Emperor Ming of Jin (; 299 – 18 October 325, personal name Sima Shao (司馬紹), courtesy name Daoji (道畿), was an emperor of the Eastern Jin dynasty of China. During his brief reign (323–325), he led the weakened Jin out of domination by the warlord Wang Dun, but at his early death, the empire was left to his young son Emperor Cheng, and the fragile balance of power that he created was soon broken, leading to the Su Jun Disturbance and weakening the Jin state even further. Subsequent Eastern Jin emperors until Emperor Fei were his descendants, being either his sons (Emperor Cheng, Emperor Kang) or grandsons (Emperor Mu, Emperor Ai and Emperor Fei).
Early life Sima Shao was born in 299, as the oldest son of his father Sima Rui, then the Prince of Langya, by his lowly-born concubine Lady Xun, who then in 300 gave birth to another son, Sima Pou (司馬裒). Sima Rui's wife, Princess Yu Mengmu (虞孟母), who was herself childless, became very jealous of Lady Xun and mistreated her greatly. Lady Xun, not able to bear the abuse, complained bitterly, and was thrown out of the household. Sima Shao was therefore raised by Princess Yu, with whom he apparently had a cordial relationship.This relationship likely ended in 312, as Lady Yu died in that year (6th year of the Yong'jia era, per her biography in Book of Jin). During his youth, he was considered intelligent and quick-thinking, although eventually his brother Sima Pou became more favored by their father.
While Sima Rui served as Left Prime Minister under Emperor Min, the teenage Sima Shao was put in charge of defending Guangling. After Sima Rui declared himself the Prince of Jin on 6 April 317,xin'mao day of the 3rd month of the 1st year of the Jian'wu era, per vol.90 of Zizhi Tongjian following Emperor Min's capture by Han-Zhao on 11 December 316,According to vol.89 of Zizhi Tongjian, Emperor Min surrendered on the yi'wei day of the 11th month of the 4th year of the Jian'xing era. he initially wanted to make Sima Pou his crown prince, but after Wang Dao pointed out that traditionally the older son should succeed him, he created Sima Shao crown prince on 1 May of the same year.the first bing'chen day after Sima Rui became Prince of Jin, i.e. of the 4th month of the 1st year of the Jian'wu era, per vol.90 of Zizhi Tongjian Sima Shao remained in that statusVol.90 of Zizhi Tongjian recorded that Sima Shao's status as crown prince was affirmed on 10 May 318; his wife Yu Wenjun, younger sister of Yu Liang, was made crown princess on the same day ([大兴元年三月]庚午，立王太子绍为皇太子。....聘亮妹为太子妃。). after his father declared himself emperor (as Emperor Yuan) in April 318, after Han-Zhao executed Emperor Min; by this time, his brother Sima Pou had died.According to the Book of Jin, Sima Pou was 18 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died (per his biography) on the ding'wei day of the 10th month of the 1st year of the Jian'wu era (per Emperor Yuan's biography), which corresponds to 18 Dec 317 in the Julian calendar.
As crown prince While crown prince, Sima Shao was known for seeking out talented men and befriending them, treating them as friends and not as subordinates. These included Wang Dao, Yu Liang (whose sister Yu Wenjun he married), Wen Jiao, Huan Yi (桓彝; father of Huan Wen), and Ruan Fang (阮放). He was also known for his filial piety and his literary studies. He later also added martial arts to his studies, and he often visited troops to encourage them.
When Wang Dun rebelled against Emperor Yuan in 322, the capital Jiankang fell easily to Wang. Upon hearing news that Wang had breached Jiankang's defenses, Crown Prince Shao was going to himself make a last stand, but Wen stopped him by cutting off the ropes off his horse. When Wang subsequently forced Emperor Yuan into submission, he considered deposing Crown Prince Shao by falsely accusing Crown Prince Shao of being disobedient to Emperor Yuan. However, Wen prevented this by publicly praising Crown Prince Shao of filial piety, making Wang's putative accusations not credible.
Early in January 323, Emperor Yuan died in distress after his defeat by Wang. Crown Prince Shao succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ming.
Reign One of the first things that Emperor Ming did was locating his birth mother Lady Xun, putting her in a mansion, and creating her the Lady of Jian'an. However, perhaps out of respect for his deceased stepmother Princess Yu (who had died in 312 but was posthumously honored as an empress by Emperor Yuan in October 320), he never gave her an empress dowager title—and Emperor Ming honored Princess Yu's family as appropriately he would a mother's family—and he was particularly close to Princess Yu's brother Yu Yin (虞胤). A few months after he took the throne, Lady Xun moved into the palace. Emperor Ming also created his wife, Crown Princess Yu, empress.
Wang Dun did not think much of the new emperor, and he plotted usurping the throne. In summer 323, he had Emperor Ming summon him to the capital, but actually did not go to the capital, but only moved his headquarters from Wuchang (武昌, in modern Ezhou, Hubei) to Gushu (姑孰, in modern Ma'anshan, Anhui), closer to the capital, and also taking over the governorship of the capital province. When Emperor Ming tried to commission the official Xi Jian as the military commander at Hefei, positionally behind Wang, Wang resisted, and Emperor Ming was forced to recall Xi.
In 324, Wang Dun grew ill, and became resolved to overthrow Jin so that his adopted son, Wang Ying (王應), could be emperor. (This was after his initial two inclinations—ordering that his troops be disbanded after his death, or having Wang Ying continue to control his troops but pledging allegiance to Emperor Ming—were rejected by his strategists.) He also made Wen Jiao, by that point a trusted assistant, the mayor of Jiankang, to keep an eye on the emperor—forgetting that Wen was loyal to Emperor Ming, and upon arrival in Jiankang, Wen informed Emperor Ming of Wang's plans, as well as his illness. Wang Dao, also loyal to Emperor Ming, then falsely declared to the imperial forces that Wang Dun had died, further increasing their morale, and Emperor Ming reinforced his troops by summoning battle-tested soldiers from the northern borders with Later Zhao back to the capital. (When the generals in command of these forces, Su Jun and Liu Xia (劉遐) arrived at Jiankang, even though it was dark in the night, Emperor Ming went to personally visit the troops, greatly enhancing their morale.) Wang Dun then sent his forces east to Jiankang, headed by his brother Wang Han (王含, Wang Ying's biological father) and Qian Feng, but could not decisively defeat the imperial troops. The imperial troops then attacked by, defeating Wang Han. Wang Dun, upon hearing initial news of defeat, died. The imperial forces then defeated Wang Han's troops more completely, forcing Wang Han and Wang Ying to flee, but they were captured by Wang Dun's brother Wang Shu (王舒), who executed them by drowning to show his loyalty.
In 325, Emperor Ming posthumously awarded officials who had died at Wang Dun's hands throughout the years with titles and honors. He also put the general Tao Kan, known for his military and governing capabilities, in charge of most of Wang Dun's former domain, including the key Jing Province (荊州, modern Hubei).
In fall 325, Emperor Ming grew ill. During this final illness, Sima Zong and Yu Yin (younger brother of Lady Yu Mengmu) held the keys to the palace where Emperor Ming was resting. One night, Yu Liang decided to seek an audience with the emperor; he then went to Sima Zong and asked for the keys to the palace gates. Sima refused, incurring Yu's wrath. At a later date, Yu pushed open the door to Emperor Ming's chambers. In tears, Yu claimed that Sima Yang and Sima Zong were plotting to dismiss court officials. Yu then requested that the emperor make him regent and dismiss Sima Zong, Sima Yang and Yu Yin; Emperor Ming refused.(右卫将军虞胤，元敬皇后之弟也，〈元帝为琅邪，虞为妃，即位，追谥曰敬皇后，祔庙，从元帝谥曰元敬。〉与左卫将军南顿王宗〈宗，汝南王亮之子也。〉俱为帝所亲任，典禁兵，直殿内，多聚勇士以为羽翼；王导、庾亮皆忌之，颇以为言，帝待之愈厚，宫门管钥，皆以委之。〈管，键也；钥，关牡也，今谓之锁匙。〉帝寝疾，亮夜有所表，从宗求钥；宗不与，叱亮使曰：“此汝家门户邪！”亮益忿之。〈为下亮杀宗张本。....〉及帝疾笃，不欲见人，群臣无得进者。亮疑宗、胤及宗兄西阳王羕有异谋，排闼入升御床，见帝流涕，言羕与宗等谋废大臣，自求辅政，请黜之；帝不纳。) Zizhi Tongjian, vol.93 with annotations by Hu Sanxing Eventually, Emperor Ming entrusted his four-year-old son, Crown Prince Yan, to a group of high-level officials, including Sima Yang (司馬羕) the Prince of Xiyang, Wang Dao, Bian Kun (卞壼), Xi Jian, Yu Liang, Lu Ye (陸瞱), and Wen Jiao, perhaps intending that they lead by group with a balance of power. He died soon thereafter—only 26 years old. The balance of power that he left was soon broken, however, as Empress Dowager Yu became the regent, and her brother Yu Liang became the most powerful of the officials, eventually offending Su Jun and Zu Yue into a rebellion that damaged Jin for years.
Anecdotes When Emperor Ming was a child, he was sitting on his father Emperor Yuan's knee where someone from Chang'an came to seek an audience; Emperor Yuan cried as he asked about the situation at Luoyang. The young Sima Shao then asked his father why he was crying; Emperor Yuan then told Shao his intent to seek refuge in the Jiangdong region. Emperor Yuan then asked his son, "In your opinion, which is further away: Chang'an or the sun?" Shao replied, "The sun. This is apparent as no one has ever came to us from where the sun is." Emperor Yuan was impressed by his reply. The next day, during a session with court officials, Emperor Yuan told those present Shao's reply from the day before, and then asked Shao the same question again. However, this time, Shao replied, "The sun is closer." Emperor Yuan went pale and asked, "Why was your answer different from yesterday's?" Shao replied, "Today, when I lift my head, I can see the sun. But, I cannot see Chang'an."(晋明帝数岁，坐元帝膝上。有人从长安来，元帝问洛下消息，潸然流涕。明帝问何以致泣？具以东渡意告之。因问明帝：“汝意谓长安何如日远？”答曰：“日远。不闻人从日边来，居然可知。”元帝异之。明日集群臣宴会，告以此意，更重问之。乃答曰：“日近。”元帝失色，曰：“尔何故异昨日之言邪？”答曰：“举目见日，不见长安。”) Shishuo Xinyu, vol.12 Era name Taining (太寧, tài níng): 22 April 323 – 15 April 326
Family Empress Mingmu, of the Yu clan of Yingchuan (; 297–328), personal name Wenjun () Princess Nankang (), personal name Xingnan () Married Huan Wen of Qiao, Duke Xuanwu of Nan Commandery (; 312–373) Sima Yan, Emperor Cheng (; 321–342), first son Sima Yue, Emperor Kang (; 322–344), second son Unknown Princess Luling (; d. 357), personal name Nandi () Married Liu Tan of Pei () Princess Nandao () Married Yang Bi of Taishan ()
Ancestry
Notes
References
Book of Jin, vol. 6. Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 90, 92, 93.