Chinese American's / Tong Organizations

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 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.

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.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tong_(organization)

Notable Tongs in the United States

Hip Sing Association

The Hip Sing Association (traditional Chinese: 協勝公會; Cantonese Yale: Hip Sing Gung Wui) formerly known as the Hip Sing Tong (traditional Chinese: 協勝堂; Cantonese Yale: Hip Sing Tong) was a Chinese-American criminal organization based in New York's Chinatown during the early 20th century. They, along with their rivals the Four Brothers and the On Leong Tong, would be involved in the violent Tong wars for control of Chinatown during early 1900s. During the 1930s and 40s, the Hip Sings were involved in drug trafficking operations with the Kuomintang (KMT) and later the OPC. They would later establish chapters in Chinese-American communities throughout the United States in major cities such as Chicago, Seattle and San Francisco (the latter being subject to a major drug raid by authorities in 1996).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hip_Sing_Tong

On Leong Chinese Merchants Association

The On Leong Chinese Merchants Association (Chinese: 安良工商會; pinyin: Ānliáng Gōngshāng Huì) or simply Chinese Merchants Association, formerly known as the On Leong Tong (Chinese: 安良堂; pinyin: Ānliáng Táng), was a tong society operating out of its territory in Mott Street in New York's Chinatown. Established in November, 1893, the tong fought a violent war for control of Chinatown's rackets and businesses with the Hip Sing Tong. In recent years the Tong has been linked to the Ghost Shadows street gang led by Wing Yeung Chan. Currently, there are over 30,000 registered On Leong members, the majority of them with a commercial or industrial background.[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Leong_Tong

Ying On Association

The Ying On Labor & Merchant Association (Chinese: 英端工商會) or simply Ying On Association is a historical Chinese American association that was established during the 1800s for the purpose of assisting members of the Chinese community when they were threatened by unfair and discriminatory business practices; for organizing social gathering places for the Chinese; and at times, for organizing funeral parlors for the dead who had no kin or family in America.

They were also involved in the criminal underworld of the Chinese community as one of the main Tongs that were created as a self-protection society in America for Chinese immigrants. While a legitimate business association today, it was heavily involved in criminal activities during its history, as were most.

The Ying On Association still exists today.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ying_On_Association