Catarina de San Juan (birth ca.1607/place unknown; death 5 January 1688, Puebla, Mexico) known as the China Poblana was an Asian slave who, according to legend, belonged to a

noble family Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. The characteris ...

from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

. She was brought to Mexico through the

Spanish East Indies The Spanish East Indies ( es , Indias orientales españolas ; fil, Silangang Indiyas ng Espanya) were the overseas territories of the Spanish Empire in Asia and Oceania from 1565 to 1898, governed for the Spanish Crown from Mexico City and Madri ...

(

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

), and has been credited since the

Porfiriato , common_languages = , religion = , demonym = , currency = , leader1 = Porfirio Díaz , leader2 = Juan Méndez , leader3 = Porfirio Díaz , leader4 ...

with creating the China Poblana dress. After converting to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of ...

—an Indian city where she was kidnapped by Portuguese pirates—Mirra was given the

Christian name A Christian name, sometimes referred to as a baptismal name, is a religious personal name given on the occasion of a Christian baptism, though now most often assigned by parents at birth. In English-speaking cultures, a person's Christian nam ...

''Catarina de San Juan'', the name she was known as in Puebla de Zaragoza where she worked as a slave, married, and eventually became a beata - a religious woman who took personal religious vows without entering a convent (see

anchorite In Christianity, an anchorite or anchoret (female: anchoress) is someone who, for religious reasons, withdraws from secular society so as to be able to lead an intensely prayer-oriented, ascetic, or Eucharist-focused life. While anchorites are ...

). Upon her death, Catarina de San Juan was buried in the

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is usually locate ...

of the Jesuit ''Templo de la Compañía de Jesús'' in

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

, in what is popularly known as ''Tumba de la China Poblana''.

History

What is known about the life of Catarina de San Juan is from published seventeenth-century texts. One is the funeral sermon, preached by Jesuit Francisco de Aguilera, and two are by her confessors, Jesuit Alonso Ramos, who wrote a three-volume life of Catarina, and a parish priest, José del Castillo Grajeda, who wrote hagiographies of her life, at the request of Diego Carrillo de Mendoza y Pimentel, Marquis of Gélves and

Viceroy A viceroy () is an official who reigns over a polity in the name of and as the representative of the monarch of the territory. The term derives from the Latin prefix ''vice-'', meaning "in the place of" and the French word ''roy'', meaning " ...

New Spain New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( es, Virreinato de Nueva España, ), or Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain during the Spanish colonization of the A ...

. Ramos's three-volume life of Catarina is by one scholar's account the most lengthy published text during the colonial era. House of la China Poblana

The account of her life is improbable and has been extensively studied by modern scholars not so much as text narrating history but as an example of the ways that colonial hagiographers constructed the text of a holy person's life (''vida''). According to these sources, a young

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

woman was brought from the

merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...

to be the viceroy's personal servant. This girl, named Mirra, was kidnapped by Portuguese

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...

and taken to

(modern-day Kochi), in the south of India. There, she escaped her kidnappers and took refuge in a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

mission, where she was baptized with the name ''Catarina de San Juan''. Mirra was then delivered to

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

where she was purchased as a slave by a merchant who later took her to New Spain. But once they disembarked in the port of Acapulco, instead of delivering her to the Marquis, the merchant sold her as a slave to the Pueblan man Miguel de Sosa for ten times the price that the viceroy had promised for her. Catarina de San Juan, or Mirra (or Mira/Meera), followed the style of dress of her birth country, India, completely wrapped in a

sari A sari (sometimes also saree or shari)The name of the garment in various regional languages include: * as, শাৰী, xārī, translit-std=ISO * bn, শাড়ি, śāṛi, translit-std=ISO * gu, સાડી, sāḍī, translit-std ...

that covered her whole body. She could have worn the

Langa Voni A langa voni (also called "''pavadai daavani''" in Tamil or "''langa daavani''" in Kannada) is a traditional dress worn in South India by girls between puberty and marriage. It is also known as the ''two-piece sari'' or ''half sari''. Girls youn ...

which consists of a blouse and a petticoat. It is possible that this mode of dress gave rise to the '' china dress''. A few years after her arrival in Mexico, Miguel de Sosa died, providing in his will for the

manumission Manumission, or enfranchisement, is the act of freeing enslaved people by their enslavers. Different approaches to manumission were developed, each specific to the time and place of a particular society. Historian Verene Shepherd states that t ...

of his slave. She was taken in by a convent, where it is said she began to have visions of the

Virgin Mary Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...

and

Baby Jesus The Christ Child, also known as Divine Infant, Baby Jesus, Infant Jesus, the Divine Child, Child Jesus, the Holy Child, Santo Niño, and to some as Señor Noemi refers to Jesus Christ from his nativity to age 12. The four canonical gospels, a ...

. Catarina de San Juan died 5 January 1688 at the age of 82 years. In Puebla de los Ángeles she was venerated as a popular saint until 1691, when the

Holy Inquisition The Inquisition was a group of institutions within the Catholic Church whose aim was to combat heresy, conducting trials of suspected heretics. Studies of the records have found that the overwhelming majority of sentences consisted of penances, ...

prohibited open devotion to her. Today, the former Jesuit church, the Templo de la Compañía, in Puebla, is known as ''La Tumba de la China Poblana'' because in its sacristy lie the remains of Catarina de San Juan.Francisco de la Maza (1990): ''Catarina de San Juan. Princesa de la India y visionaria de Puebla''. México,

Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes The Secretariat of Culture ( es, Secretaría de Cultura), formerly known as the National Council for Culture and Arts ( es, Consejo Nacional para la Cultura y las Artes or CONACULTA), is a Mexican government agency in charge of the nation's museums ...

References

External links

''A Mughal Princess in Baroque New Spain''
{{DEFAULTSORT:San Juan, Catarina De 1688 deaths Mexican people of Indian descent People of New Spain People from Puebla Converts to Roman Catholicism Mexican culture Mexican slaves Mexican folklore Indian slaves 17th-century slaves 17th-century Mexican women

History

Further reading

References

External links