The Origins of the Tiandihui: The Chinese Triads in Legend and History - Hardcover

Murray, Dian H.; Baoqi, Qin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0804723249 ISBN 13: 9780804723244

Publisher: Stanford University Press, 1994

Synopsis

The author reviews and analyzes the extensive Tiandihui literature, makes available to Western scholars information from archival materials heretofore seen only by a few Chinese specialists; and rmly establishes an authoritative chronology of the Tiandihui's early history.

About this title

Review:

"An important book. . . . Murray has astutely sifted through a huge body of primary and secondary sources in both Chinese and English to present an excellent historiographical study of the origins of the Heaven and Earth Society. . . . This is a book well worth reading."--China Review International

Synopsis:

The Tiandihui, also known as the Heaven and Earth Association or the Triads, was one of the earliest, largest, and most enduring of the various Chinese secret societies that played a crucial role at decisive junctures in modern Chinese history. The common perception has been that the Tiandihui was founded by Chinese patriots in the seventeenth century for the purpose of overthrowing the Qing (Manchu) dynasty and restoring the Ming (Chinese). This book relates a very different history of the origins of the Tiandihui. Using archives that were made available in Beijing and Taipei in the last decade, the author shows that the Tiandihui was founded not as a political movement but as a mutual aid brotherhood in 1861, a century after the date given by traditional historiography. The seven extant versions of the legend itself appear in English translation as an appendix.

About this edition

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0804723249
• ISBN 13: 9780804723244
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 364