Way of the Taiping

TheWay of the Taiping,also known as theWay of the Great Peace,was a ChineseTaoistmovement founded byZhang Jueduring theEastern Han dynasty.Its adherents all around China participated in theYellow Turban Rebellionof 184, with the rebellion being suppressed within the same year by the Eastern Han government. The religious movement was greatly reduced and died soon afterwards. The Way of the Taiping was one of the two largest movements within earlyTaoism,with the other being theWay of the Five Pecks of Rice.During the reign ofEmperor Ling of Han,the movement was recorded to have been popular in eight Provinces:Qing Province,Xu Province,You Province,Ji Province,Jing Province,Yang Province,Yan Province,andYu Province..

Origins

The Way of the Taiping originated in the reign ofEmperor Shun of Hanof theEastern Han dynasty(126–144). AFangshinamedGan Ji(Some later histories referred to him asYu Ji) claimed that he received a divine book called theTaiping Qingling Shu( thái bình thanh lãnh thư ) from a pond inQuyang County,and thereafter started to build elaborate temples and established rituals like the burning of incense and the reading ofTaoistmanuscripts. He also treated the people's (Bai xing) illnesses with burntFulumixed with water, and he became very popular amongst them. According to theBook of Later Han,during the reign ofEmperor Shun(r. 125–144),Gong Chong( cung sùng ), one of Gan Ji's disciples, submitted theTaiping Qingling Shuto the emperor, but did not receive substantial attention. Gong Chong's discipleXiang Kaitried the same, but his efforts also faltered. Later on, the book fell into the hands ofZhang Jue,who established theWay of the Taiping.

Later Developments

Zhang JuefromJulu Commandery,having obtained theTaiping Qingling Shu,declared himself "Great Teacher" ( đại hiền lương sư ), preached to his disciples and treated peoples' illnesses. He quickly became popular, as he sent his eight disciples around the country, using the "Kind Way" ( thiện nói ) to preach to the commoners, and within ten years had followers numbering 100,000, across eight Provinces:Qing Province,Xu Province,You Province,Ji Province,Jing Province,Yang Province,Yan Province,andYu Province.Zhang Jue split his followers into 36 "Fang" s (directions), with the bigger Fang having over 10,000 each, while the smaller Fangs having 7,000 people. He and his brothers gave themselves titles:Zhang Baowas the "General of Land" ( mà công tướng quân ),Zhang Liangwas the "General of the People" ( người công tướng quân ); and Zhang Jue was the "General of Heaven" ( ông trời tướng quân ). The Way of the Taiping acted like a military organisation thereafter.

Preachings

Zhang Jue held a nine-section cane, and often proclaimed that people were sick and suffering because they had sinned. For them to recover, the patients must first reflect on their mistakes, and when they finally show contrition, he would make them drink theFulu-water mixture. He praised those who recovered as having great faith, and for those who did not as having not enough.The Way of the Taiping worshiped the colour yellow, and followers wore yellow clothes with yellow headbands, and they worshiped theYellow Emperor,LaoziandTaiyi( quá một ), who was the greatest God in the pantheon.Taiyi is ananthropomorphismof theNorth Star.

Uprising

Zhang Jue proposed the slogan of "Cangtian (heaven, blue sky) is dead, the Huangtian (yellow sky) has been established, the age is at Jiazi (184AD),tianxiaexperiences great fortune "( trời xanh đã chết, hoàng thiên đương lập, tuổi ở giáp ( 184 năm ), thiên hạ đại cát ), and theorised that ofZou Yan's cycle of five elements (Wu Xing), the Earth (Yellow) element was to replace the Han dynasty's Fire element.Zhang Jue's followers wrote the slogan in the capital andyamenwalls of the provinces and prefectures, and planned for the leader of the large FangsMa Yuanyito lead the tens of thousands of followers fromJing ProvinceandYang Provinceto rise up on 5 March 184 AD. Ma went around the capital and nearby cities to prepare for the rebellion, and had officials within the Palace walls as spies.But the central government caught wind of the conspiracy, and Ma was torn asunder by chariots for treason.Emperor Ling of Hanordered the arrest of Zhang Jue and his followers, and this prompted Zhang to initiate theYellow Turban Rebellionin February, with the scale of the rebellion shocking the court. New followers flocked from all over the country to join the Way of the Taiping.

Defeat

Within the same year of the uprising, Zhang Jue died from an illness, Zhang Bao was killed, and Zhang Liang fell in battle. TheYellow Turban Armystill resisted in various locales for the next ten years, and many joinedCao Cao's army later on.The Way of the Taiping survived in a different form, even after theJin dynasty,in the worship of theTaiping Di Jun( thái bình đế quân ).

Further reading

• Oa đức trung, tiêu khôn hoa dịch: 《 Đạo giáo sử 》 ( Thượng Hải: Thượng Hải văn dịch nhà xuất bản, 1987 ).
• Thu nguyệt xem anh: 〈 Đạo giáo sử 〉, tái phúc giếng khang thuận chờ giam tu, chu càng lợi dịch: 《 Đạo giáo 》 quyển thứ nhất ( Thượng Hải: Thượng Hải sách cổ nhà xuất bản, 1990 ), trang 25-59.
• Đường trường nhụ: 〈《 thái bình kinh 》 cùng thái bình nói 〉, tái 《 đường trường nhụ xã hội văn hóa sử luận tùng 》 ( Vũ Hán: Vũ Hán đại học nhà xuất bản, 2001 ), trang 133-143.