The fall of the Tang : Gao Pian's trials of allegiance / Franciscus Verellen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Verellen, Franciscus, Author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Gao, Pian, 821-887.

Gao, Pian.

Generals--China--Biography.

Generals.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xxi, 335 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, United Kingdom ; New York, NY : Cambridge University Press, 2026.

Summary:

The military governor, architect, alchemist and poet Gao Pian (821-87) was one of the most intriguing characters to shape events in ninth-century China. His trajectory provides a step-by-step record of the late Tang empire's military, fiscal, and administrative unraveling. Utilizing exceptionally rich sources, including documents from Gao Pian's secretariat, inscriptions, narrative, and religious literature, and Gao Pian's own poetry, Franciscus Verellen challenges the official historians' portrait of Gao as an 'insubordinate minister' and Daoist zealot. In an innovative analysis, he argues that the life of this extraordinary general casts much-needed light on ideas of allegiance and disobedience, provincial governance, military affairs, and religious life in the waning years of the Tang.

Contents:

Introduction : China on the eve of the Five Dynasties

War and poetry

The northwestern frontier

The southern man

Protector of Annan

Celestial peace

Grace and might

Brocade fortress

The gathering storm

Stone quarry

From Cassia Grove

Lord of Huai

The widow's curse.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 23 Feb 2026).

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

ISBN:

1-009-64989-2

1-009-64994-9

1-009-64992-2

OCLC:

1569674508