无可奈何 — “To have no choice”

During the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, the ruling class governed with severe internal policies and constant external expansion, imposing heavy taxes on the populace. This led to widespread public discontent and immense suffering, especially among the vast number of farmers. Reaching a point of unbearable hardship, they rose up in revolt.

These insurgent groups, ranging from a few hundred to several thousand strong, established their own banners, attacked cities, seized armories, freed prisoners, killed officials, and robbed wealthy families in the countryside to aid the poor. Countless people joined their ranks. The uprisings alarmed the emperor and his court, who, filled with fear, hastily dispatched large forces to brutally suppress them.

However, the rebel forces fought with increasing vigor, becoming an unstoppable force. The emperor and his ministers panicked, gathering even more troops and implementing a ruthless policy of slaughter, killing over ten thousand people and thousands more who supplied food to the rebels. It took several years to capture some of the rebel leaders. Yet, those who had been dispersed or escaped death regrouped, occupying mountains and water villages, disrupting land and water transport. They frequently attacked government troops in organized gangs, creating a powerful and far-reaching impact. The rulers, filled with both hatred and fear, found themselves utterly helpless against the insurgents.

Consequently, the imperial court promulgated the "Shen Ming Law," which stipulated that any official with an annual salary below 2,000 shi (picul) who failed to discover bandit groups, or failed to capture them after discovery, would be executed. After this, lower-ranking officials feared execution and dared not report peasant uprisings, fearing that failure to capture the rebels would lead to their own demise and implicate their prefects. Prefects, in turn, also preferred not to have such reports. As a result, the peasant rebel forces grew even larger.

The idiom "无可奈何" in this story describes the rulers' deep hatred and their desperate attempts to eliminate the peasant uprisings, but the rebels only grew stronger and more influential, leaving the rulers with nothing but resentment and utter helplessness.