Jia Mi

Jia Mi (died 7 May 300), courtesy name Changyuan, originally named Han Mi, was a Chinese politician of the Jin dynasty. He was the grandson of the Jin minister Jia Chong and nephew of Jin's de facto ruler between 291 and 300, Jia Nanfeng. Jia Mi was trusted with state affair by his aunt throughout her regency and wielded much influence over the Jin court. He was an extravagant minister, and under him, the Jin court became increasingly corrupted. Between 299 and 300, Jia Mi pushed his aunt for the removal and later execution of the Crown Prince, Sima Yu, a decision that would lead to the Jia clan's downfall. In May 300, Jia Mi was killed during Sima Lun's coup d'état.

Han Mi was born in Xiangling County, Pingyang Commandery (平陽, roughly modern Linfen, Shanxi). He was the grandson of the powerful minister, Jia Chong, through his mother, Jia Wu (260-300), who was married to an official named Han Shou (韓壽); Han Shou himself was a great-grandson of the Wei official Han Ji. Han Mi was described as having a beautiful appearance. Jia Chong died in May 282 without leaving a male heir. Because of this, Han Mi's grandmother, Guo Huai, decided to make Han Mi the adopted son of Chong's deceased eldest son and initial heir, Jia Limin (賈黎民). Han Mi thus changed his name to Jia Mi, and succeeded his grandfather's title of Duke of Lu.

In May 290, Emperor Wu of Jin died and was succeeded by his developmentally disabled son, Emperor Hui. Emperor Hui's wife, Jia Nanfeng, was Jia Mi's maternal aunt. Following her successful coup against her husband's regent, Yang Jun in April 291, Empress Jia appointed Jia Mi as one of the few people to handle state affairs alongside Jia Mo (賈模), Guo Zhang (Empress Jia's maternal relative), Sima Wei and Sima Yao (司馬繇; son of Sima Zhou). Soon, Sima Yao was sent into exile while Sima Wei was executed by Empress Jia later in July 291, leaving her family solely in power over the court. Both Jia Mi and Jia Nanfeng considered if they should remove the minister Zhang Hua as well, but through Pei Wei's consultation, they concluded that he was loyal to the Jia clan and pose no threat.

Shortly after the coup against Yang Jun, Jia Mi began meeting with many scholars-officials and filling his house with guests. Some of these scholar-officials began to closely associate themselves with Jia Mi, and they would be known as the "Twenty-Four Friends of Jingu". The closest of these associates were Shi Chong and Pan Yue, who constantly showered him with flattery. Purportedly, whenever the two spot Jia Mi and Guo Huai travelling together, they would get off their carriages, stand by the side of the road to bow down and pay their respects.

With his aunt ruling behind the scenes, Jia Mi's power was said to have exceeded that of a sovereign. He also had a very extravagant behaviour. The luxuriousness of his mansion was said to have surpassed that of his status. His possessions and clothing were usually rare and beautiful. He would also get the best singers and dancing girls to perform for him. Because of this, many throughout the state would rush to visit his residence whenever he held a grand banquet. Jia Mi's writing was praised by many during his time, so much so that he was compared to the Western Han dynasty writer, Jia Yi.

In 296, the Prince of Zhao, Sima Lun was called to the capital due to negligence over military affairs in Qinzhou and Yongzhou. At the advice of Sun Xiu, Sima Lun befriended Jia Mi along with the Empress and Guo Zhang to gain their trust. The same year, Guo Huai died, so Jia Mi temporarily resigned from his positions of Cavalier In Regular Attendance and General of the Rear Army to mourn.

Even before the mourning period had ended, he was appointed Custodian of the Private Library to revise the Jin dynasty's national history. During his tenure, Emperor Hui ordered for another discussion to decide on which date should serve as a division point between Jin and its predecessor, Cao Wei after a previous one failed to reach a conclusive agreement. Following some debate, Jia Mi chose to listen to the opinions of Zhang Hua, Wang Rong, Wang Yan, Yue Guang and others who supported his proposal that the first year of the Tai'shi era (during the reign of Emperor Wu) would serve as the starting year of the Jin dynasty.

In 299, the Master of Writing to the Ministry of Personnel, Liu Song, established a system of nine classes to assess each minister's capability and how they should be rewarded or punished. However, this was never properly implemented due to the fact that Jia Mi and Guo Zhang opposed this as it limited their influences. Furthermore, it was not well-received by officials who wanted to advance their careers quicker through bribery. Under Jia Mi and Guo Zhang, bribery was very common in the Jin government as officials would present the two with gifts to curry their favour. A satirical article titled Discussion on the Divinity of Money (錢神論) was written by the hermit, Lu Bao (魯褒) to criticize this trend.