Preface Looking at ancient and modern times, no dynasty can always exist in the long river of history. No matter how glorious the dynasty was, it will eventually perish. The once glorious Tang Dynasty was not spared. As we all know, the Tang Dynasty experienced the prosperous age

Preface

Looking at ancient and modern times, no dynasty can always exist in the long river of history. No matter how glorious the dynasty was, it will eventually perish. Tang Dynasty The once glorious dynasty was not spared. As we all know, the Tang Dynasty experienced the prosperous age of the Tang Dynasty. At its most glorious time, all nations came to dynasty , but eventually the Anshi Rebellion broke out. The Anshi Rebellion was a turning point in the fate of the Tang Dynasty.

After the Anshi Rebellion was suppressed, An Lushan's dream of usurping power did not come true, but the Tang Dynasty began to decline from then on, like a terminally ill old man who was hopeless. After the Anshi Rebellion, peasant uprisings broke out in the Tang Dynasty. There were many uprisings, large and small, but the most influential among them was the Huangchao Uprising. Although the Huang Chao Uprising was eventually suppressed, it was of great significance to the fate of the Tang Dynasty, because after the failure of the Huang Chao Uprising, the Tang Dynasty basically came to an end. Although it existed for several more decades, it was no longer comparable to that of the past. .

The background and process of the Huangchao Uprising

The Huangchao Uprising was the largest peasant uprising in the Tang Dynasty. There must be many reasons behind this uprising, such as the corruption of the Tang Dynasty, the poor life of the people, etc. The Huangchao Uprising lasted for several years. The whole process was very difficult. It was always a state of war. Although it was very difficult, the process was exciting because Huangchao's team captured a lot of territory and even drove the emperor out of Chang'an.

1. The background of the Huang Chao Uprising

In the late Tang Dynasty, because Tang Xuanzong Li Longji trusted An Lushan too much, An Lushan basically took control of the military power, and the Anshi Rebellion broke out. And after the Anshi Rebellion was suppressed, the people's lives were impoverished due to successive years of drought. In addition, because there were many wars in the late Tang Dynasty, the court did not have so much money, but the wars were still going on, so the court had to increase taxes.

▲Portrait of An Lushan

Huang Chao called on the people to resist because the taxes were too heavy, but to no avail. In that era, it was not just Huang Chao who was dissatisfied with the court, but all the people. So before the Huangchao Uprising, there was another person who launched an uprising in Shandong. He was Wang Xianzhi. Wang Xianzhi launched the uprising because of the area south of the Yellow River. After years of drought, the Tang court sat idly by, so Wang Xianzhi launched an uprising. Huang Chao led his relatives to join Wang Xianzhi's uprising team.

But the good times did not last long. Wang Xianzhi wanted to join the imperial court. Wang Xianzhi caught Wang Li, the younger brother of the prime minister of the Tang Dynasty Wang Duo . In this way, Wang Xianzhi did not want to continue the uprising and wanted to become an official. However, Huang Chao wanted to carry the uprising to the end, so he broke with Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao led his team to start a new uprising. It's really a pity. After the rule of Zhenguan by Emperor Taizong and Li Shimin, the Tang Dynasty ushered in its first prosperous age, and after the Kaiyuan prosperity and by Li Shimin, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, it ushered in its second prosperous age. At one time, all nations came to the dynasty. But in the end, it still did not escape the historical law of prosperity and decline, and fell into the altar. Of course, Huang Chao was the biggest promoter in the process of falling off the altar.

▲Portrait of Li Shimin

2, the story of Huang Chao's uprising

Huang Chao is from the Central Plains. He has both civil and military skills since he was a child, and his family is wealthy. He himself is a private salt dealer. He has great ambitions and ambitions since he was a child. His economic conditions are good and he can be considered wealthy. Capital of resistance. If there were no heavy taxes imposed in the late Tang Dynasty, he would not have launched an uprising, because uprising was not a word, and he himself would have to pay a high price. It can only be said that times make heroes. Although Huang Chao's uprising failed, he cannot be denied. Be a hero. After Huang Chao and Wang Xianzhi broke up, Wang Xianzhi was killed, and all Wang Xianzhi's soldiers came to Huang Chao.

Huang Chao's army first invaded the Central Plains and successively captured Kaifeng, Xinyang, Fuyang and other places. Later, they wanted to capture Luoyang, but at that time the Tang Dynasty sent many soldiers to wait for Huang Chao there. Preparing to take down Huang Chao in one fell swoop, Huang Chao chose to accumulate strength first and could not fight head-on with the Tang army in advance, so he moved to the Jiangnan area. Perhaps it was the right time, place and people. After Huang Chao went to Jiangnan, he successfully captured Guangzhou and other places. In this way, Huang Chao's military strength was already very strong, so Huang Chao thought it was time to attack Chang'an City and occupy Chang'an. Basically, the world was in Huang Chao's hands.

▲Portrait of Wang Xianzhi

However, on the way from the south to Chang'an, he still had to pass through many Tang Dynasty territories. Therefore, Huang Chao fought all the way and advanced all the way, conquering many territories, such as Tanzhou, Jiangling and other places, and he was almost invincible. , so before Huang Chao entered Chang'an, Tang Xizong was so frightened that he ran away to Chengdu in advance. Huang Chao was naturally delighted when he saw the emperor escaping, and began to establish his own regime in Chang'an, which he called Daqi. Moreover, Huang Chao was worthy of being a commoner. After he established his political power, he was very kind to the people and gave preferential treatment to officials of the Tang Dynasty. His intentions were good, but his soldiers treated the people and Tang officials very cruelly.

Although he established his own political power, Huang Chao understood that as long as Tang Xizong was alive, he would never have a chance to truly become emperor. Therefore, Huang Chao's next goal was to kill Tang Xizong. However, Huang Chao's soldiers killed people, and the people who defended Huang Chao no longer believed them. The people supported Huang Chao in order to let Huang Chao change their poor life. Unexpectedly, Huang Chao not only did not change, but actually made it possible for them to lose their lives. The people knew The Huangchao uprising was just a civil uprising and could not become a major phenomenon. On the other hand, the Tang Dynasty court was an orthodox dynasty after all, so Huangchao lost the most important people's support. Later, the Tang army defeated Huang Chao's army, and Huang Chao committed suicide. Since then, the Huang Chao uprising failed, and the Tang Dynasty existed for several decades.

▲Huang Chao portrait

The reasons for the failure of Huang Chao's uprising

Huang Chao's uprising was very likely to win the war at the beginning, but it failed in the end. The specific reasons for the failure are: Huang Chao's brutality, Huang Chao's pride and underestimation of the enemy, Huang Chao lacks leadership skills and many other reasons.

1, Huang Chao's cruelty

As the saying goes: "Those who win the hearts of the people will win the world, and those who lose the hearts of the people will lose the world." Huang Chao received strong support from the people in the early days of the uprising because he fought for justice, not for his own selfish interests. However, after Huang Chao established power, that is, after he occupied Chang'an, although he treated the people well in terms of policy, he killed the people in the actual implementation process, making the people's lives worse than before, and therefore lost the support of the people. Moreover, Huang Chao and his soldiers were the most brutal among all ancient dynasties. does not have the fear that ordinary people want to live every day. Therefore, Huang Chao's brutality was one of the important reasons for the failure of Huang Chao's uprising.

▲Portrait of Li Longji

2, Huang Chao’s pride and underestimating the enemy

All leaders of peasant uprisings in history seem to have this characteristic, that is, they are always proud and underestimate the enemy. After Huang Chao occupied Chang'an, he thought he had conquered the world. After Tang Xizong escaped, he did not pursue and kill him but instead established his own regime. He believed that Tang Xizong had no strength and opportunity to resist, so he enjoyed himself in Chang'an. The satisfaction that power brings him is also immersed in the dream of victory in many wars. Little did they know that Tang Xizong was already on his way to kill him. If he had been more cautious and less arrogant and underestimated the enemy, at least he would not have committed suicide.

▲Portrait of Emperor Xizong of the Tang Dynasty

3. Huang Chao’s leadership skills were insufficient.

Huang Chao’s leadership skills were insufficient. After the establishment of the political power, a good administrative department group was not formed. Although Huang Chao was not a poor man, there was no official in his family, so he was asked to lead He may be able to fight as a soldier, but if he is asked to lead a country, he may not have such strength.After a country is established, it must first establish its own administrative group. Even if it is not stable at the time, it must at least have this idea first so that the newly established regime can be preserved for a long time. Otherwise, it will be in vain in the end. Therefore, Huang Chao's lack of leadership skills was also the main reason for the failure of Huang Chao's uprising.

▲ Huangchao Uprising battle map

The significance of Huangchao Uprising

Although the Huangchao Uprising failed, this uprising dealt a heavy blow to the feudal dynasty, awakened the consciousness of farmers, etc.

1. A heavy blow to the feudal dynasty.

Although the Tang Dynasty was once very open and prosperous, it was still ruled by the feudal dynasty. The Huangchao Uprising was a resistance to the feudal dynasty. It dealt a heavy blow to the Tang Dynasty and brought its demise ahead of schedule. long time. The Huangchao Uprising can be said to be a fatal blow to the dying Tang Dynasty. Since then, although the Tang Dynasty has survived for several decades, it has only been lingering on.

2. Awakening the consciousness of farmers

The Huangchao Uprising awakened the consciousness of farmers. Although there were peasant uprisings in the previous dynasties, they were not truly reproduced for the people of the Tang Dynasty to see. When the Huangchao Uprising really unfolds before their eyes, the peasants' consciousness will be truly awakened. In the future, they will rise up to resist the oppression of the imperial court. It is not only the imperial court that resists, but also the feudal autocratic rule. To a certain extent, , awakening farmers’ consciousness is the greatest significance and greatest achievement.

▲ Pictures of the Tang Dynasty

Summary

There is no doubt that Huang Chao is a hero, because in the face of power, he has the courage to take up arms to resist, which is something that very few people can do. Although the Huangchao Uprising failed, its historical significance still exists. The entire battle process of Huang Chao Uprising was exciting and inspiring. This was people's resistance to the feudal dynasty and feudal autocracy. Even if it was the Tang Dynasty, it was also a representative of feudal autocracy. Therefore, regardless of whether it is defeated or not, the Huang Chao Uprising is a memorable.

References:

" Old Tang Book "

" New Tang Book "

" Tang History "