The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1885-01-01
THE GREAT WHITE LILY.
A SECRET Society That ses the Chinese
Empire in Blaze.
La Revue des Denx Mondes.-

LA 4NcFuc 06S OtllA MOQueSl
All China may be said to be divided
politically into two great parties-the
adherents of the old Chinese dynasty of
the Mings and the following of the
Mantehoo dynasty of the Tait-Sing from
whom the present emperor is descended.
1t was during the reign of Prince Klia-
Kiug in 1883 that the secret society, the
s'White Lily, " first came into existence.
Its members attacked the imperial pa
lankeen in the streets of Pekin in 1908.
The emperor barely escaped with his
life An investigation set on foot re-
yealed the fact that members of the inn
perial family, high dignitaries of the
empire, were connected with the society.
The insurrecticn spread to all the CEN
trail provinces and was not finally
stamped out until eight years later
The prosecuted Members Of the aSSo-
citation changed it INTO what was osten-
sibly charitable pnd philosophical So
ciety-the s1hienrs- Guy, or Brother
hood of Celestial Reason" The first
article of faith imposed upon the
affiliated the nee essity of dividing ali
good and all evil fortune with their
brethren of the society Its chief aim
was to bring about perfect harmony be-
tween Heaven, earth, and man, and the
constant occurrence of this formula
caused Europeans to allude to it as the
Society of the Triad.
How should this harmony be re-es-
tablished in its pristine purity2" by
the overthrow of the Tartar dynasty and
restoring to the Chinese nation its
liberty and its rights. This would ap-
pease Heaven and satisfy mankind, not
until then secure OF obtaining Justice
upon the face of the earth. The or
ganization of the society resembled that
of Freemasonry.
The members addressed each other as
brother The officers were called the
seniors" but their number was very
limited. They must have belonged for
long time to the association, and
hence given proofs of their fidelity The
rules of the order were extremely strict
Treason or failure to execute the orders
of the society was punished with death,
and the guilty one fell beneath the
poniards of two or three of the members
selected by the council to carry out the
death sentence.
The ceremonies of initiation were cal
culated to freeze the blood of tbs
neophyte and inspire obedience by ter
ror From a distance came a certain
number of the initiated so that the ne5
phytes might not be able to identity
them afterward. The new member Wa.
obliged to take thirty six different oatil3
by which he engaged himself to serF
the association faithfully, TO devote lis
whole life to it, to execute any orders he
might receive without the slightest hesi
tation, and to remain faithful to his
brethren until death.
This done, he handed to the pe,soA
who initiated piece of moneg to ShoA
that henceforWard ali his property Va.
at the disposition of the society. Thel
came the most imposing part o.
the ceremony, THE Passage OF
the Bridge. Two of the brett
ren held thoir sabers crosse
above the neophtyte's head, white tn
latter took to a senior the oath o.
inviolable fidelity to the cause of which
he became the servant Then the new
brother cut off the head of a cocs.
saying: THUS may I perish if | betras
the secrets of the order These cere-
monies took place in dense woods Q.
isolated houses, or else, if possible, il
ancient cemeteries, where the remains
of China's ancient rulers lie in halt
forgotten graves. Certain password
and conventional signs enabled the
initiated to recognize one another in
public; TO approach one another and
communicate an order without awaken
ing suspicion Not only were many o.
the learned men of China members ot
the association, but it is known that n
all times great number of the lead
ing functionaries who were of pure
Chinese descent belonged to it.