Sima Yan 司馬炎

After the Duke of Gaogui Village died in the 5th month of the 5th year of Ganlu (260), Sima Yan, Commissioner Bearing Credentials, Acting Protector of the Central Army and General of the Central Fortifications, was sent north to welcome Cao Huan (then named Cao Huang), Duke of Changdao Village, to succeed Emperor Ming. This is the first place where Sima Yan's name appears in Chen Shou's main text. Records, Wei 4 §98 · 105

On the day gengyin of the 8th month of the 1st year of Xianxi (264), the General of the Central Pacifying Army Sima Yan was ordered to assist in the affairs of the Chancellor of State, in keeping with the precedent of the Duke of Lu being named heir. On the day wuwu of the 9th month he went from General of the Central Pacifying Army to General-in-Chief Who Pacifies the Army, and on the day bingwu of the 10th month, as General-in-Chief Who Pacifies the Army and Marquis of Xinchang District, he was named Heir of Jin. Records, Wei 4 §130 · 134 · 139 · 144

An edict of the 5th month of the 2nd year of Xianxi (265) had the King of Jin wear the crown with twelve strings of beads, raise the banners of the Son of Heaven and ride the Golden Root Carriage drawn by six horses, and raised the royal consort to Queen and the heir to Crown Prince. When the Chancellor of State, the King of Jin, died on the day xinmao of the 8th month, the next day, renchen, Sima Yan, Crown Prince of Jin, succeeded to the fief and position and took charge of all the affairs of government, and the regalia and documents of investiture granted to him were all as before. That month Xiangwu County reported that a giant more than 3 zhang tall had appeared, called out to a commoner named Wang Shi and said, 'Great peace is now at hand.' Records, Wei 4 §146–148

On the day wuwu of the 9th month the Minister over the Masses He Zeng became Chancellor of Jin, and on the day guihai Sima Wang, General of Agile Cavalry, was made Minister over the Masses, Shi Bao, General-in-Chief Who Conquers the East, General of Agile Cavalry, and Chen Qian, General-in-Chief Who Conquers the South, General of Chariots and Cavalry. On the day yihai King Wen of Jin was buried. Records, Wei 4 §148–149

On the day renxu of the 12th month, declaring that Heaven's favour had ended for ever and that the succession of Heaven now lay with Jin, an edict ordered the high ministers and officials to prepare the ceremony and set up an altar in the southern suburbs, and sent envoys bearing the imperial seals, ribbons and patent to abdicate in favour of the successor King of Jin, following the old precedents of Han and Wei. On the day jiazi envoys were sent bearing the patent, and the Prince of Chenliu moved his residence to Jinyong City and in the end lived out his days at Ye. In his assessment Chen Shou wrote that the Prince of Chenliu followed the earlier precedent, yielded the throne with due courtesy and became a guest of Jin. Records, Wei 4 §150 · 153

Chen Shou's main text records what followed without Sima Yan's name, as 'the house of Jin'. In the 1st year of Taishi (early 266 CE), when the house of Jin ascended the throne, it issued an edict saying that Deng Ai had boasted of his merit and lost his propriety and truly deserved death, but that on the day he received the edict he had dismissed his men and sent them home and submitted to punishment with his hands bound; now that the great amnesty allowed his family to return, if he had no descendants an heir was to be established so that his sacrifices would not be cut off. It also issued edicts repeatedly ordering that Qiao Zhou of Shu be sent, and Qiao Zhou, ill, reached Luoyang in the 3rd year of Taishi (267) and was appointed Chief Commandant of Cavalry on the spot. Records, Wei 28 §83Records, Shu 12 §76

In the 2nd month of the 10th year of Taishi (274), Chen Shou compiled Zhuge Liang's old writings into 24 chapters and presented them, saying in his memorial that he had been given this task while serving earlier as Gentleman of Writing, on the proposal of Xun Xu and He Jiao, and calling it the supreme virtue of the Great Jin that Zhuge Liang's words had been preserved and recorded. He also wrote that His Majesty let even the slanders of an enemy state be set out in full, without altering or concealing them. Records, Shu 5 §45 · 54

In the winter of the 3rd year of Tianji (279) of Wu, Jin sent Sima Zhou, General-in-Chief Who Guards the East, toward Tuzhong; Wang Hun, General Who Pacifies the East, and Zhou Jun, Inspector of Yang Province, toward Niuzhu; Wang Rong, General Who Establishes Might, toward Wuchang; Hu Fen, General Who Pacifies the South, toward Xiakou; and Du Yu, General Who Guards the South, toward Jiangling; it had Wang Jun, General Who Soars Like a Dragon, and Tang Bin, General Who Broadens Martial Might, sail east down the Yangtze, and made the Grand Commandant Jia Chong Grand Commander, to position himself at key points as circumstances required. In the 3rd month of the following year Sun Hao sent letters to Wang Jun, Sima Zhou and Wang Hun and surrendered. Records, Wu 3 §78 · 83–85

Sun Hao moved west with his whole family and reached the capital on the day dinghai of the 5th month of the 1st year of Taikang (280). Before that, on the day jiashen of the 4th month, an edict declared that since Sun Hao, driven to the end of his resources, had come over and surrendered, he would not be put to death, as an earlier edict had promised, and would be given the title Marquis Who Returned to Allegiance, along with clothing and carriages, 30 qing of fields, 5,000 hu of grain a year, 500,000 cash, 500 bolts of silk and 500 jin of silk floss. Sun Hao's crown prince Sun Jin was appointed Gentleman of the Household, and his sons who had been kings were appointed Gentlemen of the Palace. In his assessment in the Biographies of the Three Successor Rulers, Chen Shou wrote that Sun Hao ought to have been cut in two at the waist to atone to the people, yet he received an edict sparing his life and was even granted the favour of the title Marquis Who Returned to Allegiance, which was boundless leniency. Records, Wu 3 §85–86 · 89–90