User:Sol Pacificus/An Lushan Rebellion timeline

The Old Book of Tang

754

January 28:

• Party at Huaqing Palace.

February 5:

• Emperor Xuanzong grants lavish favours on An Lushan, giving him the final, sweeping powers he needs for his rebellion.

March 29:

• An Lushan returns to Fanyang.

December 18:

• An Lushan rebels at Fanyang with the slogan "Slay Guozhong!". He first attacks Boling Commandery and kills the mayor of Taiyuan Yang Guanghui.

756

January 7:

• An Lushan crosses the Yellow River at Lingchang Commandery (靈昌郡).

January 12:

• Chenliu falls to An Lushan. Zhang Jieran is killed.

January 15:

• Xingyang falls to An Lushan. Grand Protector Cui Wubi (崔無詖) is killed.

January 17:

• Feng Changqing engages An Lushan at the Battle of Si River but is defeated.

January 18:

• Fall of Luoyang. An Lushan kills vice regent Li Cheng (李憕). At this point, Gao Xianzhi retreats with his forces to Tong Pass.
• Sometime between this date and January 22, Grand Protector Yan Gaoqing of Changshan kills Lushan's generals Li Qincou, He Qiannian, and Gao Miao with the help of the chief secretaries Yuan Lüqian (袁履謙) and Jia Shen (賈深).

January 27:

• Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing are executed at Tong Pass. Geshu Han is appointed Marshal of the Crown Prince's Vanguard Cavalry (太子先鋒兵馬元帥) and dispatched to take over the defence of Tong Pass.

January 28:

• Alternative date for Yan Gaoqing killing Li Qincou, He Qiannian, and Gao Miao according to his biographical entry. It is recorded that Yuan Lüqian (袁履謙), Feng Qian (馮虔), Li Qimo (李棲默), and Zhai Wande (翟萬德) invited Li Qincou for a feast and assassinated him after they got him drunk. They then lured Gao Miao to Pucheng (蒲城), and Cui Anshi (崔安石) kills him in an ambush the next morning. They repeat the same tactic with He Qiannian, who falls into another ambush conducted by Feng Qian and Zhai Wande. Note that this was Month 12, Day 22 in the Chinese calendar, which may have given rise to the mistake in Dynasty that this event occurred on December 22, at the winter solstice.

February 5:

• An Lushan proclaims himself Emperor of the Yan.

February 12:

• The rebel general Cai Xide (蔡希德), a subordinate of Shi Siming, captures Changshan and sacks the city. He captures Yan Gaoqing and the senior secretary Yuan Lüqian.

February 15:

• An Qingxu attacks Tong Pass but is driven back by Geshu Han.

March 7:

• Tang generals Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi advance on Shi Siming's forces and deal him a great defeat.

July 9:

• Tang general Geshu Han suffers a major defeat in battle against Yan general Cui Qianyou (崔乾祐) near Tong Pass.
• Yan general Shi Siming suffers a major defeat in battle against Tang generals Li Guangbi and Guo Ziyi near Changshan.

July 10:

• Geshu Han returns to Tong Pass. It falls to Yan forces alongside several nearby commanderies.

July 13:

• Mass panic in Chang'an. People flee the capital in droves.

July 14:

• At dawn, Emperor Xuanzong leaves Chang'an with a royal entourage of many imperial kin and the highest officials, among them Yang Guozhong and Gao Lishi.
• Around 5:00 am to 7:00 am, they arrive hungry at Wangxian Palace to find it abandoned. Eventually, peasants along the way help feed them.

July 15:

• The entourage arrives at Mawei Station. General Chen Xuanli of the Army of Dragon Warriors instigates a coup d'état against Yang Guozhong blaming him for their catastrophes, citing as well the enemy's slogan "Slay Guozhong!" Guozhong is killed by the army, and under pressure, Emperor Xuanzong orders Gao Lishi to hang his favourite concubine Yang Guifei as well.

July 16:

• The common people urge the Emperor Xuanzong to leave behind Crown Prince Li Heng to lead a counter-attack against An Lushan.

August 12:

• At Lingwu, the imperial army proclaims Li Heng the new Tang emperor (later posthumously named Suzong).

757

January 30:

• An Lushan is assassinated by his son An Qingxu.

The New Book of Tang

755

November 12:

• An Lushan meets Emperor Xuanzong at Huaqing Palace.

Between December 8 and December 24:

• An Lushan rebels in Fanyang.

756

January 8:

• An Lushan captures Lingchang Commandery.

January 12:

• An Lushan captures Chenliu. He executes Zhang Jieran.

January 14:

• An Lushan captures Xingyang.

January 18:

• Fall of Luoyang

January 20:

• Grand Protector Yan Gaoqing kills He Qiannian and a number of other Yeluohe officers.

January 24:

• Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing are wrongfully executed while defending Tong Pass. Geshu Han takes command.

February 12:

• Fall of Changshan. Yao Gaoqing is captured.

February 15:

• An Qingxu is defeated by Geshu Han in an engagement at Tong Pass.

July 10:

• Geshu Han is betrayed by an officer, and Tong Pass falls to An Lushan.

July 15:

• Emperor Xuanzong, while fleeing Chang'an, arrives at Wangxian Palace.

July 16:

• Mawei Station mutiny

July 18:

• Fall of Chang'an

September 10:

• Li Heng is declared emperor in Lingwu.

757

January 30:

• An Qingxu assassinates his father An Lushan.

A Comprehensive Reflection on Governance

754

February 5:

• Emperor Xuanzong promotes An Lushan as Left Deputy to the Secretary of State Affairs (尚書左僕射).

February 20:

• Emperor Xuanzong grants An Lushan's wish to be made Commissary Herdsman of the Imperial Stables (廄群牧使), giving him remote control over the Tang's best horses.

March 21:

• Emperor Xuanzong grants An Lushan's wish to promote more than 500 of his officers to the rank general and bestow more than 2000 with the title of guard captain (中郎將).

March 29:

• An Lushan returns to Fanyang.

December 16:

• An Lushan rebels at Fanyang. This dates corresponds to Month 11, Day 9 in the Chinese calendar, which may have given rise to the error in Dynasty and other sources that An Lushan's rebellion began on November 9. Note that The Old Book of Tang dates this event to December 18 instead.

December 17:

• Taiyuan's vice regent Yang Guanghui marches east to stop An Lushan.

December 22:

• Emperor Xuanzong receives confirmation that An Lushan has rebelled.

December 26:

• An Lushan attacks Boling Commandery. Yang Guanghui is captured by He Qiannian.
• Between December 26 and January 8, An Lushan threatens Changshan. Yan Gaoqing is powerless to oppose him and feigns submission. An Lushan gifts him an imperial cloak. Gaoqing later consults his chief secretary Yuan Lüqian (袁履謙), who encourages him to secretly form a counter-rebellion force.

756

January 8:

• An Lushan crosses the Yellow River.

January 11:

• An Lushan receives news that his eldest son An Qingzong has been executed in Chang'an. In anger and grief, he executes Zhang Jieran, who had been overseeing the defence at Chenliu. He subsequently orders that the prisoners-of-war in Chenliu be massacred.

January 14:

• Xingyang falls to An Lushan.

January 18:

• Fall of Luoyang.

Between January 21 and January 27:

• Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing, the commanders in charge of the defence of Tong Pass, are wrongfully executed.

January 27:

• Yan Gaoqing invites Lushan's general Li Qincou to a feast at dusk. Yuan Lüqian, Feng Qian (馮虔), and co. successfully get Qincou and his men drunk and assassinate them.

January 28:

• Yan Gaoqing lures Gao Miao to the Changshan capital, and Feng Qian captures him. While approaching from the south, He Qiannian is ambushed by Cui Anshi (崔安石) and Zhai Wande (翟萬德) and captures him as well.

Between January 28 and February 5:

• Shi Siming attacks Boling and Changshan commanderies. His officer Cai Xide (蔡希德) manages to break into Changshan's capital, and Yan Gaoqing is captured.

February 5:

• An Lushan proclaims himself Emperor of the Great Yan.

Between February 5 and February 15:

• Yan Gaoqing is transported to Luoyang, where he and more than 30 members of his family are executed by An Lushan by a prototype form of lingchi.

February 15:

• An Qingxu attacks Tong Pass but is defeated by Geshu Han.

July 10:

• Fall of Tong Pass.

July 14:

• Emperor Xuanzong flees Chang'an at dawn with members of the imperial family and the highest officials and eunuchs, including Yang Guozhong.

July 15:

• The court arrives at Mawei Station, where Chen Xuanli instigates a mutiny against Yang Guozhong. His soldiers butcher his body and massacre his family along with other officials. Afterwards, he pressures the Emperor to kill Yang Guifei as well. The Emperor relents under Gao Lishi's advice, and Gao Lishi hangs her at a nearby temple. Afterward, her body is displayed to Chen Xuanli to placate him.

757

January 30:

• An Qingxu assassinates An Lushan in fear for his life.

唐朝大變局

755

November 9:

• An Lushan rebels at Fanyang and creates the Yeluohe.

Assassin's Creed: Dynasty

In Chinese, months of the Gregorian calendar are only named "Month 1, Month 2, Month 3..." etc., precisely the same as months of the Chinese calendar. As a result, there can be ambiguity about which calendar a stated month is meant to refer to. This confusion is particularly pronounced in Assassin's Creed: Dynasty, where sometimes what would be historically accurate dates in the Chinese calendar are paired with a Gregorian calendar year.

The best example is the dating of Yao Gaoqing's operation to assassinate Yeluohe generals Gao Miao, Li Qincou, and He Qiannian at Tumen Pass. Both the chapter where this is depicted gives a date of "Month 12, Day 22". As this is the same date given for the operation in The Old Book of Tang and A Comprehensive Reflection on Governance, it would have suggested that all dates in the manhua followed the Chinese calendar. But in the same chapter, Yan Gaoqing happens to mention that it is the winter solstice, which would instead indicate that 12/22 means December 22 of the Gregorian calendar since 12/22 of that year in the Chinese calendar fell on January 28 and not the solstice.

In general, the author of the manhua appears to have mixed up which calendar his dates are following, and they become increasingly muddled the further along the story. To simplify, I decided to treat dates given in the chapters as following the Chinese calendar with the mistake being Yan Gaoqing's reference to the winter solstice, as opposed to vice versa, because these dates are often paired with years of the Chinese calendar and because they better align with the historical dates.

754

Spring:

• The annual Flower Banquet takes place.

755

December 16:

• An Lushan creates the Yeluohe and rebels at Fanyang.

December 22:

• The imperial court receives news that An Lushan has rebelled.

December 26:

• An Lushan sacks Julu, kills Yang Guanghui, and threatens Changshan.

756

January 8:

• An Lushan crosses the Yellow River at Lingchang Commandery.

January 11:

• Chenliu falls to An Lushan. He executes Zhang Jieran and massacres all prisoners-of-war after receiving news that his eldest son An Qingzong has been executed in Chang'an.

January 14:

• Xingyang falls to An Lushan.

January 18:

• Luoyang falls to An Lushan.

January 19:

• Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing fend off an attack on Tong Pass by Sun Xiaozhe.

January 28:

• Yan Gaoqing, Yan Jiming, and Li E assassinate Gao Miao, Li Qincou, and He Qiannian at Tumen Pass.

February 3:

• Gao Xianzhi and Feng Changqing are wrongfully executed under the auspices of Bian Lingcheng.

"Tianbao 14 (755 CE), end of the year" or the first month of 756

• An Lushan declares himself Emperor of the Great Yan.
• Shi Siming attacks Changshan.
• Wang Chengye captures Li E.

February 12:

• Fall of Changshan.

July 10:

• Tong Pass falls.

July 14:

• The imperial court flees Chang'an at dawn.
• In the morning, they arrive at Wangxian Palace to find it abandoned with not a single grain of rice left for them.
• At noon, local villager enthusiastically offer food to them.

July 15:

• The Mawei Station mutiny. Li E and his new squad of future Assassins slaughter the Golden Turtles' leadership, except for Yang Guozhong, who is killed by mutinous Tang soldiers, and Gao Lishi, who anticipates the assassination and avoids it. Lishi strangles Yang Guifei to death.

"Year 756 CE, Month 7, Day 17, Jiawu"

• Sack of Chang'an

• The date given here is incoherent. It is unclear if the month and day given are in the Gregorian calendar or Chinese calendar as the author has a bad habit of mixing Chinese calendar dates with Gregorian years. However, neither July 17, 756 nor Month 7, Day 17 of Tianbao Year 15 (the year mostly falling in 756) were the day of Jiawu (甲午).

757

"Zhide (至德) Year 2, the year Dingyou (丁酉), Month 1"

• Li E assassinates An Lushan.

"In the same year, in the ninth month..."

• General Guo Ziyi recaptures Chang'an.

"In the same year, in the tenth month..."

• The Tang army recaptures Luoyang.