The Self-consciousness Of Early Tiandihui From Lin Shangwen Uprising

Tiandihui was a kind of clandestine gang founded on Qianlong era. At first, it was one of clandestine gangs rising up in Fujaing and Canton Province. Qianlong and Qianqing era was its founding era when Tiandihui developed their strength and accumulated energy. Tiandihui was result in commercial economy and contradiction of lower class in the middle age of Qing Dynasty, which was result from mutual benefit association among lower class people. There were some laws in the development of Tiandihui which appeared in their early self-consciousness. Tiandihui’s self-consciousness contained three aspects:self-awareness, self-experience and self-control. This thesis focus mainly on those three aspects, which aimed to understanding the development and change of Tiandihui’s Self-consciousness based on LinShuangwen uprising.Aspect one, Tiandihui’s self-awareness. We should know Tiandihui’s founding activities. Because it was who founded Tiandihui that influenced directly its nature and indirectly its self-consciousness. Comparing Kangxi Theory to Qianlong Theory, this thesis inclined the latter. Tiandihui’s self-awareness should suit the culture and faith of lower class because its idea rose up from lower class society, which appeared by loyalty and religion concept.Aspect two, the LinShuangwen uprising and Tiandihui’s self-experience. The LinShuangwen uprising was the largest uprising of Tiandihui’s early time. That uprising founded the ShunTian regime which was traced from its slogan. LinShhuangwen uprising happened in the typical background of TaiWan. However, this background resembled with Tiandihui’s origin place. The uprising had been through three phases and the uprising militants had controlled most part of Taiwan. Failure of LinShuangwen uprising was partly because of Qing government’s oppression, partly because the conflicts happened among the uprising people gangster fighting.Aspect three, Tiandihui’s self-control. Since LinShuangwen uprising was belong to Tiandihui’ uprisings, its regime appeared their self-control. There were some disorganizations in the construction of new regime because uprising leaders’ bad education. Tiandihui’s means of Self-control was mainly cemented rituals and argot gestures, not only ensure members don’t leak confidential, also ensure that members who were not found. This was a kind of self-protection mechanisms and the role of self-awareness of the Tiandihui, Tiandihui would be loyalty concept in the moral restraint members, while religion made Tiandihui produce mystery, conducted psychological constraints of members. After the uprising, Tiandihui’s means and way of propaganda had a new change. One was more formal, need wooden stamps, preach took stick, and book, proof, overcame the problems of previous members random linked, a large number of text materials also made the transmitting consensus. Besides, "rebelling Qing dynasty and rebuilding Ming dynasty" became the political goal, which transfer the discrepancy of religion to nation discrepancy.Tiandihui’s self-awareness affected their self-experience and self-control.and vice verse. Early time Tiandihui accumulated more experience through LinShuangwen uprising. After LinShuangwen uprising, Tiandihui became fledging better, which appeared in the covert activities but also in their self-control.