The END has come

Not that I believe anyone from 471 is going to read this, not to mention so many of us have moved on to bigger and maybe better things, I just have to say I so enjoyed you all. I have just now come to the conclusion of school and the realization that I will miss it. The people, the friendships and the atmosphere. I did not get on board until it was almost over but what I did get to do and enjoy I will carry with me forever. Thanks to each of you and I will miss you especially the couple of you (you know who you are) I will miss dearly.

Primary Info for Presentation Mon.

1. I will bring in two books with similar pictures to pass around for your viewing pleasure.

2. The Triad oath is important to understanding their ideas of violence and rituals

3. a Netlibrary book that contains police reports of victims of triad brutality and robbery.

The Thirty-Six Oaths of the Society

1. After having entered the Hung gates, I must treat the parents and relatives of my sworn brothers as my own kin. I shall suffer death by five thunderbolts if I do not keep this oath.
2. I shall assist my sworn brothers to bury their parents and brothers by offering financial or physical assistance. I shall be killed by five thunderbolts if I pretend to have no knowledge of their troubles.
3. When Hung brothers visit my house, I shall provide them with board and lodging. I shall be killed by myriads of knives if I treat them as strangers.
4. I will always acknowledge my Hung brothers when they identify themselves. If I ignore them, I will be killed by myriads of swords.
5. I shall not disclose the secrets of the Hung family, not even to my parents, brothers, or wife. I shall never disclose the secrets for money. I will be killed by myriads of swords if I do so.
6. I shall never betray my sworn brothers. If, through a misunderstanding, I have caused the arrest of one of my brothers I must release him immediately. If I break, this oath I will be killed be five thunderbolts.
7. I will offer financial assistance to sworn brothers who are in trouble in order that they may pay their passage fee, etc. If I break this oath I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
8. I must never cause harm or bring trouble to my sworn brothers or Incense Master. If I do so I will be killed by myriads of swords.
9. I must never commit any indecent assaults on the wives, sisters, or daughters, of my sworn brothers. I shall be killed by five thunderbolts if I break this oath.
10. I shall never embezzle cash or property from my sworn brothers. If I break this oath I will be killed by myriads of swords.
11. I will take good care of the wives or children of sworn brothers entrusted to my keeping. If I do not I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
12. If I have supplied false particulars about myself for the purpose of joining the Hung family I shall be killed by five thunderbolts.
13. If I should change my mind and deny my membership of the Hung family I will be killed by myriads of swords.
14. If I rob a sworn brother or assist an outsider to do so I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
15. If I should take advantage of a sworn brother or force unfair business deals upon him I will be killed by myriads of swords.
16. If I knowingly convert my sworn brother’s cash or property to my own use I shall be killed by five thunderbolts.
17. If I have wrongly taken a sworn brother’s cash or property during a robbery I must return them to him. If I do not I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
18. If I am arrested after committing an offence I must accept my punishment and not try to place blame on my sworn brothers. If I do so I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
19. If any of my sworn brothers are killed, or arrested, or have departed to some other place, I will assist their wives and children who may be in need. If I pretend to have no knowledge of their difficulties I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
20. When any of my sworn brothers have been assaulted or blamed by others, I must come forward and help him if he is in the right or advise him to desist if he is wrong. If he has been repeatedly insulted by others I shall inform our other brothers and arrange to help him physically or financially. If I do not keep this oath I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
21. If it comes to my knowledge that the Government is seeking any of my sworn brothers who has come from other provinces or from overseas, I shall immediately inform him in order that he may make his escape. If I break this oath I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
22. I must not conspire with outsiders to cheat my sworn brothers at gambling. If I do so I will be killed by myriads of swords.
23. I shall not cause discord amongst my sworn brothers by spreading false reports about any of them. If I do so I will be killed by myriads of swords.
24. I shall not appoint myself as Incense Master without authority. After entering the Hung gates for three years the loyal and faithful ones may be promoted by the Incense Master with the support of his sworn brothers. I shall be killed by five thunderbolts if I make any unauthorized promotions myself.
25. If my natural brothers are involved in a dispute or law suit with my sworn brothers I must not help either party against the other but must attempt to have the matter settled amicably. If I break this oath I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
26. After entering the Hung gates I must forget any previous grudges I may have borne against my sworn brothers. If I do not do so I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
27. I must not trespass upon the territory occupied by my sworn brothers. I shall be killed by five thunderbolts if I pretend to have no knowledge of my brothers’ rights in such matters.
28. I must not covet or seek to share any property or cash obtained by my sworn brothers. If I have such ideas I will be killed.
29. I must not disclose any address where my sworn brothers keep their wealth nor must I conspire to make wrong use of such knowledge. If I do so I will be killed by myriads of swords.
30. I must not give support to outsiders if so doing is against the interests of any of my sworn brothers. If I do not keep this oath I will be killed by myriads of swords.
31. I must not take advantage of the Hung brotherhood in order to oppress or take violent or unreasonable advantage of others. I must be content and honest. If I break this oath I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
32. I shall be killed by five thunderbolts if I behave indecently towards small children of my sworn brothers’ families.
33. If any of my sworn brothers has committed a big offence I must not inform upon them to the Government for the purposes of obtaining a reward. I shall be killed by five thunderbolts if I break this oath.
34. I must not take to myself the wives and concubines of my sworn brothers nor commit adultery with them. If I do so I will be killed by myriads of swords.
35. I must never reveal Hung secrets or signs when speaking to outsiders. If I do so I will be killed by myriads of swords.
36. After entering the Hung gates I shall be loyal and faithful and shall endeavour to overthrow Ch’ing and restore Ming by co-ordinating my efforts with those of my sworn brethren even though my brethren and I may not be in the same professions. Our common aim is to avenge our Five Ancestors.

Appendix 6 is the best information about Triad brutality condensed. http://www.netlibrary.com.ezproxy.umw.edu:2048/Reader/

Remember only one person at a time can view this, so don’t get to impatient.

 

It’s Been Along Time Since I Rock ‘n’,no,no, Blogged

So it has been such a long time since I have blogged that I forgot how to get here. It has taken me 7 mins to figure out how to post, it most likely won’t take me that long to write it. Anyhow I have been experiencing the same things everyone else has, and I can really appreciate Steve’s sentiments about the up coming week/ weeks, I too feel overwhelmed and out of my head. My paper for this class is…. still in it’s infant stages, but I am planning on devoting a full weekend to it soon. I hope by the time of my presentation I might be up to adolescents. I have a question to you all and would love some feed back on it. We are to post a primary source to our Bloggs, I have a couple of Ideas I was tossing around, but I would like to hear from you, my peers, What would you like to see on my blog as a primary source on the Triads a) a police report by victims of triad crimes, b) pictures from the news paper of triad gang members that have been arrested, c) if I can get them pictures of rituals preformed by triads, or d) ———fill in your own idea. Ok, well I hope to hear from you all. Have a great day.

News Worthy Info

The Chinese media have been turning the spotlight on a campaign against highly secretive criminal brotherhoods – known as triads – in mainland China. Until recently, the government has only acknowledged the existence of triad gangs in Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao. Now the media are reporting that secret societies have spread across the mainland and are responsible for a wave of murders, extortion, trafficking in drugs and migrants, the selling of women and children and prostitution. Communist party leaders say the gangs even want to overthrow the state. One triad gang swore oaths of allegiance and drank blood wine. This has triggered a major crackdown against the triad crime syndicates and media reports say over 5,000 members were arrested in the first two months of the campaign which began Septemberof 2001. Police have been given free reign to seize gang leaders without going through legal procedures, media reports said. Mao stamped out the triads. Triad gangs, whose origins go back to feudal China, were stamped out in the 1950s and 1960s under Chairman Mao’s campaign against ancient Chinese cultural institutions. The media attribute their current revival to high unemployment, a sharp rise in the migrant population and relaxation of social controls associated with the reforms and the doc we have been watching “China in the Red”. But mostly, and particularly worrying for the authorities, they blame what they call “rampant collusion” between the gangs, the police and local party and government officials. The triads began as secret societies based on principles of clan alliance, personal indebtedness and mutual protection. The triads took root in Hong Kong in the last century. But in the first half of the 20th century they had become ruthless criminal organisations, first in Hong Kong and then across the Chinese diaspora. A Hong Kong newspaper has said the triads are now so powerful that local authorities are employing them to carry out the tasks of tax enforcement and requisitioning grain from the peasantry. The state news agency Xinhua reported that one gang – the “Hua clan” – had terrorised the central province of Henan for seven years, carrying out a string of 300 armed robberies. Until recently, the media have described criminals on the mainland as lacking the cohesion and quasi-religious character of the overseas triads. Now they say triads on the mainland are rapidly catching up with the Hong Kong and Taiwan gangs. Some are even adopting ancient triad initation rites. One large gang swore oaths of allegiance and sealed it by drinking “blood wine”.

Hong Kong

The Gate of Heavenly Peace Doc.

I will say the most obvious, I really recommend that all of you take the time, possibly on a weekend in the future and see the documentary “The Gate of Heavenly Peace”.

To begin with it is very powerful. I laughed, I cried, I was completely and utterly stunned.  The doc. is a great history and I would say physiological look at the Tianamen Massacre. There is a lot of history in the film, yet references and allot of personal struggle. What I liked was the personal interviews that I would say are 50/50, 50 % of the interviewees you expect and 50 % of the interviewees you do not expect. The other thing I found pretty astounding was the hypocrisy that was so blatant on both sides. Without giving to much away, another title for this doc. could have been Missed opportunities. This doc. shows how both sides unfortunately were not willing or not able at the right times to come together and make a truce.  

For any of my class mates that are looking into a project assoc., or springing from this incident I would suggest you see this, I found it to be much, better, in-depth and inspiring than the doc. we saw in class.

Been Along Time

So ok it has been 12 days since my last blog, I know I should keep up. In my defense there was 1 Dr. Bly presentation, 1 Valentines Day, 1 Wintery Mix, 1 mid-term, and 1 too many excuses:).

I hope that the information that Steve got from Theorising Chinese Masculinity helps him out. If there are any other books or materials that someone needs in the class I am more than willing to share, which I have mentioned before.

This weeks paper is proving to be daunting. I liked, actually really like the book, Red Sorghum. I feel as if the author is hiding small messages within the literature (I didn’t mean that to sound like alien mother ship messages), that reference things I wouldn’t know. He gives such detail, so much detail sometimes I think it can mean two different things or something else entirely. Example: he describes Grandfather/Commander Yu/ Yu Zhan’ao as splattering 49 droplets of water onto fathers face. Also is it just me or is the use of the word RED over whelming. I have may suspicions to what it means but again I think it has a deeper hidden meaning that I can’t or don’t understand. Lastly, the names, he leaves my mind spinning with all the different names that are associated with the same person. Although I have to admit some of the names are just fantastically juvenile, it reminds me of recces, when everyone had a name based solely on physical features, mishaps, and childish jokes. Yellow Earth again I really liked it I just felt overwhelmingly sad for all the characters especially Cuiqiao, her plight was so sad. OK. well I will try to keep in-touch more over this next week, maybe I will have a revelation or two about Red Sorghum and Yellow Earth. Or run into over lapping research.   

Pulling My Hair Out

 Dear Fellow Classmates,

I am finding it increasingly harder to thin down my topic. To my added frustration our library is lacking in anything Chinese. So, so far I have researched quite abit  about the Triads, their origns, the Triad Society name is given to a number of Chinese  secret societies by 19th-century Western observers. Most of these groups claimed descent from the Heaven and Earth Society (Taendi hui) or the Triad Society (Sanhe hui). The avowed purpose of these societies was to overthrow the alien Manchu Qing dynasty and to restore the native Chinese Ming dynasty. Societies sharing a similar ideology, ritual, and terminology spread all along the SE China coast. In times of peace the secret societies functioned as fraternal organizations, but they often became involved in criminal activities and at times armed conflict with rival groups occurred. Poor peasants, itinerant workers, and others who lacked strong kinship ties found security in the fraternal ties and in the protection offered by the societies. The Taiping Rebellion (1850-64) brought a revival of secret-society militancy and anti-Manchu sentiment, but local groups continued to function independently and no hierarchic organization was achieved. Branches of the Triads assisted Sun Yat-sen and other revolutionaries to carry out armed insurrection against the Qing dynasty in the decade before the republican revolution of 1911. The Communist government of China launched (1949-50) a campaign to eliminate secret societies soon after assuming power. Triad societies persisted outside mainland China and among overseas Chinese. For the activities of secret societies in N China during the Qing period.
Yet this version is slightly disputed, their business dealings illegally and legally, such as entertainment, construction, drugs, gambling, prostitution, and human smuggling tops their list of fun things to trade.There is also alot of information pertaining to emerging gang related activities that are spreding globally.  But where to focus, what to argue? The one topic that keeps popping up that might work is “The Changing Faces of the Triads”- which I focuses on how traditional triad gangs such as the Sun Yee On in Hong Kong function as a highly organized group that uses illegal monies to fund legal business and control government, versus the lesser gangs such as the Big Circle Boys who have established themselves as vicious and brutal hooligans that terrorize and function to destroy only to benefit themselves. This subject might work, based on the idea that masculinity is a strong driving force in both gangs yet result differently. So tell me what you think I could use an outside voice.

Cultural Revolution Poster

I found that the poster that reprsent what I thought the Culture Revolution was about is the very last poster, that speaks to/ about the Red Guard.  This poster said alot about tradition, strength and incorporated mass involvment. The poster is called: Destroy the Old World; Establish the New World

Part Two

Here is what I have done so far regarding my research and if anyone wants to join forces on sharing info on related subjects such as Kerri and Prostitution, or Drew and Gambling, let me know.

Barme, Geremie. “Wang Shuo and Liumang (Hooligan) Culture.”

Booth, Martin. The Dragon Syndicates: the Global Phenomenon of the Triads.  

Chen, Helen H. “From Sentimental Trilogy to Gangster Trilogy” Moral Dilemmas in a Cultural Crisis.” 

 

 
Chu, Yiu Kong. The Triads as a Business. (Good Info for Kerri) 

 

Hatty, Suzanne E. Masculinities, Violence, and Culture. 

 

Kimmel, Michael S, Jeff Hearn, R.W. Connell, ed. Handbook of Studies on Men & Masculinities.  

 Ogilvy, James and Peter Schwartz.
China’s Futures: Scenarios for the World’s Fastest Growing Economy, Ecology and Society.  

 Perry, Elizabeth J and Mark Selden, ed. Chinese Society: Change, Conflict and Resistance.  

 

Rojas, Carlos. “Wang Shuo and the Chinese Image/inary: Visual Simulacra and the Writing of History.”

 

 

Spence Jonathan D. The Search for Modern
China.  

Torr, James D, ed.
China Opposing View Points.

 

Weston, Timothy B, and Lionel M. Jensen, ed.
China beyond the Headlines.  
Yao, Yusheng. “The Elite Class Background of Wang Shuo and His Hooligan Characters

Research

So far research as been hit or miss on discovering what kind of information is out there on imagery and Triads. The good news is that I have been able to find enough information on the Triads themselves and what they do and why thy do it. Unfortunately our library is seriously lacking in Chinese information.

The best information that I have come across, I located is in a book called Triads as a Business. The Internet has helped somewhat in locating images associated with Triads and a few articles that I am still skimming through look promising. If anyone knows where I can find The second government: images of triads in
Hong Kong by Ching Jocelyn Cheung;  University of Hong Kong. I would be grateful.