Governing Chinese Secret Societies in Colonial British Malaya, 1786-1900

This book explores the changing relations between Chinese secret societies in British Malaya and the British colonial government, examining how and why British attitudes towards Chinese migrants changed over the nineteenth century, from welcoming them at the century’s start, to suppressing them by the end of the century. These changes later marked a crucial turning point in which Chinese migrants were no longer seen as foreign settlers without legal status, but a part of the colonial population of British Malaya. Suggesting that Chinese secret societies in colonial Asia were far more important than they have traditionally been perceived and moving away from the view that they were simply violent criminal organisations, the book analyses the much broader socioeconomic purposes that the societies served and examines how British colonial perceptions and attitudes played a role in their functioning. The author incorporates this story into the wider process of colonial knowledge production across the global British Empire, illustrating how this became an important factor in helping the British integrate the Chinese into their systems. A welcome contribution to studies on colonial Asia, this book provides a wide-ranging overview of the changing role of Chinese secret societies in British Malaya and will provide new insights for those researching the history of southeast Asia, colonialism and migration.

Wei Chin Wong is currently an Associate Professor at the Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University, United International College (UIC) in China. Her research focuses on British colonial records and the history of Chinese migration in Southeast Asia.