Royals › Monarch / Emperor
Zhao Kuangyin
Founder of the Song dynasty who took the throne from the Later Zhou in the Chenqiao mutiny, eased his generals out of their commands, and conquered the southern states
Mural of the event “Cup of Wine Cede”, which this person took part in.
In early Northern Song, the historical chronic ailment of frontier-governor armed groups holding troops in self-defense was not yet uprooted. Song Taizu deeply worried that his founding veteran generals would one day re-tread the Chenqiao Mutiny path and once again don the yellow robe.
Also known as Songtai Zu · Tai Zu
Zhao Kuangyin, whose family came from Zhuo commandery, was born in 927 at the Jiama barracks in Luoyang, the son of the palace-army officer Zhao Hongyin. He joined Guo Wei under the Later Han and, under Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, won distinction at Gaoping and rose to command the palace guard. In 960, marching north, he was acclaimed emperor by his troops at Chenqiao and returned to replace the Zhou, naming his dynasty Song with the reign title Jianlong. In 961 he persuaded Shi Shouxin and other generals over wine to give up their commands, then put civil officials over prefectures and stripped regional governors of revenue and troops. Taking the south first, he conquered Jingnan, Hunan, Later Shu, Southern Han and Southern Tang, though Northern Han held out. He died suddenly in the tenth month of 976, was succeeded by his brother Zhao Guangyi and received the temple name Taizu. The monk Wenying's notes describe the two brothers drinking the night before, leaving his death an open question.
Life and times
- 927 CEBorn
Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms
Song - 907Five Dynasties Unification
Took partLater Zhou and early Song campaigns successively conquered southern regimes, bringing most of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms division to an end. - 954Shizong's Later Zhou Reforms
Aftermathage 27Later Zhou's Shizong reformed the army and finances and expanded through campaigns, leaving the institutional and military base inherited by Song. - 960Chenqiao Mutiny
Took partage 33At Chenqiao, troops acclaimed Zhao Kuangyin in the yellow robe; he returned to Kaifeng and founded Song through a nearly bloodless coup.- Zhao Kuangyin Coup at ChenqiaoGeneral Zhao Kuangyin was proclaimed emperor by troops at Chenqiao post, founding the Song Dynasty.
- Zhao Kuangyin Coup at Chenqiao
- 961Cup of Wine Cede
Took partage 34Zhao Kuangyin persuaded senior generals to surrender their commands in exchange for retirement, reducing military autonomy under the Song court.- Taizu's Wine Cup Disarms GeneralsEmperor Taizu resolved factional coup risks over a cordial imperial dinner banquet in 961 CE, offering generous pensions in exchange for commands.
- Cup of Wine Cede Historical MilestoneZhao Kuangyin persuaded senior generals to surrender their commands in exchange for retirement, reducing military autonomy under the Song court.
- Taizu's Wine Cup Disarms Generals
- 965Conquest of Later Shu by Song
Took partage 38A major military milestone in Song's campaign to reunify Southern regional regimes. - 975Song Captures Jinling, Li Yu Surrenders
age 48In 975 Cao Bin's Northern Song army broke into Jinling, the Southern Tang ruler Li Yu surrendered with his ministers, and Southern Tang came to an end. - 976 CEDied
Works
Literature · Poetry1- On the Rising SunSongCouplet on the rising sun ascribed to Zhao Kuangyin before he founded the Song
