Thursday 24 January 2013

An Interesting Look At The History Behind Yellow Turbans

By Sue Carpenter


If you are an enthusiastic follower of trends in western fashion circles, you will not have failed to notice that a distinct oriental style is highly appreciated. The range of Far East styles influence everything from attire to headgear, jewelry as well as other accessories. One of the most enduring idea has to do with the distinctively unique yellow turbans whose inspiration goes back many centuries to the Chinese antiquity.

The distinctive gear was a legacy of what historians have come to label the Yellow Turban revolt that threatened the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han dynasty at the close of the second century AD. The peasants in a number of Northern provinces were dissatisfied by the agrarian policies of the emperor at a time of great famine. As you shall see presently, the period also marked a turning point in the philosophy and practice of Taoism.

A set of three Taoist priests who were all brothers surnamed Zhang gave inspiration to fight the empire. Zhang Jiao was the most charismatic of the three and his followers revered him as the 'General from Heaven'. He taught his followers a strict form of Taoism, telling them they would obtain healing if they confessed their sins and through his own brand of faith healing.

Jiao's charisma served to inspire his ragtag army to perform feats that were at times extra ordinary. Before leading them to battle, he would recount to them what a glorious future awaited their certain victory against the might of the empire. In particular, his warriors believed that after overthrowing the emperor, the sky would turn yellow for a year to mark the end of the Han dynasty. It is why the rebels donned the yellow turban.

As the rebellion spread, Ling was concerned about the victories the rebels were gaining at the expense of the royal armies in the Zhang home region to the north of the Yellow River. There were also very violent insurgencies in the region where the present day Beijing city is located. The empire was also threatened by outbreak of revolt in the Nanyang and Yinchuan regions.

As the insurgency raged to the north, over 360,000 fighters had at one point been active in the rebellion. The empire was desperate and Liu Yan, a general who was also Emperor Ling's half brother, rose to lead the royal forces. He managed to enlist 100,000 more fighters from the relatively peaceful southern provinces, leading them to confront the insurgency to the north of the empire.

The rise of Liu Yan was the definitive turning point in the insurgency. He dealt ruthlessly with the turban clad rebels and soon had the three Zhang brothers executed. The fight was almost over though there were sporadic outbreaks for over a decade. By 205 AD though, the empire had managed to extinguish all embers of the yellow turban rebellion.

If you have been wondering how some distinctly oriental fashion accessories such as the distinctively yellow turbans have come to inspire western fashion sense, you need not be intrigued anymore. The history of how the head dress came to be so reminiscent of Far Eastern tastes is as detailed above.




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