Philippine Quarterly of Culture and Society 32(2):73-95. June 2004. THE VISAYAN RAIDERS OF THE CHINA COAST, 1174-1190 AD Efren B. Isorena Introduction Chau Ju-Kua, writing in the thirteenth century, probably was the first to mention that certain ferocious raiders of China’s Fukien coast probably came by way of the southern portion of the island of Formosa. He referred to them as the Pi-sho-ye. He wrote: “The language of Pi-sho-ye cannot be understood, and traders do not resort to the country. The people go naked and are in a state of primi- tive savagery like beasts. The savages come to make raids and, as their coming cannot be fore- seen, many of our people have fallen victims to their cannibalism, a great grief to the people… During the period shun-hi (1174-1190 AD) their chiefs were in the habit of assembling parties of several hundreds to make sudden attacks on the villages of Shui-au and Wei-t’ou in Tsuan-chou-fu, where they gave free course to their savage instincts, slaying men without number and women too, after they had raped them. The were fond of iron vessels.… one could get rid of them by closing the entrance door, from which they would only wrench the iron knock- er and go away… When attacking an enemy, they are armed with jave- lins to which are attached ropes of over a hundred feet in length, in order to recover them after throwing; for they put such value on the iron of which these weapons are made, that they cannot bear to lose them. The author obtained both his AB History and MA History degree from the Uni- versity of the Philippines, Diliman. He is presently doing coursework in the doctoral pro- gram of the Department of History also at UP Diliman. He is currently an Assistant Professor of History at De La Salle University, Manila. His email is <isorenae@dlsu.edu.ph>.