回复 #10 韩山元 的帖子
the origins of secret societies to one source, that is, the Tiandihui. The Tiandihui originated in Zhangzhou prefecture in the southern province of Fujian. Zhangzhou was located on the coastal region and therefore, depended heavily on its maritime trade. The Qing policy of coastal evacuation between the years 1660-1685 to expel rebels fr
om the region and forced migration caused severe economic and social dislocation for the people. In order to
protect themselves and their economic interests, residents of Zhangzhou prefecture formed societies and Tiandihui was but one of the sects that sprang up.
Political loyalism to the Ming dynasty was not the raison d’être for its formation.
those triad groups in Southeast Asia as they were living in a foreign land and in hostile environment. Secret societies in Singapore congregated in jungle areas before they moved into urban areas.
This was due to the presence of plantations which held many workers who were potential secret society members.
Government authority could not reach these jungle areas and this enabled secret societies to be the de facto rulers of ‘rural’ Singapore and thus augmented their power.
In Singapore, the brotherhood ideology was used more as a tool through which managers could manipulate workers.
It integrated the “young, single, migrant workers into an unfamiliar environment and playing a role in the actual organisation of work.” In addition, some of the economic activities such as opium distribution and excise farms attained a certain level of organisation through the secret societies.Thus, to a certain extent, Singapore owed its success to this brotherhood ideology as it facilitated economic undertakings of considerable magnitude.
Order and Disorder
Like the clan and dialect associations, secret societies were demarcated on linguistic lines.
One of the largest societies, the Ghee Hin Society, had Hokkien, Hakka, Cantonese and Teochew branches, each operating independently of each other.
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By
1860, membership of the various secret societies was estimated as:
Hokkien Ghee Hin 15, 000
Hai San (Hokkien and Teochew) 6, 000
Macao (Cantonese) Ghee Hin 4, 000
Teochew Ghee Hin 3, 500
Hainanese Ghee Hin 2, 500
Ghee Kee (Hakka and Teochew) 1, 500
Ghee Sin (Teochew) 1, 500
Ghee Soon (Hokkien and Hainanese) 1, 500
Tsung Peh Society (Hokkien and Hakka) 1, 000
The total Chinese population of Singapore in 1860 was 50, 043. Based on the
figures above, this means that 72% of the Chinese population were members of secret societies! ( 再分性别，就可得知大多数成年华族男子参与秘密帮会）
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