Zhao Shen

Also known as Song Xiaozong · Zhao Bocong · Zi Yuanyong

Zhao Shen was a seventh-generation descendant of the Song founder Taizu and a son of Zhao Zicheng, Prince of Xiu; born at Xiuzhou in 1127 and first named Bocong, he was raised in the palace by the sonless Emperor Gaozong and renamed Yuan, then Wei, and finally Shen as heir. Gaozong abdicated in his favour in 1162, and he soon restored the posthumous ranks of the general Yue Fei. In 1163 he sent Zhang Jun north against the Jin, but the army broke at Fuli, and the peace that followed let the Song emperor address the Jin ruler as uncle rather than lord and cut the annual payments to 200,000 each in silver and silk. He attended the retired Gaozong until his death in 1187. He handed the throne to his son Guangzong in 1189 and died in 1194 with the temple name Xiaozong; the History of Song (Songshi) ranks him first among the Southern Song rulers.