Tang Dynasty. He hires 22,000 Muslim mercenaries to reinforce his decimated army at Lingzhou. November 19 – Tang General Fang Guan is defeated at Xianyang. The imperial forces consisted of two thousand oxcarts with cavalry and foot soldiers on two fronts, but the rebels took advantage of their upwind position and attacked with fire. Imperial forces killed or wounded numbered more than 40,000 men. Japan June 4 – Emperor Shōmu (retired since 749) dies at Nara. His wife Kōmyō dedicates over 600 items to the Great Buddha, and donates large sums of money to the Shōsō-in treasure (storehouse) in Tōdai-ji. Births Abo of Tiflis, Christian martyr (approximate date) Abu Nuwas, Muslim poet (d. 814) Fujiwara no Uchimaro, Japanese nobleman (d. 812) Hisham I, Muslim emir of Córdoba (d. 796) Ibrahim I, Muslim emir of the Aghlabids (d. 812) Ismail ibn Ibrahim, Muslim scholar (d. 810) Li Yijian, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty (d. 822) Nikephoros, son of Constantine V (or 758) Deaths June 4 – Shōmu, emperor of Japan (b. 701) July 15 – Yang Guifei, consort of Xuan Zong (b. 719) Aistulf, duke of Friuli and king of the Lombards Cuthred, king of Wessex (approximate date) Dantidurga, founder of the Rashtrakuta Empire (b. 735) Feng Changqing, general of the Tang Dynasty Forggus mac Cellaig, king of Connacht (Ireland) Gao Xianzhi, general of the Tang Dynasty Ibn al-Muqaffa', Muslim writer (approximate date) Isaac I of Antioch, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch. Wang Changling, Chinese poet and official (b. 698) Yang Guozhong, chancellor of the Tang Dynasty Notes References