The Rise of Li Te and the Sichuan Rebellion
In the spring of 303 AD, the Western Jin Dynasty faced one of its most challenging years as rebellions erupted across the empire. The most significant uprising began in Sichuan province, where Li Te, leader of displaced refugees from six northern commanderies, crossed the Yangtze River to attack Luo Shang, the regional inspector.
Li Te’s forces quickly achieved success as defenders scattered before them. Xu Jian, governor of Shu Commandery, surrendered the Lesser City of Chengdu without resistance. Remarkably, Li Te maintained strict discipline among his troops, only requisitioning horses for military use while leaving civilians unharmed. He declared a general amnesty and proclaimed a new era name, “Jianchu,” signaling his break from Jin authority.
However, Li Te’s advisor Li Liu warned against complacency: “These newly surrendered fortresses remain unstable. We should demand hostages from powerful local clans as insurance.” Li Te dismissed these concerns, believing his position secure. This critical miscalculation would prove fatal.
The Jin Counterattack and Li Te’s Downfall
The Jin court responded decisively, dispatching a relief force of 30,000 sailors under Zong Dai and Sun Fu. As imperial troops advanced, local fortresses began reconsidering their allegiance to Li Te. Ren Rui, a Jin official, devised a plan to coordinate a simultaneous uprising against Li Te’s scattered forces.
In a daring nighttime mission, Ren Rui was lowered by rope from Chengdu’s walls to organize the resistance. He then returned to Li Te’s camp under false pretenses, gathering intelligence before escaping back to Luo Shang. The coordinated attack came in February 303 – imperial troops struck Li Te’s main camp while fortress garrisons rose up in rebellion. Li Te was killed in the battle, his corpse burned and head sent to Luoyang as proof of his demise.
The Zhang Chang Rebellion in Jing Province
While Sichuan burned, another rebellion erupted in Jing Province under Zhang Chang, who exploited resentment against harsh governance and unpopular military conscriptions. Zhang Chang employed brilliant propaganda, renaming himself Li Chen and proclaiming a peasant named Qiu Shen as the long-awaited “Sage Emperor” of a restored Han dynasty.
Zhang Chang’s forces grew rapidly, adopting distinctive red headgear with horsehair beards. By mid-303, his rebellion controlled five provinces, appointing bandit leaders as officials who plundered at will. The Jin court initially struggled to respond effectively due to political infighting among imperial princes.
The War of the Princes
The Western Jin’s internal divisions reached crisis point in 303. Sima Ying, Prince of Chengdu, and Sima Yong, Prince of Hejian, allied against Sima Ai, Prince of Changsha, who controlled the young Emperor Hui. Their massive armies – over 200,000 strong – marched on Luoyang while the emperor personally led defenses.
The campaign proved disastrous. Poor coordination and rivalries among Sima Ying’s commanders led to catastrophic defeats. Lu Ji, a famous scholar serving as Sima Ying’s general, became scapegoat for the failures and was executed despite his innocence. The conflict devastated central China, with reports of cannibalism among desperate troops.
The Emergence of New Powers
Amid the chaos, new centers of power emerged:
1. Li Xiong in Sichuan: After Li Te’s death, his nephew Li Xiong regrouped rebel forces. By late 303, he controlled Chengdu and established the foundations of what would become the Cheng-Han state.
2. Liu Yuan in the North: The Xiongnu leader Liu Yuan, originally serving Jin, declared independence in late 303, establishing the Han Zhao state and claiming succession to the Han dynasty.
3. Wang Jun in the Northeast: The Jin general Wang Jun formed alliances with Xianbei and Wuhuan tribes, creating an independent power base that would play a major role in subsequent conflicts.
The Fall of Luoyang
By winter 303, the situation reached its nadir. Zhang Fang, Sima Yong’s general, occupied Luoyang and forcibly relocated Emperor Hui to Chang’an – an event echoing the Han dynasty’s flight from the same city a century earlier. The capital was systematically looted, with soldiers cutting up imperial tapestries for horse blankets.
Two parallel governments emerged – the “Western Court” in Chang’an under Sima Yong’s control, and an “Eastern Court” of loyalists in Luoyang. The empire had effectively split apart.
Legacy of the Turbulent Year
The events of 303 AD marked the irreversible decline of Western Jin:
1. Human Cost: Widespread famine followed the fighting, with rice prices reaching 10,000 coins per peck in Luoyang. Massacres of civilians became commonplace.
2. Political Fracture: The imperial princes’ feuding destroyed central authority, enabling regional warlords and non-Han leaders to establish independent bases.
3. Cultural Impact: The chaos accelerated the southward migration of northern elites, shifting China’s cultural and economic center toward the Yangtze region.
4. Military Consequences: The reliance on non-Han auxiliary troops (Xiongnu, Xianbei, Di, Qiang) gave these groups crucial military experience they would soon turn against Jin.
As historian Sima Guang later noted, the year demonstrated how “when the trunk is weak, the branches become strong” – central weakness inevitably leads to regional fragmentation. The Western Jin would limp on for another decade, but 303 marked the point of no return in its collapse. The stage was set for the even more devastating Upheaval of the Five Barbarians and the centuries of division that followed.