http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hung_Ga
In the 1800's, the group spread abroad, and many of China's revolutionaries, such as Sun Yat-Sen were members. After the Qing dynasty was over-thrown, the group lost its purpose and split into 2 factions, the "China" faction got into politics and gang activities, and the "oversea" faction that stole symbols from the Freemasons to dodge anti-gang laws in early 20th century. The real Freemasons sued the "Chinese free mansons" to stop them from using their symbols and lost. Some oversea Chinese free manson groups evolved into benevolent societies, while others remained triad gangs:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.c ... 183RTK.DTL
The Chinese faction that remaind in China, was further split by the Chinese civil war. The ones that relocated to Taiwan became the head to the 300,000 strong Hongmenhui, and those who remained in China became a registered minor political party "Zhi Gong", as one of the 8 non-communist parties in China:
http://www.zg.org.cn/
The TW Hongmenhui struggled to find purpose and move away from triad gangster activities. Today the organization is a lot more "open" with its membership and initiations. They also run a few web sites:
http://www.hungmen.org.tw/
http://www.hongmen.com.tw/hongmen/
As you can see from the main page, the group reveres Guan Gong (Guan Yu). You can see some photos of their initiation rituals here:
The 36 vows Hong Men (Chinese), all violations result in death (!):
洪門三十六誓
01.自入洪門之後﹐爾父母即我之父母﹐爾兄弟姊妹即我之兄弟姊妹﹐爾妻我之嫂﹐爾子我之姪﹐如有違背﹐五雷誅滅。
02.倘有父母兄弟﹐百年歸壽﹐無錢埋葬﹐一遇白綾飛到﹐以求相助者﹐當即轉知有錢出錢﹐無錢出力﹐如有詐作不知﹐五雷誅滅。
03.各省外洋洪家兄弟﹐不論士農工商﹐以及江湖之客到來﹐必要留住一宿兩餐﹐如有詐作不知﹐以外人看待﹐死在萬刀之下。
04.洪家兄弟﹐雖不相識﹐遇有掛外牌號﹐說起投機﹐而不相認﹐死在萬刀之下。
05.洪家之事﹐父子兄弟﹐以及六親四眷﹐一概不得講說私傳﹐如有將衫仔腰平與本底﹐私教私授﹐以及貪人錢財﹐死在萬刀之下。
06.洪家兄弟﹐不得私做眼線﹐捉拿自己人﹐即有舊仇宿恨﹐當傳齊眾兄弟﹐判斷曲直﹐決不得記恨在心﹐萬一誤會捉拿﹐應立即放走﹐如有違背﹐五雷誅滅。
07.遇有兄弟困難﹐必要相助﹐錢銀水腳﹐不拘多少﹐各盡其力﹐如有不加顧念﹐五雷誅滅。
08.如有捏造兄弟歪倫﹐謀害香主﹐行刺殺人者﹐死在萬刀之下。
09.如有姦淫兄弟妻女姊妹者﹐五雷誅滅。
10.如有私自侵吞兄弟錢財雜物﹐或託帶不交者﹐死在萬刀之下。
11.如兄弟寄託妻子兒女﹐或重要事件﹐不盡心竭力者﹐五雷誅滅。
12.今晚加入洪門者﹐年庚八字﹐如有假報瞞騙﹐五雷誅滅。
13.今晚加入洪門之後﹐不得懊悔歎息﹐如有此心者﹐死在萬刀之下。
14.如有暗助外人﹐或私劫兄弟財物者﹐五雷誅滅。
15.兄弟貨物﹐不得強買爭賣﹐如有恃強欺弱者﹐死在萬刀之下。
16.兄弟錢財物件﹐須有借有還﹐如有存心吞沒﹐五雷誅滅。
17.遇有搶劫﹐取錯兄弟財物﹐立即送還﹐如有存心吞沒﹐死在萬刀之下。
18.倘自己被官捉獲﹐身做身當﹐不得以私仇攀害兄弟﹐如有違背﹐五雷誅滅。
19.遇有兄弟被害捉拿﹐或出外日久﹐所留下妻子兒女﹐無人倚靠﹐必須設法幫助﹐如有詐作不知﹐五雷誅滅。
20.遇有兄弟被人打罵﹐必須向前﹐有理相幫﹐無理相勸﹐如屢次被人欺侮者﹐即代傳知眾兄弟﹐商議辦法﹐或各出錢財﹐代為爭氣﹐無錢出力﹐不得詐作不知﹐如有違背﹐五雷誅滅
21.各省外洋兄弟﹐如聞有其有官家緝拿﹐立時通知﹐俾早脫逃﹐如有詐作不知﹐死在萬刀之下。
22.賭博場中﹐不得串同外人﹐騙吞兄弟錢財﹐如有明知故犯﹐死在萬刀之下。
23.不得捏造是非﹐或增減言語﹐離間兄弟﹐如有違背﹐死在萬刀之下。
24.不得私做香主﹐入洪門三年為服滿﹐果係忠心義氣﹐由香主傳授文章﹐或前傳後教﹐或三及第保舉﹐以晉升為香主﹐如有私自行為﹐五雷誅滅。
25.自入洪門之後﹐兄弟間之前仇舊恨﹐須各消除﹐如有違背﹐五雷誅滅。
26.遇有親兄弟與洪家兄弟﹐相爭或官訟﹐必須勸解﹐不得幫助一方﹐如有違背﹐五雷誅滅。
27.兄弟據守之地﹐不得籍故侵犯﹐如有詐作不知﹐使受危害﹐五雷誅滅。
28.兄弟所得財物﹐不得眼紅﹐或圖分潤﹐如心懷意念﹐五雷誅滅。
29.兄弟發財﹐不得洩漏機關﹐或存心不良﹐如有違背﹐死在萬刀之下。
30.不得庇護外人﹐欺壓洪家兄弟﹐如有違背﹐死在萬刀之下。
31.不得以洪家兄弟眾多﹐仗勢欺人﹐更不得行凶稱霸﹐須各安分守己﹐如有違背﹐死在萬刀之下。
32.不得因借錢不遂﹐懷恨兄弟﹐如有違背﹐五雷誅滅。
33.如姦淫洪家兄弟之幼童少女﹐五雷誅滅。
34.不得收買洪家兄弟妻妾為室﹐亦不得與之通姦﹐如有明知故犯﹐死在萬刀之下。
35.對外人須謹慎言語﹐不得亂講洪家書句﹐及內中秘密﹐免被外人識破﹐招引是非﹐如有違背﹐死在萬刀之下。
36.士農工商﹐各執一藝﹐既入洪門﹐必以忠心義氣為先﹐交結四海兄弟﹐日後起義﹐須同心協力﹐殺滅清朝﹐早保汨主回復﹐以報五祖火燒之仇﹐如遇事三心兩意﹐避不出力﹐死在萬刀之下。
誓畢﹐眾人同聲發願﹕「立誓傳來有奸忠﹐四海兄弟一般同﹐忠心義氣公候位﹐奸臣反骨刀下終。」
