It was a martial arts society whose main task was to protect the property of landowners in Caozhou prefecture (southwestern Shandong province) in late Qing China.
In his thirties, he learned a kung-fu technique of invulnerability called the "Armor of the Golden Bell" from a visiting martial artist and soon started teaching it to his own disciples.
Although the local government was fearful of the heterodox nature of the Golden Bell rituals, it tolerated the Big Swords because they assisted in repressing a wave of banditry in 1895 and 1896.
Liu did not participate actively, but in June 1896 he dispatched one of his lieutenants to northern Jiangsu to help the Pang lineage in their struggle for land against a clan that had joined the Catholic Church for protection.
[5] This technique was a form of kung-fu or "hard" qigong breathing exercise which its adepts claimed could protect them against blades and even bullets as if a large bell was covering their body.
[2] His students were typically rich peasants and small landowners who planned to use their martial training to defend their properties from the increasingly well-armed bandits who roved southwestern Shandong at the time.
[12] Even as the local government issued proclamations ordering the Society to disperse, Liu's Big Swords actively assisted Caozhou prefect Yuxian in putting down the bandits.
[17] Just as the Big Sword Society was growing, Christian missionaries, mostly Catholic, were also taking advantage of the weakness of the Qing government to expand their activities in Shandong.
[20] In February 1896, Liu Shiduan and his main lieutenant Cao Deli were involved in a minor conflict that started when a local man tried to collect debts from a Christian convert.
[21] That man sought the help of the Big Swords, who were happy to assist him, but the commander of the local garrison intercepted Liu's forces before they had time to confront the Catholics.
[23] The Pang and Liu lineages both claimed ownership of a large patch of fertile land in Dangshan County, which is now administered by Anhui province but was then in Jiangsu, just across the border from Caozhou prefecture in Shandong.
[26] The local militia and government troops quickly dispersed the band, arrested Liu Shiduan's disciple Peng Guilin, and captured 13 minor leaders of the Big Swords.