Rebellion of the Eight Kings

Japanese: 八王の乱 - はちおうのらん

A civil war occurred in the Western Jin Dynasty in China. The Shiba clan of the imperial family was caught up in a dispute between the emperor's maternal relatives, and eight feudal lords fought for power.

[Jiro Yasuda]

First half

Emperor Wu (Sima Yan), the founder of the Western Jin dynasty, had his relatives take control of the military and make them his own clan. However, in his later years, discontent grew when the Yang clan, the consort of Emperor Qi, monopolized politics. The second emperor, Emperor Hui's Empress Jia, attempted to seize power and incited the King of Zhan to destroy the Yang clan's party, but real power went to the elder of the clan, Wang Liang of Runan. Jia then issued a false imperial decree to have King Wei of Chu kill Liang, and then killed Wei to seize power for herself (291).

[Jiro Yasuda]

Late Period

After 10 years of sovereignty, the Jia clan deposed the crown prince, and King Lun of Zhao, who had been increasingly opposed, raised an army and wiped out the Jia clan and its party (300). However, Lun was defeated by the uprising army led by King Jiong of Qi, who had seized the throne from Emperor Hui (301), and Jiong, who had restored Emperor Hui to the throne, also became so dictatorial that he was killed in a coup by King Yi of Changsha (302), and Yi was killed by the combined forces of King Ying of Chengdu, King Yong of Hejian, and others (303). At one time, Ying held absolute power in the imperial court from his base in Ye (Hebei Province), but he was defeated by the warlord Wang Jun, who had allied with the Xianbei people, and he was deposed, and real power passed to Yong, who was based in Chang'an (Shaanxi Province) (304). Yong was also defeated by Donghai Wang Yue, who advanced from Shandong Province, and hegemony returned to the Yue Dynasty, under Emperor Hui and then Emperor Huai (306). During this time, unrest spread to the provinces, with refugee rebellions, warlords becoming independent, and the rise of non-Han peoples who were used by various forces for military power, all of which successively culminated in the Yongjia Rebellion. Soon after, Yue was also defeated by the forces of Shi Le of Former Zhao and died in a heartbreaking battle (311), effectively bringing about the demise of the Western Jin Dynasty. This marked the beginning of an era of division and chaos that would continue from the Sixteen Kingdoms of the Five Barbarians to the Northern and Southern Dynasties.

[Jiro Yasuda]

[Reference] | Jin

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

中国、西晋(せいしん)の内乱。外戚(がいせき)間の抗争に宗室司馬(しば)氏が巻き込まれ、8人の藩王が政権を争った。

［安田二郎］

前期

西晋開祖の武帝（司馬炎）は同族に軍権を握らせて藩屏(はんぺい)としたが、晩年、外戚楊(よう)氏が政治を壟断(ろうだん)して不満が高まった。第2代恵帝の皇后賈(か)氏は権力の掌握を図り、藩王を唆して楊氏一党を滅ぼしたものの、実権は宗室の長老汝南(じょなん)王亮(りょう)に帰することになった。このため賈氏は偽詔して楚(そ)王瑋(い)に亮を殺させたのち、瑋を殺して権力を手中に収めた（291）。

［安田二郎］

後期

専権10年の賈氏が皇太子を廃殺すると、反発を強めていた趙(ちょう)王倫(りん)が挙兵して賈氏一党を滅ぼした（300）。しかし倫も恵帝から帝位を奪って斉(せい)王冏(けい)らの起義軍に敗れ（301）、恵帝を復位させた冏も専権に走って長沙(ちょうさ)王乂(がい)のクーデターで殺され（302）、乂も成都王穎(えい)、河間王顒(ぎょう)らの連合軍に討たれた（303）。いったんは穎が鄴(ぎょう)（河北省）に拠(よ)って朝権を専制したが、鮮卑(せんぴ)族と結ぶ軍閥の王浚(おうしゅん)に大敗して失脚し、実権は、長安（陝西(せんせい)省）に拠る顒に移った（304）。その顒も山東省から進撃した東海王越に敗れて、覇権は恵帝、ついで懐帝を擁する越の手に帰した（306）。この間、兵乱は地方にまで広がって、流民の反乱、軍閥の自立、諸勢力が軍事力に利用した非漢民族の興起が相次いで「永嘉(えいか)の乱」となり、まもなく越も前趙の石勒(せきろく)軍に苦戦して憂死し（311）、事実上、西晋は滅亡、五胡(ごこ)十六国から南北朝へと続く分裂と混乱の時代が始まった。

［安田二郎］

[参照項目] | 晋

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例

<<: Eight sounds - Hachiin

>>: Hachioji Sennin Doshin