The Yellow Turban Rebellion is one of the largest folk uprisings in ancient China. Its causes are due to such factors as the weakness of the royal elite, the civil strife of the political parties of the nobility, the merciless exploitation of the peasantry and an unprecedented economic decline. And also his difference lies in the especially brutal methods of suppression.
Background for the Yellow Turban Rebellion: Briefly about the situation in the country
The situation before the uprising in China looked like this. In the 2nd century A. D. e. The Han Dynasty ruled China after overthrowing the Qin Dynasty in 206 BC. e. The once prosperous Han Empire is in political and economic decline.
It's military power is also weakening. China is losing influence in the western territories, the northeastern and northern lands are being attacked by the Xianbi tribes (ancient Mongolian nomads).
Social inequality is becoming catastrophic. Small landowners go bankrupt and become dependent on larger farms, called "strong houses". The famine beginspeasants, the population is massively reduced. The situation is aggravated by a crop failure and an epidemic of plague. Uprisings break out, peasants declare massive hunger strikes.
Among the two ruling classes, called "scholars" and "eunuchs", the contradictions are growing stronger, each of the groups is fighting for increased political influence.
Causes of the Yellow Turban Rebellion
Rebellion breaks out for the following reasons. The state is losing control over the average landowners and peasants dependent on the "powerful houses". Medium and small proprietors rent land from large ones, paying them huge rents. The same try to hide taxes from the state, appropriating them.
At the same time, the fiscal burden is increasing. The central government is losing its power, as the "strong houses" cease to reckon with it. In addition to we alth, they have their own armies of up to ten thousand people.
Famine begins and the extinction of entire villages. Many go into the forests, wander, food riots break out, cannibalism spreads. The economy is in decline.
A political group called "scientists" is trying to stage a coup d'état and bring their protege to power. However, the plot is revealed, many rebels are executed, the rest of the disaffected are thrown into prison.
Start performances
As a result of the above events, a large-scale uprising breaks out in the empire, which is raised by small landowners, free producers,peasants and slaves. It began in 184 AD. e. and was later called the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The rebellion had fatal consequences for the Han Dynasty.
The Yellow Turban Rebellion in China was led by the Taoist preacher Zhang Zio, who was also the founder of one of the secret sects. It was planned to begin on the fifth day of the third month of 184 CE. e. Ma Yuan, one of Zhang Jio's closest associates, went to Luoyang County to discuss the details of the uprising with the allies.
However, because of the denunciation, which revealed the date of the speech against the authorities and the names of the conspirators, he was arrested and executed. Numerous supporters of Zhang Jio were also executed in the capital.
After learning of the execution of Ma Yuan, Zhang Zio ordered the immediate start of the uprising, without waiting for the scheduled date. It was agreed that all participants should wear yellow scarves on their heads, hence the name "Yellow Turban Rebellion".
Continuation of revolutionary events
Along with Zhang Zio, the Yellow Turban Rebellion in Ancient China was led by his siblings, Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, as military commanders. It rose in the second month of 184 CE. e., and at the time of the first speech, the army of Zhang Zio numbered more than 360 thousand people. A week later, popular unrest was supported in an impressive area, from Sichuan to Shandong.
Every day the number of rebels increased many times. The largest revolutionary eventsoccurred in the provinces of Henan, Hubei, Hebei and Shandong. Small rebel armies, attacking cities, killed officials and representatives of local nobility, set fire to government buildings and looted food warehouses.
They appropriated the property of the rich, flooded the fields, released prisoners from prisons, freed slaves. Many of the liberated people joined the rebel army. Knowing that in the neighboring provinces the indignation of the poor was blazing, the nobles and officials fled in panic.
Political feuds
While the Yellow Turban Rebellion was raging throughout the empire, the feud between political groups - "scientists" and "eunuchs" - escalated at court. The first argued that the main reasons for the uprising were the cruelty and abuse of the "eunuchs" who patronized the "strong houses". The latter, together with their associates, in turn, spoke about high treason on the part of the "scientists".
Emperor Liu Hong (Ling-di) convenes a state council, which decides on the immediate dispatch of an army of 400 thousand people to suppress the rebel forces. However, government troops sent to fight the rebels were constantly defeated in battles.
Watching the helplessness of the imperial army and the government as a whole, representatives of the nobility and "strong houses" were aware of the danger of their position. Together with influential commanders, they began to formforces to independently fight against the large army of the people who rose to fight.
The defeat of the uprising
The troops, gathered by the nobility and the "powerful houses", began to prevail over the rebel armies. After that, they de alt extremely cruelly with everyone who met them on the way, not sparing women, children and the elderly. The captives were also exterminated. One of the bloodiest military commanders of the nobility was Huangfu Sune, who, according to legend, killed more than two million people.
In the sixth month of 184, the punitive forces attacked Zhang Zio's troops in Hebei. He took up defense in one of the cities and successfully held back the offensive. After his sudden death, elder brother Zhang Liang takes command.
Desperate resistance was not successful, and Zhang Liang's army was completely defeated, and he himself died in battle. In this battle, more than 30 thousand rebels were killed, and more than 50 thousand died by drowning in the river and swamps, fleeing. Zhang Jio's younger brother, Zhang Bao, led the remaining rebel forces, but as a result of fierce fighting, he was defeated, captured and executed.
Last Resistance
The death of the main leaders of the uprising significantly weakened the rebel forces, but they did not stop their resistance. New leaders appeared, and the fierce struggle against the troops of the nobility and the "strong houses" continued again.
By the beginning of 185the punitive army defeated the main forces of the Yellow Turban uprising in the central provinces of China, but small detachments continued to resist. After the start of the uprising, a large wave of resistance and riots rose up all over China, not connected with Zhang Zio and his sect. In the battle that took place near Kokunor, the rebels led by Bo-Yuem and Bei-Gong defeated the army of the bloody Huangfu Song.
For about twenty years, various rebel groups, including the Yellow Turbans, successfully resisted the troops of the nobility in many parts of the empire, gaining numerous victories. And only by the year 205 the army of "strong houses" and the nobility managed to almost completely crack down on the rebels.
Historical consequences
Having briefly talked about the Yellow Turban uprising in China, one cannot fail to mention how these bloody events turned out in the future and what were the consequences.
The last units of the Yellow Turbans were destroyed in 208. The massacre was completed by the cruelest representative of the nobility Cao Cao, who defeated one of the last leaders of the rebels - Yuan Tan.
The suppressors of popular uprisings gathered large armies, the heads of "strong houses" and commanders completely ceased to take into account the interests of the emperor, who by that time had no authority over them. Having drowned numerous uprisings of the common people in blood, they began a fierce internecine struggle for influence and power in the empire.
After many years of bloody wars, the emperorThe Han Dynasty was killed, and China was divided into three parts. The empire was destroyed and the era of the Three Kingdoms began.
This uprising, like other riots, showed the failure of the Han Empire in protecting its interests and the interests of the entire ruling class. It is safe to say that the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the fall of the Han Empire are directly linked.
