Triads

Table of contents

Hong Kong Triad

The Triad (三合會) is a collective term that describes many branches of the underground society based in Hong Kong. It is engaged in all forms of organized crimes such as drug trafficking, money laundering, illegal gambling, prostitution and other means of racketeering. A major source of Triad income today is from counterfeiting products of intellectual property, such as computer software, music CDs and movie VCDs/DVDs. With the size of membership numbered in hundreds of thousands, it is estimated that about 5% of Hong Kong's male adult population holds some kind of Triad membership, although that figure cannot be verified.

Following the fall of the Qing Dynasty of China in 1911, followers of the original Taiping Rebellion (太平天國│洪門) suddenly found themselves lost with purposes. Worse yet, they somehow managed to miss out on the opportunity to participate in the actual uprising, and many of them were left angry and depressed. Unable to revert to normal civilian lives after spending years living under grave danger and extreme violence, many ex-rebels reunited to form a cult which later came to be known as the Triad. Having lost the usual donations and support from the public after the collapse of the Qing empire, members of the newly formed cult resorted to money extortion from the unwilling public through all possible and even illegal means.

After the Communist Party of China took power in 1949, Mainland China was put under strict law enforcement and organized crime diminished. This is when the Triad migrated south to the British colony of Hong Kong for the continuation of their business. It is interesting to note that when the sovereignty of Hong Kong was handed over by the UK to the PRC in 1997, a top official of the PRC central law enforcement agency publicly acknowledged his acceptance of the Triad, stating that many of its members were patriotic to the motherland.

The activities of Triads have been imported into North American Chinatowns as well, especially in San Francisco, New York, and Vancouver. They are often largely responsible for smuggling illegal immigrants from Asia into the USA and Canada.

Chinese Triads remain stock characters of many Hong Kong and Hollywood action films.

See also: 14K Triad

Musical Triad

In music, a triad is a tonal or diatonic chord with three notes, a root, third, and fifth. The major chord, minor chord, diminished chord, augmented chord are all triads.

Computer Triad

In computer terms, a triad is a group 3 phosphor dots on the inside of a computer monitor (CRT-type) of the colors Red, Green, and Blue. Triads are separated by dot pitch. By directing differing amounts of electrons on the 3 phosphor dots, the Triad will display a color by combining the Red Green and Blue elements.

On LCD displays colors are similarly composed of these three colors.

See also Sub-pixel.

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