Gustave Schlegel - primary source

Gustave Schlegel
Thian Ti Hwui
The Hung-League
Heaven-earth –League
Gustave Schlegel – Interpreter for the Chinese Language to the government of Nethrelands India
Member of the Batavian Society of Arts and societies and of the Royal Insittue for the philology, geography and ethnology of Netherlands - India
It is a known fact that secret societies not only exist in China itself, but also with the Chinese in the colonies, where they hlead very often to a tacit resistance against the laws of the land, or even to revolt. In the spring of the year 1863, a lot of books were , very accidentally, found by the police in the house of a chinamans suspected of theft at padan which proved the existence of a secrt society at that place numbering about 200 members. These books, containing the laws, statues oath, mysteries of initiatin, catechism description of flags, symbols and secret signs etc, were placed officially into my hands for translation. Most of these books were at the time, quite unintelligible to me, and as …
As I hoped to be enabled, in that way, to find out the secrets of those societies.

Every person who has read anything of the secret societies in China, must have been struck with the resemblnance between them and the society of Freemasons
We believe that it was Dr Milne who first noted this resemblance in his paper on the Triadsociety.
Suggests link between Freemasons and Triads In antiquity, Chinese vases found in Egyptian tombs
“Freemasonary has, likewise, formerly been used as a cover for political conjurations in England; and there are surely perverted and bad people amongst masons too. We have, however, not to discuss at present what the Chinese Hungleague has done or does; but what it ought to do according to its own tents and teachings: that war and revolt is not its proper object the brother hood itself acknowledges
Oaths:
The so oft repeated “obey heaven and act righteously” accords well with the saying of the consititutoin book of the lodge Archimedes in Altenburg “Act as a man who is penetrated with the purest estemem fir equity and duty for god and man should act.”
From this it results clearly, that masonry is , and ought to be, cosmopolitic; and this is also recognised by masons.
The intimate union between eaven Earth and Man, was expressed by the symbol (triangle). According to the Shwoh-wan this symbol means ‘three united in one. It is composed of the character ru to enter, penetrate and yi one so that the symbol signifies three united, penetrated, blended into one.
With the Egyptians the equilateral triangle was explained so that one side expressed the male deity, the other side the female deity, and the base the created
Lots of siginigficance of the number 3. Also 5 and 7. 9 has significance as the highest
p.xxix We now come to the most important part of our introduction, viz, the comparison of the symbols of Masonry and of the Ung-league, which will give us many points of striking resemblance
The lodges of the freemasons and of the Hung-league are both square and perfectly oriented. With the principal gate or entrance towards the East. Now we will compare for a moment the old English apprecitce catechism and the Catechism of the Ung-league.
The 89th question in the former runs “ow broad rother?” (is the lodge)
“ow high brother”
“From earth to Heaven”
The 230 question of the Catechism of the ung-league runs:
“Ow high is the lodge?”
As high as one’s eyes can reach
And how broad
As broad as the two capitals and 13 prvices
The Chinese lodge is situated, like the Masonic lodge, towards the East. In the old Chinese light worship, the Est, as the source of all light, is sacred.
One of the greatest symbols is the lighting of lamps
We find back also in the ung-league the steel-yard, scales and foot-meausre as instruments to weigh and measure in a natural and symbolical sense, just as it is in masonry
So we mention, also the resemblance between the abbreviations of words in both societies. The masons following the Egyptian hierogliyphical system, which consists in abbreviatin the word with 3 points
“ In conclusiosn we do not think it improbable that the hung-league is the depositary of the old religion of the Chinese; consisting in the belief in a single and undivided god worshipped

Chapter 1 political history of the hung league
In the eyes of the present members of the ung league the tartars hae forfeited their claims and must therefore be exterminated. Theirs is a sacred war of righteousness against tyranny – of humanity against oppresiion and vice. If our supposition that the Ung-league has originated since antiquity is correct, they must have waged continually a war for the defence of righteous principles. For the same reason they will consider such a war righteous against every one who oppresses tehm, or whose government they think hurtful to the people, be they tartars, Mongols, Chinese or Europeans
The chineses annals afford many ullustrations of such fraternal bonds
It is impossible to tell with any certainty, whence the hungleague sprung. It may be that it was born of the system of clans, which gave the people the spirit of association. In antiquity the Chinese counted only one hundred families, and till the present day they do not possess many more names. When these families separated, each family as was natural, kept together. The members of each family having the same origin and name, would of course consider each other as brothers
There are lotsof pirates, who assume the name because iti s feared, but who do, in fact, not at all belondg to the league
Chapter 2 – The rituals of the lodge
Lots of pictures
Chapter 3
The government of the lodge – more pictures
Chapter 4 The affiliation of new members
New members for the heaven and earth-society are got in several ways.
A person may find some day in his house a chit of paper stamped wit the seal of the society, by which he is orderd to betake himself, at a certain hour to such a place.

Violenceis also used
Then lots of oaths
Part 5
Lawas and statues of the brotherhood
72 articles of laws of brotherhood
Section 2 21 articles of the regulations
Meeting with robbers and pirates
Section 3
Questions and answers (for recognition of other members)
Section 5 escret signs with wine cups
Section6
Secret signs at the dinner table
Section 7 – secret sings on smoking tobacco or opium
Section 10 – the original bases – recitations to show which lodge you belong to
Notes appendices and pictures – not useful