Sima Yi
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This article is about the Cao Wei general whose descendants founded Jin Dynasty (265-420). For his descendant, a Jin emperor whose name carries the same pronunciation in Mandarin, see Emperor Fei of Jin.
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| Names | |
|---|---|
| Simplified Chinese: | 司马懿; |
| Traditional Chinese: | 司馬懿; |
| Pinyin: | Sīmǎ Yì |
| Wade-Giles: | Ssuma I |
| Zi: | Zhòngdá (仲達) |
Sima Yi (179 - 251) was a general, military strategist, and politician of Cao Wei during the Three Kingdoms period. He is perhaps best known for defending Cao Wei from Zhuge Liang's Northern Expeditions. His success and subsequent rise in prominence paved the way for his grandson Sima Yan's foundation of the Jin Dynasty, which would eventually bring an end to the Three Kingdoms period. After the founding of the Jin Dynasty, Sima Yi was posthumously honored as Emperor Xuan of Jin (晉宣帝) with the temple name of Gaozu (高祖).
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[edit] Early life
[edit] Background
Sima Yi descended from the famous historian Sima Qian, author of the Shiji. He was one of 8 brothers, all of whom were famous due to their lineage. Each of them had a chinese style name ending with the character Da (達). Because of this, the brothers were known collectively as the "Sima 8 Das" (司馬八達).
[edit] Entering Service with Cao Cao
It is said that Cao Cao repeatedly requested the service of Sima Yi, and Sima Yi refused many times until at last he had no choice but to accept. However, according to the historical text The Brief History of Wei (魏略), Cao Hong, Cao Cao's younger cousin, requested the presence of Sima Yi in order to start a friendship with him, but the latter, not having a very high opinion of Cao Hong, feigned illness by carrying a cane in order to avoid meeting him. Cao Hong went to Cao Cao in anger and told him what had happened, after which Cao Cao directly requested the presence of Sima Yi. Then, and only then, did Sima Yi throw away the cane and enter Cao Cao's service.
[edit] As a Strategist
[edit] Early career
In the year 219, the general Guan Yu of the Kingdom of Shu had progressed very far in his campaign in Jingzhou (荆州), defeating several armies and encircling Fan Castle (樊城), threatening to take it. There was much panic among Cao Cao and his advisors, with serious discussion of changing the capital to a further away location to be safer in the event of Fan Castle's fall. Sima Yi strongly opposed this idea, and instead proposed an alliance with the Kingdom of Wu in order to surround and defeat Guan Yu. His proposal was used, and was a great success. Guan Yu was defeated and order was restored to Wei.
When Cao Cao died, and was succeeded by Cao Pi, Sima Yi gained prominence and was used as an advisor more than he had been previously. When Cao Pi too died, Sima Yi was appointed as one of three regents to the young emperor Cao Rui, the other two being Cao Zhen and Chen Qun.
[edit] Battles Against Zhuge Liang
Before Zhuge Liang of the Kingdom of Shu began his first northern campaign, Sima Yi requested to be sent to the northwest region of China (西涼) to strengthen and expand the military power of the Kingdom of Wei there in order to defend from imminent attack. However, this region was rather remote, and it was strange for one of such high stature to personally request such an assignment, which caused many in Wei to be suspicious of his motives. Ma Su of Shu feared that if Sima Yi was successful in his plans to strengthen the area, Shu would be unable to attack Wei, and perhaps might be in danger of being attacked itself. Ma Su spread rumors that Sima Yi was attempting to gather forces to rebel against Wei, which eventually reached the ears of the already suspicious court. Sima Yi was then removed of military command and all other posts, although his life was spared.
With Sima Yi now effectively out of the picture, Zhuge Liang was free to begin his northern campaigns. Taking advantage of the emperor's youth, many prominent members of the royal family with no real experience were promoted to positions in the military, and were put in defense of Wei. None of them were a match for Zhuge Liang, and Wei suffered numerous defeats.
The Wei court, now in panic in the face of the Shu armies closing in on their capital, turned to Sima Yi, recognizing that within Wei, only he could match Zhuge Liang. He was summoned to meet the emperor, Cao Rui, to officially accept command. At this time, Meng Da was planning a rebellion against Wei, and was in communication with Zhuge Liang, planning to coordinate his attacks and quickly destroy Wei. However, generals serving under Meng Da reported the plan to Sima Yi just as he was gathering an army to meet the emperor. Instead of going first to the emperor to be formally returned to command, he instead quickly moved on Meng Da and easily defeated his rebellion. Having done this he apologized to the emperor for acting without authority, but because of his accomplishment he was forgiven and was able to go to the front to battle Zhuge Liang.
In defending against Shu's northern expeditions, he knew that the enemy's army required constant supplies from their country, carried over a long distance. Seeing this weakness, his strategy relied on defending very cautiously and attacking Shu's supply line weakness whenever possible. His strategy was successful, and he was able to prevent Zhuge Liang from advancing any further. His fight against Zhuge Liang finally ended with the Battle of Wuzhang Plain, with Zhuge Liang's death by illness and the retreat of the Shu armies.
[edit] Late Career
[edit] After Zhuge Liang
After Zhuge Liang's death, Shu's northern expeditions ceased for the time being, and peace returned to the Kingdom of Wei. The emperor, Cao Rui was now an adult and taking advantage of the peace he turned to palace building, costing extravagant amounts of money and alienating his ministers and people. In this environment, Gongsun Yuan, a powerful warlord, rebelled. After a campaign to suppress the rebellion was foiled by flooding, Sima Yi was dispatched the next year, and although initially being set back by more flooding, he defeated Gongsun Yuan and exterminated his family. This campaign brought him even greater prestige.
Cao Rui died not long afterward and the next emperor, again very young, Cao Fang ascended to the throne. This time two regents were appointed, Sima Yi, and Cao Shuang, the son of Cao Zhen.
[edit] Friction with Cao Shuang
Cao Shuang was very jealous of Sima Yi's great power and prestige, and sought total control over the Kingdom of Wei. At the advice of an advisor, he persuaded the emperor to promote Sima Yi to personal instructor to the emperor. Although among the highest of positions a person could be given, it was an honorary position only and Sima Yi would be left without any real political authority, although he maintained his military command.
In the year 241, Zhu Ran of the Kingdom of Wu had Fan Castle (樊城) under siege. Sima Yi personally went to lift the siege, and succeeded in driving the attackers away. He then succeeded in defeating Zhuge Ke of Wu in the year 243. In contrast to this, Cao Shuang's attempts to attack the Kingdom of Shu ended in failure, making the difference between his abilities and Sima Yi's all the more obvious.
Sensing danger, Sima Yi retired from his position in 247, citing illness as the reason. Sensing a ploy, Cao Shuang sent an advisor to visit Sima Yi, to check whether or not he was truly ill. Sima Yi, then advanced in age, pretended to be senile. Cao Shuang's advisor completely believed the act, and Cao Shuang finally felt safe that he had no challenge to his power. Sima Yi bided his time, and while Cao Fang and Cao Shuang were outside the capital on an official visit to Cao Rui's tomb in 249, Sima Yi sprung into action. He moved on the imperial palace with an army and convinced the emperor's mother to give an order to arrest Cao Shuang in order to save the kingdom from his irresponsible government. Cao Shuang and his allies, with an imperial order declaring them rebels, had no leg to stand on and surrendered, expecting to be spared. Instead, Sima Yi executed them all.
[edit] Solidification of Power
With complete power over the Kingdom of Wei now in his hands, Sima Yi became chancellor. In 251, Wang Ling of Wei convinced Cao Biao (曹彪), a son of Cao Cao, to attempt a coup d'etat agaist Sima Yi, but the plot was discovered and Sima Yi went on the offensive. Knowing that they were unprepared to do battle with Sima Yi, the two surrendered to him and were forced to commit suicide. In order to prevent any more rebellions, Sima Yi put the entire Cao clan under house arrest in Ye. He put them under watch and from that point on prevented any of them from having any contact with one another.
With the entire royal family of Wei out of his way, Sima had effectively made the kingdom's nominal rulers irrelevant. Later in the year, he died.
[edit] Legends
One legend about Sima Yi is that he could turn his head 180°around on his neck to look backwards without turning his body. It is said that Cao Cao heard this rumor and wanted to test it for himself. According to the legend, he came up behind Sima Yi and called out his name, and indeed his head did turn completely around.
[edit] Modern references
Sima Yi appears in the Dynasty Warriors video game series, with his first appearance being Dynasty Warriors 2. Sima Yi is portrayed as cunning, ruthless and extremely arrogant, boasting endlessly with each victory. He is also unable to accept defeat, and will usually decree that the failure of his ploys or a full-scale retreat are merely another cog in the gears of an upcoming grand tactic that he is devising. He has both a strong admiration and a deep-seated hatred of his arch-rival, Zhuge Liang, whom he constantly attempts to outwit, with some success. As Sima is a strategist who rarely takes to the battlefield, his clothing consists primarily of lavish robes and gowns, although he has also been shown to wear armoured helms and shoulder guards. His weapon is a large black fan known as the "Dark Feather," which appears to gift him with powers of sorcery. In Dynasty Warriors 5, Sima's "Musou Mode" details his rivallry with Zhuge, and many battles fought between the kingdoms of Wei and Shu involve the pair dueling it out with various tactics and strategies designed to outwit the other. However, comparing the battle perspectives of Sima and Zhuge would suggest that the rivallry is all in Sima's head, as Zhuge is far more concerned with achieving victory than humiliating Sima in battle.
Sima Yi's "Musou Attack" consists of several purple beams being fired from his fan while he taps his forehead. His "True Musou" is similar, although he finishes with a 360 degree Yin Yang clearout wave while mocking his opponents.
[edit] Family
[edit] Wife
- Lady Zhang Chunhua (張春華) (d. 247), later posthumously honored as Empress Xuanmu (宣穆皇后)
[edit] Direct Descendants
- Sima Shi (司馬師)
- Sima Zhao (司馬昭)
- Sima Yan (司馬炎) (Grandson, founder of the Jin Dynasty)
- Sima Gan (司馬幹)
- Sima Zhou (司馬伷)
- Sima Liang (司馬亮)
- Sima Jing (司馬京)
- Sima Jun (司馬駿)
- Sima Rong (司馬肜)
- Sima Lun (司馬倫)
[edit] Other Family
- Ancestor
- Sima Qian (司馬遷) (famous historian)
- Brothers
- Sima Lang (司馬朗) (older brother)
- Sima Fu (司馬孚) (younger brother)
- Sima Kui (司馬馗) (younger brother)
- Sima Xun (司馬恂) (younger brother)
- Sima Jin (司馬進) (younger brother)
- Sima Tong (司馬通) (younger brother)
- Sima Min (司馬敏) (younger brother)
[edit] Reference
- This page is a rough translation of the Japanese version, re-arranged and re-formatted.
