Taizu | Emperor of Song Dynasty, Reformer & Military Leader (2024)

Taizu (born 927, Luoyang, China—died Nov. 14, 976, Kaifeng) was the Chinese emperor (reigned 960–976), military leader, and statesman who founded the Song dynasty (960–1279). He began the reunification of China, a project largely completed by his younger brother and successor, the Taizong emperor.

Early life and rise to power

Zhao Kuangyin (who posthumously received the dynastic temple name of Taizu, or “Grand Ancestor”) was the second son of a military officer, Zhao Hongyin. At the time of his birth, China was in chaos. The once-great Tang dynasty, fragmented by rebellions, had been extinguished by 907. Over the next several decades, in what became known as the Five Dynasties (Wudai) period, a succession of dynastic regimes—Chinese, part Chinese, or foreign—rose to prominence and fell in devastated North China. Meanwhile, the more prosperous south was divided among satraps who were independent in fact and sometimes in name, in what came to be called the Ten Kingdoms (Shiguo) period. The boy’s forebears had in three previous generations won a certain standing as military leaders under one or another of these claimants, and his father reached a post of high command before his death in 956. The wisdom and foresight of Zhao Kuangyin’s remarkable mother influenced his decisions even after her death in 961.

At about age 20 Zhao joined a leader whose adoptive father soon afterward established the Hou (Later) Zhou dynasty (951–960) at Kaifeng; Zhao’s patron succeeded to the throne in 954 and fought to extend his sway into South China and to eliminate a rival who, established to the north in Shanxi and supported by the Khitan (Chinese: Qidan) empire, laid claim to the rule of China. Through a series of daring and successful actions, Zhao quickly rose to the chief command of the Hou Zhou forces.

In 959 Zhao’s patron died and was followed on the throne by his son, a child. Shortly after the armies of the Khitan and their Chinese allies prepared a concerted invasion. Zhao marched northward to meet them. Discontent arose among Zhao’s troops, who in the crisis did not wish a child as ruler. When the army was encamped for the night at a bridge outside the capital, the officers awakened Zhao (who had drunk well before retiring), hailed him as emperor, robed him in imperial yellow, mounted him on horseback, and urged him to return and take over the government; the records, which are unverifiable on this point, imply that Zhao lacked forewarning of the coup. On the officers’ pledge of obedience and promise not to molest the existing imperial family and its councillors, the public buildings, and the homes of the people, Zhao complied. He named his dynasty the Song.

In rapid succession the dissident Chinese states now came under the new emperor’s control. By 976 all but the northern rival house were mastered, and its Khitan backers had seen more than one defeat. In that year the Song armies were mobilized against this last rival when the Taizu emperor died at the age of 49. Within three years his younger brother, who succeeded him as the Taizong emperor, completed the unification of China (except for a small area near Beijing that remained in Khitan hands).

Taizu’s policies and personality

The task of unification had not been easy, and in parts of China revolts of local autonomists further complicated it. Yet the Song founder had also turned his mind to ways of avoiding the dangers that had been fatal to the Tang and to encourage the success of his dynasty. The Taizu emperor’s policies no doubt owed much to his personality, a striking combination of qualities that inspired in his generation and later a multitude of anecdotes about him. Though some of these may include fictional elements, they convey the impression he made on his countrymen. A highly skilled archer and horseman in his youth, Zhao survived daredevil equestrian exploits unscathed. As emperor he said that destiny had given him the throne and would determine his life or death; man could not deflect it. Despite remonstrances of his advisers, he persisted in going about incognito to observe conditions among the people. He rejected indignantly the gift of a sword stick for protection in emergency. His tastes were simple; when shown the inlaid urinals captured from the former Sichuan princeling, he had them destroyed. He visited his ministers informally and frankly admitted to them his chagrin over his own errors. In his last year he declined the title of unifier and pacifier that was offered him.

The Taizu emperor was strict in holding his officials to account in important matters; his councillors held him in awe. On the other hand, he accepted minor faults or impertinences with a laugh. He was slow to entertain suspicion. He sometimes acted impetuously, and some have suggested, on rather limited evidence, that he indulged in wine to excess. On occasion, when severely provoked by a presumptuous official or subject, he was given to outbursts of violent rage. At such times, however, his temper cooled quickly, and he then softened penalties he had given in anger and even compensated the unfortunate culprit for abuses suffered.

Taizu was active by nature. Even as emperor he conducted military campaigns personally from time to time. Rather than simply approving governmental papers in finished form, as Tang emperors had done, he let his ministers submit rough drafts to him for preliminary criticism.

The functional arrangements of Taizu’s government reflected both his active disposition and his refusal to pretend infallibility. He continued the existing system by which three ministers were directly responsible to him for different aspects of administration (fiscal, military, and general), thus limiting the power of each. By generously granting them consideration and responsibility, however, he encouraged a certain balance between the functions of ruler and minister. The control of the central government over the local was also strengthened. Beginning in 963, the administration of the prefectures was cautiously but steadily transferred from the unruly military to civil officials. Court officials were sent to govern subprefectures. From 965 taxes were remitted directly to the national treasury. The first fiscal intendants—forerunners of the Song “circuit” system—were established to supervise local functionaries. To counter the military threat to the state’s integrity, Taizu transferred the best troops to the capital and on suitable opportunities induced the most powerful commanders to accept retirement.