Manila. Trade with China, after several unsuccessful seasons of silver shipments from Acapulco, is stagnant. Hundreds of Chinese traders in the Manila ghetto set fire to the house of Luis Arias de Mora, the agricultural administrator and former Chinese Protector appointed by the Spanish. They drag him out of the house and kill him, then march on Manila. Thousands of other Chinese join the march. The Spanish governor, after a parley, opts to use force. The surviving Chinese are executed in groups of ten, followed by another revolt and massacre. In all, an estimated 1,300 Chinese lost their lives, with only 23 escaping the massacre, but thousands more are not among those captured. A Jesuit priest is hired to negotiate. On February 24, 1640, 8,000 combatants lay down their weapons.
