This membership certificate of the Ghee Hin Kongsi, the largest Chinese secret society in Singapore in the 19th and early 20th century, is part of the William Stirling Collection. Stirling was Assistant Protector of the Chinese from 1921 to 1931, and this particular copy has the genealogy of the Hong society or Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society) surrounding it, detailing the lineage of the society’s history. It was made for the study of the Ghee Hin membership certificate. Secret societies in Singapore were set up in the 19th century with increased Chinese migration to the British colony to provide mutual aid and support for the migrants. These societies had originated from the Tiandihui, which in turn was a local version of the secret society in China that was a sworn fraternity of men with the common aim of overthrowing the Qing dynasty and restoring the Ming. Various splinter groups (hui or kongsi) subsequently emerged among the main dialect groups.
