Jin Army Destroys Song Imperial Tombs (Bianjing)

Timeline

1. 1158Zhongdu of the Jin dynasty · Jin dynastyTo force the Southern Song to submit and create a pretext for his southern campaign, Jin's Hailing Wang Wanyan Liang ordered envoys sent to the Bianjing area to destroy Northern Song imperial tombs, openly provoking Song ancestral temple rites.
2. 1158Bianjing · BianjingJin forces, on orders, destroyed the tombs of Northern Song emperors Taizu, Taizong, Zhenzong, Renzong, and others around Bianjing, damaging burial mounds and memorial halls, shocking north and south. Historical records state this was a deliberate Jin humiliation of the Song house and a probe of Southern Song reactions.