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An Lushan Rebellion summary

Learn about An Lushan’s rebellion against the Tang dynasty in China that began in 755

Below is the article summary. For the full article, see An Lushan.

An Lushan Rebellion, Rebellion against the Tang dynasty beginning in 755 led by the Chinese general An Lushan (703–757). An Lushan rose through the ranks of the Tang army in the 740s, becoming a military governor and a favorite of the emperor, Xuanzong. In 755 An Lushan turned his troops on the eastern Chinese capital city, Luoyang, and after taking it he proclaimed himself emperor. Six months later his forces took Chang’an, the western capital. He was murdered in 757, and the rebellion was put down in 763. The Tang government was much weakened, however, and cited An Lushan’s Sogdian and Turkic ancestry to justify its increasing xenophobia. The second half of the Tang dynasty (which lasted until 907) and the subsequent Five Dynasties period (907–960) were troubled by chronic warlordism.