Emperor Hui-zong was undoubtedly one of the most famous emperors of the Song Dynasty, although not for his skills in running the country but for his contributions to Chinese art and culture. According to many art historians, the Song Dynasty created what is Chinese about Chinese painting, defining its perimeters like the Renaissance in the West; indeed, Emperor Hui-zong was instrumental in bringing about this Chinese Renaissance.

During his reign, artists’ social status increased dramatically to a level unmatched in Chinese history. He founded the Hanlin Painting Academy (翰林图画院) to facilitate dialogue and exchange between artists throughout the Chinese Empire. He also took talented court artists under his apprenticeship.

Emperor Hui-zong was an ardent painter. He emphasised three aspects of painting — meticulous realism, painting techniques, and poetic expression. He completed more than 600 paintings in his life, most of which was the realistic portrayal of birds and flowers. Benjamin Rowland Jr. (1904-1972), the Gleason Professor of Fine Arts at Harvard University, used the term "magic realism" to describe the emperor's style. He believed that "Hui-zong's precise, realistic recording of the surface texture of natural objects was simply the result of his desire to record with loving care the little things that filled his days with pleasure."

Emperor Hui-zong was a collector of paintings, calligraphy, and cultural relics from the previous dynasties. It is believed that he had over 6,000 catalogued items in his collection.

It is said that Emperor Hui-zong was presented with Daoist text the identified him as the younger brother of the celestial ruler of the Divine Empyrean who governed the South and became a follower of the doctrine of Lin Linsu (林灵素, 1076–1120), head of the Shenxiao (Divine Empyrean) sect of Taoism.

In 1107, Emperor Hui-zong decreed that Daoist clergies be given precedence over Buddhist monks in court. He ordered that the images of Laozi be removed from monasteries for displaying the Buddha next to Laozi would be placing the Buddha in a superior place that is not deserved. Taoist temples were renamed Shenxiao temples; where Daoist temples did not exist, Buddhist monasteries were converted into Shenxiao temples. Soon after, Emperor Hui-zong issued an edict that forced the conversion of Buddhist monks into Taoist priests. In 1119, he further decreed Buddhism must be assimilated into Daoism.

According to the Shenxiao sect, exorcistic rituals were performed in times of natural disasters on a large scale.

According to Professor Peter C. Sturman of UC Santa Barbara, a specialist in the Chinese painting and calligraphy with a particular focus on text-image relationships, among all of Emperor Hui-zong’s paintings, “none is so enchanting as the short handscroll entitled, ‘Auspicious Cranes;’” and that the “colours and patterns harmonize with such wondrous, elegant decorum that the viewer is left wondering how any artist could conceive such otherworldly beauty." The subject matter and architectural composition make this a textbook example of a Song painting.

The legendary masterpiece is 138.2 cm x 51 cm, painted in ink and colour on silk handscroll. It depicts twenty white cranes above Kaifeng’s Imperial Gates against a blue sky that is bathed in magical clouds.

Emperor Hui-zong created this signature piece when he was 30 years old to commemorate an event on the 16th day of the first month on the lunar calendar, the day after the Lantern Festival (元宵节), in 1112.

According to the emperor’s own words, the poem that accompanied the painting, in the evening of that day, “auspicious clouds” suddenly formed in masses and descended above the Xuande Gate (宣德门), the main gate on the south of Kaifeng palace, illuminating it. Then a flock of white cranes (丹顶鹤) appeared hovering above the Palace, two of them even calmly perched atop the ornamented roof ridge. Finally, after a long while, the flock flew away in the northwest direction.

The timing could not have been better, for Emperor Hui-zong was just about to finish his twelfth year at the throne. In Chinese culture, twelve years mark the completion of one earthly cycle, and it was believed that an emperor who governed for twelve years could reach even more remarkable achievements.

This was interpreted to be a blessing and confirmation of the Mandate of Heaven (上天的使命) for the Daoist Emperor Hui-zong.

Thousands of Kaifeng residents also saw this unusually auspicious sight, so Emperor Hui-zong decided to paint what was witnessed and compose a poem to mark this rare occurrence.

Emperor Hui-zong moved away from the traditional display of courtyard scenery; he showed, instead, the magnificent view of cranes hovering over the palace, flying toward the colourful clouds — the bottom one third showed the upper part of his towering palace gate in symmetrical harmony, surrounded by heavenly clouds which were also a symbol of auspiciousness; the upper two-third began with two cranes standing gracefully on the edge of the rooftop, the one on the right had found stable footing already while the one on the left seemed to have just landed and was not yet stable in its positioning, creating a sense of realism; moving the eye level higher, in the sky painted in stone-blue pigment which seemed clean and bright, 18 white cranes hovered over the roof in an assortment of graceful postures, some looked skyward, while others look downward. The cranes harmoniously and yet dynamically connected the palace gate with the Heaven above, depicted not only an almost immortal world of lifelike elegance and sophisticated realism but also the artist emperor's fervent wish for a prosperous country.

Emperor Hui-zong used talent in the arts as a screening tool to search for high-level government officials and close advisors. He made Gao Qiu (高俅, ?–1126) — a star of the ball game Cuju (蹴鞠), a prototype of soccer — his chief military commander and handed almost all governance to a few court officials. During his 25 years as emperor, he rarely drifted focus away from his artistic and cultural passions.

Emperor Hui-zong devoted little time to improving China's social standing through military means; the Song Dynasty was, therefore, often overwhelmed by nomads from the north. His policies are often cited as a catalyst for the collapse of the Northern Song Dynasty. He was a good artist but a poor ruler.