‘S    Siaodaohui literally means the knife society. It originally came from the Anhui and Jiangsu Provinces and became prosperous in Fujian and Taiwan. An official document in the 7^th year of Emperor Cianlong reign, 1742, describing the crimes committed by members of Siaodaohui, says that the murder of the head official of the Zhangpu County of Fujian Province showed that the notorious Siaodaohui members had connections with soldiers. A document attached to this one also said that Siaodaohui spread quickly in Taiwan, where Chinese and aboriginal people lived together, and many troops was sent there to oppress the local rebellions. The attached document also said that the soldiers always took advantages of the locals; furthermore they would smash down houses and shoot guns to threaten the locals, so the locals organized together and carried knifes to fight against the infamous soldiers. This document points out that the Siaodaohui was the result of the corrupt soldiers. In 1782, an episode of fighting took place in Changhua County in Taiwan and was caused by the Siaodaohui.

       Initially Siaodaohui had no connections with the ideology to overthrow the Cing and bring back the Ming. In 1850, the 30^th year of Emperor Daoguang reign, an overseas Chinese called Chen Cingjhen founded a Siaodaohui organization in Amoy. This organization became a branch of the Tiandihui. In the 3^rd year of Emperor Sianfong reign, 1853, when the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom occupied Nanjing, the Siaodaohui members in Shanghai also took over the city. The Siaodaohui led by Liu Lichuan called themselves the Da Ming Kingdom, which derived its name from the Ming Dynasty. Before long they changed the name to Da Ming Heavenly Kingdom and sent a message to the leader of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, Hong Sioucyuan, showing their willingness to join Hong. This message was blocked by the Cing in Zhenjiang County and was used as evidence against them.