This study examines the emergence and evolution in China of a tradition of popular organization generally known under the rubric of "secret society." The author suggests that the secret society is properly understood as one variety of the "brotherhood association," a category that encompasses a range of popular fraternal organizations that flourished in the early and mid-Qing period.

Examining the relationship of the brotherhood association to local society, popular culture, violence, and the state, the author finds that many early brotherhood associations were known and recognized parts of local society, tolerated (if grudgingly) by local elites and officials.

Making use of newly available archival material, originally collected during state investigations into the activities of brotherhood associations, the author also reexamines the idea that their members were early "nationalist rebels" and secret societies can be seen as "self-help associations." He briefly compares secret societies in China to those in Chinese communities in precolonial and colonial Southeast Asia.