The History of the Tang Dynasty Wasn't All Smoke: Part Seven, Twilight of the Empire

This is the final volume in the The Tang Dynasty Was Not All That series, recounting nearly a century of history from the end of Emperor Xianzong's reign to the fall of the Tang dynasty.

After Xianzong, the Tang dynasty's last emperor to revive the empire, was murdered, there was no sign of a resurgence in the late Tang. Muzong, Li Heng, had little ability and undid in short order the efforts Xianzong had spent more than a decade making to rein in the regional military governors. Jingzong, Li Zhan, was idle and pleasure-seeking. Wenzong, Li Ang, was timid by nature. Wuzong and Xuanzong did strive to govern well, but both died young. Yizong, Li Cui, and Xizong, Li Xuan, lived in extravagant dissipation. Wang Xianzhi and Huang Chao rose in rebellion in succession, and peasant uprisings swept across the country.

At last, Emperor Ai, Li Zhu, was poisoned by Zhu Quanzhong. The Tang Empire fell, and Chinese history entered the period of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.

Looking back at late Tang history, three things stand out most. First, the Tang Empire was at a turning point, and there was in fact only a window of a few months in which its course could be set, for better or worse. Second, obsession with elixirs may seem absurd, yet Tang emperors from Taizong to Wuzong repeatedly pursued them and met their downfall as a result. Third, the late Tang emperors were at the mercy of their household servants, the eunuchs.

The eunuchs raised emperors up, and the eunuchs brought them down. The enormous body of civil officials proved utterly powerless. The subtleties of history and the dark depths of human nature inspire a sigh.