History of Asia

The decline of the Eastern Han dynasty and the Yellow Turban Rebellion

The Han dynasty has been destroyed twice in history.

It was built by Gaozu Liu Kun [ Western Han ] So, it was once destroyed in the 9th year of the Christian era.

Before that, it was a person named Wang Mang who robbed the throne from the Western Han. Wang Mang Is a Confucian-minded person who was popular at the time [ Chenwei ] Was taken to the throne of the emperor using the prophecies of Confucian mysticism.

However, it was Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han who revived the Han dynasty in 25 AD by inviting rebellions in various places due to the policy that was too biased toward Confucianism. Emperor Guangwu also made good political use of Confucian ideas and scholars to appeal his legitimacy, which would firmly incorporate Confucian formalism and etiquette into the political foundations of the Eastern Han.

Also, [ Red Eye Ran ] As a result of the turmoil in the local administration, the power of the local gentry in each region became stronger, and the central government's oversight became inadequate, and the influential gentry became more likely to become independent with private soldiers.

This was one of the factors that the group males were assigned to in the late Han Dynasty.

The decline of the Eastern Han dynasty

In addition to the preface, the cause of the destruction of the Eastern Han was the [consort kin], [eunuch official] and [bureaucrat] that occurred during the reign of the last few emperors. This is the biggest cause of the decline of the dynasty in the three-way power struggle.

Peasants suffering from endless exploitation by them and their inability to respond to famine and plague have begun to revolt in various parts of the world. These people's actions were incorporated into bandits and new religions.

And finally [ Yellow Turban Rebellion ], Which is a nationwide rebellion.

In this way, the Eastern Han was not destroyed by external pressure, but was a dynasty that was destroyed by its own internal collapse.

The battle between the eunuch official and the consort kin that led to the collapse of the Eastern Han dynasty

In the Eastern Han dynasty, 13 emperors took the throne before the final emperor.

Of these, nine emperors were enthroned at the age of seven or younger, and some emperors were enthroned at the age of one and died at the age of two. Because the emperor who holds the full power of the dynasty is a young child who does not know anything, it is the people around the emperor who actually move politics.

In that case, the most powerful human beings are the emperor's mother and her clan [ consort kin . 】It means that. However, when the emperor grows up and wants to gain his power, his consort kins get in the way, and at that time it is the eunuch who takes care of the emperor's personal belongings to help him eliminate the consort kin.

A group of bureaucrats called clear stream scholars joined there, and a three-way power struggle occurred many times in the court at the end of the late Han Dynasty. By repeating this process, the government base of the Eastern Han dynasty will decline.

The power struggle that occurred after the death of the Emperor Xian's father, the Emperor Ling of God, stabbed the end of the Eastern Han dynasty and gave a decisive blow to its destruction.

When He Jin, one of the Emperor Ling's aides, and He Jin of the Consort kin confront each other, He Jin plans to wipe out the eunuch official, but he is killed by being preempted by He Jin. After that, Yuan Shao of North China kills all the eunuch officials, but Dong Zhuo, who was called by He Jin, creates a new confrontational structure and the Han dynasty continues to decline.

Outbreak of Yellow Turban Rebellion and Rebellion in various places

The origin of these slogans 184 The Yellow Turban Rebellion started all over the country at the end of the late Han Dynasty.

Yellow Turban Rebellion is [ Way of the Taiping ] Is a major armed force centered on folk religion, and its leader is [ Zhang Jue ] With Zhang Bao / Zhang Liang He organized an executive, including his two younger brothers, and quickly swelled into a corps of hundreds of thousands.

They clearly advocate [Overthrow of the Han dynasty], and according to the five elements theory, the symbol of the Han dynasty is fire, which is superior to the soil, and the color of the soil is yellow. [ Yellow sky ] Is an expression of their intention to take over the world, and their comrades have a yellow hood [ yellow hood . ] Was worn.

Shortly after the outbreak, the Yellow Turban Rebellion reached a million people, occupying major cities around the country one after another, and the capital of the government [ Luoyang . ] Was approaching.

Religion was a major factor in the rapid expansion of the Yellow Turban side, and farmers in the late Han Dynasty suffered endless exploitation of eunuch officials and consort kins, and many of them abandoned their farmland and fled. It was faith that asked for.

The leaders of the Way of the Taiping skillfully embraced the desire for salvation of these people.

The teaching of Way of the Taiping was simple, and he said that he would cure his illness and solidify the unity of his friends by confessing his sins. Religious organizations are also simple, with 36 [ people of believers nationwide. 】 Divided into units called [ direction ] To command thousands of people [ Ditcher ] I put a head called.

When it comes time to send troops, [ direction ] The unit itself has attacked the center of the state and prefecture all at once as an armed group.

In addition, it was not only the Yellow Turban Rebellion that caused the rebellion, but from Shu to Hanzhong, [ Way of the Five Pecks There was a religion very similar to the way of the Taiping called. They were called the Way of the Five Pecks because they requested Goto rice at the time of admission, and this will continue for a while.

In addition to the emerging powers, Qiang in the west, Xiongnu in the north, Wuhuan, Xianbei A different race called, also rebelled all at once. However, even in these rebellions, the response of the Eastern Han dynasty was overwhelmed by the conflict in the court, and despite having captured the Yellow Turban sympathizer in advance, it was delayed.

As a result, the Yellow Turban Rebellion could not defeat the Eastern Han dynasty, but it was an event that paved the way for the era of the subsequent group male division by letting the dynasty, which was the light of the wind, use the last power.

Suppression of Yellow Turban Rebellion

The Yellow Turban Rebellion turned into a million-two scale riot due to the expansion of the rebellion.

The government that grasped the situation was Huangfu Song, Zhu Jun, Lu Zhi We appointed them as commanders of the subjugation army and embarked on a full-scale subjugation of the Yellow Turban. In addition, we also recruited volunteers to subdue Yellow Turban, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Liu Bei . The heroes of these three countries will embark on the front stage.

At the beginning of the formation of the subjugation army, the yellow turban rebellion was forced to struggle, but a few months later, the rebel army's important base was suppressed and the leader Zhang Jue died of illness. If Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang are killed in action, the momentum of the rebels will once go down.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion that occurred in 184 was tentatively suppressed at the end of the same year.

However, the effects were not wiped out, and the cause of the rebellion was not eliminated, so the aftermath remained.

The cause was not the army in which the Yellow Turban was organized, but the land was abandoned. [ Turban ] Was a group. These groups are strong when they have momentum, but once they are in formidable resistance or their leaders are killed in action, they return to their original disjointed crowds.

No matter how much religion is united, if the looting is not successful, the group management will be dead. Thus, when the rebellion is subdued at several points, the initial momentum is lost and the rebellion goes down.

However, the rebels who flew to various places continued to fight in the rural areas, leaving most of them in anarchy, and the group of males who emerged after being immersed in the blank area was born.

Group males who played an active part in the Yellow Turban Rebellion

Due to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the Eastern Han government has appointed a wide range of human resources.

At this time, Sun Jian, who had a history of suppressing the coup d'etat that had occurred in the local Kuaiji commandery, was appointed as the commander of the front line by the general of the Yellow Turban Rebellion Army, Zhu Jun.

In response to Zhu Jun's expectations, Sun Jian defeated the Yellow Turbans one after another and made him even more famous.

Also, as a bureaucrat of the central government, it was Cao Cao of the cavalry who served in the Yellow Turban Subjugation Army, and he was also Zhu Jun . He has shown his strength in suppressing the rebellion by fighting according to the rules and raising the fire such as helping the crisis of Huangfu Song.

Among the heroes of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei was behind, and he asked a local merchant to pay money and gathered private soldiers to participate in the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but he was behind Cao Cao and Sun Jian. The feeling is undeniable.

What was great for them, who appeared on the front stage of history in this way, must have been practical experience even on the battlefield where a large army was moved. The Yellow Turban Rebellion is a large army, but it is a crowd of people. On the other hand, I have witnessed that the regular army, which is a well-organized organization, surpasses even a large army even if it has a small force.

Also, it goes without saying that the fact that the larger the number of people, the more the large army will collapse from the inside if supply and control are not tight, has helped them to play an active role afterwards.

The brother-in-law's contract between Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei

Liu Bei, a descendant of the Han dynasty who made a living by making straws with his mother, meets Zhang Fei, who was a butcher at a market in Takufu, and Guan Yu's unscrupulous master. .. Then, the three people who hit it off signed a brother-in-law contract at the flowering Taoyuan as the eldest brother Liu Bei, the second elder brother Guan Yu, and the youngest brother Zhang Fei.

I swear to heaven and make a contract with my brother-in-law ...

This [ Oath of the Peach Garden ] Is Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhang Fei Is a famous scene of the Three Kingdoms that makes a contract with his brother-in-law.

This Oath of the Peach Garden is written as a prologue of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and there is no description in Masashi. This famous scene is due to fiction in Yanyi.

Not all of them were created, but it is believed that this ritual was created by outlaws in the early Ming dynasty with reference to the brother-in-law's marriage ritual.

From ancient times to modern times, the Han Chinese society is a connection society based on territorial and blood ties. In both rural and central areas, if you don't have strong connections, you won't be able to succeed, and even if your prestigious child is incompetent, you could get a key position in the government with your parents' connections.

However, Liu Bei, when he met Guan Yu and Zhang Fei around this time, has no such connection.

Even so, if I wanted to go out into the world, I had no choice but to build my own ground through personal connections, friendships, and in-laws.

The author of Yanyi is said to have superimposed these Liu Bei circumstances on the outlaws to gain the understanding and sympathy of the reader. In Japan, you can think of it as the same method as writing a novel by comparing Nobunaga and other Sengoku warlords to corporate executives.