Chen Youliang


Chen Youliang was the founder and first emperor of the dynastic state of Chen Han in Chinese history. He was one of the military leaders and heroes of the peasant rebellions at the end of the Yuan dynasty.

Biography

Chen was born to a fishing family in the village of Huangpengshan, present-day Honghu, in Yusha County, part of Mianyang Prefecture. During the Song Dynasty, Yusha was renowned as the "land of fish and rice", and was visited by poets Lu You and Fan Chengda, who both praised its bounty of fish and its cattle. Some say he was born with the surname Chen, while others say he was born with surname Xie.
In his childhood he grew up poor in his family of relatively unsuccessful fishermen. Chen once served as a district official before becoming a general under Ni Wenjun during the Red Turban Rebellion. Ni Wenjun planned to assassinate Xu Shouhui, the Red Turban rebels' leader, but Chen Youliang killed Ni Wenjun before Ni could kill Xu. Thereupon Chen Youliang went on to capture Anqing and then proceeded to conquer vast parts of Fujian and Jiangxi.
After discord was sowed between Chen and his general Zhao Pusheng by a former retainer of Zhao, bribed and sent to Chen by Zhu Yuanzhang, and with rumors that Zhao wanted to deflect to Wu circulating, Chen decided to do away with his general. By the end of the same year proclaimed himself "King of Han". In the Spring of 1360 Chen declared himself emperor. His era name, as well as his empire's name, was Da Han. Chen Youliang appointed Zou Pusheng as Grand Preceptor and Zhang Bixian as prime minister.
From 1359 to 1363 Chen's fleet was the strongest on the upper Yangtze River. His power was at least as great as that of another rebel state, Wu, led by Zhu Yuanzhang, founder of the Ming dynasty.
Since 1360 the Han were involved in a long war against Wu, which would be renamed "Ming" in 1368. The war culminated in the decisive Battle of Lake Poyang where the Wu fleet narrowly defeated the larger fleet of Han after three days of fighting.
The Wu fleet then settled into a blockade. A month later, Chen attempted to break out of the blockade. During the resulting ship battle Chen was killed by an arrow that struck his head.
As his crown prince Chen Shan had been captured, Chen Youliang was succeeded by his second son, Chen Li, who had managed to escape to Wuchang with Zhang Dingbian. His son resisted a siege of Wuchang for two months in late 1363. He surrendered when Wu's army once again approached Wuchang in March 1364. Many prefectural commanders surrendered to Wu without a fight, but in Hubei, Hunan, and Jiangxi fighting continued until April 1365. Chen Youliang's son, father and brothers were however granted high titles and incomes by the Ming after Chen Han's fall. After a conflict with members of Zhu Yuanzhang's entourage in 1372, however, the Ming sent Chen Li to Goryeo.

Controversial relationship with Trần Ích Tắc

The Vietnamese historical annals Đại Việt sử ký toàn thư, compiled more than a century after Chen's death claims that Chen sent a diplomatic delegate to Đại Việt to mobilise support from Đại Việt, claiming to be the son of Trần Ích Tắc, a Trần dynasty prince and son of emperor Trần Thái Tông, 66 years older than Chen, who did settle in the Yuan dynasty. Chinese history annals did not record any such relationship, including the Veritable Records of Emperor Taizu, revised for the first time in 1399 by Dong Lun and published under the supervision of Yao Guangxiao, both contemporaries of Chen. The Taizu Shilu also specifies that his family had been fishermen for generations, and even reports an exchange between Chen and his father, in which the latter reminds his son that he is "just a fisherman" and advises him to "go back to his former occupation". Chen's fellow Mianyang native, scholar Tong Chengxu, adds in his Ping Han Lu that Chen Youliang's ancestors originally had the family name as "Xiè", with his grandfather, Qianyi, later marrying into a certain Chen family and adopting their family name. This passage was also repeated by Qian Qianyi in his Guochu Qunxiong Shilue. The reason why Chen Youliang pretended to be a Vietnamese royal family was probably to earn support from Đại Việt.
The Trần dynasty, however, did not to respond to Chen's request. Trần Ích Tắc was considered a traitor and was legally removed from the Trần royal family. It would in fact have been difficult for Đại Việt to ally with a traitor's descendant. Đại Việt also had no reason to intervene into the affairs of her northern neighbor.

Family

  • Grand-ancestors: Chen Qianyi
  • Father: Chen Pucai would be promoted to the tile Marquis of Cheng'en by Zhu Yuanzhang after the downfall of Han
  • Mother: surnamed Wu
  • Brothers:
  • *Chen Youfu would be promoted to the title Marquis of Guiren by Zhu Yuanzhang
  • *Chen Youzhi would be promoted to the title Marquis of Huaien by Zhu Yuanzhang
  • *Chen Youren, KIA at the Battle of Poyang Lake
  • *Chen Yougui, KIA at the Battle of Poyang Lake
  • Spouses: Chen Youliang had several concubines respectively surnamed Yang, Lou, Tao and Du. Consort Du was captured along with Chen Shan. Concubines Yang and Lou predeceased Chen Youliang
  • Children:
  • *Chen Shan, Crown Prince, joined Ming army
  • *Chen Li, his successor, started Yangsan Jin clan of Korea
  • Grandchildren
  • *Chen Mingshan, a descendant in Korea

Legacy

Because of his rebellion against the Yuan Dynasty and establishment of the Chen Han Dynasty, Chen Youliang is remembered as a revolutionary, even hero, who helped resist Yuan rule and pave the way for the succeeding Ming dynasty. Historian Wu Han, for instance, described him as a "a hero who opposed the rule of the Mongolian and Han landlord classes".

Tomb Memorial

After Chen's death at the Battle of Poyang Lake, he was buried in the southern slope of Sheshan, near the Wuchang Bridge Head of Yangtze River Bridge in present-day Wuhan City, Hubei Province. Zhu Yuanzhang is said to have visited the tomb the following year to pay his respects, and inscribed the words "Human Retribution, Heaven's Will" on a stone tablet erected near the tomb.
The tomb is circular and surrounded by a brick wall, with a path leading to the tomb of 16 steps. It was built against the mountain and it fratures an hexagonal pavilion. There is a tombstone inscribed with Chen's name in front of the tomb, and in front of the sixteen-step path leading to the tomb there is a tall granite archway with four pillars and three gates, inscribed with the words: "Heroic Figure of Jianghan" on the front and "Heroic Spirit of the Three Chu Regions" on the back. The tomb complex is surrounded by pines and cypresses. There is also a memorial hall dedicated to Chen in Xiantao, Hubei. In Miancheng there is a building which is said to have been Chen's temporary palace. He is also said to have established a temporary palace in his native Huangpengshan, This palace was called Yamen by locals. Today only it's ruins remain. In Huangpengshan he also built a grand stone paved road, "Hua Street", today known as the "Ming and Qing Dynasty Bluestone Ancient Street". Chen also built two other streets in Huangpeng, which formed a sizable market square, which are no longer extant. Hua Street, however, has been preserved to this day. In Youlong Mountain, Huangpeng, there is an ancient tomb said to be the tomb of Chen Qianyi, grandfather of Chen Youliang.

Legends

's What the Master Would Not Discuss includes an article titled Destroying the Temple of Chen Youliang, which recounts the anecdote of Zhao Xili, a county magistrate during the Qing Dynasty, who destroyed the Chen Youliang Temple in Jingzhou and converted it to worship Guan Yu. Zhao only knew it was an unknown prince's temple and considered it an illicit shrine, thus destroying it. He was unaware that the temple was dedicated to Chen Youliang until he inquired with Zhang Tianshi.

Cultural portrayals

Film and TV

Novels

Chen Youliang features as a character in the wuxia novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber by Louis Cha.