Gather 'round, grasshoppers, and allow zen Fun Fact mistress Katya to reveal to you the SPOOOOKY details of the . . .
At any rate, after finding much mention of, but little real evidence for the existence of, such interesting-sounding Secret Chinese Organizations as the Copper Horses Society, the Iron Shins Society, the White Lotus Society, and my personal favorite, the Carnation Painted Eyebrows Society, I was about to call it quits and write an extremely contentless Fun Fact, when events at the end of Wednesday night made me change my mind on the grounds the Katya Is Probably Desperately In Need Of Good Stuff Right Now. Happily, after a little bit of delving, I came across some more likely (if sometimes equally strange to Western ears) information from a few diverse sources relating to the history of Kung Fu, the Boxer Rebellion, and, of course, the Chinese Communists. So:
Both the Red Gang and the Green Gang are probably what were (and are) known as "tongs", criminal organizations which are structured in ways very reminiscent of a mafia "family" (more on that later.) Like many secret organizations, the tongs claim to have a history dating back hundreds of years. Unlike many secret organizations, in the case of the tongs it appears to be the truth.
The tongs' origin most likely dates back to about the 1640's, when the Manchu Dynasty was busy conquering China. These invaders from the north, who introduced the practice of foot-binding, subjugated the native Chinese, and in general tended not to be nice people, were bitterly resented by the largely non-Manchurian populace. And in the temple at Fukien, a group of five students formed a society with the goal of bringing back the old regime. They nicknamed the society they formed the "Triad", representing the religious ideal of harmony among heaven, earth, and man.
According to tradition, these five, who happened to be serious martial-arts masters, powerful mystics, accomplished scholars, brilliant generals, and skilled traditional medics, and their followers, who soon swelled in numbers to the thousands, proceeded to do some major ass-kicking. Unfortunately, one of the five, tempted by Manchu bribes, sold the others out and betrayed them. The movement was crushed, and the temple tradition which fostered the leaders was banned from the land; however, a couple of the original leaders managed a daring last-minute escape (through a sewer pipe!), underwent a quick conversion to Taoism in order to disguise their identities, and reformed the Triad as a secret rebel organization, harrying the Manchus and passing their traditions of martial arts techniques, magic, medicine, learning, and serious ass-kicking on to suceeding generations, waiting until the time was right. They proceeded to wait for about two hundred and fifty years. Then, thanks to the failed efforts of a completely different Secret Chinese Organization, the moment came.
The organization in question, the Boxers, were a shorter-lived group than the Triad. They formed in the late nineteenth century as an organization operating against Western influence on Chinese soil. They, too, had traditions relating to mystic Chinese arts, among them the belief that certain martial-arts gestures would make them immune to bullets. This may be why they launched their revolution a little prematurely. After slaughtering large numbers of Western missionaries, they were alughtered themselves by the combined British, French, and Czarist Russian armies, who quickly demonstrated that the immunity to bullets did not work very well in actual field conditions.
But the wholesale killings of Chinese natives by Westerners caused a good deal of resentment. Since the current regime had supported the action, and was controlled by perhaps the most disliked political figure in China of the past two hundred years, the Empress Dowager, the resentment was directed against the government, too. The Triad, which had been building an influential web of information, transportation, and military training over the past couple of centuries, saw its chance. When the next rebellion came, they threw in their support - and in 1911, the Manchu dynasty at long last toppled.
Unfortunately, the replacement government proved not much better, and soon collapsed itself, leaving most of the country in the hands of whatever Warlords could seize power. The cleverer ones noticed the now well-known Triad web of information, transportation, and military training was a golden opportunity, and promptly co-opted them for their own use. The formerly revolutionary secret society rapidly became used to smuggle opium, sell weapons, and deal in prostitutes. It dissolved into a number of smaller organizations, with a warlord or warlord-like figure at the head of each, and these soon became rivals. In most of China, they took the name "tongs" - in Hong Kong, they were still called "triads". Most of the martial arts and mystic traditions quickly became lost or corrupted beyond recognition. The tongs tended to be organized along what might be called "family" lines; direct relationship and being "adopted in" were likely to get you a position of privilege, and loyalty was stressed as a value. Both tongs and triads moved across the Pacific along with waves of immigrants, resulting in the famous "tong wars" of San Francisco.
While the tongs were rapidly dissolving into corruption, crime, and petty infighting, another Secret Society formed in China, with its own vision for the future. After operating quietly for many years, in 1921, bouyed by an influx of support from the new Russian government, they began operating a little more in the open and began a recruitment drive. Soon the "Red Spears" were peasant armies of considerable size and power. The organization, of course, was the Chinese Communist Party. The 1921 meeting which began their new life took place, interestingly enough, in Shanghai. After almost three more decades of civil war, this formerly secret society will become the most public of all societies in China - and promptly set about killing off all of the rest.
Pleasant dreams.
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