The Sogdian Refugee Who Toppled the Tang Dynasty

An Lushan is often remembered as the rebel who plunged Tang China into the cataclysmic An Lushan Rebellion (755–763 CE), but few know he was a Sogdian—a member of the Silk Road merchant diaspora that Lucas and Luna have explored in earlier episodes. This episode digs into An Lushan's Sogdian family background, his role as a military governor in the Tang frontier, and how his rebellion exploited the very trade networks that the Sogdians had built. Lucas explains how An Lushan rose through the ranks by charming Emperor Xuanzong and his consort Yang Guifei, only to turn the system against itself. The conversation also touches on the Sogdian heritage of An Lushan's name, his connection to the Sogdian religion of Manichaeism, and the brutal suppression that followed. Through this story, we see how a single Sogdian refugee family set off a chain reaction that reshaped East Asia. #AnLushan #TangDynasty #Sogdians #SilkRoad #Manichaeism #YangGuifei #Xuanzong #Rebellion #ChineseHistory #CentralAsia #MilitaryGovernor #Jiedushi #ChangAn #Luoyang #FexingoHistory #TradeRoutes #History #Asia Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo