Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1891-10-20
THIS koLAo HUI.
A Secret Society That Makes Much Trouble
in China.

in China.
The Kolao Hui, the secret society to
which the recent anti-foreign outrages
in the Yangste valley are attributed, is
at present the most powerful of those
troublesome organizations in China It
was founded in the turbulent and clan
nish province of Human, whence con-
siderable numbers of men are drawn
for the Chinese army. Unlike many
Chinese secret societies, it is non-reli-
gious, and is largely military. 1t has
existed for about fifty years, and at
tanned great power among the Human
men on the imperial side in the TAPPING
rebellion.
At first the object seems to have been
mutual protection against the plumber
and extortion practiced by the civil Of
fcials in dealing with the pay and
maintenance of the troops, and this OBJ
ject is still preserved. Officers, as we'll
as private members, and the authori-
ties who are supposed to have mis-
treated the troops, are punished by as
sassination, the destruction of their
houses and property, and of sudden
and destructive riots in their districts
1t is believed that the ceremony of ini-
tiation consists in killing cock and
drinking the blood, either alone or
mixed with wine. This has always
been a common practice with all Chi
nese secret societies.
The Ko1ao Hui is also believed to i'm
port the mysterious and supernatural
into their proceedings by the use of the
planchetta, pencil being suspended
over board sprinkled with sand in
such way that when moved the point
leaves marks in the sand. The move
ment is attributed to occult influence,
and the leader of the society present in
terprets the signs, which then take the
form in the mind of the members of
divine commands The planchette is,
therefore, a kind of oracle, and has
played an important part in many
Chinese associations. The Kolao Hui
, in course of time admitted to it's mem
bership persons who had no connection
with the army and it also enlarged it's
objects. Whether the leaders thought
they saw danger to their country in the
presence of Europeans, or in the propa-
cation of Christianity in China, or
whether it vas merely part of their
policy for humbling and Furnishing
local officials, it is certain that the So
ciety has long been known as anti
foreign, and especially anti-missionary.
The prosecutions of the French priests
and their congregations in Truman and
Szechnan for years past have been at
! tributed to the Vaccinations of the
Kolao Hui. The members revenge
each others wrongs, and many join il
with that purpose only. The
ticket of membership is usually
small oblong piece of liner
or calico stamped with few charac.
/ tiers, two of them being the name
| China The possession of these, if dis
covered, especially in troubled times
is immediate execution at the hands o:
the authorities. Frequently mem bers
are enlisted by fraud They are In
| duced on one pretense or another tx
| sign their names in the innocent look
ing book, which turns out to be roll
4 of the members, and then they arr
| afraid to draw back lest the society
should take revenge The subscrip
tons vary and are not generally heavy
| when funds are needed more member
are enlisted, sometimes in the name
| lust described. The subscription
usually go to the leaders, who provide
arms and the men for desperate enter
prises.
The White Lily society, which wa
the most formidable of all Chinese Sc
cret societies, and which had its origil
as religious and vegetarian associa
| ton, is rarely heard of now; it wa
broken up at the commencement of tn
| century. The Triad is mainly Can
tonese society, and has its member
wherever Chinese emigrate in larg
number Every province has its owl
secret societies, which are the terro
and despair of the local officials. TIL
Kolao Hui has been attacked by power
full viceroys again and again, but it ha
grown and fiourished, owing to tn
timidity and corruption of the magis
; trates and local officials. -Londo
| Times