The Triad Society, Or, Heaven and Earth Association |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
amongst army assist beneath ten thousand bridge brother brotherhood Canton captured centre certificate Ch'en Chin-nan character hung Cheng chief chin China Chinese chung disobey this injunction dragon drink ears cut eight blows Eight Immortals emperor empire entering the Hung fight fingers fire Five Patriarchs flags guard Hakka hand Heaven and Earth Hongkong hsing hundred and eight Hung doors Hung family Imperialists Incense Master joined Kung Kwan Kwangsi Kwangtung Liu Pei lodge loyal Manchu membership Ming Dynasty monastery Mongols monks moon Muyang city myriads oaths officers patriots peach points annihilate prince provinces rebellion rebels reign restore Ming restore the Mings says seal secret Shaolin monastery soldiers subvert Tsing surnamed swear sword Taiping tang Tao Kan Taoist thousand knives thunder traitors Triad Society Tsing tung verse wall Wang White Lotus Society wu jen Yün
Popular passages
Page 14 - How could we at present arouse the energies of men by speaking of restoring the Ming dynasty ? There are several evil practices connected with the Triad Society which I detest. If any new member enter the society, he must worship the devil, and utter thirty-six oaths; a sword is placed upon his neck, and he is forced to contribute money for the use of the society. Their real object has now become very mean and unworthy. If we preach the true doctrine, and rely upon the powerful help of God, a few...
Page 89 - ... real or assumed, of the officers of the brotherhood ; that half of the characters in red ink, which seems printed, may be permanent, and have some general reference to the designs of the society, and to the other characters on the seal ; while the yellow part (on the original blue silk seal), which is evidently written with a pencil, may, joined to the printed half, constitute the names or epithets of the officers in some particular place. In another place, where persons of different designations...
Page 89 - H ^ ^ $ $£, kt the faithful and righteous unite so as to form a whole (ie an universal empire). This seems the plain sense of the words, according to this arrangement of them ; but it is impossible to ascertain whether something else may not be intended, as they are susceptible of as many meanings as arrangements. This version, however, agrees with the general views of this dangerous fraternity.
Page 87 - Ho, the fire planet, ie Mars, to which the southern hemisphere is assigned. NB The reasons (or some of the reasons) why these planets are placed at the corners of this seal, may be, because they are the basis of Chinese astrological science, and because they are considered the extreme points of...
Page 14 - Kang he when this society was at first formed, but now, after the lapse of two hundred years, we may still speak of subverting the Tsing, but we cannot properly speak of restoring the Ming. At all events when our native mountains and rivers are recovered a new dynasty must be established. How could we at present arouse the energies of men by speaking of restoring the Ming...
Page 88 - The hero band in full assembly meet ; " Each man a verse, to make the ode complete." This is a very probable sense of the words as they are placed, especially as it is known to be a frequent practice of this fraternity to converse together in poetry ; and in order to...
Page 87 - Shwuy, the water planet, ie Mercury, to which the dominion of the northern hemisphere is confided. 4. Kin, the metal planet, ie Venus, to which the care of the west is confided.
Page 90 - Yun shing, yjjjj ^; supposed to be the name of the chief of the fraternity, some think the founder; but, the character being written, and in yellow ink, it is more likely to be the chief for the time being, at whose death the blank space in seals subsequently issued could be filled up with the name of his successors ; whereas the name of the founder, never changing, would be more likely to be printed, in some permanent form.
Page 89 - ... origin, and as spreading through the world from age to age. But the words may be read in lines of eight or seven syllables, and might begin at the 32d, thus : — K8 yew haou t6w kaou k'e fun, Kaou ke fun pae wan koo yew.