The an Shi Rebellion: 36 Million Casualties

The An Shi Rebellion, also referred to as the Tianbao Revolution, derives its name from the leader of the rebellion, An Lushan. The rebellion was part of a greater revolt that ensued during the Tang Dynasty, and particularly between the years of 755 and 763. This little-known rebellion had the second greatest amount of casualties (second only after World War II) during any single war, with an estimated 36 million civilian deaths, over 2/3 the population of China at that time. Civilian deaths do, however, take into account other factors such as disease and famine, and those factors are included within the figure. The An Shi Rebellion was the last period where the Tang Dynasty could be considered active rulers of the kingdom. While their dynasty certainly may have spanned over a longer time frame, in reality, the kingdom was ruled by rebels.

An Lushan, the man attributed to being the leader of the renowned rebellion, was a general that was chosen to be the commander of the northern region of China, that encompasses three main provinces: Pinglu, Fanyang, and Hedong. An Lushan, being an intelligent military strategist, recognized that the Tang rulers and their dynasty were crumbling, and as such planned a military coup using the soldiers at his disposal (an estimated 160,000 troops). Though An Lushan had an underlying plan in which he intended to seize power from the emperor, he did not give the emperor any reason to suspect such a plan, by being obedient and courteous to him. The rebellion began in 755, as Lushan and his troops moved parallel with the Grand Canal and seized the city of Luoyang. When Lushan captured the city, he then declared himself the "new emperor" of the Yan dynasty, and thus the emperor began full-fledged warfare against him. The army that was loyal to the emperor was slaughtered by Lushan's private army, on multiple occasions. While this war was occurring, An Lushan had a vengeance against the Chief Minister of the emperor, Yang Guozhong, and he ordered the assassination of him and his cousin, known as Lady Yang. Hoping to end the violence, emperor Xuanzhong gave up his emperorship, and Suzong, son of Xuanzhong, was named emperor of the dynasty.

Suzong had an inept military mind, and appointed two new generals to command his army: Guo Ziyi and Li Guangbi. Under the leadership of these two generals, the imperial army was able to recapture the cities of Changan and Luoyang. Shortly after Suzong became empire, in the "dual empire", An Lushan was assassinated by his son, An Qingxu. After this initial assassination, many more assassinations occurred, and the leadership of the new dynasty was not clearly defined. As a response to the lack of leadership, the new empire crumbled and the rebellion ended after a span of 8 years, and the reigns of three emperors in the Tang dynasty.