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China: Emperor Ningzong (Zhao Kuo), 13th ruler of the Song Dynasty and 4th ruler of the Southern Song (r. 1194-1224).

Emperor Ningzong (1168–1224) was the 13th emperor of the Song dynasty who reigned from 1194 to 1224. His reign was noted for its cultural and intellectual achievements. In particular, Zhu Xi wrote some of his most famous works during this period. On the political side however, Emperor Ningzong saw his government being plagued by rising inflation that threatened the economy and the military advances by the Jurchen people from the north. In 1279, Kubilai Khan established the Yuan dynasty, an empire that would in less than sixty years after Ningzong's death eliminate the whole of Southern Song dynasty and bring all of China under Mongol domination. 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.