Masonry In China.

Palace at Peking but for the timely arrival of the young prince ( afterwards the Emperor Tao Kuang ) Avho Avas returning with his miard from an excursion into the country . Seeing the struggle in the streets of the capital , he , in person , rallied the

loyal portion of the populace , and succeeded in capturing the leaders of the movement . Possessed of resources such as would justify an attempt of this nature , secret societies , have , naturally enough , become the terror of the Manchow dynastj r .

A . s might have been expected , for the reasons given aboA'e , the province of Kuang si became early the head-quarters of this bastard Masonry , and from that time to this the men of the two Kuangs have been looked on Avith much suspicion

hy the central government . The Straits settlements , which derived their population chiefly from the southern provinces of China , are still filled by members of the prohibited orders , but it has a ! waA s been difficult to discover

any satisfactory proof against individuals . In 1833 , however , the existence of two nominally distinct but really identical societies Avas discoArered . Of these one AAras named the Rai Shan huei , or " Brotherhood of the Sea and

Land , " the other the Yi Shencj huei , or "Brotherhood of Righteous Revolution . " These tAvo were offshoots of a political stem , but they at the time of their discovery had degenerated into mere associations for the perpetration of

outrages and barbarities on travelling native traders . Such was , and is , Chinese " Masonry " in the south of China , Avhere it flourished most extensively ; but its characteristics have been the same wherever it has developed itself . The

unfortunate whom curiosity , or pressing- necessity , or mere rashness led into joining the mysterious brotherhood , found himself at once pledged to principles which he , in many cases , did not understand , and bound to a blind compliance Avith

all the dictates of an arbitrary chief . These brotherhoods have had many names . One of the earliest was the Pai lien Chiao , or " Sect of the White Lily , " an example of the fanciful epithets in which the Chinese so freely indulge . In the

second year of Kea King , the members of this association raised a formidable revolution in the western provinces . After much difficulty the rebellion Avas quelled , and the society nominally repressed , connection with it being , at the same time , made a capital offence . At its . next appearance , a few years afterwards , it assumed the name

T'ien ti huei , under which name its members are denounced in the celebrated Liu Li , or penal code , extracts from which Avill be found below . The members of the T'ien ti huei became at length so Avell known , that a change of name Avas found

necessary , and , accordingly , about the commencement of the present century , some one , anxious to add the sanction of the sages to the deeds of modern intriguers , pitched on the passage in the trimetrica-1 classic , in Avhich it is said , " There are

three principles ( in nature ) , to Avit , Heaven , Earth , and Man , " and adopted it as the motto ot the brotherhood . Hence the T'ien ti huei gained a neAV lease of life as the San ho huei , or " The Association of the Union of Three . " Various other names have been assumed by , and imposed on , the members of the society . Thus a branch

discovered some years ago at Peking was called "The Wondrous Brotherhood , " Avhile other lodges , Avith a commendable desire to add the respectability of age to their order , have called themselves Hung Ghia , or "The Family of the

Deluge . " Others , again , less ambitious , have confined their attention to proving that the modern associations are merely reproductions of those which existed in former days . For example , an enthusiastic " Mason" Avas , in March , 1832 ,

discovered Avhile endeavouring to resuscitate the " Sect of the Water Lily " in the province of An huei . He AA as , of course , immediately beheaded ; but the devotion shoAvn by him and many other adherents of the cause proves that even this debased and degraded secret system possesses some powerful charm over the minds of the Chinese .

The late rebellion has been ascribed to the influence of secret societies in the south , and there appears to be some ground for the supposition . Thus Imperialist Chinese Avhom I knoAV , or have have every reason to believe , to be Triads , have

informed me that they have given Triad signs and words to rebel chiefs , Avho have immediately directed that their lives and properties should be protected . Of course , anything of the nature of evidence when derived from a purely Chinese

source is open to objection ; but in this case I have no reason to doubt the veracity of my informants . But I imagine that , although the outbreak of the rebellion in the south offered Avhat

seemed a magnificent opportunity to the members of the societies to realise their darling schemes , the rebellion itself Avas the result of a mixture qf political discontent and fanaticism working on a