Emperor Mu of Jin (simplified Chinese: 晋穆帝; traditional Chinese: 晉穆帝; pinyin: Jìn Mù Dì; Wade–Giles: Chin Mu-ti; 343 – 10 July 361), personal name Sima Dan (司馬聃), courtesy name Pengzi (彭子), was an emperor of the Eastern Jin Dynasty. While he "reigned" 17 years, most of these years were as a child, with the actual power in figures such as his mother Empress Chu Suanzi, his granduncle-in-law He Chong, his granduncle Sima Yu the Prince of Kuaiji, Yin Hao, and Huan Wen. It was during his reign that Jin's territory temporarily expanded to its greatest extent since the fall of northern China to Han-Zhao, as Huan destroyed Cheng-Han and added its territory to Jin's, and Later Zhao's collapse allowed Jin to regain most of the territory south of the Yellow River.
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Prior to reign
Sima Dan was born in 343, during the reign of his father Emperor Kang; his mother was Empress Chu Suanzi, Emperor Kang's wife. He was his father's only son. When he was only one year old in 344, Emperor Kang grew seriously ill. His granduncles from his paternal grandmother's side, the key officials Yu Bing (庾冰) and Yu Yi (庾翼), wanted to support his granduncle, a son of his great-grandfather Emperor Yuan, Sima Yu the Prince of Kuaiji, as the new emperor, but Emperor Kang accepted the advice of another key official, He Chong (何充), and decided to pass the throne to Sima Dan despite his young age. He therefore created Sima Dan crown prince. He died less than a month later, and Crown Prince Dan succeeded to the throne as Emperor Mu.
Under Empress Dowager Chu's regency
Due to Emperor Mu's young age, his mother Empress Dowager Chu became the ruling authority at court and served as regent, although she largely followed the advice of He Chong and Sima Yu the Prince of Kuaiji, who served as co-prime ministers. After He Chong's death in 346, his role was taken by Cai Mo.
In 345, after Yu Yi, who had served as the commander of military forces in the western provinces (roughly covering modern Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, and Yunnan), died, the ambitious general Huan Wen (an uncle of Emperor Mu by marriage, having married his aunt Sima Xingnan (司馬興男) the Princess Nankang) was put in charge of those provinces. In late 346, Huan, despite a lack of approval from the central government, started a campaign to conquer Cheng-Han, a rival state that possessed modern Sichuan and Chongqing. In 347, Cheng-Han fell to him, allowing Jin to control all of southern China. From this point, however, Huan became effectively independent in his decision-making over the western provinces. Sima Yu, in apprehension that Huan intended to take over the empire entirely, invited the renowned official Yin Hao to join him and Cai as a high-level official as well, intending to use Yin to counter Huan.
In 349, with rival Later Zhao in a state of disarray following the death of its emperor Shi Hu and the subsequent internecine warfare between his sons and his adopted grandson Shi Min, many of Later Zhao's southern provinces switched their allegiance to Jin, and Huan prepared a northern excursion. Instead, the imperial government, under Sima Yu and Yin, sent Emperor Mu's grandfather Chu Pou. Chu, however, withdrew after some initial failures, and the campaign resulted in the death of many civilians who were intending to defect to Jin. Minor campaigns carried out by the general Sima Xun were also largely unsuccessful.
In 350, Yin himself prepared a campaign north, but failed to immediately carry out that campaign; instead, he seized even more power after accusing Cai, by repeatedly declining an honor conferred on him, was being disrespectful to the emperor, and reducing Cai to commoner status. Meanwhile, Huan became impatient after his requests were being rebuffed by Sima Yu and Yin and, around the new year 352, Huan mobilized his troops and gestured as if he were about to attack the capital Jiankang. Yin was shocked, and initially considered either resigning or send the imperial banner of peace (Zouyu Fan, 騶虞幡) to order Huan to stop. After advice from Wang Biaozhi (王彪之), however, he instead asked Sima Yu to write a carefully worded letter to Huan, persuading Huan to stop.
As "adult" emperor
In September 357, Emperor Mu married He Fani as his empress.
In 358, Sima Yu offered to resign all of his powers, but Emperor Mu declined. Later that year, a northern campaign by the general Xun Xian, intending to recapture the Shandong Peninsula, failed.
In 359, with Former Yan exerting pressure on Jin possessions south of the Yellow River, the generals Xie Wan (謝萬), Zhuge You (諸葛攸), and Chi Tan (郗曇; son of Xi Jian) advanced north to attack Former Yan, but the forces collapsed after Xie wrongly believed that Former Yan forces were near and ordered a retreat. Without aid, Jin possessions south of the Yellow River began to fall into Former Yan hands.
In July 361, Emperor Mu died without a son. Empress Dowager Chu therefore ordered that his cousin, Sima Pi the Prince of Langya, be made emperor. Sima Pi then succeeded to the throne as Emperor Ai.
Era names
Yonghe (永和): 21 February 345 – 5 February 357
Shengping (升平): 6 February 357 – 2 March 362
Consorts
Empress Muzhang, of the He clan of Lujiang (穆章皇后 廬江何氏; 339–404), personal name Fani (法倪)