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Zhao Zhen

Type Figure Region Northern Song Time 1010–1063 Also known as Emperor Renzong of Song、Zhao Shouyi

Zhao Zhen (1010–1063), temple name Renzong, was the fourth emperor of the Northern Song, reigning forty-one years, the longest reign of any Song empe…

Timeline

  1. 1041–1042Dongjing Kaifeng Prefecture · Dongjing Kaifeng PrefectureIn the eleventh month of the fifth year of Kangding the era name was changed to Qingli, with Zhao Zhen still governing from the eastern capital. At this time the war with Western Xia was not yet over and finances were strained; the court faced the problems of redundant officials and soldiers, setting the background for the later new policies.
  2. 1043–1044Dongjing Kaifeng Prefecture · Dongjing Kaifeng PrefectureIn the seventh month Fan Zhongyan, Han Qi, and others were transferred to the capital; in the ninth month the Tianzhang Pavilion was opened and edicts issued to senior officials to memorialize on current governance. Fan Zhongyan submitted 'Ten Points in Reply to the Handwritten Edict,' and Zhao Zhen adopted reform measures including clarifying promotions and demotions, curbing favoritism, and refining the jinshi examinations, known historically as the Qingli New Policies.
  3. 1045–1050Dongjing Kaifeng Prefecture · Dongjing Kaifeng PrefectureBecause Xia Song and others framed factional cliques and conservative forces counterattacked, Zhao Zhen's confidence in reform wavered; in the fifth year of Qingli he issued an edict abolishing the new policies, and Fan Zhongyan, Fu Bi, and others were successively posted to provincial offices. For several years afterward Zhao Zhen continued governing, and in the second year of Huangyou he appointed his adopted son Zhao Zongshi as Right Guard Grand General and other posts.

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