The word tong means "hall" or "gathering place".[1] In North America a tong (Chinese: 堂; Cantonese Yale: tong; Pinyin: táng; literal: hall) is a type of organization found among Chinese living in the United States and Canada. These organizations are described as secret societies or sworn brotherhoods and are often tied to criminal activity. Today in most American Chinatowns, if one can read Chinese, one can find clearly marked tong halls many of which have had affiliations with Chinese crime gangs, especially in the 1990s.[2]
Tongs are, for the most part, members of Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Associations, which are pro-Kuomintang traditional groups. Today these associations provide essential services for Chinatown communities such as immigrant counseling, Chinese schools, and English classes for adults, among countless others.[3] Tongs follow the pattern of secret societies common to southern China and many are connected to a secret society called the Tiandihui, which follows this pattern. The Tiandihui claimed its purpose was to work for the overthrow of the Qing Dynasty and restoration of the Ming Dynasty in China, but most of its activities were, in fact, apolitical. Other groups worldwide that follow this pattern and are connected with the Tiandihui, are known as hui, hongmen, and triads.[2]
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Early nineteenth century Chinese had little reason to immigrate to North America until a series of natural disasters, coupled with foreign expansion, led to a failing economy that quickly made life in China unbearable for many. This was especially true of rural farmers, who were not only poor, but also plagued by gangs of bandits fighting over farm land. As Chinese merchants returned from expeditions to North America, tales poured in of the easy wealth that the American gold rush could provide for Chinese. Thus, the original wave of Chinese immigrants ensued. Those who did not search for gold worked on the railroad and other jobs.[4] After settling in San Francisco and other California cities, Chinese workers faced hostility from their American peers who felt threatened by the Chinese who worked for lower wages. As labor unions and angered workers became more aggressive, many Chinese felt pressure to leave and go east, where they heard life would be less dangerous.[5] As a result many Chinese immigrants moved to cities such as New York and Boston where today there are large enough populations to build communities known as "Chinatowns".[6]
At the center of these communities began voluntary associations for support and protection. They were formed by affiliations of originating district in China, family name, or in the case of tongs the many who were not accepted by the aforementioned.[7] Unfortunately, as Ko-lin Chin has asserted, many of these volunteer societies did not have the financial ability to fund community events or look after their members, and those that did tended to focus inward and provide help only to their own members. As a result, many tongs with little or no hereditary financial value had to either disband or operate activities such as gambling houses. This transformed them from benevolent associations to providers of illegal services.[8] Notably, many of the illegal tong activities were legal in China, but not North America.[9] Also, because of highly restrictive immigration laws in both the United States and Canada, the Chinese populations were overwhelmingly male in nature. For this reason tongs participated heavily in importing women from China both for marriage and to serve as prostitutes. A large percentage of the "tong wars"—disputes between the rapidly growing and powerful tongs—of the 19th and early 20th century often centered around these women.[2] In the early years they employed "hatchet men" or boo how doy as hired killers to fight the bloody street battles that ensued over turf, business, and women.[10]
From an early stage tongs emulated Triad norms and values of Hong Kong and British-controlled southeast Asia, from initiation ceremonies to bowing to the God of Triad societies.[11] 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.[2] Ko-lin Chin outlined that most tongs have similar organization and have a headquarters where one can find a president, a vice-president, a secretary, a treasurer, an auditor, and several elders and public relations administrators.[12] Today their main aims are to care for their members and their respective communities.
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