Another angle of the Song Huizong

Song Huizong personality signature: one person in the world

The American scholar Professor Yi Peixia accumulated decades of efforts to compile the "Song Huizong", from an extraterritorial point of view, to an ancient Chinese emperor with a mixed reputation made a special biography. The detailedness of its historical materials is worthy of admiration.

In 1100, at the age of 17, Zhao Tuo ascended the throne after succeeding his brother Zhezong, who died suddenly, and reigned for 26 years. He was a poet, painter, calligrapher, collector (from a foreign point of view. According to the views of the Chinese people, the emperor was of course a collector, and everywhere needed to pay tribute to treasures).) He died after being captured by the Jin people for 8 years.

Emperor Huizong of Song's succession was quite unexpected. Emperor Zhezong had no heirs, and the successor could only be selected from among his brothers, and as a younger brother, he was originally after King Jian, but because King Jian had an eye disease, he urged Empress Dowager Zhao to be the King of Duan.

After succeeding to the throne, Emperor Huizong, with the assistance of Cai Jing, who was then the prime minister, set up Anjifang to help the vulnerable, nursing homes to provide food and accommodation for orphans and widows, leaked zeyuan to bury the poor, expanded Taixue, banned the destruction of Su (Dongpo) party works, and embraced Taoism. In his dynasty, Li Jie's "Construction Method" became a template for later generations, and the paintings of the Court Painting Court expanded the development and dissemination of calligraphy and painting. Of course, his own thin gold calligraphy and paintings are even better than those of the time and later generations.

At the founding of the Song Dynasty, there was a very large international pressure. The north has not been recovered, the Jurchen forces are strong, and the sixteen states of Youyun that the literati and military generals will never forget are still outside the rule. The imperial throne originally came from the yellow robes of the military generals, and the vigilance of this led to the vigilance of the imperial court and the literati against the generals, which limited the strength of the army everywhere and was inefficient.

When the Jurchens hit the vicinity of Kaifeng, the anxious emperor hurriedly gave way to the crown prince, who was for Emperor Qinzong. However, the father and son's political mind was simple, and in the midst of a quarrel in the court, they actually believed that negotiation could resolve the dispute, and in the end, the father and son were all captured and killed in the five countries of the city.

For the life of Emperor Huizong of Song, Yi Peixia depicts a multifaceted and talented emperor, but also with strong court limitations, so his tragedy is an accidental result of the conflict between China's mainstream agricultural society and the northern nomadic society, and it is also the inevitable of the time.