In the studies of Chinese secret societies，almost all scholars believe that Gelaohui had derived from Huolu. However，this paper argues that it is difficult to establish a logical and convincing argument that Gelaohui had evolved from Huolu. In the Qing archives，the distinction between Guolu and Gelaohui is very clear. Guolu was called
“
Guo Bandits
”
and had existed since the early Qianlong period，while Gelaohui，who emerged after the Tongzhi period，was called
“
Hui Bandits
”
. Scholars who link the two should be said to have certain historical data. These historical materials mainly come from the Qing official descriptions of Huolu and Gelaohui，almost all of which are just very simpl
e. But to think that Gelaohui came from Huolu，to a considerable extent，is actually accepting the Qing official
’
s reference to marginalized groups. Those discourses were not necessarily based on facts，but to a large extent were the result of discrimination，resentment，slander，or just looking for reasons to suppress these rebels. Since the suppression of the Gelaohui was ineffective，and the organization was still expanding，stigmatization might be a strategy，which was based on either an arbitrary speculation or hearsay information. In fact，to find the origin of the Gelaohui，the most important thing is to find evidence from their own documents. Even if this evidence is mixed with many legends and myths，their own descriptions are systematic and detailed. To a certain extent，at least they are more direct and more credible than the descriptions of the Qing government and its officials. Even if their expressions were
“
inventions of tradition
”
or
“
imagined community
”
，it is still much better than believing the arbitrary words of their enemies. To find out the difference between Huolu and Gelaohui，it is necessary to conduct a detailed examination of Huolu. By using various existing materials，this article tries to sort out the geographical and social environments where Guolu were produced and to track their activities as systematically and detailedly as possible. Through this study，we can see the essential difference between Huolu and Gelaohui. The members of the Gelaohui itself were very diverse，with people from various backgrounds and social levels，but we cannot think that this organization originated from the gang they belonged to in the past. The official accounts available today do not have any complete narratives，details，and logical connections about the relationship between Guolu and Gelaohui. However，none of the cases that were recorded in detail in the archives support the view that Gelaohui had evolved from Huolu.