Founding
last of the Southern Dynasties in China (557–589)
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The Chen dynasty (traditional Chinese: 陳朝; simplified Chinese: 陈朝; pinyin: Chén Cháo), alternatively known as the Southern Chen (南陳 / 南朝陳) in historiography, was a Chinese imperial dynasty and the fourth and last of the Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. Following the Liang dynasty, the Chen dynasty was founded by Chen Baxian (Emperor Wu). The Chen dynasty further strengthened and revitalized the economy and culture of southern China, and made territorial expansions northward, laying the foundation for future dynasties. It was conquered by the Sui dynasty in 589 AD, marking an end to the Northern and Southern dynasties period in Chinese history. The descendants of the Chen imperial family continued to hold powerful high-ranking positions in the imperial courts of both the Sui and Tang dynasties.
In the twilight of the Liang dynasty (548–557), the Hou Jing Disturbance (侯景之乱) occurred. The insurrection caused the downfall and ruin of the Liang. In 557, Chen Baxian a former high-ranked Liang general, took the initiative to establish a new empire in Southern China: the Chen dynasty. Its founder Chen Baxian had been granted the title of "Prince of Chen", and on taking the throne he followed the Chinese practice of using his former princely title as the name of the new dynasty.
Chen Baxian was a visionary leader whose conquests helped revive the economy and culture of South China, bringing it to new heights. Near the start of the dynasty, Chen's northern neighbors the Eastern and Western Wei were later replaced by the Northern Zhou and Northern Qi, with the north of the Yangtze river held by the Qi, and the southwest including Sichuan was held by the Zhou. Chen Baxian defeated the Northern armies in one swoop, securing the prosperity and dominance of the Chen dynasty, and making further territorial gains in the north.
In 541, the people of Giao Châu Province (Chen northern Vietnam) rebelled under Lý Bôn. Xiao Ying sent the generals Sun Jiong (孫冏) and Lu Zixiong (盧子雄) to attack Lý Bôn, with Xiao Ying overseeing the operations. In spring 542, Xiao Ying and Xiao Zi ordered Sun and Lu to attack, but they lost to Lý, and soon infighting broke out between Sun, Lu, and another general Zhou. Xiao Ying then sent Chen Baxian to clean up the situation, and Chen Baxian defeated all of them, killing Du Tianhe and capturing Du Sengming and Zhou. Believing that Du Sengming and Zhou were both good soldiers, he released them and retained them on his staff. For this accomplishment, the Emperor Wu of Liang created Chen the Viscount of Xin'an and had an artisan draw a portrait of Chen.
In January 544, Lý Bôn proclaimed himself emperor and named his small state Vạn Xuân. In winter 544, Xiao Ying died, and initially, Chen started escorting Xiao Ying's casket back to Jiankang for burial. On the way, while he was still at Dayu Mountain (大庾嶺, on the borders of modern Jiangxi and Guangdong), he made a rendezvous with the new governor of Giao Châu Province, Yang Piao (楊瞟), and another nephew of Emperor Wu's, Xiao Bo (蕭勃), to attack Lý Bôn. Xiao Bao did not want to set out on the campaign, and therefore tried to persuade Yang not to advance. Chen persuaded Yang otherwise, and in spring 545, Yang, with Chen as his lieutenant, attacked Lý Bôn, defeating him and forcing him to flee into the mountains and conduct guerilla warfare instead. In 548, Lý Bôn died of illness, and when Lý Bôn's brother Lý Thiên Bảo succeeded him and attacked Ái Province (愛州, around modern Thanh Hóa Province, Vietnam), Chen defeated Lý Thiên Bảo. Emperor Wu made Chen the governor of Gaoyao Commandery (高要, Chen Zhaoqing, Guangdong) as well as the commander of the forces of the surrounding commanderies.
In summer 548, Hou Jing, formerly a general of Eastern Wei (a successor state of the Northern Wei), rebelled and in 549 captured Jiankang, taking Emperor Wu of Liang and his son and crown prince Xiao Gang hostage. After Jiankang's fall, Hou, who had initially claimed that he wanted to restore Northern Wei's imperial clan to power, from the control of the regent Gao Cheng, enticed the governor of Guang Province, Yuan Jingzhong (元景仲), a member of Northern Wei's imperial Yuan clan, to join him. When Chen received the news, he publicly announced Yuan's treachery and gathered the troops of the nearby generals to attack Yuan. Yuan committed suicide, and Chen welcomed Xiao Bo, then the governor of Ding Province (定州, roughly Guangxi) to take over Guang Province. In winter 549, against Xiao Bo's request, Chen took his troops and embarked on a campaign to join the fight against Hou, sending messengers to Emperor Wu's son Xiao Yi the Prince of Xiangdong, the governor of Jing Province (荊州, central and western Hubei), pledging support and loyalty to Xiao Yi, then commonly viewed as the leader of the remaining Liang provinces not under Hou's control.
For the next year, Chen advanced north through modern Jiangxi, fighting the various local warlords and generals loyal to Hou, with his main struggle against Li Qianshi (李遷仕). In spring 551, he captured and killed Li. Xiao Yi made him the governor of Jiang Province (江州, around Jiangxi). By fall 551, he had rendezvoused with Xiao Yi's main general, Wang Sengbian, at Xunyang (尋陽, Chen Jiujiang, Jiangxi). In 552, after they had sworn a solemn oath to Liang, they advanced east toward Jiankang, where Hou Jing had killed Xiao Gang (who had succeeded Emperor Wu as Emperor Jianwen) and taken the throne himself as Emperor of Han. Chen Baxian was instrumental in the subsequent siege of Jiankang, and they defeated Hou Jing together, causing Hou to flee. Subsequently, Hou was killed by his own men. For Chen's contributions, Xiao Yi created Chen the Marquess of Changcheng—Chen's home county. Wang put Chen in charge of the important city Jingkou (京口, Chen Zhenjiang, Jiangsu). For the next two years, Chen fought several border battles against the Northern Qi. At times, when Xiao Yi summoned Wangon campaigns, Wang would putChen in charge of Jiankang.
At the time of his accession, Xiao Yi had sought aid from Western Wei, to attack rival claimant Xiao Ji's home base of Chengdu from the rear, and most of Xiao Ji's domain of Sichuan fell into Western Wei hands. In 554, Western Wei launched a major attack on Jiangling, and Emperor Yuan summoned Wang to come to his aid, putting Chen in charge of Jiankang. Before Wang could reach Jiangling, however, Western Wei had already captured Jiangling, killing Emperor Yuan and declaring his nephew Xiao Cha emperor instead (as Emperor Xuan). Wang and Chen refused to recognize Emperor Xuan; instead, in spring 555, they welcomed Emperor Yuan's 11-year-old son Xiao Fangzhi the Prince of Jin'an—Emperor Yuan's only surviving son—to Jiankang, preparing to make him emperor and first having him take the title Prince of Liang. When Jiankang fell, Chen's son Chen Chang and nephew Chen Xu, who had been serving in the imperial administration, were captured and taken to the Western Wei capital Chang'an as honored captives.
At this time, however, Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi had other ideas, and he sent his brother Gao Huan (高渙) the Prince of Shangdang to command an army to escort Emperor Yuan's cousin Xiao Yuanming the Marquess of Zhenyang—whom Eastern Wei had taken captive in 547—back to Liang to be emperor. Wang initially rejected Xiao Yuanming, but after his forces lost a few battles to Northern Qi forces, changed his mind and decided to accept Xiao Yuanming as emperor after extracting a promise from Xiao Yuanming to make Xiao Fangzhi crown prince. In summer 555, Xiao Yuanming arrived at Jiankang to take the throne, and he created Xiao Fangzhi crown prince. Wang and Chen continued to be in charge of the military.
Chen Baxian, however, was unhappy about the situation, believing Xiao Yuanming to be unworthy of the throne. Despite Wang Sengbian's knowledge of Chen's displeasure, however, Wang did not suspect Chen of having any rebellious intentions, as they had been friendly, and Wang and Chen had agreed on having Wang Sengbian's son Wang Wei (王頠) marry Chen's daughter. In fall 555, believing reports that Northern Qi was going to attack, Wang Sengbian sent his secretary Jiang Gan (江旰) to Jingkou to alert Chen. Chen Baxian turned on Wang Sengbian, killed him and took over control of the imperial government, forcing Xiao Yuanming to abdicate and making Xiao Fangzhi emperor (as Emperor Jing).
Chen Baxian initially sent his nephew Chen Qian and his general Zhou Wenyu against Wang Sengbian's son-in-law Du Kan (杜龕) and Du's ally Wei Zai (韋載). Meanwhile, Xu Sihui (徐嗣徽) and Ren Yue (任約), loyal to Wang Sengbian and aided by Northern Qi, made a surprise attack on Jiankang, nearly capturing it, but were repelled by Chen's general Hou Andu. Soon, Chen Baxian defeated Wei Zai, and Chen returned to Jiankang, leaving Zhou Wenyu to face Du Kan.
Despite Northern Qi aid, Xu Sihui and Ren Yue could not defeat Chen Baxian, and Chen put the city of Shitou, which the Northern Qi general Liu Damo (柳達摩) had captured, under siege. Liu sought peace, but requested Chen to send his relatives as hostages to Northern Qi. Most officials advocated peace, and Chen, despite his skepticism about such a peace holding, agreed, and sent his nephew Chen Tanlang (陳曇朗), Emperor Yuan's grandson Xiao Zhuang the Prince of Yongjia, and Wang Min (王珉), the son of the key official Wang Chong (王沖), as hostages, permitting Northern Qi forces to withdraw, and Xu Sihui and Ren Yue withdrew with them.
By spring 556, Du Kan had either been captured or surrendered to Zhou Wenyu and Chen Qian, and Chen Baxian executed Du. Wang Sengzhi fled to Northern Qi, and the capital region was largely under Chen Baxian's control. Meanwhile, Northern Qi forces were preparing another attack, but they invited Xiao Yuanming to their camp to discuss peace. Chen sent Xiao Yuanming to the Northern Qi camp, but before talks could begin, Xiao Yuanming died from a severe infection on his back. By summer 556, Northern Qi forces were again descending on Jiankang, but once there, their forces stalemated with Chen Baxian's forces. Northern Qi forces' food supplies soon ran out, and Chen defeated them, killing Xu Sihui and capturing a number of Northern Qi generals, whom Chen executed. Meanwhile, Hou Tian, having been defeated by another general, Hou Ping (侯平), chose to submit to Chen.
During the next year, Chen Baxian began to receive greater titles and offices, progressing from Marquess of Changcheng to Duke of Changcheng to Duke of Yixing to Duke of Chen to Prince of Chen. In 557, Xiao Bo declared a resistance against Chen from Guang Province. Soon, however, Zhou Wenyu defeated Xiao Bo's general Ouyang Wei (歐陽頠), and Xiao Bo was killed by his own generals. At the same time, Wang Lin, who controlled modern Hunan and eastern Hubei, suspicious of Chen's intentions, refused his summons to Jiankang and prepared for battle instead. Chen Baxian sent Zhou Wenyu and Hou Andu against Wang Lin. In winter 557, Chen Baxian had Emperor Jing yield the throne to him (killing him in the next summer), establishing the Chen dynasty as its Emperor Wu of Chen. He created Emperor Jing the Prince of Jiangyin. He posthumously honored his parents emperor and empress, his deceased wife Lady Qian empress, and his deceased son Chen Ke crown prince. He created his wife Zhang Yao'er empress. The general Lu Xida (魯悉達), who controlled Northern Jiang Province (北江州, roughly modern Anqing, Anhui), caused a stalemate by accepting overtures from both Emperor Wu of Chen and Wang Lin but refusing to actually obey either side. Wang Lin sought help from Northern Qi and requested that it return Prince Xiao Zhuang to be emperor. Soon, Northern Qi returned Xiao Zhuang, and Wang Lin declared Xiao Zhuang emperor at Ying Province (郢州, modern eastern Hubei). Emperor Wu of Chen negotiated a peace with Wang Lin, after Wang's general Yu Xiaoqing (余孝頃) was defeated by the independent general Zhou Di (周迪), satrap of Linchuan (Jiangxi).
Text from the Wikipedia article “Chen dynasty”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.