A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/Chao Hsien
156 Chao Hsien 趙㬎. A.D. 1271-1277. Third son of Chao Ch'i. He reigned from 1274 to 1276 as seventh Emperor of the Southern Sung dynasty, under the Regency of his mother. He was no sooner placed on the throne than the Mongols invaded the Sung territory in great force, under the leadership of Bayan, who issued a manifesto setting forth the crimes of Chia Ssŭ-tao. Wu-ch'ang offered but a feeble resistance, and having reduced it, Bayan swept down the Yang-tsze, many cities opening their gates. In 1275 Chia Ssŭ-tao, who on hearing of the death of 劉整 Liu Chêng had advanced as Commander-in-chief to Wuhu, was routed after vain attempts to negotiate, and fled to Yang-chou. Nanking was abandoned; Soochow declared for the Mongols; and Hangchow was in a state of siege. All chance of peace was lost by the murder of Mongol envoys near Soochow, and a great naval defeat near Chinkiang sealed the fate of the dynasty. Bayan received the surrender of Hangchow early in 1276, the few patriots who had clung to the falling throne joining one or other of the Princes set up in Fuhkien. The Emperor and most of the Imperial family were sent to Peking, and the former died a year later in the desert of Gobi. Canonised as 恭宗皇帝.