Emperor Bing of Song

Zhao Bing 趙昺
Emperor of the Song dynasty
Reign	10 May 1278 – 19 March 1279
Coronation	10 May 1278
Predecessor	Emperor Duanzong
Born	Zhao Bing (1272-02-12)12 February 1272 Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China
Died	19 March 1279(1279-03-19) (aged 7) Yamen, Guangdong Province, China
Burial	Shekou, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province, China
Era dates Xiangxing (祥興; 1278–1279) Posthumous name 恭文寧武哀孝皇帝[1] Temple name 懷宗[2]
House	House of Zhao
Father	Emperor Duzong
Mother	Consort Yu

Zhao Bing (12 February 1272 – 19 March 1279), also known as Emperor Bing of Song,^{[notes 1]} was the 18th and last emperor of the Song dynasty in China. He was also the ninth and last emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He reigned for about 313 days from 1278 to 1279 until his death.

Life

Zhao Bing was the seventh son of Zhao Qi (Emperor Duzong). His mother was Lady Yu (俞氏), a concubine of Emperor Duzong who held the rank of xiurong (修容). He was a younger half-brother of his predecessors, Zhao Xian (Emperor Gong) (r. 1275–1276) and Zhao Shi (Emperor Duanzong) (r. 1276–1278). He was enfeoffed as the "Prince of Xin" (信王) in 1274. His title was later changed to "Prince of Guang" (廣王).

On 4 February 1276, the Song capital, Lin'an (臨安; present-day Hangzhou), was conquered by forces of the Mongol-led Yuan regime commanded by the general Bayan. Emperor Gong was taken captive by the Mongols, but his two brothers, Zhao Shi and Zhao Bing, managed to escape to southern China with the help of officials such as Yang Liangjie (楊亮節), Lu Xiufu, Zhang Shijie, Chen Yizhong and Wen Tianxiang. They arrived in Jinhua, where Zhao Shi was appointed as Grand Marshal (天下兵馬都元帥) and Zhao Bing was appointed as Vice Grand Marshal (副元帥). Zhao Bing's title was also changed to "Prince of Wei" (衛王). On 14 June 1276, a seven-year-old Zhao Shi was enthroned in Fuzhou as the new emperor; he is historically known as Emperor Duanzong.

The Mongol general Bayan was bent on eliminating the threat posed by Song remnants, so he led his troops in pursuit and attacked southern China. After Emperor Duanzong died of illness in 1278, the Song forces' morale started to dwindle and soldiers began to desert the army. Lu Xiufu brought Zhao Bing to Meiwei (梅蔚), Gangzhou (碙州), which is in present-day Mui Wo, Lantau Island, Hong Kong. There, Zhao Bing was enthroned as the new emperor under the era name "Xiangxing" (祥興); Gangzhou was also renamed "Xianglong County" (祥龍縣). They moved to Yamen (in present-day Xinhui District, Jiangmen, Guangdong Province) to evade the Mongols.

The Mongols sent the general Zhang Hongfan to lead troops to attack Zhao Bing and the Song remnants, leading to the Battle of Yamen. The Song forces, led by Zhang Shijie, put up fierce resistance against the Mongols in a naval battle but were eventually all wiped out by the enemy. On 19 March 1279, after realising all was lost, Lu Xiufu carried the seven-year-old Emperor Zhao Bing to a cliff, where they committed suicide by throwing themselves into the sea.^[3] Zhao Bing's death marked the end of the Song dynasty.

Zhao Bing's tomb is located in present-day Chiwan, Nanshan District, Shenzhen.

Patriotic Soup

Patriotic Soup

A bowl of homemade version of the Patriotic Soup, previously served to Emperor Bing at Chaozhou during the final year of the Song dynasty. Its main ingredients are leaf vegetable, edible mushrooms, and broth.
Type	Soup
Place of origin	China
Region or state	Chaoshan
Main ingredients	Edible leaf vegetable, mushrooms, broth
Cookbook: Patriotic Soup  Media: Patriotic Soup

According to the locals at the Guangdong Province, that prior to the final battle with the Yuan forces at Yamen, Zhao Bing and the Song remnants sought shelter in a monastery at Chaozhou. The monastery's monks served a vegetarian soup in which its main ingredients was leaf vegetable, edible mushrooms, and vegetable broth to the young monarch. The last emperor loved the monks' soup, and he named it "Protect the County Dish" (護國菜) in return for their loyalty and generosity, in which a later generation named it in English as "Patriotic Soup". The simple soup became a part of Chaozhou Cuisine, and its recipe evolved over time with some variations exist. Although the Chinese since the Ming dynasty commonly uses potato leaves as its primary leaf vegetable ingredient during preparation, other choices include amaranth, spinach, ipomoea aquatica or other leafy greens, and other broths such as beef or chicken as alternatives to vegetable broth.^[4] It is available in Guangdong province's restaurants and its recipe is published, and the preparation is similar to a spinach soup.

See also

• List of emperors of the Song dynasty
• Architecture of the Song dynasty
• Culture of the Song dynasty
• Economy of the Song dynasty
• History of the Song dynasty
• Society of the Song dynasty
• Technology of the Song dynasty
• Sung Wong Toi

Notes

References

• Toqto'a, ed. (1343). History of Song. Volume 47.