Dynasties of ChinaWei, Jin & the Northern and Southern Dynasties · Division and exchange
4 Western Jin emperors · AD 266-316 · 3 generations of succession
The Sima family replaced Wei and conquered Wu to end the Three Kingdoms. The War of the Eight Princes and the Yongjia catastrophe ended a reunification lasting only a few decades.
Dynastic color · Pale blue
Western Jin was another unified dynasty after Qin & Han, founded by the Sima clan in Hanoi. In 249, Sima Yi launched the Gaoping Ling Revolution and took control of the Cao Wei Dynasty; his sons Sima Shi and Sima Zhao took power successively and destroyed the Shu Han in 263. Sima Zhao died in 265, and his son Sima Yan succeeded to the throne of Jin. In December of the same year (266 in the Gregorian calendar), he forced Wei Emperor YuanCao Huanabdication to establish the Jin Dynasty, with its capital in Luoyang, known as Western Jin in history.
In 280, the Jin army divided into six groups to attack Wu. Wang Jun's ship sailed eastward along the Yangtze River, and Sun Hao, the Lord of Wu, surrendered, and the Three Kingdoms were unified. Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty implemented the land occupation system and the household adjustment system, and dismissed the state and county soldiers. The society was once stable and prosperous, and it was known as the "Taikang Rule" in history. However, Emperor Wu enfeoffed the clan kings and granted military power, and allowed the nobles to become extravagant. He insisted on passing the throne to the mentally retarded Crown Prince Sima Zhong, which paved the way for future troubles.
After the death of Emperor Wu in 290, his relative Yang Jun, Queen Jia Nanfeng and the clan kings successively competed for the center, leading to the Eight Kings Rebellion that lasted for sixteen years. The Central Plains was ruined and refugees were everywhere. The Xiongnu, Jie and other tribes who moved inland took advantage of the situation. In 304, the Xiongnu noble Liu Yuan launched an army and founded the country. In 311, the Han army captured Luoyang and captured Jin Emperor Huai, which was known as the Yongjia Rebellion in history. In 316, Liu Yao captured Chang'an, Emperor Min of Jin surrendered, and Western Jin was destroyed. The following year, Langya King Sima Rui was proclaimed King of Jin in Jiankang, and was known as Eastern Jin in history.
After the reign of Wu in 280, a land occupation system was implemented: men could occupy 70 acres of land, women could occupy 30 acres, and male men could occupy 50 acres of land. According to the household type, three pieces of silk and three pounds of cotton were levied on each household. Officials also occupied land according to their rank and could provide shelter to relatives and tenants.
Promulgated in 268, it was revised by Jia Chong and others on the basis of the old laws of the Han and Wei dynasties, with a total of twenty articles. For the first time, it "approved the five observances to control crimes" and incorporated Confucian etiquette into the laws. Du Yu and Zhang Fei made annotations for it, which had a profound impact on later generations of laws.
Following the nine-rank Zhongzheng system of Cao Wei, Zhongzheng officials were mostly controlled by aristocratic families, forming a situation that Liu Yi said, "There are no poor families in the upper ranks, and no powerful families in the lower ranks." The gentry monopolized official career and advocated luxury, which is reflected in Shi Chong's struggle for wealth with Wang Kai.
Zhong Rong said "Three Zhangs, Two Lus, Two Pans, and One Zuo", Lu Ji's "Wen Fu" systematically discussed creation, Zuo Si's "San Du Fu" attracted "Luoyang Zhigui", Pan Yue's poems were famous for their lamentation, and the Western Jin literary world prospered for a while.
Chen Shou wrote "Three Kingdoms", which is called the "First Four Histories" together with "Historical Records", "Hanshu" and "Later Hanshu"; Pei Xiu painted "Yugong Regional Map" and proposed "Six Types of Cartography"; Wang Shuhe wrote "Mai Jing", and Huangfu Mi wrote "Acupuncture Jia Yi Jing".
Inheriting the Xuanfeng from the beginning of the Wei Dynasty, scholars respected Lao Zhuang and were keen on talking. Guo Xiang annotated "Zhuangzi" to reconcile famous teachings and nature; Pei Wei wrote "Chongyou Lun" to criticize the theory of valuing nothing. Wang Yan and others held high positions but talked with each other through plain talk, which was regarded by later generations as a trend that harmed the country.
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After the death of Emperor Wei Ming, Sima Yi and Cao Shuang jointly assisted Young Emperor Cao Fang. Sima Yi took advantage of Cao Shuang's visit to Gaoping Ling with Cao Fang to launch a coup and annihilated the Cao Shuang group. The Sima family has since taken control of the power of Cao Wei.
After Sima Zhao destroyed Shu, he was granted the title of King of Jin. He died in 265 and was succeeded by his son Sima Yan. In December of the same year (February 266 of the Gregorian calendar), Sima Yan forced Wei Emperor YuanCao Huanabdication to establish the Jin Dynasty, change the Yuan Dynasty to Taishi, and ennoble 27 people from the clan as kings.
Emperor Wu adopted the suggestions of Yang Hu, Du Yu, and Zhang Hua, and in the winter of 279 he sent more than 200,000 troops to attack Wu in six directions. Wang Jun led a building boat down the river from Bashu, burned the iron locks blocking the river, and reached Jianye. In 280, Sun Hao, the Lord of Wu, surrendered and the Three Kingdoms were unified.
After unification, Emperor Wu dismissed the state and county soldiers, implemented the land occupation system and household adjustment, and encouraged reclamation. The society experienced a short period of stability and prosperity, which is known as the "Taikang Rule" in history. However, the extravagant style of the gentry also became popular, such as Shi Chong and Wang Kai's fight for wealth.
Both the government and the public are interested in the talented King QiSima You, the younger brother of Emperor Wu. In order to protect the throne of Crown Prince Sima Zhong, Emperor Wu forced him to leave the capital and go to the country. Sima You fell ill with anger and vomited blood and died. The succession pattern of Emperor Hui was thus determined.
After Emperor Hui ascended the throne, Queen Jia Nanfeng teamed up with King Sima Wei of Chu to kill Yang Jun, his relative who was assisting the government. She also used Sima Wei's hand to kill King Sima Liang of Runan, and then executed Sima Wei for the crime of falsifying the imperial edict. After that, she specialized in government affairs for nearly ten years.
Eight kings of Runan, Wang Liang of Runan, Wang Wei of Chu, Wang Lun of Zhao, King Qi Ji, Wang Yi of Changsha, Wang Ying of Chengdu, Wang Yong of Hejian, and Prince of Donghai of Yue successively competed for the center. In the sixteen years before and after the melee, Luoyang changed hands several times, the Central Plains were devastated, and the power of Western Jin was exhausted.
After the 10,000-year uprising of the Di and Qiang people in Guanzhong was put down, Jiang Tong wrote "On Migration to the Rong", pointing out that conflicts would easily arise between ethnic groups that moved inland and living together with the Han people, and advocated that they be moved back to their hometowns, but the court did not adopt it.
Empress Jia deposed and killed Crown Prince Sima Yu. King Zhao Sima Lun launched a coup in this name, deposed and killed Empress Jia, and usurped the throne and proclaimed himself emperor the following year. King Qi, the King of Chengdu, and the King of Hejian launched an army to attack. Sima Lun was defeated and killed, and a full-scale melee broke out among the kings.
Liu Yuan, a nobleman of the Xiongnu, raised an army in Lishi. He regarded himself as a nephew of the Han Dynasty and called himself King of Han. He became emperor in 308 and was called Qian Zhao (Han Zhao) in history. In the same year, Li Xiong from Di proclaimed himself king in Chengdu, and later established the Han Dynasty, thus beginning the Sixteen Kingdoms era.
Shi Lei annihilated the main force of more than 100,000 Jin troops in Ningping City, Ku County, and Taiwei Wang Yan was captured and killed. Later, Liu Yao, Wang Mi and others broke through Luoyang, captured Jin Emperor Huai, and killed more than 30,000 princes and civilians. A large number of Central Plains gentry moved south to Jiangzuo.
Emperor Huai was killed in Pingyang, the news spread to Chang'an, and Crown Prince Sima Ye came to the throne as Emperor Min. At this time in Chang'an, "there were not more than a hundred households, and there were forests of wormwood and thorns." There were only four public and private vehicles, and the imperial court existed in name only.
Liu Yao besieged Chang'an, and the food in the city was exhausted. Dou rice was worth two taels of gold, and everyone ate each other. Emperor Min rode out of the city in a sheep cart with his jade in his hand and surrendered, and Western Jin was destroyed. Emperor Min was taken captive to Pingyang and later killed.
He was born in the Yang family of Taiyang and had been in Xiangyang for nearly ten years. He cultivated fields and accumulated grains. He treated the Wu people with kindness and respected each other with Wu general Lu Kang. He went to Shu several times to take charge of the attack on Wu, and before his death he recommended Du Yu to take over as his successor. After Wu was defeated, Emperor Wu burst into tears and said, "This is the merit of Grand Tutor Yang."
After Yang Hu was the governor of Jingzhou, he conquered Jiangling during the expedition against Wu. He encouraged the generals to advance eastward along the river with the words "like a broken bamboo". This is where the "power is like a broken bamboo" came from. He claims to have "Zuo Zhuan addiction", and his "Spring and Autumn period Zuo Shi Jing Zhuan" is the earliest existing complete annotated version of "Zuo Zhuan".
When he was appointed governor of Yizhou, he was ordered to build a large ship in Shuzhong, which could accommodate more than 2,000 people. During the expedition against Wu, he led his navy down the east side of the Yangtze River and burned the iron locks blocking the river with torches until he reached Jianye and was surrendered by Sun Hao. Liu Yuxi once said, "Wang Jun's boat sailed down to Yizhou".
The eldest son of Sima Zhao, he succeeded to the throne of Jin in 265, and Wei proclaimed himself emperor in 266Date range of the Gregorian calendar. In 280, Wu was destroyed, the division of the Three Kingdoms ended, the land occupation system and other measures were implemented, and the rule of Taikang was created. In his later years, he neglected political affairs and indulged in pleasure. He also insisted on passing the throne to the low-intelligence Crown Prince and ennobled the clan, laying the foundation for trouble.
From official to Sikong. He presided over the compilation of eighteen chapters of the "Yugong Regional Map". In the preface, he proposed the "Six Cartographic Elements" of division, quasi-view, daoli, high and low, square and straight, and tortuous. He systematically elaborated on the principles of scale, orientation, distance, etc., and laid the theoretical foundation for ancient Chinese cartography.
He was playful since he was a child, and after the age of 20, he set out to study hard and repeatedly refused to be recruited by the imperial court. Suffering from wind paralysis in middle age, he studied medicine and compiled "Su Wen", "Acupuncture Classic" and "Acupuncture Treatment Essentials of Mingtang Points", and compiled "Acupuncture Classic A and B", which is the earliest existing monograph on acupuncture.
A native of Anhan in Brazil, he was originally an official in the Shu Han Dynasty and later served as a scholar in the Jin Dynasty. He wrote sixty-five volumes of "Three Kingdoms Chronicles", taking Wei as the orthodox and recording Three Kingdoms separately. The narrative is concise and rigorous. Together with "Historical Records", "Han Shu" and "Later Han Shu", it is called the "First Four Histories". Pei Songzhi of the Southern Song Dynasty annotated it.
He came from a humble background but was very knowledgeable. He highly praised Emperor Wu for his contribution to the conquest of Wu and his overall planning. When Emperor Hui returned, he and Pei Wei and others jointly took charge of the government, which kept the government stable for several years under the exclusive power of Empress Jia. They also compiled "Natural History". In 300 AD, King Zhao Sima Lun was killed during the coup.
The daughter of Jia Chong, has a jealous and fierce temperament. After Emperor Hui ascended the throne, she successively eliminated her cousin Yang Jun, King Sima Liang of Runan, and King Sima Wei of Chu, and held exclusive power for nearly ten years. She also deposed and killed Crown Prince Sima Yu, which triggered a coup by King Zhao Sima Lun. After being deposed, she was sentenced to death, and the Eight Kings Rebellion broke out.
Grandson of Prime Minister Wu Lu Xun. After the death of Wu, he and his younger brother Lu Yun entered Luo and became famous in the capital. They were called "Er Lu" at that time. "Wen Fu" is a monograph on literary creation, and "Pingfu Tie" is the earliest existing authentic calligraphy by a famous master. He was defeated in the Eight Kings Rebellion and was killed by Sima Ying, the king of Chengdu.
Born into a poor family, he looks ugly and has a dull mouth. It took ten years to conceive and write "Sandu Fu". Rich and noble families competed to write it, and Luoyang was very expensive for it. The poem "Ode to History" criticizes the clan system with the sentence "The world's elite is in a high position, and the handsome man sinks to his subordinates". The writing is vigorous and vigorous, and later generations called it "Zuo Si Feng Li".
Born in the Wang family of Langya, he is good at talking about mystical principles. He often holds a jade-handled tassel in his hand and changes his discussions at any time. He is known as "the orpiper in his mouth". As the prime minister, he only wanted to protect himself, so he arranged for his younger brother to be divided into two prefectures, Jing and Qing, known as the "Three Caves". In 311, he was captured and killed by Shi Lei. Before his death, he regretted that his ancestors were vain.
A descendant of Chanyu from the Southern Xiongnu, he studied classics and history since childhood and was once a hostage in Luoyang. He established himself during the Eight Kings Rebellion. In 304, he was proclaimed King of Han. He regarded himself as a nephew of the Han Dynasty, and honored Liu Shan, the last ruler of the Shu Han Dynasty, as Emperor Xiaohuai. In 308, he proclaimed himself emperor, the first of the Sixteen Kingdoms, and was called Qian Zhao in history.
The Jie people were robbed and sold into slavery when they were young. Later, they gathered together to rebel and defected to Liu Yuan. In 311, he completely wiped out the main force of the Jin army in Ningping City, and then occupied Hebei. In 319, he was proclaimed King of Zhao, established Later Zhao, and proclaimed himself emperor in 330. He was illiterate but liked to hear people read history, and he used Han counselor Zhang Bin in high regard.