184 Fist Fighting and Self-Cultivation
of the Heaven and Earth Society (Tiandihui) (“Triads” in Western literature)
to the Shaolin monks who had escaped persecution by the Qing government.
After imperial forces had burned down the Shaolin Temple, it went, a handful
of martial monks managed to escape to the South, where they established the
secret society for the purpose of “overthrowing the Qing and restoring the
Ming” (fan Qing fu Ming).
During the Qing period, the Heaven and Earth Society was the largest and
most powerful brotherhood in South China. Flaunting an overtly anti-Manchu
ideology, the society was variously engaged in mutual aid and in criminal activ-
ities, which led to repeated armed clashes with the state.^6 Its foundation myth
sur v ives in diverse nineteent h- centur y versions, some of t hem in t he inter roga-
tion records of captured members. Ignoring the inconsistencies between vary-
ing accounts, the legend may be briefly summarized as follows:
During the reign of the Kangxi emperor (r. 1662–1722), the historically
unidentifiable Xi Lu barbarians defeated the Qing army. The courageous
monks of the Shaolin Temple—wrongly located by some versions in Gansu
Province—came to the emperor’s rescue. After subduing the rebels, they were
invited to the capital to be honored with imperial posts, which they declined,
expressing their desire to resume their humble monkish lives. Once back at
the temple, the heroic warriors fell prey to political intrigue. Government
forces led by traitorous officials set the monastery on fire, killing most of the
monks. A handful managed to escape to the South, finding (in some versions)
refuge at a temple whose name resonates with Shaolin—Changlin. Swearing
an oath of brotherhood with the local clerics, they established the Heaven and
Earth Society. A magic incense burner emerged from the sea, providing divine
sanction for their enterprise. It was inscribed “Overthrow the Qing, Restore
the Ming.”^7
The legend has been variously approached by scholars. Some have
searched in it for clues on the society’s historical origins in South China (corre-
lating verifiable names from its diverse versions with information culled from
other sources); some have analyzed its mythic structure; some have highlighted
its indebtedness to popular narratives such as Water Margin; some have empha-
sized its communality with the messianic lore of millenarian sects.^8 Whichever
approach we assume, it is clear that the legend’s immediate background—his-
torical and folkloric alike—lies in South China. Two examples may suffice to
make the point. The motif of the Shaolin Monastery’s burning is likely related
to Fujian lore concerning the conflagration of a local southern Shaolin Tem-
ple,^9 and the name Changlin, which is mentioned in several versions, has been
shown to designate a historical monastery in that province. Some scholars con-
sider it the source of the brotherhood’s foundation myth.^10
Bearing in mind its southern provenance, is the secret society’s myth rel-
evant to the history of the Shaolin Temple in Henan? On the most general
level, the legend mirrors the monastery’s fame. By the eighteenth century,
the Shaolin Temple had acquired mythic proportions in the imagination of