Sima Yue (
Sima Yue | |||||
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Prince of Donghai ( | |||||
Tenure | 30 September 291 – 23 April 311 | ||||
Born | before 291 | ||||
Died | 311 | ||||
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House | Jin dynasty | ||||
Father | Sima Tai |
Early career
editSima Yue was a son of Sima Tai (
In early 304, when the regent Sima Ai the Prince of Changsha (Emperor Hui's brother) was battling the forces of Sima Ying the Prince of Chengdu (also Emperor Hui's brother) and Sima Yong the Prince of Hejian (grandson of Emperor Hui's great-granduncle Sima Fu, Prince Xian of Anping [
Campaigns against Sima Ying and Sima Yong
editAs Sima Ying continued to remotely control the government from his stronghold of Yecheng (鄴城, in modern Handan, Hebei) as both regent and crown prince, the officials in Luoyang tired of the situation. Later in 304, Sima Yue led them in a rebellion against Sima Ying's forces, and he took Emperor Hui with him on the campaign. After some initial hesitation, Sima Ying fought and defeated Sima Yue's forces, forcing Sima Yue to flee. Emperor Hui was captured and taken to Yecheng. Subsequently, however, Sima Ying was defeated by Wang Jun, the commander of the forces of You Province (
Sima Yue decided to act against Sima Yong. In fall 305, he declared a rebellion with the stated intention of returning Emperor Hui to Luoyang. The warlords of the empire were forced to take sides, but eventually they generally fell into line behind Sima Yue because they were disgusted with Zhang's cruelty. The battles were initially largely indecisive, but early 306, after Sima Yue had some minor victories over Sima Yong's forces, Sima Yong panicked and killed Zhang, seeking peace with Sima Yue. Sima Yue refused, and by later that year was able to force Sima Yong to abandon both Emperor Hui and Chang'an. Sima Yue welcomed Emperor Hui back to the capital Luoyang. Early in 307, Emperor Hui was poisoned to death, and historians generally agreed that the poisoning was done at Sima Yue's orders, but the motive was unclear. Crown Prince Chi ascended to the throne as Emperor Huai.
Domination over Emperor Huai
editEmperor Huai, in contrast with the developmentally disabled Emperor Hui, was intelligent and astute, and he sought to revive the war-ravaged empire, but Sima Yue maintained a tight grip on authority and would not allow the emperor much actual power. In spring 307, he left Luoyang and set up headquarters at Xuchang (
In 309, Sima Yue, concerned about the growing use of authority that Emperor Huai was exerting, made a sudden return to Luoyang and arrested and executed a number of Emperor Huai's associates, including Emperor Huai's uncle Wang Yan (
For all of Sima Yue's assertion of authority, he could not stop Han-Zhao, under its generals Liu Cong the Prince of Chu (the son of Han-Zhao's emperor Liu Yuan, Liu Yao the Prince of Shi'an (Liu Yuan's nephew), Wang Mi, and Shi Le, from disrupting Jin rule throughout northern and central China and gradually wearing out Jin forces and capturing Jin cities and towns. In late 309, he managed to fight off a joint attack by Liu Cong and Wang on Luoyang, but that victory was the exception to Han-Zhao's inexorable advances. After Liu Yuan died in 310 and was succeeded by Liu Cong, Han-Zhao renewed its attacks on the Luoyang region. Meanwhile, Sima Yue continued to alienate other generals and officials, and when Liu Kun, the military commander of Bing (并州, roughly modern Shanxi) proposed to him the plan of an attack on the Han-Zhao capital Pingyang (
Emperor Huai soon entered into a plan with Gou Xi, the military commander of Qing Province (
References
edit- ^ According to Sima Chi's biography in the Book of Jin, Sima Yue died on the bingzi day in the 3rd month of the 5th year of the Yongjia era of Emperor Huai's reign. This corresponds to 23 Apr 311 in the Julian calendar. [(
永 嘉 五 年 三 月 )丙 子 ,东海王越 薨。] Jin Shu, vol. 05. - ^ xinwei day of the 8th month of the 1st year of the Yong'ping era, per Emperor Hui's biography in Book of Jin
- Fang, Xuanling. Book of Jin (Jin Shu).