Sui and Tang dynasties

1
Sui and Tang dynasties

• Also available in Chinese translation
• Twitchett, Denis Fairbank, John K., The
  Cambridge History of China (v3).
• Sui and Tang. 589-906. pp. 244-273, 290-320
  OR
• Ch 5 Kao-tsung (reign 649-83) and the empress
  Wu the inheritor and the usurper, pp. 242-279Ch
  6 The reigns of the empress Wu, Chung-tsung and
  Jui-tsung (684-712),pp. 290-320

2
China Reunited

• Reunification of the China under the Sui
• The Sui empire
• Succession
• The end of the Sui
• Tang Empire
• The founding of the Tang
• Succession Problems
• Taizong
• Gaozong
• Empress Wu
• The Reign of Zhongzong
• The Zhou Dynasty
• The Reign of Zhongzong
• The Reign of Xuanzong
• The Rebellion of An Lushan
• Tang after An Lushan
• Reference Princess Pinyang The Reign of
  Xuanzong Consorts

3
Reunification of China under the Sui

• In the last quarter of the 6th century, China had
  been fragmented for about 300 years, the longest
  time in Chinese history.
• Wei-Jin dynasties

4
Reunification of China under the Sui (2)
5
Reunification of China Under the Sui (3)

• The Yang founding family had served the Northern
  Wei and the Western Wei.
• They had been part of the founding of the
  Northern Zhou and was connected through marriage
  to all these royal houses.
• Yang Jian (?? r.581-604 Sui Wendi) spent the
  first years of his reign consolidating the north
  that he had taken over from the Northern Zhou.
• This new empire, incorporated many of the former
  nomadic peoples the invaders from the north.
• He conquered the Later Liang, in modern Hubei
  province in 587.
• For 6-7 years he was preoccupied by the threat of
  the Eastern Turks.
• After he had been victorious over them he then
  turned to conquest of the south.
• In 588, Yang sent a letter to the Chen ruler
  saying that it was a heaven-imposed obligation
  for Yang to take over Chen territory.
• He issued an edict accusing the Chen ruler of bad
  faith, wastefulness, oppression of the people and
  other crimes.
• He took note of the unnatural occurrences which
  gave clear signs of the withdrawal of heavens
  favor.
• 300,000 copies of the edit were distributed in
  the south to soften up resistance.

6
Reunification of China Under the Sui (4)

• The Chen ruler was captured in 589 and was made
  to write to aboriginal tribal leaders saying that
  the Chen had ended and they should give
  allegiance to the Sui.
• The capital of the southern dynasties for 282
  years was destroyed.
• Ranking Chen nobles and their prized possessions
  were taken to the Sui capital and presented to
  the Sui ancestors.
• The Chen nobles and elite were forgiven for their
  crimes and the princes given land in the border
  areas some were taken into service by the Sui.
• The reunification of China was complete with the
  conquest of the Chen and the south became an
  important source of wealth and reserves.

7
The Sui Empire

• Northern China had been devastated by war.
• Great numbers of people had fled and millions
  more had died.
• Large areas were devastated and depopulated and
  had fallen out of cultivation other parts were
  dominated by one or more large clans.
• Southern China, was first ruled by the Jin ? and
  later by short-lived dynasties, the Song
  (420-79), Southern Qi (479-502), Liang (502-57)
  and Chen (557-89). Ruling from present day
  Nanjing all these dynasties were dominated by a
  small group of powerful aristocratic families and
  by their generals.
• They were politically unstable and there was
  constant court intrigue, coups and usurpation.
• Periodically, they tried unsuccessfully to
  re-conquer the north.
• It was weaker politically but its great families
  considered themselves to be the pure heirs of Han
  culture.
• The south, once the land had been cleared, was
  more fertile and productive than the north.

8
The Sui Empire (2)

• There were cultural diversity, regional and
  racial differences between the north and the
  south.
• North
• Different civilization in the north Han mixed
  with nomadic cultures (after 317).
• Wars fought among non-Chinese peoples for control
  of the land.
• Inter-racial violence and hatred
• Cultural and racial mix successive waves of
  conquerors and those who intermarried with the
  Chinese.
• South Yangzi Valley and further south
• Distinctive southern civilization (Han mixed with
  southern ethnic groups)
• 16 of total population was Han and concentrated
  in the major centers along the Yangzi behind
  them lay a untamed wilderness where hostile
  aborigines lived.

9
The Sui Empire (3)

• The founding emperor and his wife, Empress
  Wenxian (b.544-602), were very close and the
  palace attendants called them the two
  sage-emperors.
• She would ride with him in the carriage to the
  audience hall and wait in side room.
• Her eunuchs would be inside the hall observing
  and reporting.
• When his policy decisions seemed to be mistaken
  she would admonish him and when the audience was
  over they would go back together to their palace
  quarters.
• The Empress was from a powerful and long
  sinicized Xiongnu clan and her clan had
  inter-married with the great families of Northern
  Wei for centuries.
• She was a literate and cultivated woman with
  strong political instincts.
• Her father, Dogu, had been among the group that
  founded the Northern Zhou.
• The Empress was a fervent Buddhist and made sure
  the imperial princes were taught Buddhism -- one
  wanted to become a Buddhist priest but was denied
  permission.

10
The Sui Empire (4)

• She kept her family out of positions of great
  power.
• When a relative of hers committed a crime that
  required the death penalty she said that the
  emperor should not consider personal factors and
  the man was executed.
• The Emperor had promised his wife that he would
  not have children with his other wives.
• When she was about 50 years of age, her husband
  was attracted by the charms of the grand-daughter
  of an old rival and she secretly killed the girl
  when he found out, he was furious but later
  they made up.
• As she became older, she became more jealous and
  whenever the concubine of a prince or of a
  minister became pregnant she would urge that the
  husband be dismissed.
• She also became suspicious of everyones
  intentions and started prying into the lives and
  sexual habits of her sons.

11
Succession

• Yang Guang was the 2nd of 5 sons and was first
  sent to the North China Plain with advisors.
• He was the second son and so was not the heir to
  the throne but felt that he had contributed the
  most in the conquest of the empire.
• In 600, he visited his mother and found her angry
  about the behavior of her eldest son, the
  heir-apparent, whose principal consort had
  suddenly died under mysterious circumstances and
  that the heir was infatuated with his favorite
  concubine.
• Yang Guang saw an opportunity to plot his
  brothers downfall and to become the heir.
• He and his supporters made up evidence to mislead
  the suspicious emperor who then deposed his heir
  and Yang Guang was named heir.
• After his mother died, the emperor gradually
  handed the management of state affairs. over to
  Yang Guang.
• In 603, the emperor was persuaded by alleged
  evidence of black magic to degrade his fourth
  son evidence also cast suspicion on the fifth
  son.
• The emperor became ill in 604 and Yang Guang and
  his supporters may have hastened his end.
• Eight days after Yang Guang ascended to the
  throne the 5th son rebelled but was crushed the
  youngest son died in prison.

12
The End of the Sui

• Yang Guang became emperor in 605 and is known as
  Yangdi (r.604-17).
• Under Yangdi, a canal network was constructed
  linking the Yangzi with the yellow River and with
  areas near present day Peking.
• Goods were transported from the south to present
  day Sian where the Sui had its capital.
• The cost and loss of life involved in Yangdis
  public works -- the rebuilding of the Great Wall
  and the construction of canals, caused widespread
  suffering and discontent.
• He tried to extend Chinese power into the old Han
  territories of the north-west and into northern
  Korea.
• His repeated military campaigns which ruined the
  empire because of the expense in manpower and
  materials by his urge to restore the glory of the
  Han.
• This resulted in numerous local rebellions and he
  was finally driven out of the capital.
• By 617, he was given the title, , Retired
  Emperor and the rebels named two of his
  grandsons successively as emperor.
• Sui Yangdi was finally murdered by the son of his
  most trusted general.
• After Suis collapse in 617 many rebel forces
  fought to replace him as the master of the great
  empire.
• The victor was his cousin, the Duke of Tang, who
  formed the Tang dynasty.

13
The Founding of the Tang

• When Sui came into power, Li Yuan ??, the Duke of
  Tang, was a favorite of Sui Wendi and had a
  distinguished career in his service.
• His maternal aunt mothers sister was Empress
  Wenxian, principle consort of Sui Wendi.
• When Sui began to fall apart from local
  rebellions, Li Yuan, one of the most powerful of
  Sui generals, became one of the many groups of
  rebels.
• In 619, his armies took the capital and 6 months
  later he founded a new dynasty that lasted 300
  years.
• The Tang built its great empire based on the
  solid foundations left by Sui who had unified the
  country.

14
The Founding of the Tang (2)

• The Li clans ancestors may have been Xianbei but
  they had intermarried with other non-Chinese
  tribal aristocrats.
• Li Yuans maternal grandfather was a member of a
  very prominent Turkish clan whose
• Eldest daughter was married to the founder of the
  Northern Zhou, Emperor Mingdi (r.557-61).
• 7th daughter (Empress Wenxian) was married to
  Yang Jian who founded the Sui dynasty.
• 4th daughter was married to the father of Li Yuan
  and so was the mother of the founder of the Tang
  dynasty, later known as Tang Gaozu (r.618-620).

15
Succession Problems Taizong

• Li Shimin ???, the 2nd son, was not the heir to
  the throne.
• He thought that he had made the greatest
  contributions in helping his father conquer the
  empire and should have been made heir.
• He accused his brothers of having had illicit
  relations with members of the imperial harem.
• When the brothers learned of this, they went to
  speak to the emperor but when they came to the
  entrance to the palace, they were attacked and
  killed by Li Shimins men.
• Their heads were shown to their followers, who
  surrendered.
• Li Shimin then marched, fully armed, to see his
  father, the founding emperor, Gaozu, who was
  intimidated and named him the heir.
• As heir, he took over the actual administration
  Gaozu was forced into retirement and Li Shimin
  became the second emperor, Taizong (r.626-49).

16
Succession Problems Gaozong

• Taizong named the eldest son of the empress as
  his heir.
• He executed those close to the heir so that they
  would not be influential and the heir became
  alarmed and plotted the removal of his father.
• When the plot was revealed, the emperor degraded
  the heir to the status of a commoner and
  imprisoned him.
• Taizongs favorite was his 4th son, Li Tai, who
  was born of a lesser consort.
• Being the favorite, Li Tai hoped to replace his
  brother as heir.
• There was opposition to the naming of Li Tai as
  the heir and he began to make dark threats
  against a brother who had been recommended as
  heir.
• When Taizong found this new intrigue, he was very
  upset and complained that he had been betrayed by
  his sons.
• Another son, Li Zhi ?? , had the support of the
  most influential ministers and so was named heir
  in 643 and a high powered group was named as his
  tutors.
• The Emperor was not happy with the choice and
  wanted to replace him with another son, whose
  mother had been the daughter of Sui Yangdi.
• His highest minister opposed it and so when he
  died, Li Zhi became emperor, Gaozong (r.649-83).

17
Empress Wu

• Taizong had a low ranking concubine, Wu Zhao
  (r.690-705), who had entered the palace when she
  was in her early teens.
• Her father was an early supporter of the founder
  of the Tang dynasty and her mother was from the
  Sui imperial Yang family.
• Gaozong had been a child of 8 when his mother
  died and had continued to live in the Inner
  Palaces so he might have been intimate with Wu
  Zhao while his father was alive.
• After the death of Taizong, his wives were sent
  into the nunnery.
• On the anniversary of Taizongs death, Gaozong
  visited the temple and saw Wu Zhao.
• At that time, Gaozongs principal consort,
  Empress Wang was childless and her husbands
  favorite was a consort named Xiao.
• Empress Wang decided to bring Wu Zhao into the
  harem as a rival to Consort Xiao.

18
Empress Wu (2)

• The Han would view it as incest but as the Tang
  dynasty was of mixed blood they might have
  accepted the practice as levirate marrying the
  widow to the son of the deceased husband.
• After Wu Zhao had given birth to two sons,
  Empress Wang realized that Wu was a more
  dangerous rival than Xiao and started a campaign
  of slander against her.
• Wu allied herself with the other women who hated
  the Empress and bribed them to be her spies and
  to inform her of all the activities of the
  Empress and Consort Xiao.
• At first, Gaozong had no intention of deposing
  his empress and naming Wu in her place so Wu had
  to give him a reason.
• Shortly after Wu Zhao gave birth to a baby girl,
  the Empress came to visit and soon after she left
  the baby died.
• Wu Zhao then gave the impression that the
  Empress had suffocated Wu Zhaos new-born baby
  girl during her visit.
• The Emperor was furious and decided to demote the
  empress and elevate Wu as empress.

19
Empress Wu (3)

• Many officials opposed Wu Zhaos promotion to
  Empress but Gaozong finally won support and
  accused the Empress Wang and Consort Xiao of
  plotting to poison him.
• Two of the leaders who had opposed the promotion
  were demoted to commoner status and Wu was
  installed as Empress in 655.
• Her son, Li Hung (652-75), was named heir in the
  following year.
• A month after becoming Empress, Wu murdered the
  former Empress Wang and Consort Xiao by cutting
  off their arms and leaving them to die in a wine
  vat.
• She had the officials who opposed her promotion
  transferred and had those who supported her
  promoted.
• She later purged all those who had opposed her
  and they were either transferred, banished, or
  killed until she had removed all the chief
  ministers who had served the former emperor,
  Taizong.
• Gaozong was in poor health and in 657 he was
  forced to hold court only on alternate days.

20
Empress Wu (4)

• At the end of 660, Gaozong suffered a serious
  stroke which left him partially paralyzed and
  with poor eyesight.
• The Empress began administering the empire during
  his sickness and by the end of 660, she was ruler
  of the empire in fact though not in name
  de-facto ruler.
• There was an attempt to demote her by accusing
  her of witchcraft but the Wu was able to stop it
  by standing up to the Emperor who then backed
  down.
• Those who had supported demoting her were
  themselves demoted or banished.
• The Empress now sat next to Gaozong, behind a
  screen, and supervised his handling of the most
  petty matters.
• Since there was no precedent for the direct
  control of the government by an empress during
  the Emperors lifetime, there was continued
  opposition from officials to Wu Zhao while she
  tried to consolidate her position.
• Wu looked for the allegiance from groups whose
  support would give her prestige and influence in
  particular, the literati and the Buddhist and
  Taoist clergy.

21
Empress Wu (5)

• In 674, Wu tried to get support from the common
  people and the bureaucracy by suggesting a 12
  point reform
• The main provisions were
• To encourage agriculture and sericulture and
  reduce taxes and labour services.
• To grant remission of taxes to the metropolitan
  districts.
• To cease military operations to transform the
  empire by the virtue of the Way.
• Palace buildings would not indulge in
  extravagantly fine workmanship.
• To reduce wasteful employment of corvée labour.
• To increase the opportunities for the expression
  of opinions to the throne.
• To suppress slander.
• Everyone, from the princes and dukes down, would
  study the Daode Jing ???.
• Even when the father was still alive, mourning
  was to be observed for the full three-year period
  for the mother.
• All honorific officials who had received their
  documents of appointment before 674 could retain
  their titles, however earned.
• Salaries of metropolitan officials of the 8th
  rank and above would be increased.
• Long-serving officials, whose talent was greater
  than their rank, would be promoted.

22
Empress Wu (6)

• Empress Wus son, Li Hung, the heir, died in 675.
  
• He was a favorite of the emperor and of the court
  but had frequently taken the side of the emperor
  against the empress.
• Just before his death he had a public dispute
  with his mother about the two daughters of
  Consort Xiao who had been imprisoned in the
  palace for 20 years and were not married.
• It was suspected that Wu had him poisoned he was
  replaced by Wus second son, Li Xian.
• Empress Wu then began to remove members of the
  imperial family that might be a threat to her.
• The emperors third son was banished on trumped
  up charges.
• The fourth son, who was born of Consort Xiao, was
  banished on false accusations of corruption.
• In 677, the emperor became ill and the new
  heir-apparent performed very well on his behalf
  that the Empress was faced with a new threat.
• She had a sorcerer say that the heir would not be
  a good emperor.
• She floated rumors that the heir was not really
  her son but the son of her elder sister who had
  entered the harem with her.

23
Empress Wu (7)

• She made a formal complaint that he was intimate
  with some of his household slaves and the Emperor
  had it investigated.
• They discovered several hundred suits of armor in
  the heirs stables and decided that he was
  planning a coup.
• His favorite slave, under interrogation also
  accused him of having murdered the sorcerer.
• The emperor did not completely believe in the
  charges and wanted to pardon him but Wu insisted
  that he be demoted to commoner status and
  imprisoned.
• He was later banished and ordered to commit
  suicide.
• Wus third son, 7th son of the emperor, was now
  named heir at the age of 14 (680).
• Gaozong was sickly and was content with his
  nominal role as ruler.
• He died in 683 naming Wu as regent.
• After Gaozongs death, Wu made Luoyang the
  permanent capital and it remained so until 701

24
Empress Wu Zhongzong

• The 4th Tang emperor, Zhongzong ?? (r. Jan 3-Feb
  26, 684 Feb. 23, 705-July 3, 710), the 3rd son
  of Empress Wu, was on the throne for two months
  before his mother deposed him in favor of his
  younger brother.
• His chances of succession were remote so he had
  not been prepared to be Emperor.
• As Emperor, his first act was to name his
  father-in-law, the Chief Minister but this was
  opposed by officials who had been appointed by
  the previous Emperor.
• The Emperor responded that he could have given
  his father-in-law the entire empire -- and ED Wu
  decided to take it literally.
• She summoned her son to court, charged him with
  treason and deposed him the guards dragged him
  from the throne the next day, Zhongzong was
  replaced by his more obedient brother, Ruizong ??
  (r.684-690 710-712).
• Zhongzong and his pregnant wife, Empress Wei,
  were banished to Hubei and Empress Dowager Wu
  presided openly at the administrative and
  ceremonial functions of the court, not bothering
  to hang the curtain.
• Ministers began to warn her that she was behaving
  like Empress Lü of Han but she ignored them.
• In 688, some of the princes of the imperial clan
  revolted and Empress Wu purged the imperial
  family.

25
The Zhou Dynasty

• Rebellions arose as many opposed Wus assumptions
  of power.
• She was able to suppress the rebellions.
• In 690, she made Ruizong abdicate and proclaimed
  herself emperor of a new dynasty, the Zhou
  dynasty (690-705).
• Since the imperial princes had been purged there
  was no opposition to her establishment of a new
  dynasty.
• Ruizong and his family were kept in isolation in
  the palace.
• ED Wus nephew began to see himself as her
  successor even though her son, Ruizong, had the
  title, Emperor Expectant.
• The nephew put up a petition to make himself the
  heir and Empress Wu seemed surprised and asked
  the opinion of the officials.
• In 962, one of her officials convinced her of the
  danger of giving her relatives too much power and
  she took away all of their political functions.
• At the same time, she did not want people to
  think that Ruizong was to succeed her and
  punished those who got too close to him.
• ED Wu was torn between the claims of her own clan
  and those of her sons as successors.

26
The Reign of Zhongzong

• In 698, Zhongzong, and his empress, Wei, were
  summoned from their exile as ED Wu was growing
  old had decided that the throne should be
  returned to the Li family.
• In 705, ED Wu was 80 years old and ill and was
  unable to prevent Zhongzong and his allies from
  taking power.
• She abdicated and Zhongzongs reign began with
  three factions competing for power favored
  ministers, the imperial family, and the relatives
  of his wife, Empress Wei.
• The imperial family and the relatives of Empress
  Wei sold official positions and merchants and
  landlords could buy their way into officialdom
  instead of taking the examination.
• The most powerful persons then were Empress Wei,
  her daughter Princess Anle ??, and Wu Sansi,
  Empress Weis lover and the son of a half-brother
  of ED Wu.
• Wu Sansi had survived his aunts downfall by
  being Weis lover and the father-in-law of
  Princess Anle.

27
The Reign of Zhongzong (2)

• Princess Anle became rich from selling ordination
  certificates for 30,000 cash each so that persons
  of any social rank could be ordained to the
  Buddhist clergy for ten times that amount, a
  person could become an official on the staff of
  one of the princesses.
• Wu Sansi hoped to rule through his
  daughter-in-law and so lobbied to have Princess
  Anle named as heir to the throne.
• As no woman had ever been considered as heir, the
  court was upset and the ministers blocked the
  plan and retained the current heir, the emperors
  second son by a concubine.
• Wu Sansi plotted the downfall of his opponents
  and had them promoted to empty titles of king
  then found pretexts to disgrace and banish them.
• He bribed eunuchs so that they would not oppose
  him.
• The only persons at court who had matched Wu
  Sansis prestige were Ruizong and his sister, the
  Taiping ?? princess.
• Wu Sansi had rewarded them with money to keep
  them out of politics.
• He made it possible for Princess Taiping and 6
  other princesses to have the same benefits as
  other royal princes.

28
The Reign of Zhongzong (3)

• Wu Sansi tried a second time to promote Princess
  Anle as the heir.
• The heir-apparent Zhongzongs only son born of
  a concubine -- became very uneasy and felt that
  he had to act and so he marched on the Wu
  mansion.
• He killed Wu Sansi and his son, the husband of
  Princess Anle.
• The widowed Princess Anle started having an
  affair with another nephew of ED Wu and soon
  married him.
• After the death of Wu Sansi, Empress Wei,
  Princess Anle and her new husband tried to
  slander Ruizong and the Taiping Princess ???? but
  the two easily cleared themselves.
• The Taiping Princess did not forgive the Wei
  faction for trying to eliminate her and began to
  build support for her brother, Ruizong.
• She made her brother, Zhongzong, unhappy about
  the misbehavior of his wife (who continued to
  have affairs) and his daughter, Princess Anle and
  Empress Wei became afraid.

29
The Reign of Zhongzong (4)

• Emperor Zhongzong suddenly died so it was
  suspected his wife and his daughter might have
  poisoned him.
• The Empress concealed his death until she had
  appointed her relatives to key military positions
  and named the emperors youngest son, a boy of
  15, to succeed with herself as regent.
• The young emperor ruled for two weeks until
  Princess Taiping, with the help of Ruizongs son
  the future Xuanzong ?? -- dragged him from his
  throne.
• Both Empress Wei and Princess Anle were killed.
• Ruizong then became the emperor. take up the
  throne but delegated real power to his sister,
  Princess Taiping who had helped him achieve
  power.

30
The Reign of Ruizong

• Ruizongs heir, Xuanzong, was very popular and
  Princess Taiping began to slander him.
• As the attacks grew, Ruizong was pressured by his
  ministers to send the princess away from the
  capital into temporary exile.
• Even in exile, her influence was still strong and
  the heir, knowing that she blamed him for her
  banishment, asked that she be allowed to return.
• When she returned to the capital she immediately
  replaced five of the top seven officials with her
  own men.
• Ruizong was upset that he could not control the
  situation and in 712, he decided to abdicate in
  favor of the heir.
• Taiping convinced him to retain the title
  Retired Emperor and control high appointments
  and capital punishments.
• When Xuanzong (r.712-756) became emperor,
  Princess Taiping became uneasy and tried an armed
  coup but since she was a woman she had to depend
  on men to carry out her plan.
• The plan was leaked and Xuanzong seized her
  supporters and had them beheaded.
• The Princess escaped to a monastery but was
  forced to commit suicide.

31
The Reign of Xuanzong

• Xuanzong was the longest reigning of all the Tang
  monarchs he restored the dynasty to a new peak
  of power after decades of corruption.
• He took away the military power of his relatives
  by forbidding royal princes and consorts of
  princesses to hold commands in the guards.
• They were also removed from the capital so that
  they could not be used as figure heads for
  different factions.
• To further control his brothers they were given
  ceremonial offices with no power at court but
  kept near the capital.
• Two of the princes must rotate and attend court
  every three months.

32
The Reign of Xuanzong (2)

• Xuanzong had 51 children, many of them born
  before he came to the throne.
• The next generation was even more numerous 94
  grandsons and there is no record of the number
  of children born to his 30 daughters.
• The support of the imperial clan became very
  expensive.
• After some time, the adult royal children were
  not given individual residences but just a court
  yard home for themselves and their families --
  they were even more centrally controlled.
• In 720-1, the emperor recalled all the royal
  princes, serving in provincial posts, in order to
  have more control over them and prevent them from
  plotting against him.

33
The Reign of XuanzongAn Lushan Rebellion

• Xuanzong became infatuated with the wife of one
  of his sons, Li Mao in the early 740s.
• She was descended from the Sui imperial clan.
• She left her husband in 741 and registered as a
  Daoist priestess and took up residence in the
  palace.
• In 745, Xuanzong took her into his own harem with
  the title of Consort of the First Rank ?? after
  she had been formally separated and her husband
  had remarried -- from then on, she dominated the
  palace.
• In the late 740s she became a close friend of a
  general, An Lu-shan, and adopted him as her son
  they remained good friends.
• An Lushan was a part Turkish part Soghdian (part
  of the Persian Empire) general who controlled
  three of the north-eastern commands.
• The enemies of Yang and An began to harass An and
  accuse him of plotting rebellion.
• An Lushans mansion was raided and it was said
  that plans for rebellion was discovered.
• He did not dare to attend court in person but the
  Emperor still had faith in his loyalty and he was
  sent to fight against the Khitan (Qidan) and was
  victorious.

34
The Reign of XuanzongAn Lushan Rebellion (2)

• Ans enemies continued to harass his supporters
  at the capital and tried to convince the emperor
  that he was going to rebel until An Lushan was
  forced to do so.
• An was successful at first and took the eastern
  capital, Luoyang and Xuanzong was forced to flee
  Changan (756).
• In 756, An proclaimed himself emperor of the new
  dynasty of Greater Yan.
• He met resistance when he tried to go beyond
  Luoyang.
• Xuanzongs troops were resentful of Consort
  Yangs brother, attacked him and killed him and
  members of his family.
• They demanded the execution of Consort Yang and
  the Emperor had to order her strangled.
• Meanwhile, the heir-apparent, the future Suzong
  (r.756-762), organized resistance in the north.
• He took the throne and gave Xuanzong the title,
  Retired Emperor.
• The rebellion continued after Ans death and was
  finally suppressed in 763.
• Tang had a century of stability until the An
  Lushan rebellion in 775.

35
Tang after An Lushan

• After the rebellion, large areas of Hebei and
  Henan, the richest and most productive provinces
  at that time were left devastated and depopulated
  by the rebellion.
• The fighting had spread into the Lower Yangzi and
  the Han River valleys.
• By the time the rebellion was over, China had
  abandoned its territories in southern Manchuria,
  and the entire modern Gansu had fallen to the
  Tibetans.
• The most important long-term damage was the loss
  of authority by the central government as the
  military governors ??? had been given powers over
  local administration.
• These new regional authorities did not establish
  separate kingdoms but remained within the
  framework of the Tang.
• They were semi-independent because of the
  breakdown of central power.
• In the late 9th century, discontent led to the
  Huang Chao rebellion and the fragmentation of the
  country leading to the period known as the Five
  Dynasties and Kingdoms.
• Some parts of northern China fell into alien rule
  in the early 10th century and northern China
  remained under foreign domination for more than
  four centuries.

36
References

• Princess Pinyang, daughter of founding Tang
  emperor.
• Consorts of Xuanzong
• Empress Wang
• Lady Wu

37
Princess Pinyang

• Princess Pinyang (ca.600-623), daughter of the
  first Tang emperor, helped her father overthrow
  the Sui by organizing the Womans Army.
• Her husband was the leader of the palace guards
  protecting the Sui crown prince but he joined Li
  Yuans forces.
• Princess Pinyang left the court and went to her
  family estate.
• The surrounding area was experiencing drought so
  she opened the estates food stores to the people
  in the area.
• The peasants became her allies and from among
  them she formed her womans army.
• Other rebel forces in the region began to join
  her when they heard of her fathers successes.

38
Princess Pinyang (2)

• The rural people saw her armies as liberators
  rather than as conquerors and offered them food
  and drink.
• As she won battles, many new armies were eager to
  fight under her banner.
• After each of her victories, her army would
  distribute food and win over the people in the
  captured territories.
• When her army grew to 70,000 troops, the Sui army
  took her seriously and launched an attack on her
  but were defeated.
• When her father became emperor, she was made a
  marshal with the same entitlements as her
  brothers.
• But the hard struggles of war had worn her out
  and she died soon after, at the age of 23.

39
Consorts of XuanzongEmpress Wang

• Xuanzongs empress, Wang, was a member of the
  prominent Wang clan of Taiyuan.
• Her twin brother was married to Ruizongs 7th
  daughter and had helped to overthrew Princess
  Taiping.
• Xuanzong kept both him and his father from
  positions of power but allowed them to become
  wealthy.
• The Empress had no children and since it was
  important to settle the question of succession
  Xuanzongs second son was named heir in 715.
• Xuanzong secretly discussed with his minister
  removing the Empress as she was childlessness but
  this was leaked to her the minister was flogged
  and exiled and died on the road to exile.
• The Empress was now fearful of her position and
  was desperate to produce a son to ensure her
  position at court.
• Her brother arranged for a monk to perform
  ceremonies for her to have a child.
• When this was discovered, the Empress was
  degraded to commoner status and her brother was
  exiled, divorced from his royal wife, and ordered
  to commit suicide.
• She was allowed to live in separate quarters in
  the palace where she died a few months later.

40
Consorts of XuanzongLady Wu

• Soon after Xuanzong came to the throne, he became
  enamored of his concubine Lady Wu. daughter of
  a close relative of the ED Wu.
• When the position of Empress became vacant
  Xuanzong wished to name her empress but this was
  opposed by the bureaucracy as
• her family had been enemies of the Tang
• she was not the mother of the heir and did not
  yet have sons she later gave birth to a son,
  Prince Mao.
• The emperor did not make her empress during her
  lifetime although she was treated as his most
  important consort and her family members were
  given honors and promotion appropriate to the
  family of an empress.
• Consort Wu wanted to get rid of the heir and have
  her son named heir-apparent.
• She had her son-in-law accuse the heir and his
  fellow princes, together with the heirs
  brother-in-law (consort of Xuanzongs 3rd
  daughter) of plotting rebellion.

41
Consorts of Xuanzong Lady Wu (2)

• The emperor reduced the princes to commoner
  status and ordered them to commit suicide many
  relatives of the mothers and wives of the princes
  were sent into banishment.
• The position of heir-apparent was now available
  but Consort Wu died and her son, Li Mao, no
  longer was in favor.
• Li Yu, who was senior to Prince Mao was named
  heir in 738 and succeeded as Suzong in 756 --
  Xuanzongs eldest son was passed over as he did
  not have male heirs.
• After the death of Consort Wu, Xuanzong did not
  have a favorite until the early 740s when he
  became infatuated with the wife of his son, Li
  Mao.
• She was descended of the imperial family, Yang,
  and she was given the title of Noble Consort ????
• She was later strangled to appease the troops
  during the Anlu Shan Rebellion.

42
The Turks, the Uyghurs/Uighurs,and China

• Barfield, Thomas, The Perilous Frontier, Ch 4
  pp131-163 OR
• Sinor, Denis, Sending princesses to nomads,
  Uyghur Empire in Studies in Medieval Inner Asia,
  Part V, pp18-1 OR
• Sinor, Deni, Inner Asia, a Syllabus, Ch. 13-14
  OR
• Drompp, Michael, The Uyghur Chinese Conflict of
  840-848, in Di Cosmo, Nicola, Warfare in Inner
  Asian History (500-1800), pp73-96.