Friday, February 11, 2011

Who were the rulers of the Song dynasty? What were they like?


The emperors of the Song dynasty that I researched were Emperor Huizong, Emperor Taizu, and Emperor Gaozong. Emperor Huizong was the most religious. He was absorbed in collecting and studying the bronze vessels and relics from the Chinese cultures past. He believed the artifacts were direct instructions to him from his ancestors on how to control the Song. I would imagine him to be a very imaginative man. Emperor Taizu was the first ruler of the Song dynasty. He was placed on the throne after his father, Emperor Shizong, died. His greatest achievement was creating a professional army that never failed to be loyal to the dynasty. I think that Taizu was probably a very structural ruler. Emperor Gaozong was the leader during the greatest period of Chinese art. Before this period of time though, Gaozong escaped to the south and restored the Song dynasty after the Jin forces attacked. He reestablished the imperial painting academy. He was the first Southern Song emperor.

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for all the great info on the emperors. Some of it I knew but the others I didn't. One example is Huizongi was a very religion oriented emperor. I never knew that.

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