Emperor Min of Jin (; 300 – February 7, 318), personal name Sima Ye (司馬鄴 or 司馬業),

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 Theo ...

Yanqi (彥旗), was an emperor of the

Jin Dynasty (266–420) The Jin dynasty (; ) or the Jin Empire, sometimes distinguished as the (司馬晉) or the (兩晉), was an imperial dynasty of China that existed from 266 to 420. It was founded by Sima Yan (Emperor Wu), eldest son of Sima Zhao, who had p ...

and the last of the Western Jin. Emperor Min surrendered in 316 to

Liu Yao Liu Yao (died 329), courtesy name Yongming, was the final emperor of the Xiongnu-led Han Zhao dynasty of China. He became emperor in 318 after most other members of the imperial Liu clan were massacred by Jin Zhun in a coup. However, the empire ...

, a general of the

Xiongnu The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...

state Han Zhao, and was later executed by Liu Cong, the emperor of Han Zhao, in 318 – like his uncle Emperor Huai had been in 313.

Prior to becoming emperor

Sima Ye was a son of Sima Yan (司馬晏) the Prince of Wu, a son of Jin's founding emperor Emperor Wu, and Lady Xun, a daughter of

Xun Xu Xun Xu ( – 289), courtesy name Gongzeng was a Chinese musician, painter, politician, and writer who lived during the late Three Kingdoms period and early Jin dynasty of China. Born in the influential Xun family, he was a great-grandson of Xu ...

. However, he was posthumously adopted by his uncle Sima Jian (司馬柬) the Prince of Qin, who died in 291, nine years before his birth, and so he inherited the title of Prince of Qin. When the Jin capital

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyan ...

fell to Han Zhao forces in 311, Prince Ye's uncle Emperor Huai was captured, and his father Prince Yan was killed. Prince Ye himself, at age 13, was able to escape from Han Zhao forces, and he got to Mi (密縣, in modern Zhengzhou,

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is a ...

) when he encountered his uncles, the Jin officials Xun Fan (荀藩) and Xun Zu (荀組), who decided to support him as their leader. Later that year, the general

Yan Ding Yan Ding, courtesy name Taichen, was a military general of the Jin dynasty (266–420). At the time of the Disaster of Yongjia in 311, Yan Ding brought the nephew of Emperor Huai, Sima Ye, to Chang'an, where a group of loyalists from Anding ...

tried to escort Prince Ye into the

Guanzhong Guanzhong (, formerly romanised as Kwanchung) region, also known as the Guanzhong Basin, Wei River Basin, or uncommonly as the Shaanzhong region, is a historical region of China corresponding to the crescentic graben basin within present-day ce ...

region (modern central

Shaanxi Shaanxi (alternatively Shensi, see § Name) is a landlocked province of China. Officially part of Northwest China, it borders the province-level divisions of Shanxi (NE, E), Henan (E), Hubei (SE), Chongqing (S), Sichuan (SW), Gansu (W), N ...

), where he thought the central government could be rebuilt, but on the way, most of the supporters and troops deserted them—including Prince Ye's uncles. Eventually, however, Yan and Prince Ye were able to arrive in Guanzhong. They were supported by the general Jia Ya, and Jia was able to capture

Chang'an Chang'an (; ) is the traditional name of Xi'an. The site had been settled since Neolithic times, during which the Yangshao culture was established in Banpo, in the city's suburbs. Furthermore, in the northern vicinity of modern Xi'an, Qin ...

in 312, allowing Prince Ye to enter and set up his headquarters there. In fall 312, Jia and Yan offered Prince Ye the title of

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 w ...

, and they then organized a provisional government.

Reign

In spring 313, the captured Emperor Huai was executed by the Han Zhao emperor Liu Cong. The news, however, took three months to get to Chang'an. Once it did, Crown Prince Ye held an official mourning for his uncle and then ascended the throne as Emperor Min. At that time, the city of Chang'an was so poor that it had less than a hundred households, and there were only four wagons available. The officials lacked official uniforms and seals. The military matters were largely entrusted to the generals Qu Yun and Suo Chen. Emperor Min issued an edict ordering Sima Bao the Prince of Nanyang, who still had a sizable force in Qin Province (秦州, modern eastern

Gansu Gansu (, ; alternately romanized as Kansu) is a province in Northwest China. Its capital and largest city is Lanzhou, in the southeast part of the province. The seventh-largest administrative district by area at , Gansu lies between the Tibe ...

) and

Sima Rui Emperor Yuan of Jin (; 276 – 3 January 323), 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. His reign saw the steady gradual loss of Jin territor ...

the Prince of Langya, who held large portions of territory near and south of the

Yangtze River The Yangtze or Yangzi ( or ; ) is the longest river in Asia, the third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in the Tanggula Mountains (Tibetan Plateau) and flows ...

, to come to his aid, but both Sima Bao and Sima Rui only paid nominal allegiance to him and failed to actually provide any assistance. Around the new year of 314, Han Zhao made a surprise attack on Chang'an, and while that attack was thwarted that time, it showed how the Jin regime under Emperor Min lacked power to defend itself. Only Zhang Gui the governor of Liang Province (涼州, modern central and western

) sent small detachments and supplies periodically to Chang'an. In 315, Sima Bao considered coming to Emperor Min's aid, but ultimately did not do so, and Suo subsequently refused a plan to send the emperor to Sima Bao, reasoning that Sima Bao would then use the emperor as a puppet. In fall 316, the Han Zhao general

the Prince of Zhongshan made a major attack against Emperor Min's territory. After he captured the Beidi Commandery (北地, roughly modern

Tongchuan Tongchuan () is a prefecture-level city located in central Shaanxi province, People's Republic of China on the southern fringe of the Loess Plateau that defines the northern half of the province (Shanbei) and the northern reaches of the Guan ...

), the other Jin cities in Guanzhong collapsed. Two relief forces arrived, but were hesitant to engage Liu Yao. Liu Yao therefore was able to besiege Chang'an, and after the food supply ran out, Emperor Min resolved to surrender. He was delivered by Liu Yao to the Han Zhao capital Pingyang (平陽, in modern Linfen,

Shanxi Shanxi (; ; formerly romanised as Shansi) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China and is part of the North China region. The capital and largest city of the province is Taiyuan, while its next most populated prefecture-leve ...

After capture by Han Zhao

Liu Cong initially created the former Jin emperor the Marquess of Huai'an. In early 318, at a feast, he had the marquess serve as butler, and a number of former Jin officials could not control themselves and cried out loud at their former emperor's humiliation. Furthermore, around this time, there were a number of uprisings against Han Zhao, each claiming to want to capture Han Zhao's crown prince

Liu Can Liu Can (died 318), courtesy name Shiguang, Posthumous name (as given by Jin Zhun) Emperor Yin of Han (Zhao), was an emperor of the Xiongnu-led Han Zhao dynasty of China, who reigned briefly in 318 before being killed by his trusted father-in-law ...

to exchange him for the former Jin emperor. Liu Can therefore recommended that Sima Ye be executed, and Liu Cong agreed, executing him after receiving Liu Can's report.

Era name

*''Jianxing'' (建興 Jiànxīng) 313–317

Ancestry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Min, Emperor of Jin 300 births 318 deaths Jin dynasty (266–420) emperors Executed Former Zhao people 4th-century Chinese monarchs Monarchs taken prisoner in wartime Murdered Chinese emperors 4th-century executions People executed by Former Zhao Heads of government who were later imprisoned