During the Jingkang Incident, Jin forces entered Kaifeng and took away Emperors Huizong and Qinzong and others, dealing a decisive blow to the Northern Song government. Zhao Gou then established the Southern Song, shifting political centers and economic connections. The dynastic rupture also influenced migration and cultural memory.

Historical background

The Jingkang Incident, also known as the Humiliation of Jingkang (Jìngkāng Zhīchǐ) and the Disorders of the Jingkang Era (Jìngkāng Zhīluàn), was an episode of invasions and atrocities that took place in 1127 during the Jin–Song wars when the troops of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty besieged and sacked Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng, Henan), the capital of the Han-led Northern Song dynasty. The Jin forces captured the Song ruler, Emperor Qinzong, along with his father, the retired Emperor Huizong, assorted members of the imperial family from Emperor Taizong's bloodline, aristocrats, and numerous officials of the Song imperial court. The lives of ordinary civilians living in Bianjing's non-imperial quarters were generally spared, but they were forced to hand over enormous amounts of valuables and violence was not uncommon.

This event marked the collapse of the Northern Song dynasty that originally controlled most of China proper. Some members of the Song imperial family, most notably Zhao Gou (later Emperor Gaozong), managed to escape to southern China, where they reestablished the Song dynasty (known in historiography as the Southern Song dynasty), with the new capital in Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou, Zhejiang).

Background

In 1120, under the Alliance Conducted at Sea, the Jin and Song dynasties agreed to form a military alliance against the Liao dynasty and, if victorious, divide up the Liao territories. The Jin would get a large portion of the northern region and the Song would get a smaller portion in the southern area known as the Sixteen Prefectures.

Led by Tong Guan, the Song army marched to the Song–Liao border and was stopped by the defensive forest that the Song had maintained since the reign of Emperor Taizu. In order to pass through, Tong Guan ordered the soldiers to clear the forest and continued the expedition into the Liao.

The Jin army sacked the Liao capital of Shangjing (present-day Bairin Left Banner, Inner Mongolia) and ended the Liao dynasty. The Song army in the south, however, could not even penetrate Liao's defensive positions and the army was defeated by the remaining Liao troops afterwards. This exposed the limitations of the Song army as well as the corruption and inefficiency in the Song imperial court. In the end, the Jin took control of all former Liao territories.

First Siege of Bianjing

The Jin armies invaded Song territory from the west and from the north. When the Jin troops reached the former Song–Liao border, since the original defensive forest was cleared during 1122 expedition, the Jin troops marched through a defenseless border without impediment. The Jin northern army advanced quickly, sacking Qinhuangdao in October 1125, followed by Baoding, Dingzhou, Zhengding and Xingtai in January 1126. This army, commanded by Wanyan Zongwang, did not meet much resistance as most Song generals surrendered their cities as soon as the Jin army arrived. On the other hand, the Jin western army, commanded by Wanyan Zonghan, was held up near the cities of Datong and Taiyuan from the very beginning and did not make much progress for the rest of the campaign.

In February 1126, the Jin northern army crossed the Yellow River and began laying siege to the Song capital, Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng, Henan). Before the city was surrounded, Emperor Huizong had abdicated in favor of his eldest son, Emperor Qinzong, and fled with his entourage. The Jin northern army faced difficult siege warfare that was unsuitable for cavalry. At the same time, the Jin western army was still held up in the Datong area and could not come to the aid of the northern army.

Second Siege of Bianjing

Everything continued as usual once the Jin forces retreated. Lavish daily parties resumed at the imperial palace and Emperor Huizong returned to Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng, Henan).