An Lushan
General and Rebel Leader
Biography
Of Sogdian and Turkic ancestry, An Lushan gained the favor of Emperor Xuanzong and Yang Guifei through cunning and flattery. He eventually became the only person in Tang history to simultaneously control three major military circuits: Fanyang, Hedong, and Pinglu.
Commanding these three regions meant he held nearly 200,000 elite border troopsโroughly 40% of the entire empire's military forceโwhich allowed him to pose a direct threat to the central government.
In late 755 AD, he declared rebellion and marched south from Fanyang, capturing both Luoyang and the capital Chang'an.
In his later years, An Lushan's physical and mental health deteriorated rapidly. He suffered from extreme obesity and diabetes, which eventually led to total blindness and painful skin ulcers. These ailments made him psychotically irritable; he would frequently order the execution of his servants for the slightest mistake in dressing or feeding him. This reign of terror extended even to his own family. When he began to favor a younger son born to a favorite consort and threatened the inheritance and life of his eldest son An Qingxu, the latter realized he had to act. In early 757 AD, An Qingxu conspired with the eunuch Li Ting'er. They entered An Lushan's tent while he was asleep and stabbed him. Due to his immense weight, An Lushan was unable to even rise from his bed to defend himself, dying a lonely and brutal death at the hands of his own son.