' HAPPINESS

♥ DOUBLE TWO SINGLE SIX !
. Rigorous & Righteousness

♥ Monday, July 16, 2007

洪門

== The Hongmen today ==''Hongmen'' is an illegal society in every part of the world, because of its links with the [[Triad]] gangs, perceived or real. In [[Taiwan]], by contrast, the ''Hongmen'' is not only legal, but politically influential; this came as no surprise, since Dr. [[Sun Yat-Sen]], who founded the [[Republic of China]], was, as mentioned before, a senior figure within the Hongmen, as was nationalist leader [[Chiang Kai Shek]]. Moreover, the [[Kuomintang]], or Chinese Nationalist Party, was formed from the [[Xingzhonghui]] and [[Guangfuhui]], groups not unlike the Hongmen. In the [[People's Republic of China]], the Hongmen is known as the Zhi Gong Party (致公党), a political party which participates in the [[Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference]]. The Hongmen continues to exist within numerous overseas Chinese communities (where it is sometimes known as the "Chinese Freemasons"), albeit with rapidly aging memberships; its main purposes today are to act as fraternities amongst overseas Chinese, and to participate in charitable activities. The organisation also has business interests, and is reportedly trying to open a Kung Fu school in Taiwan. Under the influence Chiang Kai Shek, the ''Hongmen'' attempted to remain secretive (although not exactly secret), but in recent years the organisation's activities have been more open. The ''Hongmen'' is believed to consist of about 300,000 members worldwide, concentrated in Taiwan, with other members tending to be found in China or the Chinese overseas communities. Membership is overwhelmingly ethnically Chinese (including [[Taiwanese peopleTaiwanese]]) but there are also Japanese members and a few white American members. The ''Hongmen'' is divided into branches, of which there are believed to be approximately 180. The largest of the branches, Wu Sheng Shan, consists of perhaps 180,000 members. Membership is said to be primarily working class, and is also said to include a considerable membership in the armed forces of the [[Republic of China]] (Taiwan).
Hongmen members worldwide continue to observe certain common traditions: they all stress their patriotic origin; they all revere [[Guan Gong]], a historic Chinese figure; and they all share certain rituals and traditions (debatably "[[Freemasonry]]-like") such as the concept of brotherhood (hardly restricted to Freemasonry) and a "secret handshake".

three dots red .

With Respect ,

@ THREE EIGHT ²¹>