This surname is the surname of Sima Zhao, and when it comes to Sima Zhao, many people may think of Sima Zhao, because Sima Zhao's heart is well known. This young man is a little immodest, his things are known to the whole country, and modern people know it. The surname Sima is one of the Chinese compound surnames, and there are several sources, the first of which is that this surname originally originated from official positions. Cheng Boxiu's father was born around 800 BC, and he was the grandson of Chongli.
During the reign of King Xuan of Zhou, Cheng Boxiu's father entered the imperial court and became the Grand Sima (大司馬), and people in ancient China liked to take fiefdoms as their surnames, and many people took official positions as surnames. Therefore, Cheng Boxiu's father took Sima as his surname, Cheng Boxiu's father was very powerful, and King Xuan of Zhou also allowed it, only the second son Zhongxin was still called Cheng because he moved back to Taiyuan. That is to say, it is not clear that those who have the surname Sima and the surname Cheng may still be a family, from the descendants of a family.
There is also a change of surname, the original Ji surname has the surname Xu, Hao, Cheng, the Southern Dynasty Song Emperor Liu Yilong Yuanjia in the beginning of the ninth year (432 AD), Xu Muzhi, Hao Yizhi, Cheng Daoyang three people defected to the enemy state, and changed their name to Sima Shi. These people all claimed to be descendants of the Jin dynasty royal family, and the subsequent uprising did not have any good results. Their descendants did not change their surnames back, but continued to do so, but this part of the people were not descendants of the Sima royal family.
The sima surname is a multi-ethnic, multi-origin ancient surname, and their glorious period should be in the Three Kingdoms. Sima Yi in the surname Sima was a famous military figure and politician during the Three Kingdoms period, of course, there were also celebrities before, but none of them had an emperor or the like. The most famous one was Sima Guang, who smashed the cylinder, and later Sima Guang became a famous politician in the Northern Song Dynasty. Sima Yi himself did not become emperor during his lifetime, and after his death, his son Sima Zhao succeeded him, that is, Sima Zhao, who made his heart known to everyone in the world.
Sima Zhao was created Duke of Jin in May of the third year (258), which was also the name of the later Jin Dynasty. It is said that Sima Zhao resigned this matter nine times before he gave up, but many people believe that he did the killing of the emperor, and he himself said that he did not do it, and also killed Chengji. Not long after, the Shu state was defeated and perished. However, the powerful Sima Zhao, like Cao Cao, did not claim the title of emperor until his death, until his son Sima Yan, in December of the second year of Xianxi (265), 4 months after Sima Zhao's death, Sima Yan replaced the State of Wei as emperor, and the state name was Jin, and the surname Sima also became a national surname at this time.
The early Jin Dynasty developed well until the succession of the Foolish Emperor Sima Zheng of Jinhui. Not long after Sima Zheng succeeded to the throne, the Rebellion of the Eight Kings occurred, but the dispute was resolved. The good times did not last long, and then there was another Wuhu chaos, and the Sima family went to and fro many times. The dynasty continued, and in 420 Liu Yu deposed Emperor Gong of Jin and proclaimed himself king, and the Jin Dynasty was destroyed.
The Sima family produced nearly 21 emperors in total, and the Sima surname was not a large surname, and it was not easy to complete the action of unifying China with a small number of people. However, sima surnames were able to have influence in Cao Wei also because Sima Fang had a better relationship with Cao Cao, and since Sima Yi's eight brothers were all officials in Cao Wei's imperial court, rebellion was more effective. Only after the Rebellion of the Eight Kings did the Sima family begin to move south significantly, and many families changed their surnames. After the Mongol invasion during the Northern Song Dynasty, a large number of surnames were changed, and some of them directly fled overseas. Nowadays, the population with the surname Sima is also known to 28,000 people, and the surname ranking is more than 500.
References: Book of Jin, Romance of the Three Kingdoms