Tongs and Triads

     Before going into the discussion of the "Great Circle Gang" aka "Great or Big Circle Boys" in Paraguay, I felt that more background and explanation of the so-called Tongs in America and Triads in China was necessary.  As mentioned in the previous blog, the Tongs and Triads got their start as  "neighborhood associations" in America in the late 19th and early 20th Century.  In China, the Triads were formed initially as political opposition to the oppressive Manchu Ching Dynasty rulers in the early 19th Century and some were simply called "Heaven and Earth" societies (as explained in the previous blog, the Triad stands for Heaven-Earth-Man).  Initially the Triads were mostly involved in trying to overthrow their Manchu rulers, but in time, by the late 19th Century, they became criminal organizations.  After all, in order to finance their political activities, they needed money!  To raise money they began to get involved in money making criminal activities, everything from gambling and prostitution, to narcotics and kidnapping for ransom!
     One of the more powerful Shangahi Triads was called the Green Gang, and the Green Gang was largely responsible for supporting the Nationalist Party, the Koumintang!  Chang Kai Sheik was a bona fide member of the Green Gang before he rose to power!  So it was the Triad that brought him to power!  There were numerous Triads operating all over China, mostly in large cities.  When the Nationalists lost the civil war to the communists and fled to Taiwan, the Green Gang as well as several other Triads moved with the Chang Kai Sheik government to Taiwan!  Others scattered about and moved to nearby countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Malay (which became Malaysia and a separate Singapore) where to this day the Triads exist.  However, some moved to Hong Kong where there were already established Triads.  So Hong Kong became the center of Triad activity.  But all this took place after 1949 when mainland China fell to the communists.
     In America, the Tongs were established in Chinatowns as benevolent associations, i.e., neighborhood associations for mutual support, to help fellow Chinese who might need financial or some other assistance.  Keep in mind that the Chinese were the first Asians to receive the so-called "exclusion" treatment by the U.S. government.  By early 20th Century, Chinese were banned from entering the U.S., and those who were in America could not own property or become U.S. citizens.  Ironically, rather than having things improve in time, the situation became worst when Congress passed the Asian Exclusion Act of 1924 which barred all Asians from entering the U.S. and the same restrictions that applied to the Chinese were placed on Japanese, Koreans, and Filipinos.  Ironically, Philippines was ruled by the U.S. at the time!
     Those Asians who were born in the U.S. were U.S. citizens, therefore, at least theoretically, entitled to all the rights of a U.S. citizen.  But things didn't work quite that way.  If you were Asian, especially Chinese or Japanese, you had a hell of a time getting normal access to things that a U.S. citizen took for granted.  Bank loans were almost impossible to get for Chinese and Japanese even if they were U.S. citizens, so, organizations like the Tongs were a big help.  The Tongs gave loans to Chinese who needed money and helped set up businesses for them by having the property listed under a U.S. citizen's name.  The Japanese did not have Tongs, but there were neighborhood organizations that helped fellow Japanese.  Interestingly enough, there were Japanese banks in America, Sumitomo and Sanwa Banks.  These banks loaned money to the Japanese which they could not get from American banks!  So the Tongs and the similar organizations played a vital role in Chinese and Japanese communities for the survival of the people!
     Going back to mainland China, after the communist take over of the country, Chairman Mao made a concerted effort to get rid of what remained of Triads.  After the Cultural Revolution of the 1960s,  it is said that in one night Mao had over 50,000 Red Guard members executed, because he suspected them of being affiliated with Triads!  Mao did not forget that the Triads supported the Nationalists, so he was ruthless in seeking out and eliminating Triad members.  Mao was correct in his suspicions, many of the Red Guards as well as active duty People's Army members were Triad members.  When it couldn't be proved that a Red Guard or People's Army member was with the Triad, they were simply imprisoned.  So, upon their release from prison, most of them made their way into Hong Kong and established the "Great or Big Circle Gang."  The next blog will discuss this violent gang and its activities in Paraguay as well as its incursion into America.