Legitimacy of the Eastern Jin Dynasty from the Perspective of a “Peripheral” Government, with a Focus on the Continued Use of the Western-Jin Era Name Jianxing from the Reign of Emperor Min during the Former Liang

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  • 「周緣」からみた東晉の正統性 --前涼における西晉愍帝年號「建興」奉用について--
  • 「 シュウエン 」 カラ ミタ ヒガシシン ノ セイトウセイ : ゼンリョウ ニ オケル ニシシンビンテイ ネンゴウ 「 ケンコウ 」 ホウヨウ ニ ツイテ
  • 「周縁」からみた東晋の正統性 --前涼における西晋愍帝年号「建興」奉用について--

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Abstract

The biographies of the Former Liang 前涼 rulers are placed not in the “Records of the Regional Rulers” (zaiji 載記) but in the “Collected Biographies” (liezhuan 列傳) in the History of the Jin (Jinshu 晉書), edited in the early Tang dynasty, and that history emphasizes that the rulers maintained their loyalty to the Jin dynasty as “protectors of the realm” (fanping 藩屛) despite the peripheral location of the Former Liang. On the other hand, the Former Liang continued to use the era name Jianxing 建興 of the Western-Jin Emperor Min (愍帝) in its territory although it had decided to submit to the Eastern Jin dynasty after the fall of the Western Jin. Excavated materials in recent decades have proved that Jianxing was used for more than 40 years in the area of Hexi 河西, and that it also came to be used in the Western Regions (xiyu 西域). The purpose, however, of the continuation of the use of Jianxing in the Former Liang has yet to be fully scrutinized. Since the beginning of its foundation, the Former Liang had continued its support for the Western Jin dynasty on the verge of its fall (during the reigns of Emperor Huai through Emperor Min) to some extent. Especially during the reign of Emperor Min, who relocated the capital to Chang'an 長安, the Former Liang (under the first ruler, Zhang Gui 張軌, and the second, Zhang Shi 張寔) built up a record of loyal service as the most loyal fanping among all the fanping of the Jin dynasty by often dispatching troops to defend Chang'an. In the reign of Emperor Min, the Zhang family rulers of the Former Liang occupied a position similar to that of Sima Rui 司馬睿 in Jiankang 建康 because both were fanping that submitted to Emperor Min in Chang'an from distant areas and supported the emperor's conception of a world (tianxia) that should be ruled by the Jin dynasty. After the death of Emperor Min, the Former Liang (under the second ruler, Zhang Shi) agreed to the enthronement of Sima Rui, the first emperor of the Eastern Jin dynasty. The Former Liang's envoys, however, who were sent to encourage Sima Rui to be enthroned were late for the enthronement of Sima Rui in Jiankang. As a result, among regional powers supporting the Jin dynasty, only the Former Liang was deprived of the opportunity to openly recognize the legitimacy of Sima Rui's enthronement. After that, the Former Liang still continued using Emperor Min's era name Jianxing. About 20 years after the founding of the Eastern Jin dynasty, the Former Liang (under the fourth ruler, Zhang Jun 張駿) resumed the dispatch of envoys to the Eastern Jin dynasty, but the message in a petition to the third emperor of the Eastern Jin, Emperor Cheng clearly stated disappointment with the failure to mount Northern Expeditions by the Eastern-Jin emperors. This does not seem to have been meant to blame Emperor Cheng himself, but seems to have expressed discontent with continued failure to carry out loyal service, in other words, dissatisfaction with the basic policy adopted during the reign of Sima Rui as Prince of Langya 琅邪 to preserve his own power inside southeastern China and the continuation of the policy by the Eastern-Jin emperors following Sima Rui. Therefore, the continuation of the use of Jianxing in the Former Liang can be considered to have been aimed at demonstrating the order of the Western Jin court in the reign of Emperor Min, based on a critical stance on Prince of Langya Sima Rui's failure to perform loyal service and the continued failure to mount Northern Expeditions after the foundation of the Eastern Jin dynasty.

Journal

  • 東洋史研究

    東洋史研究 78 (2), 326-358, 2019-09-30

    THE TOYOSHI-KENKYU-KAI : The Society of Oriental Researches, Kyoto University

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