| Sima Xin | |||||||||
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| Traditional Chinese | 司馬欣 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 司马欣 | ||||||||
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Sima Xin (died 204 BC) was a military general of the Qin Dynasty. He surrendered to Xiang Yu after the Battle of Julu in 207 BC. In 206 BC, following the collapse of the Qin Dynasty, he was conferred the title of "King of Sai" by Xiang and given part of the lands in Guanzhong as his fief when the latter split the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms.
In 209 BC, Chen Sheng and Wu Guang started the Daze Village Uprising to overthrow the Qin Dynasty. The emperor, Qin Er Shi placed Zhang Han in command of the imperial army, with Sima and Dong Yi serving as his deputies, to quell the rebels.
In 207 BC, Zhang Han attacked the insurgent Zhao kingdom and besieged Zhao forces at Julu. Xiang Yu of the Chu kingdom came to Zhao's aid and defeated the Qin army at the Battle of Julu, despite having a smaller force. Zhang sent Sima to the capital city, Xianyang, to request for reinforcements. However, the eunuch Zhao Gao deceived Qin Er Shi and the emperor refused to send aid. Sima escaped from Zhao Gao's assassins along the return journey and reported to Zhang Han that the state power of Qin had fallen into the hands of the eunuch. Zhang pondered over the situation and realized that even if he defeated the rebels, Zhao would later frame him for treason and have him executed. Hence, he surrendered to Xiang Yu.
After the fall of the Qin Dynasty in 206 BC, Xiang divided the former Qin Empire into the Eighteen Kingdoms and granted the land of Guanzhong (heartland of Qin) to the three surrendered Qin generals (collectively known as the Three Qins). Sima was given part of Guanzhong as his fief and received the title of "King of Sai". Later that year, Liu Bang (King of Han) attacked the Three Qins and defeated Zhang Han. Sima and Dong Yi surrendered to Liu.
In 205 BC, during the Chu–Han contention, Liu Bang was defeated by Xiang Yu at the Battle of Pengcheng, and Sima and Dong Yi defected to Xiang's side. The following year, Liu attacked Xiang at Chenggao. Liu lured Cao Jiu, the defending general, to pursue and attack him. The Chu army fell into an ambush at the Si River and was defeated by Liu's forces. Cao, Dong and Sima committed suicide.
| Chinese royalty | ||
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| Preceded by None |
King of Sai 206 BC |
Succeeded by None |
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