Imperial Kilns of the Song Dynasty

IN 1135, the northern part of the Song Empire was occupied by Jin armies. Eight years earlier in 1127, Bianliang (present-day Kaifeng), capital of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127) had been captured, and Emperor Huizong, named Zhao Ji, was taken prisoner and incarcerated in the small city of Wuguo (in present-day Yilan County, Heilongjiang Province) on the frozen wastes of China’s northern frontier. After eight years of humiliation and torture, Emperor Huizong was barely alive. Clad only in a goatskin, he spent