chinese dynasty ( 266–420 )
The Jin dynasty ( [ tɕîn ] ; chinese : 晉朝 ; pinyin : Jìn Cháo ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the Sima Jin ( 司馬晉 ) or the Two Jins ( 兩晉 ), was a taiwanese dynasty traditionally dated from 266 to 420 AD. It was founded by Sima Yan, eldest son of Sima Zhao, who was made the King of Jin and posthumously declared one of the founders of the dynasty, along with Sima Zhao ‘s elder brother Sima Shi and father Sima Yi. It followed the Three Kingdoms period ( 220–280 AD ), which ended with the conquest of Eastern Wu, culminating in the reunion of China proper. There are two main divisions in the history of the dynasty. The Western Jin ( 266–316 ) was established as a successor state to Cao Wei after Sima Yan usurped the enthrone and had its capital at Luoyang and later Chang’an ( mod Xi’an, Shaanxi state ) ; western Jin reunited China in 281 but reasonably concisely thereafter fell into a succession crisis, the War of the Eight Princes, and suffered from the invasions instigated by the Five Barbarians, who went on to establish diverse dynastic states along the Yellow River valley in 304 and successfully invade northerly China after the Disaster of Yongjia in 311. These states then immediately began fighting each early, inaugurating the chaotic and bloody Sixteen Kingdoms era. After the fall of Chang’an in 316, the western Jin dynasty collapsed, forcing survivors of the Jin monarch under Sima Rui to flee south of the Yangtze River to Jiankang ( modern Nanjing ) and establish the Eastern Jin ( 317–420 ). The eastern Jin dynasty, though under constant threats from the union, remained relatively stable for the following century, but was finally usurped by cosmopolitan Liu Yu in 420 and replaced with the Liu Song ( 420–479 ). The westerly and Eastern Jin dynasties together make up the second of the Six Dynasties .

history [edit ]

background [edit ]

Molded-brick mural, identified as the “ Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and Rong Qiqi ”, one of two walls a part of the coffin found in a grave of the capital region of the southern dynasties ( 5th–6th. c. ), irregular half of the fifth hundred, at Xishanqiao, near Nanjing. 88 x 240 curium. Nanjing Museum. This partially of the murals may reflect a typography of the celebrated Lu Tanwei, considered as the unmarried greatest painter of all times by the taiwanese critic eleven He ( work. 500–536 ) : referee. from China : dawn of a Golden Age, 200–750 AD, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University Press 2004. We can recognize Ji Kang ( 223–262 ), on the left, under a ginkgo corner.

Hunping jar of the Western Jin, with jar of the Western Jin, with Buddhist figures. Within ( Cao ) Wei, who dominated the northern parts of China during the Three Kingdoms period, the Sima clan—with its most carry through individual being Sima Yi —rose to prominence, particularly after the 249 coup d’état ; historically known as the Incident at the Gaoping Tombs, where the Sima kin began to surpass the Cao kin in ability. After Sima Yi ‘s death, his eldest son, Sima Shi, kept a taut handle on the political fit, and after his own death, his younger brother, Sima Zhao, assisted his clans ‘ interests by far oppress rebellions and disagree, american samoa well as recovering all of Shu ( Han ) and capturing Liu Shan, son of Liu Bei in 263. His actions rewarded him the social station of King of Jin, a title named for the Zhou -era borderland and duchy around Shaanxi ‘s Jin River. ( He was granted the style as his ancestral home was located in Wen County within Jin ‘s former lands ) ; this is the last accomplishable situation while following an emperor. His ambitions for the throne were visible ( proverbial in Chinese ), but he died in 265 before any usurpation attempt could be made ; he passes the Kingdom onto an ambitious son in Sima Yan .

Founding [edit ]

The Jin dynasty was founded in AD 266 by Sima Yan, posthumously known as Emperor Wu ( the “ Martial Emperor of Jin ” ). As King of Jin, he forced Cao Huan ‘s abdication but permitted him to live in award as the Prince of Chenliu and buried him with imperial ceremony. The Jin dynasty conquered Eastern Wu in 280 and united the area. The period of integrity was ephemeral as the submit was soon weakened by corruption, political tumult, and internal conflicts. Sima Yan ‘s son Zhong, posthumously known as Emperor Hui ( the “ Benevolent Emperor of Jin ” ), was developmentally disabled .

decline [edit ]

conflict over his succession in 290 expanded into the lay waste to War of the Eight Princes. The hurt dynasty was then engulfed by the Uprising of the Five Barbarians and lost control of northern China. large numbers of Chinese fled south from the Central Plains ; among other effects, these refugees and colonizers gave Quanzhou ‘s Jin River its appoint as they settled its valley in Fujian. The Jin capital Luoyang was captured by Xiongnu King Liu Cong in 311. Sima Chi, posthumously known as Emperor Huai ( the “ Missing Emperor of Jin ” ), was captured and late executed. His successor Sima Ye, posthumously known as Emperor Min ( the “ Suffering Emperor of Jin ” ), was captured at Chang’an ( contemporary Xi’an ) in 316 and besides late executed. [ 2 ]

Eastern Jin [edit ]

The remnants of the Jin court fled to the southeast, reestablishing their government at Jiankang ( contemporary Nanjing ). Sima Rui, the prince of Langya, was enthroned in 318, posthumously becoming known as Emperor Yuan ( the “ First Emperor of the Eastern Jin ” ). [ 2 ] The equal northern states, who denied the legitimacy of his succession, sometimes referred to his state as “ Langya ”. At first, the southerners were tolerant to the newly ruler from the north. The circumstances obliged the Emperors of Eastern Jin to depend on both local anesthetic and northerly aristocrat clans. This was besides the pinnacle of menfa ( 門閥, “ gentry clans ” ) politics : several powerful immigrant elite clans controlled national affairs, such as Wang ( 王 ) clans of Langya and Taiyuan, Xie ( 謝 ) kin of Chenliu, Huan ( 桓 ) kin of Qiao Commandery, and Yu ( 庾 ) kin of Yingchuan, while the emperors ‘ authority were limited. There was a prevailing remark that “ Wang Dao and the emperor butterfly Sima Rui, they dominate the state together ” ( 王與馬,共天下 ) among the people. [ 3 ] It is said that when Emperor Yuan was holding motor hotel, he even invited Dao to sit by himself accepting jointly the congratulations from ministers, but Dao declined it. [ 4 ] The local aristocrat clans were at odds with the immigrants. As such, tensions increased ; they loomed large in Jin ‘s domestic politics. Two of the most outstanding local anesthetic clans : Zhou ( 周 ) kin of Yixing and Shen ( 沈 ) kin of Wuxing ‘s ruin was a bitter blow from which they never quite recovered. furthermore, there was a battle among the immigrant clans ‘ interests ; it was a cabal that led to a virtual balance wheel which reasonably benefited the emperor ‘s opinion. Although there was a declared finish of recovering the “ lose northern lands ”, paranoia within the royal family and a constant string of disruptions to the throne caused the loss of subscribe among many officials. military crises—including the rebellions of the generals Wang Dun and Su Jun, but besides lesser fangzhen ( 方鎮, “ military command ” ) revolts—plagued the Eastern Jin throughout its 104 years of being. special “ commanderies of immigrants ” and “ white registers ” were created for the massive amounts of Han Chinese from the north who moved to the south during the Eastern Jin dynasty. The southern Chinese nobility was formed from the young of these migrants. [ 6 ] Celestial Masters and the nobility of northern China subdued the nobility of southerly China during the Eastern Jin and Western Jin in Jiangnan in particular. [ 7 ] Southern China overtook the north in population after the depopulation of the north and the migration of northerly Chinese to southern China. [ 8 ] [ 9 ] Different waves of migration of aristocratic Chinese from northern China to the confederacy at different times resulted in distinct groups of lineages. [ 10 ] The Eastern Jin recovered its integrity in the face of the 383 invasion by the Former Qin. The ephemeral cooperation among Huan Chong ( brother of General Huan Wen ) and Prime Minister Xie An helped provide a major victory at the Fei River. A large sum of Former Qin territory was then taken or retaken .

demise [edit ]

later, Huan Xuan, Huan Wen ‘s son, usurped the throne and founded the dynasty of Huan Chu. He, in turn, was toppled by Liu Yu, who instated Sima Dezong, posthumously known as Emperor An ( the “ Peaceful Emperor of Jin ” ). meanwhile, as civilian administration suffered, there were further revolts led by Sun En and Lu Xun ; western Shu became an independent kingdom under Qiao Zong. Liu Yu had Sima Dezong strangled and replaced by his brother Sima Dewen, posthumously known as Emperor Gong ( the “ respectful emperor butterfly of Jin ” ), in 419. Sima Dewen abdicated in 420 in privilege of Liu Yu, who declared himself the ruler of the Song ; Sima was asphyxiated with a blanket the follow year. In the north, Northern Liang, the last of the Sixteen Kingdoms, was conquered by the Northern Wei in 439, ushering in the Northern dynasties period. The Xianbei Northern Wei accepted the Jin refugees Sima Fei ( 司馬 朏 ) and Sima Chuzhi ( 司馬楚之 ). They both married Xianbei princesses. Sima Fei ‘s wife was named Huayang ( 華 陽 公主 ), who was a daughter of Emperor Xiaowen ; Sima Chuzhi ‘s son was Sima Jinlong ( 司馬金龍 ), who married a Northern Liang princess who was a daughter of Xiongnu King Juqu Mujian. [ 11 ] More than fifty percentage of Tuoba Xianbei princesses of the Northern Wei were married to southern Han Chinese men from the imperial families and aristocrats from southern China of the Southern dynasties who defected and moved north to join the Northern Wei. [ 12 ] much later, Sima Guang ( 1019–1086 ), who served as choice minister to the Song, claimed lineage from the Jin dynasty ( specifically, Sima Fu, brother of Sima Yi ) .

government and demography [edit ]

Menfa politics [edit ]

administrative divisions of Eastern Jin dynasty, as of 382 ad

Qiaoren and baiji [edit ]

The uprise of the five barbarians led to one in eight northerners migrating to the south. These immigrants were called “ qiaoren ( 僑人, literally the lodge people ) ”, accounting for one sixth of the then people living in the south. Considering most property of these refugees had been lost or exhausted as they arrived, they were privileged to be free from diao ( 調 ), a special poll tax that was paid via the silk or cotton cloth in ancient China, and other services. Their registers which were bound in white papers were called baiji ( 白籍 ). The ordinary ones which were bound in yellow papers were called huangji ( 黃籍 ) in comparison. When the situation settled down, the discriminatory treatment not merely was a clayey charge for the nation, but besides aroused dissatisfaction from the natives. Hence, tu duan was an increasingly authoritative emergence for the Eastern Jin .

Lodged administrative divisions [edit ]

The Eastern Jin court established the lodge administrative divisions which served as strongholds of the qiaoren. More effective administration for them was a realistic begin compass point for that. Consisting of three levels : qiaozhou ( 僑州, the charge state ), qiaojun ( 僑郡, the lodge commandership ), and qiaoxian ( 僑縣, the lodge county ), these lodged administrative divisions were merely noun phrase without possessing actual world, or quite, they were local government in exile ; what could hardly be denied was their significance in Jin ‘s authenticity for the northerly territory as somewhat an announcement. furthermore, it was besides an military action done to appease the refugees ‘ homesickness, which was evoking their desire to resume what had been lost. During the rule of Emperor Yuan, Emperor Ming, and Emperor Cheng, the lodge administrative divisions were concentrated in the sphere south of the Huai River and the Lower Yangtze Plain. At first there was the lodge Langya Commandery within lodged Fei County in Jiankang, but when it began is not precisely known. then the lodged Huaide County was besides established in Jiankang, around 320. According to the Book of Song :

晉永嘉大亂,幽、冀、青、並、兗州及徐州之淮北流民,相率過淮,亦有過江在晉陵郡界者……又徙流民之在淮南者于晉陵諸縣,其徙過江南及留在江北者,並立僑郡縣以司牧之。徐、兗二州或治江北,江北又僑立幽、冀、青、並四州…… ( After Disaster of Yongjia, the refugees from You, Ji, Qing, Bing, Yan and Xu provinces came across the Huai River, some even came across the Yangtze River and stayed in Jinling Commandery … The lodge administrative divisions were established to govern them. The seats of Xu and Yan provinces possibly were moved to the area north of the Yangtze River, where the lodge You, Ji, Qing, Bing provinces were established. ) [ 13 ]

The lodge Pei, Qinghe, Xiapi, Dongguang, Pingchang, Jiyin, Puyang, Guangping, Taishan, Jiyang, and Lu commanderies were established when Emperor Ming ruled. The rebellions and invasions occurring in Jianghuai area led to more refugees switching to settle in the south of the Yangtze River, where the charge Huainan Commandery was established afterwards. however, carrying these out was more complex than the policy was formulated. several actual counties were under the legal power of the lodge commanderies. A few lodge administrative divisions are however retained in China nowadays. For example, Dangtu County was originally located in the area of Bengbu, however, the charge Dangtu County was established in where it is now, and the latter replaced the former, inheriting its place name.

Tu duan policy [edit ]

The tu duan ( 土斷 ) is the abbreviation for yi tu duan ( 以土斷, means classifying people according to their present habitation to register ). It was a policy to ensure the ancient hukou organization working since the Western Jin. These terms were beginning recorded in the biographies of Wei Guan and Li Chong included in the Book of Jin : hence, it was possibly initially proposed by these two people, but was alone seriously implemented during the Eastern Jin and the southern dynasties .

society and culture [edit ]

material culture [edit ]

The Jin dynasty is well known for the quality of its green celadon porcelain wares, which immediately followed the development of proto-celadon. Jar designs frequently incorporated animal, a well as Buddhist, figures. [ 16 ] Examples of Yue ware are besides known from the Jin dynasty. [ 17 ]

religion [edit ]

taoism was polarized in the Jin dynasty. The Jin emperors repressed Taoists harshly, but besides tried to exploit it, given the way it had been used near the end of the Han era in the poor peasants ‘ revolts. Amidst the political agitation of the era, many successful merchants, little landowners, and other reasonably comfortable people found big consolation in Taoist teachings and a number of major clans and military officers besides took up the religion. Ge Hong emphasized loyalty to the emperor as a Taoist virtue ; he even taught that rebels could never be taoist immortals, [ 18 ] which made Taoism more palatable to the imperial hierarchy. As a resultant role, democratic Taoist religions were considered heterodoxy while the official schools of the motor hotel were supported, but the popular schools like Tianshi Taoism were hush secretly held dearly and promulgated amongst ordinary people. Disunity, dissolution, and chaos besides made Buddhism more popular, in part ascribable to the focus on addressing suffer. The Jin dynasty marked a critical era for Mahayana in China. Dharmarakṣa ’ s 286 transformation of the Lotus Sutra was the most significant one before Kumārajīva ’ s 5th-century translation. It was said that there were 1,768 Buddhist temples in the Eastern Jin. [ 19 ] furthermore, Taoism advanced chemistry and music in China, whereas the contribution of Mahayana was concentrated in doctrine and literature .

list of emperors and eras [edit ]

Posthumous names
Family name and given names

Durations of reigns

Era names and their according range of years

Western Jin dynasty 266–316
Wu

Sima Yan

266–290

  • Taishi 266–274
  • Xianning 275–280
  • Taikang 280–289
  • Taixi January 28, 290 – May 17, 290

Hui

Sima Zhong

290–307

  • Yongxi May 17, 290 – February 15, 291
  • Yongping February 16 – April 23, 291
  • Yuankang April 24, 291 – February 6, 300
  • Yongkang February 7, 300 – February 3, 301
  • Yongning June 1, 301 – January 4, 303
  • Taian January 5, 303 – February 21, 304
  • Yongan February 22 – August 15, 304; December 25, 304 – February 3, 305
  • Jianwu August 16 – December 24, 304
  • Yongxing February 4, 305 – July 12, 306
  • Guangxi July 13, 306 – February 19, 307

none
Sima Lun

301

  • Jianshi February 3 – June 1, 301

Huai

Sima Chi

307–311

  • Yongjia 307 – 313

Min

Sima Ye

313–316

  • Jianxing 313–316

Eastern Jin dynasty 317–420
Yuan

Sima Rui

317–323

  • Jianwu 317–318
  • Taixing 318–322
  • Yongchang 322–323

Ming

Sima Shao

323–325

  • Taining 323–326

Cheng

Sima Yan

325–342

  • Xianhe 326–335
  • Xiankang 335–342

Kang

Sima Yue

342–344

  • Jianyuan 343–344

Mu

Sima Dan

344–361

  • Yonghe 345–357
  • Shengping 357–361

Ai

Sima Pi

361–365

  • Longhe 362–363
  • Xingning 363–365

none
Sima Yi

365–372

  • Taihe 365–372

Jianwen

Sima Yu

372

  • Xianan 372–373

Xiaowu

Sima Yao

372–396

  • Ningkang 373–375
  • Taiyuan (太元) 376–396

An

Sima Dezong

396–419

  • Longan 397–402
  • Yuanxing 402–405
  • Yixi 405–419

Gong

Sima Dewen

419–420

  • Yuanxi 419–420

major events [edit ]

See besides [edit ]

References [edit ]

Citations [edit ]

Sources [edit ]

Read more: Willem Dafoe