Talk:War of the Eight Princes

Latest comment: 2 years ago by Ktsquare in topic translation

Untitled edit

I agree. - Nat Krause 7 July 2005 08:32 (UTC)

This article is a mess. Take a look of this paragraph:

Power then passed to Sima Liang, the emperor's uncle. However, Empress Jia plotted with Sima Wei and convinced the prince to kill Sima Liang. She then ordered Sima Wei's death for the murder of Sima Liang. The empress and the Jia clan remained in power until 300, when she ordered the assassination of the heir to the throne, Sima Yu.
Sima Lun, who commanded the imperial guards, took this opportunity to kill the Empress Jia and her faction. Sima Lun placed himself in power and tried to centralize control over the powerful princes; this resulted in Sima Yun's rebellion, who marched his troops to capital against Sima Lun; Sima Yun was killed by Sima Liang's troops in the ensuing battle in Luoyang. Sima Liang then imprisoned Emperor Hui and styled himself as the new emperor.

Q:How can Sima Liang styled himself as the new emperor after he had been killed by Empress Jia and Sima Wei? Who is Sima Yun? 69.196.116.29 17:51, 27 October 2005 (UTC)Reply

One thing I'd like to see on this page, if anyone has access to this information, is the death toll of the war. The article mentions that it "depopulated" northern China. Does this just refer to mass migrations, and people fleeing the scene? Or were there significant civilian deaths? The Wikipedia article on Death Toll which lists hundreds of wars and battles with their associated death tolls, does not mention the War of Eight Princes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.45.168.113 (talkcontribs)

It is not clear. --Nlu (talk) 18:01, 13 March 2007 (UTC)Reply

translation edit

This series of events are known as “八王之乱”, which literally means "War/Disorder/Clash of Eight Kings". The article uses Princes instead of Kings to translate "王". Prince means the son of Kings/emperors. Not all of these actors are sons of kings/emperors. Instead, they all held the title King and had their own land and army. __aichi Lee 19:04, 21 February 2014 (UTC)

A prince is a ... or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. Prince is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states.

The "War of the Eight Princes" is somewhat of a misnomer: rather than one continuous conflict, the War of the Eight Princes saw intervals of peace interposed with short and intense periods of internecine conflict. At no point in the whole conflict were all of the eight princes on one side of the fighting (as opposed to, for example, the Rebellion of the Seven States). The literal Chinese translation, Disorder of the Eight Kings, may be more appropriate in this regard.

Therefore, the term Disorder of the eight Princes (not kings) would be more appropriate. -- Ktsquare (talk) 15:13, 21 May 2021 (UTC)Reply