TRIAD RITUALS

Triad rituals were an elaborate affair but have continued to be streamlined over the years. The ritual initiation drew from 3 religious sources: Taoism (magic), Buddhism, and what might be called Confucianism. Taoism emphasized the importance of blood ancestry, of magic, and alchemy. The traditional initiation lasts about eight hours, and includes ritual dance, secret hand-shakes, a blood sacrifice, and pricking the finger of the new initiates.
The Triads have an extremely long history and a lot of heritage. In order to try to capalize what they are one has to look at what they are doing at a particular moment. At times they are secret fraternity like the Masons, at other times they have more of the appearance of a revolutionary army, and at other times they look like the Mafia. They are all these things. And so they are a much more complex group to understand than some of the other secret societies that might fit into some nice label. Sometimes their services as hit men are hired out to others. Their heritage and history make them almost a sub-culture, and a sub-culture that is difficult for law enforcement agencies to penetrate. Their blood oaths and traditions bind them together.
ORIGINS
The White Lotus Society centuries ago amalgamated itself to the Hung Society which in turn changed into the Triad Society also known as the Three United Society. Some people continued calling it the Hung Society. The Hung Society had many local names, and like Freemasonry hid behind trade guilds.
INFILTRATED THE BOXERS The Triads infiltrated the Boxers and even associated with them, but the Boxers lost against the foreign powers.
SET UP BRANCHES IN THE UNITED STATES

During the California gold rush days many Chinese began coming to America. Triad lodges sprang up in the chinese laundrymen of San Francisco. By 1854, the Triad Society called ‘Five Companies’ had 35,000 members in California. In the U.S. the Triad lodges became known as Tongs-which means a ‘hail’ or ‘meeting place.’ Wherever the Chinese lived they quietly set up Triad lodges so that soon there were lodges In Laramle, Cheyenne, Kansas City, Seattle, Vancouver, California, New York, Boston, and the Klondike. These overseas Triads came under the jurisdiction of the Hung Mun Society in Canton. This Triad group was in turn under Chi Kung Tong group. Groups got started in Australia and Malaya.