The fierce striving for power within the court divided the rule of the Western Jin Court.
西晋时期朝廷内的权力争夺激烈复杂。
To gain the full control over the imperial country, Emperor Wu believed strong family connections and appointed his male relatives kings. Usually these kings had their own armies and served as governors of various states where they wielded far-reaching administrative power.
晋武帝为了巩固皇权，大封宗室为王，以诸王统率兵马出镇一方，并拥有地方的军政权。
The practice of Emperor Wu did change the situation prevailing in the kingdom of Wei, in which the various cesses were mere figurehead. However, Emperor Wu did not foresee that he also left the foreshadows for the future power struggle after his death.
武帝的这些措施的确改变了魏时皇子没有实权的局面，但他却没有意识到这同时也给日后诸王争权埋下了祸根。
In 290, Emperor Wu of Jin died and his second son Sima Zhong became the emperor later called Emperor Hui.
太熙元年(290),晋武帝司马炎病故，由次子惠帝司马衷继位。
Sima Zhong had been appointed Heir Apparent in 267, and in 272 he married the Lady Jia Nanfeng, daughter of the minister Jia Chong, an old supporter of the Sima family and had played a leading role in the fighting against Cao Mao in 260.
惠帝于公元267年被封为太子,272年与贾充之女贾南风成婚。贾充曾帮助司马家族在争夺王位时打败曹髦。
Hui Emperor was a retarded man. It is recorded that upon hearing that his subjects had even no thin porridge to eat and people died of starvation, Hui Di responded “So why not eat their meat!”
惠帝本是愚痴之人，被立为太子只是为保持和贾家的联盟。史载他闻报天下慌乱，百姓饿死，竟说:“何不食肉糜? ”
Sima Yan main-tained him as his heir in order to accept the alliance with the Jia family therefore although there was a general anxiety from increasing evidence, Sima Zhong was mentally disabled and unfit to rule and the power was handed over to Empress Jia. Jia thus was the another femme fatale in Chinese history after Empress Lu in the Han Dynasty.
尽管当时形势危急，他却不能掌管朝政,于是大权逐渐落在皇后贾氏的手里。
According to the records, “Jia Nanfeng was a short, dark-skinned and ugly woman with hot temper and her husband was afraid of her. ”
据载，“惠帝后贾氏，名南风……其人丑且短黑，荒淫放恣，惠帝畏之”。
Then the Emperor Hui’s mother’s family Yang and her father, Yang Jun took over state power by a joint scheme.
因此,贾后继吕后等人之后，成了历史上另一有名的“祸水”女人。
In 291, Empress Jia ganged up with the Prince of Chu, who was in charge of the army in the capital，killed Yang Jun，dethroned Empress Dowager Yang and appointed the Prince Runan as regent.
当时因杨太后及其父杨骏专揽朝政，贾后乃於元康元年（291) 密召都督荆州军事的楚王玮人京，利用禁军的力量杀掉杨骏，废杨太后，改由汝南王亮辅政。
Shortly afterwards, on Empress Jia’a order, Prince Runan was murdered by Prince Chu whom, in his turn, was put to death by the Empress. Finally Empress Jia's family took the reign alone.
同年，贾后利用楚王玮杀汝南王亮，后又因玮矫杀亮并不能治理国家，最终贾后专政。
All the twenty-seven royal kings and families in the localities, built up by Emperor Wu of Jin, who were supposed to be a reliable force to shore up the court, could not serve the court effectively with each coveting the throne.
晋武帝立国后,分封了27个同姓王，以屏藩皇室，孰料竟造成外重内轻、难以调动之局势。
During the reign of Emperor Hui, various kings unhappy with Empress Jia ’ s rule over the court alone andbecame embroiled in court intrigue, which instigated a large-scale internecine. From 291 onwards, the eight kings, namely, Liang (King of Runan), Wei (King of Chu), Lun (King of Zhao), Jiong (King of Qi), Ying (King of Chengdu), Yi ( King of Changsha), Yong ( King of Hejian), and Yue (King of the Eastern Sea), fought against each other for the throne in the area a-round Luoyang.
司马氏诸王不满于朝中贾氏专权，纷纷想杀贾氏而独掌大权，因而相互残杀，于是便爆发了历时16年之久的“八王之乱”，其中八王全部是晋皇室宗亲，分别是：汝南王亮、楚王玮、齐王冏、赵王伦、成都王颖、长沙王义、河间王颗、东海王越。公元291年开始在今洛阳一带杀戮不断。
In 299, the Princess Zhao, Sima Lun killed Empress Jia and her supporters and took the control of the imperial court.
公元299年，赵王伦杀贾后及其党羽，独揽大权。
Sima Lun’s deposing Emperor Hui in 301 and claiming himself the emperor marked the beginning of the later called “Disturbances of the Eight Princes”，which ended up with Emperor Hui's death in 306. After poisoned Emperor Hui to death, Sima Yue, Prince Donghai put Sima Zhi, the twenty-fifty son of Emperor Wu, whom to throne later known as Emperor Huai of Jin. The victory of Sima Yue finished the civil war, but it had ended in exhaustion and despair.
其后,又于永宁元年(301)废惠帝自立为帝，是为“八王之乱”之始。直至公元306年，东海王越毒死惠帝，拥立武帝司马炎第二十五子怀帝司马炽继位，至此“八王之乱”结束。
Sixteen years of turmoil had produced a ferocious, meaningless record of treachery, murder and war, which further aggraviated the underdeveloped economic situation in the early years of the Western Jin. The credit of the government and the imperial family were ruined，the greater part of the imperial armies had been destroyed in the internecine fighting, and there was no authority that might restore the state or reestablish a position against the forces threatening from the northern minorities.
“八王之乱”虽告结束，这一场祸乱长达16年之久，其间无数的杀伐和内战带来的只是灾难，使西晋初年并不十分发达的经济，受到更为严重的破坏，耗尽了西晋的国力和兵力，削弱了皇室家族的势力和晋朝的统治，以致后来无法抵御来自北方少数民族的进犯。