In ancient times, what name did the Chinese use for the Philippines?

• A. Philippine Insulae
• B. Ma-yi
• C. Carta y hydugraphica y Chorographica de Las Islas Filipinas
• D. Rutter

Answer: (B)

In ancient Chinese maritime records, the Philippines was referred to by a local name used by traders and officials in southern China, known as Ma-yi. This term appears in early sources such as travel and trade texts, where Chinese merchants describe the land, its people, and the goods they brought back—evidence that Ma-yi was the name the Chinese used for the Philippine archipelago long before European names or modern terms existed. Because this is the term actually found in historical Chinese documents to designate the Philippine islands, it is the best choice. The other options reflect later European or modern designations rather than oldest Chinese naming: a Latin phrase would not be the ancient Chinese designation, a Spanish cartographic title comes from a much later period, and a navigational manual by a European author is not a name used by ancient Chinese sources for the Philippines.