A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/Chao K'uo

by Herbert A. Giles

170 Chao K'uo 趙擴. A.D. 1168-1224. Third son of Chao Tun. He reigned from 1194 to 1224 as fourth Emperor of the Southern Sung dynasty. A good-hearted but feeble ruler, he fell under the domination first of Han T'o-chou, whose niece he married, and on his assassination in 1207, under that of Shih Mi-yüan. Han T'o-chou, by accusing his opponents of caballing, and stigmatising as false learning the teachings of the two Ch'êngs and their followers, was enabled to fill all offices with his own creatures, and to enter upon a war with the Chin^a Tartars in 1206. The war proved disastrous, and ended in the assassination of Han and the acceptance of burdensome conditions of peace in 1208. The Mongols, however, were now penetrating into northern China, and in 1214 the annual tribute was stopped; yet no preparations were made by the short-sighted rulers of the House of Sung against the rising power that was to overwhelm them. A desultory war with the Chins^a ensued, but few engagements took place. On the Emperor's death, the Empress and the all-powerful Shih Mi-yüan passed over the Heir Apparent, who had rashly disclosed his hostility towards the latter, and set up a descendant of the founder of the Sung dynasty. Canonised as 寧宗皇帝.