TheGreen Gang (Chinese:青幫;pinyin:Qīng Bāng) was a Chinesesecret society andcriminal triad organization, which was prominent in criminal, social and political activity inShanghai during the early to mid 20th century.[1]
As a secret society, the origins and history of the Green Gang are complex. The society has its roots in theLuojiao, aBuddhist sect founded by Luo Qing (羅清) in the mid-Ming dynasty; during the early 18th century in theQing dynasty, the sect was introduced among workers involved in the transport of grain along theGrand Canal via the efforts of three sworn brothers: Weng Yan (翁岩), Qian Jian (錢堅) and Pan Qing (潘清).[2] Luoist groups mixed with the pre-existing societies for grain transport boatmen along the Canal, providing services such as burials and hostels, and also served as a social organization for the boatmen. However, they were perceived as a threat by the authorities, and in 1768 theQianlong Emperor ordered the destruction of Luoist temples and proscribed the sect. This had the effect of driving the sect underground, where it became centred on the grain fleets themselves.[3]
During the upheavals of the 19th century, including theTaiping Rebellion and the change in course of theYellow River around 1855, the shipment of grain along the Grand Canal was severely disrupted and finally ended. This again scattered the boatmen, who either joined local rebellions like the Taiping andNian rebellions, or shifted to the coast to join thesalt smuggling trade. In northern part ofJiangsu Province (subei) in the 1870s, boatmen and salt smugglers began to organize into what was called the Anqing Daoyou (安清道友, literally "Friends of the Way of Tranquility and Purity"), which was the direct precursor to the Green Gang in the early 20th century.[4]
Shanghai became a favourable place for criminal activity, and the Green Gang in particular, due to several factors. As the Grand Canal fell out of use for grain shipments, replaced by the sea route, Shanghai became an important transshipment point for grain;[5] at the same time, as one of thetreaty ports and concessions, it was a gateway for foreign trade, including inopium.[6] The presence of theShanghai International Settlement and theFrench Concession, which were under different jurisdictions and administrations, also made for a disjointed legal environment that favoured organised crime.[7] Finally, massive Chinese immigration into Shanghai meant that associations based on common ancestral hometowns or sworn loyalties became important factors of Shanghai social life, and the Green Gang worked through these networks. For example,Du Yuesheng, who would become one of the most prominent Green Gang leaders in Shanghai, was introduced toHuang Jinrong, an earlier leader, because his mentor was a native of Suzhou like Huang.[8]
Boundary of Hongkew or the American settlement at Shanghai in 1915 from Colonel Philip S. Donnell stationed in Philippines and China. Pathfinder docked in China for repairs, Donnell visited the American Settlement where he met Chiang Kai-Shek. Chiang returned to Shanghai in 1915 and spent a few years moving in a shady world of business and organized crime as part of a secret organization called the "Green Society".
By the 20th century it had acquired such wealth and power that it had become corrupt, and included many successful businessmen. Under Du Yuesheng, it controlled the criminal activities in the entire city ofShanghai. The Green Gang focused onopium (which was supported by localwarlords),extortion,gambling, andprostitution. Shanghai was considered by some the vice capital of the world at that time.[citation needed]
The Green Gang was often hired byChiang Kai-shek'sKuomintang to break upunion meetings and labor strikes and was also involved in theChinese Civil War. One of the leaders of the Green Gang,Ying Guixin, was also involved inYuan Shikai's assassination of the rival politicianSong Jiaoren in 1913. Carrying the name of theSociety for Common Progress,[9] it was — along with other criminal gangs — responsible for theWhite Terror massacre of approximately 5,000 pro-Communist strikers in Shanghai inApril 1927, which was ordered byNationalist leaderChiang Kai-shek.[10] Chiang granted Du Yuesheng the rank ofgeneral in theNational Revolutionary Army later.
The Green Gang was a major financial supporter ofChiang Kai-shek, who became acquainted with the gang when he lived in Shanghai from 1915 to 1923.[11] The Green Gang shared its profits from the drug trade with theKuomintang after the creation of the Opium Suppression Bureau.[citation needed] Chiang Kai-shek's brother-in-law and financial ministerT. V. Soong also partnered with the pro-Chiang Green Gang to pressure Shanghai banks to buy up national securities. In the last two years of theNanjing decade (1936–1937), the Green Gang continued to pressure big business to buy up national bonds, as a means of compensating for the lack of corporate tax imposed by the government.[12]
After the defeat of Chiang Kai-shek's regime on the mainland in 1949, the Green Gang left Shanghai and in the early 1950s opened heroin refineries in Hong Kong. In the following years, the organization suffered in struggles against local syndicates over the control of the drug market. By the mid-1950s it had disappeared. Control of the heroin market was then taken by small syndicates of ethnicChaozhou hailing from the nearby coastal town ofSwatow. They used the Green Gang'schemists and expanded the consumption of heroin in Hong Kong. In the early 1960s, they spread their influence in South-East Asia and by the end of the decade Hong Kong chemists inaugurated the first laboratory of high-grade no. 4 heroin along the border between Thailand and Burma, introducing the technology that made theGolden Triangle the largest heroin producer in the world.[13]
"Chiang Kai-Shek and Chinese Modernization" by Jay Taylor is an account of the political and economic influence of Chiang Kai-shek during his reign of power, including his relationship with The Green Gang.
