Many people are not familiar with the death of Zhao Kuangyin. Let’s follow the history encyclopedia editor to appreciate it together.
Only Emperor Taizu of Song obeyed heaven and people, unified Haiyu, lasted for three hundred years, and made the world civilized. Those who have the virtue of governing the world and the merit of ensuring eternal peace.
Up to now, many people are curious about a question: why didn’t Emperor Taizu of Song pass on the throne to his own son? But he chose his own younger brother, which is too rare in history. In fact, countless historians have expressed their views on this issue, but we cannot understand the real reason.
Zhao Kuangyin died suddenly after 17 years in power, but there was no basis left for his willingness. However, there are no more interpreters of history than cultural relics and historical records. Today, based on existing historical documents, we will provide a detailed explanation of how Zhao Kuangyin passed away.
History of Song Dynasty
The most official way to know the cause of death of the Song Dynasty emperor is probably the “History of Song”, right? It was mentioned inside, but the detailed reason was not explained: the emperor died in the Wansui Hall at the age of fifty. This kind of description also attracted people’s roast. How could you, the founding monarch of your dynasty, describe such an important issue so vaguely? Isn’t it too inadequate. However, this book is also highly controversial as some experts have stated that there are obvious signs of tampering with it. So let’s not draw a conclusion on this for now and continue to look ahead.
History of Liao Dynasty
Since ‘History of Song’ does not exist, one can look at other historical books of the same period, of course, none other than ‘History of Liao’. The meaning of this sentence is also very clear: ‘Emperor Kuangyin of Song passed away, and his younger brother Jiong became independent.’. It goes without saying that “Jiong” was given a new name for Zhao Guangyi after he became emperor, but there is a certain suspense about the last two words.
Let’s explore “self-reliance”. If Zhao Kuangyin willingly passed on his position to Zhao Guangyi, why use the words “self-reliance”? It seems that he must have an improper position and made himself emperor. Of course, some historians also suggest that the Song and Liao dynasties had a hostile relationship at that time. If you look for people from the Song Dynasty in the History of Liao, then it must be that ‘ugliness’ is greater than’ evil ‘, so this statement is not convincing.
Xiangshan Wild Record
This book can be considered a unofficial history of the Song Dynasty, as cultural development was in a period of prosperity at that time. Did someone say that the cultural peak was not during the Tang Dynasty? This statement cannot be denied, but the Song Dynasty was the pinnacle of its peak, as can be seen from Tang poetry and Song ci. So there are also many people who specialize in writing books or recording history, which gives rise to these folk history books. Among them, “Xiangshan Wild Record” is quite famous, which includes the phrase “candlelight axe shadow”.
It was already evening, and Zhao Kuangyin was also preparing to rest. At this moment, all the palace maids and eunuchs were suddenly kicked out, and the second son Zhao Guangyi was called to the palace to drink. There is a small plot in the middle, where Zhao Kuangyin keeps playing with an axe. Some people think this is provoking Zhao Guangyi, but it is not. Zhao Kuangyin has a special hobby of playing with axes. During this process, Zhao Guangyi often got up, and Zhao Kuangyin left five days later.
Has the fact that only Zhao Guangyi is in the palace aroused suspicion? Some people say that this book is also not persuasive, so Sima Qian’s “Records of the Wushui River” must have some historical significance. This book can be compared to “Records of the Grand Historian” because the entire history of the Song Dynasty is recorded by Sima Qian in “Wen Shui Ji Wen”, and it also has a clear record of the story of candlelight and axe shadow.
Wen Shui Ji Wen
In the dynasties of that time, it was definitely not allowed for anyone to enter the palace during the emperor’s night rest. On the night of his departure, the queen and personal guards were by his side. So some people may ask, isn’t this inconsistent with the theme? When Zhao Kuangyin was seriously ill, the empress asked a eunuch to go over and call Zhao Defang over. In our opinion, it should be to explain the aftermath. The eunuch didn’t listen to the empress dowager and went straight to Zhao Guangyi’s place to explain everything.
After receiving this news, Zhao Kuangyin got up and rushed to Zhao Kuangyin’s place. It was already late at night when I met another medical officer, Jia Dexuan, outside the palace. This person works late at night and no one calls him over. What are you doing here? wait forsomeone? Waiting for news? According to the Records of the Grand Historian, the person’s best record is the preparation of poison. So why does this eunuch have such great courage? The queen didn’t listen and went straight to find Zhao Guangyi?
Later, when Zhao Guangyi arrived, the empress said, “The fate of my mother and son is entrusted to the government. What does it mean for the empress to directly address Zhao Guangyi as’ official ‘in the Song Dynasty, when the two words’ official’ were used to refer to the emperor? Alright, that’s all for now. The answer is already very clear. Everyone, take a closer look
