Editing An Qingzong

{{Era|Individuals}}
{{Quote|For me to root out corrupt officials in Chang'an, what crime was there?! And for my son, what crime was there?!|An Lushan grieving for his son's death, 755|Assassin's Creed: Dynasty|Golden Turtles (Part 1)}}
An Qingzong (安慶宗; died 755) was the eldest son of the Turkic ''[[jiedushi]]'' [[An Lushan]]. He lived and worked in the [[Tang dynasty|Tang]] capital of [[Chang'an]] as a [[scholar]]. In 755, when his father [[An Lushan Rebellion|revolted]] against the Tang, he was promptly arrested and executed by the government as punishment for his father's crimes despite having had no complicity in it.

==Biography==
When An Qingzong was born, his father An Lushan, not yet a military commander, was still working to make ends meet at a market 500 ''{{wiki|li (unit)|li}}'' away from home. On that day, Lushan refrained from hurrying home because he could not help but stay a while longer in hopes of earning a little more money. As a result, Lushan was not present when Qingzong was born, and he would later regret that he was not the first to carry him in his arms.<ref name="Dynasty 17">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Golden Turtles (Part 1)]]</ref>

The absence of his father would be a constant throughout Qingzong's life. Lushan was not around when he spoke his first words, rode a [[horse]] for the first time, grew his first facial hair, nor even when he first began his education and learned archery. Qingzong was accomplished in his academic studies, and as an adult, he found employment with the government in the capital city of Chang'an.<ref name="Dynasty 17" />

In the prelude to his father's rebellion in 755, [[Li Longji|Emperor Xuanzong]] offered the hand of a commandery princess, Princess Rongyi (榮義郡主), to Qingzong in marriage. By then, rumours of Lushan's impending treason was rapidly rising in tempo, and the Emperor sought to use the pretext of a wedding to once again summon Lushan to the capital. The ''jiedushi'' declined with false excuses as by that point he was already finalizing his preparations and amassing his army.<ref name="Special 1">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Flower Banquet (Special)]]</ref>

On the 9th day of the 11th month of Tianbao year 14 (755),<ref name="Dynasty 10">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Beacon Fire (Part 3)]]</ref> An Lushan officially announced his declaration of war and marched from his base of [[Beijing|Fanyang]]<ref name="Dynasty 10" /> with at least 150,000 soldiers.<ref name="Dynasty 12">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Beacon Fire (Part 5)]]</ref> News of the rebellion reached the ears of the Emperor six days later.<ref name="Dynasty timeline">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Record of Major Events in Tianbao Year 14]]</ref> Qingzong, still residing in the capital at the time, was utterly vulnerable to government reprisals.<ref name="Dynasty 16">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[Beacon Fire (Part 9)]]</ref> The outraged court reacted to his father's treason by swiftly arresting Qingzong and executing him on the basis of {{wiki|collective responsibility|collective guilt}}.<ref name="Dynasty 17" /><ref name="Dynasty 16" />

On the 5th day of the 12th month, An Lushan received news of his eldest son's fate at his military camp just as his army was capturing [[Chenliu]]. Lushan grieved bitterly for Qingzong, bemoaning how he had not only been absent at his birth, his upbringing, and his wedding, but now in the end had been absent at his death. With the enemy commander [[Zhang Jieran]] brought captive before him, Lushan vented his wrath by brutally cutting him down on the spot. He insisted that not only had his son been innocent but that he himself was also innocent because his professed goal had been to save the Tang by killing the corrupt chancellor [[Yang Guozhong]].<ref name="Dynasty 17" /><ref name="Dynasty 10" />Overtaken by madness, he then issued the order to have the whole of Chenliu's surrendered defence garrison massacred,<ref name="Dynasty 17" /> a slaughter that extended to its residents as well.<ref name="Dynasty 18">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – ''[[Golden Turtles (Part 2)]]</ref> The dead amounted to the tens of thousands,<ref name="Dynasty 18" /> and the rivers ran red with blood.<ref name="Dynasty timeline" /> From that moment on, Lushan's atrocities escalated dramatically.<ref name="Dynasty 18" />

==Personality and traits==
{{Quote|He was a perfect son. Eventually, he was supposed to inherit my everything... everything.|An Lushan, 755|Assassin's Creed: Dynasty|Golden Turtles (Part 1)}}
In stark contrast to his illiterate father,<ref name="Dynasty 7">''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' – [[The Flower Banquet (Part 7)]]</ref> An Qingzong was regarded as culturally refined and scholarly. Ironically, this led An Lushan to be exceedingly proud of him, favouring him above his younger brother [[An Qingxu]], who Lushan considered a mirror image of himself and all his defects. Qingzong's academic excellence and career advancement inculcated him from condescension by the elitist officials and scholars of the capital, which Lushan had constantly been subjected to whenever he was at court. Indeed, Qingzong so matched Lushan's ideal vision that he even pronounced him "a perfect son", and he prayed for him everyday despite rarely being together with him throughout his life.<ref name="Dynasty 17" />

==Appearances==
*''[[Assassin's Creed: Dynasty]]'' {{Mo}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{ACD}}
[[Category:755 deaths]]
[[Category:Individuals]]
[[Category:Ethnic Turks]]
[[Category:Chinese]]