Emperor Shenzong of Song

Life

After his father Yingzong took the throne, he was invested as Prince of Huaiyang in the eighth year of Jiayou (1063) and promoted to Prince of Ying in the first year of Zhiping (1064). He was made crown prince in the third year of Zhiping and ascended in the fourth year (1067); another account places his accession in the first year of Xining (1068).

Upon accession, he sought to remedy accumulated abuses and achieve exceptional results. In the second year of Xining, he appointed Wang Anshi to the post of canzhi zhengshi in order to reform abuses and renew government, launching the Xining reforms, also called the Xifeng New Policies. The measures included the Green Sprouts, Baojia, Equal Transport, Market Exchange, and Water Conservancy programs; he also tightened official administration to support their implementation. During the reform, he wavered and it ultimately failed; opposition from veteran ministers including Sima Guang led to the New–Old Party Struggle.

Reform and military policy

From the fourth through the sixth years of Xining, he ordered Wang Shao to expand into five prefectures in Xi and Tao and established the Xihe Circuit, an episode known as the Xihe expansion; in the fifth year, Zhang Dun expanded into the Meishan region, an episode known as the Meishan campaign. In the eighth year of Xining, Shenzong redrew the Hedong boundary with the Liao and abandoned hundreds of li; he later sought to take Lingxia and destroy the Western Qiang, repeatedly sending armies against Western Xia. The campaigns at Lingzhou and Yongle City ended in defeat, after which he adopted a defensive posture.

Between the third and fifth years of Yuanfeng, he reformed the administrative system, established a salary-ranking framework, and corrected official titles so that titles matched substantive offices. He also reformed the personnel-selection system and promulgated regulations for the Three Departments, the Privy Council, and the Six Offices; this program became known as the Yuanfeng reforms.

Family and associations

Shenzong belonged to the imperial clan. His grandfather was Zhao Yunrang (趙允讓), his father Zhao Shu (趙曙), and his mother Gao (高氏); his brothers included 趙頵 and 趙顥. His fathers-in-law are listed as Zhu Shian (朱士安) and Xiang Jing (向經), and his brothers-in-law included Xiang Zonghui (向宗回) and Xiang Zongliang (向宗良); a sister, Zhao (趙氏), was married to Wang Shiyue (王師約).

The consorts listed for him include the empresses Xiang (向氏), Zhu (朱氏), and Chen (陳氏), as well as Wu (武氏), identified as a consort; Lin (林氏) and another Chen (陳氏) were concubines. His children included the eldest son 趙佾, second son 趙僅, third son 趙俊, sixth son Zhao Xu (趙煦), and eleventh son Zhao Ji (趙佶), as well as 趙佖, 趙俁, 趙偲, and 趙似; his sons-in-law included Han Jiayan (韓嘉彥), Wang Zhi (王殖), and Pan Yi (潘意). His grandchildren included 趙桓, 趙構, 趙楷, 趙杞, 趙茂, 趙栩, 趙棣, 趙㮙, and 趙樞, along with a granddaughter surnamed Zhao.

Among his court relationships, Cao Yi (曹佾) and Xiang Bao (向寶) were figures he admired or valued; Wang Anshi had his support and was appointed to lead the reforms. Shenzong also had an epistolary association with Ouyang Xiu involving letters and replies; Zhou Bida, Di Qing, and Tang Shichi were respectively linked with a postscript, a sacrificial text, and inscribed plaques and vessels.

Death and writings

Shenzong died in the third month of the eighth year of Yuanfeng at the age of thirty-eight and was buried at Yongyuling; the length of his reign is given as either eighteen or nineteen years. His era names were Xining and Yuanfeng.

An imperial collection of two hundred juan was organized under literary writing, government affairs, and frontier defense; seven of his poems are preserved in Quan Songshi.