William Alexander Pickering

“ In your servant's opinion, the priests of the Siau-Lim monastery, by thus subduing the Eleuths, as easily as one could put on a suit of armour, have covered themselves with glory, and deserve to be handed down as heroes to thousands of generations. Truly these men are as fierce as wolves, and courageous as tigers; if their hearts only remain unchanged, then the Government will be safe and we may rest in peace ”

“ However degraded the Society may have become in its present hands, there is great reason to believe that originally in the long past, it was a system of freemasonry, and that its object was to benefit mankind by spreading a spirit of brotherhood, and by teaching the duties of man to God, and to his neighbour. The motto of the Thien-Ti-Hui whether acted upon or not, is "Obey Heaven and Work Righteousness," and the association which could adopt this principle as its fundamental rule, must have been composed of individuals raised far above the ideas of mere political adventurers. ”

“ After the funeral ceremonies were concluded, the Sien-seng Kin-Lam, addressed the army, saying; "Since Ban Lung's death, I have consulted the fates, and by divination, I perceive that the destiny of the "Chheng" dynasty is not yet fulfilled; if we from day to day contend with the Imperialists, we shall only be wasting our strength. The best thing to be done, is that the whole of our brethren disperse, each man to his own dwelling, and his own province, disguising his name aud surname, and enlisting as many brave heroes as possible to join the good cause. ”

“ In the Straits Settlements, the secret Societies are in fact, but large Friendly Societies, without political objects; dangerous no doubt, to a certain extent, but only for the reason that, owing to the nature of our Chinese population, each Hoey contains a large proportion of lawless and unprincipled characters.
Theoretically, all Meetings of the "League," are held in the jungle or mountains, and every new member is instructed to reply, when asked where he was initiated, "In the mountains, for fear of the 'Chheng' Officials." ”

“ Oppression which "maketh a wise man mad," may have forced the Society to become a political association, and the rites and ceremonies already in use were utilised as means to screen the operations of the Society from the government officials, and also to unite the members, from all parts of the vast Empire. ”

“ In the Tai-ping rebellion, the League played a conspicuous part, and there is no doubt that, "when Heaven shall have changed its intentions," and the present reigning family of China shall have accomplished its destiny, the Thien-Ti-Hui, will be at its post, and the members of the "Hung" family will be ready to take advantage of the general upheaval which must take place, and at least will attempt to fulfil one of their avowed objects, viz: the overturn of the "Ching." ”

“ To Europeans, an almost complete knowledge of the working and ceremonies of the Society, has been to a certain extent attainable, by the publication in 1866, of M. Gustave Schlegel's "Thian-Ti-Hui, or the "Hung League," which treats very exhaustively of the subject of this great Chinese brotherhood.
Amongst the Chinese themselves, unless a man be a member of the Society, he seldom or never knows anything at all about the always suspected, and often dreaded "Hui." ”

“ After being entertained by the generals, the abbot questioned them as to the position of the Eleuth Camp, and asked if any engagements had yet taken place. The generals replied; "The Eleuth soldiers are indeed fierce and brave, and their entrenchments are strong; daily have they attacked this city, and it is only by our exceeding watchfulness, and owing to the strength of our walls and the depth of our moat, that we have been able to defend it; and our only hope was, that our Sovereign Lord would send troops to save us. ”

“ It must be borne in mind, that amongst the Chinese, as with the Irish in times not very remote, law has been so long associated in their minds with injustice, that it has almost become a virtue in their eyes to hamper and obstruct the execution of the laws of their country as administered by the Mandarins. ”

“ To-night having been permitted to have an interview with the five Founders, I have a firm hope that the spirits will help us to restore the great dynasty of Beng."
The Master then says; "I now present you with this precious sword and a warrant; all the candidates who are found to be faithful and sincere, you may bring within the City to take the oath of fidelity; but those whom you may find to be tratoirs you must take outside the Gate, and behead." Presenting the sword and warrant flag, he repeats this verse.
"The five Ancestors present you with this sword and commission. ”

“ We would therefore recommend Your Majesty to issue an Edict, and order it to be circulated and posted in every province, country, and district of the Empire, to the effect that whoever will obey the proclamation and subdue the Eleuth Tatars, no matter whether they be officials, common people, women, children, Buddhist or Taoist priests, they shall receive 10,000 taels of gold, and be appointed Earls over 10,000 families; this will certainly have the effect of bringing forward men of the highest talent to respond to the call of our Sovereign Lord. ”

“ League have never dared to put into print the rules and ceremonies of their association, the manuscripts have been subjected to much change and interpolation at the hands of transcribers, and each manual is marked by colloquialisms, and a bias in favour of a peculiar Province or District according to the origin of the Lodge. Most of the books which have come under my notice seem of great age, and many are blackened with use, and much dogs-eared; none are exactly alike, but what is deficient in some, is supplied by others. ”

“ The various Lodges, instead of being in a constant state of feud and jealousy should be cordially united in one Grand Lodge, and, as while enjoying the protection and fostering care of a civilised Government, there cau be no excuse for perpetuating the political element of the Society, this should be eliminated, leaving only what is really good and benevolent in the manual of instruction. ”

“ But as we know," Walls have ears," and all this was overheard by the Imperial soldiers, who immediately surrounded the brethren, crying, "seize and bind these rebellious priests." The priests taking up the censer, with united strength cut away through the troops, and escaped. Now this affair took place near the spot where Koeh-siu-eng with her sister-in-law and their children were sacrificing at Kun-tat's grave, and while employed in this duty, they heard a voice, and suddenly there appeared rising from the earth a sword, on the hilt of which were engraved the characters. ”

“ The class of Chinese who flock to these Colonies, is certainly not composed of men, who, either by position or education, can be expected to cherish very deeply the higher principles inculcated by the teaching of the Society ”

“ The real benefits you will receive by joining our Society, are, that if outsiders oppress you, or in case you get into trouble, on application to the Headmen, they will in minor cases take you to the Registrars of Secret Societies, the Inspector General of Police, and the Protector of Chinese, who will certainly assist you to obtain redress ”

“ Each man must be provided with plenty of dry wood, straw, sulphur, gunpowder and other combustibles, and mines consisting of shells and fireballs must be set in the pathway; Chhoa-Tek-Tiong, and Chhoa-Seng-Tso, with Low-Keng, will with 3,000 of the troops, attack the enemy opposed to him; Ng-Su-Tsuan, Png-Hui-Ho, and O-Sun-Hiang, will also take the same men, and attack the Eleuths, while Png-Toa-Ang will, by pretending to ty, allure the enemy into the Hu-Tek valley ”

“ I have a scheme for attacking them."
The next morning the gates were opened, and the army marched forth. On this being reported to the Eleuth general Phen Leng Thien, he buckled on his shield, and mounted his horse; but on seeing nothing but a crowd of shaven priests, he laughed, and mockingly said: "I little thought during the years the Emperor of the Middle Kingdom has claimed my obedience, that he was supported by an army of priests. If you really intend to retire from the world, why do you not keep your vows; how dare you measure yourselves against me?" The abbot in a loud voice replied ”

“ In China, to be found in possession of any of the books, seals, or insignia of the Triad Society, would render a person liable to decapitation, or subject him to a persecution to which even death would be preferable. ”

“ The names of these Officers were Tiun-Kien-Chhiu, and Tan-Hiong, both were of the highest rank of Prefect, and were on very bad terms with Kun-Tat, whom they had for a long time wished to ruin. Ten-Kun-lat, was however a most honourable and much respected man, and as yet they had not been able to bring any charge against, him. The two Officials had now seen him pledge himself to the priests by a solemn oath of brotherhood, so full of the affair, they returned to their Yamens, and concerted a most treacherous scheme. ”

“ The majority of the principal office-bearers of the Singapore Societies, honestly desire to keep their men in order, and themselves out of trouble, and the quarrels which occasionally grow into small riots, would, amongst such a heterogenous Chinese population as that of this Colony, continually occur, were there no Secret Societies in existence. ”

“ Wait till the feast of the new year, and then send an Official with a proper escort of soldiers, to pretend that Your Majesty has sent an Imperial gift of wine with which the priests may keep the festival. At the same time, let the escort be provided with sulphur, saltpetre, gunpowder, and all kinds of combustibles. Depend upon it, the priests will take in this scheme. At the same time, a Minister should be sent to Kun-Tat, with the red scarf, [6] as a punishment for his heinous crime of conspiracy to rebel. By thus doing, at one cast of the net we shall secure the whole party. ”

“ Chiang Kiet-hin with the water of the "Sam-ho" or three rivers, is ordered to take up his station in front of the Pavilion, Kiet Ban-pu and Bau Bun-beng, each being armed with a sword, are sent to the Two-planked Bridge."
The "Red Boy," (his face well rouged and a circular frame as a halo, round his head) armed with a spear, is posted at the "Red furnace," and old Chia Pang-heng is stationed to sell fruit in the "market of Universal Peace."
The guards being set, an alarm is given from the "Ang Gate," outside of which the candidates are squatted on their hams, waiting admission. ”

“ Now, however, he has obtained an oath of life and death, from the priests, and your Majesty has given him command over, and the power of 10,000 soldiers; truly he is now as a tiger with the additional strength of wings, and as a fierce fire increased by oil; he will immediately carry into practice his ambitious schemes, and the priests will respond to his call without fail. With all these auxiliaries, who will be able to oppose a man of such wolf-and-tiger-like disposition? ”

“ The whole army received rewards, but the Emperor specially called before him the brethren, and wished to invest them with titles of nobility; but on hearing of this intention, all the priests excused themselves, and the Abbot on behalf of the brethren humbly addressed His Majesty as follows.
"Your servants having left their families, and retired from the world, do not desire an illustrious worldly reputation; they only pray that they may be allowed to return to their monastery, and pass their lives in the cultivation of virtue by the performance of good works ”

“ In these Colonies, it is difficult to imagine what are the aims of the numerous lodges, which having departed from even a political status, though nominally branches of the original Society, are to all intents and purposes rival Societies. ”

“ The two flags above, have the inscription, "Dissipate revenge, and put away all malice" (28 消冤解) . There is also on each side, a horizontal sentence, "Two dragons disputing over a Pearl," (29 二龍爭仇) and "Overturn the Chheng restore the Beng"
On the door-posts is the antithetic couplet:—
"Though a man be not a relation, if he be just, he is worthy of all honour. A friend, if he be found destitute of honour, ought to be repudiated." ”

“ Many of our oaths and ceremonies are needless, and obsolete, as under the British Government there is no necessity for some of the rules, and the laws of this country do not allow us to carry out others ”

“ In token of having cast off all allegiance to the present dynasty "Chheng," the "queue" of each is unbraided, and the hair allowed to flow loosely down the back, the right shoulder and breast are bared, and the candidate is not allowed to retain a single article on his person, except a jacket and short trousers.
In consideration of the poverty of most of the new-comers, they are not required to put on new clothes, but newly-washed raiment is insisted upon. ”

“ We trust that the abbot has discovered some excellent scheme, and brought brave soldiers with whom we may yet subdue these barbarians. Any movement on our part must be undertaken with the greatest wisdom and foresight, or it will be impossible to contend against the Eleuths. ”

“ For some time everything went quietly, and one day the five priests went for a stroll to E-Kang-boe; coming to the bank of the river, they suddenly espied a censer floating down the stream; taking up the vase, they saw inscribed on it the characters, "The precious white censer"; it had two cars, its base was a tripod, and the whole was composed of green-stone. ”

“ The above event took place on the 12th day of the 7th moon of the 13th year of the Emperor Kang-hi.
Having divined by lot for a propitious day, the army celebrated the victory, and marched back to the Capital, Ou the day of their return, the Civil and Military Officials went outside the city to receive and welcome the conquerors, and as the brethren passed the gate of the fifth Court, a man came forward, and in a loud voice addressed the 128 priests :
"Behold the invincible heroes of the highest rank.
"Their courage and valour have never been equalled. ”