Emperor Huizong
ISBN-13: 9780674725256
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Publication date: 1/6/2014
Pages: 696
Meet the Author
Patricia Buckley Ebrey is Professor of
History and Chinese Studies at the University of Washington.
Overview
China was the most advanced country in the world when Huizong ascended the throne in 1100 CE. In his eventful twenty-six-year reign, the artistically gifted emperor guided the Song Dynasty toward cultural greatness. Yet Huizong would be known to posterity as a political failure who lost the throne to Jurchen invaders and died their prisoner. The first comprehensive English-language biography of this important monarch, Emperor Huizong is a nuanced portrait that corrects the prevailing view of Huizong as decadent and negligent. Patricia Ebrey recasts him as a ruler genuinely ambitious--if too much so--in pursuing glory for his flourishing realm.
China was the richest country in the world, yet in 1125 an invasion forced Emperor Huizong out and into captivity; his reign of the Northern Song Dynasty has since been considered a great failure. Ebrey, professor of history and Chinese studies at the University of Washington, questions this notion, arguing that the Emperor’s ousting was, in part, a result of many occurrences that were beyond his control. She showcases the great achievements Huizong made in culture and art: he worked toward administrative and educational reform; he produced poetry, hymns, and paintings that centered on Daoist themes; and he was “an avid builder of temples and gardens.” Ebrey’s depictions of court life are masterfully detailed and she focuses on six grand projects that reflected the Emperor’s range of interests and talents: a new ritual code; a new Daoist canon; visual documentation of auspicious signs; collections of cultural treasures; the Bright Hall; and the Northeast Marchmount. The portrait does not exclude the Emperor’s fall from power, but it depicts Huizong’s acceptance of defeat. While general readers may need more background of the historical period to fully enjoy this account, Ebrey offers comparisons between Chinese royalty and Western monarchies for clarity. Historians will find Ebrey’s text of interest as a revisionist one that appreciates the richness of Chinese traditions. (Jan.)
After a rocky start trying to overcome political animosities at court, Huizong turned his attention to the good he could do. He greatly expanded the court's charitable ventures, founding schools, hospitals, orphanages, and paupers' cemeteries. An accomplished artist, he surrounded himself with outstanding poets, painters, and musicians and built palaces, temples, and gardens of unsurpassed splendor. What is often overlooked, Ebrey points out, is the importance of religious Daoism in Huizong's understanding of his role. He treated Daoist spiritual masters with great deference, wrote scriptural commentaries, and urged his subjects to adopt his beliefs and practices. This devotion to the Daoist vision of sacred kingship eventually alienated the Confucian mainstream and compromised his ability to govern.
Readers will welcome this lively biography, which adds new dimensions to our understanding of a passionate and paradoxical ruler who, so many centuries later, continues to inspire both admiration and disapproval.
Editorial Reviews
Publishers Weekly
11/18/2013China was the richest country in the world, yet in 1125 an invasion forced Emperor Huizong out and into captivity; his reign of the Northern Song Dynasty has since been considered a great failure. Ebrey, professor of history and Chinese studies at the University of Washington, questions this notion, arguing that the Emperor’s ousting was, in part, a result of many occurrences that were beyond his control. She showcases the great achievements Huizong made in culture and art: he worked toward administrative and educational reform; he produced poetry, hymns, and paintings that centered on Daoist themes; and he was “an avid builder of temples and gardens.” Ebrey’s depictions of court life are masterfully detailed and she focuses on six grand projects that reflected the Emperor’s range of interests and talents: a new ritual code; a new Daoist canon; visual documentation of auspicious signs; collections of cultural treasures; the Bright Hall; and the Northeast Marchmount. The portrait does not exclude the Emperor’s fall from power, but it depicts Huizong’s acceptance of defeat. While general readers may need more background of the historical period to fully enjoy this account, Ebrey offers comparisons between Chinese royalty and Western monarchies for clarity. Historians will find Ebrey’s text of interest as a revisionist one that appreciates the richness of Chinese traditions. (Jan.)
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