Emperor Huizong of Song宋徽宗

Style & Daoist names

Zhao Ji, Emperor, Sovereign of the Dao and Head of the Teaching, Emperor, Sovereign of the Dao

Period

Northern Song

Dates

1082 — 1135

School

Shenxiao (Divine Empyrean) School

Role

EmperorsEmperor Who Revered DaoismScriptural CommentatorPainter

Birthplace

Kaifeng

Life

Emperor Huizong of Song, Zhao Ji, reigned from 1100 to 1126, and was one of the most devoutly Daoist emperors in Chinese history. After his accession he trusted and employed Daoist priests such as Liu Hunkang, Wang Laozhi, Wang Zixi and Lin Lingsu, reaching a climax during the Zhenghe era: from the third year of Zhenghe (1113), Shenxiao Yuqing Wanshou Palaces were established throughout the empire; in the seventh year of Zhenghe (1117), urged on by Lin Lingsu and others, he proclaimed himself the "Primal Son of the Sovereign of Vast Heaven," the King of Shenxiao Yuqing, the "Great Emperor of Long Life" descended to earth, and ordered the Bureau of Daoist Registers to confer on him the title "Emperor, Lord of the Dao and Head of the Teaching"; he established twenty-six ranks of Daoist officials and Daoist grades, running Daoist learning alongside the civil examinations; he ordered Buddhism to rename its clergy as "Great Enlightened Golden Transcendents" and monks as "Virtue Scholars" (Deshi), briefly merging Buddhism and Daoism (in the first year of Xuanhe, 1119); he personally annotated the Daodejing, the Nanhua jing (Zhuangzi) and the Chongxu jing (Liezi), and composed the Record of the Descent of the King of Shenxiao of Yuqing; he ordered the compilation and printing of the 5,481-scroll Wanshou Daoist Canon of the Zhenghe Era, the first time the Daoist canon was carved onto printing blocks; he bestowed posthumous titles on immortals of past ages, granted additional titles to Xu Xun, Zhang Daoling and others, ordered the empire searched for Daoist scriptures, and had a History of Daoism and a History of Immortals compiled. He was also skilled in calligraphy and painting, and his "Slender Gold" calligraphic style and bird-and-flower paintings survive. In the seventh year of Xuanhe (1125), as Jin forces advanced south, he abdicated; in the second year of Jingkang (1127) he was taken captive north along with Emperor Qinzong, and died at Wuguocheng in the fifth year of the Shaoxing era (1135). Huizong's devotion to Daoism has been regarded by later generations as one of the causes of the fall of the Northern Song.

Contributions & Influence

• Ordered the compilation and printing of the Wanshou Daoist Canon of the Zhenghe Era, the first time the Daoist canon was printed from carved blocks
• Proclaimed himself Emperor, Lord of the Dao and Head of the Teaching, established Shenxiao palaces throughout the empire, and promoted the Shenxiao School
• Established the system of Daoist officials and ranks and Daoist civil examinations, bringing the state institutionalization of Daoism to its height
• Personally annotated the Daodejing and two other scriptures, a representative case of imperial scriptural commentary

Works

• Emperor Xuanzong's Imperial Commentary on the Daodejing
• Imperial Exegesis of the Nanhua Zhenjing (Zhuangzi)
• Imperial Commentary on the Chongxu Zhide Zhenjing (Liezi)
• Record of the Descent of the King of Yuqing Shenxiao

Legends

The account of the descent of the "Great Emperor of Long Life" was fabricated by Lin Lingsu and others.