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32-679: Qing victory The Red Turban Rebellion of 1854–1856 was a rebellion by members of the Tiandihui ( Chinese : 天地會 , Heaven and Earth Society) in the Guangdong province of South China . The initial core of the rebels were Tiandihui secret societies that were involved in both revolutionary activity and organised crime, such as prostitution , piracy , and opium smuggling . Many lodges were formed originally for self-defence in feuds between locals and migrants from neighboring provinces. They were organized into scattered local lodges, each under

64-588: A group of followers in Huizhou . In 1761, he returned to Fujian and organized his followers from both provinces to form the Tiandihui. A century earlier, the Qing dynasty made membership in such societies illegal, driving them into the arms of the anti-Qing resistance, for whom they now served as an organizational model. The 18th century saw a proliferation of such societies, some of which were devoted to overthrowing

96-516: A large land and naval force in an attack on Wuzhou. The attack failed, and Chen Kai had to retreat with heavy losses. In February 1861, the Qing army attacked Xiujing. The city fell after a six-month long siege. Chen Kai was killed in the battle. The rebellion then entered an insurgency phase of actively resisting the Qing army until the last rebel holdouts surrendered in May 1864. The British involvement in

128-519: A lodge-master (堂主) and in October 1854 elected Li Wenmao and Chen Kai as joint alliance-masters (盟主). In Summer 1854, 50,000 outlaws, proclaiming a restoration of the Ming dynasty , captured Qingyuan . That roused the Tiandihui to revolt in the city of Conghua , forty miles northeast of the provincial capital. The Red Turbans were formed by religious members from Tiandihui, such as Qiu Ersao , who joined

160-643: A political party that participates in the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference . Jiang Zuojun , chairman of the Zhi Gong Party, is currently the only non- Communist Party minister in the Chinese government. The Canadian branch was established in 1863 in Barkerville, British Columbia. In 1971, Chinese Freemasons National Headquarters of Canada ( 加拿大洪門民治黨 ) was incorporated under

192-459: 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

224-406: Is overwhelmingly ethnically Chinese but there are also Japanese members and a few white American members. The Hongmen are divided into branches, of which there are believed to be approximately 180. The largest of the branches, Wu Sheng Shan, consists of perhaps 180,000 members. Membership is said to be primarily working class, and is also said to include a considerable membership in the armed forces of

256-677: Is sunny and dry. The monthly 24-hour average temperature ranges from 12.5 °C (54.5 °F) in January to 28.6 °C (83.5 °F) in July, and the annual mean is 21.58 °C (70.8 °F). The annual rainfall is around 1,735 mm (68 in), and is delivered in bulk (~46%) from May to July, when the plum rains occur and often create the risk of flooding. With monthly percent possible sunshine ranging from 13% in March to 53% in September,

288-734: The Malay States , to eventually settle in Penang as its first Kapitan China before dying in 1826. During the late 19th century, branches of the Hongmen were formed by Chinese communities overseas, notably the United States, Canada, and Australia, where they are nowadays known as "Chinese Freemasons." Following the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty of China in 1911, the Hongmen suddenly found themselves without purpose. From then on,

320-626: The Taiping Heavenly Kingdom with thousands more. In September, forces commanded by Taiping-affiliated Ling Shiba captured Luoding and made it their headquarters. Ling Shiba was connected to the Taiping Rebels, as he was also a member of the Taiping God-Worshipping Society . Viceroy of Guangdong Xu Guangjin ( 徐廣縉 ) sent braves ( 勇 , or irregular militia ), to the border to deal with

352-578: The triads . In Taiwan , by contrast, the Hongmen is not only legal, but politically influential; this is not surprising, since Sun Yat-sen , founding father of the Republic of China , was a senior figure within the Hongmen, as was nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek . Moreover, the Kuomintang , or Chinese Nationalist Party, was formed from the Xingzhonghui and Guangfuhui , groups not unlike

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384-484: The Canadian Corporations Act on 31 May 1971, and registered on 22 July 1971. The Barkerville headquarter was donated to British Columbia government. The Hongmen continues to exist within numerous overseas Chinese communities, albeit with rapidly aging memberships; its main purposes today are to act as fraternities among overseas Chinese, and to participate in charitable activities. On 28 July 1992

416-655: The Hongmen attempted to remain somewhat secretive, but in recent years the organization's activities have been more transparent. The organization also has numerous business interests, and is reportedly trying to open a martial arts school in Taiwan. On 1 January 2004, Nan Hua Shan Tang was registered with Taiwan's Ministry of the Interior. In Mainland China , the Hongmen is known as the Zhi Gong Party ( simplified Chinese : 致公党 ; traditional Chinese : 致公黨 ),

448-504: The Hongmen diverged into various groups. When some Hongmen groups based within China could no longer rely on donations from sympathetic locals; being unable to resume normal civilian lives after years of hiding, they turned to illegal activities – thus giving birth to the modern Triads . The Hongmen is believed to consist of about 300,000 members worldwide, members found in mainland China, Taiwan , and Chinese overseas communities. Membership

480-483: The Hongmen held their 3rd Worldwide Hongmen Conference in the United States. Over 100 worldwide representatives attended for two days of discussion and adopted organizational rules, proclaimed the founding of a worldwide Hongmen association. First session President Li Zhipeng announced the construction of the Hongmen headquarters in Honolulu . Guiping Guiping was formerly known as Xunzhou . From 1855 to 1861 it

512-549: The Hongmen might be said to have differed in its nature from others. The name of the "Three Harmonies Society" (the "Sanhehui" grouping of the Tiandihui) is in fact the source of the term "Triad" that has become synonymous with Chinese organized crime . Because of that heritage, the Tiandihui (more commonly known there as "Triads') is both controversial and prohibited in Hong Kong. Republican-era scholars generally thought that

544-469: The Hongmen. Because of the Hongmen's revolutionary character and mysterious quality, their future was unclear after the Republic of China central government moved to Taiwan. For a long time, the Republic of China on Taiwan did not openly allow the Hongmen to operate. After martial law ended in 1989, Ge Shan Tang formed and started exchange with the outside world. Under the influence of Chiang Kai-shek,

576-638: The Qing forged at the Honghua Ting ("Vast or Red Flower Pavilion"), where they swore to devote themselves to the mission of "Fan Qing Fu Ming" ( Chinese : 反淸復明 ; lit. 'Oppose Qing and restore Ming'). In 1768 anti-Qing Tiandihui rebel Zhao Liangming claimed to be a descendant of the imperial house of the Song dynasty . The merchant Koh Lay Huan , who had been involved in these subversive activities, had to flee China, arriving in Siam and

608-625: The Qing, such as the Tiandihui, which had established itself in the Zhangpu and Pinghe counties of Zhangzhou in 1766. By 1767, Lu Mao had organized within the Tiandihui a campaign of robberies to fund their revolutionary activities. The Tiandihui began to claim that their society was born of an alliance between Ming dynasty loyalists and five survivors of the destruction of Shaolin Monastery —Cai Dezhong ( 蔡德忠 ), Fang Dahong ( 方大洪 ), Ma Chaoxing ( 馬超興 ), Hu Dedi ( 胡德帝 ), and Li Shikai ( 李式開 )—by

640-475: The Republic of China (Taiwan). Hongmen members worldwide continue to observe certain common traditions: they all stress their patriotic origin; they all revere Lord Guan , a deified historic Chinese figure who embodies righteousness, patriotism, and loyalty; and they all share certain rituals and traditions such as the concept of brotherhood and a secret handshake . Today, the Hongmen is an illegal society in Hong Kong because of its traditional association with

672-826: The Taiping forces of Shi Dakai . Some of them were consolidated as the Flower Flag Force ( 花旗军 ) of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. Many were crushed en route by the Xiang Army . The rebellion was led by Chen Kai (陳開) and Li Wenmao (李文茂), both of whom were Yue Chinese . They captured several counties and besieged Guangzhou , but the Qing army managed to recover most of the territory. The rebels retreated west to Guangxi and captured Xunzhou (modern-day Guiping ) in 1855, renamed it to Xiujing (秀京), and made it their capital. The Dacheng Kingdom army

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704-688: The Tiandihui was founded by Ming loyalists in the early Qing dynasty to resist the Manchu invasion of China. In 1964, scholar Cai Shaoqing published the article On the Origins of the Tiandihui ( 關於天地會的起源問題 ) based on his research of Qing archives (now known as the First Historical Archives ) in Beijing. He concluded that the Tiandihui was founded in 1761 and its roots lay in mutual aid rather than national politics. His interpretation

736-831: The attack on the provincial capital Guangzhou, where the gentry had succeeded in raising a force of militia to defend the city alongside the British Royal Navy , which intervened on the government side. By 1856, after failing to capture Guangzhou, Red Turban forces, hoping to regroup with the Taiping forces in Nanjing, retreated north, occupied parts of Guangxi province , proclaimed the Dacheng Kingdom , and managed to hold out for nine years. Others fought their way through government-held territory in Hunan province and finally to Jiangxi province, where they coalesced with

768-411: The city of Huizhou . The rebel leader He Liu proceeded to capture the city of Dongguan , which was followed by Chen Kai's capture of the major city of Foshan on 4 July 1854. The Red Turbans did not succeed in taking the city of Guangzhou but fought through much of the country round it for more than a year. Failure to co-ordinate had exhausted the supplies of the rebel alliance, which faltered during

800-532: The city. In September 1857, the Dacheng Kingdom managed to expand half of Guangxi, an area equal to northern Vietnam , and issued their own currency called Pingjing Shengbao (平靖勝寶). In 1857, Li Wenmao attacked Guilin . However, the Qing army, commanded by Jiang Yili (蒋益澧) managed to recapture Wuzhou. During a battle in Huaiyuan , Li Wenmao was killed. Liuzhou then fell to the Qing. In 1859, Chen Kai led

832-647: The counter-insurgency involved selling British weaponry to government forces and allowing the Chinese shipping carrying them to avoid rebel attack by using the British flag. That would lead to the Second Opium War in which a pirate ship with a British flag was captured by Chinese government forces. Tiandihui The Tiandihui , the Heaven and Earth Society , also called Hongmen (the Vast Family),

864-573: The further defence of the province against the Taiping rebellion, heavy taxes begun to be levied on the population. That resulted in the people becoming alienated, and flooding of the Pearl River added to their economic woes. The Taiping victory in the capture of Nanjing galvanised the Tiandihui to redouble its revolutionary efforts. A group, allied with the Small Swords Society in neighboring Fujian Province, succeeded in seizing

896-462: The situation, but most of them defected to the rebels. Provincial Governor Ye Mingchen then formulated a strategy of bribing lodge leaders to defect, which was successful in bringing Ling to heel, and the Emperor promoted him to Viceroy. Ye would later be in charge of purging Guangdong of any anti-government outlaw. Over one million people from Guangdong were sentenced to death and executed. To fund

928-502: 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

960-596: Was further developed by his student Qin Baoqi and confirmed by independent research by the Taiwanese scholar Zhuang Jifa. The founders of the Tiandihui—Ti Xi, Li Amin, Zhu Dingyuan, and Tao Yuan—were all from Zhangpu , Zhangzhou , Fujian , on the border with Guangdong . They left Zhangpu for Sichuan , where they joined a local cult and left disenchanted. Of the four, Ti Xi soon left for Guangdong, where he organized

992-619: Was joined by the forces of other Yue Chinese rebels such as Huang Dingfeng (黃鼎鳳), Li Wencai (李文彩) and Li Jingui (李錦貴), all of whom had rebelled against the Qing since the 1850s. Other short-term rebel regimes were established alongside Dacheng, such as the Yanling Kingdom and the Shengping Heavenly Kingdom. In November 1856, Li Wenmao besieged and captured Liuzhou . In April 1857, Chen Kai captured Wuzhou . They advanced to Yongzhou (now Nanning ) and captured

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1024-406: Was the capital of the rebel state of Da Cheng and was called Xiujing . Guiping has a monsoon-influenced humid subtropical climate ( Köppen Cfa ), with short, mild winters, and long, hot, humid summers. Winter begins dry but becomes progressively wetter and cloudier. Spring is generally overcast and often rainy, while summer continues to be rainy though it is the sunniest time of year. Autumn

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