infiltrations and invasions. From AD 170 on, landlords and peasants formed irregular armed bands, setting the stage for class conflict. At the same time, the Han dynasty showed internal weakness. The power of the landowners had been a problem for a long time already (see Wang Mang), but in the run-up to the Yellow Turban Rebellion, the court eunuchs, in particular, gained considerable influence over the emperor, which they abused to enrich themselves. Ten of the most powerful eunuchs formed a group known as the Ten Regular Attendants and the emperor referred to one of them, Zhang Rang, as his "foster father." Consequently, the government was widely regarded as corrupt and incapable. Against this backdrop, the famines and floods were seen as an indication that a decadent emperor had lost his mandate of heaven. The Yellow Turban Rebellion was led by Zhang Jiao (or Zhang Jue) and his two younger brothers Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang, who were born in Julu District, Ye Prefecture. The brothers had founded a Taoist religious sect in Shandong Province. They considered themselves followers of the "Way of Supreme Peace" and venerated the deity Huang-Lao, who according to Zhang Jiao had given him a sacred book called the Crucial Keys to the Way of Peace (Tai Ping Yao Shu). Zhang Jiao was said to be a sorcerer and styled himself as the Great Teacher. The sect propagated the principles of equal rights of all peoples and equal distribution of land; when the rebellion was proclaimed, the sixteen-word slogan was created by Zhang Jiao: 苍天已死，黄天当立，岁在甲子，天下大吉 ("The Blue Sky (ie. the Han dynasty) has perished, the Yellow Sky (ie. the rebellion) will soon rise; in this year of Jia Zi, let there be prosperity in the world!") The Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion (AD 184) was a religious rebellion instigated by Zhang Lu, the grandson of the Taoist leader Zhang Daoling. The name of the rebellion derives from the name of his movement, the Way of the Five Pecks of Rice (), in turn, named for the amount of rice paid as dues or for cures. Early in the 2nd century AD, Zhang Daoling used his popularity as a faith healer and religious leader to organize a theological movement against the Han dynasty from the widespread poverty and corruption that oppressed the peasants under its rule. He gathered many followers from the Sichuan area by not only