The Western Jin Dynasty (February 4, 266 – December 11, 316) was a dynasty in Chinese history after Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period, and together with the later Eastern Jin Dynasty, it was called the Jin Dynasty. From the beginning of the change of Emperor Sima Yan of the Jin Dynasty to the beginning of the Yuan Tai Dynasty in February 266 (December of the year of Yiyou), to the capture of the Emperor of the Jin Dynasty in 316, the Western Jin Dynasty had a total of three generations and four emperors, with a total of 51 years. After the fall of Luoyang, the imperial city of the Western Jin Dynasty, during the Yongjia Rebellion, the fourth emperor of the Western Jin Dynasty, Emperor Jin Chou, was forced to move the capital to Chang'an. The Western Jin Dynasty was the only dynasty in ancient China to achieve short-lived unification during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and was also criticized as "the weakest and most chaotic unified dynasty".
Since the Wei and Jin dynasties, the clan's influence at the local level has continued to expand, far surpassing that of the emperors (such as the usurpation of the Cao Wei dynasty by the Sima clan), which has long divided China. During the reign of Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty, the system of occupying land and the system of yin guests was implemented, which intensified the expansion of the power of the clan. When Emperor Wu of the Jin Dynasty died, the Western Jin Dynasty fell into chaos, the imperial family lost power, Empress Jia even controlled the enthroned Emperor Hui, falsely passed on the holy decree, caused the dissatisfaction of the princes and kings, and the rebellion of the eight kings led to the decline of the Western Jin Dynasty, so that foreign countries had a chance to take advantage of it and caused the Five Hu Chaos, and the Western Jin Dynasty lost the center of gravity of the maintenance system, so that China was divided again.
The Sima family of the Jin Dynasty was originally from the Cao Wei family, and after Sima Yi eliminated Cao Shuang, a powerful minister of the Cao family, and his henchmen in the Gaopingling Incident, the Sima family actually controlled the power of Cao Wei. In 263 A.D. under the actual control of Sima Zhao, Cao Wei sent troops to destroy Shu Han, in February 266 A.D. (December of the second year), Sima Zhao's son Sima Yan called Wei the emperor, changed the name of the country to "Jin", the capital of Luoyang, was for the Jin Wu Emperor, the Western Jin Dynasty was formally established, in 280 A.D., the Jin Wu Emperor sent troops to destroy Sun Wu, the unification of the Three Kingdoms, because the national unification war subsided, the beginning of the unification of the Western Jin Dynasty appeared a short period of prosperity, known as the "rule of Taikang".
In 290 AD, Emperor Wu of Jin died, Emperor Hui of Jin succeeded to the throne of Sima Zhen, Sima Zhen "not wise", to the dictatorship of Empress Jia Nanfeng, after the rebellion of the eight kings broke out, Emperor Hui of Jin was poisoned, Emperor Huai of Jin succeeded to the throne, the rebellion of the eight kings caused a great loss of national strength in the Western Jin Dynasty, the nomads have invaded and established political power, causing the chaos of the five Hu, in 311 AD Emperor Liu Cong of the Han Zhao Dynasty invaded Luoyang, Emperor Huai of the Jin Dynasty was killed after being taken captive, and the Emperor Sima Ye of the Jin Dynasty succeeded to the throne in Chang'an, and soon Chang'an was also captured by the Han Zhao, and the Western Jin Dynasty died.