Society and Culture of The Han Dynasty - Religion, Cosmology, and Metaphysics - Religious Societies and Rebel Movements

Religious Societies and Rebel Movements

The Daoist religious society of the Five Pecks of Rice was initiated by Zhang Daoling in 142 CE. Zhang was raised in what is now Jiangsu where he studied Daoist beliefs in immortality. He moved to what is now Sichuan province and claimed to have a revelation where the deified Laozi appointed him as his earthly representative and Celestial Master. The movement spread rapidly, particularly under Zhang's sons, Zhang Heng and Zhang Lu. Instead of money, followers were asked to contribute five pecks of rice to the religious society and banned the worship of 'unclean' gods who accepted sacrificial offerings of meat. Initiated members of the group were called 'libationers', a title associated with village elders who took the first drink at feasts. The laity were told that if they obeyed the rules of the religious society, they would be rewarded with good health. Illness was thus seen as the result of violating religious rules and committing personal sins, which required confession to libationers charged with overseeing the recovery of sinners. They believed that chanting parts of the Daodejing would bring about cures for illnesses. Zhang Daoling's second successor Zhang Lu initiated a rebellion in 184 CE that allowed him to retain complete control over Ba and Hanzhong commanderies (of modern Sichuan and southern Shanxi) for three decades. He even modelled his 'charity houses' after Han postal stations, yet his establishments offered grain and meat to followers. Although Zhang Lu surrendered to Chancellor Cao Cao (155–220 CE) in 215 CE, Cao was still wary of his influence over the people, so he granted Zhang and his sons fiefs to placate them.

The widespread Yellow Turban Rebellion also occurred in 184 CE, its leaders claiming that they were destined to bring about a utopian era of peace. Like the Five Pecks of Rice society, the Yellow Turbans of the Huai and Yellow River valleys also believed that illness was a sign of wrongdoing that necessitated confession to church leaders and faith healers. However, the Yellow Turbans typically utilized holy water as a ramification for sickness; if this did not cure the sick, the latter's sins were deemed too great to be exculpated. Since the year 184 CE was the first (and very auspicious) year of a new sexagenary cycle, the Yellow Turban's supreme leader Zhang Jue (d. 184 CE) chose the third month of that year as the time to rebel; when this was leaked to the Han court, Zhang was forced to initiate the rebellion prematurely. Although the Yellow Turbans were able to muster hundreds of thousands of troops, they were overpowered by the combined force of imperial troops and independent generals. By the end of the year their leadership—including Zhang Jue—had been killed and only scattered groups remained until they were amalgamated into the forces of Cao Cao in 192 CE.