Yellow Turban Uprising

"The sky is dead, and the yellow sky should stand. If you are in Jiazi, the world will be auspicious." Use white clay to write on the temple gates of the capital and the prefectural and county officials, all with the word "Jiazi".

Zhang Jiao was a Julu man during the Eastern Han Dynasty in China and the founder of Taipingdao, an early Taoist sect. He and his two brothers Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang all believed in Taoism.

During the Jianning period (168-172), he took his two younger brothers and first began missionary activities in Jizhou, which was particularly severely affected by the disaster. During the Xiping period of Emperor Ling (172-178), he founded Taiping Tao on the basis of recruiting a large number of students, training disciples, and absorbing disciples. Taiping Taoism is one of the early sects of Taoism in my country. Its mission is to overthrow the decadent Eastern Han Dynasty and establish a peaceful society. Its main feature is that the Taiping Jing is the main classic and Zhonghuang Taiyi is the supreme god enshrined. Taiping Dao’s program, goals, doctrines, titles, parish organizations, slogans, religious rituals, activity content, missionary methods, etc. are all based on the Taiping Jing.

He spread everywhere that "the sky is dead, the yellow sky will stand, the age of Jiazi will be good for the world." According to the "Taiping Sutra", "the billions of stars are not as bright as a day; the words of the pillars of heaven are not as bright as the country's one virtuous man", Zhang Jiao calls himself a great sage and the general leader of Taiping Dao; his The two younger brothers, Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao, claimed to be great doctors and were also one of the leaders of Taiping Road. If any member of Taiping Dao and his followers make a mistake, they only need to kneel before the leader, admit their mistake, and promise not to make it again, and they will be forgiven.

Zhang Jiao often held a nine-section staff. He used the talisman water that he chanted to cure diseases, and asked the patients to kneel down and repent of their sins. Some patients were cured, and he used this as a cover to widely publicize the Taiping Jing. "The doctrines and views on opposing exploitation and money-making and advocating equality and mutual love have won the support of the poor people. Zhang Jiao sent eight more disciples to spread the teachings in all directions. In more than ten years, there have been hundreds of thousands of believers in eight states: Qing, Xu, You, Ji, Jing, Yang, Yan, and Henan. Mainly poor farmers, but also urban craftsmen, individual officials, and even eunuchs. Some people sold their property and went to him, causing roads to be blocked. Tens of thousands of people died of illness before they arrived.

Taiwei Yang Ci was serving as Situ at the time and wrote a letter saying: "Zhang Jiao seduced the people, was pardoned but did not repent, and developed more and more. Now if it is handed over to the prefectures and counties to capture and conquer, I am afraid there will be more chaos. On the contrary, it will accelerate the disaster. We should ask the governor and the officials of Erqianshi to separate the refugees and send them back to their own counties, isolate and weaken Zhang Jiao's party members, and then kill the leaders, so that the matter can be settled without any effort." Set aside in court. Situ Yu and Liu Tao wrote another letter stating Yang Ci's original suggestion, saying: "The conspiracy of Zhang Jiao and others has become more and more serious. There are private discussions in various places that Zhang Jiao and others have secretly sneaked into the capital to spy on the government. They talk like birds and beasts, and talk to each other in private. In response, the prefectures and counties were taboo about this matter and did not want the court to know about it. They only informed each other privately and refused to make a public announcement. They should issue a clear edict, pay a lot of money to capture Zhang Jiao, and reward them with the land; if anyone dares to avoid it, The same crime as Zhang Jiao and others!" Emperor Ling didn't care and just ordered Liu Tao to compile the "Spring and Autumn Regulations".

Zhang Jiao divided the believers into thirty-six parties, with more than 10,000 people in the big party and six to seven thousand people in the small party. Each party had a canal commander in charge. On this basis, Zhang Jiao also followed the thinking method of "Five Elements" in the Taiping Jing and the theory of the mutual reinforcement and restraint of the five elements, and selected the date of Jiazi Day in the Jiazi Year and March 5th in the first year of Zhongping Emperor Ling (184). A great uprising was held. Zhang Jiao put forward the loud slogan: "The sky is dead, Huang Tian should stand. If you are aged for a year, the world will be prosperous." In early February, they used lime to write "Jiazi" and other slogans on the city gates of Luoyang and the walls of various prefectures and counties. Ma Yuanyi, the commander-in-chief of Dafang Qu, first notified tens of thousands of believers in Jingzhou and Yangzhou to gather in Yecheng and prepare for the uprising. As a result, the believers in charge of it began to gather in Yecheng. Ma Yuanyi went to Luoyang, the capital, many times. With Feng Xu, Xu Feng and others as internal responders, it was agreed that on March 5 of the following year, the attack would be launched simultaneously inside and outside the capital.

In the spring of the first year of Zhongping Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty (184), about ten days before the scheduled date of the uprising, that is, around February 15th, a believer in Taiping Road and a Jinan native reported to the Tang and Zhou Dynasties. The matter of uprising. As a result, the imperial court urgently arrested Ma Yuanyi and executed him in Luoyang with the torture of breaking a car apart. Emperor Ling issued an edict, ordering the Third Duke and Sili Xiaowei to investigate those who believed in the Zhangjiao Taiping Cult among palace and court officials, Forbidden Army officers and ordinary people, and executed more than a thousand people. At the same time, officials in Jizhou were ordered to arrest Zhang Jiao and his family.

Zhang Jiao learned that the plan had been leaked, so he sent people to various places day and night to notify the leaders of all parties. In an instant, all parties raised troops to respond. The rebels wore yellow scarves as a symbol, so people at the time called them the "Yellow Turban Army." In February, Zhang Jiao called himself General Tiangong, and his younger brother Zhang Bao called him General Tiangong, based on the theory in the Taiping Jing that "there is rule by heaven, rule by earth, and rule by man. General Di Gong, Zhang Liang was called General Ren Gong. They burned the White House and looted towns. The state and county officials were unable to resist and most of them fled. Within a month, the whole country responded one after another, and the capital city of Luoyang was also shaken. The people of Anping Kingdom and Ganling Kingdom captured King Anping and King Ganling alive respectively in response to the Yellow Turban Army.

Seeing how powerful Taiping Dao was, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty hurriedly appointed He Jin as the general on Wushen Day in March. He led the five battalions of Yulin soldiers on his left and right to garrison in Duting, arranging weapons and guarding the capital; From Hangu Pass, Dagu, Guangcheng, Yique, Fuyuan, Xuanmen, Mengjin, Xiaopingjin and other Kyoto passes, captains were set up to garrison; various places were ordered to take strict precautions, and all states and counties were ordered to prepare for war, train soldiers, and organize weapons , summoning the rebel army. For example, Liu Bei was funded by businessmen Zhang Shiping and Su Shuang to organize the rebel army to join the captain Zou Jing to fight against the thieves.

Huangfu Song remonstrated to lift the ban on the party, and gave the palace money and good horses from the Western Garden to the sergeants to improve morale. Lu Qiang also said to Emperor Ling: "The party has been imprisoned for a long time, and if it is with the Yellow Turbans "Conspiracy, regret is hopeless." Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty accepted the proposal, and on the day of Renzi, he granted amnesty to the party members, returned all the emigrants, and asked the ministers to donate horses and crossbows, and recommended the descendants of the generals and people with profound strategic knowledge among the people. Go to the Public Transport Department for an interview.

On the other hand, elite troops were sent to suppress the chaos in various places: Lu Zhi led the deputy general Zong Yuan and led the five colonels of the Northern Army to take charge of the northern front and deal with Zhang Jiao's main force; Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun each led an army , controlled the Five Schools, Sanhe Knights and newly recruited elite warriors to attack more than 40,000 people to attack the Yellow Turban Army in the Yingchuan area. Zhu Jun also recruited Sun Jian from Xiapi as an assistant army Sima and led his fellow villagers. The young man recruited various merchant brigades and elite soldiers from Huai River and Si River, and recruited more than a thousand people to set out with Zhu Jun's army. On Gengzi Day, Zhang Mancheng attacked and killed Chu Gong, the governor of Nanyang County, in response to Zhang Jiao.

The Han army did not gain a victory in the first battle. In April, Zhu Jun's army was defeated by the Yellow Turban Bocai and retreated. Huangfusong had no choice but to garrison Changshe with him to defend, but was besieged by Bocai's army. The Han army was small and morale was low. In addition, the Runan Yellow Turban Army defeated the prefect Zhao Qian in Shaoling, and the Guangyang Yellow Turban Army killed Youzhou Governor Guo Xun and the prefect Liu Wei. The Yellow Turban Army showed no signs of retreat due to the actions of the Han Dynasty.

In May 184, the capital saw that Huangfu Song was surrounded and sent Cao Cao to lead his army to rescue him. However, before the reinforcements arrived, Huangfu Song had already thought of a plan. When a strong wind blew in the evening, Huangfu Song ordered his soldiers to secretly leave the city with torches in hand. They used the weeds around the Yellow Turban Army camp to attack the enemy with fire. He shouted for an attack and the city The emperor also raised a torch in response. Huangfu Song used drums to help the battle and rushed into the enemy's formation. The Yellow Turban Army was in chaos and ran in all directions. They met Cao Cao's reinforcements again and were attacked from three sides by Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun and Cao Cao. Tens of thousands of people were killed and the Han army was victorious.

In June 184, Qin Jie, the governor of Nanyang, fought with Zhang Mancheng and killed Zhang Mancheng. The Yellow Turban Army changed its command to Zhao Hong and occupied Wancheng with more than 100,000 people. Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun's army continued to attack the Yellow Turbans of Runan and Chen, pursued Bo Cai to Yangdi, and finally defeated Peng Tuo in Xihua. The rest of the army wanted to escape to Wancheng, but Sun Jian ascended the city first and everyone advanced like ants. He defeated the enemy and successfully defeated the Yellow Turban Army in Yuzhou. On the other hand, Lu Zhi defeated Zhangjiao in several battles and killed more than ten thousand people.

Zhang Jiao had no choice but to retreat to Guangzong, and Lu Zhi built barriers, dug trenches, and made ladders to capture the city. When Emperor Ling sent Zuo Feng to inspect the military situation, someone advised Lu Zhi to bribe Zuo Feng, but Lu Zhi refused, so Zuo Feng falsely accused Lu Zhi of incompetence in combat. Emperor Ling was furious and sent Lu Zhi back to the capital in a prison car. The capital had no choice but to issue an edict to readjust: Huangfu Song went north to Dongjun; Zhu Jun attacked Zhao Hong in Nanyang; and Dong Zhuo replaced Lu Zhi. The Five Dou Mi Dao, which has the same religious form, rebelled in Bajun, and its leader Zhang Xiu, the "Five Dou Rice Master", attacked the county, but was not taken seriously by the Han Dynasty.

Zhu Jun, together with Jingzhou Governor Xu Wei and Qin Jie, attacked Zhao Hong with 18,000 soldiers, but they could not conquer it from June to August. The capital sent a petition to recruit Zhu Jun to return to the army, but fortunately Zhang Wen came forward to intercede, but Emperor Ling couldn't do it. However, Zhu Jun still rushed to attack Zhao Hong. Zhao Hong was killed and replaced by Han Zhong. Since Zhu Jun was outnumbered due to the small number of troops, he expanded the defense perimeter, built forts, and built mountains of earth to observe the city.

Zhu Jun's army beat drums to attack the southwest, and the Yellow Turban Army was diverted. Zhu Jun personally led 5,000 elite troops to cover up the northeast, attacked the enemy's rear, and entered the city. Han Zhong had no choice but to retreat to the inner city.

The Yellow Turban Army was frustrated and their morale was low, so they begged for surrender from the Han Army. Zhang Chao, Xu Qiu and Qin Jie all thought it was acceptable, but Zhu Jun believed that if he accepted it, it would give the people the wrong idea of ??being a thief and begging for surrender without any benefit, so he did not accept it and rushed to attack the enemy, but he could not conquer it after several battles. , Zhu Jun climbed up the Tushan Mountain to watch the Yellow Turban Army. He understood that the Yellow Turban Army had no retreat, so he tried his best to fight, so he failed to conquer it. Zhu Jun then relieved the besieging army, and Han Zhong actually went to fight, but was defeated by Zhu Juan. Zhu Jun pursued Han Zhong for dozens of miles north, killing more than ten thousand people, and Han Zhong surrendered. Qin Jie, who had always been at odds with Han Zhong, sent He kills. This move made the Yellow Turban Army uneasy, and they promoted Sun Xia as their commander to garrison troops in Wanzhong City. Zhu Jun attacked again. On Guisi Day in November, Sun Xia was defeated. The Han army pursued him to Jingshan Mountain in western Hubei, where he was defeated again. Sun Xia and more than 10,000 people were killed. The Yellow Turban Army was disbanded and the Wancheng area was pacified. In the spring of 185, Banshi returned to Beijing. On the other hand, in August, Huangfu Song arrived at Cangting, Dongjun, defeated and captured Buji alive, and killed more than 7,000 people. Dong Zhuo failed to attack Zhangjiao and returned without success, so he asked Huangfu Song to continue his march north on Yisi day. However, Zhang Jiao had already died of illness, so he fought with Zhang Liang in Guangzong in October. Zhang Liang's army was stubborn and could not be conquered in the first battle. Tomorrow, Huangfu Song closed the camp and rested with his soldiers. On the other hand, he sent people to observe the enemy's actions. The Yellow Turban Army's fighting spirit was slightly relaxed, so Huangfu Song led his troops at night and raided the enemy's position at dawn. They fought until the afternoon and successfully defeated the enemy. The army killed Zhang Liang and more than 30,000 people. More than 50,000 people drowned when they fled to the river embankment. They burned more than 30,000 carriages and captured many people. Zhang Jiao's body was broken into a coffin and his body was transported back to the capital. In November, Huangfu Song and Guo Dian, the governor of Julu, attacked Quyang, successfully killed Zhang Bao and captured more than 100,000 people. The Yellow Turban Rebellion subsided.

Although the chaos was suppressed, the prestige of the Han Dynasty suffered a serious blow. However, Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty did not reform, but continued to enjoy himself. Small-scale rebellions continued to occur in various places, resulting in many scattered forces, such as Heishan, Baibo, Huanglong, Zuoxiao, Niujiao, Wulu, Changgen, Li Damu, Zuo Xiaozhangba, Kuqi, Liu Shi, Pinghan, and Dahong. , Bai Rao, Sili, Yuancheng, Luo Shi, Lei Gong, Fuyun, Feiyan, Bai Jue, Yang Feng, Yu Du, etc. The small ones have thousands of people, and the powerful ones even have millions of people, such as Zhang Yan of Montenegrin thieves. In 188, the Yellow Turbans rebelled again, and the remaining Yellow Turbans revolted one after another. In February, Taiyuan Guo started an uprising in Baibo Valley of Xihe River and attacked Taiyuan County, Hedong County and other places. In April, the Yellow Turban Army of Gepi in Runan County rose again and captured the county. In October, the Yellow Turban Army in Qingzhou and Xuzhou rose again to attack counties and counties. In November, the Han court sent Bao Hong to attack the Gebei Yellow Turbans, which was the most powerful. The two sides fought in Gebei, and Bao Hong's army was defeated. Various Yellow Turban tribes rose up one after another. Although the momentum was not as great as the first Yellow Turban Rebellion, it still caused a headache for the Han Dynasty. In order to suppress the rebellion, in March 188, Emperor Ling accepted Taichang Liu Yan's suggestion and changed some of the governors to state pastors, who were appointed by clan members or important ministers to give them local military and political power in order to strengthen the strength of the local government. , it is easier to control the place and effectively suppress the remaining Yellow Turbans. And it was precisely because Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty decentralized power that he encouraged the local armies to build up their own troops, and the various heroes attacked each other and competed in the Central Plains. Even the emperor of the Eastern Han Dynasty was like nothing in the hands of the warlords. Therefore, the Yellow Turban Rebellion was the fuse that led to the demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty and was also the prelude to the Three Kingdoms era. Even so, the chaos still created the amnesty party, allowing many literati and officials to be re-appointed.