Mitos Mexicanos





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Mitos Mexicanos












Poblanas (women of Puebla), in a 19th century vignette. To the left appears a chinaco.

China poblana (or, Chinese Pueblan) is a term that refers to two elements of the culture of Mexico that have been related by name since the end of the 19th century, although the elements they incorporate are much older. In its most commonly and widely used sense today, it is the name of what is considered the traditional style of dress of women in the Mexican Republic, although in reality it only belonged to some urban zones in the middle and southeast of the country, before its disappearance in the second half of the 19th century.

In a narrower sense, it is the nickname of Mirra, an East Asian slave belonging to a noble family from India, who has been credited since the Porfiriato with creating the china dress. This hypothesis, however, has been placed in doubt by many authors. After converting to Catholicism in Cochin —an Indian city where she was kidnapped by Portuguese pirates—, Mirra was given the Christian name Catarina de San Juan, the name she was known as in Angelópolis where she worked as a slave, got married, and eventually became a nun. Upon her death, Catarina de San Juan was buried in the sacristy of the Templo de la Compañía de Jesús in Puebla, in what is popularly known as Tumba de la China Poblana or Tomb of the Chinese Pueblan. (Note that in Hispanic cultures it is common to use the term chino to refer to all persons of Asian descent, regardless of actual ethnicity.)