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Show MYSTERIES OF THE CHINESE SECRET SOCIETIES. Nearly Every Chinaman Belongs to Some One of the Organizations. Jl, others Tien-Ti-Hwey or the Hung League, and in Canton and America Sam-Hap appears to be the designation. designa-tion. Its symbol is a triangle. The Kolao Hui, one of the most powerful pow-erful societies in China, sprang from his. empire to crush the White Lotus the T'ien-Ti-Ji. It has over 1,000,000 members. It dates from the Tai-Ping rebellion (1860-65), . when Ward, the American, organized the Ever . Victorious Victor-ious Army, with which Gordon won his sobriquet "Chinese." It is military in 1U organization, and forms a large part of the present horde of Boxers. Its headquarters are In Hunan and I'Konan. Writing of it ten years ago, F. H. Balfour, long a ' resident of Shanghai, said: "There is not the slightest doubt that if one of their -old It would be hard to find a Chinaman that did not belong to one secret society so-ciety at least Often he belongs to wveral "Hui,"' and Is active in . them IL whether he lives within or without the boundaries of the Flowery King-Mom. King-Mom. These societies are of all sorts, f 3nt the most Influential of them have at heart the expulsion of the Tartar dynasty, to which the present Emperor Emper-or belongB, and placing a Chinaman In Ilia place. From the Chinese viewpoint view-point the Emperor is a foreigner, though his family has ruled" for 350 years. Such a period is only a moment mo-ment In Chinese chronology. Of the societies so eager to be rid of Tartar rule some are of ancient origin,, ori-gin,, as old as Masonry. In fact, several sev-eral learned Masons who have studied the Chinese societies have found start- wife he formed a plot to blow np the palace at Pekin. For months it was incubating, and many thousands of persons, male and female, were engaged, en-gaged, but no hint , reached the government gov-ernment until the conspirators were actually entering the palace. A great gust of wind suddenly extinguished their lights and a few members,, seized with superstitious panic, cried out, thus alayning the guards Kia king, the emperor, used the whole power of his empire to crush, the White lotus. Fan-Yung-Chen was captured. Nan-kiE.. Nan-kiE.. the headquarters of the society fell, and thousands of the White Lotus fell into the hands of the imperialists, so many, in fact; that even a Chinese viceroy would be merciful, and offered toremit the death penalty of all who would eat flesh. Some ate, but the bo seueram were to raise the standard of rebellion he might have 100,000 men about him in the time it took to spread the news from Nankin to Hankow." Frederick Boyle says of this ."Kolao Hui" that it is a military" conspiracy whose agents travel about as doctors. ciety -boasts that every one that , did so suffered death by slow torture afterward af-terward at the.hands of their former brethren." "The Wei Keaou's are genuine gen-uine mystics," says Mr. Balfour. "They prefer death to breaking their vows of abstinence, and the members assume the rank and title ' of regularly . appointed ap-pointed officials bound by a code of laws as rigidly enforced as that of any recognized community." . Ung similarities In organization, degrees, de-grees, rites and methods of procedure. Dr. Gustave Schlegel and William Stanton, Stan-ton, earnest slnilogues, have written "or the Thian Ti Hwut Parker, Pfoun-des, Pfoun-des, Hue, Dyer Bell, Boyle, Arthur Cmyth and others have said much. The China Review and the Shanghai Daily Press, North China Dally News, China Mail, China Gazette, Hong Kong Telegraph, Tele-graph, etc, give many references to the doings of these societies. As a writer in Blackwood's Magazine says, China offers a congenial soli for the growth of all sorts of Illegal combinations. combina-tions. This is due to the general maladministration mal-administration of, the country. Under oppression and tyranny secret societies socie-ties spring into life as weeds grow on a rubbish heap; and so iniquitous and cruel is the political system of China that it is only by combinations that """ ' . 1 .. bearing news from one center to another, and seeking for new members as they go. It has broken out several times since General Tseng-Kuo-Fan organized it at the time of the siege of Nankin. In 1871 it had planned to blow up the powder magazine at Hu-kow, Hu-kow, but a letter describing the plan reached the wrong person and many important members of tie Kolao Hui lost their heads. Several times since then foreign papers have told of its doings, but the present Boxer disturbance disturb-ance exceeds previous outbreaks in importance. . fhe people can resist the most flagrant "wrongs the mandarins geek to im-JTose im-JTose upon them. In some provinces where large family fam-ily clans exist the members band themselves them-selves together under the patriachal head of the tribe, and succeed in resisting resist-ing the illegal and sometimes even the legal exactions of the local authorities. Jn Tu-khein, for example, the Chang clan numbers something like 10,000 persons and so well are they organized that the Emperor's writs, run among mem only by consent of the elders. Such a combination presents a difficulty diffi-culty in the government of the province, prov-ince, and the luckless mandarins, finding find-ing themselves powerless to enforce the usual exactions from the members of the clan, make up for this inability Thorough Initiation. There is a Mohammedan society called the Hui Hui Jin, which must have other enticements for persons to Join than its initiation ceremonies. Outside Information as to the "H. H. J.'s" Is meagre, but the first step is ' "CHlNtSf. PlBATCVAWAITII-CXECUTION M ftQWLONC, fcy putting heavier burdens on those outside the protective Influence of the powerful Chang tribe. To some extent a Hui or secret society so-ciety can protect Its members from the mandarin,f and thus give to them benefit bene-fit such as the Chang clansmen enjoy. Often it does this by blackmail. It convinces con-vinces the mandarin that so long as he ,loes as the Hui wishes the Hui wlfl be jwtth him, otherwise it will be against !Wm; It will create disturbances and sea that reports of these disturbances reach ths proper officials In Pekn. If ,the Hui is powerful, the mandarin is (mther a manikin, to which strings at-jtach, at-jtach, that parties with conflicting pur-jposes pur-jposes pull In opposite direction.. , The Oldest Secret Society. I The Triad is one of the oldest, perhaps per-haps the very oldest, of the HuL It has Trioua names, some call It rien-Tl- a sound thrashing, which purifies externally, ex-ternally, and the second Is a couple of gallons of soapsuds which the victim must drink for purification internally. Ot another Hui. the Wei Keaou, "White Lotus," the "Do Nothing" or "No Hypocrisy" society, Mr. Balfour says it is more religious than the others. oth-ers. There are many women members. Its members wear white clothing and are, therefore, conspicuous. They are strict vegetarians and hold all property prop-erty In common, each member having the usufruct of what was his or her property before initiation, but enjoying this only so long as the Hui does not ask for it Strange to say, most of the Wei Keaous come from the richer classes of society, and bo the grand master of the organiration has a vast sum at his disposal. "About 1810," says W. Boyle, "a certain Fang-Yung-Chen ruled the Wei Kaou. With his |