Song Huizong From imperial glory to the bitter years of house arrest in the Jin Kingdom

Mondo History Updated on 2024-01-29

In the seventh year of Xuanhe, in December. When the Jin army, which invaded the border of the Song Dynasty in the south, had not yet arrived in Kaifeng, Song Huizong hurriedly issued an edict against himself. At this turbulent moment, Huizong handed over power to his son Zhao Huan for Song Qinzong.

The first year of Jingkang, November. The Jin army crossed the Yellow River, and Kaifeng, the capital of the Song Dynasty, was close at hand. However, Wanyan Zongwang, the commander of the Jin army, did not rush to attack Kaifeng, but chose to negotiate with Song Qinzong. The target of the negotiations was Taiyuan, Zhongshan and Hejian north of the Yellow River, and Song Qinzong agreed without hesitation, and immediately decided to offer the site with a map.

The defenders of Hebei and Hedong refused the agreement, which caused the Jin soldiers to be furious and put forward new conditions for them to cede Hebei and Hedong before they were willing to give up attacking Kaifeng. As a result, the Jin soldiers finally broke through Kaifeng, Song Huizong, Song Qinzong and their royal heirs, princes and ministers were forced to go north, and the Jin State set up Zhang Bangchang as the puppet emperor and established the Great Chu regime.

Song Huizong's life in the Jin Kingdom can be divided into three stages. In the first stage, Huizong, as the first captured emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, was humiliated. He was deposed as a commoner, constantly migrating, and arrived in the five cities of Heilongjiang in the northeast from Kaifeng, Henan. Jin Bing did many insults to him, ordered him to kneel and kowtow, and sacrifice to the ancestor of Jin Guo. Later, Huizong was named Duke of Dude, and most of the concubines were snatched away.

In the second stage, relations between Song and Jin eased, and the attitude of the Jin State towards Huizong changed slightly. Although he was named Duke of Dude, this is at least a knighthood, and it belongs to the third-grade official position in the official rank system of the Jin State. Song Huizong enjoyed better treatment than some princes and ministers. His daughters were married to Jin Taizong's sons and nephews, and Song Huizong's courtesy was even greater.

In April 1135, Song Huizong died of illness in the city of the Five Kingdoms at the age of 54. Jin Xizong buried him in the Luoyang area of Henan Province and posthumously named the king of Tianshui County. The death of Song Huizong was more valuable to the Jin Kingdom than life. Jin Xizong renamed him the king of Tianshui County to show respect for this emperor and express his attitude to the Southern Song Dynasty.

In August 1142, the Jin State transported the remains of Song Huizong back to the capital Shaoxing and buried them in the Yongyou Mausoleum. This move demonstrated Jin Xizong's respect for Huizong, and although the Duke of Dude was in the third rank, being posthumously named the king of Tianshui was a positive affirmation of his status.

Huizong's life was full of twists and turns, from the glory of the emperor to the bitter years of house arrest. During the eight years he spent in Jinguo, he not only experienced the humiliation of his status, but also witnessed the change in Jinguo's attitude towards him. In the end, he died of illness in the Five Kingdoms City, ending this embarrassing life course. In order to maintain relations with the Southern Song Dynasty, Jin Guo revered Song Huizong more and more, even though he had already died of illness.

From this period of history, we can not only see the ups and downs of an emperor, but also feel the fragility and tenacity of human nature under the great changes in history. Song Huizong, an emperor who remained dignified in a difficult situation, his story has left many traces that make people think deeply.

Song Huizong's life is like a meteor in the long river of history, short and full of twists and turns. In the seventh year of Xuanhe, in the face of the pressure of the Jin army going south, he chose to hand over the imperial power to his son, which became a major turning point in the Northern Song court. This decision may have been a ploy of fatherly love or a scheming, but in the end, it landed him under house arrest.

Reading about Song Huizong's life in the Jin Kingdom, one can't help but feel deeply embarrassed about what happened to him. In the first stage, as the first captured emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, he suffered the humiliation of being robbed of the emperor's glory. Forced to kneel and kowtow to worship the Emperor of the Kingdom of Jin, these harrowing scenes make people deeply reflect on the chaos of the political situation at that time and the impermanence of personal fate.

In the second stage, although the status of Song Huizong was demoted from emperor to dun degong, the attitude of the Jin state towards him was slightly relaxed. Behind this complex and contradictory relationship, there may be hidden political scheming and calculation. Song Huizong was named the Duke of Dude, although it violated the respect of the emperor, but it was also a means of conspiracy, making him occupy a third-grade official position in the official rank system of the Jin State. His daughters married into the Jin royal family, and he himself enjoyed some treatment in the Jin country, all of which made people feel the complex interweaving of politics and human nature.

In the final stage, in order to maintain relations with the Southern Song Dynasty, the Jin State showed respect for Song Huizong. Although he had already died of illness, Jin Xizong still renamed him the king of Tianshui County, a gesture that was apparently intended to convey an attitude to the Southern Song Dynasty. Although this statement is politically motivated, it also reflects Jinguo's respect for history and culture.

Song Huizong's life is a legend, and his fate is full of historical twists and turns and political impermanence. From the peak of imperial power to the years of house arrest, from the brink of war to political competition, Song Huizong's experience is thought-provoking. This historical story reminds us that even if you are in a high position, you cannot escape the vagaries of history. The story of Song Huizong is not only an individual tragedy, but also a microcosm in the whirlpool of history, allowing us to understand more deeply the complexity of history and the fragility of human nature.

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