preface
In Chinese history, the Southern Song Dynasty was founded in 1127 and ended in 1279 as a dynasty founded by the Han Chinese. Most of its politics, military and culture followed the traditions of the Northern Song Dynasty, and this period was also a dynasty with a relatively high degree of opening up to the outside world. However, in this dynasty, there was one thing that made an emperor lose face and could not be at peace after death, his head was made into a wine glass by the enemy, after several turns, fell into the hands of many people, played for nearly a hundred years, the recipients all showed off, and later was found by Zhu Yuanzhang and properly handled.
This poor emperor was Zhao Yun of the Southern Song Dynasty, why did zhao Yun, who was originally a proud figure of a generation, end up with a skull being used as a wine glass? So let's start with the historical background of that period. In the middle and late period of the Southern Song Dynasty, Mongolia rose rapidly and became a force to be reckoned with, and at that time, the Southern Song Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty were opposed, and some ministers played to the emperor, asking for the alliance with Mongolia to suppress the Jin Dynasty and unify the Central Plains, and some ministers held the opposite attitude, thinking that it was not appropriate to make a big move, and later Song Lizong adopted the opinions of the United Mongolia to resist the Jin Dynasty and destroyed the Jin Dynasty, but what he never expected was that the later Mongols violated the covenant and invaded the Song Dynasty in a big way, and also established the Yuan Dynasty on the territory of the Song Dynasty. And this Song Lizong was even more restless after his death, and his head was dug out to make a wine glass.
This matter begins in 1277, when a monk named Yang Zhenjia came to the Yuan Dynasty, and the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty was Kublai Khan, who accepted him, attached great importance to him, gave him a lot of money, and made him the president of Jiangnan Shijiao. This position is not small, and can control all the Buddhism in the Jiangnan area, but after Yang LianZhenjia took charge, he did not do anything good, he used the power in his hands, under the pretext of rectification, he destroyed many temples in Jiangnan, and also destroyed the Buddha statues that were originally revered by the people, and promoted the monks. It was not enough to do this, and he even colluded with the current prime minister, thinking of destroying all the temples and Taoist temples left over from the Song Dynasty at that time. Fortunately, someone in the DPRK stopped it, so that his evil thoughts could not be carried out.
The monk did not stop at all, and he had an idea, and he said to Kublai Khan that if the bones of the 6 emperors of the Southern Song Dynasty were dug up and suppressed under the pagoda, the "imperial luck" of the Song Dynasty would be removed, and the people of the Song Dynasty would never be able to restore it. When Kublai Khan heard such a statement, he not only did not doubt, but agreed with one mouth. With Kublai Khan's acquiescence, Yang Zhenjia immediately led people to excavate all the Song Liuling Tombs and buried them under the Zhennan Pagoda. And then he did something crazy.
Yang Lian Zhenjia dug up song lizong's mausoleum, the tomb with countless burial items, seeing the money eyes of Yang Lian Zhenjia immediately sent someone to steal all the valuable things in the tomb, this is not to count, he even let people hang Song Lizong's body upside down for three days and three nights, took out the night pearl in his mouth, and also cut off the skull, divided it into two, decorated with jewels, and made a drinking container. He loved the skull container so much that he had to show it off every time he entertained the guests.
Although Yang Lian Zhenjia was overbearing, the horse lost its hoof. He colluded with the Yuan Dynasty Chancellor to commit misdeeds, and as a result, the Yuan Dynasty Prime Minister was punished, and he was also affected, and all the gold and silver jewelry he had secretly hidden in his home was also collected and returned to the Yuan Dynasty treasury, and the wine cup he made of Song Lizong's head was also taken by Kublai Khan and given to the State Master of the Xuanzheng Yuan at that time, and this wine container later became the treasure of the royal private collection.
In the last year of the Yuan Dynasty, the peasants in various places were overwhelmed and rose up, and Zhu Yuanzhang, who was born as a grass farmer, also took the opportunity to rise up, destroy the Yuan Dynasty, and establish the Ming Dynasty. He heard about the skull wine cup through a bachelor, and for a moment he was indignant, feeling that the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty had allowed his men to do such a dirty thing. Zhu Yuanzhang sent people to look around, and finally found this skull wine glass.
Zhu Yuanzhang held a solemn ceremony and buried his head near the Gaozuo Temple at the south gate of Nanjing. He also ordered people to restore the tombs of the 6 emperors of the Song Dynasty, and then took out the heads of Song Lizong and reburied them in the tombs of the Song Emperors. His purpose in doing so is very obvious, not only to safeguard the dignity of the Han people, but also to win the hearts and minds of the people of the Song Dynasty, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone, which is admirable.
Regarding the historical praise and criticism of Song Lizong's evaluation, Li Zhen said in the "Commentary on the Outline of History" that Lizong was a master of half the gains and losses. During his reign, Song Lizong deposed the party history and clarified the rule of officials, and indeed did some things to seek the welfare of the people, but he also made some inappropriate moves in his later years. Liu Zijian once commented that although the Southern Song Dynasty did not have a tyrant, most of them fainted from below Emperor Xiaozong. The most obvious example is Song Lizong. In his later years, Song Lizong indulged in wine-colored dogs and horses, especially liked female colors, and even saw folk prostitutes enter the palace. The later he reached, the more tired he became of the government and politics, allowing traitors to take the lead, causing chaos and hastening the demise of the Southern Song Dynasty.
Reference: Li Zhen's "Commentary on the Outline of History"
Compilation of Studies on the History of the Two Song Dynasties