Emperor Ningzong of Song (19 November 1168 – 17 September 1224), personal name Zhao Kuo, was the 13th

emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...

of the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

of China and the fourth emperor of the

Southern Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Ten Kingdoms, endin ...

. He reigned from 1194 until his death in 1224. He was the second son and the only surviving child of his predecessor Guangzong and like his father, Ningzong was weak-minded; easily dominated by women. During Ningzong's reign, he had built 75 commemorative shrines and steles, the most in Song history. He was a great patron of art, promoting artists such as

Liang Kai Liang Kai (; ''c''. 1140 - ''c''. 1210) was a Chinese painter of the Southern Song Dynasty. He was also known as Madman Liang because of his very informal pictures. He was born in Shandong and worked in Lin An (later Hangzhou). He is known to have ...

and

Ma Yuan Ma Yuan may refer to: * Ma Yuan (Han dynasty) (馬援; 14 BC – 49 AD), general of the Han dynasty * Ma Yuan (painter) (馬遠; 1160–1225), painter of the Song dynasty * Ma Yuan (judge) (:zh:馬原 (政治人物), 馬原; born 1930), a former V ...

to painter-in-waiting and writing poems about their paintings. Upon Ningzong's death, a minor official and a remote relative of Ningzong became Emperor Lizong.

Reign

He was noted for the cultural and intellectual achievements made during his reign. In particular,

Zhu Xi Zhu Xi ( zh, c=朱熹; ; October 18, 1130April 23, 1200), formerly romanized Chu Hsi, was a Chinese philosopher, historian, politician, poet, and calligrapher of the Southern Song dynasty. As a leading figure in the development of Neo-Confuci ...

wrote some of his most famous Neo-Confucianist works during this period. However, Emperor Ningzong was known for his aversion towards the spread of Neo-Confucianism in his imperial court due to the influence of his chancellor Han Tuozhou and on the political side, however, Emperor Ningzong saw his government being plagued by rising inflation that threatened the economy and the military advances by the

Jurchens Jurchen (, ; , ) is a term used to collectively describe a number of East Asian people, East Asian Tungusic languages, Tungusic-speaking people. They lived in northeastern China, also known as Manchuria, before the 18th century. The Jurchens wer ...

from the north during the

wars War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of State (polity), states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or betwe ...

between the Song dynasty and Jurchen-led

Jin dynasty Jin may refer to: States Jìn 晉 * Jin (Chinese state) (晉國), major state of the Zhou dynasty, existing from the 11th century BC to 376 BC * Jin dynasty (266–420) (晉朝), also known as Liang Jin and Sima Jin * Jin (Later Tang precursor) ...

. In absence of a son, he adopted a relative named Zhao Xun in 1197 who was only 6 years old. In 1198,

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy influenced by Confucianism, which originated with Han Yu (768–824) and Li Ao (772–841) i ...

was banned for two years until the ban was repelled in 1202.

Song Invasion of Jin

As the Jin were weakening because of natural disasters, Ningzong's chancellor Han Tuozhou continually provoked the weak Jin by launching raids. War against the Jin was officially declared on June 14, 1206, by Han Tuozhou. The war was a disaster. Despite the Jin's weakness due to the natural disasters, it repulsed the Song attacks and even counter-attacked. To make things worse, Ningzong was not interested in the war effort and morale was low. There was not enough supplies and many of the army deserted. Wu Xi (吳曦; d. 1207), the governor-general of Sichuan, defected to the Jin in December 1206. This was bad, as Wu was holding the western front, however, Song loyalists assassinated Wu on March 29, 1207, before Jin troops could take control of the surrendered territories. Fighting continued in 1207, but by the end of that year the war was at a stalemate. The Song was now on the defensive, while the Jin failed to make gains in Song territory. The failure of Han Tuozhou's aggressive policies led to his demise. On December 15, 1207, Han was beaten to death by the Imperial Palace Guards.

Peace

A peace treaty was signed on November 2, 1208, and the Song tribute to the Jin was reinstated. The Song annual indemnity increased by 50,000 taels of silver and 50,000 packs of fabric. The treaty also stipulated that the Song had to present to the Jin the head of Han Tuozhou, who the Jin held responsible for starting the war. The heads of Han and Su were severed from their exhumed corpses, exhibited to the public, then delivered to the Jin finally ending the war. In 1210, the Mongols, formerly a Jin tributary, ended their vassalage and attacked the Jin in 1211. In light of this event, the Song court debated ending tributary payments to the weakened Jin, but they chose to avoid antagonizing the Jin. As the Mongols expanded, the Jin suffered territorial losses and attacked the Song in 1217 to compensate for their shrinking territory. The Jin continued attacking the Song until they agreed to a peace treaty and the Jin returned home. However, the Song would never regain their lost land. In 1220, Emperor Ningzong's adopted heir Zhao Xun died from

dysentery Dysentery ( , ), historically known as the bloody flux, is a type of gastroenteritis that results in bloody diarrhea. Other symptoms may include fever, abdominal pain, and a feeling of incomplete defecation. Complications may include dehyd ...

. Zhao Xun was only 29 years old. Shi Miyuan decided when Ningzong died, another relative named Zhao Hong was to succeed him but Zhao Hong was never placed as heir-apparent due to conflicts with Shi Miyuan and when Ningzong died, he was replaced by

Zhao Yun Zhao Yun ( ) (died 229), courtesy name Zilong (), was a military general who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty and early Three Kingdoms period of China. Originally a subordinate of the northern warlord Gongsun Zan, Zhao Yun later came ...

, the future Emperor Lizong. Emperor Ningzong fell ill before dying a few days later in 1224. Ningzong may have been poisoned. It is also worth mentioning that Ningzong was physically weak: hi
official portrait
showing him as nearly emaciated, suggesting physical ailments of some gravity. He was succeeded by another relative named

as all of Ningzong's children died young.

The Emperor's woman

He was a good monarch but sickly at times and this allowed his wife the Empress Yang to exploit his inadequacies and become the de facto ruler of the Empire for nearly 30 years.

Criticism on fiscal policy

Ye Shi Ye Shi (, 1150–1223), courtesy name Zhengze (正则), pseudonym Mr. Shuixin (水心先生), was a Chinese neo-Confucian of the Song dynasty. A native of Wenzhou, Zhejiang, he was the most famous figure of the Yongjia School, a neo-Confucianis ...

criticized the taxation system during the reign of Emperor Ningzong as a "ruthless extortion". He stated: Ye Shi pushed for fiscal conservatism, while many Confucian moralists supported fiscal expansion.

Family

Consorts and issue

* Empress Gongshu, of the Han clan (; 1165–1200) ** ''Zhao Jun, Prince Chonghui of Yan'' (; 1196), second son ** ''Zhao Tan, Prince of Bin'' (; 1200), third son * Empress Gongsheng, of the Yang clan (; 1162–1233), personal name Guizhi () ** ''Zhao Zeng, Prince of Ying'' (; 1200–1201), fourth son ** ''Zhao Jiong, Prince of Hua'' (; 1202), fifth son * ''Jieyu'', of the Cao clan () ** Princess Yuping () *** Married Lin Cun () * ''Furen'', of the Zhong clan () ** ''Zhao Qi, Prince of Shun'' (; 1207), sixth son ** ''Zhao Zhi, Prince of Shen'' (; 1207), seventh son * Unknown ** ''Zhao Ji, Prince of Su'' (; 1208), eighth son ** ''Zhao Zhi, Prince of Pi'' (; 1223), ninth son ** ''Princess Qi'' (), first daughter Adopted Issue: * Zhao Xun, Crown Prince Jingxian (; 1192–1220) * Zhao Hong, Prince Zhaosu of Zhen (; d. 1225) *

, Lizong (; 1205–1264)

References

Citations

Sources

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ningzong, Emperor 1168 births 1224 deaths Southern Song emperors 12th-century Chinese monarchs 13th-century Chinese monarchs People from Hangzhou