This paper aims to examine the origins, growth, expansion, and influence of Chinese secret societies and organized crime from the late Ming to the end of the Qing Dynasty in the early 20th century on Chinese society. The Chinese Triad, the largest branch of transnational criminal organizations, will be the primary focus of this piece. The Tiandihui, or Society of the Heaven and Earth, along with the “Green” societies will be analyzed in their relation to the Triad, which has become synonymous with organized crime in China. There are three major questions to answer in this piece. First, how great and important was the influence of secret societies and the Triad on the late Ming and Qing dynasties and Chinese society as a whole, and was there
