Sima Yan

Also known as Zi Anshi · Jinwu Di

Sima Yan, courtesy name Anshi, was the eldest son of Sima Zhao. On his father's death in 265 he became chancellor and King of Jin, and before the year was out he took the throne from Cao Huan, the last Wei emperor, founding the Jin with the reign titles Taishi, Xianning, Taikang and Taixi. He made more than twenty kinsmen kings early in his reign, and in 268 he promulgated the Taishi code drawn up by Jia Chong and others. In 279 he sent Du Yu, Wang Jun and others against Wu, and the Wu ruler Sun Hao surrendered the next year, ending the division of the Three Kingdoms; the same year he issued new rules on household levies and land allotments. He died in the Hanzhang Hall in 290 and was given the temple name Shizu and the posthumous name Wu. When the *Book of Jin* (*Jinshu*) was compiled in the early Tang, Emperor Taizong himself wrote the closing assessment of his annals.