know that? Regardless, this tree does not fit the description of the Doulou tree. 

The Book of Sui indicates the Doulou tree is like an orange. Presumably that means an orange tree. The Mandarin Orange tree grows in China. The Citrus depressa grows in Okinawa and Southwest Japan. I won't declare that is the doulou tree but since that tree is said to "resemble the orange." It's a better candidate than the duhat which isn't even native to the Philippines. Ultimately there is not enough information given to exactly identify the Doulou tree. 

4. Cultural Anthropology of Liuqiu

Tim lists the anthropological traits of the Liuqiu Islanders and compares them between the inhabitants of Batan and Ryukyu. Also note that in this chart Tim conflates Batanes and Luzon. So, is Liuqiu Batan Island or does it also include Luzon? Why can't Tim get this straight? 

The Liuqiu people are said to have deep eyes and long noses and resemble the Hu people. The Hu people are barbarians from Central Asia. Tim attributes these features to Austronesian and Negrito people groups who are dark skinned with flat noses and do not resemble the Chinese Hu in the slightest.

Tim also says there was no tribal rule in Ryukyu but there was in Batan/Luzon. This is wrong. While the Book of Sui was written in the 7th century, as late as the 14th century there were warring factions in Okinawa. The island was not united until the 15th century. 

In the second half of the fourteenth century, when the heretofore unnoticed “Ryukyu” burst upon the stage of history like a comet to become the cornerstone of East Asia, the island of Okinawa was, in fact, divided into three rival domains. Based in the northern, central, and southern parts of the island, the rulers were known as King of the North [Sanhoku-ō]; King of the Middle [Chūzan-ō]; and King of the South [Sannan-ō]. 

The Ryukyu Kingdom-Cornerstone of East Asia, pg. 5

Unified in the fifteenth century under the king of Chūzan, by the sixteenth century the Ryukyu Kingdom extended from the Amami island group in the north to the Sakishima group in the south. 

The Ryukyu Kingdom-Cornerstone of East Asia, pg. 7

Tim says Ryukyuans don't drink wine while Batan and Luzon peoples do. That is wrong. A Korean who shipwrecked on Okinawa says one fort had a large wine cellar overflowing with jugs of wine. 

The eyewitness account of Cho Tukseng, a Korean rescued from shipwreck in 1462, said of the hōko: “There is a fort built at the side of the river. In its inner rooms are kept large pieces of porcelain; the wine cellar is filled to overflowing with jugs of wine; and the magazine is stuffed with iron armor, javelins, swords, bows, and arrows.”

The Ryukyu Kingdom-Cornerstone of East Asia, pg. 42

Even though that story takes place eight centuries after the Book of Sui was written it is not unreasonable to believe they had some kind of wine. Practically every culture drinks its own type of wine. 

The Liuqiu women are said to tattoo their hands with serpents which Tim says cannot be the Ryukyuans who used floral patterns. He provides no proof for that assertion.  In 1582 Francis Gaullé sailed through the Lequios Islands and said they painted themselves just like the Visayans of Luzon Island.

Being past the fair Islands, we held our course East and East and by South, for two hundred and forty miles, until we were past the length of the Islands Lequios, sailing about fifty miles from them, as the said Chinar told me, that those islands called Lequios are very many, and that they have many and very good Harbours, and that the people and inhabitants thereof have their faces and bodies painted like the Bysayas of the Islands of Luzon of  Philippines, and are appareled like the Bysayas, and that there are also mines of gold; he said likewise that they did often come with small ships and barkes laden with Bucks and Harts hides; and with gold in grains of very small pieces, to trade with them on the coast of China, which be assured me to be most true, saying that he had been nine times in the small Island, bringing of the same wares with him to China; which I believe to be true, for that afterwards I inquired thereof at Macau, and upon the coast of China, and found that he said true. The furthest or uttermost of these Islands both Northward and Eastward lie under 29 degrees.

Being past these Islands, then you come to the Islands of Japon whereof the first lying West and South is the Island of Hirado, where the Portuguese use to trade. They [the Japanese islands] are in length altogether one hundred and thirty miles, and the furthest Eastward, lies under thirty-two degrees [latitude]. We ran still East, and East by North, until we were past the said one hundred and thirty miles.

Iohn Huighen van Linschoten his Discours of voyages into ye Easte & West Indies : deuided into foure bookes, pg. 414

As for the rest of their customs and manners, Tim's own chart says "no record" for one entry and "unknown" for another. Yet he marks an X and denies those were customs in Ryukyu. With no proof that is unsubstantiated and methodologically weak. Claims need proof.

5. Linguistics

Tim's next argument involves linguistics. 

📍 Toponym Breakdown: Matching Names 

• Huansi (king’s clan name) ≈ Hangsa (Ivatan for a surgeonfish — common symbolism for leadership and maritime connection) 

• Duobatu (queen’s name) ≈ Datwaw (place name in Babuyan even), Batoy, or Vatuy (rock, boulder, or rocky formation — feminine metaphors) 

• Boluotan Grotto (royal palace) ≈ Balogan, a cave-rich zone in Babuyan Claro — still used in local Ivatan speech

More important than diving into speculative linguistics is to consider what the whole passage says. 

The land has many caves. Its king's clan name is Huansi, and his given name is Keladou; it is not known how many generations have passed since he and his have come to possess the country. The people of that land call him Kelaoyang, and for his wife, [they] say Duobatu. His place of residence they call Boluotan Grotto, with threefold moats and fences; the perimeter has flowing water, trees and briars as barriers. As for the domicile of the king, it is sixteen rooms large, and engraved with carvings of birds and beasts.

That is a description of a large castle. Where is the large castle on Batan Island? The royal palace in Okinawa is called Shuri Castle. While this not a description of that castle it's pretty close. Okinawa has a castle building culture. 

THE EAST ASIA TRADE SPHERE AND THE EMERGENCE OF GUSUKU

Gusuku on the World Heritage List

On November 30, 2000, UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee, meeting in Cairns, Australia, added Okinawa’s “Gusuku Sites and Related Proper- ties of the Ryukyu Kingdom” to the World Heritage List. The designation applied to five gusuku sites, including Shuri Castle, Nakijin, Katsuren, Zakimi, and Nakagusuku (see Figure 1.1), as well as to Sēfa Utaki shrine, the Tama Udun Royal Mausoleum, the Sunuhiyan Utaki stone gate, and the royal residence and garden at Shikinaen, for a total of nine World Heritage sites.

Distributed throughout the area from Amami to Miyako and Yaeyama in Sakishima, with the heaviest concentration on the island of Okinawa, gusuku (sometimes called gushiku or suku) resembled the type of walled fortified castles built with stone that were developed in Japan during the Warring States Period [ca. 1450 to 1603 CE]. There is debate as to whether originally they served as sacred sites, dwellings, or forts, but the five gusuku at Shuri, Nakijin, Katsuren, Zakimi, and Nakagusuku are known to be representative of the fortified stone castles built during the time when the kingdom was emerging.

Gusuku may be categorized into two groups, either as small, single- enclosure structures, or as large, multiple-enclosure structures. All five of the sites admitted to the World Heritage List are large, multiple-enclosure gusuku. Currently, more than three hundred gusuku sites in Amami and the Ryukyus have been confirmed, and the era in which they were built is known as the Gusuku Period. There is extensive discussion on the exact time of the period’s beginning, but it was sometime in the eleventh or twelfth centuries.

The Ryukyu Kingdom-Cornerstone of East Asia, pgs. 10-11

Again, while this castle building period post-dates the Book of Sui there is a building comparable to a castle being described. That is no where to be found in Batan or Luzon. 

6. There is no scholarly consensus on what specific territory "Liuqiu" refers to in the Book of Sui and History of Yuan.

This would seem to be a cut and dry argument that Liuqiu could include the Philippines. But that is not the case. The Chinese have several names for the Philippines. 

• Ma-i. According to the Zhao Rugua's (趙汝适) book Zhu Fan Zhi (诸蕃志/諸蕃誌) written around the 13th century during the Song dynasty, there was a group of islands found in southern South China Sea called Ma-i (麻逸, Hokkien POJ: Mâ-i̍t, Mandarin Pinyin: Máyì). The islands groups were later invaded and renamed and identified by the Spanish to be the island of Mindoro. This was further proved by Ferdinand Blumentritt in his 1882 book, Versuch einer Ethnographie der Philippinen (An Attempt to the Study of Ethnography of the Philippines) that Ma-i was the Chinese local name of present-day Mindoro.On the other hand, historians claimed that Ma-i was not an island, but all the south of South Sea islands groups and Manila itself, which was known to be an overseas Chinese settlement which was in constant contact with the Chinese mainland as early as the 9th century AD.
  • Ma-i consists of the 三洲 (Hokkien POJ: Sam-chiu, Mandarin Pinyin: Sānzhōu, lit. "Three islands") group of islands: Kia-ma-yen (卡拉棉, Hokkien POJ: Khá-la-miân, Mandarin Pinyin: Kǎlāmián, "Calamian"), 巴拉望 (Hokkien POJ: Pa-la-bāng, Mandarin Pinyin: Bālāwàng, "Palawan") and Pa-ki-nung (布桑加, Hokkien POJ: Pò͘-song-ka, Mandarin Pinyin: Bùsāngjiā, "Busuanga").
    • Aside from 三洲, Ma-i also consists of the islands of Pai-p'u-yen (巴布延, Hokkien POJ: Pa-pò͘-iân, Mandarin Pinyin: Bābùyán, "Babuyan"), P'u-li-lu (波利略, Hokkien POJ: Po-lī-lio̍k, Mandarin Pinyin: Bōlìlüè, "Polillo"), Lim-kia-tung (林加延, Hokkien POJ: Lîm-ka-iân, Mandarin Pinyin: Línjiāyán, "Lingayen"), Liu-sung (呂宋, Hokkien POJ: Lū-sòng, MandarinPinyin: Lǚsòng, "Luzon") and Li-ban (盧邦, Hokkien POJ: Lô͘-pang, Mandarin Pinyin: Lúbāng, "Lubang").^[23] It was said that these islands had contacts with Chinese traders from Canton (Guangdong) as early as 982 AD.
  • Liusung (呂宋, Hokkien POJ: Lū-sòng, Mandarin Pinyin: Lǚsòng) was the name ascribed by the Chinese to the present-day island of Luzon. It originated from the Tagalog word lusong, a wooden mortar that is used to pound rice. When the Spanish produced maps of the Philippines during the early 17th century, they called the island Luçonia which was later respelled as Luzonia, then Luzon.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_the_Philippines

Notice that the islands called Ma-i are TO THE SOUTH. While Liuqui is to the East. 

That's from Wikipedia but the references are all there. They lead to a book called "Chau Ju-Kua: his work on the Chinese and Arab trade in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, entitled Chu-fan-chï." Between pages 159 and 162 the names of the Philippine Islands are given.

On page 162 we see Northern Formosa is named Liu-kiu!

The Philippines is even said to trade with Liuqiu/Formosa.

There are no goods of any special importance to be got there; the people are, moreover, given to robbery, for which reason traders do not go there; but the natives, from time to time, take whatever they can get together in the way of yellow wax, native gold, buffalo tails and jerked leopard meat to San-su for sale.

pg. 163

San-su is Palawan.

pg. 162

The description of Liuqiu in this book is taken from the Book of Sui. 

There is no doubt that the country here called Liu-k'iu is Formosa, the indications furnished by our author are quite conclusive on this point. The name Liu-k'iu was used by the Chinese-prior the sixteenth century-to designate all the islands from the coast of Fu-kien to Japan. Hervey St. Denis, Ethnographie, I, 414. Our author has taken nearly textually all this chapter- with the exception of the two last paragraphs -from Sui-shu, 81, 10-13, which relates to the period extending from A. D. 581 to 617.

pg. 163

Page 165 has names for Southern Formosa. This agrees with what has been observed elsewhere.

After Ryukyu had joined the tributary system, it appears marked as “Greater Liuqiu” [大瑠球] on the Map of the Land of Liuqiu [琉球国図, Ch. Liúqiúguótú] in Liúqiú túshūo [琉球図説, J. Ryukyu zusetsu, Maps of Ryukyu, mid- sixteenth century] by a Ming-period geographer named Zhèng Rùocéng [1503–1570]. On the lower left of the map, the much larger Taiwan is labeled “Little Liuqiu” [小瑠球]. During and after the Tang dynasty, the name Liúqiú (sometimes written with other characters such as 琉求 and 瑠求) was often applied to a wide region that included the island of Taiwan. However, once the Chūzan king joined the Ming tribute system, it became the name of the kingdom based on the island of Okinawa. On maps, what is now the island of Okinawa was clearly labeled Liúqiú Guó [琉球国, J. Ryukyu koku, Land of Ryukyu].

The Ryukyu Kingdom: Cornerstone of East Asia, pg. 23

Note that "the name Liúqiú was often applied to a wide region that included the island of Taiwan." That does not include Luzon or any region of the Philippines. The Chinese never named the Philippines Liuqiu. 

This is another article that attempts to answer hard questions. In this case, the Book of Sui. But Tim only obscures the truth. He calls this a Smoking Quill suggesting it is conclusive proof that the Philippines is the Chinese Liuqiu. But we see that's not the case. The historical record testifies against Tim quite loudly and persistently. It's just more smoke to fog up the room by Timothy Jay Schwab who is The God Culture.