The chaos and incompetence of the Western Jin Dynasty led to the chaos of the Wuhu Dynasty and the fall of the Central Plains. Sima Rui fled to Jiankang, and after the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the emperors' performance was also unsatisfactory. Fortunately, the Eastern Jin Dynasty had the support of the Shi family and was barely able to sustain it.
In the process of the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the Wang family played a great role, so there is a saying that "Sima and Wang share the world". After the consolidation of imperial power, Emperor Sima had a short life one after another, and the dragon chair changed masters like a marquee. The one who really supported the imperial power was Empress Chu, who experienced six emperors in her life and maintained the stability of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.
Empress Dowager Chu, courtesy name Chu Garlic Zi, was the empress of Emperor Kang of Jin, the fourth emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. She was born into the famous Chu family at that time, and her father was the Wei general Chu Qi. As soon as Chu Yuzi became an adult, he married Sima Yue, the King of Langya, and in 342 AD, the Jin Cheng Emperor died, Sima Yue became the Jin Kang Emperor, and Chu Yuzi was made empress.
Only two years later, Emperor Kang of Jin died of illness, and Chu Garlic became the empress dowager again. The life span of the emperors of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was generally very short, and not many people lived past the age of thirty, and it is not known whether it was a punishment from heaven for them. Empress Dowager Chu's two-year-old son Sima Tan ascended the throne, and the empress dowager began to rule the dynasty. In the following forty years, Empress Chu returned the government to the emperor many times, and had to visit the dynasty many times, which can be regarded as a record.
Empress Chu was also about 20 years old when she came to the dynasty, and she obviously had no experience in state politics. However, the imperial power of the Eastern Jin Dynasty itself was not strong, and there were high-ranking officials of the Shi clan in the dynasty, and the county administration was controlled by the local Hao clan. In this way, there were not many official affairs that the emperor needed to handle.
Empress Chu is most notable for not sealing her family like empress dowager Han Dynasty, resulting in a huge group of foreign relatives. Not only that, she returned to her mother's house and insisted on treating the elders with the original etiquette. As a result, it won a piece of praise from both the government and the public.
With the growth of the young emperor Sima Bo, Empress Chu took the initiative to return to power thirteen years after coming to the court and retired to the harem. For Empress Chu, who had no political ambitions, such an ending was satisfactory, and she could finally get rid of the government and recuperate quietly. Who knows, her courtship has only just begun.
Sima Nie only served as emperor for more than three years before he died, living shorter than his father, and before he could leave an heir, Sima Pi was made emperor, the eldest son of Emperor Jincheng and the nephew of Emperor Kang of Jin.
However, Sima Pi was not interested in political affairs, and liked to be like the Famous Men of Wei and Jin, taking medicine and eating scattered, superstitious alchemists, and fell ill before long. When the ministers saw that the emperor was too ill to manage the government, they could only invite Empress Chu out again and return to the dynasty.
Sima Pi's illness dragged on for three years, and finally he could not survive, and he was only 24 years old when he died. Empress Dowager Chu then made her younger brother Sima Yi emperor. This Sima Yi was 23 years old at this time and seemed to be able to make a difference. However, the government of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was already controlled by Huan Wen, who was already self-reliant and dissatisfied with Sima Yi.
Huan Wen used the excuse that Sima Yi liked male pets, and the three sons he gave birth to may not be his own children, forcing Empress Chu to depose Sima Yi's throne and return to the East Sea King. Unexpectedly, this Sima Yi Emperor did not succeed, but his life expectancy was much longer, and he lived until he was forty-five years old, much better than other Eastern Jin Emperors.
It can be seen from this that although Empress Chu was in charge of the dynasty, the actual power was not entirely in her hands, and Huan Wen, with the merits of the Northern Expedition, grasped the great power of the government, and was only one step away from usurping the throne. Empress Chu was a peaceful person with great prestige, but she had no private power of her own, and it was difficult to confront her courtiers.
At Huan Wen's insistence, sima yu, the former chancellor, was made emperor. Sima Yu was 52 years old at the time, the son of Sima Rui, who had a very high generation and a deep contradiction with Huan Wen, who naturally would not return power to him. Sima Yu fought against him many times, but to no avail, and after only eight months on the throne, he died of grief.
Huan Wen also failed to realize his dream of being emperor, he was not bold enough, and under the resistance and delay of Xie An and other scholars, he did not insist until the end of the usurpation procedure, and he cried out for his life. Sima Yu's son Sima Yao was proclaimed emperor and was only ten years old. The ministers invited Empress Chu out again, and for the third time, she came to the court to make a claim.
Empress Chu had long since had no desires and no desires, and only wished that the government would be stable, so she re-entered the front desk and presided over the overall situation. In fact, Sima Yao and Empress Chu were uncles and sisters-in-law of the same generation, and strictly speaking, they could not be called empresses. However, the emperorship of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was chaotic, and no one cared about this.
Four years later, Sima Yao became an adult, and Empress Chu immediately returned the government to him, and this time she could finally enjoy her old age in peace. In 384, Empress Chu died at the age of sixty-one. Sima Yao buried her in Chongping Mausoleum with empress dowager etiquette.
Empress Chu assisted five emperors in her lifetime, and the dynasty was said to be restrained for forty years. She had no political ambitions, and every time she came to the dynasty, she was helpless, but she maintained the stability of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, so that the Jiangnan region could be recuperated and developed. This also has a lot to do with the strength of the Eastern Jin Dynasty and the fact that the imperial power was limited to a considerable extent.