During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, due to the influence of the ethnic conflicts in the north, in order not to repeat the tragedy of the family's broken death, gaomen of the Shi clan reversed the decadence of the Western Jin Dynasty, and worked hard to govern and strive to rise. Some accomplished figures appeared in the warrior clan. Xi Jian was one of the figures who made significant contributions to stabilizing the political situation at that time.
Xi Jian (郗鉴), also spelled Daohui, was a large family of Gaoping Jinxiang (高平金乡; present-day northern Jinxiang, Shandong). His great-grandfather Xi Xuan (郗郗郗) was educated by Zheng Xuan , the Great Confucian of the Eastern Han Dynasty , and was an official during the Jian'an Dynasty. It can be seen that his family has Confucian roots. When Xi Jian was young, he was famous for his Confucianism and was known as the "Fang Bo" of the "Eight Uncles of Yanzhou" (i.e., the Eight Scholars). Although Xi Jian was listed as a scholar, he was "less lonely and poor", "ploughing long mu", and liked to read, which was very incompatible with the social atmosphere of extravagance and wealth at that time.
Although Xi Jian was famous in his youth, he "should not be ordered by the state". During the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, he was about thirty years old and was a pawn for King Lun of Zhao. He "knew that Lun had signs of disobedience, and said that he had resigned from his post." and Lun usurped, and his party was the highest official, and Jian guarded himself behind closed doors, and did not defy the festival."
In the later period of the Eight Kings Rebellion, ethnic minorities took advantage of the opportunity to rebel, raised troops in the name of anti-Jin, and brutally slaughtered the Han people. In order to escape the massacre of the Hu rulers, a large number of northerners fled to the more stable south of the Yangtze River. It is for Yongjia Nandu. And those Western Jin officials, local clans, and powerful people who could not leave the north for a while have successively joined the clan and built a fort to protect themselves.
Xi Jian returned to his hometown at the end of the Eight Kings Rebellion. When the Yongjia Rebellion broke out, Xi Jian and more than a thousand families in the township took refuge in Zoushan (邹山, in present-day southeastern Zou County, Shandong), and defended themselves according to the mountain. Xi Jian was pushed to be the owner of the dock. At Zoushan, Xi Jian led the crowd to fight with Shi Le and others day by day, although "there was no rescue outside, the people were hungry, or they dug wild rats and swallowed and ate them, and there were no traitors in the end." In three years, the crowd reached tens of thousands."
Later, after the establishment of the Eastern Jin Dynasty court, the contradiction between Sima Rui and the shi family became more and more acute, and eventually the Wang Dunzhong Rebellion broke out. Xi Jian, who had been fighting the War of Resistance for several years at Zoushan, had to retreat to Hefei shortly after Wang Dun captured Jiankang, and as a result, "Xu and Yanjian Zhuwu surrendered to Hou Zhao".
Shortly after Wang Dun captured Jiankang, Sima Rui, the Emperor of Jinyuan, died of illness and sima Shao succeeded to the throne. Among the emperors of the Eastern Jin Dynasty, only Sima Shao had a role, and he reused Xi Jian, Wen Jiao, Tao Kan and others, and Xi Jian became one of the backbone figures in quelling the chaos. Shortly after the quelling of Wang Dun's rebellion, in 325 AD, the 27-year-old Sima Shao died of illness, and the 5-year-old Sima Yan succeeded to the throne, and his uncle Yu Liang took power. Yu Liang's policy of harsh punishment and strong control of weak branches eventually angered Su Jun and triggered Su Jun's rebellion.
After Su Jun captured Jiankang, Xi Jian raised an army at Guangling to attack Su Jun. Later, Tao Kan was elected as the ally of Su Jun. After two years of fierce fighting, Su Jun's rebellion was put down, and the imperial court rewarded him for his merits. Tao Kan ranked first with "ally lord". Xi Jian ranked second, and the official was in the service of shizhong and sikong.
Xi Jian continued to zhenjingkou as Xu and Yan in the ten years from the fourth year of Xianhe (329) when Su Jun's rebellion was put down to the fifth year of Xiankang (339). During the Yongjia Rebellion, the Han people along the lower reaches of the Huai River took refuge and crossed the river, mostly living in and around Jingkou. In the fourth year of Xianhe, Xi Jian moved many displaced people from Jiangbei to this area. A large number of northern displaced people supplemented Xi Jian with many brave soldiers. Coupled with Xi Jian's dedication to business, the political and military status of this place has become more important. Therefore, Xi Jian was able to use his unique political position and military strength to stop the two impending civil unrest.
After quelling the two civil strife in Wang Dun and Su Jun, the political strength of the Jiangdong Shi clan increased greatly. In particular, Tao Kan, after the rebellion of Su Jun, served as the military of Jing, Jiang'erzhou, Dudu Jing, and Jiang. Its power was unique among the Nanshi, and it was rare in the Eastern Jin Dynasty. At that time, Emperor Cheng was young, Wang Dao was in power, and Tao Kan "was based on the upper class, held a strong army, and had the ambition to spy on the secret" ("Jin Shu Tao Kan Biography"). He wanted to raise an army to abolish Wang Dao, but Xi Jian did not agree, and Tao Kan could only give up.
After Tao Kan's death, Yu Liang served as the Assassin of Jingzhou, although he lived in a foreign town "and held the power of the imperial court." According to the upper class, there are strong soldiers, and many people who are interested in it return to it" ("Jin Shu Wang Dao Biography"). The contradiction between Yu Liang and Wang Dao, who was assisting the government, became increasingly acute, and he "wanted to lead the people to depose the guide, and also to consult the emperor" ("The Biography of Yu Liang of the Jin Dynasty"), and because Xi Jian did not allow it, he did not dare to rush to raise the army.
Relying solely on verbal deterrence, Xi Jian stopped the two impending civil unrest between Tao Kan and Yu Liang, thus ensuring the stability of the political situation in the Eastern Jin Dynasty for a considerable period of time. In the fifth year of Xiankang (339 AD), Xi Jian died of illness at the age of seventy-one.