Wauwatosa news. [volume] (Wauwatosa, Wis.) 1900-1948, 1900-08-25
TRIADS ARE TERRORS
LOFTY in Principles. but Utter,,.
Lawiess in Prac-
tiCe

The Triad Secret society. which
cordlng to the dispatches, is in lea--,.
with the Boxers, is the oldest and u.,.
infamous OF the many Chinese orgapig,.
tons of similar character. Its or;o.,
is so remote that the soeiety's book 80
rites contains the statement that il b..
existed since the foundation of ,h..
earth The real name of the laacun
Tien-T Hwey, or Hung league; -a.
name Triad comes from .'Sam-II...
Hwey," the popular title given 10 ~.
organization. The suc1ety's teacbinc.
are exalted to such a degree that maf-g
Of them seem to come bodily out of H.
Sermon on the Mount. Unfortunate
however, their practice is different iron,
their teaching. A more disreputablc or.
ganizatlon was never created to become.
thorn III the flesh of all workers in ib.
cause of law and order.
ABOUT 20O years ago the Ming dyuas+-
was overthrOwn by the TaFtars. ShortIy
after this event the Trads reOrgauizrl
TO oppose the Manchu conquerors. Sim.
that time the league has enjoyed a rem
tauon for lawlessness unparalleled even
IN the history of China. Its melnbprs
spread over the whole of the Far Fa.r
Manila knew them. to her sorrow. Tho
dutch colonies suffered from their dcpr,
cations AT length, when the residents
VI -sA"Alii6t ndu euuuTeu long enough -Ia
outrages of the society (which had mad.
necessary many times the calling our lf
the garrlSon), members of the Tria4
league were by law forbidden to con@
into the colony. The Dutch followed H..
example of the Spanish without loss II
lllne. Thus driven out from their forIp...
happy hunting grounds, the Triads looked
Tor fresh fields, and found them, as thry
supposed, in Sarawak They descendrt
HOO strong, on the Malays, burned thor
houses, seized their ships, and Were abon
TO embark on what promised to be u
I P OF bloody piracy, when Rajau
BROOKE appeared with a force of DyakS
ana defeated them. Singapore mas suf
Tered as severely as any colony from rho
outrages of this society, and more than
once the Iriads have taken possession Of
the city They were officially suppressed
IN 1913, but practically existed until =
lluch later time. In Hong Kong they
were from the foundation of the colony
forbidden to enter, but they have from
time to time crept in, and have REQUIRED
the full force of the law before they could
be restrained.
~ There is practically no doubt that the
Ial-Plng rebellion was due to the Tn,
ads. About the time of the instigafjon
OF the rebellion the Triads had so openly
opposed the government that armed re-
slstance was the only course omen IA
them. They were then as lawless 4
band as at any period of their history,
but the leader of the revolt, Hung San
Tsun, obtained some knowledge of Chris
tlanlty, and endeavored to purify the So
clety and to urg' the establishment Of q
dynasty which should rule according ia
the high principles of Jesus and Confu-
cius. king of the Heavenly Kingdom
of Universal Peace was the tifin he
gave himself. To his standard focked
enthusiasts and malcontents of all class
es; to prevent desertion these were
branded on the cheeks with the words
Tai Ping But the good resolutions
of the leader came to naught. as history
tells The morals Of his followers and
the i'll success of his armies disheartened
him. He became craZed, and the com
ing of Gen. Gordon TO command the Chi
nese army completed the overthrow Of
the rebellion.
The society is governed by FIVE grand
masters, equal to one another in power.
The lodges are ruled by subordinate mas
tiers, whose power is absolute. Members
are required to take an oath of implicit
obedience; they also promise to srP1~v
one another, even against the law. Mem
bers are known to felow-members by an
elaborate system of signs. These are 50
many and express such different mean
ings that communication between the
members of the society is easily carried
on and impossible of detection by an out
slider. During the worst riots houses
were mysteriously protected by signs that
the ordinary mortal could not discover.
and information of the society donEN
simply flies from one end of China to the
other. In fact. it is impossible to eT-
aggerate the extent and mystery of the
Triads' power.
1t is said on good authority that
part of the initiation ceremony consists
in the cutting off of the queue. II mus
be borne in mind that the queue is the
badge of submission to the Manchu con,
queror; hence the daring of the act amt
its deep significance The deed is, I'D
fact, so rash that it is often omitted,
and when the ceremony is carried out
the new member wears a false QucOe'
or in other ways DISCUSSES the fact that
the outward and visible sign Of his loyal
ty is no more.
The perfect organization Of the so@e-
ty, its well-known hostility 10 Iaw and
order and its past career OF crime make
the announcement that il has jo!red
forces with the Boxers one Of III, most
serious items of information that comes
from troubled China.