The founding emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, Emperor Gaozong of Song, was controversial for killing Yue Fei, a famous general of the main war faction, reusing the traitor Qin Juniper, and humiliating and seeking peace.
Due to the excessive stigmatization of some historical materials, Song Gaozong's excellent aspects such as daring to act boldly, respecting subordinates, and attaching importance to culture are little known.
Emperor Gaozong of Song was the ninth son of Zhao Tuo, a master of calligraphy and painting, who was intelligent, knowledgeable, and had a strong memory since childhood, and could recite more than a thousand words of articles every day.
Part of Zhao Shuo's Cursive Luoshen Endowment Scroll
Influenced and influenced by his father, he was not only proficient in the art of calligraphy and painting, but also studied calligraphy theory, and his work "Han Mozhi" was one of the famous masterpieces of calligraphy theory in the Southern Song Dynasty.
The works of Song Gaozong's calligraphy and paintings have received many praises, and the Southern Song Dynasty collector Zhuang Su praised his works: "In the leisure of ten thousand opportunities, when he made small brushstrokes of landscapes, he specialized in the scenes of the difficult situation of smoke and rain, which could not be reached by Qunshu." ”
Emperor Gaozong of Song attached great importance to culture and liked to collect famous paintings of the Fa Ti that had been lost due to war and kept them in the imperial palace.
The "Continuation of the Pavilion of the Southern Song Dynasty" records that Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty collected and protected more than a thousand works of calligraphy and painting, leaving a rare artistic treasure for future generations.
There are not many poetry works of Emperor Gaozong of Song, but they are very artistic, and there are fifteen poems.
When Song Gaozong was young, he dared to act boldly, was strong in martial arts, and could "draw a bow to one stone and five buckets", while the standard for recruiting soldiers in the Song Dynasty at that time was "one stone and two buckets".
Shortly after the change of Jing Kang, the Jin people proposed peace conditions, and a prince needed to be held hostage, and Song Qinzong found more than thirty princes and asked in public: "Who can share the worries of the country?" ”
The princes looked at each other, lest the emperor point out his name, at this time only the nineteen-year-old King of Kang, Zhao Shuo, stepped forward, "generously please", and voluntarily entered the Jinbing camp as a hostage, zhao Shuo's righteousness was awe-inspiring, which greatly touched his father Song Huizong and his brother Song Qinzong.
The "Record of Southern Crossing" records that in order to humiliate the Northern Song Dynasty hostage Zhao Shuo, the Jin army commander Yan Zongwang proposed to test the arrow method with Zhao Shuo.
Yan Zongwang first shot three arrows, one of which hit the bullseye and the other two of which were close to the bullseye.
When it was Zhao Shuo's turn, all three arrows shot into the bull's-eye, and the Generals of the Jin Army present were astonished, and some people suspected that Zhao Shuo could not be a prince, but a samurai impersonator, so he returned and let the Song Kingdom change a real prince to be a hostage, and in this way, Zhao Shuo, the King of Kang, was spared.
When Emperor Gaozong of Song was emperor, he treated the attendants on the left and right with great respect, that is, he never regarded them as slaves.
The "West Lake Yuzhi" records: "When Emperor Gaozong was in Deshou, every time he ate, he would put two pairs of spoons and spoons, and before eating, he would choose his desire to eat, and take a device with a spoon, and the food would be exhausted... Wu Hou asked why, saying, "I don't want to eat with the officials!" ’”
Every time Song Gaozong dined at Deoksugung Palace, he would prepare two pairs of bowls and chopsticks, and there were about a dozen dishes in the imperial meal, Song Gaozong used "public chopsticks" to clip out what he liked to eat, used "public spoons" to put the soup in his own bowl, and then used his own chopsticks and soup spoons to start eating.
Each time, Song Gaozong would eat clean and have no dirty dishes for the waiters to enjoy.
One day, Empress Wu of Taishang caught up with Emperor Taishang for dinner, and seeing that he had eaten so carefully, she was curious and asked Emperor Taishang why he wanted to do so.
Song Gaozong's book "Female Filial Piety Classic" Ma Hezhi Supplement
Emperor Gaozong of Song replied, "I can't leave the leftovers for the palace people to eat!" ”
His kindness is evident in this.
Emperor Gaozong of Song was also frugal, and Yangzhou officials offered luxurious dining utensils, and he ordered people to "burn them all" in the downtown area, indicating his rejection of luxury and waste.
Emperor Gaozong of Song not only honored his birth mother Empress Wei, but also honored his aunt, Empress Dowager Meng of Song, until the death of the two empresses.
Song Gaozong's attitude towards his lover is also remarkable, his original xing clan was plundered by the Jin people, never made empress, until the news of Xing's death, only to appoint Wu as an empress, the two loved each other, did not abandon, held hands whiteheads, and walked through fifty-eight years.