Why Will the Sima Household Be Reviled for Ten Thousand Years?
[Why will the Sima Household Lineage be reviled for ten thousand years? Do you know their five sins? #history #Sima Household Lineage]
"The Sima Household?"
"Which Sima Household? Sima Qian's descendants?"
People who lived before the Wei and Jin eras naturally knew nothing of the Sima Household.
This was definitely a video the Jin emperors did not want to see.
"The Sima Household?" Cao Cao thought of Sima Yi.
["Why will the Sima Household Lineage be reviled for ten thousand years?"]
["In truth, no matter the dynasty, the means used to gain the empire were hardly ever honorable. Yet the Sima Household alone was despised. As a verse even put it: The Three Kingdoms swept away the heroes' valor; the two Jin dynasties produced nothing but rats. That showed just how notorious the Sima Household was."]
["Today, let's take a look at the five sins of the Sima Household Lineage."]
["The first sin: breaking the Oath of the Luo River and losing the trust of all under heaven from that day onward."]
["The Oath of the Luo River originated with Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu. To persuade Zhu Wei, the general defending Luoyang, to surrender, he swore by the Luo River that, so long as Zhu Wei surrendered, he would no longer hold him accountable for causing the death of his elder brother. Not only would he spare him, but he would also grant him a higher office and a noble title."]
["Sure enough, after Zhu Wei surrendered, Liu Xiu appointed him General Who Pacifies the Di and enfeoffed him as Marquis of Fugou. Their story has been celebrated ever since."]
["After Sima Yi launched the Incident at Gaoping Tombs, he too pointed to the Luo River and swore that, as long as Cao Shuang handed over his military command, he could keep his title and enjoy wealth and honor for the rest of his life."]
["But as soon as Cao Shuang handed over his military command, Sima Yi went back on his word. He first imprisoned Cao Shuang, his brothers, and all their followers, then had He Yan, one of Cao Shuang's trusted aides, investigate the case. The condition he offered was, of course, that He Yan could redeem himself by doing so."]
["He Yan believed him and did everything he could to fabricate charges. In the end, Sima Yi used those charges to exterminate Cao Shuang's three clans. He Yan thought that, after working so hard, he could keep his life. Unexpectedly, Sima Yi went back on his word again and exterminated He Yan's three clans as well."]
["Such conduct was truly killing a man and destroying his heart."]
["As a political figure, he truly had no bottom line whatsoever."]
Emperor Guangwu of Han, Liu Xiu, exclaimed in surprise, "How dare he do such a thing? He broke his word and betrayed his obligations. Didn't he know what consequences that would have? How could a man who didn't keep his promises win the trust and respect of others? Who would believe anything he said from then on? How could he and his descendants command their subordinates?"
In Emperor Xian of Han's plane.
Sima Yi looked at the heavenly screen and felt only that he was finished!
It was not just him, but the entire Sima Household as well.
"Sima Yi exterminated Cao Shuang's and He Yan's three clans?!"
Cao Shuang was Cao Zhen's eldest son, and Cao Zhen was Cao Cao's adopted son.
He Yan was an adopted son and son-in-law.
Sima Yi had actually exterminated the three clans of both men!
Xu Chu stepped forward and said, "My lord, let me kill Sima Yi and wipe out his entire clan."
["The second sin: murdering the emperor in the street and committing an outrage against all under heaven."]
["Throughout history, emperors have died in many ways, but Cao Mao was the first ever to be killed in the street."]
["Even in death, an emperor, a ruler who held supreme power in the hearts of the people, should be allowed at least some dignity."]
["You could depose him, keep him under guard, or leave him to fend for himself. Any of those would at least have left him some final measure of dignity and respect."]
["But the Sima Household had no scruples whatsoever. They decided to kill him and did it on the spot. They were truly worse than beasts."]
["Worse still, after his death, they did not even give him a posthumous title."]
Seeing Sima Zhao murder his sovereign in the street, openly killing the emperor, emperors of every dynasty could not help frowning, whether or not they had already known this history.
They were emperors too. An emperor had been killed in the street, the matter made known to all under heaven and displayed plainly before the world. It would affect their imperial authority and prestige.
"Foolish!" Qin Shi Huang said. "An emperor can die a thousand different ways, but how could he die in the street?"
Emperor Wu of Han said angrily, "This was an act of disloyalty and betrayal, a truly monstrous crime!"
Emperor Taizong of Tang said with feeling, "The proper relationship between sovereign and minister is the foundation of governing a state. Sima Zhao's act destroyed the trust between sovereign and minister, plunging the state into turmoil."
Emperor Renzong of Song said, "Since ancient times, rulers have been expected to govern the world with benevolence and virtue. Sima Zhao's murder of his sovereign went against the Heavenly Dao."
Yang Guang said, "In a struggle for power, the victor is king. Sima Zhao's ability to murder his sovereign and seize power was a talent of its own."
Each emperor's views might differ under the influence of his era, personal experiences, and values.
Among the common people of every dynasty who had never studied and knew nothing of history, seeing an emperor killed in the street brought changes of varying degrees to their thinking and understanding.
["The third sin: putting their own family's interests first, with no thought for the world. The Sima Clan could be called a lineage that cared only for itself and cared nothing for whether the world lived or died."]
["Throughout history, no matter how a new dynasty gained the throne, its founding emperor would at least strive to govern well, develop the economy, and improve external conditions in pursuit of lasting peace and stability."]
["But the Sima Clan was something else. From the very start, they thought only of pleasure and competing to flaunt their wealth. Members of the lineage did nothing but fight for power and profit, with no ambition to make progress. They even turned back the clock of history by extensively restoring the system of enfeoffment. In the end, the common people were displaced and plunged into misery, while the clan ultimately played with fire and brought about its own destruction."]
Zhu Yuanzhang: Extensively restoring the system of enfeoffment was turning back the clock of history? That was because the Sima Household was no good!
["The fourth sin: the eight princes threw the government into chaos, leaving all under heaven in turmoil."]
["The War of the Eight Princes was a grand spectacle staged by the Sima Household. It was practically dogs biting dogs; none of them was any good. The common people suffered most. They had only just lived through the chaos of the late Han and Three Kingdoms, and the world had finally been unified, giving them a chance to enjoy a few peaceful years. But then the War of the Eight Princes plunged everything into chaos again, leaving countless common people dead or wounded and the whole world in turmoil."]
["The Sima Clan's princes, meanwhile, all lacked a sense of the bigger picture. As soon as they got their hands on power, they were all the same, indulging in song, dance, and pleasure. In the end, they completely ruined the Western Jin's military strength."]
["The fifth sin: the Five Barbarians ravaged China, bringing the Han people to the brink of annihilation."]
["After the Disaster of Yongjia, the Hu killed more than thirty thousand members of the imperial clan and common people, a sight too terrible to behold."]
["Meanwhile, the Sima Clan's nobles gathered their belongings and fled to Jiangnan with their wives and children, where they continued to indulge themselves. The common people lived worse than pigs and dogs, and the Han people of the north were nearly wiped out. All of this was the Sima Household's doing."]
["As a result, Chinese history entered a period of great division that lasted hundreds of years. It even caused a break in Han culture. The Han civilization of the Central Plains, once glorious and powerful, was brutally castrated by the rise of the Jin and plagued by misfortune. That striking, mighty spirit of the Great Han never recovered."]
"What does it matter to ordinary people like us who gains the empire? We only hope for peace under heaven, to live our lives without worrying that one day we'll be killed by rampaging soldiers and our wives and daughters violated."
"Better to be a dog in peaceful times than a person in an age of chaos."