The An Lushan Rebellion
In Our Time: History
BBC
4.5 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 16 February 2012
⏱️ 42 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Melvyn Bragg and his guests discuss the An Lushan Rebellion, a major uprising against the imperial rule of the Chinese Tang Dynasty. In 755 AD a senior general, An Lushan, orchestrated a plot against Emperor Xuanzong, taking the regime's capital city before declaring a rival dynasty in northern China. The rebellion lasted eight years but was eventually put down by Tang forces. Although the dynasty's authority was restored, it never regained the prosperity of previous generations. The An Lushan Rebellion displaced millions of people and killed many more. It changed the relationship between the Chinese state and neighbouring powers; but it also left a rich cultural legacy in the poetry memorialising this seismic event.With:Frances WoodLead Curator of Chinese at the British LibraryNaomi StandenProfessor of Medieval History at the University of BirminghamHilde de WeerdtFellow and Lecturer in Chinese History at Pembroke College, Oxford.Producer: Thomas Morris.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Thanks for downloading the in-artime podcast for more details about in-artime and for our terms of use |
| 0:05.4 | Please go to bbc.co.uk forward slash radio for I hope you enjoy the program |
| 0:12.4 | Hello in the 8th century AD the largest and most powerful city in the world was Chang'an in eastern China |
| 0:19.8 | This was the capital of the Tang dynasty the family that ruled an enormous and prosperous empire during period wildly regarded as a golden age for Chinese culture |
| 0:30.0 | But in 755 the Tang empire was brought to its knees by a bloody uprising which resulted in the destruction of Chang'an and the overthrow of its emperor |
| 0:37.6 | The leader of this insurrection was a powerful local leader An Lushan the rebellion he led lasted for eight years before it was eventually |
| 0:45.2 | Quashed the death toll was substantial and the Tang empire never recovered the knees events left an imprint on Chinese culture |
| 0:52.1 | Which remains today with me to discuss the An Lushan rebellion a Francis Wood lead curator of Chinese at the British Library |
| 1:00.0 | name is standon professor of medieval history at the University of Birmingham and hilded a viet fellow and lecturer in Chinese history at Pembroke College |
| 1:08.5 | Oxford Francis Wood could you tell us something about the Tang dynasty? |
| 1:12.7 | It lasted from |
| 1:15.0 | For for from 600 roughly to 900 six one eight to 907 |
| 1:19.9 | It was it followed a very short brief rather |
| 1:23.4 | Characterizes brutal dynasty which reestablished control over |
| 1:27.4 | China as we know it so the Tang dynasty ruled over China which was very much the same size as it is today |
| 1:33.0 | Minus the Central Asian provinces so a massive land area and the Tang was I think as you said |
| 1:41.3 | Chang'an the capital was really was the greatest city in the world at the time |
| 1:45.1 | It had a population of maybe up to two million |
| 1:47.9 | It was beautifully controlled the city itself had been carefully designed on traditional principles |
| 1:52.8 | divided by walls with markets in specific places |
| 1:55.9 | But filled not only with Chinese but also with foreigners |
| 1:59.5 | It was a magnet people from the surrounding |
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