As If I Were Here in Person: Imperial Portrait Worship and Political Life in the Song Dynasty

This book is a general reading about the political history and art history of the Song Dynasty. The author Huang Bo focuses on the historical facts and anecdotes of the portraits of emperors in the Song Dynasty, looks at the pictures, analyzes and examines, and draws a unique picture of the political life of the Song Dynasty. The book uses a brisk writing style to control rigorous academic themes. The symbolic portraits of the emperors of the Song Dynasty played a magical effect of "I am personally present" in the diplomatic exchanges and military confrontations between the two Song Dynasties. In the defeat and separation of the Northern Song Dynasty, it spawned scenes of touching stories of "defending the emperor to the death", reflecting the emperor's The visual display of the king's portrait is important to the operation of imperial power; at the same time, through the transfer and reconstruction of the Yurong Palace, and the "role-playing" of the emperor's portrait on gods and sages, it reveals the power game between the imperial power and scholar-bureaucrats, and between the central and local governments behind the ceremony, providing a new perspective for the study of the political history of the Song Dynasty. The book is full of pictures and texts, printed in color, and is both academically rigorous and interesting to read.