Letter Five ~763

My Dear Wife,

How long it has been since I have been able to write to you! I have lost track of the doomed hours, days, and years since I last saw your face. I write to you with news, lots of news. The rebellion is over, I am free. Shi Chaoyi, the son of Shi Siming and reining leader was defeated and killed. The Uighurs had remained as loyal Turk allies of Tang and they sent cohorts to defeat the rebel troops. Those who survived were spared and surrenders, allowed to stay in control of the territories they occupied in exchange for loyal and unwavering service to the Tang. 

I have decided to come home and leave this place not as a defeated man but as a man who has learned from the experiences of the past eight years. The An-lushan rebellion opened my eyes to the brutality and sabotage that comes with war, and how quickly an individual will break ties with a friend for personal gain. I have learned that in order to have a successful country, the unity of its inhabitants is vital and essential in its preservation. I have learned that power resides not only in brute military strength, but in the strength of relationships and assimilation within cultures. 

I do not leave here a defeated man, I leave here inspired.

My heart is yours forever,

Chu

Leaving the human world
Going toward the path to Heaven;
Upon Consummation through cultivation,
Then follow the clouds to Heaven,
Caves hidden under pine trees,
Deep and unseen among the peach blossoms;
–Li Bai

Bibliography

1) An Lushan. Encyclopedia Britannica. Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia  Britannica, 2011.    Web. 05 Apr. 2011. 

2) Chen, Zu-Yan. Li Bai & Du FU. Print.

3) Cowley, Robert, and Geoffrey Parker. The Reader's Companion to Military History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1996. Print.

4) Laughing Lost in the Mountains: Poems of Wang Wei. Hanover, NH: University of New England, 1991. Print.1979. Print. 

5) The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge UP,Wang, Wei, Tony Barnstone, Willis Barnstone, and Haixin Xu.