Huang Chao Uprising

In late Tang, rule grew more rotten, eunuchs held power, and regional warlordism worsened until the center could no longer control the military governors. Exploitation of the people increased, taxes and corvée were heavy, and with years of flood, drought and locusts many peasants could not live, so social tension was at a peak. In 874 the salt smuggler Wang Xianzhi rose at Changyuan; in 875 Huang Chao, also a salt smuggler, gathered followers at Yuanju (southwest of present-day Heze, Shandong) in response. The rebels fought across Shandong, Henan, Hubei and elsewhere, and after Wang Xianzhi died in battle Huang Chao became the leader. He avoided the main Tang armies, crossed the Yangtze, campaigned in Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian, took Guangzhou, then turned north, attacking officials and landlords, and his force grew to several hundred thousand. In 880 the rebels took Luoyang, broke Tong Pass and entered Chang'an. In early 881 Huang Chao proclaimed himself emperor with the dynastic name “Great Qi”. But the rebels did not pursue the remaining Tang forces and built no secure base, and became isolated in Chang'an; Tang gathered the military governors' armies for a counterattack, the rebel general Zhu Wen defected to Tang, and the Shatuo leader Li Keyong also led troops against them. In 883 Huang Chao was forced out of Chang'an, and in 884 he was defeated and took his own life at Langhu Valley on Mount Tai. The uprising lasted ten years and ranged across much of China, dealing heavy blows to Tang rule and to the decaying aristocratic clans. After its defeat, Tang existed in name only, regional warlords grew stronger, and some twenty years later Zhu Wen destroyed Tang.