When talking about Zhao Ji, people can't help but lament that he was born with outstanding artistic talent, but he happened to be born into the royal family. It is not difficult to understand that it is a tragedy for an artist to enter politics. Artists and politicians have nothing to do with each other, and artists entering politics will certainly cause trouble. This is determined by their completely different modes of thinking, character traits, and standards of conduct.
As an accomplished calligrapher and painter in Chinese history, Zhao Ji’s spiritual sustenance rests entirely on poetry, calligraphy and painting. On the other hand, as the son of Song Shenzong of the Northern Song Dynasty, namely Song Huizong, he had no interest or ability in politics at all. During his reign, politics was corrupt and extravagant. Later, he passed the throne to his son Song Qinzong, calling himself "the Supreme Emperor". In the second year of Jingkang, he and Song Qinzong were both captured by the Jin soldiers, and finally died in a foreign country. This may be a tragedy that is bound to happen in the imperial system. As an emperor, Zhao Ji was undoubtedly incompetent, but his high achievements in art and his contribution to Hanyuan art in the Northern Song Dynasty with an artist's sense of responsibility and appreciation cannot be ignored by future generations. .
Zhao Ji’s artistic ideas emphasize the simultaneous development of form and spirit, and advocate the combination of poetry, calligraphy, painting and sealing. He is the founder of meticulous painting. He paints flowers and birds, landscapes, figures, and pavilions. He is outstanding in painting everything. He uses his upright posture to show flexibility, stretch freely, and is full of peaceful atmosphere. He pays attention to sketching, paying close attention to the details of objects, and is famous for his meticulous and realistic painting. It is said that he once used raw lacquer to paint eyes, which were lifelike and amazing. Zhao Ji's paintings are based on natural and realistic objects. He is cleverly conceived and focuses on expressing the ideal world beyond time and space. This characteristic opened the door to changes in the composition of landscape paintings by Liu Songnian, Li Hao and Xia Gui in the Southern Song Dynasty. He also emphasized the painting concept of combining form and spirit. Lawrence Hickman once said in the book "Chinese Art and Chinese Architecture" that Zhao Ji's realistic painting techniques give people extraordinary temptation with "magic realism".
As the emperor who paid the most attention to art and was obsessed with calligraphy and painting in Chinese history, Song Huizong Zhao Ji collected a lot of famous paintings during his reign, and compiled the calligraphy and painting records of the royal painting collection - "Xuanhe Calligraphy" and "Xuanhe Calligraphy". "Xuanhe Painting Book", established the Hanlin Painting Academy and improved its system, and also personally guided the learning and creation of the painters in the painting academy based on his own aesthetic concepts. Regarding painting creation, Zhao Ji not only focused on the meticulous reproduction of the depicted objects, but also required the pictures to contain the artistic conception of poetry, giving people an unforgettable artistic experience. These all played a role in promoting and advocating the painting art of the Song Dynasty. . He also increased the salary of the painters of the art academy and included the art academy in the imperial examination system. He used poems such as "No one can cross the wild water, and the lonely boat is crossing itself" and "The tender green branches are redder, and the annoying spring scenery does not need to be much". Painter, injecting the temperament of "literati painting" into the art academy. Many painters, such as Li Tang, Su Hanchen, Mi Fu, etc., all stood out from this and became famous in the art world.