A tong (Chinese: 堂; Cantonese Yale: tong4; Pinyin: táng; literal: hall) is a Chinese American secret society. Although tongs were originally created for mutual support and protection, especially from White racists, their activities often flouted the law or became outright criminal. The Yale romanizations are four systems created during World War II for use by United States military personnel. ... Pinyin is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin, where pin means spell and yin means sound. The most common variant of pinyin in use is called Hanyu Pinyin (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n), also known as scheme... A Chinese American is an American who is of ethnic Chinese descent. ... A secret society is an organization that requires its members to conceal certain activities—such as rites of initiation—from outsiders. ... European American is a term for an American of European descent, who are usually referred as White or Caucasian. ... 1. ...

Some of the first tongs formed in the second half of the 19th century among the earliest immigrant Chinese American communities. Many were outcasts or lacked the clan or family ties to join more prestigious Chinese surname associations, business guilds, or legitimate enterprises. As a result, they banded together to form their own secret societies for protection. These first tongs modeled themselves upon the triads, underground organizations dedicated to the overthrow of the Qing dynasty, and adopting their codes of brotherhood, loyalty, and patriotism. Alternative meaning: Nineteenth Century (periodical) (18th century — 19th century — 20th century — more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 19th century was that century which lasted from 1801-1900 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar. ... A Chinese American is an American who is of ethnic Chinese descent. ... Triad (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: Sānhéhuì; literally Triad Society) or (Simplified Chinese: ; Traditional Chinese: ; pinyin: HÄ“ishèhuì; literally Black Society, a general term for criminal organizations) is a collective term that describes many branches of an underground society and organizations based in Hong Kong and also... The Qing Dynasty (Chinese: ; pinyin: QÄ«ng cháo; Wade-Giles: Ching chao; Manchu: daicing gurun), occasionally known as the Manchu Dynasty, was a dynasty founded by the Manchu clan Aisin Gioro, in what is today northeast China, expanded into China and the surrounding territories, establishing the Empire...

Unlike the triads, the tongs formed without clear political motives and soon found themselves involved in lucrative criminal activities, including extortion, gambling, people smuggling, and prostitution. Prostitution proved to be an extremely profitable business for the tongs, due to the high male-to-female ratio among the early immigrants. The tongs would kidnap or purchase females from China and smuggle them over the Pacific Ocean to work in brothels. The tongs constantly battled over territory, profits, and women in feuds known as the tong wars, occurring between the 1850s to the 1920s, notably in San Francisco, Cleveland and Los Angeles. Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person obtains money, behaviour, or other goods and/or services from another by wrongfully threatening or inflicting harm to this person, reputation, or property. ... Gambling has had many different meanings depending on the cultural and historical context in which it is used. ... People smuggling is a term which is used to describe the illegal and organised smuggling of people across international boundaries, usually for financial gain. ... Whore redirects here. ... // Events and Trends Technology Production of steel revolutionised by invention of the Bessemer process Benjamin Silliman fractionates petroleum by distillation for the first time First transatlantic telegraph cable laid First safety elevator installed by Elisha Otis Science Charles Darwin publishes The Origin of Species, putting forward the theory of evolution... The 1920s was a decade sometimes referred to as the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties, usually applied to America. ... This page is a candidate for speedy deletion. ... Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Flag Seal Nickname: City of Angels Location Location within Los Angeles County in the state of California Coordinates , Government State County California Los Angeles County Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (D) Geographical characteristics Area     City 1,290. ...

These criminal enterprises eventually became involved in political activities as well. When Sun Yat-sen formed his Revive China Society, with the purpose of overthrowing the Qing dynasty, he found a receptive audience among many of the Tongs in addition to legitimate organizations. Many of the Tongs worked closely with organizations and contacts in China and provided funding to advance their political goals. Sun Yat-sen (Chinese: 孫逸仙) (November 12, 1866–March 12, 1925) was a Chinese revolutionary and political leader who is often referred to as the father of modern China. Sun played an instrumental and leadership role in the eventual overthrow of the Qing Dynasty in 1911. ... The Hsing-chung Hui flag was designed by Lu Hao-tung and is currently the KMT flag. ...

The 1930s was an era of decline in violent criminal activities in the Chinatowns. Due to the efforts of middle class or second-generation Chinese activists, and campaigning by Christian missionaries, prostitution was on the decline. Since the Chinatowns had become a major tourist attraction, the tongs had become less willing to see a decline in their revenues from bloodshed and violence. The tongs had already spun off their operations into legitimate businesses, and organized themselves more professionally, and expanding their ranks to include legitimate merchants and businessmen. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... The gate to Montreals Chinatown which has Chinese, Japanese and Korean restaurants inside the complex. ...

Philosopher Hakim Bey has proposed the tong as a model of anarchist social organization, in his paper Tong Aesthetics ([1]) Peter Lamborn Wilson is a political writer, poet, and self-described anarchist ontologist. He sometimes writes under the name Hakim Bey (which may mean Mr Judge in Turkish, and which may or may not have been a name-of-convenience used by other radical writers since the 1970s). ...

Notable tongs

• Bing Kong Tong
• Hop Sing Tong
• Hip Sing Tong
• On Leong Tong
• Suey Sing Tong
• Ang Soon Tong 21
• Kim Ghee Tong 21
• Kuntong 369
• Pa Hai Tong 21

The Bing Kong Tong was one of the powerful Tongs in San Franciscos Chinatown during the early 20th century. ...

References

• Ko-lin Chin.Chinatown Gangs: Extortion, Enterprise, and Ethnicity Oxford University Press, 2000.
• Peter Huston. Tongs, Gangs, and Triads: Chinese Crime Groups in North America (2001)
• Asian Organized Crime Groups - Chinese - Tongs and Street Gangs

See also

• Hui
• Triad