The Bing Kong Tong () was one of the most powerful

Tongs Tongs are a type of tool used to grip and lift objects instead of holding them directly with hands. There are many forms of tongs adapted to their specific use. Design variations include resting points so that the working end of the tongs d ...

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...

during the early 20th century. Since most immigrants from China to the United States during the 19th century were from the province of

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

, Chinatowns founded at that time used place names which were transliterated from

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

. The literal translation of is "hall", while translates to "with justice."

History

Also known as the Bing Kong Tong Society (or Bing Kung Association in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

), the organization was one of the largest in California when the Hop Sing and Suey Sing Tongs allied against the Bing Kong Tong, instigating one of the most violent Tong wars in the United States. As the gang war continued, the numerous murders caught the attention of the press as the often gruesome slayings were detailed. Eventually an investigation headed by

Santa Rosa, California Santa Rosa (Spanish language, Spanish for "Rose of Lima, Saint Rose") is a city in and the county seat of Sonoma County, California, Sonoma County, in the North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area), North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, Bay A ...

, attorney Wallace L. Ware,Street, Richard Steven
''Beasts of the Field: A Narrative History of California Farmworkers, 1769-1913''
Stanford University Press, 2004. , . p398. in cooperation with the district attorney's office, exposed the extent of the Bing Kongs' influence throughout the

Chinese American Chinese Americans are Americans of Chinese ancestry. Chinese Americans constitute a subgroup of East Asian Americans which also constitute a subgroup of Asian Americans. Many Chinese Americans have ancestors from mainland China, Hong Kong ...

populations along the west coast and southwestern

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

(as far as the conviction of four members for a Tong murder in

Kingman, Arizona Kingman is a city in and the county seat of Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named after Lewis Kingman, an engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. The population was 32,693 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Hi ...

). Weakened by the decade long war against the rival Tongs as well as state authorities, the Bing Kongs would eventually emerge as a

trade union A trade union (British English) or labor union (American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers whose purpose is to maintain or improve the conditions of their employment, such as attaining better wages ...

, although it is suspected by federal and local law enforcement officials to still have remaining ties to

organized crime Organized crime is a category of transnational organized crime, transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a f ...

References

*Devito, Carlo. ''Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime'', Facts On File, Inc.: New York, 2005.

External links

Bing Kong Tong website
(in Traditional Chinese)
History of Chinese Associations in Fresno
(in Simplified Chinese) {{Organized crime groups in the United States Chinatown, San Francisco Chinese-American culture in San Francisco Gangs in San Francisco Tongs (organizations)