Han San Tong

One of the heroes of the late Yuan Dynasty. Leader of the Red Turban Army. A native of Luancheng (Hebei Province). Head of the White Lotus Church in North China. Since his ancestors, he organized the White Lotus Church, preaching that "When the world is in great turmoil, Maitreya Buddha will descend to this world to save all living beings," and gained many followers throughout Hebei, Henan, and Anhui. Just at this time, the Yellow River flooded repeatedly, so the Yuan Dynasty dispatched 170,000 civilians and soldiers from North China to begin restoration work. He used this opportunity to plot a rebellion to overthrow the Yuan Dynasty, and conspired with his followers to bury a one-eyed stone man at the construction site, predicting that "a one-eyed stone man will appear and shake the Yellow River, causing rebellions throughout the country." When construction began and the stone man was dug up, it caused public unrest, but news of the plans for rebellion was leaked to the Yuan side, and he was arrested and executed.

[Noriko Taniguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、元末群雄の一人。紅巾(こうきん)軍の首領。欒城(らんじょう)（河北省）の人。華北白蓮(びゃくれん)教会の会首。父祖以来、白蓮教会を組織し、「天下大いに乱れれば、弥勒(みろく)仏がこの世に下って衆生(しゅじょう)を救済する」と唱え、河北、河南、安徽(あんき)の各地で広く信徒を得ていた。ちょうどこうしたとき黄河が氾濫(はんらん)を繰り返したので、元朝は華北の民夫、兵士17万人を発してその修復工事を始めた。彼はこの機会を利用して元朝打倒の反乱を起こそうと企て、教徒と謀って工事現場に片目の石人を埋め、「一つ目の石人が現れて黄河を揺り動かし、国中に反乱が起こる」と予言した。工事が始まり、この石人が掘り起こされたので、民心は動揺したが、反乱計画が元側に漏れ、彼は逮捕、処刑された。

［谷口規矩雄］

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