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Also known as Hatchet Gang

The Gelaohui, usually translated as the Elder Brothers Society, was a secret society and underground resistance movement against the Qing dynasty. Although it was not associated with Sun Yat-sen's Tongmenghui, they both participated in the Xinhai Revolution. It was also known as Futaubang, or Hatchet Gang, as every member allegedly carried a small hatchet inside the sleeve.

Key facts

Organization.name
Elder Brothers Society
Organization.formation
Qianlong period (one theory)
Organization.founding_location
Sichuan
Organization.dissolved
after 1949
Organization.type
Secret society
Chinese.t
哥老會
Chinese.s
哥老会
Chinese.p
Gēlǎohuì
Chinese.child
yes

via Wikipedia infobox

~20 min read

Encyclopedic overview

14 sections
Contents
  • Origins
  • Same origin with Tiandihui
  • Qianlong period
  • Same as the Guoluhui
  • Outgrowth of the integration and development of Tiandihui and Bailianjiao
  • Developed from the Jianghuhui
  • Xiang Army
  • Originating from the Guoluhui in Sichuan
  • Anti-colonial movement
  • 1930s: years of decline
  • Organization
  • Ranks
  • See also
  • References

The Gelaohui, usually translated as the Elder Brothers Society, was a secret society and underground resistance movement against the Qing dynasty. Although it was not associated with Sun Yat-sen's Tongmenghui, they both participated in the Xinhai Revolution. It was also known as Futaubang, or Hatchet Gang, as every member allegedly carried a small hatchet inside the sleeve.

Li Hanzhang (), the governor of Hunan in the Qing dynasty, stated in the memorial that the Gelaohui "originated in Sichuan and Guizhou for a long time", the society engaged in several uprisings across China, notably in Hunan province during 1870 and 1871. Numerous individuals notable in late-19th and early-20th Chinese history (including Zhu De, Wu Yuzhang, Liu Zhidan and He Long) were Gelaohui members.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Gelaohui” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.