| "He stood in the center of an unnamed village deep in the interior of the Earth Kingdom, newly "liberated" by Xu Ping An and the Yellow Necks [...] the stench of rotting flesh soaked through his clothes and the cries of survivors haunted the wind." |
| — Jianzhu remembering a settlement destroyed by the uprising.[1] |
The Yellow Neck Uprising[2][1] was a large-scale rebellion in the central Earth Kingdom in the late 4th century BG. Led by Xu Ping An, bandits throughout the kingdom reorganized as the Yellow Necks and ravaged the land, killing all whom they regarded as law-abiders, including officials, soldiers, and civilians. The Earth Kingdom's government did little to stop the rebellion, and thousands died in brutal massacres committed by the insurgents. The Yellow Necks were eventually crushed by Jianzhu, and the remnants of the rebels were forced to go into hiding.
Prelude[]
Forced to deal with issues related to the Spirit World,[3] Avatar Kuruk left the four nations to figure out their problems by themselves.[4][5] Along with his early death at 33, this allowed corrupt and ruthless people to grow in power, and resulted in instability around the world. Furthermore, attempts to find the next Avatar failed, emboldening those who the Avatar would have traditionally opposed, and allowing chaos to grow worse in the seven years after Kuruk's death.[1] Large Earth Kingdom bandit groups known as daofei grew bolder. Eventually, a charismatic but deranged man named Xu Ping An became active among these bandits, preaching against all law-abiders and presenting himself as savior figure for the socially outcast.[6]
History[]
Start and spread of the rebellion[]
Though his fellowship was initially very small, Xu Ping An's ideas found wide appeal.[6] Using his charisma,[7] and mastery of the almost extinct skill of lightning generation,[8] he managed to gather a great number of followers among the Earth Kingdom's daofei. He ordered his forces to wear yellow scarves, and accordingly christened his group the "Yellow Necks".[7] Xu Ping An's followers then began to maraud through the interior of the Earth Kingdom, plundering and murdering at will. They butchered all law-abiders they could find, and revelled in the wanton destruction. As the Yellow Necks overran large swaths of land, their numbers grew and what had started as banditry grew into a full rebellion.[9]
While his army expanded, Xu Ping An started to style himself the "General of Pandimu". He declared that the people of "Pandimu" were under his protection and accordingly had to serve him. In fact, "Pandimu" was a fanatasy world that only existed in Xu Ping An's mind. Despite (or because of) his mental instability, his followers became ever more fanatical,[6] and began to believe that their pillaging served a higher spiritual cause.[10]
As the uprising spread, the Yellow Necks killed great numbers of people. They became infamous for killing civilians, including unarmed men, women and children.[9] On at least one occasion, they neatly stacked their dead victims onto each other.[6] In many cases, parents were murdered by the insurgents, while the children survived - only to become homeless, starving orphans.[1] Ultimately, the Yellow Necks became feared in the entire Earth Kingdom.[2]
The Earth Kingdom Army opted to not defend some of the remote hinterland, allowing the insurgents to plunder it at will and leaving the villagers vulnerable as the Yellow Necks ransacked and destroyed them.[2] A close friend of Avatar Kuruk, Jianzhu, once visited a settlement destroyed by the Yellow Necks. There, an emissary of the Earth King told him that the Earth Kingdom government would not send any reinforcements to deal with the uprising. The horrible sight of the destroyed village, along with the Earth Kingdom's inaction, left a lasting impacted on Jianzhu, contributing to his decision to conspire with the Air Nomad monk Kelsang and solve the Avatar succession crisis through unconventional means.[1] The inaction of the other Earth Kingdom leaders was linked to the ongoing Wars of Secrets and Daggers consuming the nobility's attention.[2]
Battle and massacre of Zhulu Pass[]
For years, Jianzhu attempted to destroy the Yellow Necks, but Xu Ping An successfully evaded him. Eventually, the Earth Sage confronted the rebels at Zhulu Pass in 304 BG.[7] Jianzhu trapped the rebels, defeating them and incapacitating Xu Ping An. He wanted to kill the rebel leader, but instead imprisoned Xu because his allies in the Fire Nation wanted to study him to learn how he was capable of lightning generation.[8]
About 5,000 other Yellow Necks surrendered at the pass. In contrast to their commander, these common fighters were not spared. First, Jianzhu slowly tortured the earthbenders among their ranks to death. He then proclaimed to the remaining nonbenders that he would pardon those who buried a trench deep enough to hide in by sundown. In desperation, the captured rebels began to dig with their hands and a few tools. Scuffles broke out, and people killed each other for shovels. Those who had succeeded in digging deep holes jumped into them by evening, but instead of being freed, Jianzhu proceeded to bury them alive.[11] Although exceptionally cruel, Jianzhu's act of mass murder succeeded in suppressing the Yellow Necks. The survivors of the rebel army fled into the countryside, terrified into submission. They would lay low for years, and no longer dared to openly challenge the Earth Kingdom.[9]
Following the Battle of Zhulu Pass, a drastically different narrative of the events was disseminated among the Earth Kingdom's populace. Jianzhu sent a report to the Earth King claiming that Xu Ping An was dead,[6] and nothing was reported on the mass murder of the captured rebels. The people were instead told that Jianzhu had buried the villagers who had been murdered by the Yellow Necks at Zhulu Pass, portraying him as pious and empathic individual.[9]
Aftermath[]
Jianzhu's victory over the Yellow Necks, along with other achievements, made him a hero in the Earth Kingdom. In contrast, the daofei despised him as ruthless mass murderer due to his actions at Zhulu Pass.[9] Though many outlaws regarded the Yellow Necks as brutal fanatics,[6] they still considered Jianzhu a monster for what he had done. From then on, he was called the "Gravedigger of Zhulu Pass" among criminals.[9] Most notably, Fifth Nation leader Tagaka held his suppression of the Yellow Necks against him during a meeting in 296 BG.[9]
Meanwhile, Xu Ping An's surviving followers reorganized in the Earth Kingdom's underground. Led by Mok and Wai, they renamed themselves the "Autumn Bloom Society", and began to prepare for a resurgence. Knowing that their leader was not dead, they sought his whereabouts while building a new criminal network in secret.[7] They freed Xu from prison in 296 BG, and the Yellow Necks were promptly declared restored. Before he could fully resume his rebellion, however, Xu Ping An was killed by Avatar Kyoshi.[6][12]
Many Earth Kingdom children were orphaned because of the Yellow Neck Uprising, creating an entire generation of young adults that had only themselves to rely on. They were juggled between guardians and kicked out into the streets, and many were forgotten.[13]
Appearances[]
Chronicles of the Avatar[]
Trivia[]
- The Yellow Neck rebellion shares both a similar name and history with the "Yellow Turban Rebellion" that affected China from 184-205 AD. Their leader, Zhang Jue, also preached that the rebellion served a spiritual purpose. Like with the Earth Kingdom, the Han dynasty was unable to effectively respond to the crisis, so the people turned to local warlords, who suppressed the rebellion with brutal force. In addition, the Yellow Necks persisted even after the collapse of their main army, just as the Yellow Turban remnants continued to roam China after their initial rebellion had been crushed.