The An Lushan Rebellion

In Our Time

BBC

History

4.6 • 9.2K Ratings

🗓️ 16 February 2012

⏱️ 43 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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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	Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know.
0:04.7	My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds.
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0:39.0	For more details about In Our Time and for our terms of use, please go to BBC.co. UK forward slash radio for. I hope you enjoy
0:46.5	the program. Hello in the 8th century a.D the largest and most powerful city in the world was Chang'an in eastern China.
0:56.0	This was the capital of the Tang Dynasty, the family that ruled an enormous and prosperous empire
1:01.0	during a period wildly regarded as a golden age for Chinese culture.
1:06.4	But in 755 the Tang Empire was brought to its knees by a bloody uprising which resulted
1:10.9	in the destruction of Chang'an and the overthrow of its emperor.
1:14.0	The leader of this insurrection was a powerful local leader and Lu Shan.
1:18.0	The rebellion he led lasted for eight years before it was eventually quashed.
1:22.0	The death toll was substantial and the Tang
1:24.4	Empire never recovered and these events left an imprint on Chinese culture which
1:28.8	remains today. We'd me to discuss the Anne-Nushan rebellion Rebellion of Francis Wood, lead curator of Chinese at the British Library,
1:36.3	Naimi Standen, professor of medieval history at the University of Birmingham,
1:40.2	and Hilda de Viert, fellow and lecturer in Chinese history at Pembroke College, Oxford.
1:45.3	Francis Wood, could you tell us something about the Tang Dynasty?
1:49.2	It lasted from 600 roughly to 900, 618 to 907.
	...

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