1) Yao Dagao 姚大羔 Version, Guangxi 廣西, 1810. This is the earliest known complete version of the legend of the burning of Shaolin, dated to 1810. It is from the oldest extant Tiandihui manual (huibu 會簿), and was found in the possessions of Tiandihui member Yao Dagao.
2) Yang Family Version, 1828. This version comes from a copybook (chaoben 抄本) found in a private household in Tianlin county, Guangxi in 1985 (Murray 1994, p. 1999) and is dated by ter Haar to 1828 (1998, p. 30 and p. 369).
3) Dutch East Indies Version, 1842 (Berlin ms., 15-22). This manual, preserved in the Staatsbibliothek in Berlin, is one of the two manuals used by Gustave Schlegel (1866) (ter Haar 1998, p. 31), and may be dated to 1842 (ter Haar 1998, p. 31-32 and p. 369). Barend ter Haar comments on the high quality of Schlegel's translation and since the manual is unpublished, like ter Haar, Schlegel's reliable translation will be used (see below).
4) “Xi Lu Xu” 西魯序 or Preface Version, c. 1853 (Or. 8207 D, probably Canton background). Discovered in the British Museum by Xiao Yishan 蕭一山 in the early 1930's, and published in his book Jindai mimi shehui shiliao 近代秘密社會史料 (1935), juan 2:3b-7b.
5) “Xi Lu Xu Shi” 西魯敘事 or Narration Version, maybe pre- 1863 (Or. 2339, background unclear, maybe Shanghai region). Discovered in the British Museum by Xiao Yishan in the early 1930's, and published in his book Jindai mimi shehui shiliao (1935), juan 2: 1b-3a.
6) The Gui County 貴縣 Version (Guixian xiuzhiju version), undated, maybe 1851-1861 (Murray 1994, p. 200). From a Triad Manual discovered in 1933 in Gui county in Guangxi, and first published by Luo Ergang 羅爾綱 the following year. Luo Ergang later reprinted it in his 1942 work Tiandihhui wenxian lu 天地會文選錄, pp. 1-3.
7) “Xi Lu Xu” 西魯序 or Shouxian 守縣 Version (Shouxian'ge version), undated, maybe 1851-1861. This manual was first discovered in the library of a nephew of Luo Xianglin 羅香林, a Hakka historian, who first published the text in 1936. It was later reprinted in 1942 in Luo Ergang's Tiandihhui wenxian lu, 41-43.
8) Hirayama Shû 平山周 Version, 1912. One of the most influential works on Triads, Hirayama Shû's History of Chinese Secret Societies 中國秘密社會史 was first published in 1911 in Japanese, and then translated into Chinese in 1912. Unfortunately, Hirayama's account of the Xi Lu legend is plagiarized. According to ter Haar, “As a result of this reinvestigation, we have to conclude that one of the standard resources of Chinese and Japanese language scholarship, namely the 1911 book (translated into Chinese in 1912) by Hirayama Shû, is a (badly) plagiarized version of the 1900 study on the Hong Kong Triads by W. Stanton” (1994, p. 28). Information on William Stanton's work can be found below.
9) Xu Ke 徐珂 Version, 1917. Xu Ke in the early years of the republic complied an anthology of essays on Qing dynasty history and culture. Among these essays is a section on the Tiandihui with a version of the Xi Lu legend. However, "Ironically, Hirayama's version was further plagiarized in 1919 by Xu Ke." (ter Haar 1998, p. 36)
Yao Dagao version, 1810
Yang Family version, 1828
Dutch Indies version, 1842 (Schlegel 1866)
Gui County version, undated
Shouxian version, undated
Narration Version version, 1853
Preface Version version, 1864
Hirayama Shû version, 1912
Xu Ke version, 1919
Hirayama, Shû 平山周. 1912. Zhongguo mimi shehui shi 中國秘密社會史 (History of Chinese Secret Societies). Shanghai: Shangwu yinshuguan
Luo, Ergang 羅爾綱. 1942. Tiandihhui wenxian lu 天地會文選錄. Hong Kong: Shiyong shuju
TDH Tiandihui 天地會. Beijing: Zhongguo renmin daxue, 1981-1989
Xiao, Yishan 肖一山. 1935. Jindai mimi shehui shiliao 近代秘密社會史料. Beijing: Guoli beiping yanjiuyuan, shixue yanjiuhui
Xu, Ke 徐珂. 1917. Qinbai lieqiao 清稗類鈔 (Assorted collection of anecdotes of the Qing). Shanghai: Commercial Press 商务印書館
Yu, Yuliang 庾裕良 & Chen, Renhua 陈仁华 (ed.). 1989. Guangxi huidang ziliao huibian 廣西會党資料滙编. Nanning: Guangxi ren min chu ban she 廣西人民出版社
1) Charles Gützlaff, 1845. According to Murray, Gützlaff's article “contains the first translations of society manuscripts from China itself, including a version of the society's Xi Lu legend that seems much like a composite of the versions referred to here as the Shouxian Manuscript and Preface” (Murray 1994, p. 94).
Gützlaff, Charles. 1845. “On the Secret Triad Society of China, chiefly from papers belonging to the Society found at Hong Kong.” Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, Volume 8. pp. 316-367. By Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland. London: John W. Parker, West Strand
Morgan, W.P. 1960. Triad Societies in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: The Government Printer, 1960; 1989 reprint.
Pickering, William Alexander. 1878. “Chinese Secret Societies and their Origin” Journal of the Straits Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society pp. 3:63-84 - section transcribed pp. 67-84
Schlegel, Gustave. 1866. Thian Ti Hwui. The Hung League or the Heaven –Earth-League: A Secret Society with the Chinese in China and India. Batavia: Langen Co
Stanton, William. 1900. The Triad Society or Heaven and Earth Association. Hong Kong: Kelly and Walsh
Ward, J.S.M. and Stirling, W.G. 1925. The Hung Society or the Society of Heaven and Earth Vol. I. London: Baskerville Press
Wells, S. William. 1849. “Oath Taken by Members of the Triad Society, and Notices of its Origins” The Chinese Repository XVIII. 6:281-295
Wylie, Alexander. 1897. “Secret Societies in China” Chinese Researches, Shanghai, 110-46, written ca. 1854 (Murray 1994, p. 95)
Murray, Dian. 1994. The Origins of the Tiandihui: The Chinese Triads in Legend and History. Stanford: Stanford University Press: 1994. pp. 197-228
ter Haar, Berend J. 1998. Ritual & Mythology of the Chinese Triads: Creating an Identity. Leiden: E.J. Brill