As one of the most famous courtiers in history, Sima Yi had a total of nine sons, of which the more famous were Sima Shi and Sima Zhao. However, although Sima Yi had many children, the end of his nine sons was mostly quite tragic.
Sima Yi's eldest son, Sima Shi, was not only Sima Yi's eldest son, but also a concubine. His mother was Sima Yi's wife, Zhang Chunhua.
Sima Shi was founded in 208 AD, which coincided with the Battle of Chibi. Because his family lineage is relatively prominent, Sima Shi's career is generally quite smooth. However, later, when Sima Yi was pretending to be ill at home, Sima Shi was also affected to a certain extent. However, during this period, the work of the Sima family in raising three thousand dead soldiers should be the responsibility of Sima Shi. In 249, the 42-year-old Sima Shi followed his father in launching the Gaopingling Coup and has since seized the power of Cao Wei's government.
Three years later, Sima Yi fell ill and died. As the eldest son of the Sima family, he naturally grasped the military and political power of the State of Wei. In the following years, Sima Shi not only resisted the attacks of the Wu and Shu states externally, but also cleared out a large number of opponents internally, laying the foundation for the later Sima family to usurp Wei.
In 255 AD, Sima Shi underwent a cutting operation because of a tumor in his eye. However, because the medical conditions were relatively poor at that time, he finally infected the wound and died of pain. He was 47 years old. In addition, Sima Shi had no sons in his lifetime. Therefore, after Sima Shi's death, the power of the Sima family could only be inherited by Sima Zhao.
The second eldest, Sima Zhao, was also relatively smooth in the early stage of his life. After Sima Shi's death, he took over power in the State of Wei. After Sima Zhao came to power, he continued to exclude dissidents and elevate the Cao family emperor. Later, the emperor of the Cao family, Cao Xian, planned to launch a mutiny and kill Sima Zhao, but was killed by Sima Zhao. It was also in Sima Zhao's generation that Sima Zhao was crowned duke of Jin, laying the national name of the Jin Dynasty.
In addition to infighting, Sima Zhao was also relatively capable in governing the country and leading troops to fight. In 263, Sima Zhao led an army to cut down Shu and finally destroyed the Shu state. After the destruction of Shu, Sima Zhao's prestige and seniority were enough to complete the task of usurping the throne. Therefore, in 264 AD, Sima Zhao was crowned king of Jin, and he was only a few feet away from changing dynasties.
However, at this time, Sima Zhao suddenly fell seriously ill, and finally before he could usurp the throne, he fell ill and died at the age of 55. Less than four months after Sima Zhao's death, his son Sima Yan successfully usurped the throne and formally established the Jin Dynasty.
In the second half of his life, Sima Zhao had been working hard to usurp the throne, but in the end he fell on the threshold of the door of success, which was really regrettable. It is estimated that before Sima Zhao died, he was also blind. In addition, Sima Zhao's seven sons also had a more tragic ending. Four of the sons did not live past the age of ten. The other three sons, one Sima Yan, became emperor and barely managed to end well. But the other two, because of the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, ended up in a very tragic situation.
The elder Sima Ling (zhòu), born to Sima Yi and his concubine Fu Shi, was a concubine and had no right to inherit. But among Sima Yi's descendants, he was the happiest. When Sima Ling was born, his father's official position was already very high. As soon as he came of age, the Sima family came to power through a coup d'état.
Later, when the emperor of the Cao family, Cao Xian, launched a mutiny, it was Sima Ling who personally killed the emperor of the Cao family. After the founding of the Jin Dynasty, Sima Ling was made the King of Langya, and later personally led an army to destroy Wu, personally accepting the surrender of Sun Hao, the last emperor of the State of Wu.
In 283, Sima Ling died of illness at the age of 57. At this time, it was the time when Sima Yan was in power and the peak of the Jin Dynasty, so the ending should still be relatively good. However, Sima Ling's four sons all had a relatively poor ending. Either he died young, or he died tragically in the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, or he died in the fall of the Western Jin Dynasty, and in the end it was very tragic anyway.
The fourth Sima Liang, like the third elder, was also born of that Fu clan. However, compared to the third, the ending of the fourth is very tragic. After Sima Yan's death, Sima Liang was the most powerful prince in the clan. But soon after, with empress Jia Nanfeng launching a coup d'état, she seized power. Sima Liang and Jia Nanfeng are not in the same camp, but are hostile to each other. So in the end, Sima Liang was hacked to death with a knife and died a terrible death.
The fifth sima gan, among Sima Yi's sons, was the longest-lived. Sima Gan was the son of Zhang Chunhua, and like Sima Shi and Sima Zhao, he was a concubine. Sima Gan was born relatively late, Sima Yi was already in a high position at birth, and after becoming an adult, the Sima family began to take power again, so his life was relatively smooth. In addition, compared to the other princes of the Sima family, Sima Gan rarely had any interest in power. Therefore, later in the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, no matter how everyone fought, it never affected Sima Gan.
In 311, Sima Gan died at the age of 80. Not only did you live a long time, but it was time to die. Because just after Sima Gan's death, Liu Cong attacked Luoyang. Six years later, the Western Jin Dynasty died.
However, the only prince of the Sima family who died well and lived a long life was himself an out-and-out pervert and seemed to have a special fetish for corpses. After the concubine died, instead of being buried, she continued to stay at home, opened the coffin every two days, and slept with the corpse. It was not until the body was completely decomposed that it had to be buried.
Therefore, later historians speculated that this brother did not want to fight for power, but had a mental problem, so he did not participate in the seizure of power.
Sima Jing, the sixth elder, was also the son of Fu Shi. But this brother died earlier, at the age of 24, he died. At that time, the Jin Dynasty had not yet opened the country, so he basically had no record in the history books.
The seventh Sima Jun, the seventh, was also the son of the Fu clan. He should be regarded as a rare normal person in the Sima family, and he is both literate and martial. After the founding of the Western Jin Dynasty, it has been guarding the north with outstanding merits.
In 286, Sima Jun died of illness at the age of 54. At that time, it was the peak of the Western Jin Dynasty, so it was also the right time to die. Among Sima Yi's sons, he should be regarded as the only one who died well, and most of his descendants also died well.
The old eight Sima Wei (róng) was born to Sima Yi's concubine Zhang Shi. This brother was one of the main participants in the Rebellion of the Eight Kings, and together with the old Ninth Sima Lun, he deposed Jia Nanfeng and regained power in the Sima family. But later, the old ninth Sima Lun usurped the throne, and then was crusaded by the princes of other Sima families, forcing him to abdicate. Because of his relationship with Sima Lun, Sima Xuan was also affected. Although it was a normal death, this one completely declined.
The ninth Sima Lun was the son of Sima Yi and Lady Bai, and the youngest son of Sima Yi. This brother once took the initiative to lead the Sima family's clan to rectify the chaos and depose Jia Nanfeng. However, after that, he deposed Emperor Hui of Jin without authorization and established himself as emperor, so he was surrounded and beaten by the other princes of the Sima family, and finally defeated and killed. After Sima Lun's death, almost all of his sons were killed.
Looking at the fate of Sima Yi's children, it is not difficult for us to find that most of the descendants of the Sima family have a relatively tragic ending. And the core reason why they will end up like this is because of power.
Too much power, far from bringing glory to the Sima family, actually made the Sima family end up with such a miserable end. This ending may be worth thinking about for all of us.