The Tang Dynasty lasted a total of 289 years from the founding of the country in 618 AD to its demise in 907 AD. After 20 emperors, it was recognized as the heyday of the Chinese feudal dynasty.The Tang Dynasty made brilliant achievements in culture, politics, economy and diplomacy. The neighboring countries in East Asia at that time, including Silla, Balhae and Japan, were all deeply influenced by the Tang Dynasty in terms of political system and culture.Historian Huang Renyu believes that the Tang Dynasty, together with the Song Dynasty, is the period of China's Second Empire after the Qin and Han Dynasties.When the national power of the Tang Dynasty was at its peak, even the Roman Empire could not hold a candle to it.And Tang Empire surpassed the Roman Empire, obviously, it was not just a simple national strength.After the fall of the Roman Empire, there was no more Rome.After the fall of the Tang Empire, China was still there, and then there were dynasties such as the Song Dynasty and the Yuan Dynasty.Obviously, this can lead us to pay more attention and think about the Tang Dynasty.

The peak of the Tang Dynasty's prosperity was realized in the hands of Tang Xuanzong, which is the famous scene of "the prosperity of Kaiyuan" in history. "At the beginning of the Kaiyuan period, Shangli was motivated to rationalize Taoism and eradicate corruption. In less than six or seven years, the world was in great order, the rivers were clear and the sea was clean, and the things were prosperous. In Yuli, the taxation of Hehuang. There are treasuries on the left and right, and there are mountains of wealth, which are incomparable. The four directions are rich, the people are wealthy, and there are more than ten million households. A bucket of rice is three or four coins. The young and strong people do not know weapons. If you don't pick up lost things on the road, you don't collect food when you travel."Hundreds of officials have their own duties, and all things have their own rituals. Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty came to the court every day to judge right and wrong, as smooth as flowing water.

However, the good times didn't last long.During the Tianbao period, the virtues of the emperor disappeared and the government changed. The prime minister's monopoly power harmed the country, and the border general harbored evil intentions.In 755 AD, the Anshi Rebellion broke out and lasted for 8 years.The political and economic situation of the Tang Dynasty took a sudden turn for the worse, and it never recovered.Tang Xuanzong thus became the famous "half bright and half dark" (Mao Zedong) emperor in history.In the early period of his reign, the society showed an unprecedented prosperity; in the later period of his reign, a social turmoil rarely seen in history led to the Tang Dynasty turning from prosperity to decline.Tang Xuanzong fully demonstrated the complexity of a historical figure.

The Anshi Rebellion broke out. "After the rise of the army, the counties opened armory warehouses. The equipment was rotten and could not be held. The soldiers all held white sticks. It is said that although the world is safe, if you forget the battle, you will be in danger."An Lushan led his troops to march southward, "the prefectures and counties they passed, the hope collapsed", and the rebels felt as if they had entered the land of no one for a while.Immediately, Tongguan fell, the two capitals fell quickly, and the entire Tang Dynasty fell into great chaos.The coming of great turmoil is destined to change the lives of many people.The changes of people in the historical trend and the role of people in the historical chess game are particularly obvious in this year.For example, if it wasn't for Yang Guozhong's constant pressure, An Lushan might not have the real will to rebel; if it wasn't for the Tang general Zhang Xun who defended Suiyang to the death, strangled the city and put the world in peace, and even paid the price of cannibalism, Jianghuai It must fall into the hands of the rebels.If either of these two assumptions is established, history will inevitably be rewritten, and there must be two completely different trends.

After the Anshi Rebellion, the local vassals and towns were separated, the eunuchs in the inner court monopolized power, cronies in the court and China fought, and the frontiers reported endlessly.Tang Xianzong revived the imperial power, weakened the vassals and towns, and there was a short-lived "Zhongxing".However, in the complicated contradictions, the army of feudal towns and towns could drive the court into exile, and eunuchs could abolish the emperor by taking power, and the powerful Tang Empire could not regain its glory.Since Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty, the situation of "nine destructions of the state and eight sufferings of the people" has intensified, and the people's resistance and struggles have continued one after another, and the Tang Dynasty has entered a desperate situation of existence in name only.The festival towns in various places merged with each other, forming a new partition pattern, and the Tang Dynasty was finally replaced by Houliang.

It can be said that AD 755 is an extremely critical year in history.This year became the turning point of the Tang Dynasty from its peak to its decline, and thus also the turning point of China's destiny.Since the Anshi Rebellion, in terms of the glory of the overall culture, governance and education, China has begun a long-term decline.Although the subsequent dynasties had short-term martial arts prosperity or territorial expansion, they were incomparable with the prosperous Tang Dynasty. This period of history of the rise and fall of chaos has always been valued by later generations.However, so far, due to the influence of folk operas and novels, the evaluation of historical figures in this period by later generations tends to be facial, simplistic and one-size-fits-all. For "traitor".In fact, during the Kaiyuan and Tianbao years, the roles and behaviors of those who had an impact on the current situation were different.Posterity's evaluation of these characters can include loyalty, evil, good and evil, right and wrong, but in the political behavior of these characters, some of them cannot be controlled by their personal consciousness and cannot be achieved by personal power. determined by the situation and environment.This is the complexity shown by historical figures in the historical background.Therefore, the rapid decline of the prosperous Tang Dynasty was not the responsibility of one or two people, nor could it be recovered by one or two people.In the trend of history, inevitability and contingency, as well as the relationship between them, are never absolute.Human beings are the main body of history, and if we look at historical figures comprehensively and comprehensively, we can explore the essence of history through intricate superficial phenomena.

This book takes historical figures as the core, and selects three representative types of people: one is people who directly guide and change the direction of history, such as Tang Xuanzong, An Lushan, etc.; the other is that the choice of characters will partially affect history The other type is people who are completely dominated by the trend of history, such as the great poets Li Bai, Wang Wei, etc.Through the fate of these three types of people under the historical background of the Anshi Rebellion, it comprehensively and meticulously shows the appearance of all living beings in the turmoil.

This book is divided into two parts, choosing the background of the Anshi Rebellion, taking the fate of the characters as the main line, telling the cause and effect of the Anshi Rebellion, and the evolution of the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to prosperity and then to decline.Through detailed and appropriate descriptions, the important historical figures and major historical events have been carefully analyzed, and strive to organically combine the characters, events, backgrounds, social climate, etc., to reflect the glorious history of ancient China in flesh and blood. The source of the ups and downs of historical eras.

Wu Wei October 2006 in Beijing