Shi Siming
Rebel General; second Emperor of Yan
"The throne of Yan is not yet lost while I hold a sword."
Biography
An Lushan's old comrade from the frontier, of Turkic origin, Shi Siming was one of the ablest of the rebel commanders. When the rebellion faltered after An Lushan's murder and the weakness of his son An Qingxu, Shi Siming murdered An Qingxu, seized the Yan throne, and breathed new life into the rebel cause — retaking Luoyang and inflicting the humiliating defeat on the vast, divided Tang army at Xiangzhou in 759. Harsh, suspicious, and cruel, he ruled his followers by terror. It proved his undoing: in 761, planning to disinherit his eldest son Shi Chaoyi, he was murdered by that very son in a repetition of An Lushan's fate. His death fatally weakened the rebellion, which never recovered its momentum under the incompetent Shi Chaoyi.
Did you know?
He was the second of two rebel emperors murdered by their own sons — a grim pattern of patricide that ran through the entire history of the Yan rebellion.
Key Battles
The Battle of Xiangzhou (Siege of Yecheng)
Yan Rebels victoryMarch 759 · 100,000 total casualties
The debacle at Xiangzhou — a colossal army wrecked by the court's fatal distrust of its own generals — prolonged the war by years. It allowed the rebellion to revive under Shi Siming just as it had seemed near collapse.
The Rise and Fall of Shi Siming
Yan Rebels victory759 – 761 · 40,000 total casualties
The second cycle of patricide and usurpation among the rebels — Shi Siming killing An Qingxu, then being killed by his own son — showed that the Yan cause could revive militarily but was rotting from within, doomed by the same treachery that had created it.
Life Journey
Timeline
c. 703
🌅 Birth
Born on the north-eastern frontier
759
⚔️ Battle
Shatters the Tang army at Xiangzhou
April 761
✝️ Death
Murdered by his son Shi Chaoyi