Jiedushi in the context of "An Lushan"

The An Lushan rebellion was a civil war in China that lasted from 755 to 763, at the approximate midpoint of the Tang dynasty (618–907). It began as a commandery rebellion attempting to overthrow and replace the Tang government with the rogue Yan dynasty. The rebels succeeded in capturing the imperial capital Chang'an after the emperor had fled to Sichuan, but eventually succumbed to internal divisions and counterattacks by the Tang and their allies. The rebellion spanned the reigns of three Tang emperors: Xuanzong, Suzong, and Daizong.

On 16 December 755, An Lushan, the jiedushi of the Taiyuan Commandery, mobilized his army and marched to Fanyang. An Lushan led the rebellion for two years before he was assassinated by his son An Qingxu. Two years after An Qingxu's ascension, Shi Siming, the governor of Pinglu Commandery and a close ally of An Lushan, killed An Qingxu and usurped the leadership. Shi Siming ruled for two years, but was in turn killed by his own son Shi Chaoyi, who ruled for another two years until the Yan dynasty fell to Tang forces on 17 February 763. There were also other anti-Tang rebel forces, especially those in An Lushan's base area in Hebei, as well as Sogdian forces and other opportunist parties who took advantages of the chaos.

The Ngô dynasty (Vietnamese: Nhà Ngô; Chữ Nôm: 茹吳), officially Tĩnh Hải quân (chữ Hán: 靜海軍), was a semi-independent Vietnamese dynasty from 939 to 968. The dynasty was founded by Ngô Quyền, who led the Vietnamese forces in the Battle of Bạch Đằng River against the Chinese Southern Han dynasty in 938.

Around 930, as Ngô Quyền rose to power, northern Vietnam was militarily occupied by the Southern Han and was treated as an autonomous province and vassal state of the Later Tang Dynasty, referred to as Tĩnh Hải quân. Every year the Jiedushi of Tĩnh Hải quân had to pay tribute to its Chinese master in exchange for peace and political support. At the beginning of the 10th century, China was domestically plagued and weakened by civil war during what is known as the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Chinese were preoccupied with these civil struggles and lost their grip on Tĩnh Hải quân periodically. Tĩnh Hải quân took advantage of this opportunity and proclaimed its independence and seceded from China. Under the rule of Lord Protector Dương Đình Nghệ, the Tĩnh Hải quân state initiated a full blown military campaign for independence.

Protectorate, also known as Duhu Fu (Chinese: 都護府), was a type of administrative division of the Chinese Empire, especially during the Han and Tang dynasties, established in frontier regions. During the Han and Tang dynasties, a protectorate was the highest government agency in frontier areas and was directly responsible to the imperial court. The protectorate governor was called duhu (literally "(capital) city protector"), who needed to take charge in military operations when necessary, and provide instructions to minority tribes and small dependent states within the region. This is different from the Jiedushi (military commissioner) position. During rebellion and wartime, the two position can be held by the same person.

Sometimes, a protectorate had subdivisions named commanderies, or Dudu Fu (Chinese: 都督府). The first protectorate was the Protectorate of the Western Regions established in 60 BCE during Emperor Xuan's reign. It controlled the majority of Tarim Basin and some other parts of Central Asia after the Han dynasty defeated Xiongnu.

Fanzhen (simplified Chinese: 藩镇; traditional Chinese: 藩鎮; pinyin: fānzhèn; lit. 'barrier town'), also called fangzhen (Chinese: 方镇; lit. 'region town'), was a system of decentralized governance in Medieval China that involved strategic military districts and commanderies along the empire's borderland areas administered through highly autonomous regional governors known as jiedushi during the Tang dynasty (618–907 CE). Primarily designed to be buffer regions shielding the politically and economically vital heartlands, these districts came under the control of increasingly influential provincial military commissioners, who became ambitious warlords, rebels and even usurpers during the late Tang period. The phenomenon of fanzhen domination has been termed fanzhen geju (simplified Chinese: 藩镇割据; traditional Chinese: 藩鎮割據; pinyin: fānzhèn gējù; lit. "secessionist occupation of barrier towns") by historians.

Parallels have been made between the rise of the fanzhen in Tang China and the rise of self-ruling feudalist states in Medieval Europe following the decline of the Carolingian Empire.

The Three Fanzhen of Hebei (Chinese: 河朔三镇; pinyin: Hé shuò sān zhèn) were three regions in what is now Hebei, China governed by powerful jiedushi in the post-An Lushan Rebellion (755-763) Tang dynasty (618–907). After the rebellion, the three regions of Chéngdé (成德), Lúlóng (盧龍) and Wèibó (魏博) were controlled by ex-rebel generals who held substantial territory and forces. Although nominally under the authority of the Tang dynasty, they were functionally independent fanzhen that continued to the end of the Tang dynasty. In the south, however, the court took a much more aggressive stand against such defense commands as Zīqīng (淄青) (mainly in Shandong), Biànsòng (汴宋) (in east Henan), and Huáixī (淮西) (in south Henan), which posed a more immediate and palpable threat to the transportation of strategic grains through the Grand Canal, on which the court depended.

During Emperor Xianzong's reign the northeast region was briefly subdued, but after his death it became independent again. By the reign of Emperor Wenzong, the central government had lost all control over this region. The situation was summed up thus by Tang dynasty's chancellor Niu Sengru:

Dingnan Jiedushi (simplified Chinese: 定难节度使; traditional Chinese: 定難節度使), also known as Xiasui Jiedushi (simplified Chinese: 夏绥节度使; traditional Chinese: 夏綏節度使), was a jiedushi created in 787 by the Tang dynasty that lasted until the early Northern Song dynasty, when its ruler Li Yuanhao proclaimed himself emperor and established the Western Xia dynasty. Its seat was in modern Yulin, Shaanxi. Its rulers were of Tangut ethnicity starting from Li Sigong (Tuoba Sigong), and they effectively ruled the circuit in de facto independence despite its nominal submission to the central Chinese dynasties. Attempts by the Later Tang and Song dynasty to dislodge the family from its rule of Dingnan Jiedushi were unsuccessful, and the region eventually became the independent dynasty of Western Xia.