Taiping Dao at the end of the Han Dynasty

Chapter 8 What is peace?

The morning sun cast its rays upon the hills behind Tianqi Temple, and the children's innocent songs echoed in the warm breeze. Green grass had already sprouted on the burial mounds in the valley. A faint scent of wheat wafted from the children's camp. It was time to eat.

"Line up! One at a time! One bowl for everyone!"

"Master Zhang! ...What if one bowl isn't enough to fill you up?"

"Xuanli, after everyone has had a bowl, if there are any left, you can line up again to get some."

"Oh! Got it."

Food was always scarce, and getting enough to eat was always a challenge. There was rarely any leftover wheat porridge in the earthenware pots; the idea of ​​queuing up for more was just Zhang Shi's way of "coaxing" people. Fortunately, the food in the children's camp was much better than in the disaster relief camp. These teenagers, now only half-grown, could finally fill their stomachs and continue growing. But compared to their physical growth, something even more precious seemed to mature even faster…

"Alright! Sit down, everyone. Now, take out your peace plaques, and I'll teach you the first word... 'peace'!"

Zhang Chengfu sat amidst a group of teenagers, his Taoist robes impeccably neat, his hair styled in a dignified manner, befitting a master. In truth, many of these teenagers were about his age. Yet, the bewilderment in their eyes remained that of children, awaiting their first enlightenment.

"Starting to learn to read and write at thirteen or fourteen is a bit late, but it's still the beginning of one's education. After that, one can seek the Way. There's a sequence to learning the Way, but taking that first step will make a difference!..."

Zhang Chengfu spoke to his "disciples" in a "difficult-to-understand" language, holding half a piece of charcoal in his hand, with a large wooden board in front of him. The board still had bits of bark clinging to it, and it was unclear which senior brother he had obtained it from. On the board were two large characters in regular script: "Peace and Prosperity!"
This regular script was completely out of step with the official clerical script of the era. If the sons of powerful aristocratic families saw it, they would probably laugh at it for not being "solemn and elegant" enough, and for being "frivolous and careless." However, the common people in the countryside were already contemptible and unworthy of being in a refined setting. Anyone who could write well was already an anomaly in the eyes of the aristocracy.

"Peace and prosperity! What the Way of Great Peace seeks is the word 'peace,' for ourselves and for all the people of the world. Come, repeat after me...peace!"

"Ta...peace?..."

The children whispered, trying to decipher the two newly learned characters. These same characters were also written on their wooden plaques, as if they were some kind of mysterious talisman. Soon, the question from yesterday resurfaced, and the simple-minded Zhang Yuanpu and the quick-witted Zhang Shoucun asked it together.

"Master Zhang! Can we eat Taiping?... "

"Master Zhang! What is Taiping?... "

What is peace?

Zhang Chengfu stood up, looking at the bewildered children, at their clear and curious eyes. He was prepared; he pointed to his stomach, then to the empty bowls the children held, which they had licked clean, and asked earnestly.

Have you eaten today?
"have eaten!"

"Are you full?"

"I am full!"

"I'm not full!"

I'm only half full...

"Just one more bite and I'll be full..."

The chattering replies came from the surrounding children, like sparrows in the forest. Zhang Chengfu smiled, pointed to the words "Peace" again, and said gently.

"This is the first meaning of 'peace': 'having food to eat and being able to eat your fill'!"

"The peace that our Taiping Dao seeks is for all the people in the world to have enough to eat! We have all tasted the bitterness of hunger. If you are hungry for too long, you will not be able to survive. And for a bite to eat, for survival, all kinds of evil thoughts will arise. All kinds of evil deeds can be done... Therefore, only when people are well-fed can there be goodness, and only then can there be 'peace'!"

"Huh? Now that things are peaceful, does that mean we can eat our fill every day?"

"A full stomach equals peace? Then I want peace!..."

"Me too! It's so hard to get enough to eat. Even the dirt tastes good..."

Children who have experienced disasters, plagues, and famines always have the most terrifying memories of hunger. Their faces carry the purest expectations, wanting to be able to eat their fill and to have "peace."

For the first time, in the eyes of these children, "peace" seemed to have become something tangible, something they could hold in their hands, something they could eat, something that could keep them alive. Yes, it must be something very good!
"I also want peace... If there were peace... my father, mother, and sister... could have survived..."

Zhang Chengfu listened quietly to the children's words, to their most simple wishes. Only when the children gradually quieted down did he speak again, looking at the thin Zhang Shengtong and asking a question.

"Sheng Tong, who took care of you when you were sick before?"

"Ah! It's the Yellow Turban Immortal Master!"

"Any more?"

"And there's Ersha, uh, Zhang Zhiming!..."

Hearing this, Zhang Chengfu smiled and nodded, then continued.

"Sheng Tong, if no one takes care of you... then after you get sick, will you be able to pull through?"

Zhang Shengtong paused for a moment, thought for a while, then his expression darkened, and he shook his head.

"Master Zhang, he couldn't make it. Grandpa didn't make it either, he didn't make it here..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Chengfu paused for a moment, then patted Zhang Shengtong's head. He looked around at all his "disciples" again and began to speak.

"If you are sick, there are people who feed you, give you water, and give you medicine... that is the second meaning of peace, 'mutual support'... Do you want 'peace'?"

"Yes! We want peace!..." The disciples nodded their little heads, their voices, whether childish or youthful, all came from the same heart. Zhang Chengfu nodded, wrote down the two characters "peace" again, and explained them one by one.

“‘Tai’ means vast; ‘Ping’ means a peaceful world. No one starves to death, no one fights, and everyone takes care of each other. The government doesn’t beat people, and the powerful don’t rob... If the world is like this, it’s called ‘Taiping’ (Great Peace)!”

This time, the disciples learned much more slowly. They followed Master Zhang, stroke by stroke, writing the two characters on the soil, their writing crooked and uneven, some correct and some wrong. All the children were very serious, as if mastering these two characters would bring them "peace and tranquility."

After a while, the dark-skinned Zhang Yuanpo looked at the word "peace" he had written, hesitated for a moment, and asked in a low voice.

"Master Zhang, with 'peace' here, everyone has food. But what if someone comes and steals my bowl and my food?"

Zhang Chengfu looked over and observed the clearly worried boy. He thought for a moment, then smiled and said...

"No! 'Peace' means that your bowl won't be taken away and your food won't be overturned."

"But... but what if the government sends people? There was an official with a knife who came to my house before, took all the grain, and even drove my mother to her death..."

Hearing this, Zhang Chengfu's smile vanished, replaced by a solemn expression. He reached out and patted Zhang Yuanpo's head, speaking slowly and deliberately. This clear answer was not only for Zhang Yuanpo, but also for all the disciples and children, and even for the high-ranking Dao Nu and the young disciples listening from afar…

"If anyone tries to take our bowls or our food... they are our enemies and should be beaten. Even if they are officials, they are bad officials! ... To preserve our 'peace' and our food, we can only rely on the second word, 'Heaven'!"

As he spoke, Zhang Cheng pressed his fingers firmly against the wooden board and wrote the two simplified characters "Huang Tian" heavily. If these two simplified characters were seen by powerful scholars and aristocratic families, they would likely be ridiculed and become the subject of gossip for a year. However, they were far easier to write, remember, learn, and popularize than the traditional clerical script!
"Master Zhang, what is 'Yellow Heaven'?"

“Look at these two characters: ‘yellow’ is the color of soil, the land where grain is grown, the field we stand on; ‘sky’ is above, the light in the sky, the principles of the world!”

Zhang Chengfu's voice was deep and solemn, his eyes firm and powerful. He gazed at the children who seemed to understand but didn't, looked at the wide-eyed Gao Daonu, and then at the strong disciples, and spoke with a resounding voice.

"Therefore, 'Yellow Heaven' means that we farmers will no longer be beaten; that we will no longer have to beg for food on our knees, but will be able to eat standing up!"

"All the grain in this world is earned by us farmers, who toil from dawn till dusk, from spring to winter, sweating and toiling in the fields! But when the government comes, they just ask to take our grain away. If we don't give it to them, they beat us, arrest us, and behead us!"

"Is this the way of the world? The idle nobles feast on wine and meat until it rots, while grain is used to feed dogs. The hardworking farmers endure hunger every night, unable to eat the crops they grow! And when disaster strikes, farmers die of illness, starvation, and freezing, the roads littered with corpses, wild dogs roaming in packs, their eyes bloodshot from hunger. Yet the government offers no relief, instead seizing the last rations, the last fields!..."

"Have we seen few things like this in the past two years? Haven't the government and powerful families been doing this all along? But there's no justice in this world! No matter what they say, how they deceive, frighten, or kill, there's no justice! ... Peace cannot be begged for, nor can it be obtained by kneeling! If you want peace and prosperity, you can only rely on Heaven!..."

At this point, Zhang Chengfu took a deep breath to calm his turbulent emotions. He softened his voice, looking at his "disciples" who were wide-eyed and deep in thought, and gently and forcefully planted the initial "spark" into the children's hearts.

"Therefore, this 'Yellow Heaven' is not about waiting for a god to sit in heaven and bestow 'peace' upon the world... This 'Yellow Heaven' is about you and me, us poorest farmers, standing up one by one, gripping our hoes and sharpening our wooden spears! Only by standing up and resisting for 'peace,' even if it means death, resisting those who plunder... this is the true 'Yellow Heaven'!..."

"Peace and prosperity reign! When the world is at peace, the people have enough to eat and help each other, that is the greatest truth under heaven! Those who disrupt peace, oppress, rob, and kill, even if they are officials, powerful families, aristocratic clans, or even the emperor himself, are enemies of peace, enemies of us, enemies of the farmers and common people, enemies who deserve to die, no matter who they are!..."

"We, the Way of Peace, wear yellow turbans to unite! To dare to take up arms and resist, to dare to kill them! And when we hold weapons firmly in our hands to protect the peace of the people, that is the Yellow Heaven of this world!..."

Following Zhang Chengfu's announcement, the children's camp fell silent. The disciples stared wide-eyed, and Gao Daonu looked astonished. As for the able-bodied men maintaining order, some were terrified, some were uneasy, and some were even bewildered, collapsing to the ground in fear.

"The imperial court...the government...rebeling against the emperor?...Oh, God Taiyi!..."

The majesty of the Han Dynasty remained like the most colossal beast, oppressing the hearts of the vast majority of farmers. Even after experiencing three major disasters in five years, even after being displaced and with corpses strewn along the roads, these farmers still dared not direct their anger at the Han emperor, who was high above them and like a god.

Perhaps only the religious faith of the Great Teacher of Goodness, and only a more brutal famine, can completely break the imprint in their hearts and unleash their roar like the Yellow River.

Right now, only these unenlightened children have minds as blank as blank sheets of paper, capable of painting the most vibrant red, capable of writing down the "Yellow Heaven" that overthrows everything.

"Peace...Yellow...Sky..."

Zhang Chengfu's expression was solemn as he repeated each word and taught stroke by stroke. He was not in a hurry; such unconventional teaching could not be accomplished overnight. And the simplest truths often require the most fundamental courage. These children were his hope, the new sprouts he painstakingly nurtured, and the sparks that ignited his initial teachings.

"Peace...Yellow...Sky..."

The young disciples repeated the words one by one, writing each stroke on the soil with their fingers. They were too young to comprehend the profound ideas hidden behind this teaching. They simply instinctively felt that Master Zhang's words seemed to make sense, that the world should be like this, better than it is now!

At this moment, they are young enough. They have enough space to accept these new principles and to slowly think and understand them. They may also have enough time to put what they have learned into practice in the not-too-distant future.

As the sun rose and set, the children's chanting rose and fell, and the words on the ground were written and erased again. The daily instruction was nothing more than "Peaceful Heaven," just four simple words. However, when the wheat porridge was cooked in the evening, the children picked up their bowls and naturally learned the greeting of the Way of Peace.

"Master Zhang, Taiping is delicious!..."

"May there be peace!..."

Zhang Chengfu smiled and nodded, while Gao Daonu, deep in thought, personally filled the children's bowls with wheat porridge. As the jade plate rose and the children's songs echoed under the moon, Zhang Chengfu raised the corners of his mouth, unfolded a piece of yellow paper, and slowly wrote before the campfire.

"Peace is when the heavens are vast and the people are harmonious, everyone has enough to eat and the people have enough to live on. Hunger does not reach the bones, cold does not reach the body, neighbors can be relied on, and relatives can be cared for. This is called peace."

“But today the world has lost its virtue and the light is gone. Thieves are in power and the people are at the bottom. Officials take plunder as their command and the powerful take pride in deception. Those who do not till the land have feasts and wine in their halls, while those who work hard to till the land cry out in hunger and die on the road... The way of peace is no longer attainable, therefore the name of the Yellow Heaven should be established and practiced.”

"Yellow is the color of the earth, the foundation of farming; heaven is the supreme principle, the ultimate reason. What is the yellow heaven? It is the rise of the farmers, rising to resist the plundering, rising to stop the inhumanity, rising to safeguard peace!"

"Therefore it is said: When the Yellow Heaven rises, great fortune will come to the world. Peace cannot be obtained by kneeling, nor can the Yellow Heaven be sought by fear. Rise! All my followers, wearing yellow turbans, carrying farming tools, guarding the fields, protecting the stove smoke... are the soldiers of the Way, the light of the Yellow Heaven!"

"The New Scripture of Peace, Chapter One..."

(End of this chapter)