An Sishun
An Sishun (安思順) (died April 6, 756, manufactured evidence that An Sishun was complicit in An Lushan's rebellion, and An Sishun was killed.
Background and flight to Tang territory
An Sishun's father's name might have been An Daomai (安道買) and appeared to be of Tujue extraction.[3] An Daomai's brother An Yanyan (安延偃) had married a sorceress, Lady Ashide, who already had a son named Galuoshan, whom An Yanyan adopted and renamed An Lushan. At some point, An Yanyan's tribe suffered a catastrophe, and An Lushan, An Sishun, and possibly An Yanyan, fled to Tang Dynasty territory. At that time, another son of An Daomai's, An Zhenjie (安貞節), was serving as advisor to the Tang prefect of Lan Prefecture (嵐州, in modern Lüliang, Shanxi), and so they settled with An Zhenjie.[4]
Career as general
As of 747, An Sishun was serving as the military governor (
In 751, after Emperor Xuanzong met with and was impressed by the ethnically Goguryeo general Gao Xianzhi, who was then military governor of Anxi Circuit (安西, headquartered in modern Aksu Prefecture, Xinjiang), he issued an order making Gao the military governor at Hexi. However, An encouraged the non-Han chieftains under his command to cut off their ears and lacerate their faces and request that Emperor Xuanzong allow An to remain at Hexi, and Emperor Xuanzong did so.
In 752, in the middle of a rebellion by the Tujue chieftain Li Xianzhong (李獻忠), the
Meanwhile, a rivalry had arisen between An Sishun and his cousin An Lushan, then the military governor of Fanyang Circuit (范陽, headquartered in modern
Death
At some point, An Sishun became aware that An Lushan, who also had a rivalry with chancellor
However, Geshu Han was still inimical to An Sishun, and soon was put in command of the forces against An Lushan. In 756, Geshu forged a letter from An Lushan to An Sishun, and then had the messenger captured at a pass. He presented the letter to Emperor Xuanzong, along with a petition accusing An Sishun of seven crimes. As a result, An Sishun and An Yuanzhen were executed, and their families were exiled to the Lingnan region, despite Yang Guozhong's attempt to intercede on An Sishun's behalf.
See also
Notes
- ^ 兩千年中西曆轉換
- ^ The exact nature of An Sishun's relationship with An Lushan was stated differently in An Lushan's biographies in the Old Book of Tang and the New Book of Tang and the accounts in the Zizhi Tongjian. Compare Old Book of Tang, vol. 200, part 1 Archived 2008-04-19 at the Wayback Machine [An Lushan and An Sishun were sworn brothers], New Book of Tang, vol. 225, part 1 Archived 2008-05-28 at the Wayback Machine [not explicit, but implying that they were sworn brothers], and Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 214 [An Sishun was a nephew of An Lushan's stepfather]. As there was no biography for An Sishun in either the Old Book of Tang or the New Book of Tang, the account in the Zizhi Tongjian will be used here, supplemented with descriptions from the other two sources.
- ^ Old Book of Tang, vol. 200, part 1.
- ^ This event appeared to have happened a substantial amount of time prior to 736, but the exact date is not known. See Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 214.
References
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 214, 215, 216, 217.