- List of Tables, Maps, and Illustrations*
- Preface
- Note on Ages, Dates, and Other Conventions
- Chronology
- Cast of Characters
- Genealogy of the Song Emperors and Empresses
- I. Learning to Rule, 1082–1108
- 1. Growing Up in the Palace, 1082–1099
- 2. Taking the Throne, 1100
- 3. Trying for Balance, 1101–1102
- 4. Choosing the Reformers, 1102–1108
- II. Striving for Magnificence, 1102–1112
- 5. Placing Faith in Daoism, 1100–1110
- 6. Embracing and Revitalizing Tradition
- 7. Welcoming Masters and Experts
- 8. Crafting an Image as an Artist
- III. Anticipating Great Things, 1107–1120
- 9. Pursuing the Monumental
- 10. Finding Pleasure in Court and Palace Life
- 11. Working with Councilors
- 12. Accepting Divine Revelations, 1110–1119
- 13. Allying with Jin
- IV. Confronting Failure, 1121–1135
- 14. Adjusting to Military Setbacks, 1121–1125
- 15. Abdicating the Throne, 1125–1126
- 16. Losing Everything, 1126–1127
- 17. Enduring Captivity, 1127–1135
- Afterword
- Appendix A: Reasons for Rejecting Some Common Stories about Huizong and His Court
- Appendix B: Huizong’s Consorts and Their Children
- Timeline
- Notes
- References
- Chinese Character Glossary
- Index
- * Tables, Maps, and Illustrations
- Tables
- 2.1. Main players at Huizon’s accession
- 4.1. Numbers of men on the 1102/9/12 blacklist
- 4.2. Living and deceased officials on the 1104 blacklist
- 5.1. Main halls at Primal Tally Myriad Calm Temple at Mount Mao
- 6.1. Subjects of Wang Anzhong’s fifty memorials congratulating Huizong on good omens
- 8.1. Major extant Huizong paintings
- 11.1. Huizong’s major councilors, in order of age
- 13.1. Principal envoys
- 17.1. Captives taken north in 1127/4
- Maps
- 1. Kaifeng
- 2. Song China and its neighbors
- 3. Huizong’s route in captivity
- Illustrations
- Figures
- 1.1. Layout of the Palace City
- 1.2. Anon., Portrait of Shenzhong
- 1.3. Wang Shen, Rivers and Mountains in Mist
- 4.1. Huizong, Hand-Drafted Edict for Cai Xing
- 5.1. Talisman of the Center in Five Talismans, Powerful Treasure of the Most High
- 5.2. Visualizing the Six Guardians in the Great Profundity Scripture
- 6.1. Illustration from Antiquities Illustrated of the First of the Duke Cheng of Song Bells
- 6.2. Bell cast at Huizong’s court
- 6.3. “Cloud Mushroom” in Catalogue of Numinous Mushrooms
- 6.4. Huizong, Six Cranes
- 7.1. Pages from the Revised Material Medica of the Zhenghe Period, Classified and Verified from the Classics and Histories
- 7.2. Two pages from Building Standards, showing roof supports and sample designs for doors
- 7.3. Li Tang, Wind in the Pines amid Ten Thousand Valleys
- 8.1. Huizong, Two Poems
- 8.2. Huizong, Birds and Butterflies in an Autumn Garden
- 8.3. Huizong, Returning Fishing Boats on a Snowy River
- 9.1. Entry in Antiquities Illustrated
- 9.2. Five-room and nine-room layouts for the Bright Hall, from Nie Chongyi, Illustrations of the Three Ritual Classics
- 9.3. Layout for the Bright Hall, from Chen Xiangdao’s Book of Ritual
- 9.4. Mountain beaker made at Huizong’s court
- 11.1. Huizong’s transcription of the Thousand Character Essay, given to Wang Fu in 1122
- 11.2. Size comparisons of one-, two-, and ten-qian coins issued in the Daguan period
- 11.3. Huizong’s transcription of the Thousand Character Essay, given to Tong Guan in 1104
- 12.1. Rubbing of the 1117 stele commemorating the descent of celestial gods
- 12.2. “Talisman for Summoning the Nine Transformations of Great Obscurity,” from Talismans and Diagrams of the Book of Salvation
- Color Plates
- 1. Anon., Portrait of Huizong
- 2. Anon., Imperial Honor Guard
- 3. Attributed to Huizong, Literary Gathering
- 4. Attributed to Huizong, Literary Gathering (detail)
- 5. Attributed to Huizong, Two Birds in a Blossoming Wax-Plum Tree
- 6. Attributed to Huizong, Pheasant on a Hibiscus Branch
- 7. Wang Ximeng, A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains
- 8. Wang Ximeng, A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains (detail)
- 9. Huizong, Finches and Bamboo
- 10. Huizong, Five-Colored Parakeet on a Blossoming Apricot Tree
- 11. Huizong, Auspicious Dragon Rock
- 12. Huizong, Cranes of Good Omen
- 13. Huizong, Listening to the Qin
- 14. Anon., Boat Race on Golden Brilliance Lake
- 15. Anon., The Return of the Coffins
- Figures
- Tables