An Lushan

Biography

Of mixed Sogdian and Turkic origin, An Lushan rose from the frontier as a soldier of enormous physical size and cunning charm. He flattered his way into the affection of the aged Emperor Xuanzong and his consort Yang Guifei — who reportedly adopted the grotesquely fat general as her 'son' — and was rewarded with command of three of the empire's most powerful military regions, controlling nearly 200,000 of its best troops. In 755, fearing the hostility of the chief minister Yang Guozhong (Yang Guifei's cousin) and grasping his own strength, he rebelled, marched south, took Luoyang, and proclaimed himself emperor of a new Yan dynasty. But his triumph curdled: growing obese, half-blind from illness, and murderously paranoid, he became a terror to his own household. In January 757 he was stabbed to death in his bed by his own son, An Qingxu — the first of the betrayals that would consume the rebellion he had unleashed.

Key Battles