Emperor Taizong of Song in the context of Zhao Defang

Emperor Taizu of Song (21 March 927 – 14 November 976), personal name Zhao Kuangyin, courtesy name Yuanlang, was the founding emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 960 until his death in 976. Formerly a distinguished military general of the Later Zhou dynasty, Emperor Taizu came to power after staging a coup d'état and forcing Emperor Gong, the last Later Zhou ruler, to abdicate the throne in his favor.

During his reign, Emperor Taizu conquered the states of Southern Tang, Later Shu, Southern Han, and Jingnan, thus reunifying most of China proper. To strengthen his control, he lessened the power of military generals and relied on civilian officials in administration. He was succeeded by his younger brother, Zhao Kuangyi (Emperor Taizong).

The Taiping Yulan, translated as the Imperial Reader or Readings of the Taiping Era, is a massive Chinese leishu encyclopedia compiled by a team of scholars from 977 to 983. It was commissioned by the imperial court of the Song dynasty during the first era of the reign of Emperor Taizong. It is divided into 1,000 volumes and 55 sections, which consisted of about 4.7 million Chinese characters. It included citations from about 2,579 different kinds of documents spanning from books, poetry, odes, proverbs, steles to miscellaneous works. After its completion, the Emperor Taizong is said to have finished reading it within a year, going through 3 volumes per day. It is considered one of the Four Great Books of Song.

The team who compiled the Taiping Yulan includes: Tang Yue (湯悅), Zhang Wei (張洎), Xu Xuan (徐鉉), Song Bai (宋白), Xu Yongbin (徐用賓), Chen E (陳鄂), Wu Shu (吳淑), Shu Ya (舒雅), Lü Wenzhong (吕文仲), Ruan Sidao (阮思道), Hu Meng (扈蒙), Li Fang (李昉), and others.

The Jingkang Incident (Chinese: 靖康事變; pinyin: Jìngkāng shì biàn), also known as the Humiliation of Jingkang (靖康之恥; Jìngkāng zhī chǐ) and the Disorders of the Jingkang Period (靖康之亂; Jìngkāng zhī luàn), was an episode of invasions and atrocities that took place in 1127 during the Jin–Song Wars when the troops of the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty besieged and sacked the imperial palaces in Bianjing (present-day Kaifeng), the capital of the Han-led Northern Song dynasty. The Jin forces captured the Northern Song ruler, Emperor Qinzong, along with his father, the retired Emperor Huizong, and many members of the imperial family of Emperor Taizong's bloodline and officials of the Song imperial court. The ordinary Song civilians of Bianjing living in the non-imperial quarter were left alone after being forced to pay huge ransoms to the Jin.

This event marked the collapse of the Northern Song dynasty that originally controlled most of China proper. Many members of the Song imperial family, most notably Zhao Gou (later Emperor Gaozong), managed to escape to southern China, where they reestablished the Song dynasty (known in historiography as the Southern Song dynasty) in the new capital, Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou). This event also greatly contributed to the return of the descendants of Emperor Taizu to the line of succession, as most of Emperor Taizong's descendants were abducted; Emperor Gaozong himself failed to produce an heir as well. This event is known as the "Jingkang Incident" because it took place during the Jingkang era of the reign of Emperor Qinzong.

Chai Rong (Chinese: 柴榮) (27 October 921 – 27 July 959), later known as Guo Rong (郭榮), also known by his temple name as the Emperor Shizong of Later Zhou, was the second emperor of the Later Zhou dynasty of China, during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. He reigned from 954 until his death in 959. He succeeded his uncle-in-law Guo Wei (Emperor Taizu), whose surname he had adopted.

Emperor Shizong is considered a highly successful emperor of the Five Dynasties period. He centralized military power by his reforms, and proved his military prowess by a series of victories against Northern Han, Later Shu, Southern Tang, and the Liao dynasty. Although his accomplishments were limited due to his premature death, they paved the way for the eventual unification of large parts of China proper by the Northern Song, founded by his trusted generals Zhao Kuangyin and Zhao Guangyi.

Emperor Zhenzong of Song (23 December 968 – 23 March 1022), personal name Zhao Heng, was the third emperor of the Song dynasty of China. He reigned from 997 to his death in 1022. His personal name was originally Zhao Dechang, but was changed to Zhao Yuanxiu in 983, Zhao Yuankan in 986, and finally Zhao Heng in 995. He was the third son of his predecessor, Emperor Taizong, and was succeeded by his sixth son, Emperor Renzong at the end of his reign. From 1020 he was seriously ill, but retained power despite this. Because of his illness, day-to-day rule of China was often placed in the hands of his third wife, Empress Liu.

Zhao Dezhao (趙德昭) (951 – 26 August 979) was an imperial prince of the Chinese Song dynasty.

Officially the Prince Yi of Yan (燕懿王), he was the second son of Emperor Taizu and the crown prince since his elder brother died young. However, he did not succeed the throne after his father, as his uncle Emperor Taizong assumed power.

Empress Dowager Du (杜太后, given name unknown, c. 902 – 17 July 961) was an empress dowager of imperial China's Song dynasty. She was the wife of general Zhao Hongyin and the mother of Emperor Taizu of Song, who founded the Song dynasty.

After her death, another son, Emperor Taizong, succeeded Emperor Taizu, claiming legitimacy on grounds of their mother's will, alleged to be sealed in a golden shelf at her death. Many historians believe that this was actually a fabrication by Emperor Taizong.