安禄山, a frontier general, rose in 755 and took Luoyang and Chang'an within months. As the court fled toward Sichuan, the emperor's guards forced the death of
杨贵妃 at
马嵬坡. An Lushan and then his ally
史思明 were each killed by a son, and the revolt ended in 763, but real power had passed to the regional military governors, the
藩镇.
