List Of Emperors Of The Song Dynasty
The Song Dynasty (960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907–960) and preceded the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), which conquered the Song in 1279. Its conventional division into the Northern Song (960–1127) and Southern Song (1127–1279) periods marks the conquest of northern China by the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) in 1127. It also distinguishes the subsequent shift of the Song's capital city from Bianjing (modern Kaifeng) in the north to Lin'an (modern Hangzhou) in the south.
Below is a complete list of emperors of the Song Dynasty, including their temple names, posthumous names, given names, and era names. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song (r. 960–976) and ended with the death of Zhao Bing, known posthumously as Weiwang (r. 1278–1279). The last emperor of the Northern Song was Emperor Qinzong (r. 1126–1127), while the first emperor of the Southern Song was Emperor Gaozong (r. 1127–1162).
The emperor, or huangdi, was the supreme head of state during the imperial era of China (221 BC – 1912), including the Song. He was a hereditary ruler who shared executive powers with civilian officials appointed to various levels of office according to their performance in bureaucratic examinations. The growing importance of the civilian bureaucracy and national gentry class during Song times led to a much more limited role for the emperor in shaping public policy, although he still maintained his autocratic authority. He had the sole right to establish new laws, although he was expected to respect legal precedents set forth by previous emperors of his dynasty.
Read more about List Of Emperors Of The Song Dynasty: Background, Titles and Names, Head of State
Famous quotes containing the words list of, list, emperors and/or song:
“A man’s interest in a single bluebird is worth more than a complete but dry list of the fauna and flora of a town.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“Lovers, forget your love,
And list to the love of these,
She a window flower,
And he a winter breeze.”
—Robert Frost (1874–1963)
“How does Nature deify us with a few and cheap elements! Give me health and a day, and I will make the pomp of emperors ridiculous. The dawn is my Assyria; the sun-set and moon-rise my Paphos, and unimaginable realms of faerie; broad noon shall be my England of the senses and the understanding; the night shall be my Germany of mystic philosophy and dreams.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“There is the falsely mystical view of art that assumes a kind of supernatural inspiration, a possession by universal forces unrelated to questions of power and privilege or the artist’s relation to bread and blood. In this view, the channel of art can only become clogged and misdirected by the artist’s concern with merely temporary and local disturbances. The song is higher than the struggle.”
—Adrienne Rich (b. 1929)