The Dragon Syndicates: The Global Phenomenon of the Triads

by Booth, Martin

• ISBN13: 9780786707355
• ISBN10: 0786707356
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-08-01
• Publisher: Perseus Books Group

Summary

What began more than 2,000 years ago in China has culminated in potentially the greatest criminal threat the world has ever known. From the Booker Prize nominee comes a history of the ancient Chinese secret society that has staked its claim in every major city of the modern world. of photos.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	ix
Author's Note	xi
Part One The Ancestry of Dragons
Of Red Eyebrows and Iron Shins	3	(9)
The T'ien-ti Hui	12	(5)
The Birth of the Triads	17	(5)
Hung Hsiu-ch'uan, Yasoo and the Red Turban Rebels	22	(6)
Vegetarians, Rice Christians and Foreign Devils	28	(17)
Part Two Politicians, Warlords and Gangsters
Dr Sun and the New Empire	45	(19)
Nationalists, Communists and Crooks	64	(19)
The Government Gang	83	(24)
Part Three In the City of Willows
The Legend of the Monks of Shao Lin	107	(15)
`The City of Willows'	122	(7)
Passing the Mountain of Knives	129	(14)
Part Four Snake-Heads and Syndicates
On the Shores of the Fragrant Harbour	143	(26)
In the Shadow of the Nine Dragons	169	(34)
Tigers, Tin Mines and Triads	203	(18)
The Turning of the Triad Buck	221	(41)
From Fei Jai to Financier	262	(9)
Part Five Conquering Barbaria
The Sieve, the Unicorn and `Mao Tse-tung'	271	(13)
A Not-too-dissimilar Island	284	(12)
Climbers on the Golden Mountain	296	(21)
Pocket Rats, Lions' Bones and Waking Bears	317	(6)
Old Emperors, New Empires	323	(17)
Bibliography	340	(5)
Index	345