Sima Yue
| This article is part of the War of the Eight Princes series. |
|
|---|---|
| Eight Princes | |
| Sima Liang | |
| Sima Wei | |
| Sima Lun | |
| Sima Jiong | |
| Sima Ai | |
| Sima Ying | |
| Sima Yong | |
| Sima Yue | |
| Other key figures | |
| Emperor Hui | |
| Emperor Huai | |
| Empress Yang Zhi | |
| Jia Nanfeng | |
| Yang Xianrong | |
| Sima Yu | |
| Yang Jun | |
| Wei Guan | |
| Zhang Hua |
Sima Yue (司馬越) (died 311), courtesy name Yuanchao (元超), formally Prince Xiaoxian of Donghai (東海孝獻王), was a Jin Dynasty (265-420) imperial prince and regent for Emperor Hui and Emperor Huai. He was the eighth of eight princes commonly associated with the War of the Eight Princes.
Sima Yue was the son of Sima Tai (司馬泰) the Prince of Gaomi, who was the son of Sima Yi's brother Sima Kui (司馬馗), making him cousin of Jin's founding emperor Emperor Wu. In 291, early in Emperor Hui's reign, he was created the Prince of Donghai. During the early parts of the War of the Eight Princes, he held a number of offices in the capital Luoyang.
In early 304, when the regent Sima Ai the Prince of Changsha (Emperor Hui's brother) was battling the forces of Sima Ying the Prince of Chengdu (also Emperor Hui's brother) and Sima Yong the Prince of Hejian (grandson of Emperor Hui's great-granduncle Sima Fu the Prince of Anping), even though Sima Ai was fighting off the overwhelming force that Sima Ying and Sima Yong had, Sima Yue became convinced that a victory was impossible, and he seized Sima Ai and delivered him to Sima Yong's general Zhang Fang (張方), who executed Sima Ai cruelly by burning him to death. Sima Ying controlled the government remotely, with Sima Yue being one of the generals who stayed in Luoyang to execute Sima Ying's orders.
As Sima Ying continued to remotely control the government from his stronghold of Yecheng (鄴城, in modern Handan, Hebei) as both regent and crown prince, the officials in Luoyang tired of the situation. Later in 304, Sima Yue led them in a rebellion against Sima Ying's forces, and he took Emperor Hui with him on the campaign. After some initial hesitation, Sima Ying fought and defeated Sima Yue's forces, forcing Sima Yue to flee. Emperor Hui was captured and taken to Yecheng. Subsequently, however, Sima Ying was defeated by Wang Jun (王浚), the commander of the forces of You Province (幽州, modern Beijing, Tianjin, and northern Hebei) and fled to Luoyang without his troops. Sima Yong then seized control of the government and Emperor Hui, deposing Sima Ying from his position as crown prince and replacing him with another brother of Emperor Hui's, Sima Chi the Prince of Yuzhang. In late 304, he further had Zhang forcibly move Emperor Hui and Crown Prince Chi to Chang'an, under his firm control.
...
Wikipedia