An Lushan rebellion
| An Lushan Rebellion | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
| Tang Dynasty | Yan Dynasty | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Tang Xuanzong Tang Suzong Gao Xianzhi Geshu Han Guo Ziyi Li Guangbi |
An Lushan An Qingxu Shi Siming Shi Chaoyi | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| c.300,000 | c.150,000-200,000 (at the beginning of the rebellion) | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Heavy. Registered population declined by 36 million. | Heavy | ||||||
The An Lushan Rebellion took place in China during the Tang Dynasty, from December 16, 755 to February 17, 763. An Lushan, an ex-Tang general, declared himself emperor, establishing the rival Yan Dynasty in Northern China. It is also known as the An-Shi Rebellion, a translation of its usual name in Chinese historiography (simplified Chinese: 安史之乱; traditional Chinese: 安史之亂; pinyin: Ān Shǐ Zhīluàn), from the surnames of An Lushan and his deputy and successor Shi Siming. It is sometimes called the Tianbao Rebellion (天寶之亂), as it began in the 14th year of that era.
The rebellion spanned the reign of three Tang emperors before it was quashed. During that time, the registered population declined by up to 36 million,[1] though most of this was due to the breakdown of the census system during the war.
Course of the rebellion
Background
An Lushan was a general of Sogdian ancestry (i.e., non-Han). He was appointed by the Xuanzong Emperor (following the suggestion of Yang Guifei and with the agreement of Li Linfu) to be commander (節度使) of three garrisons in the north—Pinglu, Fanyang and Hedong. In effect, An was given control over the entire area north of the lower reaches of the Yellow River. With such power and land in his control (including garrisons about 164,000 strong), An Lushan planned a revolt, taking advantage of the absence of strong troops guarding the palace and of the popular discontent with the extravagant Tang court caused by a string of natural disasters. He avoided suspicion by pleasing the Emperor in as many ways as possible, even calling himself the adopted son of Xuanzong's favorite concubine, Yang Guifei. In this way, he was protected from criticism, even when the Chief Minister, Yang Guozhong, demanded his dismissal.
Revolt and initial successes
In 755, An Lushan revolted in order to destroy his political rival, Chancellor Yang Guozhong. His army surged down from Fanyang (near Beijing in modern Hebei province). Along the way, An Lushan treated all surrendered local Tang officials with respect. As a result, more and more local officials joined his ranks. He moved rapidly along the Grand Canal of China and captured the city of Luoyang within the year. There, An Lushan declared himself Emperor of the new Great Yan dynasty (大燕皇帝). His next step would be to overtake the Tang capital and the rest of southern China.
However, the battle for eastern China went badly for An Lushan. Although his army was numerous, it was unable to take control of the Suiyang District (near modern-day Henan) from the Tang defenders. This prevented him from quickly conquering southern China, before the Tang were able to recover. By the time the Yan army took control of the Suiyang District, it was almost two years after the fall of Luoyang.
In 756, over 4,000 Arab mercenaries joined the Chinese against An Lushan, staying in China after the war.[2][3][4][5][6] Arab Caliph Harun al-Rashid established an alliance with China.[7]
Advancing to the capital
Originally, An Lushan's forces were blocked from the main imperial capital at Chang'an by loyal troops placed in impregnable defensive positions in the intervening mountain passes. Unfortunately for Chang'an, Yang Guozhong, with grossly inept military judgment, ordered the troops in the passes to attack An's army on open ground. They were demolished, and the road to the capital now lay open. Seeing the imminent threat to Chang'an, Xuanzong fled to Sichuan with his household. On the way, at Mawei Inn, today Xingping in Shaanxi, Xuanzong's bodyguard troops demanded the death of the much-hated Yang Guozhong, and then of his cousin, Yang Guifei. With the army on the verge of mutiny, the Emperor had no choice but to agree, ordering the suicide of Yang Guozhong and the strangling of Lady Yang. Meanwhile, the crown prince, Li Heng, fled in the other direction to Lingzhou (today called Lingwu, in modern-day Ningxia province). After reaching Sichuan, Xuanzong abdicated in favour of the crown prince.
This (3rd or 4th) son of Xuanzong, now called Suzong, was then proclaimed emperor, although another group of local officials and Confucian literati tried to proclaim a different prince at Jinling (modern-day Nanjing). One of Suzong's first acts as emperor was to appoint the generals Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi to deal with the rebellion. The generals, after much discussion, decided to borrow troops from an offshoot of the Turkish Tujue tribe, the Huihe tribe (ancestors of the modern-day Uyghurs). In this way, the Imperial forces recaptured both Chang'an and Luoyang, though they failed to pursue the fleeing rebels.
The imperial forces were helped by internal dissent in the newly formed dynasty. An Lushan was killed by his son, An Qingxu, not long after his ascent to the throne. (An's virulent paranoia posed too much of a threat to his entourage.) His son was then killed by a subordinate, general Shi Siming. Shi recaptured the city of Luoyang soon after. However, Shi Siming was killed in turn by his son, Shi Chaoyi. By this time, it was clear that the new dynasty would not last long, and generals and soldiers alike started to defect to the Tang army. Finally, after Luoyang was taken by the Tang forces for the second time, Shi Chaoyi committed suicide (in 763), thus ending the 8 year long rebellion.
Death toll, legacy, and historical implications
The rebellion spanned the reigns of three emperors, starting during the reign of Xuanzong and ending during the reign of Daizong. The toll of the dead and missing, including those caused by suppression and famine, is estimated at up to 36 million,[8] which would be 2/3 of the total taxroll population at the time. Total world population at the time is estimated at 207-224 million.[9] Numerically, this was the highest toll for any event for nearly 1200 years, until World War II surpassed it. However the numbers recorded on the registers due not necessarily reflect actual population loss due to the breakdown of the census system during the war.
The rebellion greatly weakened the centralized bureaucracy of the Tang Dynasty. Virtually autonomous provinces and ad hoc financial organizations arose, reducing the influence of the regular bureaucracy in Chang'an.[10] The Tang Dynasty's desire for peace after this turbulent period also resulted in the pardoning of many rebels. Indeed, some were even given their own garrisons to command. Economic control of the Northeast region became intermittent, and the emperor became only a sort of puppet, set to do the bidding of the strongest garrison. In addition, by borrowing troops from neighbouring tribes, the Tang Dynasty greatly lowered its prestige in the eyes of the "barbarians", who eventually began raiding Tang settlements again.
In addition to being politically and economically detrimental, the rebellion also damaged the intellectual culture of the Tang Dynasty. Many intellectuals had their careers interrupted, giving them time to ponder the causes of the unrest. They lost faith in themselves, concluding that a lack of moral seriousness in intellectual culture had been the cause of the rebellion.[11]
See also
- Li Bai. This great poet was convicted of involvement with the rebellion, and sentenced to exile, although later reprieved. The golden days before the rebellion, the lengthy and deliberately protracted journey toward exile, and the post-rebellion disillusionment and hardship are reflected in his surviving poems.
- Du Fu. Li Bai's colleague, this other great poet had finally attained a minor appointment in the imperial bureaucracy when the rebellion broke out. His subsequent poetry is a primary source of information about the massive upheavals of the period.
- Under Heaven, novel by Guy Gavriel Kay, which fictionalizes the rebellion
References
Notes
- ^ Sorokin, Pitirim: The Sociology of Revolution, New York, H. Fertig, 1967, OCLC 325197 - cited by White
- ^ Oscar Chapuis (1995). A history of Vietnam: from Hong Bang to Tu Duc. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 92. ISBN 0313296227. Retrieved 2010-6-28.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help) - ^ Joseph Mitsuo Kitagawa (2002). The religious traditions of Asia: religion, history, and culture. Routledge. p. 283. ISBN 0700717625. Retrieved 2010-6-28.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help) - ^ Bradley Smith, Wango H. C. Weng (1972). China: a history in art. Harper & Row. p. 129. Retrieved 2010-6-28.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help) - ^ Hugh D. R. Baker (1990). Hong Kong images: people and animals. Hong Kong University Press. p. 53. ISBN 9622092551. Retrieved 2010-6-28.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help) - ^ Charles Patrick Fitzgerald (1961). China: a short cultural history. Praeger. p. 332. Retrieved 2010-6-28.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help) - ^ Dennis Bloodworth, Ching Ping Bloodworth (2004). The Chinese Machiavelli: 3000 years of Chinese statecraft. Transaction Publishers. p. 214. ISBN 0765805685. Retrieved 2010-6-28.
{{cite book}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); More than one of|pages=and|page=specified (help) - ^ Selected Death Tolls for Wars, Massacres and Atrocities Before the 20th Century
- ^ Historical Estimates of World Population
- ^ DeBlasi, Anthony (2001). "Striving for Completeness: Quan Deyu and the Evolution of the Tang Intellectual Mainstream". Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies. 61 (1). Harvard-Yenching Institute: 5–36. doi:10.2307/3558586. JSTOR 10.2307/3558586.
{{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter|DUPLICATE DATA: pages=ignored (help) - ^ DeBlasi, Anthony (2001) p. 7
General sources
- E. G. Pulleyblank, The Background of the Rebellion of An Lu-Shan, London: Oxford University Press (1955).
- E. G. Pulleyblank, "The An Lu-Shan Rebellion and the Origins of Chronic Militarism in Late T'ang China", in Perry & Smith, Essays on T'ang Society, Leiden: E. J. Brill (1976).
- Denis Twitchett (ed.), The Cambridge History of China, Volume 3, Sui and T'ang China, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (1979). ISBN 978-0-521-21446-9.
External links
- Tang (618 - 907) "The An Lushan Rebellion had its roots in the behavior of one of the great emperors of Chinese history, Xuanzong. Until he fell in love with a young concubine named Yang Guifei, he had been a great ruler, and had brought the Tang to its height of prosperity and grandeur. But he became so infatuated with Yang that the administration of the government soon fell into decay, which was made no better by the way that Yang took advantage of her power to stuff high administrative positions with her corrupt cronies. She also took under her wing a general named An Lushan, who quickly accumulated power."
- chinaknowledge.de "From the first years of the reign period Tianbao 天寶 "Heavenly jewels" (741-757) on, Li Linfu 李林甫 served as chancellor. After Li Linfu's death in 752, his opponent Yang Guozhong 楊國忠 became counsellor-in-chief and dominated the court until the rebellion of An Lushan. An Lushan himself, half of Turkish origin, had been installed as military commissioner of Pinglu 平盧, Fanyang 范陽 (around modern Beijing) and Hebei 河北, three regions in the northeast, where he was responsible of the military and civil administration of one of the most important economic zones in Tang China."