Huizong

Huizong

 or Hui-tsung or Song Huizong orig. Zhao Ji

(born 1082—died 1135) Penultimate emperor of the Northern Song dynasty in China. A painter and calligrapher, Huizong preferred the arts to government. He urged the painters in his academy to be extremely literal in their representations; his own paintings of birds and flowers are detailed, accurately coloured, and perfectly composed. While he constructed an extravagant new palace garden, political disputes went unresolved and his favourite eunuchs gained unprecedented power in the government. His alliance with the Juchen tribes of Manchuria against the Liao led to the Juchen invasion that overthrew the Northern Song.