The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-11-12
CHINA's VEGETARIAN SECT.
a HtHch-Dreaded secret Society OF
Religious Origin.
Frofa the New YORK Tribune)

The vegetarian Sect, whcih is said to
be supporting the Boxers in Swatow, is
The second largest secret society il China.
Il is not nearly SO old as the Triad Sc
ciety. although IL has a century or two Of
history behind il. and it has not spread
TO foreign countries. like It's better known
rival but within China Itself it is quite
as much feared. and Justly so, for the or
ganization has accomplished wonders in
certain directions
The society is CT religious origin, and
keeps up this character much more con-
sizteI .tIy than co the Triads- II is also
poll--saI. and has for its object The TestoT-
alton of tie pre-MaBchu dynasty of Ming
Its real ZANE Wu-Wei Kiaou, is trans
lated as the Do-Nothing. or NO-Hypoc-
aIsy League Its members are vegetar-
ians. and the higher officers dress in
white The head OF the society has abso-
Eutt. coUtroI oTe- tfle~ members, wherever
they may be. and IS regarded not c1iy BY
members of his society but by the Chinese
in general as the posSessOr Of awful
magic secrets in the existence OF which
all Chinese believe And, indeed, more
than one Of their performances Fayors OF
the unCaunv. Early n the century THE
7 society nearly accomplished its purpose
OF overthTowing the Aanchu rule a
great plot was laid to blox up the palace
haps thousands were concerned in the
affair. so perfect was the discipline that
the whole plot vas kept secret until the
last moment At the minute OF applying
the torch fear oyeTeame che Of the con-
spfrators. and by crying out that they
were betrayed he alarmed the soldiery
| and brought on himself ard his eompan-
| ions the fste he dreaded.
| But the perfect organization Of the So
in
| the affair OF the pigtails. This sounds Ike
1 the title Of q comic story, AID, indeed II
| is intensely humorous, from the Occiden-
| tai point of view, although serious
/ enough to q ChiHaman. The queue of a
/ Chinaman is the symbol of his submission
! to the MaRchu cenquerers- Hence the ne
cessity OF his preserving it az he would
his lie To cut it of is tautamouut II
saying Down with the authorities" and
the powers that be IL China nay be de-
! perded upon to visit the offender with
such summary justice as viii forever pre-
vent rsnst:tiou of the rash act Imagine,
therefore. the CONSERVATION on all d :
| when, without any apparent reason, the
| pfgtafls began to fall off on every side
No one was safe The precious appendag5
would disappear like magic, at the mcsi
unexpected tines-while eating, Wills
sleeping, while talking with a friend
while doing nothing al all For time
there vas 4 reign Of terror Every re-
spectacle Chinaman kept his hand on his
queue realizing enIy toe clearly the close
| connection between that and his head. II
snip" went one, chop would go the
otker.
At last. when this had been going on
for weeks and even months, the affair was
explained The Wr-Wei Kiaou was doing
! it 4 special kind Of scissors had besn
made for its members, OF small size and
easily held in the palm Of the hand With
this ingenious weapon and a little dsx-
terity it became easy to cut queues OF
every side, as a warning to the Govern
mcnt that the spirit Of hostility to the
/ Manehus was not to be allowed TO die
After this daring act the Chinese people
conceived for the Wu-Wei kiaeu a pro-
found and enduring respect.