Cao Cao

Every member of the rebellion wears a yellow headdress as an expression of their bond with the earth (yellow being the color representing earth in the Chinese “five-elements” system followed by the Taoists and others).

The rebellion becomes known by this symbol.

Within a month, Zhang controls large areas of territory.

Under suggestion by the eunuch Lü Qiang, who is sympathetic to the partisans, Emperor Ling pardons the partisans to ward off the possibility they would join the Yellow Turbans.

(Lü himself becomes a victim, however, when the other eunuchs, in retaliation, falsely accuse him of wanting to depose the emperor, and he commits suicide later this year.)

Emperor Ling sends out a number of military commanders against the Yellow Turbans, and in these campaigns several of them distinguish themselves—including Huangfu Song, Cao Cao, Fu Xie, Zhu Jun, Lu Zhi, and Dong Zhuo.

A key military development with significant implications for the future is that the Yellow Turbans are largely fought within battle-tested troops from Liang Province (modern Gansu), who have been accustomed to fighting the Qiang rebellions.

In late 184, Zhang Jiao is killed.

Liu Bei, the future warlord and founding emperor of the state of Shu Han, was born in Zhuo County, Zhuo prefecture (present day Zhuozhou, Baoding, Hebei), according to the Records of the Three Kingdoms.

He was a descendant of Liu Zhen, the son of Liu Sheng, a son of Emperor Jing.

However, Pei Songzhi's commentary, based on the Dianlue, said that Liu Bei was a descendant of the Marquess of Linyi.

The royal title of Marquess of Linyi wqas held by Liu Fu and later his son Liu Taotu, respectively Liu Yan's grandson and great-grandson, who were all ultimately descended from Emperor Jing.

Liu Bei's grandfather Liu Xiong and father Liu Hong were both employed as local clerks.

Liu Bei had grown up in a poor family, having lost his father when he was still a child.

To support themselves, Liu Bei and his mother sold shoes and straw-woven mats.

Even so, Liu Bei was full of ambition since childhood: he once said to his peers, while under a tree that resembled the royal chariot, that he desired to become an emperor.

Sponsored by a more affluent relative who recognized his potential in leadership, Liu Bei at the age of fourteen had gone to study under the tutelage of Lu Zhi (a prominent scholar and, at the time, former Administrator of Jiujiang).

There he had met and befriended Gongsun Zan, a prominent northern warlord to be.

The adolescent Liu Bei was said to be unenthusiastic in studying and displayed interest in hunting, music and dressing.

Concise in speech, calm in demeanor, and kind to his friends, Liu Bei was well liked by his contemporaries.

He was said to have long arms and large earlobes.

In 184, at the outbreak of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Liu Bei calls for the assembly of a volunteer army to help government forces suppress the rebellion.

Liu Bei receives financial contributions from two wealthy horse merchants and rallies a group of loyal followers, among whom include Guan Yu and Zhang Fei.

Liu Bei leads his army to join the provincial army.

Together, they score several victories against the rebels.

In recognition of his contributions, Liu Bei is appointed Prefect of Anxi in Zhongshan prefecture.

He resigns after refusing to submit to a corrupt inspector who attempted to ask him for bribes.

He then travels south with his followers to join another volunteer army to suppress the Yellow Turbans remnants in Xu Province (present day northern Jiangsu).

For this achievement, he is appointed Prefect and Commandant of Gaotang.

The conflict known as the Liang Province Rebellion begins in the winter of 183-184 with two groups of Qiang people causing disturbances in the outlying regions of northwestern China, with one group in the northwestern prefectures of Beidi and Anding, and another in at the counties of Fuhan and Heguan in the upper Yellow River valley.

Initially, the two groups were likely separate, each trying to seize the opportunity to resist the weakened Han rule after years of corruption and misrule.

The situation escalates in October or November 184 when the troops of the Auxiliary of Loyal Barbarians From Huangzhong, which consists of Qiang and Lesser Yuezhi recruits sent to suppress the disturbances, mutiny against their Han Chinese superiors in the military camp of Lianju (northwest of present-day Lanzhou) and join the insurgents, in the process killing the Colonel Protector of the Qiang Ling Zheng.

At this point, the two groups have joined together, with former Auxiliary soldiers Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou as their leaders.

This union means that the rebels now have control of the band of territory along the Yellow River in present-day Lanzhou.

Within a few weeks, the rebels attack and capture Yuanya, the capital of Jincheng prefecture, making the prefecture their main stronghold for rebel operations.

The rebels are helped by the fact that the local governor Zuo Chang, Inspector of Liang Province), has embezzled the funds allocated for the defense force, making no relief possible.

The Grand Administrator Chen Yi goes to the rebels' camp to negotiate for the release of hostages, but the rebels kill him.

The hostages—which include Bian Zhang, the former Prefect of Xin'an; and Han Sui, Attendant Official of Liang Province—are then persuaded to join the rebels' cause.

The addition of such reputable and influential men gives the rebellion wider popular support, and the two men are to play more prominent roles in the rebellion as the course of events progresses.

The rebels now besiege Zuo Chang's headquarters in the county of Ji (south of present-day Gangu, Gansu).

Some outlying Han generals are initially reluctant to help Zuo Chang, but He Xun, a much-respected and successful general, applies his powers of persuasion to force these generals to come to Zuo Chang's aid.

The rebels, out of respect for He Xun, break off the siege.

After this episode, Zuo Chang is replaced by Song Nie, a devout Confucian who believes that the situation can be remedied only by teaching the people the Classic of Filial Piety.

He submits this proposal to the imperial court despite his junior officials' advice and is promptly dismissed in favor of Yang Yong.

Local situations do not improve with the appointment, however, and the local officials soon find themselves besieged by the rebels again.

The new Protector, Xia Yu, a man with some experience with Qiang rebellions, is attacked by a rebel contingent led by Qiang chieftain Dianyu at the Herding Office of Hanyang prefecture (present-day Tianshui) and He Xun once again leads troops for relief.

This time, however, He Xun is severely defeated at nearby Hupan.

While both Xia Yu and He Xun make their escape, it is clear at this point that provincial authorities cannot deal with the rebellion by themselves.

The rebels, now several tens of thousands in number, move towards the former Han capital of Chang'an in the spring of 185.

In response, the imperial court appoints Huangfu Song, the famed conqueror of the Yellow Turbans, as the General of Chariots and Cavalry on the Left in charge of defense of Chang'an.

However, Huangfu achieves no immediate success, and is dismissed in the seventh lunar month of 185 after a four-month tenure after being slandered by the eunuchs in the imperial court.

The continued rebellion in Liang Province takes its toll on the government treasury, and the imperial court has to call on the taxes and corvées to support the war.

A high official, the Minister Over the Masses Cui Li, proposes to abandon Liang Province altogether.

The Gentleman-Consultant Fu Xie makes an impassioned speech that condemns Cui Lie and emphasizes the importance of the frontier province.

Emperor Ling, impressed by this argument, rejects Cui Lie's proposal.

Fu Xie is later assigned to be the Grand Administrator of Hanyang and is sent to the frontier region.

The high minister Zhang Wen is given the military post of General of Chariots and Cavalry to assume Huangfu Song's responsibilities in the eighth lunar month of 185.

Assigned under him are Dong Zhuo, the new General Who Routs the Caitiffs, and Zhou Shen, the General Who Terrifies Criminals, among others.

Zhang's army, more than a hundred thousand in men and horses, travels to Meiyang (west of present-day Wugong) and sets up camp there.

Bian Zhang and Han Sui also bring their men to Meiyang to do battle, but the battles are inconclusive and Zhang Wen's army cannot gain advantage for some time.

Things change during the eleventh month, when a shooting star appears to fall on the rebel camp, shaking the rebels' resolve.

Taking advantage of the situation, Dong Zhuo smashes the rebel army in a sudden attack, forcing Bian Zhang and Han Sui to retreat west to Yuzhong (near present-day Lanzhou) of Jincheng prefecture.

Following the victory, Zhang Wen sends two detachments in pursuit of the rebels: Zhou Shen is to lead thirty thousand men to attack Yuzhong, and Dong Zhuo is to chase the Qiang auxiliary with another thirty thousand men.

Both, however, end in failure.

Zhou Shen has disregarded his advisor Sun Jian's advice to cut the enemy's supply routes and has his own supply line cut by the enemy in turn, resulting in a hasty retreat.

Dong Zhuo's position becomes surrounded by the Qiang in Wangyuan (northwest of present-day Tianshui).

With his supplies depleted, he effects an escape by damming the river as if to catch fish and secretly transports his men across to the opposite shore.

By the time the Qiang follow in pursuit, the dammed river is too deep for them to cross.

Dong Zhuo is the only commander to keep his forces intact after this offensive Although the Battle of Meiyang has halted the rebels' advance into the Han Dynasty heartlands, the rebels are able to retain their power by the upper Yellow River due to the failure of the Han follow-up offensive.

The upper Wei River valley becomes contested ground.