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Immediately after taking the throne in 1067, Emperor Shenzong established the Office of Expenditure Reduction with [[Sima Guang]] at its head to improve Song finances. Sima refused and instead issued a scathing report discussing the immensity of the dynasty's financial problems.{{Sfn|Chaffee|Twitchett|2015|p=150}} In 1069, after failing again to gain support for reform from the official [[Fu Bi]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ulrich |first1=Theobald |title=Song-Period Political History |url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Song/song-event.html |website=ChinaKnowledge.de}}</ref> Shenzong made Wang Anshi the head of government and supported his consolidation of power and his New Policies.{{sfn|Tanner|2010|pp=212-213}} Shenzong largely delegated authority to Wang until his retirement in 1076. An exception was when Shenzong advised Wang Anshi and [[Chen Shengzhi]] in early winter 1069 to abandon the Finance Planning Commission (which Wang had set up earlier that year) and instead rely on their power as [[Secretariat-Chancellery|Secretariats]] to manage the economy. Wang refused, reasoning that the Commission was needed to coordinate fiscal matters between the Secretariat and the [[Bureau of Military Affairs|Military Affairs Commission]]. He rejected Shenzong's proposal to have Wang head the Commission himself on the same grounds.{{sfn|Chaffee|Twitchett|2015|p=41}} In another instance, Shenzong proposed the restoration of the [[equal-field system]] (a system of land redistribution instated by the [[Northern Wei]] and used through the [[Tang dynasty]]), but Wang Anshi dismissed the idea as impractical.{{sfn|von Glahn|2016|pp=236-237}}
Immediately after taking the throne in 1067, Emperor Shenzong established the Office of Expenditure Reduction with [[Sima Guang]] at its head to improve Song finances. Sima refused and instead issued a scathing report discussing the immensity of the dynasty's financial problems.{{Sfn|Chaffee|Twitchett|2015|p=150}} In 1069, after failing again to gain support for reform from the official [[Fu Bi]],<ref>{{cite web |last1=Ulrich |first1=Theobald |title=Song-Period Political History |url=http://www.chinaknowledge.de/History/Song/song-event.html |website=ChinaKnowledge.de}}</ref> Shenzong made Wang Anshi the head of government and supported his consolidation of power and his New Policies.{{sfn|Tanner|2010|pp=212-213}} Shenzong largely delegated authority to Wang until his retirement in 1076. An exception was when Shenzong advised Wang Anshi and [[Chen Shengzhi]] in early winter 1069 to abandon the Finance Planning Commission (which Wang had set up earlier that year) and instead rely on their power as [[Secretariat-Chancellery|Secretariats]] to manage the economy. Wang refused, reasoning that the Commission was needed to coordinate fiscal matters between the Secretariat and the [[Bureau of Military Affairs|Military Affairs Commission]]. He rejected Shenzong's proposal to have Wang head the Commission himself on the same grounds.{{sfn|Chaffee|Twitchett|2015|p=41}} In another instance, Shenzong proposed the restoration of the [[equal-field system]] (a system of land redistribution instated by the [[Northern Wei]] and used through the [[Tang dynasty]]), but Wang Anshi dismissed the idea as impractical.{{sfn|von Glahn|2016|pp=236-237}}


Shenzong and Wang Anshi also pursued direct military reforms. In theory, each [[Commandery (China)|commandery]] was 500 troops strong, but in actuality, the number was much lower and contained many old or weak soldiers due to corruption. Shenzong cut down the number of excess troops so that the entire army was less than 900,000 strong and established the [[Area Generalship System]] to improve communications, discipline, and troop levy efficiency. The [[Baojia system]], meanwhile, was a village defense system intended to bolster domestic security and provide further support to the regular army.{{sfn|Chaffee|Twitchett|2015|pp=226-231}}
Shenzong and Wang Anshi also pursued direct military reforms. In theory, each [[Commandery (China)|commandery]] was 500 troops strong, but in actuality, the number was much lower and contained many old or weak soldiers due to corruption. Shenzong cut down the number of excess troops so that the entire army was less than 900,000 strong and established the [[Area Generalship System]] to improve communications, discipline, and troop levy efficiency. Meanwhile, the [[Baojia system]] was introduced as a village defense system intended to bolster domestic security and provide further support to the regular army.{{sfn|Chaffee|Twitchett|2015|pp=226-231}}


Though the New Policies gave Shenzong a large budget surplus, they failed to achieve their goal of improving the Song dynasty's military. The Western Xia continued to inflict defeats on the Song and an attack on the [[Liao dynasty]] remained unthinkable.{{sfn|Tanner|2010|pp=212-213}} This was caused by continually low army quality, poor logistics, and overall poor leadership; the military failures of the Reforms, to which Shenzong had devoted immense amounts of energy, contributed to his eventual illness and death.{{sfn|Chaffee|Twitchett|2015|pp=226-231}} The New Policies' circumvention of checks on central power was controversial from the onset; both Fu Bi and [[Sima Guang]] wrote memorials to Shenzong advising him to balance governmental function, respect the bureaucratic process, and not to support Wang Anshi.{{sfn|Chaffee|Twitchett|2015|pp=35-36}}
Though the New Policies gave Shenzong a large budget surplus, they failed to achieve their goal of improving the Song dynasty's military. The Western Xia continued to inflict defeats on the Song and an attack on the [[Liao dynasty]] remained unthinkable.{{sfn|Tanner|2010|pp=212-213}} This was caused by continually low army quality, poor logistics, and overall poor leadership. The Baojia system, for example, did not produce troops capable enough to replace the imperial army.{{sfn|Lorge|2005|48}} The military failures of the Reforms, to which Shenzong had devoted immense amounts of energy, contributed to his eventual illness and death.{{sfn|Chaffee|Twitchett|2015|pp=226-231}} The New Policies' circumvention of checks on central power was controversial from the onset; both Fu Bi and [[Sima Guang]] wrote memorials to Shenzong advising him to balance governmental function, respect the bureaucratic process, and not to support Wang Anshi.{{sfn|Chaffee|Twitchett|2015|pp=35-36}}


===Yuanfeng Reforms===
===Yuanfeng Reforms===

Revision as of 03:16, 19 March 2024

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
Reign25 January 1067 – 1 April 1085
Coronation25 January 1067
PredecessorEmperor Yingzong
SuccessorEmperor Zhezong
BornZhao Zhongzhen (1048–1067)
Zhao Xu (1067–1085)
25 May 1048
Died1 April 1085(1085-04-01) (aged 36)
Burial
Yongyu Mausoleum (永裕陵, in present-day Gongyi, Henan)
Consorts
​
​
(m. 1066⁠–⁠1085)​
Empress Qincheng
​
​
(m. 1068⁠–⁠1085)​
Empress Qinci
​
(before 1085)​
IssueEmperor Zhezong
Zhao Bi
Emperor Huizong
Zhao Yu
Zhao Shi
Zhao Cai
Princess Xianmu
Princess Xianxiao
Princess Xianjing
Era dates
Xining (熙寧): 1068–1077
Yuanfeng (元豐): 1078–1085
Posthumous name
Emperor Tiyuan Xiandao Fagu Lixian Dide Wanggong Yingwen Liewu Qinren Shengxiao (體元顯道法古立憲帝德王功英文烈武欽仁聖孝皇帝) (conferred in 1113)
Temple name
Shenzong (神宗)
HouseZhao
DynastySong (Northern Song)
FatherEmperor Yingzong
MotherEmpress Xuanren
Emperor Shenzong of Song
Chinese宋神宗
Literal meaning"Spiritual Ancestor of the Song"
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinSòng Shénzōng
Zhao Xu
Traditional Chinese趙頊
Simplified Chinese赵顼
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhào Xū
Zhao Zhongzhen
Traditional Chinese趙仲鍼
Simplified Chinese赵仲针
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhào Zhòngzhēn
In this Chinese name, the family name is Zhao.
Tomb guardian at Emperor Shenzong's tomb

The Emperor Shenzong of Song (25 May 1048 – 1 April 1085), personal name Zhao Xu, was the sixth emperor of the Song dynasty of China. His original personal name was Zhao Zhongzhen but he changed it to "Zhao Xu" after his accession to the throne. He reigned from 1067 until his death in 1085 and is best known for supporting Wang Anshi's New Policies.

Reign

Muslim mercenaries

Emperor Shenzong hired Muslim warriors from Bukhara to fight against the Khitan Liao dynasty. 5,300 Muslim men from Bukhara were encouraged and invited to move to China in 1070 by Shenzong to help battle the Liao empire in the northeast and repopulate areas ravaged by fighting.[1] The emperor hired these men as mercenaries in his campaign against the Liao dynasty. Later on, these men were settled between the Song capital of Bianliang (today Kaifeng) and Yenching (modern Beijing). The circuits (道) of the north and northeast were settled in 1080 when 10,000 more Muslims were invited into China.[1][2]

Wang Anshi's New Policies

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.

Before Shenzong took the throne in 1067, there was pressure on the Song dynasty to make economic reforms. The Song dynasty's rigorous civil service examinations rejuvenated humanist-oriented Confucian elite culture; in particular, the literati wanted to improve the material conditions of the people. Additionally, the humiliating loss against the Western Xia in the 1040s[3] (as well as the unfavorable terms of the Treaty of Chanyuan) created, according to Sogabe Shizuo, a "perpetual wartime fiscal regime".[4] Shenzong was particularly driven by his irridentist determination to recover the Sixteen Prefectures.[5]

Immediately after taking the throne in 1067, Emperor Shenzong established the Office of Expenditure Reduction with Sima Guang at its head to improve Song finances. Sima refused and instead issued a scathing report discussing the immensity of the dynasty's financial problems.[6] In 1069, after failing again to gain support for reform from the official Fu Bi,[7] Shenzong made Wang Anshi the head of government and supported his consolidation of power and his New Policies.[8] Shenzong largely delegated authority to Wang until his retirement in 1076. An exception was when Shenzong advised Wang Anshi and Chen Shengzhi in early winter 1069 to abandon the Finance Planning Commission (which Wang had set up earlier that year) and instead rely on their power as Secretariats to manage the economy. Wang refused, reasoning that the Commission was needed to coordinate fiscal matters between the Secretariat and the Military Affairs Commission. He rejected Shenzong's proposal to have Wang head the Commission himself on the same grounds.[9] In another instance, Shenzong proposed the restoration of the equal-field system (a system of land redistribution instated by the Northern Wei and used through the Tang dynasty), but Wang Anshi dismissed the idea as impractical.[3]

Shenzong and Wang Anshi also pursued direct military reforms. In theory, each commandery was 500 troops strong, but in actuality, the number was much lower and contained many old or weak soldiers due to corruption. Shenzong cut down the number of excess troops so that the entire army was less than 900,000 strong and established the Area Generalship System to improve communications, discipline, and troop levy efficiency. Meanwhile, the Baojia system was introduced as a village defense system intended to bolster domestic security and provide further support to the regular army.[10]

Though the New Policies gave Shenzong a large budget surplus, they failed to achieve their goal of improving the Song dynasty's military. The Western Xia continued to inflict defeats on the Song and an attack on the Liao dynasty remained unthinkable.[8] This was caused by continually low army quality, poor logistics, and overall poor leadership. The Baojia system, for example, did not produce troops capable enough to replace the imperial army.[11] The military failures of the Reforms, to which Shenzong had devoted immense amounts of energy, contributed to his eventual illness and death.[10] The New Policies' circumvention of checks on central power was controversial from the onset; both Fu Bi and Sima Guang wrote memorials to Shenzong advising him to balance governmental function, respect the bureaucratic process, and not to support Wang Anshi.[12]

Yuanfeng Reforms

Following Wang Anshi's retirement in 1076, Shenzong took personal control of the reform agenda and launched the Yuanfeng Reforms. In 1082, he restructured the bureaucracy and restored the Tang model of a central government organized around the Six Ministries by creating the Secretariat, Chancellery, and Department of State Affairs to balance the departments against each other. However, due to design flaws, the Secretariat quickly came to dominate the other two departments.[13] The Finance Commission and Exchequer of Imperial Lands (institutions that predated the New Policies) were dissolved and replaced by the Ministry of Revenue. He made the Yuanfeng Treasury to raise funds for a renewed offensive against the Western Xia; although the offensive was defeated, the Treasury remained as a depository for revenues from both the New Policies and state-run monopolies. Both the Ministry of Revenue and the Yuanfeng Treasury exercised substantial control over Song fiscal resources.[14] The Yuanfeng Reforms were likely inspired by institutional reform proposals made during the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song and a concern towards the growing power of the Chief counsilorship, but the Reforms' rigidity likely contributed to the autocratic nature of the later dynasty.[15] Unlike the New Policies, the Yuanfeng Reforms likely escaped the conservative anti-reform movement headed by Sima Guang and Grand Dowager Empress Xuanren due to their Tang inspiration and Shenzong's hand in heading them.[16]

Campaign against Vietnam

Emperor Shenzong sent campaigns against the Vietnamese ruler Lý Nhân Tông of the Lý dynasty in 1076.[17]

Embassy from the Byzantine Empire

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 yi ling kai sa 滅力伊靈改撒) 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.[18]

Campaign against the Western Xia dynasty

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 Qing prefecture (庆州, today Qingyang, Gansu Province). The Song army was initially quite successful at these campaigns, but during the battle for the city of Yongle (永乐城), 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.

Zizhi Tongjian and other literary works

Sima Guang, a minister interested in the history of the previous 1000 years, published the Zizhi Tongjian or A Comprehensive Mirror for Aid in Government in 1084. 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.[19]

Death and legacy

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), 1st daughter
  • Empress Qincheng, of the Zhu clan (欽成皇后 朱氏; 1052–1102)
    • Zhao Xu, Zhezong (哲宗 趙煦; 1077–1100), 6th son
    • Zhao Shi, Prince Churongxian (楚榮憲王 趙似; 1083–1106), 13th son
    • Princess Xianjing (賢靜帝姬; 1085–1115), 10th daughter
      • 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
  • Noble Consort Yimu, of the Xing clan (懿穆貴妃 邢氏; d. 1103)
    • Zhao Jin, Prince Hui (惠王 趙僅; 1071), 2nd son
    • Zhao Xian, Prince Ji (冀王 趙僩; 1074–1076), 5th son
    • Zhao Jia, Prince Yudaohui (豫悼惠王 趙價; 1077–1078), 7th son
    • Zhao Ti, Prince Xuchonghui (徐沖惠王 趙倜; 1078–1081), 8th son
  • Noble Consort, of the Yang clan (懿靜貴妃 楊氏)
  • Noble Consort, of the Song clan (貴妃 宋氏; d. 1117)
    • Zhao Yi, Prince Cheng (成王 趙佾; 1069), 1st son
    • Zhao Jun, Prince Tang'aixian (唐哀獻王 趙俊; 1073–1077), 3rd son
    • Princess Xianxiao (賢孝帝姬; d. 1108), 4th daughter
      • Married Wang Yu (王遇) in 1097
  • Pure Consort, of the Zhang clan (懿靜淑妃 張氏; d. 1105)
    • Princess Xianke (賢恪帝姬; d. 1072), 2nd daughter
  • Virtuous Consort, of the Zhu clan (德妃 朱氏)
    • Princess Xianmu (賢穆帝姬; d. 1084)
  • Able Consort, of the Wu clan (惠穆賢妃 武氏; d. 1107)
    • Zhao Bi, Prince Wurongmu (吳榮穆王 趙佖; 1082–1106), 9th son
    • Princess Xianhe (賢和帝姬; d. 1090)
  • Able Consort, 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), 7th daughter
    • 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), 10th son
  • Furen, of the Xiang clan (夫人 向氏)
    • Zhao Shen, Prince Bao (褒王 趙伸; 1074), 4th son
  • Unknown
    • Princess Xianmu (賢穆帝姬; d. 1111), 3rd 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

Citations

  1. ^ a b 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.
  2. ^ Israeli, Raphael (2002). Islam in China: religion, ethnicity, culture, and politics. Lanham, Md.: Lexington Books. p. 283. ISBN 0-7391-0375-X. OCLC 49576635.
  3. ^ a b von Glahn 2016, pp. 236–237.
  4. ^ Sogabe 1941, pp. 3–85.
  5. ^ Twitchett & Smith 2009, p. 24.
  6. ^ Chaffee & Twitchett 2015, p. 150.
  7. ^ Ulrich, Theobald. "Song-Period Political History". ChinaKnowledge.de.
  8. ^ a b Tanner 2010, pp. 212–213.
  9. ^ Chaffee & Twitchett 2015, p. 41.
  10. ^ a b Chaffee & Twitchett 2015, pp. 226–231.
  11. ^ Lorge, 2005 & 48.
  12. ^ Chaffee & Twitchett 2015, pp. 35–36.
  13. ^ Chaffee & Twitchett 2015, p. 125-129.
  14. ^ von Glahn 2016, p. 240.
  15. ^ Chaffee & Twitchett 2015, pp. 125–129.
  16. ^ Chaffee & Twitchett 2015, p. 155.
  17. ^ Maspéro, Georges (2002). The Champa Kingdom: The History of an Extinct Vietnamese Culture. White Lotus Press. p. 71. ISBN 978-974-7534-99-3.
  18. ^ 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. ISBN 9783829820479.
  19. ^ Sawyer, Ralph D. (1993). The Seven Military Classics of Ancient China. Westview Press. p. 489. ISBN 978-0-8133-1228-6.[permanent dead link‍]

Books

  • Sogabe, Shizuo (1941). Sōdai zaisei shi 宋代財政史. Tokyo: Seikatsusha. pp. 3–85.
  • Tanner, Harold (2010). China: A History (Volume 1): From Neolithic Cultures through the Great Qing Empire, (10,000 BCE - 1799 CE). Hackett Publishing Company, Inc. ISBN 978-1603842020.
  • von Glahn, Richard (2016). The Economic History of China: From Antiquity to the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-03056-5.
  • Twitchett, Denis; Smith, Paul Jakov (2009). The Cambridge History of China Volume 5 Part One: The Sung Dynasty and its Precursors, 907-1279. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-24330-8.
  • Chaffee, John; Twitchett, Denis (2015). The Cambridge History of China Volume 5 Part Two: Sung China, 960–1279. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-81248-1.
  • Lorge, Peter (2005). War, Politics and Society in Early Modern China, 900–1795. Routledge. ISBN 9780415316903.

Websites

Emperor Shenzong of Song
Born: 25 May 1048 Died: 1 April 1085
Regnal titles
Preceded by Emperor of the Northern Song dynasty
1067–1085 		Succeeded by
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