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Li Guangbi
Tang general of Khitan descent who held Taiyuan and Heyang against Shi Siming and was paired with Guo Ziyi as the commanders who saved the dynasty from the An Lushan rebels
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 Linhuai Junwang · Wu Mu
- Roles
- Commanders
Li Guangbi of Liucheng in Yingzhou descended from Khitan chieftains, and the commander Wang Zhongsi predicted he would one day hold his own post. Recommended by Guo Ziyi when An Lushan rebelled, he took command in Hedong and in 756 joined Guo in routing Shi Siming at Jiashan. In 757, with fewer than ten thousand men, he held Taiyuan against more than a hundred thousand, digging trenches and tunnels for over fifty days before sallying out to break the siege. In 759 he succeeded Guo as commander of the Shuofang army and deputy marshal, and held Heyang against Shi; in 761, pressed by the eunuch Yu Chao'en, he fought at Mangshan and was badly beaten. Made Prince of Linhuai in 762 and honoured with an iron tablet and a portrait in the Lingyan Pavilion, he so feared the eunuch Cheng Yuanzhen that he would not march when Tibetans took Chang'an. He died at Xuzhou in 764 aged fifty-seven, named Wumu, and was spoken of together with Guo Ziyi.
Life and times
- 708 CEBorn
Tang - 755An Lushan Rebellion
Took partage 47After 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.- 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.
- An Lushan Captures the Two Capitals
- 759Nine Commanders Routed at Ye
age 51In 759 Shi Siming routed the 600,000-strong army of nine Tang military governors besieging Ye, then killed An Qingxu and took over his forces. - 764 CEDied
