What Is A Lingling-o and What Does It Mean?

Originally published on the VINTA Gallery Instagram

The earliest surviving examples of lingling-o, dating back around 500 BC, were found in Taiwan, Vietnam, and the Philippines. They were made of nephrite jade and was first believed to have been manufactured in Vietnam, but recent discovery of a lingling-o workshop in Batanes indicates that these gold ornaments, mainly worn by Ifugao people to denote status (also the name, lingling-o, for this object came from what the Ifugao people called it), were manufactured over 2,500 years ago in the Philippines. We know that gold was abundant in the Philippines–we see many Indigenous Filipinos donning them from head to toe in depictions and photographs of Native Filipinos–and Spanish colonizers knew this, and what happens when a land populated by its Indigenous peoples has an abundance of materials and minerals that oppressors want!? That’s right! Colonization! (But let’s get into that another time)

So if lingling-os are made of gold, how did we acquire jade lingling-os in the Philippines? Jade was an abundant material in Taiwan and in 2,000 BC, the Maritime Jade Road was established by the Indigenous peoples of the Philippines and Taiwan to trade jade and other commodities. It then expanded to include Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Cambodia. It was the largest sea-based trade network of a single geological material in the prehistoric world, lasting for 3,000 years, and was even older than the Silk Road. Lingling-os are proof of our impressive trading systems and long history of trade and commerce with other Southeast Asian cultures WITHOUT the terrors of colonization.

The lingling-o at present has gained popularity in the diaspora as a symbol of Philippine ancestry and pride. It represents the combination of masculine and feminine energies connecting, creating immense spiritual power, creating life in numerous ways. Using the lingling-o, the Babaylan would bless those wanting to bear children, flourishing crops, and an abundance of fish to catch. The lingling-o is a symbol of fertility and virality, protection, balance, and interconnectedness.

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Sources
“Art Exhibit: Philippines’ ‘Gold of Ancestors”, Jessica Zafra
“Ancient Jade Maps 3,000 Years of Prehistoric Exchange in Southeast Asia”, National Library of Medicine
“Ling-ling-o”, Museo Kordilyera
“A Symbol of Protection, Balance, and Interconnectivity”, Natural History Museum of LA County