Portrait of Sima Yu
Sima Yu, courtesy name Daowan, was the eighth emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. He was the sixth son of Emperor Yuan of Jin Sima Rui. His mother was the wife of Emperor Sima Rui of Jin Yuan Zheng Achun.
Eastern Jin In the third year of Emperor Taixing of the Yuan Dynasty (Genchen, 320), Sima Yu was born. He was loved by his father for his intelligence at a young age. At that time, the famous scholar Guo Pu also commented that he must be the person who revitalized the Jin Dynasty. ’ When Sima Yu came of age, he was pure and devoid of desires, and was good at metaphysics. He went through seven dynasties including Yuan, Ming, Cheng, Kang, Mu, Ai, and the deposed emperors. He was successively named King Langya, King of Kuaiji, and was promoted to general of the army.
Guo Pu statue
In February of the first year of Yongchang of Emperor Ming of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (Renwu, 322), Emperor Sima Rui of Jin Yuan issued an edict, canonizing Sima Yu, who was only two years old, as King Langya, and designated Kaiji and Xuancheng as the food towns.
In the same year, his father Sima Rui, Emperor Jin Yuan, died. Sima Yu's half-brother Sima Shao inherited the throne as Emperor Ming of Jin .
In the first year of Xianhe (Bingxu, 326), the first year of Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (Bingxu, 326), when Sima Yu was 7 years old, his mother Zheng Achun died. He was very sad and asked his nephew Emperor Cheng of Jin Sima Yan to let him mourn for his mother, and he got permission.
In December of the third year of Xianhe (Wuzi, 328), the third year of Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, 9-year-old Sima Yu moved to the throne of Kuaiji and became the regular attendant of Sanqi.
In the ninth year of Xianhe, Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (Jiawu, 334), he moved to the right general and the imperial minister.
In the sixth year of Xiankang, Emperor Cheng of the Eastern Jin Dynasty ( Gengzi , 340), he was promoted to general of the Fu army and concurrently secretary and supervisor.
In the first year of Yonghe of Emperor Mu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (Yisi, 345), because Emperor Mu of the Jin Dynasty, Sima Dan, was young, the government was controlled by Queen Mother Chongde Chu Suanzi . Sima Yu was worshiped as the general of the Fu army, recorded six things in the book, and jointly assisted the government with the hussar general He Chong. During his reign, the dust on his bed was never wiped away. When he saw the footprints of mice walking on it, he thought it was very good. A soldier saw a rat walking out in the daytime, so he beat it to death with a cudgel. Sima Yu was very unhappy about this. His disciples suggested punishing the soldier, but Sima Yu said: "The rat was beaten to death, and I can't forget it; now it's... I'm afraid it's not possible for a mouse to harm people, right?"
In the second year of Yonghe (Bingwu, 346) of Emperor Mu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the hussar general He Chong died, and the Queen Mother Chu ordered Sima Yu to prime minister.
In the third year of Yonghe (Dingwei, 347) of Emperor Mu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, after the powerful official Huan Wen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty conquered and destroyed Cheng Han , his authority became stronger and stronger, and even the court was afraid of him. At that time, Sima Yu believed that YangzhouYin Hao, the governor of Yangzhou, was well-known, so he accepted him as a confidant and allowed him to participate in the government to counter Huan Wen. Sure enough, Yin Hao and Huan Wen gradually became suspicious of each other and became dissatisfied with each other. During this period, Sima Yu quoted a large number of people from Kuaiji and metaphysics to enter the central government to check and balance Huan Wen.
In December of the same year, because Huan Wen's repeated requests for the Northern Expedition were not approved, he led his army down the Yangtze River and stationed in Wuchang (Hubei). The court was frightened, and Fujun Sima Gaosong wrote a letter to Sima Yu, reproaching him for his behavior. Huan Wen then returned to the town.
In July of the seventh year of Yonghe (Renzi 352), Emperor Mu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Eastern Jin Dynasty promoted Sima Yu to Situ, but he refused. At that time, Yin Hao's Northern Expedition failed repeatedly in successive years, and all military supplies and equipment were exhausted.
In the tenth year of Yonghe (Jiayin, 354), Emperor Mu of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Huan Wen took advantage of the resentment of the government and the public against Yin Hao, and wrote a letter listing his crimes and requesting his removal. Sima Yu had no choice but to demote Yin Hao to a commoner and exile him to Xin'an County, Dongyang County. As a result, Yin Juan, Yu Qian, Yu Rou, etc. were exterminated, and the Yin and Yu families were unable to recover. Huan Wen's power reached its peak, and power inside and outside the court was concentrated in his hands.
In the third year of Xingning, the reign of Emperor Ai of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (Yichou, 365), Sima Yu heard that the champion general Chen You had abandoned Luoyang (Henan), so he made an appointment with Huan Wen to meet in Laizhou to discuss the conquest. However, Emperor Ai of Jin Dynasty Sima Pi died and the conquest was put on hold. Sima Yi, the king of Langya, succeeded to the throne as the deposed emperor of Jin Dynasty . On the grounds that King Langxie had extinct heirs, the Queen Mother Chu named Sima Yu the king of Langxie (as the crown prince), and also named Sima Yu's son Sima Yao the king of Kuaiji.Because Sima Yu refused to be granted the title, although he was granted the title of King Langya, he was not given the title of King of Kuaiji.
In October of the first year of Taihe (Bingyin, 366) when Emperor Taihe was deposed in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Sima Yu ascended the throne and became the prime minister, recorded the affairs of the minister, and granted him the honor of "not rushing into the court, paying homage without fame, and going to the palace with swords and shoes". He also gave Yu Bao, drummers, and 60 sword-wielding warriors. Sima Yu resigned.
On November 25, the fourth year of the Eastern Jin Dynasty when Emperor Taihe was deposed (370 AD), Huan Wen's Northern Expedition failed. Sima Yu and Huan Wen met in Tuzhong to discuss and take action.
In the first year of Xian'an of Emperor Jianwen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, in the ninth year of Taiqing's reign in the former Liang Dynasty, and in the seventh year of Jianyuan of the former Qin Dynasty (Xinwei, 371), on November 15th, Great Sima Huan Wen deposed the Jin Dynasty and deposed the emperor Sima Yi as the king of Donghai. On that day, he led hundreds of officials to the palace of Kuaiji to welcome Sima Yu to the throne. So, Sima Yu changed his clothes in the court hall, wearing a flat-topped turban and single clothes. He faced the east and shed tears, kowtowed and accepted the emperor's seal and ribbon. This was Emperor Wen of the Jin Dynasty , and changed the name to "Xian'an". At that time, Huan Wen temporarily lived in Zhongtang and assigned troops to garrison and guard. However, although Sima Yu was the emperor, he was mostly restrained by Huan Wen and was afraid of being deposed by him. Huan Wen took control of the government and eliminated opposition forces step by step. The first thing he dealt with was Sima Xi, the arrogant half-brother of Sima Yu. He falsely accused him of treason and removed him from his official position. He forced Sima Huang, the king of Xincai, to falsely accuse himself of treason with Sima Xi, Yin Juan, Yu Qian, etc., in order to eliminate the influence of Chenjun Yin family and Yingchuan Yu family in the court.
Huan Wen instructed Sima Tian, the imperial censor, to submit a petition requesting that Sima Xi be executed according to law. Sima Yu refused and ordered another discussion. Huan Wen petitioned again, with harsh and urgent words. Sima Yu then wrote the edict in his own hand: "If the Jin Dynasty's imperial reign lasts for a long time, , then you should obey the previous edict; if the situation of the Jin Dynasty is over, then you can let me abdicate in favor of talents!" Historical records record that Huan Wen sweated when he saw this edict, and then he did not dare to press any more, and re-submitted Sima Xi and his three sons, and exiled their families.
During his reign, Sima Yu, on the one hand, dealt with Huan Wen, and on the other hand, he continued the previous measures and introduced Wang Tanzhi , Xie An and others to compete with him. Soon after, Sima Yu became uneasy because he saw Ying Huo entering Taiwei Yuan and the celestial phenomena when his colleague Sima Yi was deposed. He even asked Huan Wen's confidant Xi Chao whether Huan Wen would depose Li again. At that time, Xi Chao asserted: "Da Sima is stabilizing the country internally and expanding the territory externally. I am willing to guarantee that nothing abnormal will happen with my family of more than 100 people." When Xi Chao was eager to ask for leave to go back to visit his father, Sima Yu said to him: "Tell your hon. Father, the matter of the clan and the country has reached this point because I cannot use morality to correct the guards. I am so ashamed and sighing, how can I express it in words?" Then he chanted a poem by Yu Chan: "A loyal minister mourns the insult of his master." And he burst into tears.
In this year, Qianliang proclaimed himself a minister to Qianqin, and Fu Jian, the king of Qin, named Qianliang Mourning King Zhang Tianxi as Duke of Xiping.
In the second year of Xian'an, the second year of Emperor Jianwen of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the tenth year of Taiqing, the tenth year of Emperor Liang's death, and the eighth year of Jianyuan, the eighth year of Emperor Qin's reign (Renshen, 372) , in the first month of the year, Baekje and Linyi each sent envoys to pay tribute to their native products.
In June of the same year, Emperor Wen of the Jin Dynasty, Sima Yu, sent an envoy to worship King Yuju of Baiji as the general of Zhendong and the prefect of Lelang.
In July, Emperor Wen of the Jin Dynasty, Sima Yu, was seriously ill and summoned Huan Wen to assist the government. He issued four edicts throughout the day and night, but Huan Wen refused. Before his death, Sima Yu left a posthumous edict, asking Huan Wen to live and take care of him according to the Duke of Zhou's precedent, and wrote: "If you have a young son, you can assist him. If you can't, you will take it yourself." In the face of Huan Wen's ambition, this move almost surrendered the country. At that time, Wang Tanzhi met with Sima Yu and tore up the imperial edict. Sima Yu said to him: "The world of the Jin Dynasty was only due to good luck. Why are you dissatisfied with this decision?" Wang Tanzhi replied: "The world of the Jin Dynasty was established by Emperor Xuan ( Sima Yi ) and Emperor Yuan (Sima Rui). How could your Majesty alone? Stop acting alone!" After Sima Yu heard this, he ordered to rewrite the imperial edict: "The affairs of the family and state are all reported to the great Sima (Huan Wen), just like the old rules of Zhuge Wuhou ( Zhuge Liang ) and Prime Minister Wang ( Wang Dao ). Later, Huan Wen was disappointed when he saw this imperial edict. That month, Emperor Wen of the Jin Dynasty, Sima Yu, died at the age of 53, after reigning for only eight months.
In October, he was given the posthumous title of 'Emperor Jianwen' and the temple name of 'Taizong'. He was buried in Lipingling. His son Sima Yao succeeded to the throne and became Emperor Xiaowu of Jin Dynasty .
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