Studies On The Rise And Fall Of Yu Family From Yingchuan In Eastern Jin Dynasty

The people of the Eastern Jin Dynasty was moving southwards after YongJiaRebellion broke out in311A.D. Wang, Yu, Huan and Xie families dominated thekaiserdom successively which leading to such situations that the imperial powershared the puissance with the prominent families, and produced a huge effect on thesociety at that time. The object selected and studied in this article is Yu family whoinhabitated originally in YingChuan region. The author plans to start from with thedouble-status of the family, and draw the outline of the family activities during theperiod of Eastern Jin Dynasty, so as to expound the influence and the function drivedby the family on the society of that time.Initially, the fame of Yu family is not significant, later it seized the opportunityto grasp the central core power and establish prestige in the country. This has a varietyof reasons. Since the late Han Dynasty to the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the tribe of thefamily was deeply nurtured by Confucianism which had a rich cultural heritage andachieved the incomparable achievement in literature, calligraphy, art and other fields.The excellent family tradition conveniently opened the way into the political careerfor their family members. From Wei Dynasty to the Western Jin Dynasty, the goodrelations with the royal Si-ma family has laid a solid foundation for the rise of Yufamily after it migrated to the south of the Yangtze River. The twice rebellions ofWangDun provided Yu family with the good opportunity to began to take control ofthe central power.YuLiang and WangDao received testament from the dying EmperorMing to assist the young master in325A.D. Later YuLiang squeezed other forces outof the center political circles by virtue of the status of the emperor’s uncle and hungon to power by himself. However, a rebellion started by SuJun broke out suddenlybecause of the wrong policies implemented by YuLiang. When the insurgency waskept down, Yu family lost its reputation completely. What’s more, YuLiang realizedthe importance of military power. Consequently, he seemed to give up the centralpower and go out guarding Local Authorities, actually he enhanced the forces of hisfamily to the peak along the Yangtze River area.Because of Yu family is newly minted aristocrat in the Eastern Jin Dynasty which different from the rich and powerful families, such as the Wang and Xie familywho supported by their strong family background, therefore, Yu family was verydifficult in political career. As one of the noble families and the clan of the consorts atthe same time, Yu family had to maintain a balance of interests between the royal andaristocratic family, so it was faced with a very complex political environment. Theclan of Yu family were deeply influenced by Confucianism and actualized a series ofradical policies which resulted in the intensification of social contradictions,eventually they lost the support of the people. Because the descendants embarked onthe road of degeneration and almost killed exhausted by Huan family, Yu familyeventually decline and retreat from the historical records.