On This Day In History: Most Unusual Emperor Renzong of Song Dynasty Was Born – On May 30, 1010

MessageToEagle.com – On May 30, 1010, Emperor Renzong of Song is born.

Emperor’s personal name was Zhao Zhen, and he was the fourth emperor of the Song dynasty in China. He was a very unusual person. He reigned for about 41 years from 1022 to his death in 1063, and was the longest reigning Song dynasty emperor.

Renzong was not particularly well-known. His reign marked the high point of Song influence and power but was also the beginning of its slow disintegration that would persist over the next century and a half.

One possible reason behind its weakness is its interpretation of its own foreign policy. The official policy of the Song Empire at the time was one of pacifism and this caused the weakening of its military.

When Emperor Renzong came to power, he issued decrees to strengthen the military and paid massive bribes to the Khitan-led Liao dynasty, an adversary of Western Xia, in the hope that this would ensure the safety of the Song Empire. Due to these new laws, taxes increased severely and the peasants lived in continuous poverty.

The situation caused serious organised rebellions to take place throughout the country and the breakdown of the Song government.

According to the records of History of Song, Renzong was considered to be merciful, tolerant, modest and frugal, and seldom revealed his feelings on expressions.

Renzong ordered that officers of government must be very cautious to use death penalty, and if an officer once wrongly sentenced an innocent person to death, he would never get promoted. Renzong once said to his near ministers that: “I have never used the word ‘death’ to scold others, how dare I abuse the death penalty?”

During Emperor Renzong’s reign, the culture of Song Dynasty, especially literature, began to prosper. Many most famous litterateurs and poets in Chinese history lived or started their creating careers during his reign, such as Fan Zhongyan, Ouyang Xiu and Mei Yaochen. In the 2nd year of Jiayou, the Imperial Examination enrolled some students who became even world-famous in the future, including Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Zhe, Zeng Gong and so on.

They then became the most important litterateurs in Chinese history and began a new era of Chinese literature.

Emperor Renzong elevated the 46th-generation descendants of Confucius to the current title of Duke Yansheng. They were previously of lower noble ranks

He died on April 30, 1063.

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