[Lightscreen]
[The An Lushan Rebellion was like a raging flood.
Once it burst forth, the dazzling splendor of Chang'an was smashed to pieces without mercy.
Just as Yan Zhenqing threw himself headlong into that torrent, refusing to retreat even a step, the fates of other poets were swept along in very different directions.
Here, the UP host simply lays them out, one by one.
The most unfortunate of them all was the master of seven-character quatrains—Wang Changling.
After the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, Wang Changling set out to return home to visit his family. While passing through Bozhou, he was arrested by the local prefect Lü Qiu Xiao, on the charge of "abandoning his post without permission."
The following year, Wang Changling was executed.
He was fifty-seven years old.
There were rumors that Lü Qiu Xiao acted not out of law, but out of jealousy—unable to tolerate Wang Changling's talent and reputation.
That same year, the chancellor Zhang Hao, while suppressing the rebellion and lifting the siege of Songzhou, captured Lü Qiu Xiao and sentenced him to death on the charge of dereliction of military duty.
Lü Qiu Xiao begged for mercy, claiming he still had family members who depended on him for support.
Zhang Hao replied coldly:
"Then who supported Wang Changling's family?"
And with that, Lü Qiu Xiao was executed.
Old grudges, at last, were settled.]
"This was clearly murder born of private hatred!"
Wei Zheng couldn't help but speak up.
"Even if he truly abandoned his post, by law the punishment should have been exile over a thousand li. The crime did not warrant death."
Du Ruhui nodded in agreement.
"Even if punishment were due, he should have been escorted to the capital and judged by the Court of Judicial Review."
"Or transferred to another prefecture, where the local governor would handle the matter."
As the poems of Wang Changling appeared on the luminous screen, everyone present could only sigh in regret.
"The momentum is magnificent, the spirit bold and heroic."
Li Jing praised sincerely, visibly moved by the verses.
"No wonder he was famed for frontier poetry—reading it is like hearing blades clash."
"This is exactly how one should write of military service!"
[Lightscreen]
[The most heartbreaking fate belonged to the Poet Sage—Du Fu.
Before the rebellion, Du Fu's youngest son had just died of starvation.
After the uprising began, Du Fu fled with his family to Fuzhou. When he later heard that Emperor Suzong had ascended the throne, he traveled north alone—only to be captured, just as previously mentioned.
Before Guo Ziyi led the army to reclaim Chang'an, Du Fu risked his life to escape. He was given an official post, but soon afterward fell out of favor with Emperor Suzong after attempting to defend Fang Guan.
Chancellor Zhang Hao intervened to protect him.
Later, after the disastrous defeat of the Tang army at the Battle of Yecheng and the total collapse of official governance, Du Fu became utterly disillusioned with the state of the world.
He resigned his post and headed south, eventually settling in Sichuan.
This period marked the peak of Du Fu's literary creation—nearly forty percent of his surviving works were written during these years.
In the winter of 770, aboard a small boat traveling from Tanzhou to Yueyang, Du Fu fell ill and died.
He was fifty-nine.]
"Ten thousand miles of sorrowful autumn, always a guest;
A hundred years of sickness, alone atop the terrace."
Liu Bei read softly, line by line, falling into a daze.
Zhang Fei, on the other hand, suddenly understood.
"No wonder this Du Fu admired the Strategist so much."
"Born into chaos—everywhere you look, it's rebels or corrupt officials."
"And when he finally reached Chengdu, he discovered the Strategist's shrine still being honored by the people."
"Who wouldn't long for someone like the Strategist—
a man who accepts defeat without complaint, answers the call in times of crisis, and still turns the tide?"
"Too bad. Even if you hand that foolish emperor a real Zhuge Liang, he'd still end up being disliked."
Kongming said nothing.
He gazed at the poem titled Climbing High, and the image of this distant yet familiar friend grew ever more vivid in his heart.
[Lightscreen]
[ After Chang'an fell, Wang Wei was captured by rebel forces and forced to serve them.
Once Chang'an was reclaimed, Wang Wei was convicted and sentenced to death.
However, thanks to his brother Wang Jin's plea—and because Wang Wei had written "Ningbi Pool" while in rebel service, clearly venting his grief—the sentence was commuted.
He was ultimately pardoned.
Four years later, weary and disheartened, he requested to be stripped of office and allowed to return to private life.
He later died of illness.
"As for Gao Shi," the narration continued, "he rose against the odds."
After the failure at Tong Pass alongside Geshu Han, Gao Shi retreated to Chang'an. Upon hearing of Emperor Xuanzong's flight, he caught up and was appointed as a Censor.
Later, he joined Emperor Suzong, became Military Commissioner of Huainan, participated in suppressing the rebellion of Prince Yong, and repeatedly distinguished himself.
He was eventually ennobled as Marquis of Bohai.
However, because he had once traveled and gained fame alongside Li Bai and Du Fu, but later ignored them entirely, he was criticized by later generations.]
"Serving the rebels is a loss of integrity," Wei Zheng said stiffly.
Fang Xuanling shook his head.
"There may have been circumstances."
The luminous screen had always been concise. Since it stated he was forced, there must have been reasons unknown to later generations.
Fang Xuanling reread Ningbi Pool:
"From ten thousand households rises smoke of grief;
When will the hundred officials again face the court?"
"The sorrow of a fallen nation still lingers," he said.
"It's hard to say his heart truly belonged to the rebels."
Wei Zheng nodded slightly.
He wasn't unreasonable—he simply felt that compared to Du Fu, who risked death to flee, Wang Wei's choice was… lacking.
"As for Gao Shi…"
"He served the nation and earned merit in suppressing rebellion."
Beyond that, even Wei Zheng found it difficult to judge.
They had all lived through chaotic times themselves.
They knew what chaos looked like—especially with external rebellion and a weak emperor within.
In such times, who truly lived without hardship?
[Lightscreen]
[The most sigh-worthy of all was the Poet Immortal—Li Bai.
This Azure Lotus Recluse seemed to have dumped all his talent points into poetry.
The result?
Zero political skill—yet an unwavering obsession with becoming an official and accomplishing great deeds.
After the An Lushan Rebellion, Li Bai wrote poems mourning the fall of Luoyang.
Then, in a moment of impulsive brilliance, he joined Prince Yong, Li Lin, as a staff advisor.
To Emperor Suzong, that was unmistakably rebellion.
In the end, Li Bai avoided execution only because of his talent—his sentence reduced to three years of exile to Yelang.
He later died of illness at the home of his clan uncle, Li Yangbing.]
Li Shimin fell silent.
Then he remembered that line:
"Twin suns and moons hang to light Heaven and Earth."
The luminous screen had said Li Bai wrote it for Emperor Xuanzong while being exiled to Yelang.
Now, thinking about it again…
Li Shimin could only sigh.
With talent like that—why insist on becoming an official?
Who among Xuanzong or Suzong would feel happy reading such a line?
Changsun Wuji recited another poem displayed on the screen:
"Rainbow skirts trail wide sashes, floating skyward;
Below I gaze on Luoyang plains—barbarians swarm like ants.
Blood stains the wild grass;
Jackals and wolves all wear crowns."
"It's like watching the An Lushan Rebellion through the eyes of an immortal," he said.
"The imagery is strange, the style uncanny. No wonder he was called the Poet Immortal."
Zhangsun Wuji shook his head—awed by the talent, helpless before the ambition.
In the end, Li Shimin could only sigh.
"Ultimately, it was the curse of chaotic times."
"If there were no chaos, the Poet Immortal would merely be turned away at court, writing poems in seclusion."
"But rebellion erupted everywhere, and such a man was branded a traitor—nearly losing his life."
[Lightscreen]
[Eight hundred and ninety years after the An Lushan Rebellion, the Ming dynasty fell.
Two years later, Chen Zilong, who had failed in resisting the Qing, drowned himself in martyrdom.
Chen Zilong passed the imperial examination in the tenth year of Chongzhen. He then observed mourning for his mother for three years. Four years after that, the Great Ming collapsed.
Facing the Qing armies that had entered the passes, Chen Zilong resisted fiercely—but failed.
In despair, he wrote:
"Leaving home, newly titled Marquis of the Champion;
Southern-bound barbarian geese cross autumn grass.
In dreams, Chang'an lies thirty thousand li away;
Sea winds snap the beacon at the desert's edge."
This poem was Chen Zilong's lament for the Han and Tang.
He longed for a figure like the Champion Marquis—someone who could lead him to resist the invaders and restore a golden age.
The phrase "thirty thousand li to Chang'an" likely came from a Tang-era allusion—'Ten thousand li beacon before Kaiyuan Gate.'
It was said that Li Shimin erected a stone stele at Kaiyuan Gate, inscribed:
"Nine thousand nine hundred li to the westernmost road."
The inscription was written by Yu Shinan himself, meant to comfort those traveling far from home.
Some doubt this account—Yu Shinan died in the twelfth year of Zhenguan, while the conquest of Gaochang occurred in the fourteenth year.
Only after Gaochang's fall and the establishment of the Anxi Protectorate did the road from Chang'an to the Western Regions exceed ten thousand li.
So some believe Li Shimin was… exaggerating.
But none of that changes the final truth.
From the High Tang onward, scholars of every dynasty regarded Chang'an as the embodiment of a golden age.
So next episode—
Let's turn back and see just how this vast, ten-thousand-li Tang empire—ruined by Emperor Xuanzong—was built in the first place.]