The Sima clan were said to be the descendants of the mythological figures
Gaoyang and
Chongli (Gaoyang's son). They served as xiaguan (夏官; "officers of summer")[a] in the reigns of the mythical emperors
Yao and
Shun and through the
Xia and
Shang dynasties. During the
Zhou dynasty, officials holding the appointment of xiaguan oversaw military affairs and were collectively known as "xiaguan sima". Cheng Boxiufu (程柏休父), a descendant of Chongli, helped
King Xuan of the Zhou dynasty consolidate his rule over his kingdom. In return, the king awarded aristocratic status to Cheng Boxiufu's clan. Cheng Boxiufu and his descendants adopted Sima as their family name.[1]
In the late Zhou dynasty, the Sima clan migrated to the states of
Wei,
Zhao and
Qin. The Sima family in Qin included Sima Ji, a general who battled alongside
Bai Qi during the
Battle of Changping. His fifth-generation descendant was
Sima Tan, a Han dynasty court astrologer, and his son was
Sima Qian, the author of Records of the Grand Historian.
In the late
Qin dynasty,
Sima Ang served as a general in the insurgent
Zhao state and joined other rebel forces in overthrowing the Qin dynasty. After the fall of the Qin dynasty, Sima Ang declared himself the king of a separate state, Yin (殷), with its capital in
Henei (河內; in present-day Henan).
In the early
Han dynasty, Sima Ang's kingdom became a
commandery of the Han Empire and his descendants had lived there since.[2]
Sima Yi, a descendant of Sima Ang, served as an official, military general and regent of the
Cao Wei state in the
Three Kingdoms period. His grandson,
Sima Yan, usurped the throne from the last Cao Wei emperor and established the
Jin dynasty. After the Jin dynasty ended, many members of the Sima clan changed their surname to avoid persecution.
List of people with the surname
Cheng Boxiufu, first took the title Sima as his surname
Sima Xiangru, a minor official during the Western Han dynasty but better known for his poetic skills,
Chinese wine (jiu) business and controversial marriage to a widow
Zhuo Wenjun after both eloped.
Sima Lang, Sima Yi's elder brother, Han dynasty politician.
Sima Guang, historian and statesman during the
Song dynasty, known for his monumental historical work Zizhi Tongjian and rivalry against contemporary
Wang Anshi. There is a popular story of him, as a youth, saving someone who fell into a large water pot by smashing it with a rock.
This page lists people with the
surnameSima. If an
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