Gao Zong (Song Dynasty)

Young years

Originated from the imperial clan Zhao. The ninth son of Emperor Hui-tszung . At birth, was named Zhao Gou. About the young years, Zhao Gou is little known. He spent much of his time on his estate. After the defeat of the Sung army in 1126, he was for some time held hostage by the Jurchen . After returning, he received control of the city of Zizhou (in the modern Hebei province) with the order to gather troops to help Kaifeng in defense against the enemy. However, Zhao Gou did not fulfill this order. It was only in 1127 that he made an unsuccessful attempt to help the besieged Kaifen, but ended in failure.

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After that, he fled south to the southern capital , where he declared himself the new Sung emperor, adopting the name Gao-tsung. This year is defined as the beginning of the Southern Song era. First, the emperor's headquarters was located in the city of Hankou , in 1127 it was transferred to Yangzhou , and in 1129 the emperor moved to Lin'an . In 1131, the capital of the state was finally moved to Lin'an. At first, the military had influence on his court, who tried to win over the northern lands from the enemy. Chinese commanders Li Gang, Zong Tse, Yue Fei , Han Shijun, Yu Yongven conducted a series of successful military campaigns.

At the same time, to strengthen the position of the state in East Asia, on the orders of the emperor, considerable work was carried out to strengthen the maritime might of the empire. In 1132, the first permanent fleet of China was created (120 ships with 3 thousand soldiers). He was based in the city of Dinghai . It was planned that the fleet, which had the opportunity to carry out campaigns on large rivers, was supposed to support military operations against the Jurchen. But for some time he was inactive.

In 1138, peace was concluded with the state of Jin , according to which Southern Song received a portion of the former lands (the territory of the modern Henan and Shaanxi provinces ). But later, in 1140, the Jurchen again launched a war against the empire. In this war, Yue Fei, who defeated the enemy in the battles of Bozhou and Suzhou (modern Anhui province ), distinguished himself. Sung troops also operated successfully in 1141.

Soon, in the same year, Gao-tszung abandoned an active foreign policy, wanting to make peace with the Jurchen state of Jin. A weighty reason for this was the fear that, in the event of a victory, they would have to give up power, returning the throne to their stepbrother Qin-tszun . Therefore, Gao-tszun dismissed some commanders, and executed some of them for not wanting to retreat to the south. At the same time, Gao-tszun in 1141 concluded a peace treaty (the so-called Shaoxing peace) with Jin, under which he pledged to pay an annual tribute of 250 thousand ounces of silver and 250 thousand rolls of silk, which was much less than the former Sung emperors paid .

At this time, Gao-tsung was concerned about the restoration and development of commerce. He paid great attention to cities, foreign trade. With the support of the emperor, Quanzhou , Guangzhou and Xiamen are becoming the leading economic centers. Chinese merchant ships reach India, Ceylon (in the west), the islands of Sumatra and Java (in the south), Korea and Japan (in the east).

The emperor devoted much time to improving social services and the status of his subjects. In 1141 permanent fire services were created. In the capital, 23 houses of tolerance (yours) for soldiers are open to preserve calm. By order of Gao-tszung, public baths were built at Buddhist monasteries. In 1143, a large-scale reorganization of public hospitals took place, which contributed to the improvement of the quality of treatment for the middle and poor.

For a long time, the state of Song was at peace with its neighbors. Only in 1161, the Jurchen troops again moved south. However, during the year in the battles of Tandau and Kai-shek by the Yangtze River with the support of the navy, the Sung army inflicted a crushing defeat on the enemy. On July 24, 1162, Gao-tszun abdicated in favor of his adopted son, Zhao Shen .

Recent years

After the abdication of the throne, Gao-tszun paid considerable attention to writing poetry, calligraphy, as well as supporting cultural figures of his time. Gao-tsung was a talented poet. His most famous poem is “Quatrain about Heavenly Mountain”. Gao-tsung's calligraphy became the basis for imitation, in particular for the famous master of the Yuan era, Zhao Mengfu . She was distinguished by grace, intensity of movement, elegance, the brush was carried out quite naturally and calmly. Gao Zong passed away on November 9, 1187.

• Peter Allan Lorge (2005). War, 900-1795. Taylor & Francis. p. 55. ISBN 0-415-31690-1 .