The grandson, Zhao Kou (趙構), miraculously fled the besieged Sung capital. He led a small contingent of soldiers with a Juchen horde in hot pursuit. Zhao Kou lost his troops and his steed. He had to go on in the heavy rain on foot.

Legend has it that Zhao Kou came to a three-way crossroads but did not know which way he should take. At this critical juncture, a white horse appeared before him all of a sudden and trotted away. All he could do was to follow the horse. After a whole day of trotting, he reached a ruined Taoist temple, where he found a sculpted white horse that was sweating. Exhausted, he dropped to the ground without even trying to find out what was in the temple and fell fast asleep.

In dream, Zhao Kou saw a man dressed in a purple robe, who struck the ground with a club, shouting “Get away, quick.” Jolted awake, Zhao Kou opened his eyes to see a statue that looked exactly like the man in purple robe he met in dream. The plaque hung over it identified it as Cui Fu Jun (崔府君) Majesty of the Cui Clan. Then the prince smelt food and wine. He unknowingly reached out a hand and got a dish of meat and then a bottle of rice wine. Hungry and thirsty, he wolfed down the meat and quenched the thirst with the wine. Reinvigorated, he had to resume the escape. As he stepped out of the temple, he found a white horse before his eyes. The sculpted horse was gone. He rode the horse to continue his escape from the Juchen soldiers.

After escaping capture by the Juchen, Zhao Kou finally arrived at Linan (臨安), the present Hangchow or Hangzhou, where he was proclaimed Gao Zong to found the Southern Sung Dynasty in 1127. He made over the new capital into a beautiful and wealthy metropolis. Marco Polo, who saw it after the fall of the Sung, described it as beyond dispute, the finest and noblest city in the world.”

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