Biography
Family Background and Early Years
The source states that An Lushan originally had no surname and was named Yaluoshan. He was born on the first day of the first month of 703. His mother, Lady Ashide, was described as a Turkic shaman who practiced divination. The source explains his early name as a Turkic word connected with battle. His father died when he was young, and he lived among Turkic groups with his mother. An Yanyan, elder brother of the general An Bozhi, later married her.
Early in the Kaiyuan era, An Lushan and a son of the general An Daomai fled from the Turkic community. An Zhenjie, second son of An Daomai and vice prefect of Lanzhou, brought them back. When An Lushan reached his teens, he became ashamed of living with his elder brother and stepfather An Yanyan and entered sworn brotherhood with An Sishun and others, taking the surname An. As an adult he knew six languages and worked as a market broker negotiating prices between merchants.
The source preserves a scholarly debate over An Lushan’s ethnic origins. Takao Moriyasu, drawing on ancient Central Asian documents, argued that both Kang, said to be his original surname, and An, his later surname, were Chinese surnames used by Sogdians. W. B. Henning proposed that Lushan or Luoshan reflected the Sogdian name Rokhshan, meaning “bright.” Yoshida Yutaka likewise treated the name as a direct rendering of a Sogdian form, An Rokhshan. Kuwabara Jitsuzō, Edwin Pulleyblank, Xiang Da, Chen Yinke, Rong Xinjiang, and others have argued for Sogdian origins. Antonino Forte accepted the Sogdian derivation of the name but argued that An Bozhu and An Yanyan were Turkic and only assumed the surname An after attaching themselves to An Zhenjie, leading him to consider An Lushan Turkic. The Chinese source does not resolve this debate.
Rise to Power
In 732, Zhang Shougui became Military Commissioner of Youzhou. An Lushan was caught stealing sheep and was about to be beaten to death. He shouted: “Does the governor not wish to destroy the two barbarian peoples? Why kill me?” Zhang, struck by his bold words and imposing appearance, released him and ordered him to serve with his fellow townsman Shi Siming in capturing enemy personnel. Their success led to An Lushan’s promotion to junior command. Zhang often criticized An’s obesity, and because Zhang inspired fear, An restrained his eating. His bravery became famous, and Zhang adopted him as a son.
In 740 An Lushan became a senior military officer at Pinglu. He was described as clever and quick and was praised by many. The court appointed him Governor of Yingzhou and commander of the Pinglu forces. He gave rich gifts to officials passing through the region and asked them to speak well of him at court, which increased Emperor Xuanzong’s trust.
In 742, after a military commission was established at Pinglu, Xuanzong appointed An Lushan acting Censor-in-Chief and Military Commissioner of Pinglu. This allowed him to enter court and submit memorials directly, and the emperor’s favor deepened.
In 744, An Lushan replaced Pei Kuan as Military Commissioner of Fanyang while retaining Hebei inspection and Pinglu military duties. Officials including Zhang Lizhen and Xi Jianhou accepted gifts or praised him, while Pei Kuan and chief councilor Li Linfu also spoke favorably of him. Since these men were trusted by Xuanzong, the emperor’s confidence in An Lushan became stronger.
An Lushan later asked to become Yang Guifei’s adopted son. When entering the palace, he paid respects to Yang before the emperor. Asked why, he replied: “I am a Hu man; among Hu people the mother comes before the father.” Xuanzong was delighted and ordered members of the Yang family to treat An Lushan as a brother.
In 747, An was promoted to Censor-in-Chief. He frequently sent Liu Luogu to report palace affairs. An Lushan and Wang Hong both held high censorial rank. Although An was confident because of imperial favor, he was deeply intimidated by chief councilor Li Linfu. Li repeatedly anticipated his thoughts before he voiced them, and An came to regard him as almost supernaturally perceptive. Even in winter, An was said to sweat with fear in Li’s presence. Li addressed him warmly and An called him “Tenth Elder Brother.” After envoys returned from court, An’s first question was often what Li Linfu had said; favorable words delighted him, while even mild criticism caused panic.
In later years An Lushan became extremely obese, with the source claiming that his belly hung below his knees and that he weighed 330 jin. He needed to lift his body with his shoulders to walk, yet in front of Xuanzong he could perform the Sogdian whirl dance with remarkable speed. His residence was extremely lavish, with everyday containers made of gold and silver. The emperor’s favor toward him was conspicuous at court.
In 751, An went to court again and asked for the Hedong military commission, which Xuanzong granted. The source states that he had eleven sons. His eldest, An Qingzong, was Court of Imperial Stud director, and his second, An Qingxu, held a high diplomatic ceremonial office. An Qingzong married a daughter of the crown prince.
Preparations and Rebellion
An Lushan secretly prepared for rebellion. North of Fanyang he built Xiongwu City, outwardly as a defensive position but in practice as a depot for weapons and grain and as a stronghold. He accumulated 15,000 warhorses and comparable numbers of cattle and sheep. Holding the Pinglu, Fanyang, and Hedong military commissions simultaneously, he received imperial approval for virtually all his requests. He gathered Zhang Tongru, Li Tingjian, Ping Lie, Li Shiyu, Dugu Wensu, and others around him; Gao Shang handled written affairs; Liu Luogu remained in Chang’an as an intelligence agent; and trusted commanders including An Shouzhong, Li Guiren, Cai Xide, Niu Tingjie, Xiang Runke, Cui Qianyou, Yin Ziqi, He Qiannian, Wu Lingxun, Neng Yuanhao, Tian Chengsi, and Tian Qianzhen were selected from the army. Constant demands for donkeys, camels, warhorses, falcons, and hounds placed heavy burdens on the population.
Right chief councilor Yang Guozhong repeatedly told Xuanzong that An Lushan would rebel. In 753, the emperor sent the palace eunuch Fu Qiulin to investigate. Fu accepted An’s bribes and returned praising his loyalty. Yang then predicted that if summoned An would refuse to come, but An did appear when called. In the first month of 754, he visited Xuanzong at Huaqing Palace and tearfully said: “I am a man of foreign origin and do not know Chinese writing. Your Majesty promoted me beyond rank, and now Yang Guozhong wishes to kill me.” Xuanzong treated him with still greater favor and gave him further high office. An subsequently sought control over imperial stables and state pastures, placing trusted associates in key posts and selecting superior horses for his own use. On the first day of the third month he hurried from Chang’an back to Fanyang, covering three to four hundred li a day. The source states that by then anyone who accused An of plotting rebellion risked being angrily punished by Xuanzong and handed over to An himself.
In 755, Xuanzong summoned him again, but An claimed illness and did not attend. He also used illness as an excuse to avoid the wedding ceremony arranged for his eldest son An Qingzong.
In the eleventh month, An Lushan rose in rebellion at Fanyang, falsely claiming that he acted under Xuanzong’s orders to punish the “traitorous minister” Yang Guozhong. He led approximately 150,000 cavalry and infantry from multiple ethnic groups southward, marching at night and eating at dawn and advancing sixty li a day. Yan Zhuang became chief strategist, while Sun Xiaozhe, Gao Miao, and He Qiannian were leading figures. Because the realm had enjoyed long peace and few people had direct experience of war, the rebellion caused panic at court. The palace guard itself was poorly prepared, and the government had to open the imperial storehouses and use silks to recruit soldiers. Gao Xianzhi, Feng Changqing, and others were appointed to resist.
An Lushan imposed severe discipline, and the source describes his troops as men willing to fight to the death, with individual soldiers able to fight many opponents. Tang forces suffered repeated defeats.
Proclaiming Himself Emperor and Death
In the twelfth month, the rebel army crossed the Yellow River and reached Chenliu. Zhang Jieran, the Henan military commissioner, died after the city fell, and his severed head was sent north. When An Qingxu learned from a public notice that his elder brother An Qingzong had been executed, he wept and told An Lushan. An Lushan cried out in shock and anger and ordered surrendered government troops lining the road to kill one another; six or seven thousand were reportedly killed before he entered Chenliu. Governor Guo Na, who had initially resisted, then surrendered.
The rebels advanced to Xingyang. Governor Cui Wubi resisted and died when the city fell. At Yingzigu near Sishui, the Tang commander Li Fei Shouyu shot arrows from a crouching position and killed hundreds of rebels; one arrow struck An Lushan’s war chariot. An avoided the position and detoured south. When Li Fei Shouyu exhausted his arrows, he drowned himself. Officials in Luoyang broke the Heyang bridge to obstruct the advance, but An pressed forward.
Feng Changqing blocked roads with felled trees before retreating. An Lushan entered Luoyang, executed Jiang Qing and others, summoned Henan governor Daxi Xun, and put him to work. Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing withdrew toward Tong Pass, with panic and trampling causing casualties. Cui Qianyou was left to hold Shanzhou, while other local officials surrendered.
After occupying Luoyang and seeing its imposing palaces, An Lushan became determined to claim the imperial title. On the first day of the first month of the following year, he arranged for elders, Buddhist monks, and Daoist clergy in Luoyang to urge him to ascend. He proclaimed himself Emperor Xiongwu, established the state of Great Yan with Luoyang as capital, and adopted the Shengwu era.
In the fifth month, Tang forces assembled from Jingzhou, Xiangzhou, Qianzhong, and Lingnan under Lu Jiong fought the rebels near Ye County and were destroyed. In the sixth month, Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi defeated rebel forces at Jiashan east of Changshan, prompting more than ten Hebei prefectures under rebel control to return to the Tang. An Lushan became anxious and considered withdrawing to Fanyang. At this moment, however, Geshu Han led eighty thousand cavalry and infantry out of Tong Pass and was crushed west of Lingbao by Cui Qianyou. Geshu Han was captured and handed to the rebels. Tong Pass fell, the rebels entered Chang’an, and Emperor Xuanzong fled toward Sichuan.
In his later years An Lushan suffered severe eye disease and became nearly blind. His temperament changed and he frequently abused close attendants. Yan Zhuang, one of his most trusted advisers, was often beaten and came to resent him. On the fifth day of the first month of 757, An Qingxu feared that An Lushan might replace him with the younger son An Qingen. He conspired with Yan Zhuang, who persuaded the eunuch Li Zhuer to take part. Yan and Li entered An Lushan’s chamber at night while An Qingxu waited outside. Li struck An Lushan in the abdomen with a large blade. Unable to find the sword kept beside his bed, An shook the bedpost and shouted: “This must be the work of a household traitor!” His organs spilled onto the bed and he died. An Qingxu did not immediately announce his death, instead claiming that An Lushan had abdicated in his favor and had become Retired Emperor. After Shi Siming later killed An Qingxu and took the Yan throne, he posthumously honored An Lushan as Emperor Guanglie.