THE SECRET SOCIETY OF QINGBANG IN THE POLITICAL CULTURE OF REPUBLICAN CHINA IN THE FIRST HALF OF THE XX CENTURY
The first decades of China's history are characterized by a richness of events that changed the established way of the country's history - the overthrow of the Confucian monarchy, the Xinhai revolution and the search for ways to exist within the Republic, the creation of political parties, militarism and centrifugal tendencies. However, established social associations such as religious sects, secret societies, and professional and religious fraternities did not disappear as the country entered the new century. Traditionally, in ancient and medieval China, many of them were purely religious organizations, and some played a connecting and organizing role, up to the rise of anti-government uprisings (for example, the White Lotus sect uprising). Since the beginning of the XX century, such structures have not disappeared. On the contrary, they were modified to adapt to the new socio-political system. The purpose of this article is to characterize the Green Gang of Qingban, one of the most famous secret societies of the period, as well as its relationship with the leading political forces of the time - the Guomindang and CPC parties.