During his reign; Shenzong became interested in Wang Anshi's policies and appointed Wang as Chancellor. Wang implemented his famous reforms aimed at improving the situation for the peasantry and unemployed; which some have seen as a forerunner of the modern welfare state. These acts became the hallmark reform of Shenzong's reign. Shenzong's other notable act as emperor was his attempt to weaken the formative nation of Xi Xia by invading and expelling the Xi Xia forces from Gansu. Shenzong's army was initially quite successful at these campaigns; but during the battle for the city of Yongle; in 1082; Shenzong's forces were defeated. As a result; Xi Xia grew more powerful and subsequently continued to be a thorn in the side of the Song dynasty over the ensuing decades.

The Song Dynasty (960-1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that succeeded the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period (907-960) and preceded the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368); which conquered the Song in 1279. Its conventional division into the Northern Song (960-1127) and Southern Song (1127-1279) periods marks the conquest of northern China by the Jin Dynasty (1115-1234) in 1127. It also distinguishes the subsequent shift of the Song's capital city from Bianjing (modern Kaifeng) in the north to Lin'an (modern Hangzhou) in the south.