One of the secret civil societies in Qing Dynasty. It is named after worshipping heaven as father and earth as mother. Also known as Hong Men, commonly known as the Red Gang. At present, there are several different opinions about the time of the establishment of the heaven and earth society, but there is no conclusion. At first, its members were mostly farmers or small-scale craftsmen, small traders, transport workers along land and water transportation and other vagrants without fixed jobs. In the future, the composition is more and more complex, but it is still dominated by the poor at the lower level. The slogans of the Heaven-Earth Society, such as anti-Qing, restoring sight, obeying heaven and justice, robbing the rich and helping the poor, reflected the national concept of the people at that time and the requirements of opposing class oppression. The lower socio-economic status of its members makes them more in need of mutual assistance. Therefore, loyalty and righteousness have become the highest moral standard in the meeting and an important guarantee for achieving organizational unity and economic mutual assistance. At first, the Heaven and Earth Society spread mainly in Fujian, East Guangdong and Taiwan Province Province, and later spread to Guangdong, Jiangxi, Guangxi, Guizhou, Yunnan, Hunan and other provinces. After the Opium War, it spread to Sichuan, Hubei, Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other provinces. In the early Qing Dynasty, in addition to the original name of Heaven and Earth Society, there were many names such as Heaven and Earth, Filial Piety, Double Knife, Parents, Sandian, Sanhe and so on 10. After the Opium War, a large number of branches, such as the gerontology society, appeared, resulting in a large number of mountain religions all over the country, which became a major feature of the Heaven and Earth Society. The Qing court practiced harsh autocracy, but the civil movement against Manchu rule never stopped, and the heaven and earth would hold armed resistance struggles many times. After entering the period of the Republic of China, the organization of Heaven and Earth Society in China became a tool for a few people to fight for power and profit or an accomplice of the reactionary ruling class to oppose revolution and suppress the people. Most overseas Hong Men organizations still exist as an important link to unite overseas Chinese, and only a few have become underworld organizations.
origin
There are many opinions about the origin of the Heaven and Earth Society in the early days, namely: Zheng Chenggong founded the Heaven and Earth Society; Beginning in the thirteenth year of Kangxi, Jia Yin said; Beginning in the twelfth year of Yongzheng, Jia Yin said; Fujian rattan soldiers founded the heaven and earth society; Since the Ming dynasty; Began in the twenty-sixth year of Qianlong; Began in the thirty-second year of Qianlong; Began in Yongzheng period; Beginning in the early years of Yongzheng; Qunjie took "Wan" as the surname and re-established the Heaven and Earth Society.
(Zhuang: Zheng Chenggong and the Legend of the Creation of Heaven and Earth)
At present, the focus of debate is on the two statements of "Kangxi Jiayin" and "Qianlong twenty-six years".