Dynasties of ChinaEastern JinEastern Jin lineage
Taihe · Reign 365—371
The emperor was deposed by Huan Wen on trumped-up charges. During his reign, Huan Wen was defeated in Fangtou and the construction of Mogao Grottoes began.
Sima, whose name is Yanling, is the second son of Emperor Cheng and the same mother-brother of Emperor Ai. He was first granted the title of Prince of Donghai and later was granted the title of King of Langya. Emperor Ai died of illness in 365, and he succeeded to the throne and changed the Yuan Dynasty to Taihe. At this time, Huan Wen was in power, and the government was presided over by Empress Dowager Chu and Huan Wen. In 369, Huan Wen led his army to the Northern Expedition to Qianyan, but was defeated by Murong Chui in Fangtou. His prestige was greatly damaged. In order to restore his reputation, in 371, Huan Wen asked Empress Dowager Chu to depose Sima Yi as the Prince of Donghai on the grounds that Sima Yi "had a long history of impotence" and "her lover Xianglong and others had children". Soon after, he granted the title of Prince of Donghai to Haixi County and established Emperor Jianwen. One theory is that this was Huan Wen's false accusation. Sima Yi was cautious in his later years and died in 386 at the age of forty-five.
PoliticsSuccession to Yuan Taihe
Emperor Ai died of illness, and King Sima Yi of Langya succeeded to the throne. The following year, he was changed to Yuan Taihe. Huan Wen still controlled the affairs of the court, and the Empress Dowager Chu Suanzi came to the court, making the emperor nothing more than a puppet.
CultureMogao Grottoes began to be excavated
According to the inscriptions of the Tang Dynasty, in the second year of Jianyuan of the former Qin Dynasty, the ascetic Lezun traveled to Mingsha Mountain in Dunhuang and saw thousands of golden lights on the mountain, so he dug the first cave on the cliff. After that, successive dynasties continued to build the Mogao Grottoes.
Lasting legacyThere are more than 700 existing caves in the Mogao Grottoes, which were listed as a World Cultural Heritage in 1987. They are a treasure house of Chinese Buddhist art.
MilitaryThe Defeat of Huan Wen Fangtou
Huan Wen led 50,000 infantrymen from Yan State during the Northern Expedition and advanced to Fangtou. The Yan general Murong Chui and the former Qin reinforcements cut off the food route, and the Jin army burned boats and retreated. They were pursued by Murong Chui in Xiangyi, killing 30,000 people, and Huan Wen's prestige was severely damaged.
PeopleJinchengmu is like this
Huan Wen passed through Jincheng during the Northern Expedition. He saw that the willow tree planted when he was the internal history of Langya in his early years had grown to ten inches thick.
Lasting legacyExpressions such as "The trees are like this, how can people be embarrassed" and "The trees are like this" are still often used to lament the passage of time.
MilitaryThe former Qin destroyed the former Yan
The former Qin Fu Jian sent Wang Meng to lead his army to attack the former Yan army. He defeated the Yan army in Luchuan and captured Yecheng. He captured the former Yan lord Murong Wei and the former Yan army was destroyed. Murong Chui had fled to the former Qin Dynasty due to suspicion.
PoliticsHuan WenDeposed Emperor
In pursuit of prestige, Huan Wen falsely accused Sima Yi of having a hidden illness, and decided to abolish the throne with Xi Chao and others. He forced the Queen Mother Chu to issue an edict to depose Sima Yi as Prince of Donghai, demote him to Haixi County Duke, and change his name to Prince of Huiji Sima Yu, who was Emperor Jianwen.
After Fangtou's defeat, his prestige was damaged, so he deposed Sima Yi in order to reestablish his authority. The abolition of Li Li exposed his ambitions, but in the end he was unable to usurp the throne due to resistance from Xie An, Wang Tanzhi and others.
Born in the Xi family of Gaoping, he was an important counselor of Huan Wen. He participated in planning the abolition of the throne. He was good at conversation and believed in Buddhism. He was the author of "Fengfa Yao".
The son of Murong Hui of the former Yan Dynasty, he defeated Huan Wen at Fangtou in 369. He later fled to the former Qin Dynasty due to suspicion. He recovered after the Battle of Feishui and established the Later Yan Dynasty.
In 370, he led the army to destroy the former Yan and conquered Yecheng, starting the process of the former Qin's unification of the north. He was compared to Zhuge Liang by Fu Jian.