Dynasties of ChinaEastern JinEastern Jin lineage
Xianhe · Xiankang · Reign 325—342
He ascended the throne at the age of five. First, his relative Yu Liang assisted in the administration, which triggered Su Jun's rebellion and Jiankang was burned. After the rebellion, Wang Dao and Yu came to power one after another.
Sima Yan was named Shigen, the eldest son of Emperor Ming, and his biological mother Yu Wenjun. Emperor Ming died in 325, and he ascended the throne at the age of five. Empress Dowager Yu came to the throne, with Wang Dao, Yu Liang and others assisting the government. Yu Liang, his relative, actually took power. In order to weaken the local strength, Yu Liang recruited Liyang's internal historian Su Jun to join the court in 326. In 327, Su Jun and his ancestors launched an army. In 328, they captured Jiankang, hijacked Emperor Cheng, and looted the palace. Most of the palaces were burned down, and Empress Dowager Yu died of grief and anger.
In 329, Tao Kan, Wen Jiao and others led the armies of Jing, Jiang and Henan to work together to quell the rebellion. Su Jun died in the battle and Jiankang was severely damaged. After that, the imperial court discussed moving the capital, and Wang Dao advocated staying in Jiankang, and the political situation gradually stabilized. After the Emperor became an adult, the government was successively controlled by Wang Dao, Yu Liang, Yu Bing and other powerful clans: Wang Dao died in 339, and the Yu brothers took control of Jing and Jiang, overwhelming the government and the opposition. Emperor Cheng died of illness in June 342 at the age of twenty-two. Since the prince was still young, his brother Sima Yue succeeded him.
Emperor Cheng reigned for seventeen years, and for most of the time his relatives and powerful ministers were in charge, without much autonomy. The Su Jun Rebellion that occurred during his reign almost overthrew the Eastern Jin. After the rebellion, it was stabilized through the efforts of Wang Dao, Tao Kan and others; Wang Dao's idea of leaving the capital in Jiankang preserved the foundation of the Eastern Jin state. The rise of the Yu brothers also caused the Eastern Jin clan politics to shift from the dominance of the Langya Wang family to a new stage in which the Yu family, Huan family and other families coexisted.
Politicsascended the throne at a young age
Emperor Ming died of illness and Sima Yan came to the throne at the age of five. The Empress Dowager Yu ruled as regent, with Situ Wang Dao, Zhongshu Ling Yu Liang and others assisting the government. Yu Liang took charge of the government as an uncle, while Wang Dao was relegated to a secondary position.
PoliticsRecruit Su Jun
Yu Liang was worried that Su Jun, the internal history of Liyang, had a large number of troops and was arrogant and uncontrollable, so he wanted to recruit him to serve as the chief minister of agriculture. Wang Dao, Wen Jiao and others tried to dissuade him, but Yu Liang still insisted on going his own way. Su Jun refused to obey the imperial edict, so he joined forces with Zu Yue to raise troops.
MilitarySu Jun's Rebellion
Su Jun and Zu Yue marched eastward with their troops and invaded Jiankang in 328. They robbed Emperor Cheng of Stone City and looted the city. Most of the palaces were burned down and Empress Dowager Yu died of grief. Wen Jiao, the governor of Jiangzhou, recommended Tao Kan, the governor of Jingzhou, as the leader of the alliance. The coalition forces fought hard in the Jiankang area. Su Jun died in the battle in 329, and the rebellion was put down.
Lasting legacyJiankang Palace was burned down, and then Eastern Jin rebuilt the palace city, which was later called "Taicheng". The area around Jiming Temple in Nanjing was the old palace city of the Six Dynasties.
MilitaryLater Zhao destroyed former Zhao
In 328, Shi Lei was defeated in Luoyang and captured and killed the former Zhao leader Liu Yao. In 329, Shi Hu captured Chang'an, the former Zhao was destroyed, and the latter Zhao occupied most of the north. In 330, when Shi Lei proclaimed himself emperor, Eastern Jin and Hou Zhao confronted each other across the river.
PoliticsProposal to move the capital
After the rebellion, Jiankang was in ruins. Wen Jiao advocated moving the capital to Yuzhang, while Sanwu Haoqiang advocated moving the capital to Kuaiji. Wang Dao argued that "the emperor's home is all over the world" and "should not be shaken". He persuaded everyone and Jiankang was retained as the capital of Eastern Jin.
Science & technologyYu Xi discovered the precession of equinox
On the basis of previous observations, astronomer Yu Xi discovered that the winter solstice point moved westward year by year. He proposed that "the sky itself is the sky, and the years are their own years." He estimated that the difference is about one degree in fifty years. He was the first person in China to discover the precession of equinox. Later Zu Chongzhi introduced precession into the calendar.
Lasting legacyPrecession is still a basic concept in astronomy and calendars. Zu Chongzhi's "Da Ming Calendar" was the first calendar to introduce precession.
EconomyDutian tax rice
In the early years of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, rents were levied according to ding. During the Xianhe and Xiankang years, the land was measured as one-tenth of the common people's land. Each mu of land was taxed at three liters, which was called "field tax rice." This is an important adjustment to the Eastern Jin land tax system.
SocietyRebuilding Jiankang Palace
After the Su Jun Rebellion, the imperial court rebuilt the Jiankang Palace City, which took several years. It was basically completed in the seventh year of Xianhe, and Emperor Cheng moved into the new palace. After that, Jiankang Palace became the palace city of Eastern Jin, Southern Song Dynasty, Qi, Liang and Chen, and was known as Taicheng in history.
PeopleTao Kan passed away
After the famous general Tao Kan pacified Su Jun and Zu Yue, he served as the governor of Jing, Jiang, Yong, Liang and other prefectures for a long time, guarding Wuchang. He was diligent in official affairs and managed the army strictly. He died of illness in 334 at the age of seventy-five, and Yu Liang took over Jingzhou.
CultureEstablishing Chinese Studies
Yuan Xuan, the son of the State, and Feng Huaishang, Taichang, asked for the establishment of Guoxue. Emperor Cheng granted their request and established Taixue in Jiankang. At that time, the war had just subsided. Although the school was established, the academic performance was not good, and most of the children of the wealthy families were only in name.
Lasting legacyThe Nanjing Confucius Temple area is said to be the site of the former Imperial College of Eastern Jin. The Confucius Temple was built in the Song Dynasty and is still a cultural attraction in Nanjing.
MilitaryThe establishment of the former Yan and Dai states
In 337, Murong Hui of Xianbei was called King Yan in Liaodong, and in history it was called Qianyan; in 338, Tuoba Shiyiqian established the Dai state in Shengle, and the Xianbei tribes gradually became more powerful, becoming a new variable in the northern pattern.
PeopleWang Dao passed away
The elder Wang Dao died of illness at the age of sixty-four. He served as an official in the Yuan, Ming and Cheng dynasties, and was a highly respected minister. After his death, the Yu brothers Yu Liang, Yu Bing, and Yu Yi took charge of the government successively, and the clan politics entered the period of Yu's dictatorship.
CultureThe Dispute between the Samana King and the Jing Jing
Yu Bing assisted the government and advocated that monks should pay homage to the emperor. Shangshu Ling He Chong and others strongly opposed it. The two sides started a debate. In the end, monks did not need to pay homage to the king, which reserved an independent space for the development of Buddhism in Jiangzuo.
PeopleYu Liang passed away
Yu Liang guarded Wuchang and was determined to make the Northern Expedition, but he failed to make it and died of illness in 340. His younger brother Yu Yi took over Jingzhou, and Yu Bing was in power. The Yu brothers were powerful both at home and abroad until the rise of Huan Wen.
PoliticsDied of illness and his brother and sister
In June, Emperor Cheng was seriously ill. Yu Bing and Yu Yi, on the grounds that the country was in trouble and it was appropriate to establish an eldest king, changed Emperor Cheng's brother Sima Yue to Emperor Kang. Emperor Cheng died of illness at the age of twenty-two and was buried in Xingpingling, leaving his two young sons alone.
During the Yuan, Ming and Cheng dynasties, Emperor Cheng co-administered the government with Yu Liang in the early years. During Su Jun's rebellion, he insisted on staying in Jiankang, but Zhang Liu, the last ruler, refused to move. He died of illness in 339.
The Yu family of Yingchuan, the maternal uncle of Emperor Cheng, took charge of the government in the early years. Due to the great chaos caused by recruiting Su Jun, he invited himself to go abroad, and later guarded Wuchang. His ambition of the Northern Expedition was unsuccessful, and he died of illness in 340.
A native of Changguangye County, he gathered a crowd to protect himself in the late Western Jin Dynasty, and later led his troops to cross south and join the Eastern Jin. In 327, he was dissatisfied with Yu Liang's conscription and raised troops. In 328, he invaded Jiankang and died in the rebellion.
Born into a poor family, he successively served as the governor of Jingzhou and the military commander of the eight states of Jingjiang, Yongliang and Liang. He was promoted as the leader of the alliance during Su Jun's rebellion. After the rebellion was over, he was promoted to Taiwei. He is the great-grandfather of Tao Yuanming.
King Qin was the first to advocate during Su Jun's rebellion, and he promoted Tao Kan as the leader of the alliance. He personally led the army into Jiankang and died of illness soon after. He once opposed Yu Liang's proposal to recruit Su Jun.
The younger brother of Yu Liang, he came to power after the death of Wang Dao in 339. He advocated the succession of the elder brother to the younger brother and the establishment of Emperor Kang instead. He also advocated the recluse king Jing. Emperor Kang left Zhenjiang Prefecture and died of illness in 344.
Emperor Cheng, who was from Lujiang, was serving as Zhongshu Ling at the time. He opposed the establishment of Emperor Kang and advocated passing the throne to Emperor Cheng's son. He also opposed King Jing, the monk. Emperor Kang and Emperor Mu successively served as the Minister of Records and presided over the affairs of the court.