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Tiandihui
The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihui's ancestral organization. As the Tiandihui spread through different counties and provinces, it branched off into many groups and became known by many names, including the ''Sanhehui''. The ''Hongmen'' grouping is today more or less synonymous with the whole ''Tiandihui'' concept, although the title "Hongmen" is also claimed by some criminal groups. Branches of the Hongmen were also formed by Chinese communities overseas, some of which became known as Chinese Freemasons. Its current iteration is purely secular. Under British rule in Hong Kong, all Chinese secret societies were collectively seen as criminal threats and were bundled together and defined as "Triads", although the Hongmen might be said to have differed in its nature from ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cai Shaoqing
Cai Shaoqing ( zh, c=蔡少卿; 14 August 1933 – 30 November 2019) was a Chinese historian and professor at Nanjing University, considered a leading authority on the history of Chinese secret societies. He pioneered the research of Tiandihui and other secret societies using Qing dynasty archives and overturned the findings of earlier Republican-era scholars. He also studied the links between the Warlord Era and banditry during the late Qing dynasty and early Republic of China. He received the Frederic Milton Thrasher Award for his research on Chinese secret societies. Biography Cai was born on 14 August 1933 in Hexing Township, Changshu (now part of Zhangjiagang) in Jiangsu province of the Republic of China. After graduating from Danan High School of Changshu, be was hired by the school as a teacher. He entered the Department of History of Peking University in 1956, and upon graduation in 1960, he became a teaching assistant to historian while continuing his graduate s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Triad (organized Crime)
A triad ( zh, t=三合會, s=三合会, hp=sān hé huì, cy=sāam hahp wúi) is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China with outposts in various countries having significant overseas Chinese populations. The triads originated from secret societies formed in the 18th and 19th centuries, some influenced by white lotus societies of the 14th century, with the intent of overthrowing the foreign then-ruling Qing dynasty. In the 20th century, triads were enlisted by the Kuomintang (KMT) during the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republican era to attack political enemies, including assassinations. Following the founding of the People's Republic of China and subsequent crackdowns, triads and their operations flourished in Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities. Since the Chinese economic reform, triads and other triad-like "black societies" re-emerged in mainland China. In modern times, triads overseas have been reported to have conne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
White Lotus Sect
Illustration of a meeting of the Pure Land Buddhist White Lotus Society of Li_Gonglin.html" ;"title="Lushan Huiyuan in the style of Li Gonglin">Lushan Huiyuan in the style of Li Gonglin, The term White Lotus Society () or White Lotus Teaching () refers to a variety of religious and political groups that emerged in China over many centuries. Initially, the name was associated with Pure Land Buddhism, Pure Land Buddhist organizations that sought to promote devotional practices centered on rebirth in a Buddhist Pure land, Pure Land. These early societies emphasized spiritual salvation through faith, chanting of Amitābha's name ('' nianfo''), and adherence to moral precepts. Over time, however, the term "White Lotus" became associated with diverse salvationist and apocalyptic movements, often blending elements of Buddhism, Daoism, and Chinese folk religion. Many later White Lotus groups adopted millenarian ideologies, predicting the imminent arrival of a new age or a divine sav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Koh Lay Huan
Kapitan China Koh Lay Huan (; died 1826) was a wealthy and educated man, who had earlier rebelled against the Manchu-led Chinese Qing dynasty and fled to Siam and the Malay States, to eventually settle in Penang as its first Kapitan China. He was a merchant, planter, tax farmer, Chinese secret society headman, and one of a handful of pioneering leaders of Penang.Journal of the Malayan Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society By Malaysian Branch, Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland Malaysian Branch, Singapore Published by , 1996; p. 119 Early life Koh Lay Huan was from T'ung-an county,Chinese Epigraphic Materials in Malaysia: Collected, Annotated, and Edited by Wolfgang Franke and Chen Tieh Fan By Wolfgang Franke, Tiefan Chen Published by University of Malaysia Press, 1982; Item notes: v.1-2; p. 717 Zhang Zhou Prefecture in the Fujian Province, on the southeast coast of China. At the time, Fujian was at the focus of the activities of Tiandihui ( Heaven and Earth So ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Zhao
The House of Zhao () was the imperial clan of the Song dynasty (960–1279) of China. Family history Origin The Zhao family originated from Zhuo Commandery (), located near present-day Zhuozhou, Hebei Province, China, and traced its roots back to the Spring and Autumn period (roughly 771–476 BCE). The founder of the Song dynasty, Song Empire, Emperor Taizu of Song, Zhao Kuangyin, was born to a military family. His father, Zhao Hongyin was a general in Zhuo Commandery who later moved to Luoyang with his family. Zhao Kuangyin also had an elder brother Zhao Guangji, two younger brothers Emperor Taizong of Song, Zhao Kuangyi and Zhao Guangmei, and two younger sisters. Rise of the Zhao family Zhao Kuangyin initially served in the Later Han (Five Dynasties), Later Han military but he subsequently defected to serve under Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, Chai Rong, emperor of Later Zhou, an enemy of the Later Han. He also persuaded his father, a Later Han general, to serve Chai Rong, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Secret Society
A secret society is an organization about which the activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla warfare insurgencies, that hide their activities and memberships but maintain a public presence. Secret societies may be community-based or associated with colleges and universities. These societies exist in countries around the world. Definitions The exact qualifications for labeling a group a secret society are disputed, but definitions generally rely on the degree to which the organization insists on secrecy and might involve the retention and transmission of secret knowledge, the denial of membership or knowledge of the group, the creation of personal bonds between members of the organization, and the use of secret rites or rituals. Anthropology, Anthropologically and historically, secret societies have been dee ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chinese Salvationist Religions
Chinese salvationist religions or Chinese folk religious sects are a Chinese religious tradition characterised by a concern for salvation (moral fulfillment) of the person and the society.; ''passim'' They are distinguished by egalitarianism, a founding charismatic person often informed by a divine revelation, a specific theology written in holy texts, a millenarian eschatology and a voluntary path of salvation, an embodied experience of the numinous through healing and self-cultivation, and an expansive orientation through evangelism and philanthropy. Some scholars consider these religions a single phenomenon, and others consider them the fourth great Chinese religious category alongside the well-established Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism. Generally these religions focus on the worship of the universal God (Shangdi) and regard their holy patriarchs as embodiments of God. Terminology and definition "Chinese salvationist religions" () is a contemporary neologism coined as a s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shaolin Monastery
Shaolin Monastery ( zh, labels=no, c=少林寺, p=shàolínsì), also known as Shaolin Temple, is a monastic institution recognized as the birthplace of Chan Buddhism and the cradle of Shaolin kung fu. It is located at the foot of Wuru Peak of the Songshan mountain range in Dengfeng county, Zhengzhou prefecture, in Henan province, China. The name reflects its location in the ancient grove () of Mount Shaoshi, in the hinterland of the Songshan mountains. Mount Song occupied a prominent position among Chinese sacred mountains as early as the 1st century BC, when it was proclaimed one of the Five Holy Peaks (). It is located some southeast of Luoyang, the former capital of the Northern Wei Dynasty (386–534), and southwest of Zhengzhou, the modern capital of Henan Province. As the first Shaolin abbot, Butuo Buddhabhadra devoted himself to translating Buddhist scriptures and preaching doctrines to hundreds of his followers. According to legend, Bodhidharma, the 28th patria ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Huizhou
Huizhou ( zh, c= ) is a city in east-central Guangdong Province, China, forty-three miles north of Hong Kong. Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shenzhen and Dongguan to the southwest, Shaoguan to the north, Heyuan to the northeast, Shanwei to the east, and Daya Bay of the South China Sea to the south. As of the 2020 census, the city has about 6,042,852 inhabitants and is administered as a prefecture-level city. Huizhou's core metropolitan area, which is within Huicheng and Huiyang Districts, is home to around 2,090,578 inhabitants. History During the Song dynasty, Huizhou was a prefectural capital of the Huiyang prefecture and the cultural center of the region. The West Lake in Huizhou was formerly known as Feng Lake. At the age of 59, Su Shi was exiled to Huizhou by the imperial government of Song. When he visited Feng Lake in Huizhou, he found it located in the west of the city and was as beautiful as West Lake in Hangzhou. Therefore, he r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pinghe
Pinghe County () is a county of the prefecture-level city of Zhangzhou, in southern Fujian province, PRC, bordering Guangdong province to the west. Administrative Division The administrative centre or seat of Pinghe County is Xiaoxi Town, Fujian, Xiaoxi (). Towns (镇, ''zhen'') Most of Pinghe's old People's communes, after spending the 80s and even 90s as Townships, have been upgraded to Towns. There are ten towns: *Xiaoxi ( ''Sió-khe'') *Wenfeng ( ''Bûn-hong'') *Shange ( ''Soaⁿ-keeh'') *Nansheng ( ''Lâm-sèng'') *Banzai Town, Banzai ( ''Póaⁿ-á'') *Anhou (Mandarin ''Ānhòu'', Hokkien ''Am-āu'') *Daxi ( ''Tōa-khe'') *Jiufeng ( ''Kiú-hong'') *Xiazhai, Pinghe County, Xiazhai (Mandarin ''Xiázhài'', Hokkien ''Ēe-chēe'') *Luxi, Pinghe County, Luxi ( ''Lô͘-khe'') Townships (乡, ''xiang'') There are five townships: *Wuzhai ( ''Gō͘-chēe'') *Guoqiang ( ''Kok-kiâng'', originally ''Ko-kheng'') *Qiling ( ''Kiā-niá'') *Changle ( ''Tióⁿ-lo̍h'') *Xiufeng ( ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period#Ten Kingdoms, Ten Kingdoms, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song frequently came into conflict with the contemporaneous Liao dynasty, Liao, Western Xia and Jin dynasty (1115–1234), Jin dynasties in northern China. After retreating to southern China following attacks by the Jin dynasty, the Song was eventually conquered by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The History of the Song dynasty, dynasty's history is divided into two periods: during the Northern Song (; 960–1127), the capital was in the northern city of Bianjing (now Kaifeng) and the dynasty controlled most of what is now East China. The #Southern Song, 1127–1279, Southern Song (; 1127–1279) comprise the period following ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
