Emperor Gong of Jin

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Emperor Gong of Jin : biography

386 – 421

Emperor Gong of Jin () (386–421) was last emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty (265-420) in China. He became emperor in 419 after his developmentally disabled brother Emperor An was killed by the regent Liu Yu, and during his brief reign, actual power was in Liu Yu’s hands. In 420, under pressure from Liu Yu, he yielded the throne to Liu Yu, ending Jin’s long existence. Liu Yu founded Liu Song, and in 421, believing that the former Jin emperor posed a threat to his rule, had him asphyxiated with a blanket.

During Emperor An’s reign

Sometime during Emperor An’s reign, Sima Dewen married his wife, Chu Lingyuan, who was from an aristocratic family. She bore him two daughters, Sima Maoying, later created the Princess Haiyan, and the later Princess Fuyang.

Throughout Emperor An’s early reign, Sima Dewen received increasingly honorific offices, but had little actual power, as the power was initially in the hands of his uncle, the regent Sima Daozi the Prince of Kuaiji, and later in the hands of Sima Daozi’s son Sima Yuanxian. The situation continued after Sima Yuanxian was overthrown by the warlord Huan Xuan in 402.

In 403, Huan Xuan forced Emperor An to yield the throne to him, temporarily ending Jin. Huan Xuan established a new state of Chu, and he created Emperor An the Prince of Pinggu and Sima Dewen the Duke of Shiyang, but kept them close to him to watch them. In 404, however, a rebellion by the general Liu Yu quickly led to Huan Xuan’s destruction and Emperor An’s restoration. When, however, later that year Emperor An and Sima Dewen fell into the hands of Huan Xuan’s nephew Huan Zhen (桓振), Huan Zhen considered executing Emperor An to avenge Huan Xuan’s young son Huan Sheng (桓昇), who was killed by the rebels. It took great pleading on Sima Dewen’s part, explaining that neither he nor Emperor An had anything to do with Huan Sheng’s death, for Huan Zhen to spare Emperor An. In early 405, Huan Zhen was defeated, and Emperor An and Sima Dewen returned to the capital Jiankang, but by this point power was in Liu Yu’s hands, albeit in a power-sharing agreement with a number of allies that he had to recruit in his campaign against Huan Xuan.

As the years went by, Liu Yu gradually concentrated more and more power in his hands, destroying rivals including Liu Yi (劉毅), Zhuge Zhangmin (諸葛長民), and Sima Xiuzhi (司馬休之), while greatly showing his strength in campaigns destroying rival states Southern Yan, Western Shu, and Later Qin. Sima Dewen continued to be largely ceremonially honored but actually powerless during this period. In 416, during Liu Yu’s campaign against Later Qin, Sima Dewen asked to undertake a mission in Luoyang, recently captured from Later Qin, to try to restore the imperial tombs of the early Jin emperors, but it is not known what came of the mission. He returned to Jiankang in 418 after Liu Yu destroyed Later Qin.

Late that year, Liu Yu, intending to seize the throne and believing a prophecy stating, "There will be two more emperors after Changming" (Changming, which meant "dawn," was the courtesy name of Emperor Xiaowu), became intent on killing Emperor An and replacing him with Sima Dewen. However, because Sima Dewen continuously attended to his brother, assassins that Liu Yu sent to poison Emperor An did not have the opportunity to do so. However, around the new year 419, Sima Dewen was ill and had to be at his own house, and Liu Yu’s assassin Wang Shaozhi (王韶之) took the opportunity to kill Emperor An. Liu Yu then declared Sima Dewen emperor, as Emperor Gong.

Personal information

  • Father
    • Emperor Xiaowu
  • Mother
    • Consort Chen Guinü, posthumously honored as Empress Dowager De
  • Wife
    • Empress Chu Lingyuan (created 419, d. 436), mother of Princesses Haiyan and Fuyang
  • Children
    • Sima Maoying (司馬茂英), the Princess Haiyan, later empress to Emperor Shao of Liu Song
    • Princess Fuyang

After abdication