The Song Emperor Huizong: Daoist, Painter, Builder, Captive

The University of California, Berkeley presents a talk with Patricia Ebrey on Emperor Huizong.

Featured Speaker: Patricia Ebrey, History, University of Washington

Panelist/Discussant: Nicolas Tackett, History, UC Berkeley

Huizong came to the Song throne in the first month of 1100, a few months after his seventeenth birthday, and reigned almost twenty-six years, till the end of 1125. He was the most artistically accomplished of all Chinese emperors, talented especially at painting and calligraphy. His decision to ally with the Jurchens against the Khitans failed spectacularly, however, and he and his kinsmen were taken into captivity in the far north. Since his reign ended so badly, traditional historians have viewed Huizong’s many pursuits as his vices, not his virtues. His love of art was seen as self-indulgence, his faith in Daoism as self-delusion, his trust in Cai Jing as unwise and irresponsible. So long as one sets aside this moral framework, however, there are ample sources to look at Huizong and his reign afresh, to consider how he understood monarchy and its challenges, what he got from Daoism, how he made use of the resources of the throne, why he chose to ally with the Jurchen, and other related issues.