An Lushan Rebellion

(noun)

A devastating rebellion against the Tang dynasty of China that began on December 16, 755, when general An Lushan declared himself emperor in Northern China, thus establishing a rival Yan dynasty, and ended when the Yan fell on February 17, 763.

Related Terms

Examples of An Lushan Rebellion in the following topics:

  • Decline of the Tang Dynasty

    • After the difficult suppression of the An Lushan Rebellion, the jiedushi increased their powers and accelerated the disintegration of the Tang dynasty.
    • The Tang dynasty, established in 618 CE, after experiencing its golden age entered its long decline, beginning with the An Lushan Rebellion by Sogdian general An Lushan.
    • The An Lushan Rebellion and its aftermath greatly weakened the centralized bureaucracy of the Tang dynasty, especially in regards to its perimeters.
    • In addition to being politically and economically detrimental to the empire, the An Lushan Rebellion also affected the intellectual culture of the Tang dynasty.
    • In addition to natural calamities and jiedushi amassing autonomous control, the Huang Chao Rebellion (874–884) resulted in the sacking of both Chang'an and Luoyang, and took an entire decade to suppress.

  • Trade Under the Tang Dynasty

    • When the An Lushan Rebellion ended in 763, the Tang Empire had once again lost control over its western lands, as the Tibetan Empire largely cut off China's direct access to the Silk Road.
    • An internal rebellion in 848 ousted the Tibetan rulers, and Tang China regained its northwestern prefectures from Tibet in 851.
    • Horses became a significant symbol of prosperity and power as well as an instrument of military and diplomatic policy.
    • During the An Lushan Rebellion Arab and Persian pirates burned and looted Guangzhou in 758, and foreigners were massacred at Yangzhou in 760.
    • Huang's rebellion was eventually suppressed in 884.

  • Rise of the Tang Dynasty

    • The Tang dynasty (Chinese: 唐朝) was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.
    • Its territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty, and the Tang capital at Chang'an (present-day Xi'an) was the most populous city in the world.
    • The Tang dynasty was largely a period of progress and stability in the first half of its rule, followed by the An Lushan Rebellion and the decline of central authority in the later half of the dynasty.
    • Li Yuan rose in rebellion in 617, along with his son and his equally militant daughter Princess Pingyang, who raised and commanded her own troops.
    • This policy ultimately created the conditions for a massive rebellion against Xuanzong.

  • The Porfiriato

    • The Plan was supported by a number of local rebellions throughout the country, but ultimately the rebellion failed.
    • Over time, opposition to Lerdo’s presidency grew as anticlerical sentiment and labor unrest increased, and Diaz saw another opportunity to plot a more successful rebellion.
    • Lerdo was re-elected in July 1876, but continued rebellion and political unrest before and after the election forced Lerdo out of office.
    • On February 17, 1908, Diaz gave an interview with an American journalist, James Creelman of Pearson’s Magazine, in which he stated that Mexico was ready for democracy and elections.
    • He chose Francisco Madero, an aristocratic but democratically leaning reformer.

  • Fall of the Ming Dynasty

    • In the 1630s, a string of one thousand copper coins was worth an ounce of silver; by 1640 this was reduced to the value of half an ounce; by 1643 it was worth roughly one-third of an ounce.
    • For peasants this was an economic disaster, since they paid taxes in silver while conducting local trade and selling their crops with copper coins.
    • The famine and drought in late 1620s and 1630s contributed to the rebellions that broke out in Shaanxi led by rebel leader such as Li Zicheng and Zhang Xianzhong.
    • At the same time, the Ming dynasty was fighting for its survival against fiscal turmoil and peasant rebellions.
    • Contributing further to the chaos was a peasant rebellion in Beijing in 1644 and a series of weak emperors.

  • The Fall of the Han and the Three Kingdoms Period

    • In 184 CE, two major Daoist rebellions—the Yellow Turban Rebellion and the Five Pecks of Rice Rebellion—broke out.
    • In order to fight these rebellions Emperor Ling gave military commanders control over their own provinces, but this gave way to a long power struggle.
    • Shu chancellor Zhuge Liang invented the wooden ox, suggested to be an early form of the wheelbarrow, and improved on the repeating crossbow.

  • Peter the Great

    • With the state now fully sanctioning serfdom, peasant rebellions  were endemic.
    • From an early age, Peter's education (commissioned by his father, Tsar Alexis I) was put in the hands of several tutors.
    • For seven years, she ruled as an autocrat.
    • Peter's visit was cut short in 1698, when he was forced to rush home by a rebellion of the Streltsy.
    • The rebellion was easily crushed but Peter acted ruthlessly towards the mutineers.

  • Rise of the Ming Dynasty

    • The civil service dominated government to an unprecedented degree at this time.
    • Consequently, agriculture and the economy were in shambles and rebellion broke out among the hundreds of thousands of peasants called upon to work on repairing the dikes of the Yellow River.
    • The monastery where Zhu lived was eventually destroyed by an army that was suppressing a local rebellion.
    • In 1352, Zhu joined one of the many insurgent forces that had risen in rebellion against the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty.
    • This included a building of schools at all levels and an increased study of the classics as well as books on morality.

  • Decline of the Gupta Empire

    • The Pushyamitras, a tribe of central India, rose up in rebellion against Kumaragupta, while Gupta territories were invaded by the Western Huna people, also known as White Huns.
    • Skandagupta, who was celebrated as a great warrior for his victorious clashes with the Huns during his father’s reign, defeated several rebellions and external threats from the Huna people, notably an invasion in 455 CE.

  • Effects of the Persian Wars

    • As a result of the allied Greek success, a large contingent of the Persian fleet was destroyed and all Persian garrisons were expelled from Europe, marking an end of Persia’s advance westward into the continent.
    • Following the two Persian invasions of Greece, and during the Greek counterattacks that commenced after the Battles of Plataea and Mycale, Athens enrolled all island and some mainland city-states into an alliance called the Delian League, the purpose of which was to pursue conflict with the Persian Empire, prepare for future invasions, and organize a means of dividing the spoils of war.
    • A series of rebellions occurred between Athens and the smaller city-states that were members of the League.
    • According to Thucydides, the siege of Thasos marked the transformation of the League from an alliance into a hegemony.
    • Following their defeats at the hands of the Greeks, and plagued by internal rebellions that hindered their ability to fight foreign enemies, the Persians adopted a policy of divide-and-rule.