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It’s complicated to put it sharp and shortly.If the Tang Dynasty (618–907 AD) is considered to be the so called “Golden Age” of Imperial China, then Li Longji, or better known yet as Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (reigned 713–56 AD), was certainly the man whose reign allowed the Celestial Empire, to finally reach its almighty zenith, before subsequently also bringing about its completely avoidable decline, a trend which would go on to plague and define the entire second half of the Tang Era, until its inevitable demise by the year 907 AD.Most notably, he restored the Li Family to its rightful place, and either overthrew or suppressed all internal threats to the Tang Dynasty, after it was briefly usurped and then also continuously threatened by Empress Wu Zetian and Empress Dowager Wei respectively, thus safeguarding the internal stability of the Empire indirectly, by quickly putting an immediate end to all resistance against the authority of the Li Family.An artist’s impression of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, the man who singlehandedly led Tang China to the top of the world, before subsequently, and completely bringing it down to its knees also in addition:For the vast majority of his 43 year long reign, Xuanzong was indeed a wise and just administrator who not only upheld the Rule of Law, ended the Death Penalty, and passed the relevant laws to prohibit and discourage Nepotism, but was also (like his predecessors), a man who tolerated and permitted the diversity of thought, and actively encouraged the freedom of religion.Directly as a result of his incredibly benevolent reign, the influence of the Tang Empire in the earliest days of the “Kaiyuan Era”, remained unmatched throughout the entire known world, as culture, science, the arts and Chinese power, reached its unprecedented heights.The turn of the tide however, avoidable as it was, eventually soon arose in the form of the immensely beautiful, Yang Yuhuan. It was specifically Yang’s mesmerizing beauty, which would eventually as the years went on, twist Xuanzong’s mind such, that he begun to not only neglect his duties as Emperor, but also, seeking to appease his lover, willingly gave away his authority (almost completely) to several members of the Yang family, at Consort Yang’s request.An artist’s impression of the infamous Consort Yang, the widely perceived reason at the time with regards to why the Tang Emperor began to neglect his duties as ruler of the Empire:Thus it was, that in the absence of the Emperor, the nation was engulfed in a state of corruption and power abuse, as the members of the Yang Family actively obstructed justice at every turn, prompting many, commoners and officials alike, to eventually become disillusioned with the State.It was this condition of ruling negligence and complacency, combined with the widespread dissatisfaction of the Tang citizenry, which finally made it possible for the powerful Sogdian General An Lushan, long wholly relied upon by the Emperor, to finally rise up against the Imperial Administration during the infamous An Shi Rebellion (755–63 AD). It was an event which killed millions in the process, henceforth condemning the nation to barely stay afloat for the rest of the Tang Era, now merely a shadow of its former self.Thus, the reign of Xuanzong can be naturally said to have been a most complicated one, filled with many tales of heroism and benevolent acts alike, yet also eventually plagued by a negligence, which acted to finally shatter henceforth both the internal, and external stability of Tang China, thus ending the Chinese Golden Age forever.Warning: Long answer dead ahead of 14,800 words, there’s no pressure to read it all, consider looking at the “TL;DR” section instead.Here are the contents of the answer for ease of navigation:Chapter I: “A Justified Restoration”: The Rise of Xuanzong, and the Return of the Li Family to PowerChapter II: “Pax Sinica”: The Middle Kingdom Under the Prosperous Kaiyuan EraChapter III: “An Enemy From Within”: The Beginning of the End for the Celestial EmpireChapter IV: “World At War”: The Rebellion of An Lushan, and the Fall of the Golden AgeFinal Summary (and TL;DR)SourcesChapter I: “A Justified Restoration”: The Rise of Xuanzong, and the Return of the Li Family to PowerAssuming both the de facto, and nominal control of the Empire in 690 AD, all of China was now under the solitary and exclusive control Wu Zhao, better known today instead by her ruling title; Wu Zetian. Accomplishing what no other woman in the 5,000 year history of China had ever done up until then, she subsequently became Chinese civilization’s first proper female ruler, establishing her own dynasty to that extent, under the title of Zhou (690–705 AD).Though partly prosperous for a significant fraction of its existence, her reign; the Zhou Era was in fact otherwise a highly restrictive and humiliating time, for all the members of the Li Imperial Family.Not only had its patriarch, Emperor Ruizong, the rightful heir to the Imperial Throne, been exiled, and demoted to Crown Prince by the tyrannical Wu, but the insecure nature of the Empress, quickly led her to also imprison under house arrest, the entirety of the remaining members of the Li Family. To this extent, the Li soon found that they were not permitted, to even come into contact with any outsider, lest they invoke the wrath of Empress Wu.An artist’s impression of Empress Wu Zetian, the First and Last, nominal and de facto female ruler of Imperial China, and the great usurper of the Tang Imperial Throne:All remaining members of the Li Family, were then humiliatingly forced to adopt the title of “Wu” themselves, on pain of death. This was done in order to vainly appease the sadistic Empress, who desired nothing short of the complete, and utter obliteration of the proud spirit of the Li Family such, that even minor disobedience, would now be entirely redundant onwards.For how could the Li Family revolt against her rule, if there was no longer such a concept in existence? By forcing the title of Wu onto them, she made it clear, that not only did she have absolute control over their entire family, but she and they were in fact one in the same. This thus implied, that to attack her, would be akin to assaulting one of their own, which as Confucian traditions would have it, was strictly discouraged, thus safeguarding her rule in the meantime.It was under such a restrictive and dark period of time, that the young Wu Longji (formerly Li Longji, and son to the exiled Ruizong) at last matured under. The boy himself was only spared a most painful death when his aunt, Princess Taiping intervened, and begged for his life to be spared, as she had a particularly special interest in him. From then on, under her watchful eye, the princess would continue to protect him from the omnipresent paranoia of her mother, by any means necessary.An Imperial portrait of Ruizong, the father of Li Longji, son of Wu Zetian, and the last Emperor of the Tang Dynasty before Empress Wu usurped his throne, and had him exiled:Said to be a handsome, and musically talented youth, Wu Longji quickly quenched the great ire of Empress Wu, by presenting himself to be a harmless, and dreamy adolescent, who was seemingly disengaged from the practicalities of everyday life. This was done in order to convince the Empress that he was in fact, truly harmless.Apart from that, the boy also intentionally passed his time by practicing music and poetry, as Wu once did when she was his age, partially gaining favour with the Empress. This thus allowed him from then on, to be further overlooked as a harmless individual, which acted to safeguard his life henceforth.It was merely a facade; a strategy, and a very well planned and executed one at that. It revealed especially, that even from an early age, the boy was impeccably intelligent, with an instinct that automatically allowed him to foresee what needed to be done, and allowed him thus to act accordingly, based on such an intuition.This, combined with the princess’ steadfast and valiant efforts to protect the boy at every given turn, not only allowed him to actively evade the fury of Empress Wu, but also subsequently saw to it, that he would be able to stay in one piece, alive and well, until his eventual liberation by the year 699 AD, at the age of fourteen. By that time, the court was falling into disrepair, and Wu herself was no longer interested in regulating the actions of the former Li Family, hence they were all released from house arrest.An artist’s impression of the legendary Lao-Tzu, the legendary Taoist philosopher to whom the Imperial Li Family had claimed to be related to:Free for the first time in nine years, Wu Longji barely even had time to begin plotting against Empress Wu, before her very own Court Officials, annoyed both at her ever growing paranoia, and increasingly negligent reign, moved quickly to force Wu to abdicate, finally ending the short lived Zhou Era forever. Wu Longji, was especially glad to properly honour his ancestors meanwhile, by changing his family name back to “Li”.In this way, the Tang Dynasty was finally restored, with Empress Wu’s other son, Emperor Zhongzong (Ruizong’s predecessor), returning to power. Ruizong himself meanwhile, was allowed to return home from exile, alive and well also. And as for Li Longji, he was promoted to Secretary General of the Province, surrounding the Capital of Chang’an, where he proved to be a just administrator, gaining favour of with the Tang people.Soon again however, the great stability of the Tang was already being threatened by yet another individual once more.Emperor Zhongzong’s wife, Empress Wei much like Wu Zetian before her, was also a wildly ambitious person. She had studied the way in which Wu came to power, and was now resolved likewise to follow in her footsteps, believing that she was not be so different from the great Empress herself. She thus thought, that if she could replicate Wu’s rise to power, then she could also eventually one day, overthrow the Tang Empire, and likewise and begin her own dynasty in the process.A Tang Era mural of the gate towers of the Capital of Chang’an, the City of “Eternal Peace”:Thus, to this extent, Wei initially manipulated the Emperor from behind the scenes, before eventually being rid of him altogether, having grown tired of his incompetence, by having him poisoned in 710 AD. With the Emperor out of her way, the Empress now found it much easier to control the Empire through his even more incompetent son, and moved quickly to offer herself up, as Empress Dowager of the Tang Dynasty ruling on behalf of the young, weak Emperor.The fatal flaw which ensured that such an ambitious goal, would never be achieved however, came when her advisers recommended that she try, to correct the mistakes of Empress Wu, by having both Ruizong and Princess Taiping executed. Such a conniving plan was eventually leaked in private to Li Longji, by one of the many “loyalist” officials of the court however.And now, armed with intimate knowledge of such a treacherous plan in his grasp, Li knew he had to move quickly in order to save the Tang Empire. After all, he had by this point in time, already spent a significant amount of his own life under the tyranny of Empress Wu, he knew, all too well unfortunately the implications of the world to come, should the Li Family once again fall from power. To him, such a thought was self-evidently unacceptable, and was therefore not to be tolerated as such.An artist’s impression of Empress Dowager Wei, the woman who aspired to be just like Empress Wu to such an extent, as to even attempt to imitate her rise to power by ruling through a puppet Emperor:To this extent, he intercepted his aunt once more, who he knew he could trust, as she had once protected him all throughout his childhood, against the wrath of Wu Zetian. And together thus, they plotted against the Empress Wei, seeking ways in which to overthrow her, and save the Tang Dynasty from imminent collapse once more.Most unfortunately for the Empress at this point in time especially, her nephews; Wei Bo and Gao Song, who she had recently placed in command of the Imperial Guard, soon became another source of woe for her. The Guard did not recognize the authority of the Empress, considering her (and rightfully so) to be yet another usurper of the Tang throne, and thus rejected not only her authority, but also that of both her nephews.As such, Wei’s nephews, in attempting to bring the command of the Guard to heel, thus begun to treat them so harshly to such an extent, hoping to break their spirit in order to get them to submit, instead only served to drive a rift in between commander and commanded. And directly as a consequence of such a conflict, the Guard in turn resolved to instead fully ally themselves with Li and Taiping in their plot against Empress Wei.An artist’s impression of the Imperial Guard Officer’s armour, which would have been worn by Empress Wei’s nephews during the Tang Era:And thus it was, that on July 21st, 710 AD, without the consent nor knowledge of Ruizong (an otherwise would be victim of Empress Wei’s plot), the Imperial Guard, led both by Princess Taiping’s son, and Li Longji, stealthily infiltrated the Capital of Chang’an. There they entered the Capital, before promptly executing both Guard Commanders, Wei Bo and Gao Song, after which they turned their attention to the Imperial Palace itself, keen to confront the Empress Wei.Upon hearing of their imminent arrival however, Wei fled into what she thought was the safety of the Imperial Guard camp, only to of course be executed instead by what she realised too late, was a loyalist faction of the Tang Empire. Upon their entry into the Imperial Palace meanwhile, Li Longji and his strike force proceeded to initiate a great political purge, marching from one end of the Palace to the other, executing on the spot, all officials not absolutely known to be loyal to the Li Family.In this way, not only was the Tang Dynasty cleansed from inside out in one swift blow, but Li Longji was able to first establish his reputation, as a man worthy of the highest praise, for his exceptional ability to command and inspire. It was for this reason, that his father, now rightfully restored back to the Imperial Throne of Tang, after 20 long years, was open to the suggestion of making him, rather than his brother, the Crown Prince of Tang.An artist’s impression of an Tang imperial guardsman, clad in both his distinctive heavy lamellar armor, and equally distinguishable prismatic shield:This was of course not an insignificant decision however. The fact remained that Prince Li Chengqi, was older than his brother, Li Longji, and thus per Confucian traditions which subscribed to the superiority of age (and therefore experience), traditionally meant that the right to the throne, belonged solely to the eldest brother instead.But, as fate would have it instead, the otherwise soon to be Crown Prince, rejected the notion of tradition, insisting rather, upon hearing of his father’s proposals that:“If the state were secure, then consideration should indeed be given first to the eldest son of the wife. But as the state is currently in danger however, then consideration should instead be given first based on merit.If you did not follow this principle, then the people of the entire empire would indeed be disappointed. I would therefore rather die than be placed above the Prince of Ping (Li Longji).”And thus it was, that Emperor Ruizong, instead donned Li Longji the rightful heir to the throne of the Empire of Tang. A modest and traditional man however, Li protested his father’s decision, by petitioning for his brother to instead be made Emperor; a request which Ruizong in turn rejected, ensuring that the Crown Prince’s fate, was to be clearer than ever before.It was at this time however, that Princess Taiping’s feelings towards Li Longji, initially warm early on in his life, were now colder than it had ever been before. Taiping believed that Li Longji was weak, and that it was only by her intervention from many years prior up until the coup against Empress Wei, which had allowed him to be able to gain power. Thus, she begun to believe as Empress Wei and Wu once also did before her, that she could attain de facto rule over the Empire, through a nominal puppet ruler, in this case Li Longji himself.To this extent, she bribed the Imperial Court’s soothsayers to interpret the astrological sign of a nearby incoming comet, to mean that the time had at last arrived for Ruizong to abdicate in favor of Li Longji. And thus it was, that by the year 712 AD, Emperor Ruizong had abdicated in favour of Li, a situation which directly benefitted Princess Taiping initially.Another Imperial portrait of the newly coronated Emperor of the Tang Dynasty:Over time however, as the days became weeks, and as the weeks became months, she begun to realize much to her horror, that in fact, Li was a strong willed man, who could never be manipulated any longer, especially as he had now fully matured into man and was a child, no more. Ironically feeling betrayed by the new Emperor and with no exploitable weakness in sight, Taiping finally hung herself, at last ridding the Tang Dynasty of the last vestiges of opposition, to the Li Family’s reign.Thus it was, that Li Longji, the new Emperor of Tang China came to rule over the land. By this point in time, he was already a highly accomplished individual, said to be, even prior to his reign as a regional governor, a highly benevolent, and tolerant administrator, who always put his subjects first.His status as the protector of the people had then only been further exacerbated of course, with the coup against Empress Wei, which served exclusively to elevate his reputation in the eyes of the commoner. Now more than ever before, all were convinced of his benevolent intentions as such.Naturally thus, it was both the Tang citizenry, and the court’s expectation as a consequence, that he would continue to be a most wise, and righteous ruler now as Emperor, as he long already was, prior to his ascension to the Imperial Throne.It was a belief which would go on, to indeed be proved correct, at least initially.Chapter II: “Pax Sinica”: The Middle Kingdom Under the Prosperous Kaiyuan EraLi Longji, upon ascending to the Imperial Throne under the title, “Xuanzong of Tang”, proceeded to examin the Empire which he had inherited from his grandmother.Empress Wu, had been a negligent spender towards the very last days of her reign, and the Empire had and now still suffered directly because of it. The formerly vast Economy of Tang, once prosperous, was now wealthy no longer. Naturally therefore, restoring the National Economy to its former heights was certainly the first logical step for him to take. Of this, he was absolutely certain.The Tang Dynasty had once been a Golden Age under his ancestors prior to Wu’s usurpation, and as a keen scholar of history, he desired nothing more than to replicate such an era, and make China great again.An imperial portrait of Emperor Taizong of Tang, the man widely considered at the time, and still to this day to be the standard to which all future Chinese Emperors, including Xuanzong would compare themselves to:To this extent, early in his reign the Emperor passed a law which prohibited anybody in the short term, regardless of status, to wear overly expensive and indulgent clothing, filled with expensive gems such as pearls and jades especially.It was hoped that by doing this, he would be able to collect more Tax Revenue in the short term, allowing the National Treasury to rapidly recover. In the medium to long terms however, once the Economy finally did recuperate, the plan was then to be altered, as to now lift such a ban, with intentions to spur expenditure on goods and services, thereby greatly expanding economic growth rates once more.The Taxation System meanwhile, was simultaneously made fairer yet more efficient also, by applying it such that the amount of tax revenue paid by the people, was now based on how much land one owned, rather than how many individuals were in one’s family. Not only that, but the entire population was also re-registered, in order to expose any potential tax avoiders, greatly acting to increase State Tax Revenue for the Tang Administration thus.Show below are a pair of coins from the Tang Era (the taxes collected by the Chinese Government during Xuanzong’s reign unlike hundreds of years prior, were paid exclusively in coins, rather than in portions of annual grain yields. Specifically during Xuanzong’s reign, an average coin was made up of roughly 83% copper, 15% lead, and 2% tin according to official financial regulatory rules, under the Kaiyuan Era):Parallel developments regarding the Imperial Government in the present, saw Emperor Xuanzong either execute or remove all officials which Empress Wu had once promoted into office, many of which had even illegally bought their position in the Administration. Naturally thus, Xuanzong moved swiftly to internally cleanse such a widespread afflictive disease, wholly liberating the Administration, which finally allowed it to run efficiently once more.To further lift administrative efficiency, the Emperor pursued a policy of “Small Government”, and acted to limit the number of officials which were employed by the State, saving much needed financing to further assist the Empire in recovering quickly. The financial surplus which it now had in its possession, was used to improve the prosperity of the Tang people, by funding a nationwide Imperial Welfare System, greatly benefitting all, old and young, rich and poor, Chinese and non-Chinese alike.Political power meanwhile, was reformed such, as to be further centralized in the hands of the Chief Ministers of the Empire in order to strengthen the power of the state, in order to quickly enact all of the aforementioned reforms.The Aristocracy in addition, long neglected by the previous dynasties and early Tang Era, was also intentionally brought back into court politics by Xuanzong, in order to negate the duopoly on power, of the Eunuch and Mandarin (Officials) Factions of the Imperial Court. Such a decision in the long term however, would eventually of course return to haunt Xuanzong as the years went on towards the very end of his reign.Regarding public infrastructure meanwhile, Xuanzong who recognized the importance of “trickle down Economics”, resolved to specifically assist the Tang Capitalist Class in maximizing their profits. To this extent, he moved swiftly first and foremostly, to construct Imperial China’s first permanent bridge across the Yellow River. In addition to that, entire new trading routes were likewise constructed all along the Tang Empire also, both at sea along the Maritime Silk Road, and on land along the Continental Silk Road, further acting to spur trade.The Guwannian Bridge, was one of many such of its kind built during the Kaiyuan Era which served first and foremostly to increase the economic efficiency of transportation, by creating many physical shortcuts critical for market produced goods to be delivered quickly across the Empire, maximising the profits of the Capitalist classes as such, thereby increasing consumption spending, thus rapidly increasing also the general prosperity of Tang China:This was such, that for the Imperial Postal Service alone, an exclusive 32,100 km of roads could efficiently utilized by the department in times of war and peace alike, in order to traverse from one corner of the Empire to the other. International Trade along the two Silk Roads meanwhile, was rapidly increased, when Xuanzong moved to further reform, and standardize the mediums of exchange to be used, in the buying and selling of goods and services.Now with both the infrastructure required, and the relevant mediums of exchange standardized, International and Domestic Trade increased exponentially, allowing the Tang Empire not just to recover fully from the damages inflicted onto China during Empress Wu’s reign, but to of course also, reach new unprecedented heights, under the wise rule of Emperor Xuanzong.And not only that, but food was also more readily available and quickly supplied now, than previously, incentivizing the Tang Court to stay in Chang’an, rather than periodically having to move to their secondary Capital in Luoyang, in order to avoid arbitrary famines, as they had often once did so in the past.The Meritocratic Examination System meanwhile, which was once in operation under the Early Tang Emperor, Taizong, was once more implemented by Xuanzong, serving for the most part, to ensure that only the most sincere and talented individuals, would be chosen to join the Tang Government, increasing its administrative efficiency, thus wholly benefitting the Tang populace; courtesy of Emperor Xuanzong’s unlimited wisdom.An artist’s impression of Tang Era Officials, who were used en masse during Xuanzong’s reign to help him rule justly and efficiently during the Kaiyuan Era, all of which were chosen via the Meritocratic Examination System:The most notable reform regarding government however, was his anti-corruption campaign, which he enacted by allowing the common people to study for the Imperial Exams, ensuring that it was not just the rich who were represented in Government, but also those who were not so fortunate, to be born into such luxury. It was hoped that by doing so, neither would the poor be neglected, nor social mobility constricted.Great policies working to counter the effects of Nepotism were passed, with harsh punishments to be meted out for any known offender accused, and found guilty of such a crime. Even Xuanzong’s own family members in fact, including not only his wife and children, but in fact also all the members of the Li Family no matter how distant, were prohibited by the Emperor also, to hold alternate court positions, especially as members of the Imperial Guard. This was done to of course discourage corruption and power abuse, a tactic which worked brilliantly for a lengthy period of time.Such reforms at last had the effect of decreasing corruption to levels never before seen in the History of China, as now in stark contrast to the times which came before, positions of prestige were obtained purely based on merit, rather than through the connections one had.Now more so than ever before, this made it extremely difficult for even aristocratic families to wholly monopolize their power within the Tang Administration as was once the case in the past. Purchases of any Imperial position likewise, were strictly outlawed subsequently, with adequate countermeasures officially taken to prevent such a phenomenon from ever occurring again.Recognizing meanwhile the importance of keeping a watchful eye, on the balance of powers within the Imperial Court itself, the Tang Code; China’s former Legal System introduced by the Early Tang Emperors, was readopted once more in order to balance the great rivalry between the various competing Eunuch and Mandarin Factions of the Imperial Court. This acted to politically pacify the Tang Administration, further discouraging any future usurpers or rebellions against Imperial authority to ever arise once more, at was the case with Empress Wu and Wei many years prior.An artist’s impression of high class entertainment being performed in the Imperial Court during the prosperous Kaiyuan Era:The Tang Code most notably, was also a very just system of legal conduct, which allowed the Emperor to uphold the “Rule of Law”, by mandating that punishments for all classes alike, whether high or low, rich or poor were to be standardized across the entire social order. The punishments themselves of course, were to be further made lenient under Xuanzong’s most recent reforms, purely in order to reflect the great merciful character of the Emperor himself.The greatest legal achievement of Emperor Xuanzong however, finally came with the passing of a law, which legally prohibited the wild, unregulated use of the Death Penalty, as a way to punish wrongdoers by the year 747 AD.From then on, anyone who wished to seek the use of such an extreme punishment, would have to first submit an application to the Emperor himself, who was the only person henceforth, who could approve of such a draconian act. This was a rather obsolete reform though, as by that particular point in time, the Tang Empire was already so prosperous to such an extent, that only 24 individuals were actually executed by the year 730 AD anyway; an entire 17 years prior to the Penalty’s abolishing.As a supremely intelligent individual also, he understood the potential of religion as a form of control, and thus was aware of the need to ensure for no one specific philosophy, to have a particular advantage over another, nor for any of them either to be able to evade the Rule of Law in any possible way.To this extent, noticing that Buddhism had been gaining an uncomfortably sizeable presence in the Celestial Empire up until that point in time, he sought to counter its effects by promoting the Chinese ideology of Taoism instead. Thus, he naturally decreed henceforth that a copy of “The Tao”, was to be kept in every household from then on, in order to halt the radical influence of Buddhism at bay.The Longmen Grottoes in Modern China today (built during Empress Wu’s reign to honour Buddhism, originating from India, the said philosophy prior to the Kaiyuan Era was on the rapid rise up until the very moment which Xuanzong decreed otherwise, and decided to uphold the native Chinese ideology of Taoism instead, in order to counter the growing influence of the former):The monopoly on power belonging to Buddhism previously, under Xuanzong’s predecessors meant that Buddhist Monasteries and Abbeys could refrain from paying their taxes. It was a well known tactic, which was actively utilized by the various greedy landowners also, who often temporarily donated land to the Buddhist establishments whenever it came to times of taxation, allowing them also to avoid paying their dues.With the national rise of Taoism however, the Landowner Class soon quickly discovered much to their horror, that they didn’t even have the luxury of escaping their obligations any longer, due to public pressures emphasizing harmonious collectivism, which gave them an incentive to actually fulfil their financial services to the State, in order to avoid being publicly shamed by all of Tang society. In this way, the Imperial Administration was no longer being robbed of much needed financing, allowing it to further repair the initially non-existent Economy of Tang.Thus, in this way, the adoption of Taoism by Xuanzong, was not only used to negate the political control of Buddhism, but acted also to in fact redirect such a control over to matters of the Economy, in order to spur economic growth, by ensuring that State Tax Revenue, was being properly paid by all alike, especially the wealthy landowner class. For all intents and purposes thus, Xuanzong’s religious reforms were thus implemented towards such a goal with extreme success.His arguably greatest achievement however (yet the one which would in the future come back to haunt him) was regarding his reforms to the Imperial Army. In the past, during the mighty Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) most notably, the Chinese had achieved considerable success on the battlefields by resorting to using a substantial amount of conscripts, who previously made up the basis of the Imperial Army.When Xuanzong came to power however, the Emperor completely reformed what he perceived to be an outdated, and therefore inefficient system of military administration, replacing it instead with an all new, entirely updated organizational apparatus instead, which was used primarily to defend the territories of the Tang Empire from any external dangers, which dared to threaten the inalienable territories of the Middle Kingdom.The territories of the Tang Empire at 8.9 million km^2 at the end of the Kaiyuan Era in 741 AD under Xuanzong, smaller than what it had been in the year 669 AD under Emperor Gaozong many years earlier, when it was at 12.37 million km^2 (29% larger than Modern China) but still impressive nonetheless:Forced to inherit a weaker empire which had lost control of many of its traditional tributaries, Xuanzong resorted to reforming the army such, that it was now made up of only highly paid volunteers exclusively. This acted to increase the military efficiency of the Imperial Army such, that it was now truly a professional armed forces, one which could be used to effectively defend the nation from any external threats from that point onwards.To this extent, many successful campaigns were in time waged against the Khitan peoples, the Turks, and even the famous Tibetan Empire, as the foreign invaders tried endlessly to overwhelm the Middle Kingdom, but to no avail. By the end of the Kaiyuan Era, the Imperial Army was already 500,000 strong with regards to active servicemen, allowing the Tang Chinese to fend off any would be threat, which they were from then on presented with.All of the aforementioned reforms by the wise Xuanzong, had a greatly positive effect on the Tang Empire, together acting to internally and externally stabilize the Middle Kingdom both domestically, and abroad.This was such that by the end of the Kaiyuan Era, although estimates vary with regards to the population of Tang, Xuanzong’s reforms had been so effective, that there were now an estimated 80 million people living within the Tang Empire itself, but really 140 million if accounting for all of its client states as well in addition.This not only allowed the Tang Dynasty to at its almighty zenith under Xuanzong account for an estimated 40% of the world’s wealth, making it the largest Economy in the world, but the Capital of Chang’an to also be home to an unprecedented 2 million individuals (which had only been 400,000 during the heights of the preceding Han Empire), thus making the Tang Capital, the largest city in the entire world, in terms of population size.An layout of the city of Chang’an during the Tang Dynasty, which was originally built to resemble a literal square (under Xuanzong, the perimeter of the city walls measured in at around 36 km, more than the 25 km which used to exist under Han Era Chang’an):Chang’an itself most notably (a microcosm for the entire Tang Empire), was also made up significantly of many traders and expatriates from countries including, but not limited to, the Byzantine Empire, the Umayyad Caliphate, the former Sasanian Empire, the various Kingdoms and Principalities of India, and also the independent States of Central, Southeast and Northeast Asia alike.In total, the Imperial Census registered individuals from over 70 different foreign Kingdoms, who lived and worked within the Tang Empire during the heights of the Kaiyuan Era, under the watchful eye of the Emperor Xuanzong.Regardless of what ethnicity one originated from, the vast majority of the world’s races and ethnicities could all be found in the Cosmopolitan City of Chang’an. It was thus easy for anyone at this point in time, to truly and genuinely believe, that China was truly at the centre of, and the master of all the known world.Likewise in the smaller Port City of Guangzhou in Southern China meanwhile, during the reign of Xuanzong, 200,000 individuals lived in the maritime metropolis, of which 2/3 were traders from Persia and Arabia alone, even going so far as to outnumber the Chinese, in their own city most notably. This thus shows just as to what extent, the great era of Internationalism was allowed to thrive, actively and personally supported by the efforts of Emperor Xuanzong himself.This great age of Multiculturalism and Cosmopolitanism, was most notably also free from animosity for the most part, which allowed for the the colour of one’s skin neither to be a socially antagonistic issue, not a barrier to trade. It was truly an era of great internationalism, existing as the world’s first system of Globalization, further reinforced by the existence of the Continental and Maritime Silk Roads, as implemented by the Tang Empire.A map of both the Continental and Maritime Silk Roads in existence during the Tang Empire under the Kaiyuan Era:It was such a lengthy period of peace and prosperity, that finally allowed the Tang Empire to at last also reach unprecedented cultural heights in addition, during the prosperous Kaiyuan Era, with regards to the Arts and culture, both which were being officially sponsored by the Emperor himself, for all to enjoy.To this extent, Emperor Xuanzong founded China’s first Academy of Letters, an entire 1,000 years before Europe was able to in the 1700s for reference, where the written word in the forms of Literature and Poetry was taught to all who were willing to learn such an exquisite artistical form.This had the effect of pedestalizing the beauty of Poetry such, that during the Kaiyuan Era, 50,000 Tang poems were created, unprecedented in quantity, and unmatched in quality before, and even long after the Tang Era in Chinese History such, that Tang poems are still being studied at schools all across the nation in Modern China, even to this day.All Mandarin Officials in fact during the Kaiyuan Era, were expected to be amteur poets in their spare time, and every official apart from being an expert calligrapher, also then had to be an equally talented, and imaginative poet. Only through poetic expertise and vivid creativity, could an individual cement his or her position as a permanent member of the Imperial Administration.An photograph depicting the Great Leshan “Giant Buddha” (courtesy of Xuanzong’s keen appreciation of the arts, taking 90 years to finally finish starting in 713 AD, and is located in Sichuan Province today at 71 metres high. The construction of the statue, served only to further reveal the great tolerance of Emperor Xuanzong, as it was he who was the one to have supported Taoism rather than Buddhism, yet still agreed to its construction all the same):Xuanzong was also a great admirer of the Sciences and Technology, and as such was estimated to have employed approximately 35,000 Structural and Mechanical Engineers, who ended up constructing en masse, many self-moving automatons such as the “Automatic Wine Server” which used a hydraulic pump to siphon wine into serving bowls; a truly spectacular sight for the people at the time.Likewise during his reign, both the Mechanical Clock, and even a primitive form of “Air Conditioning” was innovated by Tang society. To this extent, the latter worked in that a particular hall would be equipped with water-powered fan wheels such, that the resulting jet streams from water fountains, were to serve effectively as air-conditioning for its inhabitants, sprinkling them with water every now and then.Woodblock printing, though not innovated under the Kaiyuan Era, was adopted and applied en masse all throughout Tang society. The end result of such a development acted to make the cost of books cheaper, thereby making it affordable for a larger fraction of Chinese society, greatly decreasing illiteracy rates.It was directly as a result of this increase in literacy, which aided in the phenomenon of commoners and sometimes women alike, in finally attaining a prestigious Administrative position, overseeing the operations of the Tang Empire.An artist’s impression of the famous Tang poets, Li Bai and Du Fu composing their famous works for the sake of Xuanzong during the Kaiyuan Era:Eventually, so many books were printed en masse during the Kaiyuan Era, that entire hundreds of public libraries had to be constructed, just in order to be able to make available to the greater public, a wide variety of reading material, which they could either use to professionally reference, or merely read to acquire more knowledge.It should always be noted however, that none of these developments could ever have been innovated and applied otherwise of course, without the political stability of the Tang Empire under the Kaiyuan Era.Thus, the achievements of Xuanzong, during such a peaceful and prosperous time, cannot be understated nor denied. It was indeed he who singlehandedly rebuilt the Tang Empire after it was destroyed by Empress Wu, and this should thus be popularly recognized as such.He was essentially a wise and capable ruler, who understood first and foremostly, what needed to be done, and thus acted accordingly with regards to such a belief. And if not for the fact that he was the one to have also destroyed the prosperity of Tang, it would surely be correct then, to recognize him one of the greater Emperors of Imperial China.Alas, all good things must come to an end, Emperor Xuanzong was no different in this respect to many of his predecessors or counterparts, elsewhere in the world all throughout the history of the human race.Chapter III: “An Enemy From Within”: The Beginning of the End for the Celestial EmpireDisadvantaged from the very beginning of his reign, by inheriting an Empire which was weaker than what it had once been under the great Emperor Taizong of Tang, Xuanzong had been desperate to maintain control over his vast, boundless domain.Initially, in the early days of the Tang Dynasty, the great successes of Xuanzong’s predecessor, Taizong, with regards to International affairs, had allowed him to not only expand the Empire to 12.37 million km^2 by the very end of his reign, but had also won him the submission also of the “entire” world.The Tang Empire’s former peak territories at its heights in 669 AD, with an area of 12.37 million km^2 mostly all due to the conquests of Emperor Taizong decades earlier (39% larger than it was during Xuanzong’s reign):One by one, all of the enemies of China, formerly mighty, were now no more, thanks to the efforts of Emperor Taizong, who cemented his power over the legendary Turkic and Mongolic Tribes of the Steppe, by adopting the dual title, of “Tängri Qaghan” (the God Emperor), allowing him to simultaneously remain a joint ruler of both the “civilized” and “uncivilized” worlds. This was a fact which allowed his reign to usher in a great period of peace and stability, as all the enemies of China were then pacified under his wise reign.Empress Wu’s reign however in stark contrast, had undone all the progress attained with regard to the “barbarians” on the other hand, and now unlike before, China was under external threat once more, having lost control of its former Steppe tributaries. This was an urgent, and pressing issue which could only be solved by passing many rapid emergency reforms, in order to protect the stability of Tang against an imminent invasion, and Xuanzong knew it.To this extent, he had no choice but to replace Emperor Taizong’s former “Fubing” Military Command, with the infamous, “Jiedushi” Reformed Administrative System. The Fubing Apparatus for one, almost exclusively relied on conscripts in times of emergencies, recruits of which were sourced directly from the Peasantry itself, who were to then be given training, before being sent off into combat to destroy the enemies of Tang.The Jiedushi System meanwhile entrusted the command of the entire, now professional Imperial Army, to several individuals. Each of these “Jiedushi” Military Governors were to be given unequal sections of the Army each to command, and often also several prefectures within the Empire itself, to administer.The Jiedushi Commanders were extremely powerful individuals, who were given the absolute authority to command and raise their own armies to numbers within reason (free from State interference), collect their own taxes, and promote or demote whosoever they wished at their own discretion. Not only that, but the Jiedushi System was also estimated to be 3 times more expensive than the previous Fubing System to maintain, significantly draining the State’s formerly vast wealth.A map highlighting all the 10 major administrative divisions within the Tang Empire, which highlighted the whereabouts of the vast majority of the Imperial Army, and their correlated Jiedushi controlled territories by the year 745 AD:Early on the during the Kaiyuan Era, the Jiedushi were used successfully, to an extremely high degree such, that all enemies of the Empire stood no chance against the power of the Middle Kingdom.The most notable drawback regarding the system however, was that the State was completely reliant on the Jiedushi Commanders, to carry out their foreign campaigns. This meant, to put it sharp and shortly, that the State actually had no independent army of its own, instead relying wholly on the Regional Commanders, to instead fight on their behalf.And this, was a decision which would of course, have only the most dire of consequences for the fate of the Tang Empire during the last days of Xuanzong’s reign. Anyone in their right mind should have been able to foresee such a clear threat, but of course, Xuanzong by that point in time, wasn’t in his right mind.Until such a turbulent time however, the beginning of the end for the Golden Age had actually already begun by the year 734 AD, twenty-one years into the prosperous Kaiyuan Era. By this point in time, the entire country was so powerful, so well organized, so well administered, and so unimaginably wealthy, that Xuanzong no longer believed that it needed his help. He thus largely retired from public life, having grown immensely bored of it, and in doing so, betrayed a fatal flaw, one which would eventually see to the collapse of Tang itself: hubris.As a suitable candidate to run the country on his behalf, Xuanzong’s favoured concubine, Consort Wu especially recommended that the Emperor promote, Li Linfu, a precious family friend instead, to oversee the day to day, tedious activities of the State. Xuanzong, vastly impatient by this point in time, quickly agreed without detailed consideration of the consequences, nor performing any background checks, and thus agreed no questions asked. And soon thereafter, Li was thus made Chancellor of the State.An artist’s impression of the highly corrupt Prime Minister Li Linfu, the man whom Xuanzong mistakenly relied upon after retiring from public life entirely, in turn leading eventually to the decline of the Empire:It was not only the fact that Xuanzong was eager to retire, but also because of his overly benevolent, and generous nature, which prevented him from seeing pass the cruel, calculating facade of Li. For in reality, despite his exterior pretence in upholding the image of a good, and loyal servant to the Imperial Family, the Chancellor was a corrupt and power-hungry man who only cared about fulfilling his wildly ambitious plans, much as Princess Taiping, Empress Wu or even Empress Dowager Wei, once likewise also aspired to do.But such concerns of course remained undetected by the now complacent Emperor Xuanzong, who eventually became more introverted and withdrawn as the years went on, eventually self-imprisoning himself in the Imperial Palace, preferring to enjoy the sexual comforts and presence instead, of his 4,000 kidnapped beautiful girls, whom he also likewise placed under house arrest, in order to keep him company.Not only that, but he even excluded himself from them at times, keeping himself entertained with Taoist texts instead. On the rare occasions which he did return to public life however, he often passed several “questionable” reforms, unlike in his early reign, which publicly announced that Taoists were automatically superior to Buddhists whenever the Imperial Court was in session.An artist’s impression of Court entertainment within the Imperial Court (sometimes the Emperor would also pass his time by enjoying such vibrant displays of song and dance, which were showcased to him by his many Court entertainers who specifically specialized in bringing back to China, only the best foreign musicals and plays, purely alleviate the Emperor from his greatest enemy: boredom):Anyways, this served only to further alienate and drive a wedge in between the Emperor, and the vast majority of his subjects, as many were still Buddhists, despite his pro-Taoist policies.And in the absence of the Emperor, free of neither any incentive to uphold the law, nor the consequences to refrain, from inflicting evil upon all who would otherwise face up to him, Li Linfu moved swiftly to manipulate events in his favour. Now under the devilish control of Li, the fate of the Tang Dynasty took a turn for the worse.Of course, Li had no real interest in ruling justly, and instead resorted to corruption en masse, in turn ensuring that he all but entirely spent the vast National Treasury, on many self-indulgent shows of court extravagance, including expensive clothing and parties, rather than spending it wisely in order to uphold the prosperity of the people, as Xuanzong had once done.As a result of the rapidly diminishing finances of the Imperial Administration, more and more Li authorized the use of increasingly dubious and eventually also, illegal means to recover the State’s revenue. Blackmail and possibly at times, physical and mental torture was inflicted upon the common people, merely in order to hide evidence of their criminal activities, from the attention of the loyalist faction at court.Roughly around the same time that such a treacherous act was occurring right behind the Emperor’s back, a new threat to the stability of the Tang Empire had also now at last begun to emerge.The beautiful Yang Yuhuan was just fourteen, when she was betrothed to Prince Li Mao of the Tang Dynasty. But as time would prove otherwise, such a superficial union would not everlast for long anyways, at least not before she also caught the attention of the Emperor Xuanzong himself. When Prince Li Mao’s mother, the Emperor’s favoured concubine, Consort Wu passed in 737 AD, it left a huge gaping hole within his life; a crater which he begun to believe could only be healed by the immense beauty of his son’s new wife, Yang Yuhuan.An artist’s impression of Yang Yuhuan, initially the wife of Prince Li Mao of Tang:The only issue of course, was the fact that she was still married to his son. This proved to be no true obstacle however, as the cunning Emperor manipulated events such, that she became obligated to become a nun in a Taoist Monastery, greatly upsetting Prince Li Mao, who was only too acutely aware, that his father was attempting to steal his wife away from him.To appease his son, he arranged for the prince to be married off to another woman, whilst he himself married Yang in 741 AD, where she then proceeded to rapidly rise through the ranks, and in time even become the highest ranking concubine, within the Imperial Palace, now as the Emperor’s favourite.Her legendary beauty in fact, served to overwhelmingly win over Xuanzong’s favour to such an extent, that not only did he create an entirely new Concubine rank (of which there were previously only nine) just for Yang, donning her by Yang’s more widely recognized, and infamous name to this day; “Guifei”, but he also stopped being antisocial, and was now resolved instead to please his new lover in any possible way.A statue in modern China today of the infamous Yang Guifei at Huaqing Hot Springs, the legendary lover and eventually also bane of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang:To this extent, he willingly gave up his free will, and autonomy, and now was essentially her subject, rather than the other way around. His mind was fundamentally bewitched, and he begun to lose control over his mind such, that neither common sense, nor the gift of foresight, both which had allowed him to prior emerge as one of Imperial China’s greatest rulers up until then, was now in existence any longer.Instead, he now existed, purely to serve and please his beloved Yang Guifei.Unsurprisingly thus, even when she blatantly contradicted his values, and demanded that he promote into power, several members of her family, into key positions all over the Imperial Administration, he relented. Most uncomfortably, he relented even though he knew, that it was a flagrant insult to his early reign, in which he had actually sort to discourage Nepotism, a fact which had now been made all but redundant by the antagonistic Yang.In the years following thereafter, many members of the Yang Family, were indeed placed into many important key positions within the Tang Administration, upon Consort Yang’s suggestion, even though they were practically useless, and had little to contribute to the effective administration of China.All her sisters for example were promoted to the status of nobility, and one of her many cousins, the infamous Yang Guozhong would even rise to become the Prime Minister of the Tang Empire, eventually ascending even to rival the Chancellor, Li Linfu in both power and stature, who himself by the year 742 AD in the absence of Xuanzong, was already the de facto State Dictator.And on the matter of the greedy Chancellor Li himself, the degenerate, further contributed to this rapidly rising phenomenon of Nepotism and corruption, by likewise making it clear, that he was indeed open to bribes from all alike, in this way ensuring that many more posts in the Government, would soon be filled by members of the Yang Clan.An artist’s impression of the diabolical Yang Guozhong, who would soon also become one of the most trusted individuals in the Empire by Xuanzong himself, yet another one of his many mistakes which would eventually lead to the downfall of the Empire itself:Together, both Li and Yang abused their power to such an extent, that it begun to unravel all reforms passed prior, and likewise all the progress which had been previously accrued under Xuanzong’s early reign, slowly destroying the Empire with each passing year. And now without anyone to stand up to either of them, even the Emperor, who had all but given up, the nation begun its initially slow, but eventually rapid descent into the dustbin of history.By this point in time as such, it had already become clear to all within the Imperial Court itself, that the Emperor was not in his right mind. What they did not realize however, was just as to what extent, that was now exclusively the case.On one such occasion for example, Yang had angered the Emperor with her words, and he furiously sent her home in response, most displeased with his favoured consort. But he could never truly remain angry with his beloved, and soon relented, sending his Palace Eunuchs to deliver custom made meals to his consort, which upon being received, Yang famously replied in response:“My offense deserves death, and it is fortunate that His Imperial Majesty did not kill me, but instead returned me to my household. I will forever leave the palace. My gold, jade, and treasures were all given me by His Imperial Majesty, and it would be inappropriate for me to offer them back to him. Only what my parents gave me I would dare to offer.”To this extent, she went so far as to even sinfully contradict popular Confucian beliefs at the time, which insisted that an individual’s hair was the most sacred, inheritable possession of any individual (as it is a gift from your parents to you), Yang proceeded to slice off a section of her hair, and sent it to the Emperor. And as a consequence of such an otherwise rash action, Xuanzong’s admiration for her, only grew more as a result, pleased that his beloved went so far as to even be willing to defy social norms, just in order to beg for his forgiveness.Such an exemplar, though certainly entertaining, more importantly proves just exactly as to what extent, the Emperor’s mind had been twisted such, that he was even willing to overlook the defiance of his lover, rather than reprimand her as he should have done (as the Emperor was suppose to set a moral example for the all his subjects to follow) for breaking such a crucial, and fundamental societal belief.An artist’s impression of Emperor Xuanzong and Consort Yang, on one of their many romantic strolls, accompanied by several of their servants per Court tradition:The extravagance of Yang, did not just stay confined to the Imperial Palace itself however, and soon, it had even spread beyond the borders of the Emperor’s residence. Yang manipulated the Emperor such, that he moved to greatly expand her very own, “Huaqing Palace”, where she spent many lengthy hours on occasion, bathing in the waters of the nearby hot springs, in order to keep her skin fresh and crystal clean.Entire shipments also, of her favourite fruit; the Lychee, had to be brought by express, from every corner of the Empire, every single week, just in order to allow her to retain her luxurious lifestyle. And as for her clothes meanwhile, the Emperor was forced to continuously employ 700 of the Empire’s finest clothing artisans, to always be constantly knitting and putting together the latest foreign fashion trends for her beauty to be exemplified, for all the world to admire.Wheresoever she went, she was either always at any given time traversing to different places on horse, accompanied by Gao Lishi, the Emperor’s personal, and most favoured Chief Eunuch, or physically showered with gifts from officials and generals alike. She was essentially, a living goddess for all intents and purposes. She was above the law, and could do anything she so wished, whensoever she pleased, and that was even if she had the desire to do anything at all, for nobody within the Tang Empire, had the right to criticize her otherwise.An artist’s impression of Yang Guifei ready to depart on her trusted steed, accompanied by many servants and guards as usual:Most unfortunately at this time also, Yang had also befriended one very particular individual, out of the many upon many powerful Jiedushi Military Governors employed by the Empire: a half Turkic, and half Sogdian General by the name of An Lushan. A clever, manipulative, and highly ambitious man himself, knowing full well the power, influence and capabilities of Consort Yang, he used his friendship with the favoured concubine, in order to expand his influence within the Imperial Court itself.This acted well in his favour, to win over the acclaim of Chancellor Li Linfu, but in turn also served unintentionally as a result, to also earn him the scorn of Prime Minister Yang Guozhong, who utterly despised his rival, Li, and therefore anybody which the latter took a likening to. General An was unfortunately not spared such an illogical ire.To this extent, a fiercely heated rivalry between the two opposing parties had now even begun rise to light, with Li joining the de facto “Cold War” on the General’s side. This became the brutal reality of Court politics such, that now whilst the Tang Empire had begun to fall apart in the absence of the Emperor, rather than taking the adequate measures to negate such a phenomenon from further occuring, the three begun to act very much like bickering infants instead.With neither of the involved individuals willing to cooperate with one another for the greater good of the Empire, all three parties instead begun to subtly attempt to frame, blackmail, coerce and sabotage one another, and all the while the nation suffered because of such childish affairs. Li however, who was much older than General An, and therefore presumably wiser and more experienced at such “dirty” affairs, acted as An’s mentor, and therefore served to at least restrain and limit the fury of the General, thus keeping collateral damage low and limited at this point in time.An artist’s impression of the wildly ambitious, half Sogdian and half Turkic General An Lushan, the future great sorrow of the Tang Empire:By the pivotal year of 751 AD to make matters worst, the General had also by that point in time, after labouring long and hard for eight lengthy years, completely won over the trust of Emperor Xuanzong himself, which only acted to further seal the fate of the Tang Dynasty, orienting it towards imminent destruction.It had begun rather slowly at first however, with one particular occasion in 743 AD, where due to the nature of his morbidly obese physical self, the Emperor once jokingly enquired of the General:"What does this barbaric belly contain?"To which An responded, in only the most obliviously innocent way possible:"Other than a faithful heart, there is nothing else."It was through many such minor, yet crucial occasions like this over the next 8 years, that would together act only to cement the Emperor’s gradual, but eventually fatal trust in him, forever.For on another particular occasion, some time afterwards for instance, the Sogdian was able to feign ignorance, an act which greatly entertained the Emperor, in which he refused to bow down to Crown Prince Li Heng, insisting hilariously that:"I am a barbarian, and I do not understand formal ceremony. What Sire is… a Crown Prince exactly?"To which Xuanzong informed him in response:"He is the reserve emperor. After my death, he will be your emperor."General An therefore forced himself to apologize afterwards, but not before he relayed back to Xuanzong the following lines:"I am foolish. I had only known about Your Imperial Majesty, and not that there was such a thing as a ‘reserve emperor’."And with the end of their dialogue, the General promptly bowed for the sake of politeness, which served only to further win him the Emperor’s favour, as Xuanzong now believed An to be a very straightforward, and unassuming individual. He was therefore not a threat, neither to his reign, nor to the great stability of the Empire.His love for the General, was finally won over completely by the year 751 AD, when Yang Guifei announced publicly to the Imperial Court, regarding her decision to adopt fully as her son; General An, as both she and Xuanzong genuinely adored their beloved An Lushan by this point in time.A 21st century actor, filling in the role of An Lushan, here in this scene adorned in full battle attire:Summoning An to the palace on February 23rd, she then proceeded to have an extra-large infant wrapping made, with which she intended to wrap her newborn “son” inside, an act which provoked immediate laughter amongst all the Eunuchs and ladies in waiting alike.When Xuanzong enquired as to what Yang was doing, the Court attendants joked that Yang had just given birth three days prior, and was now washing her newborn infant, An Lushan. Such a situation acted only to amuse the Emperor to such an extent (as usual when it came to An anyways), that he begun to completely place his trust in An henceforth, going so far as to even call him his, “dear son”.In this way, An was able to win over the Emperor’s approval and friendship, just as he had done previously with Yang and the Chancellor. To this end, the Emperor even begun to trust him to such an extent, that he decreed that whensoever he pleased, the General would be allowed to freely enter and exit the Imperial Palace at will, without official scrutiny nor regulation.This was thus indeed one of the most pivotal events during the duration of the Tang Dynasty, as it was considered to be the very moment, which served to not only further encourage and make possible the ambitions of An Lushan, but also served to allow him to finally, and wholly escape the suspicions of Xuanzong, thus completely sealing the imminent fate of the Empire henceforth.In fact, the Emperor even begun to trust him to such a degree, that when rumours of a sexual affair between Yang and An begun to run amok, he promptly ignored them, absolutely refusing to believe that two of the people he cared and trusted most in the world, could ever have betrayed him in such a treacherous fashion. And thus it was, that in the shadow of the doubt now casted by Emperor Xuanzong, the power of An Lushan begun to grow like a cancer from within: unchecked and unopposed.An artist’s impression of Consort Yang joining the other concubines in physical exercise, during the Xuanzong’s late reign:The late reign of Xuanzong thus, was a highly tragical one in which the Emperor willingly withdrew from power at first, something which could easily have been avoided, but then also became manipulated later on in addition, by the intoxicating beauty of Yang Guifei.To say that he was a untalented Emperor during this particular point in time, would thus not be entirely accurate, as there were in fact many factors at play here, which saw the inclusion of many relevant parties, all willing to stop at nothing, in order to obtain absolute, and unlimited power, at the parallel expense of the Emperor’s authority, and therefore the nation’s prosperity.Chapter IV: “World At War”: The Rebellion of An Lushan, and the Fall of the Golden AgeSooner than later it was, that Li Linfu; friend, mentor and the great restrainer of An Lushan up until that point in time, finally passed away by the year 753 AD. To make matters worse, the great rival of General An; Prime Minister Yang Guozhong was instead promoted by Xuanzong to the omnipotent post of Chancellor, granting him the absolute power to do whatsoever he so desired.Of course, with the cold war between An and Yang still ongoing by this point in time, Yang used every opportunity at his disposal to harass and annoy the General, hoping to provoke a reaction from him. And after years upon many years of accumulated, ongoing verbal abuse from Yang, had finally taken their toll on the increasingly fragile mind of An, the General had at last had enough of such an oppression, and gave him the reaction he so desired.Directly in response to the blatant bullying of Yang, the General begun to build up his provincial army en masse, with the intentions of forcibly removing Yang from power forever. It was his right after all, as An was first and foremostly, even before his status as a military general, a Jiedushi Commander at his core. The privilege of being a Military Governor meant that An was allowed to raise an army whensoever he wished, as long as its size was considered to be “within reason”.However, as the Emperor was not only too preoccupied with pleasing his lover, but also due to the fact that An was now his trusted, and beloved son, allowed the General to begin building up his own personal army, even as to exceed the prescribed “recommended” limit, without Imperial criticism.And thus it was, that as the years went by, the size of An’s provincial army begun to grow in numbers, having brought many from out of retirement, until finally at last, by the year 755 AD, it now numbered at 200,000 battle hardened men, or 40% of the entire Tang Imperial Army.An artist’s impression of the An’s highly feared, and battle hardened army, marching to victory:Driven mad to such an extent with ambitions of unlimited power, and now believing himself to be both intellectually and morally superior to a rapidly declining Tang Dynasty, he at last made plans to revolt against the Chinese Empire, in order to replace it with a stronger and therefore better, New Regime.It was An’s belief, that the decay of the Empire was as a result of both the abuses and extravagance of the Yang Family, which had not only weakened the nation under the highly corrupt Yang Guozhong, but also bankrupted it beyond repair by his cousin, Consort Yang Guifei in addition. As a result, he begun to truly believe that this was a sign from the universe to him, which depicted ever so clearly that the Li Family, had indeed lost the “Mandate of Heaven”; the Right to Rule, and was therefore no longer, a legitimate political entity.And if it was now truly illegitimate as such, then it was certainly his sworn duty therefore, to lead the revolution against the Empire, and overthrow both the Li and Yang Families, cleansing the nation of such a disease forever. Too little too late, Chancellor Yang surprisingly of all people, was the only individual to have foreseen such an imminent hazard to the Empire fast approaching, and responded by warning the Emperor of such a looming existential threat to the Middle Kingdom.In 754 AD, genuinely afraid, Yang pressured the Emperor to recall An back to Chang’an, in order to test whether or not he would arrive immediately, upon being commanded so by Xuanzong. If he did, then he was indeed loyal; this was Yang’s hypothesis.Unfortunately, An did indeed return to Chang’an upon being summoned back to the Capital, thus putting Xuanzong’s mind at rest henceforth. Even by that point in time apparently, even with concrete evidence of his rapid military buildup clear for all to see, Xuanzong still couldn’t believe that there was any possible way, in which his adopted son could ever betray him like this.It was to be his biggest and last mistake however, and surely enough by that time the following year in 755 AD, An Lushan, crown jewel of the Tang Empire, and the beloved adopted son of both Consort Yang and Emperor Xuanzong, declared himself to be the only true “Son of Heaven”, and rose up in defiance against the formerly impervious Tang Dynasty, with the aim of completely overthrowing the Li Family from power, by any means necessary, and replacing it with his very own, self proclaimed Yan Dynasty (755–57 AD).An artist’s impression of one of the countless hundreds of battles during the highly destructive and notorious An Lushan Rebellion:And thus in this way begun the Rebellion of An Lushan; a tragedy which would go onto to last 8 years from 755–63 AD, and in the end claim 36 million lives, or 45% of Tang China’s population, going down in the chronicles as the 7th bloodiest war in the entirety of Human History to this day, all but ensuring the end of the Chinese Golden Age from the moment of its conception onwards.Now at first, An had claimed that he merely wanted to settle his disputes one on one with his still much despised rival Yang Guozhong. Whether this claim was true or not initially, soon mattered not however, as his attention was in time turned exclusively to the Imperial Throne itself, when he rallied his 200,000 elite soldiers to his side, all of whom he had once led and commanded before, before invading the territories of the sacred Middle Kingdom itself, from within.There was no stopping General An of course from doing as he pleased, this was sadly just a widely known fact at the time, which everybody in the Empire took as a given.For even prior to the advent of the rebellion, General An was already widely considered to be the “Crown Jewel” of the Empire, and therefore the single most deadly commander that Tang China had to offer. To this extent, he had time and time again before, proved his merit on the battlefield by winning entire wars in only the most inhospitable of environments, against the Middle Kingdom’s most feared enemies, and through only the most treacherous of circumstances possible, all for the sake of the Great Tang Empire.Originally joining the army as a lowly enlisted scout, his impeccable, and ferociously aggressive military record, and outstanding battlefield performance, had allowed him to rapidly ascend to the position of a full fledged Imperial General, all before the year 736 AD at merely 33 years of age. Thus it was, that at such a delicate time now for the Tang Dynasty, who indeed could have hoped to have stopped him? No, there was none so equally talented as he, and even An himself knew the merits of such a self-evidently sound fact.A map outlining the main strategic maneuvers utilized by both sides during the An Lushan Rebellion:Having covertly redeployed his entire army to the 3 northernmost provinces of China under his control; Fanyang, Hedong and Pinglu, An Lushan then took his 200,000 strong force and begun to march express towards Chang’an, full speed ahead, but not before also sacking the great city of Kaifeng along the way, exterminating the vast majority of its populace, thereby spreading fear over all of China’s loyalist provinces, An’s reputation preceding his physical appearances.Along the way, he paused only to officially make his declaration of war, by sacking the secondary capital of Luoyang, with minimal collateral damage this time around. Such a “merciful” occupation had the effect unfortunately, of convincing many of the elite and commoners in the city alike, now wholly grateful for An’s generosity, but also long infuriated with the notion of Yang familial corruption, as a result resolved to join the rebellion en masse.This acted to further strengthen the rebellion, as the combined rebel alliance now marched in unison, towards a single goal in mind: the creation of a newer and fairer world, free from the rapidly deteriorating vestiges of the old.Another artist’s impression of the An Lushan Rebellion:It was now then, that at long last, after 21 years of decadence, denial, complacency and ignorance, that Xuanzong finally realized just how wrong he had been to have entirely withdrawn from public life. He recognized the mistake he had made in placing his trust in the wrong people, which had allowed his mind to be twisted, at first by the manipulative Li Linfu, then by the beautiful Yang Guifei and her corrupt cousin Yang Guozhong, and finally now even by his very own son, the ambitious An Lushan.Finally, after having realized that he had failed at both his official roles, firstly as the Son of Heaven, then as the Father of the Nation, he now resolved to setting his sights forward, rather than looking back in guilt, and thus moved quickly to meet An Lushan head on.Regaining his former strength, the Emperor prepared emergency countermeasures, and rallied the remaining loyalist factions of the Imperial Army to his side, giving them the unlimited authority, to use any means necessary to violently annihilate the ungrateful, and traitorous An Lushan off the face of the Earth forever.To this extent, they were initially successful at holding him back from capturing Yongqiu county, where a heroic force of 2,000 loyalists were able to halt the expansion of An Lushan’s force of 40,000 rebels, by killing half of the said army, whilst losing only 500 men in the process. Such a temporary setback however, only acted to delay the inevitable, and soon enough the following year in 756 AD, An was already at the gates of Chang’an anyway.An artist’s impression of the Siege of Chang’an by the forces of An Lushan (Source: http://www.suitangcity.com):The Capital thus fell in due time; it was inevitable. The loyalists, owing to lack of reinforcements, aided neither with physical nor moral support, lacked both the means and capabilities to mount further offensives on the invading armies of An Lushan. And thus, were forced to make many sacrifices here and there, some extremely large, in order to maintain their campaign against An. The loss of the city Chang’an was merely one of many such concessions, but it served further to demoralized the entire loyalist army as a result.Despite now having 700,000 soldiers after emergency conscription, the Tang Empire was still on the retreat, fighting what they all knew was a clearly lost cause. This had the effect further of convincing many more individuals, peasants, merchants, artisans and even officials alike, to join An Lushan’s army, as it seemed apparent to them, that when it was not one’s war, you should at least join the side that was going to win. And the odds by this stage late in Xuanzong’s reign, most unfortunately, clearly favoured An.Foreseeing both a rebel victory, and the imminent loss of the capital, Xuanzong announced the evacuation of the entire Imperial Court, and quickly retreated south towards what is modern day Sichuan province, taking both his beloved Yang Guifei and her entire family, along with him, armed with a loyalist army at their backing, for protective purposes. And thus before An was able to seize control of the city, the Imperial Family had long already evacuated, and fled deep into the Qin Mountains, as far away from the fighting as possible.An image below displaying the Officer’s “Mingguang Armour”, which was used en masse by higher ranking commanders of the Imperial Army during the counteroffensive against An Lushan:The long march south was already a difficult one, fraught with many natural and geographical dangers by itself, but as was quickly being made apparent, it was not the only such threat which Xuanzong had to watch out for by this point in time. As it turned out, the loyalist army which had been sent to protect the Imperial household were themselves, barely containing their own anger against the Emperor, and soon enough, once they were deep into the mountains, hundreds of kilometres away from the nearest signs of civilization, the loyalists themselves revolted against the Emperor’s authority.Furious beyond belief at Yang Guozhong, who they blamed the most for weakening the stability of the Empire, and diminishing the prosperity of the people, then proceeded to behead the Chancellor, forever ridding China of such a decayed menace. The entire Yang Family in fact, was then also subsequently executed following the death of its patriarch, children and women alike. It served only to reveal the fury of the loyalists; an attitude which reflected popular sentiments arising from all of China alike, with regards to the scandalous Yang Family: an attitude of murderous rage and disdain.They then proceeded to give the Emperor a non-negotiable ultimatum which they ordered him to fulfil, for the sake of the Celestial Empire: the immediate execution of the his most beloved Consort Yang. The reason being? She like her cousin, had corrupted the mind of the Emperor, therefore destroying the nation, and the people’s prosperity, and thus, was too dangerous to be left alive.And in response to their otherwise unreasonable demands, finally admitting that Yang was the true cause for his own personal downfall, and therefore also the decline of Tang, most unwillingly, surrendered to the will of the loyalist army, and promptly had his Chief Eunuch, and close friend to Yang, Gao Lishi viciously strangle her to death.An artist’s impression of Xuanzong’s most unwilling capitulation to the immediate demands of the loyalist army, to have his beloved Consort Yang, finally executed after having spent many years by her side (note the pose of Xuanzong on the left, as he refuses to watch her be strangled to death):Depressed beyond belief in the days following her death, and now demoralized to such an extent as to believe that victory against the ambitious An Lushan was impossible, he abdicated the position of Emperor, in favour of Crown Prince Li Heng, now the new Emperor Suzong of Tang.Retiring entirely from public life once more, instead of paying for his crimes towards the Chinese Nation, an ordinary citizen; Li Longji, once more, retreated back into his shell, and died ignobly of natural causes, by the year 762 AD, instead of doing penance for his crimes, and perishing heroically on the battlefield instead.In light of his abdication however, the fortunes of Tang begun to turn for the better when the now stronger willed Emperor Suzong, moved swiftly to continue his father’s campaigns against An Lushan. To this extent, he wrote a letter to Caliph Al-Mansur of the mighty Western superpower of the Abbasid Caliphate (750–1258 AD), requesting that the Arab ruler reinforce China with his own army.In response, the Caliph hastily sent 4,000 Abbasid soldiers east towards China, in order to aid the Imperial Army. In addition, entire new garrisons were raised, filled with Turkic mercenaries, in order to assist the Tang Army on their quest to halt the advance of An Lushan. And thus in this way, the tide of the war begun to turn at last, as An begun to come across defeat after defeat, eventually allowing the loyalists to recapture both Chang’an and Luoyang the following year.This only had the effect however of making An paranoid of any internal traitors to the cause, leading him to begin questioning the loyalty of his own men. It was due to the “witch hunt” like nature of his great paranoia, which finally saw to it that he was finally assassinated in 757 AD, by his own son, who was then himself assassinated by a family friend named Shi Siming, who then proceeded to abolish the Yan Dynasty, but still continue An’s Rebellion Against the Tang Empire.But at last, after many years of fighting a now losing war in favour of the Celestial Empire, the former armies of An Lushan lost the will to fight, and were finally all but suppressed by the year 763 AD, due mostly to the efforts of a Nestorian Christian General, Guo Ziyi who restored the authority of the Li Family to all of China once more.An artist’s impression of General Guo, the saviour of the Tang Empire from the oppression of An Lushan’s Rebellion:But alas, the damage had now been done. And though the Tang Dynasty did eventually recover, it was never quite the same as it had once been under the early days of Xuanzong. The Golden Age, which had lasted for 150 years up until the pivotal year of 755 AD, was now permanently over.For the next one and a half centuries, the Middle Kingdom would slowly descend into the dustbin of history instead, regressing into a highly xenophobic, and racist empire which began to look down upon, and persecute anyone and anything of non-Chinese origins, in contrast to its early reign, which had once been home to the epitome of racial tolerance, and the pinnacles of cosmopolitanism and egalitarianism; neither of which were in existence any longer during its “dark ages”.And thus it was, that Emperor Xuanzong, the great architect of Tang China with regards to its unprecedented prosperity, was also the man who inevitably brought about its equally avoidable decline, thus making him a very complex ruler to objectively judge indeed, both utterly useless towards his very end, yet also heroically righteous in his earliest days as Emperor by stark contrast.Final Summary (and TL;DR)To this day, there is still no common consensus amongst historians, with regards to whether or not Xuanzong was in fact a “good” Emperor or not.He did have many undeniable successes for sure, which included his great purging of all the enemies of the Tang Dynasty, which had emerged over time to threaten its very existence. Growing up under the usurper Empress Wu, he matured into a very talented and strong willed individual, who spent all his time in active study, which allowed him to be able to continuously hone his intellectual skills, which would allow him to emerge as a benevolent and wise ruler.His reforms regarding the restored Tang Empire, saw the minimization of Court corruption, the introduction of a professional, all volunteers and non-conscripted army, the constructions of public infrastructures en masse, the adoption of Taoism to counter the radical poverty inducing effects of Buddhism, the abolishing of the Death Penalty, the introduction of an anti-Nepotism campaign, and the upholding of the Rule of Law.As a result by the peak of his reign, China was now the world’s largest Economy with 40% of its wealth, and 80 million people, or 25% of the world’s population. The Capital of Chang’an, when compared to its former size under the preceding Han Era, was 5 times larger in population with a magnitude of 2 million individuals, composed of peoples from all over the Eurasian Continent, truly making the Cosmopolitan Dynasty of Tang, the world’s greatest empire of the 8th Century AD.But then came the era of complacency and arrogance, and Xuanzong, now no longer believing that the prosperous Celestial Empire needed his help, begun to retreat from Palace life, leaving control of the entire nation in the hands of the corrupt Chancellor Li Linfu, all the while he spent his time enjoying the company of the beautiful Consort Yang Yuhuan (Guifei).A modern film impression of Yang Yuhuan, as played by the Chinese actress Fan Bingbing, in the Chinese Epic; “Lady of the Dynasty (2015)”, which recounts both Yang’s rise and subsequent fall from power during the later years of Xuanzong’s reign:And as a result of such a negligence, the country grew desolate, poor and weak, as Li robbed the entire nation of its wealth, and all the while the Emperor was obsessed with Yang, now believing that he existed only to please her. To this extent, he promoted many members of her family into the Imperial Administration, acting only to make certain the imminent fate of Tang.The powerful Sogdian General, An Lushan towards the end of his reign meanwhile, befriended not only Yang and the Emperor, completely winning over their trust, but also that of the entire Imperial Court, with the notable exception of Yang’s cousin: Prime Minister Yang Guozhong. As a result, the two began to intensely dislike each other to such an extent, that An’s mentor and friend, Chancellor Li, had to instead henceforth restrain him.But with Li dead by 753 AD, and in his place now instead was his rival, Minister Yang, An Lushan begun to build up his army to such an extent, that it now numbered at 200,000 people, or 40% of the entire Imperial Army. Mad with power, he begun the infamous An Lushan Rebellion, which lasted for 8 long years, killing 45% of China’s 80 million strong population.And the Emperor during all this time, could only sit by and watch with horror, as the entire nation he had rebuilt from scratch, was being destroyed before his very eyes. He died peacefully in 762 AD, rather than heroically on the battlefield as he should have done, in order to pay for his actions against the Chinese Nation. And with the conclusion of the Rebellion in time, thus ended the Golden Age of China forever.Therefore, to objectively judge the Emperor Xuanzong, cannot be said to be an easy task indeed. Rather instead, both of his heroic and villainous deeds, should be observed and remembered instead, with the Emperor himself perhaps treated as tragic hero rather, than purely a knight in shining armour on one hand, or a petty criminal on the other, both of which many today still mistakenly do.SourcesWu Zhao Biography: Empress Wu Zetian of Zhou Dynasty (624-705)XuanzongXuanzong | emperor of Tang dynastyEmperor Xuanzong of Tang - WikipediaCapital punishment - WikipediaTang Dynasty: Emperor Xuanzong (Ming Huan) | Learn Chinese Historyhttp://ccnmtl.columbia.edu/services/dropoff/china_civ_temp/week06/pdfs/tangci.pdfEmperor Xuanzong of Tang ChinaThe Tang Dynasty: An Age of InnovationJiedushi - Wikipediafubing system | Chinese militia systemLi Linfu - WikipediaYang GuiFei (杨玉环)Yang Guifei - WikipediaYang Guozhong (楊國忠)An Lushan | Chinese generalTang Military Overview 唐军An Lushan Rebellion 1: 安史之乱 Empire FallAn Lushan Rebellion - The Devastating An-Shi Rebellion (755-763)Reasons for China Tang Dynasty Decline

I know this may be a bit at length, but I feel that a bit of history on what we do is needed.A school bus or school omnibus is a bus used to transport children and adolescents to and from school. The first school bus was horse-drawn, introduced in 1827 by George Shillibeer for a Quaker school at Abney Park in Stoke Newington, London, United Kingdom and was designed to carry 25 children.The bus has subsequently become a major mode of transportation, particularly for transporting children to school. Children may travel to school on regular public bus services. In some cases public bus services may run field trips and high school athletic events, and private coach services may put on their own paid services. In North America, however, the school bus is itself a specific type of bus distinct from other buses. Canada and the United States have specially built, painted and equipped school buses. They are commonly painted a "yellow-orange" color (officially known as "National School Bus Chrome Yellow") for purposes of visibility and safety and equipped with specialized traffic warning devices, with the exception of school activity buses (normally used exclusively for point-to-point field and athletic trips and not used for home delivery routes) which are built to the same standards but are customarily some color other than orange and are usually not equipped with traffic warning devices. Most purchased in recent years have been diesel-powered or hybrid. Full-size school buses can seat 59 to 90 passengers, but in many districts smaller vehicles are used as well. Such smaller vehicles are commonly known as "short buses", and are often used for low-density routes associated with private schools and programs for magnet programs and developmentally-challenged students.Most U.S. school districts purchase the buses and hire their own drivers, while others engage the service of school bus contractors such as Laidlaw to perform this function. School bus services in the UK in almost all cases are contracted out to local bus companies. Elsewhere in Europe school bus services are contracted to local bus companies, which use regional buses that operate on regular lines at other times, or in some cases older regional buses.Early Modes: Wagons & Kid HacksWayne Works, predecessor of Wayne Corporation, was founded in the United States of America in 1837. By 1886, and possibly earlier, it is known that the company was making horse-drawn school carriages which many people referred to as "school hacks," "school cars," "school trucks," or "kid hacks." ("hack" was a term for certain types of horse-drawn carriages.) In this era, in rural areas, it was very common to use farm wagons to transport children to schools throughout North America, with regional adaptations such as sleds in extreme northern climates.Motorized Vehicles, Early School BusesIn 1914, Wayne Works dropped a wooden kid hack onto an automobile chassis, creating a predecessor to the modern motor school bus. In the bodies for school transportation the company produced through this era, passengers sat on perimeter seating, facing the center rather than the front of the bus. Entry and egress was through a door at the rear, a design begun in non-motorized days so as not to startle the horses. This was possibly a precursor to the rear emergency door commonly found on modern school buses.In 1927, Blue Bird Body Company and Wayne Works began building all-steel bus bodies In 1932, Gillig Bros. built their first school bus, which was an all-steel unit and by the mid 1930s, nearly every school bus manufacturer was using steel over wood or other materials for body construction. In the 1930s, many school bus manufacturers also began installing additional exterior "rails" along the length of their buses to add structural rigidity and to aid in passenger protection. Known as either crash, rub, or guard rails, Wayne Works was the first known manufacturer to utilize them in bus construction.Early school buses primarily served rural areas where it was deemed impractical for the young students to walk the distances necessary to get back and forth from school on their own, and were sometimes no more than a truck with perhaps a tarpaulin stretched over the truck bed.Wayne Works was one of the earliest school bus companies to offer glass in place of the standard canvas curtains in the passenger area long before many "school" bus companies did in the early 1930s, although it was Gillig Bros, who had invented and patented the design long before. Known as the "California top", the design featured a slightly curved reinforced metal roof, with windows separated by pillars at regular intervals, and each window was adjustable by the use of a latching mechanism.School children boarding school bus in the 1940'sTransit Style School BusesIn the 1930s, Wayne Works, Crown Coach, Gillig Bros., and other school bus body companies manufactured some transit-style school buses, that is, types with a more or less flat front-end design (known in modern times as "type D" school buses). Crown Coach built the first heavy duty, high capacity, transit style school coach in 1932 and named it the "Supercoach", as many California school districts operated in terrain requiring heavy duty vehicles. Another factor in the rapid rise in transit-style school bus sales in the 1950s, especially on the West Coast, was the "Baby Boom" generation. School districts were faced with a rapid rise in student counts and were forced to consolidate, buy larger school buses, or both. As a result, the use of the transit style school bus skyrocketed during the mid 1950s. In 1959, Gillig Bros. introduced the very first rear-engine diesel-powered school bus. The C-180 Transit Coach soon afterwards became the most popular rear-engine transit-style school bus on the west coast.In 1950, Albert L. Luce, founder of the Blue Bird Body Company, developed a transit style design which evolved into the Blue Bird All-American, generally considered the first successful east coast school bus transit design. However, the "conventional" design, with a truck type hood and front-end (known as type C on modern school buses) was to continue to dominate US school bus manufacturing through the end of the 20th century.Dr. Frank W. Cyr: Father Of The Yellow School BusMost school buses turned the now-familiar yellow color beginning in 1939. In April of that year, Dr. Frank W. Cyr, a professor at Teachers College at Columbia University in New York organized a conference that established national school bus construction standards, including the standard color of yellow for the school bus. It became known officially as "National School Bus Chrome," later renamed "National School Bus Glossy Yellow." The color, which has come to be frequently called simply "school bus yellow", was selected because black lettering on that hue was easiest to see in the semi-darkness of early morning and late afternoon.The conference met for seven days and the attendees created a total of 45 standards, including specifications regarding body length, ceiling height, and aisle width. Dr. Cyr's conference, funded by a US $5,000 grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, was also a landmark event inasmuch as it included transportation officials from each of the then 48 states, as well as specialists from school bus manufacturing and paint companies. The conference approach to school bus safety, as well as the yellow color, has endured into the 21st century.Growth in School Bus Use After World War IIFollowing World War II, there were movements in Canada and the U.S. to consolidate public schools into fewer and larger ones, leading to an increase in demand for school buses. Rapid urban growth also outpaced school construction; coupled with the population expansion brought on by the baby boomers themselves having children, the need for busing within large urban centres in North America became acute.United States Safety Issues...Protecting School Children Loading And UnloadingBy the mid 1940s, most states had traffic laws requiring motorists to stop for school buses while children were loading or unloading.The justifications for this protocol were that:Children, especially the younger ones, have normally not yet developed the mental capacity to fully embrace the danger and consequences of crossing safety without adult supervision. Under U.S. tort laws, a child cannot legally be held accountable for negligence for this reason. For that same reason, adult crossing guards often are deployed in walking zones between homes and schools.It is impractical in many cases to avoid children crossing the traveled portions of roadways after leaving a school bus or to have an adult accompany them.The size of a school bus generally limits visibility for both the children and motorists during loading and unloading.Warning Lights And Safety DevicesSchool bus safety officials were aware that many accidents occurred when traffic was not aware that the hazard existed, and children on foot were hit by other vehicles. The standardized yellow color helped and warning lettering was painted in large letters on school buses. Several devices were developed to help school bus drivers warn other motorists.Around 1946, one of the early (and possibly the first) systems of alternating traffic warning lights on school buses was used in Virginia. In those days before the advent of transistors and advanced plastic lens technology, an alternating system was created by using sealed beam headlight bulbs with the lenses colored red, and a mechanical motor and solenoids to alternate the high and low beam filaments in the single bulb fixtures mounted at the front and rear of the bus. School children and drivers were subjected to a loud tick-tock noise from the flasher motor as it was operating. Activation was typically through a mechanical switch attached to the door control. However, on some buses such as Gillig's Transit Coach models and the Kenworth-Pacific School Coach, activation of the roof warning lamp system was through the use of a pressure sensitive switch on a manually-controlled stop paddle lever located to the left of the driver's seat below the window. Whenever the pressure was relieved by extending the stop paddle, the electrical current was activated to the relay.Around this time, some states began specifying a mechanical stop arm (some state specifications, such as Washington state refer to the device as a "stop paddle", due to its resemblance to a large paddle) which the driver could activate to swing out from the left side of the bus to warn traffic. The portion of the stop arm protruding in front of traffic initially started out as a rectangle with "STOP" painted on it, and in the late 1960s the rectangle shape was replaced by an octagon-shaped sign bearing a typical stop sign, with "STOP" applied to both sides.In later years, flashing lights were added to the stop arms, mechanical flasher devices were replaced by electronic ones, and the front and rear warning lights were increased from two to four and eventually eight (in most states; Wisconsin still does not allow the use of a full 8-way roof warning flasher system). Plastic lenses were developed in the 1950s which offered greater visibility and significantly lower costs than the early systems which used colored headlight bulbs, although manufacturers such as Gillig and Crown Coach Corporation were still using the sealed-beam glass bulb design until well into the 1980s and early 1990s.Many school districts are purchasing buses with two stop arms, the additional one located on the left side near the rear of the bus, for extra safety.A example of the stop sign mounted on the buses drivers side. Some buses have them on the back also.Structural IntegrityAs the school bus evolved in the United States and Canada as a specialized vehicle, there became concerns for the protection of the school children during major impacts. A weak point and location of structural failure in catastrophic school bus crashes was well-known to be joints, the points where panels and pieces were fastened together.Longitudinal steel guard rails had been in use since the 1930s to protect the sides of buses, but behind them on the sides and on the roofs, by the 1960s, all manufacturers were combining many individual steel panels to construct a bus body. These were usually attached by rivets or similar fasteners such as huckbolts.Around 1967, Ward Body Company of Conway, Arkansas subjected one of their school bus bodies to multiple roll, and noted the separation at the joints, as well as pointing out that many of their competitors were using far fewer rivets. This resulted in new attention by all the body companies to the number and quality of fasteners.Simply increasing the number of fasteners (rivets, screws, and huckbolts) was not enough to satisfy engineers at Wayne Corporation in Richmond, Indiana. In their tests, no matter how many fasteners were used, the joints were always the weak point under high stress loads. They also noted how the continuous guard rails used on the sides tended to spread the stress from a point of impact, allowing it to be shared and dissipated at portions of the body structure further away.Instead of trying to figure out how to make the fasteners do a better job, they stood back and wondered if the design features of the guard rails could be expanded. The result was a revolutionary new design in school bus construction: Continuous longitudinal interior and exterior panels for the sides and roofs.Branded the Lifeguard, the new school bus design used Wayne's huge roll-forming presses to make single steel pieces which extended the entire length of the bus body. The concept was that by reducing the number of joints, the number of places where the body could be anticipated to separate in a catastrophic impact was reduced in a like amount.The "Lifeguard" design reduced overall body weight, the number of fasteners used, and man-hours required for assembly. However, it required the very large roll-form presses and special equipment to handle the panels. A more practical problem was the panels had to be cut to exact length for each bus body order, which varied with seating capacities and from state-to-state. This created a marketing disadvantage as the Wayne factory required greater manufacturing lead time than when parts were more interchangeable between orders under older panel technology.In the years after Wayne introduced the Lifeguard design in the 1973 model year, competing body manufacturers began moving towards using fewer side panels and joints, although none went as far as Wayne in the 1970s.Federal Standards For School BusesThe focus on structural integrity resulted in the joint requirements of the U.S. Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for school buses, most of which became applicable for school buses on April 1, 1977. The following, including Standard 221 (joint strength) are generally considered to be the most important, even thirty years later.Standard No. 217 - Bus Emergency Exits and Window Retention and Release (Effective September 1, 1973) This standard establishes minimum requirements for bus window retention and release to reduce the likelihood of passenger ejection in crashes; and for emergency exits to facilitate passenger exit in emergencies. It also requires that each school bus have an interlock system which will prevent the engine from starting if an emergency door is locked and an audible warning system which will sound an alarm if an emergency door release mechanism is not closed while the engine is running.Standard No. 220 - School Bus Rollover Protection (Effective April 1, 1977) This standard establishes performance requirements for school bus rollover protection. The purpose of this standard is to reduce the number of deaths and the severity of injuries that result from failure of the school bus body structure to withstand forces encountered in rollover crashes.Standard No. 221 - School Bus Body Joint Strength (Effective April 1, 1977) This standard establishes requirements for the strength of the body panel joints in school bus bodies. The purpose of this standard is to reduce deaths and injuries resulting from the structural collapse of school bus bodies during crashes.Standard No. 222 - School Bus Passenger Seating and Crash Protection (Effective April 1, 1977) This standard establishes occupant protection requirements for school bus passenger seating and restraining barriers. The purpose of this standard is to reduce the number of deaths and the severity of injuries that result from the impact of school bus occupants against structures within the vehicle during crashes and sudden driving maneuvers.Standard No. 301 - Fuel System Integrity - School Buses (Effective April 1, 1977) This standard specifies requirements for the integrity of motor vehicle fuel systems. Its purpose is to reduce deaths and injuries occurring from fires that may result from fuel spillage during and after motor vehicle crashes.Continuing Safety Efforts Since 1977The new Federal Standards of 1977 for school buses represented a quantum leap in school bus safety. Other efforts and innovations were to continue.More sophisticated and comprehensive mirror systems were developed to help drivers see children who were off the bus at almost all times.Crossing gates were developed to help children avoid walking in the area immediately in front of the bus.Reflective striping, LED and strobe lights were added in the 1980s and 1990s.Modern school buses are often well equipped with amenities lacking only a few years ago such as air conditioning, two-way radios, high headroom roofs (Gillig and Crown Coach were producing high-headroom school buses as early as the mid 1950s) and wheelchair lifts (typically those with lifts are shorter than their counterparts and are sometimes exclusively assigned to carry disabled children).Video cameras and recorders have become common equipment installed inside school buses, primarily to monitor (and record) behavior of the passengers. However, on March 28, 2000, a Murray County, Georgia, school bus was involved in a wreck with a CSX freight train at an unsignalled grade crossing, killing 3 children. Although the school bus driver claimed to have stopped and looked for approaching trains before proceeding across the tracks, the onboard camera clearly recorded that the bus had not stopped as it approached the tracks prior to the collision.Seat Belts In School BusesCompartmentalization was introduced in 1967, setting the ideal seat back height at 28 inches (although most seat heights are now 24 inches tall).The premise was that surrounding passengers with cushioning to the front and behind provide effective constraint in the event of a collision.Although not an element of compartmentalization, the UCLA researchers who conducted the 1967 tests on school buses concluded that after high back seats, next in importance to school bus passenger collision safety is the "use of a three-point belt, a lap belt or other form of effective restraint."Very few school buses have seat belts, a standard safety feature in cars and light duty passenger vehicles. In 1977, as provided in Standard 222, the federal government required passive restraint and structural integrity standards for school buses in lieu of requiring lap seat belts. In the 1980s, some districts in the US tried installing lap belts and then later removed them, claiming operational and passenger behavior problems. Whether lap belts should be required remains very controversial, although they are now required in at least 4 states (New York, New Jersey, California and Florida).School buses in Texas will be required to be equipped with seat belts by 2010/2011.However, only one state, New Jersey, requires seat belt usage. In other states it is up to the district whether to use seat belts or not.PollutionGenerally, a school bus is a pollution-reducing alternative to individual parents driving children to and from school, even when carpooling is taken into consideration. The use of a single school bus can take as many as fifty private cars off the road. However, buses are not a pollution-free alternative, like biking or walking. Since most school buses burn diesel, the amount of pollution emitted has been a concern for some people. Many school buses sit at idle while waiting for passengers at a pickup stop or school. Most are also sitting at idle while children are on- and off-loaded.The exposure of young children and teenagers to large amounts of diesel fumes daily for a long period of time (over ten years) has led to clean diesel requirements for new school buses in some places. However, some school district fleets include a few school buses which are over 30 years old.As a result, diesel electric hybrid, compressed natural gas, and hydrogen powered school buses have been developed. Some buses have been retrofitted with emission control technologies and particulate matter filters, while others are being replaced.Fuel CostsThe rise in fuel costs after Hurricane Katrina resulted in many school boards running deficits. Fuel costs are the largest variable in a school board's budget, and are now also their greatest concern.As a result, many school districts are looking to purchase diesel electric hybrid buses. Regenerative braking on these buses also reduces the number of brake replacements and labor costs of maintenance.Diesel Electric HybridsIC Corporation, in collaboration with Enova Systems, unveiled the nation's first hybrid school bus in 2006 at the New York Association of Pupil Transportation (NYAPT) Show. The hybrid school bus is expected to attain a 40 percent increase in fuel efficiency, which becomes even more essential with the rising fuel costs affecting many school districts. Lower maintenance costs are also expected.Eleven states have joined together for an exploratory purchase of 19 school buses from IC Corporation. New York, California, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Arkansas, Iowa and Washington will be the first states in the nation to receive these diesel electric hybrid school buses.Currently, 16 of the buses are fully funded and International Truck and Engine Corporation has started production on the ordered buses for delivery in late spring 2007.School Busing For Racial PurposesDuring the era of segregation in the United States, school buses were often used to transport Black students to all-black schools, which were often further away from their homes than other public schools designated for white students. Sometimes, these were in only one or two locations within an entire county or other school district.After the United States Supreme Court ruled in the case of Brown v. Board of Education in 1954 that school and other segregation was an unconstitutional violation of rights granted to all citizens under the Fourteenth Amendment, some districts either voluntarily or by court order introduced new pupil assignment plans to promote racial desegregation. School districts in such situations were spread across virtually the entire United States, including those of many cities such as Los Angeles, California, Boston, Massachusetts, Wichita, Kansas, Cleveland, Ohio, and Norfolk, Virginia.The desegregation plans usually resulted in more pupils of all races assigned to schools further from their homes than before. School buses (and city transit buses in some instances) were often used to transport the students reassigned to different schools beyond a reasonable walking distance. Opponents of this concept began to decry the practice as "forced busing".In cities such as Richmond, Virginia, when a massive program began in 1971, parents of all races complained about the long rides, hardships with transportation for extra-curricular activities, and the separation of siblings when elementary schools at opposite sides of the city were "paired," (i.e. splitting lower and upper elementary grades into separate schools).In an effort to satisfy parents concerned about mandated long bus rides, many districts such as Richmond later modified their pupil placement plans to provide attractive programs in "magnet schools", and built new school buildings and reconfigured older buildings to develop logistically more favorable attendance plans which met desegregation goals. Combined with changes in housing patterns, the forced busing programs were gradually eliminated as the courts nationwide released districts from orders under old lawsuits.Today, school buses are still used in most of these districts, but this is much more due to reduced walking zones, concern for pupil safety, and a wider choice of programs and locations for many students.Retired School BusesWhen a school bus is retired from school transportation in the United States, most states have requirements that school bus lettering must be covered or removed and warning devices deactivated or http://removed.At least one state prohibits non-school buses from being more than 50% yellow, reserving the color on buses for school buses only. Regulations vary from state to state. Adversely, depending on state regulations, school buses may also retain their warning devices and lettering (for which usually just the "SCHOOL BUS roof lettering is allowed to remain) after retirement shall the new owner decide to restore it to factory-new condition.The large quantity of school buses retired from daily service has helped develop a wide range of uses for them.Although a new school bus commands a very high price, around $65,000-$110,000, a used school bus will often sell for far less than what was initially paid. Due to the very high depreciation of a used school bus, it is not uncommon to see used school buses sell for $500-$2500 at surplus auctions, and around $3000-$5000 on the used bus sales markets. These prices give the opportunity for an ordinary person to purchase a bus.Many retired school buses are later sold to churches and used to transport elderly and mobility-impaired worshippers to and from church services or to transport youth groups for outings to amusement parks, picnics, and visiting other churches.Some used school buses are shipped to Latin America and occasionally Africa for use as municipal transportation, transportation of migrant farmworkers, or even rededicated to pupil transport. This includes Cuba, which, in spite of the US embargo, imports them from Canada.In some cases, after a school bus has been removed from regular service, it may be used as a substitute for newer buses that have broken down, or been removed from regular service for maintenance. These buses are still, in all aspects completely safe, but they usually lack the features of newer buses including air conditioning and tinted windows. After a certain amount of time has elapsed however, even substitute buses are completely retired and may be used for the aforementioned purposes.Retired school buses have also been converted to motor homes and recreational vehicles. Enthusiasts of this type of vehicle conversion are sometimes called Skoolies.Some retired school buses also get purchased for the purpose of total restoration, back to a "factory-new" condition. The individual who purchases and then restores a school bus is known as a "school bus enthusiast." Some school bus enthusiasts also become school bus collectors, and a select few open up websites devoted to their hobby.1980-2000: Industry Consolidation, Fallen Flags.In 1980, in the U.S., there were six major school bus body companies building large school buses, mostly making bodies for chassis from four truck manufacturers, joined by two coach-type school bus builders on the West Coast. With the baby boom years which swelled the ranks of school children in the past, the manufacturing industry faced serious over-capacity as companies vied and competed for lower volumes of purchases by school bus contractors, school districts, and several states which purchase their buses in quantity at the state level.On the West Coast, Crown Coach closed its doors in Chino, California in March of 1991. The property buildings are completely gone, leaving a unwanted and very dirty piece of land. GE, who still does own the rights to Crown, can't sell it. Product rights and tooling were sold to Carpenter, and resulted in some Crown-by-Carpenter products in the 1990s. The other builder, Gillig Bros. (by then just simply known as the Gillig Corporation), dropped school bus production, but successfully developed a transit bus market to replace it, and remained in business. By mid 2000, there were only three body builders left, and a corporate consolidation of two of those with truck manufacturers reduced the model selection further.Ward later became Amtran, and then was purchased by International Truck. They refused to sell chassis to other body manufacturers or inflated price so high that there were no options for body builders but to merge or go out of business.Several new small bus manufacturers developed niche markets during this period. However, despite several notable attempts at revival, long-term body company industry names such as Superior, Ward, Wayne, Carpenter, and Crown-by-Carpenter all became fallen flags (in that order).Wayne's inventory was purchased by Carpenter and some of their parts were obviously used on the Crown By Carpenter buses. A defect in the roof welds was later found on all buses manufactured after 1994. A lot of school systems were forced to retire buses early and Carpenter had been out of business for sometime leaving districts no recourse.