In January 239 AD, an urgent edict urged Wei’s Grand Commandant Sima Yi to rush back to Luoyang at night. He had a premonition that the situation in Wei was about to undergo a major change and urgently summoned Sima Yi to return to the official hospital bed of Wei Ming Emperor Cao Rui. Before his death, he decided to entrust the eight year old Crown Prince Cao Fang to General Cao Shuang and Grand Commandant Sima Yi. One was a royal family member, and the other was an important official of Cao’s three dynasties. Emperor Wei Ming firmly believed that with their assistance, Cao’s regime would be as stable as Mount Tai. However, Emperor Ming of Wei never expected that from this moment on, a crisis that could cause the collapse of the Cao Wei regime was quietly approaching, and it was one of his trusted ministers, Sima Yi, who led this crisis.
With the assistance of Cao Shuang and Sima Yi, the young lord Cao Fang successfully ascended to the throne. However, a power struggle also unfolded, with Cao Shuang in charge of politics and Sima Yi in control of military power. This situation gradually made Cao Shuang worried. Shortly after the young master ascended the throne, Cao Shuang promoted Sima Yi to the rank of Grand Tutor, effectively depriving him of his military power. On the other hand, he appointed his three younger brothers and some confidants to important positions, restricting and monitoring Sima Yi everywhere.
Professor Hu Axiang from Nanjing University: At the beginning, the political structure was led by Sima Yi. Cao Shuang assisted in politics, but the military power was in the hands of the Sima family. Cao Shuang was not at ease, so later on, it was equivalent to the Cao family using some means to seize Sima Yi’s military power. On the one hand, it raised Sima Yi’s status, but it was a void, and the military power was taken away. At this point, Sima Yi began to pretend to be sick and retreat as a way forward. The moment he handed over this military power, he recuperated at home, which actually gave Cao Shuang a dose of peace of mind.
From then on, Sima Yi simply declared himself sick and went home. Cao Shuang thought he was in control of the situation, but in reality, he greatly underestimated Sima Yi’s cunning and cunning. In January 249 AD, General Cao Shuang, along with his three younger brothers, accompanied the young emperor Cao Fang out of the capital. The grand procession had to leave Luoyang for more than 90 miles to pay tribute to the tomb of Emperor Ming of Wei. The ceremony atmosphere was solemn, elegant and melodious, and the sacrificial text was resounding. However, Cao Shuang did not expect that this day would become a good opportunity for Sima Yi to wait for a long time. Just as Cao Shuang left the capital, Sima Yi miraculously recovered. Under his command, a coup quickly unfolded. Sima secretly raised 3000 deceased soldiers for 10 years and became a surprise soldier in the coup. The court’s arsenal and all key departments were quickly controlled by Sima Yi. He also announced many charges against Cao Shuang in the name of the Empress Dowager, cutting off his retreat.
Researcher at the History Institute of Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences – Shen Bojun: A coup is like a thunderbolt, suddenly occurring with very strict arrangements, completely catching Cao Shuang off guard. At this critical moment, one can see that Cao Shuang and Sima Yi have completely different personalities and talents. Sima Yi has been planning for a long time, with strict arrangements and cunning methods. When the news came, Cao Shuang was both shocked and afraid, almost falling off his horse.
The sudden upheaval caused Cao Shuang’s camp to become chaotic, either surrendering military power or launching an uprising. At a critical moment of life or death, Cao Shuang hesitated. Sima Yi took the opportunity to send a lobbyist to persuade Cao Shuang to give up his plan to resist, saying that his worst outcome would only be to dismiss his official position. Cao Shuang chose to confess and surrender, fantasizing about continuing to maintain wealth and status. However, he overestimated the kindness of his opponents. Soon, the Cao Shuang brothers and his confidants were executed for plotting rebellion against the Three Clans, and the power of the Wei State fell into the hands of the Sima family. This incident was known as the Gaopingling Incident by historians.
Professor Hu Axiang from Nanjing University: Sima Yi’s move can be said to be a fierce tiger’s claws, a fatal blow, and he was instantly killed. From then on, the military and political power of the Wei state fell into the hands of the Sima family. The world was still surnamed Cao, but the one in charge of the world was already surnamed Sima. Therefore, this should be said to particularly reflect Sima Yi’s superb strategy. To put it bluntly, it was really a kind of conspiracy and forbearance.
After the Gaoping Mausoleum Incident, the power of the court fell into the hands of the Sima clan. After the death of Sima Yi, the Sima clan succeeded as the Grand General, and the Cao Wei regime continued to tilt towards the Sima clan. In December 254 AD, Sima Shi abolished the throne of Cao Fang and appointed Cao Mao, who was only 14 years old, as the new emperor. After the death of Sima Shi, his younger brother Sima Zhao continued to rule the court. He did not conceal his ambition to proclaim himself emperor. In his eyes, the young emperor Cao Mao was just a puppet. However, no one expected that it was this weak emperor who loved poetry, literature, calligraphy, and painting that launched the final counterattack against Sima Shi in his most decisive and tragic way. The heart of Sima Zhao is well-known to passersby, and this is the most famous sentence left by Cao Cao to the world before his death. One day in May 260 AD, Cao Cao, who did not want to wait for the deposed, led hundreds of guards and servants to rush out of the palace gate and personally went to suppress Sima Zhao, ending his life in the most tragic way. The death of Cao Cao meant that the Cao family’s last resistance ended in failure. The Cao family declined, but the ambition of Wei to unify the country did not stop. Sima Zhao, who had no worries about the future, began to implement a larger plan. He determined to first eliminate Shu Han and later implement the great strategy of Eastern Wu to end the pattern of dividing the country into three parts.
Researcher at the Institute of History, Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences – Shen Bojun: After years of management by his father, son, and brothers, Sima Zhao has consolidated their control over the Cao Wei regime. At this time, the political power of Shu Han has also entered its final stage and is quite weak. Therefore, Sima Zhao accepted the suggestion of Zhong Hui and others and decided to attack Shu.
The land of Sichuan and the land of abundance, the people here continue to live a leisurely and comfortable life to this day. More than 1000 years ago, in the late Three Kingdoms period, when Sima Zhao had already begun to covet this prosperous land, the entire government and people of Shu had not yet realized the ambition of strong enemies. At that time, after decades of hard work, political clarity, and social stability by Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, and others, the state of Shu. But the mediocre monarch Liu Chan did not realize that the state of Shu was already full of contradictions at this time. In 253 AD, General Fei Yi was assassinated by a surrendering general of the state of Wei at a banquet. Jiang Wei took over the position of General, and then disregarded national strength to attack Wei multiple times, resulting in more defeats than victories. In the end, the army he could command was less than 10000 people. Liu Chan, on the other hand, deviated from the advice of Zhuge Liang, a loyal and petty minister, favored eunuch Huang Hao, and allowed him to interfere with politics and power. The Minister of State in charge of Shu’s internal affairs, Chen Ju, colluded with Huang Hao to overthrow the court, and Shu Han quickly entered a period of chaos and corruption. In 263 AD, when the mediocre monarch came to Dujiangyan Irrigation Project, a famous water conservancy project, to play, the Shu State was already full of internal worries. The courtiers had already lost their ambition to compete with the Wei State, which provided Sima Zhao with a good opportunity to destroy Shu.
Professor Hu Axiang from Nanjing University: Although the diplomacy of the Three Kingdoms is very complex, the main thing is that Sun Wu and Shu Han are on one side, and Cao Wei is on the other. So when annihilating these two countries in the south, you need to have a strategy. Generally speaking, it is easy first and difficult later. The land area of Shu Han, the number of people in Shu Han, the national strength of Shu Han, and the domestic conflicts in Shu Han are all greater than those of Sun Wu. And once the Shu Han in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River is conquered, let’s imagine that the Sima clan’s navy will flow downstream, making it relatively easy to defeat Sun Wu. There is a relationship between Shu Han and Sun Wu, where the lips are lost and the teeth are cold.
Sima Zhao sent General Zhong Hui to oversee Hanzhong in the west, preparing to attack Shu. The war was imminent, and Jiang Wei urgently submitted a letter hoping to strengthen his defense. However, Huang Hao resorted to the tactics of divine and supernatural magic, saying that the Wei army would never make a successful attack, and asked Liu Chan to suppress Jiang Wei’s memorial. At this time, Cao Wei had already begun to deploy troops and formations. Zhong Hui led a large army of 100000 to capture Hanzhong. Deng Ai, who had been stationed in the Guanzhong area for a long time, led 30000 troops to restrain Jiang Wei’s main force. Zhuge Xu, the governor of Yongzhou, led another 30000 troops to attack Jiang Wei’s rear. In 263 AD, these three strong armies sent by Sima Zhao launched an attack on Shu.
Jianmen Pass, Guangyuan City, Sichuan Province
Jianmen Xiongguan has been an important military barrier in Sichuan and Sichuan since ancient times. At this time, it has also become a natural danger that the Wei army cannot easily break through. The Shu army can be said to be in control of the gate for ten thousand soldiers here. With such a natural danger guarding the gate, the rulers and ministers of Shu Han are not particularly concerned about the military actions of the Wei army. The war lasted for more than two months, and Jianmen Pass was still unable to withstand a strong attack. With a 30000 strong army about to cut off supplies, Zhong Hui had to conceive of retreating. However, at this moment, veteran general Deng Ai submitted a memorial to Sima Zhao, proposing an unexpected suggestion.
Researcher at the Institute of History, Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences – Shen Bojun: Deng Ai, as a veteran general of Cao Wei, analyzed the situation and believed that a hard attack on Jianmen Pass would be ineffective. Therefore, he proposed to bypass the enemy forces, cross an unmanned path, and detour from the northwest back to Jianmen Pass. After arriving at Fucheng at that time, which is now the area of Mianyang in Sichuan. If it could capture Fucheng, it could move south from Fucheng and directly approach Chengdu. If so, it could not only surprise Jiang Wei’s rear, but also form a pincer attack with the army of Zhong Hui.
In October, the weather in western China was already very cold. Deng Ai led his troops through the unguarded Yinping mountainous area, and there was no human habitation for 700 miles along the way. The cliffs, deep valleys, and strange peaks rose up. The soldiers dug mountains and roads, and Deng Ai led the way. This was a difficult and outstanding military operation. More than 20 days later, the Wei army suddenly appeared in front of the Shu army in Jiangyou like a divine weapon. The Shu army was unprepared and surrendered without fighting. Deng Ai’s surprise attack on Jiangyou completely disrupted the defense deployment of the Shu army. After taking Jiangyou, the army of Cao and Wei marched straight into Mianyang, the gateway to Chengdu.
New Year Painting Village, Mianzhu City, Sichuan Province
Chen Gang is a handicraft artist from Mianzhu City, Sichuan Province. He is currently producing Mianzhu New Year paintings that have been passed down for hundreds of years in the local area. Many of the themes in Mianzhu New Year paintings are related to classic stories of the Three Kingdoms, but what is more widely known is a heroic battle that took place in Mianzhu, the Battle of Mianzhu Pass. When Deng Aiqi attacked Mianyang, he met the defending general Zhuge Zhan. In the evil station, Zhuge Zhan and his son retreated from Mianzhu and ultimately died in battle here. In memory of these heroic father and son, the people here specially built this temple for future generations to pay their respects. However, the three generations of Zhuge Liang’s ancestors and grandchildren were devastated by the rivers and mountains of Shu Han, and they were unable to stop a mediocre emperor from burying them. After Deng Ai captured Mianzhu, Chengdu became the gateway to the Great Wall, and the Shu army was completely defeated. The unprepared rulers and ministers of Shu were in chaos, and the people fled the city to avoid difficulties. Liu Chan was helpless and chose to surrender.
Researcher at the History Institute of Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences – Shen Bojun: Deng Ai’s surprise attack on Jiangyou gave it great military initiative, completely disrupting the military deployment of Shu Han. Moreover, after Shu Han, there was no danger to defend it. The surprise attack on Jiangyou was not only a crucial battle for Cao Wei to annihilate Shu, but also the first classic battle to achieve surprise victories throughout the Three Kingdoms period.
Wuhou Temple, Chengdu, Sichuan Province
The Shu Han regime, which had existed for 43 years, was dramatically destroyed. In today’s Chengdu Wuhou Temple, Liu Bei, Zhuge Liang, and other Shu monarchs and officials were worshipped by future generations, and their influential figures were solidified into sculptures for future generations to admire. In the center of the main hall, Liu Bei was solemn and peaceful. On his left side was the statue of his grandson Liu Chen, while on his right side was empty. This was once the place where the statue of Liu Chan was placed. However, as the ruler of the deceased country, he unexpectedly entered and exited this ancestral temple three times in the midst of controversy. Until today, it is still jokingly referred to as the helpless Adou. After the downfall of the Shu Kingdom, Liu Chan was taken to Luoyang and appointed as Duke of Anle. Sima Zhao invited him to attend a banquet, intentionally allowing people to perform the songs and dances of the Shu Kingdom. The people of the Shu Kingdom were very sad, but Liu Chan talked and laughed, as if nothing had happened. Sima Zhao asked him if he still missed the Shu Kingdom? Liu Chan replied, “Joy does not yearn for Shu.”.
Researcher at the Institute of History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences – Lou Jin: A wonderful era can make an ordinary person become wonderful, not to mention a first-class figure like the emperor inside. When Cao Cao couldn’t bear it anymore, he could ride on a large horse with weapons and go to kill treacherous officials. Liu Chan, when you looked back, we called it the “A Dou” that couldn’t be lifted. It seemed that it was not suitable for governing the country. Of course, there were also many differences between him and Zhuge Liang, but he had to obey Zhuge Liang. This governance was also very difficult. This was a philosophy of life, because at that time, there were two things in the minds of literati that needed to be practiced at any time, one was called sex, and the other was called life. Life, we now classify it separately and simply as physical or biological life. Life is… There is nothing to be said about the spiritual aspect that includes the relationship between spirit and matter, and if one loses their life.
Sima Zhao’s overthrow of Shu increased political capital to replace Cao Wei. After Sima Zhao’s death, his son Sima Yan inherited the throne of Jin. A few months later, in December 265 AD, Sima Yan forced the young emperor Cao Huan to abdicate to him, proclaiming the throne and changing the country’s name to Jin. This is the historical example of Sima Yan of Western Jin, who was Emperor Wu of Jin. With the surrender of Shu Han and the establishment of the dynasty, the morale of the army was strong. Taking advantage of this surplus power, Western Jin launched an attack on Eastern Wu, achieving the great cause of unification. It seems like an arrow on the string. However, Emperor Wu of Jin decided to temporarily suspend the campaign against Wu.
Researcher at the History Institute of Sichuan Academy of Social Sciences – Shen Bojun: Why didn’t we send troops? The first point is the founding of the Western Jin Dynasty. He needs a period of consolidation, as their path to consolidating the power of the Sima clan is full of obstacles, including several major struggles and bloody massacres; The second point is that in the ancient era of cold weapons, the Yangtze River was known as a natural danger since ancient times. The rulers and officials of the Western Jin Dynasty were afraid of crossing the natural moat and eliminating Sun Wu; Thirdly, during the first period, the Sun Wu regime was relatively stable and did not provide it with an opportunity for enemy internal turmoil.
The Western Jin Dynasty, which remained motionless, was waiting for an opportunity.
At this time, Emperor Wu, Sun Hao, had just ascended to the throne. He comforted the people, opened warehouses to relieve poverty, and released rare birds, showing a wise and upright demeanor. However, soon Sun Hao disappointed our country’s rulers and ministers. The exposure of Sun Hao’s nature shrouded the Eastern Wu court in a shadow of fear. Under Sun Hao’s orders, the capital Jianye built palaces on a large scale, and the people served tirelessly. Honest ministers wrote letters to advise, but Sun Hao could not listen. Sun Hao ordered that all the daughters of the ministers’ families should be chosen by him at the age of 15 or 6, and the remaining ones should be allowed to marry. In addition, almost every day in the palace, there are hidden murders at the Hongmen Banquet. Whenever there is a mistake in the words and actions of the ministers, they will be recorded and subjected to various forms of torture by Sun Hao. Sun Hao’s tyrannical rule sparked people’s resistance, and even led to riots involving nearly ten thousand people, which lasted up to 30 miles outside Jianye City. Many people also chose to defect to the Jin Dynasty, including the royal family of Wu, and news continued to spread to the Western Jin court.
In the year 279 AD, which was the 15th year after the Western Jin Dynasty replaced Cao Wei, the voices advocating for the attack on Wu rose again, led by General Du Yu and Wang Jun. However, the court officials led by Jia Chong still opposed the attack on Wu, citing the instability of the border. A heated debate took place in front of Emperor Wu of Jin. However, this time Emperor Wu of Jin stood on the side of the main faction, facing the hard persuasion of Jia Chong, Xun Xu, and others. Emperor Wu of Jin was furious and ordered to raise troops to attack Eastern Wu. In November 279 AD, the Western Jin army divided into six routes, and both land and water advanced to launch a large-scale attack on Wu. Emperor Wu of Jin appointed Jia Chong as the nominal commander of the army, with Du Yu, Wang Jun, and others actually commanding the army. The six routes of the army launched a massive attack on Wu. Under the powerful offensive of the Jin army, Wu army retreated step by step, and important towns such as Jiangling were successively captured. Officials from all over surrendered, and the fate of the country’s downfall was clear to everyone in the Wu dynasty. Among the six major armies, Wang Jun was the most brave, leading an 80000 navy, Riding on a tall warship, traveling downstream from Yizhou along the Yangtze River, connecting for a hundred miles, Sun Hao could only tie himself up like Liu Chan, surrender outside the city, and the Wu navy was completely intimidated by this momentum. They retreated step by step, and the Jin army marched down the river, capturing Xiakou and Wuchang invincibly, heading straight to the capital of Wu, Jianye. Sun Hao, like Liu Chan, could only tie himself up and surrender, leading to the downfall of Wu and the unification of Western Jin.
After the unification of the Western Jin Dynasty, the last emperor of Eastern Wu, Sun Hao, was also resettled in Luoyang, just like Liu Chan. However, compared to Liu Chan, who was not fond of Shu, he still maintained some of the former monarch’s aura. One day, Emperor Wu of Jin met Sun Hao in Luoyang and pointed to his seat, saying, “I have set up this seat to wait for you for a long time.” Sun Hao retorted, “I have also set up a seat in the south to wait for Your Majesty.” Three years later, Sun Hao died in Luoyang due to a suspicious cause. Twelve years ago, Liu Chan, the later ruler of Shu Han, also died in Luoyang and passed away peacefully. The last emperor of Wei, Cao Huan, who had long faded out of people’s sight, went to Xuchang in the late Western Jin Dynasty. The city of Luoyang, which has experienced countless wars, is now difficult to find relics from the Western Jin Dynasty. However, it is this ancient capital of 13 dynasties in Chinese history that witnessed a unified dynasty in the late Eastern Han Dynasty, divided into three parts; Sixty years later, the ever-changing and splendid Three Kingdoms era in Chinese history came to an end here, and the world once again merged into one. However, China’s history has not advanced too far on a unified map.
Gou Bin is an art teacher at Luoyang Normal University. In order to create a traditional Chinese painting depicting a famous landscape from the Western Jin Dynasty, he is researching a large amount of historical materials.
Associate Professor at Luoyang Normal University
Gou Bin: To truly create this painting “Spring Clear in the Golden Valley”, I also relied on psychological identification, mainly because there is a large space for imagination. Based on the historical records, I need to use a lot of imagination from it, such as the imagination of architecture, the color and arrangement of his trees, the arrangement of pavilions and pavilions, including the direction of his mountains and stones. My psychological imagination is actually my understanding of these ancient literature records, poetry, and prose, and my personal feelings to communicate with the ancients.
“Jin Gu Chun Qing” is known as one of the Eight Scenic Spots of Luoyang. It depicts a famous landscape in Luoyang during the reign of Emperor Wu of Jin. The charming scenery of Jin Gu Yuan gradually became clear in Gou Bin’s mind as the search deepened. This was an extremely luxurious luxury villa, and its owner was Shi Chong, a wealthy aristocrat from the Western Jin Dynasty. In this garden villa, Shi Chong was full of guests, feasting every day, and living an extremely luxurious life. At that time, the prosperous scene of the Western Jin Dynasty, after the destruction of the Eastern Wu, Emperor Wu of Jin believed that it was already peaceful. Ordering all states and counties to no longer retain their armies, he followed the example of the Zhou Dynasty and distributed many lands to members of the royal family. Emperor Wu of Jin also pushed the implementation of the Nine Rank Middle Zheng system since Cao Wei to the extreme, providing generous treatment to aristocratic families and clans, A situation was formed where there were no aristocrats in the upper class and no aristocrats in the lower class.
During the Taikang period of Emperor Wu of Jin, social stability and abundant material supply led to the so-called Taikang prosperous era in Western Jin. Emperor Wu of Jin and his courtiers began to soar, ushering in an era of extravagance and extravagance. As the founding ruler, Emperor Wu of Jin seemed to have no pursuit after unifying the world, indulging in leisure and banquets all day long, and the imperial harem of Jin Dynasty was overcrowded with as many as ten thousand palace maids. How to choose one from thousands of miles has become a major challenge for Emperor Wu of Jin. He rode a carriage pulled by a sheep, and wherever the sheep went, they would eat and live. In order to invite favor, palace maids inserted bamboo leaves into the door and sprinkled salt water on the ground to attract the emperor’s carriage.
“The Painting of Jin Gu Yuan” from the Northern Song Dynasty
The trend of comparing and fighting for wealth among aristocratic families is prevalent. The Grand Tutor, who ever spent 10000 yuan on meals every day, is still lamenting that there is nothing that can attract me to use chopsticks. The high-ranking officials and nobles inherited the style of simple talk that emerged during the Cao Wei period. These high-ranking officials, who were originally responsible for official affairs, enjoyed wealth and prosperity while chatting about the customs under the forest, treating diligence and duty as shameful. The emperor’s debauchery, corruption in the officialdom, and the prevalence of simple talk quickly pushed the Western Jin Dynasty towards decline. Under the surface of a peaceful and prosperous era, various contradictions accumulated in the dark. The armies established by various feudal states became the fundamental cause of the downfall of the Western Jin Dynasty.
Xu Jinxing, a researcher at the Henan Academy of Literature and History: During his reign, Emperor Wu of Jin came up with a solution called enfeoffment in order to suppress the forces of the Wu Shu, Southeast, and Southwest regions. It granted 27 royal families as kings, and allowed these 27 kings to have a country, a military, a large country with 5000 soldiers, a smaller country with 3000 soldiers, and a small country with 1500 soldiers. This laid the foundation for trouble.
After the death of Emperor Wu of Jin, turmoil first erupted in the palace. In 290 AD, Crown Prince Sima Zhong ascended to the throne, becoming Emperor Hui of Jin. This foolish and foolish emperor became the puppet of Empress Jia Nanfeng. The great power of the dynasty quickly fell into the hands of Jia Nanfeng, and at his instigation, Sima was assassinated by the kings themselves. Jia Nanfeng even killed the Crown Prince of Emperor Hui. Jia Nanfeng’s wrongdoing caused dissatisfaction among the kings and courtiers. In 300 AD, Zhao Prince Sima Lun rebelled and entered the capital, killing Jia Nanfeng and others, opening the prelude to the Eight Kings Rebellion. From 291 AD to 306 AD, eight kings who were originally enfeoffed by Emperor Wu of Jin joined the power struggle, which was known as the Eight Kings Rebellion.
Xu Jinxing, a researcher at the Henan Institute of Culture and History: The Rebellion of the Eight Kings dealt a serious or huge blow, weakening the power of the Western Jin Dynasty. In addition, his long-term war caused serious economic damage and collapse in the Western Jin Dynasty, especially in the Yellow River Basin. Due to these reasons, the Han people in the Yellow River Basin, including non Han people, suffered extremely serious disasters. This also provides an opportunity for ethnic minorities in the north to enter the Central Plains.
The Eight Kings Battle resulted in the deaths of 100000 soldiers and civilians, and the people suffered greatly from the ravages of war. The once bustling city of Kyoto and Luoyang was now shrouded in barbarians. The war and accompanying natural disasters forced people to flee on a large scale, causing the original social order to disintegrate in turmoil. There were many refugees and thieves, and the provinces and counties lacked troops and weapons, making it impossible to control the situation. Various social conflicts continued to erupt, and the discontent magma beneath the social crust found a breakthrough point to vent. In the year 299 AD, a large-scale refugee rebellion broke out in Yizhou. As the Rebellion of the Eight Kings came to an end, Li Xiong, the son of refugee leader Li Te, proclaimed himself emperor in Chengdu. The unified Western Jin Dynasty began to split, and the internal turmoil of Western Jin provided opportunities for many nomadic armed groups within the Jin Dynasty. They began to seek to establish their own political power, with the Xiongnu nobleman Liu Yuan being the first to make trouble. As a nobleman, Liu Yuan lived in the political and cultural center of the Han ethnic group for a long time, reading historical books, military books, and Confucian classics, and was deeply influenced by sinicized culture. During the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, Liu Yuan took advantage of the chaos and fled Luoyang, running on the left side of the national city. The five Xiongnu tribes jointly elected him as the Great Chanyu.
In 304 AD, Liu Yuan established the state of Han. Starting from Liu Yuan, for over a hundred years, the nomadic tribes Xiongnu, Xianbei, Jie, Qiang, and Di, who lived in the western, northern, and northeastern parts of the Western Jin Dynasty, successively established dozens of countries of all sizes to confront the Central Plains dynasties. This is what later generations call the Five Barbarians Hua. With the expansion of Liu Yuan’s power, various uprising teams from various places joined his account, including the slave born Jie ethnic person Shi Le. In the subsequent war with the Western Jin Dynasty, Shi Le became a key figure in determining the fate of the Western Jin Dynasty. In 311 AD, Shi Le led an iron cavalry to carry out a massacre in Ningping City, resulting in more than 100000 deaths. Soon, Shi Le, Wang Mi, and Liu Yao joined forces to attack Luoyang. In the same year, Liu Yao captured Chang’an. The last emperor of Western Jin, Emperor Jin Min, bared his shoulders and back, wore a jade seal in his mouth, and rode a sheep carriage in the most humiliating way to surrender. Only 37 years had passed since Emperor Wu of Jin defeated Eastern Wu and unified the country, and Western Jin was destroyed.
Researcher Xu Jinxing from Henan Provincial Institute of Culture and History: This long-term war has caused great damage to the vitality of the Western Jin Dynasty. One is the economic collapse of the Yellow River Basin around Luoyang, which has caused great disasters for the vast majority of the people and made it difficult for them to survive. This has led to a large-scale southward migration of Han people from the Central Plains, with Luoyang as the center. According to a household of five, the population at that time was only 7 million. If 7 million, 900000 people would have migrated, and one eighth of them would have moved away. Not to mention, this group of people had the highest level of knowledge and culture. The Han people from the Central Plains around the capital had the highest level of education and economic development, and their productivity and production technology were very high. Some people like this migrated southward. Moved away, moved south, and from then on, the center of Chinese culture also moved south.
Less than 40 kilometers away from Yanshi City, there stands a monument commemorating the southward migration of Hakka people from the Central Plains. At the end of the Western Jin Dynasty, with an immense attachment to the glory of the past, a large number of scholars and ethnic groups from the Central Plains left their homes and migrated southward from Luoyang City. At this time, the north had become a historical stage of intense competition among ethnic minorities such as the Five Barbarians. The Three Kingdoms lasted for 60 years, while the brief unification of the Western Jin Dynasty was less than 40 years. With the downfall of the Western Jin Dynasty, China once again entered a long night of great division. This was a longer, broader, and more complex division that lasted for nearly 300 years until the Sui Dynasty achieved reunification again.
90 Seconds of History: Guangling Powder
Every night, the ancient and mysterious sound of the qin always echoes in the city of Luoyang. The person who played the qin was a famous scholar from the Wei and Jin dynasties, Ji Kang. Legend has it that a mysterious passerby bestowed upon Ji Kang the divine song Guangling San, and demanded that Ji Kang never pass it on to others. In the city of Luoyang and on Yuntai Mountain, the sound of Guangling scattered qin followed Ji Kang and his leading seven sages of the bamboo forest through countless days and nights of drinking and talking about mysteries, and accompanied Ji Kang to face the god of death. Before his death, Ji Kang had a calm expression and played Guangling scattered qin, with a resounding sound covering the sky and earth. At the end of the song, he sighed with regret that Guangling scattered qin was about to be cut off from now on. Guangling scattered qin is one of the most famous divine songs in China, and later generations played it more as a spiritual inheritance of Wei and Jin style.