ABSTRACT

The triad society has long been believed to be a secret organisation originally founded by a group of monks in the Shaolin Temple in mid-seventeenth-century China aiming to overthrow the alien Qing government and restore the native Chinese Ming dynasty. According to the Shaolin legend, during the reign of the Emperor Kangxi (1662-1722), China was invaded by a rebellious tribe known as the Xilu. The Emperor recruited 128 monks from the Shaolin Temple to defeat the Xilu rebels using their superior military skills. The Grand Secretary of the Qing Council incited the Emperor to destroy the Temple, using the argument that the monks were going to rebel against the Qing. When Qing troops set fire to the Shaolin Temple, only five monks survived. They eventually set up their society headquarters in the Muk Yeung City of Fujian province to mobilise patriotic citizens to overthrow the Qing government (Morgan 1960).