Sima Liang
Sima Liang | |
---|---|
司馬亮 | |
Jin dynasty | |
In office 291 | |
Monarch | Emperor Hui |
Personal details | |
Born | Between 211 and 227 |
Died | 26 July 291 |
Parents |
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Sima Liang (司馬亮) (before 227
Life
Sima Liang was the fourth son of
Despite this, Sima Liang was well respected among the Jin imperial clan for his virtues, including his filial devotion to Princess Dowager Fu. Because of this, Emperor Wu put him in charge of monitoring the imperial princes' behavior, to correct and rebuke them when necessary.
On 5 October 277,[6] Emperor Wu moved Sima Liang's principality to Ru'nan and put him in charge of the military commands of Yu Province (豫州, modern eastern Henan). However, soon he recalled Sima Liang back to the capital to serve as a high-level advisor.
As Emperor Wu grew ill in 289, he considered whom to make regent. He considered both
After Empress Jia Nanfeng, Emperor Hui's wife, in conjunction with Emperor Hui's brother Sima Wei the Prince of Chu, overthrew and killed Yang in a coup in spring 291, Sima Liang, as the most respected of the imperial princes, was summoned back to the capital Luoyang to serve as regent, along with Wei Guan. To appease those who might have been angry and had overthrown Yang Jun, Sima Liang widely promoted those who participated in the plot, and more than a thousand men were created marquesses. He and Wei, however, did try to get the government on track, but Empress Jia continued to interfere with governmental matters. They also became concerned about the violent temper of Sima Wei and therefore tried to strip him of his military command, but Sima Wei persuaded Empress Jia to let him keep his military command. Sima Wei's assistants Qi Sheng (岐盛) and Gongsun Hong (公孫宏) thereafter falsely told Empress Jia that Sima Liang and Wei planned to depose the emperor. Empress Jia, who had already resented Wei for having, during Emperor Wu's reign, suggested that he change his heir selection, also wanted more direct control over the government, and therefore resolved to plot a second coup.
In summer 291, Empress Jia had Emperor Hui personally write an edict to Sima Wei, ordering him to have Sima Liang and Wei Guan removed from their offices. His forces thereby surrounded Sima Liang and Wei Guan's mansions, and while both men's subordinates recommended resistance, each declined and was captured. Against what the edict said, both were killed—Sima Liang with his heir Sima Ju (司馬矩) and Wei Guan with nine of his sons and grandsons. (Initially, the soldiers respected Sima Liang and did not dare to kill him, and indeed, as he sat in the prisoner's wagon, it appeared clear that he was suffering from the heat, and passersby were allowed to use fans to try to alleviate his suffering. Only after Sima Wei issued an order that whoever dared to cut off Sima Liang's head would receive a large sum of silk as reward did someone carry out the execution.) After Empress Jia, concerned about Sima Wei's power, then falsely declared that the edict was forged by Sima Wei and had him executed, Sima Liang was posthumously honored.
Family
References
- ^ While Sima Liang's birth year is not recorded, it is recorded in volume 38 of Book of Jin that he was older than his full-brother Sima Zhou, who was born in 227. At the same time, he was younger than his half-brother Sima Zhao, who was born in 211.
- Sima Zhong's biography in the Book of Jin, Sima Wei was killed on the yichou day in the 6th month of the 1st year of the Yongping era of Emperor Hui's reign. This corresponds to 26 Jul 291 in the Gregorian calendar. [(永平元年)六月...乙丑,以瑋擅害亮、瓘,殺之] Book of Jin, vol. 4. In Sima Wei's biography, it was recorded that he was killed the day after Sima Liang died. (「會天明……遂斬之」, Book of Jin, vol. 59)
- ^ (汝南文成王亮,字子翼,宣帝第四子也。) Jin Shu, vol.59
- ^ Volume 38 of Book of Jin recorded the age order of Lady Fu's four sons. (伏夫人生汝南文成王亮、琅邪武王伷、清惠亭侯京、扶风武王骏...) Jin Shu, vol.38
- ^ dingmao day of the 12th month of the 1st year of the Taishi era, per Sima Yan's biography in Book of Jin.
- ^ guihai day of the 8th month of the 3rd year of the Xianning era, per Sima Yan's biography in Book of Jin
- Fang, Xuanling. Book of Jin (Jin Shu).