Chinese Secret Societies: Getting a Handle on the Big Picture

me

three !

let's hear it !

i think best put, secret societies really are secret or they aren't secret society's they are known societys's. What do you think of real secret societies that have never been discovered yet, and how many do you think this world holds?

How did I miss this thread?

Very good job, star and flag for you sir.

Will read it through when I get some more time tomorrow perhaps.

triad = triangle = 3

yakuza = 21 2+1 = 3

Originally posted by silent thunder
I'd like to thank the people who posted and showed interest in this thread. Although I initially planned this as the first part of a series, after some thought I abandoned the project because I was concerned that some of the material might potentially contravene the Terms and Conditions (T&C) of ATS. However, I hope you enjoyed the first post, at least, and I hope it can serve as stand-alone background info for anyone who wants to dig further into the subject on their own. See you around, ATS.

edit on 7/27/11 by silent thunder because: (no reason given)

Aww shame. This is a really great thread..I was looking forward to Part II.

Having watched a lot of HK triad movies, & going through a "phase" of wanting to be a triad earlier in life I know a thing or too about the triad society..But I didn't really know the full historical background to it all.

So S&F.

I recently watched an interesting documentary on the Triads on the Gangland series that aired on the History channel. At the end of which I noticed that Raymond Chow a convicted gangster was speaking in front of the organization he is now a member of an organization that he called the Chee Kung Tong but the sign was shown with a prominent Square and Compass labeled Chinese Freemasons of the World. I had never heard of this but did a quick Google search to learn more.

Before the Chinese Freemasons was a mutual aid society and the Kuomintang (Quo Min Tong) of Taiwan was a political party, there was the Hung Moon (Hongmen) and the Chee Kung Tong. Before them was the Tiandihui. And before that... there was a legend.

Chinese Freemasons of the World

I don't have time to paraphrase what is written about this secret society but suffice to say that it has very little in common with the Fraternity of Freemasons whether "regular" or "irregular". Nevertheless, this may very well cause considerable confusion to those who aren't members and probably to Freemasons themselves.

Almost a century and a half after the fact, it would be difficult if not impossible for regular Freemasonry to object to the Hongmen Society's use of the term Freemasons. In fact members of the society strongly defend their right to use the masonic square and compasses emblem, as can be seen during their anniversary celebrations in August 2010. Regular freemasons will simply have to live with the confusion and, should the topic arise, point out that there is no similarity or connection between the two societies. The Hongmen is not irregular or clandestine Freemasonry; by the Landmarks of the Order it is simply not Freemasonry.

Heh. Thanks for bumping this old thread of mine, I'd more or less forgotten about it but looking back it was one of my more ambitious pieces.

I am sorry again to those who are interested that I can't put more info up, but there are good reasons for this. The closer you get to modern times, the more you find yourself stepping on the toes of people in still-existing forces that very much dislike having light shined on them. In this era of radical Internet transparency, discussion of illicit groups can start all sorts of drawbacks. Call me a coward if you like, but as some of you might know, I am a businessman of sorts (now semi-retired) with business interests in East Asia and Eastern Siberia. No sense in endangering my own interests. I like you, ATS, but not that much.

Second, a lot of the modern groups are involved in "things we cannot discuss" on ATS due to the terms and conditions. I ultimately found it impossible to tell their story without talking about such things.

So, anyway, thanks again for the continued interest. I haven't posted as much on ATS in 2013 as in last years because I have been very busy. Busy trying to dissapear from a world in which privacy is increasingly a vanishing memory. But isolation is still possible. All will say is that me and I and my ladyfriend have been building a cozy little hideaway somewhere new. Think "North" (for most of you at least.).

But I still check in from time to time when I can. Too much of an Internet junky to go too long without it. That final cut will be cruel indeed, but it's still a year or two before I go full off the grid (knock on wood). I want to do it right, and that takes time and planning. Until then, I reman yours truly.