Talk:Triad

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This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Triad article.

Language used in Triad oath's section was misleading. Referenced full text, probably incorrectly, so please correct it. It was never a strictly religious society, but it had religious overtones and very strong Buddhist influences and to a lesser degree Taoist as well. See "Ritual and Mythology of the Chinese Triads" by Barend J. Ter Haar. This was probably lost after the 1911 Republican Revolution when it started leaning towards organized crime, but not being a triad member, I can't tell you. 128.8.210.42 11:58, 21 November 2006 (UTC)jk

Is it still a religious society? When did it lost this? -- Error 01:59, 28 Aug 2003 (UTC)

Removed this

Whether that was the government stance or merely a personal opinion remains unknown.

I don't understand how whether or not something is official or unofficial can be unknown. User:Roadrunner


Contents

[edit] incorrect character translation

the article translates 3 characters as 'Tian Di Hui', they are, in fact, 'Tian Tu Hui' (although the meaning 'Heaven and Earth Society' still applies.).

Fixed.Bill 19:32, 3 May 2006 (UTC)
I've seen it romanized (Wade-Giles) as "T'ien Ti Hui". Jean Chesneaux, "Secret Societies in China" 128.8.210.42 11:58, 21 November 2006 (UTC)jk

[edit] grammer

After the Mob in Hong Kong in 1956, the government actively enforced the laws that restricted and diminished the triad activities in Hong Kong.

This sentance needs something, but I don't know enough to fill the holes Sam Spade 05:49, 12 Apr 2004 (UTC)

School violence is not a new issue. The most recent event which stirred much public concern was the video clip that recorded a student being beaten up by 11 fellow classmates. And just two weeks ago, a student in Tin Shui Wai stabbed a 17-year-old with a pair of scissors.

It strikes me as odd that a Wikipedia user would say "2 weeks ago", knowing that to be unsatisfactory for the reader. It strikes me as possible copyvio. Mike Church 05:22, 1 May 2004 (UTC)

Removed the following unsubstantiated claims:

The Triads have worked with the CIA in creating the drug network. The creation of the Golden Triangle as a source for drugs was a joint CIA-Triad operation.

Watcher 06:47, 10 May 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Removing pending confirmation

"With the size of membership numbered in hundreds of thousands, it is estimated that about 5% of Hong Kong's male adult population holds some kind of Triad membership, although that figure cannot be verified."

Where does this figure come from? WhisperToMe 23:33, 9 Jul 2004 (UTC)

"although that figure cannot be verified"
Ironic. --Ruthless4Life 05:48, 9 December 2005 (UTC)


"Sadly, however, police members are often leading people of quite a number of cases that arouse citizens' awareness. These policemen, often being senior officers ranking as high as Senior Superintendent (SSP), are believed to have close relationship with seniorities of the triads. They provide notifications prior to raids or snap checks (of the triads' businesses) in return for their own interests, primarily money; Police corruption plays a role to the triad's notoriety." While cases of corruption are doubt true, without examples this is a problematic statement. It would be best to clean this up with citable examples. Statement edited slightly pending finding cases of police corruption .

--Dagayute 01:48, 28th July 2006 (UTC)

[edit] not only HK

The Triad is not only active in Hong Kong but also in Taiwan and mainland China and probably other places but certainly not only in Hong Kong.


Answer

A Triad usually doesnt mean a Gang that are mainly Chinese, to become a triad there are certain rituals to be met before you are being joined in the Triad Gang. The ones in Mainland China probably have different type of ritual and are just being called simply ruffian gangs. Triads usually have their own rules of dealing a business deal with a rival clan and their own way of fighting turf wars. Triad strongest base is in Macao and Hong Kong, it is difficult to maintain a proper strong triad gang in Mainland China, since there are too many people who got their own rules or scattered gang. Nobody want to be just a mere soldier when they can become the "Dragon head". Taiwan triads usually are created by Hong Kong or Macao citzens who settled down in Taiwan because they need to escape from the local police and since Taiwan is close to China.

[edit] Factual question

Were the triads (or the Triad) in the beginning a single society or were there many triads all along? This would help me to decide where shoud the word 'triad' be written with a capital T and where not.

The term triad refers to a class of criminal organisations, not named after persons, places, organisations, etc. This will be rectified in subsequent edits. Mission9801 09:21, 20 September 2005 (UTC)
Historically they were a single society founded by five Shaolin monks (if you believe their "creation myth"), and initially there was just one "Society of Heaven, Earth and Humans," or the Triad. However, the secret societies had a tendency to form branches and the Triad became the Triads which became a class of organizations. Chesneaux, "Secret Societies in China".

[edit] Triad symbol?

Example of a Triad symbol

In the article Social problems in Chinatown I found this image. Is it a genuine Triad symbol? I find it a bit odd, as if made up. On the other hand there are occurrences outside the wikepedia. If someone knows that it is genuine it could be included into the article or if not removed from the Wikipedia. --Silvestre Zabala 11:59, 29 October 2005 (UTC)


[edit] "Illegality" of information

The article as of now contains this sentence: "Note: It is illegal to describe the formalities for initiation into a triad in Hong Kong." I assume this means it is illegal, in Hong Kong, to describe the initiation; the sentence structure at present makes it unclear. Wikipedia is not subject to Hong Kong law, and I think we should describe the formalities of initiation. Vivacissamamente 22:19, 27 November 2005 (UTC)

Well, who exactly deems it illegal to to discuss triad initiations? Is this police authorities of Hong Kong proper or of the People's Republic? That question should be addressed as the well to complete the intended meaning. Shadowrun 06:15, 25 February 2006 (UTC)

[edit] title

By the "principle of least surprise", at Triad, you should expect the counterpart of de:Trias (Religion) (related to trinity), or a disambiguation page; I suggest this article should be at Triad (China) or similar. Also, I do not understand "The term does not carry capital letters" in the intro. Presumably, this is intended to mean simply that "triad" in this meaning is not capitalized? dab () 09:10, 7 December 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Sources required

Many statements in this article require a proper citation. Please refer to Wikipedia:Verifiability, Wikipedia:No original research, our official policies, in particular "The burden of evidence lies with the editor who has made the edit. Editors should therefore provide references. Any edit lacking a source may be removed. If you doubt the truthfulness of an unsourced statement, remove it to the talk page." Refer to Wikipedia:Citing sources on how to cite sources. Shawnc 12:58, 7 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Chronological error

This sentence does not make sense and/or is unclear. Does anyone know the actual facts or can rearrange this to make it clearer?

Migration to Hong Kong

When the Communist Party of China took power in 1949, Mainland China was put under strict law enforcement and organized crime diminished. Triad members then migrated south to the then-British crown colony of Hong Kong for the continuance of their business. By 1931, there were eight main triad groups and they had divided Hong Kong up into geographic areas and ethnic groups that each group was responsible for controlling.

Do you have to be chinese to join?

[edit] Chinese wonderful wording

Although the registered date for triads is 1760 with the rise of an organisation, later on (the next paragraph) 1910 becomes several centuries later. This is how a legend is born, right?

[edit] WikiProject

Please see WikiProject Organized crime (proposed) for details on this possible collaborative effort. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by MadMax (talkcontribs).


[edit] Shian'Lia Xian

Why was this information ommitted from the article? I can see the lack of substantial citation or information leading to it being questioned, but it was intriguing enough to add as long as the proper comments were made to say as much. Shadowrun 06:51, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Written by fanboys

This entire article reads like an organised crime apology. Low on fact, high on opinion and rationalization.

193.110.85.248The film big trouble in little china, although very fictional shows triads gruops and shows of force and has another gruop called tongs and is mayeb worth a mention under triads in films section193.110.85.248

[edit] Money

HK$100 (very roughly, 15 canadian dollars), is the canadian dollar the currency of wikipedia now? Which do you use, I have only seen U.S. dollars as standard, though i might be biased being a stupid ignorant American.