Do You Know How Miserable the Humiliation of Jingkang Was?
[Do you know how miserable the Humiliation of Jingkang was? #History #Northern Song]
"The Humiliation of Jingkang? The heavenly screen is going to talk about that!"
"A disgrace! An extraordinary disgrace!"
The dynasties after the Northern Song knew exactly what the Humiliation of Jingkang was.
The dynasties before the Northern Song could gather the general picture from the videos the heavenly screen had played before. But they did not know just how humiliating the Humiliation of Jingkang was for the Song Dynasty.
["Who was the most humiliated emperor in Chinese history?"]
["It had to be Emperor Huizong of Song during the Humiliation of Jingkang."]
In one realm, a Ming Dynasty official said, "Besides Emperor Huizong of Song, there was Emperor Qinzong of Song."
In another realm, a Qing Dynasty official said, "Doesn't Zhu Qizhen count among the most humiliated emperors?"
["When the Jin State invaded, he dumped the mess on his son and took it easy as retired emperor. Later, when the Jin State demanded an astronomical sum in compensation, he was shameless enough to use women to pay the debt, including many imperial consorts and princesses."]
Li Yuan: That's how you became a retired emperor?!
"Great Song—no wonder later generations called it the Great Coward!"
"He used his own consorts and princesses to pay a debt? Did he have no regard for the dignity of the imperial family?!"
"I feel like even my Sima Household was better than the Zhao Song!"
["The most humiliating thing was that during his eight years as a captive, he went on to father twelve children."]
["So what sort of life did he lead in the Jin State? His country had fallen, his family was ruined, and he had become a captive, so how could he still father so many children? Were all those children really his own?"]
"Compared with Emperors Huizong and Qinzong, my reputation is much better than theirs!" Zhu Qizhen, the War God of Great Ming, exclaimed.
["Today, we'll discuss this topic."]
["In 1127, Jin troops breached the Northern Song capital, bringing the Northern Song to an end. Emperor Huizong of Song and his son became captives, and thousands of imperial clansmen, officials, and harem consorts were taken away with them."]
"Shameless! Damn them!"
Zhao Kuangyin was furious that Zhao Guangyi's line had been so utterly spineless as to commit such a shameful act! He recalled how hard he had struggled to establish Great Song, and seeing how disappointing the Zhao descendants of later generations were, he felt a grief that pierced his heart, even if they were not of his blood.
["In the eyes of the Jin people, captives were slaves. Thus, the group suffered torment all along the way, with no food when they were hungry and nothing to drink when they were thirsty. Fearing they would escape, the Jin soldiers threaded more than a dozen people onto each rope and held one end in their hands. At the slightest suspicious movement, they would immediately be given a savage beating."]
["When had these nobles, accustomed to lives of privilege, ever suffered such hardship? A third of them actually died during the journey of several dozen days. When someone collapsed from exhaustion, the Jin soldiers would smash their skull open with a club, whether they were still breathing or not, then kick them into the weeds by the roadside."]
"The emperor and his relatives and nobles were treated like exiled prisoners, brought so low!"
["The consorts and princesses were treated a little better, but suffered inhuman mental torment. In the Jin soldiers' eyes, they were all rare resources."]
["Along the way, some of the women were violated, while others were forced into marriage. Six of Qinzong's consorts refused to cooperate and were hacked to death on the spot by Jin soldiers."]
Many imperial consorts throughout the dynasties felt the fox's grief at the rabbit's death, and sorrow showed on their faces.
["Nianhan of the Jin army took a fancy to Emperor Huizong's favored consort, Wang Wanrong. She looked to Emperor Huizong for help, but he had long since lowered his head. If not for his status as retired emperor, he would already have been among the dead; how could he have dared resist?"]
["Wang Wanrong closed her eyes in despair. In the end, she chose suicide to preserve her honor."]
"Was it so hard to kill himself?"
Emperor Wu of Han, Liu Che, let out a furious roar.
Had it been him, if the Xiongnu had breached Great Han's capital, he would have killed his women and daughters with his own hands, then set the imperial palace ablaze and killed himself.
["The Jin soldiers treated the Northern Song imperial clan like pigs and dogs. What treatment would Emperor Huizong of Song receive once he reached the Jin capital? And what became of the empresses and consorts?"]
["After reaching the Jin capital, Emperor Huizong of Song and his son, along with imperial clansmen, consorts, and others—more than 1,300 people in all—were confined in tents. Before long, they faced the fate that awaited slaves."]
["The Jin soldiers gathered them and took them outside the Jin State's ancestral temple. Emperor Huizong, Emperor Qinzong, and the empress had their outer garments stripped off and were wrapped in sheepskins. The remaining princesses and consorts were all naked, with a piece of sheepskin wrapped tightly around their upper bodies and a rope tied around each of their necks."]
["These Northern Song imperial nobles were led in a line around the Jin State's imperial ancestral temple. This was the so-called Sheep-Leading Ceremony."]
"Damn them! Incompetent! Beasts!"
At the sight, Zhao Kuangyin's hair stood on end with rage!
He was not alone; the early emperors of the Northern Song all felt the same.
The emperors of later generations were so incompetent!
The emperor and the imperial clan had suffered such an extraordinary disgrace!
They had utterly disgraced Great Song!
In those Southern Song realms.
The nobles of the early Jin State were immensely pleased with themselves.
The ministers and nobles of the late Jin State looked bitter.
"The Jingkang Humiliation has yet to be avenged. When will the hatred of your subjects ever end?"
Patriots of the Southern Song dynasties were stricken with grief, wishing they could rush to the battlefield at once and kill the Jin.
Ordinary people found it hard to imagine that the exalted imperial nobles could suffer such a miserable fate. Their beliefs were shaken once again.
["The Jin onlookers laughed proudly and without restraint. Their laughter was as sharp as swords and blades, piercing the hearts of Emperor Huizong and the others."]
["Though they felt utterly humiliated, they still chose to submit in order to survive. If they wanted to live, they would have to endure even more humiliation."]
["After the Sheep-Leading Ceremony, Emperor Huizong of Song was given the title Duke of Besotted Virtue, while his son, Emperor Qinzong, became the Marquis of Double Besottedness."]
"Duke of Besotted Virtue? Marquis of Double Besottedness? What mocking titles! Yet they suit those two useless emperors perfectly."
["Father and son gladly accepted these mocking titles. After all, their lives had been spared for the time being."]
["The consorts and princesses, meanwhile, were ordered into the palace to be granted a bath. To put it bluntly, they were to sleep with the Jin State's leaders, and they included the empress and empress dowager."]
["Emperor Qinzong's empress, Lady Zhu, could not bear the humiliation and chose to drown herself."]
["Emperor Taizong of Jin admired Empress Zhu's backbone and posthumously bestowed on him the title Lady of Chastity. The other consorts had no such backbone and chose to exchange their chastity for their lives. But if we put ourselves in their place, what right would later generations have to reproach them?"]
Seeing the heavenly screen say this, the hidebound scholars of ancient times frowned.
They did not think so. A woman ought to defend her chastity with her life, just like Empress Zhu.
"If the consorts, daughters, and female relatives of Emperors Huizong and Qinzong had all killed themselves, how could there have been a Humiliation of Jingkang?"
["In the end, Emperor Huizong of Song was the chief culprit. Emperor Huizong of Song became a Jin captive, and his wives all became playthings for the Jin State's leaders. So how did he father twelve children?"]
["Because Zhao Gou established the Southern Song regime, the Jin State decided to keep Emperor Huizong of Song as a hostage. They therefore sent him to Yilan County in Wuguo City and placed him under house arrest."]