The Jin dynasty or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the Sima Jin or the Two Jins
, was a Chinese dynasty traditionally dated from 266 to 420 AD. It was founded by Sima
Yan, eldest son of Sima Zhao, who was made the King of Jin and posthumously declared
one of the founders of the dynasty, along with Sima Zhao's elder brother Sima Shi and
father Sima Yi. It followed the Three Kingdoms period , which ended with the conquest of
Eastern Wu, culminating in the reunification of China proper.
There are two main divisions in the history of the dynasty. The Western Jin was established
as a successor state to Cao Wei after Sima Yan usurped the throne and had its capital
at Luoyang and later Chang'an ; Western Jin reunited China in 280 but fairly shortly thereafter
fell into a succession crisis, the War of the Eight Princes, and suffered from the invasions
instigated by the Five Barbarians, who went on to establish various dynastic states along
the Yellow River valley in 304 and successfully occupied northern China after the Disaster
of Yongjia in 311. These states then immediately began fighting each other, inaugurating the
chaotic and bloody Sixteen Kingdoms era. After the fall of Chang'an in 316, the Western Jin
dynasty collapsed, forcing survivors of the Jin monarch under Sima Rui to flee south of
the Yangtze River to Jiankang and establish the Eastern Jin . The Eastern Jin dynasty,
though under constant threats from the north, remained relatively stable for the next century,
but was eventually usurped by general Liu Yu in 420 and replaced with the Liu Song . The
Western and Eastern Jin dynasties together make up the second of the Six Dynasties.
History Background
Molded-brick mural, identified as the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and Rong Qiqi",
one of two walls a part of the coffin found in a tomb of the capital region of the Southern
dynasties , second half of the fifth century, at Xishanqiao, near Nanjing. 88 x 240 cm.
Nanjing Museum. This part of the murals may reflect a composition of the famous Lu Tanwei,
considered as the single greatest painter of all times by the Chinese critic Xi He : ref.
from China : Dawn of a Golden Age, 200–750 AD, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University
Press 2004. We can recognize Ji Kang , on the left, under a gingko tree.
Hunping jar of the Western Jin, with Buddhist figures.
Within Wei, who dominated the northern parts of China during the Three Kingdoms period,
the Sima clan—with its most accomplished individual being Sima Yi—rose to prominence,
particularly after the 249 coup d'état; historically known as the Incident at the Gaoping Tombs,
where the Sima clan began to surpass the Cao clan in power. After Sima Yi's death, his
eldest son, Sima Shi, kept a tight grip on the political scene, and after his own death,
his younger brother, Sima Zhao, assisted his clans' interests by further suppressing rebellions
and dissent, as well as recovering all of Shu and capturing Liu Shan, son of Liu Bei
in 263. His actions rewarded him the rank of King of Jin, a title named for the Zhou-era
marchland and duchy around Shaanxi's Jin River. ; this is the last achievable position while
following an emperor. His ambitions for the throne were visible , but he died in 265 before
any usurpation attempt could be made; he passes the Kingdom onto an ambitious son in Sima
Yan.
Founding The Jin dynasty was founded in AD 266 by Sima
Yan, posthumously known as Emperor Wu . As King of Jin, he forced Cao Huan's abdication
but permitted him to live in honor as the Prince of Chenliu and buried him with imperial
ceremony. The Jin dynasty conquered Eastern Wu in 280 and united the country. The period
of unity was short-lived as the state was soon weakened by corruption, political turmoil,
and internal conflicts. Sima Yan's son Zhong, posthumously known as Emperor Hui , was developmentally
disabled.
Decline Conflict over his succession in 290 expanded
into the devastating War of the Eight Princes. The weakened dynasty was then engulfed by
the Uprising of the Five Barbarians and lost control of northern China. Large numbers of
Chinese fled south from the Central Plains; among other effects, these refugees and colonizers
gave Quanzhou's Jin River its name as they settled its valley in Fujian. The Jin capital
Luoyang was captured by Xiongnu King Liu Cong in 311. Sima Chi, posthumously known as Emperor
Huai , was captured and later executed. His successor Sima Ye, posthumously known as Emperor
Min , was captured at Chang'an in 316 and also later executed.
Eastern Jin The remnants of the Jin court fled to the
south-east, reestablishing their government at Jiankang . Sima Rui, the prince of Langya,
was enthroned in 318, posthumously becoming known as Emperor Yuan . The rival northern
states, who denied the legitimacy of his succession, sometimes referred to his state as "Langya".
At first, the southerners were resistant to the new ruler from the north. The circumstances
obliged the Emperors of Eastern Jin to depend on both local and northern aristocrat clans.
This was also the pinnacle of menfa politics : Several powerful immigrant elite clans controlled
national affairs, such as Wang clans of Langya and Taiyuan, Xie clan of Chenliu, Huan clan
of Qiao Commandery, and Yu clan of Yingchuan, while the emperors' authority were limited.
There was a prevalent remark that "Wang Dao and the emperor Sima Rui, they dominate the
nation together" among the people. It is said that when Emperor Yuan was holding court,
he even invited Dao to sit by himself accepting jointly the congratulations from ministers,
but Dao declined it.
The local aristocrat clans were at odds with the immigrants. As such, tensions increased;
they loomed large in Jin's domestic politics. Two of the most prominent local clans: Zhou
clan of Yixing and Shen clan of Wuxing's ruin was a bitter blow from which they never quite
recovered. Moreover, there was a conflict among the immigrant clans' interests; it was
a faction that led to a virtual balance which somewhat benefited the emperor's ruling.
Although there was a stated goal of recovering the "lost northern lands", paranoia within
the royal family and a constant string of disruptions to the throne caused the loss
of support among many officials. Military crises—including the rebellions of the generals
Wang Dun and Su Jun, but also lesser fangzhen revolts—plagued the Eastern Jin throughout
its 104 years of existence.
Special "commanderies of immigrants" and "white registers" were created for the massive amounts
of Han Chinese from the north who moved to the south during the Eastern Jin dynasty.
The southern Chinese aristocracy was formed from the offspring of these migrants. Celestial
Masters and the nobility of northern China subdued the nobility of southern China during
the Eastern Jin and Western Jin in Jiangnan in particular. Southern China overtook the
north in population after the depopulation of the north and the migration of northern
Chinese to southern China. Different waves of migration of aristocratic Chinese from
northern China to the south at different times resulted in distinct groups of lineages.
The Eastern Jin recovered its unity in the face of the 383 invasion by the Former Qin.
The short-lived cooperation among Huan Chong and Prime Minister Xie An helped provide a
major victory at the Fei River. A large amount of Former Qin territory was then taken or
retaken.
Demise Later, Huan Xuan, Huan Wen's son, usurped
the throne and founded the dynasty of Huan Chu. He, in turn, was toppled by Liu Yu, who
instated Sima Dezong, posthumously known as Emperor An . Meanwhile, as civilian administration
suffered, there were further revolts led by Sun En and Lu Xun; Western Shu became an independent
kingdom under Qiao Zong. Liu Yu had Sima Dezong strangled and replaced by his brother Sima
Dewen, posthumously known as Emperor Gong , in 419. Sima Dewen abdicated in 420 in favor
of Liu Yu, who declared himself the ruler of the Song; Sima was asphyxiated with a blanket
the following year. In the north, Northern Liang, the last of the Sixteen Kingdoms, was
conquered by the Northern Wei in 439, ushering in the Northern dynasties period.
The Xianbei Northern Wei accepted the Jin refugees Sima Fei and Sima Chuzhi . They both
married Xianbei princesses. Sima Fei's wife was named Huayang , who was a daughter of
Emperor Xiaowen; Sima Chuzhi's son was Sima Jinlong , who married a Northern Liang princess
who was a daughter of Xiongnu King Juqu Mujian. More than fifty percent of Tuoba Xianbei princesses
of the Northern Wei were married to southern Han Chinese men from the imperial families
and aristocrats from southern China of the Southern dynasties who defected and moved
north to join the Northern Wei. Much later, Sima Guang , who served as prime minister
to the Song, claimed descent from the Jin dynasty .