The Five Weapons Society was founded during the Qing Dynasty by the brothers Zheng Zu and Zheng Yi with the aim of protecting China.

Zheng Zu was inspired by Ta-Lo's legendary Five Sets of Heavenly Weapons: One Hammer (Hammer), Two Swords (Sabre), Nine Daggers (Dagger), Three Staffs (Staff) and Ten Rings (Hand).

After Yi's death, Zu changed the organization to crime, using names like Order of the Si-Fan, Order of the Golden Dawn and Celestial Order of the Hai-Dai.

Order of the Golden Dawn was a larger organization that was joined by members of groups such as Leopard Cult (Africa), Templars (Europe), Dacoits, Phansigars and Thugees (India), among others.

After the Eight Nation's Invasion (also known as the Boxer Rebellion), Zheng Zu moved four of the houses to foreign lands to keep an eye on the world.

Zu planned to invade Ta-Lo and steal the Five Sets of Heavenly Weapons, however, he met a human of Ta-Lo, Jiang Li, whom he married and had two children: Shang-Chi and Shi-Hua.

Zu chose Shang-Chi as the Society's Supreme Commander, however, after his death, his daughter Shi-Hua usurped power, including killing opponents such as the Brother Staff.

Esme and Takeshi find Shang-Chi in San Francisco's Chinatown and try to convince him to take his place in the Society, Shang-Chi discovers that Shi-Hua is alive, he confronts her and saves her from a bullet fired by Leiko Wu and she flees. Shang-Chi becomes the Supreme Commander, with the intention of turning it into a beneficial organization again. Time later, Shang-Chi meets a mutant half-sister, Zhilan, who takes over as Sister Staff and her mother Jiang Li, who was living in the Negative Zone.

Structure

The Five Weapons Society is made up of Five Houses, dedicated to the honor of Zheng Zu's original Deadly Warriors, each dedicated to a different weapon.

• The House of the Deadly Hand - China
• The House of the Deadly Staff - England
• The House of the Deadly Hammer - Russia
• The House of the Deadly Sabre - Japan
• The House of the Deadly Dagger - France

They each of a leader named after the house (ie Brother Hand), with one of them chosen to be the Supreme Commander of the whole society.

• The House of the Deadly Hand - Shang-Chi, the Brother Hand
• The House of the Deadly Staff - Brother Staff (unknown name), currently commanded by Zhilan, the Sister Staff.
• The House of the Deadly Hammer - Shi-Hua, the Sister Hammer
• The House of the Deadly Sabre - Takeshi, the Brother Sabre
• The House of the Deadly Dagger - Esme, the Sister Dagger

Creation

According to Gene Luen Yang, the inspiration was were the elements forces, unlike the Western culture, the Eastern culture has five elements rather than four elements. He chose each house inspired by an element:

• The House of the Deadly Hand - Fire
• The House of the Deadly Staff - Wood
• The House of the Deadly Hammer -Earth
• The House of the Deadly Sabre - Metal
• The House of the Deadly Dagger - Water

Shang-Chi being from the House of the Deadly Hand is inspired by his first comic books: its main title was The Hands of Shang-Chi, Master of Kung Fu and an auxiliary title was the black and white magazine The Deadly Hands of Kung Fu.

Yang moved the retreat location where Shang-Chi lived for several years from Honan to Hunan, where the House of the Deadly Hand was located and where Shang-Chi became the Champion.

The House of the Deadly Hand was a name that Yang gave to Fu Manchu's Fortress, currently, Shang-Chi lives in the new House of the Deadly Hand, located in Chinatown, Manhattan.