Emperor Yuan of Jin

Emperor Yuan of Jin
晉元帝
First Emperor of Eastern Jin Dynasty
Reign26 April 318[1] – 3 January 323
PredecessorEmperor Min
SuccessorEmperor Ming
Born276
Died3 January 323(323-01-03) (aged 47)
Jiankang, Eastern Jin
Burial
Jianping ling (建平陵), Nanjing, Jiangsu
ConsortsEmpress Yuanjing[2]
Empress Dowager Jianwenxuan
IssueEmperor Ming
Sima Pou
Sima Chong
Sima Xi
Emperor Jianwen
Princess Xunyang
Full name
Era dates
Jianwu (建武): 317–318
Taixing (太興): 318–322
Yongchang (永昌): 322–323
Posthumous name
Emperor Yuan
元皇帝 (lit. "original")
Temple name
Zhōngzōng (中宗)
HouseHouse of Sima
DynastyEastern Jin
FatherSima Jin
MotherXiahou Guangji

Emperor Yuan of Jin (Chinese: 晉元帝; pinyin: Jìn Yuán Dì; Wade–Giles: Chin Yüan-ti; 276 – 3 January 323[3]), personal name Sima Rui (司馬睿), courtesy name Jingwen (景文), was an emperor of the Jin dynasty and the first emperor of the Eastern Jin. During the Upheaval of the Five Barbarians, he was stationed in Jiankang south of the Yangtze River where he avoided the chaos that befell northern China. Primarily through the help of the cousins, Wang Dun and Wang Dao, he emerged as an authority figure within the empire with the backing of the southern gentry clans and northern officials who fled to him for refuge. After Emperor Min of Jin was executed by the Han-Zhao dynasty in 318, he took the title of Emperor and made Jiankang his capital. Though at the time of his death he left the state under the heel of Wang Dun, the Eastern Jin dynasty as it became known lasted until its fall in July 420, contending with the so-called Sixteen Kingdoms in the north and occasionally in the southwest.

  1. ^ ([大兴元年三月]丙辰,王即皇帝位...) Zizhi Tongjian, vol.90
  2. ^ Emperor Yuan's biography in Book of Jin indicate that Lady Yu was posthumously named empress on 10 Oct 320. ([大兴三年]八月戊午,尊敬王后虞氏为敬皇后。) Jin Shu, vol.06.
  3. ^ Emperor Yuan's biography in Book of Jin indicate that he was 47 (by East Asian reckoning) when he died on the jichou day of the leap month of the 1st year of the Yong'chang era. Vol.92 of Zizhi Tongjian also recorded the same date of death.