Big Swords Society
The Big Swords Society was a decentralized network of traditional peasant self-defence groups active in northern China from the late Qing period through the first half of the twentieth century.
Last updated August 26, 2026
AI crawler reads
No AI crawler has read this profile since Oct 28, 2026.
Overview
The Big Swords Society, also known in Chinese as Dadao Hui and sometimes translated as the Great Knife Society, was not a modern commercial brand or a single centrally governed organization. It was a broad label applied to local, traditionally organized peasant brotherhoods that emerged in northern China during the final decades of the Qing dynasty. These groups were especially associated with smallholders and tenant farmers who organized to defend villages and rural communities against bandits, predatory officials, warlord forces, tax collectors, and other forms of coercion. The movement is generally traced to the early 1890s in Caozhou prefecture in southwestern Shandong, where the martial artist Liu Shiduan is identified as its founder. Local branches operated with considerable autonomy, and their membership, leadership, rituals, and political objectives could vary from one area to another. The societies combined practical village defence with folk religious beliefs. Their grand masters claimed that ritual instruction, breathing exercises, magical formulas, and the swallowing of charms could make members resistant or immune to bullets. These beliefs helped create a reputation for extraordinary courage, although they also encouraged reckless conduct in battle. The Big Swords became historically prominent during the political and social upheavals of the late Qing and Republican periods. Alongside the Red Spears, they participated in the Boxer movement around 1900. During the first three decades of the twentieth century, economic hardship, banditry, warlord conflict, and large-scale migration from Shandong and Hebei to the Northeast helped reproduce the societies in Manchuria. Migrant communities revived the organization as a form of mutual protection in unfamiliar and insecure rural environments. The movement also became involved in direct resistance to state authority. In the Linjiang area near the Korean border, harsh taxation and mistreatment under the Fengtian government contributed to a major mobilization in 1927. In January 1928, Big Swords forces briefly seized Tonghua. Their reputation among local peasants was strengthened by accounts that they opposed officials and warlord rule while avoiding the systematic plunder of ordinary villagers. The Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931 produced another revival. Big Swords groups joined the Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies that resisted the establishment of Manchukuo and subsequent Japanese pacification operations. Their appeal rested on local solidarity, traditional brotherhood structures, religious conviction, and hostility to foreign occupation. Some members later entered the Chinese Red Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War, while others were absorbed into the People's Liberation Army during the Chinese Civil War. After the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the Communist Party viewed independent secret societies and religious brotherhoods as potential sources of opposition. A nationwide suppression campaign against Hui-Dao-Men, a broad category covering societies, sects, and brotherhoods, began in 1953 and effectively eradicated the Big Swords as an organized force on mainland China. Related traditions and offshoots have reportedly reappeared among Chinese adherents overseas, but the historical society no longer exists as a unified organization. Its legacy is therefore best understood as that of a decentralized rural self-defence movement rather than a conventional institution, company, or consumer-facing brand.
History
The Big Swords Society was a loose collection of local rural brotherhoods rather than a unified national organization. Its Chinese name, Dadao Hui, is commonly rendered in English as Big Swords Society or Great Knife Society. The groups were rooted in the social instability of northern China during the late Qing dynasty, when villages faced banditry, official extortion, military requisitions, tax pressure, and weak or changing political authority. The society's origins are generally placed in the early 1890s in Caozhou prefecture in southwestern Shandong. Liu Shiduan, described as a martial artist, is associated with its foundation. Local branches were normally composed of smallholders and tenant farmers. Their primary purpose was community defence, and their organization could be activated rapidly when villages faced raiders, officials, warlord troops, or other threats. The absence of a single command structure meant that the conduct and political orientation of one branch could differ substantially from another. Big Swords practices combined martial training with popular religious ideas. Grand masters taught that members could become invulnerable to bullets through spiritual discipline, breathing exercises, ritual formulas, and the ingestion of charms. These teachings provided a powerful source of morale and group identity. They also contributed to the societies' reputation for bold, sometimes imprudent, action. The Big Swords and related Red Spears organizations participated in the Boxer movement in 1900, placing them within the broader anti-foreign and anti-Christian unrest of the period. The movement expanded geographically during the early twentieth century. Large numbers of people from Shandong and Hebei migrated northeastward to escape disorder and economic hardship. Migrants reproduced their village-based protective institutions in Manchuria, where banditry, weak administration, competing armed forces, and later Japanese expansion created continuing insecurity. The societies therefore functioned both as local militias and as communities of mutual protection among displaced rural populations. In the Linjiang area near the Korean border, the Fengtian government's severe taxation and mistreatment of local residents helped trigger a major Big Swords mobilization in 1927. The rebellion culminated in the temporary capture of Tonghua in January 1928. Contemporary perceptions, as summarized in historical accounts, distinguished the Big Swords from some predatory armed groups because they were said to resist officials without routinely plundering ordinary peasants. Japan's invasion of Manchuria in 1931 transformed the movement's role once again. Traditional self-defence groups were revived as local resistance organizations, and many joined Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies opposing the creation of Manchukuo in 1932 and subsequent Japanese pacification campaigns. Their fighting capacity depended on local knowledge, community networks, religious commitment, and the willingness of rural men to resist foreign occupation. The societies' quasi-religious beliefs helped sustain morale, even though they could not provide literal protection from modern weapons. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, some Big Swords members were recruited into or absorbed by the Chinese Red Army. Further incorporation occurred during the Chinese Civil War, when some participants entered the People's Liberation Army. Others remained outside the Communist movement or continued to operate through traditional networks. Following the Communist victory, independent secret societies and religious brotherhoods were considered politically dangerous and incompatible with centralized state authority. In 1953, the Chinese Communist Party government launched a suppression campaign against Hui-Dao-Men, a broad administrative and political category for societies, sects, and brotherhoods. This campaign effectively dismantled the Big Swords as an organized presence on mainland China. Reports of related offshoots or revived practices among overseas Chinese communities do not indicate the survival of a single continuous organization. The historical importance of the Big Swords Society lies in its changing role across several crises: village protection during late Qing disorder, participation in the Boxer movement, rural rebellion against warlord taxation, resistance to Japanese occupation, and eventual absorption or suppression under the Communist state.
- 1953
Suppression on mainland China
[1]The Communist government began suppressing Hui-Dao-Men organizations, effectively ending the Big Swords as an organized mainland movement.
- 1932
Participation in Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies
[1]Many members joined volunteer forces resisting Manchukuo and Japanese military consolidation in the Northeast.
- 1931
Revival after the Japanese invasion of Manchuria
[1]The invasion created conditions for the revival of traditional self-defence societies across Manchuria.
- 1928
Temporary capture of Tonghua
[1]Big Swords forces briefly seized Tonghua during their rebellion against the Fengtian authorities.
- 1927
Large-scale mobilization in Linjiang
[1]Taxation and mistreatment under the Fengtian government helped organize the society on a large scale near the Korean border.
- 1900
Participation in the Boxer movement
[1]Big Swords and Red Spears groups participated in the Boxer upheaval in northern China.
- 1897
Juye Incident
[1]Two German Catholic missionaries were killed at Zhang Jia Village by an armed group associated with the Big Swords, making the society internationally prominent.
- 1890
Foundation in Shandong
[1]The movement is generally traced to the early 1890s in Caozhou prefecture, where martial artist Liu Shiduan is associated with its formation.
Products and positioning
A decentralized rural self-defence and resistance brotherhood rooted in local community protection, traditional martial practice, and folk religious beliefs.
Marketing campaigns
- 1932Anti-Japanese Volunteer Army resistance
Manchuria · Northeast China
Big Swords groups organized or joined volunteer forces resisting the Japanese occupation and the establishment of Manchukuo.
Outcome. The resistance continued through Japanese pacification campaigns, while some members were later absorbed into Communist forces.
- 1900Boxer movement participation
North China
Local Big Swords and related Red Spears groups joined the Boxer movement during a period of anti-foreign, anti-Christian, and anti-Qing political violence.
Outcome. The movement was defeated, but participation established the Big Swords as a significant form of rural mobilization in northern China.
Brand decisions
1953
Suppression of Hui-Dao-Men organizationsStrategyBackground
The newly established Communist government treated independent religious brotherhoods and secret societies as potential sources of political opposition.
Action taken
A suppression campaign targeted Hui-Dao-Men groups, a broad category that included traditional societies such as the Big Swords.
Aftermath
The Big Swords were effectively eradicated as an organized force on mainland China, although related offshoots have reportedly reappeared among overseas Chinese communities.
Recent events
- 1953
Chinese Communist government suppresses Hui-Dao-Men societies[1]
Regulation
The Chinese Communist Party government began a campaign against societies, sects, and brotherhoods categorized as Hui-Dao-Men. The campaign removed the Big Swords from organized public life on mainland China.
- 1932
Big Swords groups join resistance to the Japanese occupation of Manchuria[1]
Other
After Japan established Manchukuo, many Big Swords members entered Anti-Japanese Volunteer Armies and fought Japanese forces and later pacification campaigns.
- 1928
Big Swords briefly seize Tonghua during opposition to the Fengtian government[1]
Other
Following a large mobilization in the Linjiang region prompted by taxation and official abuses, Big Swords forces captured Tonghua for a short period in January 1928.
- 1900
Big Swords participate in the Boxer movement[1]
Other
Big Swords and Red Spears groups took part in the Boxer movement during the upheavals in northern China at the end of the Qing dynasty.
- 1897
Juye Incident links Big Swords members to the killing of two German missionaries[1]
Other
On November 1, approximately thirty armed men ambushed and killed two German Catholic missionaries at Zhang Jia Village in the Juye area. The incident became one of the best-known episodes associated with the Big Swords and contributed to heightened foreign pressure on Qing China.
Sources1 sources
Cite this profile: Cite the canonical profile. /brand-wiki/big-swords-society · Editorial policy · How profiles are compiled