The problem of secret society has attracted more and more attention, and it has also attracted more and more interest in academic discussion. One is that it has been kept secret for a long time, and outsiders don't know its details; On the other hand, people want to know all aspects of society, so as to reflect the social history more completely.
China's secret society is very prominent in Asia with a long history and various names. In the Qing dynasty, especially after the middle period, it developed rapidly among the people. It once existed widely in urban and rural areas. According to archives, local chronicles and other records, there are about 300 to 400 names. By the time of the Republic of China, the Red Gang, the Society of Brothers and green gang had the largest number, a wide range of activities and great influence.
Among them, the Gelao nationality originated in Sichuan and spread in Guizhou, Yunnan, Hunan, Hubei, Guangdong, Guangxi, Shaanxi, Gansu, Xinjiang and other places.
This book will specifically describe and discuss the elder brother society in Sichuan, also known as Paoge in Sichuan, which tells the history of Paoge. Including the origin of Paoge, how they established the church, their discipline, contact information, historical development and changes, and their role. After Paoge developed, he became associated with military bandits. Due to the rampant activities of bandits in Sichuan, there are many descriptions of bandits' activities, so this book is named Paoge and Bandits. Paoge and bandits in Sichuan (including Xikang) are quite typical and influential in history. Studying Paoge and bandits is an indispensable part of studying and understanding Qing Dynasty, especially modern history.
Paoge in Sichuan, old China, was quite common in all social strata. Paoge penetrated into all walks of life, whether in cities or towns, in rural areas or in all walks of life. According to the statistics of relevant departments of 1949, a large proportion of the population in Sichuan has the status of Paoge, and there are17 million professional and semi-professional Paoge. There are more than 1000 Paoge offices, branches and branches in Chengdu, and more than 500 in Chongqing. It is estimated that there are nearly100000 professional paoge in Chongqing. Sichuan Paoge organization is very powerful, with a large number of people, which is rare in secret societies all over the country.
Bandits in Sichuan were organized by Paoge. Paoge is divided into clear water and muddy water, and only Paoge who is muddy water is a bandit. Bandits refer to people who rob, kidnap and share stolen goods for a living. Sichuan is commonly known as the "second best". After the Republic of China, Paoge infiltrated the army, colluded with each other, wandered around and expanded the ranks of bandits. Among them, it is recorded: "The fierce bandits in Sichuan are not found in other provinces, and the number of legions is particularly developed. Therefore, guns flow into the people and are the source of bandits. Moreover, every time there is a war, there are not a few soldiers who become bandits, and many of them are recruited by bandits. Many generals in Sichuan are also heroes from Gulin. "
According to statistics, in 1927, the number of bandits in Sichuan was above100000, and then doubled. By 1949, bandits in Paoge, Sichuan had "three million guns", which is also rare in the whole country.
It is worth noting that there is also a "foreign Paoge" in the Sichuan Paoge organization. At the end of the Qing Dynasty and the beginning of the Republic of China, many foreigners in Chongqing participated in Paoge organization. For example, a foreign salesman, Babadage, a Greek tramp, rose from the third row of Paoge to Grandpa. Chongqing returned to Greece with her family in May after liberation, and has been active in Paoge, Sichuan for more than 40 years.
Sichuan Paoge was the social organization foundation of warlords, which contributed to the melee and created social chaos. Most of the military leaders in Sichuan participated in Paoge organization, and they all used Paoge bandits to compete for territory, control and annex defense zones. Among the warlords in Sichuan, Paoge bandit ranks account for one fifth, with Paoge bandit leader serving as army, division and brigade commander, and many Paoge bandit leaders. Warlords colluded with foreign companies to buy weapons through Paoge, and foreigners Paoge acted as intermediaries.
During War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the War of Liberation, Chiang Kai-shek Kuomintang forces also controlled and used Paoge bandits to deal with local powerful and progressive forces; Local strength and progressive forces also used Paoge's strength to resist Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang and launched an anti-Japanese and anti-Chiang struggle. After liberation, Paoge organization, as a feudal society, was dissolved immediately after being registered by the people's government.
It can be seen that the rise, development and extinction of bandits in Paoge, Sichuan are related to the history of feudal society and semi-colonial and semi-feudal society in China.
The vicious development of Paoge and Bandits in Sichuan has certain socio-economic and political reasons. First, Sichuan's economy is backward, and the feudal economy is dominant; The land is highly concentrated, the population is growing rapidly, the contradiction between man and land is becoming increasingly prominent, the number of landless peasants is increasing, and a large number of bankrupt peasants become vagrants. Second, after the founding of the Republic of China, warlords in Sichuan fought for years. In more than 20 years, there have been more than 400 wars, competing for territory and implementing the system of protected areas, which has divided Sichuan into many independent kingdoms. Warlords have levied land taxes for decades, and exorbitant taxes and miscellaneous taxes have increased, industry and commerce have languished, the lower classes have gone bankrupt, and the ranks of bandits have expanded. Third, the revolutionary forces in Sichuan are weak, the revolutionary parties have been destroyed repeatedly, and the reactionary forces are relatively strong. The broad masses of the people have no way out politically and no guarantee in life. Paoge organization advocates the prosperity of the Han family, helps the poor, opposes corrupt officials and the ruling class, and advocates sharing weal and woe, protecting and reducing participants or avoiding oppression, which meets their needs. Fourth, after 1935, Chiang Kai-shek's Kuomintang troops entered Sichuan to resist Japan, with Chongqing as the capital, directly ruled Sichuan, and used the bandit forces of Paoge to consolidate the reactionary foundation, especially to develop Paoge's organization to win votes. Fifth, Chengdu is a consumer city, the capital of Sichuan, the distribution center of opium, and the location where Paoge, bandits and warlords are concentrated; Chongqing is the distribution center and main port of southwest materials and the political, military and economic center of War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression period. The apparent prosperity of these two cities attracted a large number of refugees and people from all over the country, so the Paoge organization developed rapidly in these two cities.
The history of Paoge and bandits in Sichuan can be roughly divided into four stages: the first stage, from the early Qing Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty, is the period of Paoge's rise and development. Paoge, Sichuan is a non-governmental organization that rose in the early Qing Dynasty. In the Qing dynasty, it was a secret and illegal civil society, and was called "bandits" or "bandits". At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Paoge's influence gradually expanded, from anti-Qing dynasty to restoring the Ming dynasty, prospering the Han dynasty and eliminating the Qing dynasty to participating in the anti-imperialist and anti-feudal struggle.
The second stage, from the Revolution of 1911 to the war to defend the country, was the heyday of Paoge.
Sichuan Paoge participated in the road protection movement led by the constitutionalists and the Sichuan armed uprising led by the revolutionaries, and achieved brilliant results. Paoge organization once turned from secret to public, from illegal to legal, and made great progress. Although it was later suppressed, it rose again in the war to defend the country and contributed to the victory of the war to defend the country in Sichuan.
In the third stage, from the national defense war to War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression, Paoge went downhill. Paoge infiltrated the army, and the bandits expanded viciously. Sichuan military leaders used Paoge bandits to compete for territory. Warlords have been fighting for more than 20 years, and wars are frequent, and the people have suffered from soldiers and bandits.
The fourth stage, from War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression to the War of Liberation, is a period of great division and disintegration of Paoge bandits. Kuomintang military and political personnel and spies infiltrated Paoge organization to control and use it against local powerful forces and progressive forces. Local strength and progressive forces also used Paoge's strength to fight against Japan and Chiang Kai-shek. On the eve of liberation, some Paoge abandoned the dark to join the uprising, and some took part in the "guerrilla cadre training class" organized by Kuomintang secret agents, and then participated in the bandit riots, resulting in self-destruction.
The victory of the war of liberation, the anti-hegemony of bandits, the suppression of counter-revolution and the achievements of the land reform movement, and the new China have properly solved the long-hidden social problems in the old society and enabled the people to live a peaceful and stable life, which is a major event in the history of China.
Due to the proliferation of bourgeois liberalization, feudal gangs that have long been banned in China have emerged, endangering social order, creating chaos and hindering reform and construction, which has become an urgent social problem. In Sichuan, such as Neijiang City, almost all counties (districts) in this city have some feudal gang organizations. According to relevant comrades in Anyue County, there are no fewer than 50 feudal gangs in this county. Anyue County Public Security Bureau once went to Shiyang District for investigation, and it only took half a month to verify eleven gang organizations. The purpose of these gang organizations' propaganda is to share joys and sorrows. Shiyang "Friendship Gang" took this as an oath when it was founded, taking an oath, reading rules and regulations, drinking raw chicken blood wine and arranging seats. They carry out the undead organized by Paoge, which will inevitably play a role in undermining people's stability and unity.
This kind of behavior that is not conducive to the masses can never be ignored or underestimated.
It is undoubtedly of great significance for us to study these secret societies. The existence of secret society has both objective and subjective reasons. If we can figure out the mystery and context, it will certainly greatly enhance people's ability to identify and resist.
We know that secret society is still a serious social problem in developed countries in Europe and America and many developing third world countries. After the founding of New China, secret societies in Chinese mainland have been banned, but their activities in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao are still rampant, even more serious than secret societies, which should be called the existence of underworld.
Therefore, the study of the secret society will help to further understand our national conditions and people's feelings, and understand how our society is struggling to develop. Being able to fully understand the fundamental differences between the old and the new society will encourage people to cherish the hard-won social changes. All these will also help to strengthen the construction of socialist spiritual civilization and improve people's cultural literacy.
So far, the study of secret society is still a weak link. Marx pointed out long ago: "What is society, regardless of its form? It is the product of interpersonal communication. Can people freely choose a certain social form? Never. Under certain conditions of the development of people's productive forces, there will be certain forms of commerce and consumption. When production, exchange and consumption reach a certain stage, there will be a certain social system and a certain family, class or class organization. In short, there will be a certain civil society. "
(Marx: To Bawa Miko Wu Foucault1846 65438+February 28th) Social organization is a subject that must be paid attention to in social history. It is necessary to study not only the history of political parties, trade unions and peasant associations, but also the history of mass organizations, the history of Communist Party history and the history of bandits, while the latter is often neglected, but its research can better reflect the social history. Due to long-term neglect of management, a large number of historical materials are scattered and the original files are not sorted out. All these bring difficulties to the research. Therefore, we must adhere to the guidance of Marxism and use accurate and reliable materials, especially archives, to write social history works to fill this weak link in research.
Due to the limitation of the author's level, this book is only a trial work, and there are inevitably omissions and mistakes. Please correct me.
postscript
The Third Symposium on Social History of China is scheduled to be held in Chengdu in June 1990+00. My masterpiece is a gift to the conference.
This book uses the rich materials of Sichuan CPPCC Literature and History Information Committee, Chengdu CPPCC Literature and History Information Committee, Chongqing CPPCC Literature and History Information Committee, Sichuan Provincial Public Security Bureau Archives, Chengdu Public Security Bureau Archives, Sichuan Provincial Civil Affairs Department, Chengdu Archives and Sichuan University Library. Wang Bin, Zhang, Xia, Xuefeng Tang and other comrades provided valuable information; Graduate students Wang Xinhua and Zhao Hemin collected some information; Comrade Cheng Zheng has done a lot of data collection and sorting. Li Tiannian, vice president of Tianjin People's Publishing House, Yin Ruiyuan and Comrade Yi Zhao, responsible editors, gave concrete help from topic selection to compilation. During the visit, Mr. Qiao Zengxi, Mr. Xiong, Mr. Wu Jianzhou and Mr. Kang Zhaokui provided unpublished manuscripts, memoirs and interviews. Here, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks!
author
1April 990