The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-07-15
Secret Societies in China.

peFlOf 20 care IOr MS people dS tat p
for his children, and that he will g4ve
patient heed 10 ali complaints from his
subjects. which, according TO the EN-
peror Wouti. OF the Han dynasty, is one
of the most valuable sources Of q SOW
ereign's information. But Chinese ths-
o.y and practice are widely separated.
The officers with whom the Eeople real Y
come in contact have geneTaiy, in spite
Of the civil service examinations, Dough,
their way 70 place Ike the Roman pro-
consul, and, like Caesar, have three for
tunes TO make before they return Z ON
| their government: and as their tenure Of
power is extremely insecure, these farm
ers OF the public revenue make al tie
! hay they can while The sun continues 70
shine. The imperial government IS pa
ternal but the rule of tia mandarin
! is rather Of a step-lather. And 50 iron
| the earliest times China has been. as II
is now, honeycombsd By secret societlt 5.
! Indeed, popu. ar pl9t,ings in secret serve
| the same purpose in China as does the
| ballot box in cur Own country; they an
swer the peoples viii in framing the
national policy and changing the national
! head. Noc that such so ieties are al
ways revolutionary or even political, f-r
! they are often social or religious; and
| yet, like the Society for Gazing On Ihe
/ Noon, than which nothing could appear
more innocuous, organizations orgina.i y
social are sometimes used 10 accomplish
the most momentous political revolu-
tons.
| The firstsof these associations of which
we have record is the Crimson Eye
brows." Immediately before the begin
ming Of the Christian era the great Han
dynasty, which mad ruled China for two
hund. ed years, and was TO rule for two
! hundred more, was temporarily under a
cloud, formed by too powerful minist =
named Wang Mang, who made and de-
posed Emperors at his viii, and per
mitted each monarch TO retain the crown
ony so long as il served the ambition
of the minister, until, having By long
practice become proficient in the art or
creating Sons of Heaven, he brought
forth his masterpiece a. D., 6, BY him.
self assuming the purple, or, more accu-
rately, the yellow.
The new Emperor had to meet re-
bellion on all sides, but was able to do
so successfully, and executions follow d
his victorious arms until it seemed that
to oppose the uSurper was to court
death Here was a legitimate oppor
tunity for the Chinaman's genius for
conspiracy. Fan Chong, an adherent CT
die Hans, organized band IN the prov
ince OF Shantung, which quickly grew
into an army, said to number 209,09o men.
Each member OF the band had his eye
brows painted crimson 10 signify that
he dedicated the last drop Of his blood
To the cause, and it was without doubt,
this symbolism, so effective upon the
childish mind of half-civilized man, which
determined the issue of the conquest.
The 400, 900 fiery eyes struck terror into
the soldiers of Wang Mang and brought
inspiration TO the forces of Han, and the
usurper was defeated and slain.
The curse of China has been the indo-
lence of it's Emperors, who have too Of
ten resigned all power into the hands
of ministers or the Empress. Lingti "a.
d. 16S-190), of the Hans. left the coun-
try to the disagreement OF the eunuchs
of the palace. Then was formed the as
ISOLATION of the yellow Bonnets,' who
melted a revolt
In 1919, after a desperate struggle OF
nearly half a century, China passed I'M
der the rule of the Mongols, and Kublai
Kahn, the successor of the great Gen
ghis, founded the Yuen dynasty. The
Chinese were most unwilling subjects,
and after a rule of ninety years the for
egners were driven back across the
northern border, whence they had come.
Strange to say, the leader of the patrf-
OTIS was a Buddhist monk, and one most
happy result was the Society for Gazing
on the Moon. The ostensible purpose OF
this association was to promote the wor-
ship of the Queen of Heaven and wheth-
er anything more inimical to the reign
iEg house than this most innocent diver
sion was intended by the founders OF the
society is not known. The Chinese dig
Nifty the most trivial affairs of life vita
sentiments borrowed from the ancients,
and cover the most dangerous conspira-
cies with the moral precepts OF Confu-
Gus. Whatever its original purpose, the
society became a potent ally to the po-
litical plotters who were striving to re-
store a native rule to the empire. The
annual festival for the worship OF the
moon became a gathering Of consplratcrs
and the cakes which it was the custom
TO eat in honor Of the lunar goddess
We're made to do duty as ENJOYS most
a summons TO rise
against the Mongols on a set day was
inclosed in the cakes, which were sent
from place to place throughout the en-
pire
We hear nothing Of such societies dur
ing the succeeding Ming dynasty, but |
with the Manchu conquest in 1874 the /
secret conclave was revived with IN
creased vigor. The Manchus and Chi /
nese nave never amalgamated and have |
hardly mingled, the conquered stil re- I
gard the conquerors as an Inferior race Z
II barbarians Every large town has its I
Manchu city and its Chinese city, and .
IN every town there is a Manchu garrl- /
son. The native brotherhood which has I
under various names. re.igiously set IL 4
self TO the task Of ousting the Manchu f.
Dr. rs ing dynasty. was attended in It's /
origin by a miracle. The Emperor YEns
~ n 81 ~ all al
persecution against both Christianity AM
and IN one = the religious
outbreaks as Chaolin Buddhist monas-
cry was sacked and burned and many
Il hte monks were killed. few e.
.aped breathing vengeance against the
iouse Of Using. auI IN their hlgat cam
% . stream where they stopped 70
iuench their thirst. Having cooled their
hroats. but not, II would seem. their
ma ginauons. they saw Hosting on the
water a china censor which. being r.
.overed, was found to bear this ieaenl:
Overthrow the Ts'lng and Restore the
dlng,' They stGalghtwsy determined o
hey the command thus mira u!1us}E
conveyed and mixing ihei- blood wit
sine, they drank % the destruction =
he Manchuv Thus was formed the
water Lily Sect, which hiss been lhe
Mother df al tae secret societies.
TIE long reign q KEN Lung tsa siTest
z TIE Menchu rulers. gave i;t!e caEse
r d no crpor urlty fcr Aggressive &C i3a
q me part = fhe rev brotherhood. o13t
q The reign Of his successor. Kta king
ul5reaks occurred e. saantung provtae
nser TIE direction q enc write Water
uies, and II 1s15 TIE assasEi atis1 %
no Eruqz rcr was openly attempted lr
10 streets Of Pek5n. The outrage was
sEctsy or wrongly charged o the Wblse
ster Lilies sn5 IN s'ic- vas paoi.she
1asf1s dea.h tAe penalty Fog Eem5er-
nip. Tlts penalty wss 80 Sg-1a sEtsal
wooded 5y changing TIE mare Z ire