Emperor Gong of Song

Reign

Emperor Duzong died in 1274. His sixth son, Zhao Xian, who was then about four years old, was enthroned as the new emperor with assistance from the chancellor Jia Sidao. In the following year, Zhao Xian's grandmother (Grand Empress Dowager Xie) and mother (Empress Dowager Quan) became regents for the child emperor, although state and military power remained under Jia Sidao's control.

By the time Zhao Xian came to the throne, the Mongol Empire had already taken control of the northern and southwestern areas of China, crossed the Yangtze River and acquired key strategic locations such as Xiangyang. They were heading towards the Song capital at Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou). Grand Empress Dowager Xie pursued a dual-strategy to the pending destruction of the Song dynasty: On one hand, she ordered the people to rally behind their emperor and save the Song Empire. On the other hand, she tried to make peace with the Mongols. The Mongol army advanced further and captured Song territories and took control of various prefectures along the middle stretches of the Yangtze River.

In early 1275, Jia Sidao led an army of 30,000 to engage the Mongols at Wuhu. The Song army suffered defeat and not long afterward, bowing to public pressure, Grand Empress Dowager Xie ordered Jia Sidao's execution. However, the move came too late and the fall of the Song dynasty loomed closer.

By the middle of 1275, the Mongol army had controlled most of the Jiangdong region, the southern part of present-day Jiangsu Province. On 18 January 1276, the Mongol general Bayan showed up with his army outside Lin'an. The Song imperial court sent Lu Xiufu to negotiate for peace with the enemy, but Lu was forced to surrender. Later that year, Grand Empress Dowager Xie brought the five-year-old Zhao Xian with her to the Mongol camp to surrender.

Remnants of the Song Empire fled southwards to Fujian and Guangdong provinces, where they continued to resist the Mongols. Zhao Xian's fifth brother, Zhao Shi (Emperor Duanzong), was enthroned as the new emperor. Zhao Shi died of illness in 1278 and was succeeded by his seventh brother, Zhao Bing.

In 1279, after the Battle of Yamen, Lu Xiufu brought Zhao Bing with him to Yashan (present-day Yamen, Guangdong Province), where they committed suicide by drowning themselves at sea. The death of Zhao Bing marked the end of the Song dynasty.

Ennoblement by the Yuan dynasty

After the fall of the Song dynasty, Zhao Xian was relocated to the Mongol capital at Dadu (present-day Beijing) then later to Shangdu. Some sources also claim that he lived in Qianzhou (謙州; present-day Tuva in South Central Siberia). His sojourns made him one of the most well-travelled Han Chinese emperors in Chinese history.

Journey to the Mongol capital

Soon after Zhao Xian surrendered, the Mongol general Bayan urged him to travel north for an audience with the Mongol emperor, Kublai Khan. As a result, in March 1276, Zhao Xian left Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou) and proceeded towards Shangdu. Grand Empress Dowager Xie remained behind due to illness so he was accompanied northwards by Empress Dowager Quan, the Lady of Long (隆國夫人; Emperor Duzong's mother), Zhao Yurui (趙與芮; Emperor Lizong's brother), Zhao Naiyou (趙乃猷), and members of the privy council Gao Yinggong (高應松) and Xie Tang (謝堂). The former emperor's entourage also included Weng Zhongde (翁仲德), Wang Yuanliang (汪元量), and other palace officials.

After they crossed the Yangtze River, two former generals, Li Tingzhi (李庭芝) and Miao Zaicheng (苗再成), planned to hijack a transport to carry them all but failed. The group arrived in Dadu in May, and then proceeded to Shangdu, where Kublai Khan received them in the Hall of Great Peace (大安殿). The Khan conferred the title "Duke of Ying" (瀛國公) on Zhao Xian and a princess title on Zhao Xian's Mongol wife, Lady Borjigin. Kublai Khan further ordered that Zhao Xian and Lady Borjigin be given a residence in Dadu and receive preferential treatment. In 1298, Zhao Xian was given permission to move his residence to Shangdu. Between 1314 and 1320, the Mongol ruler Emperor Yuanzong received the Goryeo ruler Chungseon at his court. Chungseon asked to see visit Zhao Xian's residence and composed a song about him.

Relocation to Tubo

Kublai Khan wanted to preserve some vestiges of the Song imperial clan and in October 1288 issued an edict ordering Zhao Xian to relocate to Tubo (present-day Tibet). There, Zhao Xian was to study the Brahmana and Tibetan classics. Other sources claim that while in Tubo, Zhao Xian decided to study Buddhism instead. Kublai Khan's motive for this edict is unclear, as is whether such a relocation constituted a banishment. The Khan may have acted out of genuine concern for the former emperor or he may have wished to remove the Song heir to the throne out of China proper. In December 1288, Zhao Xian departed from Duosima (朵思麻; Standard Tibetan: མདོ་སྨད; Wylie: mdo smad) in present-day Hainan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, for Wusizang (烏思藏; Standard Tibetan: དབུས་གཙང; Wylie: dbus gtsang) within the borders of present-day Tibet. He became a resident at the Sakya Monastery and was given the honorific title "Lecture Master Mubo" (木波講師). Later on, Zhao Xian took over as the head monk at the monastery, translating Buddhist texts between the Chinese and Tibetan languages under the name "Hezun" (合尊).

Death

According to Sakya's monastic succession records, in April 1323, the 52-year-old Zhao Xian received an imperial edict ordering him to commit suicide at Hexi (河西; present-day Zhangye, Gansu Province. Many Ming dynasty historians believed that this was because Zhao Xian's poetry displeased the Mongol ruler, Emperor Yingzong.