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 Theob ...

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 pr ...

and the last of the Western Jin. Emperor Min surrendered in 316 to Liu Yao, 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 The Han Zhao (; 304–329 AD), or Former Zhao (), was a dynastic state of China ruled by the Xiongnu people during the Sixteen Kingdoms period of Chinese history. In Chinese historiography, it was given two conditional state titles, the Northern ...

, 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 ...

. 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, Nanyang ...

fell to

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 al ...

) 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 tried to escort Prince Ye into the Guanzhong 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 {{family name hatnote, Jia, lang=Chinese Jia Ya (died 312), courtesy name Yandu, was a Chinese military general of the Jin dynasty (266–420). He was most known for leading the empire's restoration movement against the state of Han Zhao in Andi ...

, 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 S ...

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 wi ...

, 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 Suo Chen (died 316), courtesy name Juxiu, was a military general of the Jin Dynasty (266-420). He was a prominent member of the group at Anding to restore Jin authority in the north following the Disaster of Yongjia in 311 and was Emperor Min ...

. Emperor Min issued an edict ordering

Sima Bao Sima Bao (司馬保; 294–320), courtesy name Jingdu (景度), posthumous name Prince Yuan (元王), was a Jin dynasty (266–420) imperial prince who briefly contended for the position of emperor after Emperor Min was captured by Han Zhao force ...

the Prince of Nanyang, who still had a sizable force in Qin Province (秦州, modern eastern Gansu) and Sima Rui 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 list of rivers of Asia, river in Asia, the list of rivers by length, third-longest in the world, and the longest in the world to flow entirely within one country. It rises at Jari Hill in th ...

, 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 Zhang Gui (, 255–314) was the governor of Liang province and first Duke of Xiping under Western Jin. He was the seventeenth generation descendant of King of Changshan Zhang Er from the Chu–Han Contention The Chu–Han Contention ( zh, , ...

the governor of Liang Province (涼州, modern central and western Gansu) 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 Liu Yao the Prince of Zhongshan made a major attack against Emperor Min's territory. After he captured the

Beidi Commandery Beidi Commandery ( zh, c=北地郡, l=Northern Land) was a commandery of the Qin and Han dynasties of China, located in what is now Ningxia. Its seat was Maling (馬領) during the Western Han period and Fuping (富平, near modern Wuzhong, Ning ...

(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 Guanzho ...

), 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 Linfen is a prefecture-level city in the southwest of Shanxi province, China, bordering Shaanxi province to the west. It is situated along the banks of the Fen River. It has an area of and according to the 2020 Census, a population of 3,976, ...

, Shanxi).

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 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