For more than a year now, we’ve been exploring the origins and the history of the Japan’s “Yakuza” crime syndicates. Their story took us an impressive 400 years into the past, going from humble beginnings as gamblers and peddlers to experiencing a meteoric rise to power starting in the early 1900s. But moving from the island nation of Japan to MAINLAND ASIA, we encounter yet another collection of criminal organizations, known for engaging in activities and violence similar to the Yakuza but arguably boasting an EVEN RICHER origin story. The roots of the Chinese Triads are arguably even more deeply intertwined with the fabric of their country’s history and politics than that of their Japanese counterparts, and not only that, but their story takes us back in time much, much further! The Triads trace their roots back not hundreds, but THOUSANDS of years, slowly, almost with Zen-like patience developing from non-criminal, in some cases pretty HARMLESS societies into crime syndicates that eventually managed to steer their country’s fate as they saw fit… occasionally for their own personal gain.
So, today, join me on a journey to mainland China, on a quest to explore the INSANELY LONG history of the Chinese Triads, one of the most well-known and infamous collections of criminal organizations in history… while probably butchering the pronunciation of every single Chinese word or name that I happen to come across… apologies in advance to all Mandarin or Cantonese-speaking viewers!
#china #crime #history
❤️ Support me on my Patreon! https://www.patreon.com/ANIKIhistory
SOURCES:
Book: “The Dragon Syndicates: The Global Phenomenon of the Triads” by Martin Booth
https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803105643249
https://theanthrotorian.com/culture/2016/2/27/why-are-chinese-gangs-called-triads
https://afe.easia.columbia.edu/special/china_1750_demographic.htm
https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/108945-001-A/triaden-die-chinesische-mafia-auf-dem-vormarsch-1-3/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Chiang-Kai-shek
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Opium-Wars
https://www.britannica.com/event/Boxer-Rebellion
https://avezink.livejournal.com/53624.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_history_of_China#:~:text=Qing%2C%201644%20%E2%80%93%201911,-The%20most%20significant&text=The%20population%20in%201700%2C%20according,the%20Taiping%20Rebellion%20in%201850
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wang_Mang
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Eyebrows
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiandihui
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_massacre
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_Gang#Last_years_in_Hong_Kong
CHAPTER:
00:00 – Intro
02:16 – Secret Societies
10:58 – Fan Qing Fu Ming
17:40 – Drugs & Rebellion
29:14 – Birth of a Republic
37:59 – A New Era of Crime
source