Emperor Shenzong of Song

Emperor Shenzong of Song (25 May 1048 – 1 April 1085), personal name Zhao Xu, was the sixth emperor of the Song dynasty in China. His original personal name was Zhao Zhongzhen but he changed it to "Zhao Xu" after his coronation. He reigned from 1067 until his death in 1085.

Emperor Shenzong of Song 宋神宗
Palace portrait on a hanging scroll, kept in the National Palace Museum, Taipei, Taiwan
Emperor of the Song dynasty
Reign	25 January 1067 – 1 April 1085
Coronation	25 January 1067
Predecessor	Emperor Yingzong
Successor	Emperor Zhezong
Born	Zhao Zhongzhen (1048–1067) Zhao Xu (1067–1085) 25 May 1048
Died	1 April 1085 (aged 36)
Consorts	Empress Qinsheng ​ ​ (m. 1066⁠–⁠1085)​ Empress Qincheng ​ ​ (m. 1068⁠–⁠1085)​ Empress Qinci ​ (m. before 1085)​
Issue	Emperor Zhezong Zhao Bi Emperor Huizong Zhao Yu Zhao Shi Zhao Cai Princess Xianmu Princess Xianxiao Princess Xianjing
Posthumous name Tiyuan Xiandao Fagu Lixian Dide Wanggong Yingwen Liewu Qinren Shengxiao Huangdi (體元顯道法古立憲帝德王功英文烈武欽仁聖孝皇帝) (awarded in 1113) Temple name Shenzong (神宗)
House	House of Zhao
Father	Emperor Yingzong
Mother	Empress Xuanren

Emperor Shenzong of Song
Chinese	宋神宗
Literal meaning	"Spiritual Ancestor of the Song"
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Sòng Shénzōng
Zhao Xu
Traditional Chinese	趙頊
Simplified Chinese	赵顼
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhào Xū
Zhao Zhongzhen
Traditional Chinese	趙仲鍼
Simplified Chinese	赵仲针
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Zhào Zhòngzhēn

Reign

During his reign in 1068, Emperor Shenzong became interested in Wang Anshi's policies and appointed Wang as the Chancellor. Wang implemented his famous New Policies aimed at improving the situation for the peasantry and unemployed. These acts became the hallmark reform of Emperor Shenzong's reign.

Emperor Shenzong sent failed campaigns against the Vietnamese ruler Lý Nhân Tông of the Lý dynasty in 1076.[1]

Emperor Shenzong's other notable act as emperor was his attempt to weaken the Tangut-led Western Xia state by invading and expelling the Western Xia forces from Gansu Province. The Song army was initially quite successful at these campaigns, but during the battle for the city of Yongle, in 1082, Song forces were defeated. As a result, Western Xia grew more powerful and subsequently continued to be a thorn in the side of the Song Empire over the ensuing decades.

Emperor Shenzong hired Muslim warriors from Bukhara to fight against Khitan nomads. 5,300 Muslim men from Bukhara were encouraged and invited to move to China in 1070 by the Song emperor Shenzong to help battle the Liao empire in the northeast and repopulate areas ravaged by fighting.[2] The emperor hired these men as mercenaries in his campaign against the Liao empire. Later on these men were settled between the Sung capital of Kaifeng and Yenching (modern day Beijing). The provinces of the north and north-east were settled in 1080 when 10,000 more Muslims were invited into China.[2][3]

During Emperor Shenzong's reign, Sima Guang, a minister interested in the history of the previous 1000 years, wrote a very influential history book, the Zizhi Tongjian or A Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government. This book records historical events from the Zhou dynasty to the Song dynasty. Another notable literary achievement which occurred during his reign was the compilation of the Seven Military Classics, including the alleged forgery of the Questions and Replies between Tang Taizong and Li Weigong.[4]

Aside from the ancient Roman embassies to Han and Three-Kingdoms era China, contact with Europe remained sparse if not nonexistent before the 13th century. However, from Chinese records it is known that Michael VII Doukas (Mie li sha ling kai sa 滅力沙靈改撒) of Fo lin (i.e. the Byzantine Empire) dispatched a diplomatic mission to China's Song dynasty that arrived in 1081, during the reign of Emperor Shenzong.[5]

Emperor Shenzong died in 1085 at the age of 36 from an unspecified illness and was succeeded by his son, Zhao Xu who took the throne as Emperor Zhezong. Emperor Zhezong was underage and so Shenzong’s mother Empress Gao ruled as regent until her death.

Family

Consorts and Issue:

• Empress Qinsheng, of the Xiang clan (欽聖皇后 向氏; 1046–1101)
  • Princess Shuhuai (淑懷帝姬; 1067–1078), first daughter
• Empress Qincheng, of the Zhu clan (欽成皇后 朱氏; 1052–1102)
  • Zhao Xu, Zhezong (哲宗 趙煦; 1077–1100), sixth son
  • Zhao Shi, Prince Churongxian (楚榮憲王 趙似; 1083–1106), 13th son
  • Princess Xianjing (賢靜帝姬; 1085–1115)
    • Married Pan Yi (潘意) in 1104, and had issue (two sons)
• Empress Qinci, of the Chen clan (欽慈皇后 陳氏; 1058–1089)
  • Zhao Ji, Huizong (徽宗 趙佶; 1082–1135), 11th son
• Guifei, of the Xing clan (懿穆貴妃 邢氏; d. 1103)
  • Zhao Jin, Prince Hui (惠王 趙僅; 1071), second son
  • Zhao Xian, Prince Ji (冀王 趙僩; 1074–1076), fifth son
  • Zhao Jia, Prince Yudaohui (豫悼惠王 趙價; 1077–1078), seventh son
  • Zhao Ti, Prince Xuchonghui (徐沖惠王 趙倜; 1078–1081), eighth son
• Guifei, of the Yang clan (懿靜貴妃 楊氏)
• Guifei, of the Song clan (貴妃 宋氏; d. 1117)
  • Zhao Yi, Prince Cheng (成王 趙佾; 1069), first son
  • Zhao Jun, Prince Tang'aixian (唐哀獻王 趙俊; 1073–1077), third son
  • Princess Xianxiao (賢孝帝姬; d. 1108), fourth daughter
    • Married Wang Yu (王遇) in 1097
• Shufei, of the Zhang clan (懿靜淑妃 張氏; d. 1105)
  • Princess Xianke (賢恪帝姬; d. 1072), second daughter
• Defei, of the Zhu clan (德妃 朱氏)
  • Princess Xianmu (賢穆帝姬; d. 1084)
• Xianfei, of the Wu clan (惠穆賢妃 武氏; d. 1107)
  • Zhao Bi, Prince Wurongmu (吳榮穆王 趙佖; 1082–1106), ninth son
  • Princess Xianhe (賢和帝姬; d. 1090)
• Xianfei, of the Lin clan (賢妃 林氏; 1052–1090), personal name Zhen (貞)
  • Zhao Yu, Prince Yan (燕王 趙俁; 1083–1127), 12th son
  • Princess Xianling (賢令帝姬; d. 1084)
  • Zhao Cai, Prince Yue (越王 趙偲; 1085–1129), 14th son
• Cairen, of the Guo clan (才人 郭氏)
  • Zhao Wei, Prince Yi (儀王 趙偉; 1082), tenth son
• Lady, of the Xiang clan (夫人 向氏)
  • Zhao Shen, Prince Bao (褒王 趙伸; 1074), fourth son
• Unknown
  • Princess Xianmu (賢穆帝姬; d. 1111), third daughter
    • Married Han Jiayan (韓嘉彥; d. 1129)
  • Princess Xiankang (賢康帝姬; d. 1085)
  • Princess Xianyi (賢宜帝姬; d. 1085)

Ancestry

Emperor Taizong of Song (939–997)

Zhao Yuanfen (969–1005)

Zhao Yunrang (995–1059)

Li Hanbin

Lady Li

Emperor Yingzong of Song (1032–1067)

Ren Gu

Lady Ren

Lady Zhang

Emperor Shenzong of Song (1048–1085)

Gao Qiong (935–1006)

Gao Jixun (959–1036)

Lady Li

Gao Zunfu

Empress Xuanren (1032–1093)

Cao Bin (931–999)

Cao Qi

Lady Gao

Lady Cao

Lady Feng

See also

1. Chinese emperors family tree (middle)
2. List of emperors of the Song dynasty
3. Architecture of the Song dynasty
4. Culture of the Song dynasty
5. Economy of the Song dynasty
6. History of the Song dynasty
7. Society of the Song dynasty
8. Technology of the Song dynasty
9. Wang Anshi
10. Shen Kuo

References

1. Maspéro, Georges (2002). The Champa Kingdom: The History of an Extinct Vietnamese Culture. White Lotus Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-974-7534-99-3.
2. H., Hagras (2019-06-01). "Xi'an Daxuexi Alley Mosque: Historical and Architectural Study". Egyptian Journal of Archaeological and Restoration Studies. 9 (1): 97–113. doi:10.21608/ejars.2019.38462. ISSN 2090-4940.
3. Israeli, Raphael (2002). Islam in China : religion, ethnicity, culture, and politics. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books. p. 283. ISBN 0-7391-0375-X. OCLC 49576635.
4. Sawyer, Ralph D. (1993). The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. Westview Press. p. 489. ISBN 978-0-8133-1228-6.
5. Sezgin, Fuat; Ehrig-Eggert, Carl; Mazen, Amawi; Neubauer, E. (1996). نصوص ودراسات من مصادر صينية حول البلدان الاسلامية. Frankfurt am Main, Germany: Institute for the History of Arabic-Islamic Science at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University. p. 25.