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The Hai San Society (), which had its origins in Southern China,Encyclopædia Britannica was a
Penang Penang ( ms, Pulau Pinang, is a Malaysian state located on the northwest coast of Peninsular Malaysia, by the Malacca Strait. It has two parts: Penang Island, where the capital city, George Town, is located, and Seberang Perai on the Malay ...
-based Chinese secret society established around 1820 and in 1825 led by Low, Ah ChongTriad Societies: Western Accounts of the History, Sociology and Linguistics of Chinese Secret Societies By Kingsley Bolton,
Gustaaf Schlegel Gustaaf Schlegel (30 September 184015 October 1903) was a Dutch sinologist and field naturalist. E. Bruce Brooks (9 June 2004)Gustaaf Schlegel, Sinology, University of Massachusetts Amherst, retrieved 17 September 2011 Life and career Gustaaf S ...
, Herbert Allen Giles, Christopher Hutton, J. S. M. Ward, Mervyn Llewelyn Wynne, W. P. Morgan, William Stanton, W. G. Stirling; Contributor Kingsley Bolton, Chris Hutton; Published by Taylor & Francis, 2000; ,
and Hoh Akow (also spelt Ho Ah Kow or Hok Ah Keow), its titular head. At that time the society's headquarters was located at Beach Street (Ujong Passir).


History

Secret societies existed well before the establishment of the Hai San Society and their existence in Penang can be traced back to the founding of Penang (1799).
Thomas John Newbold Thomas John Newbold (8 February 1807 – 29 May 1850) was an English soldier in the service of the East India Company, known as a traveller and orientalist. Life The son of Francis Newbold, a surgeon of Macclesfield, he was born there on 8 Februar ...
(1807–1850), an officer in the 23 Regiment, Madras Light Infantry, in Malacca (1832–1835) noted:
''The secret fraternities in which they (the Chinese settlers) enroll themselves for mutual protection and support, prove powerful engines for political combinations, as the Dutch have repeatedly experienced during their long administration in Java and in the Malay States. In China itself, these societies are deemed so dangerous to the Government as to be interdicted under penalty of death. At Pinang in 1799, they set the administration in defiance and strong measures were necessary to reduce them to obedience. Even in the present-day, the ends of justice are frequently defeated both at Pinang, Malacca, and Singapore: by bribery, false swearing, and sometimes by open violence, owing to combinations of these fraternities, formed for the purpose of screening guilty members from detection and punishment. In European Settlements, they are under the general control of an officer, or headman styled "Capitan", who receives a salary from the Government and is responsible in some measure, for the orderly conduct of his countrymen, whose representative and official organ he is. Their interior affairs, disputes, and private interests are arranged by the heads of their respective "Kongsis" or fraternities.''Political and Statistical Account of the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca, Viz: Pinang, Malacca, and Singapore By Thomas John Newbold, Published by J. Murray, 1839, Pages 13-14
Bolton et al. suggest that the Hai San society started out mostly Cantonese and pro-
Ghee Hin The Ghee Hin Kongsi () was a secret society in Singapore and Malaya, formed in 1820. Ghee Hin literally means "the rise of righteousness" in Chinese and was part of the Hongmen overseas network. The Ghee Hin often fought against the Hakka-domin ...
but by around 1854 had absorbed the Wah Sang society and become almost exclusively Hakka and anti-Ghee Hin. They made use of, among other things: * an 1829 account by I. Pattullo, then Superintendent of Police and later Government Secretary * Notes on the Chinese of Penang, Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia, Singapore VIII (1854 and expanded in 1879) by J. D. Vaughan a Superintendent of Police at Penang, a Police Magistrate and Assistant Resident at Singapore and a Grandmaster of the Freemasons (1878 and 1879) * Rule 11 (Appendix II) in the Rules of the Kian Tek (Toh Peh Kong) society dated 30 December 1844


Larut Wars

The Hai San society figure prominently in the
Larut War The Larut Wars were a series of four wars started in July 1861 and ended with the signing of the Pangkor Treaty of 1874. The conflict was fought among local Chinese secret societies over the control of mining areas in Perak which later involved ...
s of 1862-1873 and by that time was headed by
Chung Keng Quee Kapitan China Chung Keng Quee (; Pha̍k-fa-sṳ: Chhang Kín-kui, 182713 December1901) was the founder and administrator of modern Taiping, Perak, Taiping in Perak, Malaysia. Appointed "Capitan China" by the British in 1877, he was a millionair ...
or Chung Ah Kwee. At
Larut Taiping (, Jawi: ; zh, t=太平, , Hokkien: Thài-pêng; ta, தைப்பிங்) is a town located in Larut, Matang and Selama District, Perak, Malaysia. It is located approximately northwest of Ipoh, the capital of Perak, and sou ...
, miners who were members of the Hai San society fought with miners who were members of the Ghee Hin society over the tin-rich fields of Kelian Pauh and Kelian Baru. The two warring factions also clashed in
Selangor Selangor (; ), also known by its Arabic language, Arabic honorific Darul Ehsan, or "Abode of Sincerity", is one of the 13 Malaysian states. It is on the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia and is bordered by Perak to the north, Pahang to the east ...
. The Hai San society was allied with the Penang-based Tokong or Tua Peh Kong society, members of whom financed the mining of tin in the Larut area. The incessant warfare between the Hai San and Ghee Hin brought tin mine production to a standstill. The fighting between the two societies was brought to an end with the signing of a treaty between the two parties in 1874, known as The
Pangkor Treaty of 1874 The Pangkor Treaty of 1874 was a treaty signed between Great Britain and the Sultan of Perak on 20 January 1874, on the Colonial Steamer Pluto, off the coast of Perak. The treaty is significant in the history of the Malay states as it legitimis ...
. Many of the new settlers were sacrificed in the wars waged among the Ghee Hin and Hai San groups. Many of these long lost tribes still hold grudges against one another.


See also

*
Ghee Hin Kongsi The Ghee Hin Kongsi () was a secret society in Singapore and Malaya, formed in 1820. Ghee Hin literally means "the rise of righteousness" in Chinese and was part of the Hongmen overseas network. The Ghee Hin often fought against the Hakka-domi ...
* "Chinese Secret Societies" by Frederick Boyle, published in Harper's New Monthly Magazine Volume 83, Issue 489.


Notes

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External links


Encyclopædia Britannica - Hai San

Political and Statistical Account of the British Settlements in the Straits of Malacca, Viz: Pinang, Malacca, and Singapore By Thomas John Newbold, Published by J. Murray, 1839
Secret societies in Singapore History of Malaysia History of Perak Organized crime groups in Malaysia Organised crime groups in Singapore Triad groups 1820 establishments in Asia