The Western name given to a Chinese secret society (because of the importance of the triangle, representing the harmony of Earth, Heaven, and Man, in the initiation ceremonies). These societies originated in response to Qing suppression of Ming loyalists in the later 17th-c, and were active in the Taiping Rebellion (185064) and the 1911 revolution. Triads are now reputedly prominent in organized crime, especially international drug trafficking. They have similarities with the Chinese protection associations (tongs) which developed in the USA in the second half of the 19th-c, and which led to a period of clashes between rival Chinese gangs in some US cities.
literally "Triad Society") or (Simplified Chinese: 黑社会;There are more than 57 triad groups that are active in Hong Kong;
History of triads
Precursor to triads — Tian Di Hui
The Triads were started as a resistance to the Manchu Emperor of the Qing Dynasty. The name "triad" was coined by British authorities in Hong Kong, referring to that use of triangular imagery.
Post-imperial developments
Over several centuries, what is known as triads today developed from a patriotic society to a criminal organization. Unable to revert to normal civilian lives after spending years living under outlawry, grave danger and extreme violence, many ex-rebels reunited to form a cult which later came to be known as the Triad.
Migration to Hong Kong
When the Communist Party of China took power in 1949, mainland China was put under strict law enforcement and organized crime diminished. Triad members then migrated south to the then-British crown colony of Hong Kong for the continuance of their business. By 1931, there were eight main triad groups and they had divided Hong Kong up into geographic areas and ethnic groups that each group was responsible for controlling. After the Riot in Hong Kong in 1956, the government actively enforced the laws that eventually diminished the Triad activities in Hong Kong.
The triad problems in Hong Kong were worse in the 1960s and 1970s. In the past, rumour had it that the police controlled the triads and the triads took charge of the social order. Now the triads had diminishing areas to control and the boundaries of triad power also blurred out.
Sustenance from 1980s
As the triads developed, certain ones began to monopolize some sectors of the economy in the 1980s and 1990s. However, their activity fields have decreased greatly as the triads have to struggle against the collaborative anti-triad operations among the Mainland, Macau and Hong Kong.
Activities overseas
Currently, Triad activities have been active overseas in cities with sizeable overseas Chinese populations, such as San Francisco, New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Sacramento, Boston, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Auckland, New Orleans, Vancouver , Toronto and São Paulo. It is also believed that London, Dublin, Manchester, and Amsterdam are new centres of triad activity. Triads also have associations with local Chinese street gangs such as the Jackson Street Boys (San Francisco), which operate in areas with large Chinese populations. Though the more sophisticated Triad organizations remain overseas in Hong Kong.
Recent developments
Nowadays, there are approximately 57 triad societies in Hong Kong, including between 15 and 20 triads actively involved in local crimes. Increasing in power, unlike their Italian counterparts, the Triads remain low key, yet ruthless in the criminal activities. Although some triads have only 50 members, larger ones have over 30,000 members. The most sophisticated (and well known) triads in Hong Kong nowadays are believed to be The 14K Triad, Sun Yee On, and Wo Shing Wo. In the United States, 14k Triad street gangs are growing in numbers and growing to prominence in Asian American societies, even as equals to the Italian Mafia Families.
The traditional Chinese triads in USA Chinatowns have been replaced by recent immigrants from China, especially from the Fuqing City, Fujian Province, who greatly outnumbered the local triad members.
Triad organizational structure
Hong Kong's triads are more powerful than most people might expect. Unlike some of the biggest international drug dealers who have their own armed forces and can perhaps take charge of their local governments, Hong Kong triads are, comparatively speaking, operating on a much smaller scale, even though they might pursue and maintain significant resources such as their own stockpiles of ammunition.
There is never a father-figure in the Hong Kong triads to control all other members in illegal activities via a hierarchy. On the contrary, Hong Kong triads are generally composed of several independent groups.
The actual power of triads lies at the ground level of the hierarchy. Usually, a triad "official" ("Red Pole") leads a group of 15 active members, and wields aggression on a turf, usually consisting of only a street, a building, a wholesale market, a football field, or a park. Because the gangs are poorly structured, different gangs, though branched from the same triad, have different hierarchy in different districts.
Triads also use numeric codes to differentiate the ranks and positions inside a gang.
As the Hong Kong economy progresses, triads barely provide "satisfying" social and pecuniary conditions to foster absolute loyalty among their members. (Note: It is illegal to describe the formalities for initiation into a triad in Hong Kong.) The degree of autocracy within the organization has fallen; Should a member discover that there is little advantage in remaining in the group, he might transfer himself to another one which is more socially robust and potent: the traditional principles of triad moral beliefs have been disregarded under such personal benefits first stance.
Triad oaths
Below are the thirty-six traditional Triad oaths, each one differing widely from the other. The list of the oath-taking is much abbreviated, but this list can be considered a list of traditional Triad oaths, which the known honorable Triad people would follow.
1. After having entered the Hung gates I must treat the parents and relatives of my sworn brothers as my own kin.
2. I shall assist my sworn brothers to bury their parents and brothers by offering financial or physical assistance.
6. I shall never betray my sworn brothers.
8. I must never cause harm or bring trouble to my sworn brothers or Incense Master.
9. I must never commit any indecent assaults on the wives, sisters, or daughters, of my sworn brothers.
10. I shall never embezzle cash or property from my sworn brothers.
11. I will take good care of the wives or children of sworn brothers entrusted to my keeping.
12. If I have supplied false particulars about myself for the purpose of joining the Hung family I shall be killed by five thunderbolts.
13. If I should change my mind and deny my membership of the Hung family I will be killed by myriads of swords.
14. If I rob a sworn brother or assist an outsider to do so I will be killed by five thunderbolts.
15. If I should take advantage of a sworn brother or force unfair business deals upon him I will be killed by myriads of swords.
16. If I knowingly convert my sworn brother's cash or property to my own use I shall be killed by five thunderbolts.
18. If I am arrested after committing an offence I must accept my punishment and not try to place blame on my sworn brothers.
19. If any of my sworn brothers are killed, or arrested, or have departed to some other place, I will assist their wives and children who may be in need.
21. If it comes to my knowledge that the Government is seeking any of my sworn brothers who has come from other provinces or from overseas, I shall immediately inform him in order that he may make his escape.
22. I must not conspire with outsiders to cheat my sworn brothers at gambling.
25. If my natural brothers are involved in a dispute or law suit with my sworn brothers I must not help either party against the other but must attempt to have the matter settled amicably.
26. After entering the Hung gates I must forget any previous grudges I may have borne against my sworn brothers.
29. I must not disclose any address where my sworn brothers keep their wealth nor must I conspire to make wrong use of such knowledge.
30. I must not give support to outsiders if so doing is against the interests of any of my sworn brothers.
32. I shall be killed by five thunderbolts if I behave indecently towards small children of my sworn brothers' families.
33. If any of my sworn brothers has committed a big offence I must not inform upon them to the Government for the purposes of obtaining a reward.
34. I must not take to myself the wives and concubines of my sworn brothers nor commit adultery with them.
Tongs
A Tong is similar to a Triad, except that they are usually started by more marginalized members of the Chinatown community, in direct reaction to the potential power of Triad influence. Tongs, as opposed to Triads, have no historical base for their existence - they merely exist to serve the interests of those heading the organization.
Gang fighting
When triads have a "show of force" (known as 晒馬, Sai ma in Chinese), they are only trying to negotiate with one another, they do not actually want to fight, so they do not usually bring along weapons.
One reason that triads try to avoid fighting is the possible incurrence of high costs.
Organized crime
Nowadays, triads have become more business-like organizations. The interactions and integrations of power among triad gangs from the mainland China, Taiwan, Macau and Hong Kong are not to escape unwavering counter-operations from local authorities, but are, in fact, driven by agreeable benefits. Some Hong Kong triads also make lawful investments in the Mainland and their intentions are really to earn a living, but of course, some are just exploiting the legitimacy of these businesses for other illegal means.
Dealing with triad problems in schools
School violence is not a new issue. While not all school violence is directly Triad related, it is believed the gang formation directly contributes to an increase in violence.
Triad members often hang around at places where students go after school (such as football pitches, arcade game centres and shopping centres) with the intention of recruiting them. Once the students become triad members these juvenile gangs become more confident as they believe that they have backup, i.e. protective support from other members of the triad society. Even pretending to be a triad member or using parlance associated with triads has been seen as empowering among teens, a manifestation of rebellious periods.
Because schools cannot monitor students' after-school activities, there is no way that they can shut off contact between the triad members and their students outside the school compound. Although regular talks are held in schools to warn students against triad membership and police has sent undercover officers into schools to curb triad activities, these actions are not effective enough to prevent the formation of juvenile gangs.
How triads are tackled in Hong Kong
Even though there have been reports that the 27,000-strong Hong Kong Police have difficulty in dealing with 100,000-strong gang members, the counter-view says the Hong Kong police force is a highly-structured and well trained team, compared to the hardly organized gangs with many members coming and going, or being even mercenaries.
Tackling the problems brought by triads is one of the greatest challenges to Hong Kong's law enforcement teams. The Organized Crime and Triad Bureau (OCTB) plays a major role, and they are supported by each and every district for their work.
The social harms done by the triads are not unknown. Even though most gangs and triads act independently (of one another), their attempt to pretend that they are "the invisible yet invincible" has made the police's work much harder by forcing their victims into silence. In order to encourage the public to report the criminal activities of triads, the Security Bureau has established the Witness Protection Unit in 1995 to augment witness security.
However, Hong Kong police are striving with determination to strike against this social threat. The OCTB and Criminal Intelligence Bureau are working hand in hand with the Narcotics Bureau and Commercial Crime Bureau to process data and information collected by their operation units, to fight the triad heads. Other departments such as the Customs and Excise Department, Immigration Department and ICAC have also joined forces with the local police to impede expansion of triads and other organized gangs. Therefore, to resolve this issue, the local law system is also frequently revised to endow the police with sufficient authority to fight against triads.
According to the Security Bureau, there is no current evidence to indicate any worsening of the triad problem in Hong Kong. For ten years (1993-2002) the proportion of crimes with triad involvement remained fairly steady at about 3.8%;
There is also a comprehensive publicity programme to forge triad awareness of the public. At the same time, the Crime Prevention Bureau is keeping contact with local businesses and encouraging them to report triad activities.
Furthermore, the Hong Kong Police cooperate with law enforcement agency overseas specialised at organised crimes, especially of places with a sizeable Chinese population, to combat Triad at an international level.
Indeed, law enforcement is one of the most effective ways to combat the Triads in Hong Kong.
The Societies Ordinance, enacted in 1949, makes all triad societies unlawful societies in Hong Kong. It stipulates that any person convicted of professing or claiming to be an office bearer or managing or assisting in the management of a triad society can be fined up to HK$1 million and imprisoned for up to 15 years. Membership of a triad society is itself an offence punishable with fines from HK$100,000 to HK$250,000 and 3 to 7 years' imprisonment.
The Organized and Serious Crimes Ordinance was enacted in Hong Kong in 1994.
Sadly, however, several high level cases of triad-influced police corruption has played a role in the triad's notoriety.
Portrayal of triad societies in popular culture
The posters below are of films about triads.
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A Better Tomorrow (1986) |
As Tears Go By (1988) |
The Killer (1989) |
Hard Boiled (1992) |
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Young and Dangerous (1996) |
Infernal Affairs (2002) |
Election (2005) |
Gangster movies are generally well favoured among Hong Kong audiences, especially in the young male crowd. All the films portray the triads as having a sense of brotherhood and loyalty and perhaps even love that almost always surpasses their dalliances with their obligatory girlfriends. However, many films of late have shown a truer side to the triad, with Fruit Chan's Made in Hong Kong breaking through the barrier with its portrayal of a low-level hopeless thug.
In the anime/manga Black Lagoon, the protagonists work with a Triad in Thailand which is led by the character Mr. Chan, who is being hunted by an Islamic militarist group.
Triads have also been portrayed in the Grand Theft Auto video game series. There are number of triads including the Potland Triad, the Blood Feather Triad and the Mountain Cloud Boys Triad, as well as The Getaway video game.
In the video game Deus Ex, Triads plays an important part during the Hong Kong levels. The triads are portrayed as a politically significant secret organisation in China. During the Hong Kong levels, the players will be able to read various accurate information and history about the Triads.
The Triads have also been featured in the computer video game Hitman: Codename 47, in which the protagonist, Agent 47, a hitman, must kill members of two different triad groups, the Blue Lotus and Red Dragon Triads, so as to start a gang war. The purpose of this is to lessen security around a notorious Triads member, Lee Hong, so that Agent 47 is able to assassinate him. The information concerning the triads in the game has little bearing on real life, however.
To counter the popularity of Triad-related media in Hong Kong, the government commissioned a widely-disseminated anti-triad awareness campaign targeted at young people. The campaign slogan was "Life doesn’t have take two" meaning that all those glorification of Triad crimes are just movies and that if young people commit crimes as a Triad they won’t have a second chance to redeem themself or come back to life.
Public figures alleged to have or have had triad ties
It has been alleged or speculated that:
The Father of China Sun Yat-sen is known for being a Triad member during and after the Qing rebellion. He got his funding from Triad business people. Sun Yat-sen's protégé Chiang Kai Shek was also a Triad member who even ordered triads to torture suspected communists and their sympathisers. The reason the influential martial artist Bruce Lee moved to the U.S. in his youth was that he ran into trouble with the triads (who then controlled most of the Hong Kong cinema), contrary to that in the semi-biographical film Dragon: The Bruce Lee Story, which says he moved because of his fight with some British sailors. Hong Kong movie star Chow Yun Fat was bodily threatened by triads because of his love affair with a woman who was a lover to a triad boss. When his older son was kidnapped, Hong Kong's richest man Li Ka Shing offered a hefty reward to any triad clan to find and locate his sons whereabouts, especially if the kidnappers are captured alive, since Li Ka Shing wanted to lynch them.List of Triads
See: List of Triads, Criminally Influenced Tongs and Chinese Gangs
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