Title
Flag of the moon used in Tiandihui initiation ceremony
Year/Period
Early 20th century
Region
Singapore
Object Type
Material
Dimension
Object size: L 67 x W 31.5
Accession No.
1996-02842
Collection of
During the Tiandihui initiation ceremony, the flag of the ‘taiyang’ or sun, together with the flag of the ‘yueliang’ or moon, flanked both sides of the flag of the Commander-in-Chief. The flag of the sun was intended to denote the day or ‘ri’, while the flag of the moon, as seen here, symbolised the night. The Chinese character ‘Ming’ was formed when ri and yue were combined, denoting the mission of the restoration of the Ming Dynasty. These secret society paraphernalia were found in the William Stirling Collection. William Stirling was the Assistant Protector of Chinese in Singapore from 1921 to 1931.
