Since 1004 when the Song started to make an annual payment of silk and money to the Liao Empire (大辽, 916–1125), or the Khitan State (契丹国), to buy peace, the Song had wanted to eradicate the Liao.

The Alliance Conducted at Sea (海上之盟) was a political joint venture between the Song Dynasty and the Great Jin Dynasty to push out the Liao jointly and split up the captured territories. In addition, the Song was promised Sixteen Prefectures if Liao is defeated. The alliance was negotiated by envoys across the Bohai Sea (渤海) and thus the name.

From 1121 to 1123, the Song lost momentum in their military campaigns, the Jin continued with the fight.

In 1125, the Liao was destroyed.

As allies of the Song Court, the Jin rulers became very well acquainted with the limitations and weaknesses of the Song, both in terms of political corruption and military inefficiency. The defeat of the Liao Empire disrupted the balance of power that had been in place for over a century and prompted the Jin to invade the Song in the same year.

Emperor Hui-zong (宋徽宗, reign 1100–1126) was quick to realise his mistake in allying with the Jin against the Lia Empire. Before the invaders surrounded the city, his officials convinced him to fake a stroke and abdicate his throne in favour of his eldest son, Emperor Qin-zong (宋钦宗, reign 1126–1127). According to the book, Emperor Huizong, by Patricia Buckley Ebrey, Emperor Hui-zong said, "I must use the excuse of illness. am afraid of disorder breaking out.”

Emperor Qin-zong sternly refused the throne, even pushing off the royal robes that the staff tried to place on him. Emperor Hui-zong and the empress tried their best to persuade him, but they yielded little success. Emperor Hui-zong finally had to resort to ordering his eunuchs to push Qin-zong onto the throne forcibly, and Qin-zong had no other choice but to accept. Emperor Hui-zong then fled to the countryside with his entourage.

In February 1126, the Jin army crossed the Yellow River and began the siege of Kaifeng.

Emperor Qin-zong sent his ninth brother, Zhao Gou, to the enemy camp as envoy for peace talks to end the battle. Instead, Zhao Gou was taken hostage. When the Song produced the ransom, offered the city of Taiyuan (太原) as a gift, and signed a Treaty of Humiliation agreeing to pay colossal war indemnity, Zhao Gou was released, and the Jin army started to withdraw.

After the Jin forces retreated, Emperor Hui-zong returned from the countryside, and life returned to normal. Emperor Qin-zong believed the Jin forces would stay away because of the substantial indemnity.

When experienced generals who defended Kaifeng during the siege suggested increasing the troops garrisoned along the Yellow River, they were either decommissioned or removed from the capital.

A few months after the withdrawal, the Jin sent to the Song two envoys who were nobles from the former Liao Dynasty. Unfortunately, Emperor Qin-zong misjudged the situation and tried to form an Anti-Jin alliance with them. The Jin, upon realising this, were furious and launched an even bigger attack on the Song Empire, except this time, they overcame the city wall and conquered Kaifeng.

Fifteen years after the completion of the artwork, Auspicious Cranes (瑞鹤图), Emperor Hui-zong and Emperor Qin-zong were captured.

The Northern Song Dynasty came to an end.

On 20 March 1127, Emperor Hui-zong and Emperor Qin-zong were demoted to the rank of commoners by the Jin Court.

According to The Accounts of Jingkang (靖康稗史笺证), in addition to looting the palace and imperial residences, the Jin troops also abducted all the female servants and imperial musicians. The female prisoners were ordered to serve the Jin aristocrats no matter their previously held rank in society. The emperors' daughters and concubines were also offered to the Jin princes. To avoid captivity and slavery, many palace women committed suicide.

All the treasures of the Imperial Palace, including the calligraphy and paintings, as well as the captives, were taken to the Jin capital of Shangjing (上京), in present-day Harbin (哈尔滨). Over 14,000 people were forced on this journey, by foot, to the northeast, including the Song royal family and most senior ministers and generals. Along the way, many died of illness, dehydration, and exhaustion.

Upon arrival, each person had to go through a ritual where the person had to be naked and wearing only sheepskins. The two former Song emperors also had to venerate the Jin ancestors at their shrines wearing mourning outfits.

Men were sold into slavery in exchange for horses; one horse was worth up to ten men. Former Song princesses became slaves or concubines to the Jin princes. It was possible to purchase an “ex-royal” for less than ten ounces of gold. Countless Han Chinese committed suicide because they could not bear the humiliation.

This incident was known as the Humiliation of Jingkang (靖康之恥) because the event took place during the Jingkang era of the reign of Emperor Qin-zong. After eight gruesome years, Emperor Hui-zong passed away at the age of 54.

Zhou Gou, Emperor Qin-zong’s brother, was the only one who was not in Kaifeng when the Jurchens captured the capital city. He fled to the South and started the Southern Song Dynasty (南宋, 1127–1279), with capital in Hangzhou (杭州). While many Jews followed the Song Court — moving from Kaifeng to Hangzhou — many others, not too attached to the regime, stayed.

After the successful conquest over northern China, the Jurchens began to migrate into their newly occupied territory. On arrival, they were organised into household-based military units and gifted land by the locals.

The Jurchens, roughly 1.5 million in number, ruled over the local Han Chinese, who vastly out populated them by a ratio of twenty-to-one.

Many lower and middle-class Jurchens intermarried with their Han Chinese neighbours; by 1191, the ban on nobility marrying into the local population was lifted.