History of the Jin dynasty (266–420)
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The
Eventually, these tribes began the
The Eastern Jin's government was dominated to a large extent by powerful generals such as Wang Dun and Huan Wen. These generals often launched expeditions to recover northern China from Wu Hu rule. However, internal division in the government and military, coupled with the weakness of the Southern economy, meant that these expeditions were mostly unsuccessful. By 383 CE, the Jin dynasty was threatened by the Former Qin dynasty, which had reunified all of North China. Instead of reconquering the North, Jin was fighting for its very survival.
However, in the
Rise of the Jin
Foundation
The Jin dynasty was founded by the Sima family, a prominent family within Cao Wei, the most powerful of China's Three Kingdoms. They effectively controlled Cao Wei's military forces after 250, becoming the real rulers of the state. In 265 CE, the last Wei emperor abdicated and gave up his throne to Sima Yan, who became the first Jin emperor.[4]
Conquest of Wu
As Emperor Wu of Jin, Sima Yan immediately focused on conquering the last of the Three Kingdoms, Wu, which controlled southeastern China. In 280 CE, 200,000 Jin troops in six columns, travelling by river and land, invaded Wu from both Sichuan and the North. They quickly broke through all resistance, including an attempt by Wu's chancellor Zhang Di to stop them with 30,000 troops. Very soon, Jin forces were besieging the Wu capital, Nanjing, which had only 20,000 defenders. Realizing he was doomed, the Wu ruler surrendered to Jin, and China was reunified.[5]
Prosperity of the Taikang Era
During the rule of Emperor Wu, China entered an era of prosperity. The Jin encouraged recovery by lowering taxes and subsidizing the construction of dikes and other works to benefit agriculture. The reunification of China also spurred on trade to help stimulate the economy.[6]
This prosperity was reflected in the growing luxury of the emperor. One official reportedly entertained Emperor Wu with pork that had been fed on human milk, while another spent over 20,000 strings of cash each day on food alone. This decadence was criticized by other Jin officials, who also worried about increasing barbarian migration into China.[7]
Fall of the Western Jin
War of the Eight Princes
Emperor Wu believed that Wei's fall had been caused by the royal family losing power and support. To prevent this in his own dynasty, he appointed many of his brothers and sons as "kings" of individual provinces, in effect creating a series of powerful regional governments alongside the central government.
Consequently, following Emperor Wu's death, control of his weak heir Emperor Hui of Jin was fought over by the regional princes in the devastating War of the Eight Princes (301-305 CE), severely weakening the Jin.[8]
Wu Hu uprising
Following the
The Middle Jin (316–383)
Internal crisis
The remaining followers of the Jin dynasty retreated south and formed the Eastern Jin, whose control was limited to South China. Throughout this period, the Jin court was severely weakened, allowing the Eastern Jin to be dominated by strong generals such as Wang Dun and Huan Wen.
Special "commanderies of immigrants" and "white registers" were created for the massive amount of northern origin Han Chinese who moved south during the Eastern Jin dynasty.
Huan Wen's expeditions
Huan Wen, who effectively controlled the Jin state from 346 CE to 373 CE, launched a series of expeditions against the Wu Hu, in an attempt to strengthen both the Jin and his own prestige. However, most of these expeditions failed due to lack of supplies and the Jin court's suspicion of Huan Wen.[16]
The Late Jin (383–420)
Battle of Fei River
By 376 CE, the North had been reunified under the state of Former Qin, putting Jin in grave danger. In 383 CE, Fu Jian, ruler of Former Qin, invaded Jin with 300,000 troops, against which the Jin could only deploy 80,000 troops. However, the Chinese troops were well-trained and equipped, while the Qin army was made up mostly of conscripts. In the Battle of Fei River, the Qin army was routed by the Jin army.[17]
After this victory, Chancellor Xie An, taking advantage of Former Qin's collapse, reclaimed much of the territory north of the Huai River for Jin. However, a rebellion by Huan Wen's son Huan Xuan distracted the Jin, who were unable to defeat it until the rise of Liu Yu.[18]
Liu Yu's expeditions
Usually regarded as the best general of the Southern and Northern dynasties, Liu Yu defeated the regime of Huan Xuan in 406 CE. He then launched a series of expeditions against
Imperial Family
Sima Fei (司馬朏) was a descendant of the Jin dynasty royalty who fled north to the Xianbei Northern Wei in exile and married the Xianbei Princess Huayang (華陽公主), the daughter of Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei.
When the Eastern Jin dynasty ended Northern Wei received the Jin prince Sima Chuzhi 司馬楚之 as a refugee. A Northern Wei Princess married Sima Chuzhi, giving birth to Sima Jinlong. Northern Liang Xiongnu King Juqu Mujian's daughter married Sima Jinlong.[20]
The Song dynasty chancellor Sima Guang (1019–1086) was descended from the Jin Imperial family.
References
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 365
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 384
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 419
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 361
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 364.
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 365
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 366
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 371-379
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 383-384
- ISBN 978-0-521-49781-7.
Yellow registers white chin.
- ^ http://history.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/slides/Dissertation.pdf Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine p. 81.
- ISBN 978-90-04-17585-3.
- ISBN 978-0-7607-1973-2.
- ISBN 978-0-7607-1976-3.
- ISBN 978-962-996-227-2.
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 390
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 419
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 428
- ^ Li and Zheng, pg 428-432
- ISBN 978-1-58839-126-1.
sima.
Sources
- Book of Jin
- Li, Bo; Zheng Yin (Chinese) (2001) 5000 years of Chinese history, Inner Mongolian People's publishing corp, ISBN 7-204-04420-7