October 31, 2014 Manufacturing Fear: The Hidden History of China’s Secret Societies

Friday, October 31, 2014, Eric Mein, Faculty in English, will present a colloquium from noon-12:5- p.m in C-1018 on the following topic: 

“Manufacturing Fear:  The Hidden History of China’s Secret Societies.”  The summary is as follows:

For nearly a thousand years, White Lotus Buddhists and Triad brotherhoods posed a threat to the stability of Imperial China.  They stirred up rebellion after rebellion, from the outlying provinces to the heart of Beijing, from the actual overthrow of the Yuan dynasty to the near overthrow of the Qing during the Boxer Rebellion.  Each time Imperial officials stamped out one secret society, a vast underground network insured that the tradition of rebellion lived on.  Or did it?  With increased access to the People’s Republic, international scholars have unearthed evidence that casts doubt on the accepted history of China and points to a far more sinister origin for China’s secret societies.