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An Lushan
Frontier commander of Sogdian and Turkic descent, favoured by Emperor Xuanzong, who held three northern commands and in 755 launched the rebellion that bears his name
Mural of the event “An Lushan Rebellion”, which this person took part in.
By the late Tianbao era, the Tang court had concentrated extensive northern frontier commands in a small number of military governors while central military and fiscal coordination weakened. Holding three commands, An Lushan acquired the forces with which he rebelled at Fanyang in 755.
Also known as Ya Luoshan
- Roles
- Uprising Leaders
An Lushan came from Liucheng in Yingzhou (modern Chaoyang, Liaoning); his father's surname was Kang, and his mother, of the Turkic Ashide clan, was a shaman who later married An Yanyan, whose surname he took. Speaking six frontier languages, he began as a broker in the border markets and then fought so boldly under the Youzhou commander Zhang Shougui that Zhang adopted him. In 742 he became military governor of Pinglu, later adding Fanyang and Hedong, and with the favour of Emperor Xuanzong and Consort Yang he was made Prince of Dongping. In late 755 he rose at Fanyang, claiming to punish the chief minister Yang Guozhong, took Luoyang, proclaimed himself emperor of Great Yan early the next year, and saw his troops enter Chang'an that summer. Blind and violent in his last months, he was murdered in early 757 by his son An Qingxu and a eunuch. The revolt, known as the An-Shi Rebellion, ended only in 763 with the suicide of Shi Chaoyi.
Life and times
- 703 CEBorn
Tang - 755An Lushan Rebellion
Took partage 52After An Lushan's revolt, rebel armies seized Luoyang and Chang'an. Eight years of war weakened Tang finances and central authority; the Mawei crisis and postwar military governorships marked a lasting imperial rupture.- Li Linfu Monopolizes the Chancellorshipc. 734age 31Chief minister from 734 to his death in 752, Li Linfu drove out rivals, was said to have honey in his mouth and a sword in his belly, and urged the frontier policy that raised An Lushan.
- An Lushan Captures the Two Capitalsc. 755Military governor An Lushan launched the catastrophic rebellion that captured the twin capitals before loyalist generals Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi turned the tide.
- Li Linfu Monopolizes the Chancellorship
- 756Luoyang Falls and Yan Is Proclaimed
age 53In 756 rebel forces took Luoyang and An Lushan proclaimed Yan, turning the An Lushan Rebellion into a rival regime confronting the Tang. - 757 CEDied
- 780The Twice-a-Year Tax Reform
PrecursorYang Yan's Two-Tax Law replaced labor and grain obligations with summer and autumn levies assessed largely on land and property.- An Lushan Raises Rebellion at Fanyang755age 52In 755 An Lushan raised his army at Fanyang, opening the An Lushan Rebellion against the Tang.
- An Lushan Raises Rebellion at Fanyang
