Zhang Lu

Zhang Daoling had announced in 142 that Laozi had appeared to him and commanded him to rid the world of decadence and establish a new state consisting only of the ‘chosen people.’

Becoming the first Celestial Master, Zhang had begun to spread his newly founded movement throughout the province of Sichuan.

The movement was initially called the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice, because each person wishing to join was required to donate five pecks of rice.

The movement has spread rapidly, particularly under his son Zhang Heng and grandson Zhang Lu.

The Zhangs have been able to convert many groups to their cause, such as the Bandun Man (belonging to the Ba people), which strengthen their movement.

Zhang Xiu (not related to Zhang Lu) rebels against the Han Dynasty in 184.

Zhang Lu and Zhang Xiu are sent in 191, to conquer the Hanzhong Valley, just north of Sichuan, a city under Zhang Xiu's control.

Zhang Xiu is killed during the subsequent battle, and Zhang Lu establishes the theocratic state of Zhanghan, enjoying full independence.

The Yellow Turban Rebellion, also translated as Yellow Scarves Rebellion, is a peasant revolt that breaks out in 184 in China during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty.

The rebellion, which takes its name from the color of the scarves that the rebels wear on their heads, marks an important point in the history of Taoism due to the rebels' association with secret Taoist societies.

The revolt is also used as the opening event in Luo Guanzhong's historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The Liang Province Rebellion of 184 to 189 starts as an insurrection of the Qiang peoples against the Han Dynasty in the western province of Liang (Liangzhou, more-or-less today's Wuwei, in the province of Gansu) of second century China, but the Lesser Yuezhi and sympathetic Han rebels soon join the cause to wrestle control of the province away from central authority.

This rebellion, which closely follows the Yellow Turban Rebellion, is part of a series of disturbances that will lead to the decline and ultimate downfall of the Han Dynasty.

Despite receiving relatively little attention in the hands of traditional historians, the rebellion nonetheless has lasting importance, as it removes Han Chinese power in the Northwest and prepares that land for a number of non-Han-Chinese states in the centuries to come.

A coalition of warlords and regional officials in the late Eastern Han Dynasty initiates a punitive expedition against the warlord Dong Zhuo in 190.

The members of the coalition claim that Dong intends to usurp the throne by holding Emperor Xian hostage and by establishing a strong influence in the imperial court.

They justify their campaign as to remove Dong from power.

The campaign leads to the evacuation of the capital Luoyang and the shifting of the imperial court to Chang'an.

It is a prelude to the end of the Han Dynasty and, subsequently, the Three Kingdoms period.

Zhang Lu had inherited control of the Celestial Masters religious group upon the death of his father, Zhang Heng, and therefore became its third leader (the first was Zhang Daoling).

The religion enjoys its greatest popularity in Yi Province (present day Sichuan), but when Zhang Lu takes control of the group, it is being challenged in the area by a shamanistic religion led by Zhang Xiu (no family relation to Zhang Lu, or to the contemporary minor warlord of the same name).

Against this background, both Zhang Lu and Zhang Xiu are abruptly ordered by Liu Yan, Governor of Yi Province, to go together to attack the forces of the official Han governor of Hanzhong, Su Gu, and take over his territory.

However, having his own designs, Zhang Lu kills Zhang Xiu and absorbs his armies and religious followers into his own group before he departs for the campaign against Hanzhong.

Zhang Lu manages to defeat Su Gu, and upon taking control of Hanzhong, renames the region Han'ning, ruling it by the principles of his religion.

Zhang abolishes private ownership, promotes Taoism, and builds “inns of quality” for travelers.

He distributes grain to the region’s inhabitants and encourages them to atone for their sins by working on improving the region’s roads.

Zhang Lu's rule over his territory is said, for its time, to be very humane and civilized.

Roads are  built throughout the territory with rest stops and foods provided free of charge.

The taxes and donations taken from the people are not used for amusement, but instead for the support of the common people.

In addition, under his leadership is a powerful army and strong defenses such that neither Cao Cao nor Li Jue can easily defeat him.

His authority is recognized by the Han court, who grant him generalship and name him official Governor of Han'ning.

According to the Records of Three Kingdoms, he is then presented with a jeweled seal by the common people of his realm, which is a sign from Heaven that he is to become a king.

Many of his subordinates urge him to declare himself a king, but his advisor Yan Pu warns that to do so would bring disaster.

Zhang Lu heeds this advice.

Liu Zhang, the youngest son of Liu Yan, had spent his early career at the Han court as an assistant to his two eldest brothers, Liu Fan and Liu Dan, serving at the court when it was controlled by the warlords Li Jue and Guo Si.

Liu Zhang had been sent by the court to admonish his father for brutal actions, but upon arriving his father had refused to let him go back to the court.

In 194, following the deaths of his elder brothers and then his father, he had succeeded to the governorship of Yi Province.

During his rule over the province, he shows ambition to expand his territory, but it is said that he was a good ruler and maintained peace in his realm.

In 200, Zhang Lu, who had previously recognized Liu Yan as his master, rebels against Liu Zhang.

Liu Zhang has Zhang Lu's mother, brothers, and other family members executed.

Liu Zhang, at the suggestion of his advisor Zhang Song, asks Liu Bei to come to his assistance in the battle against Zhang Lu in 211.

The welcoming of Liu Bei is a plan by Zhang Song, Fa Zheng, and Meng Da to ultimately make him their leader, since they consider him more ambitious and worthy of serving than Liu Zhang.

Wang Lei, Huang Quan, Li Hui, and others try to persuade Liu Zhang not to accept Liu Bei into his territory, but their pleas are ignored and Liu Bei is welcomed as a guest general of Liu Zhang who will go to the front to fight against Zhang Lu.

Zhong Yao, an advisor of Cao Cao, suggests an invasion of Zhang Lu's territory in the year 211.

However, Ma Chao and Han Sui, whose territory is between Cao Cao's and Zhang Lu's, interpret the massing of forces as an attempt to invade their own lands.

They rebel against Cao Cao, and after much fighting, Cao Cao's forces are victorious.

However, they are in no shape to continue the invasion to Hanzhong.

Ma Chao retreats to Hanzhong and pledges allegiance to Zhang Lu, who considers marrying his daughter to him.

However, a servant of Zhang Lu's, Yang Bo, says, "A man like that, who has no love for even his parents (referring to the execution of Ma Teng caused by Ma Chao's rebellion), cannot love another" and the marriage proposal is scrapped.

Ma Chao then borrows soldiers from Zhang Lu and attempts to regain some of his lost territory from Cao Cao, but is ultimately unsuccessful.

His failures cause the relationship between the two to sour.

When Liu Bei's forces surround Liu Zhang, Ma Chao chooses this time to take his leave of Hanzhong, and with his personal army he joins Liu Bei.

Ma Chao's subordinate Pang De, however, remains in Zhang Lu's service.

Zhang Song's true intentions are revealed to Liu Zhang by his elder brother Zhang Su.

Liu Zhang executes Zhang Song and begins his battle against Liu Bei, who then begins his conquest of Yi Province.

Such generals as Zhang Ren fight hard to defend their master, but Liu Bei's forces have the advantage, and by 214 they have surrounded Liu Zhang's capital at Chengdu.

Liu Zhang's advisors Liu Ba, Dong He, and Hu Jing plead to their master to resist at all costs, but Liu Zhang rejects their pleas, saying "I don't want my subjects to suffer any more."

He then surrenders to Liu Bei.

Sun Quan sends Lu Su as an emissary to demand the return of Jing Province after Liu Bei's conquest of Yi Province, but Liu refuses.

Sun Quan then sends Lü Meng and Ling Tong to lead twenty thousand men to attack southern Jing Province and they succeeded in capturing Changsha, …