Emperor Min of Jin
| Emperor Min of Jin TấnMẫnĐế | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Emperorof theJin Dynasty | |||||||||
| Reign | 313 – 7 February 318 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Emperor Huai of Jin | ||||||||
| Successor | Emperor Yuan of Jin | ||||||||
| Crown Prince of the Jin Dynasty | |||||||||
| Tenure | 312–313 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Sima Chi | ||||||||
| Successor | Sima Shao | ||||||||
| Born | 300 | ||||||||
| Died | 7 February 318(aged 17–18) | ||||||||
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| Father | Sima Yan | ||||||||
| Mother | Lady Xun | ||||||||
Emperor Min of Jin(simplified Chinese:Tấn mẫn đế;traditional Chinese:Tấn mẫn đế;pinyin:Jìn Mǐn Dì;Wade–Giles:Chin Min-ti;300 – February 7, 318), personal nameSima Ye( tư mã nghiệp or tư mã nghiệp ),courtesy nameYanqi( ngạn kỳ ), was an emperor of theJin Dynasty (266–420)and the last of the Western Jin.[1]
Emperor Min surrendered in 316 toLiu Yao,a general of theXiongnustateHan-Zhao,and was later executed byLiu Cong,the emperor of Han, in 318 – like his uncle Emperor Huai had been in 313.[2]
Prior to becoming emperor[edit]
Sima Ye was a son of Sima Yan ( tư mã yến ) the Prince of Wu, a son of Jin's founding emperorEmperor Wu,and Lady Xun, a daughter ofXun Xu.However, he was posthumously adopted by his uncle Sima Jian ( tư mã giản ) the Prince of Qin, who died in 291, nine years before his birth, and so he inherited the title of Prince of Qin.
When the Jin capitalLuoyangfell toHan-Zhaoforces in 311, Prince Ye's uncleEmperor Huaiwas captured, and his father Prince Yan was killed. Prince Ye himself, at age 13, was able to escape from Han forces, and he got to Mi ( mật huyện, in modernZhengzhou,Henan) when he encountered his uncles, the Jin officials Xun Fan ( tuân phiên ) and Xun Zu ( tuân tổ ), who decided to support him as their leader. Later that year, the generalYan Dingtried to escort Prince Ye into theGuanzhongregion (modern centralShaanxi), where he thought the central government could be rebuilt, but on the way, most of the supporters and troops deserted them—including Prince Ye's uncles. Eventually, however, Yan and Prince Ye were able to arrive in Guanzhong. They were supported by the generalJia Ya,and Jia was able to captureChang'anin 312, allowing Prince Ye to enter and set up his headquarters there. In fall 312, Jia and Yan offered Prince Ye the title ofcrown prince,and they then organized a provisional government.
Reign[edit]
In spring 313, the captured Emperor Huai was executed by the Han emperorLiu Cong.The news, however, took three months to get to Chang'an. Once it did, Crown Prince Ye held an official mourning for his uncle and then ascended the throne as Emperor Min. At that time, the city of Chang'an was so poor that it had less than a hundred households, and there were only four wagons available. The officials lacked official uniforms and seals. The military matters were largely entrusted to the generalsQu YunandSuo Chen.Emperor Min issued an edict orderingSima Bao,the Prince of Nanyang, who still had a sizable force in Qin Province ( tần châu, modern easternGansu), andSima Rui,the Prince of Langya, who held large portions of territory near and south of theYangtze River,to come to his aid, but both Sima Bao and Sima Rui only paid nominal allegiance to him and failed to actually provide any assistance. Around the new year of 314, Han made a surprise attack on Chang'an, and while that attack was thwarted that time, it showed that the Jin regime under Emperor Min lacked the power to defend itself. OnlyZhang Gui,the governor of Liang Province ( lương châu, modern central and westernGansu), sent small detachments and supplies periodically to Chang'an. In 315, Sima Bao considered coming to Emperor Min's aid, but ultimately did not do so, and Suo subsequently refused a plan to send the emperor to Sima Bao, reasoning that Sima Bao would then use the emperor as a puppet.
In fall 316, the Han generalLiu Yao,the Prince of Zhongshan, made a major attack against Emperor Min's territory. After he captured theBeidi Commandery( bắc địa, roughly modernTongchuan,Shaanxi), the other Jin cities in Guanzhong collapsed. Two relief forces arrived but were hesitant to engage Liu Yao. Liu Yao therefore was able to besiege Chang'an, and after the food supply ran out, Emperor Min resolved to surrender. He was delivered by Liu Yao to the Han capital Pingyang ( bình dương, in modernLinfen,Shanxi).
After capture by Han-Zhao[edit]
Liu Cong initially created the former Jin emperor the Marquess of Huai'an. In early 318, at a feast, he had the marquess serve as butler, and a number of former Jin officials could not control themselves and cried out loud at their former emperor's humiliation. Furthermore, around this time, there were a number of uprisings against Han, each claiming to want to capture Han's crown princeLiu Canto exchange him for the former Jin emperor. Liu Can therefore recommended that Sima Ye be executed, and Liu Cong agreed, executing him after receiving Liu Can's report.
Era name[edit]
- Jianxing( kiến hưng Jiànxīng) 313–317
Ancestry[edit]
| Sima Zhao(211–265) | |||||||||||||||
| Emperor Wu of Jin(236–290) | |||||||||||||||
| Empress Wenming(217–268) | |||||||||||||||
| Sima Yan (281–311) | |||||||||||||||
| Lady Li | |||||||||||||||
| Emperor Min of Jin (300–318) | |||||||||||||||
| Xun Xi | |||||||||||||||
| Xun Xu(d. 289) | |||||||||||||||
| Lady Zhong of Yingchuan | |||||||||||||||
| Lady Xun of Yingchuan | |||||||||||||||
References[edit]
- ^Chan, Alan K. L.; Lo, Yuet-Keung (2010-08-04).Philosophy and Religion in Early Medieval China.State University of New York Press. p. 16.ISBN978-1-4384-3189-5.
- ^Davis, Timothy M. (2015-11-09).Entombed Epigraphy and Commemorative Culture in Early Medieval China: A Brief History of Early Muzhiming.BRILL. p. 45.ISBN978-90-04-30642-4.