Who?

• The White Lotus or White Lotus Society were a politically and religiously driven group founded in China during the Yuan dynasty in the late thirteenth century. The group is often described as a cult due to its religious routes and predictions of future happenings (in particular those related Maitreya or Ajita, who is often described as "the future Buddha"). The White Lotus society was heavily disliked by those not involved in internal affairs, this resulted in the society and similar organisations being outlawed during Mongol rule. This is often attributed its cult-like nature and sparse partaking in anti-Mongol rule protests, the byproduct of this was that the group became the equivalent of a modern secret society. Being a secret society, and a religious one at that, the White Lotus Society became an important component of political resistance and a large religious group. Many Han Chinese in particular attempted to join the society due to like-views, this invoked the creation of the "Great Qing Legal Code", which outlawed secret societies and threatened the members of such with incrimination. This law remained present until its removal in 1912 and resulted in a thinning of the group due to the possibility of incrimination. Being a hybrid movement of Buddhism and Manichaeism, the group strictly enforced vegetarianism and unlike most common practice at the time, allowed for free interaction between men and women, events that displayed such behaviour were frequently covered up as incense-burning ceremonies, which was very common at the time. The groups civil governing and unique doctrines resulted in a distinct typifying of the group.