Song Taizong, the 'Record of Jiangnan' ('Jiangnan lu'), and an Alternate Ending to the Tang

Abstract

Zhao Kuangyi 趙匡義 (Taizong 太宗, r. 976–997), the second emperor of the Song, succeeded the dynastic founder, his brother Zhao Kuangyin 趙匡 胤 (Taizu 太祖, r. 960–976), under dubious circumstances. Because of the ensuing succession controversy, Taizong altered the historical record to suggest that on her deathbed, his mother Empress Dowager Du 杜 (902–961) had encouraged the transmission of the throne from older brother to younger brother. Peter Lorge has discussed this story and concludes that Taizong had contrived it in collusion with Zhao Pu 趙普 (922–982).1 His usurpation placed a great deal of political pressure upon Taizong, for he had to show that he could handle the responsibility of running the empire. If he failed to prove his competence, he would most likely have faced resistance from the highranking members of the bureaucracy, many of whom had been supporters of the late emperor. Hence, Taizong turned to history to provide a precedent for his controversial succession. Although he rarely proclaimed his admiration for Emperor Taizong of the Tang (r. 626–649) directly, he strived to emulate the great Tang emperor in all his actions. In the first place, the way in which Tang Taizong had secured the throne may have appealed to Song Taizong as a historical model. Tang Taizong’s rise to the throne had not been unproblematic either, for he killed his brother, the designated crown prince, and put his father Gaozu 高祖 (r. 618–626) under house arrest. Yet, despite his