Jin Yuandi

Jin Yuandi

Jin Yuandi Chinese  晉元帝  /  晋元帝 , Pinyin Jìn Yuándì or Sima Rui Chinese  司马 睿 , Pinyin Sīmǎ Ruì , (* 276 or 277; † January 3, 323 ) was Chinese emperor of the Jin dynasty from 317 to 322 and founder of the Eastern Jin Dynasty .

Sima Rui was born in what is now Wenxian (today's Henan Province ). He was the son of Sima Jin and the great grandson of Sima Yi . He became King of Langya at a very young age after the death of his father . In 307, he was appointed military governor of Andong , giving him control of all military affairs in Jiangnan and Yangzhou . Following the advice of Wang Dao , he moved his headquarters to Jianye (renamed after Jiankang in 313, today's Nanjing ) and, with the help of influential family clans, brought the regions on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River and in the catchment area of ​​the Pearl River under control. After the Western Jin Dynasty was extinguished, he assumed the dignity of emperor in March 317, establishing the Eastern Jin Dynasty and making Jiangkang his capital.

Although Sima Rui had assumed imperial dignity, his reputation was poor and his power limited. In addition, he lacked personal talent. He therefore elevated Wang Dao to the most important offices in his government. Wang Dao's strategy was to win the support of the influential family clans, thereby consolidating the emperor's authority and establishing security in the country. Sima Rui appointed Wang Dao as chancellor, and other people from the Wang clan also took on high positions in the imperial administration, above all Wang Dun , who became military governor for six prefectures. Sima Rui's proposal that Wang Dao should join the throne at accession ceremonies, but Wang Dao rejected it. Nevertheless, the country was considered to be ruled jointly by the Sima and Wang clans.

Over time, however, Sima Rui became dissatisfied with this situation and decided to curtail the influence of the Wang clan. He had his confidants Liu Huai and Diao Xie raise an army to break the Wang clan's power. Wang Dun found out about it and moved from Wuchang (now Echeng , Hubei Province ) against Liu and Diao, captured the capital Jiankang and killed Diao. On the mediation of Wang Dao, Wang Dun withdrew his troops and left the business of government to Wang Dao.

Sima Rui fell into agony when he realized that the power of the Wang clan would not be so easily broken. Among his senior officials, he was only certain of Situ Xunzu's loyalty . He therefore appointed him commander in chief of the armed forces and mentor to Crown Prince Sima Yang in order to limit Wang Dao's influence in this way. However, Situ and Sima Rui died shortly afterwards.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d} 司马 睿. (No longer available online.) In: 江苏 古今 人物.江苏 省 地 方志 编纂 委员会 办公室, December 3, 2014, archived from the original on March 4, 2018 ; accessed on February 27, 2018 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  

predecessor	Office	successor
Min	Emperor of China 317–322	Ming