Changes

*''Dates: [[755]]-[[763]]''

*''Dates: [[755]]-[[763]]''

The An Lushan Rebellion was a [[755]] uprising against the [[Tang Dynasty]] Imperial Court, led by army general An Lushan. Though the rebellion was eventually suppressed, and power restored to the Tang, it marks a key turning point in the power of the Imperial Court in China.

The An Lushan Rebellion was a [[755]] uprising against the [[Tang Dynasty]] Imperial Court, led by army general An Lushan. Though the rebellion was eventually suppressed, and power restored to the Tang, it marks a key turning point in the power of the Imperial Court in China.

==The Rebellion==

==The Rebellion==

Four months later, An Lushan rose up in rebellion, in earnest. His army, supported by additional horses An was able to secure through his position in the stables, easily took the eastern capital of [[Luoyang]], and a few months later managed to take the Imperial capital of [[Chang'an]], forcing Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei to flee to [[Sichuan province]] (the former [[state of Shu]]), along with a number of courtiers, ministers, and soldiers. The military blamed the entire state of affairs on Yang Guifei, and at one point mutinied against Xuanzong, refusing to continue on unless the Consort were killed. Xuanzong then had his chief eunuch strangle Yang Guifei. The emperor himself abdicated in favor of one of his sons a few months later, and died the following year.

Four months later, An Lushan rose up in rebellion, in earnest. His army of as many as 160,000,<ref>Conrad Schirokauer, et al, ''A Brief History of Chinese and Japanese Civilizations'', Fourth Edition, Cengage Learning (2012), 117.</ref> supported by additional horses An was able to secure through his position in the stables, easily took the eastern capital of [[Luoyang]], and a few months later managed to take the Imperial capital of [[Chang'an]], forcing Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei to flee to [[Sichuan province]] (the former [[state of Shu]]), along with a number of courtiers, ministers, and soldiers. The military blamed the entire state of affairs on Yang Guifei, and at one point mutinied against Xuanzong, refusing to continue on unless the Consort were killed. Xuanzong then had his chief eunuch strangle Yang Guifei. The emperor himself abdicated in favor of one of his sons a few months later, and died the following year.

An Lushan himself was killed in [[757]], and his forces became divided, with one group led by his son, and another led by a rival general.

An Lushan himself was killed by his son in [[757]], and his forces became divided, with one group led by his son, and another led by a rival general.

The Tang continued to battle the rebels for eight years, finally regaining control of the capital in [[763]] with the help of [[Uyghur]] mercenaries, after the rebel general committed suicide. The Tang Court thus regained power over the political center of the empire, but it would never again be able to control the provinces, or the empire as a whole, as strongly or as thoroughly as it had before. Centrally administered systems such as the [[well-field system]] fell apart; in addition, the weakness of the Tang capital invited raids by [[Tibet]]an forces, which were then visited upon the city every autumn for the next twenty years (and, in lessened frequency, down into the 9th century).

The Tang continued to battle the rebels for eight years, finally regaining control of the capital in [[763]] with the help of [[Uyghur]] mercenaries, after the rebel general committed suicide.  

 

The Tang Court thus regained power over the political center of the empire, but it would never again be able to control the provinces, or the empire as a whole, as strongly or as thoroughly as it had before. Centrally administered systems such as the [[well-field system]] fell apart; the Court's tax revenues fell to one-third what they had been before, as the reach of the Court's census bureaus fell from nine million households in 755, to two million in [[760]]. Military governors in the provinces began to claim increasing power, and some, such as those in [[Hebei province]], effectively seceded from the empire entirely, taking one-quarter of the empire's population and the according amount of tax revenues with them. After [[779]], the Court managed to recover somewhat, however, by seizing a monopoly on salt; by that year, roughly half of the Court's revenues derived from the salt trade.

 

Meanwhile, the weakness of the Tang capital invited raids by [[Tibet]]an forces, who attacked the city every autumn for the next twenty years (and, in lessened frequency, down into the 9th century).

{{stub}}

{{stub}}

==References==

==References==

*Valerie Hansen, ''The Open Empire'', New York: W.W. Norton & Company (2000), 222-224.

*Valerie Hansen, ''The Open Empire'', New York: W.W. Norton & Company (2000), 222-228.

[[Category:Nara Period]]

[[Category:Nara Period]]

[[Category:Events and Incidents]]

[[Category:Events and Incidents]]