What is Taiping Dao 太平道?

Taiping Dao was an early Taoist sect that emerged after Fangxian Dao (Dao of Alchemists and Immortals) and Huang-Lao Dao. Its founder was Zhang Jiao, a native of Julu in Hebei. It was mainly active during the reign of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, i.e., from 172 to 184 AD.

He revered Huangdi (the Yellow Emperor) and Laozi as the founders of the religion, with Taiping Jing (The Classic of Great Peace) as its main scripture. Its methods of preaching included curing diseases with talismanic water and encouraging followers to kowtow and reflect on their faults. It had hundreds of thousands of believers, spread across Hebei, Henan, Hubei, Jiangsu, Shandong, Beijing and other regions, exerting a great influence. Zhang Jiao called himself "the Great Virtuous and Good Teacher", while his younger brothers Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao called themselves "good doctors". They practiced medicine and preached, winning deep popular support.

In 184 AD, Zhang Jiao proclaimed himself "General of the Heavenly Lord", Zhang Liang "General of the Earthly Lord", and Zhang Bao "General of the Human Lord". They commanded hundreds of thousands of believers, organized into thirty-six "fang" (military-administrative units), adopting a religious organizational system that integrated preaching and military forces. They raised the slogan: "The Azure Sky is dead; the Yellow Sky shall stand. In the year of Jiazi, the whole world shall be auspicious", and launched the Yellow Turban Rebellion that shocked the imperial court and the common people. Later, Zhang Jiao died of illness, and his younger brothers Zhang Liang and Zhang Bao were both killed in battle. After the failure of the Yellow Turban Rebellion, its disciples and believers were scattered, and some merged into other Taoist sects.