#103 - AnShi 3: Strange Bedfellows

Reeling from the loss of both capital cities to the rebel army, Emperor Xuanzong and his heir Li Heng split up. Three days later from the northern garrison at Lingwu, the Crowned Prince declares himself the new emperor, Suzong – surprise, Dad! Newly enthroned, Suzong will be forced to cobble together an unlikely coalition of China’s neighbors in order to have any hope of turning the tide of the civil war that threatens to drown the Tang Dynasty in blood. Arabs, Transoxianans, Ferghanans, and even Uyghur Stepperiders will join forces with a corps of Han Chinese soldiers willing to die to the last man if it means stopping An Lushan and his Yan rebel army in its tracks.

Time Period Covered:

July 756 – December 757 CE

Major Historical Figures:

Tang Dynasty:

(Retired) Emperor Xuanzong [Li Longji] (r. 712-756, as retired emperor 756-762)

Emperor Suzong of Tang [Crowned Prince Li Heng ] (r. 756-762)

Crowned Prince Li Yu [b. 727]

General Guo Ziyi

Yan Dynasty Rebels:

An Lushan [d. 757]

An Qingxu [r. 757-759]

General Yan Zhuang

Uyghur Khaghanate:

Bayanchur Khan [r. 747-759]“The Viceroy” (Yagbu), Field Commander of the Uyghur Cavalry

Major Works Cited:

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

Dalby, Michael T. (1979). “Court Politics in Late Tang Times” in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 3.

Inaba, Minoru. (2010). “Arab Soldiers in China at the Time of the An-Shi Rebellion” in The Memoirs of the Toyo Bunko, 68.

Liu, Xu. (945). Jiu Tang Shu.

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.

Ouyang, Xiu (1060), (tr. Colin Mackerras, 2004) “The History of the Uyghurs” in Xin Tang Shu.

Twitchett, Denis. (1979). “End of the Reign” in The Cambridge History of China, vol. 3.

Sima, Guang. (1084). Zizhi Tongjian.

Wang, Qinruo, et al. (1013). Cefu Yuangui.

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