A Brief Discussion of the Red Spear Society
The Red Spear Society was an organization of the Republican era. This image is a talisman of the Shandong Red Spear Society, drawn and written in cinnabar on white cotton cloth, 25.5 cm long and 22 cm wide. Its text reads: Disciples kowtow and request; the Sage Heaven Jade Lord's ordinance is like a command, one company sent down, two northern patriarchs transmit an order, one company sent down, the various masters—the patriarch lords' commands, holding up the head not permitted to request, with a bronze bell in hand welcome him, closely guard the body and press forward—whoever does not obey. The Jade Lord transmits one command: left Zhenwu, right Xuanwu, arrayed on both sides. Zhenwu uses the Mysterious Earth Seal; also dispatch Zhou Gong and Peach Blossom, quickly block the fire. Xuanwu uses the Azure Dragon formation; the Azure Dragon comes forth to save. Guard the body and protect life, facing the cannon Buddha. In the center is drawn a square talisman.
The Red Spear Society originated from the Eight Trigrams Sect and was a branch lineage of it—transmitted through the Big Sword Society and Righteous Fist—and was fused together on the foundations of the Metal Bell Cover, Hard Belly, Righteous Society, and similar groups. Because they transmitted talismans and incantations and claimed to be able to ward off guns and cannons, and because their followers wielded four-foot-long spear poles with red tassels on the tips, they took the name Red Spear Society.
The Red Spear Society's rites mainly comprised two kinds: initiating members and transmitting magical arts. Initiating members was mysterious and solemn; members revered the patriarch. Internally they were divided into schools such as the Mysterious Gate, Kan Gate, and Li Gate. New entrants had to undergo an elaborate ceremony—washing hands and face, burning incense and kowtowing, chanting talismans and reciting incantations—and were instructed in ten precepts. Thereafter they could belt a red sash and carry a red-tasseled spear.
The Red Spear Society's magical rites contained a great deal of superstition. Strictly speaking, its transmission belonged to a kind of folk ritual school. In ordinary taboos and precepts, it adopted requirements similar to those of organized religion.
Among the talismans, there were mainly three important ones, including the Life-Protection Talisman and the Protection Talisman. Talismans were used in several ways: one was pasting them on walls, one was swallowing them directly, and one was burning them into talisman-water and drinking it. Talisman-water is rather distinctive: it is prepared with water boiled with datura flower water, which has a certain hypnotic effect. Incantations were divided into healing and combat forms. Healing forms included the Bleeding-Stopping Incantation, the Illness-Curing Incantation, the Lump-Gathering Incantation, and the Wound-Mending Incantation. Combat forms included the Cannon-Array Method, the Swallowing-Lamp Incantation, the Battle Formula Incantation, and combat methods.
In addition, spirit-medium possession was coordinated with these. Possession was divided into civil and civil forms: civil mediums could converse, speak, and inquire about matters, and also handled followers' daily needs; after martial possession, the medium would begin performing spirit boxing—brandishing spears and staffs—often producing wonderful and strange movements they could not normally perform.
The difference between men and women performing spirit boxing was that men typically removed their upper garments, and the descending spirits were usually various gods, while women descended as figures like Mu Guiying, with no need to undress; once the spirit possessed the body, the rite of blades-and-spears-cannot-pierce was performed.
Blade-and-spear invulnerability was quite wondrous in performance. Ordinary performances involved direct strikes with a blade; anyone who knows a little magic knows that if the striking method is right, a blade not cutting into muscle is normal. But these performances also included blade-drawing, in which the blade still could not cut into the flesh.
Because these effects seemed wondrous to ordinary people, they easily attracted great numbers of believers. But such methods are easily broken: enemies of the Red Spear Society in battle would often smear black dog blood, white dog blood, chicken blood—things the Red Spear Society most tabooed—onto bullets, or use soiled cloth used by pregnant women or women, thereby breaking these arts.
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Shandong was the birthplace of the Red Spear Society. In 1917 the Red Spear Society spread from Shandong into Henan. In 1923 it spread again from Shandong into Hebei, Jiangsu, Shaanxi, and other places. The organization's earliest form was based on villages and towns: one village or town would establish one hall, though sometimes several small villages jointly established one, led by the Eldest Brother, with the others called Junior Brothers. Later, as membership grew, titles of Second Brother and Third Brother appeared. After 1920, with the Society's rapid expansion, large-scale organizations developed titles such as "Regiment Commander," "Brigade Commander," "General Commander-in-Chief," "Generalissimo," and "President."
The deities worshiped by the Red Spear Society were also diverse and of many kinds. From the mythological Jade Emperor, Queen Mother of the West, Supreme Lord Laozi, and Sun Wukong, to historical heroes such as Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Zhuge Liang, Huang Tianba, and so on, the list was endless. Sacrificing to spirits was a major Red Spear Society activity; before every battle they would burn incense and pray, and set up an altar to invite spirits.
The Red Spear Societies in different regions worshiped different deities—a polytheistic faith. In Shandong, the Red Spear Society mostly worshipped the Zhenwu Spirit. Those belonging to the Kan Gate Big Sword Society were the most numerous; the Kan Gate Big Sword Society was founded by Liu Shiduan. The relationship between the "Kan Gate" and Zhenwu worship has been noted above. Influenced by Liu Shiduan, Kan Gate–derived Red Spear Societies also took Zhenwu as their primary deity. The Wen–Ning Red Spear Society (Wen for present-day Wenshang, Ning for present-day Ningyang in Shandong) appeared in 1914, flourished in the 1920s, and initially operated in the border zone of Wen, Ning, and Jiaxiang. The Wen–Jia border had always been a region where the Big Sword Society's base was relatively firm; the Red Spear Societies here printed the three characters "Big Sword Society" on black flags as an emblem. In 1921, Red Spear Societies rose one after another on both banks of the canal along the Wen–Jia border: "divided into civil and martial gates, worshiping Zhenwu Emperor, that is the Xuanwu Spirit; their leaders were called 'Palace Chiefs'; under each palace were four ranks of county, district, commune, and village; each palace raised a great banner reading 'Cannon Strike the Mysterious Heaven.'" Those not of the Kan Gate sometimes took Zhenwu as primary deity, and sometimes revered their own Society's earlier patriarchs. Lu Yao, Zhang Donghai, Kong Xiangtao, Wu Songling and others investigated Shandong's secret sects and explained Red Spear Society faith in detail; from this one can see Zhenwu's influence everywhere. In the way of entering the Way, five spirits had to be honored: the Patriarch, Lord Zhou Gong, Peach Blossom Immortal, Vajra General, and Banner-Bearing General; the Patriarch held the central position, with the others arranged on the two sides. At initiation, three talisman-chants were sung, two of which related to the Patriarch. The first: "Disciples request the Patriarch's ordinance: Patriarch Lord, Lord Zhou Gong, Peach Blossom Immortal, Vajra General, Banner-Bearing General—mount the bow, strike the horse, closely guard the body; ... Turtle and Snake Generals come to protect life." The second: "Patriarch Lord, Twenty-Eight Mansions, Thunder, Black Tiger, Lingguan—press-cover and fix, fix fix fix, top top top, urgently cover and fix, fix fix fix." Among the deities invited by the Red Spear Society, the Patriarch was the most common; in the Society's incantations the word "Patriarch" also appeared repeatedly. Here the Patriarch, for the Kan Gate, meant Zhenwu; for the non-Kan Gate, either Zhenwu or sometimes someone else—but in the majority of cases Zhenwu. From the other divine generals invited—Lord Zhou Gong, Peach Blossom Immortal, Lingguan, the Turtle and Snake Generals—all are Zhenwu's subordinate generals, so this Patriarch can only be Zhenwu.
The Red Spear Society's organizational form was neither purely a cult nor purely a militia; its internal structure was relatively simple. It initially often took natural villages and towns as units and established basic organizations—halls (also called incense halls). Each hall had a Hall Chief, chosen from respected village elders, who managed all Society affairs. The Hall Chief was responsible for hiring "teachers" to transmit skills such as swallowing talismans and incantations, practicing boxing and staff, burning incense and inviting spirits, and training members for combat. Each hall had several staff who managed grain, rice, funds, and oil, purchased supplies, set up the Society altar, handled external contacts, and managed personnel. Among Red Spear Society members all were equal, with no clear distinction of status—a salient feature distinguishing it from other sectarian brotherhoods.
Most Red Spear Society members were fellow villagers, and the majority were related by blood or marriage, so in battle they could look after one another and share a common hatred of the foe. Confident that they had "talismanic protection for the body," they fought without regard for themselves, charging bravely forward.
In June 1926 the Communist Party convened the Third Plenary Session of the Fourth Central Executive Committee, specifically discussing and adopting the Resolution on the Red Spear Society Movement. Guided by the spirit of this resolution, not only was the previous situation of Red Spear Societies each acting independently organizationally eliminated—with a joint office of armed peasants formed and peasant associations developed through the Red Spear Societies—but more importantly, ideologically the Red Spear Societies gradually realized that only "overthrowing imperialism, overthrowing corrupt officials and wicked gentry, overthrowing local tyrants and evil squires" was the sole way out. After Communist education and reorganization, the Red Spear Society became an important revolutionary force against imperialism and feudalism and played a positive role in the National Revolutionary Army's Northern Expedition.
Among the three main forces of the Red Army, all had experience dealing with spirit troops, and the Red Second Front Army led by He Long can be said to have been the unit with the deepest origins and most extensive contact with spirit troops. In the revolutionary base areas of western Hubei–Hunan and the Hubei–Hunan–Sichuan–Guizhou regions founded by Marshal He Long, units such as the Fifth Route Army of the Red Fourth Army, the Fourth Regiment of the Red Fourth Army, and the Second Special Detachment of the Red Fourth Army were entire formations of Red Army spirit-troop forces. He Long wrote in "The Revolutionary Struggle in the Early Period in Hubei and Hunan": "Although the spirit troops were all superstitious organizations, their members were mostly oppressed working people who organized to oppose the warlords and oppressive taxes and levies. Those parts controlled by landlords and local bullies aside, the spirit troops generally did not oppress the masses, so we sought to contact them. Toward their leading figures we employed methods of winning over and dividing; toward the lower ranks we strengthened unity and education. As a result we won over quite a few new recruits; but those who engaged in wrongdoing we firmly struck down.
He Long personally appearing to reorganize spirit troops was also common. For example, in May 1928 Yang Weifan, secretary of the provisional Shihe Special Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, came alone to the Spirit Palace and joined the Black Hole Spirit Troops. The spirit-troop leader Wang Xijiu appointed him "Commander of the First Route of the First Army of the Black Hole Spirit Troops" and bestowed on him the divine name "Immortal Yang." From then on the Black Hole Spirit Troops underwent a qualitative change. In November, Yang Weifan established contact with He Long. After receiving Yang's letter, He Long used the pseudonyms Wang Jianye and Wang Huzi, came to the Black Hole Spirit Palace to meet Wang Xijiu and the spirit-troop leaders large and small, and carried out united-front work. In this way the Black Hole Spirit Troops were reorganized and transformed into the Chinese Workers' and Peasants' Red Army.
The Red Spear Society played a positive role in the War of Resistance against Japan and made many sacrifices. For example, in August 1938 the Red Spear Society (also called the Big Sword Unit), West Martial Hall, operating in Dabamutuo Village, Ninghe County, formed five squadrons. Under Hall Chief Zhang Delin (nickname "Bald Meatball"), they rowed west from Dabamutuo Village to Ninghe, coordinating with the Red Army (part of the eastern Hebei uprising forces led by Hou Qinglan), captured Ninghe county town on the 22nd, and drove out the puppet county magistrate. Japanese invaders stationed at Lutai learned of this and came by small steam launch to recapture Ninghe county town. The Japanese army enveloped the west and south gates and continuously fired machine guns and mortars into the town. To protect the populace as much as possible, the Red Spear Society, together with the Red Army, broke out of the Japanese encirclement and retreated to Fengtai town. The "Red Army" and Red Spear Society entered South Street near the Lü Ancestral Shrine in the southern village of Fengtai town, then advanced into the town. They agreed to jointly defend Fengtai, join forces against the Japanese, and prepare to retake Ninghe county town again. The Red Army used machine guns and rifles to intercept; the Red Spear Society used broadswords and long spears for close combat, coordinating so the enemy's plot would not succeed. Believing the spirits protected them, Red Spear Society members all ate cinnabar, swallowed paper talismans, chanted incantations, and invoked the arts before battle, thinking this would shut the enemy's blades and spears. When the "Red Army" leaders Hou Qinglan, Yang Dianzhong, Liu Rudong and others heard fierce gunfire, they climbed onto rooftops to observe the fighting. Seeing that the Japanese were numerous and well-equipped, they estimated the "Red Army" and Red Spear Society could not hold and advised Hall Chief Zhang Delin to abandon the town and retreat immediately. Zhang Delin and others, believing the spirits protected them, insisted on not withdrawing and fighting the Japanese to the death. Hou Qinglan and the others had no choice; with no agreement and the situation urgent, the "Red Army" unilaterally withdrew from Fengtai town. Squadron Leader Zhang Linjun of the Red Spear Society's Fifth Squadron, seeing the situation was bad, hurriedly ordered his men to remove the Fifth Squadron's emblem and scatter into hiding. Later Fengtai fell; with no further resistance, the Japanese entered the town and checked each Red Spear Society member lying on the ground, bayoneting or shooting with pistols any who were not dead. Blood-soaked bodies of members lay everywhere in the town. According to Guo Jingxing (founder of the Museum of the War of Chinese People's Resistance Against Japanese Aggression), a former revolutionary native of Houjiangshigu Village, Ninghe County: at that time many Red Spear Society corpses were seen drifting south along the Jiyun River west of Houjiangshigu Village, floating for more than half a month; the whole river smelled foul, and people did not dare use its water for more than half a year.