Of Tongs, Mafia and Yakuza

In Asian countries and even in the West where there is a large Chinese population, there is a type of secret society called the Tongs. In China, Tongs had actually existed, having been descended from the Tiandihui, a secret society established to overthrow the Qing dynasty in China in the 18th . Chinese left China in droves for other countries both in the East and the West in the nineteenth century when there was war and turmoil in mainland China. Many who emigrated bore hopes of returning to their motherland. Tongs were originally created in their adopted countries for mutual support and protection, especially from other local ethnic groups hostile to the rapid Chinese immigration but their activities often flouted the law or became outright criminal and because of this I suppose, many Chinese frown on their existence. I suppose though secret society is not peculiar to Chinese. In the United States and in Australia, there is always the Mafia ( Cosa Nostra) which is a Sicilian criminal secret society. Then there is the also the Yakuza in Japan, believed to be one of the largest organized crime phenomena in the world whose members are known to tattoo themselves...

Yakuza Tattoos...