Zhang Jue

Historical Record

As for historical biographical material on Zhang Jue, the official histories currently verifiable, such as the Records of the Three Kingdoms, contain no direct record. We therefore cannot obtain from the sources his life, background, concrete deeds, or detailed experiences before the Yellow Turban Rebellion. The histories describe the Yellow Turban Rebellion more as an important historical event, but biographical content on its central figure Zhang Jue is wholly lacking. This means that in the historical record Zhang Jue's image is presented more indirectly, through the Yellow Turban Rebellion he led, rather than through a detailed depiction of his personal life. Concerning the historical-record portion of Zhang Jue, then, we can only regretfully note its scarcity and cannot supply concrete factual detail.

In the Novel

In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Jue's image is endowed with strong legendary color and mythical elements. He is portrayed as a man of Julu Commandery, originally a scholar who had failed the examinations ^c:1065. One experience of going into the mountains to gather herbs utterly changed his fate. He chanced upon an old man with green eyes and a youthful face, holding a goosefoot staff, who called himself the Old Immortal of the Southern Splendor and bestowed on him three scrolls of the Essential Arts of Great Peace ^c:1065. This "heavenly book" gave Zhang Jue the supernatural power to summon wind and rain, making him a "Daoist of Great Peace."

In the first month of the first year of Zhongping, plague spread, and Zhang Jue seized the opportunity to distribute talisman water and cure people of illness, calling himself the "Great and Virtuous Worthy Teacher" ^c:1065. He widely gathered disciples, more than five hundred in number, all able to write talismans and chant incantations as they wandered everywhere. As his followers grew daily more numerous, Zhang Jue established thirty-six "fang," the large ones with more than ten thousand men and the small ones with six or seven thousand, set up commanders, and called himself General. He proclaimed the slogan "The Blue Heaven is dead; the Yellow Heaven shall stand; the year is in jiazi, and all under Heaven will prosper," urging the people to write the two characters "jiazi" on the gates of their homes ^c:1065. Throughout the eight provinces of Qing, You, Xu, Ji, Jing, Yang, Yan, and Yu, household after household served the name of Zhang Jue—so wide was his influence.

Zhang Jue plotted to rise in revolt with his two younger brothers Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, holding that "the people's hearts are already won over; if we do not seize the moment to take all under Heaven, it would truly be a pity" ^c:1065. He dispatched his confederate Ma Yuanyi to secretly befriend the palace eunuch Feng Xu as an inside agent, and privately made yellow banners, fixing a date to act. However, his disciple Tang Zhou informed against them, resulting in Ma Yuanyi being beheaded and Feng Xu and others being imprisoned. With the plot exposed, Zhang Jue raised troops by night, calling himself "General of Heaven," while Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang were respectively called "General of Earth" and "General of Men" ^c:1065. He proclaimed to the multitude that "now the fortune of Han is about to end, and a great sage has appeared," calling on the people to "follow Heaven and obey the right, to delight in Great Peace." The people of the four quarters who wrapped their heads in yellow turbans and responded numbered four or five hundred thousand, a vast and mighty force before which the government troops scattered at the mere sight. He Jin petitioned the emperor and mobilized generals such as Lu Zhi, Huangfu Song, and Zhu Jun, who in three columns campaigned against the Yellow Turban Army.

Key Relationships

* Zhang Bao (sibling_of): Zhang Jue and Zhang Bao were brothers. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Zhang Bao, together with Zhang Liang, followed Zhang Jue and jointly led the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Zhang Bao being titled "General of Earth" ^c:1065. (novel only)
* Zhang Liang (sibling_of): Zhang Jue and Zhang Liang were also brothers. In the novel, Zhang Liang, with Zhang Bao, assisted Zhang Jue and was titled "General of Men" ^c:1065. (novel only)
* The Old Immortal of the Southern Splendor (mentor_of): The Old Immortal of the Southern Splendor was Zhang Jue's mysterious mentor. In Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he bestowed on Zhang Jue the Essential Arts of Great Peace, granting him the power to summon wind and rain, serving as the source of magic for Zhang Jue's rebellion ^c:1065. (novel only)
* The Yellow Turban Army (lord_of): Zhang Jue was the supreme leader of the Yellow Turban Army, calling himself "Great and Virtuous Worthy Teacher" and "General of Heaven," and led the vast and mighty Yellow Turban Rebellion ^c:1065.

Iconic Scenes

Zhang Jue's most iconic scene is none other than his obtaining of the Essential Arts of Great Peace in Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Originally a "scholar who had failed the examinations," he went into the mountains to gather herbs and chanced upon the "green-eyed, youthful-faced" Old Immortal of the Southern Splendor, who bestowed on him three scrolls of the "heavenly book" named the Essential Arts of Great Peace ^c:1065. This scene not only established the magical foundation of Zhang Jue as the "Daoist of Great Peace" in the novel, but also cloaked his subsequent rebellion in mystery. He was thus able to "practice day and night and to summon wind and rain," and under the name of "Great and Virtuous Worthy Teacher" distributed talisman water and cured people of illness, rapidly drawing the people's hearts together and laying a mass base for the Yellow Turban Rebellion ^c:1065.

Another iconic scene is Zhang Jue's proclamation in leading the Yellow Turban Army's uprising. After the plot was exposed, Zhang Jue raised troops by night, calling himself "General of Heaven," and proclaimed to the people that "now the fortune of Han is about to end, and a great sage has appeared. You should all follow Heaven and obey the right, to delight in Great Peace" ^c:1065. This proclamation made clear the political aim and religious appeal of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, so that "the people of the four quarters who wrapped their heads in yellow turbans and rose with Zhang Jue numbered four or five hundred thousand," forming a situation in which "the rebel force was vast and mighty, and the government troops scattered at the mere sight" ^c:1065. These two scenes together shape Zhang Jue's complex image in Romance of the Three Kingdoms as both a mysterious Daoist and a leader of peasant rebellion.