Emperor An of Jin
Emperor An of Jin, personal name Sima Dezong, was an emperor of the Eastern Jin in China. He was described as so developmentally disabled that he was unable to speak properly, clothe himself, or be able to express whether he was hungry or full. He was created crown prince in 387 and ascended the throne in November 396. Because of his disability, the actual power was controlled by his uncle, Sima Daozi, Prince of Kuaiji. During his reign, regents and warlords dominated the Jin regime. Revolts by various governors also ravaged the land. From 398 to 403, there were constant revolts and civil war campaigns. In 403, the Jin regime was usurped by the warlord Huan Xuan, and while Emperor An was restored in 404, the Jin Dynasty was nearing its end. With the warlord Liu Yu as the actual power, Jin destroyed Southern Yan and Later Qin, greatly expanding its territory. However, with Liu Yu up in the north, the renegade governor of Guang Province, Lu Xun, rebelled and threatened the capital city Jiankang, before Liu Yu returned and crushed the revolt. In 419, Emperor An was strangled under the order of Liu Yu and replaced with his brother Emperor Gong, who would be the last emperor of the dynasty, before Liu Yu took the throne and establish the Liu Song dynasty.
Early life
Sima Dezong was the oldest son of Emperor Xiaowu, born of his concubine Consort Chen Guinü in 382. It is not known when Sima Dezong's developmental disability became known, but it was likely very early in his childhood, for the degree of his disability, according to historians, was great. In 390, when he was just eight years old, his mother died. Even though he had a younger brother, Sima Dewen, born of Consort Chen as well, who was described to be intelligent and careful, and who learned to take care of him throughout the years, for reasons unknown, Emperor Xiaowu appeared to have never seriously considered making Sima Dewen his heir; on 16 September 387, Sima Dezong was created crown prince. In 395, he was set up in his own residence, the eastern palace, as was customary for crown princes. In 396, he married the daughter of the official Wang Xianzhi, Wang Shen'ai, as his crown princess.In November 396, Emperor Xiaowu was killed by his concubine Honoured Lady Zhang, after offending her. However, with the emperor's only brother Sima Daozi, Prince of Kuaiji, being incompetent and Crown Prince Dezong being developmentally disabled, no investigation into Emperor Xiaowu's death was conducted. Crown Prince Dezong succeeded to the throne as Emperor An, and Sima Daozi became regent.
Under Sima Daozi's regency
Sima Daozi, as regent, was constantly drunk and greatly trusted Wang Guobao and Wang Xu because of their flattery, and his regency quickly developed a reputation for being corrupt and incompetent. The provincial governor, Wang Gong, whom Emperor Xiaowu entrusted with the armies of the northeastern part of the empire, considered starting a rebellion to overthrow Wang Guobao and Wang Xu. In 397, Wang Guobao and Wang Xu suggested to Sima Daozi that the armies that Wang Gong and another provincial governor, Yin Zhongkan, were in charge of be reduced; Wang Gong and Yin, who was in command of the western provinces, in response, mobilized their forces and declared that Wang Guobao and Wang Xu should be executed. Sima Daozi, in fear, forced Wang Guobao to commit suicide and executed Wang Xu. Wang Gong and Yin then retreated. From this point on, Sima Daozi trusted no one but his teenage heir apparent, Sima Yuanxian, and entrusted the capital guards to Sima Yuanxian. He also gave military commands to his distant relatives Sima Shangzhi the Prince of Qiao and Sima Shangzhi's brother Sima Xiuzhi, as well as Wang Yu, in 398.The giving of a military command to Wang Yu oddly drew a reaction from Wang Gong and Yin—as Wang Yu's command included four commanderies originally under the command of Yu Kai, who became angry and managed to persuade Wang Gong and Yin that Sima Daozi's intention was to act against them as well. They therefore rose again, but Sima Daozi was able to persuade Wang Gong's general Liu Laozhi, who was in command of the elite Beifu Forces, to suddenly turn against Wang Gong, capturing and executing him. Yin, hearing of Wang Gong's death, was in fear but considered proceeding anyway—and Sima Daozi, under suggestion by Huan Xuan's cousin Huan Xiu, managed to cause dissension between Yin and his generals Huan Xuan and Yang Quanqi by offering Huan and Yang key posts; although Huan and Yang nominally remained Yin's allies, Yin was forced to withdraw his troops, and from that point on no longer posed a major threat, as his domain had now been divided into three, with Huan and Yang each given a third.
In late 398, the magician Sun Tai, a friend of Sima Yuanxian's, who had gathered great following due to his magic, was exposed as planning a plot to take over the central government, and Sima Daozi ordered Sima Yuanxian to trap Sun Tai and execute him. Sun Tai's nephew Sun En fled to Zhoushan Island and planned revenge.
In summer 399, Sima Yuanxian, wanting even greater power, took an opportunity when his father was very drunk to have Emperor An issue an edict transferring Sima Daozi's authorities to Sima Yuanxian. When Sima Daozi awoke from his stupor, he was enraged, but after that point his power became extremely limited, even though he nominally remained regent.
Under Sima Yuanxian's regency
Sima Yuanxian's regency was one in which he became surrounded by flatterers, and he began to have unrealistic ambitions of ending the threat that various provincial warlords posed to his rule. He greatly trusted the strategist Zhang Fashun, and also introduced many trusted associates into the administration. While he appeared to have some abilities, he also was, according to traditional historians, wasting the government's money in luxury and not paying attention to the burdens of the people. Late in 399, Sun En, seeing how the only province remaining under Jin imperial government's actual control—Yang Province -- had been mismanaged by Sima Yuanxian, launched a major attack from Zhoushan Island, briefly taking over nearly all of Yang Province and advancing on the capital Jiankang. Sun's rebellion was soon put down by Liu Laozhi, and Sun fled back to Zhoushan, but Yang Province had been laid to waste. Despite this, Sima Yuanxian grew increasingly extravagant and arrogant.In late 401, apprehensive of the growing power of Huan Xuan, Sima Yuanxian declared Huan a renegade and ordered an attack against Huan. However, he was largely dependent on Liu Laozhi's army, and Liu distrusted Sima Yuanxian. Meanwhile, Huan advanced east toward the capital and, after he made overtures to Liu, Liu turned against Sima Yuanxian. Jiankang fell to Huan, and Sima Yuanxian was captured and executed, along with all of his major associates. Huan also had Sima Daozi exiled and killed and became in full control of the empire. Not trusting of the treacherous Liu, Huan stripped him of his military command, and Liu tried to rebel again—but his own army officers were tired of repeated rebellions and deserted him, and he committed suicide.
Takeover and usurpation by Huan Xuan
Huan Xuan initially tried to institute reforms of the imperial government, and the populace and governmental officials were pleased with changes he introduced, and he also tried to make peace with Sun En's brother-in-law Lu Xun, who replaced Sun En after Sun En committed suicide after a battlefield loss in 402, by offering Lu a commandery governorship. However, Huan Xuan soon took to living luxuriously and modifying laws at whim, and it was said that supplies to the imperial household were so reduced that even Emperor An almost suffered from hunger and cold.In fall 403, Huan Xuan had Emperor An create him the Prince of Chu and give him the nine bestowments—both signs of an impending usurpation. In winter 403, Huan Xuan had Emperor An issue an edict giving the throne to Huan Xuan. Huan then took the throne as emperor of a new Chu state. He created Emperor An as the Prince of Pinggu, but kept the emperor and his brother Sima Dewen the Prince of Langya under virtual house arrest.
In spring 404, Huan Xuan's general Liu Yu, seeing that Huan Xuan lacked actual talent or popular support, led an uprising of a coalition of generals against him, starting the uprising at Jingkou and reaching Jiankang within a few days. Huan Xuan fled, but took Emperor An and Sima Dewen with him, back to his old power base Jiangling. Liu Yu declared the restoration of Jin, and by summer 404, forces under his confederates Liu Yi, He Wuji, and his brother Liu Daogui had reached the vicinity of Jiangling and defeated Huan Xuan's troops. Huan Xuan tried to flee again, but was killed by forces of the general Mao Qu. Emperor An was declared to be restored at Jiangling by the officials Wang Kangchan and Wang Tengzhi. However, Huan Xuan's nephew Huan Zhen soon surprised Wang Kangchan and Wang Tengzhi and captured Jiangling, taking Emperor An hostage, although ostensibly honoring him as the emperor. In spring 405, Jiangling fell to Liu Yi's forces, and Huan Zhen fled. Emperor An was welcomed back to Jiankang, but at this point on, Liu Yu was largely in control of the situation.
Under Liu Yu's regency
Early years
Liu Yu, although he had ambitions to be emperor, learned from Huan Xuan's failures that he could not act too quickly, but must establish his authority through further victories first, particularly since because he led a coalition of generals and officials with different agendas in his victory over Huan. He therefore proceeded cautiously, initially sharing power with He Wuji and Liu Yi, among others. For the next few years, he also made several offers to resign his posts, judging correctly that the imperial officials would not dare to accept them, to further establish the image that he was indispensable.In spring 405, Mao Qu's soldiers, from Yi Province, unhappy that Mao sent them on long-distance campaigns initially against Huan Xuan and then against Huan Zhen, rebelled, supporting the military officer Qiao Zong as their leader. They defeated and killed Mao and captured Chengdu, and Qiao Zong established his independent Western Shu state there.
Also in 405, Lu Xun, who had in 404 marched south and captured Panyu during the wars relating to Huan Xuan, offered peace to the imperial government by paying a tribute. Liu Yu, believing that he had no abilities to defeat Lu by this point, made Lu the governor of Guang Province and Lu's brother-in-law and lieutenant Xu Daofu the governor of Shixing Principality.
In 407, Liu Yu commissioned his friend Liu Jingxuan to launch a major attack on Qiao Zong's Western Shu, but in 408, Liu Jingxuan's forces became stalled against the Western Shu general Qiao Daofu and was forced to retreat when food supplies ran out.