This membership certificate of the Tsung Sin Kongsi, a Chinese secret society in Singapore, is part of the William Stirling Collection. Stirling was Assistant Protector of Chinese in Singapore from 1921 to 1931, and he wrote in his notes about the collection that in this membership certificate, the peach is ‘symbolic of the fruit that was bought at the market of universal peace.’ The image of the three peaches, with the Chinese characters ‘tao yuan’ (peach garden) is a likely allusion to the first instance of sworn brotherhood during the period of the Warring States, a practice which was central to the Tiandihui (Heaven and Earth Society). The Tiandihui, a secret society that had originated in China, was a sworn fraternity of men with the common aim of overthrowing the Qing dynasty and restoring the Ming, evolved to become a mutual aid organisation in Singapore for the Chinese migrants, and thus, the image also signified loyalty and faithfulness amongst them.
