渠帥

渠帥

1. (archaic) leader of the local chapter of a bandit gang

   • 次後徒眾日多，角乃立三十六方，大方萬餘人，小方六七千，各立渠帥，稱為將軍。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, trad.]
     次后徒众日多，角乃立三十六方，大方万余人，小方六七千，各立渠帅，称为将军。 [Written Vernacular Chinese, simp.]

     From: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, circa 14^th century CE

     Cìhòu túzhòng rì duō, Jiǎo nǎi lì sān shí liù fāng, dà fāng wàn yú rén, xiǎo fāng liù qī qiān, gè lì qúshuài, chēng wéi jiāngjūn. [Pinyin]

     Later on as he gathered more followers, Zhang Jue organized his disciples into 36 chapters --- a large chapter numbered well over 10,000 people, whereas a small chapter might contain six or seven thousand, --- and each chapter had its own commander, who was called a general.