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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 November 2008
Chinese secret societies have usually proved to be enigmatic topics for scholarly study. Although a considerable amount of writing and research in several languages has been published about Chinese secret societies during the past hundred years, the topic remains beset by a variety of contradictory information.
1 Hsiung-fei, Wen, Nan-yang hua-ch'ao t'ung-shih (History of the Chinese in Southeast Asia), Ch. IV.Google Scholar
2 Ibid.
3 Ch'ing Kao-tsung-shun huang-ti shih-lu (Records of the Ch'ing Dynasty during the Reign of the Ch'ien-lung Emperor) (Hereafter CSL), chüan 1273, document dated January 1787. The Chinese date for this document reads Ch'ien-lung 52nd year, 1st month. Hereafter the Chinese date will be given in parenthesis after the Western date, as, for example, CL52/1.Google Scholar
4 See the Ch'in-ting p'ing-ting T'ai-wan chi-lüeh (Record of Imperial Orders Regarding Taiwan) (Hereafter CTPT), chüan 3, Report from Ch'ang Ch'ing dated 20 January 1787 (CL 52/1/20).Google Scholar
5 CTPT, chüan 58, Report from Fu K'ang-an and O Hui dated 14 April 1788 (CL 53/4/14).Google Scholar
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 CSL, chüan 1302, document dated 14 April 1788 (CL 53/4/14).Google Scholar
10 CTPT, chüan 61, Report from Li Shih-yao dated 23 May 1788 (CL 53/5/23).Google Scholar
11 Ibid.
12 CTPT, chüan 64, Report from Sun Shih-i dated 17 June 1788 (CL 53/6/17).Google Scholar
13 CSL, chüan 1318.Google Scholar
14 CSL, chüan 1325, document dated March 1789 (CL 54/3).Google Scholar
15 See I-shan, Hsiao, Chin-tai pi-mi she-hui shih-liao (Materials on Secret Societies), chüan I, p. 5.Google Scholar
16 CSL, chüan 1319.Google Scholar
17 CSL, chüan 1321.Google Scholar
18 See CSL, chüan 1274, and chüan 1325, document dated March 1789 (CL 54/3).Google Scholar
19 Ch'ang-ling, Ho (ed). Huang-ch'ao ching-shih wen-pien (Collected Essays on Statecraft from the Ch'ing Dynasty). Under the section Li-cheng (Government Emissaries) see chüan 23 under the name Wang Chin-i.Google Scholar
20 See the illustrations of Society documents which appear in Chu Lin, Hung-men-chih (Record of the Hung League), Ch. IX, Sec. 3; and Hsiao I-shan, Chin-tai pi-mi she-hui shi-liao, chüan I.Google Scholar
21 lin, Chu, Hung-men-chih, Ch. IX, Sec. 3. Chu mistakenly says that the Yungcheng Emperor ruled for twelve years, but in fact his reign lasted for thirteen years.Google Scholar
22 CTPT, chüan 8.Google Scholar
23 Lin, Chu, Hung-men-chih, Ch. IX, Sec. 3.Google Scholar
24 CTPT, chüan 3, Report from Ch'ang Ch'ing dated 20 January 1787 (CL 52/1/20).Google Scholar
25 Ibid.
26 CTPT, chüan 4, Report from Sun Shih-i dated 27 January 1787 (CL 52/1/27).Google Scholar
27 CTPT, chüan 13, Report from Sun Shih-i dated 9 April 1787 (CL 52/4/9).Google Scholar
28 CTPT, chüan 58, Report from Fu K'ang-an dated 14 April 1788 (CL 53/4/14).Google Scholar
29 Ibid.
30 CSL, chüan 1307.Google Scholar
31 CSL, chüan 1310, document dated August 1788 (CL 53/8).Google Scholar
32 See CSL, chüan 1310, document dated August 1788 (CL 53/8), and chüan 1318, document dated February 1788 (CL 53/2).Google Scholar
33 See I-shan, Hsiao, Chin-tai pi-mi she-hui shih-liao, chüan I, p. 44.Google Scholar
34 A number of riddles used by members of the Society included the name Kao-hsi Temple. Examples of some of them can be found in ibid., chüan I, p. 46; chüan I, p. 46; chüan 5, p. 17; chüan 5, p. 24. Note the rhyme in the Chinese version of the riddle below, which is taken from chüan 4, p. 4: Hung-hua-t'ing-shang i-lu-hsiang, wu-jen tso-hsia tso-wen-chang; Kao-hsi-miao-nei k'an-pen-shih, chiu-ch'ou szu-hai pa-ming-yang. With incense burning in the Huang-hua Pavillion, Five men sat writing essays; What took place inside the Kao-hsi Temple, Became renowned the world over.
35 See the Shen-pao yueh-k'an (Shen Pao Monthly), Vol. IV, No. I.Google Scholar
36 One source which accepts the interpretation that there actually were five founders is Chang Yün, Chin-pu-huan (Eternal Gold), see Ch. I. An interpretation which claims that the five founders were military commanders under Cheng Ch'engkung is given in Chu Lin, Hung-men-chih, Ch. II, Sec. 2.Google Scholar
37 This is only one phrase from a rhyme of four lines. The entire rhyme is given in Hsiao I-shan, Chin-tai pi-mi she-hui shih-liao, chüan 5, p. 24.Google Scholar
38 The complete rhyme is in ibid., chüan 5, p. 7.
39 The complete rhyme is in ibid., chüan 5, p. 9.
40 This interpretation appears in Chang Yün, Chin-pu-huan, Ch. II.Google Scholar
41 For this interpretation see Chu Lin, Hung-men-chih, Ch. I.Google Scholar
42 This interpretation was put forward by Hsiao I-shan in ‘Chin-tai min-tzu ke-ming te yuan-liu’ (Origins of the People's Revolution), Ta-lu tza-chih shin-hsüehts'ung-shu (Continent Magazine's Collected Historical Works Series), Series I, No. I, p. 304.Google Scholar
43 See CTPT, chüan 56, Report from Fu K'ang-an, Hai Lan-ts'ai and O Hui dated 7 March 1788 (CL 53/3/7).Google Scholar
44 See Ya-t'ang, Lien, T'ai-want'ung-shih (History of Taiwan), chüan 30, Biographies.Google Scholar
45 This fact was given in a confession made by Chu I-kuei.Google Scholar See Ming-Ch'ing shih-liao (Records of the Ming and Ch'ing Dynasties), wu-pien (Volume Five).Google Scholar
46 CTPT, chüan 58, Report from Fu K'ang-an and O Hui dated 14 April 1788 (CL 53/4/14).Google Scholar