The Triad Society
Title | The Triad Society PDF eBook |
Author | William Stanton |
Publisher | |
Pages | 140 |
Release | 1900 |
Genre | Hung men (Secret societies) |
ISBN |
The Triads as Business
Title | The Triads as Business PDF eBook |
Author | Yiu-kong Chu |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 183 |
Release | 2002-01-04 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1134696825 |
There is no doubt that the triads have become recognized as a sophisticated and international criminal force and, following the handover of Hong Kong to China, there have been increasing fears that their influence will spread to the West through emigration. This book investigates the reality behind the myth with a study of the Hong Kong triads, generally regarded as the headquarters of triad societies throughout the world. Yiu Kong Chu examines their origins, their organized extortion from legitimate businesses large and small, and their more recent moves into illegal activities such as drug trafficking, human smuggling and gambling. Contrary to the popular belief that Hong Kong triads are replacing the Italian Mafia as the most powerful criminal organization in the world, this book argues that Hong Kong triads may be declining, as other ethnic Chinese crime gangs emerge as powerful crime groups in Western societies. Based on interviews with ex triad members and victims of the triads, police from Hong Kong, mainland China and Europe, as well as documentary evidence The Triads as Business gives a vivid and compelling picture of the triads as part of a wider society.
The Triads
Title | The Triads PDF eBook |
Author | Martin Booth |
Publisher | |
Pages | 256 |
Release | 1990 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN |
Triad Societies: Triad societies in Hong Kong
Title | Triad Societies: Triad societies in Hong Kong PDF eBook |
Author | Kingsley Bolton |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Pages | 368 |
Release | 2000 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9780415243988 |
This set comprises a comprehensive selection of colonial Western scholarly texts on Chinese secret societies from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. It includes a selection of important papers on Chinese secret societies by a variety of scholars, missionaries, and colonial officials.
The Triads
Title | The Triads PDF eBook |
Author | J. M. S. Ward |
Publisher | Routledge |
Pages | 736 |
Release | 2014-07-10 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 1317845749 |
First published in 2006. Claiming origins in the mysteries of the Shaolin monastery and its martial traditions, the Triads are Chinese secret societies that overthrew the Qing Dynasty, evolved into organised crime syndicates, spread through the Chinese diaspora and are more powerful now than ever before. The symbol of the Triads is a triangle enclosing the characters for heaven, earth and man, emblematic of the societies’ far-reaching influence, and membership involves challenging rites of initiation and the practice of complex rituals little changed over the centuries. On one level, these practices can be seen simply as the customs of a purely mystical order; on another, they may be seen as the organising principles by which secret societies continue to operate as powerful political organisations invisible in our midst. This classic work, the definitive study of the history, symbols and secret rituals of the Triads, reveals the Triad initiation ritual of the mystical journey; sacred Triad signs, words and slang; the rite of the magic mirror and the oath of blood brotherhood; the symbolic decoration of Triad temples, Triad magic, and the meaning of the sacred objects and ceremonies at the heart of Triad practice in minute detail. The authors show that the Triad ritual is a potent mystical allegory with an immense power that can be used for good or ill.
Triad Societies: The Hung-Society, or the Society of Heaven and Earth
Title | Triad Societies: The Hung-Society, or the Society of Heaven and Earth PDF eBook |
Author | Kingsley Bolton |
Publisher | Taylor & Francis |
Pages | 696 |
Release | 2000 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 9780415243964 |
This set comprises a comprehensive selection of colonial Western scholarly texts on Chinese secret societies from the early nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century. It includes a selection of important papers on Chinese secret societies by a variety of scholars, missionaries, and colonial officials.
The Dragon Syndicates
Title | The Dragon Syndicates PDF eBook |
Author | Martin Booth |
Publisher | Bantam Press |
Pages | 638 |
Release | 2000 |
Genre | Fiction |
ISBN |
It is not unreasonable to believe that potentially the greatest threat to world civil order...comes from Chinese international criminal syndicates and gangs otherwise collectively referred to as the Triads' FBI briefing report Triad societies are today the most widespread and ruthless criminal group in the history of the world, posing the most important criminal threat to world stability that has ever existed. Just as the Mafia are organised as 'families', so the Triads are organised as 'brotherhoods', often along clan lines. They are in essence over 2,000 years old. The father of modern China, Sun Yat-sen, was a Triad society member, creating and financing the great Republic of China through the degenerate trade of opium, which has now become the multi-million dollar heroin industry. Martin Booth's remarkable study encompasses not only the more 'traditional' localised crime - prostitution, theft, racketeering - but also their more repercussive activities on a global scale: the drugs trade, money laundering, stock market manipulation and insider dealing, computer hacking, international prostitution, infiltration of media assets, art smuggling, and much more. Today the Triads are poised to achieve what no organised crime gang has ever dared dream of - a complete, international criminal network, exclusively Chinese, almost impossible to infiltrate and with its fingers on the world's pulse through its own banking networks, legal affairs and political protection. Today, it would appear the Triads are ready to make the next century a Chinese century...seemingly, nothing can stop them. The Dragon Syndicates tells the full, incredible story of the Triads - their evolution over two millennia, their rituals and mythologies, their role in shaping this century, and the criminal history and lives of the main players. Sources within the UN claim the Triads pose the greatest criminal threat the world has ever known - after reading Martin Booth's authoritative, dynamic, superbly written and riveting new study, you'll understand why...