Bo Cai 波才

Bo Cai (波才) was a Large Division leader of Yellow Turbans who participated in the 184 A.D. Yellow Turban Rebellion. He was located in Yingchuan commandery where he was attacked by Zhu Jun (朱儁) in the fifth lunar month of 184 A.D.

Biography
Bo Cai was born in Yingchuan commandery in Yu province. It’s assumable he joined the religious brothers Zhang Jiao (張角), Zhang Bao (張寶) and Zhang Liang (張梁) somewhere between the early 170’s and 184 A.D. among 360.000 other men. When Zhang Jiao divided his followers over thirty-six Divisions (方), Bo Cai was made a Large Division leader of a Division in Yingchuan commandery. This meant he commanded over 10.000 men. Being a Large Division leader Bo Cai also had the allowance to appoint a local leader to a sub-Division of his force

Co-operation with Ma Yuanyi
Another Large Division leader, Ma Yuanyi (馬元義), was a leader in planning rebellion against the Han dynasty. He and his followers visited the capital city of Luoyang several times and claimed adherents even among the palace eunuchs. They agreed to strike Luoyang from within and without on the fifth day of the third month (3 April 184).

The attack from outside Luoyang was intended to be an attack co-operated with the strongest centre of rebellion; the Yellow Turbans from Runan commandery, Nanyang commandery and Yingchuan commandery, where Bo Cai was active. In the spring of the year 184 A.D. the renegade disciple Tang Zhou (唐周) betrayed Zhang Jiao and his followers by informing the Han of his master’s plans. By doing so, Zhang Jiao was forced to launch his rebellion earlier than planned and the Yellow Turbans from Runan, Nanyan and Yingchuan now lost an important, if not vital, co-operator.

Rebellion
Soon after, the rebellion broke out and the Yellow Turbans scored some immediate successes. Han’s response was quick and the two generals Huangfu Song (皇甫嵩) and Zhu Jun combined their force to have a total of over 40.000 men and were sent to Yingchuan commandery. There, Zhu Jun engaged in battle with Bo Cai, but surprisingly in the 4th lunar month the experienced Han general was beaten and forced to retreat. Huangfu Song went forward to hold Changshe city.

Bo Cai followed and besieged Huangfu Song at Changshe city. He outnumbered Huangfu Song and everyone in his army was afraid. Huangfu Song, though, had noticed that Bo Cai and his men had built a camp out of grass and bushes and when a strong wind came to blow he told his men to mount the wall with tinder grass in their hands. A party of his strongest men were sent to sneak outside the siege-lines using hidden paths. When they did so, they set great fires to the enemy camp and then sounded their battle-cries. The men on the walls raised their torches in reply. Huangfu Song and his men then charged the enemy lines, supported by drums and shouts from the city. Bo Cai and his men were terrified and fled in disorder.

Around this time the Chief Commandant of Cavalry, Cao Cao (曹操) arrived with reinforcements. In the fifth lunar month Zhu Jun, Huangfu Song and Cao Cao combined their armies and returned to the attack on Yingchuan commandery. The rebels were completely defeated.

Death
Zhu Jun and Huangfu Song went on the have more success during the campaign. Later, they wished to follow up on their successes with campaigns against the Yellow Turbans of the Runan and Chen commanderies in Yu province. There they met Bo Cai again. They chased him as far as Yangdi, where he was once again defeated and destroyed.