Chen (simplified Chinese: 陈; traditional Chinese: 陳; pinyin: Chén) was a state founded by Duke Hu of Chen during the Zhou dynasty of ancient China. It existed from c. 1045 BC–479 BC. Its capital was Wanqiu, in present-day Huaiyang County in the plains of eastern Henan province. Chen, the 4th most popular Chinese surname in the world, and members of the Hu clan, the 13th most popular Chinese surname in the world, would claim descent from the Duke Hu of Chen who was in turn descended from the legendary Emperor Shun. At its peak, Chen encompassed fourteen cities in modern-day Henan and Anhui.
Name
It is written 陳 the same as the Chen surname. In ancient texts, it is sometimes misspelled as 敶, also pronounced Chen.
Territory
Chen was originally from Taihao (太昊、太皞), the capital of Fuxi's clan. It was south of the Yellow River.
Capital
Its capital was Wanqiu, in present-day Huaiyang County in the plains of eastern Henan province. Zhu Xi explains that Wanqiu means "[a hill] with a crater on top surrounded by high walls on all four sides".
History
According to tradition, the royal family of Chen were descendants of the legendary sage king Emperor Shun. After the conquest of the Shang dynasty in 1046/45 BC, King Wu of Zhou enfeoffed his son-in-law Gui Man, a descendant of Shun, at Chen, and Man became known as Duke Hu of Chen (Chen Hugong).
Duke Shēn of Chen, son of Hugong, then became second duke of Chen.
Chen later became an ally state of Chu, fighting as an ally of Chu at the Battle of Chengpu. It was finally unified with the Chu in 479 BC. Many people of Chen then took the name of their former country as their family name, and account for the many of Chinese people with the family name Chen today. After the destruction of the old Chu capital at Ying, Chen became the Chu capital.
Achievements and descendants
- The founding duke, formally known as Duke Hu of Chen, is credited with being the originator of the Hu (surname) and the Chen (surname).
- The Chen clan would later found the Chen dynasty of China and then the Trần dynasty, a golden age of Vietnam (陳朝 Tran is the Vietnamese pronunciation of Chen).
- In 1400 AD, Hồ Quý Ly overthrew the Trần dynasty and established the Hồ dynasty (Hồ is the Vietnamese pronunciation for "Hu"). He claimed to be a descendant of Chen Hugong and Emperor Shun, and changed the name of Vietnam from Đại Việt to Đại Ngu (大虞), or Great Ngu (Ngu is the Vietnamese pronunciation for Yu 虞 the legendary state of Emperor Shun).
- In ancient times 陳 sounded similar to 東 dong, meaning 'East'. It also sounded similar to 田 tian. After the warring states period, some members of the Chen clan in Qi (state) adopted the surname 田 Tian, which later became popular in Chinese and Japanese surnames.
In summary, surnames with descent from Chen include:
- Chen surname 陳姓
- Gui surname 妫姓
- Hu surname 胡姓
- Tian surname 田姓
- Yu surname 虞姓
- Yao surname 姚姓
- Yuan surname 袁姓
Culture
The Shijing has at least 10 songs dedicated to Chen:《宛丘》、《東門之枌》、《衛門》、《東門之池》、《東門之楊》、《墓門》、《防有鵲巢》、《月出》、《株林》、《澤陂》。
Rulers
The state of Chen lasted nearly 600 years and produced over 25 rulers. In chronological order from first to last (note Hu Gong means Duke of Hu and vice versa):
- Duke Hu of Chen
- Duke Shēn of Chen
- Duke Xiang of Chen
- Duke Xiao of Chen
- Duke Shèn of Chen
- Duke You of Chen
- Duke Xi of Chen
- Duke Wu of Chen
- Duke Yi of Chen
- Duke Ping of Chen
- Duke Wen of Chen
- Duke Huan of Chen
- Chen Tuo
- Duke Li of Chen
- Duke Zhuang of Chen
- Duke Xuan of Chen
- Duke Mu of Chen
- Duke Gong of Chen
- Duke Ling of Chen
- Xia Zhengshu
- Duke Cheng of Chen
- Duke Ai of Chen
- Prince Liu
- Chuan Fengxu
- Duke Hui of Chen
- Duke Huai of Chen
- Duke Min of Chen
Table
Note: the reign lengths of the dukes before Duke You of Chen are derived from conjecture, and are only for reference.
Family tree
See zh:陈国君主世系图
Reading