唐代宗

The An Lushan rebellion formally ended in his second year, and the settlement gave the northeastern circuits to their own generals. Months later a Tibetan army took Chang'an itself and held it for a fortnight. Daizong spent seventeen years managing a court where the eunuchs now commanded the palace armies.

He is the emperor of the aftermath: salt monopoly revenue replacing a land tax that no longer reached the treasury, the capital rebuilt twice, and a settled habit of buying off provinces the court could not defeat.

The women of his court are one of the collection's saddest silks. Consort Shen, his son's mother, was taken during the rebellion and lost; the court searched for her for the rest of the century and she was eventually declared dead and made Empress Ruizhen. Consort Dugu, whom he loved and who died in 775, was made Empress Zhenyi after her death — he kept her coffin above ground for three years rather than bury her.