Emperor Duanzong

Emperor Duanzong of Song 宋端宗
Emperor of the Song dynasty
Reign	14 June 1276 – 8 May 1278
Predecessor	Emperor Gong
Successor	Zhao Bing
Born	Zhao Shi (1269-07-10)10 July 1269
Died	8 May 1278(1278-05-08) (aged 8)
Era dates Jingyan (景炎; 1276–1278) Posthumous name Yuwen Zhaowu Minxiao Huangdi (裕文昭武愍孝皇帝) or Xiaogong Renyu Cisheng Ruiwen Yingwu Qinzheng Huangdi (孝恭仁裕慈聖睿文英武勤政皇帝) Temple name Duanzong (端宗)
House	House of Zhao
Father	Emperor Duzong
Mother	Consort Yang

Emperor Duanzong of Song (10 July 1269 – 8 May 1278), personal name Zhao Shi, was the 17th emperor of the Song dynasty in China and the eighth emperor of the Southern Song dynasty. He was the fifth son of Emperor Duzong and an elder brother of his predecessor, Emperor Gong.

Emperor Gong surrendered to the Mongol Empire in 1276 after the fall of the Song capital, Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou). Zhao Shi and his seventh brother, Zhao Bing, managed to escape southward to Fujian Province, where the new Song capital was established. Zhao Shi was enthroned as the new emperor. However, in 1278, the Mongols broke through the Song dynasty's last lines of defence, forcing Zhao Shi to flee again.^[1] Accompanied by ministers such as Lu Xiufu, Zhao Shi boarded a ship and fled further south to Guangdong Province. Thereafter, he stayed temporarily in Hong Kong. The historical relic Sung Wong Toi in present-day Hong Kong's Kowloon City commemorates Zhao Shi's escape to Hong Kong.

In March 1278, while fleeing from the Mongols, Zhao Shi fell from a boat and almost drowned. After his rescue, he became ill and died a few months later in Gangzhou (碙州; present-day Lantau Island, Hong Kong).^[1] He was succeeded by his seventh brother, Zhao Bing.

See also

• List of emperors of the Song dynasty
• Architecture of the Song dynasty
• Culture of the Song dynasty
• Economy of the Song dynasty
• History of the Song dynasty
• Society of the Song dynasty
• Technology of the Song dynasty

References

• Toqto'a, ed. (1343). History of Song. Volume 47.