Sima Zhao
| Sima Zhao | |
|---|---|
A Qing dynasty illustration of Sima Zhao (right)
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| King of Jin | |
| Born | 211 |
| Died | 265 (aged 53–54) |
| Predecessor | Sima Shi as regent |
| Successor | Sima Yan as King of Jin |
| Names | |
| Traditional Chinese | 司馬昭 |
| Simplified Chinese | 司马昭 |
| Pinyin | Sīmǎ Zhāo |
| Wade–Giles | Szŭ-ma Chao |
| Courtesy name | Zishang (子上) |
| Posthumous name |
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| Temple name | Taizu (Chinese: 太祖; pinyin: Tàizǔ; Wade–Giles: Tai-tsu) |
Sima Zhao (211–265), courtesy name Zishang, was a military general, politician and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of Chinese history
He maintained control of Wei, seized by his father Sima Yi and maintained by his older brother Sima Shi, and had himself created the King of Jin – the penultimate step before usurpation of the throne – although he never actually ascended to the throne. He took advantage of weakness in Shu Han to the west and attacked it, forcing the surrender of Shu's people. His military credit helped to set up the plot of overthrowing Wei by his son, Sima Yan, who usurped the Wei throne and proclaimed the Jin Dynasty. After the establishment of Jin, Sima Yan posthumously honored his father as Emperor Wen of Jin (晉文帝), with the temple name of Taizu (太祖).
A Chinese idiom involving and inspired by Sima Zhao states that "Everyone on the street knows what's in Sima Zhao's mind" (司馬昭之心, 路人皆知), meaning that a person's supposed hidden intention (in this case, usurping the throne) is so well known that it is not really hidden. It came from a quote by Cao Mao, fourth emperor of Wei, who launched an unsuccessful uprising against Sima Zhao to try to take back imperial power.
Sima Zhao was born in 211, as the second-born son of Sima Yi and his wife Zhang Chunhua, younger only to Sima Shi. As his father was an important Wei official, Sima Shi himself climbed up the ranks of officials fairly rapidly. Due to his father's achievements (not his own) in destroying the warlord Gongsun Yuan, he was created a marquess in 238.
Sima Zhao's involvement in his father's coup d'état against the regent Cao Shuang in 249 is unclear. According to the Book of Jin, he was not told about the plan, hatched by his father and his older brother, until the last minute – a view disagreed with by other historians, who believed that he was intimately involved in the planning. In the aftermath of the successful coup, however, his father became regent, and he himself became important in status. In 251, when his father suppressed the failed rebellion of Wang Ling, Sima Zhao served as deputy commander. During the next few years, he was involved in commanding forces in repelling invasions by Shu's commander of the armed forces, Jiang Wei.
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Wikipedia