Rebellions
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Rebellion of An Lushan (756-763)

An Lushan, a Turk, was the governor-general of a province. He was trusted by the Emperor and was also Lady Yang Keui-fei's favorite general. In fact, some rumors claimed that An Lushan was an adopted son of Lady Yang. Either way, An Lushan held a strong dislike towards Lady Yang's brother, and he also loathed the Emperor whom he thought was indolent. Both the Emperor and Keui-fei were appalled when An Lushan staged a rebellion that lasted for seven long years and two months. His rebellion caused the whole royal court to flee to Szechuan and brought about the death of many, including the death/murder/suicide of Lady Yang.

During their occupation of the capital Ch'ang-an, An Lushan made himself Emperor and renamed the dynasty Yen. Later on, after becoming blind with age, he was murdered by his own son in 757 AD, who was then murdered by his father's secondary man, General Shi Siming. In 761AD, Shi Siming was murdered by his son, Shi Zhaoyi, who was left in power until the rebellion was suppressed in 763 AD and Tang loyalists began to restore order.

This rebellion contributed to the beginning of the crumble of the Tang dynasty. Even though the government was restored, it had already become shaky and the rise of eunuchs began to threaten the Emperors of Tang.

Rebellion of Huang Chao (874-884)

The Rebellion of Huang Chao was the largest rebellion in Tang history. Up to six hundred thousand men were lead by Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi. This ten-year war wearied the Tang dynasty and eventually became the initiator of its downfall twenty-three years later.

In 907AD, the throne was taken by General Chao K'uang-yin, who had been trusted by the last Tang Emperor, Tang Ai Tsung, and viewed as a great soldier and scholar. The crown prince gave up his throne to the General and with that began the commencement of the Song dynasty.