A secret criminal organization in China. The triad is a mafia in the Chinese way. The Law of Triads: Silence and Submission

Many of us learned about the Chinese triads thanks to the book “Yellow Dragon Jiao”, popular in the Soviet years, and later from Hollywood action films. But with all this, the triads remain the most closed structures, about which much less is known than about the Cosa Nostra or the Yakuza. But this does not prevent them from being the largest criminal organizations in the world: the number of triad members in China and Taiwan alone exceeds 1,200,000 people - this does not include those who live on other continents. Wherever there are Chinese, there are triads.

For all their closedness, the triads are the oldest criminal organization in the world - they are already more than 2500 years old: the first mention of them appeared in Chinese chronicles during the reign of Emperor Qin Shi Huangdi (221-210 BC). But actually they began to be called triads much later.

From the struggle for freedom to the criminal community

The first reliable information about the triads dates back to 1644, when the last emperor of the Ming dynasty was overthrown and power passed to the Manchu Qing dynasty. and did not succeed. In 1674, all the fighters, except for five people, were captured and brutally executed, and the monastery that served as their stronghold was destroyed.

The surviving monks, united by their hatred of the invaders, swore revenge. A deeply conspiratorial group proclaimed its goal the extermination of the Manchus. A triangle was chosen as an emblem, in which three sides symbolized heaven, earth and man - the main elements of the Chinese universe. But not only this was the reason for choosing a triangle. Chinese culture has a highly developed numerological tradition and the number 3 is believed to have special properties, especially when it comes to criminal activity. (For extortion, for example, the rate is often calculated on the basis of three.) Although the five surviving monks, known today as the Five Ancestors, gave their organization the name "Hun Mun", or the Society of Earth and Sky (Tiandihui), in the West it is better known in connection with the mentioned symbol. Thus, the term "triad" is used almost exclusively by Westerners. The native Chinese commonly refer to this organization as the Heishehui, the black society.

Although Hong Mun failed to overthrow the Manchu dynasty, the organization existed for many years. Teaming up with the previously created "White Lotus", she constantly disturbed the imperial forces and repeatedly pushed the population to rebellion. According to the principles of Buddhism, the members of the organization had to respect the rights and share the aspirations of the peasants; this tactic was used with great success for almost 300 years by the communists under the leadership of Mao Zedong. At the same time, the thesis that "armies protect the emperor, and secret societies protect people" became widespread.

The triads wielded power and influence, although they never achieved their original goal of overthrowing the Manchu Qing Dynasty, which had never been popularly loved due to the brutal, repressive nature of power. A stable positive image of this organization remained until 1842 and the establishment of British rule in Hong Kong. Although the triads remained focused on political and cultural goals, their presence was unsettling to Britain, and as a result they were declared "incompatible with the maintenance of order" and accused of creating preconditions for the commission of crimes and harboring criminals. Following the example of the imperialist authorities in China, the British authorities made it a crime not only to actually belong to the triad, but even to intend to join it. Punishment - up to three years in prison. If at this stage the triads had no obvious criminal goals, such an attitude undoubtedly pushed them in this direction.

In 1848, Hong Mun merged with a new secret society that had arisen in the Canton region, the Warriors of God. Together they organized the Taiping uprisings. Canton was besieged, the uprising spread to Shanghai and other cities. At this point, the rituals of the triad were still aimed at emphasizing the positive image of the organization. The new state of Taiping tyanguo was proclaimed - the Heavenly State of Great Prosperity. By then, China had become a semi-colony of Great Britain, the United States, and France, and the triads were the only force that offered organized resistance to foreign exploitation and oppression.

On the other hand, the "Boxer Rebellion" of 1900 marked the transformation of the triads into organizations pursuing exclusively criminal goals. The uprising, which got its name because it was led by the secret society Fist for Justice and Consent (Yihetuan), was aimed at driving foreigners out of the country through murder and intimidation, directed primarily against settlements and missions located in Beijing and Shanghai. When besieged diplomats and trade representatives turned to their governments for help, eight countries sent expeditionary forces to China.

A combined force of 2,000, which included soldiers from Great Britain, Germany, Russia, France, the United States, Japan, Italy and Austria, under the overall command of the British Admiral Sir Edward Seymour, landed in June 1900. Strong resistance from the rebel and imperial Chinese troops forced Seymour retreat and call for reinforcements. In August, the number of his forces increased immediately by 20,000 people. After the capture of Tianjin, foreign armies began to fight their way to Beijing and reached the capital on 14 August.

Over the next few months, the invasion force continued to grow. In the end, they captured Beijing and rushed into the provinces to pursue the rebels. In February 1901, the Chinese authorities were forced to ban the "Yihetuan" society, and on September 7 of the same year they signed the "Final (or" Boxing) Protocol), which was the official end of the uprising. The country was completely demoralized, a crushing blow was dealt to the prestige of the authorities, but the imperial government had to go to even greater humiliation, allowing foreigners to consolidate their interests and continue to exploit the people and resources of the country. The consequences of the uprising continued to affect throughout the 20th century.

From that moment it became absolutely clear that the triads would not be able to exert any noticeable influence on the formation and implementation of China's national interests. The "Boxers", which represented the same secret society, not only failed to protect the nation, but were defeated, and foreign enemies The Chinese are stationed all over the country, armed to the teeth and determined to brutally crush any internal resistance.

And then the activities of secret societies turned inland. Since they were unable to throw off foreign oppression, it means that they will have to engage in the exploitation of their fellow citizens, building up forces and avoiding any influence or threat from non-Chinese forces. True, for some time they retained an interest in politics. Their most outstanding achievement was their support of Dr. Sun Yat-sen in overthrowing the Manchu Qing Dynasty and establishing a republican system of government. Many researchers believe that Sun Yat-sen actively used triads to ensure success; this is a well-founded assumption, especially considering that in his youth, according to numerous testimonies, he occupied a fairly prominent place in the triad "Green Gang" - "Society of Three Harmonies".

And Chiang Kai-shek, who replaced Sun as leader of the Kuomintang Party, was also a member of the triad. When the collapse began Republic of China as a result of civil strife and the increasing pressure of the communists Mao Zedong, Chiang Kai-shek attracted the triads to support him, but nothing could save him. After Mao's victory in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek and his followers fled to Formosa (Taiwan), and the triad leaders who decided to stay on the mainland were found and executed. Some managed to escape to Portuguese-owned Macau, or Hong Kong, where the British government, weakened by the recent war with Japan and more tolerant than a hundred years ago, although continuing to make harsh statements about the triads, was no longer able to carry out its draconian laws into practice with the same ruthless energy as before.

In the second half of the XX century. Hong Kong was the headquarters of the triads, the think tank of their many global ventures. Among the most famous organizations is K 14, named after its postal address (house 14 Po-wah-rod in Canton) and the first letter of the name of its founder, Kuomintang Lieutenant General Kot Siuwong, who founded this triad in the 1940s. gg. In the 1980s the number of "14 K", according to estimates, was more than 25,000 in Hong Kong alone; she took key positions in the organization of heroin shipments to the Netherlands, the UK, Canada and the USA. It has branches in all these countries. Investigators from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police say 14K and other triads have permanent representatives in every Chinese conspicuous community across North America, are involved in almost every area of ​​criminal activity that can bring profit, from extortion and fraud with loans to scams with credit cards and video piracy.

Structure and customs of triads

Accustomed to a secretive lifestyle, members of the triads still use their slang, secret handshakes, gestures and signs, as well as numerical codes to designate ranks and positions in the grouping hierarchy (they are derived from traditional Chinese numerology based on the Book of Changes).

The hierarchy of triads is simple, but deliberately confusing. "489" means "master of the mountain", "dragon head" or "lord of incense" (i.e. clan leader). This number is composed of characters meaning "21" (4+8+9), which in turn is a derivative of two numbers: "3" (creation) multiplied by "7" (death) equals "21" (rebirth). "438" means "steward" (deputy leader, or operational commander, or master of ceremonies). The sum of the digits that make up this number is 15, and the number "15" in every superstitious Chinese is reverent, because meeting with him, including various combinations, promises great luck. "432" - "straw sandals" (that is, a liaison between the various divisions of the clan), "426" - "red pole" (that is, the commander of the militants or the executor of power decisions), "415" - "white paper fan" (that is, financial adviser or administrator), "49" - an ordinary member. This number also has its own meaning. It decomposes into "4" and "9". Their derivative "36" means the number of oaths pronounced upon entry into the triad. It is no coincidence that all codes begin with the number "4", because according to ancient Chinese belief, the world is surrounded by four seas. With the number "25", members of the triads designate a police agent embedded in a group, a traitor or a spy of another gang ..

According to other sources, the “yellow dragon” (leader) is in charge of the overall leadership and strategy of the triad, the “white paper fan” is responsible for education and counterintelligence, as well as general issues and finances, “straw sandals” (aka “sandal stick”) - for contacts with other secret societies, the "red pole" (aka "red rod" or "red staff") - for protection and power operations, including showdowns with competitors and the elimination of traitors, and the nickname "monk" denotes ordinary members.

In the structure of each triad there are departments (or directions) of protection, information, communications, recruitment and education, each of which is headed by a deputy leader or a very authoritative gangster. For example, the information department is engaged in intelligence and counterintelligence, including among competitors and the police; the recruitment department operates in schools and universities, and is also looking for informants among rickshaws, taxi drivers, waiters, street vendors and prostitutes. Members of the triads are linked by a complex system of rituals, oaths, passwords, and even ceremonial mixing of blood. They unmistakably recognize each other by many conventional signals invisible to outsiders: the order of the dishes placed on the table, the special manner of holding chopsticks and tea cups during meals or on riddle questions. For example, to the question "What is three times eight?" the member of the triad will answer: "Twenty-one", because he knows that the character "han" (the Chinese name for the triad) consists of three parts, indicated by the numbers "3", "8" and "21".

Some Hong Kong triads still maintain the tradition of ceremonially initiating newcomers into their fraternity. This is how this ceremony is described in Vsevolod Kalinin's book "Golden Orchid":

To join the “brotherhood”, you need not only to get the recommendation of a triad member with experience, but also to go through a preparatory period, during which the newcomer is subjected to severe and dangerous tests, including him in the operations carried out by gangsters. In addition, "recruits" learn the history and rituals of a secret society, secret signals with gestures and fingers, verbal passwords. By the time of entry, it is necessary to memorize 21 rules of the disciplinary code and 10 points of punishment for violating it, as well as 36 oaths. During the mystical ritual, you will have to give the correct answers to questions in the form of allegories or riddles. The ceremony is attended by Shang Qiu (Lord of Incense) and Han Qiu (Ruler). The passage of the Mountain of knives is the name of the initial stage of the ritual. The ruler writes down the names, addresses, ages of those who enter. They pay small fees. The lord of incense lights scented sticks in front of the joss-house and announces: "The Han Brotherhood will live for millions of years." spoken later. Paragraph 24 states that a new member of society can rise to the hierarchical level no earlier than after three years. Next, the newcomers have to go through three gates, each of which has two high-ranking members of society. The guards strike them flat on the backs with their swords and ask each one: “Which is harder: the sword or your neck?” “My neck,” comes the answer, meaning that even under the threat of death, the secrets of society will not be revealed. Then the “recruits” pronounce all 36 oaths, and with the last words, each of them sticks the smoldering end of the stick into the floor, thereby showing that the light of his life will also disappear if the oath is violated. At the next stage of initiation, a lot of time is devoted to checking the knowledge of secret signals, passwords. Then the word is taken by the third-ranking leader - the Red Staff - the guardian of order and discipline, the executor of sentences. Beginners, remaining on their knees, stretch out their left hands, palms up. The red staff pierces the middle fingers with a needle with a thick red thread, from which blood oozes. It is added to the mixture in the goblet, poured into cups and given to everyone to drink. From this moment on, newcomers are considered accepted into a brotherhood sealed by an oath on the blood, from the bonds of which only death can release. Ceremonial objects and various structures are put on fire so that everything remains a mystery. A celebration begins, which is paid for by those who join the triad.

The more the triads move away from cultural and political goals towards criminal activity, the more sophisticated their secret rituals become, in which new complex ceremonies are added. The essence of the initiation procedure is still the same as it came from the depths of time, however, due to the presence of many complex procedures, the entire process can take up to eight hours. Among the initiation rites is the "Passage through the Mountain of Swords", during which the candidate slowly passes under sharp, heavy swords hanging precariously over his head.

The newly accepted members of the triad are taught secret handshakes and various signals, which have long been one of the indispensable features of the existence of society. How a person holds chopsticks while eating, with how many fingers he raises a glass while drinking - all this contains important information for members of the triad. Code phrases are used to convey information that should not become the property of the uninitiated. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, which managed to infiltrate the triads and collect more information about them than any other police force in Western countries, managed to establish that, for example, the words "bite clouds" meant "smoke opium", and "black dog" was called a firearm. (The past tense is deliberately used here, as it is unlikely that, after its publication in 1987 in the Bulletin of the RCMP and reprinted in several other editions of the triad jargon code, the same words still retain their former meaning.)

Initiation into the most powerful triads may involve the ceremonial decapitation of a live chicken. The blood of the still trembling bird is poured into a glass, mixed with the blood of newcomers, diluted with a fair dose of wine, after which everyone present takes a sip of this mixture. The empty glass is then smashed, thus showing what fate awaits anyone who tries to deceive the triad.

Also, as in other criminal communities, tattoos are of great importance in triads (they can be depicted both in the form of drawings and in the form of a hieroglyph denoting them). For example, the dragon means prosperity, nobility and power, the snake - wisdom, clairvoyance and will, the turtle - longevity, spruce - patience and chosenness, pine (the emblem of Confucius) - longevity, courage, loyalty and stamina, plum - longevity, purity, strength, steadfastness and hermitage, cherry - courage and hope, olive - peace, steadfastness and generosity, orange - immortality and good luck, clover - triad, orchid - perfection, harmony and sophistication, lotus - wealth, nobility and fidelity, peony - masculinity, glory , luck and wealth, marigolds - longevity, magnolia - self-esteem, plantain - self-education.

Triads and the international mafia

The comparison between the triads and the Italian "Cosa Nostra" involuntarily suggests itself, but there is a very significant difference between them. Although the core of Cosa Nostra is Italian, in the past it has had strategic ties with other ethnic groups, especially Jewish and Irish criminal circles. The Triads, by contrast, remain entirely Chinese in composition and culture. Unlike criminal communities of Italian origin, which did not care who to rob, the triads choose only Chinese and Chinese organizations as their main sources of income. Although at one time the triads, Cosa Nostra and the Japanese yakuza concluded certain agreements among themselves, the triads to the greatest extent retained independence and closeness from the outside world.

Another notable difference between the triads and the mafia concerns structure and discipline. As anyone who has watched The Godfather or even one episode of The Sopranos knows, Italian organized gangs are highly structured and run with a firm hand, like any corporation (or rather, it was; we will discuss the details in the next chapter). Before undertaking any profitable business, members of the mafia must obtain the approval of the leadership and agree in advance to transfer part of the income to it. Negligence or willful failure to comply with these rules can result in the most severe penalties.

The triads do not have such strict discipline and completely lack the concept of top-to-bottom negotiation and transfer of the share of the spoils from bottom to top. Here is how one of the participants in the already mentioned Hong Kong triad “14 K” during interrogation described the situation in his organization to an Australian parliamentary investigator: “I was not required to pay a mandatory share to the management of 14 K. This is not accepted in triads. Members of the triad treat each other benevolently, provide mutual support and assistance to colleagues in criminal groups, but in triads, as a rule, there is no such strict disciplined organizational structure, which is available in other groups, for example, in the Italian mafia. A member of the triad is not required to obtain permission from the "Dragon Head" of his triad to participate in a particular criminal action ... On the other hand, during ... traditional Chinese holidays, such like Chinese New Year, members of the triad, according to custom, present gifts to their "elder brothers" or "uncles", who often occupy a leading position in the triads.

It can be said that the triads act "smarter" than the mafia, whose brutality has become the talk of the town. Triad fighters can be just as brutal, but they often preface their actions with subtle or very direct threats. One Hong Kong businessman who did not want to reckon with threats from the triad was sent a severed dog's head, possibly influenced by the gunmen's famous horse-head scene from The Godfather. He was killed only a few days later, after he defiantly ignored and this threat.

Insularity makes it particularly difficult for Western intelligence agencies to access the triads. Chinese communities in North America are the most closed of all ethnic groups, and are justifiably wary of attempts by outsiders to gain access to their culture. As a result, in order to penetrate to the leaders of the triad, it is necessary to overcome two defensive barriers: the general cultural barrier that all Chinese use to fence off foreigners, and the veil of secrecy that protects the triads as such.

Another complication for law enforcement is the ability to bribe or threaten to compromise local police, especially in Hong Kong. For many years before the transfer of Hong Kong to China (1997), the Royal Hong Kong Police Force did not have an effective criminal unit, and, apparently, the influence of the triads and the scope of their activities in the colony were greatly underestimated. Only a detailed investigation carried out in 1983 showed the true extent of the clandestine criminal groups. At the same time, it became known about the colossal corruption in the KKE, in particular, that the police elite for many years covered up the drug trade carried out by the triads. Many police officers have made a fortune from triad connections, and according to police sources, many of them emigrated to the UK and Canada before Hong Kong became part of communist China in 1997, where, thanks to their accumulated wealth, they settled down safely and turned into respectable wealthy businessmen.

The accession to mainland China in July 1997 also prompted a mass exodus of members of the triad abroad for fear of imminent reprisals, but numerous observers who imagine the level of corruption under the communist regime are confident that since then the triads have regained their former influence. However, one very significant difference remains. During the period of British rule, those few triadic leaders who fell into the hands of the law and were convicted of crimes were sentenced to imprisonment. If the Beijing government is pursuing the same policy in Hong Kong as on the mainland, the leaders of the triads can hardly count on such leniency; in such a case, the most likely punishment for them should be execution.

It is possible that the Hong Kong triads are now more or less under the control of Beijing, but their influence, again, to a greater or lesser extent, extends to the whole world. In the UK, the National Crime Police conducted an investigation of triad activity in the country, which took place under the unpretentious code name "Chopsticks". A 1996 NPC report stated that there were four triads operating in the UK, none of which were controlled from Hong Kong; therefore, these groups were not part of the international criminal community. The victims of the triads were mostly Chinese immigrants involved in small businesses; they generally did not report crimes to the British authorities. The investigation also found that triads do not play a significant role in the drug trade—unlike the situation in Australia, Canada and the United States.

In 1988, an investigation by the Australian government revealed that 85-95% of all heroin entering that country was imported by Chinese triads. However, ten years later, a similar investigation conducted by the Americans showed that the proportion of triads has noticeably decreased as a result of competition from criminal organizations in Southeast Asia, primarily Vietnam, Cambodia, Burma (Myanmar) and the Philippines.

In the 1970s and 1980s the most high-quality heroin entering North America was produced in Turkey, processed in Marseille, from where it got to the USA (the famous "French network"); all this happened under the control of the mafia. The emigration of the leaders of the triad from Hong Kong in the 1990s. allowed the Chinese to partially seize control of drug networks. The Triads found their way around Marseille, through which the bulk of the potion had previously passed. Now routes run either through Amsterdam, or directly to Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, and from there to the main market - in the USA. Most researchers consider the triad "14 K" as the primary source of drugs.

However, it is possible that the methods used by the triads may lead to the destruction of these organizations. In the North American drug market, their dominance was challenged by powerful new Vietnamese gangs who abandoned tradition and mysticism in favor of the most blatant intimidation. The Vietnamese have long been seen as more ruthless and aggressive than other Asian factions, a perception that has been around since their initial incursion into North America in the 1980s. This state of affairs was explained by one of the former members of the Royal Mounted Police Narcotics Department: “The leaders of the old gangs are a product of Vietnam War. These guys have been well trained. Perhaps they were trained in the army or street gangs, but after the unification of Vietnam under the rule of the northerners, they first settled in refugee camps, and then they had to fight for existence long enough in the most direct sense of the word to get to Canada or the USA without any pennies in your pocket. They have already seen death and violence on an unthinkable scale and are happy that they survived, so they, by and large, simply have nothing to lose.

In many cities, the triads have by now practically withdrawn from many areas of criminal activity, not wanting to confront the more violent Vietnamese gangs. They focused on squeezing money out of their kin, leaving the rest of the "market" to new entrants.

There is no consensus about the future of China's secret societies - the triads. Some speculate that China's growing economic power and unwilling corruption in China will lead to an increase in triad activity in their homeland, despite the policy that high-profile criminals in that country can only expect one punishment - death. Others believe that the triads owe their prosperity to some extent to the age-old servility of the Chinese towards other powers, and with the growth of China's economic power and international influence, the triads may return to their historical mission in the field of culture. But, no matter what path the further development of the triads takes, they will undoubtedly retain their mystery and structure, which arose more than two thousand years ago.

Almost every person in his country knows what the concept of “Mafia” is. Mafia is primarily a system created by a group of individuals. As one person said: "Mafia is immortal." And this is indeed the case. The criminal world will live forever, it has its own laws and orders, concepts. Today we will talk about the Chinese mafia, or as it is also called the “Triad”. The Chinese mafia is in many ways different from our Russian chaps. Strict rules and traditions have been in force here for more than 2500 years. The triad is a traditional form of criminal society that has officially existed since the 17th century BC. In 1644, the nomadic horsemen of the Manchu Qing Dynasty captured China in a barbaric way. Men and small children were killed, and women were raped. At the same time, the Chinese Shaulin Monastery, which was famous for its martial arts, was destroyed. Only three monks survived, who went in search of provisions for their comrades. When they returned to the temple, they saw that all their brothers were dead. They decided to avenge their comrades and founded the first "Triad". Union of Earth, Sky and Man in the name of justice. All merchants were taxed. If someone refused to pay money to a secret society, he died in terrible agony, and his entire family was slaughtered. The proceeds were used to buy weapons and ammunition. The monks at the head of their society waged a guerrilla war against the invaders of China. This continued until the monks died and new leaders took their place. The new leaders had a completely different policy, instead of guerrilla warfare, they preferred to engage in the slave trade, piracy, illegal gold mining, and racketeering. That's when the "Triad" became a mafia to oppose the Chinese imperial dynasty.

Nowadays Chinese mafia The Triad is all over the world. Their leaders are well established in Thailand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan. In addition, they are in Europe, USA, UK and Australia. But most of all, the eye is laid on the Far East of Russia. The Chinese mafia deals with literally everything, the criminal list is very large. These are extortion, drug trafficking, prostitution, illegal migration, gambling, racketeering and “protection of businessmen”. Accounting in the "Triad" is very severe. At the end of each month, the tax inspectors of the Chinese mafia come to the Chinese merchants and businessmen to collect the due 15 percent of the profits. It is undesirable to deceive the “Triad”, severe punishment immediately follows. On the same day or night, a businessman and his family, relatives, relatives, friends are killed, and then the store or shop is burned down. All living and non-living things associated with this person are destroyed. So, if you don't pay, you'll turn to dust. The Triad has strict rules and regulations. Everyone unquestioningly performs their tasks. At the head of each family there is a boss, the brigadiers are subordinate to the boss, the brigadiers control the fighters.

To work for the Triad, you need to earn respect and be useful person. If a person is useless, he is just a piece of walking meat. Not everyone is accepted into the family. This is primarily a business, there is no friendship here, there is only devotion to one's work and one's family.

So, for example, if a brigadier or a fighter “has messed up”, simply speaking, did not follow the instructions of the boss, a severe punishment follows.

There is only one punishment - death. Forgiveness can be earned by presenting a severed finger to the barefoot. Some do so, but such members of the group lose credibility. Someone may say that the author has seen enough films and writes all sorts of nonsense. So here it is the purest truth like a child's tear. In 2006, there was a “Triad” war in China, in Beijing alone, a group of people hacked to death more than ten people with machetes in one night. Among these people was a young guy who went on a date to propose to his girlfriend. When they met in the park, a minibus suddenly drove up and people in masks ran out. They began to cut the guy with machetes, and he fought back and defended the girl. In the end, the girl was not touched, and he was cut up in a matter of seconds. Dying on the lap of his beloved, he nevertheless gave her the ring. As the police found out, it was a foreman from one of the Triads. When there is a redistribution of power, the police never intervene, in their interests to kill as many members of the criminal community as possible. When Mao Zedong was in power in China. The Chinese Communists have decreed that the Chinese factions must be eradicated in the bud. Criminal leaders were shot in batches, but their sons and brothers came to their place. It turned out that you can’t shoot the whole mafia. Thus, over the hundreds of years of their existence, the Triads have accumulated a unique experience of confronting law enforcement agencies. According to many veterans of the Chinese police, even if all their leaders are jailed, not a single screw in the Triad mechanism will ever fail. One of the life principles of the Chinese says: "Take your time, sit down and think." The Chinese "Triad" thinks through everything and plans for many years to come, it does not live for today. This is what distinguishes the Chinese mafia from ours. They are not in a hurry to make huge profits right away. Why rush somewhere if the work you have started is right. And no matter how paradoxical it may sound, the Chinese mafia is trying to strengthen the Chinese economy every year. Unlike the Russian "Solntsevo" or "Podolsk" organized criminal groups that launder money in offshore companies in Cyprus or Switzerland, Chinese mafiosi even transfer the currency "earned" in the United States by selling heroin back to China. Thus, they want their country to be richer and more independent. The Chinese mafia has its eyes and ears everywhere. There are people in the police, government agencies. They bribe judges and officials. In a word, they have a road everywhere. The only thing is that this path is bloody and not for everyone. Today, having visited China, you can easily meet the participants of the Triad. But it's not exactly like in the movies.

In China, buff and tattooed Chinese do not go everywhere in groups. In this form, you can only meet fighters who are just starting their criminal career and like to spend gatherings in a restaurant or sauna. Youngsters most often try to prove that they are worth something.

But to meet real bosses is a rarity, and no one will let them in at a distance of a kilometer. Only by tattoos can you understand who is in front of you.

In China, it is customary to be responsible for your tattoos.

If a simple person from the street sticks similar tattoos to himself, then they will simply be cut off along with the skin. Also in China, Triad members have an unwritten rule never to touch foreign tourists. They themselves maintain and control order in their streets. Bespredelschikov severely punished if they decide to rob or kill a tourist.That's actually all I wanted to tell you about the criminal world of China. The Chinese "Triad" is a criminal tradition that will live forever, passed down from father to son. Watch an interesting video!

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Hong Kong under the rule of the mafia or What you will never see there. February 20th, 2015

In connection with a recent trip to Hong Kong, I became interested in the activities of the local Chinese mafia. This was prompted by two more reports that have slipped through the press lately. Firstly, the mafia attack on the film crew of "Transformers-4", known to many moviegoers, when director Michael Bay was severely beaten for refusing to pay for filming a film in the Quary Bay area, something like financial compensation for the disturbance and inconvenience to merchants . The second is, of course, the story that during the recent protests, members of local "triads" - criminal groups - attacked the protesters' camp and threatened them, demanding to get out of the areas under their control and stop blocking the streets, because this is again undermines the trade and business controlled by the mafia. Then the question arose of how mafiosi generally rule this recent colony, and now the most prosperous region of China, and how dangerous it is for tourists and other visitors. And here's what turned out...



Hoping that you will see mafiosi or members of the "triads" in Hong Kong is an empty exercise. Secret societies would not be secret if they could be recognized on the street, or in a bank and a restaurant, and even to such persons as far from the Chinese environment as European tourists. The very essence of the triads and their numerous members lies in the fact that they rule within their territory, without showing themselves in any way until the last moment. At the same time, those who do business here and live in this territory are well aware of everything, or guess.


The photos for this post were taken in the Wan Chai or Mongkok districts, where there are countless offices, firms, cafes, restaurants and other points, according to mafia-controlled experts. At the same time, these are the most touristic areas of Hong Kong.


It is impossible not to notice that Hong Kong, or in Chinese now - Xianggang, being in the south of China in the region of Guangdong Province and other coastal trade zones, historically created ideal conditions for the emergence of extensive mafia and pirate groups here. In general, the entire area of ​​the South China Sea, formed by the shores of South China, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines, has been a nest of piracy for thousands of years, and only in the 20th century did these criminal groups transform into a criminal network that never let local businesses out of their paws.


I don't want to go into details, but piracy in the Hong Kong area began to flourish in the 17th century, after the Ming dynasty was overthrown by the Manchu invasion and the Qing dynasty. Historians write that the Qing generals made every effort to eradicate armed resistance in mainland China, but they simply could not cope with the numerous pirate groups and Ming supporters on the coast. Here, in the numerous and complex landscape islands and peninsulas of the South of China, bandit groups have settled, fueled by anti-Qing ideology and adhering to the traditional Chinese concept of "Earth, Heaven, Man." It is difficult to explain in Russian what kind of Confucian term it is, something like universal harmony, but its bearers, united in militant sects, gradually merged with pirates and became perhaps the most powerful pirate-criminal organization in the world. The triangle became their symbol. Later, the British authorities, not really understanding Chinese mythology, called these communities "triads".


Again, I do not want to go into the details of the 19th century history of how, during the opium wars, the British authorities forced the Chinese government to allow the opium trade, which was banned by the emperor in 1800. One thing is important: during these wars, the "triads" won the most, subjugating the entire trade in opium (and not only it) throughout South China, smuggling through Hong Kong, which became the main base of world trade with China, and then the entire English Chinese business.


In addition, the "triads", as the main armed force, controlled all the Chinese emigration that poured into the West in the middle of the 19th century, primarily to England and the USA. In 1850-75 alone, almost 500,000 Chinese left Hong Kong for the United States. Along with them went Chinese gangsters, members of the "triads" who took control of numerous Chinatowns in the United States and around the world.


Even then it was impossible to underestimate the power of the "triads". The fact. that the English colonial world and the Hong Kong-Chinese world hardly intersected, living in parallel, as if on different planets, and the criminal gangs that the “triads” had become by that time completely controlled everything in Hong Kong China, like the Sicilian mafia. Their main bases were the areas of the New Territories. English officials didn't care, many of them, for example, the chief registrar of the Caldwell colony, had themselves grown together with the Chinese mafia and worked with them as a couple. By the end of the 19th century, pirates and mafiosi controlled all of Hong Kong's trade with the mainland, and the leaders of the "triads" became the de facto shadow administration of Hong Kong.


It is also curious that the "triads" were so powerful both in Hong Kong and in mainland China that Chinese revolutionaries like Sun Yat-sen, who planned the overthrow of the Qing monarchy, had close ties with them, and the mafiosi ensured that the revolutionaries were connected to their homeland and supplied weapons and finance. "Triads" was very profitable overthrow of the central government, which somehow tried to limit their influence and fight the dominance of the mafia.

Let's skip a few more decades. The opening of the border after the revolution opened the way to Hong Kong for refugees, and also helped the mafia to strengthen its position throughout China. Their power was destroyed only by the Japanese occupation. The Japanese tried to restore order in the occupied territories, and gradually squeezed out the mafia to the south, to the border with Hong Kong. Chinese historians write that members of the secret societies "triads" from Canton joined the ranks of criminal gangs in Hong Kong, which led to an increase in the number of robberies and murders. The conflicts between the gangs fighting for control of the refugee camps often resulted in bloody battles right in the streets of Hong Kong. Chaos reigned in the colony.

In 1941, the Japanese occupied Hong Kong. For the defense of Hong Kong, the British, with the assistance of the Kuomintang, attracted about a thousand members of the "triads", for whom the arrival of the Japanese meant the collapse of their entire business. Of course, this did not lead to anything good; the surrender of Hong Kong to the Japanese is recognized as the most shameful page in the history of the Pacific War. Instead of defense, the mafiosi took advantage of the evacuation of the British and immediately began to plunder and sack the huge city. In general, Hong Kong was in the hands of the "triads" for several days, subjecting it to complete plunder. The Japanese put an end to this orgy, but they could not completely suppress the mafia. The local "triads" were replaced by mafia groups from Shanghai and Beijing, who agreed with the Japanese on the division of influence.

Of course, the only victims in all these vicissitudes were ordinary Hong Kongers. After World War II and the war against the communists in China, Hong Kong experienced one wave after another of refugees, when its population grew to 5 million people. Of course, the "triads" have already restored their power and subjugated most of the business, from shipbuilding to trade.


Fears that with the advent of the Communists in Hong Kong the "triads" would be suppressed did not come true. At first there was panic. In 1982, a large-scale meeting of leaders of local secret societies and representatives of the largest "triads" from Toronto, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles took place in Hong Kong. It is important to remember here that the unification of mainland China and Hong Kong became possible only as a result of economic reforms in China. By 1997, the main crime syndicates had established corrupt connections among officials and security forces in China, starting to invest huge capital there. Some firms controlled by the "triads" have established control over Chinese manufacturers of machinery, equipment, and even foreign automotive and electronics giants.


In fact, both in China and in Hong Kong, the mafia now controls the production of all counterfeit goods, as well as the smuggling of cars, cigarettes, electronics, luxury goods and weapons. The "triads" organized the "laundering" of money from Chinese syndicates through their companies and joined in the now flourishing transfer of Chinese illegal immigrants to the USA, Canada, Latin America and Europe. But this is only one side of the process.


Now the "triads" control the entire shadow labor market in Hong Kong, loading operations in its port, restaurants, bars, nightclubs, the film industry and show business, construction and real estate transactions, etc. All maritime piracy in the South China Sea is subject to "triads". The political and public life of Hong Kong, the police, the courts, and so on, all this is tightly soldered to the "triads", as criminologists believe. But this would be absolutely impossible without the control of the Chinese intelligence services. Nothing is done here without them.

Even before the occupation of Hong Kong, the Beijing secret services penetrated all the "triads" and took them under their control. With their help, they subjugated the foreign exchange market, and practically put it at their service. It is difficult to expect disinterestedness from the special services in this matter. In fact, the government agencies of China, both on the mainland and in Hong Kong, and its security service have actually merged with criminal syndicates. The Beijing authorities are aware of this and are trying to fight it. but the merging of the mafia and state structures in China is so widespread and total that nothing can be done. The current Chinese President Xi Jingping has arrested several powerful officials, including the chief of the secret services and a member of the Politburo, for merging with the mafia, but I am sure that this will achieve practically nothing.

Therefore, returning to the question of the role of the mafia and the "triads" in dispersing the Hong Kong Occupy, I will refer to the opinion of a source in modern sinology: "The Chinese security services are one of the most informed in the world. And on their territory they identify and smoke out instantly all subversive elements. The oligarch, whose assets are all in Hong Kong, in principle, cannot butt heads in any way, and organize nothing either. He will not even be released from the country. To assume that the Chinese government missed all the Occupy preparations, which were conducted by someone local, and then a week he agreed - well, quite strange" Apparently, it was spontaneous, although I myself saw pickets of students at the beginning of the year, when the Occupy did not smell yet. Well, let's talk about it. that under these conditions the mafia attacked the students and retreated without doing anything to them - it's simply ridiculous. The current Hong Kong mafia, like the mainland - all with party cards, all riddled with special services. If she had really entered into business, if she had been instructed to liquidate Occupy, no one would have had time to grunt, as there would be no Occupy already. So draw conclusions to whom these unrest were beneficial and why ...

The same can be said about the attack on the Transformers film crew. Most likely, the point is some local gopniks who decided to show off and scare foreigners. If the "triads" had entered into action, from the "Transformers" there would have immediately remained horns and legs.

And since tourists are a cash cow for all these countless mafia groups, it is much more profitable here not to touch them like a goose that lays golden eggs, but to milk everything to the penny. that is why Hong Kong remains the most visited of the main tourist destinations, why Disneyland is located here, why Hong Kong has a visa-free regime with almost all countries of the world. Mafia is immortal.

Therefore, when you come to Hong Kong, you don't have to worry. You will not meet the Mafia - until you enter its territory. Which, however, is everywhere here.


Students can protest as much as they want, draw cartoons and even portray local crime bosses as toys - no one pays attention to them.


Strong power is not afraid of bee stings, it even allows these bees to have fun or buzz with displeasure, creating the illusion of complete freedom of action.

Students also know about it, and therefore they are not afraid of anything. For the time being, for the time being.

Today's researchers consider organized crime in Hong Kong to be the direct heir of the secret societies of the past, but what of their features have Hong Kong organized crime groups retained today?

During the reign of the Qing Dynasty, in the territory of several provinces of South China and among overseas Chinese, the already mentioned people's secret society (民间秘密会党) "Union of Heaven and Earth" (天地会) was active. It is believed that it got its name in honor of the idea: "Worship Heaven as a father, worship the Earth as a mother" (一拜天为父二拜地为母). For internal use in the "Union of Heaven and Earth", the name "Triad of the Great Teaching" (洪门三合会) was generally accepted.

According to the records of archival materials of the Qing era, the "Union of Heaven and Earth" originated in the Zhangzhou (漳州地区) region of Fujian Province. There is evidence linking secret societies in Hong Kong with organizations in Guangdong, whose origins can be retrospectively linked to societies originally operating in Fujian.

Today, Hong Kong does not legally use the term "criminal organization-heishehui" (黑社会), instead officially using the term "triad" (三合会). There, the term "triad" has become a household name and does not indicate a specific organization with that name. This principle has been taken up by Western scholars, often transferring the name "triad" to Chinese organized crime in general.

In modern Hong Kong and Macao, the names of many criminal organizations are just names without deep hoaxes and secret meaning, although these gangs trace their history back to the secret societies of the past. As an example, Chinese researchers cite the criminal communities "Xin and an" (新义安) and "Shenghe" (胜和). Or take at least the criminal organization "Shuifang" (水房), which includes various smaller groups. There are organizations with this name in both Macao and Hong Kong. From 1996 to 1998, the Macao "Shuifang" (水房) fought with the Hong Kong "Shuifang" (水房) together with the Shenghe (胜和) gang.

Many criminal organizations in Hong Kong are so small that it is hard to imagine - 3 - 5 permanent members. That is, they do not even fall under the operational danger criterion of a criminal organization that exists in inner China - "553", which means - "the organization includes 5 or more people, and out of 5 cases of the organization - 3 criminal ones." From this point of view, not every criminal group in Hong Kong can be called a "mafia" (黑社会) or a mafia-type criminal organization under the classification of the CPC of mainland China.

Today, members of criminal organizations from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and other countries visit the PRC from time to time, where they arrange birthday celebrations or funerals for members of criminal communities - natives of the provinces of mainland China, as well as some ceremonies related to the history of those secret societies from which they trace their history. The PRC police are trying to control the holding of such events and act in such a way as to reduce the influence of criminal organizations on society to the minimum possible level.

In 1900, in Guangdong province, for the first time in China, "entering the country in order to expand the activities of organized crime" (入境发展黑社会组织罪) was qualified as a crime. Then six people arrived in Shenzhen to attend the "coronation" (搞职位升迁仪式) ceremony. Their rank rose from the level of "ordinary members of the organization looking after individual streets" (草鞋四九仔) to the level of "lawyers and executioners" of the mafia (红棍). On their way back to Hong Kong, five of them were caught by the police and thrown into jail.

Chinese experts do not deny the existence of a process of infiltration of foreign criminal groups into mainland China. In 1981, 4 mafia groups connected with crime in Hong Kong were identified in Shenzhen. In 1991 their number rose to 29.

However, according to Chinese experts, the majority of members of criminal organizations visiting the PRC, including major criminal authorities, do not end up there in order to organize a criminal business. Their main goal is to visit spiritually significant places for them, meetings with relatives, tourism, shopping, less often they arrive with the aim of starting a legal business, attaching criminally acquired capital, protecting them from both their competitors and the Hong Kong police. Undoubtedly, the public security organs of the People's Republic of China record the travel of identified members of organized crime and cooperate with the Hong Kong police in this matter.

The position of the PRC police in relation to foreign crime in general, and foreign Chinese ethnic crime in particular, can be formulated in the form of three principles:

Prevent them from entering the country for the purpose of organizing criminal activities, and immediately stop them if such intentions are detected;

Do not allow criminals who have committed crimes abroad to take refuge in the territory of the PRC;

Do not allow them to commit crimes in China.

In terms of combating organized crime, a lot of experience has been gained law enforcement Hong Kong. In 1956, the first specialized police unit was created there to deal with this phenomenon. For comparison, in the PRC only in 1997 were amendments made to the Criminal Code, which made it possible to prosecute members of organized criminal groups in a targeted manner.

The history of Hong Kong organized crime goes back almost 100 years. As we mentioned, today the term "triads" (三合会) is used collectively for them, this happened because most of these criminal organizations trace their roots to the secret society "Triad" or as it was also called the "Great Teachings of the Triad" (洪门三合会) - branch of the Union of Heaven and Earth.

It is said that around 1760, the well-known anti-Qing movement "Union of Heaven and Earth" (天地会) in China established a branch in Guangdong. Members of this organization contributed to the preparation and implementation of the Xinhai Revolution in China. Modern triads have lost political significance degenerated into an organization of criminals. Chinese historians describe the process of the arrival of the triads in Hong Kong in this way.

In 1846, a rather influential secret society, the Hezixi (和字系), was formed in Hong Kong. During this period, members of the Great Triad Teachings, who had strayed from their local organizations, flocked to Hong Kong and concentrated around the inns. They marked such courtyards with the hieroglyph "Calm-"He" (和). Gradually, these gangs were joined by vagrants and persons with no specific occupation, multiplying the number of criminals who were ready to commit atrocities for a small fee. At the same time, the current system of organized crime in Hong Kong began to take shape, giving the gang the right to engage in criminal activities strictly within the territory (地盘) ​​or district (区域) recognized for it.

In 1866, the people who flooded Hong Kong huddled together in the Wan'anbang (万安帮) grouping, and in 1919 it split under the influence of internal centrifugal forces. Some of the gangsters united in the Yanbang gang (义安帮), which in 1921 appeared on the political stage of Hong Kong as an organization representing the interests of the Chinese in the face of the British colonial administration - the Honor and Peace Trade and Industrial Association (义安工商总 会).

In 1909, the head (堂主) of the association or "temple" (secret societies very actively used religious terminology and symbols) "Yyuntan" (义勇堂) Hei Guren (黑骨仁) convened the first in Hong Kong, a gathering of representatives of the triads (洪门大会). At the meeting, among other decisions, it was determined that in front of the entrance to the “temple” (gathering place) of the gang, the hieroglyph “He” (peace, tranquility) would be displayed as a symbol of the fact that “peace and tranquility” in relations between gangs - the most expensive thing that can be (以和为贵). So in the ranks of the triads from the gangs present at the meeting, the “He” (“和” 字派三合会组织) faction was formed.

The secret association "He" ("和" 字头帮会) was represented by more than 30 communities (堂口) operating in 9 districts of Hong Kong. The most active of them were the Heanle (和安乐), Heshenghe (和胜和), Hehetao (和合桃) gangs.

"Heanle" is the largest of the gangs of the "He" ("和"字派) faction, it traces its history from the so-called "Prosperity Temple" (安乐堂). Its first members were workers in tea shops, diners, and food vendors. For this reason, its main headquarters was the Anle Soda Water Plant located in the Jiulong District (九龙安乐汽水厂). That is why the gang was called the "House of Water" (水房) or "House of Soda Water" (汽水房) - the same one that still exists today "Shuifang".

The Hehetao (和合桃) gang was formerly known as the Hehetu (和合图). It was formed in 1886, still exists today and is one of the oldest gangs of the Hong Kong triads.

The Hong Kong police force in the 19th century was quite small and had a vague idea of ​​how Hong Kong's gangs fought each other. The police reacted only to individual facts of killing people and disturbing public order. Failing to face resistance, Hong Kong's criminal communities turned into professional criminal associations that engaged in certain types of criminal activity and controlled certain territories.

In the middle of the 20th century, after the formation of the PRC, the activities of religious sects and other secret associations (会道门) on the Chinese mainland were banned, and again some of them rushed to Hong Kong. So in 1949, the "Society for the Great Teaching of Selfless Devotion and Sense of Duty" (洪门忠义会) settled in Hong Kong. In October 1949, the People's liberation army China entered Guangzhou. Members of this organized group abandoned open armed resistance. Their head, Ge Zhaohuang (葛肇煌), took refuge in Hong Kong, organizing there the "Society of the Great Teaching of Selfless Devotion and Sense of Duty" (洪门忠义会). For the purposes of conspiracy, the address of the then headquarters of the organization in Hong Kong - Xiguan Baohualu Street, Building 14 (西关宝华路14号), was briefly called "Number 14" (14号).

The secret password of his organization (山头诀) Ge Zhaohuang made the following combination of words difficult to translate into Russian: “洪发山、 忠义堂、珠江水、白云香” Restore the Ming Dynasty" (反清复明) he changed to "Overthrow the Communists Restore the Republic" (反共复国). The gangs that were part of the Hong Men community began to be called in accordance with the names of the 8 virtues of the Chinese people, proclaimed by Chiang Kai-shek in the formula "Loyalty, respect, philanthropy, love, faith, justice, consent, impartiality" (忠、孝、仁、 爱、信、义、和、平). Later, the phrase "number 14" (14号) became the name of the criminal organization "14 K".

At different stages of its existence, Hong Kong's criminal communities have been split and merged. For example, in 1930, Heshenghe (和胜和) seceded from the Hehetu (和合图) gang, which is the second most influential community of the He faction after Heanle (和安乐).

In 1947, for its connection with crime, the British administration of Hong Kong revoked the official registration of the Commercial and Industrial Association "Honor and Peace" (义安工商总会), then the organization changed its name to "Xinan Company" (新安公司) and its branch "Yunan » (永安公司). Today it is the Xin'an (新义安) criminal association.

The He (和字系), 14K, and Xin'an (新义安) faction gangs are Hong Kong's most powerful criminal corporations today.

In 1956, the "Kiulong riots" (九龙暴动) took place in Hong Kong. The 14K gang and members of other groups participated in looting and pogroms. This turned out to be enough for the British colonial administration to begin to increase the amplitude of the struggle against the triads in all their complex diversity. However, one decision to fight organized crime was not enough. The British immediately faced the problem of the coalescence of power with criminal organizations that had occurred over a long period of their peaceful coexistence. An attempt to combat this state of affairs led in the 60s and 70s to an aggravation of the social situation in Hong Kong. The fact is that the triads actually ensured public order in Hong Kong at the level of blocks and streets. Interaction with the police reached such a level that in the event of a missing child, for example, the police turned to them for assistance in the search, the police and the triads jointly solved the problems of maintaining public order in the territories controlled by the gangs. Of course, when new demands were made by politicians, the old system had to be scrapped, and it should be noted that it was effectively broken.

In 1974, when a more democratic form of government was introduced in Hong Kong, the interaction between the police and criminal organizations was put to an end and the criminals had to transfer all their activities to a clandestine basis.

During the 1980s, the 14K gang's positions were constantly attacked, both by the police and by the rival factions Xin'an (新义安) and Heshenghe (和胜和).

According to Hong Kong police statistics, there are currently between 12,000 and 20,000 people associated with 14K in one way or another, united in 31 dui (堆) groups located throughout Hong Kong and Kowloon. However, a greater number of these groups exist in name rather than as viable organizations. There are only 6 really functioning gangs in “14K”, the rest are of an amorphous nature and are not actively involved in criminal activities.

The Xinian (新义安) community has developed rapidly in recent decades, becoming today an oligarchic group among the triads. In the 1980s and 90s, this community controlled the film industry in Hong Kong, which contributed to the emergence of a large number of films in that period, in which the main characters were martial arts and mafiosi.

After the police in Hong Kong joined forces with the police in mainland China in the fight against organized crime, the scale of the activities of criminal communities began to noticeably curtail. At the same time, the activities of organized crime have gone beyond their traditional fishing grounds and spilled out beyond the previously controlled areas of the criminals. Today, organized crime groups control prostitution and the production of pornography, the production of videocassettes and videodiscs. Most of the small nightclubs, massage parlors, saunas and dens that provide sexual services are under their control. Investment and management of these establishments is carried out by criminals through nominees, which makes it difficult to find the actual owners of these properties.

Each of Hong Kong's criminal gangs is now taking part in the drug trade, receiving significant income from this item in their shadow budgets. The degree of participation of a particular group in the drug trade varies from small sales in specific establishments to participation in international drug trafficking.

The areas of professional interests of criminal organizations in Hong Kong are racketeering, usury, smuggling, fraud, gambling, as well as providing patronage to various economic entities and participating in their profits.

In the 1980s and 1990s, criminal organizations in Hong Kong rushed into legal business, including in mainland China. The objects of capital investment of funds flowing from the "shadow" area of ​​the economy to its "light" part of the steel - the construction industry, transport, public catering and entertainment. An example is the Xiang brothers (向氏), known to every citizen of the PRC, who are suspected of having links with the Xinian (新义安) community. Under the Xiang brothers, such large film studios as Vince Entertainment (永盛), Chinese Star (中国星), One Hundred Years (一百年), which released many films popular in China, operate.

Speaking about today's day of organized crime, Chinese experts admit that in Chinese cities and villages, as in ancient China, there are still, unofficially, two opposing systems, two systems, two regimes. The first - exists thanks to people who respect and protect the law, the basis of the second - people who do not act as prescribed by the law of the country.

Since this division is conditional, and the psychology of people is very diverse, it is impossible to draw a clear line in this confrontation and, therefore, two opposing tendencies coexist inextricably and it is not possible today to get rid of any of them. Moreover, history shows us that the "white" and "black" vessels communicate, people flow from one to the other following changes in the situation and the situation in the country. Throughout Chinese history, this unity and the struggle of opposites manifested itself as a confrontation between the "official" culture and the culture of freemen - "jianghu".

The secret Buddhist sect "Bailyanjiao" ("Union of the White Lotus"), from which, it is believed, the triads spun off in the future, arose at the beginning of the 12th century and traced its origins to an even more ancient organization - the "Lianshe", or "Lotus Society" founded at the beginning of the 5th century. In 1281, 1308, and 1322, the Bailiangjiao was banned by the authorities, but its adherents were not actually persecuted. In the second half of the 14th century, the "White Lotus" merged with other secret Buddhist sects in China and became a mass organization that quickly participated in the armed struggle against the Mongol Yuan dynasty. Later, already under the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), members of the Bailianjiao sect raised anti-government uprisings in the provinces of Hubei (1406), Shanxi (1418), Henan (1505) and Sichuan (1566) . Hong Kong itself has served as a haven for pirates since ancient times. In 1197, the salt workers from the island of Lantau (Dayushan), who opposed the increase in tax oppression, revolted under the leadership of Fang Deng and seized government ships, temporarily subordinating coastal waters to their control. In the Ming era, the robber gangs of Ming Sungui, Wen Zongshan and Li Kuiqi became famous in the Hong Kong region, and the leaders He Yaba and Zeng Yiben even attracted Japanese smuggling pirates as allies.

XVII-XVIII centuries

In 1620, a strict ban was imposed on the activities of the Bailianjiao and the Wuwei and Wenxiangjiao sects close to it, to which the members of the White Lotus responded with an uprising in Shandong Province. With the accession of the Manchus (1644), the armed detachments of the anti-Qing secret societies (Huidans), which quickly operated in the Hong Kong and Guangzhou area, began periodically attacking merchant and even military ships on their junks, robbing the Manchus, Qing officials and Chinese compradors who collaborated with them. The largest sects adjoining Bailyanjiao were Baiyangjiao, Hongyangjiao and Baguajiao, from among whose supporters the main secret societies of the country, Tiandihui and Qingban, were formed. At the origins of almost all secret societies of Guangdong and all of southern China was the organization "Tiandihui" (, "Society of Heaven and Earth") or "Hongmen", from which came the "Sanhehui" (, "Society of Three Concords", "Society of Three Harmonies" or “The Triad Society”), according to one version, founded at the end of the 17th century by fugitive Buddhist monks in the province of Fujian to fight the Manchus.

According to another version, the secret anti-Qing society "Tiandihui" was founded in the 60s of the 18th century in the Zhangzhou district of Fujian province, and soon spread its activities throughout China. In order to increase their authority in the eyes of the peasants, members of the Huidang created and cultivated the myth that five monks stood at the origins of the Tiandihui, who escaped after the destruction of the Shaolin monastery by the Manchus and swore to end the Qing dynasty and restore the Ming dynasty. According to this legend, the 128 warrior monks who founded the "Triad Society" refused the Manchu demand to surrender the monastery and shave their heads as a sign of loyalty to the Qing dynasty. After a ten-year siege, the invaders still managed to burn Shaolin, but at the same time, 18 brothers managed to escape from the ring. After a long persecution, the five surviving monks, who later became ritually called the "Five Ancestors", recreated the triad and began to teach the youth martial wushu.

Several smaller groups separated from the Tiandihui, including the Sanhehui. This society took an equilateral triangle as its coat of arms, embodying the basic Chinese concept of "heaven - earth - man", into which the hieroglyph "han", images of swords or a portrait of the commander Guan Yu are usually entered (the number three in Chinese culture and numerology symbolizes the triad, plurality ). The term "triad" itself was introduced much later, in the 19th century, by the British authorities of Hong Kong due to the use of the triangle symbol by society, and with their submission became synonymous with Chinese organized crime. Anti-Qing secret societies also formed from other religious sects. For example, the secret societies Huanglonghui (Yellow Dragon), Huangshahui (Yellow Sand), Hongshahui (Red Sand), Zhenuhui (“True Martial Art”), “Dadaohui” (“Big Swords”), “Xiaodaohui” (“Small Swords”), “Guandihui” (“Ruler of Guandi”), “Laomuhui” (“Old Mother”), “Heijiaohui "(Black Peaks), Hongqiaohui (Red Peaks), Baiqiaohui (White Peaks), Dashenghui (Great Sage), Hongdenhui (Red Lanterns). Although the Chinese authorities banned the smoking of opium as early as 1729, the British began to import this drug into Guangzhou from India from the end of the 18th century, selling it through corrupt Chinese officials (to a lesser extent, but the Americans also imported opium from Turkey). At the end of the 18th century, Hong Kong turned into the camp of a powerful pirate army led by Zhang Baoji, who collected tribute from Chinese and Portuguese merchant ships (during the period of greatest power, Zhang Baoji's flotilla numbered several hundred ships and 40 thousand fighters).

First half of the 19th century

During the suppression of the peasant uprising of 1796-1805, which engulfed the provinces of Hubei, Henan, Shanxi, Sichuan and Gansu, Chinese and Manchu feudal lords executed over 20 thousand members of the Bailyanjiao sect. After another repression by the authorities, one of the surviving leaders of the Baguajiao (Eight Trigrams) sect, Guo Zheqing, fled to Guangdong, where he founded a new Buddhist sect, Houtian Bagua, and began to teach wushu to his followers. The merchant Ko Laihuang, also forced to flee from the persecution of the Manchus, brought the "Tiandihui" tradition to Siam and Malaya.

In 1800, the Chinese emperor issued a special decree prohibiting smoking, growing and importing opium, and, in addition, closed the port of Guangzhou. This ban entailed a dispersion of trade - from port warehouses, where it could be somehow controlled, it spread along the entire coastline, and soon passed into the hands of local pirates and smugglers. At the beginning of the 19th century, the largest pirate fleet in South China was headed by the widow of the pirate leader Qing (Jing). Her junks attacked Chinese and European ships, twice defeated the imperial fleet, and, in addition, attacked coastal villages and cities. After the third expedition of the imperial fleet, led by the former assistant of the pirate leader Cong Mengxing, the pirates' forces were severely undermined, and the leader of the Qing, with the remnants of her fleet, began to trade in smuggling goods. In 1809, a battle took place between the pirate army of Zhang Baoji and the combined fleet of the governor of Guangdong and the Portuguese governor of Macau. The British East India Company, which had a monopoly on the opium trade since 1773, renounced its privileges in 1813, which contributed to the involvement of a significant number of independent English and Indian firms in smuggling operations. From 1816, the British began to regularly use the port of Hong Kong to trade in opium, cotton, tea, and silk. After the bloody incidents that occurred in 1821, English opium merchants in China moved their warehouses to Lingting Island (Zhuhai), which remained the base base of smugglers until 1839.

By the end of the first quarter of the 19th century, a powerful drug mafia had already developed in Guangdong province with connections at the very top (the governor and head of the Guangdong maritime customs covered illegal business, and even the emperor himself received bribes). If in 1821 the British imported 270 tons of opium into China, then in 1838 the import of the drug reached 2.4 thousand tons. The British delivered opium to storage ships off the coast of Guangdong. Junks of local bigwigs and pirates transported the drug to Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong and the port of Tianjin, and from there opium dispersed throughout the country (corruption reached such proportions that even Chinese customs and navy ships transported the drug).

In March 1839, the Chinese arrested British opium ships in Guangzhou and blockaded the British trading post. In response, the British fleet sank Chinese ships in November 1839. By the early 40s of the 19th century, several pirate fleets operated in the Hong Kong area. total strength 4 thousand fighters, whose leaders Li Yajing, Deng Yasu and Shi Yusheng created several detachments - Zhongsintan (Society of Devotion and Will), Lianyitang (Society of Unity and Loyalty) and others. In April 1840, the First Opium War began, the British captured Hong Kong and resumed the supply of opium. By the summer of 1841, the Chinese population of Hong Kong Island was more than 5.5 thousand people (that year, as a result of a strong fire, the local Chinatown almost completely burned down). In June 1841, Hong Kong was declared a free port, after which the construction of opium warehouses by Jardine, Matheson & Co. (DMK) and Lindsay & Co. began there. In August 1842, China signed the Treaty of Nanjing, ceding the island of Hong Kong to the British and opening Shanghai, Guangzhou, Ningbo, Xiamen and Fuzhou to free trade.

In 1843, the Shengping (Society for Peace and Welfare) Cantonese secret society organized a strike by merchants and workers in Hong Kong against the construction of a commercial port. In April-May 1843, pirates sacked the premises of the government office and the missionary school, as well as the offices of Dent & Co, DMK and Gillespie, in 1844 they even stole the salary of the British garrison of the colony in Chizhu (Hong Kong Island). Local pirates acted in close contact with members of the secret Cantonese societies who were in Hong Kong. In general, the Huidangs were anti-Qing in nature, but at the same time, the authorities of Canton did not interfere with them, believing that attacks on foreigners did not contradict the interests of the state (in addition, many Chinese officials were on the payroll of pirates and informed them about raids by the Qing fleet). In 1845, the colonial authorities of Hong Kong issued a decree branding criminals and suppressing the activities of the Sanhehui, but members of the Triad continued to inform the pirates about the movement of ships and the cargo they carried. In the same 1845, in an attempt to stop the prostitution that was increasingly flourishing in Hong Kong, the British authorities expelled a large group of public women from the colony.

In the years 1845-1849, Hong Kong, which was used as a giant transit warehouse, from where the drug was distributed along the entire Chinese coast, passed about the Indian opium crop. The dominant position in the drug trade off the coast of China belonged to the British companies "DMK" and "Dent and Co." When Chinese opium buyers began to come directly to Hong Kong for the goods, these companies sharply reduced prices in the coastal areas, thus putting an end to the practice of buying in the colony itself. In 1847, the Hong Kong government began to sell licenses to opium smokers, opium growers and traders. In 1847, 26 small secret societies functioned in Hong Kong, which were part of the “triad” system (they had more than 2.5 thousand members in their ranks). As a result of several battles that took place in September and October 1848, Qiu Yabao's pirate fleet, consisting of 23 junks and numbering 1.8 thousand fighters, was defeated (the British also burned two shipbuilding docks built by pirates on the Chinese coast).

A European, who took the Chinese name Lu Dongjiu, led a detachment of several thousand Chinese who, since 1848, attacked only English ships. By the spring of 1849, Qiu Yabao assembled a new flotilla of 13 junks, but in March 1850 the British again defeated him in Dapengwan Bay. In the autumn of 1849, Shap Ngtsai's fleet (64 junks and 3.2 thousand soldiers) was also defeated. In 1849, the Chinese population of Hong Kong exceeded 30 thousand people (construction workers, servants in the houses of Europeans, boatmen and small traders predominated among them). The Chinese united in fraternities and guilds, and secret societies began to play the role of shadow administration among them (ancestral temples served as centers of compatriots). In Hong Kong, the traditional system of “adopted daughters” (mozi) was extremely widespread, when poor families sold girls into service, and underground syndicates took children to Singapore, Australia, San Francisco, where they sold them to brothels.

Second half of the 19th century

From the beginning of the 1950s, Chinese emigrants rushed through Hong Kong to North America, Southeast Asia and Australia. Having reached a peak in 1857, when more than 26 thousand people left through the colony, emigration then began to decline, amounting to less than 8 thousand people in 1863. In general, over 500 thousand Chinese emigrants left Hong Kong and Macau in 1850-1875. Following them, from the mid-50s, local gangsters began to move abroad, taking Chinatowns under their control (by the end of the 19th century, offshoots of the Tiandihui called Hongmen already existed in many Chinatowns in the USA, Canada and Australia). The owners of the Hong Kong transport offices, in alliance with the Huidans, robbed the coolies who went to work, often kept them locked up until their departure, and then sold them into virtual slavery on the plantations and construction sites of America. Most of the huaqiao funds transferred from abroad to their homeland settled in the colonies. Hong Kong Chinese merchants have arranged the supply of huaqiao traditional goods and foodstuffs, which emigrants so lacked in a foreign land. In general, if the European capital of Hong Kong until the 70s of the 19th century was mainly engaged in the super-profitable trade in opium, then the local Chinese actively mastered such areas as importing fabrics, servicing exports, banking and usury.

The approach of Taiping troops to Guangzhou in the summer of 1854 increased the influx of refugees into the colony, especially wealthy Chinese. In September 1854, the Taiping fleet even entered the port of Hong Kong. In September 1856, a new Taiping flotilla under the command of Mao Changshou arrived in Hong Kong, joining forces with the local pirate leader Lu Dongjiu. But there was no especially warm relationship between the Taipings and the triads, since the leaders of the Sanhehui were prejudiced against the religious fanaticism of the Taipings. In 1855, 1859 and 1869, the British destroyed the largest pirate fleets in the area, but they did not succeed in completely stopping sea robbery in the second half of the 19th century. Pirates continued to collect tribute from fishing and trading junks, obtain food and weapons from Hong Kong merchants, and sell looted goods in their shops.

In 1856, the British, French and Americans started the Second Opium War. In 1858, China was forced to legalize the opium trade, but the war continued. The British captured Beijing, and in 1860 China signed a new, Beijing Peace Treaty, which opened Tianjin to foreign trade, allowed the use of the Chinese as labor (coolies) in the colonies of Great Britain and France, and also ceded to the British southern part Kowloon Peninsula. In 1857, the authorities of Hong Kong, caring little about the fate of ordinary Chinese, taxed the "fun neighborhoods" and brothels, and in 1858 - the colony's pawnshops, through which the purchase of stolen goods and the trade in enslaved people were carried out. The barrier between the Chinese and the British in Hong Kong was so significant that the resulting vacuum was quickly and easily filled by the Huidangs, who took over the functions of the shadow administration. The gangsters subjugated the professional and compatriotic guilds and associations of the Chinese to their influence. By 1857, the Triad had established a check on the labor market by exacting regular levies on Chinese wage earners in Hong Kong, as well as organizing the shipment of coolies from Hong Kong to the United States, Australia, Singapore, and Malaysia.

In 1858, the chief registrar of the Caldwell colony was removed from his post, who for many years robbed Chinese merchants, threatening them with arrest on suspicion of having connections with pirates. In 1847, he helped free the pirate Du Yabao from prison, who became his agent in relations with the pirates who paid Caldwell compensation. And in 1857, after the arrest of underworld boss Huang Mozhou, it turned out that Caldwell received bribes from underground casinos and brothels, becoming an intermediary for the owners of the shadow gambling business in their relations with the British authorities in Hong Kong. Despite the efforts of the colonial administration, Chinese criminals continued to arrive in Hong Kong en masse by steamboats from Guangzhou. In 1860, with the participation of the Huidangs, who were gaining weight, porters went on strike in Hong Kong, and in 1863, palanquin carriers. In 1864, the British authorities resorted to mass deportation of professional beggars who literally flooded the streets of the city, but they soon returned again. In 1867, the Hong Kong authorities began to sell licenses to open casinos, from which local policemen and officials were fed. Huidan members who oversaw underground gambling houses began to open their own pawnshops near legal casinos. In 1871, the licensing policy was abolished and the gambling business of the colony finally went into the shadows. In October 1867, the Qing authorities established a blockade of Hong Kong in the coastal regions, which, in fact, was inspired by the Guangdong governor, who wanted to collect duties on opium that went to China. The blockade ended only in 1886, when a department of Chinese maritime customs was opened in the colony, selling licenses to import opium into the country. In the 60s of the 19th century, the DMK company was a confident leader in the supply of opium to China, but the fall in prices due to the competition of the Chinese-made drug and the gradual withdrawal of DMK from smuggling led to the fact that in the early 70s passed to the company "Laoshasun" ("D. Sessun, Suns & Co"), founded by an influential family of Sephardic Jews Sessun. In the early 70s of the XIX century, one of the adherents of the anti-Qing Buddhist sect "Houtianbagua" created a new sect "Xin Jiugongdao" ("New Way of the Nine Palaces"), which was divided into communities (hui) and branches (tian). In 1872, the Huidang organized a coolie strike in the colony, in October 1884, in protest against the arrest of longshoremen who refused to serve French ships - a strike of Hong Kong Chinese workers. But gradually the patriotic anti-Qing Huidangs degenerated into criminal syndicates.

By 1880, the annual import of opium from India to China exceeded 6.5 thousand tons. If in 1842 the population of the Qing Empire was more than 416 million people, of which 2 million were drug addicts, then in 1881, with a population of just over 369 million people, already 120 million Chinese, or every third inhabitant of the Celestial Empire, were considered drug addicts. During the police offensive of 1887, a stage of some consolidation began in the activities of the Huidangs of Hong Kong on the basis of the struggle against the authorities. The first large Huidan, which included 12 small ones, was "He" ("Harmony"), which was headed by a native of Dongwan County, Guangdong Province, a Wushu master and a graduate of the Hong Kong missionary school, Lai Zhong. Then, in a fierce struggle, both with the authorities and among themselves, four more huidangs arose - “Quan” (“University”), “Tong” (“Unity”), “Lian” (“Unification”) and “Dong”, formed "Udagunsy" ("five big companies"). This union extended its influence to port workers, street vendors and moneylenders, the protection of theaters and restaurants, brothels and casinos, pawnshops and money changers, and the smuggling of salt.

Among the recent immigrants from China, other secret societies were also influential. Thus, most of the people from Guangdong and Fujian belonged to the Sanhehui, from Hunan, Hubei, Guizhou and Sichuan - to the "Gelaohui", from Shanghai - to the "Qingbang" and "Hongbang", "Dadaohui", from Zhili (Hebei) and Beijing - to "Zailihui". But not everyone was able to remain faithful to the old Huidangs in the new place for a long time. In Hong Kong, that "melting pot" of Southern China, with its increased dynamism and mobility, most of the members of secret societies either joined the ranks of the local Sanhehui Huidang or emigrated. In 1887, a law was passed in Hong Kong to combat opium smuggling, but tax-farmers still continued to illegally export the drug to China, establishing links with pirates and officials. By 1891, about 17% of Hong Kong's Chinese population used opium. In May 1894, the homeowners, together with the leadership of the Huidangs, organized another coolie strike in the colony. In 1894, a plague epidemic claimed 2.5 thousand lives, the British authorities demolished several Chinatowns and burned some of the houses, as a result of which 80 thousand people left homeless were forced to leave the colony (in 1895, the entire population of Hong Kong was 240 thousand people). Human). In April 1899, the inhabitants of the New Territories, under the leadership of the elders of the Deng clan, the largest landowners of the area, began armed resistance to the British, supported by members of secret societies.

In the 90s of the 19th century, Hong Kong served as a rear base for Chinese revolutionaries who were financed by local entrepreneurs Huang Yongshan, Yu Yuzhi, He Qi, Li Sheng and others. The colony also became a point of contact between the revolutionaries and representatives of the anti-Qing secret societies. So, at the end of 1899, in Hong Kong, a meeting was held between leaders of the Xinzhonghui (Chinese Revival Union) founded by Sun Yatsen and representatives of the largest Huidans - the Gelaohui (Elder Brothers Society), Qingbang, Hongbang and Sanhehui. ". Revolutionaries and members of secret societies entered into an alliance, and some Xinzhonghui figures received high positions in the Huidangs, for example, Sun Yat-sen's friend Chen Shaobo joined the Triad, becoming the head of the financial department (he was also accepted into the highest hierarchy of the Gelaohui society ). On the basis of the Hong Kong Triad, the Zhonghetang (Loyalty and Harmony Lodge) alliance was created to assist the anti-Qing forces in the colony. By the beginning of the 20th century, Chinese guilds of traders in rice, sugar, butter, poultry, vegetables and fruits, metal products, fabrics, coal and firewood took shape in Hong Kong, which became an influential force in the economy of the colony. At the same time, the secret society "Sanhehui", which already occupied a strong position in Hong Kong and Guangdong province, began to actively penetrate the environment of Chinese entrepreneurs.

First half of the 20th century

In 1909, the British administration significantly tightened control over the distribution of opium within the colony, and the drug gradually lost its role as a significant component in Hong Kong trade. In 1910, almost all opium censers were closed in Hong Kong, and since 1912, the colony authorities banned the import of Iranian opium into China. After the death of the founder of the Xin Jiugongdao sect in 1911, its subdivisions (hui and tian) acquired complete independence and significantly expanded the geography of their activities (the tian became more active in Northern China, and the Hui - mainly in the Northeast). After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911-1913, when the Manchu Qing Dynasty was overthrown, some of the patriotic Huidans began to curtail their activities or disappear under pressure from the mafia. The Tiandihui Society, which was actually left without a goal and donations from the population, split into two parts. One, outside of China, turned into a brotherhood like Masons, the other, inside the country, accustomed to an underground lifestyle, degenerated into a criminal organization.

After the removal of military posts from the Chinese side of the border (1911), which actually opened the way to the south for refugees and criminal elements, there was a sharp surge in street crime in Hong Kong. Army patrols of the streets were introduced in the colony, but robbers and pirates continued to operate in Hong Kong itself, and in the Pearl River Delta, and on railway Kowloon-Guangzhou. Underground weapons workshops even functioned in the colony, supplying both gangsters and revolutionaries who found refuge in Hong Kong with their products. In May 1915, the Huidang organized an anti-Japanese boycott in Hong Kong, accompanied by pogroms of shops selling Japanese goods. In 1916, pilots went on strike en masse, and in July 1918, riots swept the colony, caused by a significant increase in the price of rice. In 1919, a new anti-Japanese boycott and pogroms began in the Wanchai (Wanzi) area, the main area of ​​residence of the Japanese in Hong Kong. In 1920, at the suggestion of the Hong Kong Huidangs, workers at the shipbuilding docks went on strike. In the 1920s, the largest Huidans belonging to the Triad group divided Hong Kong into spheres of influence. The “five big companies” (“Udagunsy”) were joined by the secret societies “Sheng” (“Overcoming”), “Fuixing” (“Happiness, Justice and Revival”) and “Yan” (“Justice and Peace”). Many Huidangs even registered as public or commercial organizations, thus trying to give their activities a legal look. For example, Huidan "Fuixing" was listed as the General Association of Industry and Commerce "Fuyi", which had branches in all corners of the colony. The legal "roofs" of the Huidans patronized merchants, controlled gambling and brothels, opium smokers and street prostitution, and collected tribute from peddlers, porters, and painters. The need to resist racketeering led to the unification of representatives of a number of professions in self-defense unions, which gradually acquired the character of Huidangs - “Lian” among metallurgists, “Guan” (“Breadth”) among painters.

Also in the 20s of the XX century, the pirate groups of the region did not reduce their activity. The largest pirate fleet in South China was led by Lai Shuo, who inherited the business from her father. From 1921 to 1929, her numerous motor-sailing junks plundered and sank 28 large ships and hundreds of small vessels. Before the mass strike of Hong Kong sailors, which occurred in January-March 1922, there were more than 130 intermediary offices in the colony, closely associated with shipping companies and engaged in hiring crews for merchant ships. With the help of the Huidangs, these offices received money for getting a job and a lifetime percentage of the sailors' earnings. In China in the mid-1920s, with the coming to power of Chiang Kai-shek, who himself was a member of a secret society, the triads began to play the role of the militant wing of the Kuomintang party. Gradually, they were assigned to such sensitive operations, in which the use of the army and the police was considered inappropriate (for example, in Shanghai, thugs from the underworld staged a massacre of members of the communist-led union of port workers). After the actual legalization of triads by the Kuomintang, officials, military men, and merchants began to join them. An offshoot of the "Triad" - "Jiangxiangpai" ("Soothsayers' Union"), whose Hong Kong branch until 1928 was led by He Liting, expelled criminals from its ranks and, following its unwritten code, used various fraudulent methods (chiromancy, fortune telling) for a peaceful struggle with compradors. By the early 1930s, Jiangxiangpai had practically disappeared from Hong Kong, having been forced out by gangster groups, and the Zhonghetan union, which had previously acted as an ally of the revolutionaries, gradually turned into a large criminal association, Heshenhe (Harmony Overcoming Harmony). The Hong Kong authorities were able to finally ban brothels only in 1932, and the sale of girls (“mozi”) did not stop. If in 1922 there were about 10 thousand “domestic slaves” in the colony, then in 1930 there were already more than 12 thousand.

In the 1930s, the Kuomintang created a powerful intelligence network in Hong Kong, and also bought medicines, cars, and military equipment from the colony. The Hong Kong branch of the Chinese Red Cross and the foreign exchange operations of the Kuomintang government offices in Hong Kong were managed by Shanghai mafia boss Du Yuesheng, which brought him and his henchmen considerable profits. Through Hong Kong agents, the Guangdong militarist Chen Zitang, who had been betrayed by his aviation, bribed by the Kuomintang special services, was neutralized in June 1936 against the Chiang Kai-shek clique. The Kuomintang controlled the Jiulou Yuekan Restaurant and Tea Workers Union, through which they collected the necessary information. After the occupation of Guangzhou by the Japanese in October 1938, a massive flow of refugees poured into Hong Kong (the population of the colony increased to 1.64 million by 1941). Members of secret societies from Canton joined the ranks of criminal gangs, which led to an increase in the number of robberies and murders. Conflicts between gangs fighting for control of the refugee camps often resulted in bloody battles. Intensified sea pirates robbed ships, robbed refugees heading to Hong Kong, and traded weapons smuggling. By the beginning of the 40s of the 20th century, there were influential communities of immigrants from Dongwan County (Guangdong) - "Dongwan Dongyi Tang" (formed in 1897), merchants from Shunde County (Guangdong) - "Luigang Shunde Shanhui" (1912), traders from Fujian province - "Fujian Shanhui" (1916), other people from Fujian - "Fujian Luigang Tongxianghui" and "Luigan Minqiao Fuzhou Tongxianghui", immigrants from Chaozhou County (Guangdong) - "Lyuigan Chaozhou Tongxianghui" (1929), Hakka - "Chongzheng Zonghui Jiuji Nanminhui" (1938), natives of Nanhai County (Guangdong) - "Nanhai Tianxianghui" (1939), as well as natives of Zhongshan County (Guangdong), natives of Zhejiang and Jiangsu provinces.

Fellowships, quite often closely associated with secret societies, created schools for their countrymen, published newspapers, raised funds among the rich huaqiao to help refugees, and financed the maintenance of hospitals and orphanages. Detachments of patriotic Huaqiao from Malaya and the Dutch East Indies fought in China against the Japanese, receiving weapons and medicines from Hong Kong. By 1941, the Japanese had established their own residency in Hong Kong, with which many members of the Huidangs actively worked. Chen Liangbo, a major financier, chairman of the Guangzhou Chamber of Commerce and comprador of Huifeng (HSBC), Chen Liangbo, was even arrested for spying for the Japanese.

In December 1941, Japanese troops occupied the colony. During the defense of the "New Territories" and Kowloon, the Hong Kong authorities, with the assistance of the Kuomintang, attracted about 600 members of the Shanghai Hongban secret society who fought against the Japanese. After the retreat of the British, Kowloon was in the hands of the Huidans for several days, who subjected it to complete looting (the gangsters collected "security fees" from the remaining residents). With the help of secret societies, the disgraced South Chinese militarist Chen Zitang fled to China. Also, a prominent member of the Hongmen secret society in the United States, an associate of Sun Yat-sen Situ Meitan, fled from the Japanese. In April 1942, the Japanese disbanded the local self-defense forces, which became the scene of a bloody struggle between partisans and traitors from secret societies. The guerrillas ousted Huang Murong's gang from Mount Taimoshan (Daushan) in the "New Territories" and created their main stronghold there. They agreed to cooperate with some members of secret societies, organized customs points where they collected duties from local merchants, robbed landowners and compradors.

The most powerful during the years of Japanese occupation, the Guangdong and Fujian mafias divided the city into spheres of influence, controlled the black food market, many streets, collecting tribute from merchants and passers-by. Members of the Huidangs, who collaborated with the Japanese police, kept brothels (there were about five hundred of them in the Wanchai area alone), opium smokehouses (drugs were delivered by Japanese military aircraft from North China) and gambling houses, paying a share to the invaders. After the surrender of the Japanese in August 1945 and the outbreak of civil war in China, a new wave of refugees poured into Hong Kong. From 1947 to 1950, the population of the colony increased from 1.75 million to 2.23 million people (at the end of 1949, an average of about 10 thousand refugees a week arrived in Hong Kong from China). By 1950, about 330 thousand people lived in the slums and tents of Hong Kong. The British administration in 1950 demolished more than 17,000 huts, leaving 107,000 people homeless, and as a result of a strong fire that broke out in the slums of Kowloon, about 20,000 more people were on the street. The Chinese refugee camps that arose in Hong Kong fell under the control of the mafia, and the system of illegal sale of children became widespread. The activated gangsters and pirates hunted by robbing warehouses and shops, attacking fishing junks and passenger ships, and racketeering entrepreneurs. In 1947, the Hong Kong government's campaign against the Huidang led to the defeat of 27 organizations, the deportation of more than 100 of their members and the arrest of 77 people. In 1948, more than 25 thousand people were arrested (4.5 thousand of which were flogged). In September 1949, the Kuomintang killed in Hong Kong a former associate of Chiang Kai-shek, General Yang Tse, who had become close to the Communists.

In the late 40s, in order to resist the communists, the Kuomintang Okhrana united all the secret societies under its control, creating the Zhongihui (Union of Loyalty and Justice), headed by Lieutenant General Ge Zhaohuang (Cat Xuwong). The Hong Kong branch of the union, known as "Hongfangshan" ("Mountain of Justice Hong"), united several large local Huidans. By the end of the civil war in China, the union included many military and civilians who had nothing to do with the Huidangs themselves. Therefore, the name of the union had to be changed to "Association 14" (similar to the address of the former headquarters in Canton), and then it was transformed into "14K". The remnants of the defeated 93rd Kuomintang division went to the south of Yunnan province and, after the proclamation of the PRC in 1949, they settled in the area of ​​the so-called Golden Triangle, at the junction of the borders of Burma, Laos and Thailand. The Kuomintang established their own rules in the jungle, forcing the local population to pay off the atrocities of the soldiers with raw opium. Thus, under the control of the Kuomintang, a chain of drug trafficking was formed, which included the Golden Triangle, Hong Kong (which after the war became the main transit point for transporting drugs from the mountainous regions of Indochina to the United States) and Taiwan.

Second half of the 20th century

After the end of the civil war, the headquarters of the largest secret society in Shanghai, the Qingbang, settled in Hong Kong, which until 1951 was headed by Major General Du Yuesheng of the Kuomintang army. Together with the financier Qian Xinzhi, he founded the Fuxing Hangye Gunsi transportation company in Hong Kong, which was transferred to Taiwan after the death of Du Yuesheng. Qingbang specialized in racketeering in refugee camps and heroin trafficking, its members spoke a Shanghai dialect and acted in a purely conspiratorial manner, which made it difficult to fight them. But in the early 50s, the Hong Kong police managed to weaken the Qingbang, whose position in the drug business was also shaken due to the intervention of strengthened competitors from Chaozhou (the Chaozhoubang group). In the early 1950s, the largest pirate fleet in the region was led by Madame Wong. On the eve of World War II, Chinese official Wong Kunkit began to engage in piracy and smuggling, and during the period of Japanese occupation, also espionage. After becoming a millionaire, he settled in Hong Kong after the war, where he married a nightclub dancer. After Wong was murdered by competitors, his widow shot dead two of her late husband's assistants who wanted to lead the syndicate, and went into the criminal business herself. By the early 1950s, Madame Wong had imposed tribute on many shipping companies that paid compensation for the safety of their ships and cargo, and invested the proceeds in restaurants, casinos and brothels not only in Hong Kong, but also in Macau, Singapore and Manila. Until 1953, the Kuomintang Huidang Union was led by Ge Zhaohuang, who tried to give the organization a political coloring. After his death, the union was headed by Yong Sikho, and the "Association 14" ("14K") turned into an influential criminal syndicate, which even members of other Huidans feared. People from "14K" occupied empty lands in Kowloon and in the "New Territories", where immigrants from China settled, were actively involved in the drug trade and racketeering of entrepreneurs.

At the same time, in the Golden Triangle, the commander of the 93rd Division, General Li Mi, who had established mutually beneficial relations with the military dictatorship regime in Thailand, was smuggling opium into Hong Kong almost without hindrance. He was in regular contact with the head of the Thai military police General Piao Sriyanon, through which all the opium mining of the 93rd Division passed (part of the proceeds from the drug trade also went to the then Prime Minister of Thailand, Sarit Tanarat). After the failure of attempts to invade China in 1951 and 1952, the Kuomintang made a sortie to Burma at the end of 1952, but under the blows of government troops were forced to retreat to the territory of Thailand. As a result, by decision of the international military commission, part of the 93rd division was evacuated to Taiwan, but the Kuomintang secret services took out mainly the sick, wounded and elderly, and transferred new American weapons back into the jungle. Instead of the deceased General Li Mi, General Tuan Shiwen became the head of the Kuomintang, who expanded the drug business even more widely. In 1953, a massive fire in Hong Kong left 50,000 people homeless overnight. By the mid-50s, the authorities settled 154 thousand people in state-owned multi-storey buildings, but 650 thousand people still continued to live in slums, and the number of refugees who settled in the colony was 385 thousand (16% of them were former Kuomintang military personnel). and police officers, 19% - officials, urban bourgeoisie and landowners). The slums constantly accepted more and more refugees from China (in just a decade that passed from 1948 to 1958, about 1 million people moved to Hong Kong). These areas were outside the control of the British authorities, the mafia actually dominated there, crime, prostitution and drug addiction flourished. But the main center of dens, gambling and brothels remained the Wanchai area, located on Hong Kong Island, not far from the administrative and business center of the colony.

In October 1956, on the day of the celebration of the Xinhai Revolution (“Feast of the Two Tens”), members of the 14K and Taiwanese agents provoked demonstrations in Kowloon that turned into pogroms of left-wing trade unions, trading firms and shops selling goods from China, arson of cars, robberies private houses, industrial enterprises and clinics. Initially, until the unrest escalated into riots (especially in the Chungwan region in the "New Territories"), the British authorities preferred not to intervene in the conflict. Yet the army had to use force to disperse the demonstrators, and the police had to shelter the surviving communists and other leftists. As a result of the riots, hundreds of people were killed, but according to the official version, about 60 people died and more than 500 were injured. The Hong Kong authorities detained more than 5 thousand people during the week, and soon took strict measures that pacified the activity of local triads for some time. By 1958, about 15% of the inhabitants of the colony were members of the Huidan (before the war - only 8-9%); they committed more than 15% of all serious crimes. In the late 1950s, the decisive struggle of the authorities against opium-smokers led to an ever-wider distribution of heroin on the streets. In addition, Hong Kong began to turn into a hub for heroin smuggling to the United States and Western Europe. This trend was particularly intensified after the number of monthly visits to the colony for rest of American soldiers who fought in Indochina (as a rule, there were about 10,000 of them) fell sharply.

A significant part of the workshops and workshops owned by refugees from China was not officially registered (at the end of the 1950s, over 200 thousand people worked at such enterprises). Also, the growth of organized crime was facilitated by the preservation until the beginning of the 60s of a significant layer of street peddlers, day laborers and beggars, from among whom new members of criminal gangs were recruited. By 1960, there were about 300 thousand mafiosi in Hong Kong, united in 35 Huidans, who divided all the districts and business areas of the colony among themselves (of which eight were considered the largest - Heshenghe / Woshinwo, Wohopto, Fuixing / "Sunyong", "14K", "Lian" / "Luen", "Tong", "Quan" / "Chuen" and "Sheng" / "Shin"). In addition to traditional criminal crafts, the triads also mastered new ways of making money, for example, counterfeiting Chinese currency and used books. Although the Hong Kong administration settled 360 thousand people in state houses by 1960 (another 85 thousand people moved to houses built in 1955-1962 by private firms for their workers), by 1961 more than 510 thousand people lived in slums, in hostels - 140 thousand, on open verandas - 70 thousand, on roofs - 56 thousand, in shops, garages and on stairs - 50 thousand, on boats - 26 thousand, on sidewalks - 20 thousand, in basements - 12 thousand and in caves - 10 thousand.

In 1962, a new wave of refugees flooded into Hong Kong, and by 1967 the population of the colony reached 3.87 million people (in 1968, more than 400 thousand people still lived in the slums). Corruption of the administrative apparatus, primarily the police, reached enormous proportions by the beginning of the 1970s. For example, Sergeant Lai Manyau, who retired in 1969, turned out to be the owner of a fortune of $ 6 million earned on criminal connections with the Huidangs. In 1963, the Kuomintang 93rd Division, dug in in the Golden Triangle, split into two parts. The leaders of both retained the name "division", only one part, led by General Li Wenhuang, became the 3rd division and was located in the village of Tamngob in Chiang Mai province, and the other - the 5th division - under the command of General Tuan Shiwen, made the village of Meisalong in the province its stronghold Chiangrai. Enmity sometimes flared up between the divisions, which turned into typical triads, when dividing zones of influence and booty, but they joined forces against common enemies. So it was in 1967, when the opium war broke out in the Golden Triangle between the Kuomintang, the "army" of Kun Sa and independent Shan detachments, as well as the Laos army that got into the conflict. In 1970, the Thai government decided to subjugate the Kuomintang to its power and put an end to the drug trade, and entrusted a special forces detachment, which received the status of military region "04", to monitor the implementation of the "taization" program. The presence of American troops in South Vietnam has led to the fact that opium, which previously dominated the market, began to be replaced by heroin. In the Golden Triangle, where before there were only a few clandestine laboratories for the production of smoking opium and morphine, by the beginning of the 70s there were already about three dozen laboratories operating, half of the total production of which was heroin for injection. And the lion's share of this heroin was consumed by the American army in South Vietnam (part of the flow also went to American soldiers vacationing in Hong Kong).

By the end of the 70s, the first contacts of the Hong Kong Huidans with the emerging Guangdong mafia date back. And for the flourishing of the local mafia, there were good prerequisites. In exchange for supporting economic reforms, the Guangdong elite received guarantees of inviolability and some autonomy from the central authorities, which led to an increase in corruption and clannishness. With the increase in incomes of the population and the emergence of the first large capitals, local groups in Guangdong intensified the drug business, prostitution, smuggling, gambling, currency exchange and usury, and began to racket the new rich. By the beginning of the 1980s, the Hong Kong authorities still managed to partially deprive the Huidangs of freedom of action, and more than a hundred mafia leaders were forced to move to Taiwan, including the major heroin dealer Ma Sikyu and former Hong Kong policemen - Lui Lok, Choi Binglong, Cheng Chunyu, Nam Kon and Khon Quinshum ("five dragons"), convicted of corruption. However, the youth maintained ties to Hong Kong by participating in sweepstakes and all sorts of scams with Hong Kong-Taiwan intermediary companies. Unlike the older generation of Hong Kong secret societies, who defended traditional forms of activity, the youth were primarily involved in the drug trade, which quite often caused conflicts between them. The young leaders of the Huidangs began to strive to go beyond Hong Kong and gain a foothold in the international market, since in the colony itself the trade in heroin and cocaine, with the exception of retail, had been monopolized by the Chaozhoubang since the 50s. In the Chinatowns of England, France and Holland, which became the centers of the heroin trade, a struggle began between the Huidans of Hong Kong, Singaporean, Malay and Vietnamese origin.

In anticipation of the transition of Hong Kong under the jurisdiction of China, the leaders of the Huidangs 14K, Heshenghe and Fuixing began to transfer their operations from the colony to the United States, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, France and Germany. In 1982, a large-scale meeting of leaders of local secret societies and representatives of the largest Huidans from Toronto, Boston, San Francisco and Los Angeles took place in Hong Kong. Another reason for the outflow of members of Hong Kong secret societies abroad was the fact that the “Big Ring” of the Huidangs, formed among emigrants from China, among which the Hunanbang (“Hunan Brotherhood”) was in the lead, entered into fierce competition with local gangsters and thoroughly pressed them into colonies. The Huidangs of the "Big Ring" were in constant contact with the underworld in China. Bandits from the mainland arrived in Hong Kong for several months, received false documents and allowances from the local mafia, as well as specific tasks. After committing crimes, they received their share and either emigrated or returned home. The Huidans actively replenished their ranks with students and young workers of the colony, who often united in street gangs, often causing serious riots and pogroms (late 1980 and April 1982). In March 1985, in the Chyunwan (Quanwan) region, the Guangliansheng gang was uncovered, recruiting students to join secret societies. But, despite this, in the 80s the total number of gangsters was reduced to 80 thousand people. Since the late 80s, when Chinese economic reforms began to gain momentum, the Huidangs of the colony established corrupt ties among officials and law enforcement agencies of China, starting to invest huge capital there (some firms controlled by the Huidans even established control over Chinese ephedra producers). They also stepped up penetration into the political and business circles of Hong Kong itself.

There was also a reverse process. The Beijing authorities took control of some trade unions and part of the Hong Kong triads, with the help of their special services, state-owned companies and pro-Beijing lobbying organizations, infiltrated both the legal economy, becoming the largest player in the Hong Kong foreign exchange market, and the “shadow economy” of the enclave (especially that concerns illegal trade and foreign exchange transactions, transactions with gold, weapons and stolen technologies, as well as informal ties with Taiwan). In the 1990s, Hong Kong's largest Huidans 14K, Fuixing, Dajuan (Big Ring Brotherhood) and Xinian (New Virtue and Peace) strengthened ties with Chinese gangs, actively engaging in car smuggling, cigarettes, electronics, luxury goods and weapons. They organized the money laundering of Chinese syndicates through their companies, and also became involved in the ever-increasing transfer of Chinese illegal immigrants to the United States, Canada, Latin America and Europe. Gradually, members of the Hong Kong syndicates began to act as intermediaries or dealers in sending large consignments of drugs, weapons, illegal immigrants and contraband, entrusting the rough work to young immigrants from China. In addition, the 14K and Fuixing Huidangs have monopolized the wholesale market for counterfeit CDs with films, music, software and other counterfeit products (branded watches, perfumes, clothing and accessories), increased their influence in the Hong Kong music and film industry, and engaged in information technology and fraud on the stock exchange. By 2000, the six largest Hong Kong Huidans had more than 100,000 members, and their branches existed in Macau, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Shanghai, USA, Canada, Australia, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, France, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Mexico, Brazil , Argentina and Taiwan. The largest triad "Fuishin" (60 thousand members) retained a strict hierarchical structure, while "14K" (20 thousand) was divided into 15 separate groups.

XXI Century

The triads are currently very influential and play a significant role in the life of Hong Kong. Traditionally, they trade in drugs and weapons, pimping, smuggling illegal immigrants, gambling and sweepstakes, racketeering, kidnapping for ransom, money laundering, usury, financial fraud and piracy. In addition, triads have big weight in the field of the shadow labor market, loading operations in the port, restaurants, bars, nightclubs and cinemas, the film industry and show business, the construction business and real estate transactions, transportation, gold trading. The triads have extensive connections among businessmen, politicians, officials, lawyers and policemen of Hong Kong, in airlines and ships, as well as in the consulates of a number of Western countries. They oversee maritime piracy in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines, as well as the sale of stolen ships and goods. The interests of the triads include the smuggling of Chinese and Russian weapons to Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, the black market for expensive cars, yachts, jewelry and antiques (both stolen and smuggled).

Chinese Triad

The Chinese Triad The Chinese mafia is the largest in the world. Triad. Lotus shadow.
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