Tang dynasty · 755-763

The An Lushan Rebellion: the Tang shaken

In 755 a powerful frontier general turned his armies on the Tang emperor. Eight years of war followed. Students follow the rebels to the capitals and see how a dynasty can survive a disaster and still never be the same.

Teach it live New Open on the map
Length
50 minutes
Ages
12–15
On the map
3 steps, AD 755 to AD 800
Live lesson
7 rounds, 3 on the map
Worksheet
Two A4 pages, with Classroom
You need
A projector; phones for live

Live lesson · new in Classroom

Teach it live. The class answers on their phones.

Put the board on the projector. Students join with a six-digit code, no account needed, and tap the map: where was the frontier, where did the grain come from. Their pins drop in together when you reveal, and the closest student takes the round.

€19 per month: every lesson live, every worksheet, cancel anytime. Rome at its height runs live for free.

A live lesson on the projector: the class's pins on the map around Alexandria, the closest students listed beside it A student's phone: the question and a map to tap
7 rounds
3 places to find on the map, quiz questions, a class vote and a one-line answer.
About 15 minutes
Run it as the map step, or to open the discussion. You move on with the space bar.
A report
Every answer, per student and per round, to read back or print after the lesson.
1

Introduction

5 min

Read aloud

In 755 a powerful frontier general turned his armies on the Tang emperor. Eight years of war followed. Students follow the rebels to the capitals and see how a dynasty can survive a disaster and still never be the same.

By the end of the lesson, students can

  • Describe the main events of the An Lushan Rebellion from 755 to 763.
  • Explain why frontier generals had become so powerful by 755.
  • Name two long-term results of the rebellion for Tang China.
2

Explore the map

15 min

Project the map, or let students follow on their own devices. Each step opens the map at the right year and place.

a

AD 755

The rebel's base

Open the map in 755 and find the area of modern Beijing, where An Lushan commanded the northeastern frontier armies. Why was it dangerous to give one general so many soldiers so far from the capital?

Open this view on the map
b

AD 756

The road to the capital

Pan southwest along the Yellow River to Luoyang, then west to the Tongguan pass and Chang'an. The rebels took Luoyang in 755 and Chang'an in 756. Why was the pass so important?

Open this view on the map
c

AD 800

After the war

Drag the slider to 800 and zoom out. The Tang still rule China, but which empire now holds the Silk Road oases to the west?

Open this view on the map
3

Class discussion

15 min

Pick two or three. They run from what happened to why it mattered.

  1. An Lushan commanded huge frontier armies far from the capital. Why was that a risk for the emperor?
  2. The emperor's guards blamed his consort Yang Guifei and her family for the disaster and forced her death. Was it fair to blame her?
  3. The Tang asked Uyghur horsemen to help win back the capitals. What did that help cost them?
  4. The registered population fell from about 53 million to about 17 million. Historians disagree about what that means. What else besides deaths could explain it?
  5. The Tang survived more than 140 years after 763. Was the rebellion the beginning of the end?
4

Game round

10 min

Play Rule History as Wu Zetian, who ruled the Tang about 50 years before the rebellion. Let students take turns making rulings about armies and frontiers. Discuss: which of their choices would have made a rebellion like An Lushan's more likely, or less?

Open Rule History
5

Worksheet

5 min

This worksheet comes with Classroom

€19 per month unlocks every worksheet, every live lesson and the class workspace. The free lesson prints without a subscription.