Hong Men 洪门 Secret Society Member Token. Full set of 6 pieces. Malaysia and Singapore. 1946-1948. Branches of the anti-Qing Tiandihui (Heaven and earth society) outside of China established secret societies to administer affairs of their members. One of the largest offshoots were the Hong Men Secret Society centred in Malaysia and Singapore. This society adopted the name of their society in honor of the Emperor Hong Wu (Zhu Yuanzhang) who founded the Ming dynasty. Whilst the Qing Dynasty had fallen, these societies evolved from anti Manchu revolutionaries into secret societies or triads which lasted even up to modern times. This 6 set forms the complete identification of the Hong Men hierarchy starting from the Leader (Dragon Head), deputies and all the way down to the members. Each coin has a secret code that identified the rank and file of the holder. Issuance of these coins ended after the second world War. Given their limited release and secret nature, they are very rare especially for a complete set.
Well.. that was a long time ago.. Hong Men still exists but they regard themselves more of a Chinese fraternity nowadays helping the community.
It's pretty cool; thanks for sharing. I wouldn't mind if you clarified which was the highest and which was the lowest ranking token in the bunch.
洪宏紅虹 - Dragon head or leader of the society. 洪門邦會- Deputy leader. Also referred to as the second field Marshall 義興公司 - The chief strategist or adviser to the society. Also nicknamed the white fan. 洪門兄弟 - The heroes of the society. I believe they are the respective committee leaders. 金蘭社用 & 洪順堂令 - Associated branch members under the Hong Men society.
I would ask the same about the fremasons and the triads.. only difference is I have actually the fortune of meeting and conversing with a senior member of the Hong Men in Malaysia
There is one written in Chinese published in Malaysia though.. but you can Google a write up by a numismatist named Dickson Now a who wrote an article on this. Look under Hong Men membership token
