The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1886-10-22
CHINESE MASONRY.
BRIEF HISTORY OF THE CHEZ kUNG
TONG, A SECRET ORGANIZATION.

Revolutionary in Its Original and Pres
ent Purposo-Thirty-three Cast Iron
Oaths in the Ritual-Punishment of
FaithIess Member-His Disgrace.
"What, may ask, was the subject of your
ponderings? Had that roll Of papers anything
to do with themw
"Ycs; they are notes gathered by an old
partner of mine, who devoted himself to a
study of the Chinese people and their Gus
TOMS I've got a whole case full of them
there, and when have nothing else to do I
amuse myself by reading some of them. I
have gained great deal of information from
2 them, which is frequently of considerable
assistance to me in my practice"
"Tell me; what is the story contained in
those papers in your lap!" said the reporter,
instinctively producing his note book and
pencil. @- .a'
@Its brief history of the Chinese order of
Masons. Now, suppose you think theirs is
like all other Masonry, and branch of the
great organization established by King Solo
mon. You must disabuse your mind on that
score, if such is your opinion. To be sure, it
is a society for mutual benefit and protection,
but its original and present purpose as well,
is entirely revolutionary. The birth of the
order occurred soon after the Mongolians in
vaded China and established the present Ming
dynasty, which is nearly 400 years old. The
society was composed of the old Chinese
mobiles and their followers who were opposed
to the new emperor. Their numbers were
naturally small at first, but the years added
70 their strength. Each member educated his
children to belief in the doctrines of the Or
der, until now their numbers include nearly
one-third of the entire population of the en-
pire There are also about $4,000 in the
United States The influence of the society is
naturally very great, and its members have
much to do with the formation of Chinese
affairs of state
ORIGINATORS OF REBELLIONS.
"From its inception, four centuries ago,
the society has instigated innumerable rebel
liolls and all the members naturally imbibed
Il strong martial spirit. As consequence,
the order has developed many famous sol
dielS, AMI a.acng them the great Gen. 10y
Yee, who, ut the age of 50 years, was the
commander in-chief of all the forces of the
empire. His appointment to this position
was, OF course a measure adopted by the em-
peror to concilate the society to which he be-
longcd Many of China's foreign ministers
also owe their positions to this policy. Being
statesmen OF great ability, they naturally be-
come a power to be feared by the govern
ment, and are accordingly appointed as am
bassadors to some foreign court in order to
get them out of the way. Chin Lin Pan,
the first minister to the United states, was one
of these, and, if the truth were known,
would not be surprised if every minister since
was a Chinese Mason, or member of the
Chee kung Tong, as the society is called.
rtyiu - ctr -, oF
this organization when inform you that the
great Tai Ping rebellion of 81 was brought
about by its leaders, and fought by its sol
diers The famous armies known as the
Black Flags and Yellow Flags, which per-
formed such bloody work in Tonquin during
the recent war with France were also COM
posed entirely of the members of the Chez
Kung Tong, and led by its officers. The
headquarters of the order are in the district
of Quong Ton, or Canton, as it is known to
us. 1t is from there the edicts are sent which
SO vitality affect the policy of the Chinese
government and which in time may over
turn the throne and establish new dynasty
The queue worn to-day by the Chinese people
is a symbol of their bondage to the Mongolian
emperor, and is constant reminder to them
of their subjection.
THIRTY-THREE CAST IRON oATHs
"The rites of the society! Yes, know some
thing of them, though there are SO many and
in such infinite variety that my knowledge of
them is necessarily limited There are thirty
three oaths to be taken, and regular cast iron
ones, too, before an applicant can become a
fully constituted member of the society. He
can, however, withdraw before taking the
last oath, provided he promises eternal Sc
crecy about what he had previously seen and
heard of the ritual. Ii this agreement should
be violated or Il member of the order should
in any way disgrace himself in the eyes of his
brothers, punishment swift and terrible is
meted out to him. In China it is death, but
in this country that is impossible, though they
go through all the formul;e of an execution
without the final elimination The accused
is always allowed trial, but is seldom az
quilted. The wise men and patriarchs of the
order assemble together upon that occasion
in some one of their joss houses, and there
the accused and accusers are brought before
them The latter step forward first, and
prostrating themselves upon the floor at the
feet of the oldest of the wise nleli they pre-
sent their charges. ses
The accused then prostrates himself and
places the foot of the wise upon his neck
as sign of submission. After this lle tells
his version of the story, still fiat upon his
stomach on the floor When this is over tho
head man announces his decision in a lous
and impressive speech, which is interrupted
at the end of every sentence by the othe.a
prostrating themselves and uttering words ur
assent. The judge next claps his hands and
in comes the executoner with q long sword
and wooden bowl, the latter being for the
purpose of catching tile blood that is not
spilled. Going up to the condemned i,an,
who is still lying face downward upon the
floor, the executioner raises him to his knees
and bares his neck for the fatal blow. Three
times the sword is raised and brought down
with terrific force until within half an inch
of the klleeling mans neck, where it stops
This concludes the ceremony, but the Victims
punishment is not yet over, il lie happells TO
be so fortunate as to live in this country
Great piacards announcing his disgrace are
posted ON all the dead walls throughout the
Chinese quarter, and the news be-
comes known the guilty MAN is completely
Ostracised by his old associates, and in fact
by all the ety."-San francisco Alts.