Emperor Zhezong of Song
宋哲宗
“Sat silent through eight years of his grandmother's regency, then reversed everything”
Nine at his accession, and governed by Dowager Gao, who dismantled his father's reforms while he watched from a seat placed behind hers. When she died in 1093 he brought the reformers back and proscribed the conservatives, and the swing between the two factions became the pattern that paralysed the late Northern Song.
He died at twenty-three without an heir.
His empress Meng was deposed on a sorcery charge, restored, deposed again — and because she was out of the palace in 1127 she was the only member of the imperial family not carried off by the Jurchen.
The empresses of this reign
Painted on silk in gemstone mineral pigments by Xiang Li.
About this page
Written for this site to place Zhezong's reign around the paintings. For the full biography, the dynastic histories and the scholarship behind them, start at Wikipedia.
Every Song emperor
Northern Song
北宋 960 – 1127| Reign | Emperor | Painted empresses |
|---|---|---|
| 960 – 976 | Taizu 宋太祖 Zhao Kuangyin 趙匡胤 / 赵匡胤 | |
| 976 – 997 | Taizong 宋太宗 Zhao Kuangyi 趙光義 / 赵光义 | |
| 997 – 1022 | Zhenzong 宋真宗 Zhao Heng 趙恆 / 赵恒 | |
| 1022 – 1063 | Renzong 宋仁宗 Zhao Zhen 趙禎 / 赵祯 | |
| 1063 – 1067 | Yingzong 宋英宗 Zhao Shu 趙曙 / 赵曙 | |
| 1067 – 1085 | Shenzong 宋神宗 Zhao Xu 趙頊 / 赵顼 | |
| 1085 – 1100 | Zhezong 宋哲宗 Zhao Xu 趙煦 / 赵煦 | |
| 1100 – 1126 | Huizong 宋徽宗 Zhao Ji 趙佶 / 赵佶 | |
| 1126 – 1127 | Qinzong 宋欽宗 / 宋钦宗 Zhao Huan 趙桓 / 赵桓 |
Southern Song
南宋 1127 – 1279| Reign | Emperor | Painted empresses |
|---|---|---|
| 1127 – 1162 | Gaozong 宋高宗 Zhao Gou 趙構 / 赵构 | |
| 1162 – 1189 | Xiaozong 宋孝宗 Zhao Shen 趙昚 / 赵昚 | |
| 1189 – 1194 | Guangzong 宋光宗 Zhao Dun 趙惇 / 赵惇 | |
| 1194 – 1224 | Ningzong 宋寧宗 / 宋宁宗 Zhao Kuo 趙擴 / 赵扩 | |
| 1224 – 1264 | Lizong 宋理宗 Zhao Yun 趙昀 / 赵昀 | |
| 1264 – 1274 | Duzong 宋度宗 Zhao Qi 趙禥 / 赵禥 | |
| 1274 – 1276 | Gong 宋恭帝 Zhao Xian 趙㬎 / 赵㬎 | |
| 1276 – 1278 | Duanzong 宋端宗 Zhao Shi 趙昰 / 赵昰 | — |
| 1278 – 1279 | Bing 宋末帝 Zhao Bing 趙昺 / 赵昺 |