+- Diverge Networks (https://divergenetworks.com/forums)
+-- Forum: 1980s Mafia Roleplay (https://divergenetworks.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=4)
+--- Forum: Guides & Information (https://divergenetworks.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?fid=26)
+--- Thread: Guide: How to Roleplay a Chinese Triad/Tongs (/showthread.php?tid=2496)
Guide: How to Roleplay a Chinese Triad/Tongs - Ayatollah of Rock and Rolla - 11-11-2021
![[Image: 4qb2tPx.jpg]](https://i.imgur.com/4qb2tPx.jpg)
How to Roleplay a Chinese Triad/Tongs
Credits to Myself, Julius and Shah of Persia
as of November, 2021
We wrote this all in one go so please let me know if there's any errors. We intend on expanding on this guide on grounds of culture so people can build their characters.
To preface:
Triad societies are Chinese criminal organizations active worldwide designed to help the political agenda of movements. Today they've become nothing more than a transnational criminal organization. Its members regard themselves as blood brothers and with a rigid doctrine controls its members activities. Worldwide Triads have developed into all-out organized crime groups. Its members are largely of Hong Kong Chinese origin (Cantonese) and participate in organised illegal gambling, car theft rings, prostitution, drug trafficking and murder for hire.
Tongs were once benevolent organizations set up in the United States out of social discrimination towards the cheap yellow laborers. During the end of the 19th century when the Tongs were at its peak, they pushed aside legal bodies and fought a violent, bloody war over territory. With the coming of a new generation of Chinese Americans, Chinese street gangs have taken over. Chaos and violent thugs is all that remains of these once good-willing criminal organizations.
I. Introduction
We are compiling this guide to Chinese Tongs/Triads to explain how they work. Right now a guide like that hasn't been written. Roleplaying around Chinese characters is an amazing experience. It's full of intrigue and tradition. To my experience it's been more interesting than roleplaying i.e. in a Yakuza. Simply because it fits the East Coast atmosphere better.
To get it out of the way. Pretending to be a a stereotypical 'Chinaman' with a funny accent is not good roleplay nor funny.
Chinese mobs are probably more common around the west coast than the American mafia, which is predominantly located around the East Coast. It surprises me therefore that there's been so little enduring Chinese factions. Instead, people have always accepted La Cosa Nostra to run the underworld. But at the same time it reflects on the potential that Chinese organized crime has in New York. It could grow out to become one of the most powerful criminal organizations around, if done right.
However, in this guide I will be trying to extensively explain things like where they come from and the difference between a Tong and a Triad society. Not neccessarily what makes a good faction, but definitely covering the must-haves if you're planning to roleplay a Chinese gangster or Chinese criminal group.
II. The Difference Between Triads and Tongs
Triad societies are one of the oldest criminal organizations around the world. They have their roots with revolutionary movements in China. From a political point of view, China has always had internal struggle. Particularly in the 20th century, China followed one occupation after another. i.e. the 14K Triad started as an anti-communist movement and developed into one of the most powerful criminal organizations in China.
With that said, Triads are particularly bound to the Chinese mainland, but have ever since gone transnational. A Triad would likely not be as common as a Tong in the United States. Tongs have a story of their own.
A tong, meaning "hall" or "gathering place" (from wikipedia) is something along the lines of a benevolent organization. You need to imagine in the 19th century, a lot of Chinese workers traveled to the United States to work on the Pacific railway leading from the East Coast to the West Coast. Most of these immigrants came from the Cantonese region (Chinese coastal region).
In the United States, the Cantonese faced harsh racism from other workers. The Chinese worked hard for extremely low wages. They were referred to commonly as 'cheap yellow labor'. Tension increased and people started to show aggression to the Chinese. They would be robbed and beaten. As a result, the Chinese formed something similar to labor unions to support each other and seek protection. This was all voluntary.
Thereafter, the Chinese moved to cities such as Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York and Boston. These are cities where large populations of Chinese can still be found. The benevolent organizations the Chinese formed would try to help its people by teaching English and arranging the documents they'd need to stay. However, these benevolent organizations did not have the financial backing to do what they planned to do. Henceforth they had to rely on illegal services such as gambling houses to make money.
Later on in the 20th century, some benevolent organizations that did not have the financial backing disappeared. Others that focused heavily on gaining money through illegal activities took over. Chinatown communities would form. When in the 20th century these tongs would start to lay claim to certain territory, altercations ensued. Some of these tongs started relying on Chinese street gangs to serve as muscle, so the people holding office wouldn't have to get dirt on their hands.
Because of the violent nature of these street gangs, this is when the real trouble started. In the 20th century, these benevolent organizations quickly stopped being benevolent. They transformed into outright criminal organizations, getting involved in the drug trade and human trafficking and whatnot.
While the structure of Tongs has many similarities to the Hong Kong Triad, and they have similar initiation ceremonies, their history is entirely different. Hence they are to be seen as two seperate organizations. There are several notable Tongs out there that have ties to the Hong Kong Triad. This would allow them to be more powerful. Tongs however are heavily based on Chinese Americans. Most of their members are low-lives struggling with life in Chinatown communities. Triads hardly operate in the United States, relatively speaking.
III. Five Ancestors
Triads have an elaborate history so I wont be covering all of it, just the essentials. It's a mixture of myths and facts. It is said that there was a Shaolin temple that was burned down and only five monks survived, which became the original ancestors of modern day Triads.
IV. History of Tongs in the United States
Every Triad has its own history. Some of the most notable Triads in the 17th century were the White Lotus Society and Heaven and Earth Society. These were founded to overthrow the Qing dynasty and restore the Ming dynasty. The Qing dynasty is of Manchurian origin and overthrew the Ming dynasty somewhere after the dark ages. When the Qing dynasty was finally defeated, the triad in China lost its purpose. Therefore many had already resorted to criminal activities at the time. Others were something like a labor union, something a mixture of both.
During those times, joining a Triad did not mean that you're a criminal. It was truely about loyalty. And setting foot in the inner circles of a Triad, would mean that you'd join a large fraternity of brothers that would provide protection and support wherever needed. It had many benefits.
Around the 1860s and 1880s, which lead to the Tong wars, was the Anti-Asian movement. Many laborers of other ethnic groups comming from the working class saw the Chinese as a cheap alternative to labor. They weren't fond of the Chinese taking their jobs, and plead for the expulsion of the Chinese off American soil. This often lead to acts of aggression and violence. The Great Depression worsened the situation. The Disinterment Ordinance act which was passed later, set a high fee on shipping the remains of the dead back to China and overcharged the Chinese.
9 out of 10 in the Chinese quarters were male, and another issue the Anti-Asians liked to address was the increasing amount of prostitution.
To join most tongs, unlike Triads, there were no requirements. You didn't have to come from a certain birthplace or clan, aswell as economic status. Tong members came from all corners of society. It wasn't even limited to ethnicity, as Japanese and Filipino whom had also moved into these Chinese enclaves were also known to be associated with the tongs, albeit rarely.
Because most of the intentions on which most of these tongs were built were good, they had friendly sounding names such as The Society of Pure Upright Spirits and the peace and Benevolence Society. Most of the traditional tongs were built on the collective goal to protect their kinsmen.
However, Tongs took an intense interest in attempting to corner the market on criminal markets such as pristitution, opium dens, gambling joints and extortion rackets.
V. The Communist Regime
In 1949, the Chinese Communist Party "liberated" China and took political control over the country. The Hung Mun (Three Unitied Society) members fled to Hong Kong and overseas Chinatowns such as the United States. Hong Kong was at the time a British protectorate.
Chinese communities in the United States had always been oppressed by other ethnic groups and united to defend themselves. With the coming of these criminals in the '50s, many benevolent organizations were infiltrated by these criminals and transformed into tongs. They defended their community through violence.
Postwar Hong Kong was the capital of triads. One in every six inhabitants was allegedly associated with the triad. In the 80s Hong Kong had an open door policy allowing members to travel between Hong Kong and the Chinese inland.
VI. Formation of Chinese Street Gangs
A new generation of Chinese immigrants stirred up the coming of an influx of Chinese street gangs. At the time Chinese Americans were still socially discriminated. Rebelling against social discrimination and seeking protection was the predominant motive for young Chinese Americans and Hong Kong Chinese immigrants to become criminally active.
Chinese street gangs have always been considered to be some of the most violent. In schools, the Chinese students were often bullied by latino and african-american gangbangers. The formation of Chinese street gangs lead to severe altercations. When threatened with aggression, the Chinese would come back with knives. When the other street gangs brought knives, they came back with guns. When the aggressors used firearms, the Chinese came back wielding submachine guns.
The formation of Chinese street gangs brought a new breed of tong gangs to the field. The tongs which involved themselves in taxing gambling dens now also involved themselves in prostitution. The United States passed an immigration act limited to gender worsening the problem the population of Chinese Americans were predominantly male. Triads in Hong Kong and tongs in the United States on both the East Coast and West Coast involved themselves in human trafficking to ship in women for marriage and prostitution. The tongs profiled themselves as human smugglers.
This new market brought a new breed of criminals; the Snakeheads. Snakeheads were Chinese gangs specialized in people smuggling. These Snakeheads caused a new influx of Chinese immigrants from the Canton and Fujian regions of China being sent adrift to the United States. They initially used bribes to smuggle people into wealthy Western countries. Later, they mastered the art of forgery and used stolen or forged passports and abused the visa-system to move people from nation to nation. All this to avoid immigration control.
A notable human smuggler was Sister Ping (Cheng Chui Ping). Likely one of the most notorious female criminals in the history of crime. She accumulated so much money, with the prices of a trip to the United States sometimes being as high as 70,000 USD, she was able to finance many operations causing an increase of Chinese American immigrants to the United States. The United States Department of Justice dubbed her "one of the first, and ultimately most succesful, alien smugglers of all time".
In the United States, the tongs would take care of these aliens. Girls were often forced into prostitution. The widespread network the tongs possessed forced immigrants to pay off their debt by putting in work for the tongs. By 2000, when Sister Ping was arrested, she had smuggled over a thousand people into the United States from the Fujian region using cargo ships, sometimes amounting up to a hundred aliens at the time kept below deck.
To this day tong and triad gangs are still a thing.
VII. Organization and Structure of the Triads
In terms of organization, Triads aren't much like the mafia. In the American mafia it's a lot about familial ties. It's organization is a pyramid hierarchy. Triads are loosely organized. While the leadership of a Triad is much more organized, members functioning at a lower level have more freedom to move.
The activities that members of a Triad participate, are rarely ever directed by the leaders of a Triad. Unlike the American mafia where they often cast votes to do certain things, this is not required within a Triad. They do not need permission to move where they stand.
At the most basic level there is the existance of a big brother-little brother relation. The Dai-Lo (big brother) provides work, protection and a word of advice to the Sai-Lo. The younger brothers give loyalty, support and money in return. That's the only relationship that matters, in most of the cases.
The gang leaders (or Red Poles) were originally a military rank. Now, they are the leaders of street gangs. These are the highest ranks that matter. Anything beyond that shouldn't be roleplayed. The Red pole is truely the only person getting his hands dirty. The other members move freely under him. If things get messy or pressure needs to be applied, the Red pole will come in with his men.
Under the Red poles are the 49. This is what almost every Triad member belongs to. They are footsoldiers and will be used for anything. They do anything. Its name is a reference to the 36 oaths one must swear to join the Triad. With that said, 49ers are fully initiated members. However, in the United States, Tongs hardly refer to the name of these ranks.
![[Image: invert.png]](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/823980821018574960/908394429092610058/invert.png)
VIII. Roleplaying a Chinese-American
A majority of Chinese Americans arrived to the United States in the 20th century. The vast majority of all Chinese ethnics in the United States come from the Canton region. Most of them live in the Chinatown areas where they grew up. Therefore Cantonese is the primary language in every Chinatown, rather than English. Because of Chinese traditions, it's occassional that parents will teach their children Cantonese, even if American-born.
Among Chinese gangsters, Cantonese is still actively used. Most of the time, in Chinese communities, it takes an age before you hear a word in English.
Another large influx of immigrants came after the Hong Kong handover. Hong Kong was formerly owned by Great Britain. It was one of the biggest trade nodes in East Asia at the time. Ultimately decades after the colonial era, Hong Kong was returned to the People's Republic of China. Hong Kong had always been a democratic city, where bureaucracy and freedom were highly valued.
Many Chinese therefore weren't waiting for it to fall in the hands of the communist government. Hong Kong existed to this day under a one country, two systems principle. Which means both Hong Kong and the rest of the country retain its own political system which is unlike in other country in the world.
People were actively smuggled to the United States, with the idea that the American dream was very much still alive.
While a lot of Chinese Americans speak fluent English, Hong Kong Chinese aren't rare. They have a hard time pronouncing the 'r' still and have a tonal language, which in some cases may seem as though they're aggressive or angry when they're not as can be seen in the stereotypical Chinese sketches. It makes for a unique accent nonetheless but will require practice.
Chinese people are very hard workers and will do nearly anything. They often have high expectations of their kinsmen, and do not say 'no' to people that take care of them in terms of providing work. In China, they're used to working long hours. While in the west we have extensive policies on labor rights, it isn't odd for the Chinese to work twelve hours a day, seven days a week. With that said, to avoid infringing labor rights, they aren't afraid to practice fraud and make payments, salaries and wages off the book.
Moreso, the Chinese aren't very much used to the bureaucratic principles that they have in the West, where it is usual people track everything and maintain extensive bookkeeping, while Chinese administration is often chaotic and unorganised. They hardly write anything down or have an interest in making data digital, that is in daily life, such as with restaurants and other small joints.
As a people, the Chinese are still very traditional. To give presents, they hand out red envelopes with money. In terms of cuisine, it's something a lot of people favor, however the odd American-made (allegedly Chinese) food that is brought to the table is a mere tourist attraction, such as with sushi and whatnot. At the same time real Cantonese food is often considered 'weird'.
Yet, it is not that in terms of traditions the Chinese still bow down to people. The Chinese have socially very well mingled themselves among the Americans in the United States, unlike portrayed in popular fiction. The Chinese American community in California is very significant though underestimated in size, simply because the Chinese communities very often can be seen cluttered together.
This is because the traditional Chinese often stick with their families and take care of their parents once they grow too old to work, although the elderly are used to working until a very late age. Big Chinese families often occupy one appartment and bind value to the rest of their families. Chinese communities are very close-knit, in which everybody knows Uncle Foo, and Mr. Po whom has a saloon two blocks away. This because in the United States this was extremely essential for their survival as a people, and if it's something the Chinese are good at, it's that.
With that said, traditionally Chinese often aren't shy to help out their relatives financially. Though it's maybe wise to mention that it depends on what region the person comes from. In certain parts of China, people are fairly generous, while in other parts, they're extremely greedy. However, overall it is the social mindset that the Chinese have that keeps them afloat. They give each other money to start businesses and put in work for each other to keep it adrift, much like they did with the organization of unions to strengthen them as a people, rather than the western Every Man for Himself mentality.
The Chinese while at that don't really have a hard time establishing long-distance relationships with relatives and whatnot. They'll gladly travel back and forth between countries to visit their cousin's newborn nephew from France. Particularly because the maintaining of Cantonese as a predominant language, they don't have to deal with the language barrier other cultures would face.
IX. Chinese & Tong
It's hard to distinguish the difference between a Chinese triad and a tong. Mostly because they, from time to time, have a similar structure, and to most people are equally criminal.
Chinese triads are more common on the Chinese mainland. Tongs do not exist in the way they do in the United States. Many would argue that a triad and a tong are two seperate organizations. But really they are not.
The Chinese underworld in the United States is very much linked to each other at the end of the day. While triads are the 'faction type of choice' when it comes to Chinese organized crime, a triad in the United States is just a shadow of the might the tongs have in the United States. Chinese organized crime is very isolated. They rarely associate with other factions outside of their culture and if they do, it is to further their own gain. Chinese culture is rather xenophobic.
The best way to describe it is that tongs are in fact benevolent organizations with a lot of power. The tongs are more territorial and exercises influence over large Chinese American communities. Tongs do not exist outside of Chinatown. This means they also control the money flow. Especially present day, where there is not a lot of competition between tongs. Tongs aren't 'created' anymore, so to say. There's only a handful of tongs left, that don't face a lot of resistance from other tongs in their territory.
A tong can easily be considered an umbrella organization for triads. The tongs are corrupted from the inside by Chinese criminals because they're potent. The access to money is used to further the gain of criminals in the ranks of the tong and to gain control. In essence, it can be considered a front.
A tong makes it possible for a Chinese criminal to climb up the ladder so to say. If they're a part of a triad and have no relation to a tong, they will likely remain petty thieves. The ambitious triad members sometimes choose to associate themselves with a Chinatown tong. Because of that, it isn't weird to see a tong in which some people are members of Wo On Lok, 14K or Wo Hop To, all in the same organization.
The tong officials are rarely the actual big shots. Most of the time, they have little to say. A president in the tong is formally elected because he's easy to manipulate and a majority would find it acceptable for that person to be in such a position, but Chinese criminals don't want to get a formal position. They stay in the background and if you really look at a tong, you will find out that the actual criminal bosses are in lower ranks of the tong, pulling the strings. So to say, a triad is a criminal organization inside of a criminal organization (the tong). And while both organization types are different entities and have their own history, they're strongly related.
That said, the tongs are really the most powerful Chinese criminal organizations in the United States. Triad groups in the United States aren't that active. Sure you have your Black Dragons Triad and Wah Ching in the United States that are described as a triad, but the real deal happens in the tong.
Chinese organized crime doesn't have the elaborate overseas connections a lot of people think they would have, mainly because Chinese organized crime in the United States is controled by the tongs from mainland U.S. A big shot in mainland China doesn't have much to say, and it's all about who protects you.
Members are often recruited into Chinese criminal groups at gunpoint. They're told to answer to one man and pay money to him in return for advice. They're then used as muscle and are injected into elaborate low-key criminal schemes. If a local, powerful criminal organization does not protect you, you're an easy target. Young gangsters often associate with the strongest group to use their name. Crossing them would mean crossing the tong, having consequences. Further up the ranks, touching a red pole and up would mean war.
The Chinese American underworld is one where people should tread lightly, and in the scenario of being threatened, should sometimes be more subordinate. The Chinese underworld is no place for tough guys that "don't answer to anybody". An external, growing force will not be tolerated. Warnings aren't handed out. You join, or you're dead.
X. Modus Operandi
Associates of the mainland China triads linked up with the unorganised Chinese youth gangs. They mostly recruit from high schools and infatuate them with the gangster life. A large portion of Chinese organized crime are loosely affiliated teenagers whom like to go clubbing, do drugs and look for trouble with the law. The ah kung, the link between a youth gang and a tong, provide advice to the veteran members of the proxy gangs and in turn receive money.
The youth gangs are provided everything they need to execute the tong's will; merchandise and weapons. The 'dai lo' or big brothers are veteran members affiliated with the triad society that organise the youth and in addition serve as enforcers.
When the tong faces a problem, the reckless, violent youth gangs will be called upon to scare somebody and solve their problems. In turn, when the proxy gangs experience issues they cannot handle, the red poles will come in with their boo how doy, whom are experienced criminals, and solve their issues.