Eastern Jin Rises With the Wang Clan

After Luoyang and Chang'an fell, Western Jin was gone in the north.

The north entered the disorder of the Sixteen Kingdoms. But another branch of the Sima family was already raising the Jin banner again in Jiangdong.

Sima Rui Finds His Base in Jiangdong

That man was Sima Rui, Prince of Langya.

Sima Rui descended from Sima Zhou, Prince Wu of Langya, the third son of Sima Yi. He belonged to the same broad imperial clan generation as Emperor Hui of Jin. Around the Yongjia crisis, many royal relatives and northern elite families crossed south. Sima Rui was one of them.

He came to Jianye. Later, to avoid the personal name of Emperor Min of Jin, Sima Ye, Jianye was renamed Jiankang, the city known today as Nanjing.

Sima Rui spent years building strength in Jiangdong. After Western Jin fell, he first acted under imperial authority and changed the reign title. Then he inherited the title King of Jin. Only after news arrived that Emperor Min had been killed by Han-Zhao did Sima Rui formally take the throne at Jiankang. He became Emperor Yuan of Jin and began the Taixing reign.

On the day he ascended the throne, he did something unusual.

He invited Wang Dao to sit with him on the imperial seat and receive the officials' homage together.

That gesture opened the political world of Eastern Jin.

Wang Dao Opens the South for Him

Wang Dao came from the Wang clan of Langya.

The Langya Wangs were one of the great families of the Wei-Jin world. Their reputation was enormous. Wang Yan, the high official killed earlier by Shi Le, also came from this clan.

Sima Rui's ability to stand in Jiangdong depended heavily on Wang Dao's planning.

When Sima Rui first arrived near Jiankang, his base was thin. Southern elite families looked down on this displaced northern prince and were not eager to attach themselves to him. Wang Dao understood the danger. Without recognition from Jiangnan's elite families, Sima Rui would be only a refugee prince with northern followers, not the restorer of Jin.

So Wang Dao turned to his elder kinsman Wang Dun and asked him to help raise Sima Rui's prestige.

Wang Dun already had status. He had married Princess Xiangcheng, daughter of Emperor Wu Sima Yan. He had served as inspector of Yangzhou and was trusted by Sima Rui. Wang Dao wanted him to appear publicly so southern families could see that the Prince of Langya stood behind powerful aristocratic support.

A Display on the Shangsi Festival

The opportunity came on the third day of the third lunar month, the Shangsi Festival.

In Jiangnan custom, people went to the water's edge for ritual purification and blessing. Under Wang Dao and Wang Dun's arrangement, Sima Rui appeared with full ceremonial display, impressive enough to make the local elite pay attention.

Wang Dao, Wang Dun, and a group of northern gentlemen followed behind him.

Southern aristocrats now realized that this Prince of Langya was not merely a royal exile.

Afterward, Wang Dao personally visited He Xun and Gu Rong, two leading southern elite figures, and invited them to serve. They felt that Sima Rui had shown them proper respect and agreed to come out.

Once He Xun and Gu Rong led the way, other Jiangnan families gradually turned toward Sima Rui.

Only then did Sima Rui's regime gain real local recognition.

So when Sima Rui invited Wang Dao to share the imperial seat at his enthronement, the act had a practical meaning. Without the Wang clan of Langya, he could hardly have built this kind of authority in Jiangdong.

Aristocratic Politics Reaches a High Point

By the founding of Eastern Jin, powerful families had already become normal participants in government.

This pattern was connected to the nine-rank system created after Cao Wei. Cao Pi had used central and local evaluators to classify men into nine grades and recommend them for office. Over time, the people who controlled evaluation usually came from great families, and sons of great families were more likely to receive high ranks.

Officeholding became increasingly monopolized by aristocratic lineages. Men from humbler families might have talent, but it was very hard for them to reach the upper level.

In Eastern Jin, imperial power had crossed south and depended on aristocratic resources from the beginning. The Wang clan of Langya, the Xie clan of Chen commandery, the Yu clan of Yingchuan, the Gu clan of Wu commandery, and others were not families an emperor could simply offend.

Sima Rui certainly wanted real imperial power. But he knew the world was not fully in his hands. Inviting Wang Dao to share the throne seat was a public posture: the new court had to share power with the great clans.

Wang Dao refused the seat. He said the emperor was like the sun in heaven, and the sun could not come down to earth and sit level with others. Sima Rui then sat alone.

Wang Dao refused the physical seat, but the status of the Wang family did not change.

In early Eastern Jin, people spoke of "Wang and Ma sharing the realm." "Wang" meant the Langya Wang clan. "Ma" meant the Sima imperial house.

Wang Dao Inside, Wang Dun Outside

The two most important Langya Wangs were Wang Dao and Wang Dun.

Wang Dao managed court affairs. He was relatively steady and understood the need to preserve Sima Rui's imperial name. Wang Dun held military power outside the capital and had heavier ambitions.

Wang Dun later guarded Wuchang and controlled important areas such as Jingzhou and Jiangzhou. For Eastern Jin, the Yangzi was the lifeline. Yangzhou in the east and Jingzhou in the middle river were especially important. Whoever controlled Jingzhou held military leverage over the middle Yangzi.

Wang Dun had troops and a strategic region. Sima Rui naturally became uneasy.

Even more troubling, Wang Dun often struck a wine vessel while drunk and sang lines from Cao Cao's "Though the Tortoise Lives Long": an old steed may stay in the stable, but its ambition still reaches a thousand li; a noble man in old age still keeps a fierce heart.

Sima Rui understood who Cao Cao had been. When a powerful minister with troops kept singing those lines, an emperor could hardly avoid suspicion.

Sima Rui therefore began to rely on Diao Xie, Liu Wei, and others, trying to weaken the Wang clan's influence.

Wang Dun Eyes Xiangzhou

The situation tightened after one appointment.

Wang Dun most feared two men: Zhou Fang in Liangzhou to the south and Zu Ti in Yuzhou to the north. After Zhou Fang died, the post of Liangzhou inspector opened. Sima Rui transferred Gan Zhuo, then inspector of Xiangzhou, to Liangzhou.

That left Xiangzhou open too.

Wang Dun immediately intervened and strongly recommended his follower Shen Chong for the Xiangzhou post. Sima Rui checked and found that Shen Chong was Wang Dun's man, so he refused. Wang Dun already controlled Jingzhou and Jiangzhou. If he also reached into Xiangzhou, almost the entire middle Yangzi region would fall under him.

Sima Rui instead appointed the royal relative Sima Cheng to Xiangzhou.

When Sima Cheng passed through Wuchang on his way to office, Wang Dun held a banquet for him. During the feast, Wang Dun deliberately tested him, asking whether he could really govern Xiangzhou.

Sima Cheng answered with a saying associated with Ban Chao: even a blunt blade can still make one cut.

Wang Dun laughed and let him go. But he had already seen that the court was placing men around him.

Guarding Against Wang Dun Under the Name of Northern Campaign

In Jiankang, Liu Wei offered Sima Rui another plan.

The court would prepare for a northern campaign on the surface while arranging forces to guard against Wang Dun in reality.

Sima Rui appointed Liu Wei as General Who Guards the North and sent him to Huaiyin. He also appointed Dai Yuan as General Who Campaigns West and stationed him at Hefei. Both forces faced north in name, but they also constrained Wang Dun.

This order had another consequence.

Zu Ti had just recovered large parts of Henan during his northern campaign. When he saw the court's new military arrangement, he realized he was not being placed at the center of the plan. He was frustrated. Hearing also of Wang Dun's arrogance, he feared internal conflict would destroy the northern campaign. In anger and anxiety, he became ill and died soon afterward.

When Wang Dun heard that Zhou Fang and Zu Ti had both died, the pressure on him dropped sharply.

In 322, the first year of Emperor Yuan's Yongchang reign, Wang Dun raised troops in the name of removing Liu Wei and Diao Xie from the emperor's side. Claiming to "clear the ruler's side," he advanced by land and water toward Jiankang.

Wang Dao Kneels Outside the Palace Gate

After Wang Dun rebelled, Liu Wei urged Sima Rui to kill Wang Dao and the Wang clan members in the capital.

Sima Rui still had feeling for Wang Dao and hesitated. When the news reached Wang Dao, he immediately brought more than twenty clan members to kneel outside the palace gate and ask forgiveness.

At that moment, Zhou Yi, assistant director of the Department of State Affairs, entered court. Wang Dao saw him pass and begged him to save the Wang family. Zhou Yi did not answer in front of him and went straight inside.

But once inside, Zhou Yi spoke for Wang Dao. He told Sima Rui that Wang Dao had worked with all his strength to establish Jin in the south. If Wang Dao were truly colluding with Wang Dun, he would not stay in the capital waiting to die. Sima Rui accepted this and pardoned Wang Dao and his family. He even had Wang Dao join the capital defense.

When Zhou Yi came out, he was drunk. Wang Dao called after him, but Zhou Yi did not respond. Wang Dao mistakenly thought Zhou Yi had refused to help him and began to resent him.

That misunderstanding would soon become a death.

Stone City Falls

As Wang Dun's army approached Jiankang, Stone City became the key.

Stone City stood west of Jiankang. It was the fortress between Wang Dun's forces and the capital. Its commander, Zhou Zha, was not deeply loyal to Sima Rui. When Wang Dun arrived, he opened the gates and surrendered.

Sima Rui was furious and ordered Liu Wei and Dai Yuan to retake Stone City. They lost repeatedly. Wang Dun pursued the advantage. Wang Dao, Diao Xie, and others split their forces to help, but they were also defeated.

Eastern Jin did have troops, but many were hastily organized near Jiankang. Wang Dun brought seasoned frontier soldiers. Sima Rui's attempt to correct aristocratic interests had also upset many great families, and some chose to wait rather than support the court fully.

As Wang Dun neared the city, Diao Xie and Liu Wei apologized to Sima Rui for the disaster. Sima Rui knew Wang Dun's slogan targeted "bad ministers," not the emperor himself, so he told them to flee.

Diao Xie escaped briefly but was betrayed by subordinates and killed. Liu Wei fled to Later Zhao and survived.

Boren Dies Because of Me

After entering Jiankang, Wang Dun did not immediately visit Sima Rui. He allowed his troops to plunder, and the city fell into chaos.

Sima Rui had to meet him. He said that Diao Xie was dead and Liu Wei had fled; the ministers Wang Dun claimed to remove were gone. If Wang Dun still was not satisfied, Sima Rui could return to his Langya fief and give up the throne.

Wang Dun did not yet have a direct excuse to usurp, so he withdrew to Stone City. But he had already taken control of Emperor Yuan. He forced the court to make him chancellor and Duke of Wuchang, and officials had to go to Stone City to pay respects.

Wang Dao was among those officials. He urged Wang Dun not to go too far. Wang Dun replied that the allies of Diao Xie and Liu Wei still remained in court and had to be cleared away.

He named Zhou Yi and Dai Yuan and asked Wang Dao whether they could be used. Thinking of the day when Zhou Yi had not answered his plea, Wang Dao stayed silent.

Wang Dun understood. He soon had Zhou Yi and Dai Yuan arrested and taken to execution.

Before dying, Zhou Yi cursed Wang Dun for insulting the state and killing loyal ministers. Later, Wang Dao saw the record in the Secretariat showing that Zhou Yi had spoken for him. Only then did he realize the truth. He wept and said, "Although I did not kill Boren, Boren died because of me."

After clearing his opponents, Wang Dun looked like a man who could command the emperor through force.

But he had troops, land, and power without truly holding the realm. Eastern Jin's first great storm of ministerial power was not over.