Download or read book The Origins of the Tiandihui written by Dian H. Murray and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 1994-07-01 with total page 382 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Tiandihui, also known as the Heaven and Earth Association or the Triads, was one of the earliest, largest, and most enduring of the Chinese secret societies that have played crucial roles at decisive junctures in modern Chinese history. These organizations were characterized by ceremonial rituals, often in the form of blood oaths, that brought people together for a common goal. Some were organized for clandestine, criminal, or even seditious purposes by people alienated from or at the margins of society. Others were organized for mutual protection or the administration of local activities by law-abiding members of a given community. The common perception in the twentieth century, both in China and in the West, was that the Tiandihui was founded by Chinese patriots in the seventeenth century for the purpose of overthrowing the Qing (Manchu) dynasty and restoring the Ming (Chinese). This view was put forward by Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries who claimed that, like the anti-Manchu founders of the Tiandihui, their goal was to strip the Manchus of their throne. The Chinese Nationalists (Guomindang) today claim the Tiandihui as part of their heritage. This book relates a very different history of the origins of the Tiandihui. Using Qing dynasty archives that were made available in both Beijing and Taipei during the last decades, the author shows that the Tiandihui was founded not as a political movement but as a mutual aid brotherhood in 1761, a century after the date given by traditional historiography. She contends that histories depicting Ming loyalism as the raison d'etre of the Tiandihui are based on internally generated sources and, in part, on the "Xi Lu Legend," a creation myth that tells of monks from the Shaolin Monastery aiding the emperor in fighting the Xi Lu barbarians. Because of its importance to the theories of Ming loyalist scholars and its impact on Tiandihui historiography as a whole, the author thoroughly investigates the legend, revealing it to be the product of later - not founding - generations of Tiandihui members and a tale with an evolution of its own. The seven extant versions of the legend itself appear in English translation as an appendix. This book thus accomplishes three things: it reviews and analyzes the extensive Tiandihui literature; it makes available to Western scholars information from archival materials heretofore seen only by a few Chinese specialists; and it firmly establishes an authoritative chronology of the Tiandihui's early history.
Download or read book Brotherhood and Secret Societies in Early and Mid Qing China written by David Ownby and published by Stanford, Calif. : Standford University Press. This book was released on 1996 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this book, David Ownby provides a history of the development of the Chinese secret society from the 17th to the 19th century.
Download or read book Violence and Order on the Chengdu Plain written by Di Wang and published by Stanford University Press. This book was released on 2018-03-27 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1939, residents of a rural village near Chengdu watched as Lei Mingyuan, a member of a violent secret society known as the Gowned Brothers, executed his teenage daughter. Six years later, Shen Baoyuan, a sociology student at Yenching University, arrived in the town to conduct fieldwork on the society that once held sway over local matters. She got to know Lei Mingyuan and his family, recording many rare insights about the murder and the Gowned Brothers' inner workings. Using the filicide as a starting point to examine the history, culture, and organization of the Gowned Brothers, Di Wang offers nuanced insights into the structures of local power in 1940s rural Sichuan. Moreover, he examines the influence of Western sociology and anthropology on the way intellectuals in the Republic of China perceived rural communities. By studying the complex relationship between the Gowned Brothers and the Chinese Communist Party, he offers a unique perspective on China's transition to socialism. In so doing, Wang persuasively connects a family in a rural community, with little overt influence on national destiny, to the movements and ideologies that helped shape contemporary China.
Download or read book Secret Societies Reconsidered written by and published by M.E. Sharpe. This book was released on 1993 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Secret Societies written by John Lawrence Reynolds and published by Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.. This book was released on 2011-09-01 with total page 310 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Provides a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world's most notorious secret societies, chronicling their origins, history, initiations, rituals, beliefs, activities, secret signs, members, and influence.
Download or read book A General History Of The Chinese In Singapore written by Chong Guan Kwa and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2019-06-21 with total page 1002 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A General History of the Chinese in Singapore documents over 700 years of Chinese history in Singapore, from Chinese presence in the region through the millennium-old Hokkien trading world to the waves of mass migration that came after the establishment of a British settlement, and through to the development and birth of the nation. Across 38 chapters and parts, readers are taken through the complex historical mosaic of Overseas Chinese social, economic and political activity in Singapore and the region, such as the development of maritime junk trade, plantation industries, and coolie labour, the role of different bangs, clan associations and secret societies as well as Chinese leaders, the diverging political allegiances including Sun Yat-sen's revolutionary activities and the National Salvation Movement leading up to the Second World War, the transplanting of traditional Chinese religions, the changing identity of the Overseas Chinese, and the developments in language and education policies, publishing, arts, and more.With 'Pride in our Past, Legacy for our Future' as its key objective, this volume aims to preserve the Singapore Chinese story, history and heritage for future generations, as well as keep our cultures and traditions alive. Therefore, the book aims to serve as a comprehensive guide for Singaporeans, new immigrants and foreigners to have an epitome of the Singapore society. This publication is supported by the National Heritage Board's Heritage Project Grant.Related Link(s)
Download or read book Chinese Secret Societies in Malaya written by Leon Comber and published by . This book was released on 1959 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Secret Societies in Singapore written by Irene Lim and published by National Heritage Board Singapore History Museum. This book was released on 1999 with total page 116 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Investigating the Grey Areas of the Chinese Communities in Southeast Asia written by Collectif and published by Institut de recherche sur l’Asie du Sud-Est contemporaine. This book was released on 2018-07-03 with total page 172 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In most Southeast Asian countries, the members of the Chinese Diaspora have secured important position in the fields of administration, education and religion. Thanks to their capacity to work and to adapt as well as their frugality, their cultural influence continues to grow. Clans and factions form the essential structure of the ancient Chinese society. If Imperial China never developed a Civil Law, it's probably because the ancient Chinese society never really saw the need for it. This structure of relations could also explain why the Chinese civilisation didn't develop a real territorial reference. The Chinese Diaspora today covers different political and economical realities which could be conflicting. What primarily characterises the Diaspora is apparently its great capacity to organise itself in any economical, political, social or cultural environment. The capacity if its economic and administrative elites had been the determining factor of their development. However, the existence of informal and trans-national networks can also help the development of criminal activities. The presence of mafia groups and gangs of Chinese origin and their collusion with the world of finance and politics are historical facts in the region and could represent today a real threat for its stability. These criminal networks tend to forge business link with their Japanese, Russian, Korea, Italian or South American counterparts and sometimes could interfere with the process of political decision making.
Download or read book Thian Ti Hwui written by Gustave Schlegel and published by . This book was released on 1866 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Water Kingdom written by Philip Ball and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2017-05-05 with total page 350 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the Yangtze to the Yellow River, China is traversed by great waterways, which have defined its politics and ways of life for centuries. Water has been so integral to China’s culture, economy, and growth and development that it provides a window on the whole sweep of Chinese history. In The Water Kingdom, renowned writer Philip Ball opens that window to offer an epic and powerful new way of thinking about Chinese civilization. Water, Ball shows, is a key that unlocks much of Chinese culture. In The Water Kingdom, he takes us on a grand journey through China’s past and present, showing how the complexity and energy of the country and its history repeatedly come back to the challenges, opportunities, and inspiration provided by the waterways. Drawing on stories from travelers and explorers, poets and painters, bureaucrats and activists, all of whom have been influenced by an environment shaped and permeated by water, Ball explores how the ubiquitous relationship of the Chinese people to water has made it an enduring metaphor for philosophical thought and artistic expression. From the Han emperors to Mao, the ability to manage the waters ? to provide irrigation and defend against floods ? was a barometer of political legitimacy, often resulting in engineering works on a gigantic scale. It is a struggle that continues today, as the strain of economic growth on water resources may be the greatest threat to China’s future. The Water Kingdom offers an unusual and fascinating history, uncovering just how much of China’s art, politics, and outlook have been defined by the links between humanity and nature.
Download or read book The Triads written by J. M. S. Ward and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-07-10 with total page 685 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: First published in 2006. Claiming origins in the mysteries of the Shaolin monastery and its martial traditions, the Triads are Chinese secret societies that overthrew the Qing Dynasty, evolved into organised crime syndicates, spread through the Chinese diaspora and are more powerful now than ever before. The symbol of the Triads is a triangle enclosing the characters for heaven, earth and man, emblematic of the societies’ far-reaching influence, and membership involves challenging rites of initiation and the practice of complex rituals little changed over the centuries. On one level, these practices can be seen simply as the customs of a purely mystical order; on another, they may be seen as the organising principles by which secret societies continue to operate as powerful political organisations invisible in our midst. This classic work, the definitive study of the history, symbols and secret rituals of the Triads, reveals the Triad initiation ritual of the mystical journey; sacred Triad signs, words and slang; the rite of the magic mirror and the oath of blood brotherhood; the symbolic decoration of Triad temples, Triad magic, and the meaning of the sacred objects and ceremonies at the heart of Triad practice in minute detail. The authors show that the Triad ritual is a potent mystical allegory with an immense power that can be used for good or ill.
Download or read book Chinese Cinderella and the Secret Dragon Society written by Adeline Yen Mah and published by Allen & Unwin. This book was released on 2004 with total page 306 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exciting fantasy adventure based on a true incident that took place in China during the Second World War. It is inspired by the many stories Adeline Yen Mah wrote as a schoolgirl in Shanghai to escape the lonliness of her own childhood. Ages 12+
Download or read book White Lotus Rebels and South China Pirates written by Wensheng Wang and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2014-01-06 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The reign of Emperor Jiaqing (1796–1820 CE) has long occupied an awkward position in studies of China’s last dynasty, the Qing (1644–1911 CE). Conveniently marking a watershed between the prosperous eighteenth century and the tragic post–Opium War era, this quarter century has nevertheless been glossed over as an unremarkable interlude separating two well-studied epochs of great transformation. White Lotus Rebels and South China Pirates presents a major reassessment of this misunderstood period by examining how the emperors, bureaucrats, and foreigners responded to the two crises that shaped the transition from the Qianlong to the Jiaqing reign. Wensheng Wang argues that the dramatic combination of internal uprising and transnational piracy, rather than being a hallmark of inexorable dynastic decline, propelled the Manchu court to reorganize itself through a series of modifications in policymaking and bureaucratic structure. The resulting Jiaqing reforms initiated a process of state retreat that pulled the Qing Empire out of a cycle of aggressive overextension and resistance, and back onto a more sustainable track of development. Although this pragmatic striving for political sustainability was unable to save the dynasty from ultimate collapse, it represented a durable and constructive approach to the compounding problems facing the late Qing regime and helped sustain it for another century. As one of the most comprehensive accounts of the Jiaqing reign, White Lotus Rebels and South China Pirates provides a fresh understanding of this significant turning point in China’s long imperial history.
Download or read book The Most Evil Secret Societies in History written by Shelley Klein and published by Michael O'Mara Books. This book was released on 2011-09-30 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The Most Evil Secret Societies in History" examines fifteen of the most notorious organisations the world has ever seen.
Download or read book The Triads written by Leon Comber and published by Talisman: Singapore Heritage Society. This book was released on 2009 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Malay Secret Societies in the Northern Malay States 1821 1940s written by Mahani Musa and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This important study describes the origins and development of Malay secret societies in the northern states of the Malay peninsula between 1821 and 1941. The author focuses on the activities of several organizations, including the Red Flags and White Flags in Penang, Perak and Kedah. These societies had their beginnings as welfare and religious associations, but often degenerated into criminal activities. Their involvement often led to disturbances at Boria musical performances, the Muharam celebrations and soccer matches.
