Sima Yong (司馬顒) (before 274 - late January 307),

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 ...

Wenzai (文載), was a Jin dynasty imperial prince and briefly 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 ...

for Emperor Hui. He was the seventh of eight princes commonly associated with the War of the Eight Princes. His title was the Prince of Hejian (河間王), but he did not receive any

posthumous name A posthumous name is an honorary name given mostly to the notable dead in East Asian culture. It is predominantly practiced in East Asian countries such as China, Korea, Vietnam, Japan, and Thailand. Reflecting on the person's accomplishm ...

Early career

Sima Yong was the grandson of

Sima Fu Sima Fu () (180– 3 April 272), courtesy name Shuda, was an imperial prince and statesman of the Jin dynasty of China. He previously served as an official in the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period before his grandnephew, Sima Y ...

Prince Xian of Anping, the younger brother of

Sima Yi Sima Yi ( ; 179 CE – 7 September 251 CE), courtesy name Zhongda, was a Chinese military general, politician, and regent of the state of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period of China. He formally began his political career in 208 un ...

and granduncle of the founder of the Jin Dynasty, Emperor Wu. His father Sima Gui (司馬瑰) was Prince Lie of Taiyuan (太原烈王), and after his death in 12 March 274, Sima Yong inherited his principality. In 276, he was sent to his principality (roughly modern

Taiyuan Taiyuan (; ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ; also known as (), ()) is the capital and largest city of Shanxi Province, People's Republic of China. Taiyuan is the political, economic, cultural and international exchange center of Shanxi Province. ...

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), but on 5 October 277''guihai'' day of the 8th month of the 3rd year of the ''Xianning'' era, per Sima Yan's biography in ''Book of Jin'' his principality was moved to Hejian (河間, roughly modern

Cangzhou Cangzhou () is a prefecture-level city in eastern Hebei province, People's Republic of China. At the 2020 census, Cangzhou's built-up (''or metro'') area made of Yunhe, Xinhua districts and Cang County largely being conurbated had a populatio ...

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). He became known for his skill in finding capable associates, and when he visited the 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 ...

on an official visit, Emperor Wu became impressed by him and stated that he could be a good example to other princes. In 299, during the reign of Emperor Hui, he was put in charge of defending the important city of

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 ...

—a post which Emperor Wu had left instructions that only someone who was closely related to the emperor should be allowed to take, but which the high level officials found appropriate for Sima Yong due to his reputation.

Participation in various campaigns during the War of the Eight Princes

When Emperor Hui's throne was usurped by

Sima Lun Sima Lun ( sim. ch. 司马伦, trad. ch. 司馬倫, py. Sīmǎ Lún, wg. Ssu-ma Lun) (before 250 - poisoned June 5, 301), courtesy name Ziyi (子彛), was titled the Prince of Zhao (pinyin: zhào wáng, simplified Chinese: 赵王, tradition ...

the Prince of Zhao in 301, Sima Jiong the Prince of Qi (Emperor Hui's cousin) started a rebellion to restore Emperor Hui. Initially, Sima Yong sent his general Zhang Fang (張方) to support Sima Lun, but once he heard that Sima Jiong and his ally, Sima Ying the Prince of Chengdu (Emperor Hui's brother) had overwhelming force, he switched side and declared for the rebels. After Princes Jiong and Ying defeated and killed Sima Lun, Prince Jiong became regent and he, while angry at Sima Yong for initially supporting Sima Lun, nevertheless granted him additional honors as well as three of the

nine bestowments The nine bestowments () were awards given by Chinese emperors to officials, ostensibly to reward them for their accomplishments. While the nature of the bestowments was probably established during the Zhou Dynasty, there was no record of anyone r ...

. Sima Yong, however, knew that Sima Jiong was angry at him, and he started a conspiracy; he invited Sima Ai the Prince of Changsha (Emperor Hui's brother) to overthrow Sima Jiong, believing that Sima Ai would fail; his plan was then to, in conjunction with Sima Ying, start a war against Sima Jiong. Once they were victorious, he would depose Emperor Hui and make Sima Ying the emperor, and then serve as Sima Ying's prime minister. In winter 302, Sima Yong declared his rebellion, and Sima Ying soon joined, despite opposition from his strategist Lu Zhi (盧志). Hearing that Sima Ai was part of the conspiracy as well, Sima Jiong made a preemptive strike against Sima Ai, but Sima Ai was prepared and entered the palace to control Emperor Hui. After a street battle, Sima Jiong's forces collapsed, and he was executed. Sima Ai became regent, although he submitted all important matters to Sima Ying, then at his stronghold of Yecheng (鄴城, in modern

Handan Handan is a prefecture-level city located in the southwest of Hebei province, China. The southernmost prefecture-level city of the province, it borders Xingtai on the north, and the provinces of Shanxi on the west, Henan on the south and Shan ...

) for decision. This ran counter to Sima Yong's plans. In fall 303, he persuaded Sima Ying to again join him against Sima Ai. While Sima Yong and Sima Ying had overwhelming force, their forces could not score a conclusive victory against Sima Ai. Sima Yong's forces were about to withdraw in spring 304 when

Sima Yue Sima Yue (司馬越) (died 23 April 311According to Sima Chi's biography in the ''Book of Jin'', Sima Yue died on the ''bingzi'' day in the 3rd month of the 5th year of the ''Yongjia'' era of Emperor Huai's reign. This corresponds to 23 Apr 311 ...

the Prince of Donghai, the grandson of a great-granduncle of Emperor Hui, believing that Sima Ai could not win this war, arrested him and delivered him to Sima Yong's general Zhang Fang, who executed Sima Ai cruelly by burning him to death. Sima Ying became in effective control of the government, but continued to control it remotely from Yecheng. Sima Yong was given additional powers, and later in 304 submitted a pre-arranged petition to have Sima Ying created

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 ...

. Sima Ying, however, disappointed people who had high hopes for him. He put people he trusted in charge of the defenses of Luoyang, while remotely controlling the government from Yecheng. Eventually, the officials in Luoyang tired of the situation, and they rose under Sima Yue's command in summer 304. Sima Yue, with Emperor Hui accompanying him, then attacked Yecheng. Sima Ying, after some initial hesitation, battled Sima Yue's troops and defeated him, forcing him to flee and capturing Emperor Hui. He did not return Emperor Hui to Luoyang, but kept him at Yecheng. This gave Wang Jun (王浚), the commander of the forces in You Province (幽州, modern

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), Chinese postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the Capital city, capital of the China, People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's Li ...

Tianjin Tianjin (; ; Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Tientsin (), is a municipality and a coastal metropolis in Northern China on the shore of the Bohai Sea. It is one of the nine national central cities in Mainland China, with a total popu ...

, and northern

), with whom Sima Ying had prior disputes, an excuse to attack Sima Ying, and he did so, claiming that Sima Ying was improperly detaining Emperor Hui. Wang's forces were reinforced with ferocious

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were a Proto-Mongolic ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. They originated from the Donghu people who splintered into th ...

and

Wuhuan The Wuhuan (, < Eastern Han Chinese: *''ʔɑ-ɣuɑn'', <

soldiers, and Sima Ying's forces, in fear of their fighting abilities, collapsed, before they could be reinforced with

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 ...

forces under the command of Sima Ying's associate Liu Yuan. Sima Ying was forced to flee to Luoyang with Emperor Hui, now without troops to support him.

As regent

Once Sima Ying arrived in Luoyang, he found the troops of his ally Sima Yong there, commanded by Zhang Fang. Instead of continuing to support Sima Ying, however, Sima Yong turned his back on Sima Ying and had him removed from his crown prince position, instead creating another brother of Emperor Hui,

Sima Chi 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 cav ...

the Prince of Yuzhang, crown prince. Sima Ying was demoted back to being the Prince of Chengdu. Soon, Zhang forced Emperor Hui, Crown Prince Chi, and Sima Ying to move from Luoyang to

, safely under Sima Yong's control. Sima Yong became regent. Sima Yong tried to appease possible opposing forces by promoting all of the major princes and warlords, but his promotions did not have the desired effect. In fall 305, Sima Yue declared yet another rebellion, this time against Sima Yong, claiming that Sima Yong had improperly forced Emperor Hui to move the capital. Various provincial governors and military commanders were forced to be on one side or the other. The war was initially inconclusive. In early 306, after a few victories by Sima Yue, Sima Yong became fearful, and he executed Zhang to seek peace; Sima Yue refused. By summer 306, Sima Yong was forced to abandon both Chang'an and Emperor Hui, and Sima Yue's forces welcomed Emperor Hui back to Luoyang. Sima Yong's troops soon fought back, however, and recaptured Chang'an for Sima Yong, but were unable to capture any other major city in the same region. Sima Yue then offered a high-level position to Sima Yong. Sima Yong agreed to accept it and started to travel back to Luoyang. When he got to Xin'an (新安, near Luoyang), however, he was intercepted by Sima Mo (司馬模) the Prince of Nanyang (Sima Yue's brother) and strangled to death. His three sons were killed with him.

References

* Fang, Xuanling. ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, with chancellor Fang ...

'' (''Jin Shu''). {{DEFAULTSORT:Sima, Yong Year of birth unknown 306 deaths Jin dynasty (266–420) generals Jin dynasty (266–420) imperial princes Jin dynasty (266–420) regents Executed Jin dynasty (266–420) people People executed by the Jin dynasty (266–420) People executed by strangulation 4th-century executions