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 eunuch s gained unprecedented power in the government. His alliance with the Liao led to the Juchen invasion that overthrew the Northern Song.