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China: Emperor Zhengzong (Zhao Heng), 3rd ruler of the (Northern) Song Dynasty (r. 997-1022).

Zhenzong's reign was noted for the consolidation of power and the strengthening of the dynasty. The country prospered, and its military might was further reinforced. However, it would also mark the beginning of a foreign policy towards the Khitan Empire (Liao Dynasty) in the north that would ultimately result in humiliation. Zhenzong founded the world's most celebrated ceramic kiln at Jingdezhen in 1004, which continued to produce porcelain for China's imperial use until the fall of the Qing Dynasty 900 years later. Zhenzong stressed the importance of Daoism at Court. From 1013 to 1015 he issued official decrees deifying the Jade Emperor as the highest ruler of Heaven.

The Song Dynasty (960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907–960) and preceded the Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), which conquered the Song in 1279. Its conventional division into the Northern Song (960–1127) and Southern Song (1127–1279) periods marks the conquest of northern China by the Jin Dynasty (1115–1234) in 1127. It also distinguishes the subsequent shift of the Song's capital city from Bianjing (modern Kaifeng) in the north to Lin'an (modern Hangzhou) in the south.