China NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY 1086-1093 AD EMPEROR ZHE ZONG CASH Yuan You tong bao

China NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY 1086-1093 AD EMPEROR ZHE ZONG CASH Yuan You tong bao

Emperor Zhezong of Song (4 January 1077 – 23 February 1100), personal name Zhao Xu, was the seventh emperor of the Song dynasty of China. His original personal name was Zhao Yong but he changed it to "Zhao Xu" after his coronation. He reigned from 1085 until his death in 1100, and was succeeded by his younger half-brother, Emperor Huizong, because his son died prematurely.

Emperor Zhezong was the sixth son of Emperor Shenzong. He ascended the throne at the age of nine under the supervision of his grandmother, Grand Empress Dowager Gao.

Era dates
Yuanyou (元祐; 1086–1094)
Shaosheng (紹聖; 1094–1098)
Yuanfu (元符; 1098–1100)

Yuanyou era (1086-1093)

Empress Gao's regency

Empress Gao may have engineered 8-year-old Zhezong's enthronement to make herself regent. As regent, Empress Dowager Gao appointed conservatives such as Sima Guang as Chancellor, who halted the New Policies set forth by Wang Anshi before dying in 1086. The conservatives achieved some success in reversing the reforms.

Emperor Zhezong was powerless and it was not until Grand Empress Dowager Gao's death in 1093 that the emperor was able to reinstate Wang Anshi's reforms and reduce the late Sima Guang's influence. By then, factionalism was a greater concern than the practicality of the reforms themselves; both the conservatives and the reformists engaged in infighting.

Cheng Yi, a founder of Neo-confucianism and one of Zhezong's tutors, proposed that Li (principle) was an innate property that could provide moral guidance.