Jottings from the Granite Studio

Today is the birthday of Emperor Yingzong (r. 1063-1067), born in 1032. Yingzong came to the throne by a somewhat atypical route, he was not the son of his predecessor, Emperor Renzong (r. 1022-1063), who towards the end of his long reign had committed the huge imperial faux pas of getting sick without siring any male heirs. Given this speed bump to succession, Renzong agreed to adopt a couple of potential heirs, including the future Emperor Yingzong, a young man who was the son of Renzong’s cousin, the powerful court official Zhao Yunrang (995-1059).

All to the good, until Renzong died and it came time for the newly installed Yingzong to do the appropriate rituals to his “parents.” Since Yingzong was technically Renzong’s adopted son, many in the court felt that Yingzong should make the necessary filial sacrifices to Renzong, and wanted to ‘demote’ Zhao Yunrang to the status of “Imperial Uncle.” Yingzong, quite unhappy with this decision, wanted his biological father acknowledged as such, and garnered support for his position from, among others, scholar-official heavyweights such as Ouyang Xiu.

While acknowledging that the imperial line of succession was a key part of maintaining dynastic legitimacy, Yingzong faced a filial obligation to perform the necessary rituals for his parents in the afterlife. The split in opinion intensified factionalism at the Song court, setting in place fault lines that would crack wide open under Yingzong’s own successor, Emperor Shenzong (r. 1067-1085).

It also wouldn’t be the last time the question of ‘who’s your daddy?’ would lead to rancor and controversy at the court. At the very least though, such events provide academics with nice “Jerry Springer” moments to enjoy while reading Chinese history.