Emperor Qinzong of Song

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Emperor Qinzong of Song

Birth and death:	May 23, 1100–14 June 1161
Family name:	Zhao (趙)
Given name:	Dan (亶), later Xuan¹ (烜), then later Huan² (桓)
Dates of reign:	19 January 1126–9 January 1127³
Temple name:	Qinzong (欽宗)
Posthumous name: (short)	Never used short
Posthumous name: (full)	Emperor Gongwen Shunde Renxiao 恭文順德仁孝皇帝
General note: Dates given here are in the Julian calendar. They are not in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. ——— 1. Had his name changed into Xuan in February 1102. 2. Had his name changed into Huan in December 1102. This name became his taboo name when he ascended the throne in 1126. 3. The Jurchen invaders entered in Kaifeng on January 9, 1127, thus in effect putting an end to his reign.

Emperor Qinzong (May 23, 1100 – June 14, 1161) was the ninth emperor of the Song Dynasty of China, and the last emperor of the Northern Song. His personal name was Zhao Huan. He reigned from January 1126 to January 1127.

Qinzong was the eldest son of Emperor Huizong. His mother was the empress consort, from the Wang (王) family, known posthumously as Empress Xiangong (顯恭皇后) (1084-1108).

He ascended the throne in dramatic circumstances following his father's abdication. As the Song empire was faced with invasion by the Jurchen of the Jin Dynasty, Qinzong's father Emperor Huizong quickly abdicated in Qinzong's favour. Left to deal with the Jurchens, Qinzong appointed Li Gang (李纲) to fend off the Jurchens. However Qinzong was not a determine leader. He made poor judgements and eventually removed Li Gang from his post in hopes of peaceful negotiation. Uninterested in peace, the Jurchens invaded Kaifeng in January 1127 and captured 26 year old Qinzong, Grand-Emperor Huizong and the entire Song imperial family including dozens of government officials in the Jingkang Incident, thus ending the Northern Song dynasty.

Qinzong, along with his father, was demoted to the rank of commoner on March 20, 1127, and on May 13, 1127 he was deported to faraway and bitter cold Northern Manchuria where he spent the last 34 years of his life in confinement.

Qinzong died a sick and broken man in 1161. He was 61. His temple name means "Esteemed Ancestor".