S2 CHINESE SECRET SOCIETIES. 



accepted this new omen as favourable, the whole assembly adopted 

 these four characters for the Flag, around which to rally their 

 .adherents. On the same day, they also recruited one hundred 

 and seven men, and besides these, there appeared a youth who 

 offered himself; on the priests enquiiing' his name, he replied : 

 u I am no other than Chu-hung*-ehok, the grandson f the late 

 Emperor Chungcheng ; the son of the concubine Li-sien." 



On hearing" this, all bowed down before the youth, and ac- 

 knowledged him as their sovereign Lord. — Kin-lam was appoint- 

 ed Commander in Chief and Sin-Seng', or Grand master ; Ho- 

 Khai and Tan phiau were made Brigadiers, and Tho-hong* with 

 Tho-leng received commissions as Generals of the advanced 

 guard and pioneers ; — Go, Ang, Li, To, and Lim, were appointed 

 Generals of the left wing; and Go, Pang, Tin 11 * Iu^ and Li m, 

 Generals of the right. 



The five priests were appointed as Generals in Chief of the 

 rear guard. 



Having arranged the Pavilion, all the assembly mixed bloud 

 and took the oath of fidelity, when suddenly a man named So- 

 Ang-Kong was announced. Kin-lam, seeing that the new-comer 

 was a person of great ability, appointed him after casting* lots, 

 as the Sien Hong or Vanguard, to clear the way for the army by 

 bridging over the rivers. As Kin-lam was making 1 this, ap- 

 pointment, a red light shone in the eastern heavens, and Kin- 

 lam availing himself of the omen, and being filled with righteous 

 intentions, changed the name of So-Kong to Thien-yu-hung or 

 " Heaven will protect the " Hung*." The brotherhood assumed 

 the surname of " Hung" or " universal," and adopted the words 

 ' Obey Heaven and walk righteously' as their motto. 



On the appointed day, having sacrificed to the standards, the 

 army was set in motion, and the first day they marched to the 

 " Ban-hun" Mountain in Chet-Kang. On this Mountain dwelt 

 Sl man, Ban-hun-lung, whose native place was Hu-po, in the pre- 

 fecture of Tai Chhansr. 



!•=> 



This man's original name was Tah-chung, but having retired 

 from the world, and entered the priesthood, he had taken the 

 name " Ho-buan." 



At home, he had left three sons, Heng, Seng, and Phiu, and 

 the reason he had abandoned his family was, because about the 

 middle of the year, he had killed a man. Ban-lung was nine 

 feet high, his face was like a large hand-basin ; his head was as 



