THE TRIADS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 60, 25 October 1911, Page 3

THE TRIADS.

CHINESE SECRET SOCIETIES. “WHITE LOTUS MEN.” INTERESTIN'O SIDELIGHTS. (Specially written for the Wellington Post.) It is made abundantly clear by the ( ciil>lo<frams that the time so long looked forward to by the Chinese Secret Societies which have for their object the overthrow of the Manchn dynasty has arrived. The members oj. such societies at least seem to think • M. China is honeycombed with Secret societies, and they are as influential outside, the Middle Kingdom as in it. Trades unionism is but in its infancy in the Western nations as compared with China. The guilds there settle working'conditions without Hip assistance of an Industrial Conciliation and Arbitration Act, and they h ■ivo done so for centuries. Strikes are rare, but the trouble is usually settled before it conies to striking. .Disloyalty of nienibors of tlie unions or associations or workmen or shopmen, or employers and merchants, arc settled among themselves by heavy fines or the h.Tstinadoe. The spanking of the naked thighs with a flexible split bamboo is a wonderful stimulus to fealty to union or guild. It is all done quietly in the guildhouSe. The civil power knows nothing about it, and would take no action if it ciid. Dealings with a recreant member is treated as a mere incident, like the solemn drinking of tea and the cracking of roasted melon seeds, over which policy is discussed and important subjects are debated in a free and easy manner. Secret societies, however, exist quite apart from trades, guilds, unions, or associations*. The greatest society- of all is ' tlie nTria'd or Hung League. This claims an origin as old as man pirn self, h,ut it came into prominence in 1661, twenty years after the conquest of China byvtlie Manclius. The motto of the society before the conquest was - “Obey Heaven and do Righteousness.”, . Then the league was non-political', and in a way obscure and harmless. It was strictly Chinese. Then as now China for the Chinese was a battle cry: with much meaning in it, but with little force behind it. , The Hiing League the consolidation of the Manchn power in China. It has been a'ctivo ever grow in strength and importance with since for it has never slept. Now it has come out into the open as it did in 1850, the beginning of the Taiping rebellion. Ths Huns L?agus. The full name of the league means “The Society of Heaven, Earth, and Man.” and the symbol is a triangle, the base of which represents man. To “Obey Heaven and do Righteousness” is still the official motto, but “Drive out the Manchn and exalt the Ming” ( or former Chinese dynasty) is .what every member of the league snbrienb. « to. The Hung League has its, rules, oaths, watchword, and ritual. In some respects the ritual resembles Freemasonry and ijome have thought there was a connection between the two. As a matter of fact there is absolutely nothing in common between them except, possibly, some resemblance in parts of the ritual, the one to the cither. Its meeting place is called “The Hall of the numberless obedient.” The Hung League claims allegiance from all Chinese, and will take any means it thinks proper, no matter how violent, to. make members. It flourishes in Amori'cil and Australia, wherever Chinese vjfre .found,, ,and ,is partichlatly” powerful in' the Straits Settlements, .Burma!), the Dutch East Indies, and the Philippines. it has members in New Zealand. Lodges arc held in all places where Chinese are numerically strong enough to support' one. The novice is frequently caught—if he shows unwillingness to become a member. He may be sitting quietly in bis grocer’s shop, or polishing up the front of a foreign devil’s shirt whence Tai Ma enters, and puts it to'him in a nice, gentlemanly sort of way that lie ought to join the league. The shirt-ironer looks up, and perhaps he asks in language representing “What for?” The Tai Ma, sitting on a soap box, will take some little pains to explain why tlie washerman should become a member. If he prove obdurate, then the Tai Ma will depart, not without dropping a significant word or two that may cause the reluctant candidate much deep thinking. Time passes, and iio may almost have forgotten tlie incident. Then he will receive a call, perhaps to some market gardener's hut, or to another laundry. At anyratc to some place where he knows his countrymen are likely to meet in numbers. He is given the option of joining voluntarily, . but if :ie refuses bo is compulsorily initiated after a severe hammering. He is then dressed; in white (which is mourning wear in China), ids queue is loosened to signify renunciation of allegiance to the Manehus, a cup of wine or spirits is given to him, and his arm is scratched. From die slight wound; two or three drops il blood are allowed to fall into the ■up. The' novice drinks the contents. Horrible oaths are administered, and then he is taught catchwords , and quatrains of poetry, .which ai\e of value in securing services of help from strangers, apd oftqi? free board and lodging when,.necessary. If a mail stands out against the league he usually leaves the country before it was time to { ut its niarcliinery in operation against him. To remain in many places means much unpleasantness sooner or later. Traitors to the league are always killed, although some times “accidentally” in western communities. Abuse and Justice. Members of the league in foreign countries are forbidden to proceed against other members through the courts of those countries. They are not allowed to speak or to give information to the police unless it ho '’false information. Tlie only time when they do make use of the law courts is when they proceed against some innocent man who has offended them or the Hung cause, This is easily done. Hung men may or may not be at the bottom of it, lint this is bow it is done. Every Chinaman has “liens” or “broders,” as any housewife knows when a new vegetable hawker calls. The “friend” drops in casually upon the victim in bis laundry or greengrocer’s shop. There is the usual chat, possibly about trivialities, speech without animation, words uttered in two or three long pauses intervening. Before the friend gees he has cunningly hidden a tin of opium, perhaps, behind an apple ease, among some patotoos, or aiming some parcels of finished washing that has never been called for. The word is passed to the police and “another opium raid” is chronicled. This is no exaggeration, ft has been done and the police know it has been done, and done in New Zealand. How - many limes they may not know, but they do know of some times. This kind of thing is characteristic of the Hung League’s methods. The league can and does produce any number of witnesses to swear away

a Chinaman’s liberty or life in a British Court, and, with that fatalism which is part of a Chinese nature, tlie innocent man may even confess that he is guilty of an offence ho has never committed. Novices are impressed at their initiation, and long alter they nave become members of the league, with the fact that aify grievance they may have will he redressed by the league in its own way —and it is so done. The member has Ids own vengeance effected for him, although he may he called upon to act for someone else whose wrongs are redressed as his have been. The Hritisli Courts, all unconsciously, of course, may bo shamefully aonsed by Chinese in this way. In Java and .Sumatra, and epecially in Singapore, most strenuous efforts have been made to stamp out these secret societies, lint in vain. All jurisdiction is repudiated y the Hung men, except for the harassing and persecution of those of their compatriots who have incurred their enmity. And the membership of the Hung league' runs into millions,, who defy any law. •made, Chinese or European. Seine of the secret societies arc of a harmless and benevolent character, like ilia Oddfellows and Foresters of the British Empire. It is when the societies have a political or religions character that they are to be feared, although, except iu the Boxer rising (which had official countenance), they are not necessarily hostile to Europeans. The Kolao Hwc-i, “Great Knife,” or “League of the Elder Brothers,” dates only from 1850, but it is cvr growing in strength in China. It claims to represent the sons of Han, the purest Chinese to whom the members of the Hung League, being southerners, are almost as foreign as the Manchns. The Elder Brothers seek the restoration of the Tang Dynasty, which was anterior to tha.t of the Ming. Hath dynasties, however, were Chinese as distinct from ,tho Manchns, who might lie considered as. Germans with the Hritisii under tlioij) heel. This anolagy being permitted! one might liken the Tang Dynasty to the House of Tudor and the Mings, to the Hanovarians. The Elder Brothers arc more powerful in the Chinese Army than elsewhere, but there is -a tremendous following of loafers among them, who terrorise districts where they are in any strength. B.'ctsdlhirsty Vegetarians. The Society of the White Lotus is even more feared in China than the Hungs. They are vegetarians and ure powerful .all over China. They frequently break out in the far southwest, and commit horrible atrocities on villages when, they do rise. Members who are known to oat flesh arc in some parts of China horribly done to death in the manner prescribed in the oath that has been violated. J housands of Chinese, in 1876, were panic-stricken at their queues falling off. They dropped off in the street” in the hank, in the bedroom, at the uable, and there was no . apparent cause. Superstition plays a prominent part in the White Lotus Society’s practices, and, although the alarming and enormous destruction of pigtails was attributed to them, they were not detected in the act. It was afterwards found that, while some poor man. was engaged by a White Lotus in conversation, another member of Hie society, with a small and exceedingly sharp pair of scissors, made’ to fit in and bo worked by the palm of the hand, was severing' the queue ■ill but about four or five hairs, which soon parted. This queue-cutting breaks out in these days from time to time, and causes intense uneasiness among the ignorant Chinese. Sun Yet Sen, whose name is once again prominent, was and is a momoer of the Triads, and it was on account nf his connection with that society and the prominent part lie took in it that ho was “wanted” by the Chinese' (government, and was ultimately kidnapped and imprisoned at the Chinese Legafion in London a few years ago. Ho is a member of the White Lily Society. ft is important to hear in mind that the same society may exist under different names in different places.