Beggar's Union Chiefs: rising through the ranks of the Beggar's Union

[Ken Cheng]

One of the odder practices of the Beggar's Union was that it often accepted complete outsiders to serve as Chief rather than promoting an Elder to Chief position based on seniority and track record. Yau Tan Tze, Wong Yung, Yeung Hong (nearly), and Yeh Lut Chai all became Union Chief in this manner. Only Cheun Gwoon Ching and Lo Yau Gerk were *known* to have been promoted from an Elder position (no word on how Kiu Fung or North Beggar Hung 7 Gung became Chiefs) to the Chief position. This was a bizarre practice, and it almost led to the selection of people who weren't qualified to be Chiefs.

[flyingfox2002]

QF was a mendicant clan member before he began leader. It's pretty clearly stated that he underwent a more arduous than usual series of tests before he was handled the reins to the clain. The reason turned out to be discrimination and distrust because of his heritage.

I don't remember if Chuen Gwoon Ching if ever actually the chief...

The others became leaders due to the lack of qualification and extraordinary circumstances (e.g. H7G incapacitated, Lu You Jiao murdered, QF booted) when slowly training an heir was not possible. In the interest of the clan, it was better to select the best (or most appropriate) candidate regardless of the candidate's membership.

[Radken]

I thought this kind of stuff was always settled through a battle royale. Like everything else in Jiang Wu.

[Ken Cheng]

It often came down to that, but under normal circumstances, it really shouldn't. Commonly, the current leader designates a successor a long time before passing authority to his/her successor, and that successor is gradually trained and brought into the role. With the Beggar's Union, however, the leaders often just (figuratively speaking) pointed at the person standing nearest and said, "You'll do."

[Radken]

Who in their right mind would wanna lead a group of beggars. *lol*

[flyingfox2002]

It often came down to that, but under normal circumstances, it really shouldn't. Commonly, the current leader designates a successor a long time before passing authority to his/her successor, and that successor is gradually trained and brought into the role. With the Beggar's Union, however, the leaders often just (figuratively speaking) pointed at the person standing nearest and said, "You'll do."

Again, like I posted before, the instances you cited were due to extraordinary circumstances, e.g. when a leader suddenly dies or is ousted before an heir was named. In addition to the unexpected departure/demise of the leaders, the mendicant clan also lacked any qualified internal candidates that the vast majority supports, therefore the clan has to look outside for new leadership. Remember, except for Chief Wang, who preceded QF, and HR, every leader did not plan their abdication or loss of leadership. And in those two exceptions, the successor was groomed and named by the previous leader "conventionally."

Thus, there is nothing "odd" about this issue.