[Yun]

Sons of Sima Yun 允:

Sima Yu 郁, Sima Di 迪, and an eldest son and heir whose name was not recorded. Sima Yu was adopted over to be the heir of his uncle Sima Jian 柬 (who had died in 291 at the age of 29), and Sima Di was adopted over to be the heir of his uncle Sima Yu 裕, who had died at the age of 6 in 277. Nonetheless, both were executed by Sima Lun in 300 after Sima Yun launched a failed coup against Sima Lun, whom he had correctly suspected of intentions to usurp the throne. Sima Yun was initially successful, but was killed by a lackey of Sima Lun impersonating the emperor's emmisary. Sima Yun's heir was executed too.

Sons of Sima Yan4 晏:

An eldest son (name not recorded), and four others: Sima Xiang 祥, Sima Ye 邺, Sima Gu 固, and Sima Yan3 衍. Sima Xiang was adopted over to be Sima Yun's heir when the latter's reputation was restored following the overthrow of Sima Lun. He was captured and killed by the Xiongnu after the fall of Luoyang in 311, along with his biological father Sima Yan4.

Sima Ye escaped the fall of Luoyang, and with the support of some loyalist ministers was able to capture Chang'an and declare himself emperor. In 316, the Xiongnu took Chang'an, and Sima Ye was captured. He was first used as a slave, and then murdered in 317. He was the last Western Jin emperor (Emperor Min 愍). Sima Gu, Sima Yan3, and the eldest son were all also captured and probably killed by the Xiongnu between 311 and 316.

Sons of Sima Wei 玮:

Sima Fan 范 and Sima Yi 仪. Sima Wei was executed by Empress Jia in 291, after having been manipulated by her to kill her rival Sima Liang 亮. However, his sons were spared. Sima Fan was captured and killed by Shi Le in 311, at the catastrophic Battle of Ningping in which Shi Le's horse-archers caught, surrounded and decimated a large Jin army. He was the only one among the princes and ministers captured who did not plead for his life and maintained his composure. Partly on his account, Shi Le did not behead the captives but instead pushed an old wall on top of them to kill them while they were sleeping.

Sima Yi was adopted over to be the heir of his uncle Sima Gui 轨 (Sima Zhong's eldest son), who had died as an infant. These heirs were important (as you will have noticed by now) because every man needed a son to make offerings to his spirit after he died, even if he had died not long after birth. This may sound ridiculous, but consider that Sima Gui was already given an official post before he was one year old, and this was common for imperial princes. Sima Yi's ultimate fate is unknown.

Son of Sima Yi 乂:
Sima Yi, Prince of Changsha, was the capable 6th son of Sima Yan who helped his younger brother Sima Ying 颖 and cousin Sima Yong 顒 to overthrow the despotic Prince of Qi, Sima Jiong 冏 (Sima Jiong had taken control of the government after the overthrow of Sima Lun) in 302. In 303, however, a jealous Sima Ying and Sima Yong attacked Sima Yi. Sima Yi was able to hold them off easily at first, but he was betrayed by the Prince of Donghai Sima Yue 越 and captured. He was then killed by roasting at the hands of Sima Yong's sadistic general Zhang Fang.

In the reign of Sima Chi under the dictatorship of Sima Yue, Sima Yi's reputation was ironically restored. His son Sima Shuo 硕 was made his heir. However, Sima Shuo was captured by the Xiongnu in the fall of Luoyang in 311, and his fate thereafter is unknown.

Son of Sima Ying 颖:
Sima Ying had two sons. One was his heir Sima Pu 普. The other, Sima Kuo 廓, was adopted over to be the heir of his childless handicapped uncle Sima Yan 演. However, both sons were executed along with Sima Ying in 306. Sima Ying had been made his brother Sima Zhong's Crown Prince by Sima Yong, but when General Wang Jun and Duke of Dongying Sima Teng 腾 rebelled and attacked Luoyang in 304, Sima Yong (who was then stationed in Chang'an) had Zhang Fang bring Sima Zhong and Sima Ying to safety in Chang'an. The court having moved to Chang'an, Sima Yong no longer needed Sima Ying to keep an eye on things in Luoyang, and replaced him with a new Crown Prince, Sima Chi. Sima Ying was sent back to garrison Ye 邺, but when Sima Yue rose in rebellion in the east, Ying was defeated and fled towards Chang'an. Sima Yue then defeated Sima Yong (who fled) and brought Sima Zhong back to Luoyang, while Sima Yong fled. Sima Yue sent men to arrest Sima Ying, but he abandoned his mother (Concubine Cheng) and wife and went on the run with just his two sons. Eventually they were captured and sent to prison in Ye. All three were strangled to death by the jailkeeper in 306.

A few years after Sima Ying's death, there was a rumour in Kaifeng about a surviving son of Sima Ying who was over 10 years old and living among the commoners. Sima Yue quickly sent men to find and kill this boy.

(That, as far as I know, is all the recorded grandsons of Sima Yan. Not one of them survived the fall of the Western Jin.)

[Yun]

Ancestry of Sima Fang

The Sima ruling house of Jin traced its ancestry to the same legendary ancestor as did Sima Qian, the Grand Historian: the sage-king Zhuanxu 颛顼, grandson and successor of the 'Yellow Emperor' Huangdi 黄帝. However, there is some discrepancy. The Jin Shu account of the Jin geneaology states that Zhuanxu's son was Chongli 重黎, while Sima Qian's Shiji account is more accurate in saying that Chong and Li were two different people. Chong, according to annotations of the Shiji, was the son of Shaohao 少昊, and was appointed by Zhuanxu to make sacrifices to Heaven. Li was the son of Zhuanxu himself, and was appointed to make sacrifices to Earth.

Li's descendants continued holding the post of Priest to Earth (司地) throughout the reigns of the sage-kings Yao and Shun, and the Xia and Shang dynasties. In the Zhou dynasty, their post became known as Sima 司马. One of them, Xiufu 休甫/休父 the Earl of Cheng 程伯, began using Sima as his surname in the reign of King Xuan of Zhou 周宣王. The Jin Shu claims that this was a reward for conquering Xufang 徐方, while the Shiji says that it was as punishment for failing in his duty.

The Shiji states that the Sima were at first in charge of writing the history of the Zhou dynasty. During a time of unrest, the Sima fled to the feudal state of Jin 晋. After the division of the Jin into Wei 魏, Han 韩 and Zhao 赵, the Sima split into a few lines, one in Wei 卫, one in Zhao 赵, and one in Qin 秦. Sima Qian's line was that of Qin, while Sima Yi's line was that of Zhao.

The Zhao line were renowned swordsmen, and one of them was Sima Kuaikui 蒯聩. His great-grandson (or great-great-grandson according to Sima Qian) was Sima Ang 卬 (grandfather Sima Zhaoyu 昭豫, father Sima Xian 宪, according to a Jin dynasty geneaology). Sima Ang was at first a Zhao general, and joined in the revolt against the Qin, being enfeoffed as King of Yin 殷王 by Xiang Yu. He later switched sides to Liu Bang, and his fief was converted into Henei 河内 prefecture.

According to the Jin Shu, Sima Ang's descendants lived in Henei for eight generations. The first seven have no names given, but the eight-generation descendant from whom the Jin dynasty claimed descent was Sima Jun1 钧, General Conquering the West 征西将军 in the Eastern Han. Sima Jun1's son Sima Liang 量 was Prefect of Yuzhang 预章, Sima Liang's son Sima Jun4 俊 was the Prefect of Yingchuan 颍川, and Sima Jun4's son Sima Fang 防 was the Mayor of Chang'an and the father of Sima Yi.

[Grand Genealogist]

For those interested, a chart of Sima of WESTERN Jin can be found under Jin.gif @ Oriental Royalty

This post has been edited by Grand Genealogist: 16 June 2005 - 02:07 AM

[Yun]

Some corrections:

1) The wife of Sima You should be known as Lady Jia, not Empress Jia - her sister was the only Empress Jia.

2) Sima Yong was Prince of Hejian, not Heijian.

3) Sima Ying was Prince of Chengdu, not Changdu.

4) Sima Guang Di should be Sima Guangde. Also, Guang Di and Ding Guo should be rendered as Guangde and Dingguo to accord with Hanyu Pinyin convention.

An additional point:
Some descendants of Sima Jin 进, Sima Fu 孚, Sima Kui 馗 and Sima Yi 懿 survived the fall of the Western Jin, went south, and were active in the politics of the Eastern Jin. These were:

1) Sima Cheng 承, grandson of Sima Jin, and his descendants

2) Sima Tao 滔, 4th-generation descendant of Sima Fu (captured by the Xiongnu, but later allowed to return south)

3) Sima Shi 释, great-grandson of Sima Kui, and his descendants

4) Sima Yang 羕, son of Sima Liang 亮, and his descendants

5) Sima Zong 宗, son of Sima Liang, and his descendants

6) Sima You 祐, grandson of Sima Liang, and his descendants

7) Sima Rui 睿, grandson of Sima Zhou 冑 and first emperor of the Eastern Jin, and his descendants

The entire Eastern Jin imperial aristocracy was derived from these seven men - or more precisely, six of them, because Sima Tao's son Sima Xiu 休 joined in the rebellion of Su Jun 苏峻 and was executed for it in 329. His younger brother Sima Zhen 珍 was spared on account of his youth (he was 7 at the time), but also died without a male heir. Sima Fu's line then died out.

This post has been edited by Yun: 17 June 2005 - 09:55 PM

[Grand Genealogist]

Yun, on Jun 16 2005, 02:58 AM, said:

Some corrections:

1) The wife of Sima You should be known as Lady Jia, not Empress Jia - her sister was the only Empress Jia.

I did not have her as 'Empss.'. I didn't have her as 'Ly.', either. It wouldn't fit w/o major 'reconstructive surgery'.

Quote

2) Sima Yong was Prince of Hejian, not Heijian.
3) Sima Ying was Prince of Chengdu, not Changdu.
4) Sima Guang Di should be Sima Guangde.

Done!

Quote

Also, Guang Di and Ding Guo should be rendered as Guangde and Dingguo to accord with Hanyu Pinyin convention.

I am not quite so familiar with Hanyu Pinyin as with Wade-Giles. I sometimes have trouble converting.

Quote

An additional point:
Some descendants of Sima Jin 进, Sima Fu 孚, Sima Kui 馗 and Sima Yi 懿 survived the fall of the Western Jin, went south, and were active in the politics of the Eastern Jin. These were:

1) Sima Cheng 乘, grandson of Sima Jin, and his descendants

2) Sima Tao 滔, 4th-generation descendant of Sima Fu (captured by the Xiongnu, but later allowed to return south)

3) Sima Shi 释, great-grandson of Sima Kui, and his descendants

4) Sima Yang 羕, son of Sima Liang 亮, and his descendants

5) Sima Zong 宗, son of Sima Liang, and his descendants

6) Sima You 祐, grandson of Sima Liang, and his descendants

7) Sima Rui 睿, grandson of Sima Zhou 冑 and first emperor of the Eastern Jin, and his descendants

I really hate adding names when I don't have the intervening links, if they are known, and only needing transcription. There are conventions, of course, when they are unknowable, (or presumed so), as one can tell from my use of said conventions on the charts of Ancient genealogies at msn, or at Yahoo!; but this is different. One uses anonymous, when the name is unknown. One can even differentiate, using 'anonymus' for males, and 'anonyma' for females. The beauty of Latin is that it has a neuter gender, so that one can even use 'anonymum' if the gender of a person is as unknown as the name. But for the Jin, the names are known - but not to me, in a script that my computer likes.
Anyway, Yun, thanks, once again, for your help and corrections. I shall be posting the amended chart at Oriental Royalty forthwith.
Ford, alias 'Grand Genealogist'

This post has been edited by Grand Genealogist: 17 June 2005 - 03:08 AM

[Yun]

OK, Ford - I wasn't expecting you to add those names in - just thought you might be interested to know. I have the 'intervening links', but am too busy with my wedding to give them to you... be patient

[青文景武剑]

nice job guys!

[Grand Genealogist]

Yun, on Jun 17 2005, 05:56 AM, said:

OK, Ford - I wasn't expecting you to add those names in - just thought you might be interested to know. I have the 'intervening links', but am too busy with my wedding to give them to you

I had no idea that you were gettin' hitched! Sincere congratulations. Nice to know that you take time away from your dissertation drudgery for something uplifting. When is the happy day?

Yun, on Jun 17 2005, 05:56 AM, said:

... be patient

OK, but, as I've said before, It's hard!

This post has been edited by Grand Genealogist: 18 June 2005 - 09:09 PM

[Hua Xiong]

Very nice job. If any of you want to see my Imagawa family tree just check it out in the asian history category.

[esse]

Splendid job, Yun :-)

Of Sima Yan's 25 sons, I knew of:

Eldest without known name
Zhong (Huidi)
Jian (Zhong's younger brother of the same mother. What was his fate?)
Wei (Prince of Chu)
Yun (Prince of Huainan)
Ying (Prince of Chengdu, pretty tragic figure)
Yi (Prince of Changsha, perhaps most able, and most cruelly executed, being roasted on slow fire)
Yan (Prince of Wu, noteriously sickly looking. Ironically, his son, Ye, Prince of Qin, was resurrected at Changan as Mindi)
Zhi (Prince, of Yuzhang, the youngest, the late Huaidi)

Who are the others, and any light on them?

Thank you again, Yun.

[naruwan]

I get 26 sons from some sources and I seems to only be able to count 25, and i think he named a few of them with the same name??

1 司馬軌
2 司馬衷 (嫡長子) idiotic 晉惠帝
3 司馬柬 - 南陽王 to 秦王
..
5 司馬瑋 - 楚王
6 司馬乂 - 長沙王
16 司馬穎 - 成都王
..
26 司馬熾 - 豫章王 to emperor to sigh...

司馬景 - 城陽王 died early i think
司馬範 - 襄陽王
司馬憲 - 城陽王 died early
司馬祇 - 東海王
司馬裕 - 始平王
司馬迪 - 漢王
司馬允 - 濮陽王 to 淮南王 x 2
司馬東 -
司馬廓 - 中都王
司馬演 - 代王
司馬該 - 新都王
司馬遐- 清河王 x2
司馬端 - 廣川王
司馬謨 - 汝陰王
司馬晏 - 吳王
司馬恢 - 勃海王

I might be wrong here....

[esse]

naruwan, on Oct 24 2005, 08:47 PM, said:

I get 26 sons from some sources and I seems to only be able to count 25, and i think he named a few of them with the same name??

1 司馬軌
2 司馬衷 (嫡長子) idiotic 晉惠帝
3 司馬柬 - 南陽王 to 秦王

May be someone died early and he gave the same name to the next kid :-)

Anyway, just checking. Ye (Mindi) was a son of Yan (Wu), not Jian (Nanyang, then Qin), yes?
Some interesting fiefs there: Shiping, Guangchuan, and Zhongdu. Where are/were they?

[esse]

Could you also add their respective fiefdom for ease of referencing if that's not too much trouble.

Also, whose line was Yue (Later prince of Donghai) and his brother Xin (Later prince of Nanyang?) descended from? How about Prince of Liang (whose name escaped me) who for some time replaced Sima Lun (Prince of Zhao) on western command?

TIA

[Yun]

Sorry for answering so late, Metronomad. I seem to have missed your post back then.

Quote

Also, whose line was Yue (Later prince of Donghai) and his brother Xin (Later prince of Nanyang?) descended from?

Sima Yue and Sima Xin were not brothers, only cousins. Sima Yue was a grandson of Sima Kui, who was a brother of Sima Yi. Yue's brothers were Sima Lue, Sima Mo, and Sima Teng.

Sima Xin was a son of Sima Yi's son Sima Jun. He had 9 brothers, including Sima Chang who was killed around 311.

Quote

How about Prince of Liang (whose name escaped me) who for some time replaced Sima Lun (Prince of Zhao) on western command?

This was Sima Rong, a brother of Sima Lun. He died in 302.

[Yun]

On Sima Yan's sons:

Quote

I get 26 sons from some sources and I seems to only be able to count 25, and i think he named a few of them with the same name??

Here is the correct list of those sons whose place in the sequence of births we know about:

1 司馬軌 Sima Gui, died at 1 year old.
2 司馬衷 (嫡長子) Sima Zhong (Jin Huidi/Emperor Hui), born in 259 and killed in 306 aged 47.
..
5 司馬瑋 - 楚王 Sima Wei, born in 271 and killed in 291 aged 20.
6 司馬乂 - 長沙王 Sima Yi, born in 277 and killed in 304 aged 27.
...
16 司馬穎 - 成都王 Sima Ying, born in 279 and killed in 306 aged 27.
...
25 司馬熾 - 豫章王 Sima Chi (Jin Huaidi/Emperor Huai), born in 284 and killed in 313 aged 29.
26 ??

Sequence unknown:
司馬憲 - 城陽王 Sima Xian, died in infancy (date of birth unknown)
司馬演 - 代王 Sima Yan, died young as an invalid (date of birth unknown)
司馬景 - 城陽王 Sima Jing, died young in 270 (date of birth unknown)
司馬柬 - 南陽王 to 秦王 Sima Jian, born in 262 and died in 291 aged 29.
司馬祇 - 東海王 Sima Zhi, born in 271 and died in 274 at age of 2
司馬裕 - 始平王 Sima Yu, born in 271 and died in 277 at age of 6
司馬允 - 濮陽王 to 淮南王 Sima Yun, born in 272 and killed in 300 at age of 28
司馬該 - 新都王 Sima Gai, born in 272 and died in 283 at age of 11
司馬遐 Sima Xia, born in 273 and died in 300 aged 27.
司馬謨 - 汝陰王 Sima Mo, born in 276 and died in 286 at age of 10
司馬晏 - 吳王 Sima Yan, retarded and severely handicapped; born in 281 and killed in 311 aged 30. Father of Sima Ye (Jin Mindi/Emperor Min)
司馬恢 - 勃海王 Sima Hui, born in 283 and died in 284 aged 1

Plus 8 other sons who died in infancy and had no names.

If you look at these lists, you will find that there are major problems with the numbering of the sons in the Jin Shu. Between Sima Zhong and Sima Wei there should be only two sons, and yet if Sima Zhi and Sima Yu were born some months before Sima Wei (in 271), there is no place for Sima Jian. If Sima Zhi and Sima Yu were born later in the year 271 than Sima Wei, then Sima Yi cannot be the sixth son. Indeed, Sima Yun, Sima Gai, Sima Xia and Sima Mo were all born in 272-276, before Sima Yi. The gap of 6 years between 5th son Sima Wei (271) and 6th son Sima Yi (277) thus makes no sense. The most likely explanation is that Sima Yi simply was not the 6th son of Sima Yan, contrary to the Jin Shu's statement.

Those on your list who weren't sons of Sima Yan:
司馬範 - 襄陽王 Sima Fan, son of Sima Wei (hence grandson of Sima Yan)
司馬迪 - 漢王 Sima Di, son of Sima Yun (hence another grandson)
司馬廓 - 中都王 Sima Kuo, son of Sima Ying (grandson of Sima Yan), was adopted over to be heir of 司馬演 but executed together with Sima Ying in 306
司馬端 - 廣川王 Sima Duan, son of Sima Xia, presumed killed in 311
司馬東 - No such person existed