Secret Society And Regional People

This article uses a regional perspective to investigate Double Dragon Society,which is a secret society of Chuzhou Prefecture in Zhejiang Province in the late Qing Dynasty.It attempts to elaborate the relationship between secret society and regional people,and further reveals the mechanism of formation and action of secret society.In the field of research on the history of secret society,the academics has generally recognized that the secret society originated from the regional mutual assistance of lower-level social groups.Although this view provides an accurate description of the basic nature of secret society,it does not specifically explain the influence of regional political network or livelihood model on secret society,and pay little attention to the interests and deep motivations of the regional people to join the secret society.In this regard,this article takes a regional perspective to conduct a case study of Double Dragon Society of Chuzhou Prefecture.The dissertation first reconstructs the political and economic environment of Songyang County in the upper reaches of the Ou River Basin in the late Qing Dynasty based on the writings of the revolutionaries at that time,the historical data in Lishui area,and regional historical materials such as chorography,inscriptions,sings,genealogy and scholarly works.Then the article retells the story of Double Dragon Society,and concludes that secret society is a social organization rooted in regional soil.The intricate and contradictory evolution of regional society has profoundly affected the historical process of the formation and action of secret society.The development and utilization of local resources has spawned different types of regional people,such as boater,montane people,and paper worker.These groups have long faced severe survival dilemma and have the need to protect or obtain more survival resources.Theemergence of Double Dragon Society is the result of the leaders' continuous mobilization of social organizations and regional groups.The local martial arts people,gentry families,religious assemblies,and industry organizations formed the basis for the formation of the secret society.The Ou River boaters further promote the secret society to spread widely in the southwest of Zhejiang Province.Although Double Dragon Society held the flag of “chouyang” highly at the beginning of its establishment,an investigation into a church incident which happened in GuangXu Thirty Years(1904)reveals that the advice of the local gentry and the asylum of the officials really contributed to the anti-Christian movement.The contradiction between the gentry and the church originated from the economic difficulties of the regional forest industry.Double Dragon Society later changed the slogan of "chouyang" into "fanqing".This change was related to the liaison of revolutionaries and it was also the result of the initiative of intellectuals in the secret society who sought to gain political opportunities.The union with the paper trough workers in the southwestern Zhejiang region enabled the rebellion to take place finally.The study of Double Dragon Society of Chuzhou Prefecture helps to understand the mechanism of party formation and action.As a regional social organization,it has a close relationship with the local society.The prerequisite for its creation is whether the founder can effectively enter the community and interact with the regional people,so as to provide the secret society with an organizational entity and legality.The motivation of secret society in the late Qing Dynasty to participate in various political events is very complicated.Its members often approach political discourse in order to achieve specific interests.During the period,grassroots political networks will also affect the political action of the secret society.The inherent shortcomings of the regional livelihood model will lead to regional economic problems.The relevant industry groups usually join secret societies to overcome the corresponding survival dilemma,and thesecret society also needs to mobilize with the help of local interpersonal networks.