Preface xi
PART I. PARELIMINARIES
Interpreting the Triads (Heaven and Earth Gathering) 3
The study of Triad lore 7
The contextualisation of Triad lore 7
Triad ritual and narratives 11
Defining the Triad phenomenon 15
The different autonyms of the Triads 15
A brief history of Triad groups 17
Sources on Triad lore 27
Internal sources 28
External Western sources 38
External Chinese sources 43
PART II. PERFORMANCE
Introduction 51
Community and territory 55
Creating community: offering incense 55
Establishing territory: the bushel and the altar 63
The bushel and its contents 64
The Triad bushel 73
The altar and the City of Willows 80
Boundaries and passages 89
The cycle of birth, life and death 90
Grotto-worlds, gardens and cities 90
Boundaries and passageways 95
Perceiving and influencing the mythical landscape 99
The Triad initiation journey 101
The ritual atmosphere 103
The initiation journey in early confessions 107
Through the land of death 114
The attainment of rebirth 129
Ritual as theatre 136
Concluding observations 147
The blood covenant in Chinese society 151
The blood covenant 151
Early evidence 152
An ideal type of the blood covenant 156
The passage through the gate of swords 167
The use of writing 170
Concluding remarks 177
The Hong family and its moral prescriptions 180
The Triad blood covenant 181
The basic ritual 181
The maledictions 184
Divine witnesses 189
Written covenants: their format and ritual use 195
Creating the Hong family 203
The Hong family and ancestor worship 204
Moral obligations 210
Concluding remarks 216
PART III. NARRATIVES
Introduction 221
The demonological messianic paradigm 224
Saviors from demons 225
The Ma Chaozhu case 236
Appendix A mysterious document 251
Common themes of the paradigm 253
The messianic origins of Triad lore 263
The dramatis personae 264
Other messianic elements 275
The demonological structure of the Triads 284
Demonology in action 290
The Li Lingkui and Du Shiming incident 290
The incident of Li Laowu 296
Fan Qi, Lin Chongsan and Su Zhisong 299
Concluding remarks 301
The central place of Triad political ideals 306
Imperial legitimation 306
Imperial legitimation practice 307
The impact of imperial legitimation 316
The political ideals of the Triads 324
The Triad ideal of restoring the Ming 325
Foretelling the advent of the young Zhu prince 329
The authentication of Triad political claims 333
Political ideals in practice 337
Early awareness of political ideology 337
Triad political ideals in South-East Asia 344
The Small Swords Uprising 351
The Mandate of Heaven and social relationships 361
Defining the Triad mission 365
The foundation account 368
The 1810 foundation account 368
The early evolution of the foundation account 375
The foundation account from 1828 onwards 379
The nature of the Triad foundation account 388
The "fall from grace'' plot 390
Concluding remarks 400
Appendix New theories on the Shaolin Monastery 402
PART IV. CONCLUDING ANALYSIS
Introduction 419
Knowledge as an object 420
Paying for Triad lore 420
The priority of knowing over analyzing 424
The early evidence 425
Non-Chinese reports 433
Understanding Triad lore 437
Building a community 440
Triad lore revisited 443
Context and functions of Triad lore 444
Triad lore and its oral origins 451
A different history of the Triads 455
Creating natural groups 458
Bibilography 463
Character list 485
Index 505
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