Kao-tsung (1107-1187) was a Chinese emperor. After the Sung dynasty lost the North, he continued Sung rule in the South and became the first emperor of the Southern Sung.

As the ninth son of Emperor Hui-tsung (1082-1135) and child of a concubine, the Lady Wei, the future emperor Kao-tsung would not normally have risen to the throne, but after Emperor Ch'in-tsung (1100-1161) and the abdicated Hui-tsung were taken prisoner, he ascended the throne in what was then the Southern capital. The Sung forces, confronting Chin (Jürchen) armies as well as widespread rebellion in the South, were unable to hold their position, and still in the first year of his reign, Kao-tsung had to flee farther south.

A low point in Kao-tsung's career came in 1129, when the generals Miao Fu and Liu Cheng-yen succeeded in deposing him for 28 days before they were defeated by loyal forces under...