Chen dynasty
The Chen dynasty (simplified Chinese: 陈朝; traditional Chinese: 陳朝; pinyin: Chén Cháo; 557-589), also known as the Southern Chen (南陳), was the fourth and last of the Southern Dynasties in China, eventually destroyed by the Sui dynasty.
Chen 陳 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 557–589 | |||||||||
 Chen and neighbors | |||||||||
 Administrative divisions in 572 | |||||||||
| Capital | Jiankang | ||||||||
| Government | Monarchy | ||||||||
| Emperor | |||||||||
• 557–559 | Emperor Wu of Chen | ||||||||
• 559–566 | Emperor Wen of Chen | ||||||||
• 566–568 | Emperor Fei of Chen | ||||||||
• 569–582 | Emperor Xuan of Chen | ||||||||
• 582–589 | Chen Shubao | ||||||||
| History | |||||||||
• Established | 16 November[1] 557 | ||||||||
• Disestablished | 10 February[2] 589 | ||||||||
• Chen Shubao's death | 16 December 604[3] | ||||||||
| Currency | Chinese coin, Chinese cash | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | China Vietnam | ||||||||
While it is said that Chen is the only dynasty named after the ruling house in Chinese history, this is in fact a coincidence. The founder of the dynasty, 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.
When the dynasty was founded by Emperor Wu, it was exceedingly weak, possessing only a small portion of the territory once held by its predecessor Liang dynasty—and that portion was devastated by wars that had doomed Liang. However, Emperor Wu's successors Emperor Wen and Emperor Xuan were capable rulers, and the state gradually solidified and strengthened, becoming roughly equal in power to rivals Northern Zhou and Northern Qi. After Northern Zhou took over Northern Qi in 577 and reunited the North, Chen was cornered. To make matters worse, its final emperor Chen Shubao was an incompetent and indulgent ruler, and Chen was eventually destroyed by Northern Zhou's successor state Sui.
During the short-lived dynasty, the Rau peoples to the south resumed raids against the region of Jiaozhi, perceiving the dynasty to be weak. The raids ended with the conquest of the Southern Chen by the Sui.[4] The Sui general Yang Su suppressed various Chen rebels in campaigns during the early 590s.
Sovereigns of Chen dynasty (557-589)
| Posthumous name | Personal Name | Period of Reigns | Era names |
|---|---|---|---|
| Emperor Wu of Chen | Chen Baxian | 557-559 | Yongding (永定) 557-559 |
| Emperor Wen of Chen | Chen Qian | 559-566 | Tianjia (天嘉) 560-566 Tiankang (天康) 566 |
| Emperor Fei of Chen | Chen Bozong | 566-568 | Guangda (光大) 566-568 |
| Emperor Xuan of Chen | Chen Xu | 569-582 | Taijian (太建) 569-582 |
| – | Chen Shubao | 583-589 | Zhide (至德) 583-586 Zhenming (禎明) 587-589 |
Sovereigns family tree
| Chen dynasty emperors family tree | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Notable people
- ancestors of the Ho dynasty of Vietnam[5]
References
Citations
- Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 167.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 177.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vol. 180.
- Hall, D.G.E. (1981). A History of South-East Asia, Fourth Edition. Hong Kong: Macmillan Education Ltd. p. 17. ISBN 0-333-24163-0.
- K. W. Taylor (9 May 2013). A History of the Vietnamese. Cambridge University Press. pp. 166–. ISBN 978-0-521-87586-8.
