Statues Of Qin Hui And Lady Wang

Yue Fei Temple, Hangzhou

Iron statues (a Song innovation) of Prime Minister Qin Hui and his wife, symbolically bound like criminals, were installed in the precincts as a damnatio memoriae (the protective fence is modern). The pair are considered traitors, both because of Qin Hui's execution of Yue Fei (on Lady Wang's advice) and because of their accommodationist policies towards the Jin invaders.

Emperor Gaozong himself, whether or not he was personally complicit in Yue Fei's death, was at the very least a supporter and beneficiary of Qin Hui's policy; if Yue Fei had been allowed to live and defeat the Jin, then Gaozong's rule would have been superseded by Qinzong, the last Northern Song emperor, whom the Jin were then holding in captivity.