Nationalism was neither intrinsic to Hongmen( also known as Tiandihui,or the "Heaven and Earth Society") nor purely imported from the outside. Rather,it was the result of exploration and rediscovery in the late Qing period by anti-Manchu radical intellectuals and revolutionaries. In addition,it integrated the achievements of Westerners’ research into Tiandihui since the 19th century. After radical intellectuals and revolutionaries historicized and theorized abstract conceptual categories such as "kind,""clan,""category,""race,""nation,"and "nationalism,"the society’s formalized self-description of "overthrowing the Qing Dynasty and reviving the Ming Dynasty"was elevated to a nationalism rooted in a narrow conceptualization of nationality with a distinct flavor of racial identity. This self-description was regarded as authentic history and a tradition intrinsic to Tiandihui,thereby forming the special discourse of "Tiandihui Nationalism. "This process improved the image of Tiandihui,but it also obscured some of its true features. After the establishment of the Republic of China,revolutionaries tried to shift to broader conceptions the nation and nationalism rooted in national identity,but they still used "Tiandihui Nationalism"to cut ties with secret societies,thereby actually promoting its further spread. The expansive and narrow conceptions of"nation"in the discourse of nationalism are still tangled together,or even confused for each other.