Tong

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In the United States, a tong (Chinese: 堂; Cantonese Yale: tong4; Pinyin: táng; literal: hall) is the term used for a type of secret society found among Chinese American (or other countries) immigrants. In the nineteenth century, when the tongs originated, few Chinese workers wished to emigrate to the USA. Although many stayed, most came with hopes of return to China. Although tongs were originally created for mutual support and protection, especially from other local ethnic groups hostile to the rapid Chinese immigration, their activities often flouted the law or became outright criminal. Tongs are descended from the Tiandihui, a secret society established to overthrow the Qing dynasty in China in the 18th century, and are similar to other groups worldwide that were also descended from the Tiandihui, known as hui, hongmen, triads, and tongs as well.

History

Some of the first tongs formed in the second half of the 19th century among the earliest immigrant Chinese American communities. Many were outcasts or lacked the clan or family ties to join more prestigious Chinese surname associations, business guilds, or legitimate enterprises. As a result, they banded together to form their own secret societies for protection. These first tongs followed the same patterns as the triads. The triad societies were underground organizations in British controlled areas that also existed for self help of members, but spoke of the overthrow of the Qing dynasty. Both groups adopted codes of brotherhood, loyalty, and patriotism.

Prostitution proved to be an extremely profitable business for the tongs, due to the high male-to-female ratio among the early immigrants. The tongs would kidnap or purchase females from China and smuggle them over the Pacific Ocean to work in brothels. The tongs constantly battled over territory, profits, and women in feuds known as the tong wars, occurring from the 1850s to the 1920s, notably in San Francisco, Cleveland, and Los Angeles.

These criminal enterprises eventually became involved in political activities as well. When Sun Yat-sen formed his Revive China Society, with the purpose of overthrowing the Qing dynasty, he found a receptive audience among many of the Tongs in addition to legitimate organizations. Many of the Tongs worked closely with organizations and contacts in China and provided funding to advance their political goals.

The 1930s was an era of decline in violent criminal activities in the Chinatowns. Due to the efforts of middle class or second-generation Chinese activists, and campaigning by Christian missionaries, prostitution was on the decline. Since the Chinatowns had become a major tourist attraction, the tongs had become less willing to see a decline in their revenues due to bloodshed and violence. The tongs had already spun off their operations into legitimate businesses, and organized themselves more professionally, and expanding their ranks to include legitimate merchants and businessmen.

Today in most American Chinatowns, if one can read Chinese, one can find clearly marked Tong halls. In the 1990s, many had affiliations with Chinese gangs.

Notable Chinese Tongs

• Bing Kong Tong
• Hop Sing Tong
• Hip Sing Tong
• On Leong Tong
• Suey Sing Tong
• Ang Soon Tong 21
• Kim Ghee Tong 21
• Tong Tran
• Pa Hai Tong 21
• Four Brothers
• W Zhang Tong
• Hai San
• Ghee Hin

References

• Ko-lin Chin.Chinatown Gangs: Extortion, Enterprise, and Ethnicity Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Peter Huston. Tongs, Gangs, and Triads: Chinese Crime Groups in North America (2001)
• Asian Organized Crime Groups - Chinese - Tongs and Street Gangs
• SF Weekly Feature Article Profiling Member of Hop Sing Tong -- Raymond "Shrimp Boy" Chow (2007)
• Tongs, Encyclopedia of Chicago

See also

• Hui
• Triad society
• List of Chinese criminal organizations