Pure Talk and Mysterious Learning
Towards the end of the Eastern Han dynasty, the' rulers were ei-
ther weak or corrupt. There was continuous power struggle in the
court, and the common people were badly oppressed and exploited.
What had happened at the end of the Qin and the Western Han hap-
pened again: peasants rose in revolt in many parts of the country. One
peasant army led by Zhang Jiao was active in North China. As a
mark each fighter of the army wound a yellow turban around his
head, and this gave the army a name: the Yellow Turbans.
The Han rulers had to rely on local armies in fighting against the
peasants. After many years of war, the Yellow Turbans were sup-
pressed, and three of the local army leaders divided the country
among them. Cao Cao in the north, Sun Quan in the southeast, and
Liu Bei in the southwest. The kingdoms they founded were called
Wei, Wu and $hu respectively. These three kingdoms lasted about 60
years before China was again unified by the Jin in 280. Sima Yah,
the most powerful minister of the Wei government, had usurped the
throne and changed the name of the dynasty to Jin.
Sima Yan's son could not rule the country effectively. Internal
strife arose and border tribes from the north and northwest invaded
North China. One of them occupied Luoyang, the capital, and put
an end to the Jin or Western Jin. Some members of the Sima house
and many nobles fled south and founded the Eastern Jin in the
Changjiang River valley. In the north, northwest, and Sichuan alto-
gether 16 small states ruled different areas at different times.
The Eastern Jin was replaced by the Song, which was taken
over by the Qi, Qi by Liang, and Liang by Chen. These four dynas-
ties, called the Southern Dynasties, were in existence for about 170
years(420 - 589 ).
In the north, various small states were conquered by the North-
ern Wei in 386. It was divided into the Eastern Wei and Western
Wei. They were replaced by the Northern Qi and Northern Zhou.
These five dynasties were collectively called the Northern Dyansties.
In 581 Yang Jian, prime minister of the Northern Zhou, seized
power and established the Sui dynasty. In 589 he conquered the Chen
in the south and unified China.
Before that North China had been under the rule of various bor-
der tribes for nearly three centuries. This led to a large-scale merging
of cultures. On the whole, those tribes adopted the culture of the
Han people. One Xianbei ruler, for instance, ordered his people to
stop using the Xianbei language and wearing the traditional Xianbei
clothing, and to use the Han language and clothing instead. More-
over, he wanted his people to adopt Han surnames. At the same
time, the Han people also absorbed some aspects of the culture of the
tribes.
During the Wei and Jin period, Confucianism no longer enjoyed
a predominant position as it had during the two Han dynasties. The
rulers then had no urgent need for scholars who stressed the impor-
tance of moral principles and humane government, because it was an
unstable and turbulent age. Instead, they needed capable strategists
(and men who could help them to seize and consolidate power. On the
other hand, many scholars were disgusted with the Cao and Sima
families pretending to be upright and virtuous while fighting against
each other for power and persecuting those who were critical of
them. These scholars dared not oppose the rulers; they wanted to
keep themselves away from political strife. Some of them adopted an
uncommon and even strange way of life, and often talked in an un~
usual manner. Here are two examples of their strange behavior and
conversation:
Ji Kang enjoyed doing the work of a blacksmith. One day he
was forging something out of a piece of iron under a big tree before
his home, when Zhong Hui, a well-known scholar-official, came to
visit him. Ji Kang saw him, but he did not stop his work to greet
him. A moment later Zhong turned to go. Then Ji asked him, "What
did you hear that made you come? And what have you seen here that
makes you leave?" Zhong answered, "Before I came, I heard what I
heard. When I leave, I've seen what I've seen."
Wang Huizhi lived in Shanyin. One night it was snowing heavi-
ly. Suddenly he thought of his friend Dai Kui. He hired a boat and it
took him the whole night to get to Dai's place. As soon as he reached
Dai's house, he turned and ordered the boatman to take him back.
When asked the reason, he replied, "I started the trip on the spur of
the moment, and I returned when the spur was over. There was no
need to see Dai."
These scholars were more interested in the Lao Zi, the Zhuang
Zi and the Book of Changes than any other classics. They called
these three books" Three Mysterious Classics." From the ideas in
these works they developed what was called "mysterious learning."
The term comes from one line in the Lao Zi :"Mystery of all myster-
ies! The door of all subtleties!" They discussed such concepts as be-
ing and nonbeing, and the ethical code and spontaneity.
The Taoist religion took shape towards the end of the Eastern
Han. There were the Five-Dou-of-Rice sect and the Taiping sect.
The former was started by Zhang Ling in Sichuan and the latter by
Zhang Jiao who led the Yellow Turban uprisings. Both sects were
suppressed during the period of the Three Kingdoms, but the religion
did not die. During the Jin Dynasty and the period of the Southern
and Northern Dynasties, the religion spread in the upper classes and
among the common people. Some leaders and scholars of the religion
wrote theoretical books, and created rituals, regulations and organi-
zational systems for the religion. They gave the religion a definite
form and a theoretical basis.
The Taoist religion originated with the ancient secret ways of
becoming immortals and drawing magic figures for driving away evil
spirits and bringing happiness. Dao, according to the religion, is the
origin of the universe and the basis of everything. Lao Zi's Dao De
Jing is a sacred book to its members, who worship a great number of
gods and immortals, Lao Zi being one of the most important among
them. It also has special ways of self-cultivation and self-preserva-
tion.
It was said that there were three religions in China: Confucian-
ism, Buddhism and Taoism. This statement, however, is not accu-
rate. Confucianism is a belief, not a religion, as it does not have a
god or a religious organization. Taoism refers to two things:the phi-
losophy founded by Lao Zi, Zhuang Zi and other thinkers, and the
Taoist religion, which is in a way connected but essentially different
from the philosophy. It would be more scientific to say that in the
past there were in China two main schools of philosophy--Confucian-
ism and Taoism--and two religions--Buddhism and the Taoist reli-
gion.