中英雙語話歷史 第47期:八王之亂
The fierce striving for power within the court divided the rule of the Western Jin Court.
To gain the full control over the imperial country, Emperor Wu believed strong family connections and appointed his male relatives kings. Usually these kings had their own armies and served as governors of various states where they wielded far-reaching administrative power.
晉武帝爲了鞏固皇權，大封宗室爲王，以諸王統率兵馬出鎮一方，並擁有地方的軍政權。The practice of Emperor Wu did change the situation prevailing in the kingdom of Wei, in which the various cesses were mere figurehead. However, Emperor Wu did not foresee that he also left the foreshadows for the future power struggle after his death.
武帝的這些措施的確改變了魏時皇子沒有實權的局面，但他卻沒有意識到這同時也給日後諸王爭權埋下了禍根。
In 290, Emperor Wu of Jin died and his second son Sima Zhong became the emperor later called Emperor Hui.
太熙元年(290),晉武帝司馬炎病故，由次子惠帝司馬衷繼位。Sima Zhong had been appointed Heir Apparent in 267, and in 272 he married the Lady Jia Nanfeng, daughter of the minister Jia Chong, an old supporter of the Sima family and had played a leading role in the fighting against Cao Mao in 260.
惠帝於公元267年被封爲太子,272年與賈充之女賈南風成婚。賈充曾幫助司馬家族在爭奪王位時打敗曹髦。Hui Emperor was a retarded man. It is recorded that upon hearing that his subjects had even no thin porridge to eat and people died of starvation, Hui Di responded “So why not eat their meat!”
惠帝本是愚癡之人，被立爲太子只是爲保持和賈家的聯盟。史載他聞報天下慌亂，百姓餓死，竟說:“何不食肉糜? ”Sima Yan main-tained him as his heir in order to accept the alliance with the Jia family therefore although there was a general anxiety from increasing evidence, Sima Zhong was mentally disabled and unfit to rule and the power was handed over to Empress Jia. Jia thus was the another femme fatale in Chinese history after Empress Lu in the Han Dynasty.
儘管當時形勢危急，他卻不能掌管朝政,於是大權逐漸落在皇后賈氏的手裏。According to the records, “Jia Nanfeng was a short, dark-skinned and ugly woman with hot temper and her husband was afraid of her. ”
據載，“惠帝后賈氏，名南風……其人醜且短黑，荒淫放恣，惠帝畏之”。Then the Emperor Hui’s mother’s family Yang and her father, Yang Jun took over state power by a joint scheme.
因此,賈后繼呂后等人之後，成了歷史上另一有名的“禍水”女人。In 291, Empress Jia ganged up with the Prince of Chu, who was in charge of the army in the capital，killed Yang Jun，dethroned Empress Dowager Yang and appointed the Prince Runan as regent.
當時因楊太后及其父楊駿專攬朝政，賈后乃於元康元年（291) 密召都督荊州軍事的楚王瑋人京，利用禁軍的力量殺掉楊駿，廢楊太后，改由汝南王亮輔政。Shortly afterwards, on Empress Jia’a order, Prince Runan was murdered by Prince Chu whom, in his turn, was put to death by the Empress. Finally Empress Jia's family took the reign alone.
同年，賈后利用楚王瑋殺汝南王亮，後又因瑋矯殺亮並不能治理國家，最終賈后專政。All the twenty-seven royal kings and families in the localities, built up by Emperor Wu of Jin, who were supposed to be a reliable force to shore up the court, could not serve the court effectively with each coveting the throne.
晉武帝立國後,分封了27個同姓王，以屏藩皇室，孰料竟造成外重內輕、難以調動之局勢。During the reign of Emperor Hui, various kings unhappy with Empress Jia ’ s rule over the court alone andbecame embroiled in court intrigue, which instigated a large-scale internecine. From 291 onwards, the eight kings, namely, Liang (King of Runan), Wei (King of Chu), Lun (King of Zhao), Jiong (King of Qi), Ying (King of Chengdu), Yi ( King of Changsha), Yong ( King of Hejian), and Yue (King of the Eastern Sea), fought against each other for the throne in the area a-round Luoyang.
司馬氏諸王不滿於朝中賈氏專權，紛紛想殺賈氏而獨掌大權，因而相互殘殺，於是便爆發了歷時16年之久的“八王之亂”，其中八王全部是晉皇室宗親，分別是：汝南王亮、楚王瑋、齊王冏、趙王倫、成都王穎、長沙王義、河間王顆、東海王越。公元291年開始在今洛陽一帶殺戮不斷。In 299, the Princess Zhao, Sima Lun killed Empress Jia and her supporters and took the control of the imperial court.
公元299年，趙王倫殺賈后及其黨羽，獨攬大權。Sima Lun’s deposing Emperor Hui in 301 and claiming himself the emperor marked the beginning of the later called “Disturbances of the Eight Princes”，which ended up with Emperor Hui's death in 306. After poisoned Emperor Hui to death, Sima Yue, Prince Donghai put Sima Zhi, the twenty-fifty son of Emperor Wu, whom to throne later known as Emperor Huai of Jin. The victory of Sima Yue finished the civil war, but it had ended in exhaustion and despair.
其後,又於永寧元年(301)廢惠帝自立爲帝，是爲“八王之亂”之始。直至公元306年，東海王越毒死惠帝，擁立武帝司馬炎第二十五子懷帝司馬熾繼位，至此“八王之亂”結束。Sixteen years of turmoil had produced a ferocious, meaningless record of treachery, murder and war, which further aggraviated the underdeveloped economic situation in the early years of the Western Jin. The credit of the government and the imperial family were ruined，the greater part of the imperial armies had been destroyed in the internecine fighting, and there was no authority that might restore the state or reestablish a position against the forces threatening from the northern minorities.
“八王之亂”雖告結束，這一場禍亂長達16年之久，其間無數的殺伐和內戰帶來的只是災難，使西晉初年並不十分發達的經濟，受到更爲嚴重的破壞，耗盡了西晉的國力和兵力，削弱了皇室家族的勢力和晉朝的統治，以致後來無法抵禦來自北方少數民族的進犯。
