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Cited by 99Chinese history and philosophyBiographical and Historical AnalysisHistorical and Political Studies

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Emperor Huizong

Ebrey, Patricia Buckley·2014·Harvard University Press eBooks
DOI 10.4159/harvard.9780674726420
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Abstract

China was the most advanced country in the world when Huizong ascended the throne in 1100 CE. Artistically gifted, he guided the Song Dynasty toward cultural greatness but is known to posterity as a political failure who lost the throne to Jurchen invaders and died their prisoner. In this comprehensive biography, Patricia Ebrey corrects the prevailing view of Huizong as decadent and negligent, recasting him as a ruler ambitious in pursuing glory for his flourishing realm. After a rocky start trying to overcome political animosities at court, Huizong turned his attention to the good he could do. He greatly expanded the court's charitable ventures, founding schools, hospitals, orphanages, and paupers' cemeteries. Surrounding himself with poets, painters, and musicians, he built palaces, temples, and gardens of unsurpassed splendor. Often overlooked, however, is the importance of Daoism in Huizong's life. He treated spiritual masters with great deference, wrote scriptural commentaries, and urged his subjects to adopt his beliefs and practices. This devotion to the Daoist vision of sacred kingship eventually alienated the Confucian mainstream and compromised Huizong's ability to govern. Ebrey's lively biography adds new dimensions of understanding to a passionate, paradoxical ruler who, many centuries later, inspires both admiration and disapproval.

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Crossref · 10.4159/harvard.9780674726420

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  • Emperor Huizong of the Song decreed that dog meat-which represented sacrificial meat offerings 獻-would no longer be part of the ritual sacrificial fare, given that people did not eat dog anymore.

    “Emperor Huizong of the Song (r. 1100 -26) decreed that dog meat -which represented sacrificial meat offerings 獻 -would no longer be part of the ritual sacrificial fare, given that people did not eat dog anymore, so why should the gods (Ebrey 2014, 249).”

    From The Dog-Eared Dictionary: Human-Animal Alliance in Chinese Civilization (2015) · cites this paper as Ebrey 2014

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Metadata

Authors
Ebrey, P. B.
Corresponding author
Ebrey, Patricia Buckley
Venue
Harvard University Press eBooks
Publisher
Harvard University Press
Published
2014-01-01
DOI
10.4159/harvard.9780674726420
OpenAlex
W4249423708
Cited by
97
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 15 · 2025: 1 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 6 · 2020: 36 · 2019: 13 · 2018: 3 · 2016: 2 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 2
FWCI
6.69
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
Harvard University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Chinese history and philosophy
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Biographical and Historical Analysis
  • Social Sciences › Political Science and International Relations › Historical and Political Studies
Keywords
Emperor Huizong, Song dynasty, Chinese emperors, Daoism, divine kingship, Confucianism, political failure

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