•
Brief: This article narrates the Huang Chao Rebellion, which shook the late Tang Dynasty. Starting from the decline of Tang after Emperor Xuanzong, it tells how salt smugglers Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao rose up against heavy taxes and tyranny. Huang Chao captured Chang’an, founded the Great Qi, but later lost support and was…
•
Brief: This article recounts the Sweet Dew Incident, a failed coup by Emperor Wenzong of Tang against powerful eunuchs. After a previous plot collapsed, the emperor plotted with Li Xun and Zheng Zhu, using a fake “sweet dew” omen to trap eunuchs. Eunuch leader Qiu Shiliang saw through the ruse, seized the emperor, and…
•
Brief: This article focuses on Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan, leaders of the Tang Dynasty’s Ancient Prose Movement. It covers their literary reform against flowery parallel prose, their close friendship, and their moral integrity. It also tells Han Yu’s bold protest against Buddhism that led to exile, Liu Zongyuan’s achievements in exile, and how…
•
Brief: This article tells the short-lived Yongzhen Reform under the mute Emperor Shunzong of Tang. After Emperor Dezong empowered corrupt eunuchs, the paralyzed Shunzong and his ministers launched bold reforms to end exploitation. However, eunuchs and warlords staged a coup, forcing abdication. The reform collapsed, exiling its leaders, yet it paved the way for…
•
In a previous article, we discussed how the author of Romance of the Three Kingdoms was unfair in his evaluation of the Yellow Turban Uprising. Writing from the standpoint of the landlord class, his perspective on the peasant uprising was inevitably biased.