Article 291 Where people are gathered to disturb order at railway stations or bus terminals, wharves, civil airports, marketplaces, parks, theaters, cinemas, exhibition halls, sports grounds or other public places, or to block traffic or undermine traffic order, or resist or obstruct public security administrators of the State from carrying out their duties according to law, if the circumstances are serious, the ringleaders shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance.

Article 292 Where people are gathered to engage in affrays, the ringleaders and the active participants shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance; the ringleaders and the active participants who fall under any of the following categories, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years:

(1) gathering people to engage in affrays repeatedly;

(2) the number of people gathered to engage in affrays is large and so is the scale, thus bringing about a bad effect on society;

(3) gathering people to engage in affrays in public places or on vital traffic lines and causing serious public disorder; or

(4) gathering people to engage in affrays with weapons.

Where people are gathered to engage in affrays, thus causing serious injury or death to a person, he shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions of Article 234 or 232 of this Law.

Article 293 Whoever commits any of the following acts of creating disturbances, thus disrupting public order, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance:

(1) beating another person at will and to a flagrant extent;

(2) chasing, intercepting or hurling insults to another person to a flagrant extent;

(3) forcibly taking or demanding, willfully damaging, destroying or occupying public or private money or property to a serious extent; or

(4) creating disturbances in a public place, thus causing serious disorder in such place.

Article 294 Whoever forms, leads or takes an active part in organizations in the nature of criminal syndicate to commit organized illegal or criminal acts through violence, threat or other means, such as lording it over the people in an area, perpetrating outrages, riding roughshod over or cruelly injuring or killing people, thus seriously disrupting economic order and people's daily activities, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years; other participants shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights.

Members of Mafia abroad who recruit members within the territory of the People's Republic of China shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years.

Whoever, in addition to the offenses mentioned in the preceding two paragraphs, commits any other offences shall be punished in accordance with the provisions on combined punishment for several crimes.

Any functionary of a State organ who harbors an organization in the nature of criminal syndicate or connives at such organization to conduct illegal or criminal acts shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or deprivation of political rights; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than 10 years.

Article 295 Whoever teaches another person how to commit a crime shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance; if the circumstances are serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than five years; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to life imprisonment or death.

Article 296 Where an assembly, a procession or a demonstration is held with no application made in accordance with the provisions of law or no permission granted for the application or where it is held not in accordance with the time for start and stop, venue and routes permitted by the competent authorities, and the order of dismission is disobeyed and public order seriously disrupted, the persons who are in charge and the persons who are directly responsible for the assembly, procession or demonstration shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights.

Article 297 Whoever, in violation of the provisions of law, participates in an assembly, a procession or a demonstration with weapons, controlled cutting tools or explosives shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights.

Article 298 Whoever disturbs, breaks into or disrupts by any other means an assembly, a procession or a demonstration held in compliance with law, thus causing public disorder, shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights.

Article 299 Whoever desecrates the National Flag or the National Emblem of the People's Republic of China by intentionally burning, mutilating, scrawling on, defiling or trampling upon it in a public place shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention, public surveillance or deprivation of political rights.

Article 300 Whoever forms or uses superstitious sects or secret societies or weird religious organizations or uses superstition to undermine the implementation of the laws and administrative rules and regulations of the State shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than three years but not more than seven years; if the circumstances are especially serious, he shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not less than seven years.

Whoever forms or uses superstitious sects or secret societies or weird religious organizations or uses superstition to cheat another person, and causes death to the person shall be punished in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

Whoever forms or uses superstitious sects or secret societies or weird religious organizations or uses superstition to rape a woman or swindle money or property shall be convicted and punished in accordance with the provisions of Articles 236 and Article 266 of this Law respectively.

Article 301 Where people are gathered to engage in licentious activities, the ringleaders and the persons who repeatedly take part in such activities shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than five years, criminal detention or public surveillance.

Whoever entices a minor to join people in licentious activities shall be given a heavier punishment in accordance with the provisions of the preceding paragraph.

Article 302 Whoever steals or insults a corpse shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance.

Article 303 Whoever, for the purpose of profit, gathers people to engage in gambling, runs a gambling house or makes gambling his profession shall be sentenced to fixed-term imprisonment of not more than three years, criminal detention or public surveillance and shall also be fined.