The Seiko Incident

An incident that led to the downfall of the Northern Song Dynasty in China. Jingkang (1126) was the era name of the 9th emperor, Qinzong. The Northern Song Dynasty was suffering from the dual external pressures of the Liao Dynasty and the Jin Dynasty behind it, but the 8th emperor, Huizong, allied with the Jin Dynasty to attack the Liao Dynasty from both sides and try to seize Liao's Nanjing (Yenjing, present-day Beijing). The Jin army defeated the Liao Dynasty on its own and handed over the vacant city of Yanjing to the Song Dynasty, but the Song Dynasty did not fulfill its promises (such as increasing the annual tax), so they surrounded the Song capital of Kaifeng and aimed to take control of northern China. Huizong abdicated and Qinzong ascended to the throne, and they tried to make peace, but another breach of the agreement led the Jin army to attack and capture Kaifeng at the end of leap year November, taking Huizong and Qinzong, the royal family, and over 3,000 officials as prisoners, and seizing 40 million taels of silver, 3 million tablets of gold, 54 million pieces of silk, and other items from the national treasury, before returning in triumph to the northeast. In May of the following year, Qinzong's younger brother, King Kang, ascended to the throne (Gaozong), and the dynasty was restored, establishing the Southern Song Dynasty. During this time, the Jin had the Northern Song bureaucrat Zhang Bangchang set up a puppet government called the State of Chu, but Gaozong dismantled it and defended the Jin army across the Huai River.

[Yoshinobu Shiba]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、北宋(ほくそう)王朝滅亡の事変。靖康（1126）は第9代欽宗(きんそう)の年号。北宋は遼(りょう)とその背後の金(きん)の二重の外圧に苦しんでいたが、第8代徽宗(きそう)は金と同盟して遼を挟攻し、遼の南京(なんけい)（燕京(えんけい)。現在の北京(ペキン)）を奪おうとした。金軍は独力で遼を破り、空城となった燕京などを宋に譲ったが、宋側が約束した事項（歳幣の増加など）を果たさなかったので、宋都の開封(かいほう)を囲み、華北の領有を目ざした。徽宗は退位して欽宗が即位し、講和を進めたが、ふたたび違約がきっかけで金軍は閏(うるう)11月末開封を攻め落とし、徽宗・欽宗父子、皇族、官僚3000余人を捕虜とし、国庫の銀4000万両、金300万錠(じょう)、絹5400万疋(びき)などを奪って、東北方面へ凱旋(がいせん)した。翌年5月、欽宗の弟の康(こう)王が即位し（高宗）、王朝は再興されて南宋(なんそう)が成立した。この間、金は北宋の官僚張邦昌(ちょうほうしょう)に楚(そ)国という傀儡(かいらい)政権をつくらせたが、高宗はこれを解体し、淮河(わいが)を境に金軍を防いだ。

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