Malaysia Chinese Secret Society "Hong Men" Identification Tokens. Set Of 6 Pieces.(1)
Rarity:
RRRR
http://dniewcollectors.blogspot.com/2013/05/hong-men-chenese-secret-society.html
http://dniewcollectors.blogspot.com/2013/05/hong-men-chenese-secret-society_15.html
On 20 April 2013 in the Numismatic Society (Asia) Coins & Banknotes Auction 1/2013 in Singapore, this
Malaysia Chinese Secret Society "Hong Men" Identification Tokens. Set Of 6 Pieces. was auctioned off at a realised price of S$800 (RM2000).
This Hong Men tokens were made of alloyed metal, there were minted in 1946-1948 and were found in their center at Lorong Kampung Kuli ,Malacca.
Here was the research done by Professor Lau Kia Ping and Mr. Wong Hon Sum.
Secret societies in Singapore and Malaya: Developments and identification token money
By Wong Hon Sum
, Singapore
After
the Manchurian army invaded China to establish the Qing Dynasty and the
anti-Qing regime of Zheng Cheng Gong (郑成功) in Taiwan collapsed in 1683,
some Han Chinese who still upheld the ideal of overthrowing the Qing
Dynasty to restore the Ming Dynasty were forced to flee China. These
exiles were then scattered in Thailand, the Nanyang Archipelago, the
Malay Peninsula, North Borneo etc. They maintained contacts with Tian Di
Hui (天地会, Heaven and Earth Society) or its branches in China with the
hope of planning to attack areas in the southern coast of China in their
effort to work with Tian Di Hui for fighting the Qing government to
revive the Ming Dynasty. These overseas conspiracies had generated
concern of the Qing government, prompting Emperor Kangxi (康熙) to order
clamp down actions on the oversea anti-Qing Chinese and to strictly
prohibit their return to China. The early political exiles were thus
sowing the seeds of secret societies in Southeast Asia as they gathered
to form Tian Di Hui branches or the factions of its ally organizations.
Tian
Di Hui was a non-governmental secret society that had been rather
influential in early Qing Dynasty. Its name could be traced to its
belief of “worshipping the heaven as father, the earth as mother, the
sun as brother and the moon as sister”. Members of the society were
known as brothers and given the surname “Hong” (洪), which was taken from
“Hong Wu” (洪武), the year title of Ming Tai Zu (明太祖), who was the
founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty. The society was also called “hong
men” (洪门), meaning “hong family”, and the Chinese character “hong” (洪)
was broken down to its basic strokes and designated as “three eight
twenty one” (三八二十一) for use as the secret identification code among its
members. The society’s rules demanded that members who joined earlier be
addressed as “elder brothers” (兄) and those who came in later as
“younger brother” (弟). With continually rising number of new members,
which meant that more younger brothers were added, the society was also
known as “adding younger brothers society” (添弟会)。
The
Chinese who migrated to the Malay Peninsula comprised those who tried to
escape from the rule of the Qing Dynasty as well as those who
personally wanted to pursue economic development. Bukit China in Malacca
is considered the oldest Chinese historical heritage in the country.
Some of the old tombs found there are dated back to the 16th century and
earlier. The ruling regimes then (the Portuguese and Dutch governments)
adopted the Kapitan system (Kapitan,a Dutch word which is equivalent to
Captain in English, means “tribal chief” in Chinese). Chinese leaders
who were appointed as Kapitans were responsible for the proper
management of the local people from their own ethnic group. Li Jia (李甲),
or Kapitan Li (“Jia” being the short form for the title Kapitan), was
one of the founders of Cheng Hoon Teng Temple or Temple of Green Cloud
(青云亭), the oldest temple in Malacca. His full name was Li Jun Chang
(李君常) and he was also known as Li Wei Jing (李为经). He hailed from Lu
Jiang (鹭江), also known as Xiamen (厦门), in Fujian （福建）province. The
Chinese cemetery land in Bukit China was in fact donated by Li Jia. Li
Jia’s son, Li Zheng Hao (李正豪), succeeded him as the Kapitan.
Subsequently, Li Zheng Hao’s brother-in-law (his sister’s husband) Zeng
Qi Lu (曾其禄), alias Zeng Liu Guan (曾六官), became the Kapitan. Zeng Liu
Guan was in fact a fugitive who fled China. He had contributed much to
the construction and extension of the Cheng Hoon Teng Temple building.
He built the Guang Yin Tang (观音堂) or Guan Yi Hall in the temple and a
wooden plaque installed in the hall bears the Chinese characters “Qing
Yun Gu Ji” (青云古迹) meaning “Green Cloud Ancient Heritage”. It was said
that these four Chinese characters were written by Li Jia. In Cheng Hoon
Teng Temple, there is still the memorial tablet shrine of Zeng Liu
Guan, which indicates him as “bi nan yi shi” ( 避难义士), meaning “a
righteous personality seeking refuge”. This is indication that Zeng Liu
Guan had opted to seek refuge in another country instead of living under
the rule of the Qing government. It can thus be seen that the
off-springs of these political exiles had formed the core of the Chinese
community in Malacca and they lived in a self-governed environment that
allowed them to pursue their own careers, thus contributing to the
prosperity of the local community. They were aware that they were not
able to fight the Qing government as they remained overseas and that it
was impossible for them to have any chance of starting an anti-Qing
reform movement outside China. Their anti-Qing conviction was thus
gradually forgotten following the passage of time and personnel changes.
However, the activities and organizational networks of these secret
societies subsequently evolved to become part of the social control
mechanism.
In 1786, the British established in Penang the first
colony in the Malay Peninsula, marking an important new beginning for
the migration of the Chinese to Southeast Asia. The free trade policy
implemented in Penang attracted many Chinese immigrants who aspired to
achieve better progress. Subsequently, the opening of Singapore in 1819
and the control of Malacca by the British in 1824 further boosted the
inflow of the Chinese immigrants. In 1826, the British established the
Straits Settlements and this development had strengthened the belief
held by the free traders from China that commerce in this region would
continue to flourish.
By 1825, the government of the
Straits Settlements had discovered the existence of four Chinese secret
societies, i.e. Yi Xin (义兴), Hai Shan (海山), He Cheng (合成) and Hua Sheng
(华生). In the initial period, the secret societies set up their
headquarters in Penang with branches in various parts of the Malay
Peninsula, of which the most important locations were Sungai Seremban in
Negeri Sembilan, Larut in Perak, Lukut in Selangor as well as Kuala
Lumpur, Kanching etc that developed later. These areas were producing
tin in the 19th century and many Chinese tin miners were important
leaders in Yi Xin and Hai Shan. Due to conflicts of power and interests,
there had occurred many cases of violent clashes between these two
secret societies.
Yi Xin Company in Singapore had
its members from five major dialect groups, namely Cantonese, Hakka,
Hokkien, Teochew and Hainan. Although these dialect groups belonged in
name to Yi Xin, they were in fact managing their own affairs separately.
Such a situation led to repeated armed clashes among members of these
dialect groups in Singapore in later years. Finally the British colonial
government enforced various regulations to control the activities of
these secret societies. In 1890, Yi Xin Company in Singapore was
officially banned by the British colonial government.
When
the British colonial government took action to ban the activities of
the secret societies in Singapore, it had requested the Sultan of Johor
to take similar action on Yi Xin Company in Johor. However, the Sultan
declined and wrote back to the Governor of the British colony,
explaining that Yi Xin Company was an organization officially recognized
with his consent and it had impacts on the Chinese living in Johor.
Since it was an organization beneficial to the people, he would not
agree with the oppressive policy implemented by the British colonial
government. The Sultan also pointed out that the existence of secret
societies could not be eradicated by laws and the best way was to
gradually change their nature over time. The method of control as
mentioned by the Sultan was to require Yi Xin Company to open to all
Chinese even though it was an organization formed by the Teochew dialect
group, and all the Chinese Kapitans and “gang zhu” (港主) (kangchu,
meaning “river lords”) must become its members.
By that
time, the Industrial Revolution of Europe which started in the 19th
century had led to the emergence of the textile and leather industries
that stimulated the demand for gambier. This attracted the interests of
the Chinese to plant this crop. Gambier is a small climbing plant and
its leaves and branches can be boiled in water to form a paste of red
brown colour which can be used as a dye for leather and textiles. Due to
the strict control of secret societies by the British colonial
government in Singapore, the leader of Yi Xin Company, Chen De Hai
(陈德海), led more than 4,000 members to migrate from Singapore to Johor in
1846 to plant gambier and pepper. The development of the Kanchu system
then implemented in Johor was related to Yi Xin Company. Several
well-known kanchus in Johor, such as Chen Kai Soon (陈开顺), Chen Xi Nian
(陈旭年), Chen De Hai (陈德海) and Lin Ya Xiang (林亚相), had all been leaders of
Yi Xin Company. As such, Yi Xin Company in Johor was the only secret
society in Johor that was given a legal status. Although its members
came mostly from the Teochew dialect group, its special status had
gradually attracted Chinese from other dialect groups to join in as
members. It was thus able to become a local non-governmental
organization that transcended the barriers of dialect groups and
contributed to the stable economic development in Johor.
(The author is founding president of Numismatic Society (Asia)
,now serving as advisor to the society.)
(English translation by Ling Boo Chong)
To be continued.......................
