War of the Eight Princes

War of the Eight Princes

The War of the Eight Princes or Rebellion of the Eight Kings or Rebellion of the Eight Princes (zh-tspw|t=八王之亂|s=八王之乱|p=bā wáng zhī luàn|w=pa wang chih luan) was a civil war for power among princes or kings ("wang" ch. "王") of the Chinese Jin Dynasty from AD 291 to AD 306. It was fought mostly in northern China and devastated the country, later triggering the Wu Hu ravaging. The term stems from biographies of eight princes collected in chapter 59 of the "History of Jin Dynasty" ("Jinshu").

Following the death of Emperor Wu in 290, a complex power struggle began amongst the Sima clan. The new emperor, Emperor Hui, was developmentally disabled, and factions fought to control the imperial court. Initially, the emperor's stepmother, Empress Dowager Yang, exerted the most power at the courts, and empowered her family, the Yang consort clan, with her father Yang Jun given the most power.

The emperor's wife, Empress Jia Nanfeng enlisted the help of Sima Wei and Sima Yun, whose troops then killed Yang Jun and his faction in the palace in 291; the empress dowager was removed from power and died in prison.

Power then passed to Sima Liang, the emperor's granduncle. However, Empress Jia plotted with Sima Wei and convinced the prince to kill Sima Liang. She then announced that Sima Wei was acting without imperial orders and executed him. The empress and the Jia clan remained in power until 300, when she deposed and assassinated the heir to the throne, Sima Yu, her husband's son by the concubine Consort Xie Jiu.

Sima Lun, who commanded the imperial guards, took this opportunity to kill the Empress Jia and her faction. Sima Lun placed himself in power and tried to centralize control over the powerful princes; this resulted in Sima Yun's rebellion, who marched his troops to capital against Sima Lun; Sima Yun was killed by Sima Lun's troops in the ensuing battle in Luoyang. Sima Lun then imprisoned Emperor Hui and styled himself as the new emperor.

In response, Sima Jiong led a coalition of forces, including Sima Ying and Sima Yong, against Sima Lun. They defeated Sima Lun's troops, killed him, and then re-established Emperor Hui as the emperor, with Sima Jiong exerting the most influence at the imperial court. When Sima Jiong tried to centralize power in his hands, the princes rebelled against him, and he was defeated by Sima Ai, the Prince of Changsha and killed.

Likewise, Sima Ai held power briefly, then was later defeated by Sima Yue and killed. Sima Yue's troops by this time had strongly incorporated Wuhuan and Xianbei troops as cavalry.

Power then passed to Sima Ying, who was then defeated and fled Luoyang with the emperor. He was finally captured by Sima Yong, who was in turn defeated by Sima Yue's troops. Emperor Hui was poisoned in 306, and his brother, Emperor Huai, ascended the throne. Sima Ying and Sima Yong were eventually captured and killed; Sima Yong died on February 7, 307, which marked the official end of the struggle.

The resultant winner was last surviving major prince, Sima Yue. The struggle depopulated northern China and greatly weakened the strength of the Jin Dynasty.

The eight princes included:

*Sima Liang (ch. 司馬亮), son of Sima Yi (ch. 司馬懿), titled the Prince of Runan (ch. 汝南王)
*Sima Wei (ch. 司馬瑋), son of Emperor Wu, titled the Prince of Chu (ch. 楚王)
*Sima Lun (ch. 司馬倫), son of Sima Yi, titled the Prince of Zhao (ch. 趙王)
*Sima Jiong (ch. 司馬冏), nephew of Emperor Wu, titled the Prince of Qi (ch. 齊王)
*Sima Ying (ch. 司馬穎), son of Emperor Wu, titled the Prince of Chengdu (ch. 成都王)
*Sima Ai (ch. 司馬乂), son of Emperor Wu, titled the Prince of Changsha (ch. 長沙王)
*Sima Yong (ch. 司馬顒), distant cousin of Emperor Wu, titled the Prince of Hejian. (ch. 河間王)
*Sima Yue (ch. 司馬越), distant cousin of Emperor Wu, titled the Prince of Donghai (ch. 東海王)

References

* Graff, David A., Medieval Chinese Warfare, 300-900. ISBN 0-415-23954-0

Figure

*


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • War of the Eight — could refer to: *War of the Eight Princes (291 306) *War of the Eight Saints (1375 1378) …   Wikipedia

  • War of the Peasants —     War of the Peasants (1524 25)     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► War of the Peasants (1524 25)     A revolt of the peasants of southern and central Germany, the causes of which are disputed as a result of religious and political prejudice. At… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • War of the Austrian Succession — The Battle of Fontenoy by Édouard Detaille. Oil on canvas …   Wikipedia

  • The Reformation —     The Reformation     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Reformation     The usual term for the religious movement which made its appearance in Western Europe in the sixteenth century, and which, while ostensibly aiming at an internal renewal of the …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • The Vatican —     The Vatican     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Vatican     This subject will be treated under the following heads:     I. Introduction; II. Architectural History of the Vatican Palace; III. Description of the Palace; IV. Description of the… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • The Byzantine Empire —     The Byzantine Empire     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Byzantine Empire     The ancient Roman Empire having been divided into two parts, an Eastern and a Western, the Eastern remained subject to successors of Constantine, whose capital was at …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • The Religion of Russia —     The Religion of Russia     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Religion of Russia     A. The Origin of Russian Christianity     There are two theories in regard to the early Christianity of Russia; according to one of them, Russia was Catholic from …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • The Legislative Assembly and the fall of the French monarchy — The French Revolution was a period in the history of France covering the years 1789 to 1799, in which republicans overthrew the Bourbon monarchy and the Roman Catholic Church perforce underwent radical restructuring. This article covers the one… …   Wikipedia

  • The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter — (Japanese: 竹取物語; Taketori Monogatari ) is a 10th century Japanese folktale, also known as The Tale of Princess Kaguya (かぐや姫の物語, Kaguya hime no Monogatari ). It is considered the oldest extant Japanese narrative, [… …   Wikipedia

  • The Church in China —     The Church in China     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Church in China     Ancient Christians     The introduction of Christianity into China has been ascribed not only to the Apostle of India, St. Thomas, but also to St. Bartholomew. In the… …   Catholic encyclopedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”