Emperor Ming of Jin
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Emperor Ming of Jin | |||||||||||||||||
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Second Emperor of Eastern Jin Dynasty | |||||||||||||||||
Reign | 4 January 323 – 18 October 325 | ||||||||||||||||
Predecessor | Emperor Yuan | ||||||||||||||||
Successor | Emperor Cheng | ||||||||||||||||
Born | 299 | ||||||||||||||||
Died | 18 October 325 Jiankang, Eastern Jin | (aged 26)||||||||||||||||
Burial | |||||||||||||||||
Consorts | Empress Mingmu Yu Wenjun | ||||||||||||||||
Issue | Emperor Cheng Emperor Kang Princess Nankang Princess Luling Princess Nandao | ||||||||||||||||
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House | House of Sima | ||||||||||||||||
Dynasty | Eastern Jin | ||||||||||||||||
Father | Emperor Yuan of Jin | ||||||||||||||||
Mother | Lady Xun |
Emperor Ming of Jin (simplified Chinese:
Early life
[edit]Sima Shao was born in 299, as the oldest son of his father Sima Rui, then the Prince of Langya, by his lowly-born concubine Lady Xun, who then in 300 gave birth to another son, Sima Pou (
While Sima Rui served as Left Prime Minister under Emperor Min, the teenage Sima Shao was put in charge of defending Guangling. After Sima Rui declared himself the Prince of Jin on 6 April 317,[3] following Emperor Min's capture by Han-Zhao on 11 December 316,[4] he initially wanted to make Sima Pou his crown prince, but after Wang Dao pointed out that traditionally the older son should succeed him, he created Sima Shao crown prince on 1 May of the same year.[5] Sima Shao remained in that status after his father declared himself emperor (as Emperor Yuan) in 318, after Han-Zhao executed Emperor Min; by this time, his brother Sima Pou had passed away.[6]
As crown prince
[edit]While crown prince, Sima Shao was known for seeking out talented men and befriending them, treating them as friends and not as subordinates. These included Wang Dao, Yu Liang (whose sister Yu Wenjun he married), Wen Jiao, Huan Yi (桓彝), and Ruan Fang (阮放). He was also known for his filial piety and his literary studies. He later also added martial arts to his studies, and he often visited troops to encourage them.
When Wang Dun rebelled against Emperor Yuan in 322, the capital Jiankang fell easily to Wang. Upon hearing news that Wang had breached Jiankang's defenses, Crown Prince Shao was going to himself make a last stand, but Wen stopped him by cutting off the ropes off his horse. When Wang subsequently forced Emperor Yuan into submission, he considered deposing Crown Prince Shao by falsely accusing Crown Prince Shao of being disobedient to Emperor Yuan. However, Wen prevented this by publicly praising Crown Prince Shao of filial piety, making Wang's putative accusations not credible.
Early in 323, Emperor Yuan died in distress after his defeat by Wang. Crown Prince Shao succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ming.
Reign
[edit]One of the first things that Emperor Ming did was locating his birth mother Lady Xun, putting her in a mansion, and creating her the Lady of Jian'an. However, perhaps out of respect for his deceased stepmother Princess Yu (who had died in 312 but was posthumously honored as an empress), he never gave her an empress dowager title—and Emperor Ming honored Princess Yu's family as appropriately he would a mother's family—and he was particularly close to Princess Yu's brother Yu Yin (
Wang Dun did not think much of the new emperor, and he plotted usurping the throne. In summer 323, he had Emperor Ming summon him to the capital, but actually did not go to the capital, but only moved his headquarters from Wuchang (
In 324, Wang Dun grew ill, and became resolved to overthrow Jin so that his adopted son, Wang Ying (
In 325, Emperor Ming posthumously awarded officials who had died at Wang Dun's hands throughout the years with titles and honors. He also put the general Tao Kan, known for his military and governing capabilities, in charge of most of Wang Dun's former domain, including the key Jing Province (荊州, modern Hubei).
In fall 325, Emperor Ming grew ill. He entrusted his four-year-old son, Crown Prince Yan, to a group of high-level officials, including Sima Yang (
Era name
[edit]- Taining (
太 寧 , tài níng): 22 April 323 – 15 April 326
Family
[edit]Consorts and Issue:
- Empress Mingmu, of the Yu clan of Yingchuan (
明 穆 皇后 潁川庾氏; 297–328), personal name Wenjun (文 君 ) - Unknown
- Princess Luling (
廬 陵 公主 ; d. 357), personal name Nandi (南 弟 )- Married Liu Tan of Pei (沛國 刘惔)
- Princess Nandao (
南 悼公主 )- Married Yang Bi of Taishan (
泰山 羊 賁)
- Married Yang Bi of Taishan (
- Princess Luling (
Ancestry
[edit]Sima Zhou (227–283) | |||||||||||||||
Sima Jin (256–290) | |||||||||||||||
Lady Zhuge of Langya | |||||||||||||||
Emperor Yuan of Jin (276–323) | |||||||||||||||
Xiahou Zhuang | |||||||||||||||
Xiahou Guangji (d. 307) | |||||||||||||||
Lady Yang of Taishan | |||||||||||||||
Emperor Ming of Jin (299–325) | |||||||||||||||
Lady Xun (d. 335) | |||||||||||||||
References
[edit]- ^ According to Sima Shao's biography in Book of Jin, he died aged 27 (by East Asian reckoning) on the wuzi day in the leap month of the 3rd year of the Taining era of his reign. This corresponds to 18 Oct 325 in the proleptic Gregorian calendar. [(
太 宁三 年 闰月)戊子 ,帝 崩 于东堂 ,年 二 十 七 ] Jin Shu, vol. 06 - ^ This relationship likely ended in 312, as Lady Yu died in that year (6th year of the Yong'jia era, per her biography in Book of Jin).
- ^ xin'mao day of the 3rd month of the 1st year of the Jian'wu era, per vol.90 of Zizhi Tongjian
- ^ According to vol.89 of Zizhi Tongjian, Emperor Min surrendered on the yi'wei day of the 11th month of the 4th year of the Jian'xing era.
- ^ the first bing'chen day after Sima Rui became Prince of Jin, i.e. of the 4th month of the 1st year of the Jian'wu era, per vol.90 of Zizhi Tongjian
- ^ According to the Book of Jin, Sima Pou was 18 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died (per his biography) on the ding'wei day of the 10th month of the 1st year of the Jian'wu era (per Emperor Yuan's biography), which corresponds to 18 Dec 317 in the Julian calendar.
- Book of Jin, vol. 6.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 90, 92, 93.