Zhao Gou

Timeline

1. 1107–1127Bianjing (Kaifeng) · HenanBorn in Northern Song Bianjing, ninth son of Emperor Huizong. Enfeoffed Prince Kang in the third year of Xuanhe (1121). During Jingkang he was ordered to the Jin camp for peace negotiations and witnessed the fall of the Northern Song.
2. 1127–1131Yingtianfu (Nanjing) · HenanEnthroned at Yingtianfu in the fifth month of the second year of Jingkang (1127), adopted the era name Jianyan, and founded the Southern Song. Pursued hard by Jin forces, he was forced to cross south, moving through Yangzhou, Jiankang, Shaoxing, Mingzhou and elsewhere in dire circumstances, known to history as the 'Jianyan southern crossing'.
3. 1131–1141Lin'an (Hangzhou) · ZhejiangChanged the era name to Shaoxing in the first year of Shaoxing (1131), made Lin'an the temporary capital, and gradually stabilized the Southern Song regime. Generals such as Yue Fei and Han Shizhong campaigned north repeatedly, but Gaozong insisted on peace and heavily employed Qin Hui. In the eleventh year of Shaoxing (1141) he had Yue Fei executed on the charge of 'possibly having' treason and signed the Shaoxing Peace Treaty, trading submission and tribute for a north-south standoff along the Huai River.
4. 1141–1162Lin'an (Hangzhou) · ZhejiangAfter the Shaoxing Peace Treaty the Southern Song entered a relatively stable period with some economic and cultural recovery. Though Gaozong had no legitimate son, he designated a descendant of Taizu, Zhao Shen, as his heir. In the thirty-second year of Shaoxing (1162) he abdicated to Zhao Shen (Emperor Xiaozong) on grounds of 'weariness of governance'.
5. 1162–1187Lin'an (Hangzhou) · ZhejiangAfter abdicating he lived out his days as retired emperor, reaching 81 years of age; he died in the fourteenth year of Chunxi (1187), posthumously titled 'Holy, Divine, Martial, Civil, Pious and Filial Emperor', temple name Gaozong, and buried at Yongsi Mausoleum.