Five Pecks of Rice (redirected from Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion)

Five Pecks of Rice

Daoist-inspired popular movement that occurred near the end of China's Han dynasty (206 BC–AD 220) and greatly weakened the government. It became a prototype of the religiously inspired popular rebellions that were to erupt periodically in China throughout its history. Its founder, Zhang Daoling, is considered the first patriarch of the Daoist church in China. He was originally a faith healer, and the movement's name came from the five pecks of rice a year that clients paid him for their cure or as dues to the cult. During a time of poverty and misery, Zhang's grandson Zhang Lu set up an independent theocratic state that grew to encompass all of present-day Sichuan province. In AD 215 Zhang Lu surrendered to Cao Cao. See also Daoism; White Lotus; Yellow Turbans.