Sima Lang 司馬朗 Boda 伯達

Contents

Biography

Background and youth

Sima Lang was from Wen County, Henei (in present-day Wen County, Henan). His courtesy name was Boda. He was the eldest son of Sima Fang; his grandfather Sima Jun had been Prefect of Yingchuan. Sima Fang served as Prefect of Luoyang and Governor of Jingzhao and was strict with his eight sons—Sima Lang, Sima Yi, Sima Fu, Sima Kui, Sima Xun, Sima Jin, Sima Tong, and Sima Min—who became known as the “Eight Da.”

At nine, when a guest called his father by his courtesy name, Sima Lang said that to slight another’s parent was to disrespect one’s own; the guest apologised. At twelve he passed the classics examination and became a “child gentleman.” The examiner suspected he had lied about his age because of his size; Sima Lang replied that his lineage had always been tall and that he would not trim his age for fame. The examiner thought him exceptional.

Flight from Dong Zhuo

When Dong Zhuo entered Luoyang (190), the Inspector of Ji Province Li Shao, then in Yewang, wanted to move to Wen County to avoid war. Sima Lang said Yewang and Wen were like “lips and teeth” and that if someone the people looked to fled first, it would cause unrest. Li Shao did not listen; there was unrest and Wen was plundered.

When Dong Zhuo moved the court west, Sima Fang, as Imperial Secretary, was to go with them but sent Sima Lang to take the family back to Wen. Troops arrested Sima Lang as a deserter. Dong Zhuo said: “You are the same age as my late son—why betray me?” Sima Lang replied that with the realm in turmoil and people fleeing, he was returning home; he hoped Dong Zhuo would reflect so that his name could shine like the sun and moon. Dong Zhuo was pleased and let him go. Sima Lang, fearing to be kept, bribed Dong Zhuo’s staff and left.

Back in Wen he urged the elders to move to Liyang and rely on the kinship commander Zhao Weisun while the roads were still open. Only Zhao Zi went with him. Months later, tens of thousands of troops from the eastern provinces gathered in Xingyang and Henei; command was divided and soldiers plundered, and more than half the people died. After the coalition broke up and Cao Cao fought Lü Bu at Puyang, Sima Lang took his family home. There was famine and cannibalism; he gathered and comforted the clan and acted as father to his brothers, so the Sima house did not fall with the times.

Service under Cao Cao

When Sima Lang was in his twenties, Cao Cao, in gratitude for Sima Fang’s earlier recommendation, recruited him as a clerk in the Minister over the Masses’ Office and appointed him Magistrate of Chenggao. He left office due to illness, then returned as Magistrate of Tangyang. He governed with leniency, avoiding flogging, and was loved by the people. He was transferred to Magistrate of Yuancheng and then summoned to the capital as Registrar of the Chancellor’s Office.

Sima Lang held that the chaos of the late Han was due to the Qin abolition of the five grades of nobility and to commanderies and kingdoms not maintaining troops. He proposed that commanderies and kingdoms be allowed to raise standing troops to resist invaders and deter rebels, and that the well-field system be restored while land was ownerless in the upheaval. The well-field idea was not adopted, but the policy of provincial and commandery troops is said to have originated with him.

Later he was promoted to Inspector of Yan Province. He carried out many reforms and was praised by the people. On campaign he wore plain clothes and ate coarse food, setting an example of frugality. When Zhong Yao and Wang Can said that only a sage could bring peace, Sima Lang said that men like Yi Yin and Yan Hui were not sages but could bring peace over generations. Cao Pi admired his writings and as emperor had the Director of the Palace Library copy them.

Death on campaign

In 217 Sima Lang followed Xiahou Dun and Zang Ba on campaign against Wu. At Juchao the army was hit by plague. Sima Lang personally visited the sick and distributed medicine, caught the disease, and died at forty-seven. He left instructions: “The state made me inspector but I met this plague before I could repay its grace. Now that I am past recovery, bury me in ordinary clothes—do not disobey.” The people of Yan Province mourned him.

After Cao Rui succeeded, Sima Lang’s son Sima Yi (遗) was enfeoffed as Marquis of Changwuting with one hundred households. Sima Fu gave his son Sima Wang to continue Sima Lang’s line. When Sima Yi (遗) died, Sima Wang’s son Sima Hong succeeded to the marquisate.

Historical evaluations

Dong Zhuo (after Sima Lang’s reply): “I share that view—what you say is right.”
Chen Shou: From the late Han, inspectors governed the provinces from outside; under Cao Cao to the end of Wei, those who were praised and had both name and substance were all of this kind—“they understood affairs and combined authority with kindness, so they could pacify the realm and are related for later times.”

References

Records of the Three Kingdoms, Volume 15, Biography of Sima Lang