Page 210 - The Encyclopedia of Taoism v1_A-L

170 THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF TAOISM VOL. 1

Taoism and secret societies

"Secret societies" is a Western term derived from the pejorative nineteenth-
century discourse on Freemasonic and Jewish groups, which were ascribed
state-undermining intentions. In relation to China, it is mainly used to refer
to organizations such as the Triads (Tiandi hui 7(:f.1J!. W!) and the Gathering of
Brothers and Elders (Gelao hui ~~W!), while its application to new religious
groups or "sects" is less common. The term was first associated with the Triads
by Gustave Schlegel (Thian ti hwui: The Hung-league, or Heaven-earth-Ieague, I866)
and was adopted by William Stanton in his book on the Triads in Hong Kong
(The Triad Society, I900). It then entered Japanese and Chinese usage as himitsu
kessha lli!$~:fi and bimi shehui lli!$:fiW!, respectively, through Hirayama
Shu's ~ ill f;!fJ plagiarization of Stanton's book (Shina Kakumeito oyobi himitsu
kessha 3z:J.l~1fi~R:&;r..e'!$~:f± [The Chinese Revolutionary Party and the
secret societies], I9II).
The danger of using this term as an analytical label lies in its undue emphasis
on the purported secrecy of rituals and groups or networks. The nature of
secrecy in early Triad lore is the same as, for instance, in the Celestial Masters
(*Tianshi dao) tradition and various new religious groups-namely, the exclu-
sive transmission of a body of lore by a teacher to selected adepts through a
blood covenant (meng M). This lore is believed to confer power, and therefore
its transmission must be carefully regulated. In mature Triad ritual and in the
rituals of the groups known since the late nineteenth century as the Gather-
ing of Brothers and Elders, the transfer of esoteric knowledge became less
central and initiation focused on the establishment of a collective network.
Nonetheless, initiates were not allowed to reveal the Triad lore to outsiders,
and only in this sense the qualification "secret" is appropriate.
The Triads worship five former Buddhist monks of the Shaolin ~,**
(Small Forest) Monastery (variously located in Gansu or different southern
provinces, but not to be confused with the Shaolin Monastery in Dengfeng
~it , Henan) as their founding patriarchs. They are not vegetarian, how-
ever, and in the covenant ritual participants drink liquor mixed with human
or-more often-cockerel blood to confirm a sacred oath of mutual support
and brotherhood. Therefore, the Triads cannot be considered Buddhist in any
meaningful way Some scholars have also suggested that Triad practices are
linked to Taoist ritual, since one central implement used in the initiation rite
is a bushel with exorcist objects inside. However, this implement is used in
many Chinese rituals, not only in Taoist traditions per se; in fact, its non-Taoist
uses can be traced back to before the Tang period.
The basic structure of the Triad initiation ritual is inspired by the journey