Imperial Political Past: The Veritable Records of the Great Song Dynasty in 1127

Author: Li Yaping
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-09-01
Features: In the year 1127 AD, which was the second year of the Jingkang era of the Northern Song Dynasty and the first year of the Jianyan era of the Southern Song Dynasty, the Northern Song Empire fell, and the Southern Song Empire was proclaimed in the midst of turmoil. The Chinese people plunged into more than a decade of warfare, bloodshed, and chaos. First, at the end of the previous year, the capital Bianjing (also known as Bianliang, which is today Kaifeng) fell into enemy hands. In January, the cavalry of the Jin Dynasty looted all the gold, silver, treasures, cultural artifacts, ceremonial regalia, and historical records from the capital. In February, the Jin people enthroned the former imperial prime minister Zhang Bangchang as the Emperor of Da Chu. Between March and April, the two emperors of our empire—Emperor Huizong Zhao Ji, who had been a retired emperor for over a year, and his eldest son, Emperor Qinzong Zhao Huan, who had reigned for only over a year—were both captured by the Jin cavalry and taken to the Jin Dynasty. Over 14,000 others, including royal relatives, concubines, palace maids, civil and military officials, craftsmen, and performers, were also taken captive. The Northern Song Empire thus perished. This was a humiliation that the Chinese had never experienced before. From then on, the "Jingkang Shame" was etched into the memory of China like a knife. The ninth son of Emperor Huizong, Prince Kang Zhao Gou, miraculously escaped and soon fled to Nanjing, which is today Shangqiu in Henan Province. On May 1st of that year, Zhao Gou proclaimed himself emperor in Nanjing, establishing the Southern Song Dynasty and changing the era name from the second year of the Jingkang era to the first year of the Jianyan era. At that time, Zhao Gou had just turned 21, and he became the tenth emperor of the Great Song Dynasty and the first emperor of the Southern Song Dynasty, known in history as Emperor Gaozong. In that year, the characters involved in this book had different situations. Some were considered responsible for everything that happened that year, while others had their destinies changed by the events of the year, and these changes were sometimes quite profound.