"United into a single empire by Islam, the Persians and Arabs
brought such nautical skill and business acumen to maritime trade
that by the middle of the 8th century, large merchant communities
were residing in Guangzhou (Canton), the leading port of the
Nanhai trade, and Yangzhou, a transshipment point where the Grand
Canal met the Yangzi River. After the An Lushan rebellion of 755
precipitated civil war in north China, cutting off the
transshipment routes, the Persians and Arabs in Guangzhou simply
pillaged the warehouses and sailed off with the loot. This was in
758; two years later, the tables were turned when a Tang army
plundered Yangzhou while suppressing rebels, and killed thousands
of Persian and Arab merchants. Most of the others then moved their
trade westwards to Hanoi for nearly 40 years. From 794, Guangzhou
slowly recovered its preeminence, until the next great upheaval -
Huang Chaos rebellion of 874-884. In 878, Huang captured Guangzhou
and conducted a massacre of all foreigners this time, the victims
included Muslims, Jews, Christians and Zoroastrians."
I read the articlesn the url you provided, and the only thing I can
find about Arabs in Guangzhou is this, so a bunch of Arabs
opportunist merchants pillaging the city's warehouse during a
period of civil strife count as as Abbassid Army sacking
Guangdong?
An Lushan may be a Muslim or Turkish/Sogian from other sources, but
this is a time of civil war, not clashes between two mighty
empires.
