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Zhang Lu

Courtesy nameGongqi

The Five-Pecks-of-Rice Patriarch of Hanzhong

The Opening Cast · Warlords & Elders

ReligionTheocracyRegional Power

Who they are

The third patriarch of the early Daoist "Way of the Five Pecks of Rice" (the Way of the Celestial Masters), who held Hanzhong for nearly thirty years and built a rare theocratic local regime in Chinese history — governing through religious organization, setting up free "charity lodges" of food and shelter for travelers, ruling with a light and lenient hand and winning the people’s hearts. When Cao Cao’s army bore down in 215, he judged the moment and surrendered of his own accord, was enfeoffed as a marquis, and preserved both his family and the transmission of his Way.

Primary sourcesChen Shou, Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wei, Biography of Zhang Lu

Key stories

The Theocratic Paradise of Hanzhong

Zhang Lu built in Hanzhong a local regime framed on the Five-Pecks-of-Rice religious community, appointing "libationers" to manage the faithful and the administration in tiers, setting up "charity lodges" by the roadside with free rice and meat for travelers to take, and stressing honesty, self-discipline, light punishment, and lenient rule. In that age of starvation, Hanzhong became for a time a "paradise" the surrounding people flocked to, and he ruled it nearly thirty years.

Judging the Moment, Surrendering His Whole Domain

When Cao Cao led his army against Hanzhong in 215, Zhang Lu, knowing he could not resist, at first meant to surrender; his officers advised burning the treasuries first to show his resolve, but Zhang Lu said "the goods belong to the state," and instead ordered the storehouses sealed and everything properly arranged before withdrawing from Nanzheng. Moved by his refusal to burn the granaries, Cao Cao treated him well, and Zhang Lu, surrendering with his people, was enfeoffed Marquis of Langzhong — the wisdom to judge the moment made him one of the rare warlords of the age to meet a good end.

Relationships

Serves

🦅Cao Cao　Surrendered, judging the moment

Nemesis

🏔️Liu Zhang　Repeatedly harried the borders of Yi province

Echoes today

Below are how modern works borrow or reinterpret this name or story — not the original material. The two differ, so keep them apart.

The early Daoist "Way of the Celestial Masters" lineageThe Way of the Five Pecks of Rice is an important early form of the Daoist "Way of the Celestial Masters," and Zhang Lu a key transmitting figure in that religious tradition.

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