The Gelaohui, usually translated as the Elder Brothers Society, was a secret society and underground resistance movement against the Qing dynasty. Although it was not associated with Sun Yat-sen's Tongmenghui, they both participated in the Xinhai Revolution. It was also known as Futaubang, or Hatchet Gang, as every member allegedly carried a small hatchet inside the sleeve.
Li Hanzhang (), the governor of Hunan in the Qing dynasty, stated in the memorial that the Gelaohui "originated in Sichuan and Guizhou for a long time", the society engaged in several uprisings across China, notably in Hunan province during 1870 and 1871. Numerous individuals notable in late-19th and early-20th Chinese history (including Zhu De, Wu Yuzhang, Liu Zhidan and He Long) were Gelaohui members.
Strongly xenophobic and anti-Manchu Qing, the Gelaohui were active in the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, as well as taking part in attacks on Catholic missions and converts in 1912.
Originally quite willing to take on other "oppressed" Chinese minorities, several Chinese Muslim Gelaohui members participated in the Ningxia Revolution, and there was a substantial number of Muslim Gelaohui in Shaanxi. Park Sang Soo, La révolution chinoise et les sociétés secrètes, thèse de doctorat, Ehess.
During the Xinhai Revolution of Xinjiang, there were fights related to the Elder Brothers Society.
Origins The question of the origins of the Gelaohui is a mystery that has long plagued historical researchers. The exact date of its establishment is still unknown.
Same origin with Tiandihui It is believed that the Gelaohui had the same origin with the Tiandihui, that railed against the Manchu Qing dynasty, founded by Zheng Chenggong during the Kangxi period of the Qing dynasty to "oppose the Qing dynasty and restore the Ming dynasty" (). This has long been the most popular theory in Chinese historiography. This theory originated from the revolutionaries represented by Tao Chengzhang and others during the 1911 Revolution.
Qianlong period It's believed that the Gelaohui can be traced back to the reign of Qianlong period, while its actual formation took place during the Jiaqing period and Daoguang period. Sichuan's Yansi () and Qianhui () can be regarded as the predecessors of the Gelaohui. The development of the organization from Sichuan to Huguang was basically realized simultaneously with the influx of Sichuan salt.
The Japanese Shū Hirayama () clearly affirmed that the Gelaohui was established during the Qianlong period. As a friend of Sun Yat-sen and a sympathizer of the 1911 Revolution, he visited the society many times to investigate the inner workings and wrote the book The Chinese Revolutionary Party and the secret societies, which was published in 1911.
Same as the Guoluhui It's believed that the Gelaohui is the same as the Guoluhui (), because "Gelao" is a phonetic transcription of the word "Guolu".
Outgrowth of the integration and development of Tiandihui and Bailianjiao Some scholars in Japan and the United States believe that the Gelaohui was the outgrowth of the integration and development of Tiandihui and Bailianjiao in the late Qing dynasty, but the Gelaohui did not have the same origin with the Tiandihui.
Developed from the Jianghuhui It is believed that the Gelaohui was developed from the Jianghuhui (), which in turn came from the Renyihui () and the Tiandihui.
Xiang Army One view is that it is more likely it began as an offshoot or alternative name of the so-called "Brotherhood Clique" within the Xiang Army. It is believed that some 30% of the Xiang Army may have been Gelaohui members, and after the disbandment of the army in the aftermath of the Taiping Rebellion it spread along the Yangtze to become a Triad order. The Geolaohui became increasingly associated with the revolutionaries of Dr. Sun Yat-sen's Tongmenghui during the early 1900s, participating in the Xinhai Revolution against the Qing, and infiltrating the army and education system.
Originating from the Guoluhui in Sichuan It is believed that the Gelaohui originated from the Guoluhui in Sichuan in the early Qianlong period. In the Jiaqing period and Daoguang period, due to the northward movement of the Tiandihui forces, it merged with the forces of Bailianjiao and Guolu Party () in Chuan Chu () area. And they infiltrated and integrated with each other to form the name of the Gaolaohui. During the reign of the Tongzhi period and Guangxu period, with the demobilization of the Xiang Army and the rapid increase in the number of bankrupt laborers and unemployed vagrants, the Gelaohui flourished. It was not a mere reproduction or a variation of the name of the organizations of Guolu. Taking the Guolu as its embryo, the Gelaohui absorbed and merged some of the characteristics of the Tiandihui and the Bailianjiao, and was a rapid development of a vagrant organization in China under specific social conditions.
Anti-colonial movement Three primary demographic factors combined in the 1860s to create the Gelaohui as a major sociopolitical force: (1) members from the Guolu, which had been a marginalized group in the 1840s, (2) members from the Hunan forces fighting the Taiping rebellion, and (3) members from the 1859-1865 major peasant uprising against the Qing empire led by Li Longhe and Lan Dashun.
In the 1870s and 1880s, the Gelaohui began gradually accepting wealthy merchants and gentry into its membership. The 1880s and 1890s, new Gelaohui lodges tended to be led by men who were already respected community figures.
Beginning as an anti-Manchu organization, by 1891 the Gelaohui had grown to encompass a wide variety of revolutionary aims. They were blamed for anti-foreign riots around the Yangtze delta, apparently in hope of provoking foreigners and damaging the Chinese government's international standing, and accused of infiltrating schools to foster anti-Western sentiment. After the German government took over Shandong many Chinese feared that the foreign missionaries and quite possibly all Christian activities were colonial attempts at "carving the melon", i.e., to divide and colonize China piece by piece. A Chinese official expressed the animosity towards foreigners succinctly, "Take away your missionaries and your opium and you will be welcome."
During and after the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, the Gelaohui participated in the massacre of Manchus in the Xi'an banner garrison in the northeast of the city and attacked the Manchu banner garrison in Ningxia. The Hui Muslims of Xi'an in Shaanxi sided with the Gelaohui in massacring and raping Manchus while the Hui Muslims of Gansu under general Ma Anliang and Ma Qi supported the status quo so Ma Anliang led an army of Hui to fight against the Hui and Han rebels in Shaanxi and Ma Qi helped relive the Ningxia garrison, but Ma Anliang and Ma Qi stood down and when Yuan Shikai forced the Qing dynasty to abdicate and swore allegiance to Yuan Shikai's government, supporting the new Republic of China. Ma Anliang, Changgeng and Shengyun failed to capture Shaanxi from the revolutionaries. In Ningxia, Qing forces were attacked by both Hui Muslim Gelaohui and Han Gelaohui members, while Hui general Ma Qi and Ma Yuanzhang were in the Qing forces fighting against them but Ma Yuanzhang defected to the republicans after Ma Anliang gave up on the Qing. Some Gansu Hui led by Ma Fuxiang joined the republicans. Gansu Hui general Ma Fuxiang did not participate with Ma Anliang in the battles with Shaanxi revolutionaries and refused to join the Qing Manchu Shengyun and Changgeng in their attempts to defend the Qing before the Qing abdication, instead the independence of Gansu from Qing control was jointly declared by non-Muslim gentry with Hui Muslim Ma Fuxiang. The Gelaohui called for Hui and Han of Xi'an to unite and kill Manchus.
Among the "tenets" of the Gelaohui was "hatred of the foreigner", from which "hatred of the Manchu" was derived, and it encouraged the killing of foreigners.
The Gelaohui hated foreigners and Christians. During the Xinhai Revolution in 1912, they attacked Catholic missions in Sandaohe, Ningxia, but the Chinese Muslim forces under Muslim General Ma Fuxiang protected the missions.
The Gelaohui and the Muslim warlord Ma Fuxiang came to an agreement in 1922, in which Ma Fuxiang agreed to allow the Gelaohui to extort protection money from wool merchants in Baotou.
The Muslim General Ma Lu () was a member of the Gelaohui. He fought against the Japanese in World War II along with Muslim General Ma Biao.
The Muslim General Ma Yuanlin () was a member of the Gelaohui.
The Hunan Army was extensively infiltrated by the anti Qing Gelaohui secret society, who started several mutinies during the Dungan Revolt (1862–1877), delaying crucial offensives. Zuo Zongtang put down the mutinies and executed those involved. Hubei Gelaohui soldiers mutinied in Suide in Zuo Zongtang's army in 1867. The Han Gelaohui had infiltrated the Qing military in Xinjiang during the Dungan revolt (1895–1896) and allegedly planned to help the Hui rebels before the Hui rebels were crushed.
Despite being staunchly against the production and sale of opium by foreign powers during the later Qing dynasty, members of the Gelaohui became involved in domestic opium harvesting. A successor to Gelaohui in Sichuan, named the Gown Brotherhood () permeated all forms of local government in Songpan County until the Second Sino-Japanese War. Despite campaigns stemming from Chengdu to decrease opium production and consumption, mountainous regions in rural Sichuan which relied on trade used opium production to offset increased land taxation from the Nationalist government, of which Gown Brothers acted as security and distribution networks. Xi'an Hui Muslims managed tea shops in Songpan County, Sichuan. The Gelaohui in Sichuan attacked western Christian missionaries and promoted the growing and trafficking of opium against the Qing government which tried to crack down on opium.DRISCOLL, MARK W. The Whites Are Enemies of Heaven: Climate Caucasianism and Asian Ecological Protection. Duke University Press, 2020. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv1931h82. Accessed 20 Aug. 2022. The Gelaohui was present in the Sichuan Hubei border and the Fuguhui group which promoted traditional Han hairstyle and clothes against modern western influence was present there as well.
Many Hui smoked opium in Yunnan in addition to dealing in it, despite denials by some Hui that they did not smoke it since it was against Islam. Opium is still produced in ethnic minority regions of Yunnan and other regions.
A year before the massacre of Manchus in October 1911, an oath against Manchus was sworn at the Great Goose Pagoda in Xi'an by the Gelaohui in 1911. Manchu banner garrisons were slaughtered in Nanjing, Zhenjiang, Taiyuan, Xi'an and Wuchang The Manchu quarter was located in the north eastern part of Xi'an and walled off while the Hui Muslim quarter was located in the northwestern part of Xi'an but did not have walls separating it from the Han parts. Southern Xi'an was entirely Han. Xi'an had the biggest Manchu banner garrison quarter by area before its destruction.