Hokkien Merchants and the Kian Teik Tong： Economic and Political Influence in Nineteenth- Century Penang and Its Region

This article explores nineteenth-century Penang＇s Hokkkien merchants and their secret society or hui-the Klan Teik Tong diande Tang）--which had a variety of roles and an extensive network. It contextualizes the merchants＇ secret society as a transnational socioeconomic and political organization rather than as an overseas Chinese criminal group in the wider Penang area. By recovering Klan Teik Tong and its network, it can be shown how these merchants secured and mobilized labour, capital, and allies in a way that cut across linguistic, ethnic, class and state boundaries in order to establish control of coolies and the lucrative opium, tin, and rice businesses, in order to exert political influence in the colonial and indigenous milieus of the nineteenth-century Penang region. They established a social contract through their Klan Teik Tong relief activities and initiation rituals, and thus were able to recruit thousands of members who were mainly labourers. With such a substantial social force, the merchants launched organized violence against their rivals to attain dominance in opium revenue farming and tin mining businesses in Penang, Krabi, and Perak. The widespread and strategic location of the Klan Teik Tong in Burma also enabled the same merchants to monopolize the Penang-Burma rice trade. The versatility of the Klan Teik Tong＇s functions allowed them to operate as an alternative political order vis-a-vis the colonial and indigenous powers. This arrangement allowed the Hokkien merchants to gain significant political clout in confronting the Siamese and Dutch authorities.

The Role and Influence of the Orthodoxy in Russian Politics

The Orthodoxy has been in existence in Russia for more than 1000years and has fully merged itself into the nation,creating a strongsense of religious culture.During the long years of the reigns by differ-ent regimes from the Czarist Russia to the Soviet Union and then to thenew Russia,the religion went through the process of ups and downs inits development.Having once played a very important role in the

The Political and Social Influences of the West ‘Us’ in the Arab World ‘Others’

Western influence is the upshot of two centuries of Western dominance.Their position of power has undermined the prerogatives of many nations,which is evident in the West pushing certain political and cultural ideals.Their privileged and powerful political and cultural status and the superiority of their civilization led them to view the rest of the world as‘Others’,being politically,and culturally inferior.This is what made the West identify the policy and the economy in the world and impose the liberal democracy and the Western social and cultural patterns on‘others’,rendering them as parameters for civilization and political development.In this paper,we will focus on the influence of the West‘Us’on the Arab world‘Others’and the political and social effects it has had in the region.The current study is twofold.Firstly,we will look at the recent development of the Arab world in current events,which are largely driven by Western interference in the region.The second factor is the erosion of the Arab heritage amid the wide adoption of Western cultures,and its social and political impact.

闽商与建德堂在19世纪槟城及周边地区的经济与政治影响力（英文）

本文探索了19世纪槟城的闽籍商人和他们的秘密结社(即"会")——建德堂。当时,建德堂掌控着一个功能多种多样的巨大网络。本文将其视为一个大槟城地区的跨国社会经济及政治组织,而非所谓的海外华人犯罪团伙。通过对其网络的复原,本文展示了闽籍商人如何保证并组织劳力和资本,并为了建立对劳工、利润丰厚的鸦片、锡矿和大米生意的控制而进行跨语言、跨民族、跨阶层、跨行政区的合作,最终实现对19世纪槟城地区的殖民政府及本地政治力量的影响。建德堂建立了一种基于救济活动和入会仪式的社会契约,从而召集起大量身份以劳工为主的会员。借助建德堂强大的社会力量,闽商团体向竞争对手发起了有组织的暴力行动,以取得槟城、甲米、霹雳等地鸦片种植业和锡矿业的优势地位。建德堂在缅甸的广泛传播和优越位置,同样使得这些人垄断了槟城和缅甸之间的大米生意。和殖民政府与本地政治力量相比,建德堂功能上的灵活性使之成为一种替代性的政治秩序,让闽籍商人在面对暹罗及荷兰政府时有了举足轻重的政治影响力。