Shunxi

Shunxi (淳熙, 1174–1189) was the third era name of Southern Song Emperor Xiaozong, Zhao Shen (趙昚). It was used for about 16 years. It was formed by taking one character each from Chunhua (淳化) and Yongxi (雍熙), era names used by Emperor Taizong (太宗) of the Northern Song period. It was used from the abdication of Emperor Xiaozong until Emperor Guangzong changed the era to Shaoxi.

Before the era was named Shunxi (淳熙), it was originally to have been named Chunxi (純熙). However, the character 純 (chun) in Chunxi was the character representing the achievement of King Wu of the Zhou dynasty in destroying the Shang dynasty, and there was concern that the Jin might misinterpret it and provoke the Jin. Moreover, the character 屯 (tun) used in 純 represents difficulty, making it an unsuitable character for an era name, and a renaming was requested on that basis. Accordingly, the character 淳 (chun), which has a similar meaning to 純, was substituted, and the era was proclaimed under that name.¹²³⁴

Proclamation

• In the 11th month, 9th day of the 9th year of Qiandao (乾道) (Julian calendar 15 December 1173), the era name was set as Shunxi (淳熙), and it took effect on the 1st day of the 1st month of the following year (Julian calendar 4 February 1174).⁵⁶⁷