#102 - AnShi 2: Song of Everlasting Sorrow

An Lushan marches south, occupying Louyang with blinding speed and leaving the Tang Dynasty reeling. Still, ultimately the tide seems ready to turn against the rebel general and self-styled-Emperor of Yan, until Chancellor Yang Guozhong's bungling ruins absolutely everything.

Time Period Covered:

Jan-July, 756

Major Historical Actors:

Tang Dynasty:

Emperor Xuanzong of Tang

Chancellor Yang Guozhong (d. 756)

Consort Yang Guifei (d. 756)

Crowned Prince Li Heng

General Feng Chengqian (d. 756)

General Gao Xianzhi (d. 756)

General Geshu Han

Dongan Protectorate/Yang Dynasty:

An Lushan

An Qingzong (d. 756)

Major Works Cited:

Abramson, Marc S. (2008). Ethnic Identity in Tang China.

Chamney, Lee (2012). “The An Shi Rebellion and Rejection of the Other in Tang China, 618-763.” University of Alberta.

Pulleyblank, Edwin G. (1976). “The An Lu-Shan Rebellion and the Origins of Chronic Militarism in Late T’ang China” in Essays on Tʻang Society: The Interplay of Social, Political and Economic Forces.

Twitchett, Denis. “End of the Reign” in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 3.De la Vaissière, Étienne, (tr.)

James Ward (2002). Sogdian Traders: A History.

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