Historical Context

Yang Guifei lived in the Tang dynasty. The dynasty was extremely prosperous, even more so in the early years of the reign of emperor Xuanzong, the husband of Yang Guifei. Xuanzong came into power in 712, when he reunited factions within the court for the first time since Empress Wu, China’s only female emperor. He was a conscientious minister and intellectual, achieving much for the arts and education and dealing well with foreign relations and monetary matters. Some of his achievements include establishing schools and libraries, presiding over elaborate and beautiful state ceremonies, patronizing poets and artists, and keeping fair taxes and government expenses under control (Ropp). He also is credited with maintaining social order and peace on the border, as demonstrated in the fact that during his reign, the Tang ruled from the Oxus river in central asia, all the way to the sea of Japan (Mair 89-91).

The map above shows the land possessed by the Tang in 742. As mentioned above the large amount of provinces under the rule of Xuanzong was one of the measures of the greatness of the Tang under his rule. (Mark)

Some credit the success of his reign to the way he structured his government. Instead of cycling through ministers so that none could gain enough power to overthrow him, as was Empress Wu’s technique, he held his ministers in high esteem, giving them enough power to help rule (Lewis 41). This policy gave his early reign a good reputation (Lewis 41). He also appointed special commissioners outside the normal hierarchies (Lewis 42). By creating these positions he was able to get more done for the people of the Tang.

Xuanzong did, however, become less successful later in his reign, after he fell in love with Yang Guifei. His attention that had previously been invested in ruling was invested in her (Ropp). He spent more time away from Chang’an at their Mount Li home, used the government postal service to deliver Lychees to her and allowed her relatives to obtain positions of power (Mair 89-91). Problems in the government went unnoticed, and as a result of his lack of interest the Tang suffered defeats in 751 to Southwest, Northeast and West (Ropp).

In 736 Li Linfu was appointed Chief minister. At this point Xuanzong was distracted by religion, art and Yang Guifei, so his power was in the hands of Li Linfu (Lewis 42). Initially, he was partnered with Niu Xianke, but after Niu’s death he started purging real or potential rivals for power (Lewis 42). By 747 Li Linfu was in control. This was partially because, in the mid-730s he adopted only non-Chinese men as military governors so that they would not be able to rise in the court and threaten his power (Lewis 43). One of these men was An Lushan, a Turkic-Sogdian general. Yang Guifei took an interest in him and helped him obtain 160,000 troops after adopting him as her son (Ropp).

When Li Linfu died, Yang Zhao (also known as Yang Guozhong), a relative of Yang Guifei, who had risen up the ranks because of her position as Precious Consort, took over, and in his quest for more power set out to get rid of An Lushan (Lewis 43). In November 755 An Lushan turned his troops against the capital. Seven months later Yang Zhao persuaded Xuanzong to flee the capital with Yang Guifei, and tragedy followed them (Lewis 43).

The difference between the prosperity of the dynasty between when Yang Guifei was and was not involved with Xuanzong enhances her representation as a woman so beautiful locked in a love so great that she was able to spark the downfall of the dynasty’s success and her husband’s rule.

Sources:

Lewis, Mark Edward. China's Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 2012.

China’s Cosmopolitan Empire: The Tang Dynasty gives a detailed account on the Tang Dynasty. The first chapter focuses on the geography of the empire, which I found useful for Geographical Context. The book also contains information on the the history of the Tang Dynasty as a whole, the An Lushan rebellion, Emperor Xuanzong’s reign and the story of Yang Guifei herself. This was useful in crafting a detailed Historical context as well as information on gender.

Mair, Victor H., Sanping Chen, and Frances Wood. Chinese Lives =: Huaxia Ren Sheng : the People Who Made a Civilization. London: Thames & Hudson, 2013.

Ropp, Paul Stanley. "Chapter 4 Reunified Empires: Sui (581-618) and Tang (618-907)." In China in World History, 50-67. Dodr. ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Paul S. Ropp’s China in World History summarizes the rise of female power in the Tang Dynasty. I found it useful for Historical and Geographical Context on the Tang, Xuanzong’s reign and the An Lushan Rebellion. It also holds commentary on how and why gender was changing in the Tang Dynasty.

Image Sources:

Mark, Emily. "Tang Dynasty." Ancient History Encyclopedia. Last modified February 28, 2016. Accessed November 15, 2017. https://www.ancient.eu/Tang_Dynasty/.