Emperor Qinzong of Song (23 May 1100 – 14 June 1161), personal name Zhao Huan, was the ninth emperor of the
Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...
of China and the last emperor of the
Northern Song dynasty
Northern may refer to the following:
Geography
* North, a point in direction
* Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe
* Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States
* Northern Province, Sri Lanka
* Northern Range, a ...
.
Emperor Qinzong was the eldest son and
heir apparent
An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
of
Emperor Huizong. His mother was Emperor Huizong's empress consort,
Empress Wang. In 1126, when the forces of the
Jurchen-led
Jin Empire invaded the Song Empire beginning the first siege of Bianjing. Frightened, Emperor Huizong intended to flee but was convinced by his officials to abdicate first and then flee. Huizong then abdicated and passed on his throne to Emperor Qinzong, and then assumed the title ''
Taishang Huang
In Chinese history, a ''Taishang Huang'' or ''Taishang Huangdi'' is an honorific and institution of a retired emperor. The former emperor had, at least in name, abdicated in favor of someone else. Although no longer the reigning sovereign, ther ...
'' ("Retired Emperor") himself and fled to the countryside.
Reign
Left to deal with the Jin invasion by himself, Emperor Qinzong appointed the general Li Gang () to lead the Song military to fend off the invaders. However, Emperor Qinzong was not a decisive leader and often made poor judgments. Eventually, he removed Li Gang from his appointment in the hope of starting peace talks with the Jin Empire and sent his younger brother
Zhao Gou
Emperor Gaozong of Song (12 June 1107 – 9 November 1187), personal name Zhao Gou, courtesy name Deji, was the tenth emperor of the Song dynasty and the first of the Southern Song period, ruling between 1127 and 1162 and retaining power as ret ...
to negotiate but he was captured and ransomed. This may contribute to
Emperor Gaozong's decision to not rescue Qinzong. The first siege of Bianjing ended after Qinzong gave a city to the Jurchens and paid them annual tribute.
Emperor Huizong returned after hearing that the siege was over.
Causes of the Second Siege of Bianjing
Despite this, almost as soon as the Jin armies had left Kaifeng, Emperor Qinzong reneged on the deal and dispatched two armies to repel the Jurchen troops attacking Taiyuan and bolster the defenses of Zhongshan and Hejian. An army of 90,000 soldiers and another of 60,000 were defeated by Jin forces by June. A second expedition to rescue Taiyuan was also unsuccessful. Emperor Qinzong rejected an proposal to reinforce the northern borders reasoning that they may never come back and sent his generals to other parts of the country. The Jin imperial court sent two ambassadors to Song. The two ambassadors were nobles from the former
Liao dynasty
The Liao dynasty (; Khitan: ''Mos Jælud''; ), also known as the Khitan Empire (Khitan: ''Mos diau-d kitai huldʒi gur''), officially the Great Liao (), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed between 916 and 1125, ruled by the Yelü ...
. Emperor Qinzong misjudged the situation and believed that they could be used to turn against the Jin ruler,
Emperor Taizong. Emperor Qinzong sent a coded letter which was sealed in candle wax, inviting them to join Song to form an Anti–Jin alliance but the ambassadors handed the letter to Emperor Taizong and in retaliation, accused Emperor Qinzong for violating the peace treaty and sent an even bigger army against the Song.
Capture
Since Qinzong mistakenly removed the army to post in different parts of the country, the Jin forces eventually breached the walls of the Song capital,
Bianjing
Kaifeng () is a prefecture-level city in east-central Henan province, China. It is one of the Eight Ancient Capitals of China, having been the capital eight times in history, and is best known for having been the Chinese capital during the Nort ...
, in 1127 and occupied the city in an event historically known as the
Jingkang Incident ("Jingkang" was the
era name
A regnal year is a year of the reign of a sovereign, from the Latin ''regnum'' meaning kingdom, rule. Regnal years considered the date as an ordinal, not a cardinal number. For example, a monarch could have a first year of rule, a second year of ...
of Emperor Qinzong.) Emperor Qinzong, along with his father Emperor Huizong and the rest of their family, were taken prisoner by Jin forces, marking the end of the Northern Song. Qinzong's brother Zhao Gou managed to escape to southern China, where he reestablished the empire as the Southern Song dynasty and became historically known as
Emperor Gaozong.
Life in the Jin Dynasty
Emperor Qinzong and his father were demoted to the status of commoners on 20 March 1127 and deported to
Huining Prefecture
Huining Fu (), or Shangjing Huiningfu (), was a Fu in the Shangjing region of Northeast China. It served as the first superior capital of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty (1115-1234) from 1122 to 1153 (and was a secondary capital after 1173). Its ...
, the Jin capital, on 13 May 1127. In 1128, the two former Song emperors were forced to wear mourning dresses and pay homage to the ancestors of the Jin Emperors at their ancestral temple in Huining Prefecture. Furthermore, the Jurchen ruler,
Emperor Taizong, gave the two former Song emperors contemptuous titles to humiliate them: Emperor Qinzong was called "Marquis Chonghun" (重昏侯; literally "Doubly Muddle-headed Marquis") while Emperor Huizong was called "Duke Hunde" (昏德公; literally "Muddle-headed Duke").
In 1141, as the Jin Empire normalised relations with the (Southern) Song Empire, the Jurchens renamed Emperor Qinzong's title to the more neutral-sounding "Duke of
Tianshui Commandery Tianshui Commandery ( zh, 天水郡), known as Hanyang Commandery ( zh, 漢陽郡) during the Eastern Han dynasty, was a historical commandery of China in eastern Gansu. The modern city of Tianshui receives its name from the commandery.
History
Th ...
" (), which is based on a
commandery
In the Middle Ages, a commandery (rarely commandry) was the smallest administrative division of the European landed properties of a military order. It was also the name of the house where the knights of the commandery lived.Anthony Luttrell and G ...
located in the upper reaches of the
Wei River
The Wei River () is a major river in west-central China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces. It is the largest tributary of the Yellow River and very important in the early development of Chinese civilization.
The source of the Wei River is close to ...
. A few months later, the former emperor started receiving a stipend due to his nobility status. He lived the rest of his life as a captive in the Jin Empire, which used him as a hostage to put pressure on the Song Empire.
In 1142,
Emperor Gaozong signed the
Treaty of Shaoxing
The Treaty of Shaoxing () was the agreement that ended the military conflicts between the Jin dynasty and the Southern Song dynasty. It also legally drew up the boundaries of the two countries and forced the Song dynasty to renounce all claims ...
which made peace with the Jin Dynasty. This destroyed Qinzong's chance of returning.
In 1156, in an act of humiliation, the Jin Emperor who at the time was the
Prince of Hailing ordered him and the former Emperor Tianzuo of Liao to compete in a match of
polo
Polo is a ball game played on horseback, a traditional field sport and one of the world's oldest known team sports. The game is played by two opposing teams with the objective of scoring using a long-handled wooden mallet to hit a small hard ...
. Emperor Qinzong was weak and frail, thus quickly fell off the horse.
Emperor Tianzuo himself despite being very old, was more familiar to horse riding, tried to escape but was shot to death by Jurchen archers.
Emperor Qinzong died as a sick and broken man in 1161 having spent two-thirds of his life in the
Jin Dynasty. He was 61. His
temple name
Temple names are posthumous titles accorded to monarchs of the Sinosphere for the purpose of ancestor worship. The practice of honoring monarchs with temple names began during the Shang dynasty in China and had since been adopted by other dynas ...
means "Venerate Ancestor".
Family
Consorts and Issue:
*
Empress Renhuai, of the Zhu clan (; 1102–1127)
** ''Zhao Chen, Crown Prince'' (; 1117–1128), first son
** Princess Roujia (; b. 1121)
* Virtuous Consort Shen, of the Zhu clan (; 1110–1142)
** Zhao Jin (; b. 1127), second son
** A daughter (b. 1130)
* ''Cairen'', of the Zheng clan (), personal name Qingyun ()
** Zhao Xun (; b. 1129), third son
*''Cairen'', of Han clan (才人 韓氏), personal name Jingguan (靜觀)
** A son (b. 1128)
* ''Cairen'', of the Di clan (; b. 1114), personal name Yuhui ()
** A daughter (b. 1129)
Ancestry
See also
#
Chinese emperors family tree (middle) This is a family tree of Chinese monarchs from the Northern and Southern dynasties period to the collapse of the Southern Song dynasty.
Southern and Northern Dynasties
Liu Song
Southern Qi
Liang dynasty and Western Liang
Chen dynasty
Nor ...
#
List of emperors of the Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that succeeded the period referred to as Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (907–960) and preceded the Yuan dynasty (1271–1368), which conquered the Song dynasty in 1279. T ...
#
Architecture of the Song dynasty
The architecture of the Song dynasty (960–1279) was noted for its towering Buddhist pagodas, enormous stone and wooden bridges, lavish tombs, and extravagant palaces. Although literary works on architecture existed beforehand, architectural wri ...
#
Culture of the Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (960–1279 AD) was a culturally rich and sophisticated age for China. It saw great advancements in the visual arts, music, literature, and philosophy. Officials of the ruling bureaucracy, who underwent a strict and extensive exa ...
#
Economy of the Song dynasty
The economy of the Song dynasty (960–1279) in China was the wealthiest economy in the world during its time. The dynasty moved away from the top-down command economy of the Tang dynasty (618-907) and made extensive use of market mechanisms as na ...
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History of the Song dynasty
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Society of the Song dynasty
Chinese society during the Song dynasty (960–1279) was marked by political and legal reforms, a philosophical revival of Confucianism, and the development of cities beyond administrative purposes into centers of industry and of maritime and r ...
#
Technology of the Song dynasty
The Song dynasty (; 960–1279 CE) invented some technological advances in Chinese history, many of which came from talented statesmen drafted by the government through imperial examinations.
The ingenuity of advanced mechanical engineeri ...
#
Jin–Song Wars
The Jin–Song Wars were a series of conflicts between the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty (1115–1234) and the Han-led Song dynasty (960–1279). In 1115, Jurchen tribes rebelled against their overlords, the Khitan-led Liao dynasty (916–1125) ...
References
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* (hardcover);
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Qinzong Of Song
1100 births
1161 deaths
Northern Song emperors
Monarchs taken prisoner in wartime
12th-century Chinese monarchs
People from Kaifeng
Heads of government who were later imprisoned