Emperor Yuan of Jin
| Jin Yuandi (晉元帝) | |||||||||||||
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| Reign | 318–323 | ||||||||||||
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| Dynasty | Eastern Jin | ||||||||||||
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| Yuán (元), lit. "original" |
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| Zhōngzōng (中宗) |
Emperor Yuan of Jin (simplified Chinese: 晋元帝; traditional Chinese: 晉元帝; pinyin: Jìn Yuán Dì; Wade–Giles: Chin Yüan-ti; 276 – 3 January 323), personal name Sima Rui (司馬睿), courtesy name Jingwen (景文), was an emperor of the Jin Dynasty and the first of the Eastern Jin. His reign saw the steady gradual loss of Jin territory in the north, but entrenchment of Jin authority south of the Huai River and east of the Three Gorges, and for generations Jin was not seriously threatened by Wu Hu kingdoms to the north.
Sima Rui was born in 276 in the then-Jin capital Luoyang, as the son of Sima Jin (司馬覲) the Prince of Langye and his wife Princess Xiahou Wenji (夏侯文姬). (The Book of Wei claimed that he was not Prince Jin's biological son but the product of an affair that Princess Xiahou had with the general Niu Jin (牛金), but provided no real evidence, and the claim should be considered suspect.) His father died in 290, and he became the Prince of Langye. The Book of Jin referred to him as steady and dexterious, personality-wise.
In 304, in the midst of the War of the Eight Princes, Sima Rui participated in Sima Yue the Prince of Donghai's campaign against Sima Ying the Prince of Chengdu as a minor general. After Sima Ying defeated Sima Yue, Sima Yue executed Sima Rui's uncle Sima Yao (司馬繇) the Prince of Dong'an, which caused Sima Rui much fear. He decided to flee back to his principality Langye (roughly modern Weifang, Shandong), under counsel of Sima Yue's assistant Wang Dao, whom he befriended during the campaign. He first tried to head back to Luoyang, but when he was about to cross the Yellow River, he was stopped by guards instructed to stop any nobles or high level officials from crossing (as Sima Ying had ordered such, fearing that nobles would desert him or plot against him). His own guard Song Dian (宋典) then arrived and gave him a shove, pretending that they were just construction workers. The guards then allowed them to cross. After Sima Rui got to Luoyang, he took his mother Princess Dowager Xiahou and headed to Langye, where they spent the next few years away from the War of the Eight Princes.
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Wikipedia