Emperor Qinzong of Song

Zhao Huan
Emperor of Northern Song Dynasty
later Marquess Zhonghun 重昏侯'
Reign 19 January 1126 – 9 January 1127[1]
Spouse Empress Renhuai 仁懷皇后
Full name
Family name: Zhao (趙)
Given name: Dan (亶), later Xuan[2] (烜),
then later Huan[3] (桓)
Era dates
Jinkang 靖康
Posthumous name
Emperor Gongwen Shunde Renxiao 恭文順德仁孝皇帝
Temple name
Qinzong (欽宗)
Dynasty Song (宋)
Father Emperor Huizong of Song
Mother Empress Xiangong 顯恭皇后
Born 23 May 1100
Died 14 June 1161 (aged 61)

Emperor Qinzong (Emperor Chin-tsung; 23 May 1100 – 14 June 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 (李綱) to fend them off. However, Qinzong was not a determined 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 20 March 1127, and on 13 May 1127 he was deported to faraway and bitter cold Northern Manchuria where he was to spend the last 34 years of his life in confinement.

In 1128, Qinzong, along with his father, had to pay homage to the ancestors of the Jin emperor at their ancestral temple in Shangjing (near today's Harbin), wearing mourning dress.[4][5] He was then granted the title of Marquess of Chonghun (重昏, "Doubly muddled"); his father received a similarly derogatary-sounding title.[5]

In 1141, as the Jin relations with the Song were about to normalized, Qinzong's captors granted him a neutrally-sounding title of the Duke (公, gong) of Tianshui Jun, after a commandery in the upper reaches of the Wei River (now in Gansu), while his father (who had died in 1135) was posthumously styled the Prince of Tianshui Jun; a few months later he started receiving a stipend due to his rank. Until his death in 1156[6] he was kept by the Jin in a role akin to that of a hostage, as a tool to bring pressure on the Song.[5]

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

Personal Information

Empress

Consorts

Sons

Daughter

Titles from birth

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ The Jurchen invaders entered in Kaifeng on 9 January 1127, thus
    in effect putting an end to his reign.
  2. ↑ Had his name changed into Xuan in February 1102.
  3. ↑ Had his name changed into Huan in December 1102. This name
    became his taboo name when he ascended the throne in 1126.
  4. ↑ Tao, p. 32
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Franke (1994), p. 233-234.
  6. ↑ 1156 is the date given in Franke, p. 234

References

Emperor Qinzong of Song
House of Zhao
Born: May 23 1100 Died: June 14 1161
Regnal titles
Preceded by
Emperor Huizong		 Emperor of the Song Dynasty
1126–1127 		Succeeded by
Emperor Gaozong