Tiandihui

Tiandihui
天地會 (Chinese Traditional)
天地会 (Chinese Simplified)
Founded1761
Tiandihui
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese天地會
Simplified Chinese天地会
Literal meaningHeaven and Earth Society
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinTiān Dì Huì
Bopomofoㄊㄧㄢ ㄉㄧˋ ㄏㄨㄟˋ
Wade–GilesT'ien1-ti4-hui4
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingTin1 Dei6 Wui2
Southern Min
Hokkien POJThian-tē-hōe or Thian-tōe-hōe
Vietnamese name
VietnameseThiên Địa Hội
Hongmen
Traditional Chinese洪門
Simplified Chinese洪门
Literal meaningHong Gate, Vast Gate, Floodgate
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinHóng Mén
Wade–GilesHung2-men2
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingHung4 Mun4
Southern Min
Hokkien POJHông-mn̂g
Sanhehui
Traditional Chinese三合會
Simplified Chinese三合会
Literal meaningThree Harmonies Society
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSān Hé Huì
Wade–GilesSan1-ho2-hui4
Yue: Cantonese
JyutpingSaam1 Hap6 Wui2
Southern Min
Hokkien POJSaⁿ-ha̍p-hōe
Hongmen seal, 19th century Amoy[1]
Hongmen seal, 19th century Guangdong

The Tiandihui, the Heaven and Earth Society, also called Hongmen (the Vast Family), is a Chinese fraternal organization and historically a secretive folk religious sect in the vein of the Ming loyalist White Lotus Sect, the Tiandihui's ancestral organization.[2] As the Tiandihui spread through different counties and provinces, it branched off into many groups and became known by many names, including the Sanhehui. The Hongmen grouping is today more or less synonymous with the whole Tiandihui concept, although the title "Hongmen" is also claimed by some criminal groups. Branches of the Hongmen were also formed by Chinese communities overseas, some of which became known as Chinese Freemasons. Its current iteration is purely secular.

Under British rule in Hong Kong, all Chinese secret societies were collectively seen as criminal threats and were bundled together and defined as "Triads", although the Hongmen might be said to have differed in its nature from others. The name of the "Three Harmonies Society" (the "Sanhehui" grouping of the Tiandihui) is in fact the source of the term "Triad" that has become synonymous with Chinese organized crime. Because of that heritage, the Tiandihui (more commonly known there as "Triads') is both controversial and prohibited in Hong Kong.

  1. ^ Alexander Wylie: Secret Societies in China, in China Researches, p131, 1897 Shanghai, reprinted in USA by Nabu Public Domain Reprints
  2. ^ Ownby (1995).