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How tragic was the end of Emperor Qinzong of the Northern Song Dynasty? After being captured, he was humiliated and eventually trampled to death by a random horse

Comrade | Guevara

Throughout the history books, the fate of the emperor of the fallen country is mostly very unbearable, even if he can escape death, most of the rest of his life will be spent in the humiliation of the nest. Of course, the worst outcome of the fallen monarch is that after being insulted, he finally failed to get rid of the tragic death, and the emperor of the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Huan, the emperor of the Fallen State of the Song Dynasty, is a typical representative. So, what humiliations did Song Qinzong suffer after his fall? What is the end result?

01 From emperor to prisoner

Zhao Huan (赵桓), formerly known as Zhao Qi (赵亶), also known as Zhao Xuan (赵煊), was the eldest son of Emperor Huizong of Song and the half-brother of Emperor Gaozong of Song, whose birth mother was Empress Wang of the Xiangong clan, and was born in April of the third year (1100) of emperor Yuanfu of Song. Although Emperor Huizong of Song did not very much like the eldest son, after ascending the throne and becoming emperor, he still established Zhao Huan as crown prince according to the custom, and was in the fifth year of Zhenghe (1115). According to the historical records, Zhao Huan was cautious when he was in the Eastern Palace, never lost his moral behavior, and was not good at sound skills and music, and his personal image was very healthy.

How tragic was the end of Emperor Qinzong of the Northern Song Dynasty? After being captured, he was humiliated and eventually trampled to death by a random horse

Portrait of Emperor Huizong of Song

During the reign of Emperor Huizong of Song, in order to recover the homeland of Yanyun that had been ceded to the Liao state by the "Son Emperor" Shi Jingyao, he made a pact with the Jin state and agreed to jointly attack the Liao state. However, after the fall of the Liao state, the Jin state of Longwangshu used the Song Dynasty's illegal acceptance of surrenders and the unauthorized opening of border challenges to invade the south, and the troops directly attacked the Beijing division. Faced with a dangerous situation, Emperor Huizong of Song prepared to flee to Jiangnan or Sichuan (which ultimately failed) and passed the throne to the crown prince Zhao Huan before leaving, in October of the seventh year of Xuanhe (1125).

At the beginning of Song Qinzong's reign, in order to save the people and win the hearts and minds of the people, on the one hand, he abolished all kinds of harsh taxes and miscellaneous taxes levied by his father during his reign, deposed or executed the "six thieves"; on the other hand, he used the resistance faction ministers Li Gang and Zhishi Dao to resist the Jin soldiers, and called on the world to raise troops to "Qin Wang", which once turned the situation around the corner. However, shortly after the victory in the defense of Bieliang, the surrender faction led by the chancellor Li Bangyan gained the upper hand and soon expelled Li Gang, Seed Master Dao, and others from the dynasty, which was tantamount to self-destruction of the Great Wall.

How tragic was the end of Emperor Qinzong of the Northern Song Dynasty? After being captured, he was humiliated and eventually trampled to death by a random horse

Portrait of Emperor Qinzong of Song

After Li Gang and Seed Master Dao were expelled from the dynasty, Emperor Qinzong of Song followed the advice of Sun Fu, the Privy Council of Tongzhi, and entrusted the task of guarding the city of Bieliang to a demon named Guo Jing, which caused disaster for himself and the empire. In April of the second year of Jing Kang (1127), the Jin army that had once again marched south easily attacked the city of Bieliang, then burned and plundered the city, and arrested more than 3,000 people, including Song Huizong, Qinzong's father and son, and imperial men and women, harem concubines, and princes and ministers, and sent them to the capital of the Jin Dynasty, Shangjing Huining Province (present-day Acheng District, Harbin), known in history as the "Change of Jingkang".

02 Years of humiliation

Fenliang was nearly 4,000 miles away from Huining Province, and the Jin army did not provide food and lodging on the way to escort the Song captives, so Song Qinzong and his party could be said to have suffered a lot of suffering. Not only that, in order to prevent someone from hijacking the prison cart on the way, the Jin general in charge of escorting Song Qinzong and others to the north also ordered the Second Emperor Hui Qin and his subordinates to be tied together while resting, and one person's head was connected to the feet of another, so that the gang was tortured and humiliated.

How tragic was the end of Emperor Qinzong of the Northern Song Dynasty? After being captured, he was humiliated and eventually trampled to death by a random horse

Images of Kinta sect

In August of the second year (1128) of Emperor Gaozong of Song's reign, after suffering hardships and nine deaths, Song Qinzong and his party finally reached their destination. As a barbaric conqueror, Jin Taizong ordered a grand captive ceremony with the purpose of humiliating and humiliating the other side. In the laughter and ridicule of the Jin monarchs, the Second Emperor Hui Qin and his concubines, clans, kings, horses, and princesses were forced to wear the costumes of the Jurchen commoners, wear sheep furs, expose their upper bodies, and perform the "sheep-leading ceremony" in the Taimiao Temple where Jin Taizu completed Yan A's bone, which can be described as extremely humiliating.

After the consecration ceremony, Jin Taizong continued to humiliate the father and son of Emperor Huizong of Song, demoting them to the titles of Duke of Xiade and Marquis of Chongdu respectively, and then moving the father and son to the remote City of five kingdoms (present-day Yilan County, Heilongjiang Province) and imprisoning them. In order to prevent the remnants of the Song Dynasty from rescuing their deceased lords, the Jin army generals in charge of the surveillance work followed the instructions of Jin Taizong and imprisoned the father and son of Emperor Huizong of Song in a dry well, eating and drinking Lasa all in it, no different from pigs and sheep in captivity.

How tragic was the end of Emperor Qinzong of the Northern Song Dynasty? After being captured, he was humiliated and eventually trampled to death by a random horse

The place where Song Qinzong was imprisoned

The father and son of Emperor Huizong of Song, who were imprisoned in the dry well, sat in the well every day to watch the sky and wash their faces with tears, and regretted their dim-witted behavior in those years. During this period, Emperor Huizong of Song wrote many words of remorse, grief, and desolation, just like Li Yu, the lord of the Southern Tang Dynasty after the fall of the country. In April of the fifth year of Shaoxing (1135), Emperor Huizong of Song was unable to bear the mental torture and eventually fell ill and died in a dry well at the age of 54. After the death of Emperor Huizong of Song, his body was burned by the Jin people to make lamp oil, which made Song Qinzong extremely sad, and his body and mind were severely hit.

03 Tragic death

After the death of Emperor Huizong of Song, Emperor Qinzong of Song remained imprisoned in the Five Kingdoms City, and his situation did not improve until after the death of Emperor Taizong of Jin. In February of the eleventh year of Shaoxing (1141), in order to improve relations with the Southern Song Dynasty, Jin Xizong not only made Emperor Qinzong of Song the Duke of Tianshui County, but also gave him a high-class house in the capital to live in, and allowed the fallen monarch to live with his former concubines and children. In the twenty-third year of Shaoxing (1153), when King Hailing moved the capital to Yanjing, Song Qinzong and others were forced to accompany them.

How tragic was the end of Emperor Qinzong of the Northern Song Dynasty? After being captured, he was humiliated and eventually trampled to death by a random horse

Portrait of Emperor Gaozong of Song

The death of Song Qinzong can be described as extremely tragic. According to the historical book "Great Song Xuanhe and Testament", in June of the twenty-sixth year of Shaoxing (1156), Yan Liang ordered Song Qinzong to play polo, and Zhao Huan suffered from a serious wind disease and was not good at equestrianism, so he quickly fell off his horse, and was immediately trampled by the hooves of the horse and died, at the age of 56. Six years later (1161), the news of Song Qinzong's death reached Lin'an, and Emperor Gaozong of Song, who was sad on the surface but extremely happy in his heart, solemnly mourned his brother and posthumously honored him as Emperor Gongwen Shunde Renxiao, with the temple name Qinzong.

bibliography

Xu Mengxin (Southern Song Dynasty): Edited by the Northern League of the Three Dynasties, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2008.

Anonymous (Southern Song Dynasty): The Great Song Dynasty Xuanhe and The Testament, Shanghai Classical Literature Publishing House, 1954 edition.

Detachment (Yuan): History of the Song Dynasty, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1985 edition.

Detachment (Yuan): History of Jin, Zhonghua Bookstore, 1975.

Bi Yuan (Qing): "Continuing Zizhi Tongjian", Zhonghua Bookstore, 1999 edition.

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