[March 19] Huaizong, emperor of China

True Name: Bing 宋帝昺

Parents: Duanzong, emperor of China, and Yu

Date of Birth: 1271

House: Zhao (Song Dynasty)

Predecessor: Duanzong

Reign: 1278 – 1279

Summary: Luck was never on Huaizong's side, nor on the side of his immediate successors. His father died when he was only three. China at the time of his birth was in its death-throws due to the menace of the Mongol Hordes in the north. Huaizong's father, Duzong, was a drunkard and womanizer who gave all his political power to an incompetent minister. When he died, the empire fell to his four-year-old second son, Gong. Control of state remained in the hands of the minister, Jia Sidao, and the Grand Empress Dowager Xie. By this point, most of China was under Mongol control and the emperors were figureheads on the run.  The empress and her grandson surrendered to the Mongols in 1276 leaving the empire under the control of Duzong's elder son, Duanzong. Throughout this entire time, Huaizong was shuttled around China with his siblings, attempting to flee. Duanzong established his capital at Fuzhou in 1277 but the Song monarchy could not hold off the Mongols for long. The princes were forced to flee again in early 1278 and took a ship to Guangdong, where the royals stayed in Hong Kong. During the flight, Duanzong fell from the boat and almost drowned. He died a few months later due to injuries received from the fall. Huaizong, thus, became the only heir left to the Song Dynasty at the age of seven. 

Huaizong was enthroned on 10 May 1278 on Hong Kong but his reign would prove to be short and dramatic. He had no true regency and was unable to govern by himself. Lu Xiufu was one of his only surviving advisors while Empress Dowager Yang ruled technically as the regent. Lu became the prime minister and ran the government for the young emperor, but there was barely any government to run. In 1279, a full-scale Mongol invasion of Hong Kong began led by General Zhang Hongfan. The imperial court was forced to flee again but battle was met at Yamen. The remains of the Song army and navy were obliterated by the Mongols and Huaizong was angry at the ease of the Mongol victory. Lu, seeing the end of the dynasty in sight, acted to ensure another Song prince didn't fall into Mongol hands. He ordered his wife to commit suicide and then informed the emperor that eternal shame would fall on the Song dynasty if the Mongols captured him. Lu then picked up the emperor and the imperial seal and jumped off a cliff into the sea, killing them both. By the end of the battle, tens of thousands of bodies floated dead in the sea, the result of mass suicide by the Song ruling elite. With the death of Huaizong, the Song dynasty came to an end, though former emperor Duanzong lived for many more years as a Mongol prince. The body of Emperor Huaizong was recovered and interred in a tomb at Shekou, Shenzhen Province.

Date of Death: 19 March 1279

Successor: Kublai Khan

Other Monarchs Who Died Today:

• Henry 1, duke of Poland (1238)
• Alexander III, king of Scots (1286)
• Clement XI, pope of Rome (1721)