The Yellow Turban Rebellion

The Yellow Turban Rebellion was a war fought between Zhang Jiao's army of Yellow Turbans and the Han, whose forces were led by General-in-Chief He Jin. It lasted for about a year, starting in 184 A.D.

A string of natural disasters and harsh tax increases by Emperor Ling, who was influenced by his greedy eunuchs led to the people losing their hope for a better world. Through their doctrine, the Zhang brothers saw the harshness of the country and raised an attempt to overthrow the Han.

The Yellow Turbans weren't the only rebels, but with its belief in a new order of nature, and its plan for a new beginning, Zhang Jiao's sect was to prove the most dangerous of these enemies of Han.

What Happened Before 31 January 184 A.D.
In the years before 184 A.D., many events caused the people to lose their faith in the Han, which ultimately resulted in the Yellow Turban Rebellion.

181 A.D.
In the spring, in the first month, there was appointed for the first time an Assistant of the Stables for Thoroughbreds, responsible for collecting horses from among the commanderies and kingdoms. The men of great family exploited the market, and the price of a single horse rose to two million cash.

In summer, the Wuhu barbarians of Jiaozhi and Liang Long's barbarians, also from Jiaozhi attacked and occupied several commanderies and counties. By edict, Zhu Jun was appointed as Inspector of Jiaozhi. He attacked Liang Long and beheaded him. Several thousand of Liang Long's followers were captured. HHS, the Biography of Zhu Jun; HHS, the Annals of Emperor Ling, HHS, the Chapter on the Southern and Southwestern Barbarians.

On the 18th of July it rained hailstones that were as big as hen's eggs.

During the year the Emperor Ling also made distinction between public funds and private reserves. He collected all valuable goods from the empire and all the tribute sent in from commanderies and kingdoms and he had them sent first to the inner palace, taking out a share for himself and calling it his commission. Regular Palace Attendant Lü Qiang sent in a memorial to protest, saying:

"You are raising the burden of taxation and making things more difficult for the people, and the local expenditure is increasing without any gain in revenue. Dishonest ministers take their profits, and the common people of the empire must suffer the loss. Besides, the ministers who flatter you will be only too glad to offer you treasures from their private hoards so that they may curry favour and gain advancement."

Nothing was done with the memorial.

182 A.D.
In the second month there was a great pestilence and in the fourth month there was a draught. This great pestilence could have been used by faith-healers such as Zhang Jiao to attract more followers to their theories.

Bansun barbarians were raiding and plundering the Ba commandery. Campaigns had been sent against them year after year, but they had not been subdued. Emperor Ling had it in mind to make a great levy of troops. He asked the Reporting Officer from Yi Province, Cheng Bao, for his opinion. Cheng Bao replied that there is no need for a military campaign. The Emperor took his advice. Cao Qian was appointed Grand Administrator and an edict was proclaimed to grant an amnesty. All the people came at once to submit.

In the eight month, it was ordered that an observation tower should be built, four hundred feet hight, on the Ating Road, paid with tax money.

183 A.D.
In summer, there was another great draught.

In autumn the Yellow River broke it's banks in Jincheng and flooded more then 20 li. Following this was an avalanche in the mountains of the Wuyuan commandery.

For some time now, Zhang Jiao of Julu had been worshipping the Yellow Emperor and Laozi and preaching magic and devilry among the people. He became a follower of Taoïsm and founded a doctrine called "The Way of Great Peace", based on the teachings in the Taiping Jing, with his younger brothers Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang. Using charmed water he cured illnesses and he made those who were sick, kneel down and confess their faults. Sometimes they got better and started believing in him. Because of his doctrine Zhang Jiao and his brothers saw the harshness of the country and how many people were suffering from it. Zhang Jiao sent out disciples to the eight provinces; Qing, Xu, You, Ji, Jing, Yang, Yan and Yu to gather followers of his doctrines. Some of them were so out of faith, that they sold all their properties and left their homes to follow him. The pilgrims blocked the roads and some became ill and died before they reached him. The deaths numbered in the tens of thousands. The officials in the commanderies and counties did not understand what was really going on, and instead they reported that Zhang Jiao reformed men by his fine teaching and that this was why the people turned to him.

At this time, Yang Ci was Minister over the Masses. He sent a memorial to say:

"Zhang Jiao is deceiving and exploiting the common people. When amnesties are granted, instead of repenting himself, he spreads his evil influence even wider. If orders are sent to the provincial and commandery administrations to arrest him and punish him, I am afraid that might only increase the confusion and would hasten on disaster. The first thing to do is to give strict orders to the Inspectors and the heads of commanderies and kingdoms that they must stop people wandering about and send them back to their own territory. This way we will isolate his party and then we can punish the ringleaders. Everything would then be settled without trouble."

However, a short time later Yang Ci was dismissed and the matter was more or less ignored.

Liu Tao, Senior Clerk under the Ministers over the Masses, then sent in another memorial:

"Zhang Jiao's secret plans become increasingly dangerous. The empire is full of whispers and rumours, and it is claimed that Zhang Jiao and his followers have gained entry into the capital and have spies within the court. They twitter like birds, they have the hearts of wild beasts, and they make plots together. The provinces and commanderies have put the whole question under a taboo: they compare notes with one another privately, but they are reluctant to say anything in the open. Your majesty should issue a clear edict, calling for the arrest of Zhang Jiao and his supporters, and promising rewards of land from the state for those who capture them. If any should dare to evade your call, they can share the same punishment."

However, Emperor Ling did not take the matter seriously.

To sum it all up, natural disasters, such floodings, draughts, avalanches and hailstone rains occurred and the civilians weren't supported by the Han in restoring what was lost or damaged. On top of that, Emperer Ling increased taxes and was influenced by the greedy eunuchs, led by Zhang Rang. The Han was seen as corrupt and the people were stripped of all hope.

Zhang Jiao set up 36 Divisions. Each Division had it's own leader. They spread the story that "The azure sky is dead, and a Yellow Heaven will take its place. When the year is jiazi great fortune will come to the world." The Large Division Leader Ma Yuanyi, with some others, had collected several ten thousand men in Jing and Yang provinces, and they had arranged a date for a rising at Ye. Ma Yuanyi came in and out of the capital several times, he gained the support of the Regular Palace Attendants Feng Xu and Xu Feng, and they agreed on 3 April 184 A.D. for a coup at the inside and an attack from without.

184 A.D. - Zhang Jiao's Plot Leaked; The Battle Begins
In the spring one of Zhang Jiao's disciples, named Tang Zhou, sent a message to the court in which he wrote about Zhang Jiao's plot. Ma Yuanyi was arrested and was torn asunder by chariots in Luoyang. Over a thousand common people in the capital, who were followers of The Way of Great Peace were arrested and executed. Orders were sent to Ji province; Zhang Jiao and all of his followers should be arrested. However, Zhang Jiao and his followers found out their plans had been discovered, so they sent out messengers who rode day and night to all of the 36 divisions with the orders to rise together. All followers in each of the 36 Divisions wore a piece of yellow cloth, usually a turban or ribbon, as a badge. Because of this, the people of that time referred to them as the Yellow Turban rebels.

The Second Month
In the second month, the three brothers gave themselves titles. Zhang Jiao was named Lord of Heaven, his younger brother Zhang Bao was named Lord of Earth and the youngest brother, Zhang Liang, was named Lord of Man.

The uprising had begun. Government offices everywhere were burnt and destroyed and the towns and villages were looted. The provincial and commandery administrations were compelled to abandon their offices and most of the officials ran away. Within a few weeks the whole empire had responded to the rebellion, and the capital was in fear and trembling.

The Third Month
He Jin was made General-in-Chief. He, together with the Five Regiments of the Northern Army, took command of various armies such as the Feathered Forest Troops and the guards of the divisions of the Right and of the Left and let them camp at the Capital Hostel, where they prepared weapons and equipment to keep order in the capital. Various Chief Commandants were appointed were appointed for the eigth passes of the Hangu, Taigu Guangcheng, Yique, Huanyuan, Xuanmen, the Meng Crossing and the Xiaoping Crossing. The Emperor summoned all his ministers to a council, including Grand Administrator of Beidi, Huangfu Song, who had opinion that the proscription of the Men of Faction should be ended, and that there should be a greater distribution of the resources of the palace treasury and of the horses in the Western Garden stables to equip the army.

The Emperor asked Regular Palace Attendant Lü Qiang what he thought of this proposal. Lü Qiang replied:

"The proscription has been maintained for a long time and the people [affected by it] have been made angry and resentful. Unless they are given a pardon, they could quite easilyjoin Zhang Jiao. The rebellion would become very much more serious and it would be too late to do anything about it. I ask now that you should first execute those of your attendants whoare greedy and corrupt, issue a complete amnesty for all the Men of Faction, and examine all the Inspectors and the heads of commanderies and kingdoms to see which are competent to do their job. After that, there will be no more trouble from rebels." The Emperor was frightened and accepted his policy.

On April the 5th, trained soldiers were raised from the empire, and the General of the Gentlemen of the Household of the North Lu Zhi was sent to attack Zhang Jiao. Huangfu Song, as General of the Gentlemen of the Household on the Left, and the General of the Gentlemen of the Household on the Right Zhu Jun were sent to attack the Yellow Turbans of Yingchuan.

At the same time, the Regular Palace Attendants Zhang Rang, Zhao Zhong, Xia Yun, Guo Sheng, Duan Gui and Song Dian had all been enfeoffed as marquises and treated with great favour. The Emperor would often say, "Regular Attendant Zhang Rang is my father and Regular Attendant Zhao Zhong is my mother." From this, the Eunuchs became completely confident of their position. They built great houses that rivalled even the imperial palace.

The Emperor had been told many times that the Regular Attendants were people not to trust, but everytime the Emperor either ignored what he heard or the Attendants talked their way out of the accusations by blaming others.

On the 23rd of April, Zhang Mancheng, the Yellow Turban of Nanyang attacked and killed the Grand Administrator Chu Gong. The Emperor asked the Grand Commandant Yang Ci for his opinion of the Yellow Turban outbreak. Yang Ci replied in straight-forward fashion very much to the point, and the Emperor was not pleased.

The Fourth Month
Summer. Yang Ci left office because of the rebellion. The Grand Coachman Deng Sheng of Hongnong became Grand Commandant. Some time later, when the Emperor was looking over some earlier records, he found the memorials written by Yang Ci and Liu Tao to warn against Zhang Jiao. He enfeoffed Yang Ci as Marquis of Linjin and Liu Tao as Marquis of Zhongling District.

Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun had combined their forces of over forty thousand men. They marched together, each with their own army, to attack the Yellow Turban in Yingchuan. Zhu Jun fought with Bo Cai, who commanded one of the largest of the 36 divisions. Zhu Jun was outnumbered and defeated. In the meantime Huangfu Song went forward to hold Changshe. Following Bo Cai's succes, the army of Yellow Turbans of Runan added another succes when they defeated Grand Administrator Zhao Qian at Shaoling.

On top of that, the Yellow Turbans of Guangyang killed the Inspector of You Province, Guo Xun and the Grand Administrator Liu Wei.

Following his succes against Zhu Jun, Bo Cai advanced towards Changshe, where Huangfu Song laid camp. Huangfu Song was outnumbered and his men were afraid. Bo Cai's men built their camp out of grass and bushes. When a strong wind came on to blow, Huangfu Song ordered his men to mount the walls with tinder-grass in their hands. His strongest men were sent forward, travelling by hidden paths, to get outside the siege-lines. Bo Cai and his men did not see Huangfu Song's men coming and they were taken by surprise when the latter's men sounded their battle-cries and set great fires. The men on the walls raised their torches in reply. Huangfu Song led soldiers from the city with drums and shouts, and they charged the enemy lines. The rebels were stunned, terrified and fled in disorder.

About this time, Cao Cao of Pei Kingdom, the Chief Commander of Cavalry, arrived with reinforcements.

The Fifth Month
Following Cao Cao's arrival, Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun and Cao Cao combined their forces and returned to the attack. They completely defeated the rebels and cut off heads by the tens of thousands. Huangfu Song was enfeoffed as marquis of a chief district.

The Sixth Month
After camping in the vicinity of Wan for about three months, Zhang Mancheng was attacked by the Grand Administrator of Nanyang, Qin Xie, and killed. Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun followed up their success with campaigns against the Yellow Turbans of Runan and Chen kingdom. They chased Bo Cai as far as Yangdi, and they attacked Peng Tuo at Xihua, and they defeated both of them. The tides of war seemed to have shifted. The Han gained momentum and the lack of war experience among the Yellow Turbans was clearly shown. The remnants of Bo Cai and Peng Tuo's divisions either surrendered or scattered and the commanderies of Yingchuan, Runan and Chen were pacified. Following their succesful campaigns, Huangfu Song sent a letter to the throne in which he praised Zhu Jun. In response, Zhu Jun was advanced in fied to be Marquis of Xi District and was transferred to appointment as General of the Gentlemen of the Household Who Maintains the Rebels in Order. An imperial edict ordered Huangfu Song to attack Dong commandery and Zhu Jun to attack Nanyang.

Around the same time, Lu Zhi, General of the Household of the North had been battling the leader of the Yellow Turbans, Zhang Jiao, and had beaten him in one battle after another and he had cut the heads off or taken prisoner more then ten thousand men. Zhang Jiao and his followers had fled back to Guangzhong. Lu Zhi built a siegewall, dug a moat around the city, and constructed scaling ladders. He was all ready for the final attack when the Emperor sent Zuo Feng, Junior Attendant of the Yellow Gates, to see how things were going.

Lu Zhi was told that he should prepare presents for Zuo Feng, but Lu Zhi refused to do so. A mistake that would cost Lu Zhi dearly.

When Zuo Feng returned to the capital he said to the Emperor:

"It would be easy to destroy the rebels in Guangzong, but General Lu allows his army to rest behind strong defences. He does no more than hope that some punishment from Heaven will befall the rebels."

The Emperor became very angry and he ordered a cage cart to be sent to Lu Zhi. When Lu Zhi arrived at the capital he was sentenced to death commuted by one degree. Dong Zhuo of Longxi, the General of the Household of the East, was sent to take his place. Zhang Xiu of Ba commandery had cured people's sickness by magical tricks, and his teaching was in many respects like that of Zhang Jiao. He ordered families where there was sickness to offer up five dou of rice, and he was called the Five Dou of Rice Teacher.

The remnant forces of Zhang Mancheng's party had regrouped and elected Zhao Hong as their new leader. Again, their strength increased until they numbered more then a hundred thousand. They occupied Wan city once more.

The Seventh Month
In the autumn, in the seventh month, Zhang Xiu gathered his followers and made rebellion and they raided the commanderies and counties. The people of that time called them the Rice Rebels.

The Eight Month
Huangfu Song made an attack on the Yellow Turbans in Canting, where he fought and captured their leader Bu Si. Meanwhile, Dong Zhuo had been fighting Zhang Jiao. The Lord of Heaven sallied from the city of Guangzong and broke Dong Zhuo's army. Zhang Jiao then chased Dong Zhuo to the city of Quyang, where he captured the city from the Han forces. Dong Zhuo managed to get away, but was condemned for his failure. On September the 25th, an edict ordered Huangfu Song to attack Zhang Jiao.

Since they sixth month, Zhu Jun, with the aid of various commanders under Xu Qiu, Inspector of Jing Province, had been attacking Zhao Hong's party at Wan several times, but without succes. Some senior officials at the capital memorialised that Zhu Jun should be recalled, but the Minister of Works Zhang Wen said the "...in the end he will produce results". Zhu Jun was kept in command, attacked Zhao Hong and cut off his head.

Rebel leader Han Zhong re-occupied Wan yet again and opposed Zhu Jun once more. Zhu Jun sent in an attack, with battle-cries and drums, from the southwest and all the enemy went to deal with it. Zhu Jun himself led picked troops secretly to the northeast, and they climbed the wall and got into the city. Han Zhong then retreated to hold the citadel, and he was now frightened and asked to surrender. Zhu Jun, however, declined and launched several other attacks, all without succes. Zhu Jun then climbed a hill to look over the scene and came up with the plan to attack the siege-ring, if succesfully done, Han Zhong would come out of the capital. The plan was a succes and Han Zhong indeed came out. Zhu Jun attacked him and completely defeated him and more then ten thousand heads were taken. Han Zhong was killed by Qin Xie, Grand Administrator of Nanyang.

Sun Xia was elected as the new leader of the Yellow Turbans in Wan.

The Ninth Month
In the ninth month Liu Xu, King of Anping, was found guilty of impious conduct and was executed. His kingdom was abolished.

The Tenth Month
Winter. At Guanzhong Huangfu Song fought with Zhang Jiao's younger brother Zhang Liang. Zhang Liang's forces fought bravely; they were very well trained and courageous and Huangfu Song could make no headway. The following day, he kept the gates of his camp closed, gave his soldiers a rest and waited to see what would happen. He realised that the enemy would now be less keyed-up and ready for him, and so during the night he prepared his men for a sortie. At cock-crow, they charged the enemy lines, they fought through the morning and into the afternoon, and then they completely defeated the rebels. They cut off Zhang Liang's head and took thirty thousand others and there were more than fifty thousand people that fled to the Yellow River and drowned.Ironically, Zhang Jiao had already died of an illness (the exact date is unknown). Huangfu Song, however, broke open his coffin, defiled his corpse and cut off his head, holding it in the air. Later, his head was sent to the capital as a sign of victory.

The Eleventh Month
The last remaining Zhang brother, Zhang Bao, was attacked by Huangfu Song at Xiaquyang. Zhang Bao's head was cut off and over a hundred thousand soldiers were killed or captured. Following his successes Huangfu Song was appointed General of Chariots and Cavalry on the Left with authority as Governor of Ji Province, and he was enfeoffed as Marquis of Huaili.

In the meantime, the Major Sun Jian was able to climb the city walls and on January the 11th, 185 A.D. they stormed Wan city. Sun Xia fled and was chased as far as the Jing hills in Xi'e, where he was defeated once more. Another ten thousand heads were cut off in the process. At this, the Yellow Turbans were defeated and scattered. The remainder of them were dealt with by the provincial and commandery governments. Thousands of people were executed in a single commandery.

The Twelfth Month
On the 16th of February, 185 A.D. The Inspector of Yu Province, Wang Yun of Taiyuan, defeated the Yellow Turbans and obtained letters written to them from supporters and clients of Zhang Rang. He sent them to the Emperor. The Emperor was furious with Zhang Rang, but Zhang Rang kowtowed and begged for pardon, and in the end he managed to avoid any punishment. As a result of this, Zhang Rang found some way to get Wang Yun into trouble, and Wang Yun was sent to prison.

Eventually, when Wang Yun arrived at the office of the Commandant of Justice at the capital, the General-in-Chief He Jin sent in a memorial jointly with Yang Ci and Yuan Wei to plead for his life, and they obtained a remission of his charges.

After The Demise Of The Zhang Brothers
The land was in chaos. The Han won the war but the victory was pyrrhic. Warlords gained fame and grew powerful. Many rebel groups rose up against the Han. Some of them fought in the name of the Yellow Turbans, some were 'Zhang Jiao Avengers'. Sima Ju was the last bandit fighting in the name of the Yellow Turbans. In the year 206 A.D. he died at the hands of Xiahou Yuan.

Known Later Yellow Turbans

 * Guo Da
 * Ma Xiang
 * Zhao Zhi
 * Guan Hai
 * Huang Shao
 * He Man
 * He Yi
 * Liu Pi
 * Sima Ju

Fact vs. Fiction

 * Historically, Gong Du and Han Xian were bandits and not followers of Zhang Jiao.
 * Historically, Liao Hua only served Shu, in historical records he is never mentioned as a follower of Zhang Jiao.
 * Many of the Yellow Turbans mentioned in Romance of the Three Kingdoms are fictional.
 * Historically, Gongsun Zan did not participate in the Yellow Turban campaign. He did fight against remnant Yellow Turban forces in the late 180's and early 190's.
 * Historically, Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu were minor officers under Zou Jing, a commander under Gongsun Zan.
 * Historically, Liu Bei, Zhang Fei and Guan Yu never rescued Dong Zhuo. They couldn't have, because they didn't got involved until the late 180's.
 * Obviously, the Zhang brothers were no sorcerers.