Tiandihui
Chinese fraternal organization, currently secular but historically religious and secretive / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihui's ancestral organization.[2] As the Tiandihui spread through different counties and provinces, it branched off into many groups and became known by many names, including the Sanhehui. The Hongmen grouping is today more or less synonymous with the whole Tiandihui concept, although the title "Hongmen" is also claimed by some criminal groups. Branches of the Hongmen were also formed by Chinese communities overseas, some of which became known as Chinese Freemasons. Its current iteration is purely secular.
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天地會 (Chinese Traditional) 天地会 (Chinese Simplified) | |
Founded | 1761 |
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Tiandihui | |||||||||||||||||||
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Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||
Traditional Chinese | 天地會 | ||||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 天地会 | ||||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | Heaven and Earth Society | ||||||||||||||||||
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Vietnamese name | |||||||||||||||||||
Vietnamese | Thiên Địa Hội | ||||||||||||||||||
Hongmen | |||||||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 洪門 | ||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 洪门 | ||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | Hong Gate, Vast Gate, Floodgate | ||||||||||||||||
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Sanhehui | |||||||||||||||||
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Traditional Chinese | 三合會 | ||||||||||||||||
Simplified Chinese | 三合会 | ||||||||||||||||
Literal meaning | Three Harmonies Society | ||||||||||||||||
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Under British rule in Hong Kong, all Chinese secret societies were collectively seen as criminal threats and were bundled together and defined as "Triads", although the Hongmen might be said to have differed in its nature from others. The name of the "Three Harmonies Society" (the "Sanhehui" grouping of the Tiandihui) is in fact the source of the term "Triad" that has become synonymous with Chinese organized crime. Because of that heritage, the Tiandihui (more commonly known there as "Triads') is both controversial and prohibited in Hong Kong.