Emperor Ningzong

From Vero - Wikipedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Template:Short description Template:For Template:Family name hatnote Template:Infobox royalty Template:Infobox Chinese

Emperor Ningzong of Song (19 November 1168 – 17 September 1224), personal name Zhao Kuo, was the 13th emperor of the Song dynasty of China and the fourth emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> During Ningzong's reign, he had built 75 commemorative shrines and steles, the most in Song history.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> He was a great patron of art, promoting artists such as Liang Kai and Ma Yuan to painter-in-waiting and writing poems about their paintings.<ref name="Shen">Template:Cite book</ref> 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 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 from the north during the wars between the Song dynasty and Jurchen-led Jin dynasty.

In absence of a son, he adopted a relative named Zhao Xun in 1197 who was only 6 years old.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1198, Neo-Confucianism was banned for two years until the ban was repelled in 1202.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

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.Template:Sfn War against the Jin was officially declared on June 14, 1206, by Han Tuozhou.Template:Sfn 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 effortTemplate:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfnm 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn 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.Template:Sfn

In 1210, the Mongols, formerly a Jin tributary, ended their vassalage and attacked the Jin in 1211.Template:Sfn In light of this event, the Song court debated ending tributary payments to the weakened Jin, but they chose to avoid antagonizing the Jin.Template:Sfn As the Mongols expanded, the Jin suffered territorial losses and attacked the Song in 1217 to compensate for their shrinking territory.Template:Sfn 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. Zhao Xun was only 29 years old.<ref name=":0" /> 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, the future Emperor Lizong.<ref name=":0" />

Emperor Ningzong fell ill before dying a few days later in 1224.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Ningzong may have been poisoned. It is also worth mentioning that Ningzong was physically weak: his official portrait showing him as nearly emaciated, suggesting physical ailments of some gravity.<ref name=":0" />Template:Or He was succeeded by another relative named Zhao Yun 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 criticized the taxation system during the reign of Emperor Ningzong as a "ruthless extortion".<ref name="Huarui">Template:Cite journal</ref> He stated:

<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />

Since the government crossed the Yangtze River, taxes have been double what they were in the Xuanhe period. Never in history has government spending been as huge as it is today.{{#if:|

|}}{{#if:Ye ShiEssays: Financial Affairs<ref name="Huarui" />|

— {{#if:|, in }}Template:Comma separated entries

}}{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Blockquote with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | author | by | char | character | cite | class | content | multiline | personquoted | publication | quote | quotesource | quotetext | sign | source | style | text | title | ts }}

Ye Shi pushed for fiscal conservatism, while many Confucian moralists supported fiscal expansion.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Consorts and issue

Adopted Issue:

See also

References

Citations

Template:Reflist

Sources

Template:Refbegin

Template:Refend

Template:S-start Template:S-hou Template:S-reg Template:Succession box Template:S-end Template:Song emperors

Template:Authority control

Retrieved from "https://wiki.sarg.dev/index.php?title=Emperor_Ningzong&oldid=634823"