War of the Eight Princes

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

The War of the Eight Princes, Rebellion of the Eight Kings or Rebellion of the Eight Princes (simplified Chinese: 八王之乱; traditional Chinese: 八王之亂; pinyin: bā wáng zhī luàn; Wade–Giles: pa wang chih luan) was a series of civil wars among kings/princes (Chinese: wáng 王) of the Chinese Jin dynasty from AD 291 to 306. The key point of contention in these conflicts was the regency over the developmentally disabled Emperor Hui of Jin. The term stems from biographies of eight princes collected in chapter 59 of the Book of Jin (Jinshu).

Technically, the term "War of the Eight Princes" is somewhat of a misnomer: rather than one continuous conflict, the War of the Eight Princes saw intervals of peace interposed with short and intense periods of internecine conflict. At no point in the whole conflict were all of the eight princes on one side of the fighting (as opposed to, for example, the Rebellion of the Seven States). The literal Chinese translation, Disorder of the Eight Princes, may be more appropriate in this regard.

While initial conflicts were relatively minor and confined to the imperial capital of Luoyang and its surroundings, the scope of the war expanded with each new prince that entered the struggle. At its conclusion, the war devastated the Jin heartlands in northern China, and was a major cause of the Wu Hu ravaging that ended the Western Jin.

While many princes participated in the conflict, the eight major players in this conflict were:

Other people of note included Emperor Hui of Jin, Co-regent Yang Jun, Empress Dowager Yang, Empress Jia Nanfeng, and the senior minister Wei Guan.

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