Triad: Encyclopedia II - Triad - History of triads

Triad - History of triads

Triad - Precursor to triads—Tian Di Hui

The Triads were started as a resistance to the Manchu Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. In the 1760s, a society called the Tian Di Hui (Heaven and Earth Society) was formed in China. Its purpose was to overthrow the Manchu-led Qing Dynasty and restore Han Chinese rule. As the Tiandihui spread through different parts of China, it branched off into many groups and became known by many names, one of which was "Sanhehui" (Chinese: 三合會; Hanyu Pinyin: sānhéhuì; Yale Cantonese: saam1 hap6 wui2), literally "Three Harmonies Society", referring to the unity between Heaven, Earth, and Man.

These societies accordingly made use of the triangle in their imagery. The name "triad" was coined by British authorities in Hong Kong, referring to that use of triangular imagery.

Triad - Post-imperial developments

Over several centuries, what is known as triads today developed from a patriotic society to a criminal organization. Following the overthrowing of the Qing Dynasty of China in 1911, the Hung clan (洪門) suddenly found themselves lost without purpose. Worse still, they somehow managed to miss out on the opportunity to participate in the actual uprising, and many of them were left angry and depressed. Unable to revert to normal civilian lives after spending years living under outlawry, grave danger and extreme violence, many ex-rebels reunited to form a cult which later came to be known as the Triad. Having lost the usual donations and support from the public after the collapse of the Qing empire, members of the newly formed cult resorted to money extortion from the unwilling public through all possible means.

Triad - Migration to Hong Kong

When the Communist Party of China took power in 1949, Mainland China was put under strict law enforcement and organized crime diminished. Triad members then migrated south to the then-British crown colony of Hong Kong for the continuance of their business. By 1931, there were eight main triad groups and they had divided Hong Kong up into geographic areas and ethnic groups that each group was responsible for controlling. The eight main ones at that time were the Wo, the Rung, the Tung, the Chuen, the Shing, the Fuk Yee Hing, the Yee On, and the Luen. Each had its own headquarters, its own sub-societies, and its own public covers. After the Riot in Hong Kong in 1956, the government actively enforced the laws that restricted and diminished the Triad activities in Hong Kong.

The problems of triads in Hong Kong were worse in the 1960s and 1970s. In the past, rumour had it that the police controlled the triads and the triads took charge of the social order. If there was a kidnapping incident, the police would get the regional gang leader to resolve it. On the other hand, the police would associate with the regional gang leader in seizing the control of places where they would be in command of the businesses. Hence there was spatial stability of social powers. Then, in 1974, police corruption was effectively abated with the establishment of the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC). Now the triads had diminishing areas to control and the boundaries of triad power also blurred out. With less benefit from usual businesses, they turned to underground dealings.

Triad - Sustenance from 1980s

As the triads developed, certain ones began to monopolize some sectors of the economy in the 1980s and 1990s. For instance, the Sun Yee On had almost entire control over the cinema sector. However, their activity fields have decreased greatly as the triads have to struggle against the collaborative anti-triad operations among the Mainland, Macau and Hong Kong. Besides, easy profits no longer exist, and gang leaders' motive to vie for leadership diminishes.

Triad - Activities overseas

Concurrently, triad activities have spilt over to cities in U.S. and Canada with sizeable Chinese population, such as San Francisco, New York City, Chicago, Sacramento, Cupertino, Arcadia, Las Vegas, Auckland, Rowland Heights, New Orleans, Monterey Park and Vancouver. It is also believed that London, Manchester and Amsterdam are new centres of triad activity. They are often involved in smuggling illegal immigrants from East Asia into the USA,Canada and Britain. Triads also have associations with local East Asian American (Chinese and Vietnamese) teenage street gangs such as the Jackson Street Boys (San Francisco) , which operate in areas with large East Asian American populations.

Triad - Recent developments

Nowadays, there are approximately 57 triad societies in Hong Kong, including between 15 and 20 triads actively involved in local crimes. Scale of triad membership is difficult even for leaders to ascertain. Although some triads have only 50 members, larger ones have over 30,000 members. The most sophisticated (and well known) triads in Hong Kong nowadays are believed to be The 14K Triad, Sun Yee On, and Wo Shing Wo

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "History of triads", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki