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Sima Daozi (司馬道子) (363 – 3 February 403),
courtesy name A courtesy name (), also known as a style name, is a name bestowed upon one at adulthood in addition to one's given name. This practice is a tradition in the East Asian cultural sphere, including China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam.Ulrich Theobald ...
Daozi (道子), formally Prince Wenxiao of Kuaiji (會稽文孝王), was a
regent A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...
during the reign of his nephew
Emperor An of Jin Emperor An of Jin (; 383 – 28 January 419), personal name Sima Dezong (), was an emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (266–420) in China. He was described as so developmentally disabled that he was unable to speak, clothe himself, or be able to ...
, being the younger brother of Emperor Xiaowu.


Early life

Sima Daozi was born in 363, a year after his older brother Sima Yao was born to their father,
Sima Yu Sima or SIMA may refer to: People * Sima (Chinese surname) * Sima (given name), a Persian feminine name in use in Iran and Turkey * Sima (surname) Places * Sima, Comoros, on the island of Anjouan, near Madagascar * Sima de los Huesos, a caver ...
,
Prince of Kuaiji Kuaiji Commandery ( Chinese:  t , s , p ''Kuàijī Jùn''), formerly romanized as K'uai-chi Commandery, was a former commandery of China in the area of Hangzhou Bay. When first established, its capital was at Wu (present- ...
, and mother Consort Li. In 371, after the paramount general
Huan Wen Huan Wen (桓溫) (312 – 18 August 373), courtesy name Yuanzi (元子), formally Duke Xuanwu of Nan Commandery (南郡宣武公), was a general and regent of the Jin Dynasty (266–420), as well as the leader of Huan clan of Qiaoguo (谯国桓 ...
deposed Emperor Fei to showcase his power, he made Sima Yu emperor (as Emperor Jianwen). In 372, when Emperor Jianwen grew ill, he created Sima Yao
crown prince A crown prince or hereditary prince is the heir apparent to the throne in a royal or imperial monarchy. The female form of the title is crown princess, which may refer either to an heiress apparent or, especially in earlier times, to the wif ...
and Sima Daozi the Prince of Langye. He died soon thereafter, and Sima Yao assumed the throne as Emperor Xiaowu.


During Emperor Xiaowu's reign

As the emperor's only surviving brother, Sima Daozi was in an honored position. In 380, when he was just 16, he was offered the position of prime minister, but he declined. In 383, he finally accepted the title while the empire was preparing for a showdown with the powerful rival
Former Qin The Former Qin, also called Fu Qin (苻秦), (351–394) was a dynastic state of the Sixteen Kingdoms in Chinese history ruled by the Di ethnicity. Founded by Fu Jian (posthumously Emperor Jingming) who originally served under the Later ...
, and, after Jin forces repelled Former Qin forces at the
Battle of Fei River The Battle of Fei River, also known as the Battle of Feishui (), was a battle in AD 383 in China, where forces of the Di-led Former Qin dynasty was decisively defeated by the outnumbered army of the Eastern Jin dynasty. The location of the bat ...
, thus guaranteeing the dynasty's continued survival, he soon came into a power conflict with
Xie An Xie An (謝安) (320 – 12 October 385), courtesy name Anshi (安石), formally Duke Wenjing of Luling (廬陵文靖公), also known as "Xie Dongshan" (谢东山, "dongshan" literally 'East mount'), was a Chinese politician of the Eastern Jin d ...
, who had served as Emperor Xiaowu's regent ever since Emperor Xiaowu's ascension; this conflict was aggravated by Xie An's son-in-law
Wang Guobao Wang may refer to: Names * Wang (surname) (王), a common Chinese surname * Wāng (汪), a less common Chinese surname * Titles in Chinese nobility * A title in Korean nobility * A title in Mongolian nobility Places * Wang River in Thailand ...
(王國寶), whose cousin was Sima Daozi's wife and whom Xie disfavored, who therefore retaliated by slandering Xie before Emperor Xiaowu and Sima Daozi. Emperor Xiaowu therefore began to listen to Xie less, and in 385, Xie volunteered to lead an army and leave the capital to avoid further conflict with Sima Daozi. When Xie died later that year, Sima Daozi became the head of the government under Emperor Xiaowu, who entrusted his brother with most important affairs of state. Both Emperor Xiaowu and Sima Daozi were described to be spending much of their times with drinking and feasting, rather than with important affairs of state. A number of politicians who wanted power gathered around Sima Daozi and flattered him, causing him to be less and less deferential to the emperor. He was also known for being obsessed with gathering wealth and for extravagance in living—including constructing an artificial hill in the back of his mansion, an excessively expensive and difficult task. Emperor Xiaowu eventually became angry about the situation, and he commissioned the well-known officials Wang Gong (王恭) and Yin Zhongkan (殷仲堪) to be provincial governors to counteract Sima Daozi's authority. The emperor and the prince at times suspected of each other, requiring intervention of their mother Empress Dowager Li. However, eventually they reconciled. It was around this time that Sima Daozi would, fatefully, inadvertently offend Huan Wen's son
Huan Xuan Huan Xuan (桓玄) (369 – 19 June 404), courtesy name Jingdao (敬道), nickname Lingbao (靈寶), formally Emperor Wudao of Chu (楚武悼帝), was a Jin Dynasty warlord who briefly took over the imperial throne from Emperor An of Jin and de ...
the Duke of Nan Commandery—as at one feast where Sima Daozi invited Huan Xuan as a guest, after Sima Daozi became drunk, he made the statement, "Was it not true that when Huan Wen became old, he planned treason?" Huan Xuan was so struck by the statement that he fell prostrate on the ground, fearing that Sima Daozi would kill him, and from this point he bore a grudge against the prince. On 27 December 392,According to Sima Yao's biography in ''Book of Jin'', Sima Daozi was made Prince of Kuaiji and Sima Dewen was made Prince of Langya on the ''gengyin'' day of the 11th month of the 17th year of the ''Taiyuan'' era of Yao's reign. This corresponds to 27 Dec 392 in the Julian calendar. ( 元十七年十一月寅,徙封琅邪王道子为会稽王,封皇子德文为琅邪王。) ''Jin Shu'' vol. 09. Sima Daozi was created the
Prince of Kuaiji Kuaiji Commandery ( Chinese:  t , s , p ''Kuàijī Jùn''), formerly romanized as K'uai-chi Commandery, was a former commandery of China in the area of Hangzhou Bay. When first established, its capital was at Wu (present- ...
, to permit the greater title of Prince of Langye be given to Emperor Xiaowu's second son Sima Dewen (the younger brother to the
developmentally disabled Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...
Crown Prince Sima Dezong). In 396, Emperor Xiaowu, after offending his favorite concubine
Honoured Lady Zhang Honoured Lady Zhang (367? - after 396) was a concubine of the Jin dynasty emperor, Xiaowu, whom she murdered in 396.Fang (648), volume 9 Biography Honoured Lady Zhang was Emperor Xiaowu of Jin's favourite concubine. She had no children and the ...
, was suffocated by her in his sleep. However, with the crown prince being developmentally disabled and with Sima Daozi being foolish and unthinking, no one investigated his death. Crown Prince Dezong took the throne as Emperor An; Sima Daozi, as the emperor's uncle, served as regent.


As Emperor An's regent

Sima Daozi, as regent, greatly trusted Wang Guobao and his cousin Wang Xu (王緒) because of their flattery, and his regency quickly developed a reputation for being corrupt and incompetent. Wang Gong, whom Emperor Xiaowu entrusted with the armies of the northeastern part of the empire, considered starting a rebellion to overthrow Wang Guobao and Wang Xu. In 397, Wang Guobao and Wang Xu suggested to Sima Daozi that the armies that Wang Gong and Yin Zhongkan were in charge of be reduced; Wang Gong and Yin, who was in command of the western provinces, in response, mobilized their forces and declared that Wang Guobao and Wang Xu should be executed. Sima Daozi, in fear, forced Wang Guobao to commit suicide and executed Wang Xu. Wang Gong and Yin then retreated. From this point on, Sima Daozi trusted no one but his teenaged
heir apparent An heir apparent, often shortened to heir, is a person who is first in an order of succession and cannot be displaced from inheriting by the birth of another person; a person who is first in the order of succession but can be displaced by the b ...
,
Sima Yuanxian Sima Yuanxian (司馬元顯) (382 – before 3 February 402), courtesy name Langjun (郎君), formally Heir Apparent Zhong of Kuaiji (會稽忠世子), was briefly a regent of Jin Dynasty (266–420), during the reign of his developmentally-disabl ...
, and entrusted the capital guards to Sima Yuanxian. He also gave military commands to his distant relatives Sima Shangzhi (司馬尚之) the Prince of Qiao and Sima Shangzhi's brother Sima Xiuzhi, as well as Wang Yu (王愉), in 398. The giving of a military command to Wang Yu oddly drew a reaction from Wang Gong and Yin—as Wang Yu's command included four commanderies originally under the command of Yu Kai (庾楷), who became angry and managed to persuade Wang Gong and Yin that Sima Daozi's intention was to act against them as well. They therefore rose again, but Sima Daozi was able to persuade Wang Gong's general
Liu Laozhi / ( or ) is an East Asian surname. pinyin: in Mandarin Chinese, in Cantonese. It is the family name of the Han dynasty emperors. The character originally meant 'kill', but is now used only as a surname. It is listed 252nd in the classic text ...
(劉牢之), who was in command of the elite Beifu Forces (北府兵), to suddenly turn against Wang Gong, capturing and executing him. Yin, hearing of Wang Gong's death, was in fear but considered proceeding anyway—and Sima Daozi, under suggestion by Huan Xuan's cousin Huan Xiu (桓脩), managed to cause dissension between Yin and his generals Huan Xuan and
Yang Quanqi Yang may refer to: * Yang, in yin and yang, one half of the two symbolic polarities in Chinese philosophy * Korean yang, former unit of currency of Korea from 1892 to 1902 * YANG, a data modeling language for the NETCONF network configuration p ...
(楊佺期) by offering Huan and Yang key posts; although Huan and Yang nominally remained Yin's allies, Yin was forced to withdraw his troops, and from that point on no longer posed a major threat, as his domain had now been divided into three, with Huan and Yang each given a third. In late 398, the magician Sun Tai (孫泰), a friend of Sima Yuanxian's, who had gathered great following due to his magic, was exposed as planning a plot to take over the central government, and Sima Daozi ordered Sima Yuanxian to trap Sun Tai and execute him. Sun Tai's nephew
Sun En Sun En (孫恩; died April or May 402) courtesy name Linxiu (灵秀), was a native of Langya (in modern Shandong) who rebelled against the Eastern Jin dynasty. Life A member of Sun Xiu's clan, he joined his uncle Sun Tai (孫泰), who was regarde ...
fled to
Zhoushan Zhoushan , formerly romanized as Chusan, is an urbanized archipelago with the administrative status of a prefecture-level city in the eastern Chinese province of Zhejiang. It consists of an archipelago of islands at the southern mouth of H ...
Island and planned revenge. In summer 399, Sima Yuanxian, wanting even greater power, took an opportunity when his father was very drunk to have Emperor An issue an edict transferring Sima Daozi's authorities to Sima Yuanxian. When Sima Daozi awoke from his stupor, he was enraged, but after that point his power became extremely limited, even though he nominally remained regent. Later in 399, Sun En launched his rebellion and captured most of the eastern empire for a while, until Liu Laozhi led his Beifu Forces and defeated Sun, forcing him to flee back to Zhoushan. Still, the only region remaining under central government control was now laid waste. In 401, Sima Yuanxian, apprehensive of Huan Xuan (who had by then defeated and executed Yin and Yang, taking over the entire western empire), declared Huan a renegade and launched a campaign against him. However, he relied on Liu's troops, and Liu, not trusting his good intentions, again turned sides and joined Huan, and in 402 the capital
Jiankang Jiankang (), or Jianye (), as it was originally called, was capital city of the Eastern Wu (229–265 and 266–280 CE), the Jin dynasty (317–420 CE) and the Southern Dynasties (420–552), including the Chen dynasty (557–589 CE). Its walls ...
fell to Huan's forces. Sima Yuanxian was captured and executed, while Sima Daozi was exiled to Ancheng (安成, in modern
Ji'an Ji'an () is a prefecture-level city situated in the central region of Jiangxi province of the People's Republic of China while bordering Hunan province to the west. It has an area of and as of the 2020 census, had a population of 4,469,176, of ...
,
Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...
). Around the new year 403, an official sent by Huan Xuan, pursuant to Huan Xuan's instructions, poisoned Sima Daozi to death.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sima Daozi Jin dynasty (266–420) imperial princes Jin dynasty (266–420) regents 364 births 403 deaths